Kool-Aid On Your Feet...Oh, Yeaaaahh!

In one of the strangest examples of cross-branding I have ever seen in my life, Reebok has released a new line of shoes that smell like different Kool-Aid flavors. That's right, you can walk around smelling like the yummy sugary drink in strawberry, grape or cherry flavors. Not sure why any respectable person would want their feet to smell like sweaty fruit, but hey.


This definitely gives new meaning to their Kickin' Kiwi Lime Flavor :) As well as to the term "Kool-Aid stand"....hahaha, it's too easy.

Call it a Quarterlife Crisis

I think I am going through a growth spurt. Not a physical one, but more of a psychological one. I have always believed that I learn and grow as a person every day, but I'm not so sure that's how it happens for me. Sure, the passing of time inevitably means there will be change and growth but I can narrow it down to a few really distinct periods of time in my life when I have asked more questions, had more inner monologues, done more soul searching and grown as an individual because of it. It is as if my mental capacity to understand the world grows over a couple of weeks or months at a time, just as when my body was growing and I grew 4 inches in one summer. And just like the leg cramps and pain I experienced while my body was growing so fast, the subliminal growth keeps me up at night and makes it hard for me to fall asleep.

Most of the time psychological growth spurts are brought on by major events, be it tragedy or good fortune, or when we come to certain forks in the road and are faced with life-altering decisions. Sometimes though, there are just times in our lives when we inexplicably turn inward. Something sparks a desire to be more contemplative. Right now seems to be such a time for me. I've been analyzing my own life, my own future and have been thinking more deeply about the human condition and state of the world. I've been doing this all to a point of annoyance, quite frankly. A kind of non-stop babbling brook of thoughts and dreams running through my mind.

I have suffered no great tragedy recently nor have I celebrated any great triumph. So, why do I all of a sudden find a crucial message in the lyrics to a song I have heard a million times before? Why do I lay awake at night philosophizing about global warming and how it might affect my unborn children? Even the word philosophizing gives me a headache. Maybe it's because I have a routine and a schedule, and am content with who and where I am, seeing as how I do have an admittedly difficult time with stagnancy. But I'm in New York for goodness sakes. Stagnancy and monotony do not exist in this city that never sleeps. Maybe that's it. Maybe living here has made me go all metaphysical. With so much life and diversity all around, it's hard not to look and think about the world differently.

I'm thinking more, reading more, choosing the music I listen to more particularly. These are not bad things to be doing, I guess I just wish I could control my newfound urge to dissect the world and to focus so much on the future. More simply, I wish I could lay down at night without so many thoughts running through my head. But then again, Socrates said it himself: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Currently taking advice from the philosopher of all philosophers. Go figure.

Mom, Happy....30th....Birthday!

Just call it a birthday blog extravaganza. Today is my mom's birthday and there is no way I could pass up the opportunity to express how grateful I am that she was born 56, I mean 30 years ago today :) Not only because if she hadn't been, I wouldn't be here, but more importantly because this world would not be as good of a place without her.

The older I get, the more I realize that anything good, loving, kind, honest, or positive about who I am as a person comes from my mom. She is the world's greatest example of what a mother is meant to be to her children: a teacher, a comforter, a cheerleader, a disciplinarian, a confidant, a rock, and a friend. She has shown me, Ian and Brooke what pure and unwavering unconditional love looks like and we are all better people because of it.

My mom is the most selfless person walking the face of this earth. She has and will always do ANYTHING for the ones she loves, and to be honest, for any stranger in need of help. She deserves to have a fabulous birthday more than anyone, and I wish I could be with her today to celebrate and to tell her face to face how lucky I am to be her daughter.

Anna

Shoot, I am just 8 minutes late for this to post on the correct day. Dang Academy Awards made me late. Just pretend this is not after midnight and therefore posted on February 24th.
I would like to wish my roomie, best friend, and the coolest Swede I know (come on Klas, it's her birthday) a very very very happy birthday!!!! I can't begin to express what an amazing friend Anna is and all of the ways she has been there for me over the past two years. It really seems like I have known her forever and it seems this blog entry would take up way too much room if I were to attempt to inform you all about just some of the shinanigans we have gotten ourselves into (and out of, I might add) together. I think I will save some of those stories for future blogs, or better yet, for my as-of-yet-unwritten book entitled Story of my Life as a Swedish Imposter: The Golden Years. So, for now, I just want her and everyone else to know what an amazing friend, photographer, artist, and person I think she is. Thanks for being the best friend a girl could ever ask for. Happy 26th Bestis!






P.S. So, we could basically create a blog solely dedicated to pictures of Camille and Anna. Not even sure there would be enough room out there in cyberspace to post them all. Anna, just be grateful I didn't post THE picture of us...I was tempted. Man, so many great memories; so many more to come :)

Pure Comedy

Anna, Jamie and I went to the Broadway Comedy Club last Friday in Times Square. Yes, it's the place where Jerry Seinfeld does the opening sequences to his show in front of the brick wall. Even though I am actually not the world's biggest fan of Seinfeld(sorry Evan), I am a fan of stand-up comedy in general and it was pretty cool to go to such a well known spot. I've been to a few live stand-up gigs in the past and am pretty much addicted to Comedy Central's Premium Blend (Have you SEEN Demetri Martin's flip chart or Jim Gaffigan's Hot Pocket sketch?) There's just something about laughing so hard my stomach hurts that I can't get enough of. I have always believed that you have to be intelligent to be funny and I respect any profession in which your job entails making other people happy. Comedians are cool people, and struggling comedians chasing after their dreams of making it big in New York City, well, even cooler.

We decided to go to the midnight show (which was mistake number one) and we sat in the front row (big time mistake number two). This means that there was a lot of crudeness going on and that I was relentlessly picked on and humiliated. If you've never been to a comedy club before you should know that one of the ways comedians try to get everyone involved and warmed up is by asking members of the crowd questions and then humiliating them by cracking one-liners in response to their answers. Unbeknownst to me, Friday night was apparently "ask the blonde sitting in the front row humiliating personal questions and crack jokes at her expense" night. Not that I was the only one singled out, but three times I was picked on, and three times I got red in the face. Sounds fun, huh? Well, in spite of a few embarassing blushing moments, it was. If you can't laugh at yourself, really...what can you laugh at? I guess you have to take it all in stride if you are going to put yourself in a room where the person on stage's sole job is to make people laugh at ANY cost...especially if you decide to sit front and center.

We had a really great time laughing the night away and thanks to about three of the seven or so comedians we saw, we were impressed. I'll definitely go again whenever I am in need of a good chuckle. Next time though, I think I will take a seat in the back.

Band of Horses

I went to see one of my latest favorite bands play at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Valentine's Day and my, oh my, oh my, was it a great one. It's been a while, too long in fact, since I have felt the goosebumps that come from hearing the opening riff to my favorite song being played before my eyes, or had the ringing in my ears keeping me awake after coming home from a show because I stood too close to the speakers.

Band of Horses has some serious potential to make it big (even though I am actually much happer seeing them at the Masonic Temple than Madison Square Garden). Lead singer Ben Bridwell has a voice so pure and piercing it seems unreal. His lyrics are both deep and approachable and can often be both serious and playful at the same time. You can't help but judge a band by their recorded work, and both of their albums are fantastic, but it has always been a great live performance that has cemented a band into my "top ten". And after Thursdays performance, Band of Horses currently holds position numero uno.

p.s. Does anyone know what the heck a Masonic Temple is anyways?

The Cheese to My Macaroni

So, Valentine's Day is not really my most favorite holiday. Maybe it's because I've had too many lonesome ones. But really it is because I believe that we should do sweet things for our loved ones and tell those that are important to us that we love them all the time. I am, however, a romantic at heart and these days, I am very much in love. It seems it would be a waste for me to let this day go unnoticed when I find myself struck by Cupid's arrow more than ever before in my life.

Although I cannot be with my sweetie on this special day, I feel his love from a far and I am thankful for his presence in my life. There are a million reasons why I love Klas but here are just a few:
1.) He's very funny. Whether it's his jokes (usually puns), his silly faces or the songs he makes up for me on the spot, I am always smiling and laughing when he's around.
2.) He's intelligent. He's multi-lingual, well-traveled and just plain smart!
3.) He's incredibly talented in many ways... musically he's a genius.
5.) He loves me for me. Even with all my imperfections and quirks.
6.) He is the most handsome man I have ever met.
I know...sorry girls but he's taken

Love is grand. And I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing person in my life. Here's to you my love! Today and always.

Eeeeek!!!....a mouse

There are a lot of glamorous things about living in New York City. There are also some not so glamorous things and sometimes those things have four legs and a tail.

Two weeks ago, as I turned the corner from our living room into our kitchen to go and put my glass in the sink, I made eye contact with a little critter peeking his head out of the burner in our gas burning stove. In true slap-stick comedy style, I screamed like a little girl and threw my glass into the air which hit the ground and broke into a million pieces. Once my nerves settled and I realized he had scurried back wherever he came from, I picked up my phone to call Anna and tell her we had a new pet.

Husmusen, as Anna lovingly named him (it means house mouse in Swedish), came out to visit us a few more times before we decided he had overstayed his welcome. We discovered that he was coming out of a hole in the wall and would climb up into the stove from the back. It just wasn't okay to have the dirty little scoundrel living where we did all our cooking; something had to be done.

There is never a pleasant way to get rid of unwanted houseguests and this was no exception. Anna would argue that there is however, a humane way to do it. She requested that we set a trap to catch Husmusen but not kill him. I was okay with this as long as she was willing to be the one who set him free. The problem was that he didn't go after the peanut butter in the trap until the day that Anna was in class. When I came home from work and realized he was in there, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't listen to him moving around in there for a few more hours while I waited for my brave roommate. Then, what was the point of trying to be humane towards the little guy in the first place? I put my newly discovered rodent-phobia aside and decided I was going have to get the trap out of the stove, run with it down the street as far as I could manage to hold it, put it on the ground and open the tiny trap door to set him free. And that's exactly what I did. When he darted out of the trap before I had hardly opened it all the way, I let out another little scream and then tried to act cool when I realized I had startled a passerby.

I ran all the way home, sprinted up the stairs and slammed the door behind me as if the little monster was chasing after me for trapping him in that small black box when all he wanted was the warmth of our stove and a measley taste of peanut butter. Silly to be afraid of mice, I know, but there is something about their beady little eyes that just irk me in some way. Now I guess we wait and see just how smart Husmusen is and whether or not he will ever be able to find his way back to our home and our stove.

Celebrity Sightings

I am a self-proclaimed pop-culture/gossip magazine addict. Meaning, I care way too much about the lives of people I do not know. Here's a list of all the celebrities I've seen since moving to New York.

1. Enrique Iglesias- I was in a cab and saw him crossing the street the day after I moved here.

2. Al Roker- I used to work in Rockefeller Center and saw him heading into the NBC studios a few times.

3. Bruce Springsteen- Saw him perform on the Today Show in Rockefeller Center.

4. Katherine McPhee- She was with her bf outside the restaurant where I used to work.

5. Geraldo Rivera- Twice! Once on the street and once at my favorite Cuban restaurant.

6. Bob Saget- bumped into him in front of the Empire State Building and totally heard someone say, "Uncle Jesse was way hotter".

7. Conan O'Brien- I have attended the taping of his show twice. Man, he is even funnier in real life.

8. John Cusak- was guest on Conan

9. James Lipton- was guest on Conan

10. Lou Dobbs- was guest on Conan second time I went

11. Pink- was the other guest on Conan second time I went

12. Sarah Jessica Parker!!!!- By far the most exciting sighting... Anna and I stumbled onto the set of Sex and the City: the Movie at like 1am on a weekday. We saw her up close and personal, taking a break at the food table.

A few other celebs I've run into in my lifetime include: Drew Barrymore and Fabrizio Moretti (when they were an item), Robin Williams, John Mayer and Orlando Bloom.