Finished!

Well, after three long years of waiting, I have finally turned in my UC Berkeley and UCLA applications. What a different feeling it is to turn in the applications knowing I actually have a chance!Though I think this is even worse...at least in high school when I applied, I knew I didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell at getting in, so there wasn't much stress or disappointment waiting for the rejection letter. This wait is going to drive me insane!

So from now until April, my fate is in the hands of the University of California admissions office. Fingers crossed, and wish on a hay bale for me, please.

5 Things I Love

Jenny very kindly passed along this thingie (I don't know how to post links, so please check out her blog from the link to the side....even though she is really my only reader:)) with directions to post five things I love. I figured that was easy....

1. I love Joey for somehow always knowing when I need to be cheered up

2. I love my family

3. I love the feeling of having all my homework done (I'm hoping to have this feeling soon...only three more essays to write!)

4. I love winter, and all the blankets and flannel sheets that go with it

5. I love the new Christmas cookies I just bought...they are great for dunking in milk yum:)

The hard part is finding five people to send this to. I think most of my readers have already been tagged in this fun game, so I'm going to skip it for now. Thanks again Jen!

She and Him: Los Angeles

Being the obsessive fan that I am, one She and Him concert wasn't enough, so Amy and I went down to Southern California for yet another She and Him concert - this time at The House of Blues in Anaheim.

Luckily, we were starving by the time we got there, and decided just to eat at the HOB. This ended up totally working out, because we were one of three groups who got to go in early for eating there. We ran to the front, and ended up being front row, center. The only bad part about getting there so early is that we were standing there over an hour waiting for it to start. I really was not happy about having to sit through Lavendar Diamond again (scroll down to see the post "She and Him: San Francisco"), but by the time they came on, Amy and I were just glad that something was happening. Not surprisingly, Amy thought she was as crazy as I had said she would be, and during the screaming song, Amy laughed so hard, Hippie-girl heard her and looked down at her. 'Twas hilarious though. And *everyone* was laughing.

I thought that She and Him was even *better* than in San Francisco. And even though I think Bimbos is a bigger venue, there was a lot more energy in L.A. The thing that I like about She and Him is that Zooey and M. Ward play all of the instruments themselves (with the exception of the drums. They were played by another drummer at the concert), and so M. Ward would be playing the guitar, then go over to the piano and play the piano. My favorite part of both concerts was when Zooey played my favorite song, "Sentimental Heart." The lights on the stage went down, and it was just a spotlight as she played the song on the piano and sang.

They really put on a good show...I won't bore you with it any longer, even though I could probably go on and on. I'll just post pictures instead lol.

Zooey does almost all of the vocals on the CD, and so I didn't really appreciate M. Ward until seeing him in concert. I have never been so amazed by someone playing the guitar - he is unbelievably amazing and talented.

Zooey singing my favorite song, "Sentimental Heart"

We were front row, center, and so we had an awesome view of Zooey standing right in front of us.

M. Ward on the piano.

She & Him songs are made up of only a few instruments. Zooey's instrument of choice is the tamborine.

She and Him

Scary

This is the guy who does not like the National Anthem.
This is the guy who did not feel the need to place the American flag on the side of his plane while campaigning.
This is the guy who publicly stated he would take the side of Islam should "things get ugly."

Messiah? Really?

I Voted

Dragged myself out of bed early this morning to drive to my polling place, and cast my vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin!

She & Him: San Francisco

This post is a little late coming, but on Monday night I went to the first of two She and Him concerts. OMG, it was everything I had hoped for. For those of you who don't know, She & Him is my favorite band. Their CD is just amazing, and to be frank, I'm obsessed.

Anyways, T and I went to the concert. We got to Bimbos 360 club in San Francisco about a half an hour before the opening band was about to go on, and somehow managed to end up in the front row. Lavander Diamond was the opening act, and they were....interesting... I love hippies, but this girl was a little out there. She kept saying these things like:

It is now this moment, and it will never be this moment again

and

Sometimes I like to put my hand over my heart and feel it beating.

and my personal favorite:

Earth is the most beautiful planet in the world

Their songs *sucked*, but none were as bad as their last song, which didn't have any lyrics, just screaming (which sounded vaguely Ariel-like). I didn't think I could laugh any harder, until T proved me wrong by asking where Ursula was when you need her.

But then Zooey and M. Ward came out, and all was right in the world :) Sometimes I don't like hearing my favorite songs live, because the bands usually switch them up, and they don't sound as good, but these songs were even better live, even with the few changes made. We weren't able to take pictures, but I still managed to leave with a special souvenir. Zooey took a sip of her water bottle and then set it down right in front of my face. When the concert was over, she still hadn't come back for her water. I wasn't going to snag her water bottle until the guy next to me started eyeing it. That's when T jumped on the stage and grabbed it for me - so sweet.

Here is said water bottle:

Only a Few Hours...

...until the She & Him concert. Pictures and full descriptions of the magic that is M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel tomorrow!

October Books Read

I can't believe October is already over. I didn't read as much as I would have liked to, thanks mostly to my research paper being due. I will spare you all the economics books on China and Africa that I read bits and pieces of, and tell you about the chick lit I escaped to instead.

My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler.

When I first picked up this book, I was a little sad that someone would have enough one-night stands to fill a book. A few hours later, when I finished this hilarious romp, I was sad that she didn't have more! Chelsea Handler (she is a stand-up comic, currently with her own show on E!) is unapologetic and just plain gutsy. I can't remember the last time I laughed this much when reading a book.

Final Say: Blush all you want, but read it and love it.

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

Unfortunately, the hilarity that is Chelsea Handler was followed by this crap. I desperately needed something to read, but with my petite vacay that I am going on in a few days, I wasn't willing to shell out valuable dollars for one. Digging through my countless boxes of books actually produced this - one of the few I own that I haven't yet read. And apparently for good reason. Clark's supposed thriller is the story of twins who are kidnapped for ransom. One is returned, while the kidnapper decides to keep the other one. The result is less than thrilling.

Final Say: Don't bother.

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

I can't think of any other author who makes me happy the way Sophie Kinsella does. I first read her book Can You Keep a Secret in a book club in high school and was hooked instantly. Young, witty, and British, Kinsella writes the way I only dream of writing. Her newest book is about Lexi, a run-0f-the-mill Londoner who wakes up one day in the hospital to learn she has amnesia. The last three years of her life are one big black hole in her brain, and she is left to wonder why she is married to one of the wealthiest (and gorgeous) men in Britain, why her best friends no longer speak to her, and why her teeth have been veneered.

Final say: Pick this one up along with Can You Keep a Secret and The Gatecrasher (which she wrote as Madeleine Wickham). You will thank me.

Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen

This was the amazing debut novel of the author of Water for Elephants. I actually picked this up a while ago, before reading WFE, but hesitated to actually read it. I thought like most horse-themed books it would be sappy and end with a horse dying, and so I was surprised and thrilled to find that once again, Gruen has created characters and a story that make it impossible to put her book down.

Final Say: Read and love Water for Elephants first, then grab this title and its sequel Flying Changes. Don't be deterred when you ask yourself what the heck a double oxer or a posting trot is - you'll quickly fall in love with Gruen's achingly real characters - both human and equine.