as tradition dictates...

...i always try to give a list of things i'd appreciate getting on my birthday (which will be here before i know it!)

deviation from the list is always fine of course, but for those who want a hint or three, i'm willing to oblige. here we go.

Books, Nonfiction:
- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang
- 100 Places Every Woman Should Go, by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
- A Walk Across America, by Peter Jenkins
- Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi
- Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt
- Walden Two, by B.F. Skinner
- Suburban Transformations, by Paul Lukez
- The Little Black Book of Style, by Nina Garcia

Books, Fiction:
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
- comics comics comics - any daredevil written by Bendis except Underboss, volume 8, 9 or 10 of the sandman, any of buffy season 8, etc etc
- any Kurt Vonnegut except slaughterhouse, cats cradle, timequake, and welcome to the monkey house, jailbird

Cookbooks:
- Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate, by Patricia Wells
- Canyon Ranch Cooks: More than 200 Delicious, Innovative Recipes from America's Leading Health Resort

DVDS:
- Animated movies: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Monsters Inc, Cars, The Prince of Egypt, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Fantasia, Little Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp, Ratotouille
- Buffy seasons 5 or 7
- Older favorites: The Breakfast Club, Breaking Away, Chicago, Ivanhoe (the Liz Taylor version), Mary Poppins, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nine to Five, Pollyanna, The Secret of My Success, Sneakers
- Ballet DVDS: Romeo & Juliet (Nureyev/Fonteyn), Carmen (Baryshnikov/Jeanmarie), Don Quixote (Baryshnikov/Harvey)

CDS:
- Villa-Lobos: Instrumental Et Orchestral Works, by Heitor Villa-Lobos
- Lost Highway Soundtrack
- Modern Guilt: Beck

Board/Card Games, Woo!:
- Settlers of Catan, Citadels, Puerto Rico, Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, Cranium, Munchkin, Wise and Otherwise, Fluxx, Risk, Clue, Othello, Mastermind, Uno

Video Games: (system in parentheses)
- (Wii) - Wii Fit
- (Wii) - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- (Nintendo DS) - Cooking Mama
- (PC) - Zeus Expansion: Poseidon

Other non-categorized stuff:
- Any other picture frames of assorted sizes
- Note cards (I love the website "Red Stamp")
- Ticket stub diary (chroniclebooks.com)
- Cake carrier
- Cordless drill
- Kitchen shears

Some random FYIs:

I just moved. My new living room is deep red and purple. My new office/dining room is green and brown. I am not a big yellow fan.

Some of my favorite etsy sellers are: esdesigns, Ling Glass, FireChickTick, Hapa, LiiLii, Nanda, LuxeDeluxe, stelladesigns, Tee Petals, and Claudine's Closet.

I don't need any more candles. Pretty much ever.

I would rather people not buy me clothes at the moment because I plan to be changing clothing sizes soon.

One of the greats...

As breakup songs go I think Lily Allen's "Littlest Things" is a serious contender. A good listen even if you're not feelin' the breakup aspect of it.

"Littlest Things"

Sometimes I find myself sittin' back and reminiscing
Especially when I have to watch other people kissin'
And I remember when you started callin' me your mrs.
All the play fightin', all the flirtatious disses
I'd tell you sad stories about my childhood
I don't why I trusted you but I knew that I could
We'd spend the whole weekend lying in our own dirt
I was just so happy in your boxers and your t-shirt

[Chorus]
Dreams, Dreams
Of when we had just started things
Dreams of you and me
It seems, It seems
That I can't shake those memories
I wonder if you have the same dreams too.

The littlest things that take me there
I know it sounds lame but its so true
I know its not right, but it seems unfair
That the things are reminding me of you
Sometimes I wish we could just pretend
Even if only for one weekend
So come on, Tell me
Is this the end?

Drinkin' tea in bed
Watching DVD's
When I discovered all your dirty grotty magazines
You take me out shopping and all we'd buy is trainers
As if we ever needed anything to entertain us
the first time that you introduced me to your friends
and you could tell I was nervous, so you held my hand
when I was feeling down, you made that face you do
There's no one in the world who could replace you

[Chorus]
Dreams, Dreams
Of when we had just started things
Dreams of me and you
It seems, It seems
That I can't shake those memories
I wonder if you feel the same way too

The littlest things that take me there
I know it sounds lame but its so true
I know its not right, but it seems unfair
That the things reminding me of you
Sometimes I wish we could just pretend
Even if only for one weekend
So come on, Tell me
Is this the end?