New Home

I decided to move my blog to another site. The link is on my facebook or you can respond to this post and I'll tell you my new address. Thanks for reading.

good days

Everytime I run across these pictures, it just makes me happy:) They're from some kind of Christmas PJ Party that we had in middle school. I won't even put captions on these pictures to protect the innocent. But to my middle school-and-on friends, I love you and you know who you are!

my most favorite purchase ever (or at least in the recent past)

I bought this coat at Target for $13 on clearance! And seeing as it was pretty much no degrees today in Indiana, this has really come in handy. The hood is most definitely my favorite part and I'm pretty sure I will never again buy a coat without a hood. With my new coat and my long underwear, the past few days have been almost bearable. I have no idea what I'll be doing in a few months, but Miami is sounding appealing. Although, as much as I hate the cold, when I manage to somewhat outsmart it, I get some sick feeling of midwestern pride:)

the wedding singer

In keeping with tradition, I am here to report on Josh and my third Broadway Across America date. We saw The Wedding Singer at The Murat. It's a 2006 musical based on the 1998 movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It was probably my least favorite of the ones we've seen so far but it was still fun and enjoyable. Plus Josh and I always have fun dressing up and going out!

newsworthy

Two of my favorite people in the world, Ted and Paulina, are getting married June 7th in Merida, Mexico. Pau is my friend I stayed with when I was living in Mexico this summer and Ted is the one who introduced me to her. I'm so happy for them and I'm saving my pennies in hopes that I can make the trip out there for the wedding:)

Also- Check out the comments on my post "commonest." I mentioned that I was going to call in to a show on NPR and the next morning, one of the co-hosts of the show had posted on my blog! I couldn't believe it. I emailed him and asked how he found my post- Google newsfeed I guess. Anyway, I just thought that was pretty cool. Maybe I'll call in and be on the show!

i like indy

It really is a charming midwestern city. Last night, my friend Robert and I headed out to try our hand at Spanish tapas cuisine. There is a charming Spanish restaurant on the corner of Delaware and Ohio in downtown Indy that I had been wanting to try for awhile, Barcelona Tapas. The food was good, but the atmosphere and the sangria were excellent! Definitely worth a try. I'll be going back so if you're looking for someone to go with, give me a call:) Luckily we had a reservation because this tiny little restaurant was packed. Our waitress suggested the pitcher of Sangria which was definitely a good choice because the individual glasses are very small. We loved their famous goat cheese tapa! The way tapas work is that you order several small dishes (tapas) of food and share them. It's kind of like finger-food. A very fun dining experience. If you're lucky enough to live in Indy, you should definitely check out Barcelona Tapas.

the man who saved my life and never knew it

Because it was debilitating. It affects the way you eat, the way you talk, the way you walk, and the way you live. For years I was haunted by the pain and embarrassment.

Smile.

Mine was inadequate. So I felt.

Overdramatic? Slightly. Overemphasized? Not a chance.

I recently had the chance to revisit the man who saved my life and never knew it. Or perhaps he did. Perhaps he went into orthodontics because he knew how much a smile could change a life. Or it could have been the money, but for the sake of ignorant bliss I’ll go with the former.

My teeth are an immense source of pride and joy to me, and, I expect, to my parents who paid a lot of money to fix them. They were bad. Before I even went to the orthodontist, I had four of my permanent teeth cut out of my too small mouth. Anyone who knows me will see the irony of the previous sentence. I had a device that dental professionals like to call an expander, but that is actually more like a medieval torture device. Suffice it to say that this device involved a key that was inserted into the expander every night and cranked, yes, that is the word they used, to slowly widen your arch. I walked through fire for these pearly whites.

On the day my braces came off (one of the proudest of my life), the doctor fitted me with two permanent retainers- small pieces of wire attached to the back of my top and bottom teeth to keep them from moving back. Last night, as I was flossing my teeth (a challenge with the wires), the bottom one came unglued on the left side. I freaked. I was convinced that I could feel my teeth struggling back to their demented origins the moment the metal lost its grip. I woke up this morning and my bottom teeth ached with the paranoia that I would be returned to my adolescent awkwardness.

As I returned to the site of the pain, I wanted to say to all the people in the waiting room: you’re doing the right thing, push through. As I lay back in the chair, prepubescents on either side, my whole body was tense with anticipation. Logically, I knew that they were not going to hurt me- they were going to glue my retainer back in place. But I had to remind myself to breathe. In. Out.

I am a sucker for make-over shows. And I have a peculiar affection for the ones with the women whose teeth are so bad that they never smile. Imagine consciously suppressing every physical expression of happiness. That’s hard work. When the women see their new smiles for the first time they always start sobbing immediately. And I have to admit, it really gets to me. It’s not open-heart surgery, but in a way, it is saving a life.

They fixed my retainer and I left. I felt I should have expressed my appreciation for my teeth. I suppose that was my inspiration. An ode to my orthodontist, to my broken retainer. An ode to the smile.