It's Christmas in Winston!

Fresh off of fake Valentine's Day (remember, me & Rah celebrate in March!), I'm posting about my Christmas!  What?  Don't hate!  I had a great Christmas!

My mom got me Jameil earrings (gold grape-cluster orb drops) and a headband! 

Pserendipity got me the Barefoot Contessa cookbook I'm already in love with! Stace got me the Lorna Sass book I was gonna beg for until someone got it for me!!  Rashan got me the Rick book I never even asked for but wanted!! :)

Stace also got me this awesome dress she had her dad pick up for me in Ghana.  I LOVE IT!!  How awesome do I look in it!?  I felt like she was taunting me since she's in the hottest SoFla and it was barely 30 that day.  :/

 She also got me this HAWT black clutch!

 And now for the funniest series of photos ever!! The anticipation of KNOWING the gift you want is in the box!

 I can hardly hold it in!

 YES!!

 This is where I said, "I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!!!" Rashan said, "I love you, too!" I said, "Oh... I love you, too. But I was talking to my Le Creuset." LOLOL True story.

Twas a great Christmas!  Expect to hear about Valentine's day in oh about 6 weeks.  LOL.  I feel like I have 2 or three other posts I'm supposed to be doing here and on The Record Dish.  If there's a post you were looking forward to and haven't seen yet, do remind me, please! :)

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 75

I took the suggestion of some of my amusing bloggers and decided to make this a joyous make-up post since I missed this one a few weeks ago!

1) I HAD AN AWESOME TRIP!!!  I feel really great about the footage I gathered!  I also went to the courthouse & found my grandparents' original marriage certificate and the deed to our family land.  My great-grandfather paid $2200 for 160 acres in 1945.  I feel so awesome for seeing those things!  It was actually one of the first times I saw my grandfather's signature.
2) At Bablu in Jackson (a tacos and tapas joint), I had a foam for the first time.  I was super amused since anyone who watches Top Chef knows Marcel uses foams exclusively.  He once served beef foam with celery root foam topped with chive foam.  LOLOLOL!  J/k!  But at the restaurant I had a margarita with salt foam.  MMMMM!!!  That's CLEARLY the perfect place for a foam!!
3) I think brown eggs are so beautiful.  But I refuse to pay more when they taste the same.
4) Happy Valentine's Day!!  I love Valentine's Day!  Even when I'm not attached.  Really?  I like just about every holiday! :)  You don't have to hate Valentine's Day if you do.  I'll be your Valentine!  You should've let me know and I would have sent you a card!  If you still want your card, email me your address.  :)
5) I've now been working out 3xs a week for the last 7 weeks!  45 more to reach my goal!  :)
6) I want to go to a concert... but I don't know whose show I want to see.... Hmmmm...
7) I'm screening my first film at my aunt's church Sunday and I'm really excited!  The last church screening was awesome!
8) I have a new bed & I'm overjoyed about it!  No more sleep issues!
9) My hair is getting long!  I should do a post about it soon... I'll be late for that. LOL
10) You know how weeks ago everyone was all up in arms about their zodiac signs?  Since my birthday's August 23rd, the first day of Virgo for most astrologers, I'm considered on the cusp.  That means you have traits of both signs.  And I do have a lot of traits of Virgo & Leo.  So even if I were inclined to care that much, I was pretty well-prepared to make any transition.  Seeing as I might read my horoscope if a newspaper is open to it on that day... I think I'm okay either way. LOL
11) Y'all had me & Rashan ROTFDL during the Grammy's!   LOLOLOL!  True hilarity!
12) I have a goal to try 100 new recipes this year.  I had 12 in January!  Already up to 16 and where I need to be for the month!  Wheeeee!!

Movies 2011, Weeks 5 & 6

January 30- February 5, 2011
28) The Toast of New York. Cary Grant stars in this 1937 film about con men who will cross anyone to make a ton of money.  Didn't love it, didn't hate it.  3.3 stars
29) Alice in Wonderland.  The Johnny Depp & Helen Bonham Carter version from 2010.  I really, REALLY need to stop watching kids movies.  So not my thing.  3 stars
30) Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer.  Documentary about the former gov. of NY, brought down by his relationship with hookers.  Interesting information... with some good quotes from many sides, those who loved and hated Spitzer, and Spitzer himself, though of course he wasn't too forthcoming on the details of his downfall.  It dragged in some places, particularly toward the end, by focusing on things that really had nothing to do with Spitzer.  3.6 stars
31) Gasland. 2011 Oscar-nominated film about a process to drill natural gas in the U.S. after the filmmaker was approached about drilling on his family land.  The filmmaker's heavy-handedness, particularly with voicing was more than mildly irritating.  I wanted to shut it off after the first 10 minutes but I suffered through... for you.  You're welcome.  I wouldn't be surprised if this film won because of the topic and the fact that it takes on Cheney's company, Halliburton.  2.9 stars

February 6-11, 2011
I promise I didn't intentionally watch two films with wedding in the title!  The first one isn't even about a wedding!  It was an Oscar-watching weekend!  Wait until you see next week!
32) Tony&Janina'sAmericanWedding. The story of a family ripped apart by US immigration laws and the disastrous effect.  Pretty depressing but a good film. 3.5 stars
33) White Wedding.  South African comedy about a groom trying to make it to his wedding and his bride's trials with wedding issues.  Eh.  Just okay.  3 stars
34) The Fighter. 2011 Oscar nominee based on a true story.  Marky Mark... I mean Mark Wahlberg stars as the fighter with Christian Bale as his crackhead trainer brother.  I enjoyed it.  4 stars
35) Black Swan.  LOVED IT!!!  Another 2011 Oscar nominee.  Natalie Portman deserves all of the Oscar buzz she's been getting!  There is some confusion and dislike about the end but I thought it was great.  I don't need my every question answered.  4.6 stars
36) 127 Hours.  Another 2011 Oscar nominee based on a true story.  This one starring James Franco as a hiker who gets trapped in a desolate location for 127 hours.  There was a pretty gruesome scene.  Yikes!  One of the people watching with me got nauseous and Rashan got a physical pain.  Wow...  I didn't love it but I can see why people would.  3.2 stars

Mississippi Trip 2011 Vol. 1

THIS TRIP!! 

1) Why was I stuck in TWO accidents in the sleet that hit the day we headed for Mississippi?  In Birmingham, we went 2 miles in 1.5 hours... our exit was at the second mile.  |||||||||||||//////////////////_________   Please slap me in the face.  We then spent a few hours in the city with my aunt.  Then right after we crossed the Mississippi state line, we got stuck about 200 yards behind an accident that required 8 tow trucks, 3 ambulances and a mess (yes, a mess) of police cars.  And when we finally got past it TWO HOURS later?  We saw a tractor trailer off to the side that looked like nothing or very little happened to it.  :/  I left home at 5:45 am.  I got to my grandma's at 4am EST.  NOT AWESOME.  Guess who  went to sleep & drooled her face off she was so tired.  My mama.  LOL!!  J/k.  It was me.
2) I hung out with Nerd Girl & Love Girl at a Vietnamese restaurant.  She was amusing & my mom adored her.  Pserendipity went to Memphis instead.  You chose your husband over me?  I mean... Is that dude gonna love you for the rest of your lives?  He is?  Oh... okay.  Then I guess I'll let it slide.
3) Fish balls sound DISGUSTING but the ones I had? Delicious!
4) Mississippi is batting like .988 on restaurants!  So awesome!  Every place I've been to here (minus the lowest rungs of buffet chains my aunt & uncle love-- BLECH), I liked most of the food I got.  Super great!  Can Winston-Salem do even a tenth of that?  We just want TWO good CONSISTENT restaurants.  One extra casual, one less casual.
5) I liked my grandma a lot more this trip.  Small doses are key.  It also helps when she was nothing but complimentary: (As I'm working out) "You have nice legs." Then later, "You look great in that color!" "You're like me, any hat you put on, you can wear it well." (That one was for both of us.)
6) My uncle & I cried together as he talked about missing my grandpa.  I feel a lot closer to all of my uncles than I've ever felt since making this film.  My mom, too.
7) The word grandpa looks weird in reference to him.  I've always called him granddaddy or my grandfather.
8) The dvr got up to 30% and counting with all of my shows and I'm so blown!  I try to keep it out of the double digits.  So Wednesday after I return?  I'll be watching more tv than necessary!  LOL
9) Why was my grandma sweeping the house at 1:28 in the morning?  I bet this is my fault since we took her to the Mexican restaurant at 9pm!  She eats dinner at 5pm but was tapas-in it up!  Son!  She'd never had guacamole.  (I'm gonna go ahead and give her credit for my food adventurousness.)  She LOVED it!  She was eating it by the forkful.  HILARIOUS!
10) Raise your hand if you've been working out at least 3xs a week for the last 6 weeks.  MEEEEEEEE!!!  Now put it down if you have also been eating WHATEVER you wanted with little regard to said workout.  *sheepish face*  For shame.
11) Y'all.  If you find yourself wasting money on things you don't need, take that wasted money and put it in a good trainer.  It's cheaper than you think it is and SO worth the money.  Mine is constantly suggesting things that sounds insane to me until I do them!  For instance?  One-legged push-ups on alternating legs.  (Get in position, lift one leg, do a push-up, repeat, alternating legs.)  A week later, I'm STILL proud I can do those!  My mom, Rashan & my grandma were all equally impressed! Most common response: Whoa.  LOL.
12) We talked to my Uncle Charlie Friday night to confirm an interview Saturday at 1-- his chosen time.  He called my Uncle James around 8am Saturday and told us to come on. O_O You live 3 hours away!  And we planned other stuff for that morning.  We MIGHT be 20 minutes early... Except we were 20 minutes late.  LOL.  Didn't matter.  He fed us the second we walked in the door.  We did the (AWESOME!)  interview.  He sent us down the road to his daughter's for some delicious gumbo and amazing banana pudding.  I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!
13) My new favorite Mississippi towns (villages?)?  Homo Chitto (chitta), Bogue Chitto (boga chitta) &... HOT COFFEE!!  FOR REAL!!

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 87

1) I skipped vol. 78 or something and didn't notice until 2 weeks later.  I thought it would stop irritating me... but it hasn't...
2) I need y'all to pray for me about this semester.  It's making me absolutely nutty right now and I need it to stop.
3) Rashan noticed a sitcom cliche the other day that I now can't stop noticing: everyone has fertility issues.  That is so lame.  TV makes EVERYTHING about life painful.
4) Please stop being so sensitive about everything somebody says on the internet.  Everything is not a personal affront to you.  But if you think I'm talking about you, I probably am.  LOLOL
5) I am getting increasingly agitated by how segregated the fashion blog world is.  White & Asian fashion bloggers gush over white & Asian fashion bloggers and vice versa.  There are a few black fashion bloggers who talk about white fashion bloggers but there's still not much mixing.  IRRITATING.  I thought widening my fashion blogger circle would fix this.  It's actually made it worse.  By adding more, it became more apparent that the trend I thought was noticing was real.  Scowl.
6) I'm really good at scowling.  Partly because I have a very expressive face.  Sometimes my trainer laughs at how expressive my face is when she tells me to do something crazy.  LOL
7) My mom & Rashan both say "Bless you" to me when I sneeze and they're asleep.  It cracks me up!  You wake up to say that and roll over?  LOLOL!
8) I used to think in hahahas online.  Then hahahahas & LOLs at very specific times.  Now it's almost exclusively LOL & LOLOLs and LOLOLOLOLs!  LOL :)
9) Today is the 40th anniversary of my grandfather's death.  It's weird to miss someone you never met.
10) I'm really tired.  I never get 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep anymore.  I'm about to sleep my face off in the car!

February Goals

I think not having specific January goals and just setting goals for the year set me off my game a little.  I need monthly goals to achieve the things I want.  My overall goals for life are fitness, spiritual growth, relational growth and career growth.  I really got into the habit of following my 2010 goals to the point where I did them without thinking about them in January.  AWESOME!

I'm more than halfway through the Bible.  YESSSSSS!!  I've worked out three times a week for the last 5 weeks!  Yeeeeahhh!!  One of my yearly goals was to read 40 books.  This month I finished 4!  I've started a new page to track the books I read.  I'll update them monthly or as I go along.  I haven't decided yet.  Y'all.  I watched 27 movies in January!  That's pretty amazing considering I might have watched that many in the last 4 months of 2010!  LOL.

1) Finish transcription (typing out what everyone said on camera) for both Mississippi trips, complete first rough draft of script, begin editing.
2) Send out at least 10 applications.
3) Apply to at least 5 more film festivals with my last film.
4) Read at least 50 chapters in the bible.  That will bring me to 700 total chapters read out of 1189!
5) Continue to work out AT LEAST three times a week.  I feel myself getting into the mode of exercise becoming second nature and something I want to do more than 3xs a week.  FABULOUS!
6) Plan more meals.  I have horrible eating habits right now which make my body feel less attractive than it could with the amount of work I'm putting in.
7) Make AND KEEP a budget.  I have never been good at budgeting.  If I manage to come in under a budget one week, I use the excess the next week.  This will never do.  This month I want to get this under control.  If any of you have any tips, please leave them in the comments!
8) Read at least two books.
9) Complete one 30 Before 30 goal.  I have my eye on the bull ride!  LOLOL  Or a dance class!  Something!

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 86

1) I hate seeing old people in tee shirts. They look so sad to me.  Your body can't support that flimsy material.  Please put on some real clothes.
2) I know people who have never seen me in tennis shoes.  I only wear them to work out.
3) I hate Chickfila for not serving biscuits after 1030. What kind of self-respecting southern chicken establishment does that?  All I wanted Friday night was to get a chicken biscuit from Chickfila on Saturday.  Apparently that was too much to ask.
4) Everyone pray that Mississippi plays nicely and is actually warm when I go there instead of the same 40s we have at home.  It's supposed to be in the upper 60s this week! NOT AWESOME to take that away for me!!
5) My workouts have been GREAT!!  I've been pushing myself not to watch the clock. LOL She works me out for real!
6) How is it already the last day of January?  I'm about to be all sorts of awesomely joyous if February flies by like that.
7) One of my friends never answers the phone or returns calls and rarely checks emails and facebook. I'm convinced something amazing is going to happen & she'll be the last to know.  I also feel like I've said that before... on the blog.  I know I've said it aloud.
8) Did I tell y'all why I love cooking Ina Garten's recipes?  Because she makes me feel like a rich white woman.  LOLOL.  I only need that while cooking.  LOL
9) If you didn't read my movies post yesterday, The King's Speech is AWESOME!!  Worth the hype!
10) I love Rashan.  We have so much fun together!  Le sigh.  That dude makes me a simp.
11) My classmates have turned me into an awards show watcher! It's so crazy!  I only like the snobbier movie-related ones, though (Globes, SAG, Oscars).  My fave is definitely the Oscars since we all dress up for it!  I'm wearing my sister's prom dress from 8 years ago this year!  LOL
12) The Real Housewives followers on twitter and fb make me want to do something drastic.  IDK what but I HATE hearing about those foolish women for what feels like hours and hours and HOURS 7xs a week.

Movies 2011, Week 4

January 23- 29, 2011
22) Chinatown.  Pretty good film (despite the director's issues) starring Jack Nicholson about a private detective trying to solve a murder.  I enjoyed it.  Faye Dunaway is awesome.  I need to see more of her films.  4.1 stars
23) The Last Picture Show. Hm.  This 1971 film follows teenagers in a tiny Texas town and stars a bunch of familiar faces-- Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn.  I was pretty lukewarm about it.  Didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Wouldn't throw a fit if it was on in the background.  3.4 stars
24) Waste Land. 2011 Oscar-nominated documentary about recycled material pickers at a garbage dump in Rio and their collaboration with an artist.  Really awesome and touching.  Definitely see it!  4.8 stars
25) The Adventures of Power. Silly movie about a nerd who fights all odds to get recognition & respect as an air drummer.  I can see people loving this movie.  3.3 stars
26) The King's Speech. 2011 Oscar-nominated film starring Colin Firth about the speech issues of King George VI.  Loved it.  Dramatic with moments of humor.  You should definitely see this and Firth should win best actor.  I knew I wanted to own it after the first third.  The rest did not disappoint.  5 stars
27) True Grit.  2011 Oscar-nominated western about a teenage girl avenging her father's death.  Moments of utter boredom and predictability.  The ending felt hollow.  Did not like at all.  And yes, I like some Westerns.  2.6 stars

*Taps Mic** Is This Thing On??

About a month ago, Rashan's mom texted him for my number.  This made me feel weird.  We have what feel to me like strange interactions.  It shouldn't be strange that she welcomes me so openly but it kind of is.  I'm not used to hugely demonstrative displays of affection like her infamous 10-second hugs.  Rashan and I showed my mom how long his mom's hugs are and she was pushing me away after 5 seconds.  LOL.  That sounds so much worse than it is.  Whereas they are physically expressive, my family is emotionally and verbally expressive.  They have a strict DADT policy.  Us?  Start talkin!

So Rashan didn't give his mom my number until she asked for it again about a week ago.  She called to ask me for one of the recipes I used for Christmas dinner.  Rashan & I both felt weird about it.  Couldn't we have discussed that on fb like we do everything else? Don't you know me & Rashan met on the internet???  Hold up.  I'm not sure she does know we met on the internet.  DADT...

Cue Monday afternoon.  I leave training to see she called.  I text Rah like, "Why is yo momma callin me????"  He's clueless.  Fat lot of help he is!

I call her back curiously and say, "Hello?"
She sounds confused as well, "Hello?"
"Hi!"
"Hey darlin!"
"You called?"
"Yeah... a couple of days ago."
Color me confused... "Oh..."
"Is everything alright."
More confused.  Hesitantly, "Uhhh... yeah."
"You sure?"
Pause.  Does she have some sort of creepy sixth sense that I'm in a mood?  Did Rashan call her? "Yeah."
"You sound out of breath."
Oh.  LOL.  That.  "I just got done working out."
"Oh. Why didn't you take your husband with you?"
Hold the phone.  HUH????  I know you said you already claim me as your daughter but this is just WEIRD.  "Uhhhh... I have a trainer.  He works out at home."
"Oh really?  I didn't know that."

Why would you????  It starts to get a little cloudy here because my mind is racing (along with my heart rate) as I try furiously (and valiantly I might add) to figure out WHAT in the sam hill she's talking about!!
"Did you guys move yet? When are you moving?"
WHAT????  "Huh?"  You can tell I have 2.5 degrees, can't you?
"Are you still living with your parents?"
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!?  "No..."
"Where are you living?"
THE SAME PLACE WE WERE 4 MONTHS AGO!!  "Oh! Um... Winston-Salem."
"Huh? Wait a minute... Who...?"

This... two and a half of the most awkward minutes of my life... THIS is where we both realize she has no clue who she's talking to.

Simultaneously. "Who is this?" "This is Jameil!"
"Oh! I thought you were Rah's brother's wife!"
Relief! Sweet, beautiful milk dotting the mouth of a six pound, 10 oz. baby Jesus relief!  I just... I just don't know WHAT to say I'm so relieved!  So I start laughing.  Really loudly.  LOLOL.
"My pocket book must have called you!"
Insert 30 seconds of only slightly less awkward explanations about how she thought I was her youngest son's wife, a quick, well I like to talk to you, too!
And then, a merciful goodbye!
I sigh with joy and attempt to get my body to stop trying to simultaneously fight and flight.

Rashan's response to the whole thing?  "I feel uncomfortable just listening to you tell this story!"  How does he think I felt???  And then, "She doesn't have caller i.d.??"

????????????????????

Him = theeeee worst.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 85

1) When people apologize for their long absences and they're less than 8 days, I have never ever noticed them.  I follow enough people on Google Reader that you have to be mighty talkative for a long time for me to notice.  And if you stay gone for a long time?  I might forget you exist... I mean... it's better than me stalking you, right?  Blame Rashan for me not stalking people anymore. 
2) In case you forgot Rashan was a jerk... I had to explain google reader to one of my friends the other day & Rashan said, "Wow... it's 2007 again. You're explaining google reader."  LOLOL.  Jerk. (soft j)
3) Why do kids always ask "where do babies come from?" on tv shows?  Cliche' much?
4) I watch "Chopped" all the time and you know what?  I'm tired of hearing ScottConant whine about his disdain for raw red onion.  I hate a lot of raw red onion, too, but this competition isn't about every chef making a dish to meet your standards.  Really?  STOP SAYING THAT EVERY TIME YOU'RE ON THE SHOW!!!  But I love Alex! :)
5) If you're not familiar, they have a basket with three or 4 disparate ingredients they have to incorporate into a cohesive dish.  One recent basket on that show?  Baby bananas, black eyed peas, poblano peppers & ostrich steak.  Da heezy!???  Rashan wants to do a "Chopped" challenge for me one day.  Hilarious.
6) Update on me working out to meet my trainer?  She said my form was GREAT and I didn't lose much over the break.  Yeaaaaah!  She also said she had a client who hadn't worked out in more than a month and almost died.  LOLOL!  Glad it wasn't me!  But I SEVERELY underestimated how it would feel to be back!  So crazy!  My body was like, FOR REAL???? 
7) Can someone tell me how I managed to accidentally follow at least 3 M.ormonFashionBloggers?  I'm pretty sure I've never even met a M.ormon before...  So weird.
8) Every time I hear there's a party where I should bring food, I come up with at least 5 recipes I want to make.  Someone tell me to calm down, please.  PLEASE!
9) I went to the outlets nearest to my house on Friday.  Ya know... the one with a Le Creuset store.  *faints*  You know baby had to get a lil somethin.  I got a giant cobalt pie plate!  Mine was $26.  I also got some great clothes at amazing prices.  My favorite deal?  The $129 BCBG dress I scored for $29.  *pat pat*
10) One of my 30 for 30 goals has got to go.  I seriously do NOT care about taking a picture a day for a year.  Suggestions on what to replace that with?
11) Funniest & most fun drinker?  The (non-slurring) CHATTERBOX!  Talk, talk, talk.  It amuses me.  I like that much better than some of the drinkers I knew in college-- overly emotional, mood swings (happy, sad, angry, "amorous" all in the space of half an hour), sick and vomiting.  And this is just one person...  Please drink responsibly.
12) It's been a while since I got a really stank comment.  Probably because I have fewer commenters than I once had and the ones who do comment are my own little blog la familia.  Sometimes I feel sad for the people who have to bring bloggers "down a notch or two" but sometimes I feel as sad when bloggers respond.  Some handle it well... others... really poorly.  That stranger (always hiding behind the cloak of internet gangstafied anonymity) needs to kick rocks!  And hard!  Don't let them drag you down with them... I feel like this is just inviting someone to say something stank... LOL.  Please keep your foolishness to yourself.
13) Why doesn't blogger automatically recognize blogger as a word?  To quote the wise bard, William of the Smith clan, "Dum dum dittaaaaaay!"  (It didn't recognize any of that at all... Hm.)

Movies 2011, Week 3

January 16- 22, 2011
A pretty good mix of films this weekend, not all of them great but some good enough.
17) Waiting for Guffman. Silly mockumentary about community theatre.  SO silly.  Amusing, though.  3.8 stars
18) Mostly Martha. German film about a loner chef who becomes the guardian for her recently orphaned niece.  I may have enjoyed this more had I not seen and (remembered well) the American version with Catherine Zeta-Jones.  It was almost exactly the same but quieter.  It felt a bit slow at times as well.  This one did feel less forced most of the time, though.  3.3 stars
19) A Village Called Versailles. Documentary about a Vietnamese community in New Orleans that united after Hurricane Katrina.  Some good moments but it felt separated into two halves, almost like 2 different films.  3.3 stars
20) Sylvia Scarlett. Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant star in this 1935 film about a woman who poses as a man.  KH's accent sounds ridiculous.  Wow.  How can too fabulous stars be in such a colossally bad film?  Really, REALLY bad.  2.5 stars
21) On the Town. Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra star in this 1949 film about sailors looking for fun in "New York, New York."  There was a dance sequence I'm convinced last 17 hours.  At least nine-thirds of the film.  I mean, I like a good dance sequence and all but #cmonson.  3.5 stars

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 84

1) I love people who share food with me... but I don't necessarily like to share my food.  This really applies to leftovers.  Nothing else.  If you eat my leftovers without me telling you to eat them?  We'll have a problem.  Rashan never does this.  THANK GOD!!
2) I can be rather abrupt when it comes to matters of the heart.  I have no patience for lingering in dead-end relationships.  He told you he'll never marry you?  You're still the side chick?  Get out.  What else do you want me to say to you?  I don't like long relationships.  I have no patience for people who proclaim each new beau as the one.  I'm not trying to kill your hopefulness, I just don't get it.  I have become more open-minded seeing as I did find my love on the interweb (how distasteful!) but it's still a struggle to get it when clearly I don't have to.
3) I put off a return to working out with my trainer as long as I could.  I mean as LOOOOONG as I could.  I'm so scared she's gonna murder me so I've been working out 3xs a week over the last 3 weeks in preparation to return to my trainer.  Is that stupid?  LOLOL  I just don't wanna die!  But return to her I shall this week!
4) I realized I didn't show you what I got for Christmas!  Some AWESOMENESS!!  I LOVED my gifts!!  I got myself that 30 Before 30 lipstick and my Marc by Marc Jacobs rain boots.

I love them!!!  Y'all know I'm all about bright colors!  These hit the spot!  I suppose I'll do a full Christmas post later because there are a ton of pictures I think it will amuse you to see.
5) I'm bored but I don't feel like returning to regular life.  I'm really dreading this semester.  I know that's not doing anyone any good.  :/
6) Am I racist?  Every person I talk to who's vaguely non-white, I have to restrain myself from asking them if they like to cook.  Gimme your recipes!!
7) I have been so incredibly restless for the last week plus.  My body is so hateful.  Why do you treat me this way???  I sleep a couple of hours at a time.
8) There's nothing worse than a durn Yankee talking smack about Southerners and snow.  There is NO comparison.  A few inches of snow shuts down Southern cities because they don't have adequate budgets for snow removal and tons of people who think they can drive in snow but can't.  If you don't move snow and it warms up during the day, which it always does in the South after snow, the snow melts.  Temps drop again at night and what?  Ice.  NO ONE deals adequately with ice.  Ice can shut down even the most Northern of cities.  But it's particularly bad in the South.  I've lived in both places and worked in a place where I covered snow and drove in it for 3 winters.  A place that's USED TO snow knows how to deal with it.  One that expects one "big" snow of a few inches and gets double or triple that?  Never going to react the same way.  Again, NO COMPARISON.  So shut your mouth.
9) I learned of 4 pregnancies in 48 hours.  Um... whoa.  Y'all have been really busy keeping warm.
10) My mom gets sad when I don't love gifts she gives me... so I break it gently... and sometimes... I lie.
11) I deleted a fb friend a few months ago when she asked people not to post pictures of her wedding and said she may or may not post any.  This after she wrote incessantly about the trials of planning a wedding.  Invite in and shut out?  STD.  Shut that down.  Now I kinda want to be her fb friend again.  Why?  Nosiness.  That is such a mess.
12) Are you as excited as I am about the return of 30 Rock??? :)
13) I complain about the layout of Target every single time I go in one.  Why?  Because every single one has a drastically different layout.  Why?  WHYYYYYY??
14) "I (Almost) Got Away With It" is an AWESOME show!! So hilarious!!  If you have Discovery ID or On Demand, WATCH IT!!

Movies 2011, Week 2

January 9-15, 2011
It was unintentionally old movie week at casa Jameil and quite a good one!  Way to be there!  Looking forward to more good ones this week!
11) Move Over Darling. Doris Day stars in the remake of the fabulous Cary Grant film "My Favorite Wife."  Amusing and I've definitely decided I love the many incarnations of this film.  I wondered who would play in a modern adaptation.  Just please not Sandra Bullock.  4 stars
12) Sophie's Choice. Meryl Streep stars as a Polish immigrant who survived concentration camps and slowly unveils the grim details to her Southern neighbor who is also an unwilling witness to her tumultuous relationship.  Interesting, yes.  But also tiring and long.  I could feel what was coming pretty early on.  3.9 stars
13) Cabaret. Liza Minelli stars as an American cabaret singer in Germany trying to make it big as Nazis are coming to power.  Pretty good.  It's a musical for all you musical haters.  The end felt a little stretched out.  4 stars
14) The Thrill of It All. Same stars as Move Over Darling, ironically.  Doris Day and James Garner are a couple who struggle when a company's president wants Doris Day as his ad girl.  Not in line with modern desires a bit amusingly.  Cute if a little too long.  3.7 stars
15) Yankee Doodle Dandy.  James Cagney won an Oscar for his starring role in this biopic about an entertainment legend.  Thrown off by an unexpected blackface sighting again.  :/  It dragged toward the end.  3.4 stars
16) Splendor in the Grass. Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty star as a young couple with too much feeling in their uptight Kansas town.  I really enjoyed it.  3.9 stars

#22: Find my perfect shade of red lipstick.

I did it!  I know when you saw this goal on my 30 Before 30, you said to yourself, LAME! COP OUT!  But I've never been a make-up girl.  Okay I take that back.  I really, really TRIED to be a make-up girl when I was a little girly girl but my MOMMY wouldn't let me.  Meanie.  She told me I don't need make-up to be beautiful.  What a cop out.  Of course I didn't believe her and put "a make-up kit" in the Top 5 of my (up to five page) Christmas list for AT LEAST a decade.  I begged and begged.  What about when I'm 13?  When I'm 15?  16?!?!  No! No! No!  And NOT ONCE did I get so much as a lip gloss!!!!  So I gave up on being a make-up girl.  Then I got to college and was surrounded by women who knew how to put on make-up... and I no longer really cared about putting on make-up.  *shakes tiny fist at M* 

How did I learn how to put on make-up?  By watching Carmindy on What Not to Wear... LOL.  That is so sad!  I'm sure she's the one who said there's a red lipstick for everyone.  It's been embedded in my head since then.  But with my complexion, when I go to make-up counters, they pick raisins for me.  I'm looking for something unexpected.  But when I told the lady at Lancome a red, she was skeptical and picked out three HORRIFIC shades of red.  Truly terrifying.  I had Rashan with me and he was of course, 0 help. Poor thing.  He begged me to bring someone else, ANYONE else with me, and I didn't.  This woman, in her desire not to talk herself out of a sale, refused to say anything HONEST about these awful colors she selected.  I thought they looked terrible on me and she was like, "It depends on what you like."  Girl. BYE!!!

My next stop was at Ulta where I thought I could get a reasonably-priced lipstick.  A sweet little guy really, REALLY wants to see me in a non-red gloss.  Hold up.  I came in here SPECIFICALLY knowing I want a RED LIPSTICK and you try to send me off with a non-red gloss?  I humor him, this time I'm with a friend, who also doesn't understand my desire for red, (SN: Why did I keep going with people who thought I was crazy?) and hate everything he does.  He says, "I told you red wasn't for you. Let me show you some other stuff."  I proceed to hate everything he shows me.  Why?  Mostly because I resent him for that!!  What you are seeing here is the anatomy of how to lose a sale with Jameil (half rhyme...) part II.

My third stop, with the same friend but on a different day months later, is at the JCPenne' (LOL) Sephora store.  This timid-ish chick hears I want a red and is again looking at me like I'm nuts.  WHAT IS IT WITH THESE PEOPLE?!?  I'm the only one who watches WNTW??  You're IN make-up and still want to do the same boring thing everyone else wants to do?  NO. RAISIN.  This chick hears red, looks skeptical and asks her cohort for advice.  What do we have hear, people?  If you guessed how to lose a sale with Jameil part III, DING DING!  You're right!  You get a blog post!  And you get a blog post!  (Don't get excited. It's this one.)  She gives me some atrocious colors to try on, I scowl in the mirror and leave.  I've never had a good experience with that store so I really should stop going back.

My fourth stop... y'all I'm so DEDICATED!!  ... To finding a lipstick... fail... epic fail.  Anyway, the 4th stop was where the first stop should've been.  The store every make-up crazy black woman (with a little money) I know is a stan for: Mac.  DUH!!!  I said after the first place, I should stop playing around and just go to Mac.  But did I listen to myself?  (Sheepish) No...  So this time I have my sister with me.  I said red and she said really?  But she said it with an open mind because she's the make-up fiend in the family.  Plus I'm the big sister!  Off to Mac we go.   I'M DETERMINED we are finding my lipstick TODAY.  By this point I was feeling rather discouraged and had amended it to 'an unexpected color' from red.  But when I told the Mac chica I wanted a red but people were hating she said, "Why!?  I think there's a red for everyone!"  Oh honey.  You need to teach 'how to take all of Jameil's money!'  LOL.  Clearly I agree so we tried several and.... decided on Ladybug!  How cute is that name??

I wore it out for the first time to a casual NYE house party and was still easily one of the most dressed up people there.  LOLOL.  I love it.  Why did it take me four tries over 6 months (almost to the day) to find a red lipstick???  That is so not cute.  But I have it!  Kiss kiss!  

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 83

1) The most possessive-looking couple pose in the entire world?  The one with the dude's arms around the chick's waist (cool) and her arms around his neck (THIS HERE? MINE!!!), both staring at the camera.  Y'all are scary.
2) One of my childhood friends is having a baby August 21st.  Well his wife is.  I say, "Wait until August 23rd for the 2nd best baby ever!!!"  Why does he interpret that as me having a baby???  HOLD UP, SLOW UP, STOP, CONTROL.  REALLY??????  Who doesn't know my birthday is August 23rd????  Stop trying to spread rumors and lies on fb!!!!
3) Speaking of lies on fb... I have THEEEE ghettoest cousin with presto-chango (red, orange, platinum blonde, blue) hair colors.  Our only contact in more than 10 years is via fb where I'm getting quite the education!  The other day she was SO upset people sent her texts that KeyshiaCole'smom had died.  "STOP SPREADING LIES!!!!!!!!!"  (She types in all caps with lots of exclamation points.)  Why are PEOPLE, not one person, PEOPLE, texting you this?  I would have to remove these people from my list. (SN: Who determines the no. 1 ring tone? Don't answer. I don't care. I hate ring tones.)
4) Y'all can back up off the marriage and engagement talk again.  It will happen when it's supposed to happen.  I see the mention of it makes you all crazy.  That's my bad.  No more.  Let's all calm down now.
5) I love encouraging my friends!  Blog la familia included!  If your homies aren't in your corner, then who is??  I won't be that weak link hatin on ya!   I'm gonna help you along!  You can do it!  But you have to set a goal to make one!  XOXO 
6) Was that deep?  Did I almost write a #fakerevruntweet?  *shivering and shaking on the pavement*
7) I wanna go somewhere.  IDK where but I'm headed back to MS next month... That doesn't count.  Sorry, Sip.  I could've gone to VA this weekend but wasn't really feeling that, either.  I know what I need: a FREE trip somewhere.  Preferably somewhere warm and exotic!
7) I have almost made myself into a coffee fiend on accident.  I don't really like the flavor of coffee that much esp. unadulterated but the smell?  HEAVENLY!  And people have been trying to make me join their addict-ville for a long time.  I love coffee ice cream and that makes me feel less bad but this is the 3rd year in a row I've had a Sbucks in the library.  Not cool!!
8) Am I done yet?  I should start a countdown to graduation.  My baccalaureate is May 15th, the 16th is graduation.  I'm gonna go ahead and make the bac what I countdown to.  125 days!  HOLLA!
9) Rashan doesn't believe in ugly babies.  I, on the other hand, see them everywhere.  Newborn?  Ugly baby.
10) I hate watching drunk people on sitcoms.  They always seem like they've never been drunk.  Exception?  Queen Latifah as Khadijah on "Living Single."  The tranquilizers episode?  HILARIOUS!!  Sooo funny!  LOLOL
11) It is way too hard to maintain 2 blogs.  Especially since I'm trying to do fashion AND food in the other blog.  Am I really gonna be posting 5 days a week over there and 3+ days a week over here?  Methinks not.  I would need to be paid for that to happen.  I'm at least 2 posts behind over here... and don't feel like posting.  Yawn.
12) I really want an $89 pair of shoes ... But I know I shouldn't.  They were originally $179!  That's a good deal.  You know it is!  I just want some impractical shoes.  How weird is it that those are more impractical for me than my magenta pumps?  LOLOL In the time since I wrote this, I talked myself out of them because the ones I really want are sold out in my size.  Way to save yourself money?  DON'T SETTLE!!  (Hence the reason I'm so difficult to feed. LE SIGH.)
13) Can you believe I still have 2 official days before school starts?  And I have 0 classes to attend this semester?  So weird.  I'm teaching a class on radio once a week, though so that should be cool.
14) I'm ready for the next new internet thing.  I'm coming up on my 3 year twitter-versary and getting a tad bored.  There are some people I like to communicate with primarily through twitter but eh... I'm sure part of this is the fact that I am currently wasting my days but NEXT!
15) Modern Love was great this week.  As was Vows about a couple who met playing Jeopardy online.  Rashan and I soooo related to "he discovered 'a certain awkwardness in meeting someone for the first time when you think you already know them well.'” LOLOL!  Been there!!

Movies 2011, Week 1

January 1-8, 2011
It's so easy to watch more movies than there are days in the year when you refuse to leave the house.  On a roll!!
1) The Man Who Came to Dinner.  A jerky lecturer overstays his welcome when he gets hurt and has to stay at a family's home in this 1941 film with a softer look at Bette Davis.  At nearly 2 hours, this film was far too long for a comedic film.  Get to the point already.  3.1 stars
2) Tooth Fairy.  Cute kids film starring the Rock about a guy forced to be the tooth fairy.  It's certainly not unexpected but can definitely keep your attention.  3.8 stars
3) Doc Hollywood. Michael J. Fox comedy about a Hollywood-bound aspiring plastic surgeon who gets stuck in a small town when he has an accident there.  Boring, predictable.  3.2 stars
4) Harvey. 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart follows a man who confounds his sister and niece with his companion-- a 6-foot tall invisible rabbit.  Pretty amusing.  4.1 stars
5) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford and Paul Newman star as two (smokin hot) thieving outlaws.  Great action & a fun watch!  4.5 stars
6) Mississippi Burning. Film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the disappearance of 3 civil rights workers.  Pretty good despite some holes and plot contrivances.  3.9 stars
7) Angel of Mine. French film based on a true story about a woman who believes a little girl is her long-dead daughter.  Really creepy but good.  4.1 stars
8) Gidget. 1960s film about a girl surfer who's not taken seriously.  I didn't enjoy it.  3.3 stars
9) Going the Distance. Drew Barrymore romcom about a long distance relationship.  Cute.  I enjoyed it.  4 stars
10) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. The first in the trilogy.  It was pretty good.  Not my kind of movie.  3.5 stars

2011 Goals

One of my fb friends said, "Face it, you're likely just gonna end up doing the same things in 2011 that you did in 2010...and 2009...and 2008...etc...."  Y'all.  Don't accept that attitude in your lives.  You CAN achieve whatever you want!  Said person then added a (lame) disclaimer, "Make those changes every day."  Womp. Womp.  Look, if you want to get all goal-oriented in January, who am I to stop or discourage you?  Start when it makes sense to you!  Start in March!  Start in July!  November!  Just make some real changes in your life.  We all need change and I believe you can do it.  Put your back into it.  Setting goals is the only way I get anything accomplished.  December?  I wrecked shop!  (I updated that post.)  I can and will just sit in the house and watch tv and read about your lives on the internet if I don't set goals.  Let's make 2011 one to remember.  Rashan and my mom don't get my goals but SO WHAT?  Goals, resolutions, whatever you want to call them, OH LET'S DO IT.

1) Complete at least 12 30 for 30 goals.  These goals encompass many of the changes I want to make in my life.  That's why I this list will be shorter than last year's.  I only completed 4 so obviously have quite a bit left to accomplish.  Definites are read the entire Bible (almost halfway there!), go whitewater rafting, ride a mechanical bull, make and keep a budget, take a dance class, workout 3xs a week, tour a vineyard in NC wine country, use my passport and yes, RUN A 5K!!  I did my first self-directed 5k run-walk over Christmas break and it was great!!  I felt really powerful!
2) Read 40 books this year.  I used to read every single night before bed.  Then there were some breaks in college.  Now I want to get back to reading.  Fiction, non-fiction, doesn't matter.  I want to read some great books!  I read The Help to get me back in the swing of things and loved it!
3) Try at least 100 new recipes.  Y'all know I love cooking!  I've lost a bit of my mojo with my crazy schedule but I think I can get it back in 2011!
4) Get a full-time teaching position in a great program.  This will be awesome. 
5) Work out more.  This will help me with my 5k goal and the lifetime fitness goal.
6) Make sartorial magic.  I shocked myself a little this year with unexpected combinations of the clothes in my closet.  It's really fun to do that and I strive to do that more and more and further develop my personal style.  I also want to find a tailor to make me some clothing.  Working out is making my body type more and more difficult to fit, particularly on the bottom.  I will feel much more pleased if someone makes my clothes instead of having huge waistlines.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 82

1) Have you seen "Mexican Made Easy"?  That show is AWESOME!!!
2) I traveled so much at the beginning of break that I'm tapped out.  It was impossible for me to leave the house last week.  I blamed it on my steep, icy driveway.  I'd be able to get down... but I wanted to be able to get back up.  That was my excuse for 3 days.  Then I decided I wanted to go out for dinner.  Typical, right?  LOLOL
3) Have I ever told you how much I hate the name Jamie?  I think it is incredibly ugly.  The most awful unisex name ever.  I hate when people try to shorten my name to that... or really most things they try to shorten it too.
4) That brings me to Mel.  I also hate the name Mel.  Don't call me Mel.  My name is Jameil.  Juh-mell.  Not Mel.
5) I love the name Thad after a camp counselor I adored.  I could never get past boyfriends to agree to name our possible future children Thad.  What awful men.  Be better, Rashan!!  I'm willing to go with Thad as a middle name now!
6) For the first time ever, I was really, REALLY offended by the rampant materialism surrounding Christmas.  It made me really sad, too.  I was able to block it out in previous years but it was all up in my face this year in a way that threatened to steal my excitement.  BUT I REFUSED!!  It wasn't so much the stores.  What else would they do?  It was more people I was around who were only concerned with what they were receiving.  It's particularly distasteful in children.  If they're like this now, they'll be monsters the older they get.  MONSTERS!!!  But to soothe myself, I'm still rocking the Christmas music!  And I told Rashan it will last for 3 more weeks.  But let's be real... I'll be listening to Christmas music well into February and whenever else I need a boost.   Merry Christmas II You (Mariah's latest) is my definite new fave!  Guys, you need a new fave song or album every year!  Don't forget!
7) I am SO sad that Therapeutic Musings is in the midst of a blog break!!!  I love hearing about her fetus, who I adoringly refer to as BPL-- Baby Pickle Lover-- because he (I think it's a boy) learned how to be a fetus from sitcoms and only requested pickles in the early days.  With every meal!  Hilarious!  Please no pickles and oatmeal!  He now loves Mexican food!  BABY AFTER MY OWN HEART!!!  Blog auntie loves you!
8) Yes I'm crazy.  Obviously...
9) Although I'm weird about January 1st, in general, I adore January.  EVERYONE'S full of goals!  I can always remember the new year and often accidentally start writing it in November or December.  So future focused.  (Which can be annoying.)  Howsomever... February.  Oh you.  I always start writing the previous year in FEBRUARY.  Right when everyone else has stopped.  Absolute foolishness.
10) Rashan hates Valentine's Day because it's his deceased father's birthday.  I love V-Day (and every holiday, really) and/but it was too hard on him so we decided last year that in the future we should celebrate on March 14th instead.  I completely forgot about this until he reminded me the other day.  I love it.  And him.  We are the cutest.  On that note, I hate when people try to price gouge me because it's a special occasion.  It made me want to stay in the house for New Year's.  But it makes me extra excited about celebrating V-Day in March!
11) These last few months I've had to learn to live in the same city as my boyfriend for the first time in 10 years.  So bizarre.  And such an adjustment!
12) Boyfriend is such a stupid word for my 36-yo old man and belies the magnitude of our relationship.
13) I may as well start off this year with a confession... we live together... and have since September.  I never tell people but it's not exactly a secret if you're on twitter and fb with either of us.  It felt weird to not telling people when I was in Mississippi and every once in a while it feels like lying when I avoid talking about it.  It doesn't jibe with my religiosity and was completely unexpected but was a necessity of sorts.  I NEVER thought I would live with anyone before I got married.  But I'm actually more delighted than I could have ever imagined to have him here.

Anyway, I know this year has great things in store!  There will be some difficulties as there always are but with a new year and a new decade, like every new day, comes new opportunities for greatness.  I'm excited!  Aren't you??

Movies 2010, The Finale

December 19-25, 2010
I watched more movies in one day than in the previous 2 weeks... Weird.  And I love comparisons like that.
208) TheKidStays in the Picture.  Documentary about the life of film producer RobertEvans (TheGodfather, LoveStory, Rosemary'sBaby, UrbanCowboy).  Pretty awesome.  Moving narrative, great visuals.  Really intriguing watch.  He had quite the life.  4 stars
209) Public Speaking.  Scorcese-directed documentary about comedic essayist Fran Lebowitz.  I saw Jimmy Fallon drool over her to my great discomfort.  She's funny but I feel like she's like other old people I know.  She just says whatever she feels like saying.  I guess what's supposed to make her unique is that she's been doing this a long time.  3.5 stars
210) Pirate Radio. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the stars of this Britain-based indie film about pirate radio (non-government regulated) stations in 1966.  I really enjoyed this entire movie.  4 stars
211) The Human Comedy. Old Mickey Rooney (as a teen!) film about the son of a widow working to help provide for the family because his brother's off at war.  Some cheese but a likable enough story.  3.5 stars

December 26-31, 2010
I did wonderfully this week!  Not leaving the house really makes you magical!
212) Mirage. A 1965 Gregory Peck film about an accountant who's lost his memory.  It got rather wearying after a while.  Just hurry up and end.  2.9 stars
213) The Kids Are All Right.  Annette Benning and Julianne Moore star as a lesbian couple whose kids decide to find their donor.  Interesting until it took an extremely predictable turn.  There were some unnecessary n.ude scenes.  The end was also less than satisfactory since the film just stopped in one of the story lines.  Good foundation but they didn't capitalize.  3.4 stars
214) The Searchers.  John Wayne cowboys and injuns flick about two searchers for a missing girl.  I was only mildly interested.  Not bad, just not my kind of movie.  3.3 stars
215) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  Humphrey Bogart stars in this 1948 film directed by John Huston about gold prospectors.  When one gets paranoid, things go from bad to worse.  Pretty interesting.  3.8 stars
216) Holiday Affair. Janet Leigh & Robert Mitchum star in a 1949 film about a war widow with a young son and two men who want to marry her.  Cute rom com with a Christmas theme.  3.9 stars
217) Rocky.  Yes, I'm just seeing this for the first time.  I understand why people love this movie but YUCK!!  I was more grossed out than I am when I'm watching a real fight!  I don't need to watch this ever again or any of the sequels.  3.9 stars
218) Regarding Henry. Sappy Harrison Ford movie about a jerky lawyer who gets shot in the head and becomes a better person.  Actually pretty enjoyable.  Just ignore the awful 80s music.  I think my mom would really like it.  3.6 stars
219) Easy A.  Emma Stone stars in this comedic adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel "The Scarlet Letter."  My biggest irritation was the abundance of unnecessary curse words.  This could've easily been a slightly more teen-friendly movie without tipping into the kid-friendly zone by dropping some of those GDs.  I mean, is that ever necessary?  Really irritating.  I was like whoa... this is PG-13?  Other than that, it was a pretty cute film.  3.8 stars

Clearly I didn't watch nearly as many movies this year as last year (not even a third) but I (obviously) felt way less pressure this year.  I saw some great movies and fewer really awful movies.  Next year will be even more leisurely with the movie watching but I'll still keep telling you what I watch as they come!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

December Goals *with Results

End of the year!  Get it in gear!  As of December 11th, I WILL BE DONE WITH THIS SEMESTER!!!  That's the deadline I'm giving myself to finish grading those finals.  YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!  CAN'T WAIT!

1) Work on my relationship with God.  My goal was 495 chapters and 2xs at church.  I went to church once.  Improvement!  I hit 493... I think... I think I hit it but didn't record it?  Let's make next month's goal 75 more chapters.  I'm starting to feel rushed again.
*I passed my 75 chapter goal!  Wheeee!

2) Start my next film.  I wanted to do at least one actual shoot.  And I did!!  December, a week of shoots and make arrangements for my trip to Vegas to get pictures from my great-aunt.
*I did my week of shoots but didn't get my Vegas shoot arranged. 

3) Take the next step in my career.  I did get my application materials together so I want to send out several packages before the end of the year!!
*Oops.  Forgot about this one.  i was exhausted from the semester.  I feel so much freer with that over.  I should be able to get some things done in the first few weeks of the year.

4) Try new restaurants.  I was supposed to "EAT LESS FAST FOOD!!"?  Oops.  This is really making my workouts less effective than they should be.  Week 1: 2 fast food outings. New restaurants-- Burke St. Pizza (decent, not life-changing), Alex's Cafe (some of the worst service I've encountered here. Our waitress actually drove off DURING our meal without a word or backwards glance to us. I kid you not. 0 tip.  Because you're not here to get it and who would I be tipping?).  I don't think we tried anything else other than a restaurant in Charlotte.  It was fine.  Depressing.  I want to eat less fast food this month.  I want my only restaurants to be high end or in other cities.  I hate Winston-Salem restaurants.
*I ended up liking a restaurant in Winston!  Did I mention how much I really, REALLY don't like people trying to feed me normal food for a ridiculous prices?  And i don't like people suggesting those restaurants to me.

5) Cook at least 3xs a week, 2 of those new recipes.  I said, if I can cook once TWICE a week, it will be a miracle.  Week 1: Pretty sure I cooked 0 meals but I did get a meatless meal in there.  Thanksgiving?  I cooked 4 new recipes.  I should probably post those.  Okay so this month I hope I can cook some more.  I don't feel like having goals.
*I definitely cooked more!  It was delightful!  And there's more to come in January!

6) Watch more movies.  My goal for November was 8.  That most certainly did not happen.  If I can get two movies in per week, I'll be happy.  *singing* Lowered expectaaaaations!  Oops.  Only hit 7.  Let's go for 11 to hit 225 this month.  I can do it!!
*Lol.  This is getting comical.  How did I think 11 would get me to 225?  I watched 15!  I got to 219 on the year.

7) Work out more.  I am consistently working out twice a week with my new trainer WHO I LOVE!  I'm still working on getting to three days a week.  IT WILL HAPPEN THIS MONTH!  Since it didn't in November... lol.
*Guess who got to 3xs the last day of the week?  MEEEEE!!!  Only 51 more weeks to meet my goal!

8) Statecations.  I had no statecation goal last month... and I don't have one for this month.  I'm going to Mississippi & Savannah.
*I went to Mississippi & Savannah and nowhere interesting in the state!  Oh wait.  I went to dinner in Raleigh!
  
9) Contact my grandma once a month.  I called her last month.  She will finally get her package this month when I go down there!
*Saw my grandma.  Our relationship will never be the same.  Her miserableness was too much to bear.  She got her stuff, though.

10) Organize my life.  My goal was to sufficiently plan my life so that I don't feel so stressed and overwhelmed by it all for these last few weeks of the semester.  That was a complete and utter failure.  This month I will organize my next semester to make everything awesome.
*Hmmm... I should've remembered this goal.  I tried to do this but I need other people to give me important dates.  So I will give myself partial credit!

I will also actually pay attention to these goals so I have half a chance of achieving them.  I did horribly last month and... I don't even care.  XOXO
*I paid slightly more attention this month but that really just means remembering.  In 2011 I'll be posting my yearly goals so I can achieve every single one!  I'm so excited!!!

2010 Goals Revisited

Here's how my 2010 goals worked out!  :)

1) Work on my relationship with God.  Reading the bible has been GREAT for my relationship with God!

2) Finish my film.  DONE!!

3) Take the next step in my career.  Yeaaaaah!  Accidentally got a job teaching on the collegiate level that I loved!

4) Try new restaurants.  Y'all.  You knew I would.  I did a GREAT job on this!  So much that I've made this a significant part of my life.  I no longer need this as a goal!  Woohoo!!

5) Cook at least 3xs a week, 2 of those new recipes.  HAHAHAHAHA!!  This went well for weeks at a time then nada.  But I think I did a great job with my real goal: get in the kitchen.

6) Watch more movies.  Lol... I wanted to watch 365 movies and just barely cracked 200.  I cared much more about other things.

7) Workout more. Hiring a trainer really helped me with this!  Now I just have to get myself to 3xs/week.

8) Go on statecations.  Travel within the state is such a neat idea. I wanted to go to the Keys, Tampa and St. Augustine.  Only the last one happened and I'm okay with that.  Finishing my film was exhausting!!

9) Call my grandma once a week.  I amended this to contact her once a month and really?  That was more than enough.

Now tell me some of your great 2011 goals while I finish mine so I can steal some of yours!!  LOL

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 81

1) I think I'm done subscribing to food mags.  Some months I love EVERYTHING in them, others I like one recipe.  After the month, they're all online anyway.  What's the point?  Especially since I don't have/don't take the time to read them anymore.
2) I forgot to tell you in the tales of Mississippi my family in the country.  My aunt got high-speed internet a few months ago... I promise you I love my family in the country.  They're some of my favorite people... but I don't understand their lives (probably any more than they understand mine).
a) Example: horses got loose scaring everyone driving (the could run out into the road)... I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even explain how outside the realm of my reality this is...
b) They were amazed that work/school is 9 minutes away.  Everything there is 30 minutes or more away.  Their "neighbors" are miles away.

3) One of my vicarious cats, Charlotte helped wrap presents for Christmas.  How sweet!
4) I hooked this couple up 2 years ago and now they're engaged! Wheeee!!  I'm so excited for them!  I LOVE them together!!  So I didn't really hook them up but I invited her to a party she didn't know about and he was there and the rest is history!  But they still credit me with them meeting!  Awwww!
5) I really missed being with my mommy for Christmas.  We will stick to the original plan henceforth: Thanksgiving with his fam, Christmas with mine.
6) It SNOWED in Savannah while I was here!!!  Just flurries but for several hours!  Nothing stuck but it was amazing! It's supposed to be 70 Saturday.  Couldn't we have had THAT weather???  If we'd stayed in Winston-Salem, we'd have had a white Christmas.  I was a little bummed we didn't.
7) How about just the five confirmed people showed up for dinner. . . He had told his mom I was freaking out about the number of people.  She said cook for the people we know about.  Don't worry about all those other people.  When I asked Rashan why she would mention the other people, he said, "That's my mom."  Like that's how she does things.  O_O  --_--
8) One student gave me a mentorship award from her sorority.  Another asked me to write a letter of recommendation!  Awwwww!!  Professor post forthcoming!
9) I got some new rain boots and I LOVE THEM!!
10) Tell me some of your goals for 2011 so I can steal them!  :)
11) I actually watched movies last week and forgot to post them... oops!  Next week!  The last of 2010!
12) We still have no plans for new year's... I really don't care.  I know I've mentioned this before but January 1st is a weird day to me.  Why does it symbolize new beginnings?  I get it on a basic level but it makes me too philosophical and y'all know how much I hate that.  I used to get really excited about it and love watching the numbers change from 11:59 to 12:00 and the ball drop but now with so much technology, it turns 12:00 at 8 different times.  That is certainly no fun.
13) I had some DELICIOUS oysters yesterday!  My word!!
14) I miss Christmas. :(

CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!

Y'ALL IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!!!  

I'M SO EXCITED!!!  

I may... have already opened all of my gifts... LOL.  What?

Y'all know I'm not good with surprises!  If you don't, let me tell you I almost always open boxes as soon as I get them.  Doesn't matter the holiday or occasion.  You'd best believe I'll be gleefully ripping the boxes open!  And I love wrapping paper!!!  It ups the intrigue in the most exciting way!

Stace got me theeeee awesomest dress from Ghana!  I look amazing in it!!  I can't wait to wear it!  This dress is half taunt since it's sleeveless and it's currently 39 degrees.  It's supposed to be a white Christmas in Winston and I won't even be here.  That makes me a bit annoyed.  That never happens!

Anywho I LOVE all of my Christmas presents!!  I'm super excited to use each and every one!  Recap coming soon!  XOXO, Loves!  And Merry Christmas!  Listen to the music of my favorite season forever!! :)

Christmas Dinner

It's a comedic nightmare... a comedy of errors if you will...

As you all know, I asked Rashan's mom if I could help with Christmas dinner.  She said, "I don't have any plans, you can plan the menu!  I was like, say what now?  So I decided to come up with a menu despite the nuttiness of that jump.  I scaled down from my original idea of goose with goose fat potatoes.  I can do that when I'm doing one or a few items but the whole shebang!?!?  Sheesh! 

So Rah tells me it will likely be just 5 people...

HA!

His mom says 5 confirmed and 16 possibles.


Take that in.

Pay attention...


5 confirmed and 16 possibles.
 

HOW ARE THERE 3XS AS MANY POSSIBLES AS CONFIRMED!?!?!?

*whimpers*

Rashan said I now understand the state of confusion that is his mother...

Don't wanna!  So I'm now planning dinner for 20????????????????????????????????????? Or 25??????

The tentative menu: french onion soup (me), whole roasted chicken (me), fried oysters, mashed potatoes and gravy (me), garlicky butternut squash (me), green beans, mac & cheese (Rashan's grandma), collard greens (his mom), cabbage (his mom), sweet potatoes (his mom), cracked earth chocolate cake (me). 

I'm tired already.



Oh... and she asked me when I'm going to be her daughter. . . . .

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 80

1) I give back my work computer this week.  Let's have a moment of silence for all those games I've gotten addicted to...
2) The other day my momma said she was ready for Christmas to be over.  CHILE BYE!!!!  How dare you say that to me!!!
3) My mom said she doesn't feel comfortable selecting clothes for me.  Yay for that!  I hate getting clothes from people.  I'm way too old for that and my style is ever evolving.
4) I had lost my Boyz II Men Christmas cd AGAIN until YESTERDAY!!  I was ready to play it over and over again!  PattiLabelle's Christmas = AWFUL!!  That 1983 sound for a cd made in 2004 #fail.
5) My reader got up to 119 while I was internet-less in Mississippi!!  There are usually about 30 per day.  It's now clear & I hope I never have to let it get that bad again!!  My cousin lives in a dead zone where she can't get internet. . . . . Yes, I know the whole state isn't like that but son...
6) My aunt moved out to our family land in the country 32 years ago.  She didn't have a telephone and the water company had to dig a line to her house to get water.  Everyone else in the area had wells.  I. can't.
7) My mom and I visited my grandfather's grave yesterday morning.  By the time we were leaving, people were pulling up and we accidentally met some cousins my mom hadn't seen since her childhood!  That is hilarious and weird!  This church is literally in the middle of nowhere!!!  But the graveyard is full of relatives including 4 great-grandparents, multiple great-aunts and uncles, some of whom died before my mom was born.
8) My grandma is a really unhappy woman... but I don't think she knows she's unhappy most of the time.  She thinks her lonely existence is normal.  It's really crazy and interviewing her was infuriating.  She was revising history not remembering the things she's told me before and having no clue the things other people told me.
9) Why did I ask Rashan's mom if I could help with Christmas dinner to have her reply I don't have any plans, you can plan the meal.  O_O  . . . . Da heezy!?  How we make that giant leap??
10) I'm a little worried about how long it will take me to lose the Mississippi accent I pick up when talking to my mom and all of these people down there.
11) Y'all, my momma is the MOST unsentimental person.  It's so crazy.  But then I hear these stories about my family and marvel that she's as normal as she is.
12) If you didn't know, I'm making a film about the grandfather I never met.  He died 40 years ago in February and participated in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.  I got some great interviews and some not so great ones.  To be expected, I'm sure.  Some will turn out to be better than I thought in the editing room.

Wednesday Wanderings

I'm sorry if y'all need a real post.  You know I don't have the internet this week (which is killing me ever so softly...) so you get Wednesday wanderings.  Know that I'm doing this because I miss you bunches!  And I mean that from the bottom of my heart!!  This is the Mississippi edition so you can consider it all about Mississippi... because it is.  Let's start with the positive.

1) I met Nerd Girl and Pserendipity and loved it!  They were so fun!  In my head I'm still referring to them by their blog names.  LOLOL  We shut down one of Jackson's Indian restaurants.  And yes we talked about y'all!  Ha!  The food was tasty! 
2) Hold up... I'm not trying to be funny but how does a Mississippi city have MORE THAN ONE Indian restaurant!??!
3) Can you check my email for me?  I really should've asked Rashan to do that Tuesday night but I didn't think of it until he was already asleep.  Does that make me too much of an addict? InternetIsCrack
4) Pserendipity brought me the Ina Garten cookbook I wanted for Christmas!!  Wheeee!!  That is so nice!  I love Ina's cookbooks.  They make me feel rich!  After less than 2 hours with the book I now know what to look for when shopping for caviar.  *sniff* *snooty look over my non-existent reading glasses*
5) Do you have any mean grandparents?  I do.  Only one grandparent is living (been like that for 20 years) and she doesn't know how to talk to people, doesn't care how to talk to people or a combination.  I was so nervous NG or P would have had some interaction with her meanness and I would have to apologize!  Yes, she's that bad.
6) Example?  Within the first 5 minutes, she said, "Ooh! You gettin fat!" and cackled. The next day she poked me in a fleshy area of my back...  I am in one of the fittest states of my life.  I'm coming to the realization I will probably never be a 2 again and may never be a 4 but yes, I can still wear 8s and sometimes 6s (vanity sizing LOL)..........  Fat.  Did I mention I'm the second smallest of her grandchildren only to my 18yo cousin?  Grandma is a hater.
7) My grandma and mother snipe at each other CONSTANTLY.  It is so incredibly annoying.  When someone other than me (a stranger) is around, they're civil.  I NEED THIS.  I will only return with Stace, my sister or Rashan as a buffer and/or a hotel room.
8) I brought two movies with me but have been too agitated being around their constant fussing.  IN JUST OVER 24 HOURS, Y'ALL!!  God bless P & NG for getting me out of the house!  I kind of forgot the movies were here.  I think they're both heavy.  Not exactly an escape...
9) Now that my grandma's older, her house is full of non-perishables.  This doesn't work for me since my mom raised me to disdain canned foods.  I know you didn't think my food snobbery was anything but learned!!!  She cooked almost every night growing up.  No non-veg frozen foods (no, I'm not still on that) and only beans occasionally out of a can.  Boxes of mix?  Yeah right.  These things were always fascinating to me.  Anyway, I can't eat that and I hate the grocery stores in Jackson.  WholeF...?  What?  Chile bye.  So if I really am fat when I get back to Winston-Salem, it's because I said FORGET IT and ate all the delicious-looking fat-filled food I could find between home and grandma, around the state of Mississippi and back!
10) And I haven't gotten a workout in this week... that never bodes well for 3xs a week when I don't have ONE in by Wednesday.  Help me, Lord!
11) No school work or internet means I'm getting in some good Bible reading!
12) I sure wish I had another book to read that was halfway interesting and not covered in an inch of dust... i.e. had been moved in the last 3 decades since my mom lived here...  I accidentally left TheHelp at home after starting it and was HURT!!  I almost turned around.  I half wished I'd left my phone so I'd have a valid excuse to go get it.  I knew it was going to be a boring time... Got to mom's and I had only left my horrible airplane mindless chick lit.  WHYYYYY??  I have AT LEAST 6 new books at my place.
13) Why did my mom try to convince me some tater tots left in the microwave here were mine?  Like seriously trying to jog my memory.  One, I don't save tater tots. Two, if I did I wouldn't be reheating them in the microwave.  Three, HUH!?!  You're gonna convince me of food I never had???  Do you know there's another person in the house?????  Grandmas can't eat tater tots?  Lol.  That does sound funny.
14) I'd like to thank everyone on twitter for @replying me!!!  Those coming to my phone really got me through!  I felt so much less cut off from the world.
15) Y'all.  My momma let me sleep as much as I wanted on the way to MS!!  That NE.VER HAPPENS!!  She used to scream on me for not "helping keep the driver awake."  As a result, this was one of the best drives I've ever had down here.  I should say rides because she refused all my offers to drive. 
16) Did you see Mariah Carey's Christmas special?  She killed it!!!  But I'm still stealing her wind machine for Christmas.  My gift to her stans.  Mimi, you know I love your every Christmas bone but gently billowing hair for the birth of Christ?  That's a bit much.

And I'm out.  *drops MC glitter mic* *mariah hands*

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 79

1) I know a girl with short hair who talks about it all the time.  She gets it cut and colored and styled... and I never notice a difference.  Ever.  When she talks about it, I find myself staring at her head trying to figure out just one thing different about it.  I got nothin...
2) I'm in Mississippi this week to see Grandma... and I'm also going to meet Nerd Girl & Pserendipity!!  I'm so excited!!
3) I hate when people say "authentic Mexican" food.  It's so snobby.  Yep.  Me.  The food snob.  I just said that.  If I say that, you should stop.
4) Why have I still not had food in WS I like?  The latest disappointment is a breakfast spot called ScreamingRooster.  Really hard toast.  Ham, swiss & gouda omelet tasted mostly of swiss.  Just the slightest amount of filling and a ton of egg.  Unwashed, manhandled grapes as garnish.  I expect fruit garnishes to be edible.  This most certainly was not.   If you want to tell me about your amazing local meat, you should care more about the execution of the food.  Snap.
5) And I probably should never eat with you if you would ever say, "It's just breakfast."  JUST!?!  Breakfast is a very important meal (some would say THE most important) and too easy to make delicious.  A diner can make a delicious breakfast. Get your life together.
6) Your mom.
7) Sometimes I have to make myself go to bed.  The days I don't I end up staying up until 5 a.m.  That's no good.
8) Why do people have to be so "deep"?  And by deep I mean cryptic.  From twitter to facebook to blogger.  I'm not talking about one day the spirit hits you.  I'm talking about every time you open your mouth or at least once a week you have to be on some RevRun stuff.  "An apple is not an orange and neither is a tomato.  All round, all shades of red, but all distinctly different."  :?  Just say what you mean.  NOBODY's that deep.
9) Please stop getting so bent out of shape over these fb things.  If people want to tell each other stuff via numbers, just let them.
10) I lost 4 teeth in February of my first grade year.  Just thought you wanted to know that.
11) I don't understand why people who don't like Christmas have to steal everyone else's joy.  Keep that grinchness to yourself.  It's like sharing your negativity any other time of year but worse BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!  Who tries to kill Christmas?!?!  Go hibernate until February, please.  (I'm still coming down from my Christmas high in January.)  Did you know December 26th and August 24th are the two worst days of the year?  They are.  #themoreyouknow
12) I hate when someone who trusts my fashion opinion buys something excitedly and can't wait to show me.  When it's ugly I have to be all tactful because... you already bought it.  What do you want my opinion for now?
13) I am a vicarious cat owner.  What does that mean?  Tweeters but not bloggers, the enfianced Bakima (half of them is a delightful commenter), own eight FIVE cats between the two of them!  Methinks that's plenty of cat to share!  So I nurture those kitties via twitpics and fb.  I e-love those cats I've never met!  Sasha, Paris, Oliver, Nigel and the best, most ferocious, rambunctious, "DIS MINE-inest" kitty in the world, CHARLOTTE!!!  She likes to help out around the house.  She helps pick out clothes, wash them, type, tweet.  She even answers the phone.  Thanks Char!

Christmas List

1) Diamond stud earrings
2) A trip: a vineyard, Atlanta (I haven't stopped missing it) or somewhere we have to fly
3) Le Creuset: I haven't told you because I was crushed... but mine broke.  You have never seen a person bemoan an item.  I want the enameled cast iron 3.5 qt.  I'll also take the stoneware but I need something big enough to cook in.
4) Lorna Sass's The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.  I will continue to ask for this until one of you gives it to me.  And the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  Pretend I didn't take a picture of the 15 cookbooks I already own.
5) This boatneck tee in bright seaport (S).  This bangle.
6) A large room air purifier by Holmes.  Yes, I still hate my neighbors.
7) This swan sweater! (S)
8) Stuff from my etsy list.  Especially cowls, hats and headgear!!  PLEASE get me some of this stuff before I die!!  Pink or teal or purple if you're looking at knit/crochet stuff.
9) This clutch. 
10) Saffron, truffle oil (and or truffle salt), fleur de sel, tagliatelle and pine nuts.  What a foodie!  LOLOL.  These are the ingredients I really want that are way too expensive for me to buy on my own without a stern look from a certain hater boyfriend.
11) This shirt in pink. (4P) This tank in black (PS).  This shirt in white (4P).  These shoes in 8N, navy please.

Monday Mindspacing Vol. 78

Oops.  I just realized I hadn't posted this yet... Some of you are at work cursin me!

1) Ironic tweet: Someone called "Blessed & Highly Favored" said, "We just fried an egg with vodka! Oh snap!"  Why ironic?  Because I know too many people who spew blessings and cursings from the same mouth.  I have a hard-earned skepticism for people who call themselves things like that.  Plus can we talk about how gross that sounds?  Yuck.
2) I realized I'd rather buy food and go on trips than pay for a wedding.  No, I'm not engaged yet but the closer I get to it, the less I want the drama associated with the day.  A big or even moderate wedding?  I'm talking 75+.  It's not gonna happen.  I'm not gonna be stressed out about inviting a bunch of people I don't want there or all these details over EIGHT HOURS!!  MAX!  I just can't.  I'm not that person.  I want a party and a pretty dress.  But most of all I want a successful marriage.
3) I went to the dinner party from Hades the other night.  Beautiful restaurant, the menu looked like it was up to my food snob standards (turns out the execution wasn't that great...), my sister and I looked great, AWFUL company.  We were surrounded by people she knew marginally who acted like they had never eaten anywhere better than GoldenCorral.  Complaining about the menu, asking for a menu in English (IT WAS IN ENGLISH, PEOPLE!!!), complaining about gratuity included in the check when there were 15 people there~~~  For real?  Just tacky.  I hated being seen with them.
4) Please don't let me eat cooked salmon anymore.  I just don't like it.  Smoked?  All over it.  Raw?  I can take it.  Cooked?  Blech.
5) My mom thinks I'm crazy for all the goals I have (30 Before 30, 35 Before 35, 40 Before 40, monthly, yearly).  Rashan's just amused by it.  I feel like I have the type of personality that needs something to keep me on track.  Otherwise I just look up weeks later and can't say I've contributed anything to my personal, professional or spiritual development.  If I create just a few goals, I can get a lot more out of life.
6) Why is this MM so detailed?
7) People who use their first initial intrigue me.  I always want to know what's behind that.  Is your first name too hideous or too pedestrian?  You just want to intrigue me?  Success.  Now tell me the deal.
8) I was thinking the other day about how unfair it is that women's lives get put completely on hold when they get pregnant and men's don't.  If I had gotten pregnant in grad school (not possible so don't go there) and was due during the semester, it would be a problem.  I would have to put all my plans on hold.  And God forbid I was on bed rest.  Complete plan ruination.  A guy?  He's as empathetic as a he can be but he gets to continue his life pretty much the same.  I know there's nuance but I'm really thinking about the people in my program who are married.  This may not even be their reality but it's what I'm projecting.
9) Rashan hates when I speak in Spanish at Mexican restaurants.  I can't say gracias???  That's straight up hate!  He just doesn't want me to find my Mexican chef husband.  HATE, I say!
10) I have 7 more days standing between me and the end of the semester!!  I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Movies 2010, Weeks 44-48

Notice there was a week where I watched 0 films?  O_O  Do you also see how many films I watched in the last month? o_O

November 7-13, 2010
202) Coal Country. Documentary about the effect of mountain top removal coal mining on West Virginia communities.  Pretty good.  I liked that it showed both sides.  You know I can't stand being propagandized.  There was still a very clear agenda, though.  3.5 stars

November 21- 27, 2010
That's right, I watched 0 movies last week.
203) Someone Else. British film (I saw on Sundance) about a guy's dating woes.  Pretty interesting.  Predictable start but did not continue in that vein, which was fun.  Short.  It actually could've been a little longer... That will be the last time I ever say that.  LOL.  3.6 stars
204) Bright Leaves. Personal documentary about the filmmaker's search for his great-grandfather's legacy.  I didn't love it.  Lasted a little too long.  3.4 stars

November 28- December 4, 2010
205) How to Train Your Dragon. Kids movie... self-explanatory.  Dude... I have GOT to stop letting Rashan's mom pick my movies!  Every time she goes to see a kids movie and really likes it I put it on my queue.  Why???  I don't have any kids and don't want any right now.  Completely my fault.  It was fine.  Good for kids.  3.4 stars