Star Wars

Just because I thought this was funny...


[Source: Online PhD]

Sparkly Things, revisted

I have no idea why, but I have been thinking about my previous post a bit -- I promise, less future-y type posts and more relevant ones soon -- and have come to some conclusions. I wanted to document it here so in the future (ugh, there is that F word again) I can point someone to this post and say "surprise me."

This is the ring I want, with a few minor adjustments:

All photos taken by me and are of my chubby fingers :)

Said adjustments being: I want tapered baguettes on the sides instead of the split thing going on in the picture. Like in the previous post (the True Blood ring). And I'm not sure about the blue topaz. I want a harder stone that can keep up with me wearing it every day. And lighter. Either diamond (which would cost a million dollars - I'd much rather spend that kind of money on a house), white sapphire, morganite, something light and transparent, a little bit of color is o with me.

So you may think, "you have a picture of you wearing the ring, huh??" My mum finished her doctorate in education two years ago (walked at the 2009 commencement ceremony). As a present I got her the ring. Slightly selfishly, Ill admit. I saw the ring. Fell in love. Decided I needed to have it. But couldn't justify spending that amount of money on myself. I got it for her graduation present and borrow it whenever I like! Best of all worlds. I love that ring SOOOOO much. Really. I do. It's sad. The end.

PS Honestly, if I got that exact ring, Id be happy too. Just saying :)

Oh in case you are wondering. I got the blue topaz cushion/oval with the east/west setting at Macy's in April of 2009. They were having some sort of sale, and if I remember correctly, it was under $300 (originally I think it was ~$500).

Sparkly Things

This is a few weeks late. Oops. But...

VetChick got engaged!!! VetChick got engaged. Oh yes, VetChick got engaged! WooHoo!!!

Can you tell I am a bit excited. VetChick and soon to be MrVetChick have been together for 6 years. Yes, 6 years. She was completely shocked. As was I. Yes, I was there. Along with our closest friends. It was so them. And so special. And yes, I cried. Well the actual proposal wasn't in front of everyone; MrVetChick pulled her aside. I am so unbelievably happen for them.

It kind of got me thinking. About a few things. Well OK who am I kidding. It got me thinking about rings. I know, I know, an engagement should be about the marriage. NOT a wedding, and definitely NOT a piece of jewelry. I often joke that when the time comes I would like an engagement house.

However unfortunate, I don't think our society takes an engagement seriously unless there is a ring on the woman's finger. I have some friends who are in fact engaged and they have decided to either forgo the ring all together. Or want to wait until its financially feasible. In both cases, when the actual wedding planning started both family, friends and vendors alike did not take the couple seriously. This could turn into an entire post about how I think some people are more interested in a party (IE the wedding) than the marriage.

But back to the topic at hand. And yes, call me a hypocrite - because despite my feelings presented above and how I HATE that as soon as someone announces they are engaged the next question is always ' can I see the ring' - but I want to talk sparkly things. Or what normal people call engagement rings.

I was never the one to think about what my wedding or engagement would be like. And definitely not an engagement ring. I am so picky when it comes to jewelry as it is. I would be really scared to have my significant other pick out such an important piece. Something that I would wear forever and pass down to my children.

I also have awkwardly shaped hands. Little fat stumpy fingers. Some rings look just plain bizarre on my hand. What if there is a style ring I like, and explain it to a friend to help this supposed SO that is going to propose, but then it looks awful on my hand?! Am I supposed to try some on myself and then pass the word along? This whole ring debacle confuses me to no end.

There are some that I like to look at though!

The engagement ring that Vampire Bill gives Sookie in True Blood:

Source

I think there is something so magical about antique-looking rings. Does anyone have a non-diamond ring? Ive always liked the idea of a white sapphire. Maybe this is because I want a bigger stone (due to the fat fingers), and I wouldn't want to spend so much money on a diamond when it could go towards a down payment on a house.

Source

Who am I kidding: I am more than a little "out of the box." So why not have that reflected in the ring. East/West Oval setting anyone?

Source

... And I'm spent.

Weekend Brain Dump

Oh, where to begin...

Happy July 4th
(a few days late)

So, it was an interesting weekend to say the least. To start, I totally cracked. If you read my previous post about the birthday present that I got for MrGrizz - 4 months early - you will know that I get so freaking excited about presents that I cannot keep a secret. And I am a horrible liar, even just with lying by omission. On Monday, after the weekend that I put MrGrizz through (more to come on that in a second), I had JT bring over his present when they stopped by for pizza/movie afternoon.

We sent MrGrizz and T out to grab the pizza, so J and I could grab the guitar out of the car. I had no idea what to do with it. So I not so stealthily put it upstairs in the bedroom, on the bed. Fast forward to after we finished our scrumptious cheesy pizza, we were about to start "Hot Tub Time Machine" when I told MrGrizz that I needed to see him upstairs for a second. JT were trying to contain their giggles. As MrGrizz was coming up the stairs and saw that the bedroom door was shut, he had this look on his face and I just knew, he knew! So I opened the door, Ta-Da! He seemed pleased. Played with the guitar for a bit. Gave me a huge hug. Asked if I really couldn't have waited more than a week to give it to him. Then I asked... How did he know?!?

Apparently, J and I were not so stealth when I pulled her aside the night that he saw the pretty shiny new toy. And by an odd twist of fate, he actually drove past the music store (it happens once in a blue moon that he has to go out that way, unless visiting JT) and saw that is was in fact not there. I have to admit though, I was a little disappointed by his reaction. I mean I don't know what I was expecting. But I was a bit let down. I am kind of worried, he doesn't actually like the gift. The rest of the day yesterday I kept asking him if he was pleased. He said he was. I don't know, maybe i expected jumping jacks or screams of excitement. I blame J for this. When I originally told her about the idea and asked her opinion, she said that MrGrizz would FLIP OUT and probably propose after he saw how awesome I am. J, not a good thing to say. Ha.

Ok. Rewind. To the part of the weekend I am a bit embarrassed to explain...

I have no idea what was wrong with me. Last week I was having a really hard time sleeping. Usually NEVER a problem for me. When I don't sleep, I turn into a crank monster. Needless to say, I was not the happiest of camper's last week to begin with. Then midweek we got some very exciting news! PresD got into Havard Law School!!! Yay!!! On Friday, as I was driving to MrGrizz's house I was talking to PresD (on my hands free blue tooth) and suddenly started crying. I mean full on ugly cry. I was feeling really anxious about him moving to Boston; he is currently, and has been since he moved out of the house in Philadelphia. So while I didn't see him everyday, I always had the option. This pretty much set the stage for the rest of the weekend. It was a sobfest. At the drop of a hat, for no reason at all, I would start crying. Before you ask, yes it was "that time of the month." But I am normally a trooper and never get like this. I think it was a combination of lack of sleep, a stressful time at work, my hormones being completely out of whack, and just my generally propensity for craziness.

A big THANK YOU goes out to MrGrizz for putting up with my puffy eyed face for the weekend.

Supreme Court

I would like to preface this with the fact that I am an engineer NOT a lawyer or politician...

I leave the politicizing (yes, I make up words; and I like it) to my younger brother, PresD. I truly think my parents hit the jackpot when it comes to what interest's their children: PresD is currently in law school and the little sister, DrA, is eventually going to be a neurosurgeon (I say eventually because she is still in undergrad). But I digress.

... I have refrained from talking to PresD about the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Elena Kagan until I can determine my views first. My brother is very knowledgeable and has very distinct stances on legal issues. We do agree most of the time, but I find that after I have a conversation with him, I just take his views and arguments as my own becuase a) he makes it sound so good and b) he is much smarter than I am in regards to this and c) I'm sometimes lazy and dont want to research anything on my own. This post has nothing to do with my views, or hers, or anyone else's. It does have to do with a hilarious clip I saw on the news this morning.

She is being asked about the Christmas Day bomber, specifically where she was on that day. Orange juice came out of my nose I was laughing so hard when I heard her response, I kid you not. Hysterical.

Yes, in case you have not already figured out, I am indeed Jewish. And got the biggest kick of this response. I think at some point I will write a whole post about Judiasm and what it means to me and how I try and live everyday a little bit Jewish.

Also does anyone else thinks she looks a little like Rachel Dratch from SNL? I asked a coworker and he thinks she looks more like John Lovitz or Nathan Lane.

Asking for Help...

... and tooting my own horn*.

I have been trying to decide how much and/or how little to share on this. But for this post to make any sense at all, I need to give a bit of background. I am indeed in a relationship with someone; we shall dub him MrGrizz. MrGrizz’s birthday isn’t until the Fall, but I did a bad, bad, awesome, thing.

Let me set the stage…

MrGrizz, myself and couple friend TJ all went out to dinner last weekend. Great new restaurant in Pottstown (a long drive from Philly, but worth it), if you want the name of it, let me know. After parking the car, on the short walk to the restaurant we passed a music store.

PAUSE

Oh goodness, I forgot you need even more background for this story to make any sense at all. MrGrizz is a musician. In every sense of the word. He has a band, is in a few others, and manages even more. All along with his full time day job.

RESUME

Where was I? Oh yes, we were walking by a music store. There was a guitar (neat looking I will admit) in the window and MrGrizz stopped dead in his tracks and stared. It was more oogled than stared. Like how I imagine a prepubescent boy looks at his first Playboy. JT scurries over to the restaurant; it was a late dinner and we were all hungry. I played the good lady friend and waited until MrGrizz had stood in front of the closed store window for a long enough time that I didn’t feel badly about pulling him away. On the way out of the restaurant, the same exact thing happened.

After leaving, we went back to JT’s apartment for awhile and MrGrizz excused himself. I asked JT if they could do me a HUGE favor. Would they mind going to the store the next day and picking up the guitar that MrGrizz was obsessing over for me? You see, I live in Philadelphia and we were a good 45 mins to an hour away. Well they are the best people in the entire world, because I just got a call from J of JT and she picked it up for me!!!!! It was a great price, at this consignment music place, so I thought ‘why not?’

So now there are a few issues with this:

• MrGrizz’s birthday (and this will be a bday present) is not until the fall. I am AWFUL at surprises; I get so excited that I can’t keep them secret. It has been 48 hours and I’m already bursting at the seams.
• I need to get a case for the guitar. Here is where the help comes in: I have no idea what kind it is! At the store when J picked it up, apparently it would not fit into any of the cases that they had. I’m thinking it I figure out what kind of guitar it is, then I can find a case for that specific model online.
• I also need to find a way to get it from JT’s apartment to my house.
  

Some pictures of the super secret surprise birthday present:

I know that it is an Epiphone hollow body. And that’s about it. If anyone knows anything about guitars please let me know! I’ve been searching online, and am not sure if I have found the correct model. Once I get it in my hands I could just bring it to a music store. But I don’t want to transport it in my car without a case to protect it.

Moral of the story: I am the best lady friend ever. Bought a birthday present 4 mths early. And am awful at surprises.

* I tried google-ing from where this term came. No such luck. I will retry during lunch.

Need to Fully Grasp this Blogging Thing

I am so bad at remembering to update this. Actually I remember that I should do it all the time, I think I am just lazy. Let me define the term 'lazy' in this sense. I keep a little notepad journal type thing with me in my purse at all times. To write myself notes... A thought that I want to remember... Phone number's... Dr's appts... Anything and everything. My original plan with this blog was to take things directly from my journal and rework it on here. Well that is so not happening. I am too lazy to basically retype what I already have written. So, new plan: Write directly on here! Let's hope this way goes more smoothly...