Never Stop Dumplin'

DUMPLINGS.

Now I won't make you do anything you don't want, honey, but I promise you this: start saying that word outloud, over and over again, and you can't help but smile.

dumpling

dum*PLING!*

dumplin'

dum puh lin

You start to take on a sort of cartoony, elfin voice. (amiright??)

It's a joyful, plump little word, almost as joyful as the act of actually eating dumplings.

Today, some coworkers and I escaped the premises and had a Day O' Dumplings over at Bamboo Garden. And man, did we eat dumplings. I mean, we had soup dumplings. We had seafood dumplings. We ate dumplings until we felt like big dumplings.

Stellar, quick service (free dessert from our pleasantly chatty waitress) and then we dumpling-rolled on back to the office to suffer dumpling-induced comas.

WORTH IT

CRITTERS

I love 'em. Mostly mythical ones.

Gnomes, for the most part.

This guy, from the 1995 classic film, "To Catch a Yeti."

My sisters and I watched the VHS on the daily from 1995-1998.

-

Which brings me to my #1 Critter love: FURBIES.

Furbies bring peace and good tidings wherever they go.

Furbies are my spirit animal.

This is me wearing a furby costume, and I obviously am in heaven.

So it should come as no surprise that this new Honda commercial has me absolutely FIENDING for a Civic. [Officially, as a marketer, I do not think this is effective marketing, but unofficially, I just love it.]

GOOD LORD that beast is cute.

Happy Friday.

Sara Bareilles and Other Perfect Things

I just think she's absolutely perfect, and am so thrilled to have discovered the album she recorded live in San Francisco.

Other things that are on my mind include:

1) Ireland

I am going for 2 weeks! I leave in 3 days. I have no idea what I am going to do. Thrilled! slash... oh crap.

2) Pussywillows, Honeysuckles, and Other Magical flowers

I found honeysuckles at work this week (like the ones here) and ate as many as I could grab. I think it would take about 492 honeysuckles to make a whole teaspoonful of honey/fairypotion, but still, it is an amazing treat. And since then, I've spent inordinate amounts of time imagining bouquets of pussywillows and honeysuckles.

Pussywillows and Honeysuckles.

I would probably re-name my blog that if it weren't so damn sexual sounding.

My Dairy Princess

Today marks the 24th birthday of one of my favorite humans ever.

Her 24th year is going to be a year of exciting changes:

moving to the Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are MAAADE Of (brooklyn, duh),

throwing a huge party in Chicago,

and,

getting married just before that party.

24 also promises a new garden plot, chatting with locals, and drinking whole gallons of milk after running 39 miles before I've ever even considered getting out of bed.

She's basically a super hero.

On an average day, here are just SOME of the things you can spot Ashley doing:

Being rescued from gummi handcuffs...

Jammin' to hip hop beatz...

dancin' in diners...

grindin' at the Chim...

grindin' at the beach...

unclear...

Here's to you, Ashley Erin.

When I think of you, I think of these poetic words by our good friend, Celine:

There were moments of gold
And there were flashes of light
There were things I'd never do again
But then they'd always seemed right
There were nights of endless pleasure
It was more than any laws allow
Baby Baby

Like a cat danced upon your keyboard to justin bieber

CONFESSION: today when I saw the name of the erupting volcano in Iceland, i thought it was just someone angrily pawing at the keyboard.

Eyjafjallajokull?? really?

I bet this was a prank by Bjork to see how illiterate Americans are. "Let's make up a fake volcano even though we don't even have volcanoes, and then send them a bunch of letters and see if they'll buy it!" Or maybe it's part of Sigur Ros' fake language, Hopelandic. My friend Kyle did a bold test of trying to actually PRONOUNCE IT ALOUD and has reported back that he ended up just yelling loud noises.

minor heartburn, major victory

last night's dinner at ze cinema: raisinets.

arrived home and my body told me it was time for dessert. Cookies with chocolate icing!

woke up RAVENOUS. had cereal (my vegetable for the day).... proceeded to beg Jenn to drive me to In-N-Out for lunch.

Got back to work after my double-double and fries. Realized i was still hungry, so I polished off a package of Red Vines...and a package of beef jerky. and now some fruit snacks.

it has suddenly occurred to me that, when I was a child, I would sometimes dream

"when I go to college/don't have to listen to my parents,

I'm going to eat nothing but cake batter!"

and OH! how i longed for that day.

flash forward to 2010. while some days I wonder what it is I'm doing/should be doing with my life.... today is NOT THAT DAY! I conclude this sunny thursday with some renewed hope that I have become exactly what I always dreamed of being.

I HAVE ACHIEVED THE PINNACLE OF PERSONAL SUCCESS:

I EAT LIKE AN 8 YEAR OLD ORPHAN!

When Morganne invited us to visit her family in Santa Barbara last summer, we jumped at the chance. Jumped kind of ravenously, actually, since we have a thing for road trips: fresh air, dancing in the car, getting to the beach, and...fast food galore.

So we headed southbound on The One, in search of sunshine and dollar menus.

In-N-Out: duh.

STOP THE CAR, was that a Wendy's/TacoBell in one building? DO IT.

(Someone pass the Pepto.)

1 playlist later, from the backseat came pleas for 5 dolla footlongs.

Well hello there, Jack-In-The-Box! Milkshakes and tots? Don't mind if we do!

Needless to say, Santa Barbara is paradise.

(and for way more legitimate reasons than our fast food addiction.)

That said, in Morganne's old room, she had this gorgeous black and white ad. Jennifer Aniston, on a dock with a paper boat. Perhaps wondering how John Mayer can be so alluring and yet so, so sketch.

It has a very east coast feel to me, and maybe that's it's draw. Not sure, really. I never really loved Aniston until I saw this particular campaign. But no matter how many middling movies she may put out there, she's still America's sweetheart. And c'mon people, she's still chillin' on a dock. Not even John Mayer himself can resist that.

Flash forward to last week, and I'm needing a little inspiration one morning. I may have been creepily Google Image searching Miss Aniston like woah. But anyway, I channeled the dock ad for an outfit. Couldn't even wait for Morganne to see when I got to work.

And what do you know, she was out SICK.

LAME.

So naturally, I enlisted Emily, and we headed outside at sunset to take a souvenir shot for Morgsy as she lay on her deathbed.

But let me tell you, Miss Aniston did not make that effing boat. People, I tried making an origami boat. I've watched NUMEROUS youtube videos. I fought the good fight, I really did. And while the video instructors ended up with fully-functioning kayaks, I somehow ended up with piles of confetti and nasty paper cuts.

Scrapping that idea, I resorted to mailing supplies and a crapload of staples.

Thanks, Em!:

Have a great long weekend!

With Love From,

your sketchy, vain, celebrity-impersonating friend.