Alston?

No, this isn't him.....but it might as well be cause he's got all the right moves.

This is from the news station in Omaha, NE. ....I dare you not to smile while you watch this. I have watched this no less than 10 times and it cracks me up each time. I want to know what newsroom meeting they were in when some guy raised his hand and said "You know what I could do?......."

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This year is going to be more low key for me compared to last year. First of all, there are children involved instead of NYC loft parties. Secondly, I'm not dressing up. (I know, I'm lame.) Although let me take this moment to remind the Internet how AWESOME our costumes were last year - Click here.

Ok, moving on.....

This is my best friend's son, Baby Jacob, rocking his first Halloween costume. He is a pumpkin in case you for some reason can't figure that out! And he's thinking to himself - "I'm totally going to make you pay for this one day Mom."

Then we have my cousin, Perry, and his family, who live out in California. They are the black sheep of the family, having thrown away their careers as lawyers to chose a life of piracy. Family reunions are very awkward now because they tend to steal money out of our wallets while yelling "Give me your doubloons!" and constantly tell us to go "walk the plank". Not to mention that their youngest was recently born with feathers. Its breaking my Grandmother's heart.

A Very Cullen Halloween

For those of you living under a rock, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is coming out on November 20th and WE ARE PUMPED. I use the collective "we" to indicate all my friends who are 30 or older and my little sister who is 24. Yes, you might point out that these novels are "pre-teen" and that we are too "old and creepy" to be obsessed with these movies and that we should "get a life" but....have you seen Rob Pattinson? Enough said.

This is an actual picture of Edward Cullen (as indicated by the above label "Edward")

Now these are my sister and her friend's Halloween pumpkins.....

can you spot which one might be Katherine's?

No? You can't?

Let me help you. Its this one.

That's right. THIS IS THE EDWARD PUMPKIN MY SISTER CARVED.

Let me repeat that. THIS IS THE EDWARD PUMPKIN MY SISTER CARVED.

I've never been more proud and disturbed at the same time. My favorite comment is from my friend Tatum who wrote to us: "I'm EXTREMELY impressed and a teeny tiny bit freaked out.....not by the Edward part, but because "crafty" people make me nervous."

Me too Tatum. Me too.

Argh Me Matey!!!

Last Sunday I babysat Rives for the day, and since he wasn't feeling 100% and it was a rainy cold day out? Aunt El officially enacted Aunt Right #146 which in the handbook reads "If babysitting and no adults are in near vicinity, Aunts have the right to allow said Child to stay in pajamas all day, watching movies and eating as many cupcakes as aforementioned Child requests, up to ten but no less than three, provided there is also milk given."

So that's what we did.

Rives had won an outfit at Frankie's (please wait for upcoming blog post) so we tried it on.......

Looking good my man!

I see your hat and your hook, but where is your eye patch? Oh that's right. Aunt El is wearing it.

And guess what I allowed this two year old to watch? That's right. Pirates of the Caribbean. AND HE LOVED IT! There was lots of yelling "Argh Me Matey!" and "Captain Jack Sparrow!" and "She jumped in the water! She walked the plank!"

Then things got complicated.

"Let me get this hook on properly."


"There we go. Now I look GOOD."

"Hmmm. How am I going to pick up this microphone though. This could be a problem."

"Ok, maybe lefty?"

"Yea, that works. And I'll provide extra support with my trusty hook."

"Heck yeah! Now I'm rocking. The baddest pirate Raleigh has ever seen!"

It was a great day and I think we were both excited to try a new movie other than Spiderman(s) 1, 2 or 3....cause let's face it. Johnny Dep is WAY COOLER than Tobey Macguire.

Music Monday

An oldie but a goodie. I haven't heard this song in FOREVER, and then the other night I watched "Superbad" and was reminded of how great this song is in this scene. Hilarious. I loved some Michael Cera.

Download it and rock out - "These Eyes" by The Guess Who

Gross.

What. Is. This.

This is the most terrible thing to be produced by Duke since JJ Reddick. And the Titanic montage makes me uncomfortable and is a little too accurate.

Click here.

Props to Brian, my honorary Tar Heel, for forwarding this along...

Alston Gives Back

My brother, Alston, organized a team to participate in yesterday's 18th Annual NY Cares Day, a day where New Yorkers give back and help clean up NYC schools by painting, cleaning, organizing and much more. They also raised over $230,000 to go towards NY Cares' year round volunteer programs. Alston helped organize a "UNC General Alumni Association" team to participate in the day's clean up efforts and in the process the team raised $4,225! YOU CAN STILL DONATE THROUGH FRIDAY OCTOBER 30th - just click on the UNC GAA link above and donate, every 5 dollars helps!

Alston got interviewed for a news story about the day....you can catch him quickly at the 1:19 mark, and of course he is donning his UNC blue! Click here for the news story.

Good work Alston, we are really proud of you and the team for donating your time, effort and money. You give Tar Heels a good name, love you!

The Greatest Show of Our Time

A little late with this week's reality index from New York Magazine but better late than never? Or something like that.....

Here are a couple favorites:

- A southern friend points out: "Bree was wearing a crucifix when she was being a coldhearted backstabber. That is very much in the 'real' column." Sounds believable to us! Texas is terrifying! Plus 3.
- Plus an additional 2 for the fact that Dan thinks he did an "amazing" acting job. [See also: Ads for The Stepfather]

Also, the Sonic Youth performance at the end? Made me want to stab someone or myself.

It should also be pointed out that the restaurant that they plan their little parent trap moment in? Tony's? Was on 83rd Street, down the block from my old apartment. And while they could whip up a decent pasta dish? I highly doubt Lily Bass would ever have gone there. Its a family style casual eatery......I don't see her serving the kiddos spaghetti out of a big bowl on the table. But that's just my opinion.

Enjoy!

Team Edward

If you think I won't be at the newstand first thing Friday morning to pick up THIS.....you would be wrong. I hope it comes with a "Teen Beats" style fold out poster of Rob Pattinson that I can put on my wall. And I'm only slightly kidding.

Just to get you excited for Nov 20th, check out the trailer here. How good is Dakota Fanning as Jane? Love it.

Music Monday

The sheer number of boys who have recommended this song to me would have your head spinning. Word on the street is that my Cousin-in-law, Drew, was walking around his house singing it. This from the man who also enjoys the music styling of Clutch.

I myself have to admit....I love this song. Its been on repeat in my bedroom when I'm getting ready to go out. Its just so dang catchy and upbeat. Dare you not to groove along....

"Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus

Stanky Leg

I cannot even begin to explain to you the emotions that ran through me when I viewed this video. There are so many ridiculous things encountered here, the least of which is the dance name "Stanky Leg".

If for some reason you can't see below, do yourself a favor and click here.

Another one bites the dust....

So I've heard stories about people tripping and falling while running (and I've seen evidence in the form of the massive scraps and bruises up and down my friend Marie's arms and legs when she took a digger in Central Park) but let's be honest - I never thought it could happen to me.

Well, last night, around mile 2, I was officially initiated into the world of runners. BECAUSE I ATE IT. We were jogging and chatting, and I saw the girl in front of my stub her toe and trip slightly. And before my brain could even process the fact that she almost fell? I was tumbling. And trying to take Natalie down with me. You have to give me props though, because instead of landing on my knees and elbows, I had enough where-with-all to kinda army roll onto my side and use my running shirt as a sort of second skin. Unfortunately for me, the exact place I fell? Happened to be right where someone was watering their lawn and there was a huge puddle there. I saved the skin on my knees, but had to run the next 3 miles in sopping wet shorts. Lovely. By the end of the night, my rear end was frozen and, let's be honest, slightly chafed. This tumble is demonstrated in the photograph below.

I particularly like the boy who is LEAPING over his fallen comrade

without even looking down. Nice.

Your Weekly Fix

I thought this week's GG write up was pretty weak.....however, I did love this line.

We're not ready for Chuck and Jenny to be so friendly/flirty. Yes, they're sort of related now, and yes, Chuck has changed. But a girl doesn't forget about an attempted date rape, even if it took place three seasons ago when she lived in a different borough. Minus 2.

THANK YOU. I thought I was the only person on earth that remembered that. Every time I see Chuck and Jenny interact I wonder about the writers who clearly wish that scene had never been written as it causes any future interaction between the two characters to be super creepy. But I digress.....

Here you go! Enjoy the weekly reality index!

Homeward Bound

Ok, so I haven't updated ya'll on my move much so here we go. Living with my parents while I get my life in order? SO MUCH FUN. I wasn't sure how it was going to pan out (flashback to high school Ellen hollering "You just don't UNDERSTAND me! Ya'll are SO MEAN AND EVIL and ruining my LIFE! Argh, I have soooo much TEEN ANGST! I'm leaving for college and never coming home again EVER.....but can you cut that check to the school now? Oh and give me a little extra spending money for the beach trip this summer? Also, I need some new back-to-school clothes. Thanks, love you."

Adjustment period has been surprisingly minimal and hopefully I'm being helpful to my parents versus a burden. One area where I might be overstepping my helpfulness? I've taken it upon myself to re-organize different areas of the house. Maybe I'm nesting. Maybe I'm just so mesmerized by having multiple rooms in a living space, I don't take them for granted and want them to sparkle with cleanliness. Maybe I'm a control freak who feels that as long as my living quarters are in tip-top shape, my life is in tip-top shape. (Hint: Its that one.) Regardless, my days have been filled with different projects.

I love nothing more than cleaning out closets and cabinets and getting rid of clutter. I'm an organizational freak. Whereas my Mom? Shall we say she is less concerned with the cleaning supply cabinet needing to be organized in alphabetical order and labeled appropriately. The best investment I ever made, other than my Louis Vuitton purse, is a label maker. Without labels, how would one know that the dishtowels go on THIS shelf and cleaning rags on THIS shelf. Duh.

True Story: I spent an hour or so cleaning out the "medicine cabinet" above my Mom's desk and when my Dad came home from work, I was like a kid in a candy store. I drug him over to the desk the minute he got home from work and was all "Are you ready? You aren't going to BELIEVE this. Seriously. Its amazing. Just spectacular. Ready? One, two, three!!!" And he was all "Um, ok cool. Looks.....clean. When's dinner?" Balloon, meet needle. Pop.

So all in all, things are great. I haven't regretted my decision to move back at all and am really looking forward to the holidays! The job search is on and hopefully I'll some exciting news to report soon! In the meantime, below are some Top Five lists for you to enjoy.

Top Five Things I Love About Being Back in NC:
1) My parents house. Oh the joy of living in a house that's bigger than a shoebox and having multiple rooms. With doors. Heaven.
2) My friends and my family.
3) The beach. Its so wonderful to hop in a car, turn on some music and be at the beach in a matter of hours without fighting traffic and dropping thousands of dollars on a summer share house.
4) Porches. Being able to step outside to drink a cup of coffee or read a book on a sunny day? Delightful.
5) TARGET!!!!! Target, Target, Target. Will you marry me Target and let me dance up and down your glorious aisles full of cheap, but well made, products? I love you forever.

Top Five Things I Miss About NYC:
1) Being able to walk out my door and go for a run through Central Park. How many people got to use Central Park as their backyard?
2) My friends and my brother.
3) Food, food, food. All the fun restaurants and bars and the fact that folks are always out and about and being social. Always something to do and see.
4) H&M. Why, oh why, don't they open one in North Carolina? Get with it people!!
5) Ummm. Not a whole lot of celebrity and people watching going on down here. Just walking to the grocery store in NYC could be a massive adventure in itself. Some of the things people wore? Like the famous UES jogger who wears a thong, leotard, fishnet tights and a ponytail to run around in? And is a dude? Amazing.

Music Monday

Shout out to my friend Janie, who reminded me of this song one Friday this summer as we were driving down to Pinehurst, NC for a wedding. She plugged in her iPod, cranked up the volume and sang a delightful version of this song with passion and pizazz. If she could recreate the hairstyles in this video, she would surely have a career in the music industry. I'll be your back up singer any day, Janie.

Relive the magic, especially at that ever-classic 51 second mark: "Alone" by Heart

The Shop Tart Raleigh

For all my Raleigh people out there (and any one else who likes fashion!).......my friend Alison is starting a new blog all about shopping, fashion and lunching in the Raleigh area. She is a wonderful writer and blogs about different fashion trends, where to get them, what stores just got in fun, fabulous new items, etc. A couple weeks ago we went to a fashion show at Vermillion and she just posted pics.....and much street props to Alison for referencing Blair Waldorf and Gossip Girl. So when you have some free time at work, or you are procrastinating on that project? Take some time to check out her blog. Those assignments can wait 10 more minutes.

Check it out at The Shop Tart Raleigh!