obsession of the month: PacNW

It might have something to do with the fact that The Husband proposed to me there. Or because I haven't been back since 2005. Or it could have something to do with the fact that I finally got around to reading the Twilight books. Whatever the reason, I'm fixated on the Pacific Northwest right now. The forests, the seafood, the drizzle, all of it. Luckily, my sister and I felt the urge to whisk ourselves away to Seattle and Vancouver later this month. I'm stoked to see Jen, who ran away to Seattle not long ago, and the 2-hour roadtrip to Canada with my sister, where we are hoping to spot some vampires. It's a mini-adventure with no concrete plans in place. Just four days of Pacific Northwest goodness.

*I took the above photograph in 2005 just outside Vancouver, BC.

obsession of the month: mad men

I know, I know. I'm "late" to the whole Mad Men thing. But hear me out: I have a 15-month-old, and my television time is not what it used to be. So I'm using Netflix to catch up. I thought, 'Oh, I'll get season 1 and see if I like it.' Holy martini, it's so good! I adore the one-liners, the clothes, the furniture, the uncontrollable drinking and smoking, and the misgivings of 1960 society. It's a very smart show.

Perhaps what I most love about it is that it makes me think. I think about how much social norms have changed since then, how different my life would be if I lived then and whether I would be a beatnik or a housewife. A career woman or a mom. A wife or "the other woman." The truth is, I would hate living during that time, but Mad Men gives me a chance to imagine what it would be like. So thank you, Mad Men, for being a smart show, because I hate mind-numbing TV, like those "World's Most Ridiculous Car Chase" programs. Give me smart TV. Give me Mad Men, please!