How do I even begin to explain Andrea Disaster?

"Andrea Disaster is shameless."

"She has two thrift store purses and a scratched up Hyundai."

"I hear she's caused minor damages up to $10,000."

"I hear she does car commercials... by photobombing them."

"Her favorite movie is The Devil Wears Prada but tells people it's Melancholia."

"One time, she met Bob Saget on a plane." "And he told her to move over."

"One time, I actually looked at her face. It was okay."

Like thread through the needle, so are the sweaters of my life

I wear a lot of black. I always have since I was about 13 or so. It works for me. Almost everything goes with it. Stains don't (usually) show up on it. I like it. In fact, I'm wearing a black dress right now. Still, it's good to branch out, try new things, all that jazz, and January is a good time to start.

Even though black has been so good to me all these years, I've been trying to make an effort to wear other colors. And I realized the other day that I've been mostly doing this with sweaters. So let's talk about sweaters.

I bought this little green number on a Red White & Blue trip with Madge. I was hesitant because it's a little bulky and well, bright. You can't really tell in this photo because the lighting in my apartment sucks, but seriously, HELLO BRIGHT GREEN. No regrets. I wore it to work last week and my coworker said I looked like I skinned Oscar the Grouch. I took it as a compliment.

I picked up this little cardigan at this year's Redd Up Thread Up. It was originally buttoned all the way up to the neck with those tiny decorational buttons, but I had my way with it and now it's mine. It's also a size smaller than I normally wear my sweaters, but I liked it for it's grandma-ness and wear it anyway. I call it my Lane Kim sweater because Lane on Gilmore Girls wore old fashioned cardigans on the last couple of seasons of the show.

This is the ONLY photo on the Internet I could find of Lane that proves my Lane-Kim-sweater-wearing point. In case you've never seen GG or live in subsociety that shuns marriage, she's showing off her engagement ring, hence the excited open mouths. 

Speaking of open mouths! This is my "Oh-shit-my-friend-who-is-picking-me-up-just-texted-that-she's-right-outside-and-I'm-not-ready-yet-look." It's a face I make frequently, somewhere between "Oh-yikes-you-really-just-said-that-ohhhh-snap" and "Gah-did-I-just-accidentally-spray-gasoline-on-myself-yes-I-did".

Oh, argyle. The perfect addition to a zombie librarian* costume for those who throw their Halloween costumes together at the last minute (see above). If we're really honest, the perfection comes from the creepy bird man in the background.

And though I typically avoid wearing yellow, I might change it up and get this. SWEATERS FOREVER.

*Zombrarian, and yes, I called it that. I am lame.

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father

Did you know 2012 is the year of trying new things? You might have thought of it as just the year of the dragon or the year filled with lots of jokes about the world ending. It is actually all of those things, so we should embrace the time we have left and fill it with new experiences until the giant dragon in China wakes up in December and we melt under its fire breath.

That's how it's going down, right?

I kicked off the year with Irish boxty at Piper's Pub. I never had boxty before and it turns out it's everything I need for a good morning: Potatos, eggs, sausage, ham, and cheese. So good.

To offset that delicious calorie monster*, I picked up an acorn squash the other day at Trader Joe's.

I never ate one before, but the lady at Trader Joe's (Paula, she's super nice) told me to scoop out the seeds, bake at 325 for an hour, slick on butter (brown sugar and cinnamon if you're feeling it), and then dig on in. It's in the same family as sweet potatoes and yellow squashes, so it's a bit sweet. I definitely tasted the sweet potato in it, but the texture is stringy. A little too stringy for my taste. I kind of winged it on that hour in the oven- it might have been a little less, I forgot to set the timer- so perhaps a little more time in the oven would have made a difference, but I don't really think so.

Overall: I'm glad I tried it, but I think I'll stick with sweet potatoes.

*Okay, not really, I just wanted to try some squash, but doesn't it sound better when I put it that way?

I also bought Brussel sprouts, which I've never eaten before. When I've told people that in the past, they either find that incredulous or they say I'm lucky. I decided to find out.

Yeah, I punked out and went with the ones that are already seasoned. They were pretty good. Next time I'll add more garlic (whatever, I'm live alone). I'm glad I waited until I had... more refined sense of taste to eat them though. It took years of pinching my nose while eating stuffed cabbage until the Slovak side of me beat my tastebuds down. I think next time I'll try with regular, unseasoned sprouts and see what how that goes.

Overall: Thumbs up.

 In other news, I ran a mile a minute and a half faster than I usually do (!!!). Credit goes to my comfy new running shoes (thanks Mom!), my legs, and Girl Talk on my iPod, which is basically the only upbeat music I own. I still love you, Josh Ritter, even if you don't make me run fast.

2011: A few of my favorite things

So, 2011. You were a good year, at least for me.

I was talking to friends last week over some wassail* about how I was nervous for the upcoming year. "Even years are typically bad ones for me," I said, and then ticked off a couple handfuls of reasons why 2010 was such a crappy year. My roommate bailed on me, I was briefly homeless, I had monstrous medical bills, I wasted my time with an asshole, my car kept falling apart.

Of course, if the unfortunate incidents didn't happen, then I literally wouldn't be where I am today. It was the roommate situation falling apart that got me to my current apartment, my better health this year due to all the stuff I went through last year and I've since decided to spend my time with worthwhile people. I can't justify the car stuff, but that's how it goes.

I like how this reflection on 2011 become more about 2010. Maybe by next I'll have this year's reflection.

Okay, 2012. I'll give you a shot. You have some pretty big shoes to fill.

*Wassail was another thing I tried for the first time in 2011.

My favorite stories from the past year:

Navigating Love and Autism (The New York Times)
The Times has been running a series on autism and this entry was especially touching.

Travis the Menace (New York Magazine)
Why shouldn't wild animals be kept as pets? This is why.

Dear Mountain Room Parents (Shouts & Murmurs)
I'm not a parent, but I don't have to be to know this is hilarious.

The Complete Oral History of Party Down (Details)
This is how your cult classic comedy sausage gets made.

All The Single Ladies (The Atlantic)
Of course I read this and loved it.

Dear Sugar (The Rumpus)
My favorite advice columnist

Scandals of Classic Hollywood (The Hairpin)
What I really love about this series is that it is written in such a way that makes it easy-to-understand by comparing the situations and people with modern ones  ("The first thing you need to understand is that Elizabeth Taylor was a child star — as cute as the Olsen twins with the precociousness of a Fanning sister.")

What else have I loved this year? Well...

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES PART TWO.

It's been months and I'm still obsessed. CAN'T STOP.

A great, inspiring film about living and breathing passion.

The only summer blockbuster series that I ever cared about.

Delicious.

And my favorite podcast, How Was Your Week.

The best parts about December

I tend to dislike this month, but I'm going to try to be optimistic and list the few reasons I enjoy it. Here goes!

• The smell of fresh pine at the entrance of grocery stores
• The fact that it's socially acceptable to listen to my favorite holiday song on repeat
• Candy Cane Joe-Joes
• Chocolate-covered Candy Candy Joe-Joes
• That warm and fuzzy feeling that seems to be in the air
• Christmas parties!
• Getting drunk at Christmas parties!
• Getting drunk at Christmas parties in festive, comfortable sweaters!
• Singing along to "Long December" and not feeling weird about it, because let's get real, if it's not flying by, then it's a loooooonng month.

What else?!