Blatently Stolen. "Vices"

I took this from EmilyElizabeth's blog (if you're a random person checking in, then you should check her out, if you aren't, well, you should do it anyway.)

My top vices: Things I could not live without (in no particular order)

1 (-3). My iPhone (and various iPods)

I love my iPhone.  I knew how addicted I would be to have a phone with internet (I have a serious problem with checking things every 5 seconds), but I seriously don't know what to do with myself when I don't have it on me.  Last week I knew I was low on battery when I went to work.  It died, naturally, but then it wasn't showing that it was connected to any kind of charging source.  I freaked out.  I ended up taking it to the Apple store to have them fix it for me, and it turns out I am iPhone stupid because I didn't know to push the right buttons.  It's fine, which is great, but for the 12 hours that I had to resort to my old phone I was freaking out miserable.  It was like I'd cut off my own arm or something, I just did not know how to function.  Pathetic? Yes.  But I accept this.

I love my little nano.  It is probably the only thing that gets me through the gym.  I made up a bunch of playlists that are upbeat and great for running out frustration, and it's small enough that it's not a hassle to move back and forth from different machines.  Plus it's green, how can you not love it?

 I will admit, my classic does not get nearly enough love these days (between the iPhone and the nano, most basic functions are taken care of. Poor baby!) It is, however, fantastic for plane rides and long car drives down to Matt.  It has every single song I own on it, and there is still room to spare.  I love it so much.  It does mean that playlists are an absolute must because sometimes I'm just not in the mood for some of the things that pop up.

4. My car

Look at it.  Love it. My car is a 2003 gold Pontiac Aztek which I adore.  It holds more things than I can even think of, I managed to get the entirity of my freshman dorm into this car (including microwave and minifridge).  It is a tank.  I personally think it looks like a mountain lion, and his name is Xander.  This car has been up to Syracuse, down to Maryland, out to Gettysburg, it's hit a divider on the highway, it's been hit by a bird.  I put 100 miles a day on it over the summer, and the only things wrong with it are the lights that show what gear you're in don't light up anymore and the cruise control (which I never ever use anyway) doesn't work.  70,000 miles and counting...

5. My Keurig (and their Chai Latte)

I love my Keurig.  I especially love the Chai Latte, because it is delicious and only 70 calories for the K-cup.  But mostly because it is delicious :)  I normally don't like a lot of the coffee they offer, but they make some fabulous teas and this little number.  Nothing better than instant tea gratification!

6.  My boyfriend :)

 

 This is my absolute favorite picture of the two of us together (photo taken by Bleavitt). I think he just looks adorable.  If you've read any of my past posts, you know what Matthew means to me, if not, it's an awful lot.  He makes me happy, and while it isn't a perfect relationship (I don't think they exist, all relationships require work) it's really, really good.  We fight, but I think we have fun more than we fight.  We make each other happy, and that's all that matters, right?

7. Conservation, or at least the hope that I will get to do it one day.

I love what I do.  I love being involved in art, I love being involved in prolonging the life of an object.  I like giving it a history, researching where it's been, who painted it, why they might have painted it this way, researching the colors used, the materials, all of the chemical analysis.  There is such a sense of satisfaction at the end of a project, no matter how many ups and downs, near disasters or mistakes there may have been during the treatment, no matter how many frustrations there have been during the analysis and research, when you can see the final result.  You can look at where you started and where you are now, and know how much you have helped that object.  It's like healing people, but they're objects.  It's something that just captures my interest, and I love it.  It has... gotten in the way at times, my passion is something that I will pursue for forever, and because of it's specific nature I can't go live wherever I want.  I need a city with museums, or an area with artists who need private conservators.  Those can't exactly be found just anywhere.  But after having that satisfaction, after finding something that I care about that makes me happy in my work life, I can't just give that up at the drop of a hat.  I've done other jobs, and nothing thusfar has made me anywhere close to as happy as this does.

Alrighty, I guess that's it.  Those are some of the things I just could not do without :)