Eight years ago, I signed up for an account at Diaryland.com and introduced myself to the internet as TiggerSnail. My quest for a "grown-up" blog led me to LiveJournal, but thankfully, I was rescued from that inanity in 2006 when I started posting as Rachelskirts here at this website.

Since then, I have been using essentially the same exact template over and over again with slight modifications. I have also been posting with less and less frequency, but we'll get to that in a moment.

First, queue the montage and the epic soundtrack.

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a brand new look at Rachelskirts.com. Is it perfect? No. Is it revolutionary? Maybe. Have I given myself a gold star for not falling into the "blogger's sidebar" trap? Yes.

Here's what the crowds have been saying so far:

• "It's pretty!" — Mom
• "Very nice, sweetheart." — Dad
• "Ooo." — the boyfriend
• "I think it looks pretty snazzy." — the little brother

For years, I have been telling people that Dooce has my dream job. I want to make a living by taking pictures and writing about my life! I want to be able to travel the world with no other responsibilities than to share my happiness with online friends and strangers! But as one of my closest friends recently pointed out, I'm doing a terrible job of setting myself up for that opportunity. I sincerely hope that this new look will spark my interest in writing again (and your interest in reading again).

Annnnyway, the point here is that I am very interested in bringing this site back to life, and I hope you'll enjoy the ride with me. Poke around a bit and let me know if you find any glaring mistakes. Give me feedback and suggestions. Sign up for Gravatar, so you have a cool image to go with all of your comments. Leave more comments. (Try out the new "reply" feature! It's fun!) Laugh at how stupid the site occasionally looks in Safari for Windows (thanks, Typekit). Send me packages to the new address listed on the Contact page. And then make yourself some chocolate milk and watch a bit of Lord of the Rings.You deserve it, champ.

P.S. No, I don't think the title to this entry makes sense. It just makes me think of the Jay-Z / Linkin Park album, which brings back fond memories of my college roommate and our sweet white-girl rap sessions. Don't ask.

Pet names I adore:

• Cupcake
• Lovebird
• Dollface

Pet peeves:

• untrimmed nose hair
• people who say "alls"
• the law that dictates that we can never stock whatever type of battery I need at the moment
• how the title of this blog entry is equal parts perfect and terrible

Dream pets:

• white tiger
• orange tiger
• sugar glider
• miniature panda (if such a thing exists)

I had a terrible day at work today, and I didn't even realize it until I got home and cried into my pillow for ten minutes. My brother cheered me up in a most appropriate way, though—buying me pizza (and CinnaStix!) and watching The Two Towers with me.

It reminded me of three of my best friends—Boy, Pimp, and Cooley. They learned early on that I am a pirate by day and a crybaby by night. That's not entirely accurate. The best summary of my personality actually came from Boy: "easily broken, easily fixed." And my closest friends? They know all the right fixes. It's why we get along so splendidly.

I've actually been broadcasting those magic cures as the subtitle of this blog for many years (unintentionally, believe it or not), but I'll save everyone the trouble of scrolling/clicking and just list them here:

• pizza
• chocolate
• Lord of the Rings
• pirates

Combine multiple items for bonus points (and to stop serious cases of the weepies). Garnish with sock monkeys and kittens.

So Chris, when you sent the boxed copy of The Silmarillion and two huge bars of Canadian chocolate? You fixed me up for at least a week. Jace and Brooke, you both combined chocolate and pirates, so two more weeks were saved. Chicago as a whole keeps me covered in the pizza department, and Warner Bros. just stepped in with Blu-ray discs and digital downloads (hobbits on my iPhone!) to make sure my Lord of the Rings needs were extra satisfied.

All of this is a really long-winded way of saying thank you. Thank you, family and friends and cities and giant corporations for taking care of this silly little girl. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings heaped upon me, and I only hope to be diligent in sharing those blessings with others.

. . . Okay, fine. I also hope that the extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy comes to Blu-ray super duper soon.