Snowy Nights

In another moment of brilliance I decided since it was snowing outside I would turn off the lights and let the candles in my fireplace blaze while cooking dinner. The combination of the smoke from my broiled chicken and the candles set my smoke alarm off, which by the way, is wired into my electricity, so you can't take out the batteries to make it shut off. So in order to make the beeping stop I had to open my windows in the freezing temperature to stop the smoke from the fire I wanted to make because it was freezing in the first place. Ugh.

This is just another example of why West Coast girls suffer in Boston. Or maybe it's just me?

Facing Fear

"It's good to be scared. It means you still have something worth losing."

If someone can be inspired by these words before having a ten gauge needle shoved into their chest, I certainly should be able to face my fears!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Thermal underwear? Check. Gloves? Check. Snow Boots? Check. Our first snow? Oh yes! Boston is covered under a beautiful blanket of white snow! Last night I opened up my shades, lit the candles in my fireplace, turned off all noise and sat in the warm bathtub just listening to the snow fall outside with a cup of hot tea. It was one of the most relaxing and blessed moments of my life!

Cut to this morning when I had to walk through slush, get sprayed with snow by people driving too fast, get caught under heavy snow while walking to the T and of course having my coffee get cold WAY too soon because of the freezing temperature.

Still, as much chaos as the little white flakes cause this city, I don't think I could ever grow tired of the moon glistening on my white lawn or the branches frosted with snowflakes. It really is beautiful. Mark my word, someday I will have a Winter Wonderland Wedding.

Losing His Mind

This wasn't on my thankful list, but it does get an honorable mention for making me, my mom, and my sisters crack up on the way to Eureka. Poor Babe.



KLAMATH — Snow couldn't stop Babe the Blue Ox, but apparently, Paul Bunyan's fabled bovine companion is no match for Del Norte's rains.

According to folklore, Bunyan found a freezing Babe in a snowdrift when he was just a young ox, which is where the creature's color comes from. But though Bunyan was able to nurse Babe back to health, he could do nothing to save his sidekick's 35-foot tall replica at the Trees of Mystery attraction, located just north of Klamath.

Tuesday evening, Babe's head fell off, landing snout first on the concrete below, crumbling much of the stucco on his nose and breaking a tip off of one of his horns. According to Trees of Mystery Manager Jeff LaForest, the reason the head snapped off is because water was seeping through an opening to the interior of the statue, compromising the wood inside.

"His head was held on with wooden beams and, obviously, they got rotten enough that they broke," LaForest said with a chuckle. "We did not expect it."

On Wednesday, the hole where Babe's head used to be was covered with blue tarps and a green wreath, perplexing many of the tourists who were taking pictures of the statues.

"It's kind of sad isn't it," LaForest said while surveying the damage to Babe, which, with Paul Bunyan, is an iconic figure in Del Norte County due to its giant size, its location off U.S. Hwy. 101 and its (ahem) anatomical enhancements.

"It actually looks worse than it really is," La Forest said of the damage. He plans to fix the damage himself, using chicken wire and a hard, stucco-like plaster to mend Babe's head.

And he said he will attach steel beams inside to ensure it doesn't fall again. The plan is to have the statue completed by the first week of January.

But that does not mean Babe will be headless until then. Trees of Mystery employee John Wilson will attach a newer, fluffier noggin to the statue in time for the Trees of Mystery's annual Christmas light show that starts tonight.

"Babe's head will be back on," Wilson said, "to make it complete."

Wilson plans on placing the head of a stuffed Babe on the statue as a placeholder in time for the light show. Unfortunately, it will only be a little larger than his fist. But as Wilson said, it's important to have everything ready for the visitors to enjoy over the holiday season.

"We have to get it all cleaned up" in time for the lighting of the Christmas lights, Wilson said. "The show has got to go on."

A Bit of Thanks

In true Thanksgiving fashion, I have spent the holiday thinking about things in my life I am thankful for. In true Toni fashion it took the entire weekend. I put a lot a time just into picking what shoes I’m gonna wear so a heartfelt list is bound to take a couple extra days! So here it is:

1. My wonderful friend who skips outta class early to drive an hour and a half to pick me up just so I can steal the covers for a night.
2. Hottie interns who write adorable stories on my laptop so I can find them a day later and crack up.
3. Avocado scramble. No explanation necessary.
4. Hometown football games.
5. Eating apple pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner the day after Thanksgiving.
6. Shoving a chunk of warm brownie in my mouth while listening to Brian start a round of “discussion” questions a la Yosemite Hiking Trip.
7. The release of Hairspray and same day viewing with the same girlie I listened to the soundtrack 25 times to on the trip home to LA.
8. Waking up to biscuits and gravy, eggs and bacon cause my dad can’t sleep past five am.
9. My sisters. And the crap we put my parents and the little bro through.
10. Seeing the five “floats” that composed the Christmas Light Parade and knowing that five years ago my crown-topped head was on one of those.
11. Catching up with old friends.
12. Having my mom buy me a coffee every morning because she needs a caffeine fix just as badly as I do.
13. Elf. The greatest movie.
14. The fact that I can now officially start singing Christmas Carols without looking mentally ill.

And the real number one……being done with grad school in three weeks (which also includes Jenn and I's Farewell to Boston Tour)!!!!!!

Only in CC

I don't know what's worse. This article or the fact that my own cow used to break out and cause terror among the streets of CC. Or maybe that my Dad once hit a horse. Bottom Line: Watch out for livestock in Northern Cali.

Cows killed in auto accidents

Published: October 23, 2007

By Nicholas Grube

Triplicate staff writer

CRESCENT CITY — Escaped cattle collided with two vehicles over the weekend causing a bovine massacre on U.S. Hwy. 101.

In total, four cows were killed after they somehow wandered onto Hwy. 101 around 7:30 p.m. Sunday and were struck by a Ford F250 pick-up truck coming down Crescent Hill in the northbound lane.

"There was cows all over the place," said Budget Towing's Mark Dunlap, who assisted in cleaning up the wreckage Sunday evening.

"I had to attach a chain to one of the cows' legs to pull it out" from under the truck, Dunlap said.

The initial impact didn't kill all the cows, Dunlap said, with one of the animals struggling to survive when he arrived. "It probably had a broken back," he said of the cow.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the Ford truck wasn't the first vehicle to encounter the free-ranging cows.

"One accident happened about two minutes before the other one," CHP Public Information Officer Don Bloyd said.

A cow ran out into the road and into the right side of Crescent City resident Edgar Murillo's mini-van as he was traveling down Crescent Hill near Endert Beach Road, Bloyd said. Three others joined it in the roadway when the Ford F250—driven by 62-year-old James A. Clark of Brookings—came down Hwy. 101 and slammed into the group.

"He (Clark) K.O.'d the four of them," Bloyd said.

Seeing cows in the roadways around Del Norte is not unusual, Bloyd said, especially on rural streets.

"Cows out in the road is pretty common," Bloyd said, "not necessarily on Hwy. 101, but on the side roads, yeah."

Neither Murillo or Clark sustained any substantial injuries during the accidents.

Hating On A Jet Plane

It wouldn't be a trip to Cali without wonderful airport experiences. The more I travel the more I realize I hate traveling.

After my first three hour flight I ended up with a major chocolate craving. I tried to forget the fact that I was in hell (aka Texas) and actually thought I could easily score some peanut m&ms. To my utter dismay, my first experience with a vending machine was with one that only sold ipods, digital cameras, those little play station things and headphones. No joke. The vending machine sold $300 items instead of my $1.00 pack of chocolate. I really wanted to kick it, but there was a security guard standing there and people in Texas really love the death penalty.

So without chocolate I made the intense journey from Terminal C to Terminal E. Along the two mile trek I realized how discriminatory those little airport carts are that pick people up and take them to gates. I do have a disability. It's called laziness. Who says I'm not worthy enough to sit next to that guy with the cast or the 90-year-old couple? My legs don't want to walk just like theirs.

So after I finally make it to my gate, I hear a voice that strikes fear into every nerve of my body. I was thinking this voice is just like the one that four months ago made me want to crawl under a table and hide. Then I realized it was the same one. I haven't confirmed the details but my view of the tv from across three gates lead me to believe the voice was none other than Wendy Murphy's. I would say she is comparable to the Janice Dickinson of the legal world. Remarkably great style with a twist of cross me and I'll make you wish that your spleen was being plucked out of your body with a rusty bobby pin.


I did somehow make it to the great Golden State. Fabulous Fall weekend. And made it back here just in time for the craziness that is this city and their love of their cursed team. There is seriously an article on the Boston Globe Web site of how to "cope" at work during this critical time. They call it Red Sox Fan Syndrome. You think I'm lying but that sad sad truth is that I'm not.

All By Myself

I worried that I would choke and no one would be there to save me. Or that taking out the trash by myself every week would be too hard. Or that sleeping by myself every night would scare the crap out of me. But tonight I realized how much I love my fabulous little life. I can walk the "runway" that is my living room in nothing but my underwear while watching America's Next Top Model. I can sing at the top of my lungs in the shower to Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion. And on a Friday night when all I wanna do is drink a cup of tea and simultaneously watch 20/20 and Anderson Cooper, no one thinks I'm a dork. Oh and who could forget making dinner while wearing a towel. Who would have thought that those Saturday morning omelets that Jesse provided this summer would actually inspire my culinary skills?

I might not have a gorgeous husband to come home to every night...but right now I wouldn't trade my Boston solitude for anything else. Except maybe a In-n-Out neopolitan milkshake.

Part of My World

It all makes sense now why God let me get into BU. He knew that I would be on the East Coast for a year and a half which includes these next four months. And he knew that The Little Mermaid was going to be hitting Broadway. He wanted me to be there. And the only way I would actually have an excuse to got to NYC to see it is if I lived a three hour car ride away, rather than a six hour flight.

I really think at this moment all my dreams have come true. 46 days and counting.... Now if I can just find someone to go with!

Blown Away

That fan I thought I would never use again because it is now so freaking chilly...ya new use for it....fanning out my "kitchen" so as not to set off the fire alarm yet again and have to have the guy across the hall come over and make it stop cause I'm too short to reach it.

For the record my only encounters with the people in my building include meeting everyone the day I locked myself out for an hour and a half, the smoke alarm debacle, and falling through the door with a package in my hands and (luckily) into the arms of my fire fighter. I've only been here for a week.

It's something about that twang

Who would have known in a little hidden Irish pub in Boston that my long lost favorite country song would come on. I'm even thinking about spending the 99 cents to download it. Blake Shelton where have you been? If you come back, know this....

"If you're calling bout my heart it's still yours
I should have listened to it a little more
Than it wouldn't have taken me so long to find where I belong."

And you know what's cool? Austin sounds like Boston. So I can put it in the song when I sing it and make all the IRA members in the pub look at me like I'm the craziest person they have ever seen. And that's something.

Back in Beantown

Well it's hard to blog about Boston Creme Toni when Toni was in Cali all summer. But now that she has left the land of everything good to the land of why the hell is there no Mexican food anywhere she has some great material to work with!

Hmm...so a recap of my first week...would require about an 180 minute full length feature film. Mom actually said at one point that my life is straight from a hilarious movie. I wanted to throw the phone onto the Mass Pike. Then I realized having no form of communication would possibly just add salt to the wound.

To keep things simple I will say this. I have no car. I have no sense of direction. I had no house. And the Statehouse Program is about as intense as a Category Five Hurricane. My first weekend was spent walking about ten blocks in the heat in heels and with a suitcase in hand balling my eyes out because I still had twenty more blocks to go in two minutes to make it to my rental car. I've learned that people can google me just like I can google them so I won't go into all the details of that day. But I think it had a promising ending. We'll see come next week.

I've had just about every emotion known to man in the past week. But somehow have managed to stay somewhat alive and coherent. My lesson has been that I need to leave about two hours before I need to be anywhere to make time to get completely lost and then call my parents or sister or Jenn and find myself back on track.

The weather is still as bipolar as ever. Yesterday it was 95 degrees. Today the sun is nowhere in sight.

Oh yes and I am in the land of gold shirt wearing BC maniacs. Dar how did you ever do this? My favorite new coffee shop is right across from BC so all I see is undergrads running around. As much as I thought there wasn't a huge age difference I am feeling it more and more. I wonder if this means I should give up on Zac? He is only 19. And apparently likes nakey pictures of his girlfriend. Apparently innocence nowadays can't even be found on Disney.

Twilight Zone

For those of you who knew me back in the days of countless scoops of ice cream, you know about my thing for Hottie Ice Cream Scooper. For those that didn't, you have probably heard. But if you are one of the few who have no idea what I am talking about let me give you a brief history. Toni used to love ice cream (hmm...maybe used to should not have been used), and frequented Baskin Robbins often. One night Toni was heading with a bunch of girls after a sorority meeting to the little gelateria when she called the jerk that she was "dating" at the time to only get more jerkiness from him. She cried. A lot. In the short few blocks from the BMU to Mangrove she asked God through her tears to give her a sign that there was someone NORMAL out there for her that she could fall in love with. Enter Hottie Ice Cream Scooper who saw Toni come in, gave her free ice cream cause he could see she was having a rough night, and gave her his phone number as well. She called (Obviously...duh...he was a SIGN from GOD!). They went to coffee. They saw each other a few more times cause she couldn't help but eat three scoops of ice cream after the gym...but nothing really came of the relationship-mostly because Toni was boy crazy and kept going back to the jerk. But then Hottie Ice Cream Scooper moved to the GAP which Toni in no way could afford and they lost touch. Toni moved on, life was happy with non-existent Hottie until today when she saw him at church. Yes indeed Hottie Ice Cream Scooper who scoops no more was praising God and reading the scriptures right in front of her ( and with a humungous man beard!) Toni thought to say hi but was definitely embarrassed by the fact that she had no idea what his name was because she only referred to him as Hottie Ice Cream Scooper. So instead, she did a casual walk by and smile and raced home to blog about it. Toni is now contemplating what the next step will be. Probably more ice cream...sans Hottie Ice Cream Scooper.

On My Way To Being Bill Nye

Ok so weird scientific fact I learned last night:

When placing gummi bears in frozen yogurt, the bears themselves become hard. And not like a little bit hard. Like playing chess while reading CS Lewis while learning to master the piano hard. Isn't that weird? I thought it was fascinating.

Movie Reveiw Moment: I saw Stranger Than Fiction last night as well. It was pretty funny. In that really dry sense of humor way that I have. Basically I just love Will Ferrell so anything he is in I can find value in.

Addendum To My List of Learned Things

See previous post to see where I left off....

a. Toilet paper rolls and bailing twine are multi-functional.
b. You haven't lived until you've crammed three people on an ATV.
c. Driving an ATV while singing Wilson Phillips is totally the cool thing to do. Basically anything involving singing Wilson Phillips is cool.
d. People who don't know how to turn off their cell phones in a movie theater after the THIRD time it rings need to be shanked with a dull rusty razor blade.
e. Riding in a car is a pretty much a lullaby for me.
f. It's ok to eat champagne and strawberries for dinner.
g. Carrie so should have not cheated on Aiden...and why did he leave her after they got back together? (A total random thought that has no relevance to this conversation)

I will be published again this week! Woohoo!

Things I Have Learned In The Last 24Hours

1. When making corn on the bbq one must flip it over so as to not char one entire side.
2. No bathroom is complete without a picture of you and Rush Limbaugh hanging in it.
3. I have a thing for the smell of bug spray. Weird turn on #54.
4. Singing Wilson Phillips is best done karaoke style in a dive bar in the middle of nowhere.
5. Anything green on a 900 acre ranch in the middle of summer equals death. In other words green=poison oak.
6. Gin is not reserved strictly for tonic and is a game I am rather skilled at.

Sunshine Day!

My faithful readers have been begging for a new post...I hope they will be just as excited to read my articles on city council meetings when I really make it big!!!! So here it is: I am back in the beautiful Chico sunshine and am enjoying thawing out and letting my toes actually breathe for a change. I actually forgot that I had ankles and shins!!!! I even went swimming ( TONI'S Dictionary Defintion: Swimming: the art of sitting in a chlorinated body of water and slightly bobbing every once in a while while still keeping your hair perfectly in place and mascara from running. At no time does the head go under the water. Splashing by others is not tolerated) with the small children on Tuesday. Last week at this time I was still wearing my rain boots and having my pink umbrella turned inside out from Wizard of Oz magnitute gusts of wind. Oh what the West Coast can do for you.

Adjusting had been a bit rough but as through all things God has clothed me with a tremendous amount of strength and comfort. I already am missing my coffee mornings with Brie, watching endless hours of tv with the roomies, and even have a slight desire to see that MAC lab one more time-though maybe just to egg it. The past few days have been a mental, emotional, and physical challenge like no other I have experienced, but its given me such an opportunity to take joy in the little things in life: sloppy chocolate faced kisses from little ones, the feeling of crisp new cool sheets on a hot afternoon, ZUPPA TUSCANA SOUP (oh how I had missed it so!) and of course those hugs from friends when they hold you just a little bit longer and tighter just because.

So enough of the weather and gushiness and to the stuff that matters most. Blake has made it through one more week. Which means that I still have one more night at the very least to see him sing his heart out to me. And the other 20 million that view the show. But we all know I am his muse. And while Blake may be in, Blair sadly is out. I will no longer have a prime minister to swoon over. And the Supreme Court Justices are on my bad side. I may have to leave politics for a while and stick with my entertainment crushes. What has the world come to when I can't find a world leader to have the hots for?

I Might Be Meeting The Tin Man

The trek across the U.S. is now full fledged into the second day of travel. After visiting the birthplace and grave site of my dad's dad, we cut through Ohio, Indiana and tonight have ended in Columbia, Missouri.

Despite all odds, my dad and I have yet to kill each other. Today was nice, being able to see the cute little country town that he went to visit his dad in over the summers and also to be able to see a part of the country that I have never been to. I was thouroughly disspointed with Hardee's though and its misrepresentation as a Carl's Jr. You cannot carry the Star if you don't carry Western Bacon Cheeseburgers and Crisscut Fries.

Tomorrow might be somewhat of an adventure. We are just outside of Kansas and have to drive across it tomorrow-and tornadoes are ripping through the state. My little red truck night become a flying little red truck.

Team Kate

Aside from all the accusations about Kate's mommy asking for the toilet after meeting the queen or chewing gum throughout their entire meeting this quote was perhaps the most disturbing to me:

"Don't rush down the aisle - we don't want another DIANA," Queen Elizabeth was said to have told him.

Certainly the world would go under if another beautiful and charasmatic woman touched the lives of those that the Queen barely recognizes as existing. Why does she continue to insist that Diana was synonymous with the plague?

As for William, I continue to be confused as to why so many are joyous about the breakup. If Kate wasn't good enough, I'm sorry but you aren't either.

Come And Fill This Place

I found this so profoundly inspiring that I just had to type it up and post it....

"When I see that a person has a deficient in his or her relationships with people, I know they have a deficient in their relationship with God. When we are rightly relating with God, we gain the ability to rightly relate to others. The key is to discover what is missing in their relationship with God."

And it gets better...."Noncommunicative? How much are you praying and talking to God? Distant? Maybe you have a hurt that you haven't allowed God to heal. Always nagging? How's your trust level with God."

I know that I have issues with some of these in some of my relationships (and others in other ones) and people who have relationships with me may be dealing with this too. Kinda nice to know God is watching out for me and meeting me when I feel like I need him most. I always try to make it so much harder than it has to be and sometimes I feel like he just has to hit me over the head!!!!

Although there was nothing in there on having a bad relationship with a cop who pulls you over and almost arrests you. God, what does that mean about our relationship?

Resist The Peacock

Tonight I discovered a remarkable tragedy. NBC has canceled The Black Donnelly's. What is worse is that I had no notice, no time to prepare, no transition into my now empty existence on Monday nights. I had no idea until I turned on the tv and where my hottie mobsters once were there was a woman in an outlandishly tacky blue dress singing on a stage. Seriously NBC...you expect to get higher ratings with this?

Please join me in banning NBC from your televisions. Honestly it probably won't be too hard. Who watches NBC anyways anymore? The only thing worthwhile is ER and I can wait until the season premieres on TNT.

For the record this is the FOURTH show that has been arbitrarily pulled from my television causing me to fall into a deep pit of viewer depression. First Reunion, then Summerland, then the OC, and now this. Maybe God is telling me to ply outside more. Sigh.

Mountain Woman

For the record- for those that have implied that I went hiking against my will or that I am in some way or another outdoorsy-challenged....you are right. BUT I did not whine once. And I have references.

I'm in love with my news man (or men)

I have decided to apply to win a trip with Nick Kristoff. I am over being mad at him for not respoding to my emails. Though I wonder if my application will be tossed aside like those messages. Nick if you're reading, I only write them because I love you.

For those not privy to my bedroom television habits, I have remained faithful in my ban against Anderson Cooper. I figure by losing me as a viewer his ratings will go down and he will return to his home of covering real news and forget about following the drama of Anna Nicole Smith. Seriously Anderson, please come back. I figure by summertime I might be able to once again see life in a 360 view. That is enough time for my anger to blow over. Though I have been secretly looking at his book cover every night before I go to bed so I won't forget his dashing blue eyes.

Oh yes and snow will be hitting us again soon. My enthusiasm rates right up there with my love of being stabbed in the eyes with toothpicks drenched in pickle juice and fart smell. Ugg...only five more weeks in this city of bitter bitter coldness.

The Silver Lining

I hate mornings like these. The ones where it is impossible to drag yourself out of the comfort of your cocoon of blankets and actually have to function for the next fourteen hours with some intellect. The ones where there is little light entering your bedroom, creating the sense that it is still 4:00 am and you have two more hours of sleep, not the fact that it is actually time to arise and face not only the morning, but the rain. The ones where I am in dire need of coffee, but the very fact that I could not get out of bed results in the mad rush to class, sans caffiene. The ones where people decide they have no idea how to drive and traffic is backed up because merging is a concept lost to them on their morning commute. The ones where I finally get the opportunity to quench my thirst for liquid life and I realize I forgot my debit card and have a single dollar bill to last me throughout the day.

But I love morningss like these. Mornings that make me grateful for the snooze button on my alarm clock. Grateful for my adorable rain boots. Grateful for the homeless men who direct traffic on my freeway exit. Grateful for my wonderful friends who not only buy me breakfast, but give me cash for the rest of the day.

God has a funny way of showing me my blessings. That guy has a great sense of humor!

Choices Too Hard To Make

My heart is torn is two totally opposite directions. And it hurts. The pain I feel is like other. How could I have put myself in this situation...

Do I watch The Black Donnellys or The Hills on Monday nights at ten? ARG. The agony.

A New Arrival!

This is my first post from my BRAND NEW MACBOOK! Woohoo! I love love love it....and loved the price. Being a student sometimes has it perks. Pictures of my new little joy will soon arrive!

No Longer All By Myself

The world is suddenly back on its axis. Celine Dion has returned. And in a big way. What better way to come out of hiding out at Caesar's Palace than looking more beautiful than ever singing at the Academy Awards?

Who cares about the winners and the rest of the show (Although the body contortionist people are awesome!)? My heart can now truly go on!

Rock My World

I'm usually not a big fan of awards shows, but at the end of my rope with all my normal procrastination measures last night, I decided to tune into the Grammy's.

All I can say is WOW! I developed a girl crush on Carrie Underwood who sang just about the most fascinating version of Desperado. And the sexy collaboration between her and Rascal Flatts almost made me MELT. And I gained a whole new persepctive on Mary J. Blige. Man that woman can sing. Though the red pants suit disturbed me a bit.

The only major complaint I have is omigosh why did Many Moore look like a giant? She was seriously massive on the screen. I understand that next to Leanne Rimes she might look a little big, but she looked like the Jolly Green Giant. And in a very bad dress. Mandy, I love you. Please do not do this to me.

On a side note the New Englanders have brain washed me. Yesterday I stepped outside and thought wow...it sure is warm today. Displayed on the Killian's sign that I passed on my way into the city, I realized it was 32 degrees. I think 32 degrees is warm. The gods must be crazy.

The Kristoff Kiss Off

He hasn't written back yet. I've resolved myself to checking my email every ten minutes, rather than every five. I think he might be in Nepal. Bad internet connection? Maybe he lost his laptop. Maybe he is feeding hungry children and doesn't have the time now to respond-though he really wants to. Maybe he is walking around trying to create the perfect response to his biggest fan.

Maybe I need to get a life. Or a new subject to email. Anderson Cooper, watch your inbox. Your my new journalistic source (and love). And people say I'm fickle.

Bold and Beautiful

I can't even send my food back if I get the wrong entree. But I just finished emailing Nick Kristoff asking for an interview. Holy Crap. Boston has made me bold. For those you are keeping track, if he agrees to speak with me, I will have interviewed TWO of my top idols (Anita Diamant being the first). That alone is worth my $50,000 a year tuition.

H-E-Lots of Hockey Sticks

I would like to preface this blog with a quick statement. Screw Al Gore. And his Inconvenient Truth. You know what's inconvenient for me? When I have to ride the T with people who smell like vomit, are vomiting, or girls that shove me out of the way to ride one block causing me motion sickness and the need to vomit.

Where does this anger stem from? I went to a BU Hockey Game on Friday night. And since there is no parking at the arena, I parked behind my beloved store and took the T down to the arena. Big mistake. Looking back on it, I should have risked the hypothermia and loss of my toes but instead I got on the T of Terror. Next time I must use public transportation I am bringing a bottle of perfume. That way I can spray anyone who happens to be sending a stench my way as well as squirt some in the eyes of the girls who think they have the right to stand where I am. Your Prada bag is not a license to be rude. Plus mine is so much cuter.

So onto what really matters: hockey. Love the game. Hot guys smashing each other into walls. Its pretty amazing. And when they screw up they go to time out. Now here is a sport where inventors really went right. To reach men, you MUST meet them at their level. In my experiences, men happen to be nothing more than three year olds in bigger, hairier bodies with bottles of beer instead of bottles of milk. So shouldn't punishments for men model those of a three year olds? When little Johnny pushes his baby sister he goes to the corner. When big Johnny pushes big hot opponent, he goes to the corner. Reinforcement of the rules goes a long way. I bet some child psychologist thought of hockey sometime after figuring out how to make a dog salivate.

Final sentence: BU tied. But oh the possibilities of mankind winning if we all took a lesson from those inventors of the penalty box.

A Time of Acceptance

Today I have come to terms with the fact that I am now living in an environment that requires me to wake up fifteen minutes earlier. For most, this would be an easy, almost mundane task. For me, it is agony.

Still, while it will be almost impossible to drag my warm body out of the comfort of my ever so perfect bed to face the four degree weather (YES that is four...as in the number after three and WAY below the 70 it should be) I have found it even more impossible to risk what could happen if I hit that snooze button one more time.

My roomie was in an accident today (She's fine-not even scratch). Car skid on ice. Flipped over. And while I can't control ice patches on the road, I can control my otherwise non-defensive driving tactics of drinking my coffee, eating my Pop Tart, and putting on mascara, all while changing songs on my Ipod and swearing at the clock that I continually check because I am running late again. Did I mention I accomplish this while driving? In Boston no less, the city where the Frommer's Guide instructs you that it is better to risk death as a pedestrian crossing Comm Ave than face driving in the city that apparently has amnesty from road regulations.

So for me, it is lesson learned. And not the hard way. My mom was wrong...I don't always have to touch the stove to make sure it really is hot. I just have to be near enough to feel the heat and experience the fear.

A Whole Lot To Offer

Scene one: My mom and I are venturing out on our first day in Boston. I've lived in the city for about five hours now and come to a spot in the road where there is a cop directing traffic. Is there an accident? No. Is there congestion? No. We look around. What could the cop be out in the street directing traffic for?The Whole Foods Market. Apparently the shopper's need to use taxpayers dollars to have a police officer sit outside Whole Foods 12 hours a day to ensure that their organic tofu doesn't have to wait an extra 45 seconds in the car because they had to yield to the fellow BMW's that grace Newtonville. The agony. I swear off Whole Foods.

Scene Two: I have to pee. We're past the pee pee dance. I'm seconds away from making yellow snow in Boston. Kim and I run to Whole Foods in Brookline. And can't find the freaking bathroom. It's not in all the usual predictable bathroom places. I'm in tears. We wait IN LINE to ask someone where the bathroom is. It's in a sketchy corner behind the seafood counter. Which smells. Like rotting meat. I almost vomit as I learn that while I may not have self control when it comes to The Gap, my bladder has amazing restraint. I swear off Whole Foods once more.

Scene Three: I'm driving home tonight not wanting to cook, but wanting to have a hot body for Spring Break. The only quick takeout near me is pizza since the Northeast still has no concept of drive-thrus. I spot the Whole Foods. I think about the possibility of a deli section with healthy alternatives to grease with a side of pepperoni. I turn in. And embrace the vegans. I had the best meal under nine dollars. Two slices of roasted herb turkey, a mountain of a helping of homemade mashed potatoes, a black cherry natural soda, and the topper: a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin for tomorrow morning. After two swearing off sessions, Whole Foods has won my heart. I guess the third time really is the charm.

Cinnamon Dolce is My Gabanna

Starbucks has a new frothy sweet concoction that brings a smile to my very chapped lips (cold Boston wind). Cinnamon Dolce Latte is God blessing the mere mortals with a taste of heaven. Against all of my issues with fair trade and the financial enslavement of people who are forced daily to pick coffee beans for pennies that a huge corporation makes a three thousand percent profit off of when they sell each VENTI cup of warmness ( why can't they use English?)...breath...I recommend ordering yourself a cup. Ask for a medium. It irks them. And extra Cinnamon Dolce sprinkles. It's all in the sprinkles.