a little joy

Music appreciation: Pearl Jam's "Ten"

So, right off the bat, I'm dating myself with this one. I was a teenager in the 90's - Ten came out when I was in middle school. Thank God for it because grunge made way to replace the crazy-ass pop music we were listening to at the time. Hearing Ten now, you'll notice that is just basic "rock music" but at the time, we didn't have basic rock music. I mean, it existed, but not on top 40 radio and certainly not on Mtv. And Mtv even played actual music videos back then.

My favorite song from the album, and actually one of my favorite songs of all time (all time!), is "Black." It has the makings of a great rock song - awesome guitar work, a catchy hook, gut-wrenching lyrics, and Eddie Vedder's unique singing style and beautiful tone.

Unfortunately, there exists no official video for "Black" so this will have to do.

This song always gives my stomach that gripped by a cold, bony hand feeling. Somehow, this is a good thing. The rest of the album is great and has stood the test of time but "Black" is a gem, in my opinion.

We're engaged! Here's how it happened.

Stephen and I started dating on March 25th of 2011. We moved in together that August and we've been talking about getting married since. It's all been in hypotheticals - the fun part of wedding planning before you're actually committed to the whole thing. I've had no doubts that I want to spend the rest of my life with him and honestly, I was starting to get impatient about being officially engaged!

In August, we took a two week vacation to visit his parents in Ireland and during that trip, we went to London for a weekend to visit his sister and her family. I had a feeling he was going to propose at some point during the trip but as we were nearing the end of our weekend in London, I put it aside and knew he'd ask when he was good and ready.

We crammed a lot of sight-seeing into that weekend - a bus tour all over central London, a ride on the London Eye, a walk through Hyde Park and a visit to Buckingham Palace. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we took a break in Kensington Gardens, the site of Kensington Palace where Princess Diana made her home. It was a great day - not too warm, lots of people out and about because the next Monday was a bank holiday, etc.

We sat in the grass by the Round Pond and watched children feed the birds (so many swans!) and just relaxed and enjoyed the day. As we were leaving, Stephen spotted an empty bench next to the pond, directly opposite the palace. I wasn't sure why he was so excited about the bench, since we were leaving but hey, I like to sit on benches.

I'm not sure how long we were sitting there before he said "I've had a lot of happy memories in this place" and reached into his pocket. "I hope this will be the happiest memory of them all" and pulled a ring box from his pocket.

I will freely admit that I was completely overwhelmed and said "Oh my god what are you doing right now??" He even got down on one knee! There was crying and hugging and I said yes, obviously. Here's a picture I made him take with me right after.

So yup, we're engaged and I am such a happy, lucky girl. We haven't set a date or started any official planning - we're still enjoying the fun of being newly engaged.

Summer Read-a-thon, part 1

I was going to commit to reading one major book this summer - Les Misérables - but I just don't have the attention span for that. So instead, I'm going to see how many shorter books I can get through. I started counting from the first day of Summer - June 20th. I'm currently on book #3.

First up, Kevin Smith's newest book, Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good. If you can't tell from the title, this book does include lots of adult language and humor, which is something I was expecting from Kevin Smith. There are actually some great nuggets of wisdom and advice, sprinkled on top of what is basically the story of Smith's career as a filmmaker. And yes, he talks about the Southwest incident.

Next, Portia de Rossi's memoir Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain. First of all, this book should come with a big fat TRIGGER warning. I mean, I've never had an eating disorder and this book made me a little edgy. Having said that, Portia is a really great writer. The story itself isn't surprising - we know she had an eating disorder - but the way she tells is it compelling. It's hard to imagine that such a talented, beautiful woman could hate herself so profoundly. I honestly wouldn't recommend it if you have or have had an eating disorder and are at all volunerable to being triggered because this book will absolutely do it. 

I really enjoyed Portia's book but it's not exactly cheerful summer reading. I decided that Ellen DeGeneres' newest book Seriously... I'm Kidding would be a good way to balance it out. I love Ellen - she's hilarious and has a beautiful spirit - but I'm struggling to finish the book. It's not that it's bad, it just doesn't have enough substance for me. There are parts that are really great and then there are parts that are just filler. It'd be a good one to take along to the beach or pool.

I'm not sure what to read next! I think I might go for a novel like Rules of Civility.

Super easy and delicious salad

You'll need:

• Baby spinach
• Honey roasted almonds (sliced)
• Craisins (dried cranberries)
• Crumbled goat cheese
• Poppyseed dressing (I like Newman's Own)

Toss everything together and enjoy!