Is there room in your life for one more trip to the moon?

[sandmansister]

As per usual, the last few weeks went by in a blur. For you intrepid readers to whom it matters, here are the highlights (such as they are):

Laid low by migraine badness for most of the Independence Day holiday week. It was intermittent and mostly controllable by meds, but prolonged (as in a week or more). Mneh. Bah. Feh. Guttural sound of displeasure.

Movie happiness of late: Ratatouille, Saved! (wickedly funneh), A History of Violence, Talladega Nights... all quite varied & enjoyable in different ways. I think there were more random DVD viewings, but today I cannot brain; I have teh dumb.

Thanks to Tempest Empress, I made my first Lush pilgrimage. Met at Trinity Hall for lunching, arbiter_of_cool in tow. After lots of catching up, we headed to North Park so that she could shower me with belated birthday goodness. My nose went into overdrive. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed. I didn't even know that my skin needed so much help, or that so much could go wrong! Got a couple bath bars, bath bombs, and some masque. Opted not to get the stuff that looked—and smelled—like chocolate pudding, as I knew it would end in disappointment for antmanx—not to mention the awkwardness resulting from the realization that he just licked his future housemate's face. (arbiter_of_cool sagely advised against the bath stuff that looked like blue Jell-o for a similar reason—it looked tasty, but we didn't want him belching bubbles for the next three weeks.)

After happy shopping & minor mall trauma, we hit Kona Grill for dessert. Three words made my life complete: Passionfruit Creme Brulee—seriously. Rocked my whole sock drawer.

Must have been a good week for passionfruit in my world. The rehearsal dinner for twilightfenix's wedding was held at Rafain, and among the treats on the dessert buffet? Passionfruit & chocolate mousse. And let's not even talk about the salad bar... hearts of palm, buffalo mozzarella, homemade dressings... and all that before meat served on swords by hot Brazilian men in tight gaucho pants. What's not to love?

The wedding itself? Amazing. Stephers was beautiful, Greg was handsome, the occasion was funny and schmoobly at appropriate intervals... and damn, our friends clean up nice! Loved seeing trotfox & redwing again, too. It was a lovely, posh event, but not off-putting. The cake was one of the best I've ever had... it was light and moist and tasted faintly of orange blossoms. Besides, got to love any occasion which provides me an excuse to buy new Crocs. See, the bride changed into her pink hightop converse, and encouraged her attendants to leave behind our strappy sandals and be comfy for the party. Voila! Lavender Crocs. w00t!

My only minor wedding-related panic was, fortunately, easily remedied. See, there was a last minute change of dress style... to a lovely, single spaghetti strap bodice. No problem, except that even using 70 SPF sunblock during Scarborough, I still had bodice tan. Thanks to a cow-irker, I learned of the glory that is Tantowel. It's a self-tanning moist towelette. Doesn't streak, you don't have to wait to get dressed, and it results in a natural glow without any orangey-skinned badness. You can buy them individually from Beauty Brands for about $2 each, or a box of 10 for $19.95. Good stuff.

Starting to tackle move-related tasks. Once we paint and get the tile in, I can begin moving books & bookshelves, and when the storage shed is cleared, my holdiay decor can be handled in 1-2 trips, too. However, given the media collection between the residents at the House of Doors, I felt it best to finally give up all my space-hogging CD cases and implement the awesomeness that is Slappa 360. I chose to save the liner notes, reducing the capacity by half, but with the design, I could still put double CDs together in one pocket. I will need another soon, as I'm just over halfway done... but for anyone looking for a CD storage solution? Check it out.

There's more forthcoming organizational happiness from Get Organized, Brylane Home, & Harriet Carter, the latter of which is a bit cheaper, but until you know if a system will work, why sink a lot of dough into it? (Yes, I fall prey to the "if-I-just-buy-enough-crap-then-I-too-can-be-organized" trap... but only 'cuz it's at least partially true.) I'm looking for storage solutions that make sense and are easy to use. If it's just as easy to put something away as it is to let it drop someplace random... well, there's a better chance of reducing everyday clutter. With 4 adults and a kinetic teenager soon to be under one roof, reduction of clutter is a necessity. And what good is a system if you won't use it? So, we'll try a few things, like ceiling-mounted storage shelves in the garage, and a bathroom etagere, and a few other doodads to help me store a retarded amount of shoes and/or handbags... and see how things work.

In a bit of a funk this week. Not sure what that's about, but I'm hoping that some cathartic cleaning will help my clear my head. Actually, I don't intend to clean as much as sort, toss and organize. I have my list of big stuff to be sold at the garage sale next month, but I am preparing to sort through my closets to reduce the clutter I bring with me.

Big items up for grabs:

Washer & dryer (latter can use either gas or electric)*

Full size headboard, footboard & matching dresser (wood)

Freestanding hammock

Glass-top dining room table & 4 wooden chairs*

Futon w/black metal frame, black mattress & navy blue mattress cover & bolster pillows

There will be more for sale, but these items* will be available in a little over a month—the rest can be yours now, if you want. If you're interested, let me know (you'll need to provide transport). Want a photo? Measurements? Drop a comment and I'll oblige.

So.. there's your bi-monthly recap. Random pics of things that have amused or intrigued me may be forthcoming in the next few days.

I know that faire is over, QAL is on a break and so I should ostensibly have more free time... but that is a myth. Free time is something other people have, apparently. Not that I mind too much... but right now I'd be glad to be able to use vacation days for an actual vacation. As it is, I will be hoarding time to get settled once the final move happens on Sept. 1st.

*battens down hatches*

Big love to one and all.