Bloggy Love

I've done some housekeeping. This is where you can view Cusp of Normal's Bloggy Love from now on. I have other plans in mind for the sidebar.




From Lacey Bean


From paisana



From rialeilani



From Sleepy Jane


From Lauren


From rialeilani


From Laura

These bangs will not control me

It is Day Six with bangs and I'm waving the white flag. Yes, bangs, I understand that you have a ceaseless desire to part down the middle. You have proven to me that no amount of hair product, styling tools, or precious time in the morning will get you to behave. If you are going to be a little jerk about it and keep insisting upon parting DIRECTLY DOWN THE MIDDLE, I will have to pull out the big guns to outsmart you. That's right, bangs, I'm swoopin' 'em to the side! Bwahahahah! You will not make a fool of me! Do you understand me, bangs? I make the rules around here. Ahem. Dear friends, you will NEVER see the photos of my bangs misbehaving... unless perhaps you are my facebook friend and some photos from a party Saturday night hit the web. Otherwise, better not hold your breath. Here is a photo from today--Day One of reclaiming control over my badly behaved locks. And THIS! is a lovely package I received from Hillary! She sent me two Canadian chocolate treats that I've never heard of... and one of them may or may not frighten me. Effervescent minty chocolate? I'll have to let you know what I think of it. I hope it isn't like eating a denture cleaning tablet... and Hillary? If it is? I'm totally sending you salmonella. She also made me a Mermanda Mix! Isn't she the most adorable thing? I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but judging from the playlist, I think it's going to rock. I'm pretty sure that Cock soup mix is going to make a fierce appearance on an upcoming episode of Cooking Thyme With Andrew. In other news, the house inspection is tomorrow. And as long as there are no weird surprises, we're going to get our mortgage tomorrow tooo! And? And! We're seeing Ray LaMontagne in concert tomorrow at one of my favorite venues ever! (I don't know what is with the heavy use of the exclamation marks today, I didn't even have any coffee.) XO!!!!

Bye-Bye #47, Hello Bloggers

Though the big 20 Something Bloggers meetup isn't until the end of June, I am already crossing off #47 on my list--attend a blogger meetup. This weekend, Jenn, Maxie, and Deutlich traveled to the Burgh to spend Saturday with local bloggers Angela, Drew, Andrea, and Mermanda (me, duh.) Us bloggers and special guest Andrew enjoyed a cozy lunch at Buca di Beppo, where we practically had the place to ourselves. (Good thing, because bloggers are a chatty bunch when we get together! Shocked? Me neither.) Photo by Deutlich After stuffing our respective faces with lasagna, chicken saltimbocca, and other various Italian nom noms, we embarked upon a fruitless search for redbull to refuel thy tired and hungover blogging folk. Unable to settle for inferior energy drink imposters such as Amp and Monster, we sought our sights upon Starbucks, where caffiene flows like the Nile. Properly "juiced," bloggers walked to the Monongahela Incline to give the out of towners a proper view of the Pittsburgh skyline. Maxie read a sign that claimed the weight limit of the incline to be eight occupants per seating section--a total of 24 passengers per car. She wondered what the real limit was, and proposed an experiment. Not wanting to die at the hands of a curious blogger, we all respectfully declined our chance to be part of a Very Scientific Study. Maybe next time, Maxie, dear. That evening, we headed to Kaya for Latin American, Southeast Asian, and Caribbean-inspired grub and deliciously fruity drinks. Mmmmm.... Sangria! There was lots of polite dinner conversation--I swear the word "balls" was used less than a dozen times. And lots of laughs. I'm so glad we were all able to get together! My first blogger meetup a smashing success. It didn't end there, though... Andrew and I took in a few strays named Deutlich and Maxie for the night. After a good night's rest, Andrew cooked us all breakfast, which we enjoyed over some Backstreet Boys. Our guests then headed home with full bellies and stacks of The Printed Blog, which Jenn lovingly bestowed upon all of the bloggers after lunch.

My little friend

Speaking of gifts... I never showed you this very adorable package I received from Jossie Posie a few months ago... I love my new little friend! Thanks so much, Jossie! What a great surprise :) This was, of course, before this not so pleasant squirrel surprise. Yikes.