Wordless Wednesday - Professional Foot Warmer

Cozy, ehh?

Get This...

Okay, so I am needing my fix here... There are reasons why the summer somewhat bites, and the major one is that my favorite shows go on hiatus. (Other reasons, being that I am too old now to get the summer off for vacation - I am actually busier in the summer than the rest of the year. Perils of Librarianship. Also, it is just really hot here.) But anywho, this is how I'm getting my Grey's Anatomy fix - the soundtrack. It's really great, it even has a bit of Tegan and Sara on it (for all you Canucks)! Seriously, seriously. It is great.

European Vacation

European Vacation
Originally uploaded by peachicken.

Man, I freakin' LOVE "Flagrand Disregard's" Flickr Toys. Really. Tim and I are trying to create a travel blog and I found a cool way to display some of the photos for it... as stamps! It even lets you postmark it for the date you took the photo. I L.O.V.E. this program! It offers other frames as well, like polariods and "to-do lists." So cool.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee
Originally uploaded by peachicken.

I've finally gotten around to uploading these beauties from a couple of weekends ago, when my folks were up for a visit. Take a look, I am terribly proud of some of them. Tim and I make a great team - he has the steady hand and I have the photoshop eye. There are some awful cute ones of that infamous "Lazy Daisy," along with some gorgeous flowers.

Bleary - Eyed Sue

Alrighty, I am well on my way to completing my Thursday Thirteen list... I've seen about five of the movies, so far. (And I know that this picture doesn't really capture "Bleary-Eyed-ness" but I thought it was funny looking, so I posted it anyway. Too bad you don't see a TV reflected in his eyes...) As far as vegging out, shoot, this has been a GRRReat weekend! All I've done is sleep, eat, and stare at the boob-tube. I started to vacuum this morning and then hopped in the shower (so Hubby would finish the job - sneaky, ehh?). And as far as the flicks on my list have gone, don't see 2046. It is freaky and I so didn't get it, not to mention that it is a pain in my (bleep) to have to read what is going on. Talk about "Lost in Translation." But Proof is great and so is Bleak House - all three discs of it! More later...

Literary Characters...

Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?

You're Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibilty by Jane Austen!
Take this quiz!

(Becky was Elizabeth Bennett... appropriate, I think.)

And speaking of funny...

This girl cracks me up! My friend Ruth and her hubby Ben are in Japan for a week, then off to New Zealand for a couple of months. Must be nice! And even though I am insanely jealous of her excursion, I am dying laughing at this super cute picture of them! (Check out her site, she has some great images of what she's seen so far...)

X-Men III

Yup. It is dang good. Beast sucked though (Kelsey Grammer, aka "Frasier Crane"). His one-liners didn't even pack the punch that your daily dose of C.S.I. provides. (Tim was disappointed because Beast has always been his favorite character.) Anyway, make sure you stay till the credits have run through! There is a surprise scene at the end - VERY worth it! (Even though we had to brave these stupid giggle-girls next to us. Arrg.)

Photo Friday - Home

It may be apartment life, it may be New York, or it may still be the newness of it all, but I'm still calling 417 Highland "home."

(Want to see other photo fridays?)

Thursday Thirteen # 24

Thirteen Movies I'll be Watching This Weekend...

1. I'm looking forward to a long weekend of cave-time. But who knows, I may leave the house to see this one - X-MEN: The Last Stand. It looks super cool.
   
2. If I am going to go see the third X-MEN, I'll have to preface it with a tiny X-MEN marathon, right?!?
   
3. I still want to see In Her Shoes. I checked it out from the library ages ago, but because it is a "chick-flick," I still haven't seen it - Tim just can't stomach it. This weekend, though...
   
4. Proof. Yup, it's been on my sidebar for two weeks now. Hopefully I will get to actually watch this bad boy this weekend!
5. Best of Youth. Heard great things about this one. Also heard that it is SIX HOURS LONG. Yeah, talk about time commitment.
6. Brokeback Mountain. Supposed to be good. But can you ever be "in the mood" to see this?!?
7. The ending of Chicken Little. I feel asleep the night I tried to watch it. Does that say something about who I am?
   
8. 2046. Also supposed to be good. This won foreign film awards, but after a long day, who wants to veg out by reading subtitles?!? That sounds a little too much like work.
   
9. Bleak House. This I also got from the library. (And it has been on hold for others, while I keep it out... I am feeling kinda guilty about this one!) It has Gillian Anderson in it and it looks like it will be amazing, but once again, it's mighty tough to put yourself "in the mood" for a Charles Dickens saga! (Not to mention that it is three discs worth!)
10. (Wild Card - you tell me what I should watch this weekend! Any ideas?)
11. I may throw in a good Disney movie. I know Disney gets a bum rap, but there is nothing like winding down a long week with a little "Bibity Bopity Boo."
    
12. AEON FLUX. Did this do well in the box office? Why have I not heard anything about it until now?!?
13. And if all else fails, like if my DVD player runs off with the spoon, there are always naps and bubble baths to console me!
    

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Wordless Wednesday - Why Can't We All Just Get Along?!?

I Wish I Was The Moon

(Drawing done by Kim - good huh? I really like it... Check out her other images - great artist! And here are lyrics from one of my favorite songs... by Neko Case.)

I Wish I Was The Moon
by Neko Case

chimney falls and lover's blaze
thought that I was young
now I've freezin' hands and bloodless veins
as numb as I've become
I'm so tired, I wish I was the moon tonight

last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name
'cause I sold my soul but I woke just the same
I'm so lonely, I wish I was the moon tonight

god bless me I'm a free man
with no place free to go
paralyzed and collared tight
no pills for what I fear
this is crazy, I wish I was the moon tonight

chimney falls as lover's blaze
thought that I was young
now I've freezin' hands and bloodless veins
as numb as I've become
I'm so tired, I wish I was the moon tonight

how will you know if you've found me at last
'cause I'll be the one, be the one, be the one
with my heart in my lap

I'm so tired, I'm so tired
and I wish I was the moon...
tonight

Fun with Celeste

Celeste and I had a blast this weekend. (She is SO brave!!! She drove up here all by herself! I am seriously impressed.) Anywho, check out pictures of our weekend excursions right here. We ended up walking all over NYC, doing Macys, the MOMA, seeing a show, Washington Square, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, lotsa shopping, Central Park, lotsa Starbuck-xing, and Rockefeller Center. We even had our own non-touristy adventures, like seeing rats, graffiti, hanging out in local taverns, and seeing the "Loincloth Maestro." Celeste is one cool chick!

New Shoes

Suzy got some new shoes for her new job!!! And I am wearing them today, on my very first day. Celeste helped me pick them out. Do they look grown up enough? Believe me, I am trying to look grown! (Last Wednesday, on my last day at the other library, a woman asked me if I was gonna be graduating from high school. Nice, ehh?) Anyway, I'm on a lunch break (at home - can't beat that) and so far, it has been wonderful! I really feel fortunate to be a part of this library! Thanks, all, for your warm wishes!!!

Autograph

<------"Hurley" signed this!

(It says, "To Tim & Suzy - Aloha!
Jorge Garcia 'Hurley')

Sweet!

Celeste is here!

My buddy from Johnson City is up here for a visit this weekend and we've had a blast so far. Yesterday, we spent all day in the city (rain and all) wandering about and sightseeing. And last night we went to a show. We saw Sweeney Todd and it was totally gorey! There was no stage blood, but the implications and whatnot were enough. We also had a celeb sighting while we were there - "Hurley" from "Lost" was in the audience! Tim got his autograph! (Too bad we didn't see "Sawyer"!!! Hubba hubba!)

Thursday Thirteen #23

Wanna check it out?!?

Do you want to know why I've been so busy this past three months? I've been working on a thesis of sorts, the MPL website. (I wanted to wait to post this until after my last day of working there...you know, in case I was being stalked or something!)

1. First and foremost, this website kicks butt because I built it! (Just little ole Suzy and her hubby, we put this thing together from scratch - but I'm not biased or anything... Heh.)
2. Secondly, I got school credit for it. (Of course there was an ulterior motive!) This was a part of my internship for my MLIS (Masters in Library and Information Science). Actually, the internship was just supposed to be the children's library web pages, but the project really morphed into a complete package. And I got a perfect score on it, just in case you're wondering.
3. The site really includes lots of local flavor, which I think is what public libraries should be all about. (Here comes my soapbox...) A library should be a community center and public forum as well as a place to get books and whatnot. You can get books anywhere. And you can get information in lots of different places. You can even go to a "community center." But where can you go to get all of these things at once? (Do I sound like a commercial?!?) Anyway, I think it is an important concept. And when libraries don't cater to their communities, I think they've lost sight of who they serve in the first place. (Okay, I'm stepping off the soapbox, now.)
4. The artwork on the site. The header on the tops of the pages are done by G.H.Pugh, who is the local artist. (Check out the full painting in the "History" section.) And while it doesn't compare to the painting, the graphics and such were put together by me and hubby in Adobe Photoshop.
   
5. The children's photo page. There are pictures of storytimes in there... and if you look closely, you'll see yours truly. There is even one of me sticking out my tongue! (We had a tongue-painting project.)
6. Lots of PDF's. There are tons of forms you can download off of the site from home, like library card applications or volunteer forms, whatever. Also, the policies are accessible. The best part of doing that is you can never lose them! The master copies are right there online. (And working at a public place, you know that noone ever replaces the last copy of anything!)
7. The money that was saved by doing it ourselves. I checked out one of the other nearby libraries who had their site professionally done, the OSPL, and they must have paid around $4,000. I calculated what the MPL site (which has two CGI forms and over 40 pages) would have cost by the prices listed on the OSPL designers site - over $3550!!! (Don't you think they should dedicate an encyclopedia set or a sidewalk to me, or something?!?)
8. It's current. That in itself is a feat. I just hope it stays current. (This is a BIG concern of mine.)
9. It has some awesome links in it. By doing this project, I found some really cool sites!
10. The active forms, like the "suggestion box" and the "ask a librarian" forms. CGI is hard!!! I still don't really get it!
    
11. The "Babies and Books" pages. That was one of the first pages I did (because I was doing the baby storytimes). Check out the "Rhymes and Songs" page - these are some of the songs that have been trapped in my head since January!
    
12. You can actually find stuff in this site! I hate library websites that are poorly organized. It's like, aren't libraries supposed to be leaders in organizing things?!? For real!
    
13. Finally, the sheer amount of work that went into this project. In speaking with the chick that did the site 10 years ago, she said she spent an entire year on it. Well, I only spent 3 months, but most of it was on my own time. It's like I've given birth or something! And I am a proud mama.
    

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Sweet

This is SO stinkin' sweet! Some of my (favorite) kids made me a card today, since this was my last day at this library. (Next week, I start at a different library, much closer to home.) But it was really so nice to know that they will miss me. (Yes, I have doubted...) Anywho, the staff had a pretty little floweredey cake, sparkling lemonade, and a hug fest for me - it was really nice. Thanks ya'll!

Wordless Wednesday - Mom?!?

Duh! What cookie did you think I'd be?!?

Which Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

Samoas
Take this quiz!

I'm all spun out...

A Suzy Update.

Okay, I know I haven't been whole-heartedly blogging lately. But everything is now drawing to a close and I will soon have so much more time. (I can't even imagine what free time will feel like! I haven't had any in ages. I won't even know what to do with myself!) The folks are heading home today from a fabulous visit and I finished my very last baby storytime today, as well. I graduated on Sunday and tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I am finished with all of my little work projects and will be putting finishing touches on the website. Not to mention the fact that all of my favorite TV shows are coming to an end! So, I am going to be freeing up more time for my oh so devoted readers! Heh.

As far as updates go, I finally got my dang girl scout cookies. You know that was high on my priority list! I got like 5 boxes! There goes any hope of swimsuit figures and whatnot. I got Thin Mints, Trefoils (Barf-o-rama, these are for Tim), Lemon Coolers, Samoas, and the new Cafe Cookies. Ahh Yeah.

Secondly, I cried like a little girl last night during Gray's Anatomy. That is such a dang good show. Why did Denny have to die?!? Ouch. Tragic. Any thoughts on this?

Third, we had a total blast with my family this past weekend. My mom is so stinking cute sometimes. When she gets excited (and she had LOTS of excitement this weekend), she does this happy dance/scream thing. It is hilarious. And then my dad just kind of shakes his head at her with a sappy sweet smile on his face. They are so seriously cute. (I'll post later about how graduation went, with pictures even.)

And finally, on the job front, today was my very last baby storytime. I was even observed by a chick from another library (that heard we had a kick-a#% storytime)! Nice, huh? I got to say g-bye to all my favorite kids and moms, so it was really great. I even heard that some of the moms even thanked my boss for having me do the baby storytime! Isn't that crazy?!? (And I didn't have to pay them to say that!) Afterward, I was taken to lunch to have Turkish food - a first for me - by some of my colleagues. (I can say that now that I have my MLIS.) It was a really nice day.

So that about wraps it up. I'll try to get some more pictures of this weekend posted soon. Stay tuned!

Change

My good friend Christie wrote a beautiful post on changes. We are both going through lots of growing pains in our lives right now (new job situations and leaving friends behind, graduation, and other unmentionables), so I just wanted to share some of this... I think it's beautiful.

a wise man once said that for everything there is a season. changes come. that's a part of life. there are seasons, seasons of dying, seasons of birth, seasons of hard work, and seasons of carefree celebration. i suppose i mourn and embrace change all at once...

i can't say i always feel brave. it seems that i contemplate throwing my hands up at least once every day. but . . . i know that it is only through change that we grow and see the beauty that comes with each new season. i longingly look forward to the beautiful creation that will spring from this small seed in good time. may you embrace the seasons of change that come your way, and see the beauty God has sent you.

Wow. For the whole post, go here. Anyway, I think she is brave and amazing. And her struggles really help to put mine into perspective.

Happy Mom

Happy Mom
Originally uploaded by peachicken.

A happy Momma on Mother's Day. (Okay, actually, two days before, but who's counting?) The only thing missing from this picture is my big sister, Becky. I wish she could be here too - then we'd all be together! Anywho, here we are in Central Park in front of the beautiful Bethesda Fountain. Me, Mom, and Andy. We spent the day visiting the NY Public Library, shopping at some fun stores, eating at Serendipity, and strolling around Central Park. We had amazing weather and just a spectacular day! For pictures of our day, check out this...

Sweets for the sweet...

Fun in the city!  Yesterday, we hung out in the city and I got to take the folks to all my favorite sites.  One in particular was Dylan's Candy Bar.  (Great while you're waiting for a seat at Serendipity...)  We indulged on amazing chocolates, bought PEZ dispensers, and mom even got a cute little pink hat.  More on our adventures later...

Foto Friday - Masterpiece

Yep, I know this is seriously late.  Gimme a break, I have company.

City Grrrls

My Momma is Here!!!

Thursday Thirteen #22

Thirteen Reasons I Can't Wait To See My Folks!

1. Because I haven't seen them since Christmas...
2. Because I am graduating this weekend... and the keynote speaker will be Hillary Clinton and my dad is ultra conservative - should be fun. (I know my big sis would have gotten a kick out of it!)
3. Because my momma spoils me and I NEED to be pampered right now!!!
4. Because my dad will have a blast touring the WorldVision warehouse where hubby works...
5. Because I hope to take them to Chinatown and hear my dad try to speak the 8 words he knows in Chinese. (He is so goofy!)
6. (Did I mention that our senator and the former first lady will be our keynote speaker at my graduation ceremony?!?)
7. Because having my folks up here will mean that baby brother will come over for a visit and I miss the little fella. (Well, maybe he's not so very little - he is about a foot taller than I am!)
8. Because it will give me an excuse to eat lots of junk food!
9. Because I got to take two days off of work!
10. Because I get to play tour guide and take them to all my favorite haunts...
11. Because it made Tim go ahead and clean the toilet!!! (my LEAST favorite responsibility)
12. Because I get to be the center of attention - and you all know how much I love to be adored...
13. But most of all, because I really really miss them!!!

(The above picture is me and my momma making faces at my HS graduation - time flies! Now I'm getting my Masters...)

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Almost Wordless Wednesday

Poem of the Month...

A New Perspective
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Those little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play;
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees,
Among the singing of the birds,
the humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay;
Among the husking of the corn
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good are born,
Out in the fields of God.

(Yup, this is why I need a garden, so I can cast away my cares at the petunias or something. Honestly, this poem is more about convicting me than inspiring anyone! This is how I SHOULD feel, were I to rise above it all.)

Dreaming of Vacations...

Why is there HAIR in my sink?!?

Sink Kitty
Originally uploaded by peachicken.

This cat, I tell ya. He makes me crazy. I was wondering if hubby Tim was losing all his hair or what, and if we'd need to soon enroll him into the "Hair Club for Men" because I kept finding tons of (straight - don't be gross) dark hairs in my sink! Then I caught the culprit and even got this photo as evidence. I think Mr. Pan has this affinity for sinks ever since Tim let him drink water from the tap. (Punk.) Now, Pan absolutely loves to play in running water (as long as it is on HIS terms). I need to invest in the "Drinkwell Pet Fountain For Cats" or something. Sheesh.

Photo Friday - Adolescence

This week's Photo Friday theme is "Adolescence."  Taken one sunny afternoon in 1997, back in Savannah, GA, where I grew up, this picture represents MY ADOLESCENCE!  (That's me on the left, with my friends Rachel and Kelly Bellmoff.)  Cute, huh?

Thirteen of my favorite flowers...

You may think I am taking the easy way out by not posting a list, but let me assure you this took much longer than it should have. These are all photos of flowers that we have taken...my favorites!

Cherry Blossom Festival

Watch this video of the Taiko Drumming...

This past Sunday, Tim and I took a drive into the city to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. (See a nice little slide show of it here...) It was such a beautiful day that everyone in the city decided to come, too! Isn't that nice?!? Anyway, I've never seen so many cherry trees all in one place before - it was amazing. And with all the other Japanese cultural activities going on (such as performers, costume shows, games, florists, crazy foods, storytellers, and craftsmen), it sort of seemed like an actual visit to another country. I've always wanted to see the real cherry blossom festivals in Japan, but this did rather nicely! I think I may have even gotten my fix.

One thing that I especially enjoyed was the art of making Kimekomi Dolls (see image in post below). It is a really beautiful art form - and I've been thinking about maybe joining their group and doing some of my own! (Anyone who actually knows me may be thinking "Wha?!?" and all I have to say is "I'm lonely! This could be a fun outlet!") Aren't they pretty interesting looking?

Well, the whole experience was really tranquil (even though there were TONS of people and somewhat long lines, especially for the dang bathroom...). Any time I am in a garden, I am just transfixed at the wonders to behold. It kinda makes me wonder why I decided to become a librarian and work indoors!

Wordless Wednesday

(Taken this past Sunday at the Cherry Blossom Festival in the City...)