First off? Tomorrow’s Glee mash-up video that shows my favorite: Santana, singing some Adele with Mercedes. What makes this video even more powerful is knowing a bit of Santana’s story from the episode. If it goes like the rumors say, it will be pretty powerful and makes her performance even that much more awesome.

Second – The Hunger Games trailer. I wasn’t entirely sold on Jennifer Lawrence for Katniss until I saw the clip on this trailer where she screams to be a volunteer, taking her sister’s place in the reaping. I’ve seen the trailer 15+ times now and I’ve sobbed during that part every time. While I still think she looks too old, she sold that moment and I’m on her side now.

Lastly? Team Starkid on SPACEtour. Of course Darren Criss isn’t going to sing his songs in any of the venues outside of NYC, but hearing Dylan Saunders sing this song from A Very Potter Sequel is amazing. This is the song Harry sings about finally finding a home at Hogwarts. It’s a beautiful song in a silly show, but hearing Dylan sing it? Makes it stand entirely on it’s own. I can’t wait to see it in person.

I I don’t know why I get so hesitant to jump on new internet bandwagons. I mean, come one! I live online, why wouldn’t I want to use whatever awesome tools YOU use?

Yet…I fight it. If no one has ever heard of the tool? I’ll totally sign up. But if 10 people are already using it? HELL NO. MUST SUCK. WILL NOT GIVE IN.

And now? I’m in love with Instgram, GoodReads and the latest…Pinterest.

It’s like a bulletin board of AWESOMENESS. I’m already following like, 120 people. And I kinda want to spend hours and hours “pinning” all of those brilliant recipes, crafting projects, organizational idea, and kid-friendly projects and then spend the rest of my life doing them ALL. But since I can’t really do that (BUT I WANT TO) I will simply look at my bulletin boards and dream…and then do one project at a time. Especially the Red, White and Blue strawberries. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

You have to sign up for an “invite” – which I got mine pretty quickly. A few hours after I requested it. However, that may be because I have my name on a database somewhere of “OBSESSIVE USERS” that automatically gets invited to everything. I think I can also send out invites, I managed to send out one or two last night and I think that worked. It looks like I may have a few more. If you want me to try sending you one, leave your email address in the comment section. I’ll post down there when it looks like I’ve “run out” — and then YOU can obsess with me.

Here’s a Tip: Explore the users they call “Tastemakers” – I found some amazing users with bulletin boards set up for entire seasons. Halloween, Christmas, even Valentine’s Day – Best. Resource. EVER. I promise you.

You know what makes you (the generic “you” – not you specifically) really boring? When you find yourself fantasizing about naps. Which is what I’ve been doing lately. Daydreaming about wonderful sleep experiences. Sleep without interruption. Maybe snuggled several blankets with one of my kid’s pillow pets.

What? Have you slept with one of those thing? LOVELY. I want one of my own. Seriously. BEST PILLOW EVER. They’re fuzzy and soft and…LOVELY.

So, lately I’ve been dreaming about…dreaming. I imagine sleeping without interruption for an entire night. I dream about waking up peacefully after the sun has risen. ::sigh:: This is quite an exciting life I lead.

BUT SERIOUSLY…do you do that? Do you find that you get so tired that the only thing you think about is sleeping? It’s not just because I’m busy lately, I just haven’t been sleeping well. I’m restless and struggle getting to sleep at night. It’s completely normal I would long for a good night’s sleep, right? I’m not not ridiculously boring, am I?

It doesn’t matter. It’s my fantasy world…one covered in mattresses, fleece blankets, and pillow pets. I’m going to own it, EVEN IF IT’S LAME. Now, pardon me while I blissfully long for bedtime tonight, because tomorrow is Saturday and I can sleep past sunrise if I want. Lamest Friday night plans ever? YES. YES IT IS.

Over the summer I started thinking about getting an e-reader. I kept talking about getting the Nook, but then kept going back to just getting nothing because I didn’t think I could let go of reading real books. I’ve always loved holding books, owning them, buying them. I love my bookshelves. BECAUSE THEY HOLD MY REAL BOOKS. How could I let that go for an e-reader? I couldn’t.

Luckily, my husband tends to tune me out a lot when I’m rambling, because he never heard me mention anything about e-readers.

He got me a Kindle for our anniversary. My first thought was: Haven’t I mentioned several times I didn’t think I could get into an e-reader because I would miss real books? My second thought was: Why didn’t he choose the Nook? That’s the one I’ve been leaning towards.

Thank god, too! Because I have ended up loving the Kindle with every ounce of my being.

Of course, it helps that I also joined a Book Club this summer. This would be my book club reading list. These books were either books for our monthly sessions or books the club read before I joined and had referenced in one of our gatherings. I’ve been trying to catch up so when they draw parallels I’m not left behind. This is what I’ve read since October for book club in the last 3-4 months.

But what makes me love the Kindle? Is the fact that I can read those books AND other books AT THE SAME TIME. I’ve always tended to end up having one or two (or three or four) books going at once, but that’s such a pain because you can’t carry them all around with you. But with the Kindle? You can. These are the other books I’m reading or planning to read.

And I always have all of these with me. ALWAYS. Because my Kindle goes with me almost everywhere. If I’m in the mood for a non-fiction? Or a book club book? Or a Young Adult book? I’ve got them all with me. This is what has been the thing I never really considered when worrying I’d miss my books. That I’d be able to read anytime, anywhere. I have read more since October than I did in the entire year before.

My point? I (heart) my Kindle. It has an app for my iPhone that I use a lot too when I’m trying to read in the dark. (The Kindle is like the Nook, not backlit, so not readable without light.)

I just wanted to share this because whenever I reference it on Twitter or Facebook someone asks me about it. Do I really like it? Do I miss books? I’ll tell you the main selling point for me. Donnie got me the one that has lifetime 3G, so as long as there’s 3G service (which there is in my house) I can buy new books immediately. Like when I finished The Girl Who Played With Fire – which had I crazy-ass cliffhanger – I immediately bought The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. At 2am. If you’re impatient like me? This is a dream come true.

And so ends my love letter to my e-reader. You can move along now.

To me, one of the best things about days when you don’t have to go to work/school, is the ability to have a leisurely wake-up time. On school/work days I have to wake up the kids (as late as possible so they get more sleep) get them dressed for school, feed them breakfast, and push them out the door. On weekends and/or snow days? We get to just snuggle. My kids don’t always wake up hungry for food, but they are both quite the am snuggle bunnies. That picture above is Wes just laying down on my lap in the hall. During the daytime hours, once the morning fog has worn off? This kind of snuggle time doesn’t come easily. It often doesn’t come at all. I’ll get a drive-by kiss or hug if I beg, but the quiet warmth of a kid hanging out in your arms or on your lap? Not at all.

(Of course, it helps that I keep the house frigid. They’re much more likely to snuggle when it’s cold out from under their covers.)

This is Nikki wrapped around my leg. I really wish someone else in the house is awake during these hours so I could get a non-abstract looking photo of these moments, but you’ll have to just use your imagination. And I also kinda like the photos from my perspective. They may look confusing to those not behind the lens, but they make me smile because I see in this photo, exactly what I saw yesterday morning. My daughter – who often tries to act much older than she is – cuddling with her Momma.

Now…15 minutes or so after these pictures were taken? The screaming and playing and laughing and fighting and MORE SCREAMING commenced. That’s the day with children in your life. Most of it is loud and rowdy and chaotic.

But in our house, in the mornings, it’s a very tender and sweet kind of atmosphere. The kids often battle for kisses and hugs and they are free-flowing with the “Momma, I love you!”s. I make sure to avoid scheduling anything early on a day off just so I can enjoy those moments. Because, somewhere else in the house is my oldest child. Who – to put it kindly – is not really a snuggle bunny in the mornings. Somewhere around the tween years, children start waking up in WORSE moods than they’ll spend the rest of the day. You become WAY more likely to see love and kindness past, let’s say, lunchtime.

But for now? It’s all about the Morning Snuggles in the Zoot House with the little ones. And I’m enjoying every minute of it.

I went junkin’ for the first time ever this week. A friend took me and it was so much fun! I probably could have spent at least twice as much time in each place (if not longer) but the mission was to hit as many places as possible. So I didn’t even look at clothes or linens much. I was on the hunt for some cool plates and some large picture frames. Here are a some more pictures of some of the treasure I found. I haven’t photographed everything yet because some of it I’m planning on using for projects so I’ll wait and do Before/After stuff.

I wanted to show off how great the three glass pieces I got thrifting look with the other pieces in my china cabinet!

I like some of these pictures so much I’d like to frame them! Would that be weird? Framing pictures of my thrifting finds? Either way – the objects themselves are pretty awesome. Are you a thrifter? What do you think of my finds? Do you love them as much as I do?

It’s 4:30am and it’s damn chilly. I love it, because that means Autumn is here. The leaves are already changing in just the slightest way. The leaves are definitely falling. Everyone is talking about when they’ll make their trip to Tate Farms Pumpkin Patch, the local Autumn tradition for most families. The kids are talking about their Halloween costumes and Nikki is getting excited about her big birthday part coming up.

In terms of weather? Autumn doesn’t seem to last long here. We get a few weeks of chilly weather and then the cold stuff hits. Same thing with the holidays, Target actually has Christmas AND Halloween stuff out right now. No one seems to want Autumn to linger. Except me. It never seems to last long enough. I hate being cold. I don’t mind being chilly. I love Autumn activities, hayrides, pumpkin patches, costume parties. I hate overdosing on Christmas fudge and wearing sweaters. I HATE SWEATERS.

So I try to enjoy it while it’s here. Camping at the Botanical Gardens this weekend where we’ll get to go on a hayride, hitting the Pumpkin Patch next week while the kids are out of school. We’ve got our costumes chosen, if not ordered yet. We’re finishing up the soccer season, although last night’s game showed us we may need to start wearing long sleeves under our uniforms.

I know in a few short weeks I’ll be bitching about the cold and how much I have to do before Christmas. But for now? I’ll just sit here and wait for Sweetie to finish her business. I’ll go to bootcamp and shiver a bit until the blood gets pumping. I’ll try to find a good pile of leaves around town to let the kids play in. We never got a chance to last year, so this year I’ll make it a priority. If for no other reason but the pictures from two years ago? Are too irresistible to not try to recreate them.

I went Tuesday evening to a Twilight/New Moon double feature followed by the midnight premiere of Eclipse in the same theater. I had planned on it being my treat for all of the hard work I’ve been doing in the last few weeks, and it was – but I didn’t take into account that the treat would immediately turn into punishment when I had to continue the hard work the next day – on two hours sleep. I actually dozed off in the car between the new house and the old house last night when MrZ and I went over to try to get our last cat who has been really freaked out and hiding from us. It’s less than five miles. AND I FELL ASLEEP. So…Eclipse? (Spoiler-Free Comments! Promise!) Awesome. My only real complaints were technical/production related. Like the snow scenes looking so terribly fake and Bella’s wig often making me want to giggle it was so bad. Other than that? I loved it. Truly. My favorite of the three so far. And since it was my favorite book? This means all is right with the world.

I got 9 hours sleep last night so I’m definitely feeling better, but I’m old and I need my sleep so I still feel like I’m hungover. Or that I was beaten in my sleep by a pack of angry grizzlies. Something like that. I’m glad I won’t have to do this again until November when we do the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The showed the most recent trailer before Eclipse and I was thrilled to see how much was represented. (The rest of this paragraph will spoil the movie if you haven’t read the book.) I saw a bit from the Godric’s Hollow scene when Nagini atttacks and I saw a bit of the scene in the Room of Requirement with the Fiend Fire. I’m so thrilled to be seeing so much represented – which is why I’m thrilled it’s in two parts. We’ve also seen bits of the dragon from Gringotts, the grave a Shell Cottage (sob!) and the stabbing of the Horcrux in the Forest of Dean. All scenes I really wanted to see on screen…CAN NOT WAIT.

But the next big thing? Is the release of Mockingjay in August. If you haven’t read the first two books in the series yet (Hunger Games and Catching Fire) get to reading them now. They feature this great lead female – Katniss. She is a teenager who has been taking care of her family by hunting and gathering in an oppressed state. Then she’s called to do this inhumane competition which puts her in a leadership position for the community. It’s amazing and the second book ended with a type of a cliffhanger that I’m dying to conclude. I’m not that great at writing about books, I tend to just say things like, “Squeeeee!” So – just go read this book and see for yourself. And then join me on reading the third book in August, won’t you?

We are also obsessing over So You Think You Can Dance. As usual, I’m totally in love with Cat Deeley. She is the best host on TV, I swear. But more importantly – how amazing was the Twitch and Alex hip/hop routine last night? Nappy-Tabs (love that they’re calling them that now) did a great routine and…MAN. I was yelling at the TV it was so awesome. The guys this season? ARE AMAZING. I’m a little lukewarm about most of the girls. I have moments when I like them all – but if the girls are the next to go in every elimination until we are guys only? I’ll be fine with that. EXCEPT…that I love my guy All-Stars. I love seeing Mark and Ade dance every week too. So, basically, I need Guy on Guy (Huh?) routines every week. So I can see my favorite contestants and my favorite All Stars every week. That would be awesome.

So…what are you currently obsessing over? What releases (books, movies, TV) are looking the most forward to in the next few months?

But…of course I would. It’s Twilight.

There are a few things in my life I find myself incredibly and often blindly loyal towards. Twilight is one of them. I’ve heard all of the criticisms of the first film and while I agree with a lot of it (special effects FAIL!) I will always qualify it with, “but they were very low budget with production, they didn’t realize how big it would be!” You know…because it’s my job to defend it? For some reason?

I was talking to my sister-in-law about that this weekend as she was telling the story of doing the same thing – finding herself feeling the need to defend it to someone who was harshly critiquing the movie. Of course, she doesn’t quite take it to the extreme that I do (does anyone?) but she still agreed to feeling blindly loyal.

It’s funny…I kinda take it personally when people criticize things like Twilight or Harry Potter because I feel this odd sense of ownership with these items. Like they belong to me somehow…I’ll defend them past the point of logic. It’s not that I can’t recognize faults with these franchises…because I can. I hate Jasper’s hair in New Moon, I hate that a certain location was destroyed in the last Harry Potter movie that was not destroyed in the books. But I criticize them the same way I do my children…with love and adoration. BECAUSE I AM INSANE.

My point? The New Moon comes out in a month and I can not get enough. It is time for the stars to make the media circuits and the magazine covers, there are interviews and special reports and I am EATING IT ALL UP.

Please tell me I am not alone…or if I am, please pretend that I’m not…okay?

The other thing I found was that when I clicked on “Your Stuff”, there was a box asking me for my thoughts!

Now, evidently this has always been there and I’m just an idiot for not noticing, but I don’t know if I ever click on “Your Stuff” because, well, it’s my stuff so I know what’s there. But after finding the “LIKE” thing (that is new, right?) I guess I was just going click crazy to see if there was anything else new.

So, of course I had to type in it and guess what! It showed up on my sidebar! It’s like Twitter + Google Reader going on there. I mean, I don’t want my thoughts pushing back the articles I shared on my sidebar like they’ve done now…but still! So cool! I’m surprised I haven’t seen more people use that function yet. Of course, I have no idea what I’ll use it for (if anything) but I’m bound through adoration to proclaim my love for everything about Google Reader.

My point? I LOVE the new LIKE feature on Google Reader. And I LIKE the old Shared Thoughts feature.

What do you think? Are you going to “LIKE” this if it shows up in your Google Reader? I will because I can not resist something so awfully meta.