Surely You'll Buy Your Pint

I have crawled out of bed to wish you all a Happy New Year.

Unfortunately I have dinner to cook for lots of people tonight, so I look forward to infecting them all. Sucks to be them, but at least they get delicious steak before the germs set in.

On Saturday I bought a car finally. I know I said I was going to like a month ago but the dealer sold it before I got around to it. Procrastination does not pay off, kids. Its a slightly used Nissan Altima. I have to go finalize the paperwork this afternoon, so I will also infect my dealer. Lucky her.

Have a great New Year's Eve! Drink lots for me because I don't think I'll be able to hold my liquor in my normal fashion. I'm sure the wine at dinner will cause me to pass out early on. Actually, I normally pass out before midnight due to excesses in drinking, so this will be like any other year.

I Know This Girl She Likes To Switch Teams


Okay, so I'm not a lesbian. But damn... This picture could turn me into one (yes, I know you're not "turned" gay, blah blah blah). I mean I had a few experimental times, especially after drinking. But for Kristen Bell, I think I would go straight up lesbian. I miss my Veronica.

In other news, I'm pretty sure I am dying. Either that, or I have strep. Awesome. Have a good weekend.

I Think This Was A Test


My family needs to start talking before they buy me presents...


Did you all have a good Christmas? Mine was mostly good, just super busy. I woke up and exchanged presents with my mom and brother. Then my boyfriend came over and picked me up, we went to his house for breakfast with his family and then present opening with his nephew. We then drove an hour to go to my country ass relatives house, quickly ate lunch, then drove back into the city. We stopped at my Dad's so I could pick up presents, then went to my boyfriend's Grandparents' house for dinner. We stayed there for most of the afternoon and evening. I'm freaking exhausted.

I received loads of gift cards and duplicate DVDs. My present from my boyfriend was the tickets to Wicked last week, plus some clothes and DVDs.
I almost gave my mom a heart attack when she overheard me tell my brother "[my boyfriend] got me Knocked Up". So that was good times.

And now I feel a little sick, I drank a bottle of wine at dinner.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I'm going to go pass out now.

You Make It Sound Like Christmas Is A Four Letter Word

I have a confession to make. I don't hate Christmas. I certainly crab about it, about the crowds and the snow and the traffic, but deep down, I still like it.

Sure, it can be stressful. And overly fucking Merry people can be annoying... but still. It's Christmas.

I'm not going to get all religious here, because that's not what I'm all about, but Christ was born, or at least this is when we choose to celebrate His birth, and I think that gets so lost in the commercial shuffle.

Anyways... I hope those of you who celebrate have a Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate, then have an awesome Tuesday.

It's All About Popular

Last night we went to see Wicked (which was great by the way). And now I am exhausted, because I got home really late. Thankfully I've chosen to go into work late, because I am devoted like that.

So instead of an original post, I'm going to copy off of both Avitable and Poppy and do a meme. God knows I love music themed anything.

Rules: Put your music player on shuffle, press forward for each question and use the song title as the answer.

What does next year have in store for me?
Pills, Demons, Etc.- Velvet Revolver

What's my love life like?
I Will Kill Again by Jarvis Cocker

What do I say when life gets hard?
Brand New Colony by Postal Service

What do I think of on waking up?
This Year by The Thrills

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

(This is probably very true)

What do I want as a career?
Dead Wrong by The Fray

My favorite saying?
Unless It's Kicks by Okkervil River

Favorite place?
Baby by Serj Tankian

What do I think of my parents?
Night Timing by Coconut Records

What's my porn star name?
Tales From The Forest of The Gnomes by Wolfmother

(Now that's a sexy name, right?)

Where would I go on a first date?
No One Would Riot For Less by Bright Eyes
(I love going to riots on dates, that's so true)

Drug of choice?
Black Wave by The Shins

Describe myself.
Someone Else's Life by Joshua Radin

(now that's depressing)

What is the thing I like doing most?
Your House by Jimmy Eat World

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
Tonight Not Again by Jason Mraz

How will I die?
You Got It All... Wrong by The Hives

Thank God

Whenever I start to make sugar cookies, I get all my cookie cutters out. Then after my first try peeling tree-shaped cookies from my counter, I get angry. So they all end up being ornaments. Round is way easier than tree or star shaped.

Anyways, I'm done cookie baking. Finally.

I went to to post office this afternoon to mail cookies off to people. Thankfully, I pulled out 70 and they were servicing 66, so I was in and out in ten minutes.

I realized when I got home that I had forgotten to put a note or anything inside the box, so if you receive a white box with cookies in it from St. Louis, it's probably from me.

Now I need to go get ready, we're shockingly going out tonight, on a work night and everything. My boyfriend is really starting to live it up.

Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery

I don't want to give anything away about the plot, but I Am Legend is the story of the last living man left in Manhattan, with only his dog as company. The trailer doesn't really give anything about the plot away, so when my boyfriend and I went it was almost a total surprise.

First, I was surprised that it was more of a "horror" movie than the big budget action movie I was expecting. I was suitably tense throughout several parts, especially since I wasn't expecting it to be scary.

Overall, I thought it was pretty darn good. The effects through most of it were really awesome (There were a few things I would discuss if I could without giving away the plot. Let's just say somethings can still be done without CGI, and should be. Not everything needs to be computer animated). It was creepy to see New York City like that.

I thought it was well acted. People talk crap about Will Smith, but I thought he did a great job. He almost made me cry several times (for those of you that have seen it, I almost cried in the movie store, and then again in the lab with Sam.) He showed a lot of range. It can't be easy acting that much of a movie alone, and he pulled off both humor and drama exceptionally well.

My only beef, besides the CGI at the end, is that I was confused several times. Maybe if I would have read the book I would have understood things better, but there were several parts that inexplicably didn't make sense. It wasn't just me, everyone was asking the same questions as they left the theater. However, I went here after we saw it, and all my questions were answered.

So, if you like big budget action movies with a surprisingly scary twist, this is definitely a good choice. It has comedy, action, and drama. My favorite part is that it was not bloated and overdone, and it finished up at a timely 101 minutes.

I Honestly Love You

Oh, snickerdoodles. Why must you taste so good?

This is why I only make them once a year.

They are my favorite part of my Christmas baking. Today alone I finished making 5 kinds of cookies. I made the dough in advance and baked off 5 kinds. I have three more kinds to make on Wednesday, just in time for my company's Christmas party on Thursday.

On Wednesday, I will try to mail several tins of cookies off to some of you. I have several tins that are designated for bloggers. Who wants one? If I don't already have your address from the Holiday cards, email it to me at Amanda234 at gmail dot com, and maybe I'll send you some.

Tonight, I am having a dinner of snickerdoodles and wine. I am super classy. Then, I will go see I Am Legend. More on that tomorrow.

Under Wintry Skies of Gray

Ugh. Snow.

We're supposed to get upwards of 10". Thankfully, due to Al Gore, I'm pretty sure we won't be getting 10", but I'm pretty sure we have at least 4 and it's supposed to snow for another 6 hours or so.

My boyfriend just left to go home before the roads get even worse, so I'm home alone. On a Saturday night. We went to dinner but I thought we were going to die on the way home, the highways aren't usually that bad, but its pretty messy out there.

Whoohoo.

Kind and Generous

Thank You....

..... to my doctor for saying "that's how you stay so skinny, isn't it?" after he watched me make one piece of peanut brittle last for 15 minutes.

..... to our property manager for bringing us a huge tin of homemade peanut brittle.

.....to my radio station for playing "All Mixed Up" on my drive to work, then playing "Down" on my drive home. It was like 6th grade all over again. I had such a crush on Nick. (Seriously, what up with the 311 air time?)

..... to my boyfriend for sending me a text message telling me he was proud of me for hitting 100% of the notes in Mississippi Queen. I'm not a natural at Guitar Hero, so 100% is a big accomplishment for me.

..... to my favorite baseball players for not being on that list. Pujols is naturally awesome.

..... to my teacher for promptly posting our grades less than 24 hours after our final. I go crazy not knowing.

Have a great Friday, everyone.

Break Anotha

I have fallen way behind in talking about the movies I've seen recently.

August Rush:

The story of an orphan as he tries to find his parents through music, starring Freddy Highmore, Keri Russell, Robin Williams, Terrence Howard.
This was probably the cheesiest movie I've ever seen. I'm not saying it was bad... but damn. Some of those lines had to have been written by preteen girls, there's no other excuse for that kind of cheesiness. It did have a feel good ending to it, but overall, I'd pass. The soundtrack is pretty good, however.

Enchanted:

Enchanted is about an animated fairy princess who is cast into the real world by her future mother in law.
It was absolutely adorable. It was funny, heartfelt, and romantic. I'm not generally a fan of romantic comedies, but this one was different. I highly recommend it.
Everytime I see both Amy Adams and James Marsden I love them more.

The Mist:

The Mist is about a mysterious fog that rolls into a small town. With it come creatures that want to destroy the town and it's inhabitants.
It was surprisingly character driven and dramatic. It didn't rely too heavily on the sci-fi nature to distract from the plot like some movies do, and it also didn't employ cheap scares to entertain.
Overall, I'd say it was one of the best "horror" movies I've seen in a long time. It wasn't really scary, but that's okay.
It has a surprise ending that didn't really surprise me. In my head I was thinking "Wouldn't it be funny if...?" and then it actually happened, however, I do like the ending. It was definitely one that had us discussing it long after the movie was over.
That Stephen King knows his stuff.

Tough Break For The Cheater

Do you remember the song The Cheater, by Bob Kuban? Yeah, me neither. However, I do feel bad for Bob Kuban. I guess he had mediocre one hit wonder success with that song in the 60s, but now he performs at Christmas parties all through St. Louis.

Last night was the 4th time I've seen Bob Kuban, which sadly ties for the most times I've seen any artist. It was the third holiday party in a row that he preformed at, and once he was at a wedding I went to.

This dude cracks me up. He has one of the worst toupees I've ever seen, and he always wears a velvet blue or purple jacket. He sings for maybe two hours of his four hour set. There's a blonde chick who does most of the work. He mumbles inaudibly between songs to introduce them, but we never have any idea what he's talking about.

Anyways.. I guess it's good that he still is preforming music and making a living doing so, but damn, that's a long way to fall.

I wish I had pictures to show you of my pretty green dress, but my boyfriend forgot to bring the camera... so I don't.

Have a great weekend!

I'm Finished

Done!

I am officially finished with my Christmas shopping. I'm proud of myself because when I was growing up, my mom would make me go to the mall with her on Christmas Eve where she would start her shopping. She'd make me walk to a different department or store while she purchased my presents. So I'm overcoming years of procrastination and irresponsibility when it comes to my Christmas shopping. Finishing three weeks early is a major achievement for me.

And I am finished with wrapping as well, with the exception of a few articles of clothing I ordered for my boyfriend online, but those will fit in boxes that will wrap very easily. Here's some logic for you. My boyfriend hates clothes shopping. He hates the act of it, and he hates spending his money on clothes. So instead of me buying him the video games I was going to, I'm buying him pants and shirts, and he's going to spend the money he had for clothes on video games. Smart thinking, tiger.

Now, I move on to the more daunting task. Every year I make an exceptional amount of cookies. I make them specifically for my work Christmas party, but I end up with so many, I have to start begging people to take them. I send them to to my boyfriend's family, to friends, to random people on the street.

Every year I tell myself to make less. I don't need to make ten different kinds. Five kinds will be plenty. But every time I try to take one off the list, I add a new one. So as of right now, I have the list narrowed down to eight different kinds.

Chocolate Espresso Cookies
Buckeyes
Chocolate Chip
Sugar
Wedding Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Peppermint snowballs
Gingerbread

Some of you may be receiving a very special package from me soon.

White As Snow

It's supposed to snow today... this makes me sad. Although now I'm looking at the forecast and it doesn't say anything about snow. That kind of makes this post irrelevant, huh?

Oh well. If you haven't sent me your address for a holiday card, please do so. I'll send them out in the next few days. Just e-mail me at Amanda234 at gmail dot com.

P.S.- Yay Dave and Jasmine.

Edit: It's flurrying. Damn Weather channel.