(La La) Gilmore Girls

I know it’s no longer a current show, but tell me, did you ever watch the Gilmore Girls? And if you didn’t, why on earth not?

The image linked above has a great ode to the GG, so click on through and read. I’ll try to give my own best, too.

This was a fabulously sassy show with witty, intelligent dialogue and intriguing characters. There were the title two, Lorelai and Rory, the Gilmore Girls. But there’s also grumpy Luke, the diner owner; Kirk, who works at every job in town; Sookie, the chef and Lorelai’s BFF; Lane Kim and her terrifying mother; Michel, the snotty French concierge with a warm heart; Miss Patty, the dance instructor; Paris, the…well, Paris; Emily and Richard, the elite, old-school parents of Lorelai…I could go on and on. The show sucks you in, and you can’t help yourself but tune in to see what those wacky kids will be up to next week.

They talk way too fast, eat a ridiculous amount of junk food and mainline coffee like there’s no tomorrow. (I started drinking coffee because of the Gilmore Girls. True story.) They have an encyclopedic knowledge of culture, both past and current, obscure and well-known. They live in a bizarre, yet adorable close-knit small town where there are 24-hour Danceathons and and picnic basket auctions.

There was the town troubadour, and Taylor Doose the crazy town busybody. There were all of Rory’s boyfriends, her crazy school friends, her dad…Gilmore Girls always is and was a ton of drama, but completely, completely addicting, totally worth it drama. Like I said in my earlier post, the Gilmore Girls is my television comfort food. In a bad mood, feeling icky? Just pop in a disc of the GG, listen to the strums of the incidental music (my favorite, the “college hangover” music) and the la las…and suddenly, everything’s better.

This show is so good that it has strong powers. I started watching season one this summer, two or three episodes a night. By halfway through season one, Tim was completely hooked and watching it along with me! It’s not just a girl show…it has many powers.

The Gilmore Girls Companion Facebook page, where there will be a behind-the-show book soon to be released! (More info also here.)

And since every post needs some great crazy Kirk action, enjoy A Film By Kirk!

T-minus 259: on the topic of veils

So let me tell you, once it settled in my brain that there was this whole wedding thing to plan, there were several big things that I knew were important. The venue, photography, the dress…but that’s more or less where my mental train ended. I’m not the girly girl (though I was in cotillion) and I didn’t spend my childhood planning my dream shindig. There are so many things I never gave a thought to. And one of these? Veils.

I’d never thought much more about it than “tulle on head”…but there are a lot of options out there. A quick Google search? Horrifying and full of options.

Let’s start out with this handy-dandy reference image:

So many lengths! So many variations!

A close look at the mantilla style – the lace is pretty nice, but the length could be difficult.

There’s this shoulder-length one.

Something simple in the fingertip-length might be nice…not too long, not too short.

And then there’s the more modern twists – birdcage veil or hair flower, or both at the same time!

(All images are linked to their sources.)

After Google searching for all these images, I’m more confused about what I wanted than I was when I started. So many options…

For those of you planning your weddings, how did you finally settle on a veil style? Did you consider your dress, or your comfort level, or just go for something dramatic and awesome?

Links on a Thursday

I spent today like this: calling urgent care, waiting for urgent care to call me back, scheduling an appointment, traveling to urgent care, waiting at urgent care, seeing the doctor, waiting some more, and finally being told I didn’t have strep throat.

Well, thank you, urgent care…I more or less knew that! Any other thoughts? Advice on why I’m feeling like crap other than “get some rest and eat your vegetables”? Seriously.

(To be fair, the doctor I saw was very nice and professional, and gave me the least-awful throat culture I’ve ever had. Since I am horrible at throat cultures and normally endure ten minutes of “just say aaaaah”, this is definitely saying something. I just would enjoy being given a definitive answer when I go to urgent care.)

So. Anyhow. Given all that, have some links!

• Ridiculously Easy Butterscotch Sauce. Looks amazing. One of these days, I will make this recipe as well as my old friend Tammy’s famous family hot fudge recipe, and make some amazing homemade vanilla ice cream and just go nuts. One day.
• Apricot Coffee Cake, though I think I’d make it not-apricot. Maybe just a simple maple and brown sugar? I like the ease with which this can be varied.
• On my to-read list: I Was Told There’d Be Cake.
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. How have I never thought of this before? Genius. Two amazing things, together at last.
• Homemade Crackers which look amazing. I’m really looking forward to trying these during the holidays.
• A very pretty and inspiring fall farm wedding. Love all the tiny pumpkins for decoration!
• Those gorgeous simple white kitchen towels with a colored stripe? Find them here.
• WordPress plugins and resources, because one of these days, I’m going to set up my own domain name and the fancier version of WordPress. Whee!

I am feeling somewhat better today – thank you for the well-wishes! Off I go to curl up with some comfort food and some Gilmore Girls, the TV equivalent of comfort food. (A post on that later…)

Sick

I’m not useful today. Back tomorrow.

(Why bother posting? 365 Days of Blogging Challenge Now back to my 3 hour nap…)

Hiking in the Snow

What do you do when it’s a “balmy” windchill of -5 (F) outside and your dad is in town?

Go hiking outside in the mostly unplowed snowy sidewalks, of course!

It was beautiful out, icy and cold, with lots of the snow still remaining from the nearly-blizzard. We walked all around the neighborhood, went to the grocery store…it was lots of fun! On the way back, we walked on the bike path and the pedestrian overpass. The bike path was plowed…

…the overpass was not.

It was spectacularly slippery, but a lot of fun. I was glad for the hand rails, though, at certain points.

(See that tassel? When Abigail was a puppy, she stole my hat out of my backpack and ate the majority of the tassel off one day. She also ate the arm off a chair. True story.)

Yes, it was only a few short months ago that the overpass looked like this:

Ah, winter.

Of course, walking around for a while gave me a great amount of energy to chase the dogs around the yard. Here you can see that the snow is about as tall as Fritz. So much fun to run through high piles of snow…

Like my awesome yellow astronaut boots?