28 February 2009

mini-golf and crêpes

happy weekend, everybody! what a lovely one it's been so far. my dear friend, olivia rose, celebrated her birthday yesterday with mini-golf and cupcakes. i saw a lot of old friends, and made some new ones. it was a really nice evening. today i woke up at noon (heaven), and went to watch my cello professor's 4 year old- matisse. then, i went to a place for brunch with a friend that one of those new friends last night recommended- the leaf kitchen. i had the crêpe up there (lime and brown sugar wheat), with a mint lime soda. it did make me want to drink a mojito, for it to be about 40 degrees warmer, and possibly lay on a hammock for days. oh well. time will cure all, i'm sure. then i spent 3 hours at a coffee shop with a couple of friends. i plan to keep hard-core relaxing through the weekend, maybe eat a lot of indian food, maybe cuddle too much, probably play cello a lot. 
hope the rest of yours is great!

26 February 2009

itzhak lovie

god of gods

warning: cello nerd post
this is insane.

25 February 2009

frugal wishlist

we both know i have no money, but if i did, you'd better believe i'd already own these things.




see? i don't ask for much. besides, nobody can have too many moccasins. 

patiently anxious

man i want to meet the kid my sister is supposed to have soon.
mr. noah is taking his sweet time coming out. i helped katie waddle through the grocery store when i was home last weekend. being pregnant must be weird. people give you lots of looks- mostly older woman smiles. it's a special time. for most people, it only happens a few times- if ever. isn't it weird how little babies look like old men? how are they still so cute? my two year old nephew still doesn't really understand what's going on. he asks everybody if there is a baby in their tummy- including my guy friends.

(photo from t.b.)

wonderful stop motion

i've been meaning to post this for awhile now.
i wouldn't mind spending all day in my pajamas in bed or living my life in stop motion.

24 February 2009

out of hibernation


to my two official followers, sorry i've been out of commission since last week. to the rest of you- i suppose i'll apologize to you, also.
the video above is from a concert i played in last summer in beijing, china. i've been thinking about that trip a lot lately. i studied there for 3 1/2 weeks with a lot of amazing people, and i'll leave it to you to play some where's waldo. i'm wearing a silver dress, and i sort of stick out. that piece is written for an octet- 8 people- and we played it with 85. you would think it would sound awful with that many people, but it didn't turn out so bad. i met some of the most talented people i've ever met at that festival, and i know they're all going to go somewhere. as for me, who knows. we'll see.
this weekend i made cupcakes, spent a whole night cleaning my apartment, saw my nephew, and probably annoyed people to death with hugs. i've been thinking too much about spring vacation and the people who are visiting me soon. i should focus more on school.
stay tuned, there are lots of things i have in store to show you! 
have a lovely day.

17 February 2009

daydreaming of fall




this is my apartment for the fall. i'm so excited. 
hopefully i can make it look like this.
i bought fabric softener today. is it weird that my whole life i've never used fabric softener? let me tell you, i'll never not use fabric softener again. no matter what my financial situation is. it's a necessary luxury.
it's supposed to snow tomorrow. why? it's been so lovely and sunny. it just needs to get a little bit warmer. stupid groundhog.

16 February 2009

bébé chéri

isn't this little angel the cutest? 
i hope someday that my children (even one) are half as adorable.

happy monday!



happy monday, everbody! i went to madison this weekend, and it was fantastic. i saw lots of great people, my date took me on a valentine's date to tutto and we saw slumdog millionaire. it was a great movie, but not exactly what i was expecting. however, i don't know what i was expecting. i got to go to two of my favorite breakfast places while i was there, too. bradbury's (pictured above) and sunroom cafe. god, i love breakfast.
my date spoiled me with some very thoughtful gifts. 
i even did some shopping!




hope your valentine's day was great, and that you found a little bit of love in some way. xx

13 February 2009

cheese and cuddles



happy valentine's day everybody!
that picture is a (slightly embarrassing) high school photo of mine.
hope yours is great!

12 February 2009

life lessons



first of all, i got in a minor car accident today. that's never happened. let me just explain to you that i really hate car accidents. i remember my sister ripping the side mirror off of her hand-me-down, 1970-something, maroon buick lasabre from our grandma by backing up into the garage. i remember sitting at the top of the stairs of our old house while my parents sat her down to, what seemed at the time, yell at her. it was one of those things you always remember. life lessons. growing up. i also hate car accidents, even cars in general. my cousin, brent, was paralyzed when he was 19. he fell asleep at the wheel at night and laid in a field until somebody found him. he's paralyzed from the waist down. i remember going into the hospital with my father, who always gives him crap. i had no idea what to say. on the other hand, my father waltzes in and says "what are you doing laying around all day for, junior?" although still in an unimaginable amount of pain and grief, brent lit up at the familiarity and from the tension that had been lifted from the room. 
the scenario of my day is this. i had left that 8:30 am theory test i talked about yesterday, which i feel i did pretty well on, went to get some tea at the java house, and walked back to my car. everything's normal. i'm actually smiling at the thought of how well i think i did on that test, and how it's nice that the sun is out (you know me and the weather these days). i look in my mirrors. i see a tan SUV in the left lane. i'm parked about two stalls in from a stop sign, so this car had about 10 feet to go until the red light. in my subconscious, i decide to go ahead into the right lane and proceed normally off into my daydreams of sugary summer sun and no more theory tests. i quickly see the tan SUV fly past me, along with a honk, and a lot of scratching. i do nothing but panic. i get out of my car, quickly say "i didn't see you there, are you okay?" (i'm way too nice sometimes). she said nothing. she looked down at her vehicle. she had a tiny bit of my red paint on her car. i wanted it back. she goes, "oh, well this tire might not be okay in awhile. do you have your information?". thinking, "oh well this is what happens, she'll give me hers, too", in my subconscious (stupid subconscious). i never asked her for her information. she says, "i'm blocking traffic! just go write it down". i can hear my dad yelling now. i go to my car. i sit down, and start bawling. ugly crying. i rip out a piece of paper and start writing down meaningless numbers, my name, and phone number. my hand is shaking. she's standing in the street, and i know she can see me. she walks up to my car and taps on the window. i keep crying and shaking and blubbering. i open the door, but don't look up or say anything. i'm having a meltdown. now would've been the time to call the cops, or about 10 minutes prior to this. like, right when it happened. i crush the paper in my hand and give it to her. she says, "listen, your car got it worse anyway. don't worry. it'll be okay." IT'LL BE OKAY? my life is flashing before my eyes. the scrape is huge. it has to be growing in size by now. 
she drives off.
i call clayton, and blubber about getting in a wreck. audibly frightened, he asks me if i'm okay. nobody died, but my emotional and dramatic needs are more scraped up than my car. i tell him i'm an idiot and i already wish i could take everything back. my parents are going to kill me. he tries to console me on a time crunch, as he has a few seconds to get to class. "i'll call you later," he says. 
i call my mom's office, with no answer. i leave a message- no way she will understand a word of it. i wipe my face of snot, and start driving. i hate driving. i hate driving. i hate driving.
maybe there's a shot in hell she'll answer her cellphone. i call it- while driving. screw it all at this point. she answers. don't start crying. "oh god mom," i whine. 
"honey, don't get upset. it's an older car. nothing stays perfect forever. lots of people get in wrecks. even if she does call the insurance company, which she probably won't, we'll take care of it then. calm down and drive home". wow. i was already home at this point, but i was expecting the worst here. it never came. i apologized, kept blubbering, offered to pay for the damage, repeatedly called myself the idiot that i am. 
"people make mistakes. you have to learn somehow".
i had called my father somewhere between my mom's office and her cellphone, but he didn't answer. probably a good thing. he called back while i was talking to my mom. i called him back. i tried to regain composure. my father is a hairy, gruff, intimidating at times (most of the time), manly man. he has much less hair than in the picture above, and it's lost the red color now. i still picture him as very hairy, however. i started crying anyway. i rambled on and on, and he sat and listened quietly the whole time. after i offered to pay him for the damage to his car, he said, "don't worry about it, amy". i was really shocked, and really relieved at how nice he was being. "it sounds like it's not that bad, and as long as it's still drivable, you'll be okay". he proceeded to tell me a story about a couple of times the same thing had happened to him. once, being too kind, he and the other car involved agreed to pull around a corner out of traffic, and instead of stopping- the other car kept driving away. "nothing happened to your [precious cellist] hands, or to either of you. you still have everything you love and need, and you have to learn things the hard way. especially when people are as nice as you, and that's not always a bad thing. now when you look at that spot on the car, it can be a constant reminder not to take anybody's crap. go enjoy the pretty day, and keep your chin up". 
oh, will it ever.
i really love my parents a lot. i realize this more and more every day. 

11 February 2009

getting over the hump



i've been thinking a lot about the movie vitus lately. wow- such a great film. it was raining all day today. i need some rainboots- like these. yeah. those would do. it was in the 40s, however, so i can't complain too much. i went to open my umbrella when i got outside this morning, and the stupid thing was all rusted. i can hear my mother now. "it's not the stupid one, amy". thanks, mom. i just made a delicious homemade pepperoni pizza, i have a music theory test in the morning, and i need to practice my beloved cello.
i'll leave you with this great video i found while working on debussy's la mer over the summer.



god, do i love a good bunch of cellists together. 

10 February 2009

girl crushes



lykee li makes me really happy.
i've been in a funk lately, especially with music. i'll think i have a good collection of music (and i do) but when i'm in a funk, nothing will do. luckily, i stumbled upon her and her perfect hit-the-spot voice. and the dance moves? ugh, i just can't stop talking about her, or thinking about her, or listening to her. i think that's officially a girl crush. 
so perfect for this weather. dammit, i've got to stop talking about this weather. but i also have a girl crush on the weather. it's just what happens, okay?

anyway, listen to her. get her album youth novel. support her. she rules!

and this video with bon iver? awesome. makes me want to go outside and dance dance dance.


oxymoron: gorgeous february day



i found, and officially claimed, an adorable apartment all of my own for next fall today. if i could find pictures of it, i would show you. it's exactly what i wanted- except for the price. what else is new? also, as we speak, it is 5:38 pm. as the winter sun is setting, i have my windows open. it is sixty degrees. all is well with the world. i realize i've talked about the awful weather a lot so far, but you have to realize this- i live in iowa, a bottomless hole of disgusting midwest weather of every kind.
i am severely pressed, as are many people, by some weird form of weather induced mood effecting... thing. so in every way, it's a big deal for it to be sixty degrees and beautiful on february tenth with the sun going down. this won't last, and i'm soaking it all in before some (god forbid) snow storm knocks my feet out from under me and forces me back under my covers by the heater. however, i dearly hope that doesn't happen for awhile. when it's this nice, i am an unstoppable force of motivation. that doesn't exist normally. i don't know who i am when i'm in this good of a mood. scary.

(p.s. isn't that picture adorable? via lovely design)

09 February 2009

birthdays and lovely days


saturday was my 20th birthday. what a weird thing.
wednesday i had been crying to my friends about morbid things and how i'm getting old.
saturday morning rolls around. friday night had been filled with friends and fun, expensive alcohol, and an ice cream cake with profanities written across the top. i woke to the sound of my nephew on the phone, had a bundle of beautiful flowers from a good guy delivered to my door, drove with the windows down (with no coat! in iowa!), ate whatever i felt like, and frolicked and shopped all day. i even bought some ass kicking boots. sunday, i went home and spent the whole day with my family. my nephew told me i had soft cheeks, and i felt my soon-to-be-next nephew kick wildly inside my sister.
it couldn't have been a better birthday.
the first couple days of this week are supposed to be in the 60s. 
i hope it never gets -20 again.

05 February 2009

adorable boys


what a beautiful day outside. it's supposed to get nicer as the week goes on. yay! i wish it was always sunny in iowa city. i mean that- so much.

i can't wait until this weekend. i hope it's not freezing. i'm turning twenty! i miss my nephew. 
happy almost friday!

04 February 2009

intros and hugs


so, in the past year i've become an avid (cute things and interior design and random writers) blog lover. i really enjoy writing. i kept a diary regularly in some form up until ninth grade. i even had a xanga in high school. i know i'm not alone.

this will most likely be a blog about cute things i find on the internet and posting them. i'm really into cute things, and food, and napping. i'll definitely let you know if i find cute things involving napping, or better yet- anything involving me getting to nap. 

as for now, welcome to my shenanigans. enjoy. 

xx, awkward pirtle