Halloween Fill-in-the-Blanks!

Link up here!

 1.   My Halloween plans this year will include handing out candy and having a nice evening at home, since I have work Monday morning :(  Over the weekend though shall be some celebrations because Saturday is one of my best friend's birthdays. So hoorah for some bar-hopping, club-going, costume-looking fun!

2.  My most memorable Halloween costume was in 2nd grade, I dressed up as an Indian.  Pocahontas had just come out on Disney (either that year or the year before, can't quite remember) and it was super "in" to try to be like her. But the reason I remember this most is because the only other girl named Ashley in my grade decided to be Pocahontas too (after I'd told everyone who I was going to be) and her costume was WAY more Pocahontas than mine.  But I was the one who actually looked like her (I had straight long black hair and tan skin and sang all the time; other Ashley had short dirty blonde hair and was ivory white). So, I was super jealous and mad ahaha.

3.  For Halloween this year I'm going to be nothing - I haven't dressed up since I was 9. I'm kind of a party pooper.

4.  I've always wanted to dress up as Morticia from Addams Family. She just seems so fun to do!

5.  Halloween free association! bats, spiderwebs, jack o' lanterns, pumpkins, candy!

6.  The worst thing about Halloween is having to see incredibly slutty girls walking around, and then douche-y guys taking advantage of it. I get the idea of having the chance to be someone you're not, but really...what does being a slut accomplish?

7.  The best thing about Halloween is seeing other costumes. There are some seriously creative people out there! I love seeing well-made ones (best so far: Wicket the Ewok, Jack from Jack In The Box, a non-slutty Strawberry Shortcake), ones that are so original and/or cool that I don't care if they're a bit shabby (including: Dick in a Box [which was slightly disturbing] and a family dressed as Mary Poppins, Burt the Chimney Sweep and their kid one of the dancing penguins!), and as gross as they may be, even the disgusting ones are entertaining (so far the one that takes the cake is a man who was dressed as a priest -- complete with a huge rosary around his neck -- hitting on my friend and inviting her to see that he was commando under his robes).

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Time to celebrate

Happy Birthday, Brother Bear!
you always did rock. (yeah i said it!)

 Today is my brother's 26th birthday.  I cannot believe he's 26...where's the time gone?!  I understand I'm the younger one, but it's still terrifying to know he's getting older.  Seems like yesterday we were having water gun fights with our neighbours in Belgium when I was 5 and he was 8, or we were playing Scattergories in the TLA while we waited for our permanent housing in Italy when I was 9 and he was 11, or we were facing off in bowling league when I was 11 and he was 13...

So far the plans are unknown, but we know it involves cake--which really, what else could one need?!

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525,600 minutes...how do you measure a year?*

There were a lot of ways I was thinking of doing this post.

First I considered doing some sentimental route, talking about how much I've grown and learned and been so blessed to discover in the past year.  And that's all well and good and, most importantly, true--but I don't feel like being all mushy and gushy and boo-hoo-i-love-you-all-so-much right now.

So then I thought about this whole "in one year, this happens...and this happens...this doesn't happen...neither does this," and being sort of funny and sort of serious.  But then I started to wonder how many things I can find to fit that, and even though I'm sure I could come up with tons of things that can and cannot happen in a year, I'm simply not creative enough for that right now.  And if I was, I don't want this post to go on for eons, as it already appears to be doing.

Shit.

So basically, the gist of this entire post is to say:

it's my blogaversary, y'all!  Bloggaversary?  Blogiversary?  Fuck I hate hybrid words.

It's my blog birthday, y'all!

One year ago I sat in a Panera, my boba drink on one side, my notebook on the other and thought, "Well...I'm unemployed, I have nothing to do but practice writing, why not start the blog back up?"  And rather than go back to the old blog I had waaaaay in the second year of college, I started this one.  A few blog titles later, here I am, happily as You're the Charlie Browniest (I know, I'm changing it soon, but that's for later in the post...).

And I am happy.  I am glad to have been here a year, and I'm glad at the prospect of being here even longer.

What better way to celebrate than a new layout?!  Since I've been talking about it for months (no, really, I think I first mentioned the redesign in July), I finally sat my ass down and forced the code out of me.  So, if you're reading this in a Reader, you are missing out, my friends!  Click that puuurty li'l link to take you to this here home page of my blog, and enjoy the newness.

I'll be the first to say it: the new design ain't much. It's different, and it's a template so it shouldn't have taken me this long.  BUT, I finally added all the buttons and images I wanted to on the side, and took out the things I didn't care for any more.  Most importantly though, I finally got around to my Blog Roll!  It's a separate page, up top riiiiight next to "Home".  It's still a work in progress as I get back into reading the blogosphere again, but at least it's a start, right?

Right.

Like I said about the new title, I was going to change it...and I still am.  But I'm waffling too much between certain options of titles, and I can't make the commitment to it right now.  So, I very happily stay at You're the Charlie Browniest, until at least the new year (holy shit I can't believe I just referenced the new year...) and when I can find the time to restructure and replace everything linked to this title.

Anyway, I've just found out some EXTREMELY happy news, and I'm off to go investigate how I can secure it.  I hate being vague and leading people to something with no results, but I don't want to jinx this--so until I have those hot little tickets in my hands, my lips are s-e-a-l-e-d.

Happy Thursday, all!

*Rent-heads for life!

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This post is completely hypothetical. Except for the parts that are not.

You know what's really inconvenient?

Crushes.

Especially when they're superficial and dumb and they don't mean anything and they won't amount to anything (and you don't even want it to).

They're just incredibly distracting and time consuming and stupid.  Because I mean, let's say the crush is some dude from, oh I don't know, hypothetically let's say work and all of a sudden you're like "Oh crap, I have to care what the fuck I wear to the office because he might be in today" or you think "hmmm wonder if he'll be in today!" or "work blows and I want to kill myself but maaaaaaaaaaaybe he'll be in and I can ogle his attractive self and it will almost sort of be worth a second of it."

Hypothetically.

It's super frustrating knowing your crush is most likely due to circumstance and not real factors, that your attraction is mostly based on the what you think about him and not what you know, that you don't actually want to have anything with this dude but still get little flutteries in your stomach when he walks up to your desk and smiles and asks how your day is going.

I mean, if this were something other than hypothetical, of course.  Of course.

You do some good work convincing yourself that it's nothing, that you just like him as a person so it's cool when he's around and he's really no different from any of your other co-workers--and then it's all blown to shit when he comes striding into the office in that confident way with his freakin' adorable green hoodie and he gives you that little smile and asks "how are you?" with just the right amount of caring and actually listens to your answer, and then later in the day he'll stand with you at your computer and try to help you find some information you need and make you laugh and come hang out and stand talking with you when he's waiting for his slow ass computer to boot up.

I mean...hypothetically or whatever.

You continue to do good work since he's one of the traveling coworkers who is only in the office maybe 3 times a week, so when you don't see him for a string of 5 days and you don't even realize it's been that long until a client calls and asks for him and you hear his name and think, "Oh yeah, him...no he's not in the office at the moment, may I take a message?" you're convinced that you've finally gotten over this pointless, foundation-less schoolgirl crush...

...until he calls the office and you answer with your usual, "Thank you for calling [company name], this is Ashley," and he's like, "Hiiiii Ashley, it's [insert name of dude who I would have a stupid, stupid crush on if this weren't hypothetical and completely and totally made up], how are you today?" and suddenly those goddamn flutteries in your stomach wake up and you smile even though he hasn't said anything of worth and even though all you two do is talk about business and work-related crap you're still like weeeeeeeeeee I just talked to him!

Say it with me: hy-po-the-ti-CAL.

This is also incredibly inconvenient, because maybe one day he is in the office and the other four guys who are normally in with you both are gone on various meetings/lunches/appointments, so it's just you two and even though you're in separate parts of the office building he'll IM you through the office IM system and what starts as completely work-related discussion turns into witty banter and thinly-veiled maybe-flirting.  And then you realize what the fuck you're doing at work, with a co-worker, who you don't even know how old he is or where he's from or who he is really and you're like shit what has my life come to.

Dumb. Completely, totally dumb.  He's not even that attractive (because that's totally a deal breaker, y'all), and usually I question if he even likes me as a person at all.  Normally I get the feeling that I'm just another part to the day, a section of scenery that he sees but never processes, another face in an endless visual rolodex (can that expression even be used today?  Readers who are younger than 20, do you even get that?!).  I just feel like he sees me as that young, vaguely clueless girl who shares a building with him.

And then I start to wonder if I even like him as a person, because the few things I do know about him aren't exactly winning points with me.  We clash on a lot of beliefs, he runs marathons and freely says the words "calories" and "buff" and "burn", and eats chickpeas, and wears a puke green colored hoodie.

But then I remember that he is really nice.  And funny.  And smells fucking incredible.  And is helpful.  And he is really cute, in that sneak-up-on-you way.  And can dress up reaaaaaaaaaaaal well.  And invited me to his birthday celebration, even if I felt that was more a courtesy than a real invitation.  And was nice and offered to take a mushroom off a slice of pizza that was getting near me since he knows how freaked out I get by them.  And doesn't get all weird when I start talking football with them.


You know, this would all be a lot easier if I could just have a stupid, superficial, childish, foundation-less, pointless crush on the hottest guy in the office, because I know that even though he is smokin' hot and I'd probably let him do bad things to me because he is just that attractive, I still see that there is no real attraction to him and I'm mostly put off by the fact he sounds like the football player Kevin in Daria (no, really...).

Dumb.  So dumb. So, so dumb.

I mean...hypothetically dumb.  You know.

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I am not ready for this week.

Notes for the day:
- saw someone at the mall purchasing a poledancing pole.  I'm not sure what concerns me more: the fact that it was a teenage boy, or that they sell that at the mall.
- accidentally pocket (purse) dialed 911.  oops?  The girl was really nice when I told her it was unintentional.
- writing inspiration struck for the first time in months.  Unfortunately not for my NaNo Novel, but for articles at least.  So, hurrah!
-jeans shopping is the bane of my life (alongside traffic).  Especially when you're short and chubby.

Obviously, I was at the mall today.  It was a half-hearted attempt at shopping for clothes for myself (which is, on the whole, unsuccessful 98% of the time) as well as an equally as half-hearted attempt at finding my brother a birthday present.  He's just a hard person to buy for.  He has very specific interests and likes -- which you would think would make it easier, but for some reason it's incredibly difficult to find something within those parameters.  He plays the guitar, he works at Panera and likes basketball.  Made worse by the fact that he's one of those people who buys things for himself when he wants them, and the choices are getting even slimmer.

Anyway.  I am not ready for this week.  I have to work an extra day (normally I only work 3 days) since a coworker has to be somewhere, and the prospect of working 4 full days seems so much more ginormous than working 3.  Even though last week I went in on my day off, too.  (I know, woe is me for having to work FOUR WHOLE DAYS.  I get it.)  I was planning to use my two days off to search for brother's bday gift, but I'll just have to shove everything I can into that last day.

The only thing seemingly redeeming about this week is the weather.  It's supposed to be rainy and cold all week, and I am so excited.  I love colder weather and am so glad that it means autumn is officially here.  Holiday season is on the brink! (Or is already here, if you go by department starts and Target and whatnot.)  Plus, this is a bit morbid, but usually this time of the year my city is freaking out about Santa Ana winds and dry weather.  The end of October is a particularly dangerous and harrowing time in terms of wildfires (Firestorm 2003 and the Witch Creek Fire of 2007 that burned my suburb were all this same time those years), and the fact that it's raining and wet is very good for us.  Therefore, yay for jacket + scarf weather and yay for no fires!

Hope everyone else's week goes well!  Any exciting plans for anyone?

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This post contains drag queens. And pictures.

You know that point in blogging where you've been gone so long, you don't really know how to come back?  It's like...do I acknowledge the absence? Do I just post as though no time has passed? A little of half?

I'm totally there.

I'm getting worried about NaNoWriMo. Not even the fact that I will (hopefully) be working and have less time, I'm more worried about the creative aspect of it. Last year, I was all about this thing. I had so many story ideas that I was jumping at the chance to get down 50k words for any and all of them. That's why I managed to hit 52k in one story, and 35k in another at the same time.  The creativity and inspiration carried on for awhile, but...it slipped. And at this point, it's pretty much gone. I have a few story ideas floating, as always, but nothing that I'm totally interested in banging out 50k for.  And, it's 50,000 words - that's a commitment nothing has become worthy of.

I don't know what to do about that.

I went up to Irvine last week and got to see a few of my friends who I haven't seen in over a year. And it was absolutely amazing.  They're all Italian exchange students, and most had returned to Italy after their year studying at my university.  A few of them have come back to study for their PhDs, so I managed to go up and have lunch with a group of them.  It really made me miss those who haven't returned, but it was lovely seeing the others. It means a lot that they still care about me so much, even if I was only really friends with them for 4 or 5 months.  Italians make the world a better place, in my opinion.

That same trip really upset me, though. It's kind of odd how that worked out, but being back on campus was terrible. Not only did it feel awkward returning because I have such crappy memories of college, but it was crazy to see all the construction done. It's like a brand new campus, and I hate that I feel so out of place. I mean, obviously I still know the campus is set in a circle and Humanities is right across from Engineering and there used to be a tire swing in the center of the Park.  Those things don't quite go away.  But seeing the new Humanities building, and the entire new Second Year Housing buildings, and this massive parking structure at the ARC...it was just too weird.  The place I called home for 4 years isn't anything like it was, and that disturbs me slightly.

By the way, did you know that when you have over 1000 unread posts in Google Reader to get to, the number stops?  It just says (1000+).  Good to know.

I have to admit though, despite extreme exhaustion and general listlessness towards life, I've been craaaazy busy. Lots of celebrations and outings and general doings going on. Brother's girlfriend's birthday happened, so we did it up big (ie, bday party at her house that included an egg hunt. Yep.)...a friend graduated again so we partied downtown...went to a concert that was shameful mostly and surprisingly fun...hit up Hash House, the most awesome breakfast joint ever--where the flapjacks are literally bigger than a pizza--and got caught in rain...and got crunk with drag queens.

What? You want pictures? Why SURE!

Yep...the shameful concert was a Jonas Brothers show.  Two of my friends and I were able to get tickets for less than $20, so we were like...why not?  It's catchy and fun and I was am a die-hard *NSYNC fan for life, so this crowd ain't got nothin' on me. And I admit (as I have on this blog before) that one of my guilty pleasures is Demi Lovato music...

and she was the opening act. So, plus one more for me!  Have to say though, she's not that great live.  She's incredibly pitchy and doesn't know how to properly breathe while dancing and moving around.  So, a bit distracting, almost slightly disappointed, but...it is what it is.

Gotta admit, Jonas Brothers were...I mean, it all sounded right. Pretty much no surprises in their performance, except I didn't think Joe Jonas could get any womanlier...and then he took off that jacket from picture 1 and revealed that the black makes-me-look-like-i-have-cleavage shirt is actually an oddly fitted tank top and I was effectively proven wrong.  But so it goes, right?  So. It. Goes.

Just a few of the drag queens we got to party with!  The one we have a picture with was our table's hostess for the night and she was awesome.  The one in the coral/peach dress was our favourite for the night because she was so freakin' cute I pretty much just wanted to be her.  This was all at Lips, a dinner/drag show bar in San Diego that's apparently quite famous.  Food was good, entertainment was top notch...I'm pretty sure I'll be headed back there sometime.  When I'm made of money anyway, because shit's expensive, man.

Requisite bathroom photo?  It was mostly just to show how faaaancy the girl's bathroom was!

Lastly, the birthday cupcakes I made for brother's girlfriend!

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Crummy weather and autumn!

For the first time in about 3 months, I have a weekend with nothing to do--and that is how I am going to keep it.  I can't take much more of this running around and being stressed out. Especially since in about 2 weeks, it gets to start back up with my brother's birthday, continue into one of my best friend's birthdays, and then the next thing I know it is going to be full-fledged Holiday Time!  Simultaneously the best and worst time ever, in my opinion.

So, any other Southern Californian falling sick due to this fucked up weather?  Because seriously, as if my immune system wasn't messed up enough, this week started in the high-90 degrees, rose all the way to 112 degrees, and then two days later it was in the 80s with craaazy rainfall!  And I mean full on thunder storms, lightning, windshield wipers on blast rain...and then you step outside and it's hot.  Do you understand how hard it is to dress for rainy weather when it's hot as death outside?  Terrible.

Anyhow, I've got to finish lunch and head back to work, so...Fill-in-the-Blank Friday time!

Link up here!

1.   True happiness is understanding and accepting that hopes, dreams and goals are necessary to have but not always meant to be.

2.  The most surreal moment of my life was walking across the stage at university graduation. I was so happy and stressed and confused and worried. So much work and effort and heartache had happened to get me to that point, it was hard to believe I'd actually succeeded. I still feel as though my diploma is one big joke (it doesn't help that Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed it).

3.  My favorite texture is uhhh...I have no idea. Something soft and pleasing?  Yeah. Sure. That.

4.  My signature color is grey or red, depending on what it's for.

5.  My signature style is comfortable and functional. I'm really not a fashion girl, and I dress for the weather and situation. My only real add-ons are jewelry and a scarf, if it's cold out.

6.  If I could choose one store to spend my life savings at, it would be Macy's. Because that's preeeetty much the only place I've ever been able to find decent jeans.

7.  My best thing about autumn is EVERYTHING. I love the crisp air, the changing colors, the anticipation of holidays and colder weather, getting to wear scarves and boots and cute peacoats.  Autumn means the beginning of the end to a good year (hopefully) and the hope for an amazing new one. Autumn is snuggling under a blanket for the first time in months.

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