you are exactly my brand of heroin.

i can't believe there's only a week of november left and i've actually managed to post every day for 3 weeks. i have wanted to give up so many times, especially given that november has definitely be a crazy month, yet somehow i've managed to do it. and i guess i'm glad i have, because it's also been a good month, filled with friends and family and laughter and love amongst the loss and grief.

anyway, onto my thoughts about the twilight movie:

- first and foremost, i thought it translated well. i saw it again last night with 3 people who hadn't read the books and they loved it - which meant the plot flowed well enough that they could understand it

- i love robert pattinson and kristen stewart as edward and bella. i thought they were perfect. i love his facial expressions and she played the part of a klutz very well. i thought everyone was cast well except rosalie, and i'll just have to get used to her.

- i wish the intensity between edward and bella had been played up more. but i still got tingles when they kissed :)

- i like how they set up the end for new moon and even eclipse, even if that part was written into the script (the part w/ victoria walking down the stairs)

- i LOVE alice (ashley greene) but where's her story? i think the cullen's stories are important and i don't think they're going to tell them :(

- jasper's (jackson rathbourne's) facial expressions crack me up

- i'm skeptical of jacob (taylor lautner). i want to love him the way i love jacob in the books. i don't know if he can carry a whole movie.

- bella wears sweatpants - where were they?

- why did bella not cook for charlie?

- why does stephenie meyer think she needs to be in her own movie?

- LOVED the soundtrack - even more-so now after noticing the placement of the songs

- the graduation hats? hilarious.

i'm sure i'll think of more and i'll add them if i do.... of course the book is better than the movie. of course. but i still really enjoyed seeing my favorite book come to life and i CAN'T WAIT for new moon!

top ten reasons i love coming home:

1. spending a significant amt of time with my entire family.

2. i love to drive.

3. celebrating the life of my incredible grandfather!

4. rose (= my blackberry) and ruby (= el's blackberry) got to meet for the first time

5. spending the day in nashville = sushi at pm and cupcakes at gigi's!

6. seeing twilight twice for a fraction of the cost with some of my FAVORITE people

7. sleeping in my own bed

8. attending crosspoint

9. it doesn't hurt wearing heels - the longest i have to walk is to the car :)

10. target and chick fil a!

eulogy.

Shelah A. Adams was born March 16, 1929, in Rutherford County. He was raised on a farm in the Leanna Community and enjoyed the close knit country family life with his four brothers and one sister. He attended the Training School and Central High School. He was a veteran of the National Guard. He married Idalee Drake on Christmas Eve 1950 and they had three girls, Shelia, Suzan, and Sherrie. After the death of Idalee in 1993, he married Katherine Johnson, whom we all call Sissy.

Survivors include his daughters, sons-in-law: Mike Warren and Donny Bratton; six wonderful grandchildren: Daniel Woodard, Kyle, Matthew, and Ruth Warren, and Elizabeth and Kathleen Duncan, and his sister, Agnes. He is preceded in death by Idalee Drake Adams and son-in-law, Eddie Graves.

Big Daddy, as he was affectionately known by his grandchildren, grew a beard every Christmas just because they loved to pretend he was Santa Claus. He always smelled the same, like cigarettes and Old Spice. Big Daddy loved well and with a fierceness like no other. He was always good for a ride through the back of the farm with six grandchildren and two sons – in – law bumping around in the bed of his red truck – always red. When they were younger, his favorite trick was to scare them buy popping his false teeth out of his mouth at them. He was a good father and an excellent grandfather.

A favored Big Daddy story took place when all three of his girls were very young. Big Daddy was in the hospital after being critically injured in a construction accident. When the doctor told him he had a blood clot traveling to his lungs and he might not make it through the night, Big Daddy stopped him. He looked the doctor in the eye and said, “I’m NOT dying tonight.” The doctor was stunned and a little flustered. Big Daddy then pulled out his wallet, showed the doctor a picture of his three children, and said, “You know why I’m not dying? These three reasons” as he pointed at the picture.

Big Daddy’s family is grateful they have many more stories to tell so that the memory of the incredible man they knew can live forever. He lived a life surrounded by people who love him deeply.

“The LORD your God is in your midst,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Zephaniah 3:17

leaving on a jet plane; or how i almost missed my flight: a timeline

10:00am wed - book a flight home
1:00pm wed - call AA to change flight, talk to nicest person ever who waves $150 fee
5:45pm - leave work
7:00pm - start packing
9:00pm - head to bed
wake up at 1:45am,  2:45am,  3:45am, and 4:45am 
5:45am - alarm finally goes off
6:35am - pray on the way downstairs that i can find a cab -- He sends 4 just in case I miss one
7:00am - arrive LGA and get boarding pass - glance at it quickly, head to gate D5
7:10am - get to gate
7:15-8:00am - Wait wait wait read People listen to Beyonce wait annoyed
8:15am - why haven't we boarded yet? Flight in 15 mins
8:17am stop listening to Beyonce long enough to hear the plane at the gate where I'm sitting is going to MIAMI
8:18am annoyed at the miami plane - why can't they get their own gate?
8:20am glance at boarding pass and realize i'm AT THE WRONG GATE
8:20am wrong gate!!!!!! THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE ME
8:20am hightail it to gate D3
8:21am gate attendant tells me they've been paging me. Paging me! I'm the girl who got paged!  and if I hadn't listened to single ladies on repeat I might have heard my name on the LOUDSPEAKER!
8:22am board plane; everyone is staring at me
8:23am want to announce that am not late, actually very early. I blame Beyonce.
8:25am still can't find spot for bag - overhead compartments full.  wait for flight attendant.
8:26am man behind me keeps giving me the "you're irresponsible" look
8:26am flight attendant's very nice, do they know why I'm going home or are they just nice?
8:27am find spot for bag
8:28am lug bag to overhead compartment... accidentally hit man with dirty look on head
8:28am want to tell him karma sucks, keep dirty looks to self but instead smile and apologize politely like a good southern girl
8:29am buckle up
8:30am plane takes off

.....WHEW!

Big Daddy

my grandfather is dying. i don't know how else to put it to make it sound better or more poetic or flowery or nice, because it's true. he's dying.

he's been getting progressively worse for a few weeks and we're not sure why he's still here - he should be gone by now. last night the nurse asked my aunt if there was any child or grandchild he hadn't talked to yet, because there's a reason he's hanging on. and sherrie told her there was one (me) and the nurse told her i needed to talk to him.

so my mom called me this morning and told me she would call me when she got to his room. i had a couple of hours before then, so in true elizabeth fashion i wrote a post it note of all things i wanted to say to him. i mean, it could be - probably would be - the last time i talked to him this side of eternity.

what do you say to the man who has the most generous spirit of anyone you've ever known? how can you tell him he is a wonderful grandfather? that he raised three amazing children and six incredible grandchildren? that he's forgiven and i can't wait to see him again one day? that i'm sorry he will never meet my husband, or get to be a great-grandfather? that I love him?

when the phone rang i was prepared with my list in hand. i went to the bathroom (no use crying in front of everyone at work) and waited for my mom to put the phone to his ear. when i realized he was listening, all i said was, "i love you, big daddy." and i kept repeating it, because it was the only thing that would come out.

i think it's okay that i couldn't read my list - i know that he heard everything i was trying to say.

in the end, all that really matters is that we know we are loved.


***UPDATE 11/22/2008
My grandfather died on 11/20/2008. My family asked me to read this blog post at his graveside service. It was an honor.

into the maze...enter the medicine handed down

yesterday, Anne mentioned her struggle with depression and it struck a chord with me.

i can talk about my depression but it's harder to write about it. i'm not sure why, but i feel more exposed this way i guess. and i prefer to not bare my soul in such a public forum.......................................but on the other hand, reading blogs -- blogs of Christians, even --of people who struggle with this helped me a lot when i first started taking meds. so, here i am, talking about my depression on my blog. um, where do i start?

looking back, i think i've struggled with depression since high school, but not to the extent i do now. and i combated it by staying busy. i don't think i slowed down from my freshman year of high school until i graduated college. i do know that for those 9 years i hated being alone, hated staying at home by myself, and if i didn't have any plans i made some.

but after college and China and teaching 8th grade and moving to New York, my life did slow down.

When I moved to New York, I didn't really have any friends and I didn't like my job and I wasn't involved in my church and I wasn't sleeping and life wasn't fun anymore. i went to the doctor for something seemingly unrelated, and when i told her all of this she put me on Zoloft. And i felt bad for taking it, like i wasn't praying hard enough or my relationship with God wasn't what it should have been and i probably didn't need meds. but one day in my blog readings i came across someone who struggled with depression and struggled with taking meds (can't remember whose blog it was now). and after reading the comments, i realized that if i had diabetes, i would take meds. if i had cancer, i would get help. there is something wrong with my brain, and it can be helped with medication. why wouldn't i take it?

i stayed on zoloft until april, when things miraculously got better - i made some friends, i quit my job, and life was fun again. i thought that it was just my circumstances making me miserable. but this past january i started feeling sluggish, sad, not sleeping, wanting to stay in my bed all the time....and i realized though my circumstances had completely changed, i still felt the same and at the same time i did the year before. that's when i realized i probably had seasonal affective disorder, and went back to the doctor. she confirmed my suspicions, and also did a blood test which showed that i have an extreme vitamin D deficiency, which probably plays a role in the SAD (ironic, yes?!)

in my research i found that SAD (haha) begins, for most people, when the time changes. so this year, i went ahead and got a prescription for meds last week and have officially been on them for 5 days.

one of the commenters at flowerdust said, "having faith doesn’t make it disappear but it does make it different…different enough to step up and admit it, deal with it, talk about it, share with others..."

in the past, my thinking was skewed - my relationship with God allows me to talk about things, to admit them, to tell my roommates and other friends. more than that, my faith allows me to accept my struggle and share it with you in hopes that somehow it can help you either understand depression a little better or maybe compel you to get help if you need it.

For You are my lamp, O LORD; And the LORD illumines my darkness

- 2 Samuel 22:29

middle level coordinator slash mom

i haven't written a correspondence tuesday for my mom. i haven't forgotten about her, but the truth is, the way i feel about my mother is so hard to put into words that the thought of sitting down and writing about it is overwhelming.
mom and i are different but we definitely have our similarities. upon meeting her, many people will call me and say, "i met your mom the other day...now i understand you." what they don't know is that i wish i was half the person my mom is.
while i want to change the world and am willing to travel to far away places to do so, my mom wants to change the world by changing the people she sees right in front of her. and she doesn't do so by force, or by manipulation, or by coercion. she simply holds up a mirror so maybe you'll happen to catch a glimpse of the person she sees - and she always sees the best.

linda gilbert, an associate professor at MTSU (my alma mater) wrote an article about my mother and her friend/co-worker Elizabeth Church for today's Daily New Journal (my hometown newspaper).

having lived with my mom for twenty-something years, i can tell you this:
every word is true.
she is not a different person at home than she was in the classroom, and she is not a different person now that she works more with teachers than with students.

in the article, linda referrs to great teachers when she says, "...they began our dreams. Believed in us. Tugged, pushed, and led us to the next plateau of our lives..."

luckily, the same can be said about my mother, who happens to also be a great teacher --
she began my dreams.
she believed in me.
she tugged, pushed, and led me to the next plateau of my life.

single ladies SNL style

living in new york city, i love movies and tv shows and songs about this city more than the average person...it's just neat to watch a movie and be able to point out the flaws (like when they try to pretend they're on the upper west when they're really in tribeca, etc) or remember why you love this city in the first place or hear a song that explains exactly how it feels to live here. it's a totally different feeling when you actually do live here.
on that note, i didn't really appreciate saturday night live until i moved to new york. i guess it's because i didn't understand the humor when i was younger - the pop culture and new york city references just didn't mean anything to me. and now i live with two avid fans of the show - one whom i'm convinced will actually be on SNL one day, and the other quotes it often. So I end up watching most episodes.

all that to say, this skit from last night's show is one of the funniest i've ever seen:

Justin Timberlake & Beyonce - Parodie "Single Ladies" SNL
Uploaded by Rock_You_Justin

day 14...and i've got nothin'

things i want to write about but can't get past the first two sentences:

- our trip to Africa. we leave in 6 weeks. What???
- the six shots i got for said trip to Africa -- five in one day! i'm hardcore.
- the gross new york weather and how it makes me feel (ugh)
- the amount of money i have spent on cabs lately because of the gross weather and how i also seem to be running late a lot these days

- the fact that i'm in my bed at 8:30 on friday night. i'm tired. obvi.
- my grandfather
- how excited i am that i have company coming next weekend
- the twilight movies (that's right, i said movies PLURAL!)
- how much i love my blackberry. her name is rose.

real post tomorrow instead of a lame list, which will require that i get out of bed and do something worth writing about. here's to hoping!

type A. but only sometimes.

after reading this post on my friend jamie's blog, i started to type out a comment talking about how weird (read: crazy) i am about my email. but then the comment got too long to be a comment and i realized it should be a blog post instead!

so yeah, i'm super weird about my email. i have 3 personal email addresses and of course my work one. i like to keep my shopping stuff (target.com, amazon.com, etc.) separate so i have a shopping email account. i also have an account for "professional" stuff like when i decide to apply for random jobs or email congressmen and stuff. and then you know, my personal personal one, the one that's actually linked to my blackberry, the one i use on a regular basis. if you add all of them up, i have 4814 emails spread amongst my 3 accounts.

i am also a label fanatic...certain friends get their own label, but most else is in the 'friends' category. and most emails skip the inbox and go ahead and archive themselves automatically. i hate email in my inbox so everything has a label and a place. i clean it out about once a week, leaving the emails i need to reply to in my inbox so i'll remember to do it.



my work email is also organized like this, but i guess it makes more sense at work...right?

does anyone else do this?

we are family*

at the end of october my dad came to visit and my mom and sister came up last weekend...here are some pics from both weekends with members of the fam:

dad!

walking around the city makes me sooo tired

my lovely sister and me

lion king!

love her.

* when i was younger my dad got me a sticker that said, "we are family" in reference to that sister sledge song. 3rd grader elizabeth just knew there was supposed to be an "a" in between "are" and "family." i mean, why was there no article? and THEN i didn't understand why my parents laughed at me when i took a crayon and wrote a giant blue "A" where it belonged. thus began my grammar police career, with exception of those pesky capital letters of course.

...it could always be worse...

actual conversation via email with a good friend (aka GF) today:

GF: my mood is even worse today. i'm all grrrr, aaarrgh, and ugh (that means tiger, pirate, and teenage girl). anyway, hope you feeling good today.

ME: i've actually been forcing myself to have a good attitude. i keep telling myself it could be worse...it could be worse...etc....anyway, hang in there buddy. don't lose your grip.

GF:

i'm glad you're working and forcing the good attitude. and you're right it could be much worse.

in fact, let me give you a real life example of how it could be worse....

imagine you're kinda sad/upset/whatever and when you get like that you crave chocolate. so you're sitting at your desk eating...oh, i dunno, let's say you're eating some mini 3 musketeer bars. lunch time rolls around and you're craving the fatty goodness of Cracker Barrel. you hop in your car and head on out thinking of the greasy, gravy-covered, unhealthy that awaits.

just as you're getting out of your car, something catches your eye...something in the crotch area of your pants...oh, it's globs of chocolate that must have fallen into your lap and melted as you munched on your candy bars all morning. great. you feel the mild panic attack swelling as you think, "how long have those spots been there?! who at work has seen them?! did anyone notice?? if so, why didn't they say anything?? oh no...please don't let there be chocolate globs on my butt!!"

despite the fear and embarrassment that is overcoming you, your need for some lunchtime gravy increases to the point where it's overwhelming. so you hop out of your car and sneak into the bathroom to clean your pants and check the rear for any globs/stains. after quickly looking over the front, back, sides, and crotch areas (can't be too conspicuous cuz there's another fellow at the sink), you start calming down cuz it's not as noticeable as you feared. so you trot off to your table, at the back of the restaurant, walking by tons of people, relieved that the pseudodookie stains are gone.

after eating a delicious lunch, you head all the way back to the front of the restaurant to the register to check out. the line is long enough that you have to start thinking about the stain potential and make a quick run to the bathroom for a final check. as you're checking the rear of your pants again (this time more carefully cuz no one's in there with you) you see a large glob of smushed chocolate that you missed the first time around...not so much on the actual rear, but an inch or so down on one of the legs....and then you start to panic again. "omg - i walked past all those people - twice - with this blob on my pants! they've probably been laughing the whole time!! i can never come back here! oh yeah, and how many people noticed (probably none, but i'm in that state of mind) that i went to the bathroom before i was seated??!"

how embarrassing...

and if i was having a bad day before, i'm definitely laughing now...

grown up. when did that happen?

at what point did you consider yourself a grown up?

- when you moved out of your parents house?
- when you got married?
- when you had children of your own?
- when you became completely financially independent?

i know people who are one or all of the above but are still some of the most immature not grown up people i know. i’m not married, don’t have children, and don’t know that i’ll ever be completely financially independent (not because i can’t support myself, but because my parents take great joy in helping me), but i think i started feeling grown up when i realized i was more concerned with the well being of my parents than i was the well being of myself.

the thing that sucks about caring about their emotional, physical, and spiritual health is the way it feels when they’re not doing well. then you begin to feel a little like a parent yourself when you realize you would do anything – anything – to help them, to take their pain away, to make it better.

if caring for my parents is this hard, i can’t imagine how it’s going to feel to have children.

annoying audience members

my sister and mom have been here since friday, and that means lots of shopping and lots of talking and this time it meant seeing lion king and wintuk (the new york city cirque du soleil).
lion king was wonderful. my sweet friend alison got us fabulous tickets (having a good friend who's a concierge has its perks!)
wintuk was mom's Christmas present from my sister and me. She's a huge fan of all things cirque, and we knew she would enjoy seeing it here with us.
however, kathleen and i weren't as fascinated as she was. we were surrounded by annoying people and preferred making this list to actually watching the show [disclaimer: kathleen and i are self-admittedly more annoyed by annoying things than the average person. another disclaimer: when we talk about annoying kids, please know that i'm not talking to any of my mom friends. your children would never act this way - trust me. or if they did, you would rip them up by their hair and haul them home before you would allow them to repeatedly kick the seat in front of them or constantly scream IN MY EAR]
ahem, the list:

1. The "WOOOOOOO!" er - "oh, everyone's clapping! this means that i should revert back to my high school cheerleading days and let out a loud 'WOOOOOOOOO!'"
2. The Gum Chewer - aka the person right behind you who's smacking her gum so loud you [i] go all 8th grade teacher and want to turn around and ask her to spit it out in my hand.
3. The Perfume Bather - even worse when the offending perfume is Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers.
4. The Annoying Kid - mentioned above in the disclaimer - the kid who is allowed to yell [IN MY EAR], jump up and down while holding onto the back of mom's chair. when he IS sitting in his chair, he's kicking the seat in front of him [to the point where my very patient mother had to ask him ever so nicely to stop kicking her chair]
5. The Informational Parent - thinks their child is blind and cannot see that the guy onstage is balancing on a big ball and finds it necessary to tell him every. single. detail. [bet you can guess whose parents they were]
6. The Sniffler - blow your nose already. or get rid of the mustache.
7. The Loud Talker - whispering was invented for a reason*
8. The Crackberry User - get. off. your. phone. your email can wait til intermission**
9. The Bird's Nest - i can't see over your hair, lady...or, as mom says, "1960 called and wants its beehive back."
10. The Shifter - the person in the front row who leans to her left, causing the guy behind her to lean to his right, so the guy behind him has to lean to his left...ripple effect that means the people in the back [aka US!] can't see. or the person who finds it necessary to sit on the edge of his/her seat so NO ONE can see.
11. The Late Comer - never fails, they always have seats #50 and 51 in a row of 100.
12. The Narrator - kind of like The Informational Parent, but instead of talking to their children they talk to whomever they're with. Can also be combined with The Loud Talker.
13. The Pee-er - apparently you have a bladder the size of a fingernail, because you have gone to the bathroom six times. and like The Late Comer, you're sitting in the middle of the aisle.

* I might be this annoying audience member at times.
** I am definitely this annoying audience member. I apologize in advance.

oh! hi....

according to google analytics, the twilight lexicon sent 1019 people to my site (am i allowed to link to a site that's already linked to me? weird). ONE THOUSAND NINETEEN. 1019 is quite a large number.

So, if you're still here hoping for more or you just caught up on your twilight lexicon news blog reading...hi!

If you're new to my blog, I wanted you to know that I don't only write about [fictional] vampires.

More words that carry the hope:

I write about my friends a lot. Especially when their words or actions pierce my heart.
I write about music and other books (YES! OTHER BOOKS! WHO KNEW OTHER BOOKS EXISTED?!?!)
I write about Jesus and His Church.
I write about my life in New York City.
And I write about things I'm passionate about.

If you are new, I hope you'll stay a while. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something. I hope we both do. And old readers, all six of you (including my mom...hi mom!), thanks for sticking around.

i probably don't tell the people around me that i believe in them. i consider myself blessed to have friends who are so talented, beautiful, and smart. i believe they are all changing their small piece the world in a big way.

to my friends [you know who you are]:

i believe in you.

i believe that you will make the world a better place for millions of children.

i believe that you will change the face of the Church (Isaiah 58).

i believe that you will create fashion that revolutionizes the world.

i believe that you will compel all of America to laugh.

i believe that you will use your skills to help create community.

i believe that you will tell your story and it will change perspectives.

i believe that you will find deep rooted joy.

i believe that you will earn a living doing what you love.

i believe that you will save lives.

i believe that you will love and be loved.

i believe that you will figure out where you belong.

i believe that you will have a great marriage.

i believe that you will raise amazing children.

i believe that you will get through the hardest year of your life.

i believe that you will because He is.

love,
elizabeth

escape!

when i was in college i prided myself on being a non-TV watcher. i didn't get into Friends until the end, hated American Idol and thought Survivor was stupid. but i have progressed (or is it regressed?) since i graduated. one of my favorite things to do is watch entire seasons of various shows on DVD. when i lived in China i think i watched 3 seasons of 24 in a week (which explains why i haven't watched it since returning to the states...too impatient to wait a whole week).

i had high hopes for the fall TV season, but my schedule has since dwindled --

beginning of the season:
Sunday: True Blood, Brothers and Sisters
Monday: Gossip Girl, The Hills, How I Met Your Mother
Tuesday: The Cleaner, 90210
Wednesday: Lipstick Jungle
Thursday: Grey's, Ugly Betty (if i happen to catch it), and The Office

now:
Sunday: still watch True Blood (even though their accents are TERRIBLE!), but can Brothers and Sisters be any more whiny? it's getting on my nerves.
Monday: still watch Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother, but The Hills...ugh, Audrina, why do you make such terrible decisions? I want to punch her in the face the whole time which makes it hard for me to watch.
Tuesday: 90210 is boring, and my DVR hasn't been recording The Cleaner - not sure what's going on with that...anybody know? Anybody actually watch this show?
Wednesday: Lipstick Jungle moved to Friday, but i like it and still try to keep up
Thursday: totally over Grey's, don't make time to watch Ugly Betty and will catch up with The Office if I'm bored enough on the weekends, though I haven't been lately

What are you watching? Is there something I'm missing out on? Let me know!

a perfect brand new day...and we're the next in line

i was woken up at 12:30 AM by people yelling and horns blowing on the street below my window. in my sleepy stupor i could only make out the words "Obama" and "President" and that's how i learned who won the presidential election. i loved it.
i said yesterday that i'm not writing about politics, and i'm still not going to...but these other people did, so i think you should check them out. don't worry, most of them aren't super political, they just worded their thoughts better than i can:

Brian talks about poverty vs. laziness. To him, "poverty has a face and a name."

Pete reminds us that "today is a new day...a new era." Let's (let US) join together and pray for our new leader.

Jennie from She Likes Purple puts it so well when she says, "I hope we all choose belief and faith over fear, and I hope we celebrate our differences instead of continuing to let them divide and define us."

Anne has five things we should do, since we shouldn't "rely on Obama to guide this country into the future."

and finally, Leah congratulates America on being "all growed up."

EDIT 11/6
TWO MORE:

This one by Heather B. made me cry.

So did this one...YES WE CAN.

happy election day! and happy birthday!

i had a whole post written about exercising my right to vote (and also exercising my right to not tell you for whom i voted! and ALSO exercising my right to not discuss my reasons behind voting for him! YAY!) but i was bored writing it, so you would probably be bored reading it. so, to sum it up: i voted! it was awesome! i'm excited to hear the results! the next four years will be interesting either way!

anyway, today is election day, but also of importance: it's my friend elizabeth's birthday! (the other elizabeth. not me. it is not my birthday, and i would not refer to myself as "my friend." i mean, i like myself. but who writes a birthday blog for him or herself? weirdos for sure. so check back on january 3 for my birthday blog to myself!) Anyway, today is her birthday. i've mentioned her and her family once or twice...and i'm sure i have more to say about how incredible she is. however, time is short today, so i'll leave you with this:

happy birthday to one of my favorite people ever. hope it's your best year yet.

how i used my skills as a former groupie to stalk a vampire* [a timeline]:

SUNDAY:
1:00PM received word that edward cullen (his real name is robert pattinson. i don't care. from now on his name is edward) would be at the Apple Store in Soho Monday night.
1:30PM moved Monday night Bible Study to the Starbucks beside the Apple Store. Obviously a coincidence.
1:45 convinced roommate Susan to join ("convinced" really is a strong word...all i had to say was edward cullen and she was totally in)
2:00-11:00 Spent rest of day in anticipation of seeing boyfriend on monday

MONDAY
10:30-3:00 too much work (sadly forgot about seeing boyfriend, as was extremely busy)
3:00 received word that the line formed at 11:00 this afternoon and they were only letting 80 people in
3:30 told Bible study girls to get in line
5:00 Bible study girls get to go in
6:15 leave work
6:20 get on wrong train
6:30 get on right train that goes wrong way
6:45 give up and take a cab. slowest cab driver ever.
7:00 arrive at apple store

my 'excited!' face

7:01-7:29 wait. we have come to the conclusion that we won't be getting in the store.
7:30 spend $4 on an apple and some sweet potato chips for dinner from dean & deluca, as is closest place to eat. need to get back to my standing spot
7:40 realize we are standing next to paparazzi. best chance for glimpse of edward

7:45 crowd gets bigger
7:46-7:59 take pictures to pass time:

we love edward cullen.

8:00 false alarm [someone screams "EDWARD" and girls come a runnin']
8:01 wonder if i've been transported back to 1964 and we're actually waiting for the beatles


8:05 false alarm, but this time i scream too and run across the street. yes, i'm embarrassed.
8:15 Catherine Hardwicke shows up. Stupid paparazzi run up to her yelling, "Stephenie! Please sign our books!" We inform them that she is NOT Stephenie. They are idiots.
8:20 the NYPD show up:
8:20-8:30 crowd continually getting yelled at by bodyguards to back up and get off the street
8:35 a black car pulls up
8:35 i scream and run across the street. again.
8:35 edward cullen gets out of the car. i try to take a picture and end up with this stellar shot:
9:00 on way home. make roommate susan cry when i show her what i've written in my journal about my future husband (because reading the twilight series will make you write about your future husband)
11:30 bed. and glad i got to see edward cullen. but mostly i'm just glad to live in a city as crazy as new york.

* yes, a vampire i said. i have trouble believing edward cullen's not real.

TUESDAY [AN EDIT]:

roommate susan sends me this picture. Now I know why my shot of Edward was so incredible:

i am awesome.