Adrienne posted a list of 29 things she’d like to do before she turns 30. I’m a little bored and possibly loopy from the Flexeril so I decided to make my own list. I am not too nervous about 30, so here’s a list of things I’d like to do by age 35 (my scary age, at least at this point). No specific number, we’ll see how many wishes I come up with.

1. I would like to have read 1000 books. I keep a list of every book I’ve read (that I can remember, I may be missing a few). I am at 430 right now; I’ll have to read about 57 books a year from now until 2019.
2. I would like to have a child, but I would like this to happen before I turn 30.
3. I’d love to visit Belgium. Waffles and chocolate for me, beer for Tim! The Belgian cuisine is apparently even better than the French, and the country itself is one of the most beautiful in the world. Not sure how I’ll do with all the seafood but I don’t mind eating chocolate every day.
4. Tim and I should have another dog and cat. Preferably a Pug, and either a ginger or a little black kitty. Chloe and Stabler are so perfect that it will be hard to find animals as good as they are but I’d love to try.
5. Replace my Nikon speedlight flash (its officially dead).
6. Talk to my Mom about the things that really bother me, without letting her change the story or the subject.
7. Learn how to crochet like my grandma.
8. Attend the opera.
9. Have a meal with Tim at Per Se in New York.

That’s all I can think of right now, which probably means I’ll make stuff up if I try to keep going.

I have a terrible pain in my back; its been there for two days. Anytime I try to move my neck to the left (to the left, everything you own in a box to the left) this spasm appears in my right shoulder, and my neck has four pea sized knots taking over. I’ve tried heating pads, Advil and I took a Flexeril about 40 minutes ago. I feel sleepy, but my back still hurts. BLAH!

Today was the first day in almost two weeks that I didn’t have anything planned. A whole day to myself and I was bored stiff! I ended up sitting on the couch watching ‘Dangerous Liasons’ (i love John Malkovich as Valmont) and eating multi-grain tortilla chips.

Tomorrow Micaela is coming over and I am so excited! I haven’t seen her since the Jenny Lewis concert in May, and she hasn’t been up to Calistoga in almost a year. Don’t know what we’ll do, probably hang out at the house. Maybe I’ll drive to Napa so we can peek at the new house.

Reading: The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice by Margaret Rosenthal

Here’s a good LOL:

I baked cinnamon streusel muffins tonight and I am trying very hard not to eat more than one. I added a pat of I Can’t Believe its Not Butter! which made them even tastier! Tim’s already had two. I hate him for staying skinny without work.

But I don’t know if I can get tickets. DAMN IT!

C-3PO will be narrating the whole thing!!!

FML.

Yesterday I threw Adrienne a bridal shower. I’ve been planning it for a few months, and was feeling pretty nervous. I wanted everything to be wonderful and go smoothly. It was a dessert theme; all the guests made a dessert and brought along the recipe for it on recipe cards I made on VistaPrint. Luckily, nothing went wrong and there was plenty of food. Everyone made great desserts! For my recipe, I made almond-blueberry cupcakes with vanilla whipped cream topping and fresh berries.

Adrienne looked beautiful, of course, and I think she had fun. She received some great gifts, and the recipe book will be done soon so she’ll have a keepsake of the shower.

No news on the house yet. I am hoping our lender starts the appraisal Tuesday or Wednesday so we’ll be able to plan for the move-in. We need to get things packed up, and the carpets torn out (great hardwood floor underneath in the bedrooms, and the rest of the house is hardwood as well). September is going to be a crazy month for us!! If all goes as planned, the close of escrow should be September 4th. Adrienne and I are attending the John Legend concert at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on the 6th, my birthday celebration will be the 12th and my birthday is on the 14th. Then we have the wedding rehearsal on the 17th, girl’s day 18th, and then the actual wedding on the 19th!

Today is Timmy’s birthday! He turned 27. He’s kind of upset that he’s one year closer to 30. Apparently he thinks 30 is ridiculously old. We’re trying to save money, which isn’t easy with all the things going on in our lives (in addition to our regular life expenses), so we stayed in. I made his favorite dinner (tortellini alfredo and garlic bread) and had a small carrot cake for dessert. I bought him a new camera, but I got a refurbished one because its just a small point-and-shoot and he didn’t want me to spend too much money. Hopefully still works as well as a new one; I think it will be fine but, you never know. I also bought him some Chili-infused olive oil from Olivier and I will have to wait and see when the spice ends up in my food.

I’m feeling extremely proud of us lately. We’ve done everything on our own from the very beginning of our relationship, and buying this house will be another step we’ve taken completely independently of our families. Tim and I are a pretty amazing team! As young as we are, we’ve accomplished more than I thought possible.

Tim and I don’t want to get too attached to this house because we still have a few hurdles to jump. FHA-approved loans require that the lender appraise the house at the amount of the loan, and if they dislike something about the home (like the porch is old and needs repairs) they can deny the loan. If they are worried that the porch is a safety hazard, they can require that we tear it out before the close of escrow. The bank that owns the property, however, probably wouldn’t let us tear out the porch until the house actually belongs to us. So, we’ve got a little ways to go before we’re really in the clear. We did a formal inspection today, and Chris, our inspector, said that the house is basically in good shape. Good insulation, good foundations. Air conditioning and heating properly installed.

This is a chandelier I like from Restoration Hardware. It was in the kid decor section, but judging the dimensions it would work for my library. Plus, it’s pink.

I also like this one from Pottery Barn:

I love looking at light fixtures. I can’t believe that I am actually going to have a library of my very own! I’ve been dreaming of a library as far back as I can remember, even before I learned to read. This house actually had the perfect space for it, without us losing a bedroom. Today, I walked by one of my favorite used book stores, Main St. Books in St Helena and I had to stop myself from going in and purchasing a stack. Tim doesn’t want me to buy too many books before we move, and it makes sense but it is difficult.

Tomorrow we officially go into escrow. Woot woot!!

I think I’ve figured out what about the story failed to interest me: none of the stories connected in any real way. The book purports to be about ‘Oscar Wao’ (inasmuch as it named the book after him) but its really about his mother, sister and even his grandparents. Further, he’s whiny, uninteresting and unlikeable. His obsession with sex (NOT love, as written) becomes monotonous to read about; his mania for writing is never fully explained, nor are any examples of his so-called masterpieces included as a point of interest.

The whole concept of the ‘fuku’ started out strong, but then the author seemed to forget entirely that he’d ever brought it up, and then remembered again near the end. It was also confusing when Diaz would put Spanish into the conversation, Spanish that I’d have had to finish my two or three years of language to understand. I didn’t always feel like translating on altavista.com

I was more interested in reading about the horrors Trujillo forced onto his country during his ‘presidency’; I was more interested is reading about Oscar’s grandfather, and his struggle to protect his daughters.

Okay, I’m done.

P.S. Justin, don’t be mad at me.

…we’re going to have a mortgage.

Our offer was accepted on this amazing house in north Napa. Its just a few minutes away from the first house we liked on Jefferson, but its 10x better! 3 bedroom, 2 baths and a big backyard. There’s even 2 bonus rooms (one of which will be my library!!). Its 1670 sqft!

Here’s a pic of the house from the MLS listing:

The inspection is on Wednesday, the same day escrow officially starts. 45 days and then we’ll be moving in!!

I’ve been slowly (i usually finish books in a day or two) reading a book my friend Justin recommended. Its ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ by Junot Diaz. I still am not sure how I feel about it. I think that it is extremely well written, but I don’t feel like the story really grabbed me. The footnotes are part of the story, and it explains more of the history of the Dominican Republic (such as it was/is). I was more interested in the footnotes than the tale itself; I’m looking into learning more about the country.

Next book I am starting is ‘Rape: A Love Story’ by Joyce Carol Oates.