T-minus 18 hours...

I had written this whole post involving my excitement about a Ross/Emily moment*, Girl Talk**, Sooner Swirls from the Mont, haircuts with my favorite hairdresser ever, etc. ad nauseum, but the whole point comes across much more clearly when I just say:

OMGosh, I'm going to be in the heartland TODAY***!

=) =) =)

*These are "deep moments" when we make crazy realizations about how odd the world is. If you know us very well, you'll totally understand. If not, I might make a clarifying post at another time. Perhaps.

**http://www.myspace.com/girltalk. Go there, download his latest album. You won't regret it.

***Technically, I leave for OK today, since I'm currently in EST. However, I won't arrive until tomorrow, if you're on Oklahoma time.

****I stole the idea of these little explanatory asterisks from Traci Anne. But it's just so helpful, I couldn't help it.

My Torrid Love Affair with Stephan Jenkins

"Visions of you on a motorcycle driveby -
The cigarette ash flies in your eyes and you don't mind.
You smile and say the world doesn't fit with you.
I don't believe you; you're so serene -
Careening through the universe, your axis on a tilt.
You're guiltless and free. I hope you take a piece of me with you."

It's no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with Third Eye Blind. However, I've noticed that my love for all things 3EB always grows stronger in the summertime. I think the sunny, roll-the-windows-down vibe that their music gives off has something to do with it. In any case, I have been blasting their albums a lot lately. It brings back some very good memories - from camping out after high school graduation at Beaver's Bend to standing mere feet from SJ at the Tulsa concert last summer.

One of my favorite quotes ever comes from their front man, Stephan Jenkins:
"I think if it's not monumental, there's no point."

Well said. I mean, SJ is seriously the man. That's why I lovingly refer to him as "my future baby daddy." Be jealous, Kathy. Now, I just can't wait for their new project, Ursa Major, to be released.


In other news, I move to New York in less than two weeks. It's exciting/scary/nerve-wracking/heart-attack inducing/dream come true all wrapped into one strange ball of emotions for me right now. And something that is very encouraging about this whole situation is how excited I am to start my job. Honestly, at first I was worried that I wouldn't love it as much as I loved the idea of it. But as they continue giving me insight and assignments to prepare, it seems like the pieces I loved most about my PR classes, my job at PSS, and my experience on executive committees all hand-picked to give me the perfect place to start. That's so cool. Also, I'm bound and determined to make the transition into New York without an awkward tourist phase. I've already seen the sights on other visits, so that's out of my system. Now, the trick is to know my way around. I bought a book of maps of the city today, which I'm going to study like crazy. At the very least, I'll know what subway to take.


(And despite what SJ might say in Motorcycle Driveby, I don't believe that "New York City is evil.")

Places I Love: Part Two

"Well, I've never been to heaven.
But I've been to Oklahoma."
- Three Dog Night

I'm known to hyperbolize, but I'm not going to compare the state of Oklahoma with the kingdom of heaven. There's no comparison, but like the song says, I've never been to heaven, yet I have been to the little slice of life known as Oklahoma, USA. And I miss it.

"But in her dreams she is far away, in Oklahoma USA."
- The Kinks

Now, I'm a Texas girl by heart and by birth, but I'm a Sooner bred. (And when I die, I'll be Sooner dead. Go ahead, you know you were singing the song.) When I moved up to Norman for school freshman year, I would have told you that I loved OU, but I didn't care a bit about the rest of the state. Over time I learned that you simply can't have one without the other.

"It blowed away, it blowed away. My Oklahoma home blowed away.
But my home is always near; it's in the atmosphere, My Oklahoma home that blowed away."
- Bruce Springsteen

Now that I'm removed from the home I made there, I find myself missing things - some strange and small, others much more significant - such as:

1. The wind - even if I did curse it while I was there. Sure the weather tends to be perfect here lately, and gosh-darn-predictable, which is nice when you're planning for the weekend, but there's something about that wind that you can't find anywhere else.
   
2. The food. I'm going to be in for a real culture shock in NY if I am having withdrawals from my Norman eateries while still in the South. I mean, I know it's no Classic 50s, but they don't even have Sonic up there! And don't get me started about Cafe Plaid. ;)
3. The way you can drive for miles and still see where you started from. Don't get me wrong, I think the landscape here in limbo is much more lovely than the flat plains, but they have their endearing qualities, you know?
4. The University. Boomer Sooner. Enough said.
   
5. The people. I've touched on my disdain for the manners (or lack thereof) here in Tennessee, so you'll understand why I miss the smiling faces of the general Oklahoma population. But then of course, there are the specific people in Oklahoma whom I love and miss dearly.
   

"You're the reason God made Oklahoma, and I'm sure missin' you."
- David Frizzell

Now here's the part where I get just a wee bit sappy. I would assume that most of the people reading this blog are people whom I met while at OU. With the addition of my family and a few select friends from my hometown, you are the people who best shaped me into who I am today, and helped put me on a path to what I will become tomorrow. So that's probably the number one reason that Oklahoma makes it onto the list of "Places I Love" - because of this state and its university, you all are a part of my life. Did I really just type "you all" instead of "y'all?" Gosh, I need to get back to Oklahoma/Texas soon.

"You be good and come to see us. Don't forget to write sometime.
Wake up in Oklahoma, where the chilly wind still blows.
Wake me up in Oklahoma to the only love I know."
- Jim Ed Brown and the Browns

Yeah, about that... If you're in the Norman area, I AM coming to see you. Very soon, in fact. And I'm VERY excited about it. Facebook/text/call me for more details, because I'm definitely not putting all THAT out there on the bloggy for any-old-body to see. But I can't end this post without saying one more, very important thing. Though I proudly claim the state of Oklahoma, I'm still 100% Texan, and there's nothing that will change that. I thought the following lyrics were wholly appropriate:

"Well now I don't mind going to Oklahoma. I never met an Okie that I didn't like. I don't mind New York City. Those Yankees talk funny but they're alright. ... Yeah I'm a hell-bent 100% Texan 'til I die." - Kevin Fowler

And so I'll leave you with this:

Live high, live mighty, live righteously. ☮

"I try to picture a girl through a looking glass
See her as a carbon atom
See her eyes and stare back at them
See that girl as her own new world
Though a home is on the surface, she is still a universe."
- Jason Mraz, Live High


I feel like I should post something, but I don't know what I want to talk about, so I have a feeling this could be a pretty disjointed entry without much direction. My apologies in advance if I start to ramble.

It's officially 3 weeks until I move. That's so weird. I've been ready to go to New York since I got transplanted to Tennessee, at least internally. However, I feel like there's still a ton of stuff I need to do in order to be actually prepared. There are boxes to sort through, things to organize, paperwork to assemble, the list goes on. Maybe I should start getting up earlier in the day to get that all accomplished. And before you gloat over that concession too much, mother, I would be much more early to rise if I could freaking get to sleep before 3 a.m. At least I usually have Britan to Facebook chat with when I'm sleepless.

Another thing I need to do is find an apartment. On that front, there's good news and bad news. The good news is, I have a roommate, and she seems really great. I think we're going to get along splendidly. Plus, she's from the Sooner State, so we've got that in common. Other good news is that I had a really beneficial phone conversation with an extremely helpful broker the other day, so now I have a better picture of what we need to do. The bad news, we really can't do much of anything until we get there in person. If you know me, you know how much I love to have a plan of action, a strategy. I feel sort of like I'm going in blind at this point, and that part is kind of scary.

In other news, I continue to get information from TFA and I have quite a few preperatory items to get accomplished before we go to our big conference. And let me tell you, I can't share details, but looking at some of the info I was sent, I'm in for a job that will be extremely demanding, challenging and rewarding. I mean, I had a pretty clear idea of what I was getting into from the application process, but seeing the info and the first of my duties laid out in front of me makes it all so much more real.

I guess that's all that I'm really thinking about right now. I got another wave of homesickness the past few days, which left me dealing with bouts of the "mean reds." (If you know what movie that's a reference to, then you truly know me.) But, that's been helped by the chances to get out and enjoy the sunny weather - since my mood is so often tied to the sunshine - and the fact that there's been more human activity going on around here. I got to meet and hang with a bunch of my sister's friends tonight, and they were really awesome. And I might get to meet up with a friend of mine from OU in Myrtle Beach in the next week or so.

Ok, I told you I'd start to ramble. So I'm stopping there. Goodnight.

I love Jesus, but I drink a little.

For Sam, every Wednesday is educational day. For Team Spice Up Your Life, Sunday is the weekly roundup. For me, Fridays are going to be my day to wrap everything up in a nice little package to tell you how things are going for me. (We'll see exactly how long I keep this up.) But here's round one of "yet to be titled series of posts" - suggestions welcome.

I have...
25 days until I leave for the City. And while that sounds like an eternity to me at first glance, upon closer examination it is coming up crazy soon. Heck yes.

I want...
to go on a shopping binge at Sephora, really badly. That store could be my budgetary downfall, if there were one nearby. I'd go online, but it's just not the same as gliding into the glistening glory of beauty supplies that lies within those black and white walls.

I need...
to find an apartment. And to figure out how to get my stuff moved up there. And to finish going through all my junk. Blah, logistics bore me.

I'm obsessing over...
Edward Cullen. If you need to ask, you wouldn't understand. But Jes sure does! :)

I dislike...
the fact that even though I'm in the South, people have no manners here. Rude treatment in New York, I'll slough off. But these people in Tennessee could use a lesson or two from a Yellow Rose of Texas.

I'm reading...
Lamb, by Christopher Moore, at the suggestion of one Mr. Jordan Carlton. And I'm finishing a book that was a gift from Sarah, called What Would Audrey Do? It's delightful - naturally so, since it's all about Audrey Hepburn.

I'm watching...
TV on DVD. All my shows are over for the season, so until the new Project Runway kicks off, I'm making do with Will & Grace, Sex & the City, Grey's Anatomy and The OC.

I'm listening to...
MIA, Katy Perry and Lupe's disks on repeat. And it wouldn't be summertime if I wasn't blasting 3EB's Out of the Vein. But my current favorite track is "Your Love" by The Outfield. It's exceptionally 80s-esque and full of happiness. Katy Perry even did a cover/remix, but I'm digging the original still.

I'm Googling/YouTubing/StumbleUponing...
This cracks me up every time. It's an oldie, but a goodie. Enjoy.



I'm remembering...
Some great inside jokes from the past couple of years by reading my Wall-To-Wall on FB with various people. I have to include a handful, just to see who remembers them:
PATNB. TDB. Toast! Jorge. Barbie on ice. Man-giggle. PeterAnswers. McEngineer. "You KNOW I'll win." 1,2,3 and A-Z. Sister Fact.

I love...
sitting at the piano, playing my showtunes. It's still the best part of my days this summer. I've pretty much mastered my favorites from Chicago, Spring Awakening, Rent, Wicked and Camp by now. If only I could memorize them.

I'm thankful for...
the gorgeous weather we've been having.

Well that was fun! Look for round 2 next week! And don't forget to help me think of a name for this new ritual. Loves it and you.

Insert witty blog title here.

Things that make me :)

You can't help being at least a tiny bit amused by cute kittens in funny poses with poorly-spelled, dorky captions.

Smile Rating: :)





Of course, I'll always love John Mayer. But I particularly love "Wheel" from this album, Heavier Things. In it, John says things I would like to communicate to the world, but his lyrics are so much more articulate than what I would've come up with. Plus, it reminds me of one of the best summers ever, when we made a trip to see John Mayer for the first time.

Smile Rating: :) :)




And finally, Kathy Griffin. I don't care that she's on the D-List, or that she's highly offensive to many groups of people. She is hiliarious, and always makes me laugh. Tonight she hosted Bravo's A-List awards, and managed to find a happy medium between class and crass. But you know, sometimes you just need to be entertained by a woman who's not afraid to go there. "Get freaky, Lance Bass, get freaky!"

Smile Rating: :) :) :)




And on the opposite end of the spectrum - two things that do not make me :)

Good morning, Baltimore!

"...Every day's like an open door!
Every night's like a fantasy!
Every sound's like a symphony!"
- Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray

I have been released from the pit of despair known as boredom. Okay, that was a little melo-dramatic, but I'm very excited because (drumroll, please)... I have a project! With just less than a month left until I move to the city, I was starting to go slightly crazy from a lack of productivity. I mean, my little aspirations of expanding my piano repertoire and dabbling in new languages could only keep me distracted for so long.

But I digress. I got several emails from a lovely lady named Kelly at TFA - though I suppose I shouldn't assume it's a woman, since the only two Kelly/Kelys I personally know are men - with some information and (here comes the best part) action items. :)

Prep work, books by Wendy Kopp, and starter kits, oh my! All that, plus the ever looming task of apartment hunting should keep me busy, interested and excited up until the big day.

P.S. The blog title refers to the only thing I know about Baltimore, MD. This is relevant because that's where I'll go the second week of work for a big recruitment conference. I suppose after that I'll know a lot more, right? :) And I think the sentiment of the lyrics is quite appropriate for my sunny disposition.

P.P.S. Prior to receiving said emails, I intended for the post to be Part 2 of my Places I Love series. That will have to come later, but here's a hint about where it is: "Brand new state, gonna treat you great!"

Decent Days and Nights

This is a brand new problem, a problem without any clues.
If you know the clues, it's easy to get through.
But you look confused and you don't know what to do.
It's hard to get an answer when you haven't got a clue.
If you work it out, tell me what you find.
We could have a few decent days and nights.
- The Futureheads, Decent Days and Nights

After a short span of time in which my days oscillated between the very good and the very bad, things have reached some sort of equilibrium, resulting in a series of decent days and nights. The only downside is that I seem to have the two confused.

I try to go to bed at a relatively normal hour, really I do. But even the soothing sounds of Rufus Wainwright and a couple of Tylenol PMs don't lull me into a sound enough sleep to prevent the nightmares. I wish I could explain them, but I can't. Sometimes I can't even remember what happened, only that it woke me up with a pounding heart and watery eyes. And nobody wants to go back to sleep when that's the kind of thing they have to look forward to.

So maybe I should rephrase the title. Decent days is right, but nights... not so much.

--edit--

Sunday night I got to bed by 1 a.m. (a significant improvement), and I had one of the funniest dreams ever. It involved a very unusual location for U-Sing auditions, Peter Pan, two of my friends from high school moving into a certain Greek house, baseball games in New York City and a very interesting coffeeshop. Now let's just cross our fingers that last night wasn't a fluke and that my bad luck with sleep is over!

You're the marigold.

'Til you're yelling, "How we living?" 'Cause you got the ball.
Then you rock on baby, rock on, you rock on, on and on.
You're a summer time hottie with her socks in the air.
You're screaming, "I don't care, baby, I don't care!"
-- Third Eye Blind, Wounded

Isn't it weird that the day I feel most like a summer girl is one when it's drizzling and grey outside? I'll walk you through it.

Roughly 11:00 a.m. At some delightful hour this morning, I pleasantly stirred from a sweet slumber SANS nightmares. Gosh, that was exciting after a week of no good, very bad dreams. I had errands to run, so I got ready for the day and then headed out to experience the day. Only, the day was not as bright and shining as I would've liked. My mood is often closely linked to the weather, and today's forecast was hazy, with a chance of bitchiness. Pssh, but who needs weathermen anyway, right? I wasn't going to let this slight setback get in my way.

1:00 p.m. So I headed over to the salon to get my hair cut. This was something I was very nervous about. You see, in Norman, I found the best hairdresser ever, so there were great expectations going in to see this new girl. After it's all said and done, I don't love the new cut - so I won't post any pics of it yet - but I'm going to give it a couple of days and see if I can work some styling magic on it. I mean, it's just hair. It'll grow out.

1:40 p.m.
After that experience, I went for a little retail exercise. It was most definitely not an impulse buy, however; I had been planning this purchase ever since I laid eyes on the item and fell in love... yesterday. But seriously, you guys, these sunglasses were calling my name. White Ray-Ban Wayfarers, if you're interested in that sort of thing. So freaking awesome.

Sometime around, oh I don't know, 2:00 p.m.
I spent the afternoon working on various projects, getting little things accomplished, reading letters from some of my lovelies, etc. And then I got to hang out with my sister. She's a pretty neat kid. I mean, there's no one like her. (Seriously, she's, um, "quirky." It's presh.) We played around on Photobooth, listened to MIA and Katy Perry, and basically just acted like the weirdos we are. (Reference the evidence below.)


6:00 p.m.

It's day two of Vacation Bible School at the church where I'm helping out, so I headed that way. The drive is worth mentioned because I love riding around town with the windows and sunroof open, blasting the CD Ross burned for me. :) So, at VBS, my job is basically to wrangle a group of 4-year-olds, to make sure they get from place to place in one piece. It's harder than it sounded, ladies and gentlemen. But they're so adorable, I can barely stand it. My favorite is probably this little darling named CJ, who, when asked, "Can you tell us who wrote the Bible?" quickly shot his hand into the air and proclaimed, "I did!" Aww. Working with these kids has been so refreshing. However, it was neither adorable or refreshing when a woman today asked me which of the kids belonged to me. No, thank you. Not right now, at least.

9:30 p.m. VBS wraps up and Katie and I race to the movie theater, making it into our seats just in time for the beginning of Sex and the City. I know, I can't believe I hadn't seen it yet, either. I don't have much commentary, except that every time Carrie mentioned the 20-something girls who move to New York, I kept thinking, "That's me in 36 days!" :)

12:00 a.m. I've just been hanging out, reflecting, Facebooking, reading blogs, and now sharing my amazing summer day with you guys. Kind of neat what a change of perspective can do for a girl's mood. Now I'm going to hopefully drift off to sleep without having to employ the lullabies of Rufus Wainwright, as I have the past few nights. Ciao, lovers.

P.S. If you got the reference of this post's title without even a second thought, then you are truly a person after my own heart. Loves.

Hello, lover.

Remember when Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City saw those perfect shoes in the store window and cooed those now famous words"? Yeah, that's the relationship I have with my shoes too, which is why it pained me so to go through the gut-wrenching procedure of paring down my collection of prized pumps, fabulous flats, wonderful wedges, stupendous sandals (and even a few snazzy sneakers).

I began the afternoon with a mildly-impressive 70 pairs, and now I'm down to a somewhat satisfactory 43. I'm sure that will be quickly remedied when I get to the city, however. I'm forcing myself not to shop until then - you know, being frugal and everything. It helps that there's no such thing as Shoetopia in Tennessee.

Taking a turn to a completely different topic, I've started on my second summer playlist, which reminded me that I never posted my first. Check out these songs and tell me what you think!

Emily's 1st Summer Mix of 2008:

1. Handlebars - Flobots
2. Any Way You Choose to Give It - The Black Ghosts
3. Blankest Year - Nada Surf
4. Graveyard Girl - M83
5. Holiday from Real - Jack's Mannequin
6. Elvis - These New Puritans
7. That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings
8. Rain On Young Folks - Phillip Dillon
9. I Wanna Deadbeat You - The Night Marchers
10. Rich Girls - The Virgins
11. Sour Cherry - The Kills
12. Head Rolls Off - Frightened Rabbit
13. Ladies of the World - Flight of the Conchords
14. Love on the Rocks - Sara Bareilles
15. Daft Punk is Playing at my House - LCD Soundsystem
16. Abandon - French Kicks
17. Impossible - Shout Out Louds
18. Big Guns (Dave P. and Adam Sparkles It Hot Remix) - Holy Hail

By the way, all of those wonderful free links came from this cool Web site called Songza. It's "the music search engine and internet jukebox." Pretty cool. Unfortch, I couldn't find the last song on there, but it's on iTunes.

I figure I'll forego the lyrics on this post since I gave you a lot of music to listen to instead. :)

--edit--
This is hard. Twenty days down, but nearly 40 to go. I thought the longer I was here, the easier it would be to deal with not having my people close by, but some days it feels like it's just getting harder. Missing people hurts worse when you don't have a countdown to count on.