every fiscal quarter

this is what girls night looks like up close.

and this is from two steps away.

as you can see, nothing is more contagious than good judgment.

its so hot in my apartment. jeans are too hot. cooking is too hot. sleeping is out of the question. so i have been opening my door because its much cooler in the hall and i am trying to trick that cool air to come into my sweltering apartment.

but as it turns out it wasnt the air that wanted to come in. i am ok with not knowing my neighbors. there is smokey guy who i wished smoked a little farther away from my window. there is soccer player guy who i thought was a soccer player. there is the cute angsty guy who always wears black converses and glares at me when he is outside smoking. oh and then there is the player/chauffer guy who i know because he is always out smoking. basically, if you dont smoke i probably dont know if you live here.

tonight one of my neighbors knocked on my semi open door. i was a little nervous that it would look more inviting that i wanted it to. open doors have a way of being overly friendly. he asked if it was hot in my apartment. i said yes. then he asked me where i was from and what i do and if he could see my apartment which he thinks is cute. he also shook my hand. i had been flossing. so i wasnt sure what to do with the floss. i switched the floss in my hands. i hope thats appropriate. he said when he first moved in everyone used to hang out on the porch. and that the singles in the apartment arent fun anymore. i personally havent been fun for years so i feel like i fit in pretty well. anyway he said he is hoping we run into each other again.

also becky and i went to the pool today. i overheard a pretty good conversation by two little girls. i estimate ages 9 and a half. but with the way children are maturing because of growth hormones in milk they might have been 8.

girl 1: what does meghan call her grandma
girl 2: mimi
girl 1: oh yeah
girl 2: (i couldnt hear)
girl 1: so that is the scariest thing i have done. what is the scariest thing you have done
girl 2: i swam in the deep end of the pool. it was like 18 feet. (not even possible girl 2)
girl 1: once i swam in the deep end because sarah dared me so i had to
girl 2: do you smell smoke
girl 1: no (for the record i smelled smoke)
girl 2: we are probably breathing in second hand smoke. thats really dangerous.

i especially like the pink butterflys

i found this chair at DI while looking for inventory for my ebay store.
she looks a little more squaty in this picture than in real life. this was the first time i became aware that furniture can also have unflattering pictures.

my eyes remain unenhanced

i choose this picture because i think it really captures my freakishly small corneas. how small do you say? too small for lasik surgery. i am not a good candidate for lasik with my thin-ass corneas coupled with my bad prescription. (and by good candidate i mean candidate. i cannot get lasik). come to find out becky is in the same boat. she has corneas so thin she was warned to take extra precautions (i have been saying for years becky enough with the high eye risk activities already).
so we are considering the alternative to lasik surgery. i think it involves acid, burning your cornea, loratab eyedrops and two weeks of recovery. and by considering i mean really scared of the alternative to lasik surgery.

let me consult my friends for life calendar

i spent my whole weekend with colls. she is the best hostess ever. she offered to pick me up from the airport. albeit the wrong airport.

when i drove into town i found my old room all made up for me with this my little pony prize and my favorite frog quilt.

and dont forget the reading material she left by my bed. she knows how much i love those russians.

and the picture of my little brother was a nice personal touch. i cut off the picture of Christ's head because it felt weird to put it in but now i think its weird that i cropped it.

anyway i have a mac computer. whatever. but one thing i noticed (and thought was a computer flaw) and called mac to consult about (and they didnt mention it was normal) and even took to the store (where they were incredibly unhelpful) is that july 17th is ALWAYS on the calendar. always. its not a computer bug at all. i mean there are a couple of things that call for accuracy as a rule. clocks, calendars, reality, etc. basically i have been looking at july 17 for six months. so tomorrow is finally july 17 and for one day my calendar will display the right day. but the joke is that i have gotten used to july 17 always being the wrong day so i will look at it tomorrow and think i wonder what day it is...

i am dedicating my apartment to sylvester stallone

i know how everyone is dying to have a virtual tour of my apartment so here it is. i painted it green. i learned i hate painting even though it looks like a lot of fun. fortunately i also learned becky likes painting. my apartment is also pretty bright. if anyone has any random window covering ideas let me know. also that is probably the best quilt i have made so far. if you come over i will let you play pick your favorite patch. its a pretty fun game....

here was my first attempt at making curtains.


second attempt.

i painted the kitchen green. and added this hotel painting. and this really comfy couch.

there are also some pretty good green stools that arent pictured.

i got that sewing machine for christmas which explains my ability to make all those curtains.

this is my favorite piece of furniture. its an antique chair. unless the antique lady was lying to me. she probably was. that mirror is really good. probably the best DI find i have had in years.

its so great here is a closer look.

i tried to wallpaper my bookshelf. it didnt really work. wallpapering is harder than it looks.

the armorie and my coffee table match. in fact i am pretty sure the coffee table is made out of the door to the armorie. i like to use the word cute a lot when i look at it.
and thats my little green apartment.

i really like fireworks

for the fourth of july my mom made trifle which is a nice traditional british dessert. to make it more american she adds an american flag and doubles the strawberries and blueberries.

the problem with the 4th is that we all wake up and go see the hot air balloons take off in provo but they do this at 6 in the morning. my mom really likes to go see them and we all really like my mom. however, i question any holiday activity that starts earlier than i have to wake up for work. i also question any holiday activity that is dumb. just kidding i dont.

i made my family help tie my quilt. my sister in law said she wanted me to help her make a quilt out of american flags. this is how the conversation went.
sister in law: natali i have the cutest idea
natali: i love cute ideas. i am such a sucker.
sister in law: i saw some really cute flag material
natali: i love flags. flag day is the best. dont you think flag day is the best?
sister in law: flag day?
natali: is there anymore diet coke?
sister in law: anyway my cute idea is that i am going to get a lot of prints of flags and piece them together in squares
natali: what kind of flags?
sister in law: america
natali: all american flags?
sister in law: yes.
natali: squares?
sister in law: yes
natali (in my head): i dont really like this idea. maybe a better idea is to find flags and quilt those. that is something i would be into. i wonder if that is illegal. because it would probably touch the ground. which is worse flag burning or flag quilting? or you could make a quilt that was one giant flag. probably an african one. or lots of little flags in each patch. ooo little flags.
sister in law: so do you like my idea?
natali: yeah its a pretty good idea. lets make it a small quilt. a nice throw.

i just want to make out in the sand

i was watching MTV tonight super made or whatever when somewhat famous people do made and diem the cancer survivor from road rules wanted to be made into a ballroom dancer. anyway her coach was paul. and i was like that paul looks just like this guy named paul that was a ballroom dancer at byu that i used to hang out with nine years ago and he made out with my friend summer and i think my friend jen and i am reasonably sure we cuddled once or twice. and then i realized it was the same paul. i verified it with a quick google search. i think its so funny when you see people you know on tv. once i kissed a guy who was a newscaster in idaho or somewhere but i never saw him on tv or anything.