Mood: Downright happy. My life hasn’t changed one iota since my last post, but I’m just really feeling good.

First words out of my mouth this morning: “Oooh, sparkly.”

Considering (new category): Bangs. Long swoopy ones like this Zooey’s:

I already have hair really similar to the first picture – I just need to cut the swoop I have about an inch shorter to be the first picture. But I like bangs on me. I don’t know. I’m a big phobic about hair changes, which is ridiculous, considering how fast my hair grows. But still… bangs. I’m thinking about it.

Coming up this weekend: Chere and Angel (sisters) are coming to town, and I’m going to brunch with the lovely Jenn. And it’s fast Sunday, and for break the fast, I’m going to make something Asian. I don’t know what yet – and that does NOT narrow it down. But it’s got to be good.

Self improvement: I need to work on my conversation skills. Hilarious, you say? Usually you can’t shut me up, you say? Ah, yes. But you see, I have recently had a few problems talking to people. I’ve gotten a little tongue tied. Blarg.

Materialism: I don’t want much right now in terms of materialism. No, wait. I lie. I want true love and a house. Oh, and this outfit in my size, please:

I dreamed: Last night I dreamed I was on a ship in New York harbor, about to set out on an important voyage, and someone sabotaged the ship so that there was bubbling hot fuel coming up through the grates in the floors. My brain is a mysterious thing, let me tell you.

Last thing I ate: Multi-grain chips and salsa, corn chowder and roasted garlic bread. And milk. I bought a gallon of Winder Farms milk (delicious!) and it’s difficult to drink that much milk with a lactose intolerant roommate.

Last thing I cooked: Chicken cacciatore and corn chowder. The chicken cacciatore was AMAZING. As John says, “I love how humble you are about your cooking.” I have three things I’m unfailingly confident about – my teeth, my cooking and my hair. Everything else… I’m deeply aware of my shortcomings..

What I want to cook next: Pancakes. Still haven’t made them yet. I have a Hodgsen Mill mix for buckwheat pancakes that I want to eat with huckleberry jam. And I want to make cornmeal pancakes, because I love the crispy crunchy edges on them. Smothered in butter and honey. Oh my!

Listening to: Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, Beck, Van Morrison, Radiohead

Reading: Goat Song, by Brad Messler (SO GOOD), Terry Pratchett – Wintersong, The Wee Free Men, Mort, Thud!, Feet of Clay, Making Money (J’adore Terry Pratchett)

Inspiring blogs (formerly design): Just Us (local blogger!), NieNie Dialogues (also local, totally inspiring and has the most ADORABLE children).

What I’m wearing: Black cardigan, rose pink tank, black slacks, new/rediscovered gold earrings.

Song of the Day: This is actually my favorite song of all time. I wanted to post a Beck song, but YouTube won’t let me embed it in my blog. You’ll enjoy this though, because what kind of barbarian doesn’t like Nat King Cole singing “L-O-V-E”?

Picture of the day: This is the St. George, Utah temple. Find out more about temples.

Photos… Maybe someday I’ll post photos of human beings. But for now, fruit, fields and horses.

It’s been a stressful week. My new-to-me car broke down and required a $500 repair, I lost a year of my life when my backup drive ate itself, and just a ragtag bunch of other things have gone wrong. And yet- I’m really feeling so great about life! I have absolutely no idea where my life is going, which is generally a state of being that I dread and loathe. Somehow, though, I feel that life is this great expanse of things waiting to be explored and experienced. I went on a drive yesterday after work through the little town of Springville, Utah. And as I passed lush green fields bordered by sunny black-eyed susans, and grazing cows and sheep, and happy little homes with modest but carefully tended flowerbeds I felt this tremendous swelling of gratitude that I live here in Utah. New York City has been popping up in my dreams again lately, and while I think in the past I would have yearned to be back in the city, and felt trapped trapped in small-town Utah, now I feel tremendously blessed to be here. Don’t get me wrong – I adore New York, and it definitely has a strong place in my future. But for now, I know I’m in the right spot, and it’s such a blessedly peaceful feeling that nothing can get me down.

So today, I’m off to Good Earth to buy Winder Farm milk (so delicious!), and see if they have rennet so I can try my hand at homemade cheese. And then I’m going to go take pictures of the mountains, and maybe some of those black eyed susans – and then I’m coming home to taste the peach jam my roommate is making from the peaches on our tree. Life is good.

A note about these pictures: My room is blue. I’m wearing a blue/purple shirt. As a result, I look like that kid in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the beginning stages of her metamorphosis from child to blueberry. Good times!!!

In:

Pillows: I’ve upped the ante to four pillows. I only use two at a time, so why, I’m not sure, but I keep finding super amazing ones on sale, and my life revolves around the next great sleeping opportunity. J’adore my pillows. And in case you wanted to know, my bed is in blues – navy sheets, periwinkle blanket and pillows. Not very girly, I know, but I find the blues are very conducive to relaxing and my brain needs all the help it can get shutting down at night.

Peaches: Our peach tree is so loaded with ripening peaches that I’m afraid the branches are going to snap off before we can pick them all. I went out today to take pictures and picked a tiny juicy one. While I’ll admit it would have been better peeled, underneath the fuzzy peel, the glossy yellow flesh tasted like sunshine.  Carlyn (my roommate) is making peach jam this weekend with her friend Rosemary, and it’s going to be amazing. My job will be official photographer and chronicler – much less sticky!

Photography: Fall in Utah is so incredibly beautiful it almost makes up for having to drive in snow storms in the winter that follows. I realize we’re only at the beginning tip of autumn, but I can feel it in the air, and everything is becoming just a little more saturated. Ironically, I left my camera cord at work, so I can’t post any of the mentioned photographs.

Reuben Burger: I was in Rexburg, Idaho this weekend and went with my sibs to this little hamburger joint called Big Judd’s. It’s about 7 miles outside of Rexburg, so it’s, well, rural. But it was packed, and for good reason. Chere and Angel ordered cheeseburgers, Seth got a jalapeno burger and I got the Reuben Burger. Oh my holy fruitbats. The Reuben burger consists of a nice bun, juicy hamburger patty, sauerkraut, thousand island dressing and thin slices of pastrami – and it sounds… like it has sauerkraut on it. But let me tell you, it was revelatory.  It’s been two days since I ate it and I’ve been craving it for a day and a half. Apparently hamburgers with pastrami on them are a Utah thing (which, really means it’s also an Idaho thing) – the NYTimes.com even had an article on the phenom a while back. Who knew? Anyway, I’m a convert. SO amazing.

Out:

Lack of chairs: I have no desk at home, and we have bizarrely high kitchen stools that don’t allow for comfortable seating at the table. So I kneel. Laptop on raised cooling thing (so that it won’t over heat – hence, cooling, duh) on the bed, and me kneeling. I don’t know why I’ve put up with this for so long. But dude. I can now kneel for hours. That being said, my patellas and shins are not really thrilled.

Teeth: I have the tooth flu. That sounds funnier out loud. Go ahead, try it. Say it out loud. You’ll chuckle. But for real, I went to sleep one night, and apparently had a rough one because I clenched my teeth all night and have had sore teeth for the last four days. Top and bottom on the left side – ridiculous sensitivity. I’ve actually bought a tube of SENSODYNE. Yes. the old people toothpaste. It makes me sad though, and although I think it’s getting better, random things still hurt like the dickens. Ice water is still totally out of the question, which is an obvious, but less so are cashews, strawberries and nectarines. Maybe I should go to the dentist. I read about people fracturing teeth by clenching too hard. It wouldn’t even surprise me.

California: Don’t get me wrong. I love California. But I’m getting sick them saying I haven’t paid state taxes when I’ve sent them proof of it twice. They keep billing me for the exact amount (-$117 refund, which HAH! I’ll never see) on my W-2. Is it TMI to write about this on my blog? I don’t know. But I’m ticked about it. And as far as I’m concerned the state budget crisis would be solved if they fired the incompetents, cut down the insane amount of red tape, and pulled a few people’s heads out of their own bellybuttons (keepin’ it PG here).

Jon Stewart on vacation: I miss him!

I love this, and my friends, it’s the truth. For me, anyway. I know health, etc. But honestly, I just want to lose weight so I can wear prettier clothes.