Veggies on my doorstep

I have so much I've been meaning to blog about. I didn't even write about my experience at New York Fashion Week, mainly because I haven't bothered to upload the photos from my camera!

And I have a bajillion other things going on. Like my yoga class finished. And I survived! I've even gone so far as to do yoga at home. Yep. Seriously. And my book arts class is still going. Check these bad boys out.









I wish I could find more time to make books, but I've been feeling really overwhelmed at home. I don't know why. I haven't actually been overly busy. I think the winter has gotten to me. All I want to do is sleep. I really need to change my habits. I'm starting to get frustrated with how messy I am too. It's like every day there's a new pile to clean up, but I get lazy and leave it. Did my motivation fade with the warm weather last year? I can only hope it'll return with spring!

In my quest to change my life for the better, I decided to order some organic food. And because I love shopping online, that's exactly what I did. I ordered a trial bitty box from Door to Door Organics. This means two things. I have to start eating fruits and veggies. And I have to learn how to prepare them. Ugggggghhhhhh. But hey, it's worth a shot. And maybe I'll even like some of them!


Anyway, I have more things to post, so hopefully I'll get around to it sooner or later. Happy March!

Hip Hop Hooray!

First, for those that asked, yoga was awesome and awful at the same time. :) I already knew how inflexible I am, so all the bending was tough. But it was a great, informative 90 minutes. I really loved it! And I left feeling like a bowl of Jell-O. I was loose and warm and stress-free (which was the best part). It was better than my last massage.

Eight hours later and I wasn't exactly feeling the same way. I was HURTING. Bad. My arms and shoulders were very painful. I know that's probably because I stretched those muscles for the first time in my life and they were very angry at me. But I'm starting to feel pain-free again. Right in time for my 2nd class tomorrow! Ha!

In other news, last Saturday we finally had our Hip Hop Holiday party. (We try to have a Christmas party every year, but this year it was cancelled due to a winter storm.) Hip Hop was our theme, which Rob loved. We made a 9 hour-long soundtrack for the event which he's been playing nearly every day since I first made the playlist. My favorite part was dressing up. I love a good theme party, and I take my attire very seriously.

Here are some pictures from the event. The Oriental Trading Company backdrop really made the photos. :)

Class Act

It's a new year and a new Melissa. 2010 is going to be about improving myself, and I'm starting right away. A few weeks ago I signed up for a Book Arts class at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. It starts next Thursday. I've been eyeing up this class for years now. YEARS! So I finally bit the bullet and registered. It's been so long since I crafted out of pure joy, and I think this will help me feel more creative.

And then earlier this week, I did something crazy. Something atypical. Something that makes the people who actually know me gasp in shock. I signed up for yoga. It's true. A new yoga studio opened last week down the street from me, and it just looked so cute. And I figured I could use some peace in my life, so why not. Sure, I can't touch my toes. In fact, I can barely reach my ankles. And yeah, I get winded climbing a flight of stairs. But it's the year of the new Melissa! Plus it was a good opportunity to buy a cute yoga mat, bag, and outfit. :) I got this mat shown here in purple. I signed up for a five class beginner's series. It starts tomorrow at 11:30, and I'm super nervous. I'm optimistically hoping that I love it, and it becomes a new hobby of mine. I'll let you know if I feel the same way on Sunday.

Thanksgiving Karaoke!

I know that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is always a good night to go out. No work the next day, just pigging out. And I've been wanting to try out Yakitori Boy, a karaoke bar in Philadelphia. Since private rooms are half price Sunday through Thursday, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.

I had a blast! Karaoke is always at the top of my "most fun" list, and my cohorts just made it that much more hilarious! I made a little video montage of our experience.



And here's the full version of myself performing Superfreak, by Rick James. One of my better karaoke performances. Enjoy!

San Francisco Recap - Take 1

This was the most exhausting trip I've ever taken. I filled out itineraries to the brim and we even had to weed out a few things because there just wasn't time. Or because I was too exhausted by the end of each day. I have a million photos that I'll share as the days go by. We're still weeding them out. But here's a quick recap of how our trip went down.

Day #1 - Flew to San Francisco; went to a food festival and didn’t eat anything; ate at a taqueria in the Mission; watched Rob get shoved by a crazy homeless guy in Starbucks; walked Union Square and Chinatown

Day #2 - Walked the Mission; ate crepes; had drinks with internet friends; bought a pair of TOMS; shopped; took photos; visited a street fair; had really good sushi

Day #3 - Walked around Chinatown; struggled to get up some steep hills; visited City Lights Bookstore; saw the street from the opening credits of Monk; took photos; went to Coit Tower; walked to Fisherman’s Wharf; ate lunch at Pier 39; saw the sea lions; visited Lombard Street; did the nighttime tour of freezing cold Alcatraz

Day #4 - Went to SFMOMA and the Cartoon Art Museum while Rob wandered the city; rode inside a crowded trolley; had ice cream at Ghirardelli Square; watched the Giants beat the Diamondbacks; tried to figure out public transportation

Day #5 - Went to Golden Gate Park; walked through the Conservatory of Flowers; saw the Japanese Tea Garden, but only from the outside; saw the De Young Museum and the Academy of Sciences, but only from the outside; had lunch in the Haight; shopped; took photos; visited Alamo Square; went to Japantown and had terrible sushi

Day #6 - Walked to the bike rental place because the trolley line was too long; biked with wobbly legs across the Golden Gate Bridge while being tormented by Rob about my lack of fitness; had lunch in Sausalito; took the ferry back while Rob biked back; Rob beat the ferry; ate more ice cream at Ghirardelli Square; waited 40 minutes in line just so we could ride on the outside of the trolley, and it was so worth it; passed the eff out from exhaustion

Day #7 - Had breakfast at a diner; watched a homeless guy get thrown out of the diner; flew home on a very shaky plane

Overall summary: San Francisco is a beautiful city with loads to do. There are tons of crazy homeless people, way more than I anticipated. And they are far more energetic and brazen than the homeless in Philadelphia. The hills are killer, especially for a weakling like myself. And it was COLD. Like three layers of long sleeves and a scarf kind of cold. We'll hopefully go back in a few years to do all of the things that didn't make the cut this time.

"The Plan Won't Accomplish Anything"

I hope these Built to Spill lyrics aren't true because I've been planning my butt off for my upcoming San Francisco trip. I want every little thing to be perfect, so I scour the internet for the perfect hotel, flight, restaurants, activities, etc. Yeah, that might seem to take the fun out of exploring, but really, planning is half the fun for me.

First I had to pick a place for our vacation. I looked at London, Seattle, and San Francisco the closest. SF happened to be the most affordable option, and it's been somewhere Rob and I have wanted to visit for years. Picking a hotel is always an issue since Rob is a germaphobe. Cleanliness is very important. So I went with Parc 55, a lovely 4 start hotel right next to Union Square.

Next came the fun part. Researching things to do. I didn't know much about San Francisco. I was visiting my parents when I booked the trip and my dad said, "What are you going to do there?" I had no idea. Rob's only stipulation was a San Francisco Giant's game, and then later he decided he also wanted to visit Alcatraz. Everything else was up to me.

I started putting together a document with my "must see" spots. Attractions, museums, restaurants, shops. All that good stuff. This is the first of ten pages.



Then I mapped out the hot spots, just so I could get an idea of where everything is in relation to each other.




And after that, I put together a rough itinerary, based on which days certain places are closed, etc. I'll run this by Rob, which I'm sure he'll breeze through and agree to.




We leave on Saturday morning! I can't wait!

Sunday Matinee

Rob and I went to the movies this Sunday afternoon and saw Adam. I really enjoyed this movie. It was a little bit girly, which was good for me, and also significantly depressing, which was good for Rob. I suppose it's a love story, but it's pretty darn sad. Empathy was on full blast.

Check out the trailer:



We can't see any movie without Rob feeling like he needs to learn more about something. So now he's on a mission to read about Asperger's syndrome. We always joked in the past the he has a mild case himself, and I chucked a few times when the character in the movie did things that are so Rob-esque.

I Heart NY

I haven't given this blog much love lately. I keep meaning to, but I've been super sick for the last week and a half. Ugh. This evil phlegmy cough will NOT go away. Finally I was able to sleep without any coughing fits last night, so I at least feel more human today. It came at a terrible time because last weekend was our getaway to NYC for Rob's birthday. I was a trooper. I sucked it up and dealt with the cough for the most part, but Saturday night in the hotel was a challenge. Rob wanted to smother me with a pillow because I could not stop coughing. So neither of us got much rest that night, which made Sunday kind of a wash. But it's all the more reason to go back soon.

We took the train into the city. For us, it's a 45 minute drive to the train station and then an 75 minute train ride. Not too bad. It's much better than driving.





When we arrived, we headed up to the Bryant Park Hotel. It was only 11:30 am, so I wasn't expecting being able to check in, but we figured we'd check our bags and head out. Lucky for us, they were able to give us a room. The hotel was really great. Perfect location. Very nice room. Clean. Modern. Friendly staff. A little pricey, but for me, it was worth it.





Then we hopped the subway to Williamsburg Brooklyn. I had picked out this great spot for lunch, the Dumont Restaurant. I read that they had a great outdoor garden eating area. It was awesome. The food was delicious. The atmosphere was perfect. Absolutely loved it!





After lunch we wandered around a little bit. We never explored this area before. I can't wait to go back. So many great shops and interesting buildings.

We even did a little rock climbing at a playground we passed by.

I had mapped out a bunch of shops to hit while we were there. While we were in Artists & Fleas, which is sort of like an indoor year round craft show with people selling their wares, I was asked to participate in a street wear fashion photography project. Sure! I could tell I would never make a good model. I was so stiff and the photographer had to get me to loosen up. But it was fun!



And if you want to see the finished photo, click here, click on Street Portraits, and scroll to the right a little. There I am!

We left Brooklyn and headed back to Manhattan to rest up before dinner. We had a little bit of time to kill, so we sat and relaxed in Bryant Park for a little while. I never spent much time in that park prior to this visit, but it was great!



I had made a reservation at Megu in Tribeca for Rob's birthday dinner. There's nothing he loves more than sushi! The restaurant was really fancy shmancy and our waiter was so sweet. While Rob was in the bathroom, he asked his name and whether or not he liked chocolate. Then after dinner, which Rob said was the best sushi he's ever had, the waiter brought out a little surprise!



Even though I was coughing too much to really enjoy the meal, it was a great time.

Like I mentioned, Sunday was a bit of a struggle because of our lack of sleep. We wandered aimlessly around SoHo and Greenwich Village, met up with some friends, did some shopping, and headed back home. I can't wait to get back up there. Hopefully when I'm at 100% again.

Mad Love in the Illadelph

Devon and Jeope are much more prompt than I am, but I'm finally getting around to posting a few images from their voyage to the P-H-L.

What can I say? I had a fantastic time. I'm so grateful that they made the trip out here, and I hope I don't have to wait a few more years before we get together again. They are ma homies, and I have mad love for them.



And huge virtual hugs to Dave H., Patti, Karma, Keith, Jenn, Nikita, Marta, Dave S., Steph, and Chele who also helped make the weekend superb. Gotta love the interwebs!

Jam Packed

Holy moly. It has been quite a few weeks. Aside from being the absolute busiest season at work (where stress has brought me to tears at the office twice in a week), it coincidentally happened to be one of my busiest seasons socially due to the Philadelphia Film Festival. I figured I'd give you the abridged review of my last two weeks.

Thursday, March 26
(500) Days of Summer - Absolutely loved it! Quirky, creative, funny, sweet. Go see it!

Friday, March 27
Art & Copy - documentary about the advertising industry; enjoyed it, kind of neat hearing about how some of the biggest ad campaigns came about
Eldorado - bizarre film from Belgium; kind of felt like a long short film, slow, quiet, strange; but there was a lot of humor to be found in simple things, like the way the characters looked at each other

Saturday, March 28
Love, Soccer, and Other Catastrophes - I really liked this one; funny Italian film about a club soccer team and their relationships

Sunday, March 29
It's Not Me, I Swear - one of my favorites of the festival; dark comedy about a dysfunctional (and seriously evil!) little boy

Monday, March 30
Goodbye Solo - another one of my favorites; beautiful (yet heart-wrenching) film about an unexpected relationship

Tuesday, March 31
Kisses - Irish film about two young neighbors with dysfunctional families who try to escape their lives; pretty good

Thursday, April 2
Heart of Stone - emotional documentary about a Newark NJ high school principal; the only movie where I cried my eyes out

Friday, April 3
The King of Ping Pong - big disappointment; looked like it would be a quirky Swedish film, but halfway through I started checking my watch

Saturday, April 4
Children of Invention - film about a single mother who gets caught up in pyramid schemes and how her two young children cope; I enjoyed this one quite a bit
Ray LaMontagne show @ the Tower Theatre - only in Philly could a drunken brawl erupt at a Ray LaMontagne show; he was incredible, and if I could marry a voice, it'd be his

Sunday, April 5
Is Anybody There? - cute little film starring Michael Caine and Bill Milner (from Son of Rambow, my favorite Film Fest pick from last year); not life changing, but cute anyway

Monday, April 6
Lymelife - another dysfunctional family film, starring two Culkins, a Baldwin, and a few other stars; I enjoyed this film; maybe I just think this because there are Culkins in this film, but it has kind of an Igby Goes Down feel

Tuesday, April 7
Ra Ra Riot, Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie show - awesome; Ra Ra Riot only played for about 20 minutes, and I wish they would have played for another hour, I love them; I could take or leave Cold War Kids, not crazy about them; Death Cab rocked the hizouse; in other news, I wanted to punch the people sitting next to me for talking at full volume throughout the whole show

And that's it! I have a free night tonight!! Then tomorrow it's roller skating with Rob's students, parents' house on Friday, Rob's family's place for Easter, yadda yadda yadda. But after that whole two week stint, I feel enriched. :) Now I need a nap. Oh yeah, and my job is driving me bananas.

How are YOU doing???

Lady Crusaders!

Some folks know that Rob has been coaching middle school girls' basketball this year. It has been quite a hectic activity due to changes and cancellations from the board or education. I won't get into it all, but let's just say that I hope next year goes more smoothly for Rob's sake.

Rob asked me to come by yesterday for their last game to take some team photos. It was the first time I've been to his new school. Middle school kids are so small! And boy are they rowdy. All I kept hearing was "Miss!! Take a picture of me!! Take a picture of me!!" I ended up taking 160 because they were such hams. I still need to edit the majority of them, but here are a few.

Go Lady Crusaders!

Don't Feel Neglected

I know I haven't been around much. Things are so busy at work, and then my second technological priority is Operation NICE, so it doesn't leave me much time for saying hello over here.

Hello.

I just got back from an AMAZING long weekend out in Arizona to see two of my favorite people in the world. Aren't they goregous??


It was just what I needed to de-stress and regain my focus. I wish scientists would hurry up and invent a teleportation machine so I could go there more often. C'mon! Get with it boys!

Plenty of other things going on in my world. I bought this book because it stood out on a Barnes and Noble table, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It motivated me to take charge of my inboxes. My personal accounts were over 600 messages and my work account was over 700. So I spent the morning creating folders, organizing, and deleting like crazy. The result? All my inboxes are zeroed out!! WOOHOO! This is the clean slate I need.

And concert season is among us. Going to see Ra Ra Riot/Cold War Kids/Death Cab, Ray LaMontagne, Nine Inch Nails (believe it or not), possibly Beirut, possibly Alexi Murdoch, possibly The Decemberists and who knows who else. Oh, and I bought tickets to see This American Life at my local theater, which I think will be pretty awesome.

So I guess that's it. Life is busy. I like it that way. Hope you're well!

Award-Winning Performance

I had an awesome time at the Twestival last Thursday. There's nothing like being in a room filled with other social networking nerds to make you really feel like you're a part of something special.

For weeks I was anxiously awaiting the Rock Band tournament. I'd come home from work and sneak a little bit of practice in before Rob got home from work to ridicule me. I was gonna WIN this thing!

And here it was, Thursday night, my palms sweating, my stomach churning. The first two bands played. They were good, but I was still confident. I volunteered to go next. I asked my two assigned band mates if they would mind if we did "So Whatcha Want" by the Beastie Boys. They didn't care a bit. I looked out into the sea of geeks, my heart pounding, and began.



The result? I got 100% on Expert, which meant the closest someone could get to me would be a tie! I had succeeded! Take that, Mom! Who said video games would get you nowhere?!?!

I had first choice of prizes. Rob "encouraged" me to take the most valuable prize, two floor seats to see the 76ers play the Miami Heat, worth $305 a ticket. Unfortunately for me, I'll be in Arizona during the game, so I won't even get to enjoy my prize. Rob's going to take his dad instead. It's probably better that way. I wouldn't enjoy it as much anyway. And now, the leverage that I hold over Rob is more valuable than any prize I could have won. He owes me. He owes me big. And there's a room full of nerds that will make sure he repays me.

The Demon Barber of Nathan Drive

That's me. For some reason last week, I decided that my outgrown bangs were ruining my "look", so I was going to get a blunt cut. But since it was a holiday week, I couldn't score an appointment with my stylist. Drats! So thanks to some coaxing, (thanks a lot, Jeope) I got the idea in my head that I could cut my own hair. I used to do it. And there were rarely any disasters, except for the time my mother took the scissors to my bangs the day before 9th grade class pictures and they ended up a whole inch shorter than I wanted.

I stopped at the grocery story on the way home from work last Wednesday and bought a $20 pair of barber shears. I stormed into the house and shouted to Rob, "I have to take care of something!" SNIP!

Whoops.

That first snip was a little shorter than I wanted. Dammit!!! Well, it was too late now, so I had to do the whole thing. I walked out of the bathroom with a new 'do and said to Rob, "I think I made a terrible mistake."

The next few days I started to get accustomed to my fringe. And now, I don't hate them at all. I might even like them. I think it'll look even better once my non-bang hair grows longer.


I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was delightful. Spent the day with Rob's family and then went to my parents' house for the weekend. I have instilled a love of Rock Band in my father. I'm so proud.

This morning I went around the neighborhood hanging door hangers for a neighborhood food drive. I got the idea a few weeks ago and I'm pretty excited about it! My only fear is that some crotchety neighbor will leave me an angry voicemail about leaving garbage on their door. But hopefully people are filled with the holiday spirit. Here are the door hangers I whipped up.

So I suppose that's all that's going on right now. I'm also trying to organize our holiday soirée, but it seems that a lot of people already have plans on the 20th, so it may end up being a small group of us pigging out and playing games. I'd be perfectly happy with that!

How old am I?

I'm 28. But that doesn't mean I'm too old to dress up in costumes and make stupid videos.

Last night there was some Rock Band fun in my living room. Hot Sundae was formed, bonus points if you get the reference. We made a few music videos in the process of taking over the world. Enjoy!

Sabotage
Kay on vocals | Christina on drums | Melissa on guitar |
Crystal as ghostly figure | Cinematography by Rob
Key moment: Rob discovers zoom and Crystal takes the elevator behind the armchair.




Ballroom Blitz
Melissa on vocals | Christina on drums | Kay on guitar | Cinematography by Rob
Key moment: Christina laughing behind her mask and Rob makes a special appearance accidentally during a fancy camera shot.




Say It Ain't So
Christina on vocals | Kay on drums | Melissa on guitar | Cinematography by Rob
Key Moment: Christina standing two inches away from the tv so she could see without her glasses and Kay sweatily tearing off the gorilla mask.

Post Halloween Blues

I love Halloween. Why? Because I'm all for any excuse to wear a wig and a ridiculous outfit. For example, last year's Björk swan dress. This year I went in a different direction. While in a thrift store a few weeks back, I saw a hideous fur coat on the rack. I thought it might be funny to douse it in red paint and play a PETA victim (though I know they don't do that....anymore). I got Rob to play along as an animal rights activist. I even rigged up the paint can with some red streamers for a high tech paint-tossing effect. Here's the result.



I was a little concerned with the shortness and sparkliness of the sequined mini. I'm normally one against the skankification of Halloween, and I think quite a few people mistook me for a dead hooker. But all in all, I was satisfied.

It was a great Halloween weekend! We ended up hitting four different events, two on Friday, two on Saturday. I already can't wait for next year. We're toying with the idea of going as two wild and crazy guys, but I suppose we have a year to figure that out.

I hope you all had a splendid Halloween!

Headbandwagon

I've jumped on the "headbandwagon", which means I bought myself one of those sickenly trendy, yet oh so cute, feathered headbands. I was in Urban Outfitters yesterday, and I just couldn't help myself. I blame Kenley from Project Runway. Despite being a massive beyotch, she was freakin' adorable. I don't know how I feel about it. Something in me tells me that I can't pull it off. I don't have that "retro" look going on, no matter how much eyeliner and red lipstick I slap on. But hey, it's worth a shot.

I'm going to Making Time tonight. (Making Time = sweaty, crazy, indie rock, dj, live band, dance party) I'm pretty stoked. And then we have two parties to attend tomorrow night. Busy weekend!

Today is the Phillies celebration parade. Depending on whether or not I feel like walking in that direction to get lunch, I may pop over to see it. But it's not a priority for me like it is for the other 1.5 million people here. So many of my coworkers have ditched out today, which means it's extra quiet for me. Just how I like it!

Slack-a-dack-a-ding-dong

Yeah, I'm slacking, I know. Blogging is hard!!

I took off work today so I could work on a project, but I haven't even started and it's 2:15 pm. That's bad. And it's all your fault! I could have started, but nooooo. I had to post for you! You'd better feel special.

Anyway, I wanted to get some work done today because I'm not going to be around this weekend. We're headed up to my parents' house tonight, since they are closer to NYC. Tomorrow we're going on a walking food tour in Greenwich Village with my in-laws. Unfortunately, the weather couldn't be crappier. "Windy with morning showers evolving to a steady, soaking rain in the afternoon." Awesome. That's kind of putting a damper on the fun of the whole thing.

In other news, I wanted to share this with you. Suzie, who is an absolute sweetheart and writes the blog Button & Squiggle sent me a package of goodies! Blog readers, meet Gelb (left). Gelb, meet my blog readers. She was holding a little blog contest for Gelb and she ended up making a bunch of Gelb friends so that she could send one to everyone who had entered! He's so lovely! She also sent me an assortment of paper goodies too, which you know always wins my heart.

But in addition to all that, I got a special treat. Suzie creates these beautiful illustrations, and she drew a picture of me and Gelb! I think it's the best drawing of me that exists! I was so excited about it that I ran out to Target to buy a frame, and I hung it in my office. Isn't it great?!



Other than that, I have no news. I'm working on this project, sort of having to do with Operation NICE. If all works out, it could be really amazing, but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet. I'm not going to share in fear of jinxing anything, but I'll let you all in on it when the timing is right.

Rob called me when I was in the middle of this post. After our conversation, he said, "I love you, now go right." I replied, "What?" And he kept saying, "go right, now, go right." So I look right, and there's my window. I'm thinking, is he outside and he's trying to tell me he came home early? "Huh??" Then he says, "Write, like type. Go write!" Ohhhhh. Those dang homonyms. They get me every time.

Pick a Flick

Once again, I've resorted to posting videos so that I don't have to write much on here. But this is for good reason. There are so many good movies out right now, and I've been trying to get out to see them. But between Rob's soccer practice and the baseball playoffs, he hasn't had much time to see a movie, let alone four or five!

I'd like to see Religulous. Rob, surprisingly, isn't as interested. Mainly because he thinks Bill Maher is a "dick". But I think this will be a nice companion to The Year of Living Biblically, which I'm currently reading and loving. It's making me think about religion differently.

And then there's Towelhead, a movie by the same writer of American Beauty and creator of Six Feet Under. Part humorous, part disturbing.

Trouble the Water is only in the theater here for a few more days, so if I want to see it, I should go on Wednesday. I have a feeling this one will make me feel like crap, and I'll probably cry my eyes out.

And lastly, I kind of sort of want to see Choke and Burn After Reading. I won't post those trailers because they are mainstream. So, have you seen any of these?? What do you think?

I love scarf weather!

I love wearing my plaid tweed blazer, complete with elbow patches along with a wooly scarf. That always seems to be my uniform for attending the Collingswood Book Festival, which happens to be tomorrow. The weather should be perfect. By the time we start (10am), it will be just chilly enough to justify a cup of hot chocolate.

I always leave Rob alone to do his nerd thing while I wander the farmer's market, stuffing my face with cheese samples. Then I'll probably pull up a bench and start reading. Rob thinks it's funny that I'll bring a book to a book festival, but I can't even keep up with the ones I currently have, so I'll take that time to relax, read, and people watch. I might even bring my moleskine to jot down some notes.

Either way, I'm really looking forward to it! I won't even be sad if the Stewart's Root Beer truck isn't there. Okay, maybe a little.