Vanessa Carlton: she's finally there

Are the echoes coming back to you, is wisdom seeing patterns on a loop, like a blanket around you...you'll figure it out, and get good again...

-Vanessa Carlton, "Get Good"

Self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe? I am loving her new album, Rabbits on the Run (released July 26, 2011). All along, I've had faith in this one. Maybe because I'm big on the girl+piano thing. I can even remember back when I first heard "A Thousand Miles" and then saw the music video with Carlton seated at the piano. During a time when my choice of singers of the Tori Amos variety were few and far between (they still are), Vanessa Carlton was a tiny bit of fresh air. Unfortunately, she was plagued for a while by the whole Mandy Moore syndrome. Ew. Over-produced, overly-pop crap. But finally, she has risen above all that.

The first track I heard was "I Don't Want to Be a Bride," which was the first indication to me of something a little not-so-mainstream and perhaps a little bit of realness. It's still my favorite track off the album. I think it's audibly noticeable that the gap in time between her last album and Rabbits on the Run was the difference of four years. Vocally for her and lyrically. This is finally the depth I was looking for from someone who I thought had the potential. It all comes together. Other favorites include "Fairweather Friend," "Get Good," and "London." From someone else who can say it better than I can:

"Rabbits on the Run is a deeply satisfying 37-minute romp that will make you remember why you really liked Vanessa Carlton once upon a time. And don’t lie. You did. A lot of people will say this is Carlton’s best album since Be Not Nobody, but I say this is her best album ever."

-Adam Finley (perfect review - read more here)

Also, if you're interested in a little more background on the album, this video is definitely worth watching:

so much to do, so little weekend

To be honest, this isn't entirely the case anymore. Yes, I cut back to a four-day work week, but the fifth day is reserved for job hunting. This summer, there have been SO many things I've wanted to do on the weekends. The good news is there have been lots of get-togethers and weekends spent out of town. The bad news is that means I've had zero time to do anything normal. Normal as in - go to the local farmer's market., or visit the Goodwills and thrift stores in my area (I've heard they are good). This weekend, we have absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go, so I plan to do both! #superexcited

Speaking of things to do, our apartment got a random semi-deep cleaning the other night at around 10:00pm because we had company coming (psh, why else would you clean?). I had been putting it off for a while thinking that (and I debated admitting to this) I was going to pay someone to clean our apartment. Yes, you heard that right. Child-free couple in their mid-twenties, with no real responsibilities outside of work, paying to have their two bedroom apartment cleaned. I said "couple" in that sentence, but it was really me pushing for this. In my defense, there's the whole I-have-to-drive-an-hour-to-and-from-work-every-day thing. Still, I'm willing to admit that's not a really good excuse. Which brings me to this point - I HATE TO CLEAN.

I chalk it up to perfectionism. My honest thought process when I start to clean is this: "I'm not mopping this floor correctly. WHY won't this dirt come off??? In order to do it right, I'd need to get on my hands and knees and scrub every last inch with a toothbrush. Wait, every last inch?! I don't have time for that! I spend ten hours a day at work and in my car! Now I just wasted thirty minutes and it still looks like crap! I hate this!" *runs off to bedroom sobbing* (<--not really, that was just for dramatic effect) I feel like I don't know how to clean, and I feel like I'm not good at it, and it's all a little discouraging.

In my search for people who sympathized with my views on cleaning, I stumbled upon FlyLady.net. I like what I've seen so far, and I plan on following the "Beginner BabySteps" program to a new cleaning routine...and just routine in general. I'm not very good at keeping them, but I know I feel better when I have one. Less stress, for one thing. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

In other news, an EarthFare opened up right across the street from me this week! Anyone shop there on a regular basis? I've only been in one a couple times before (the one in Boone). I know it's on the pricey side, but I definitely want to try shopping for a few things there. It's been waaaaay to crowded to visit so far, so I'm waiting until it dies down a bit. Perhaps I'll add that to my list of things to do this weekend! :)

Exciting Weekend Adventures

For the first time in quite a while, I have an exciting weekend to report on! Four of my close friends from college came to Charlotte for a visit (two of us already live in the area, plus my husband), and a good time was had by all. We started the weekend with dinner at Killington's (a Huntersville favorite of mine & Ross's), hung out for a short while, and then went to bed early-ish.

The next day was spent at the U.S. National Whitewater Center! So much fun. I hate that I haven't taken advantage of it before now, considering it's only about 20 minutes away from where I live. We definitely got the most out of our time there - whitewater rafting, flat water kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing. It's pretty expensive for the all-inclusive pass ($49 per person), but otherwise I think it's free to get in if you just want to walk around. You can also pay individually for some of the activities, i.e. $15 for kayaking. Something else I enjoyed was the atmosphere, minus all the screaming kids running around everywhere. In the main area (where the rafting, climbing and zip lining is), you are almost always within walking distance of a bar with a decent beer selection, and you can tell a lot of people come out just to watch everyone else and enjoy a day outside. It turns out they even have a weekly Whitewater River Jam featuring different bands each week, admission is free, and of course this involves good beer and sitting out by the "river" (where the rafting takes place).

Speaking of the rafting, it was a lot of fun, but not as exciting as I had hoped. But really, you can only expect so much excitement when it's all man-made. Everyone goes around the same loop, so the guides have to tweak things in order to make the "difficulty" level higher. In other words, there's not a lot you CAN do to make the difficulty level higher. We chose the middle level. The highest level involves a smaller raft and a swim test since you spend more time in the water, so we opted not to do that.

Now, on to my little mountain biking adventure. I'll admit, I have not exercised on a regular basis in probably two+ years. Making the decision to mountain bike 3.5 miles was not one of the smarter things I've ever done. Their website describes the green trail (the one we took) as "beginner/easy, mostly flat trails." Either we got lost and ended up on a different trail, or my understanding of the words "beginner" and "flat" is way off. I thought I was going to die, but I survived. As we got towards the end, I had to walk the bike on the level ground as well as on inclines. I have to admit though, it felt nice to have pushed myself that hard for the first time in a while.

Sidenote: And now, I really want to buy a bike - something I had actually thought a lot about before my experience at USNWC. There's a Trek store about ten minutes from my apartment, but we're talking a price range that starts at around $600. I guess I have a lot of saving to do. I want a hybrid bike of some sort, one that can be used on the road around town but also on trails. Maybe the perfect one will pop up on craigslist or ebay. *crosses fingers*

After all that physical/outdoor activity, we ended the day at The Melting Pot! Charlotte Restaurant Week is here, so it was the perfect, and cheapest, time to go. :) Our original plan was to go to Chima (Brazilian steakhouse) but calling one week in advance wasn't enough to secure a Saturday night reservation. Maybe next year. Sunday was spent recovering. I wish I had pictures of all this, but unfortunately, I do not. Either way, it was a fantastic weekend, and I especially give the Whitewater Center two thumbs up!

more thoughts on cooking, and a summer list

Well, today was FUN. Except not. I suppose this is going to lean towards a "whiny" post, but just bear with me. I try to avoid them, but sometimes I can't help it. As I mentioned earlier, I'm married now (woo!), but along with that came a new hour-long commute to work (and then one hour home). I. hate. it. The sky opened up on me twice coming home today (I'm talking everyone was driving 40 mph down the interstate), I was already drenched from running out to the car, had a mini-panic attack after almost hydroplaning like five times, and that's all I've got.

Speaking of the long drive, I'm now one of "those wives." The ones that are like "but I'm too tired to cook tonight." And we've only been married for a month!!!! This is not good. But I've at least learned something about myself. I fall apart without a plan. If I don't have a planned out list of meals for the week (along with the ingredients in my cabinet already), it ain't happening. You can just go ahead and pre-order all your takeout for the next five days because that's what's for dinner. I know, this can also be remedied by having a few easy stand-by meals, I just have to figure out what those are.

For all that cooking I don't have time for, I finally invested in a sort-of food processor! I originally planned on just going for the big one and getting a 12 cup food processor, but I opted for the 4 cup mini-prep food processor instead. I just re-read a few reviews on each, and I'm kind of second guessing myself now. Most people said I didn't need the big KitchenAid, in fact, most said they didn't even have a food processor. The primary reason I'm buying one is chopping, and slicing. I want to be able to put half a potato in and it come out chopped. The manual for my mini food processor said I had to cut onions into "1/2 inch pieces" before putting it in the chopper. Wtf is the purpose in even using it at that point? I might as well chop them up one more time and get the size I want. I mean, seriously. Opinions, anyone?? Recommendations for a good chopper? I know I'm kind of contradicting myself, since I just said I don't have time to cook, but I think the food processor might lead to more cooking since it (the KitchenAid) can do so much. Or maybe I just like the finer things in life, like $200 KitchenAid 12-cup food processors.

In other news, I can't believe how quickly this summer has flown by. The month of July is going to be super busy, but in a good way. I think one weekend will involve a visit to the US National Whitewater Center - should be awesome.

List of other things to do/start/finish this summer:

• Finish reading Love the One You're With. Started reading on our honeymoon, haven't picked it back up since (but I was really enjoying it).

• Start some kind of daily workout routine. Thinking about trying out the Purre Barre dvd's. There's a studio in Charlotte, but the classes are way too expensive...plus, there's the whole being-around-other-people thing.

• Eat healthier. I downloaded a calorie tracker app on my Droid, but so far, it hasn't been motivating.

• Go to bed earlier, as I sit here typing at 11pm. Seriously, one week I'm just going to take the plunge and start making myself get in bed at 8:30pm. Yes, I said 8:30. The drive to and from work wears me out, so I need to be compensating.

• Come up with a very set daily cleaning routine (different tasks on different days), so I'm not waking up on Saturday morning and dreading doing it all in one day.

That's all. Actually, it isn't, but the list would get a whole lot longer if I kept going. Really, the list is more of a start-at-some-point-eventually kind of list, but preferably before the summer ends. We'll see.

the married life!

There's definitely a whole lot of "new" in my life right now. New husband (well, first and only husband), new town, new apartment, new hour-long drive to and from work every day. Other than the last item on that list (which sucks as bad as it sounds), I am loving it all! The past couple months have been a whirlwind, and it's finally settling down a bit.

Post-wedding thoughts:

The first three months or so after being engaged, I was seriously considering eloping. I still think it is a great idea, and I don't think I would have regretted going that route. With that being said, having so many people I love and care about in the same place was so wonderful - all the planning, time, money and stress was worth it ten times over. So I guess where I'm going with this is do whatever you feel like doing. We would have come out just as happy and as married as we are now if we had eloped, but we chose the big wedding. I say do whatever makes you happiest. Not sure our wedding day could have gone more smoothly, and I am definitely thankful for that!

On another topic, cooking has been a fun new adventure for us. And when I say "new," I really mean it. Living at home with busy families meant that Ross and I spent most our time eating out before we were married...and I'm gonna be honest, cooking has never really been my forte, although I haven't tried much. I am really excited about trying new things though, especially with all the new cooking gadgets and makers and cookers etc that were given to us. I'm very proud of the first thing we made, Mushroom Turnovers. I know, definitely not anything to brag about as they are really simple...but trust me, it was a big step for someone who hasn't really done much more than heat up frozen pizza before. They turned out really great, and I'm sure we'll eat them again! And when I refer to "we" as in "we cooked them," my husband and I have cooked everything together so far. It's fun, but is also probably a good move on his part to ensure the safety of ourselves and everyone in our apartment complex. Saturday morning consisted of a not-so-successful attempt at making breakfast. Our mistakes were cooking the eggs first (which meant they were cold when we ate them, of course), and also burning the bacon, and subsequently setting off the fire alarm. If you ever thought breakfast was too easy to screw up, you thought wrong.

Luckily, since we are now living right outside of Charlotte, there are plenty of restaurants around in case the whole cooking thing doesn't work out. :) I haven't really been able to enjoy living in a new town since ten hours of my day are spent at work and driving there and back. Ready to get out of that situation asap.

I plan on posting a few pictures of our wedding and honeymoon (spent in Nassau - we had a blast) soon, and maybe even reporting on a few more newly found/newly attempted recipes!

slowing down...and the madness ahead

This time next week, I will be married. CRAZINESS. I'm happy to report there have been no meltdowns...yet. I have come very close, but luckily avoided them thus far. Tonight, it kind of clicked in my head why I've gotten close several times. With the exception of late night moments like this, my schedule seems to have been planned down to the minute every day. It's a constant feeling that I was unsuccessful at getting everything done for that day that I should have done. And really, by all accounts, it still doesn't add up. I still can't figure out exactly what it is about weddings that takes up so much damn time. I guess it's just the thinking and the planning, which is a very broad description of what I've been doing since January. There are a lot of things that have to be done at just the right time. For example, you can't tally up your response cards til you've sent out invitations. You can't write thank you cards until you get gifts. So I had much more free time from January to April because I couldn't do those things yet. That goes for a lot of other tasks also.

This brings me to my other point. Tonight I realized that I am a slow moving person. I like to enjoy life, and I am admittedly a homebody. I'm not a go-getter by any stretch of the imagination, which probably relates to the fact that I'm not a planner. I feel like all this planning and organizing has been quite difficult for me, and I have a mother AND a sister who I'm pretty sure have done 70% of the work compared to the 30% I put in.

The bottom line is that I want to eventually find the perfect balance. The perfect balance between being myself, but still being an organized and put-together person who gets things done. Completely random, but I caught an interview on the radio the other night with Demetri Martin (who I love). He talked about how he had devised this points system every week where he gave himself points for getting things done and for spending time working on things he wanted to accomplish. It sounded like a good idea, but the guy graduated with straight A's from Yale, and I didn't understand anything he said about it other than that points were involved. Either way, I hope that after everything settles down post-wedding, I'll be able to find the balance I'm looking for. I'm open to suggestions on how you keep yourself organized and motivated.

Ten on Tuesday

(Questions from Roots & Rings)

1. If you could watch only one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The Holiday, hands down. I just love everything about it; the actors and actresses (Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black), the storyline, and all the music. Pretty in Pink is a close second.

2. Let's say someone wrote a screenplay about you; what actor/actress would you choose to play you and why?
Zooey Deschanel. She is one of my faves, and she was just the first person who popped into my head. I'd say her or Kate Winslet.

3. What's the first movie you remember seeing in theaters?
Pocahontas. It came out when I was ten years old, and I'm thinking surely I had seen something in theaters before that. Although, with two siblings, it's possible my parents avoided movie theaters in order to save the $343254.00 they'd have to fork over. I do have very fond memories of my mom renting Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, and Rainbow Brite movies for me, though. :)

4. Did you ever make out at the back of a movie theater in middle school/high school?
Definitely not. My intense moment in a movie theater would have been when I "held hands" with a guy at the movies in sixth grade. Gettin' a little crazy!

5. Are you a Netflix-er, Blockbuster-er or a Redbox-er? (Or none of the above?)
Redbox just because it seems to be the easiest, but I think Netflix is in my future.

6. Name one actor/actress who you would give anything to have a dinner date with.
Tough question. I actually don't think there is one that I would "give anything" to do that with. I don't care that much. But I think dinner with Tom Hanks would be interesting. He's such a good actor, and I would like to just sit down and talk to him.

7. What's the worst movie you've ever seen?
Luckily, it's been a while since I've seen something that was absolutely the worst. I've seen movies I didn't like, but that was more on a level of personal preference.

8. Do you sneak snacks into the theater when you go?
Of course. Snacks AND drinks. One of the many perks of always carrying huge purses.

9. Movie theater popcorn: love or hate it?
LOVE. I actually worked at a movie theater in high school, and we could have all the popcorn we wanted. I never did get tired of it.

10. What is the all-time best Disney movie in your opinion?
I'd have to say Mary Poppins. My personal favorites would include Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland.

weekend musings

This weekend I was reminded of how thankful and blessed I am to have such wonderful friends. It was my bachelorette weekend (spent in Charlotte), and SUCH a great one! Three of my friends from college were there, and two from high school, and my sister of course (who planned the whole thing). I'm so very glad to have friends from different stages of my life who I can still call my best friends. I'll end my sappy I-love-my-friends story now. But I think we all had a great time. Dinner at Rí Rá Irish Pub followed by Howl at the Moon and The Breakfast Club = awesome. As for The Breakfast Club, what could be better than dancing all night to some of the best 80's music while the actual movie is playing on a big screen on the wall?? So I was dancing to "Don't You (Forget About Me)" while simultaneously watching the scene where Claire gives Bender her diamond earring. Side note: "P.Y.T." is currently my favorite Michael Jackson song. Anyway, I made it to the next morning with only a horrible headache, and I considered that a relatively good outcome.

On my music radar right now is a band called Grouplove. I am loving the song "Colours" off their self-titled EP, which I bought. XM radio has made finding new music SO MUCH EASIER. And somehow, while browsing Frank Sinatra playlists on iTunes this weekend, I discovered a beautiful song called "Poses" by Rufus Wainwright. Pretty sure it's my favorite song right now. I love randomly stumbling upon great music.

Well, I'm really ready for this week to be over. I'm not going to lie and say I don't say that every Monday. But there is much wedding-related planning to be done, and I am ready to have it behind me so I can just make it to the big day! I feel like things have come together far better than they should have in such a small timeframe, and for that I am grateful. I'm just stuck in that completely in-between stage. Not married, some of my things are moved but some aren't, new apartment is filled with unpacked bags and boxes, furniture is mostly taken care of but not completely, all this halfway business is driving me crazy! Not much longer, though.

Friday Giveaway!

I love giveaways...and I love the idea of being organized (doesn't always come to fruition with me, but I try) - so head over to Kyla Roma to win a Filofax Planner! :)

Oh, the waiting...

The next three weeks are going to be cah-razy! Moving+wedding=insanity. But good insanity. I visited my new apartment for the first time on Saturday...so exciting! Ross and I had visited probably ten different places, and finally, I told him to check out a place near where he works (an hour away from where I am). We had actually started our search there, but left when we got there early and didn't want to wait for the main office to open. The rent was decently priced in comparison to other places, it was in a great location, and I knew it was fairly new as far as age goes. So, I went from being terribly picky to "just do it, I don't care if I haven't even seen it." And it worked out PERFECT! So glad.

I was told by several people that I was a little on the crazy side for trying to plan a wedding in four months, but I can't imagine it any other way. The time between now and the wedding seems to be creeping by - I can't imagine waiting any longer. I'm sure it all depends on what your situation is and how much you have going on in your life, but I feel like a shorter time frame forced me to get things done. If I had half a year or more, seems like it would have been planned and I would've been sitting around waiting on the next three or four months just to go by. Whatever floats your boat, but that's how it worked out for me.

Moving has been relatively painless, but that could be because I haven't moved much at all yet. So, it's probably going to suck. I'm considering just opening my room up to a bunch of people and saying, "come in and take whatever you want!" I have a feeling I'm going to have about an eighteen-wheeler's worth of stuff to take to Goodwill after it's all said and done.

To end on a random sidenote - I am loving the song "Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes right now. They are new to me, but conveniently, their new album (entitled Helplessness Blues) came out yesterday...can't wait to give the whole thing a listen!

I was raised up believing I was somehow unique

like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes,

unique in each way you can see

And now after some thinking

I'd say I'd rather be a functioning cog

in some great machinery

serving something beyond me

But I don't, I don't know what that will be

I'll get back to you someday soon, you will see

-Fleet Foxes