m e l i n d a m a r y b r a n d t

i_pause @ 2008-09-08T16:35:00

2008-09-08T20:40:31Z

brixton's almost nine months old. he's crawling and standing up a little bit, we'll see when he starts walking. work is going really, really well. i just got a price raise and i've been making a bit of commission each week... and i've actually been taking a lot of time off. i haven't worked a full five day week in a long time. i love the time off but i need to get back into routine. we replanted most of the garden yesterday, we had let a bunch of stuff die. since it was raining most of the summer, we didn't have to water much and then it stopped raining and we never started watering again. hopefully we can resurrect some of the stuff though. my sunflowers are like seven feet tall but dying at the bottom so i had to cut a few to save them. ryoji, brixton and i are trying to go to iowa in october sometime... it'll be really stressful but my mom wants to see us and is willing to pay for our insanely expensive tickets. anyway, i suck at updating this thing so you can see our blog for brixton here or go see my flickr pictures, which i'm actually good at updating, here. take care (to whoever still reads this).

i_pause @ 2008-06-22T17:55:00

2008-06-22T23:06:12Z

i haven't updated in a long time. not that i was ever very good about it. so it's summer now. we have a garden with lots of vegetables and flowers. it's actually doing really well considering we had to dig out caution tape and trash and cigarettes to make it. we've eaten strawberries, lettuce, parsley and basil out of it and not died... so that's good. i'm now a full time stylist at work, i've been doing that for a while now. it's SO much better than apprenticing, not only do i make slightly more money but i really love what i do. brixton is six months old now and getting cuter and more fun every day. he is hating the humidity though, we have discovered the heat makes him a monster. he can sit up by himself for short periods of time and scoot on his face towards toys... or remotes, or anything that looks interesting/edible. i started trying to make brixton a cycling cap yesterday but i couldn't find a pattern and i obviously didn't have any fucking clue how to make a hat. so i finally found a good pattern and scaled it down to baby size and this is the result...

i am quite satisfied with my version 2.0, mostly because version 1.0 was horrendous. please also note his temporary tattoo that he got at our friend alexi's birthday party last night. all the babies were doing it. (his says "mom" in a banner held by sparrows, wrapped around a heart, of course.) anyway i guess i decided to update this because i wanted to write down what i cooked for myself today. i've been really good about coming up with some creative dishes with what we have around the house.

brunch: home fries seasoned with cumin and paprika with sauteed mushrooms and squash with fresh salsa
dinner: cumin and turmeric tofu scramble with squash, onions and mushrooms with toast and fresh guacamole

xo

i_pause @ 2008-02-19T16:48:00

2008-02-19T21:49:16Z

brixton is a hottie

so i only work 20 hours a week now which is pretty much driving me crazy. i feel absolutely useless and i'm not making enough money to pay our ridiculous utility bills. i'm going to start doing wednesday nights on the floor as a stylist (finally!) which i'm excited about but will complicate our schedule even more. and our complicated schedule is starting to take a toll on our relationship (which was pretty messed up to start with)... mostly because we're both mentally and emotionally exhausted. and i'm still, and always will be, slightly crazy. and he still thrives on attention from other girls. i'd like to think i'm all he needs but it's never enough, i guess. i try to get out and see my friends but that creates other problems... i just can't win. brixton is probably the most perfect thing in my life right now. babies are easy, it's life that is hard. things will get better, i'm sure. but then they will inevitably get worse again. my life is a rollercoaster. and i hate rollercoasters.

i_pause @ 2007-12-23T18:45:00

2007-12-23T23:46:52Z

more pictures are posted on my flickr account.

i'm sleepy.

i_pause @ 2007-12-14T21:46:00

2007-12-15T02:46:55Z

1) where did you begin 2007?
in canada playing trivial pursuit with my bff

2) what was your status by valentine's day?
who fucking knows... so nothing's changed really

3) were you in school (anytime this year)?
nope

4) how did you earn your money?
answering phones, washing rich bitch's hair

5) did you have to go to the hospital?
i go a lot now

6) did you have any encounters with the police?
no

7) where did you go on vacation (holiday)?
canada, the midwest and new york a few times

8) what did you purchase that was over $1000?
nothing

9) did you know anybody who got married?
brent and lindsay, andrew and megan

10) did you know anybody who passed away?
a few, though not very well

12) did you move anywhere?
a different house

14) what concerts/shows did you go to?
a lot of friends bands, a few others

15) are you registered to vote?
no

16) who did you want to win big brother?
shut up

17) where do you live now?
allston

18) describe your birthday?
probably one of the best in a while, party at our apartment, got wasted, had fun

19) name one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2007?
oh, you know, have a baby (soon)

20) what has been one of your favorite moments?
roadtrips, toni & guy classes in new york, living with danielle and jeffo

21) what's something you learned about yourself?
i make bad decisions/avoid scary things

22) any new additions to your family?
not quite yet

23.) what was your best month?
was there one?

24.) what music will you remember 2007 by?
bad pop punk

25) who has been your best drinking buddy?
daddy, danielle, sarah, marc

26) made new friends?
some

27) new best friend?
i like my old ones

28) favorite night out?
birthday, maybe

i_pause @ 2007-12-11T09:22:00

2007-12-11T14:34:06Z

panda from danielle

an orgy of animals

panda's wardrobe

sneaks from liz and adam

i_pause @ 2007-11-27T19:15:00

2007-11-28T00:15:59Z

vegan strawberry and raspberry muffins

onesies i made

toppings for vegan pizza

vegan pizza

i_pause @ 2007-11-25T22:44:00

2007-11-26T04:03:46Z

we've taken panda's wardrobe into our own hands since most of the stuff we got is pretty ick. i spent a considerable amount of time trying to take out the stitching of gay embroidered teddy bears and dogs and sheep. i guess we'll just let him poop all over that stuff. both showers resulted in a lot of clothes and not much else so now we're having to buy all the practical things ourselves. here are the remains of our wishlist. so we've got a little less than three weeks to get everything together... and we still haven't settled on a name. i see the baby scientists every week now, i still work five days (though we hired two new apprentices so i'm feeling pretty useless there) but i feel pretty good otherwise, mostly just uncomfortable.

i_pause @ 2007-11-19T20:18:00

2007-11-20T01:20:09Z

hello, you are mine now
goodbye ipod from 2003

i_pause @ 2007-11-05T18:51:00

2007-11-05T23:52:07Z

this baby will never have a name...

help!

i_pause @ 2007-10-31T21:34:00

2007-11-01T01:38:24Z

vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

i_pause @ 2007-10-01T12:38:00

2007-10-01T16:48:42Z

this was my sunday...

vegan chocolate chip scones
(not all of them were dick shaped)

vegan stuffed shells

i love my new apartment, we're still not completely settled in but it definitely feels like home
i have the day off so i'm going to try to get my room organized and clean up the livingroom
i'll take some pictures when everything gets finished

i_pause @ 2007-09-10T20:51:00

2007-09-11T01:11:10Z

iowa was boring... besides the wedding, which was beautiful and really fun. i havent gotten unpacked yet mostly because i don't have a place to put everything... "everything" being mostly clothes. we still haven't gone furniture shopping so we have no livingroom or kitchen. i painted my room yellow and hung up a bunch of black framed pictures. i can't wait to get everything finished, our apartment is so amazing, it feels like a house.
i heard something pretty fucked up the other day and although i had a talk about it, i don't feel like much really got resolved. though that's pretty much what i expected. we are doomed in the end anyway, what does it really matter what happens now.
work is going really well, i started charging $25 for haircuts this month and have been doing a lot of models. wednesday night we are doing hair for a fashion show, i am super excited for that. since one of our apprentices quit/got fired i have been making a lot better tips, which has made up for the time i took off for moving and going to iowa.
almost everything is really good, i just need to figure out a couple things... ive been putting them off for a long time.

i_pause @ 2007-08-31T22:52:00

2007-09-01T03:04:16Z

sooo today has been absolutely retarded.

i packed and moved all of my stuff all by myself in the last 36 hours, thanks to danielle lending me her 89 honda shitbox. my bruises are already turning purple and i'm going to have a pretty gnarly one behind my right ear... great for looking classy at weddings. i am all alone in our new apartment doing laundry, drinking draft cider and waiting for delivery. i feel really proud for having handled everything myself but also bummed out that none of my friends could find the time to help me. even more bummed out that one person in particular offered no help and isn't hanging out with me now...

i leave for iowa tomorrow morning with danielle, brent's wedding is sunday and we fly back on wednesday. so maybe i'll get some time to relax but most likely my mom will be driving me crazy and i will want to jump off her stupid concrete balcony.

i_pause @ 2007-08-27T12:44:00

2007-08-27T16:58:16Z

today is so wtf already! i was all excited because i had three models lined up, all on the hour so i was basically going to be a stylist for the day. so my first one doesn't show up (and she just made the appointment on friday), the second calls to reschedule this morning (he called twice within three hours on friday because he was so frantic for a haircut, now he wants to wait until next week) and the third has an appointment at 2pm that she better show up for. and she better not be a bitch either. i was so excited to show my bosses i could stay on schedule and just totally impress them, but noooo. ugh.

oh yeah, and its supposed to be my day off.

edit : things ended up working out. first girl showed up at 1pm, colored my 2pm lady, cut a clients' son's hair while 2pm lady processed and cut her when i was done with him. so three cuts and a color in four hours, that's a completely acceptable time frame considering. i haven't taken any consecutive appointments since school. i'm pretty sure i impressed my bosses. mission accomplished.

i_pause @ 2007-07-30T22:52:00

2007-07-31T02:52:22Z

what i ate today:
1 bowl of special k vanilla almond
1 bag newman's own popcorn
1 nectarine
1 large salad made by me
(romaine, carrots, seasoned olive oil)
1 lemonade flavored vitamin water

i was going to try vegan for a week but i doubt that popcorn was totally vegan... oh well. i'll start over tomorrow, maybe.

everything is fine. i'm posting this from my new sidekick which i am kind of in love with. i've gotten two tax returns this month and i got paid $120 to clean the salon last weekend... though i have to pay last month's rent here, first and last at my new apartment and buy a plane ticket to iowa for brent's wedding. i think i'll be able to pull it off though. i can't wait to move in with danielle and jeff and i am really excited for brent's wedding, august is pretty much going to rule.

hope is supposed to come visit this month, libby said she would be home for her birthday and a few other friends are coming to visit too! and everyone i know was born in august/early september so hopefully that means a lot of partying.

yay!

i_pause @ 2007-06-21T23:51:00

2007-06-22T03:52:48Z

stop telling me things i clearly do not and would not ever want to know!!!

i_pause @ 2007-06-20T21:52:00

2007-06-21T02:33:34Z

i've managed to save a $250 check and stash a $50 bill for the last month or so. i think it's time to get reacquainted with my savings account. although i really should be saving it up for a new apartment, (we have to move out at the end of august) i would much rather spend it on starting my quarter sleeve. we'll see what happens. danielle is probably going to move into the city with me in september. i asked sarah from work if she wants to live with us. oh and sarah and i got tattoos of shears on sunday. right now it's just an outline but i'd like to do something more with it later. it's pretty funny and also pretty awesome.
classes in new york were amazing. our hotel was reasonably nice but probably not worth what they paid for it. the instructors at toni & guy were so helpful and i feel like i learned more in the four days of class than i've learned in six months at the salon... considering we kind of have to teach ourselves through observation and video tapes. i got to hang out with hope a couple times which was good, i miss her. i wish she would come up to boston to hang out.
i got to see michael showalter on sunday.
i did not get to touch him though.
everything has been good since i've been back.
still a little anxious at times but i'll live.
still walking circles in relationship land.
i can't wait for the fourth of july.

i_pause @ 2007-06-03T15:45:00

2007-06-03T21:13:30Z

oh hey.

it's been a while. i am now sitting at the harvard ave cafe in allston using their internet because i can't pick up a signal at my apartment. it's sunday. it's been kind of raining on and off all day. i intended on getting lots of important things done today but it doesn't look like that's happening. i am meeting danielle and trevor for dinner at brown sugar later. i should at least start to clean up my room tonight. i'm pretty sure you can only see a few square inches of the actual floor. i spilled a whole box of buttons before i left for iowa and still haven't picked them up. saturday we leave for our toni & guy class in new york. hopefully being in a different learning environment will help me get my confidence and motivation back. work has been stressful at best. i know i just got back from vacation but i could definitely use another. one without deadlines or stress or airplanes involved. okay. i'm going to get out of here. i'm starting to feel like a really big nerd.

i_pause @ 2007-04-11T20:07:00

2007-04-12T00:09:25Z

montreal - april 21 & 22 to see libby
nyc/OH/chicago/IA - may 9-15 power tour 2
nyc june 9-13 - toni & guy class!

so so so excited!

i_pause @ 2007-03-30T22:15:00

2007-03-31T02:38:30Z

even though we have a kitchen table now, i still eat dinner sitting indian style on the counter.

long, long, long week and i have to work tomorrow too. my car finally got fixed so i went out to braintree to pick it up yesterday. i'm missing my polaroid camera and my cd player but my 35mm camera was sitting neatly on the front seat. if it were me, i would take the big expensive object and leave the worthless polaroid and old cd player. assholes. on the drive home from braintree, ryoji calls me and tells me he got hit by a car so i go over and bandage him up (with hello kitty bandaids) and feed him treats. he wakes up this morning and decides that his wrist really is fucked up so i drop him at the ER before work. he ended up fracturing his wrist and has a splint which i have yet to see, i bet it looks pretty crucial. i have no definite plans this weekend but i actually have a lot of stuff to get done. i have to work monday again so i have to do laundry sunday, i guess. i have saturday, sunday and monday off of work next week though... i can't wait beach weather.

i_pause @ 2007-03-18T01:02:00

2007-03-18T05:11:59Z

okay, a real update
on saturday at 1am

i started apprenticing last week at work. i've been making really good tips, i love tips. here are two reasons why apprenticing sucks. 1. my hands are wrecked, i need to moisturize eighteen times a day. 2. leaning over a shampoo bowl all day makes my back hurt a lot. other than that, it's awesome and though i probably don't realize the extent of it, i'm learning a lot.
i don't know if my car is ever getting fixed. i am going to miss all of my things that are probably already stolen out of it. the repair place is trying to call it a total loss, they say they can't fix it... i call bullshit on that. give me a goddamn hammer and i will fix it myself. i need my car for such things as going to whole foods and ikea, transporting large uncarryable items and crucial power tours. i'd really like to drive back to iowa/mpls soon.
i think my roommates come in and turn my tv off when i'm asleep sometimes. i feel kind of weird about this. i could be naked or drooling or sleep talking in here. i need to train myself to sleep without noise, i guess. i took a five hour nap after work and now it's 1:30, i'm not tired and i have nothing to do.
i keep seeing video clips of rod stewart in those yellow, high-waisted, bell-bottomed spandex pants and purple tank top. sick.

i'm going to go moisturize.

i_pause @ 2007-03-12T21:36:00

2007-03-13T01:40:37Z

aurora came up this weekend
took her+sam to happy endings
tried to dance to crappy music
later that night i wiped out
left knee, right hip wreckage

slept for maybe four hours
anticipated god's pancakes
but no one actually ate any
car moshed to the dedication
(forget about that last part)
went shopping on newbury st.

even though i wrecked myself
i had a really good weekend
ultimate cuddles last night
made wounds hurt a bit less

i need milk for my cereal

out of order

2007-02-26T00:42:49Z

someone hit my car while it was parked and left a whack ass phone number.
now i get up an hour earlier every day so i can take public transportation.

yay : (

i_pause @ 2007-02-24T16:43:00

2007-02-24T21:55:08Z

i tie my shoes way too tight every morning.

i worked over 50 hours this week, i'm exhausted.
i might take tonight off and get my laundry done.
i think i officially start apprenticing next monday.
i have been hanging out way too much this week.
(my room is so uncharacteristically disorganized!)

i am really happy with how everything turned out.