"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies." - Joe Fox

The weather has swiftly turned from summer's cloyingly hot days to chilly fall ones. This is not saying much since "June Gloom" prevailed through most of the summer creating a muddled July and a very boring August that barely resembled the robust August of last year. This prolonged June Gloom, left us with not many "summer" days to work with as it was, so the transition to fall has been a quiet overthrow.

I am not even sure what's in store for our winter weather-wise (I am hoping for some healthy storms), but this grey autumn weather always brings me "home." It makes me think of football season, blazing fire places, warm drinks, voices tumbling over one another, friends crushed into tiny living rooms (or big ones, but we always seem to squish) and cozy times.

I admit it, I am one of those who jumps the gun as soon as September shows her face (much to the chagrin of my friends). I start my Christmas shopping in August. September 1 means summer is over and it is time to welcome fall with widely open arms. I love fall. I love the spices that come with it, the smells in the air, the urge to bake, the need to wear boots, scarves, tights, to nest, to make my home smell good and hang seasonal things on my door. All the summer colors, the bright pinks, yellows and greens are swapped for muted fall tones. Maroon, gold and sage now become the hallmark hues that garner the indoors (and outdoors if you live where leaves actually change color).

I immediately turn to the holiday season which begins with Halloween. What will I be? How will we celebrate? What will I carve into my great pumpkin? There is an ethereal uneasiness that persists, even though I no longer tell ghost stories or trick or treat; I can still feel the static excitement in the air. This excitement pales when compared to how excited Thanksgiving makes me. What will I bake? Will I get to make the gravy again? I can't wait for left over turkey sandwiches and the smell of the farm, crispy cold at 6:30 in the morning! I can start watching Christmas movies (if I haven't already...)!!

Then, only then, after many months of anxious waiting and reminiscing, does Christmas come. And she takes so long to get here! Once November begins I can no longer wait and Christmas music is in heavy rotation on my iPod, iTunes and radio. "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!" blares through speakers as I bake pumpkin whoopie pies. I am one happy girl. I love that my birthday falls in December, it is like everywhere is sparkling with shimmery lights and decoration to help me celebrate my day.

December means heavily heated stores, lots of bustling, many parties, ribbons and wrapping paper, reasons to dress up and excuses to watch movies repeatedly ("You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch," "I'm Dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write," "So, good news... I saw a dog today!"). December means late nights, champagne, goodwill towards men. December means the absolutely delightful smell of the Christmas tree perched in my living room, its thick, earthy perfume filling my nose. December means I still get excited that Santa is coming (yes, even at 27... or 28). December means Disneyland has transformed into a Christmas Wonderland where I am 6 years old. December means wonder and awe.

I think I flourish in the last two quarters of the year. I feel happy, healthy and rosy cheeked. I feel more alert and more in tune to what's going on. I feel energized and intimidated by the opportunities of a new year burgeoning on the horizon.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill

Dona is a woman I have grown up with and known for many years. She is another Mom to me. Her four kids and my sister and I, all spent many summers and spring breaks together laughing, sun burning and sleeping on lumpy couches. They are all my family. Within the last year Dona was diagnosed with a very rare form of leukemia. The Doctors were shocked they even caught it. Fortunately for Dona, and some radical chemo, they have gotten a hold on this little hitch hiker. Even luckier for Dona, they found her a ten point donor match. That's pretty crazy and lucky especially since her own siblings were not a match.

I am deathly afraid of needles. (This loops back to Dona, I promise. This is not an "Erin" moment.) The thought of them induces a panic attack and I almost never electively have anything injected in to myself. However, I was thinking yesterday as Dona was preparing for her transfusion, how I would feel in her shoes. I would be so happy to have a donor. I am not someone who donates blood due to the aforementioned needle fear, but I would of course want a transfusion to save my life if ever I needed one. This brought to my mind the idea of, you get what you give. How could I pray for a donor when I do not donate myself? Now, I understand not everyone can donate due to actual reasons (prescription meds for example) but mine seems pretty trivial when compared to those. So, my goal for this year is to start donating blood. I have a universal blood type, it should be my duty and honor to donate. I should suck it up knowing that whoever or wherever my blood goes - that person who needs it is in more pain than I am when they prick me with a needle. This is going to take a lot of bravery on my part but I think I can do it. Wish me luck!

“My recipe for dealing with frustration: set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes, cry, rant, & rave, & at the sound of the bell, simmer down." P. Diller

This is just a good, old fashioned, ranting blog post.

I have been feeling really very anxious lately. I am part of a wedding party this upcoming weekend and it has really become a life of its own. And not a pretty one that is all sparkly and lovey dovey since there is a wedding around the corner, but a disorganized, messy, crazy one where people are unhappy. I do not do well in this kind of energy.

I feel like I signed up for a job rather than someone to support the couple. I am tired of being asked to do more things, one after the other after the other. I am so stressed out. It is miserable. I am so tired I want to cry. I will be so glad when this is over which makes me sad because I was so looking forward to it. The only part of it I am still looking forward to is the fact that both Paul and I will be in it together, that will be fun if I even get ten minutes with him.

Listen, I understand that I am going to want a lot of attention the day I get married as any bride would; and while I am laid back, I will want certain things how I want them as long as it is not physically hurting anyone. This is not what I am talking about in this post. From the groomsmen's shoes, to the bachelorette, to where we are going to sleep the night before... it just keeps going! I feel like you/me (as the bride) have to get to a point where you realize you are inconveniencing the people who are supposed to be the closest to you and stop being so demanding. This applies to the Mother of the Bride as well, and probably the Mother of the Groom too.

Thanks for that, I feel a little better.

"People say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

As I look back over my life, a short 27 years, I realize that there were definitely years where I did a better job at living up to my potential. I would say I lived most of these years before I started college. I have definitely plateaud as of late and it bothers me. There were years where I certainly did my over extending, now my over extending is pretty much just my social life. Good for me. That's not going to look good on a resume.

I examine others around me who work hard and love it. I like my job, I love editing. I do not edit the content I want but I am learning. This, however, does not keep me jacked up enough to be uber productive at work. Trust me, sadly I can be far more productive on Facebook (and I know I am not alone). That is a sad, sad story my friends. So over the next year I plan to figure out my next step. Is it school? Will it be a new job? By the end of next January (2011) I will have worked in my current place of employment for three years. That is a great chunk of added experience to throw on my resume. So by then I will have my next step and we shall see where life and its adventures plan on taking me!

"A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold." Ogden Nash

My amazingly wonderful, crazy, ginormous family all started right here. God bless the Irish. Happy Saint Patrick's day everyone.

Slainte!

"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." - Isaac Asimov

There are a great many things that annoy me and while I wait to find my next inspiration for an actual blog in which I will state my opinion and explicate it with wonderful quotes and examples, I offer you this list of annoyances for entertainment whilst you wait.

Annoyance Number 1:

The word is espresso, not expresso. I have heard the most intelligent, educated and brilliant people mess that one up. Where in the word do you see the letter "x?"

Annoyance Number 2:

Patricia Arquette stars in the television show, "Medium" on CBS. Originally it aired on NBC. You would think that at some point, someone from one network or the other, or just about anyone she works with would have told her, "Patricia it is said DistricT Attorney, not DistriC Attorney." Really? Aren't there people paid to handle that kind of stuff?

Annoyance Number 3:

Ever notice that in commercials, hawking any number of items from cable packages to dish soap, the super cute wife is almost inevitably paired with an oafish, more than semi-stupid husband? Does this double standard not annoy anyone else, or is it just me?

Annoyance Number 4:

When did the practice of weekend long bachelor/bachelorette parties become the excepted norm? I suppose this ties in with my Gimme Nation idea (see previous blog entitled, "Money, that's what I want"). It is no longer good enough to go out for a night on the town or to the spa to celebrate your last days as a "free" man or lady. It must be BIGGER and BETTER. You must go to Vegas, on a cruise, or something just as tantamount, getting tanked and draining your bank account all the while chipping in here and there on things for the celebrated person. It seems selfish and I am hard pressed to give in to this new practice of weekend long debauchery. Not only does it cost someone's time but also it is money, and honestly it is a little self-centered. We get it! You are getting married. Let's also not forget that you are most likely asking people to attend your shindig that have already dropped a good chunk of change on you already. I realize this is a big, life-changing deal (to get married) and I am all for the celebration of it, BUT one must be reasonable and thoughtful as well. It is a life-changing event for you and the person you are marrying, everyone else is just along for the ride.

Annoyance Number 5:

Unnecessary shorthand. Unless you are typing something in a text message (and even then it can bother me), why do people feel the need to use shorthand like "u r," "thx," "luv," etc.? It is a fairly annoying practice and I think it makes people look ignorant and 13 years old.

Annoyance Number 6:

Unless you are a grunge band in the 90s, no one should take a fishbowl photo of you. Ever. They look dumb. You are not Nirvana or the Gin Blossoms, so please stop.

Annoyance Number 7:

When people state, "It's like déjà vu all over again!" Let's look up the definition of déjà vu, shall we? Déjà vu: noun; the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time. Talk about a redundant statement!

Annoyance Number 8:

Why is it so quickly assumed that if a handsome, good looking celebrity (usually male) is not attached or married by a certain age he must be gay or damaged? It is sad that the first assumption is not, he is waiting for the right person or he is respectful, but one of, he must be weird because he isn't publicly and gratuitously banging every hot lady.

Annoyance Number 9:

Ok, here is a big one so pay attention. It is the most frustrating when I send an email, more specifically something resembling and invitation or containing where and when type information, and the person on the receiving end acknowledges that they received it but then they do not read it. Or they do not read it with enough attention to remember what it said. This could also apply to snail mail messages as well. A few days later I am fielding questions about where and when something is going to take place when I took the time to type it up in the first place. It is the most inconsiderate gesture. Very much like saying, "Yea, I saw that you sent that but I do not give a f*ck about reading it. I had more important things going on." If you lost something, fine, but when I send it to your email are you really that lazy that you'd rather ask me than look it up and be an informed friend?

Annoyance Number 10:

How hard is it to spell my name, or anyone's name correctly? People are so very lazy! I have had people misspell my name (last name) on my own Facebook page. Isn't my name right there in freaking black and white? How hard is it to lift your gaze to the top left hand side of the page? Seriously? And, if you aren't on Facebook where it is right in your face, there are so many almost instant ways to check the spelling of someone's name these days, that there really is no excuse. Take the time to show you care and spell someone's name right.

Annoyance Number 11:

ERIN is a girl’s name. AARON is a boy’s name. Come on Starbucks people! Who taught you gender name spelling?

Annoyance Number 12:

Peanut butter and ketchup do not belong in the fridge. Have you ever tried spreading cold peanut butter? It is a pain in the ass. Plus, if you are like me, peanut butter is never around long enough for the oil in it to spoil anyway. And cold ketchup just makes your fries cold. Major dislike. They both belong in the pantry. Enough said.

"Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear!"

Some thoughts for a Wednesday morning...

-Editing, or more so finding what’s wrong with the picture (like we used to do when we were little), is like a drug too me. I love solving the puzzle. It is why I do what I do all day, and it makes me happy. I love rearranging things so that they work and flow as a fluid piece. My friend Donald recently gave me the keys to a metaphorical castle. These keys unlock a treasure trove of wonderful spelling and grammar errors and my job: to find them and fix them however I see fit. Talk about a happy hobbit! He is a photographer and has a photo-blog that goes along with his business. The man has a serious talent that is for sure, and he can tell a story like nobody’s business, but he cannot write to save his life.

-I spent Sunday scrapbooking. It has been a few days over three years since I have scrapbooked. It felt amazing.

-I am confident that a sense of humor is one of the most attractive qualities in a man. A man who can make a lady laugh is more attractive than that sexy playboy any day. Give me Ed Helms over Brad Pitt – I’d be a happy gal.

-iPod shuffle has the ability to capture the mood without even trying. How an inanimate object has that ability is beyond me!

-I love bow ties and suspenders on a man, maybe not in the same outfit but shoot I love them. I wish I had been alive in the days where women wore gloves and the practice for a man was to have a fresh boutonniere. Where a lady was not presentable without her hat and she never made a social call in her housedress or without something to offer the host.

-If I could wear a dress and heels everyday I would. Hands down.

-I still feel like a kid playing grown up.

-I am sad that I will never hear any new work from John Denver or see him live; same goes for seeing the original three of Peter, Paul and Mary.

-John Mayer makes the most unattractive singing faces.

-Are Jennifer Love Hewitt’s boobs real or no? Discuss.

-I want Gene Hackman to be my Grandpa.

Ok, this blog has deteriorated. Over and out.