i’m disappointed in my lack of postings as of late.  between work, moving, a spastic puppy, and just attempting to keep a social life, i’ve been a touch busy.

i want to show you pictures of my fabulous new stuff (fabulous may be an overstatement, but i really enjoy it), but i haven’t taken them quite yet. soon.  i purchased my first new couch.  pieced together a desk, a tv stand and an elliptical.  i bartered for a vintage coffee table on craigs list, which i’m in the process of painting.  (orange and green, if you were wondering).

i’m finally feeling comfortable in that place.  it feels more like home.  i made friends w/ a few of the neighbors, and i’m really excited to live so close to fun people (in maplewood i never saw my neighbors, and in belleville most of my neighbors were older than my grandparents).  in fact, i planned a little shin-dig to celebrate my birthday this friday.  having a luau in december.  i see no issue with this.

i turned 25 yesterday.  woah. 25.  it feels weird.   i was feeling old, and to combat that, my friends from work surprised me with a night at Chuck e Cheese’s.  it was magical.  i had such a fun time…and who knew they sold beer there? i had the blow up hat, the “i partied with chuck e” balloon and a small, sparkly, chuck e w/ top hat temporary tattoo on my left hand.

the high-point of my birthday (besides watching Mark hit the jack-pot on the bounce ball drop game), was getting a wii.  i’ve wanted one for so very long, and now i am the proud owner.  addiction will soon follow.

even got a little tennis action in before bed last night.

on a completely different note, i’m doing some exciting things at work.  i moved to a new desk.  i have THREE walls instead of two (moving on up!). i also have more time to devote to Switch’s marketing efforts (the real excitement).  we’re getting ready to launch our 2nd edition of the Switch Hits electronic newsletter, our holiday promotion/card is nearly up and ready, and we’re making plans for next year.  organization!

i have high hopes for 2010…just in general.  so bring it on.

oh yes, and per my older sister’s suggestion, i picked up and nearly finished the Alchemist this week.  adoring it so far.  recommending it strongly to you.

i hope to soon return to you with photos of my evolving apartment, my sweet pup, and maybe some warm/fuzzy holiday moments.  stay tuned!

jessica

And you can’t sustain anything
Everything must change
So be thankful for everything
And I am

maria taylor ~ two of those too

so i was geared up to live in the cwe, and some things happened, the situation changed, and i no longer felt comfortable w/ the deal that had been struck.  so i bolted.  i figured, better to suffer for a short amount of time instead of an entire year.

and now i’m living out of a suitcase until i find a new place.

yipes.

i’m thinking the new place should be dog friendly so I can bring puggie w/ me.  be responsible for someone other than myself.  just as long as she doesn’t chew everything up (she might.)

i did make my first trip to Ikea last weekend.  what a friggin amazing store.  i was in home decor heaven.  i’ll most definitely be making the drive again soon to pick up more essentials…why don’t we have one of them in stl?

people look at you strangely when you suddenly start driving a mini van every day.  ready to trade my parents back.

having salmon for dinner.  soon, i hope.

i hate watching sports so i’m being reclusive.  i’m hoping the recluses don’t climb into my boxes currently being stored in a dank, dirty, spidery basement.

i have too much stuff.

-jess

 

 

 

 

the wisdom teeth are coming out.

 

 

 

coaster love

i love lamp.

bright green storage cabinet

colorful birdhouses.

sock monkey.

i am moving soon…to the central west end.  with another craig’s list roommate.  she seems normal and nice, so i think we’ll be okay :)  I intend to re-visit my design choices.  the red, black and white decor just isn’t doing it for me anymore, so i’m going with bold/bright colors and a vintage look.

which means i can shop at yardsales and antique stores (i never thought i would WANT to shop an an antique store.  if you knew how often my mother dragged us to them growing up, you would understand).

oh, and there is a pool!

-jess

There’s money lenders inside the temple
That circus tiger’s gonna break your heart
Something so wild turned into paper
If I loved you, well that’s my fault

conor oberst - lenders in the temple

took a foto.

spider juice on my rug. ewww.

i think it’s a brown recluse….do you?

-jessica

you likie?

too many social media outlets.  just when i get good at facebook again, i forgot about my beloved blog.

sorry bloggie.  sorry readers.

i have much on my mind. 

such as:

1.) my sister’s bridal shower which was last weekend…pictures soon

2.) my sister’s bachelorette party which is next weekend (should be a smashing good time)  i will post SOME of the pictures, i am sure.

3.) my home in a few short months.  lease is up sept 1.  not sure where i’ll be living.  i have  new set of dishes, though.  it’s really the only thing i’ll own when i move out…

4.) where is my MO state tax return?? it’s been 2 months…

5.) is my posterior growing larger?  i’m positive that it is, due to my lack of gym time.

6.) i spent multiple hours washing my car last night, and a bird pooped on it this morning.  green poop.  right on my window.

7.) chuzzle.

ultimately, these things do not matter that much, but they are floating around my head today…

-jessica

yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here in st louis.  perfect temperature.  just the right sun to cloud ratio.  comfortable light breeze.  lovely.

i spotted the band from the school across the street playing some tunes on the playground, and this group of dudes playing craps on the back of their truck in the alley behind our building.  (they were also grilling and had some fold out chairs set-up).  these are only things you see on beautiful st louis days.

but we know days like these can never last.

today’s weather is super volatile.

sometimes the spring terrifies me.  i have always had a love/hate relationship with severe weather.  there is something absolutely fascinating about tornados and the conditions that support them.  when i was little my parents gave me a set of tornado chaser videos that i watched constantly.  they are so incredibly powerful and they can come on w/ almost no warning.  so much damage.

even when a tornado isn’t involved, things can get pretty hairy, like in Alton, IL yesterday when a building collapsed in the middle of downtown.  yep.  just over the river!

we haven’t seen much of the really bad stuff in stl yet, but it’s early, and will certainly come soon.

in other news…when the weather gets wet and muggy (like today), the creepy crawlies seem to want to take shelter inside.  this is no good for me because i have some serious issues co-habitating with spiders.  serious.

 so i have 2 phobias:

tornados
&
spiders

while we probably will not see a dreaded twister today (though it’s always possible), after this morning, the spider part is covered. 

guess who was chilling in my sink today?  giant brown spider (ok, by giant i mean…like the size of a quarter, but that’s quite giant enough for me.)

creepiest part?  he was not in there when i got out of the shower, so at some point that guy was just hanging out nearby while i went through the morning routine.  it’s very possible that he dropped from the ceiling because i’m not sure how else he would have managed to get in my bowl sink.  what i’m saying is….he could have dropped on my head. 

i wanted to take a photo, but i was too terrified to do so.  this is creepy brown spider #3.  i know this sounds paranoid and crazy, but i am relatively sure there are brown recluses.  which would make sense considering the fact that i live in the middle of brown recluse territory.  i don’t want their venom to eat away my flesh.

in the end, i did not have to squish him because there are other people in my life that are less terrified than me that like me enough to exterminate my spiders.  however, had i been alone, there is a good chance i would i have created a blowtorch w/ my hairspray and fried the little bugger.

should we bomb again??

-jess

There’s a spider on the drain and he’s feeling pain
And he doesn’t want to die any more than you or I
He’s struggling to live but he doesn’t have much time
Any more than you or I, you or I

weezer ~ the spider

it was flooding over the street this friday.  driving through the street puddle, i noticed this poor fellow about to be overtaken by the high water level.

 

funny thing is that i can’t seem to place him on a normal water level day. but google images helped me out. here is the norm:

sad thing about that other guy and the dog.  sad sad thing.

 -jess

I’m just looking for shelter
You’re just holding my hand if I hold you
You don’t have to belong here
We’ll just know when it’s right

good old war ~ looking for shelter

 

So something happened the other day that made me lose faith in people a little bit…just, in general. And I know that it’s not a good response to have, I mean, why should the actions of one man affect how I feel about many people, but for some reason, it did, and I’m having a bit of difficult forgetting it.

It basically goes like this…

I’ve just left my apartment on a warm sunny day…the kind that seems to make people happy. And I am happy. I am off to buy supplies to make my sister’s bridal shower invitations (which turned out quite nicely, by the way).

I am still just steps away from my apartment when I pull up to the corner. It’s a quiet little corner with stop signs all 4 ways. Not much traffic here. I see a man walking diagonally across the road. He’s already halfway there, so I figure, I’ll wait.

It’s not as if I almost hit him. I did not speed to the sign then slam on my breaks disdainfully…I was in a melancholy mood and was driving the same. I never lurched forward from my stop. I gave him the “walk on across” nod. I honestly didn’t mind that he was crossing at that point in time…pedestrians have the right of way….right?

I wait for approximately 3 seconds and the man, a tall, skinny, bald, sweaty man, stops dead in the middle of the road just a foot or so from my car.

At this point, with a snarling face, he yells “gaw’ on, gaw’ head across, ya f*cking ugly f*cking woman”.

This really bothered me. My jaw actually dropped. I did not know how to respond. What have I done to deserve such harsh words and insult? The worst part was simply the look on his face…it was one of absolute hatred and disgust. The scary kind. I mean, I was actually terrified of this man that I had never seen before. And the intensity and anger in his voice…yelling as loud as his lungs would permit. Nearly growling at me as the words left his mouth.

I felt scared. The most scared I have felt living in Maplewood so far.

And then I felt confused. Because it doesn’t seem right that someone could exert that much anger onto another person that they have never encountered before.

I called my dad for some words of wisdom (he typically offers those quite well). He reminded me that this is why we have wars. That this is why people kill other people that they don’t even know. We can make excuses for the man…perhaps he was having a bad day, perhaps he was overheated from the sun, perhaps he was tired, etc. But does that make it okay for him to unleash what were probably the most hurtful words he could think of in the moment, at me? Well, I really don’t think so.

I struggled with it, though. I have only lived in this city for a few months, and this is really the first time I have experienced such unbridled and unjustified anger in person.

Perhaps I am overreacting…but I can’t help it. That’s just how it made me feel.

Why are people so angry?

-jess

i love working with such creative people.  check out our awesome bowling trophy.  (i stole this from the switch blog, btw)

 

you like?

 

-jess