happiness is a warm bun

I made cinnamon rolls yesterday.

right as I saved this post, Mike showed me a picture of the gun he just bought.

at the game last night


after the wedding reception the real party is at Gritty's in Auburn.


the last time I went to a bar with Shannon and Mike, I got cut off at 11pm and Shannon made me go home (where Elise was in the shower and I walked into the bathroom door then threw up in my room.) then Mike punched a guy who bought Shannon a drink and they got kicked out. here's hoping to an equally memorable evening.

what are the odds

Saturday morning I awoke with 2 specific goals
1. throw lovely and memorable bachelorette party for Shannon
2. find (matching) wedding shoes for the bridesmaids

I was definitely looking forward to the party more.

to all of our astonishment, we tried on one pair and were content. the store had one of each of our sizes left.....it was a sign.
whew.
doneskies.


soon we (Shannie, Aileen, Elise, and I) were at the Medway casa setting up for the party. I was bringing stuff outside and a bee stung the palm of my hand. I'm not afraid of bees at all and I realized this was because I hadn't been stung since I was like 11 and forgot how much it hurt!!!!!!!!

10 minutes later I went back outside and got stung again! on my other hand. I was then useless with the decorating and prepping of food. I felt like I had hamburger helper hands.

I iced and was well enough in time to hold my own cup.
a.

b.



grampa was struck by lightning twice.

olé!



lovely and memorable

this weekend Elise and I are celebrating our 7 year anniversary as friends. who would've thought when we met that Labor Day in 01 we would still be buddies today.
Elise was my first friend at BU! if I remember correctly, Elise and I met because we actually bumped into each other. (we were both clumsy back then, too)

Halloween 02. Spice girls

what a terrible picture.

so Yankees tonight. the Sox really need to win these games, not because I'm worried about the Yankees contending for the wild card, but because the Sox can't afford to lose any ground to the Twins/White Sox.

Joe Biden had a pulled pork sandwich for lunch yesterday.

I had a pulled pork burrito.

Papi on Dusty

"He's the best. He's the best of the best. He's the best thing that ever happened to this ballclub... he's a (expletive) great kid, dude. He's the best. I love him. It's great, man. I talk about Pedroia all the time to everybody because of how little he is and the way he plays the game. And I'll be like, 'Dude, seriously, he's a bad little kid.'"


Papi + Dusty = :D
Sox tied for wildcard with Twins = :(
Sox pitching > Toronto bats
postseason - Sox = :'(
Heidi + lunch = B-)

funsies

I saw the Faint with Kathryn last night. they are always so good.
Kathryn is from Omaha and recently played trivia back home with Jacob (the keyboardist and my fav!)
Jacob

Kathryn and me

the Faint was my first show at the Middle East back 7 or 8 years ago. imagine the Middle East Downstairs as gross and hot and unventilated as it is now, but with the band and 2/3 of the audience smoking inside and a fog machine.

speaking of foggy nights... bachelor and bachelorette parties this weekend.

Josh and the Shannon pinata I ordered

I just drew on her Shannon necklace, medical alert bracelet, birthmark, eyelashes, and a fake "Mike" tattoo.

future brother-in-law

I hope Mike's bachelor party is fun (but not too fun)

double tall one pump cinnamon vanilla nonfat latte with whip

this is my fall-winter drink at Starbucks. it tastes just like walking to work at American Apparel in the morning, except better because I'm not going to work there. today I had my first one since winter! (probably the beginning of May... seriously this global warming stuff is made up)

blog party

I'm constantly getting new ideas of topics to blog about, but there's just not enough time to organize all the sentences I construct in my mind into the eloquent brain candy I want my blog to be. You know?

I recently had the chance to talk with some people who read my blog (!) and got their feedback. I was really happy to learn that at least a few of you are coming here to learn about sports. I'm sorry my focus has lately diverted to cats. Also, there has been some curiosity expressed about what it is I do at work. I will tackle that next time.

Here's a picture of Jack!


Sunday morning Biff escaped and got in a fight with the neighbor's boxer.

(not actual dog)
now Biff runs under my bed when he hears the dog bark. sad panda.

Every so often my sister, Emily, likes to remind me of how I taped over the last episode of Full House with a baseball game (this happened about 10 years ago). I feel bad about it (in part) because I can't even remember what game it was... probably a Fox Saturday baseball game with This Week in Baseball before it. In the mid-late 90s I was really into taping sports onto VHS.

Do you ever have one of those small epiphanies when you're looking up directions or something online and think 'how did people do this without the internet?!' When you wonder that whilst looking at sports videos on Youtube, the answer is: VHS.

I know I have a tape somewhere with highlights of the '96 Olympics (it's probably with my '96 Olympics t-shirt). As I watched some women's gymnastics on Sunday night I noticed something that has appeared to withstand the test of time and transcend cultural boundaries.

Almost all gymnasts wear scrunchies.

1996



so interesting.

I miss Manny.

I forgot to watch Alex on Sox Appeal. I'm going to look it up on Youtube.

it's a pet crate that cleverly doubles as a stylish end table

yesterday I went into my old apartment (chez Curran) for the first time since I moved out.

the stairs have the same squeaks. the kitchen has the same smells. I instinctively shut the door quickly behind me so that the cats wouldn't run out (even though no cats live there anymore). I thought about all the times Biff ran upstairs to the other apartment where the girls hated him.
the googly eye is still on the light switch.
one noted (and needed) change - the bathroom sink now has only one faucet.


about an hour ago my upstairs neighbors invited me to come up to their friendly get-together later tonight. in the 10 seconds our doors were open Biff ran upstairs into their apartment. as one of the girls chased him, the other girl told me something very disturbing... they have pet rats... that run around their apartment. my eyes got really wide and I had flashbacks to the horribly disgusting rat in my Fenway apartment that I named Quiznos. sensing my repulsion, my neighbor said, "the rats look like your cat, they are the same colors."

Biffy has nothing in common with a rodent.

happy times chez Curran



I can't believe a year ago I was still living in the Fenway apartment. it seems like forever ago. I moved into that apartment when I was 22.

the annoying, loud apartment across the street is having a party, like right in the street. they are listening to Fugazi. the cats are all watching in the windowsill.

so last week I was cat cuddling at the MSPCA and they told me that they took in over 40 cats that week. if you are thinking of getting one, there are some I could recommend. I'm a certified animal helper.


Chip changed my homepage to www.bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.com

a symphony of mark making

no that is not a product description in Sky Mall. my Drawing in the Landscape teacher used that phrase to describe Van Gogh's style.
I would like to be described in some capacity as a symphony.

my apartment is a symphony of cats and old treasures


today we drew in a cemetery near Harvard Square.


I'm more comfortable drawing gravestones than trees.

I recently changed Moses' name to Chip. here he is checking out my art supplies.


when I was walking through Cambridge with that sketch pad I got the same uneasy pangs that I did when I was in middle school and I had to carry my violin through the high school to the practice room... not embarrassed but standing out in a way that I didn't want to... (I pondered that for a minute and determined that is not the definition of 'embarrassed.')
the streets were crowded and I had an 18"x24" object under my arm. in school, when I was going to orchestra practice, I remember trying to be quick and stealth and unseen. in retrospect that was impossible because 3 or 4 of us would all race through the hallways with our instruments. and because I was as clumsy then as I am now.

for a couple years of school I shared a music stand with my friend, Brittany.

Saturday was the first time I've seen her in a year, and actually the only time for at least another year because in a couple weeks she's moving to Xi'an (Shaanxi province in China.) Brittany gave me a recap of the opening ceremonies. she's practically native to China by now.

I drew those rings.

I just saw a guy from my office building on a commercial for Sox Appeal, he's the bachelor in the new episode on Sunday. I always thought he'd be good for Elise. I think that about a lot of single guys though.

macaroni & cheese

clever ways to make your life better

earlier today I was flipping through Sky Mall. I'm going to keep it on hand for when I can't think of an email subject. i.e. 'ice cubes in just minutes...how cool'

look at this inflatable tv

a tv so awesome you won't even be interested in your swimming pool.

I want to go in a swimming pool before the end of the summer. all evidence suggested today was fall. I had soup for lunch. I wore socks. when I woke up the air felt cold and I didn't want to get out of my cover cocoon. I needed an extra cover last night.
well you could swim in fall if it's an indoor pool. I bet there will be one at the Hilton we're staying at for the wedding next month. hm yes just confirmed on hotels.com- indoor swimming pool.

feel better Laura
happy early birthday Mike
can't wait to see you Brittany
congrats Elise's aunt Betty
way to go Jacoby

rites of passage/ land and sea

Friday morning I got on the T to go to work and it didn't feel nearly as crowded as usual. for a second I froze and thought, oh crap is today Saturday? Thursday night I took my sister, Emily, to a show at Paradise, so I hadn't got my usual 10 hours of sleep... threw me off a bit.

so I've been thinking about important milestones for someone out on their own for the first time... I didn't have anyone to show me cool places to go to or what the cheapest food for survival was. of course I learned nonetheless, but I'm really happy I have had the chance to show Emily some of the ways of life as a new adult.

go to show in Boston - check.


sneak into 21+ bar - check.


buy first burrito - check.


stay up late for no reason, doing dumb things - check.

(she usually goes to bed by 9:30, not that I can judge.)

live in hip, sometimes sketchy neighborhood in old house with lots of "charm" - check.

oh and get a pet because you can - check.

in other news, I was surprised Manny left us so abruptly. Jason Baywatch is filling the void nicely though. I am happy Ken Griffey Jr was traded to the White Sox because later on in the month I have tickets to see them play the Red Sox. I saw Jr, A-Rod and the other Mariners of the late 90s play at Fenway when I was in high school. I went with my dad and my brother on the commuter rail, we sat in the bleachers and I know somewhere I have a photo of Griffey's back that I took at that game. Randy Johnson pitched and even from far away he looked so tall. Tim Wakefield pitched for us. I bet this game was right around the time that I read the Mike Piazza article I mentioned in my last blog.

it's raining at my house but I'm watching the Red Sox game and there's no rain at Fenway. yesterday Elise and I rode bikes from Newbury St to the aquarium. while we were on our way we could hear thunder and a felt a few drops of rain. but we made it right before the downpour. we were like yes, sweet fist pump and ran inside to get tickets for Dolphins and Whales in 3D. but the people in line in front of us bought the last tickets to the show! all of a sudden we thought oh no we have the worst luck. then we were deciding if we should wait an hour for Sharks in 3D when these 2 boys came over and offered us free tickets to the Sharks show. yes!!! what a great day.

Rhianna and Rob met us there and we passed the hour preparing for the show by eating swedish fish.


the image of the yellow fish above was more gruesome than anything in the movie. I was actually a bit disappointed by that. however I do recommend the movie purely because of the jellyfish that will swim right in front of your face.

this turned into a long blog because I was planning on blogging before I left to go sailing. then it just kept looking more and more like rain. now there is a Red Sox delay. the sky keeps getting blue then really dark. I don't think we'll be sailing today.