I Turned 27 With Very Little Fanfare

I didn't even blog about it. Can you believe it? It's terrible. I feel so humble and un-self-obsessed (what other people would call, "normal").

The problem is, I've...been cheating on this blog. For money. Yes, I have a paying blog gig, which is kind of amazing, and that blog requires five posts a week, and I'm not sure how I feel about reposting all those posts into this blog. I'm not sure if that's ethical or against Blog Policy. But you know how you could get a taste of that other blog? You could read it here!

For my twenty-seventh birthday, LT and I went to my parents' house. My new thing is requesting a "theme" dinner; last year it was vegan, this year it was "local", and as my mother and I were emailing about the dinner, she showed off her pop culture knowledge by using the word "localvore" in a sentence. Way to go, mom.

I was inspired by this project, which used to have a blog but I can't find it. I assume they've taken it down now that the book has come out. (The book is definitely on my Seattle Public Library Hold list.) The couple that did the diet and wrote the book live in Vancouver, a nearly identical climate to Washington--and it's a freakin' easy part of the country in which to do the 100 Mile Diet. We ate spinach salad, grown fresh in Washington--yes, this late in the year--apple-pork and italian sausages made in Pike Place market, spaghetti (not local, whoops), spaghetti squash, and drank Washington wine and Washington beer. For dessert: black-bottomed pie, the best pie in the world, pretty local as it was made in mom's kitchen. (The ingredients weren't local, though.)

It's that time of year when I get the urge to reassess, to re-evaluate. I get interested in movements and fads and self-improvement kicks. I recently found Tim Ferriss' fascinating blog, and got more interested in this notion of life hacking. I'm reading a ton of food blogs, as normal. (Now I just need to read those food blogs while exercising.)

But enough of that boring, high-concept stuff! Let's get down to the Holiday Spirit!

One of the amazing things I DID do for my birthday was commandeer the time of T-Town Girl, one of my best friends in the entire world, who proved it by taking a day off work and coming up to spend a day with me rearranging my apartment and telling me how to spend my money. I swear pictures of that are coming soon. And right after that, my very own LT got tired of the rat's nest of cords that was all over my computer area and rearranged the entire system for me, employing velcro, tape, and all sorts of wonderful things, so that when I came back from a walk I suddenly had a non-fire-trap computer. It's gorgeous.

Christmas List 2007

LT: All presents bought, none wrapped. Including the 50 Porsche Turbos that I bought him this year. That will be a lot of wrapping paper. (I keep telling the LT that I bought him 50 Porsche Turbos for Christmas, which is driving him crazy. And I did...in a way.)
LT's sister: Bought, not wrapped.
LT's brother in law: Bought, not wrapped. (But I got a sudden idea for another one.)
LT's Father: Not made yet. Or sent.
My mother: Not bought. I am the worst daughter ever.
My father: Not finished.
Grandmother F: Bought, thank Blog! Not wrapped.
Grandmother G: Half-done. And biting my nails that it will be finished in time.
Uncle and S.O.: Bought. Whew. Not wrapped, though. (Seeing a theme?)
Cousin: Not wrapped OR bought, but that's his fault. I have no idea what he wants.
Cards: Yeah, remember how I said I was going to make all my own cards? Still working on that.

YAAAH! Will Aarwenn finish in time? One week until Christmas!!