It's Fall!

I've decided that it's officially fall in my world.  I am a lover of fall.  And spring.  Not so much summer and winter, though.  If I could find a place in the world where it's never hotter than 85 and never colder than 45, I'd be in heaven.  John said good luck with that.

Any who...  It is quickly becoming fall here.  The leaves have started changing.  It is getting dark earlier and earlier.  The nights are getting cold - I think we were down in the 40s last week.  I can see my breath when I walk the dog in the morning and I've needed to wear a warm sweatshirt.  Lulu actually wants to cuddle and has been curling up in her cozy bed, instead of stretching out on the cool fireplace hearth.  It's fall!

I've needed to wear a sweater or a light jacket to work in the mornings, even though it's off by mid-morning because the days are still warm.  I've been closing the sliding door at night because I don't need to cool off the apartment that much anymore.  And I'll soon put away all of the fans that have attempted to keep me cool through the summer.  It's fall!

I'm switching out my fruity scented body wash for something more appropriate for fall - warm vanilla sugar.  :)  I need a warmer robe when I get out of the shower and I'm not sweating like a beast while blow drying my hair.  I find myself wearing jeans more often, even if it's with a tank top.  I need to switch out my shoe closet from all the sandals and flip flops to the boots and more cold weather appropriate shoes.  It's fall!

I need to bust out the down comforter for the bed because it's getting so chilly.  Lulu has actually been sleeping on the bed again, trying to siphon my heat.  I ate soup for lunch the other day and it really hit the spot.  I actually don't mind making myself dinner - turning the oven or stove on isn't the enemy.  And lastly, new tv programming is here.  It's fall!

Yay! Yay! Yay!  It's fall!!!

Good Reads - Series

I've been reading a lot of series lately, which I really like because you get to stay with familiar characters for a long time.  Here are four series of books that I have really enjoyed.

I found the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead quite a while ago.  I had finished reading and re-reading the Twilight series many, many times and needed something else to fill my need for vampire literature.  I kept seeing these books in the grocery store.  They looked tempting, but also seemed like they were too YA for me.  I wrote down the author so I could do a little research on her.  On her website were fun descriptions of each of her books (she was writing three different series at the time, two adult and one YA) and first chapter excerpts.  I found that I really like Richelle's writing style and found the characters and the premise of these books intriguing.  I also read through Richelle's blog and thought she was very funny and wanted to support her by buying her books.  Richelle previously taught middle school English, and actually started her writing career while still teaching.

There are six books in this series - Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, and Last Sacrifice.  They follow the world of Rosemarie Hathaway, a half-human half-vampire teenage girl, a dhampir.  Dhampirs are trained to be guardians for their  mortal vampire brethren, Moroi, and protect them from the immortal deadly vampires, Strigoi.  Richelle got her ideas for her vampire world from mythology and folklore.  Rose is being trained to be the guardian for her best friend, Vasilisa Dragomir, a Moroi princess and the last person in her family.  Other characters are their friends, Mason & Eddie, their arch-enemy Mia Rinaldi, Lissa's potential love interest Christian Ozera, Rose's mentor Dimitri Belikov, and Lissa's uncle and cousin Victor and Natalie Dashkov.  You definitely need to read these books in order or you won't understand what is happening.  Thankfully though, Richelle usually doesn't end each book with a cliff-hanger, so you're not left wondering for however long it takes to get the next book.

The Moroi world that they live in is secret from the humans and operate with their own rules and laws.  The Moroi vampires use magic and do not kill the humans that they drink from, they can function in the sun, but do better at night so they follow a nocturnal schedule.  Strigoi vampires do kill their human victims.  They can also turn humans, dhampirs, and Moroi into Strigoi by killing them and then feeding their blood back to the victim.  Strigoi cannot function in the sun at all.

What I really like about these books is the Richelle doesn't try to make teenagers more angelic than they really are.  The characters have petty grievances, skip class, drink alcohol at parties, use cuss words, and have sex.  Much like real teens.  The six books follow Rose through some serious issues, ups and downs, and forbidden love.  They really are great and I recommend them to people who liked the Twilight series (though I think I might like these better!).  They are currently looking at making a movie or a series of movies based on these books, but I'm not sure where in the process they are.  The rights have been sold, but I don't know if they have a studio yet.

The next series is a spin-off of Vampire Academy.  The first book is called Bloodlines.  It is set in the same world as Vampire Academy, but doesn't follow Rose anymore.  She makes a guest appearance, though!  Only the first book is out so far, and I really enjoyed it.  It follows some of the secondary characters from the first series, but is narrated by Sydney Sage, who we originally met in Blood Promise.  Sydney is an Alchemist, a human trained to hide the vampire world from the rest of humanity.  Bloodlines also follows Adrian Ivashkov, Jill Mastrano, and Eddie Castile.  They have all been relocated to Palm Springs to hide and protect Jill.  It's very interesting being able to stay with characters we've known, but follow them from a different angle and from a very different perspective.  Sydney has deep-rooted religious beliefs that vampires are evil, but she can't seem to hate them as most of her fellow Alchemists do.

I really like the spin-off and can't wait to see what happens to Sydney.  The next book is The Golden Lily, and it comes out in May 2012.

I found this next series because Richelle Mead recommended it.  It is usually called the Jane True series, by Nicole Peeler.  In her everyday life, Nicole is a literature professor, which brings a distinctly intellectual twist to her books.  The books follow Jane True through her realization that she is a half-human half-selkie creature who has extraordinary power.  Selkies, in the old sailor myths, are seals that come to land and shed their skins to become beautiful women who seduce sailors.  It has also been said that if someone steals the selkie skin, the selkie is bound to that person.  Jane's mother was a selkie, but not like the myths.  She was a shape-shifter, who came to land, became a woman, fell in love with Jane's human father, and then stayed a human for 6 years before she left to go back to the sea.  Jane has inherited an incredible swimming ability from her selkie mother, but doesn't change into one, she always has human form.

There are many different types of "people" in Nicole's books.  Ryu is a vampire, Anyan is a barghest, Nell is a gnome, Trill is some sort of water pony...  It goes on and on.  Their world is very complicated and I'm sure I'd massacre it if I tried to summarize it here.  You'll just have to read them!  There are currently four books out - Tempest Rising, Tracking the Tempest, Tempest's Legacy, and Eye of the Tempest.  The fifth book, Tempest's Fury will be released in Spring 2012, and there is a planned sixth book, too.

Just like with Richelle, I researched Nicole Peeler on her website.  She also seemed very funny and she invited people to friend her on facebook.  Very different from those authors who have a professional facebook page that you just "like".  I friended Nicole and then wrote on her page how much I liked her books and why I liked them.  She actually wrote back!!!  I've since had a few short correspondences with her and it shocks me every time - to have that kind of contact with an author you really like!

Nicole was recently in Denver for a convention of some sort.  After the convention she did a group signing at a small independent book store.  Even though all the books I had were on my kindle, I really wanted to meet her and get her autograph, so I bought the first book and went down there.  She was just as funny in person and I loved hearing her and the other authors talk about their lives, writerly problems, and what is coming up for them and their characters.  It was a really small event, so we all got to talk to the author(s) of our choice for a couple minutes.  It was an honor to meet Nicole, and she even complimented me on my necklace!

This next series of books I was turned on to because I met the author at the signing Nicole was at!  Her books sounded intriguing and she was very funny as well.  These are called the Southern Witch series, by Kimberly Frost.  Kimberly Frost is a fake name for the author.  I forgot what her real last name is, but she doesn't use it because there is also a porn star with that name and she didn't wan't people confusing the two of them.  Kimberly is a physician in her everyday life, which is interesting because these two professions don't usually go together.

There are three books in the series, Would-Be Witch, Barely Bewitched, and Halfway Hexed.  They follow Tammy Jo Trask, a witch, as she discovers her true powers.  My absolute favorite part of these books are Tammy's interactions with her "cat", and ocelot named Mercutio.  I love him!  Other characters are Tammy's police officer ex-husband Zach , and her maybe-love-interest Bryn Lyons, a fellow witch she has been warned to stay away from.  Tammy gets into all sorts of trouble as she's figuring out her powers.  The books are not set over a long period of time, all of the action happens over a week or so.  I did find myself wishing that there was more time between the books so that something more would have happened to the characters or their development.  But each book picks up right where the last one ended.  But they are good, fun, easy reading.  I also wish I had actually bought the books instead of getting them on my kindle.  I really like the artwork on the covers, and they aren't included on the kindle versions.  (The Jane True books have the covers on the kindle version, though obviously they aren't in color.)  Here are the other covers:

 


If you need something new to read, I hope you check out these books.  They're all great!!!

Remembering September 11, 2001

Today, on the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks against America, I've decided to blog about my memories of that day.  Fortunately I didn't have any loved ones that died on that day, but the memories of that day still affect me.

I was getting ready for work while watching The Today Show, like any other day.  There's a certain musical tone they use when they cut into the taped broadcast with breaking news to go live and I heard that tone.  I went over to the tv to see what was going on and they had a live shot of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric talking about an explosion at one of the World Trade Center Towers.  As they were talking, with a live shot of the towers in the background, we watched as another plane flew into the second tower.

This is exactly what we saw.  It happened so quickly that everybody was a little unsure if we really saw what we thought we did.  They played it over and over, and zoomed-in - yes, that was a plane that flew directly into the tower.  Matt and Katie were completely shocked as they realized that this was not just an explosion.  This was a deliberate act.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  I couldn't drag myself away from the tv.  Was this an accident - a very unlikely double accident?  Who, why, really?

At some point in the coverage they showed the Pentagon and the results of the plane that crashed into it.  This is crazy!  What is happening to this world?  Is this going to happen everywhere?

I called my mom at work to see if she knew what was going on.  As we were talking, I watched the first tower collapse.  It was unbelievable.  I said to my mom, oh my god, I think the tower just collapsed!  There was so much smoke and you couldn't exactly see what was going on.  I kept trying to tell myself that the building was still standing behind all that smoke.  And then the second tower fell and there was no question - both buildings were gone.  So, so many people had lost their lives.

I eventually tore myself away from the tv to go to work.  I just couldn't watch anymore.  At the office everybody was in shock.  My boss, a very hard woman, actually showed some compassion and some insight.  She said - Our lives will never be the same.  This is going to change the world we live in forever.  She then told us all to go home and be with our loved ones.

I didn't realize then how much our world would change.

It wasn't until I got home that I found out about the plane that went down in Pennsylvania.  What the people on that plane did, to save what we expect to be The White House, makes them all heroes in my book.

Planes were grounded for most of the next week.  There was never-ending coverage of what was now known as a terrorist attack.  I cried at every new story they profiled, cried when I watched the news and they told us new, awful facts - that people jumped out of the towers to escape the jet-fueled fires, that they were not finding any bodies in the rubble because they weren't there to find.  A fire fighter said it best - All they're finding is metal because metal doesn't burn.

I was supposed to leave on a business trip, fly to California, the Sunday after the attack.  Needless to say, my flight was cancelled.  My boss and another co-worker rented a car and drove out there.  By Tuesday I was able to get a flight out, though not to the city I needed to go to.  The airport was like a different world.  There were thousands of people lined up to check in - the longest line I have ever seen at DIA.  It wound all around the check-in area and then back behind the counters and snaked around the balcony that overlooks the main terminal.  It took hours to get through it.  Then the security line was just as crazy.  Though this was before they had banned liquids, it was still insane.  The gates were surprising quiet though.  There were so few people milling around and it was eerily quiet and strange.  The plane was eerily quiet, too.  People were worried and unsure.  As soon as the plane touched down, everybody called their loved ones to let them know they were safe.

That was something I realized didn't happen all that much before the attack.  You might call who was picking you up to make sure they were there, or call to check messages or something.  But it became incredibly important to let your loved ones know that you were safe.

Almost 3000 people lost their lives that day.  People in the four planes that crashed, people in the buildings in New York, people in the Pentagon.  The many, many other victims are the families and loved ones of those that died.  The effects are far-reaching and never-ending.  Our world is forever changed.

That's how I remember September 11, 2001.  We will never forget.

What I'm Reading

I find myself doing a lot of re-reading these days for some reason, and I'm currently re-reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

If you haven't read these books yet, you need to!  They really are very well written, even if they are young adult books.  The Hunger Games is the first in the trilogy, then Catching Fire, and then the conclusion Mockingjay.  The books are set in a future version of our world, where the United States doesn't exist anymore.  The country is now called Panem and is comprised of the Capitol and twelve districts that answer to the Capitol in a form of servitude.  The Hunger Games follows Katniss Everdeen, a young girl from District 12, as she goes to the Hunger Games as one of the tributes from her district.  There are two tributes from each of the twelve districts and they fight to the death in the Hunger Games, for the viewing pleasure of the Capitol.  This has been going on for 74 years.  It's really quite repulsive.  Katniss is a very complicated, introspective girl.  She is incredibly smart and a very efficient hunter.  The three books follow her struggles and her personal growth for over a year.

I want to say more but I don't want to give anything away to anybody who hasn't read them!  There are so many horrific things that happen in her life and you really feel compassion for Katniss.  But then there are other times when you want to shake her and make her grow the hell up and act differently!  It's very interesting to read about the progression of her relationships with Gale and Peeta, the two men in her life, and see her mature from a girl to a young woman.  That all sounds vague enough!

What I'm so, so, so incredibly excited about are the movies they are currently making from these books!  Entertainment Weekly seems just as excited as I am and covers every move on the movie making.  They recently had covers with the stars of the movie, and the actors portraying them look almost exactly how I picture them when reading!

Katniss

Gale & Peeta

Yay yay yay!!!  I can't wait!  And I think that these movies will be more true to the books than the Twilight series has been, because Suzanne Collins has been involved in the screen writing process.  Lenny Kravitz is going to play Katniss' stylist, Cinna; Woody Harrelson is going to be Katniss and Peeta's mentor, Haymitch; Donald Sutherland as President Snow; Stanley Tucci as Ceasear Flickerman, the Hunger Games interviewer; Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, the escort.  I think it's a great cast!

Check these books out - they're so worth it!

Questioning My Fashion

First let me preface this post by saying that I generally feel very confident in my fashion choices.  I kind of pride myself on being appropriately dressed for whatever the occasion dictates.  I know that I don't have the best or the most expensive or the trendiest clothes, but I think I generally look good and fashionable.

I recently attended two different events to which I wore the same dress.  A photo taken at the second event shows the dress I wore - a black and white cotton print, fit and flare, knee-length dress by Ralph Lauren.  It has a self-tie belt and fun pockets.  Though the picture below isn't the best, it's a really flattering dress and I've gotten a ton of compliments on it.  When I found it, I had no event to wear it to, but I absolutely loved it, so I bought it anyway.

The first event I wore this to was an anniversary party for my cousin's boyfriend's company.  (Whoa, that was long winded!)  I wore it with very simple kitten heel sandals.  I was dressed completely WRONG!  The girls who were there were some of the trendiest dressed girls I have seen in a long time.  Super trendy clothes, purses, and shoes.  Every part of my outfit was too subtle, not trendy enough, BORING!!!  Even the guys there were seriously Euro-trendy, wearing skinny jeans, deep v-neck tees, and pointy shoes.

The second event I wore this to was a Design Council party on the rooftop of the Art Museum residences.  This time I dressed up my shoes just a bit to simple black pumps from Coach.  Not trendy by any means, but beautiful and timeless.  At this event, I felt appropriately dressed.  As you can see from the photo, some people were similarly attired, though some were fancier.  Some were dressed much more casually, too.  This time my shoes were the thing that stuck out.  They were much too simple.  Most of the other women had trendy wedges, platforms, booties, or funky sandals.  It made me want to update my shoe wardrobe - IMMEDIATELY!

Though I can't (and don't really want to) do anything about the trendy clothing, I can do something about the shoes!  I went to DSW this weekend on a quest for new, trendy shoes.  I didn't do too well.  :)  I only got one pair of totally trendy shoes.  They are fabulous peep toe booties with hella high heels and a front platform.  They're black leather with trapunto stitching.  So much fun!!!  But the other three pairs I got are much more refined and classic.  They are all peep toes, though, so I guess I had a theme going.

 Maybe I'm too old to have too much trendy stuff in my wardrobe?

Week of Annoyances

For some reason, there were many things that really annoyed me this week.  Here are some of them, in no particular order:

1.  People who ride their bikes on incredibly busy traffic streets where there is no bike lane.   
So there I am, driving down Downing along Wash Park in rush hour.  It's always kind of a cluster fuck along this strip because of everybody parking, the drivers people watching, cars turning without a turn lane, and all the pedestrians.  But then imagine a not-experienced bike rider riding along on the street.  Not twenty feet away on the bike path in the park, but in the street.  This is really not a good idea.  Passing her was a bitch once, but then any time traffic stopped for a turner or a light, she would pass all of us again and then we'd be stuck behind her again.  At one light, I stopped really far to the right so that she wouldn't be able to pass us again, but somehow she still managed to get past.  UGGHH!

2.  Contractors who don't come to the job site when they say they will.
My boss was in Dallas this week for an install.  I had scheduled various contractors to be on-site to do their various jobs.  Half of them didn't come when they said they would, screwing up getting the project done.  My boss makes it seem like it's my fault somehow.  Right, like I can control somebody in Dallas who I've never met.  For example, the wallpaper installer was supposed to be on-site Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The guy was there on Tuesday doing prep work.  But then nobody came by on Wednesday.  When we called the company, they said they got backed up on another job and wouldn't be able to have somebody there that day.  They would make it up by having three installers there on Thursday.  Irritating but okay.  By mid-day on Thursday, nobody had shown up yet.  Calling the company resulted in more excuses.  Nobody ever came by on Thursday.  Friday, finally an installer finally showed up.  But only one.  Until John sent a scathing email to the company and the clients.  Another installer came later, but not the three installers that we were promised.  So irritating!

3.  Finding out that somebodies excuse for not attending an event was a total lie.
This explanation is going to be a little cryptic, sorry!  Recently some friends gave an excuse for not attending a big event that seemed totally legitimate.  They had something else coming up that was really big and couldn't afford the time or money that this event would cost them.  It made total sense.  But then I found out that they did something else during this time that totally negated their reasoning for not attending the big event!  It is so irritating.  Don't lie about something when your lie will be totally obvious to those you lied to!

4.  Parking.
I have always been a bit of a parking nazi.  When I lived in Capital Hill, I was constantly irritated with the way people would parallel park on the streets near my apartment.  I mean, really, parking was at a premium down there, so you had to park really tight.  This week, parking has been a bit of an annoyance.  At my current apartment, though I now have a lot to park in, space is still at a bit of a premium.  Especially if anybody has people over.  Mid-week one of my neighbors had a few friends over.  Really I think she was attempting to see how many people could fit in her apartment.  It was packed!  Therefore our lot was packed.  When I came home at 8pm there was not a parking space for four buildings.  I ended up parking in a no-parking zone.  Nice.  The other parking related item is an on-going annoyance.  My office is now at my bosses house.  We park on the street outside his house.  He lives on a corner and his neighbor around the corner and on the other side of the house, for some reason, always parks in front of his house.  But not only her, her nurse parks there, her guests park there.  Everybody who visits her house parks there.  She has a driveway.  You can park on the street in front of her house.  Why do they all insist on parking over here?  When I come to work, I have to park halfway down the block because of them.  It's annoying.  And I know it annoys my boss, too.

Hopefully this week will be much better!  Thanks for letting me vent!

Visiting Mecca - I Mean Ikea

I was so super excited for Ikea to finally open a store here in Colorado.  It felt like it took forever for them to build the blue and yellow monstrosity down near Park Meadows Mall, but actually it went pretty quickly.  I never planned to go right when they opened; I knew I wanted to wait a while for the crowds to die down.  But I don't know that the crowds are ever actually going to die down.  Why I need to go - I rearranged my guest room and now have room for a small desk, so I found one in Ikea's catalog.  And of course I need all the fun organizing accoutrements to go with the desk, too, like a wall shelf, a metal rod that stuff hangs off of, and a magnetic strip with little containers for paperclips, etc.  Eventually I'm also going to replace the bookshelves in there as well so everything can match.  And I'm going to get a new cocktail table and end table for my living room.  But first I need Michelle & Russ to have their garage sale so that I have somewhere to get rid of the existing stuff.

I finally got down there yesterday.  I thought that if I went at "dinner time" there would be less families crowding the place, but boy was I wrong!  First you encounter the police and traffic directors directing everybody to a place to park.  I was shocked that they were still doing this.  Honestly, I think things would go more smoothly without them.  For example, when I left, I didn't want to go north to Dry Creek.  I wanted to go south to County Line because I wanted to go to Chick-fil-A while I was in the suburbs.  But they wouldn't allow any cars to go south and because of that, Chick-fil-A didn't get my business and now it's Sunday and they're not open!  But I digress.

I go to the lot I'm directed to without realizing how far away from the entrance it is.  I hike up the hill and across the street, entering the main Ikea lot at the back.  There are no helpful signs directing us poor walking folks where to go from here.  So I just start following a woman and her two kids.  She probably thought I was a stalker.  Finally after going down a level and walking for like a mile, I see the entrance signs!  YAY!  Up two levels and we're there!

Now, I must say that I've been to an Ikea before.  With Kristen in Portland.  So I was familiar with the drill already.  But obviously most people don't understand it and there were very few Ikea personnel near the door to explain to people that it's not necessary to get a cart now.  Don't worry.  Just pick up a bag, a pencil, and a map and you'll be good.  It was kind of a cluster-fuck.

I also did my  homework before I went because I recently got a catalog in the mail.  I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted and knew which areas I would find the items in.  I didn't need to browse through each display to check everything out.  Which is good because I probably would have killed somebody if I had to do that with all the throngs of meandering people.  I don't have the patience for throngs of meandering people.  Or for the people who go against traffic - there's arrows on the floor for a reason, people!

Oh, the people!  Ai yi yi!  Nobody was paying attention to anybody around them.  They'd stop without warning right in the middle of the main aisle without regard to the hundreds of people behind them.  They'd leave their (empty) carts everywhere and anywhere, clogging up traffic.  They'd walk five abreast, making it so passing was practically impossible.  Parents were letting their kids jump all over the furniture - I literally saw one boy do a belly flop on a bed.  His parents did nothing to reprimand him.  The last section they heard you through is the children's section - I couldn't get out of there quick enough!


Next you go downstairs to collect everything you want.  While this was a little less insane than upstairs, it was still crazy.  And this is where you tend to spend more money than you ever planned.  Why buy plain cotton drapes when you can buy velvet?  It's only a few dollars more.  And though I only had a cheese grater on my list, yes I do need a cheese slicer, too.  And yes I also need a garlic press.  And those super cute lime green napkins, too.  You always need napkins, so why shouldn't they be cute ones from Ikea?  And those cute shapes ice trays.  And the well-priced towels.  It never ends!


The calmest part was the boxed furniture section.  Ahhhhh..... Serenity.....  Though you really should have a shopping buddy to help you move those heavy boxes, which I didn't.  Nor did I have room left in my cart for the big box.  And since there is no way I could maneuver both my regular cart and a flat cart, I had a very precarious situation on my hands.  I made it work though.  Check-out here I come!  Holy shit!  How did I spend so much money?!?!  Ummmm,  okay.

Now, how do I find my way to my car?  Let's just say that I think I spent as much time walking to the car as I did in the store.  There was absolutely no easy way from the entrance to the lot I parked in, while maneuvering a heavy cart.  And the guys directing traffic in the main parking garage were no help.  One guy directed me to an exit that had stairs.  Hmmm... not gonna work with a cart filled with a ton of shit.  The next guy told me to go back up to the front, out to the side and around the whole building.  Four miles later I was out to the street that my parking lot was on, but I was way down at the bottom of a hill.  I looked forlornly up the hill towards the lot, really not looking forward to a hike with my getting-heavier-every-second cart.  Then a parking directer took pity on me and told me he'd push my cart to my car for me.  Such a nice man!  Finally at the third lot we come to, I say - this is it!   We're here, we're finally here!  Thank god I can finally sit down!

I was too exhausted to put together my new stuff last night, so I still haven't gotten to see the fruits of my labors.  And now I'm getting a cold.  Although I sort of felt it coming on before I went to Ikea, I'm still going to blame it on the throngs of people and germs there.  As soon as I have the new bookshelves in there too, I'll take pictures.  I just hope I can actually psych myself up enough to go back!