Ahh, I can type again!

I've had a disability recently that I like to call Krueger nail syndrome. My nails just kept growing and growing and being as lazy as I am, I didn't cut them. I mean, it's not like I just have to cut them. I have to cut, file and buff them! That's a lot of work. Well, daily tasks such as typing and buttoning buttons had become very tedious. So yesterday I finally did it. I cut them down. Inspired by my HOWgirls, Devon and Mary, here are pics of my nails.



Ahh, much more manageable. I did, however, get two compliments on my long-ass nails recently. A man at the Gap said they were "beautiful" which was weird. And a lady at an antique store said "with nails like that, you should be wearing rings!" Of course, she was trying to sell me rings, so I take that with a grain of salt. ;-)

Also, I had mentioned something a while ago about posting pics of some cards I made. They are all the same design, just different papers. I made 24 of these a few weeks ago. 6 of each card.



It's another gloomy, rainy day in Philly. I miss the sunlight. My office gets nice and toasty when the sun blasts through the windows. But not today. Oh well, at least with all this rain, it's detered me from going to get starbucks, which is saving me loads of cash!

Well, have a lovely day blog readers!

Zooman and the Busy Weekend

Howdy partners! Haven't posted in a little while, though I've been meaning to for the entire past week. I took photos of the new cards that I made last weekend and I wanted to post them, but I keep forgetting to import them. Things have been busy, as usual. I think I need to consider taking a mental health day this week, just to catch up on some home stuff.

Last Thursday night was the Weezer/Foo Fighters show. I heart Weezer. I heart Rivers. I had this whole idea that they wouldn't be that entertaining though because of what a friend told me once, but they put on an awesome show! Totally interactive. I usually only go to tiny cheap shows, so I almost forgot what it was like to be in a big with everyone singing along. That's such a great feeling! At one point, for the sweater song, the band invited an audience member up on stage to play acoustic guitar. He was great! That kid must have been so thrilled! Can you imagine how that must have felt?! I was really excited for him! Anyway, highly recommended! Foo Fighters on the other hand wasn't really my style. Dave Grohl just screams a lot, and I'm not into that. By that point in the night, my head hurt and I was sleepy. So we got home late only to wake up early the next morning.

And on Friday, it was another day of not going home after work. Our friends, Dave and Lori, were getting married. It was a beautiful wedding, which surprised us. They're hippies, so we pictured them having a hippie wedding, but it was totally traditional. With cheesy band music and everything. We told them that we expected them to have a pink floyd cover band or something. But it was a good time. We got to see some people Rob used to work with years ago, which was fun. Made me want to get married though!

Saturday we slept in a little since Friday was another late night. (Rob almost fell asleep at the wheel driving home.) But instead of taking it easy and relaxing at home, we decided to spend the day in Philly. Got there a little late, and after a few spurts of road rage, we were ready to walk around South Street. Most of the day was spent in this antique store looking at old photographs. We must have looked at bins for almost two hours. We bought 22 pictures. I'll have to scan a few in, they are great! We had an early dinner and got home in the early evening. I passed out on the sofa, not looking forward to my next day.

Sunday we were booked. Rob's coworker, Chet, who is a super-Christian, invited us to his church. It was bring a friend to church day. Rob and I aren't really church people, but Rob likes this guy a lot, so he agreed. He even said we'd go to bible study an hour before church. Church was....interesting. I won't get into all that on the forum. I believe in God and all, but it was a little, um, cult-like. But everyone we met was soooo nice. Kinda like robots. Christian robots. After church we went to Chet's house where his wife prepared a delicious meal of lasagna and meatballs. Yummy.

After lunch, we went to Camden to see a play at the Walt Whitman Arts Center. It was called Zooman and the Sign and was starring one of Rob's students from last year. Rob was such a proud teacher. This kid came to Rob's school from prison and Rob said he wouldn't talk to anyone. But the school forced every kid to participate in an arts and music program and this kid chose acting. The teacher of the program, Ozzie, saw so much potential in Pennington, that he gave him the lead role in this play. It was moving. The play was about a gang member that accidentally shoots a 12 year old girl. It deals with the family coping with the death and the fact that the neighbors are too afraid to admit they saw anything. Really, really powerful. And Pennington did such a great job! Now he can't wait to do more plays! Yay!

Last night I was pooped, so I didn't do much. I really want to get back into sketching so I tried to draw a bit in bed last night. I didn't get very far. But here's a sneak peak:



It's just a girl from a magazine. I want to see if I can get in on a figure drawing class in the winter. I'll never improve if I don't practice, and I'm so terrible at keeping up with that stuff. I've done a few sketches recently that have made me nearly dry heave they are so bad!! :-p

Anyway, i have tons of work to do, like always, so I'd better get started. Talk to you folks soon!!!! Thanks for reading!!!!

WARNING: Long-ass post below!

Hi folks! Things have been really busy in Mel-world lately. I’m enjoying my time now sitting around and typing a blog entry from bed.

Let me brief you, dear diary style.

Friday

Friday started at 5:15am. Rob and I have been waking up early to avoid traffic. It’s pretty nice, but my commute has been longer due to the fact that we’re carpooling to save gas money. So I have to drop Rob off in Camden and pick him up after work. And since Rob talks more than anyone I know, he usually talks to coworkers for another half an hour, so I’m still getting home at 6:30pm. Anyway.

This Friday was going to be a long one because we were going to the Aqualung concert at the TLA at 9pm. Instead of going home, which would be pointless, we just decided to hang out in the city all night. So from 5-7 we wandered around South Street where I pointed out everything that happened when I was there with Amy and Maria. *tear* I miss them. Then we parked our butts on a bar stool to watch the red sox game from 7-10. We even skipped the opening bands so we could catch the whole game. Then we got to the Aqualung show. EVERYONE GO OUT AND BUY HIS ALBUM! I think I love him. Here’s his picture:



What could be better than a skinny, romantic, British guy with glasses??? Well, he didn’t wear the glasses during the show. If he did, I probably would have rushed the stage. His words melt my heart! So, if you can tell, I thought the show was incredible. Plus he was hilarious, which is always a bonus.

After the show we got some pizza. Rob bought a slice of pizza for a homeless guy and then we felt like crap afterwards as the man thanked us and ran off to enjoy the food. How sad. Then we got home around 1am, had to shower and got to bed at almost 2am. What a long day!

Saturday

Thought I could sleep in but noooooo. Woke up at 7am to go to a diner with Rob and Phuong, Rob’s new coworker that has become his Siamese twin. (In fact, he’s on the phone with her right now.) Basically, she’s new here and he adopted her as his kid sister. So we went to breakfast with her on Saturday and went to the Collingswood book fair. I’m not much of a reader, as ignorant as that makes me sound, so I broke off from the two of them and stopped at some shops and wandered around the farmers market. The weather was ideal. I was comfortable in long sleeves, no jacket, and a scarf. I love that. I got some apple cinnamon pound cake and flowers for my mom. After a few hours at the fair, we went to my parents house. I got to spend some nice quality time with my family. And I was able to get to bed by 10pm, which was great!

Sunday

Got up early to prepare for our trip to the Across the Narrows music festival in Coney Island. Got to Coney Island at around noon and walked around for a little. What a great place for photography! Rob and I need to go back because it was so interesting, but we didn’t have time to explore. So we’ll have to make a trip soon.

The festival was so much fun! It was in a minor league baseball stadium and for the first half, barely anyone was there. We walked around and listened to some music. Whirlwind Heat was first. I had seen them before. They are okay, a little hard for me, and the lead singer is a freak. Then came Gang Gang Dance. I didn’t like them at all. Super weird. Then was Dragonette. Never heard of them but they were really cool. Loved the girl’s voice. If I were in a band, I’d want to be in one like theirs. The band members wore matching white suits with yellow ruffle shirts underneath. ;-) Then came the The Raveonettes. I knew about them and liked their music. I was pleased.

Up next was the The Polyphonic Spree. Rob and I were really looking forward to them. We saw them on tv and they looked like they put on a good show and we were right! They are so positive and happy and listening to them makes me feel joyous or something! Rob and I danced around like children, doing pirouettes and stuff! It was wonderful!

After that was Belle and Sebastian, my favorite band of all time. They were a little discombobulated since they flew from Scotland specifically for the concert, I think. Love their music, that’s all I can say. And after that was Beck! Beck rocked the hizouse! He played some great ones from Guero, a few from Sea Change, and some classics, like “Loser”, “Devil’s Haircut,” and my fav, “Where It’s At.” Great closing to a great festival!

Then we left, drove 45 minutes to my parents house, then an hour and 15 back to my house. We got home around midnight and had to be prepared to wake up the next morning at 5:15am.

Long weekend.

If you’re still reading, congratulations! You win a prize! I think I stopped reading a few paragraphs ago and I’m the one writing it!

Hope you’re enjoying your week. I’m looking forward to my weekend. If I had a normal job, I might have a three day weekend, but there are no such things as holidays in the pharmaceutical world. Thanks for reading!!!