screw the hiatus

101 74 things that piss me off

1. slow computers
2. stepping in dog poop
3. gas
4. corn and corn products
5. foodies
6. my messy apartment
7. heat on a timer and lack of a thermostat (not all of us work a 9-5...brrr)
8. my upstairs neighbors
9. mice
10. my landlord (most of the time)
11. sore boobs
12. lack of space
13. lack of work
14. lip service
15. impatient honkers
16. traffic
17. litter
18. clutter
19. noise
20. the ADD that accompanies living in nyc (i need room to think!)
21. our trashcan that never shuts
22. halitosis
23. hormones
24. paying money for crappy food
25. disorganization
26. hangnails
27. bloat
28. waiting on checks
29. taxes
30. disrepair
31. cheesy bands
32. flab
33. lack of motivation
34. dust bunnies
35. split ends
36. grays
37. nuts & gum
38. unfinished business
39. uti's
40. sluggishness
41. impatience
42. the slow tick of the clock
43. peeps who do me wrong
44. wet bandaids
45. pruny fingers
46. stubble
47. lack of a pedicure
48. zits
49. bad dog owners
50. meatheads
51. jerks
52. cheeseballs
53. smarmy men
54. nyc snobs
55. nyc rents
56. pollution
57. provincialism
58. sexism
59. racism
60. lack of free healthcare
61. george bush et al
62. rotten produce
63. know it alls
64. phonies
65. mildew
66. mold
67. must
68. rapid fire text messaging
69. exhaustion
70. insomnia
71. snorers
72. headbutters (biscuit, i'm talking to you)
73. pests
74. unfinished business

(....aah....that's better...)

but before i go (and while i'm feeling listy)...

100 things that make me happy

1. having bdub in my life
2. morning snuggling (and evening snuggling)
3. having a dog who likes to spoon
4. new york on the first day of spring, when the chairs and tables are being put outside at the restaurants
5. the snow that looks all sparkly and windswept, like a sugary blanket
6. mushroom thyme pizza from the brick oven gallery
7. reunions (especially with family and my beach girls)
8. catching up with my peeps
9. composing random and ridiculous songs with the dub
10. making my peeps something delicious
11. fish tacos on a hot day
12. homemade italian wedding soup on a cold day
13. care packages
14. bi bim bop
15. my nephew's imagination
16. my niece's smile once she warms up to you
17. the biscuit's desperate stretching
18. wiles's toothy grin
19. road trips (and getting taco bell-our guilty pleasure- and bdub always saying, "i'm buying!")
20. an icy soda
21. the feeling after a good workout
22. a smooth day at work with fun peeps
23. sunshine (trite but true)
24. lying on the sand in 80 degree weather
25. katherine's back porch
26. ehrrin keenan's facial expressions and tiny little fingers
27. belly laughs
28. a good afternoon at gabe's
29. the mint cookie chai or moon pie tea at the roebling tea room
30. seeing/hearing people i love play music
31. dog runs
32. kick ass delis
33. trader joe's
34. new makeup that fills a void in my kit
35. getting out of the city for a little bit
36. homemade ravioli with fresh tomato sauce (preferably nana's)
37. anything made by nana
38. the security of my marriage
39. woobie's luxuriously soft fur
40. the biscuit's frito-licious scent
41. animals in general
42. starting a new roll of tape
43. opening most fresh things (the first dip into most jars of food)
44. a clean house (my own)
45. a good party
46. a great rock and roll show
47. good wine
48. veggie bacon
49. warm boots, coat and mittens in the winter
50. going down the steps of the subway just as the train pulls in
51. a seat on the train
52. little kids in the seat next to me leaning on me as we ride the train
53. girls nights
54. good naps
55. christopher guest movies
56. green and black's chocolate
57. cheese. any and all.
58. baby pigs. pink ones.
59. clear skin
60. home organization
61. a good book
62. new underwear and bras
63. shitkickers (both the boots and the people)
64. thai food delivery
65. finger food
66. the rat zapper
67. hikes in the woods with dogs
68. the canals in amsterdam
69. the biscuit licking my face
70. guitar hero
71. our back patio in the summer
72. bubble baths
73. a stocked fridge
74. "aha!" moments (not to get all oprah...)
75. personal growth
76. billy bragg's "a new england"
77. guided by voices' "glad girls"
78. the cozy nook
79. evenings of interpretive dance at 89 maujer
80. a good magazine
81. fresh summer tomatoes
82. the photography and recipes on 101 cookbooks
83. the crunch of fall leaves
84. country roads
85. house parties in west virginia in the summertime
86. campfires
87. vegetable gardens
88. puppy freakouts
89. a good game of scrabble
90. female bonding
91. amy sedaris
92. a kick ass massage
93. pedicures
94. a perfect haircut (which includes a great blowout)
95. fresh juice straight from the juicer
96. good eggs
97. time to primp
98. jeff a's utterances (hilarious, true, and cutting)
99. weekends off
100. the smell of coffee (how i miss you...)

101 things in 1001 days

so my hiatus will be broken by this post...i couldn't keep this rad idea to myself.

here's the website that explains the project: in a nutshell, you must come up with a list of 101 tasks you would like to complete within 1001 days. the criteria is that the tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. they also must be realistic and stretching. so here are mine:

PERSONAL:
1- finish this list!!!
2- decide on and buy new glasses
3- repair computer
4- use reusable bags when going to the grocery store
5- go to the farmer's market once a week for an entire season
6- copy all of nana's recipes from her (while cooking with her)
7- join a community music ensemble
8- with bdub, finish lawsuit (get information subpoena as a start)
9- replace running shoes
10- take mom out for a real british high tea
11- make a pushpin travel map for bdub
12- watch less television
13- spend atleast one day a year with individual siblings (0/4)
14- make a toast
15- have a weekly dinner (or other) date
16- live la dolce vita!


FINANCIAL:
17- pay off the car
18- establish credit (use a credit card and pay it off monthly) (<- 768! not bad!)
19- open a savings account and come up with a realistic goal
20- cut back on cable tv services
21- combine cell phone plans


PHYSICAL:
22- see doctor about sciatica
23- go to the dentist
24- attend regular yoga classes (atleast once a week for atleast two months)
25- get acupuncture
26- conceive and have a healthy pregnancy
27- give birth
28- establish a regular exercise routine (3 x/week for atleast two months)
29- get down to 120 pounds
30- get laser resurfacing (or other applicable procedure) to eliminate acne scars/pock marks
31- grow out my nails
32- wear my cute clothes and shoes that just sit in my closet
33- walk the dog daily for a month (atleast)
34- floss regularly (daily)
35- drink more water!


APARTMENT:
36- purge and organize all areas of our apartment
37- figure out a plan for the basement to make it livable and then do it!
38- purge my closet (and restock with better stuff!)
39- add to equine paint-by-numbers collection (2/8) and then frame and hang
40- buy a solid piece of danish modern furniture
41- get rid of all evidence of mouse infestation
42- install a shelf in the bathroom
43- repair front door
44- maximize all space
45- organize books and replace bookshelf
46- replace the @*&$%!ing trashcan!
47- buy a file cabinet
48- corral mail


TRAVEL:
49- go camping upstate or in pa
50- travel to italy
51- travel to spain
52- go to a dog-friendly b & b
53- go snowboarding
54- go icefishing
55- go to dia: beacon
56- take the biscuit to the ft tryon park dog run
57- go horseback riding
58- attend sxsw
59- go on a cross country road trip!
60- go to warhol museum
61- go to brighton beach (russian disco, yes?)


PROFESSIONAL:
62- complete three beauty tests (organize, shoot, get useable prints) (0/3)
63- complete three fashion tests (organize, shoot, get useable prints (0/3)
64- upgrade 50% of products in both hair and makeup kits
65- do a mailing
66- create beauty blog
67- take some lessons to improve hairstyling
68- learn to trim bangs
69- learn to airbrush
70- redesign website
71- get bio up on arthouse's website
72- talk with david about career
73- examine other career avenues
74- pursue a side income


SPIRITUAL/INTERPERSONAL:
75- attend services at the unitarian church
76- volunteer regularly (once a month to start)
77- volunteer with animals
78- silently count to ten when getting frustrated or tempted to say something stupid/mean/thoughtless
79- live more compassionately
80- get the biscuit to become a certified therapy dog
81- spend more time with elderly people
82- pray or meditate daily/nightly
83- stop gossiping
84- forgive those who have done me wrong
85- maintain strong family ties (weekly contact with all relatives)


EDUCATIONAL:
86- take a theramin class and establish a weekly practice schedule
87- bake a souffle
88- make borscht
89- learn photoshop
90- get certified in cpr
91- make homemade tamales
92- make dilly beans
93- sew a cute skirt for myself
94- bake homemade bread
95- take a dance class
96- take a self-defense course
97- finish reading a people's history of the united states
98- read hegemony or survival
99- learn to make cheese
100- learn the tarantella
101- learn guitar well enough to sing around a campfire or to babies


..and now i will take leave of this blog once again while i pursue those things on my list, and some not on my list. ciao ciao!

wolfeinelli on hiatus

that's right peeps...i need to take a lil hiatus from blogging for now (not that i have been an especially active blogger over the last month or so).

the wolfeinellis in the city will come back in a few weeks bigger, stronger, and updated! as for now, please enjoy my most recent fun internet finds:

frugal fashionista
love this blog.. love it. i like to think of it as giving the fashionistas a smackdown in the form of knock-offs and cheap threads. it's deserved. plus, with frugal fashionista, i feel like it helps me to pull together a quick, fun look and channel my inner lindsay lohan or hillary duff when i am feeling old, haggard, and chunky.

and, of course, there is nothing quite as adorable as corn nut drinking a heineken.

enjoy! and much love!

xoxo

gold shoes in heaven

a hundred apologies for the hiatus in blog world. much has happened since my last post: work has picked up a bit, my existential and career crisis has continued, and we have had a death in the family.

brian's grandma wolfe passed away on january 31st as a result of pancreatic and liver cancer. shortly after christmas, she was given the diagnosis and the prognosis of about two months to live. i spoke with a couple of my girlfriends who had both lost their grandmothers to the same types of cancer, and both warned that the deterioration was rapid. at our first opportunity, bdub, heather and i went down to west virginia to spend some time with her.

she had been moved to a nursing home just the day before we got in, and she was none too happy about it. however, nothing in the world lifted her spirits more than being with her grandchildren. this was last tuesday, and the morning after we returned to new york, she passed. we headed back down for the funeral just a few days later.

no one in this world besides betty holliday wolfe has ever made me feel so exotic and glamorous. i remember taking his grandma to the parkette once when we were in for a visit. all it took was ordering bleu cheese dressing for my salad to give her cause to exclaim "oh my!" and grin at me with googly eyes. to be honest, it made me feel a little uncomfortable but secretly i loved it.

she always asked me how i stayed so thin and looking so good, and no one asks me that.

she loved music, and any time she heard it, she'd ferociously tap her thigh and tell tale of when she sang alto with the sweet adelines and wore a gold dress and gold shoes. like me, she also loved glamour.

she made brian crazy sometimes (the "buying a short set at walmart story"--in which she gets stuck in an electric buggy and nearly triggers bdub's fight-or-flight mechanism-- is a story for another time). she could be wildly negative. she hated her building, and claimed that everyone in there gossiped about everyone else...yet many of these residents were at her viewing this week, talking about how she was their good friend. she could be intensely critical.

she was extremely particular about food, refusing to receive meals-on-wheels any more because she didn't care for the vegetables (or any vegetables, for that matter- nothing but meat and potatoes for her). she ate her fast food and hot dogs and burgers like a bird. if after a family dinner you ever complained of being tired or full, she would say, "well, you know what your problem is! you ATE TOO MUCH!!". she drank nothing but coca cola; i think towards the end brian's dad convinced her to atleast switch to rootbeer so as to avoid the caffeine.

bdub's paternal grandfather split when his dad was a boy, and his grandmother raised his dad in what was essentially the clarksburg ghetto. she was poor, considered an outcast at the time, and worked hard her entire life; i don't believe she ever left clarksburg. she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, jack's twin sister, jill ann...and when we think of what can make a person bitter in their old age, of why grandma wolfe could be so negative, how quickly we forget the hand she was dealt in her life.

yet she always loved music. and she adored brian. i believe that he gets his musical talent from her....maybe she is the link that led him to discover his true happiness and passion? the story goes that little brian and his mom and dad returned to west virginia from maryland on account of grandma wolfe's knee operation (who else did she have to help her with her recovery?). perhaps if it weren't for grandma wolfe, they never would have come back to wv....thus the wolfeinelli love story would never have happened.

godspeed grandma wolfe. thank you for always making me feel like you were just tickled to have me as a granddaughter-in-law. may you sing alto with the angels in heaven, dancing time steps and keeping a good, strong beat in your gold shoes.

and for our next kill....

...i wussed out and called my sister in law and her boyfriend, nick.

heather, if you are reading, let me just say this: a man who will come over to your sister in law's apartment at 1 am to help her dispose of a dead baby mouse is one thing--a keeper.

(and here they are, dumping the contents of the zapper:)



of course, last night as i settled in for a relaxing evening at home (this was pre-kill), i thought i would give my email one last check. this appeared in my inbox:


Hi, Noelle,

I know this is rather last minute, and we've never worked together, but I ran into your website when I was searching for a makeup artist.

I have a test shoot tomorrow night (January 26) from 5:30-9ish, with Tara from DNA Models. My regular makeup artist had to decline due to a job, and I've exhausted my other resources.

Please let me know if you're interested."

i looked at his website and it is killer, just the kind of stuff i need for my book.

alas, i was too late. in the two hours between him sending me his email and my reply, he had already found someone for the job.

ah well, atleast i made a new contact, i suppose. one who already has a regular makeup artist. (argh.)

zzaaaaapp!!!!! an update!

ding! dong!
one mouse dead. probably about two hundred more to go (i wish i were joking).

rat zapper's online support was wonderful: after the one who got away (as mentioned in my previous post) i contacted the fine people at rat zapper and have been emailing with a nice woman named cathi for a larger part of the day. she was asking me questions like,

"Was the red light flashing as well as the bait missing with your missed kill?"

"Was this your only missed kill?"

"Could the back of the unit have been touching anything metal?"

and then she got ever-so-gradually more personal with her correspondence:

"I use four Rat Zappers as well as 10 lazy cats and am well aware that those of us who battle rodents want them gone yesterday."

and

"There is a possibility that the metal contact could have an effect. I occasionally get this sort of grounding with my electric horse fencing which is lots of fun when the horses figure it out and escape.

Regards,
Cathi"

i love people like cathi. they are the types of peeps that make me want to leave new york and relocate somewhere where people just want to interact kindly with each other...where people actually give a shit about customer service and other people's problems. but i digress....

i moved the zapper a little further away from our metal metro shelving, threw in a couple of wheat thins and flipped the switch.

lucky for me, after the deed was done, i called our sweet landlord and he was here in a jiffy to dispose of our dead friend (bdub is out of town for the next two days). i fear that for the next kill, i am on my own! eek!

zap!

if only the UPS guy could see the contents of my recent packages from amazon.

the neti pot, which arrived shining and new on monday was a thrill. bdub took some lovely photos of my first attempt, but i fear they are just too gross and involve too much snot and other nastiness for me to post them. however, the neti pot has made me a believer: for the first time since christmas, i can breathe out of my right nostril!! hallelujah!

yesterday's package was even better, though. honestly, it made my day. finally, my rat zapper ultra had arrived!


i know it is highly unlike me, the semi-vegetarian, peta membership having, humane society volunteering, all-around animal obsessed lady to be so psyched about such a crazy deadly device, but the mice have drove me to it. last night one scurried by my shoe and under the couch where i was trying to relax. they have advanced ever closer to our sleeping and chillaxin' quarters, and i have HAD it.

the only bummer is that the little pieces of dog food bdub placed in the zapper last night were gobbled up by this morning, and no dead mouse was left behind in their place. i have put in an email to rat zapper tech support and will report back.

i really pray that this works. it's my only hope.

not so good.

today is not such a good day.

in fact, i believe that i have been putting off blogging since my last post due to the series of not so good days that have followed it. time to come clean.

i firmly believe that my career is in the toilet. i have compiled this list of jobs that have fallen through over the last few weeks (and, this is after waiting patiently for things to "pick up" at the new agency....to adjust, to allow for clients to get used to me at a new place, to get my new promotional materials in order. that was back in september. it is now january)

i have been busting my ass trying to find better photographers to do test shoots with. i have sent probably one hundred emails, i have put the word out to anyone and everyone that i know in the industry, asking them to keep me in mind should they know of anyone who is testing. for those of you who don't know, testing is usually free. it is done to improve the quality of one's work and to showcase your skill. it is done to build your portfolio. my potfolio looks dated and amateur due to the pool of photographers i have worked with (no offense, guys, if you're reading) as well as my hiatus from testing due to working with the kids, and is not up to snuff. it is imperative that i build it, but it's as if i am lost at sea when i comes to finding very professional, talented people to work with.

so here's the list:

12/30: spec shoot for an indie mag with promising photographer who contacted me. apparently she had "promised" a friend that they could do makeup on the shoot, so she called me to cancel.

1/5 and 1/6: look book (like a mini-catalog) with photographer who contacted me from via the internet, asked me if i was available for the job, set the rate, i agreed....and then she never contacted me again. i emailed her at the beginning of that week and was told that they got someone else and would contact me for work in the future. um, no thanks. i prefer to work with people who don't screw me at the last minute.

1/18: recommended by a friend for a kid's commercial. email the contact, they reply, i reply....then i don't hear another word from them. i email again asking if they still need me, and dude replies (out of NOWHERE), "i like to meet people before i work with them. you would have to meet with me first." i find this to be shady (which it is in my field, especially since this was never brought up until two days before the shoot date) so that job was also canned.

1/21-1/25: was contacted by a photographer's assistant (for a great photographer) about doing paid testing during this week. i agree and say i am available. never heard from them again.

1/23: photo editor from real simple called; had been trying to find me and wants to book me. i say i am available and to call david, my booker. my booker thinks i am doing the paid testing as mentioned above and tells her i am already booked.

1/24: got an email from a good friend and former photo editor at a kid's mag; she now works at a shopping mag. asked if i was available for the 24th to shoot the cover (which would require hair and makeup for one woman). i don't hear anything from her again, so i email her. she tells me that since i am represented as a kid's groomer, she feels uneasy booking me for this (it's her first cover with the new mag). i direct her to my website which has my makeup work on it (not just kids). i don't hear from her again and i don't get the job.

1/28-2/2: i was what is known as an "option" for a catalog shooting in miami during this week (this means that they asked to see my book and had me tentatively hold the days). worked with the client before, they requested my book again. i didn't accept work on the 29th for fear i would have to cancel at the last minute. needless to say, i did not get the catalog job. i am also out the tv job on the 29th.

what is going on with me?
is this a sign?
should i move it along?
start over?
work harder?
change trajectories?
did i make a huge mistake going with this agency?

i feel as if i am completely lost. just lost. i don't know what to do. i have money in the bank but i am so scared of it running out. i am way below what i was making last year at this time. not only am i not getting new jobs, i feel as if i am LOSING clients from jobs i have gotten in the past, and i don't understand it.

i work hard, i am punctual, i try to be as positive as possible on the job, i am helpful, i try for my work to be clean, precise, beautiful, neat, deep, and most importantly, whatever is called for by the client. i wrangle the kids on set (i wipe their noses and sing to them and make them smile). i try to take good care of whomever is in my chair. i am even nice to the stage moms who i want to punch half of the time (even when no one else is).

?

precious little thing

don't know if i announced this to the world of my blog, but my little bro and his lady, the little firecracker, are getting married this summer!

and it's about *bleepin* time.

my nephew jasper is to be the ringbearer for this affair and since i have the line on the latest in children's attire, my mom has put me in charge of outfitting him. no small task, lemme tell you, especially as this is a child who (bless him) has taken to wearing his batman pajamas 99% of the time, or whenever he can get away with it.

exhibit a:





exhibit b:





exhibit c:



actually, i think that he currently has several superhero t-shirts in rotation.

exhibit d:


this is as it should be for an imaginative four and a half year old, and my point being that this is not some precious, impish, little lord fontleroy of a boy we are talking about. this is jasper, and jasper rules.

so with that in mind, i was on the hunt for appropriate, cool, comfortable children's wear. i was thinking semi-casual, because i think the jazzman has a bit of a surfer boy edge to him. high and low i have looked for drawstring linen pants (heck, i would even settle for seersucker at this point), perhaps a raw, loose white tunic and some leather sandals to go with.

what i found astounded me. this, for example, is terrifying:




of course, the wedding will be in wv. maybe jasper would be open to channeling his inner garth brooks?




(that look is described as the "junior cattleman" on the website. puke.)

as a last resort, there is also the option of my mom busting out the old sewing machine and making jasper's attire herself. plus, if a tuxedo weren't going to cut it, he could always go as a revolutionary war boy and walk down the aisle ringing a little bell ("the british are coming!"). i also LOVE the uncle sam option! cute!




of course, i'm just kidding around. i think it'd be fine if we went with a nice --OH DEAR GOD!! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THAT POOR KIDDIE MODEL?!

where do you stand?

kara dean passed on this quiz thingie to me that i think is just tops:

electoral compass

lets you know who you line up with on the issues of economics, the environment, gun control, health care, and several others. i am 92% in line with obama! crazy!

dogs will be dogs

last night i am cuddling up to some deliciously bad tv (i believe it was "miss america: reality check") when the biscuit comes to his feet and gives me that "i'm going to puke" look.

i hoist him to the floor just in time for him to barf up a small puddle of liquid (his usual)....only to realize that he's not done yet. he proceeds to puke again, this time the biggest hairball i've ever seen. in fact, the biscuit has never puked up hairball in his life. weird.

i grab some paper towels and as i'm lifting the "hairball" i realize...that's no hairball. honest to god, my dog had consumed an entire. baby. mouse. i was cleaning up a baby mouse torso (no head or tail, thank you very much).

i send you this message as a reminder that while our dogs are adorable, while they are our snuggly little babies who do the cutest things and shower us with kisses and cuddles, they also eat garbage....and other dogs' poop....and baby mice. whole.

the movie team

over the past three days, i have been volunteering with my friend and fellow makeup artist dina for a project wherein disadvantaged children learn how to make a movie (more explanation here). honestly, when dina emailed looking for a cohort i jumped at the chance, as for the last seven years i have been trying to sort my head around how i could possibly do some MUCH needed volunteer work in this place. around every corner in new york is an opportunity for volunteerism, from neighborhood beautification projects to working with the many disadvantaged children to homeless outreach.

for the freelancer, though, it is absolutely impossible to fill in the crucial box on all volunteer application forms which reads "days/hours of availability". however, january is s-l-o-o-w....i was not booked for work, and thus i took a chance that the days would remain free as we headed up to hawthorne cedar knolls, a westchester county residential school for students in crisis.

the students had already pow-wowed and come up with the concept for the script...i'll spare you the entire synopsis, but it involved a homeless woman (really an angel in disguise), a king and a princess, a rapper, a dancer, a basketball player, a rock star....the characters of teen dreams. most of the kids had very specific ideas for their "looks" as well, which they were more than happy to convey to us: they wanted sparkles. goatees. to look like jennifer hudson in "dream girls". lashes. gloss. i was impressed when they received their costumes (which were from goodwill, as the budget was very low). they were so gracious, so excited; quite the contrast from incredibly spoiled kids i sometimes encounter on the job, who scowl and roll their eyes when asked to wear the designer samples laid out for them by a professional stylist.

there were, of course, some moments of some frustrated kids. there were some meltdowns, some incidents reminiscent to me of my job at reed junior high and central islip HS on long island... that old familiar tune of "i like you but i have no idea how to affectively express my emotions so i am going to say things that are aggressive and kind of harsh, but i don't really mean it".

more often than not, though, there were things said to us like, "thank you for coming! you are both beautiful!" and "i feel beautiful!" and "i LOVE my makeup!". there were, better yet, a couple of young ladies with hard as nails extertiors who broke into smiles (a rare sight for the true tough girls) when they finally looked in the mirror. i would venture to say that there can be no greater reward for a makeup artist than that smile (impossible to be faked), and we were so intoxicated by the girls' satisfaction that if all goes well, dina and i will be back to beautify them all again for their prom this spring.

"i want corn. soft corn."

something is seriously wrong with bdub and i. we are OBSESSED with this video and view it daily (sometimes more than once a day). we cannot stop saying "key chain" and "i want banana".

view it for yourself and you'll see what i mean.



and in all honesty, despite the title of this post, i do NOT want corn. i have been reading the omnivore's dilemma and lemme tell you, corn is scary. it's everywhere. in everything. corn is us and we are corn.

one of my new year's resolutions is to eat as little as possible from a bag or a box. that includes YOU, high fructose corn syrup.

merry new year!!

much to our surprise and delight, bdub and i did not attend any organized festivities on new year's eve. we forewent invitiations to house parties and to bars, and instead decided to take a walk.

that's it. just take a walk down to the water on grand avenue (aka grand ferry park) and ring in '08 drinking in the view of manhattan along with our champagne. we leashed the biscuit and packed our bag with the necessary things:






we strode passed the hipsters and house parties... the angry, drunken youths outside of the delis...the foodies loudly reviewing their new year's eve dinners ("everything was just ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!" we heard one woman exclaim in front of aurora).

as we reached our destination, our hearts sunk as we discovered that our once adorable waterfront has been fenced off by developers. i am hopeful that this is just a temporary stay.

before:








today:








the biscuit was so dismayed that he couldn't even look:









onward we marched up to mccarren park where, with mere minutes to spare, we popped open our champagne,










counted down the seconds,









and rang in 2008 with a kiss. just us.









afterwards, we took the luckiest dog in brooklyn to the dog run.....which, truth be told, is a lot less fun when it's cold and damp and there are no other dogs to play with. the biscuit just kind of stared at us once we were within the gates, had himself a pee, and we leashed him back up again and made the walk home.

we ended our evening with snacks and a viewing of radiohead's little film "scotch mist" (current tv was showing the webcast...so no, we are not so nerdy that we snuggled up in front of our laptop on new year's eve to watch a radiohead webcast! but i digress...). pretty amazing, and i am not usually one to necessarily have my attention held by such things for such a length of time. i liked knowing that perhaps one band was doing its best to try to move the music industry in a different direction. this gave me hope for the future somehow.

so as i sit here typing away on january 2nd, reflecting upon what has felt like the holiday that will never end, i am sweating it a bit. i have ONE DAY of work on the books for 2008. of course, the nature of my job is generally sooo last minute with the bookings that 99% of the time i do not procure these until 24-72 hours ahead of time. thus, i need to relax...but i fear that i am beginning to get a little freaked out by this career of mine (and why didn't i schedule a trip somewhere this month? that always eases the pain of slowness). perhaps it's time i looked for work that is a little more reliable? somewhere between the hell that is teaching middle school kids and the bliss that is working days or weeks in a row on shoots?

eh. i dunno. i'm open for any/all suggestions or words of wisdom, though. of course, perhaps next week i will be booked up the wazoo and pining for my next day off. could be. rinse. dry. repeat.

every day's a holiday

the wolfeinelli's and our entourage of friendly beasts had quite the holiday this year. we embarked for west virginia on december 21, all presents and pet carriers. my sister was in with her husband, the inimitable matt, and my two little peanuts of a niece and nephew.

sadie and the biscuit seemed to carry on quite the love affair; much kissing ensued (after all, le bisquit *is* french).








jasper and i roughhoused. we spoke in robot voices. we acted in all manner of silliness (from jasper: "why did the spider crawl across the computer? he wanted to get to his website!"). i was declared his favorite aunt (take that!).






every family member was accounted for, if only for a day or two or even an hour or two in some cases. as we all create our own families (both chris and jay are recently engaged! woot!) and there is more distance between us, i do not take lightly the opportunities for us to be together. bdub and i did spend a couple of days here and there with our respective families of origin, but save some last minute changes of venue and work schedules, we balanced the tight rope of splitting our time without much ado. here we are listening to my FIL's band at the moose lodge:




(moose prices for a beer, an absolut and soda, a shot of maker's mark and a coca cola: $6 total. i am not kidding.)



we returned home to brooklyn on the 27th. on the 28th, i spent most of my actual birthday with the dean-assaels, where they fixed me a delicious dinner of thankfulness for our friendship (mock turkey, mashed potatoes and deanie's amazing green beans), and we opened our christmas gifts to each other. so fun. i love them dearly.

on the 29th, we convinced bdub's bff keith to come up to ny for the remainder of the holiday festivities. after hardly any arm twisting at all, keith changed his return ticket to L.A. and is currently chillaxin' on my couch. nothing could make me happier, truth be told.

that evening, my birthday party was held at the gutter bar in our 'hood, a bowling alley/bar with some serious old skool charm. rumor has it that the lanes and all bowling accoutrements were imported from an alley in the midwest. we arrived around 5 pm, decorated our little corner with streamers and balloons, laid out the beautiful cake that bdub got for me, and had some jack and gingers. aside from the alcohol, i felt about ten years old and i liked it! we bowled a couple of rounds and then ended our delightful evening with pizza and cake. it was truly the perfect birthday.












and on to new year's eve....we'll see what transpires. bdub's gig was cancelled at the last minute, so we actually have a new year's to do whatever we wish! i am pooped, so being lazy sounds very appealing right about now, but we will probably spend the evening with a couple of friends. my lovely friend, kelli white, has invited us over for what she describes is to be "a very mellow evening of good wine and good rock 'n roll" at her apartment. sounds perfect.

resolutions to come in a later post, but for now i feel only thankfulness for time spent with my family and loved ones, for another year and the wisdom it will (hopefully) bring, and for my love who truly is my most precious gift (so cheesy, so true).

hot dog

this afternoon, the biscuit and i were running some errands in our neighborhood. a group of 'tweens passed us and one of them took a look at the biscuit and exclaimed,

"DID YOU SEE THAT DOG?! YO, THAT DOG WAS HOT!!"

word, son.

christmas, christmas time is here

the christmas spirit is alive and well here at wolfeinelli inc (despite most of our decorations, such as our tree, being artificial in nature) and as for me, i have been a bit of a busy bee. which is nice. of course, most of my jobs have been editorial (read: low-paying) and i have been working almost entirely with the 8 months to 6 years old set, but i am not complaining. it is nice to be working again after an unexpected and unwanted hiatus.

during my downtime, i quite enjoyed doing a bit of christmas baking.






on the platter, clockwise from the top, we have peanut butter kisses, saltine toffee with pecans, buckeyes, chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips, macaroons, saltine toffee with almonds and walnuts, and mexican wedding cookies in the center. all have been taste-tested by bdub and given his stamp of approval. in fact, bdub was crucial to transferring the cookies into their containers, and taking care of any cookies that just weren't going to quite fit in their tupperware. come to think of it, i wonder what happened to those spare treats?

the biscuit developed a nasty case of hives on thursday afternoon...angry red spots on his bum, his ears, his muzzle. we made a vet appointment for friday morning and gave him a benadryl (which you can totally give to dogs: 1 mg of benadryl per pound of your dog's weight ). by morning, he was hive-free, so we cancelled the appointment. less than an hour later, the hives sprouted up again, but this time on his side and along his back, underneath the fur. another appointment was made for today, and again, the hives are gone. we went to the vet anyways, and are awaiting the results of blood and fecal tests. $245.00 well-spent? we shall see.

today is my catch-up day so as to feel released from holiday stress (ha!). we are doing laundry, and i am hoping to finish up some shopping, and prepare for our annual company party (our "company" being the two dudes bdub plays with regularly--chris "hotface" tarry and steve "stevie e" elliott and their lovely ladies).

the tradition of the musician's company party is a few years old, as we were all sitting around after a gig one december night circa 2005 and lamenting the fact that the boys have no corporate holiday party to attend, though they had many where they were to provide the entertainment. thus, our company holiday party was born.

this year, the party is tomorrow evening at wolfeinelli inc. and should prove to be a good time (hot buttered rum is on the menu). tomorrow afternoon, i am busting out the old flute for meredith dean-augustin's christmas concert. after a traumatic four and half years under the tutelage of this lady i have not played my flute in public since 1996, so this should prove interesting. i am confident, though, as i took the old girl (my flute, not my professor) out of her case and was pleased to discover that i can still rock some debussy! a true christmas miracle indeed.

i think i have a crush on garrison keillor

q: what passes for "aromatherapy" to norwegians in lake wobegon?
a: bacon and coffee

the 'rents came into town and brought with them much ado (fun, chaotic, at times exasperating and publicly of the "i am trying to act casual but new york scares me a little" ado)...plus tickets for us to go to a live broadcast of a prairie home companion at the town hall theatre. dad did us a solid and managed to somehow finagle seats that were about eight rows from the front and five seats from the middle aisle, with the sound effects guy smack dab in front of us!



fred newman was able to extract from his mouth the sounds of horse's whinnies, prowling tigers, even the notorious alligators of the new york city sewage system. his arsenal held telephones, deadbolts, creaky doors, a pair of shoes hanging around his neck. for me, he was definitely one of the highlights, though i really felt as if i had experienced two hours worth of good, clean, american music and humor. seriously. i felt down-right patriotic....and not patriotic in the bushie "i'm an amerikkun- freedom ain't free" kind of way. it was more a feeling of being wrapped in a warm blanket of the familiar. the entire production completely sucked me in. i was entranced.

thanks, dad.

afterwards, we walked north several blocks (through times square--always fun eye candy for the tourist) to rockefeller center to behold the tree:


now that's something.

so it begins again: my love affair with where i live. there is something magical (or atleast fun) about a place where you can stuff yourself with a plate of pierogies, a bowl of borscht and fried dumplings for $7.50 (what can i say? dad had a hankering for polish food. and yes, i know that pierogi ARE dumplings...i just wanted fried dumplings too), experience a magnificent show, trudge through the masses at times square, and take in perhaps one of the most iconic of all holiday spectacles..all within a matter of hours.

being as the broadcast was from new york, garrison keillor sang a little ode to west 43rd street to get the audience warmed up, and the program contained a short essay from one of APHC's writers on being a new yorker (almost). an excerpt:

I Might Have Been A New Yorker
Laura Buchholz- December 2007

When I moved to New York in 1996, I came with the "let's give this six months and see what happens" attitude. I lasted for 11 years, almost 12, having just moved back to the Midwest in August of this year.


And while I throw back my head and laugh every time I think about my new spacious two-bedroom apartment with high ceilings and hardwood floors and lots of closet space with a garage and NO ROOMMATES for $900 a month, I am concerned about my membership in the New York club. If indeed I was ever a member in the first place. Leaving New York feels an awful lot like going all the way through medical school, and then the internship and the residency, and taking on all the debt, and then deciding-you know what? I think I want to raise chickens.


When I announced that I was leaving New York, my friends tended to have one of two reactions. The first, delivered with an incredulous sneer, was one simple word: "Why?" The second was a bit longer, but still sounded like one word:

"ohmygodyouaresoluckyyouaregettingoutof
hereIwannagetoutofheretooIamgoingtodiehere
ohmygodIamgoingtodiehereinNewYorkifidon't
getoutofheresoonwhenamigoingtogetoutof
hereyouaresolucky!!!"


Both of these reactions are correct.


How long does it take before a person qualifies as a New Yorker? Some say 10 years. Others insist it's 15. I tend to believe that however long you are in New York, add another two or three years and that's when you qualify for membership. 21 years? You're not really a member until you've been here 23. And if you leave--the clock probably goes back to zero. I don't want to believe this, but knowing New York, it's probably true.


......


But there are things I miss. Alot of them. I miss how easy it was to meet up with people. New York is like a giant dormitory for ambitious adults. A giant dormitory with a rat problem.


But I have suspended my membership for now, and that is okay. If the clock goes back to zero, so be it. I can take it. Because I was a New Yorker, I think. Or at least I was two years away from being one.


......

and a p.s. on my new apartment 'tude

i almost forgot that i would like to share my thoughts on our apartment situation:

while i have been quite dismayed by the piles (literally, piles) of mouse droppings, the cracks where walls meet floors, the wobbly front gate and crooked front door of our abode.... upon perusing the craigslist apartment listings, i have discovered that for the amount of space we have in the neighborhood where we live, even despite our recent and sizeable rent increase, the dub and i are STILL paying a monthly rent that is waaaay under market value. like anywhere between $250 and $400 per month under market value.

to this i say, "let me furnish and improve upon our space with these massive savings that have been cast before me"! i figure this allows me a monthly sum of $200/month to put towards beautifying our space. FLOR tiles? why not? we can take 'em with us when we leave! wall art? again! an investment! poppytalk has examples galore of affordable art!

i can see it now:






i see the addition of the indoor lap pool as completely within my space and budgetary constraints.


also, i am still all ears for any green, non-chemical, and somewhat cruelty-free methods of dealing with our mouse problem, so please leave a comment with any suggestions. so far i have heard only of kitty litter ("used" kitty litter...clearly this doesn't work as we still have both a litter box and mice in our basement), moth balls, and peppermint oil. soon our house will be smelling of my nana's closet and a winter wonderland. mmm....old lady scent....