We made a CD!

Well, Holly Jo (my amazing sister) and I actually made an EP.  We're super, super excited to be able to share it with you all!

If you would like to purchase our EP and/or the karaoke tracks, please visit here.

Song I'm Digging This Week

Yeah, I'm going back to the one-song-a-week post. I'm better at that.

I sing because I'm happy...I sing because I'm free.

"Sparrow" - Audrey Assad

My Doppelganger: Iris Simpkins

I'd like to introduce you all to my alter ego today:

Yep. It's Iris Simpkins (the character, not Kate Winslet - although she's pretty amazing, too) from "The Holiday."

I seriously feel like Nancy Meyers spied on me my whole life before she created this character. When Ashleigh, Kam, and I went to see the movie, they both kept nudging me, saying "That is so you!"

And it's true. In lots of ways. Here's a breakdown.

1. We were both in love with the wrong guy for waaaay too long.

Her - Jasper Bloom (even with his wonky eye - how did she not notice the wonky eye?)

Me - a guy who shall go unnamed, but suffice it to say, I still held out an eensy weensy bit of hope that we might end up together at the end - in a retirement home Little Texas "What Might Have Been" kind of way - up until he had children. With his wife. Of five years. Yeeeah, I might be a little more pathetic on this one.

2. We're both slightly over-dramatic and maybe cry at home over our horrible lives with only our adorable pets as witnesses.

Her - Contemplates gassing herself over the stove while sobbing over Jasper while her dog Charlie looks on with appropriate concern.

Me - I cried just last week while making myself a whole bunch of eggs. That's right. Eggs. Then I ate them while simultaneously holding Gilbert against his will. He did not show the same level of concern as Charlie - he was mostly just enraged.

3. We both write.

Her - as a journalist for "The Daily Telegraph"

Me - as a freelance magazine writer and a wannabe novelist (if I could make myself buckle down and finish. It.)

4. We're both looking for corny in our lives.

She - finds it with Miles.

Me - still looking. And looking. And looking. (Where is he?)

5. We both love cardigans. Seriously love them.

This needs no explanation. Let's just say we're both all about some cozy sweaters meant to layer.

There are a couple more similarities, but if I list them all in minute detail, this post could be a novella.

There's also one way in which I wish we were similar, but we're so not.

Iris's house is always company-ready. Mine...is not.

Her - She decides to leave for America with one day's notice, and her house is totally spotless and ready for Amanda Woods to show up and (gasp!) even unpack her clothes into her closet. Every dish is where it should be. The bed is made. When Amanda slides her suitcase under the bed, it slides in with no resistance. I know, I know. It's a movie set - blah, blah, blah. But still. It's impressive.

Me - I would never have been able to leave on a house-swapping trip with just one day to clean, unless I broke the bank to hire Merry Maids. Also, if Jasper Bloom had shown up at the house I had swapped in America, I would have panicked like you wouldn't believe. I would have had to hustle him out the front door to the beautiful pool area to try and swindle me back into a relationship, because I would have a jillion plates with half-eaten food stacked on the kitchen counters, shopping bags piled up on the stairs, and an unmade bed and the suitcase I never unpacked overflowing with clean and dirty clothes in the bedroom. In fact, I would have had to stay up until 3 AM the night before I had to fly back to England just to psycho clean before my flight. Sad, sad, sad. But true.

I did just clean my entire apartment from top to bottom, so maybe I can get one step closer to real-life Irisness (yes, I just created that word) soon. And maybe someday I'll take off on a crazy trip to England, just because I can. And I'll have to call all my friends and family here after two weeks and inform them that I've met a beautiful English man named Graham (because, hey - he's not my brother), and I've decided to stay in England. Forever.

So just because - here's the trailer. I'm pretty sure this will always be my favorite movie:

Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.

image found here

Twice this week, I've had people ask me to do them a favor (i.e. not something related to my actual job or tasks I should be doing, anyway - true favors).

Both times, I had to say "No."

Both times, I had valid reasons for why I had to say no.

And both times, they wouldn't accept it, and tried to guilt-trip me and asked me several more times.

Guess what? My answer's still "No," but this time, I'm a little ticked off, and way less likely to ever say yes the next time you need something from me.

What makes people think that after you've given your answer, just because it's contrary to what they want, they can talk you into what they want by asking you again or (in one instance) actually getting angry at your refusal? Do they think their persistence and harassment will make me magically change my mind?

"No" means no, people. "No." Means. NO.

Somebody That I Used to Know

Ashleigh discovered this video by the band Walk Off the Earth over the weekend.

How cool is this? I don't think the whole "everybody playing one guitar" would ever have occurred to me.

And I'm really loving this song (originally by Gotye). Doesn't the guy's voice singing the chorus remind you of Sting? And how awesome is the girl's hair? Perfect mix of punk and pretty.

Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth from LeeHS on Vimeo.

Bestest Comedy Ever

When I was 14, my dad took my sister Holly Jo and me to see one of the most underrated and hilarious movies ever - "Clifford."

No, not Clifford the Big Red Dog - Clifford the Martin Short character.

Short plays a ten-year-old boy in this black comedy who comes to stay for a few weeks with his uncle (played by Charles Grodin) and slowly drives the uncle literally insane. What makes it so funny to me is that Short is actually playing a ten-year-old - not playing a 40-something year-old man who thinks he's ten. He actually embodies how a kid acts.

Here are some of my favorite moments from the film. If you like it, go rent it. You will not be disappointed. And you might name a future pet "Stefan."



"Look at me like a human boy!"



"San Francisco!"

February Reading Recap

1. Austenland by Shannon Hale

I honestly didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I was totally prepared for full-scale hokey-ness, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I, like pretty much every female in the world, have a thing for all things Jane Austen. This story, about a many times jilted single girl from America (appropriately named Jane) who is given an opportunity to spend three weeks in a make-believe Austen-themed wonderland in England, read exactly like my favorite kind of movie. I wasn't at all surprised to read in the afterward that the book had originally started out as a screenplay. I even found myself fist-pumping the air after some particularly breathlessly romantic moments for Jane.

I just saw that they're making it into a movie with Keri Russell as Jane - I'm totally stoked to see it.

2. The Land of Later On by Anthony Weller

This was a pretty intriguing plot - Kip, a 40-something jazz pianist who has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis, decides to kill himself in order to escape the pain of missing his girlfriend, Lucy, who had died four years earlier from leukemia, and also because he can no longer play his beloved piano. He doesn't believe in the afterlife until he literally wakes up there, and then he makes it his mission to find Lucy. With extra characters like Walt Whitman (didn't see HIM coming) helping him on his quest, this was supremely entertaining.

My only gripe is that the ending felt unbelievably hurried. It was almost as if Weller didn't know how to wrap it up, so he just ended the book. I would have enjoyed a little bit more of the story.