an aggregate of all things Johnson

While in California I was surprised by an early birthday party from my sweet in-laws. I loved the gifts I received so much, that I wanted to tell you about them… just in case you are in the market for any of these goodies…

• Lululemon is something of a family obsession. Travis’ parents got me my very first Scuba hoodie, but it isn’t the one pictured. The one they got me is black, but it also has a detachable faux fur trim on the hood. It is limited edition. Fancy.

My sister-in-law, Chelsea, gave me a collection of gifts inspired by my love for Team in Training purple, and which also happen to line up with the February’s amethyst birthstone color:

• My new favorite running accessory? Sparkly Soul glitter headbands. They are the best because they are a continuous band of stretchy, nonslip glitter. We wore pink during the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, and Chelsea surprised me with the two purple colors for my birthday.
• Bobbi Brown is one of my favorite beauty brands and Chelsea got me the brand new, wildly bright, ultra violet lip gloss. Don’t worry, it goes on with just a hint of color.
• Nail color has been a new and somewhat unlikely hobby of mine. Nail biting has been a bad habit for my whole life, but I am trying to break it. Chelsea knows that I’ve recently been interested in the non-toxic (healthier?) nail polish brand, Butter London, and she got me the metallic purple Hrh color.

I recommend all of these items — they are my new favorites!

I sure got lucky when I married into the Johnson family… and for many more reasons than just lovely birthday gifts. xoxo

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My sweet, little puppy turns three years old today! We aren’t having much of a party, but he is getting plenty of treats.

Crusher has a strong personality – independent and demanding – but he is a great part of our family. He always wants to sit right between Travis and me on the couch and will only sleep if he can have the middle spot in the bed. He sits right beside me while I work at the computer each day and he knows when Travis gets home. He goes out to the living room each night to wait for him at six pm and does a squealing dance when Travis walks in the door. He loves it when we go out in the neighborhood to hunt for food (i.e. buy it at a shop while he waits outside) and proudly escorts our score back to our apartment with a little prance in his step. He takes his job as the protector of our apartment very seriously and he always wants to be a part of whatever Travis and I are doing. (Unless it involves wearing miniature top hats.) Basically, he is the best dog in the world.

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1. Crusher’s 2nd birthday!
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You may remember that about six months ago I wrote down a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30. Well, I didn’t do so great completing the list… but I’m not beating myself up over it. I am flexible. I am revising the list to be a “30 while 30″ list. I have crossed out the items that have been completed and added more items to replace them, creating a new list of thirty things that I would like to do before I’m 31. … Or, at least before I’m 40!

My 30 while 30:

♥ Redesign the Swap-bot homepage.
♥ Go to dinner at Al Di La.
♥ Get super-comfortable using our DSLR camera.
♥ Run the NYC marathon!
♥ Be noticeably sweeter to my husband.
♥ Take my donation pile to the thrift store.
♥ Visit The Cloisters.
♥ Lose 15 pounds. (Isn’t this on everyone’s list?)
♥ Buy a really beautiful and practical dress.
♥ Make marinara sauce from scratch.
♥ Take an overnight trip with my husband that is not at a relative’s house.
♥ Visit the Bronx Zoo.
♥ Watch every episode of Tosh.0.
♥ Get the Florence + The Machine album on vinyl.
♥ Make Crusher a super-cute Halloween costume.
♥ Try to live in the moment.
♥ Make blueberry pancakes.
♥ Start taking a weekly yoga class.
♥ Figure out how to style my hair in loose waves/curls.
♥ Watch Meet Me in St. Louis again.
♥ Do all of my mending!
♥ Drive upstate to see the autumn foliage.
♥ Make cupcakes with some sort of filling.
♥ Reduce my internal negativity.
♥ Call my brothers and sister-in-law every week (or at least more frequently).
♥ Visit all five boroughs in NYC (should happen during the marathon).
♥ Get a new laptop.
♥ Read a novel. (Maybe this one?)
♥ Reduce the amount of time I spend on Facebook.
♥ Vote!
♥ Promote peace.
♥ Get a unicorn face painting!

New items:

♥ Run a sub-2-hour half marathon. (This may be impossible.)
♥ Set up an online Swap-bot merch store.
♥ Force Travis to watch Star Trek: Generations with me.
♥ Eat less candy.
♥ Attend a taping of the Wendy WIlliams Show.
♥ Buy awesome, new, flattering jeans.
♥ Visit the New York Transit Museum.
♥ Bake a loaf of bread from scratch.
♥ Become an adult.

What do you think? What else should I add to my list?

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1. 30 before 30
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3. 2010

So…. I read this article today. It is sort of about “mommy blogging,” but more specifically about a subset of female bloggers that happen to be Mormon and sort of happen to be perfect in every way. Perfect in every way on their blogs, any way.

I don’t really care for the predictable arguing that results from this type of article and plays out in its comments (“religious people are simple-minded” “nuh uh. liberals and feminists are jerks” …that sort of thing), but I can relate to a lot of the feelings expressed in the article, like how some more mainstream parenting blogs “make parenthood seem like a vale of judgment and anxiety,” and if the more perfect bloggers can “help women like me envision a life in which marriage and motherhood could potentially be something other than a miserable, soul-destroying trap, I say, ‘Right on.’” But that is not what I wanted to post about… I wanted to post about my low self esteem.

Do you think some people are fundamentally just better than others? I know that a blog is a curated view of a person’s life and that no one’s life is perfect, but some of these blogging women are just too much to handle. (And not just cheery mormons — the perfect woman comes in all types! Like her, and her, and her, and her, and her, and so many more I must stop myself before I go crazy.) Their perfection makes me depressed. How can they have a beautiful house, perfect clothes (some of which they make themselves and others that they carefully collected from adorable vintage boutiques), beautiful children and/or a fab career, home baked cakes, cute crafts, peppy parties, hipster husbands, and cute thick-rimmed eyeglasses, etc etc etc… plus, the lovely design sense, writing skill, and photography prowess to make it all look fantastic on the internet? I mean, I try. I’ve been blogging for over seven years, but I can’t make my life look that good.

It’s like on Star Trek — everything in life relates back to Star Trek, obvs — only the best got into Starfleet Academy. And everyone in Starfleet Academy was uniquely perfect in their own way. Of course, they were all physically and mentally superior to their peers, but they also had unique and intellectual hobbies, like horticulture or playing concertos on the violin, and they read Shakesphere or did Tai Chi in their spare time. I know, I know. Star Trek is just a tv show. But that is how I feel about these perfect lady bloggers. They are in Starfleet and I am just some lame colonist trying to scrape out an existence on some distant desert planet. ugh. I’m nearly 30. Shouldn’t I have grown beyond all of this self doubt and jealousy?

Speaking of turning 30, what else do I need for my party? These are the things I have planned so far:

• Fancy garland
• Mini cupcakes
• Celebration candles
• Balloons!
• Sparklers

Sounds like a party to me! (whew. That cheered me up a bit.)

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I believe there is only one man in the world with the patience, kindness, and determination to put up with my crazy self… I feel so incredibly lucky to have found him so early in my life!

My sweet, hard working, brilliant genius of a husband turns THIRTY today!!! (Wild fun fact: We’ve been together – and basically inseparable – since before Travis’ 17th birthday and for all the birthdays in between!) I cannot imagine my life without him and I know that every single thing I have accomplished in my adult life has only come with his help and support. What a heavy and humbling thought, but also a testament to teamwork and devotion.

I love you, Travis! Happy birthday!

And, as an extra special gift… I’ll leave you with the immortal lyrics from my favorite song from my favorite parody hair band:

I believe in a thing called love
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart
There’s a chance we could make it now
We’ll be rocking ’til the sun goes down
I believe in a thing called love

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