The Holiday Blues

Every year I go home to Georgia for Christmas, but the other holidays can be hard.  I always call my mama's house on Easter, where the entire family has gathered, and she passes the phone around so I can say hi to everyone.  I love getting to talk to them, but it inevitably leaves me feeling a little depressed that they're all together and I'm thousands of miles away.  Would that I could just wiggle my nose and transport myself home for every occasion.

My auntie Pat posted these picture of our family's Easter celebration yesterday:

my sisters

(Jennifer--on the left--is my cousin, but we grew up like sisters.  Lil sis Kate on the right)

sweet Nana on the left and my mama on the right

this year Nana will be 80, Mama will be 50, and I will be 30!

Uncle Mike & pretty cousins with spread of food

Uncle Ted on left, brother-in-law Andy on right

love the twin crossed legs, boys

Jennifer's son, Ethan, and our Auntie Pat

Ethan hunting for eggs in Mama's back yard

I would have loved to be there with them.  I miss everyone exponentially on holidays.  But although it was sad that I couldn't be with my family on Easter, I did the next best thing and headed up to the Freitags to watch Milo and Jude hunt for eggs:

the Freitags on Easter + the view from their backyard

Milo furiously hunting eggs

me and my little love

JJ and Judebug, both sporting seersucker

Thank goodness for the Freitags aka my home away from home!  It was a gorgeous day outside, and those boys always put me in a better mood.  Plus, after the uncles and aunts and cousins went home, Cari and I did something very Easterly: we watched a very intense, violent movie about post-Apartheid South Africa.  ;)

Notice anything about the cast?  Particularly the guy standing in the middle?  Yes, ladies & gentlemen, it's Tim Riggins.  And despite the fact that he had to lose 30 pounds to portray strung out combat photographer, Kevin Carter, he was just as fine as ever in this movie.

All hotness aside, it was a great movie, although devastating.  The story centers around four photographers who are trying to take the best pictures of the violence going on around them.  Kevin Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch--it's a true story) eventually took the following photo of a starving child in Sudan being stalked by a vulture:

from

Although Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo (taken in southern Sudan in 1993), it was obviously surrounded by controversy.  The public questioned him: did you just leave that girl to die?  What did you do after you took the picture?  Unable to face these questions and the ethics of his job in general, Carter kills himself.  And while it was tough to watch Tim Riggins go through all that . . . it was worth it.  

Sorry for the downer.  Probably should have ended with Jude toddling around in his seersucker suit clutching plastic eggs.  What did y'all do for Easter?

It's the end of an era.

Something devastating happened last night.

The series finale of Friday Night Lights aired.  And I had to say goodbye to Tim Riggins.

I've been known to have some serious tv crushes in my life.  I used to get alarmingly jealous when Pacey would kiss Joey on Dawson's Creek.  And of course there was Ben Covington, and the universal ladykiller Jordan Catalano (whom Marianne posted about yesterday).

But none of these compare to Tim Riggins.  I'm not kidding when I say that I'd jump at the chance to marry Taylor Kitsch, having never met him, based solely on his portrayal of Tim Riggins.  Wouldn't think twice.

My best friend and I have a longstanding crush on the poet Li-Young Lee, and years ago we'd play a game called YGTSWLYL.  It stood for "You Get to Sleep with Li-Young Lee . . .," and the idea was that we'd try to come up with the most horrifying "if" to see if the other would agree to it.

Exempli gratia:

You get to sleep with Li-Young Lee, but you have to fly a confederate flag from your front porch for the next 5 years

You get to sleep with Li-Young Lee, but you also have to sleep with Rush Limbaugh

You get to sleep with Li-Young Lee, but you have to move to rural Kansas

You get the idea.

Suffice to say that the answer to any YGTSWTimRiggins propositions would be yes, yes, yes!

It is with love, lust, and a heavy heart that I bid adieu to the finest creature that ever graced the television screen.  Your character may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

I honestly love you

So who's your biggest tv crush?  Have you ever had it this bad?

Friday I'm in Love!

Summergirl

I've got a new shoe crush and it's taken hold of me.  Evidently, Rihanna and I have the same taste in Louboutins.  The one pair I own, she owned first (damn her!).  And now, she's bested me again, cause she has the Christian Louboutin Misfit 150s!  Thus begins my Friday I'm in Love post with

1. These Loubs:

other things I love about this photo: Vogue, Rihanna, Annie Leibovitz

OMFG

Believe it or not, I think I like them best in the creamy khaki color.  They're perfectly dramatic in black, but maybe a little too goth for me.  But the lighter color?  HOLY MOTHER.  I've fallen hard.  They're only $1500, so I only need to take 862 more babysitting jobs to get my paws on them!

2. Snooki's book being on the New York Times best seller list.

Don't believe me?  Click here.  

Did I just order this book from amazon?  Why yes, yes I did.  What can I say, I love to read. ;)

(What I'm not in love with: that I have $80K of student loans and an MFA in Creative Writing and yet Snooki's book is on the best seller list).

3. FREE SNOOKI

That moments after Snooki was hauled off by the cops and taken to the slammer, JWOWW was sporting one of these:

In case you've forgotten some of Snooki's finer moments, here's a little reminder:

4. Jude + Tim Riggins

Jude is nobody's fool, and damn straight he's paying homage to the fact that Tim Riggins has been released from jail and is back in Dillon, Texas!  Let's just say my Wednesday nights have gotten a little brighter (uh--hotter) now that Timmy's back on Friday Night Lights.  

welcome home, baby.  

tell me, what kinds of things did you miss while you were in prison?

Hope the rest of you have had a lovely week and have fun weekend plans.  I finally have a day off on Sunday (!!!) so let's just say the world is my oyster.  Happy weekend!

The proof is in the pudding.

My sweet cousin sent me the following picture in support of my Man Bun post yesterday . . . and I really don't think anything else needs to be said.

Tim Riggins with a man bun is my own personal heaven.

Too Much?

Yesterday I was plus five (yep, that's right, babysat FIVE KIDDOS at one time).   Thank God, two of them were my little beloveds, Milo and Jude (the other three were their cousins).  What else was I to do to maintain my sanity other than dress the little buggers up in Tim Riggins gear?

Jude Freitag-Riggins

Milo at least seemed to enjoy it.  He said: "Tim Rid-dins shirt!  Claire has Tim Rid-dins shirt toooo!"

And I did, thanks to Marianne, who sent me an awesome Riggins shirt for my bday.

I also got I ♥ Tim Riggins thongs for Cari and me, but I'll spare you a picture of those.

Happy Labor Day (i.e., happy long weekend)!

So much birthday love ♥

I swear, my friends know me so well. People have always told me that I'm "easy to buy gifts for" (not that their love & friendship isn't more than enough) . . . and these pictures of some of the wonderful things I got in the mail for my birthday last week prove it!

(Please forgive the iPhone-quality pics. With a broken camera, it's all I got).

From darling Faiza, who most would agree is one of the most delightful people around. She sent a lovely golden scarf, a "party in a box" (so cute!), a babysitting notebook (how thoughtful!), some candy, and a card with an adorable monster on it. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know Faiza--she inspires me to be patient and gracious, and I'm so thankful for that.

Pretty sure that any of you can guess who this is from . . . my sweet girl, Micaela. I don't think I've ever known a better gift-giver; Micaela sent a custom-ordered embroidery of Leo, the constellation of my birth sign, a wire hanging of our favorite word ("adore"), a vintage floral tin (which I love btw) with a pretty doily inside (crocheted by Mama Lechuga), a beautiful black & gold ring with a Leo the lion symbol, a Gypsy candle, and a collection of poems (all along with some school supplies for the first day of school). I am so full of gratitude for this precious gift and this precious girl! What's most amazing about all these sweet presents is that they show how incredibly well she knows me. Micaela and I are so much alike. I love you pretty girl!

close up of Leo ring!

One of a few funny gifts from my little mama. She sent me a weighted hula hoop, hoping that it would help with my terrible back. She included a note reminding me of my championship hula hooping skills as a kid, proven by my victory at a hula hooping contest at the ever-classy Panama City Beach, Florida circa 1988. AWESOME.

My dear friend Heather, whom I've known for years and miss terribly (she lives in Chile now), sent this gorgeous Chilean scarf, some bright red earrings, a beautiful hand-made card, and some candy which isn't pictured because I devoured it immediately upon receipt. I love the bright colors in this scarf and can't wait to wear it! Lucky for me, San Francisco is scarf-weather about 10 months out of the year. :)

Flowers at work on my birthday from my daddy and stepmama! They also sent an gift card which I think I'm gonna put toward a Brazilian blowout . . . yessssss. These flowers made me so happy, since my actual birthday was the dang first day of school.

From another champion gift-giver, my bff Tiffany. Tiff has good reason to know me well, as we've been friends since we were 14. See those earrings? Those are pictures of Anais Nin, one of my very favorite writers, and with whom I am generally captivated. I couldn't love these earrings any more! She also sent supplies for my card-making and a funny little hanging pillow that says Please remove your Jimmy Choos . . . though why on earth would anyone want to remove Jimmy Choos?? Thank you Tiff for these amazing and so very "Claire" gifts!

One of my other best friends, Amy, sent two canisters of cupcake mix from the most delicious cupcake store in southern California. I can't wait to make the red velvet cuppies . . . YUM! I wish I could share them with Amy, cause I miss her so much. :(

My Lane--my other half--sent me this necklace with a note that says "to wear to remember true love." Sometimes Lane and I feel like the only remaining single women on the planet, so we have to remind each other that we're not gonna end up sharing a double room in a nursing home as spinsters 4 life--ha!

Oh, Tim Riggins. How I love you so. Cari and JJ (and Milo and Jude) gave me some fantastic gifts this year, the best of which was this Tim Riggins jersey. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am now the proud owner (wearing it now!) of an authentic RIGGINS #33 jersey, which I might never take off. It makes me feel just a little bit closer to him. And perhaps make me just a little bit more of an obsessive stalker freak. Good thing I don't have his address.

Thank you so much for all the love, gifts, cards, calls, texts, comments, and everything else that made me feel so loved this year on my birthday. Here goes the last year of my 20s . . . hoping for something remarkable!

When I Feel Sickly

I want these things, pronto:

Anna gave me some amazing bath stuff for my birthday. Last night, I came home and took a long, luxurious pink glittery bubble bath, and I plan to do the same thing today after work.

Veggie soup. If I can muster the energy, I'm gonna go home and make a pot.

bed!

And this guy to nurse me back to health:

Tim Riggins, duh

Other things I want when I'm sick include but are not limited to: frozen yogurt, my mama, my Oakland A's snuggie, Emergen-C, and for everyone to be exceptionally sweet to me. :)

I'm hoping that a combination of these things will work for me today. Sleep deprivation has turned into aches, a sore throat, a slight cough, a foggy head, and general BLAHness. Fortunately my students have been on their (mostly) best behavior so far. Let's hope they keep it up . . . at least until I'm back to my healthy, energetic self!

What do you want when you're sick?

Friday I'm in Love!

Today, my Friday I'm in Love post is over at Summer B's, as I'm guest posting for her while she's soaking up the rays in the Bahamas (ummm, JEALOUS). Go check it out, as my list this Friday includes a little bit of hotness, a little bit of yumminess, and a little bit of prettiness.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A very very good day.

Yesterday was a pretty magical day. This is how it went down:

*It started with my second acupuncture appointment with Thuy, which was even more amazing than my first. Pretty sure this is going to be an incredible addition to my routine.

*I came home relaxed from acupuncture, picked some tomatoes from the garden, and sat down with my computer and started filling out unemployment forms. I was in the midst of trying to figure them out, when . . . I got word that my job was saved! We got fully funded and I get to go back to Balboa next week!!

*I jetted across the street to get some celebratory champagne, and toasted with my roommate (and dear friend whom I LOVE) as soon as she got home.

*California lawmakers declared Prop 8, the highly controversial proposition declaring gay marriage illegal in California, unconstitutional! YAY FOR LOVE! This is such an amazing victory. I'm proud of my state.

In general good news . . .

1. I got an email from a former friend/boss at Tulane, inviting me to come to New Orleans in late October for a 5 Year Katrina Remembrance event! Dave Eggers is a keynote speaker, and there's going to be a panel about the Voice of Witness books on wrongful incarceration/exonerated people and women who've suffered abuse and neglect while in prison. I was invited to participate in the panel discussion, which includes flight/hotel/meals in New Orleans. I'm pretttttttty excited. Anyone wanna meet me here?

The Columns Hotel, aka my favorite place in New Orleans

Trying to convince Summer B to take a lil trip home and hang out with me in NOLA!

And speaking of Summer, go congratulate her on her daddy's cancer being in remission!

Lastly, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I made a damn good dinner last night to go with my celebratory champagne. You see, my mama's kinda famous for her squash casserole. Those of you who've had it know what I'm talking about it. I replicated it quite nicely, gotta say, and made a caprese salad with tomatoes from the garden. (But no, I can't take credit for growing them). Check it:

deeeeelish

nothin' like mama's squash casserole!

And lastly, I've developed an addiction, y'all. To Friday Night Lights. It's only been a few days, and I've already finished the first season, thanks to my friend Doro's Netflix Instant Watch, or whatever it's called. In particular, I've developed an addiction to the hunkiest man alive:

Tim Riggins, ladies and gentleman. Tim f'ing Riggins.