Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It is such a funny thing, how easy it is to wake up in a good or bad mood. What decides that? I slept well, listened to good sing-along music in the car, and hardly had any traffic to deal with, but still at work, I was so grouchy today! I realized that I was being dramatic, and needed to take five minutes to calm down, so I went on a search to find a quiet place. Unfortunately, those are hard to come by in a lab, so without really considering what I was doing, I found myself literally hiding in the coat closet. It was a peaceful five minutes, standing under the emergency shower and leaning on the wall cushioned by dozens of paper lab coats. At least, it was until I was found by one of the sales reps. I had no reason to offer as to why I was in there, so I just walked passed him and back to my desk, leaving him looking confused in the doorframe. I wonder if someday he will be asked to describe me someday, and say: "That's Elizabeth. She hides in emergency shower/coat closet. We don't talk about it."

The Start of 2011

I've always been really bad at keeping a diary (and obviously, since my last post was in November, blogs too). But, in school, my academic life depended on a planner. The week I couldn't find my little DayRunner, I missed almost all my readings and was late on a paper. So, I've decided to blend the two. I am now officially recording my dreams, keeping my schedule, collecting quotes, recipes, facts and interesting superstitions. If you have any submissions, they would be very welcome. January and February are going well, and I have little diary entries or at least one thing written on almost every day, which is a huge accomplishment.

In other areas, I am still working at the lab, and I am still job searching for a position in which I have even the slightest bit of interest. I finished reading Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Bell Jar, and several books in the Princess Diaries Series. I have just started Animal Farm, which I am enjoying quite a bit, and next up is Gulliver's Travels. My newest goal is to be able to run a 5k this coming April, which is about 3.1 miles. I tried last night, and I ran a mile and a half, so halfway there! Also, I am 24 now, which doesn't feel so very different from 23.

Nettie and Jacob are now far away in San Diego, but their new place is so pretty and suits them perfectly. I am excited to visit! What I learned during the move was that the best moving skill I have is climbing over piles of boxes and furniture in a moving truck. I got to sit on top of the stuff and feel like a dragon sitting on piles of treasure.

Wedding stuff is moving along nicely. Something like 230 days until the wedding, so lots of time to finish planning everything. Next up is finding a photographer and a DJ that the venue approves of. With DJ names like Mixterious Force and Mystical Vibrations, how hard could it be?

The Library

On an hour lunch break, I decided to go for an adventure and find the Newport Beach Library. I like to think that if my wallet was ever to be stolen, the thief would take the time to at least go through it and notice the different items. If they saw that I had six different library cards, I might be wallet-less and poor, but at least the thief would think me to be well-read.

I drove down Pacific Coast Highway, ready to add a new card to my collection. Although I went directly to the library, and walked out with several books, I forgot to get the card. You see, the bookstore was having a massive sale of antique and used books. The sale officially began at one o'clock, and by 12:45, the bookworms and collectors were in a line that went out the door and around the corner. Even when the books were mostly falling apart and in languages most likely not understood by the people purchasing them, they were perfect. I could almost feel the written words around me and smell the decaying paper. It was divine, and the people around me all understood.

Today a group of oddballs came together, their grocery bags and weathered cardboard boxes in tow, ready to be filled, over-brimming with the works of Hawthorne, Bronte and Huxley. When he noticed me hold a copy of Kipling's Kim, a stranger dropped a copy The Little French Girl into my hands, and started telling me the story of Kipling's imprisonment. An old woman was nearly in tears in the corner, hugging a book she said she hadn't been able to find since she was twelve. Everybody held at least one book, and whether it cost fifty cents or three hundred dollars, we all had our own treasure. There was an instant connect with everybody else in that room, a way we could look at each other and know: we are the literature nerds, the romantics, the bibliophiles.

Lists

Dedicated to Nettie

The List of My Favorite Things (in no particular order)

Best Movie Outfits
1. Leisle's Edelweiss dress, The Sound of Music
2. Amidala's rainbow gondola dress, Star Wars
3. Cecelia's green dress, Atonement
4. Princess Ann's street clothes, Roman Holiday
5. Susan's warrior outfit, Prince Caspian

Favorite Parts of My New Job
1. Office supplies
2. Free blood tests
3. The Gross Women's Hospital
4. The old couples
5. Driving past the Pacific Ocean at sunrise/sunset

My Current Favorite Candy
1. Milky Way
2. Skittles
3. Milk Duds
4. Swedish Fish
5. Mike'n'Ikes

My Favorite Office Supplies
1. Highlighters
2. Stapler
3. Sharpie Pen
4. Desk Calendar
5. Roatary Pencil Cup

My Favorite Villains
1. The Wormwoods/The Trunchbull, Matilda
2. Malicifant, Sleepign Beauty
3. Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
4. Cathy, East of Eden
5. The White Whitch, Chronicals of Narnia

Best Parts of Being Rachel's Roommate
1. Midnight decorating
2. Harry Potter bedtime stories
3. Clothes
4. Party planning
5. The gnomes

Other Things that I Like
1. Being engaged to Chad
2. Photobooths
3. Hot cocoa mixed with coffee
4. Registery guns
5. Perfume bottles with spray bulbs
6. Eye droppers
7. The telephone playing Gershwin music while I'm on hold
8. That kid who thought he missed the school bus
9. Emails with pictures attached
10. My workout playlist & an open raquetball court

Also, the Terminator is no longer our governer, we have a wedding date and venue, and I am working at a medical lab at Hoag Hospital. There are only 22 days until Thanksgiving, and I love my new scalloped black high heels.

Thank You, TLC

Today, a light bulb burnt out in my house. I took the light bulb out , and got ready to go to the store where I could buy a new light bulb. Then, I realized, silly me! If I leave now, I'll miss Say Yes to the Dress. I decided to stay home, with the only the light of the television. That is how I know that I've got Wedding Fever.

As of Today....

I have completed my Bachelor's Degree!!!

Yes, George of the Jungle Did Just Walk By

Walking to class, I saw a man in a leopard-print loincloth holding a boom box playing Michael Jackson music on his shoulder. As I tried to think of any other places that such an outfit would be accepted and receive the welcome it was given, I realized how much I really am going to miss college.

This is a picture of the stress fracture in my foot: