I Have No Style*

(*Sung to the tune of "I have no legs," sung by that guy on the subway in "Kids.")

I have totally been lazy about posting and I'm so sorry! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Mainly, two HUGE things have happened!

Last Monday was my birthday! 31 years ago I graced the Earth my arrival. I've been going strong ever since.

I never thought I'd have a problem turning 30, and I didn't. Now that I'm 31 I feel I know myself even better and have come to terms with who I am. Mainly:

- I get super nervous before going somewhere or dealing with a situation that is anything outside of my normal routine (new job, doctor appointment, seeing anyone for the first time in ages, etc.). Even thinking about it makes me one anxious lady.

- When I am mad or upset I cannot respond to someone or something immediately. If I do, the chances that I will regret my response is inevitable. Instead, I need to take at least 15 minutes to consider all sides and possible repercussions and calm down. My response is then better thought out and much more level-headed.

- I am an unbelievable softy. Nearly any sentimental or cheesy movie, commercial, story, person - anything - can bring me to tears.

- While I can be a real powerful, professional ball-buster at work, I can be a whimpering, fearful fool in my personal life.

- I have no style.

This last point I bring up because it covers a lot of territory. In terms of personal style, mine has become one of dressing way too much for comfort and not enough for style. Having little style is my style, I guess.

I have great aspirations to dress in one-of-kind, great clothing, looking hip and stylish and classy and creating mass envy among everyone I meet.

But, realistically, I'm lazy and end up at Old Navy buying the same cheap shirts that are cute but really do nothing for me. Ah, whatever. I'll work on that later.

This lack of style carries over to interior decorating.

The first apartment Andy and I had, in Brooklyn, was painted with bright reds and turquoises and had a ton of colorful Ikea furniture. It was exhausting and headache-inducing and I ended up hating everything there.

Then our apartment in Queens was white and plain and cramped with a lot of hand me down furniture. It was comfortable but messy and had no style. Followed no color scheme, incorporated no flow with objects or anything. It was a senseless mish-mash.

I have great, stylish ideas, but I kind of suck when actually making them a reality.

And so, the real reason I bring all this up...

The second HUGE thing that's happened to me...

We've found a house!

It's awesome. We found it last Saturday when looking with my mom and step-father. We found it, made an offer, haggled just a little, signed the papers, and yesterday had the inspection. It looks good.

We close (it's ours) on June 8th.

So, right now I'm obsessing over style. And sofas. And paint. And color palettes. And everything.

Needless to say, that's what I'll be thinking of and writing about for the unforeseeable future (at least until the 8th... and probably for a while after that).


Our lovely contemporary Victorian (contemporary because it was built in 1991) in Easthampton, MA.

American Life Today

American Life Today is an awesome website! Go there right away! But read this first!

I can't remember if I'd posted anything about the site in the past, but I discovered it a while back and sent in my info, never thinking I'd actually show up on it. But I DID! TODAY!

Go to American Life Today and read about me (you know you'll jump at any chance to get more), and the woman behind the site. It's very cool, and not just because I'm the interview for today!

Yea!!

What? You Want More About ME?!

Oh my god! I'm such a busy bee today. Perhaps it is because I was up at dawn (9) because someone in the Gibiš family next door decided that was the right time to play a horn. What?! It's true!

(FYI - Gibiš is pronounced "Gibish" - important to know since it's now used - by me, Andy, Heather & Crystal - as a adjective or noun meaning "idiotic" or "idiot".)

Anyway, right now on Facebook there's one of those "Write a note with 25 random things about yourself" thingies going around. I did it. And I didn't even use any of my 101 facts about me!!

These are all new things about me that you didn't know and surely never needed to know! And now... you know you want to know!

So because most of you don't know me through Facebook (we should fix that!), here's my list cuz you know you can't get enough of me.

25 Things About Me

1. I was an intern at "Sassy" Magazine for one week during the summer when I was 15. But then my mother found out I was cutting summer school and made me quit Sassy and spend my days in a recording studio with her instead, where I was bored and read 3 Stephen King books.

2. I have a really bad memory about a lot of things and people that occurred between the ages of 14 and 20 and usually have to Edith for clarification.

3. I don't have a driver's license, but have to get one ASAP and I'm terribly freaked out about it.

4. I went through a period 9 years ago or so where I was convinced that something terrible was going to happen to me. I became very nervous about myself and loss of control over my actions. I still get scared about things like driving because I can picture myself driving off a cliff or bridge all too easily.

5. I love Pizza King in Anderson, Indiana. We are planning a trip to Michigan in a couple weeks and will drive 10 hours out of our way to go to Pizza King.

6. One of my favorite things is drinking in the afternoon, but as I've gotten older I find it makes me very sleepy. This makes me really really sad and makes me feel like I'm old more than anything else.

7. I can be a real bitch, particularly with coworkers I don't like.

8. When I was 10 or so I was in a gift shop with my mother and pointed out a plant that said "Rubber Plant" and laughed because I thought it was supposed to be made out of rubber, or something. Then I realized that it had condoms hanging on it and was immediately embarrassed. It took me 15 years to get over it.

9. I love NYC but hate a lot of things about it.

10. When I was 6 I peed my pants in ballet class. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing but pants but a black leotard with white tights. My oldest friend Erika told everyone I spilled lemonade on myself and totally stuck up for me.

11. I used to reenact the lift scene from "Dirty Dancing" in the pool with my friend Dionne. Like, all the time.

12. I didn't know squat about Eastern European history or Communism before I met Andy.

13. I dropped out of high school when I was a junior (and went back a year later).

14. Coming to Prague for 7 months was worth it, but I'm sorry I didn't finish the Teaching Fellows (since, after all, I still want to teach).

15. I've never been fired from a job.

16. I watch wayyy too much TV. And I love it!

17. The only time I ever participated in karaoke (in front of strangers), I sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf. I forced Vicky from H-Link to sing with me but she didn't really know the words and I basically sang the whole thing myself.

18. I got engaged at the Chelsea Hotel. When Andy asked me to marry him I was so shocked I kept saying "No, no no". I finally shook off my shock and said "Yes".

19. I get really confused by explaining grammar and punctuation.

20. I can be really level-headed and confident, but whenever I'm embarking on something new, like the first day of a new job or on my way to an interview, I get so nervous I can barely breathe.

21. I show my emotions on my face. It's a bad thing.

22. I don't like being around drunk people (unless I am one).

23. I am very nervous about getting a job that is satisfying, fun and pays well while I am getting certified to teach in Massachusetts.

24. I procrastinate and usually don't write papers, lesson plans or anything till the last minute. But they always end up really great.

25. I am very needy with my close friends and am often nervous that friendships are in jeopardy.

I'm not funny

I don't try to be funny in my blog. But there are some people out there who are damn funny. Two blogs that are examples of this are Plastic Brain Train which is actually a retired blog of my friend, but has a lot of great and hilarious stuff on it, and the other is a friend of a friend's, Jen's Extraordinary Life and Beyond. Jen's blog is linked from another friend's blog, and that's how I found it, etc. etc. The whole blog world thing, I guess. Whatever. Anyway, on her blog I saw her list of 100 Interesting Things about her, and I was inspired. I totally stole the idea, but hers is much better and funnier. I just realized I like lists and didn't think I could even write 100 interesting things about myself... and while they may not be the most profound or amazing facts, I did come up with 101. So, here they are.

101 terribly exciting facts about me
1. I was born in Anderson, Indiana
2. I used to lick hot sauce off of tortilla chips when I was less than two years old
3. I was bald until I was like 2 or 3 years old
4. My eyes were blue before they turned green
5. I tweezed my eyebrows too much when I was in junior high school
6. Now I am forced to use eyebrow pencil, lest I be almost bald-faced chickie
7. I hated reading before I discovered The Baby-Sitter’s Club series when I was in fourth grade
8. My best memory of elementary school is my awesome 4th/5th grade teacher Liz Saplin playing guitar on Friday afternoons while sang along
9. My #1 favorite song from those Friday afternoons was “Harold and the purple crayon”
10. #2 favorite song was “Christopher Robin” (You know, the Winnie the Pooh song)
11. My oldest friend is Erika O’Rourke (kindergarten at PS 58!!)
12. My parents got divorced when I was 18 months old
13. I lived with my grandmother and grandfather in Indiana when I was 4, while my mother went to find a job and a place for us to live in NY
14. I moved to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, when I was 5 years old
15. The day I got to Brooklyn I had my first egg cream
16. I moved to Battery Park City in lower Manhattan when I was 10
17. My mother married my stepfather when I was 11.
18. I bullied a classmate when I was in 6th grade, making her jump up and down for tic-tacs and called her “Rat”
19. I’ve had the chicken pox AND scarlet fever
20. I was bullied by 2 ex-friends when I was in fifth grade
21. I played cello and violin in elementary school
22. And took piano lessons
23. I have such vivid, crazy dreams that I wake up crying at least once a month
24. I love sauce
25. I cut school a lot during my freshman and sophomore years in high school
26. Being forgotten is a huge fear of mine
27. I went to three high schools before finally graduating
28. Before graduating, I dropped out of high school for almost a year
29. I went to two colleges, Beloit and Hunter, before finally graduating from Hunter
30. I worked full time through three years of college
31. When I was a kid I was torn between being an artist, fashion designer or model.
32. My mother tried to get me into commercials when I was a kid, and they would have taken me but she asked me how I felt about it and I said I didn’t want to do it. So much for my acting career!
33. My brother Mark is 13 years younger than me
34. Every time I went back to Indiana with my father he’d drive around Indianapolis and make sure I knew which grocery store David Letterman bagged groceries, and where Kurt Vonnegut went to high school
35. I love Christmas
36. I’m Dutch, German, English and Irish
37. I married a Czech
38. I took his name, Spacek
39. I didn’t change it to Spackova, which it would be if I was Czech
40. This caused major issues when proving our marriage in the Czech Republic
41. I have 3 step-sisters
42. I met my husband working in the restaurant Harry’s at Hanover Square
43. This restaurant was where Patrick Bateman goes in American Psycho
44. I broke my ankle by slipping on ice
45. I broke it so bad my foot looked like it was hanging off my leg
46. I had surgery where they put in metal pins and plates
47. I worked in a medical call center for several years and would like to write a humorous novel about it
48. I am halfway done with my Master’s Degree
49. I was a NYC teaching fellow for a year
50. I like kids
51. I want to have a baby
52. I have baby names picked out for 6 kids
53. I pass out easily
54. I passed on in New Orleans while on a vampire tour
55. I like traveling to the South
56. I love to read
57. I majored in cross-cultural literature in college
58. I enjoy African-American and Cuban-American writing
59. I love reading about East-Asian culture
60. I grew up going to clubs where my mom sang, and in recording or rehearsal studios
61. I love epic miniseries
62. I think Colin Firth is hot
63. I really dislike body odor
64. The Czech Republic has many people who have problems with body odor
65. The only sweet things I crave are chocolate or ice cream
66. I love spicy food
67. If I had to eat one dish for the rest of my life it would be spaghetti with tomato sauce
68. If I had to eat one type of food for the rest of my life it would be Thai
69. I wrote a novel during November for National Novel Writing Month
70. When I was 17 I moved to Baltimore with my boyfriend, best friend and a bunch of freaky types
71. I drink Beaujolais Nouveau every year for Thanksgiving
72. I am a good speller and always have been
73. The one word that always gave me trouble was “maybe”
74. I don’t own much music
75. I listen to the same artists/albums/songs over and over again
76. I call my grandmother every other day from Prague
77. When I’m in the US I call her every day
78. I was a women’s studies minor
79. I have been to 7 countries outside of the US (not counting layovers) and it’s not enough
80. I have no allergies
81. I have four tattoos
82. One tattoo was done by a friend with a sewing needle and India ink
83. I can join the Daughters of the American Revolution if I want; I qualify
84. I might, when I’m older
85. I would like to be a famous YA writer like Judy Blume
86. When I hear about something I don’t know about, I look it up
87. I have become very interested in history as I’ve gotten older
88. And even more interested in war
89. I worked at Au Bon Pain when I was younger
90. I’ve never been fired from a job
91. I’m not a great speaker, but I’m a good writer
92. I like to be organized with my thoughts and plans
93. Yet I’m very messy with my things
94. I really don’t believe in most “new” diseases and conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, etc.
95. I played Sylvia, the girl who speaks to dinosaurs in the audiobook of “Dinotopia”
96. I love a good tv series.
97. I often find myself obsessing about characters on TV or in books and feel like I know them
98. My hair is naturally brown but I’ve been dying it since I was 14
99. I am a very empathetic person
100. When I’m bored I Google/Facebook/Myspace search for old friends/boyfriends/classmates/students
101. I have a steel-trap mind for famous names/faces/gossip/news