how's this work?

 vs.

i originally started writing a post today about my absolutely abysmal failure at finding either an apartment or a job.  24 more days and i have neither... but then i was saved by an email that popped up.  no, don't get excited, still nothing on the job/shelter front, but I did get a reminder email about a music tournament i am in.  super fast premise:  the goal is to determine the best song out of 263 songs submitted by the participants.  there will be 17 rounds, 5 pairings of songs battle each other and are whittled down ie: the strokes "last night" vs. flaming ips "do you realize?"  (i made that one up for example sake)  listen then give each song a numerical rating (ie i LOVE the strokes - 10 but the flaming lips are great too - 8) get it?  by the end, we will have a #1 song.  here are week 1's contenders:

Division B Play-In: International Players Anthem (UGK) vs. Angel (Sarah McLachlan)

Division C Play-In: I Hear The Bells (Mike Doughty) vs. Closing Time (Semisonic)
Division D Play-In: Title and Registration (Death Cab For Cutie) vs. Lua (Bright Eyes)
Division F Play-In: Careless Whisper (George Michael) vs. The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air (Will Smith)

so you vote by leaving a comment on the blog and people are super opinionated on their choices.  it's pretty great... although i maybe went on a mini-rant about all the heat bright eyes was taking.  jeesh.

bangkok has him now.

it was quite a weekend. quite a perfect one.** here's how it went down:

no work friday! had myself a sleep-in then headed to vermont for the day. got to z's house where cookout plans were already in the works. had a bud light lime and headed outside to absolutely kill in cornhole. 4 dudes and me... and i was the best. i am also modest. then we had burgers, hot dogs and pasta salad and watched the bruins win. ok, i slept and they watched the bruins win.

 

saturday... headed back to boston for a quick mall stop to buy new MAC make-up, dress shoes for zach and chipotle for lunch. then it was off to newport for a college girlfriend's wedding! it was held at the stunningly beautiful aldrich mansion. guess what was filmed there? MEET JOE BLACK! everything was perfect, from the cocktail hour outside, to the nonstop dancing we did to an entire room of desserts to ending the night smoking cigars outside in the late night mist. it could not have been a more beautiful day and night.

sunday we woke up rested and happy and headed out with the windows down and a day of doing all the things we love. first up: burgers and fries at five guys. deeeeelicious. i decided i want my last meal before i move to be there. hey, i'm simple. then we saw the hangover 2. which was great. since it was 4 oclock and gorgeous out, we picked up the ingredients for margaritas and spent the rest of the afternoon playing horseshoes, loungin by the lake, and visiting with my parents. whew. it was a truly great weekend.

**sidebar - even great weekends have low points. the lowest point this weekend? gathering our things to head out to the backyard while zach was in the other room... trying to figure out the french doors... closed my finger inside it and proceeded to SCREAM: "help! help! honey! help!" as i was in excuciating pain. zach comes running around the corner and has no idea why i'm standing at the door crying, screaming and not moving. thinking he's about to see (in his words) a "dead animal or person," he was slightly relieved to learn i was just stuck in a door. we pulled my fingers out to see a bleeding mangled mess but i am happy to report i am fully recovered and have all 10 fingers intact.

(i also fell in love with peonies this weekend.  they are perfect)

there's no place like (my new) home.

(my new home)

the big news???  I AM MOVING! to Montpelier, VT!!!  This will be my 3rd time moving in a year; i'm beginning to feel a little nomadic.  it's a big move for me, i've lived in the boston area my entire life except for a 6 month period when i resided in gold coast, australia.  the other biggie... i'm living with a boy! for the first time!  i'm very much in love and very happy my first (and last) time living with a boyfriend was reserved for him. he's one very special dude... want proof? today he called me and told me he was buying something for our new apartment... "what, what???" i said.  "tara, i'm buying us a cornhole set."  case closed.  this man's a keeper.

 (three penny taproom.  favorite bar by far.  friends, you will be brought here!)

 ($2 margaritas! at julio's )

 (the savoy - they show movies here!  i haven't been yet, oh but i will)

(skinny pancake: they gotz corn dogs)

D - located.

i've been relocated from my house this week because my brother is in town with one of his bands that played kiss concert on saturday.  he showed up on sunday with seven 21 year old dudes either part of The Ready Set or part of the crew.  we had tons of food, drinks, horseshoes and jenga games but by the evening, i was ready to put on my jams and watch game of thrones.  since i was pretty sure the boys would be going to bed when i was getting up for work, i packed a bag and headed to my parents house.

learn more about the ready set here.  he's from fort wayne, IN.  i think i know someone else from there ;)

lastly, please keep joplin, mo in your thoughts/prayers.  these people are going through a really terrible time.  we know some people from there and wish everyone well.

Oh, there's nothing to fear.

today has been a big day for me.  we made a big decision and it feels like the happiest day of my life.  i have one last hurdle to handle tonight and then it's smooth sailing, tell everyone time.  so with that, i'm taking a day off to breathe.  have a fantastic day everyone.

dress you up.

as i said, i have a baby shower tomorrow for my bestie.  it's at a super cute restaurant in her town, at dinnertime.  i had planned on wearing something spring-y and bare-legged but the 50 degree rainy temps have caused me to reconsider.    here's what i've decided to go with:

you dig?

jerks.

i have been obsessing over something today, as i often do.  i overheard a group of people   {two men, two women} at work talking about the arnold schwarzenegger baby situation.   one of the men in the group asked "just because he cheated, does that also make him a bad politician and person?"  i can't really speak to the politican part but i have a hard time believing anyone's moral code is up to par in any aspect of their life if they find it ok to cheat on their wife, impregnate another woman, and (most likely) pay her hush money.  i became so obsessed i looked up this on LIFE... a gallery of cheating celebrities... from sinatra to eilizabeth taylor to jeese james.  so, i wonder: does everyone deserve second chance OR once a cheater, always a cheater?  i tend to (wholeheartedly) agree with the latter when it comes to matters of the heart. 

most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational...

i seem to have furry creatures on the mind lately. i'm talking about muppets and they're all over the place.  i'm not complaining, i am loving it.  when we were kids, my brother was obsessed with the muppets.  he would make us watch the muppets take "hattning" (= muppets take manhattan) 5 times a week and we watched the muppet show and muppets tonight on a continuous loop. 

perhaps there's much muppet talk lately due to the 21st anniversary of creator jim henson's death on monday and also the upcoming release of the latest muppet movie in november.  the new film, co-written by jason segel, just released the first movie poster... notice anything?  rarely are the muppets' legs visible as seen here.  it's odd, right?  i'm not against it, it's just odd. 

 annie hall x kermy and miss piggy.  (via nerdboyfriend.com)

 personally, i like rizzo the rat.  hard-talking new jersey born tattooed rat. 



we may lack riches, but the greatest fortune is what lies in our hearts.

today at work, we had an asian inspired lunch.  yup, i dug into the bowl of furtune cookies...

my fortune read: "your love life will soon be happy and harmonious." 

silly cookie, weeeez already happy.   but something tells me we're about to get even happier. 

5 things

despite the above forecast for this week, i can't make myself feel gloomy.  there's just too much greatness to look forward to.  so let's play 5 things:

1. my sister friend courtney's baby shower.  let's be honest, showers usually aren't the most fun thing a woman does... but courtney is unlike any woman i know.  she's silly and goofy and beautiful and about to be the best momma a kid could ask for.  there's honestly nothing i'd rather do.  plus, after the shower part we head back to her house where her husband jon will be waiting with a fire-pit, drinks, and more friends.

2. wedding in newport with my sweet.  gettin' dressed up and slow dancing with zach in a newport mansion while 2 great people get married? heck yes. 

3. friday june 3: the avett brothers w/ john oates in burlington, vt. the show is outdoors.  i'll wear a hat. it will be awesome.  even if it rains.  i'll wear my rain boots and sing along to every song.

4.  our trip to ft wayne, in.  nervous/excited/completely looking forward to it.  i've heard about baseball games, jk's, mexican food, and a million other things.  but mostly i just want to meet the people most important to the person most important to me.

5. july.

here here and here

i've never been a fan of singing based reality shows: i am completely tone deaf and could never make it through even one whole performance on idol.  why, then, am i infatuated with the voice? there's a lot of reasons:

1. i liked the blind auditions; and i liked how it put the choice back in the singer's hands.

2. i love the judges.  when i was 15 i fell in love with a band called kara's flowers.  i loved the singers falsetto, poppy voice.  7 years later i was meeting that singer, who had a new band called maroon 5.  even though he's kind of lame now, adam levine is such a crush of mine.

then:

 now:

3. the contestants are really talented and pretty diverse.

4. i've got sort of a connection to 2 of the contestants.  one (casey desmond) is from my hometown and we even saw her at comic con two weeks ago.  the other, dia frampton, on blake's team is a close friend of my brother's.  he managed her when she was in a band called meg&dia; she even spent a thanksgiving with us.  it makes watching much more fun.  i hope dia makes it so i can vote for her a million times. 

this is dia.

and casey:

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