'what you see on the outside'

it's so characteristic of me to latch onto various holiday-themed products, become addicted, and then obsess over finding them during the rest of the year.  currently my objects of fetish include millstone peppermint coffee and bath and body works winter candy apple scented products.  i'm not quite yet at the point where i feel okay paying up the ass at ebay or shelling out outlandish amounts for shipping, but i am afraid it's just a matter of time.

my brilliant, gorgeous niece turned two today (okay, technically yesterday).  her favorite thing right now is lowly worm, so i searched high and low to find the best lowly thing out there.  i ended up purchasing a sturdy 14-page, toddler-tough book of lowly that stands two feet tall.  i can't wait for pictures of allie meeting a lowly that stands taller than she is.  if anyone wants to continue my reign as most dotingist auntie ever, pleaseplease let me know where a stuffed lowly can be obtained!
in my research for lowly products i stumbled on this fantastic comparison on flickr of how richard scarry's books were published in my youth vs in today's PC world.  it is dually funny and sad to me, and her comments are very well-played.

US weekly has a pretty heinous picture of britney on the cover this week.  it's even worse inside when you compare side-by-side photos of miss brit now with a shot of her pre-partying-all-night-with-her-cooter-out days.  must continue to remind myself that late nights and potential alcoholism do not do good for one's looks.

i need good ipod workout song suggestions, please.  there's only so many times i can listen to "the black parade" on repeat.  though somehow it still psychs me up and gives me goosebumps, as does "i'm not okay (i promise)" which is old(er).  seriously, they both give me goosebumps, and i am not even a huge MCR fan.  my workout lets-get-fired-up songs are actually a pretty weird mix and include "california love" by tupac* and the U2 christmas song, which is unforgivably catchy.

*  exclusively for warmup/cooldown