“Mad Men” starts up again on Sunday!!! To prepare, Drew and I have been re-watching the entire previous season, and now I’m more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve (if you don’t have time to re-watch previous episodes, this is a great re-cap to remind you of where we left things when last season ended). I’m especially psyched to see what the fashion will be like in this new season. I’m expecting a lot of polyester and Farrah Fawcett hair. And platform shoes and bellbottoms. It’s disco time, baby.
Other than that, I have been enjoying the spring weather something serious. Jackson and I started our gardening class together on Wednesday, which went well. (We made a tambourine out of seeds and eco-friendly paper plates! We had a nature scavenger hunt! We smashed chickpeas and made hummus!). And I’ve been getting out for more jogs and long walks, which is amazing after an awful winter of being cooped up inside. Also, on Wednesday, Drew’s birthday, he and I split a bottle of sparkling rosé on our terrace with the sun beating down on us, and, after a half hour or so, we were genuinely hot for the first time in like seven months. It was awesome.
Here’s to more heat, more “Mad Men,” and more sparkling rosé outside.
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veritek33 April 11, 2014, 4:07 pm
I’m going to see Billy Joel tonight!!!!!! I love me some piano man.
I am also eagerly anticipating Mad Men and I just finished the last season.
Oh, and another date with Indy on Sunday.
This weekend is gonna rock.
lets_be_honest April 11, 2014, 4:56 pm
Did you see he snuck into a school auditorium to watch the kids perform some tribute to his songs? I love him.
lemongrass April 12, 2014, 10:10 am
I’m so jealous. I love billy joel!
theattack April 12, 2014, 11:00 am
Very jealous! He’s my favorite.
veritek33 April 14, 2014, 9:37 am
Billy was amazing! Just as good live as he is recorded. Totally awesome concert, even when a lady rushed the stage and started dancing on the piano during Only the Good Die Young – she got body slammed and arrested.
SO GOOD.
Addie Pray April 11, 2014, 4:10 pm
You guyzzzz, I’m at my closing RIGHT NOW. Eeeek!
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Have a good weekend!
Diablo April 11, 2014, 4:20 pm
Congrats, AP!
Addie Pray April 11, 2014, 6:36 pm
It’s (finally) a done deal, I’m so happy!! Out drinking with my attorney, lender, and real estate agent (it takes a village)
Addie Pray April 12, 2014, 8:16 am
Oy I need a breakfast burrito, stat. Also, my mortgage lender is muy caliente!
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:12 pm
I’m seriously thinking of ordering either turquoise or kelly green adirondack chairs tonight. I can’t stop thinking about them.
BriarRose April 11, 2014, 4:20 pm
Oh, get kelly green! So in love with that color lately. Allow me to live vicariously through you!
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:25 pm
I am leaning toward the kelly green! I think I’ll like the color longer than turquoise. Plus, we live in a brick house and won’t the kelly green look nice next to red brick?
BriarRose April 11, 2014, 4:29 pm
It will! Great choice 🙂
veritek33 April 11, 2014, 4:29 pm
I want Adirondack chairs soo bad. Why do they have to be so expensive?
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:32 pm
I don’t know 🙁 There actually is a place near me that sells adirondack chairs (the store lines them up on the lawn like a rainbow of wonderful adirondack chairs and love it), and I’m hoping they are less expensive than the ones I’m finding online.
Moneypenny April 11, 2014, 4:43 pm
Different colored Adirondack chairs sound so cool- I wish I had a yard, I’d totally have one! And kelly green sounds so cool, I hope you get them for a good price.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:52 pm
I actually really appreciate all of the positive feedback! At first I felt crazy for dreaming of chairs for a whole year.
Banana April 11, 2014, 4:55 pm
Would you consider buying some used, faded, beat-up looking ones (as long as they were still structurally sound) and then painting them all yourself? Might be cheaper. I fully support your chair obsession, though!
lets_be_honest April 11, 2014, 4:58 pm
You can also get unassembled, unpainted ones for less $.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 6:12 pm
He Pants and I decided that’s what we’re going to do! We found some used ones that we’re going to check out. Also, this will give us a fun project for spring and they’ll be ready in time for weenie roasts this summer. 🙂
lets_be_honest April 11, 2014, 4:57 pm
DO IT! Your happiness all summer will thank you.
lets_be_honest April 11, 2014, 4:57 pm
Also, def go with kelly green. Its more Irish.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 6:15 pm
Thanks!!! I’m so happy that people share my excitement for Adirondack chairs. I knew I wasn’t being crazy.
lets_be_honest April 14, 2014, 10:25 am
You inspired me to set up mine chairs and fire pit this weekend!
Lyra April 11, 2014, 9:18 pm
I really want to have the coolest deck ever this summer! Of course I have an apartment so the deck is the only outside spot that I have… I plan on growing some flowers and I have my eye set on these gorgeous solar lights that are totally impractical but I am considering spending the $50 because they’re so pretty. Sitting on my deck with friends and/or Navy Guy sipping a chilled beverage at night with those really cool lights? Yes please. I also found a little bench that is also storage for garden stuff and tools that would be really cool, not to mention it would give me some more seating! I want a bird feeder too, more for my cat than anything, so she can have some kitty TV to watch when I’m gone. I found a really pretty brass feeder that’s waaaay out of my price range. There are so many random little deck decorative knick knacks that I want but *probably* shouldn’t buy. I think Navy Guy and I are headed out to IKEA on Sunday, maybe I can see if they have a section for outdoors-y type things.
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Adirondack chairs are awesome! Go for it. 🙂
Ella_ April 11, 2014, 4:22 pm
This weekend I am finishing up some last minute stuff before I go to SPAIN on Monday!!! So excited!
HmC April 11, 2014, 4:28 pm
Jealous! That is my favorite country ever. What city?
Ella_ April 11, 2014, 4:35 pm
Mainly Barcelona and other places in Catalonia. It’s a work things, but I have some freedom for day trips too!
HmC April 11, 2014, 4:47 pm
Woot Barca! I was there a couple summers ago for a few months and it was awesome (now is a good time of year too, before it gets too hot/humid). Enjoy the paella! And on a negative note, watch your freaking stuff. Pickpocketing is exploding there. Half the people I know that have been there were robbed of suitcases or purses in Barcelona and they are serious travelers that are usually very aware. You cannot watch your shit too closely, especially on the metro or walking down La Rambla.
Ella_ April 11, 2014, 4:52 pm
Oh definitely! I’ve been to Barcelona a few times already and have never had bad luck with pickpockets, but I am pretty vigilant with having a crossbody bag, having my hand on the purse, and keeping everything zipped. What were you there for a couple summers ago? I’m just curious because I was also in the area for three months in summer 2012.
HmC April 11, 2014, 5:05 pm
I was there for work! May – early July. Cross body and zippers are definitely your friends! I was hyper paranoid and stared at my purse on the subway and still, STILL some chick grabbed it while smiling at me and pretending to be bumping into me. The good news is they’re not violent and they don’t have weapons, they’re just looking for the easiest mark possible and they are FAST. The other good news is that the vast, vast majority of locals are disgusted by all the thievery and I saw many of them step in to help when they caught it. At one point a big group of guys rushed a guy who was reaching into this German girl’s open bag. They circled around him and pushed him off at the next stop and escorted him right over to the nearest police officer. It was hot.
Diablo April 11, 2014, 4:25 pm
You guys, I bought my dream guitar yesterday! Geeky Technical Language Trigger Warning: It’s Brian Setzer model Gretsch 6120SSL Nashville with TV Jones pickups and Bigsby tremolo! Guitargasm! It plays both kinds of notes: chimey and twangy. Is it really shallow for me to be so happy about a mere possession?
veritek33 April 11, 2014, 4:28 pm
I don’t know much about guitars, but that one sounds awesome!
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:28 pm
If it brings you joy, it’s absolutely ok. My husband has a Gretsch and it is gorgeous. Congrats!
Banana April 11, 2014, 4:30 pm
You and Banano need to talk. I barely understand most of those words, but he’d probably be aroused if he read that post.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:49 pm
It’s the same at my house. He Pants has about 6 guitars and it took me a loooooong time to understand what he was saying when he’d talk about them. I was always like, “Can’t we just talk about the tambourine or maracas? I get those.”
Diablo April 11, 2014, 5:44 pm
M just likes to learn one or two key phrases and use them for all instances of commentary on the particular sport or equipment: “odd-man coverage,” “neutral zone trap,” “DiMarzio Super Humbuckers.” (Even though Humbucker sounds like it should be a sex toy, it’s a guitar pickup. He Pants for sure knows what these are.)
No Pants April 11, 2014, 6:21 pm
I came home from work and said “DiMarzio Super Humbuckers” like I talk about them all the time and He Pants almost fell over. 😉 I’m also supposed to tell you that he has a 5120 with TV Jones pickups.
Diablo April 11, 2014, 6:47 pm
A 6120 is clearly 1000 more.
Diablo April 11, 2014, 6:57 pm
You may tell He Pants that I have Dimarzios with 3-way coil taps on my vintage 1978 Ibanez Artist 100 Sunburst, unless you feel uncomfortable as a go-between in our “guitar-measuring” contest. I’d say he has me outnumbered but not outgunned.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 8:33 pm
Hahaha He Pants just loves talking about guitars. I promise he’s not competing. He did openly admire the 6120 and say it’s nicer than his. 🙂
Banana April 14, 2014, 10:33 am
Oooh ooh I know what a humbucker is! Banano explained that one to me once, when he picked up a new guitar with them.
Banana April 11, 2014, 4:56 pm
Also, it’s not shallow at all. For the people who play them, guitars are rarely “mere possessions.” They’re more like soul-extensions.
Lyra April 11, 2014, 6:48 pm
Haha you sound like me when I get a new band instrument for my collection. 🙂 I know next to nothing about guitars. Does tremolo mean the same thing in guitar speak as it does in classical music speak?
Diablo April 12, 2014, 12:18 am
In this context, it is the device on the guitar used to create tremolo, often called a whammy bar. The Bigsby version is my favourite style as opposed for example to the type used on Stratocasters. It is easier to control and less likely to throw the strings out of tune.
Diablo April 12, 2014, 1:32 am
Acc. to Wikipedia, what guitars do is not the same as tremolo in classical music, but would be more properly called vibrato. Meh, toMAYto-toMAHto.
Lyra April 12, 2014, 10:15 am
Vibrato definitely makes sense. I own an acoustic guitar and can strum really basic chords but that’s it so all these fancy guitar things are confusing to me.
Copa April 11, 2014, 4:27 pm
The 35 minutes standing between me and Friday happy hour are killing me.
Banana April 11, 2014, 4:29 pm
BIRTHDAY WEEKEND! And a friend’s wedding. Going to be very busy, but in a fun way! I think I’m going to impulse-buy a new dress for my birthday shindig tonight, on my way home.
No Pants April 11, 2014, 4:33 pm
Happy birthday!
Banana April 11, 2014, 4:35 pm
Thank you 🙂 A bunch of people wished me well in another thread, too, and I feel bad now I can’t remember where it was, to thank them!
Ella_ April 11, 2014, 4:42 pm
Happy Birthday and yay for a new dress!
Moneypenny April 11, 2014, 4:42 pm
Happy Birthday!
lets_be_honest April 11, 2014, 4:59 pm
Yay birthday weekend!!! Have a great one!
Diablo April 11, 2014, 5:40 pm
Happy Birthday! The guitar mentioned above is an early B’day present for me – mine’s in a couple weeks.
rachel April 11, 2014, 4:34 pm
It’s my last weekend in Milwaukee, so I’m trying to get a lot done while also meeting up with various friends I’ve made for the last time. Crazy how fast this year is going, but at least it’s finally spring!
AKchic April 11, 2014, 4:40 pm
I’m getting off work at 1, if my co-worker comes back on time. I’m happy because it’s sunny out and I’m tired and there’s a Warehouse 13 marathon going on right now, and WEEKEND.
Moneypenny April 11, 2014, 4:42 pm
Mad Men!! I can’t wait!! I’m meeting my sister and mom on sunday to celebrate my sister’s early birthday- lunch and shopping at the giganto outlet mall. Should be a good time. Also I have some movement on my job hunting- I’m talking to 2 people, and one of them I’m really excited about and the position would work with my timeline… I just want to get through the rest of the day, including a meeting at 5:15, ugh!
othy April 11, 2014, 4:52 pm
Between Mad Men and Game of Thrones, it is an excellent week for TV shows. I’m also obsessed with Call the Midwife, and the newest season is currently airing on PBS.
muse April 11, 2014, 5:14 pm
I Love that show!!! Its so so good. I make it a sunday ritual to have a big pot of tea, and curl up with that show and let myself feel all the feelings it brings! So much emotional angst I love it.
katie April 11, 2014, 5:19 pm
im leaving for vacation in less then a week and i am so unprepared!!!!
thewriteway April 11, 2014, 6:38 pm
It is pouring rain here right now, so not much good weather to enjoy. It was sooo nice this morning, but that ended in a hurry. Haha.
The hockey season is just about over before playoffs. My younger sister and her boyfriend are coming in this weekend and coming to the game tomorrow, then Sunday is the last regular season home game for my team. They hit the road next weekend to finish things out. There’s still time for playoffs and I really hope this is the year for the championship. Fifteen years and no titles yet.
I got my CPR certification today, so I feel much more comfortable about starting to put a Zumba class together and look for opportunities. It was a five-hour class and there was a lot of info to take in, but there wasn’t a test at the end of it, so I have a certificate to download now and take to potential employers.
Also, I know I vented here about my boss and getting a better schedule last week. Well, a couple days later, he e-mailed me back to say I could start a five-day week! This should make it easier to have a balanced life and do some non-work activities I have been putting off forever. I’m still looking for a new job so I can leave my industry segment, but for now, this will suffice. (I unfortunately got rejected from a position yesterday.)
I’m looking forward to next week to officially have an extra day off (I had to switch with someone on Tuesday) so I can finally go to yoga and another fitness class I’ve wanted to try. I’m also going to my first ever Meetup! While things aren’t perfect, I feel a little less stressed already knowing that I have some different activities to look forward to.
Lyra April 11, 2014, 7:03 pm
I’m writing this from my deck right now and I’m really excited about that. 🙂 It’s BEAUTIFUL outside so after I write this I’m going for run (ok, more of a “run”) numero 2!!
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Today was fun. I spent the day helping students find the instrument they should play next year and that’s always my favorite part about teaching band. It’s so cool when their eyes light up and they just get excited because they found “their” instrument. It’s also looking like at that school I will almost double my numbers of kids in band next year which is VERY exciting for multiple reasons. I’m very excited to see that program grow. (I’m also paid based on how many kids I have in the program — more kids = more money.)
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I have to work tomorrow which I’m not too thrilled about because my boss basically said last minute “hey Lyra you’re doing this on Saturday” but whatever. It will be a good experience for me but I’m not thrilled that my original plans of meeting Navy Guy for a Saturday day date fell through. We’ll spend all of Sunday together though. We plan on meeting his brother for brunch, and he’s planning on coming to church with me for the first time! 🙂 I’ve invited him a few times but he’s said that he would feel uncomfortable so I just dropped it until he brought it up today via text.
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We’ll see if this nice weather holds up. I’m hoping it will stick around for a while!
Lyra April 11, 2014, 8:56 pm
This work out/running stuff is empowering. Granted I’m still in the VERY beginning stages, but today was easier than the first work out. I don’t love it, but I love how it makes me feel. In high school I DREADED the mile so much because I felt like a lazy band nerd who had zero athletic skill…cause let’s face it that’s who I was. I was never dead last, but I definitely came in second to last and third to last a couple times. And a mile felt like foreverrrr. One of my bucket list items is to run a mile in less than 10 minutes…maybe it can happen? One day?
othy April 11, 2014, 10:28 pm
I’ve been running for over a year, and I still feel the same way. I don’t love it, but I love how I feel and I love the accomplishment of finishing races I’ve been training for.
Oh, and I finally hit the under 10 minute mile after about 8 months of training. Nevermind it was all downhill, but that still counts, right?
Lyra April 11, 2014, 10:54 pm
Awesome! I’m still at the super slow walk some, run some, walk some, run some stage. Some day my mile will be 9:59 or less. It will happen. 🙂
othy April 12, 2014, 8:01 pm
I still do that. It’s just both my running and walking have gotten faster. And the walking is less frequent.
Guy Friday April 11, 2014, 7:11 pm
So, Diablo’s comments about his wife in the Shortcuts thread prompted me to semi-threadjack here to ask this question: Am I in any way a bad/dishonest/sketchy husband because I HAVEN’T told my wife about DW? I mean, I’ve never brought it up, and I don’t know if she actually knows anything about it or not, but I’m guessing not; I just don’t really respond to things when she’s in eye-shot. It isn’t that I’m trying to say things here that I wouldn’t say directly to her — in fact, everything I’ve said here about her or our relationship HAS been things she and I have talked about before — but she’s incredibly conservative (personality-wise, not politically) and sheltered and paranoid about “net security” and all, and so she would probably flip the hell out if she knew I posted ANYTHING about myself here, let alone about our relationship. I’d never want to do something deliberately hurtful, but assuming telling her = her flipping out, is there a good way to handle this? Just stop talking here altogether? Do it and simply somewhat censor myself? Just talk as normal and don’t hide that I’m doing it, simply waiting until she asks?
Lyra April 11, 2014, 7:30 pm
No one really knows about my DWing in real life, though my boyfriend saw it once and simply asked “Dear Wendy?” He doesn’t know how much I post on here, but he wouldn’t really care. I honestly think I’m a better significant other because of the advice I’ve received on this site and what I’ve read on here. It’s not as though you’re outing yourself or her, you’re just contributing to the conversation. I would keep on doing it and just somewhat censor yourself.
Portia April 11, 2014, 7:47 pm
I don’t think you’re being dishonest. You can talk about your relationship with your friends or a therapist, talking about it in a mostly anonymous way on the internet isn’t like broadcasting it all over social media. If she asks about it, I wouldn’t lie, but it’s not like you’re actually identifying her or yourself. My boyfriend knows about DW in general (he was very impressed with the postcard from Wendy) but probably not the amount of time I spend on it or how much I post. And he’s the only one who knows about it at all. I would bet that most commentors don’t talk about their DWing in real life.
thewriteway April 11, 2014, 8:15 pm
I definitely don’t talk about my DWing in real life! Haha. I comment on another popular website and I also don’t mention that. But since I’m single, I think I just choose not to talk about it because I was an LW (how I found the site to begin with) and I don’t want anyone to know what an idiot I was two years ago in an LW’s shoes! One of my friends always tells me she doesn’t know what I was thinking about the issue that caused me to write in. I don’t know now either and I feel like an idiot, but it’s like…really…you can stop talking about how stupid I was!
lets_be_honest April 14, 2014, 10:24 am
This sounds exactly like me haha. Peter knows nothing about DW and never will, and would probably react the same way your wife would because he’s paranoid about the internet. Somehow he got it into his head that everyone sees what happens on it and its never erased? haha
trixy minx April 12, 2014, 12:00 am
There is supposed to be heavy snow this weekend. I’m not looking forward to it. I want the summer already!
Taylor April 12, 2014, 8:05 am
Mad Men!!!! And it’s sunny!!! I have never been this happy for spring, winter felt multiple seasons long this year.
CatsMeow April 12, 2014, 10:23 am
Oh, fudge. I never finished the last season of Mad Men. At least it’s on Netflix now! I’ve got some bingeing to do!
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In other news, I think I’m reviving my Ziggy Stardust costume tonight for a Yuri’s Night event. There is a costume contest for the best space-themed costume!
theattack April 12, 2014, 12:45 pm
I just had to lock my cat in the bathroom. :(. She had another PTSD abuse flashback, and Katie recommended that I put her away somewhere and remove stimuli when that happens, so that’s what I’m doing. It worked wonderfully when I did it before, but it makes me so sad. 🙁
AliceInDairyland April 12, 2014, 4:30 pm
Oy guys, I’m still alive and I have been reading if not commenting all that much! This was a pretty chill week but it’s about to get cray-cray. I helped Farmer Benjamin with a bunch of seeding and we messed around with the little tractor for ages trying to get the wheels in the proper location so that it can go in between all the veggie rows. We also went on an adventure today to look for ramps because I am obsessed with ramps and I am going to try them tonight for the first time ever. THESE ramps: (wild leeks). They are all the rage in foodie-ville but I’ve never had them. We found a big clump of them out in the marshes in the next town over and so we took like 6 to eat and then we transplanted 2 clusters onto what is now dubbed the “wildflower and foraging forest” of our farm where we will put pretty and delicious wild things. I’m excited.
Tomorrow we have a ceremony to celebrate surviving 3 years of veterinary school, so that will be good to dress up and take pictures and feel like I accomplished something. This week I have a cheese making class, a fancy foodie-dinner with Benjamin, and we’re FINALLY going to take ballroom dancing lessons again. It’s been like over a year. We’re rusty.
Sunshine Brite April 12, 2014, 6:56 pm
I’m feeling pretty good today! My bridesmaids finally seem like they are on-board with what I’ve been talking about. I know, I know, no one cares about my wedding as much as me… Buuut, I’m someone who always tends to go along with the flow. Youngest kid in my family. My vote rarely counts even among my friends who tend to have bigger personalities than I do. The people around me don’t mean to dismiss me but sometimes they do more than they think. I swear I’m not asking a lot but trying to get them to use a natural style of makeup during the day and let my hair/makeup/etc. pop more. I’m just asking to stand out. I might never get another distinct chance to dress up like this and I am getting a little carried away with the princess feeling as the time gets closer. I’m so plain usually :/
snoopy128 April 12, 2014, 7:59 pm
I don’t want to get into wedding-drama-rama on here, but I promise, no matter what your bridesmaid’s make up, YOU will stand out.
It’s also not really fair to tell them how to do their hair and makeup (from my perspective). You can only control what YOU do, so make the hair and make up decisions that make you feel gorgeous and you will still shine and stand out, no matter what they choose to do. The white wedding dress almost guarantees that 😉
Sunshine Brite April 12, 2014, 9:02 pm
I know it will be better than when I started and I was going to have to do my own makeup. I decided last night that I’m just going to pay for hair and makeup both done professionally since the friend I had to do my hair has to take a class for their bachelor’s degree to finish sooner. Plus, they’ve been asking for the direction. I tried doing non-directive ways for shoes and it set off an email chain as long as my arm with everyone telling me how wrong everything was that I was saying. It was absurd and just telling them what to do if someone asks has really lessened that business since I don’t want to referee whatever the popular vote is.
snoopy128 April 12, 2014, 8:01 pm
Ok. I guess I could see how a bright red lip or something might be distracting if the rest of you are more natural. But all you can do is suggest something and present how you feel on the issue.
CatsMeow April 12, 2014, 11:59 pm
I just won $100 in a costume contest! Yayayayay!!!
Classic April 13, 2014, 12:03 am
Yay Cats! 🙂
snoopy128 April 13, 2014, 11:58 am
Day 2 of essay writing while it is nice and sunny out 🙁
Any motivating playlists people can share? Things that help them write? It’s all outlined, but putting words on pages has been really hard lately. Grr. I want to walk my dog along the water in the sunshine.
Lianne April 14, 2014, 10:20 am
I have a sparkling rose in my fridge that I didn’t touch all weekend so I could save it for Easter. I love a good rose, even better if it’s sparkling. And HALLELUJAH to spring!!!