Yesterday I was buying pie crust at the grocery store (yes, I bought a pre-made crust), and I overheard this adorable little five year old girl say to her mom, “Did you know some people call it Turkey Day?”
Isn’t that adorable? I love it when kids start to pick up on things you’ve known about for years, and then they think they’re teaching it to you. Priceless!!!

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I love Thanksgiving. The fantastic food goes without saying. I’m going to try making cornbread stuffing. I totally effed it up last year, but I think I learned my lesson, and will make it better this year. And my mom has the greatest recipe for Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes. If you like spicy food, you may want to ask me for the recipe!!!
Oh, and PIE! Lots and lots of pie.

The Macy’s Day Parade is the greatest way to kick off your T-day.
Sometimes it’s frickin’ freezing out there, but it doesn’t stop anyone from going. There ar scenes from Broadway shows, incredible giant floats (some of which represent cartoons I’ve never even heard of), they get C-list celebrities to make guest performances, and there’s always a float full of deaf kids singing a song in sign language, which makes me teary eyed with joy, every year. And after the parade comes the Westminster Dog Show. It’s totally bizarre, and yet highly addictive. It always makes me want to rent Best In Show by Christopher Guest.

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My sister and I are really into puzzles. Every year we buy a mystery puzzle and spend the whole day obsessing over it. First you read the very poorly written mystery, making fun of it the whole way through (or spacing out, as I usually end up doing), and then you spend, like, fifteen hours assembling the whole thing, and then you finally solve the ridiculously half-assed mystery. It’s always a let down, and yet, we never stop buying them.

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Next on my list:

Best Thanksgiving oriented movies:

*Home for the Holidays (we watch this one almost every year. It never gets old. And Robert Downey Jr. is fantastic)

*Pieces of April (before Katie Holmes went loco, she made this really poignant indie flick about dysfunctional family Thanksgiving. I loved it.)

*A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (because it’s so cute!)

And whether it’s just our immediate family, or a huge crowd of 20 people, I always want to dress up for Thanksgiving. It’s fun to feel festive—know what I mean? (Of course, I keep the PJ’s nearby, for after I’ve stuffed all that food into my tummy). I have my eye on this multi-colored metallic dress from Tibi. It’s kind of hard to tell how cute it is in this picture, but I tried it on at Monmartre and it was very flattering and adorable.
Either that or a cute sweater dress. I like to feel cozy on T-day. And I usually skip the shoes. (What’s the point, if you’re going to be inside all day?) But not the accessories. Thanksgiving should be a very glitzy day, possibly even incorporating a tiara.

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Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!

I don’t know what my deal is, but I have been having tons of crazy dreams lately. I wonder if it’s because I’ve been staying up until 1 or 2 AM every night? Or maybe it’s not even that they’re so “crazy,” I just think it’s strange that I’ve been remembering them so clearly. As I was saying to Stiletto Heights the other day, dreams can seriously be affected by what you’ve been eating before bed. If you eat a few Oreos before lights-out-time, the sugar will seriously mess with your dreams, and same goes for pizza—something to do with the dairy, perhaps?

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Last night’s dream was a 2 parter. In the first dream, I was some kind of urban Sherpa, leading two random hot guys on a trek through the mountains to find the best Starbucks in the world. Apparently, in dreamland, the best Starbucks is somewhere amid the mountains and arroyos of my hometown of Santa Fe, NM. And when you’re leading two uber hot guys (one of them looked like John Krasinski, and the other one was just a random cute guy I probably saw on the subway*), you can imagine I got a little bit lost. We never found Starbucks. Sob. But we did find a sale at the Clinique store, which leads me to Part 2.

* Note: Andy, don’t take it personally that you weren’t one of the hot guys in my dream. You’re hot all the time!

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Part 2: A friend and I waited in line at a Clinique sale counter forever—probably 3 days or something—and when we finally got to the front, there was a balding, middle-aged douchebag sitting on a folding chair at a folding table, holding a few different tubes of eyeliner and concealer in his sweaty palms. Yuck! I told the guy I refused to wear liquid eyeliner because I didn’t want to look like Amy Winehouse, and instead wanted an eyeliner pencil with a smudge tip. While he was riffling around for something, his assistant came around behind me and started trying to cover up my bald spot—in my dream I had a BALD SPOT!
Talk about “nightmare.” It was very traumatic. But, you’ll be happy to know that when it was all over (the grubby Clinique salesman could not find eyeliner for me), I looked to my left and there was a Starbucks! Not the Starbucks Mecca the hot guys and I had been looking for, but at least it was a nice way to end the dream.

1.First of all, big ups to anyone who ran the marathon on Sunday. Can you imagine doing that? 26 miles? TWENTY-SIX MILES. No way. I’m lucky if I can run two—and that’s with several bouts of speed walking along the way. But it’s great. Very impressive. Except for all the horror stories I hear about blisters, chafed nipples, peeing in your pants! Not fun!

Instead of marathoning, Andy and I went to the movies (Lars & The Real Girl, which was as good as I’d hoped it would be) and we saw tons of marathon runners on the subway in their dorky silver mylar capes, with big bronze medals around their necks. It was very entertaining. Personally, if I’d just run the marathon, you wouldn’t catch me on the subway—somebody would surely treat me to a cab, right? But anyway, it’s a huge feat, so WAY TO GO, runners!

2.Kaching Design
This website was launched by a friend of a friend in San Francisco, but I was checking it out and it’s actually pretty cool! Check out some of the fun, modern designs. I’m really into this shirt, and there are also cute bags, kids T’s, and wall art.

3. Stereo Gum. As you probably know, I am a massive music lover. At work the other day I overheard my cool music-loving coworkers discuss the downsides of Pitchfork Media, so naturally I decided to look for a cooler music news website. As far as I’m concerned, Stereo Gum is it! They’ve got the down-low on all the hip new artists and I’ve been listening to Mp3’s all day. My faves at the mo’ include: Lykke Li, Yeasayer, Black Kids, Justice… and I’m still looking for more.

4.
The Cookie Sandwich Co. I read about this website on Daily Candy, and my mouth is watering!!! Gourmet cookie sandwiches delivered to my door? You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m in love! Flavors include Mint Brownie cookie sandwich, Macadamia Nut Lemon cookie sandwich, Chocolate Truffle cookie sandwich… I know this is very similar to the 24 hour cookie delivery company I mentioned in a top five a few months ago, but as far as I’m concerned, cookies can be on every top five list!

5. My love/hate relationship with Christmas. It’s really more of a love/love relationship. I can’t help it, I love all the music, the decorations, the food, the movies, the presents, the clothes, the warm fuzzy feeling—but there’s a time and a place! It was barely even Halloween when I started hearing Xmas music in the drugstore, and Xmas trees up in storefront windows. Come on people, we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet! I think the xmas season should start any time after that. Sounds reasonable, yeah?

ps-My neck is better! Thanks for all your concern, commiseration, and advice.

Oh, the pain! The pain!
I pinched a nerve in my neck and am currently in agony, stiff as a board, on the sofa.

It happened at the gym in my aerobics class. Well, that’s kind of a lie. It was at the very end of class when we’d finished all the hard stuff and we were stretching. I heard this POP sound, felt a sharp crack, and suddenly I couldn’t move my head! It’s happened before, and it’ll go away in a few days, but it is so painful. Not just that, it’s completely embarrassing! I can’t turn my head from side to side, or pull clothes over my head. I look like I’m pretending to be a robot. On Halloween we watched scary movies, and my sister kept teasing me and saying “Alex, look over your shoulder, there’s a monster behind you!” But of course I couldn’t. Turning is a full body activity for now.

Maybe it’s just that being bedridden has made me restless, but I suddenly have an insane urge to travel. I want to see, eat, and learn about new things!
Back when I was dreaming up honeymoon destinations I read about this ecolodge in Nicaragua called Morgan’s Rock. They’ve planted 1.5 million trees, and reintroduced formerly extinct animals into the private reserve. Doesn’t that sound cool? Okay, I sound like a pamphlet, but I’m practically drooling thinking about all the hiking, beaches, plants & animals, and the hotel has an infinity pool!!! One of my favorite things ever. As a honeymoon destination, it ended up being too far, not the right season, too expensive, etc. But, get this: my parents are going there later this month! They stole my honeymoon!

Am I bitter?

Who, me?

Never!!!

No, really. I’m very excited for them. They had to cancel a long anticipated trip to Montenegro this fall, and this is going to be an awesome adventure for them. They just better bring back a lot of frigging pictures and souvenirs. hint hint.

I’ve also always wanted to go to New Zealand. Maybe not always, but after seeing the sprawling landscapes in Lord of the Rings I was in love. One of my favorite books, The Bone People, by Keri Hulme is all about Maori culture, which is fascinating. I think it’s also a good destination if you’re into sporty things, like sky diving etc… which I’m not sure I am (though I did go bungee jumping once!).

I promise I won’t go on and on, but I want to see the world. Thanks to my culturally inclined parents I’ve been to S. Africa, Zambia & Botswana—that’s when I went bungee jumping. Scary!!!
Italy (Tuscany, Venice, Florence)—what incredible food, art, and architecture.

Greece—I went there with the ‘rents when I was 16, and also by myself when I turned 23 for a 2 week yoga retreat. Traveling alone is intense!

Turkey—not my favorite place. There was a lot of ass grabbing.

Japan—I went to Kyoto and Tokyo w/ my two best friends to scope out the fantastic shopping/fashion, temples, food, and crazy culture. I should post about that trip another time.

There are a million places I still want to go. Endless possibilities. I read a great article on cnn.com about travel destinations that may not last forever. Lots of interesting geographical tidbits.

Anywho, how about you: Where have you been and where are you dying to go?!

Fall always has me feeling very nostalgic. For some bizarre, unknown reason, I miss being in school. Crazy, right? The leaves are beautiful, but it’s also kind of morbid. Everything’s getting cold and dying. But I do like bundling up under blankets, reading, and watching TV at home… and I love holidays, and all the good ones come in the fall and winter (Andy and I decided to be Buffy and Spike for Halloween, btw).
Okay, so, here are some things that are helping me adjust to the changing seasons:

Sparkly dresses that add a little zing to your day! I’ve been really into short sleeved dresses lately. They’re so transitional.

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Amazing shoes to go with the cute, sparkly dresses:

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And finally good movies are starting to come out. Nothing against mindless action flicks (I’ve seen plenty!) but I’m ready to see an actual good movie. My first pick: Margot at the Wedding. I think Noah Baumbach is a really incredible director, and the whole cast is pretty brilliant. The movie looks quirky and heartfelt, but not sappy.

Lars and the Real Girl . I hope other people are as excited about this movie as I am. Ryan Gosling is really cute and the preview practically had me rolling with laughter. It looks so original, and I’m so bored of watching the same movie over and over again. I hope it lives up to my expectations. Also, it’s Playing in Manhattan at the Paris Theatre, and that’s a great place to see movies. You feel like you’ve time traveled to the ’40s or something.

Also on my movie-going list: Atonement, based on the book by Ian McEwan. It’s not in theaters until December, but it looks so good. Actually, I haven’t even seen a preview, but PlainJayne posted about it last month and the film stills are very indicative of a good movie.

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What I’m listening to: Beirut, The Smiths, Pavement, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear…. I’m always looking for new music to psych me up for the change in weather, so please give suggestions!! I know all of you have great taste.

I love Halloween.
Love the candy, love the pumpkin carving, love the scary movies, love the costumes—love it, love it, love it!

Andy and I haven’t decided what we want to dress up as this year, but since we’ve got a costume party to go to Friday night, I better get cracking!! I usually lean toward something topical, but nothing’s jumping out at me this fall.
Here are our costumes from the past couple years:

Last year, when everyone was freaking out about tainted spinach causing e. coli, Andy and I got green clothes from American Apparel and dressed up as deadly, killer spinach!!!

Technically, Britney had just had her baby, but I thought it would be more fun to go as pregnant Brit-Brit. And, Andy did a stellar K. Fed. His shirt said Mr. Spears in rhinestones. Damn, a lot has changed over the past two years!

When I was a little kid, I loved making costumes using a cardboard box. I wish I had pix to show you, but they’re all in albums back home. One year I went as a taco, using cardboard for the shell, and then different colored streamers and tissue paper for the lettuce, cheese, tomatoes etc. That was a really fun costume. One year I painted a box white and drew dots all over it and I was a die—it might have looked better if I’d gone with a friend so we could have been a pair of dice, but oh well. I think I went as a wrapped up present (again, the big box came in handy) several times.

Check out this site
if you’re in the mood for silliness. Some people really know how to turn pumpkin carving into an art form!

What do all of you have planned for Halloween this year? Any good costume ideas that I can steal? Scary movie recommendations? Spooky anecdotes?

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I know, I know. “A Top 5 list about Wisconsin? Am I crazy?” But I had fun there.
(Maggie: this post’s for you!)

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1. BOP. One of my favorite, favorite websites is Shopbop.com. It is a heavenly place for us fashion-addicts. Well, apparently the mothership is IN Madison. Imagine my surprise when I was walking around on my first day and suddenly gravitated toward this fashion mecca. Yes, it is pricey, but at least worthy of a little window shopping. I bought the cutest purple dress by Velvet (but I can’t find a pic of it, damn!).

2. Cheese. Man, do I love cheese. Favorites include brie, goat cheese/chevre, gouda—cheese rules. Actually, I didn’t even eat that much cheese while in Cheese Country. But they’re ’bout it, ’bout it, so I thought I should represent le fromage.

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3. Museums! Chazen Museum. A great museum next to the university. There was a great photo exhibit about children living in war torn countries. Dismal, but amazing.

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4. Live music. I’ve always thought going to see live music in New York was the best thing ever, but after seeing The Brunettes at a tiny little venue called High Noon in Madison, I might have to change my mind! The setting was so intimate. It was so much fun! We were in the front row the whole time (well, there only was a front row). They were adorable. We even chatted with them a bit at the end of the show—not something that happens very often ever in NYC. I’m all about small town venues now! Woo hoo.

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5. Famous people! Actually, there are a lot of famous Wisconsinites. To name a few:
Laura Ingalls Wilder. Ah, the Little House books. Childhood favorites. There were tons, and I don’t think I read them all, but I loved them. And yes, I even watched the TV show, Little House on the Prairie, when I was a little kid. Don’t laugh.

Chris Farley

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*Harry Houdini Can you feel the magic? (side note: he was really born in Budapest.)

*Georgia O’Keefe. She was born in WI, but she lived in New Mexico, my hometown. She was just incredible, wasn’t she? So talented. And married to an incredible photographer, Alfred Stieglitz.

*Liberace. Crike, that man was a nut.

Anyway, you either found this interesting, or so boring that you’re never going to visit my blog again! Haha.
Also, I want to thank everybody for there nice comments about my YouTube video!!! I’m keeping the link up in the PRESS section of my blog, if you ever want to watch it again.

Sorry to bombard you with back-to-back BACK TALK posts, but remember that secret project I was working on a few weeks ago? Well, it was a stop-motion paper doll adaptation of a scene from Back Talk! It is a bit silly—okay, very silly—but I put a lot of work into it, and I would love for you guys to check it out. Please pass it on to all your friends! I’m still trying to make Back Talk a bestseller and I need your help, peeps!!!

ps-yes, I finally figured out how to post a YouTube video. I’m becoming a techno-savvy genius! haha.

After my last Poll Topic question (What Book Would You Like To See Made Into A Movie, and Who Would You Cast?) I suddenly realized something: I should have picked my own novel, Back Talk! Everyone who’s read it has told me what a good movie they think it would make—thank you sweet people, by the way!!!
Well, I won’t hold my breath on the call from Miramax, but if Back Talk were to be made into a movie, here are my casting thoughts. Since the girls are all supposed to be 16 or 17 I picked a few relative unknowns, but some will definitely look familiar. Here goes:

Gemma Winters is a sweet, naive, wide eyed gal from Ketchum, Idaho, and she’s about to hit The Big Apple for the first time ever. She has a dream internship at a popular daytime talk show, and she has a couple of rich, fabulous, celebutante friends to help get her acclimated. What could go wrong?!—plenty! But Gemma also manages to have the time of her life. Gemma is a slightly pudgy brunette with a big heart, loads of wit, and a keen determination to do good.
It’s tough to cast the lead role, but I remember Mae Whitman from one of my fave TV shows, Arrested Development (and several random movies). I think she’d be perfect. Innocent, but with a bit of an edge, and very pretty.

And watch out for Gemma’s best friend, Dana Cox, because this girl is T-R-O-U-B-L-E. She’s a total celebutante with money to burn and no conscience to go with it. She loves living la vida loca and she’s got a flair for the dramatic. Dana is studying to become an actress, and has the total Hollywood look—long legs, wild blonde hair, and tons of charisma. It was hard to find just the right girl for this, but I’m liking this actress, Lauren Storm. Don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her in anything, but maybe Back Talk (the movie) can be her “big break.”

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The last leading character is the impeccable, lovely America Vanderbilt. America is a world weary heiress with class coming out of her pores. At first glance, she can be more than a little intimidating, but once you chip away at that icy exterior, America is a loving, caring friend, with more than a platinum card for a heart.
I’ve always imagined America as a very delicate, fawn-like brunette. She is the most sophisticated of the three, but also insecure. I had a hard time casting her for my imaginary movie, but finally chose Willa Holland—which coincidentally is very appropriate because in the book, I describe America “like Mischa Barton, though America wasn’t out of control like Marissa on The O.C.” (I know, referencing a canceled TV show was a gamble!)

As for the other characters…
There’s Nick, the sexy bad boy from the office. He’s mega hot but turns out to be a total jerk. I was thinking Sean Faris, from Sleepover. Nothin’ wrong with a little eye candy—even if he is bad news!

Next up, Gemma’s real love interest: the cute British guy, Joe Cross. At first I thought I’d have to go with Ron Weasley, but then I remembered Jamie Bell from Billy Elliot). He’s so cute. I think he’d be perfect to play the sensitive, English musician/DJ that steals Gemma’s heart! …or maybe one of the guys from Arctic Monkeys. They’re cute and British, right?

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The role of Kate Morgan (host of the hit show, Back Talk) would probably be played by an unknown, but think Oprah + Annette Benning, or something.

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And Maria and Anita Cruz, the bratty, conniving twins. Well, they’re supposed to be Hispanic, but I think I’d have to get The Olsen twins to do it. They’d just be so good.

Thanks for letting me indulge in a little fantasy casting. That was fun.

1. Mortified Short Bus. For some reason I can’t figure out how to post a YouTube video on my blog (don’t make fun of me! I’m technologically stunted!), but you should check out this video. My friend Lucy introduced me to it, and I LMAO watching this piece. Ah, the good ole’ days.

2.

Alice Temperley for Go! Target. Bringing designers to the plebs—does it get any better than that? I love some of her stuff (not all of it, but nobody’s perfect). Isn’t this a cute dress? I’m not sure how it would look on me (I get self conscious if I look too Victorian), but I’m loving it. Wow, I’m going to have to get myself to a Target STAT.

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3. ART!!! I was just reading A Cup of Jo (a fabulous blog, BTW) and she posted about this new online gallery/art store called 20×200. There are some really lovely photographs up on the site and they are selling prints for $20! I just might buy something… well, maybe in a few years when I have more wall space. But seriously. “Making art lovers into art collectors.” This is awesome.

4. Portland, Oregon. Read this New York Times article and you’ll be as in love with Portland as I now am. Affordable, beautiful, and amazing food? What more could a girl ask for. Not to mention good music, which is my lifeline. Oregon has given us The Dandy Warhols, and The Thermals, to name a few. Not to mention Portland has a nonprofit Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls, which I would give my right leg to attend. How cool is that?!!

5.

When Andy and I went to Madison, Wisconsin, I was incredibly impressed with all the locally grown produce and everything. Yummo! We had quite the stimulating conversation about the importance of organic food VS, (more specifically), locally grown produce. I’m not going to get up on my soapbox or anything, but check out LocalHarvest.org and look for a farmers market near you!