charles shaw.

We're home from Chicago. A got a keyboard at some super Black Friday sale in Palatine, and now there are gigantic keyboard boxes laying all over the living room. Annie and Tuta (Christmas Island's Most Fashionable Kitty Social Lights) are loving it. They are also loving the Itty Bitty Christmas Tree that is now on one of our side tables. Our tree kicks Charlie Brown's tree's ass (proving pictures coming soon).

I just smelled UCLA. Weird-sad. UCLA is such a phenomenon to me; those were two of my favorite years of my life, and they went so incredibly fast. As (completely) happy as I am now, I still occasionally wonder why I was so powerless in 2006 and unable to force a continuation of that... era of wonderfulness. Thinking about it makes me sad-ish.

Best part about the most recent trip: TRADER JOE'S. We stocked up on Yellow Curry Tuna dinners, Soy Milk, Pesto Pasta, Punkin' Granola, Frozen Asian Chicken Breasteses, Holiday Ginger Cookies, and most importantly... TWO BUCK CHUCK! Well, three buck chuck in Chi-town. There's a reason why they call California the golden state. (Unexpected homesickness. First the UCLA smell, then Trader Joe's and two dollar wine... Simi Valley living sounds pretty good right about now).

I'm having a last hurrah right now on two levels (Have I mentioned that I love enumeration?). First, I'm drinking and being food-merry, for tomorrow I shall diet or die, whichever comes first. Second, I'm doing things that need not be done, like blogging, and Internet window shopping, and watching Blood Diamond and knitting hats in pretty colors. Tomorrow there's going to be a gi-normous change of lifestyle. DIET and SCHOOL are the new hardcore life themes until December 13th, at which point finals are over and Buelsy can start remembering the smell of the Golden State and happy times without what-might-be-tears-and-stress-wrinkles all over her face.

--buelsy (wishes she could be trader jane)