2013 Favorites

My Three Favorite Books of 2013

3. Someday, Someday Maybe, Lauren Graham

A sweet, simple charmer, Someday tells the story of Franny Banks, an aspiring twenty-something actress in mid-1990's New York. She was such a fun protagonist to spend time with, and I enjoyed all of the details of her less-than-perfect life. However, I think my overall experience of reading this book was elevated by the fact that I listened to it read by its author, Lauren Graham. Her performance here added such a sweetness and an extra layer of humor to Franny's story that I don't think I would have experienced without her.

"I must work harder to achieve my goal of not seeking approval from those whose approval I’m not even sure is important to me."

2. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie

There is a reason that Agatha Christie is the queen of the mystery genre. Even though I've seen both a play as well as a movie adaptation of this story prior to reading And Then There Were None, I was still enthralled the entire time. Sometimes you just can't beat a classic whodunnit, and this one will keep you guessing. Each murder revolves around a line of a terrifying nursery rhyme, such as, "Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six." Clever, creepy, and a quick read. Put this one on your list!

"From now on, it is our task to suspect each and every one amongst us."

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy Kaling 

It's no wonder that everyone who reads this book comes away wanting to be Mindy Kaling's best friend. She is absolutely hilarious, an extremely intelligent writer, and nearly everything she says causes you to exclaim "ME TOO!" All I wanted to do was read excerpts of this book aloud to everyone I know and say "I thought I was the only one who did that!" Really I just need to own a copy so I can highlight my favorite parts (so basically the whole book) and sleep with it under my pillow, because it is just that wonderful.

"You should know I disagree with a lot of traditional advice. For instance, they say the best revenge is living well. I say it’s acid in the face—who will love them now?"

Two other books I read this year deserve special mention, if for nothing else than their density and the sheer amount of information I learned. The first was Dave Cullen's Columbine, which was an intensely in-depth look at the 1999 tragedy, focusing mostly on the shooters and the subsequent investigation. The second was Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, one of the lengthiest, most detailed biographies I have ever attempted. I feel like I know a ton about him now, but overall it was probably a little too exhaustive.

My Three Favorite Movies of 2013

3. Catching Fire
I really surprised myself by giving this film one of my top spots. But it was so well-made, and stands as the most faithful book to movie adaptation that I've ever seen. Jennifer Lawrence is just fantastic to watch, and her work, along with a smart script, exciting new characters, and solid direction demanded a repeat viewing from me.

2. Frozen
What a fantastic movie. I don't remember being this taken with an animated film since 2009's "Up." The music is fantastic, the voice cast is brilliant, and it really is laugh-out-loud funny (not to sound like a cheap critic trying to get their name on the movie poster). But perhaps my favorite thing about "Frozen" is that it's a story that centers on two sisters and their relationship and abilities, not on trying to land a dude. Yes, there is a love story aspect, but it's incidental, and not the main storyline.

Also I saw it four times in theaters.



1. The Way, Way Back 
I absolutely LOVED this movie. My very favorite movie of the year, and quite possibly one of my all-time favorites ever. So sweet, funny, and well-written, with so many wonderful performances. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. Between "The Descendents" and now "The Way, Way Back," I can't wait to see what screenwriters Nat Faxon and Jim Rash pen next. You must watch this. If nothing else, see it for Sam Rockwell. He is The Best.

My Three Favorite Events of 2013

3. Ramin Karimloo has played many big roles in musical theater, including the Phantom in the 25th anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera (which you can watch on Netflix!). I first learned about Ramin when he played Enjolras in the 25th anniversary performance of Les Miserables. He was the best part of that particular production—and that's saying something. He is also the nicest guy you've ever met.

I got the opportunity to see him in concert TWICE last spring, and besides being endlessly entertaining on stage, he is also incredibly kind, funny, and gracious. He signed my copy of the Les Mis DVD, posed for pictures, and even showed us how he put on his guyliner for the role of Enjolras (hilarious). Not to mention, of course, surprised my roommate at her school and sang Music of the Night for all her students! He has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard, and his concert is the BEST I've ever attended. No contest. The entire experience of meeting him and hearing him sing live—I just can't even fully express how wonderful that was.

2. Maddie's Adoption
John and Lori had been waiting for OVER A YEAR to adopt their daughter, and finally this September she officially became Madison Elise Redfearn! I love Maddie dearly, and am so beyond blessed to have her in my life. The Redfearns not only live down the street from us, but Maddie is my roommate's niece! So I get to see her quite a bit, and was privileged to go to the courthouse that day to witness Maddie getting her forever family. I am so thankful for this sweet, giggly girl who loves to dance and watch "Winnie the Pooh" and calls me "BAL." She's pretty awesome.

1. Norah Ann Ciminello
I almost can't put into words how special and amazing it is to be aunt to this squishy little bundle of cute. Norah came into the world on my brother's birthday, July 13th! (We are a family who loves to share birthdays—my dad and I have the same one too.) She instantly became everyone's favorite, and hardly a day goes by when I don't get a picture or video of her from my sister, who is thoughtful enough to keep everyone updated, since Norah is all the way in Arizona! I'm grateful for the time I've already gotten to spend with her, and can't wait to hug and squeeze her more in 2014!Love this kid. 

My #1 Girl

Her Space

Nothing like a five-month hiatus between posts to keep you on the edge of your seats, right? (I can blame it on pregnancy brain and you just have to believe me.) I thought I'd return before life gets any crazier! My first-born is due in just two weeks, and I think I'm finally ready to share some of my favorite details from the nursery.

We are keeping the name a secret, so there are a few spots that you won't see on the tour. We decided that since we were announcing a girl on the way that we would at least keep something "just for us." We've only settled on her first name as of THIS week. I feel like the change is dramatic. I love talking about her by name rather than just "the baby" or "baby girl." Prayer times are sweeter when I'm praying that she would inherit and personify the meaning of her name.

*Important note: I need to give several shoutouts throughout this post. We've utilized two different Etsy shops thus far and couldn't be happier with the art they've sent us!

Without further ado... Her Space.

Here's the before shot. Yikes. After we married, I moved into D's house and this little guest room became a dumping ground of sorts. It felt like we were cleaning that sucker out FOREVER. Some of the treasures have made their way to a new home only in the past month. We made a February deep clean a priority so that we had a fresh start when our parents came to help paint and ready the room.

I've been planning on using Peter Rabbit as a jumping off point for a girl nursery for years. When I was really little, my grandparents gave me a Wedgwood set of Peter Rabbit dishes from their months spent in England. I didn't want giant decals on the wall, just a base for colors and a unifying theme. As you will see below, we ended up with soft blue walls, green bedding, and pale prints and white for the accents. My goal was crisp, clean, and feminine. I'm so pleased with the results.

I have to mention the bunting in the pic! With the help of my mother-in-law, sis-in-law, and the sewing machine and genes from my own mom - I made them! This was my first big sewing project since being in costume practicum in college. The basics came back after we finally figured out how to load the bobbin on my machine. I picked up the inspiration for this mobile of sorts from Pinterest. Here's the blog post that ultimately gave me a direction for the project.

The three prints you can see in these photos are all from a fabulous little shop on Etsy: Printable Wisdom. I love that I found a native Texan who was so willing to work with our changes and ideas. She was super speedy, affordable, and talented.

I selected Psalm 139:14 for one of the prints. I've been memorizing all of Psalm 139 throughout this pregnancy as a way to combat sleeplessness and the worries that hit me around 5:00am. They usually start with, "HOLY HECK - I'M HAVING A BABY." As soon as my heart starts to flutter I begin, "O Lord, You have searched me and you know me..." and it's an immediate soother. I'm printing the entire passage out to take with me to the hospital.

D spied this quote and fell in love with it, 

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

~ Emilie Buchwald

We hunted through pages on Etsy trying to find a print of the quote that we liked, to no avail. So, we turned to Ashley at Printable Wisdom and she custom created yet another design for us. We found another piece she had made with books and just went from there. D is so pleased with the result!

The print was the perfect addition to our little reading corner. Baby girl already has quite the library and I cannot wait to dive in. Thank you to so many wonderful lovelies who have contributed to her literary education already!

There are a few things to point out in this little nook.

1. On the edge of the dresser you can spy a stuffed Peter Rabbit. My mom gave us Peter about 3 minutes after we discovered our little one was going to be a girl.

2. You can see my childhood Wedgwood set on the white shelf displayed proudly with a copy of Peter Rabbit from my mother-in-law and a very special version of The Tale of Tom Kitten that belonged my Uncle Kendrick. I'm so thankful to have it in Baby Girl's room and to be able to tell her all about her missed and loved great-uncle.

3. The print that's super tiny on the shelf is this one from Trafalgar's Square Shop on Etsy. Also a super great shop to work with! (I purchased one with a redheaded little girl with fingers crossed. Who knows, one of her grandmothers is a redhead!)

4. Check out that gorgeous quilt on the recliner. It's handmade by that redheaded grandmother - who I believe will henceforth be known as Nana. :)

5. The bunny in the recliner was actually my favorite stuffed animal from childhood. I am not a fan of stuffed animals. I don't know what to do with them, so it's amazing that any of mine survived. But Mr. Rabbit was destined to be part of this room.

Moving on! Keep following the wall to the right from the reading nook and you will discover the most lovely curtains that only took 4 1/2 hours to iron. You heard me. Baby Girl better love those waterfall curtains.

Last stop is half of her library and what will contain some toys in the future. That fabulous rocking bunny is from Little One's Uncle Ross and Aunt Lauren. (Poor kid. She is going to love rabbits and then someone is going to have to hand down the awful truth that her mother is severely allergic to rabbits.) Let's see, you can also spy some Peter Rabbit details - prints from Amazon, squeaky toys from my Aunt Kathy, a fun tea seat from my cousin Hilary, and so many other wonderful gifts from friends and family.

We cannot wait to meet her and show her this space we've dreamed up and created just for her.

Can't. Wait.

What's eating Gilbert's face?

It's a good thing I am not nostalgic and do not name things like my plant, car, or house. That is, I had not named anything EVER until the purchase of the Mac. My sister asked me over the phone if I had named my second born. (The first born is named Canon Rebel. He’s a bit rebellious, so the name just fits.) I jokingly replied that I would indeed be calling my laptop “Apple” after Chris Martin’s firstborn. She did not find this humorous. I decided to appease her and threw out “Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Gala.” Needless to say, she was not overly amused, although I could not stop laughing the entire time. I really am the funniest person I know. I think it embarrasses the Mac sometimes.

Well guess what? I’m not amused either. I hate my life. (Read: Technology hates me and I’ve literally screamed aloud 20 times in the last two weeks at computers, projectors, and my co-workers.)

You read the joyful birth announcement of little Apple. He was a surprise, as I was expecting a water filter. What I was not expecting was to have that child shut down repeatedly in the next 24 hours. Gilbert Grape, as the Mac was “affectionately” called, was clearly being eaten by something. (The amazing part about the name is that I can scream at the top of my lungs “WHAT IN THE HECK IS EATING YOU?!!”)

Gilbert was returned to the store after a few heart attacks and phone calls, and his hard drive was placed into another machine. He was handed back with plenty of apologies. I take home Gilbert II (I’m super creative), and plugged him in only to have it NOT TURN ON. I let it charge, all the while noticing a green light radiating from the charge connector. Two hours later, Gilbert is apparently still born.

So as not to appear like a complete idiot, I bring the Mac to work just to have my boss make sure it’s not a user error. He turns the computer on with just one tap of the finger. (INSERT LOUD SCREAM). It stays on all day. I stop at the store just in case to tell them about the issue and ask for assurances that the computer will see me through my trip to Texas. They reassure.

I use the laptop all evening with no problems and charge it up for my flight. Fast forward to 10:30am the next morning as the captain has just informed us that we are now free to use approved electronic devices. I have a ton of work to do and affectionately smile at Gilbert. I open it up, press power, and WHAT THE FREAK!? Nothing. Nada. Zip. I pray, try pressing the power button from several angles… all to no avail.

I calmly pull out the writer’s old-fashioned solution, my favorite easy grip pen and a journal. All is well for roughly 20 minutes before my life becomes a scene straight out of Earnest goes to Jail. INK EVERYWHERE. Hands covered. No other pen with me, of course. I’m left with a giant mess and only a highlighter to my name. This left me with some great prayer time once I had calmed down, but seriously?! Really? Really Mac? Really pen? REALLY?!

I popped out the battery during my layover and then put it back in. The Mac came to life. This relationship is killing me. I don’t know what to expect from my child. Over the course of the weekend Gilbert turned on 80% of the time, shut down improperly 3 times, and then would drop from 40% battery life to 0% in less than a second. Is it wrong to hate your children? I wish he had never been born.

I’m taking him back. Today. I don’t even know if I’m ready for the responsibility of this kind of relationship anyways. So now I’m working on my trusty PC reject. (Which has shut down with no warning THREE times this morning. REALLY TECHNOLOGY? Really?!!)

The PC does not have a name. Nothing will ever get a name again. My own offspring will be referred to as Child 1 and Child 2.

I have to be this way to make the passing of Gilbert easier. I cry at Hallmark commercials and movie previews and therefore I cannot overly-feel my own life. Maybe it's because I’m German, or maybe I am the world's only romantic-realist. Can you be both? Guess so...

***UPDATE 4/3/2009***

Left Gilbert on the steps of the Mac Store. Picked up The Golden Child. Let's hope he lives up to his name. [He is not refurbished and has Apple Care. I feel the winds of change.]

Plan B

I love how life jumps in to shake up my schedule every once in a while. This week has been a prime example.

My boss was due to have her first baby by c-section in three weeks. She and her husband had toured the hospital, started making lists, and scheduled family to fly in.

On Wednesday Carey could be quoted as saying “In three weeks he will be here!!” multiple times. That evening she and I were to join some other staff members for a mission’s banquet. Carey followed me to my apartment where we dropped off my car and then piled into her Malibu. The dinner was on the opposite end of town, but we made good time and pulled into the hotel around 6:45pm. The parking lot was crazy, so we ended up walking for quite a ways. We found the rest of our staff and enjoyed dinner before the first speaker took the podium. Sometime around 8:00pm Carey walked forward to receive an award on behalf of our Children’s department. She waddled back to our table, sat down, and turned with the rest of us to watch a choir take the stage. The song was loud and robust and something about needing a miracle. Little did we know that the miracle was about to arrive.

“I think my water just broke.” What a sentence. It has the power to move people – as in get up in the middle of a banquet and flee through the kitchen to the nearest bathroom. I’m not sure what the other hundreds of people thought as the nine of us hurried out, we must have been quite a scene. A manager at the hotel kept asking if we needed a paramedic or an ambulance, but the consensus was to put Carey in the car and drive her a few miles down to the hospital. I remember grabbing her hand and holding it as we left the hotel. The weight of the moment was starting to seep in. Carey was wonderful and only a little teary-eyed until she was reassured that everything she was experiencing was normal. Her c-section had been scheduled because the baby was breech and had no room to move. Carey’s husband Eric was called and it took close to two minutes of convincing before he realized we weren’t pulling an ellaborate prank. He was to meet us as soon as possible at the hospital.

I was nominated to drive Carey’s Malibu to a hospital I had never been to. So of course I called my friend Virginia for directions, and to tell the story. The phone conversations that evening were hilarious as no one seemed to want to believe me. (I’m known as a bit of a prankster around the office). Good things to know if this same situation ever happens again: you cannot make left turns off of 7th street from 6pm-9pm. I finally found my way to the hospital but couldn’t locate the OB Triage building. A few phone calls later and I found my way to the ER parking lot. The sign in front of my spot said “FAMILY OR PATIENT PARKING ONLY.” I decided that I could qualify.

When I walked through the sliding doors Carey was in a wheelchair sipping water through a straw. We had to wait for a hospital representative to take us to our destination because we would “get lost.” As we waited Carey mentioned a long sharp pain down her side. Mikki’s reply, “That’s a real contraction Carey.” (Carey’s had contractions on and off for the past three months.) We finally made the trek up to Triage. The hospital staff pushed Carey while the 4 “family members” followed along. Daddy had still not arrived. We pulled into Triage and my phone continued to vibrate this entire journey with plenty of questions from concerned and overly excited friends. Carey checked in and eventually went back to some magical area where only one of us was selected to follow. This was not my specialty; therefore I sat and waited for Dad to show up.

Eric, the dad to be, flew through the elevator doors in a flash. He carried a camera bag and pulled a giant wheeling suitcase. His first words? “I’m like totally freaking out. I can’t stop sweating. Is there water anywhere?” I hurridly gave him a crash course in using Carey's Rebel XTI (camera) before watching him fly through another set of doors.

The good news, Eric made it in time. Renn was born one month early but managed a strong 6lb weigh in. He saw mom and dad at 11:00pm on April 23rd. I’ve been to the hospital twice since then. Renn is a looker, Carey is wonderful, and Eric will tear up every once in a while, or so I hear.

What a week. Plans went totally out the window, but what a miracle they were traded for!