101 in 1001: A Recap

The final days of my 101 in 1001 list are fast approaching. I don't remember what motivated me to start this project. I think I was bored, unhappy, and I never have liked the idea of having a set number of resolutions for a year. Plus, everyone was always skeptical about New Years Resolutions. This was my compromise, and what a compromise it's been.

I've learned some things about myself along the way, about who I am, what I'm interested in, and what matters to me, and that was the point. I've tried new things, re-experienced things I'd already done before, and stepped outside my comfort zone. Even if I don't end up checking off every box on the list, I give myself an A++ for keeping up with it and holding myself accountable.

Here are my top 10 lessons learned, if you want to call it that.

1. I'm not going to run 6 5k's. I am so totally OK with that. Instead, I've re-learned how to play a sport that I love, and dangit I'm really good at it.

2. I never was able to abstain from alcohol for a month. I guess I just like boozin' too much. Instead, I made more than 10 new friends in 3 years and went on plenty of dates.

3. I haven't gone to the Botanical Gardens or seen a movie at the iMax or visited Stone Mountain more than once or twice, but I did try new restaurants, challenge myself to new sports, and spend time traveling the world.

4. I made more than 10 new friends over the last 1001 days. I lost some of those friends - not in a sad, dramatic way, but in a way that we've both moved on. I've lost friends that I once considered extremely close. I've also maintained friendships that I never thought would last, and I'm better prepared to recognize when you just have to let go. Some friendships (and relationships...) aren't meant to be forever, and that's ok.

5. On September 25, 2012 (the day this all wraps up) I'll have been at my job for nearly 23 months. Same job, hopefully almost 2 promotions later, and I never imagined it was possible to be this happy at work. It's hard to believe that "Get Paid" was a part of my list. That life, that job, that dream, seems so far in the past, but is so much of what I have accomplished.

6. I have visited all my friends in their respective cities of residence save for one, on the west coast, but I managed to visit her in Argentina so we'll call it a wash. However, I didn't make it to visit family 3 times a year. In reality, that just wasn't practical, but how was I to know? It sounded great at the time! Trade-offs always occur, and in this instance, I chose to visit friends and visit other places with friends than to visit my family. Right wrong or otherwise, it's the choice I made and I don't regret it.

7. Life changes, and you have to roll with the punches. I started and then very quickly closed down a business, so those came off my list. I debated replacing them, but thought that leaving them there was a reminder to me of what my goals used to be and how far I had come. Same goes for taking the GRE - I actually don't think I understood the difference between the GRE and the GMAT, so really it should have said take the GMAT, and while it's still one of my goals (and pretty top of mind), it's just not going to happen in the near-term and I'm okay with that.

8. I don't have a tattoo. I stopped highlighting my hair (this is recent & still a little painful). I still bite my fingernails. Some things just aren't meant to be.

9. I may not have started to invest money or saved 30% of my monthly income, but I also don't have a flat-screen TV in my room, I didn't buy myself diamond studs, and the total I spent on new purses may exceed what I would have spent on 1 nice one, I have a lot more to choose from. The point was to spend wisely, and I think I have.

10. I didn't set out to accomplish 101 things in 1001 days, and good thing, because I sure didn't. But I set what I thought were realistic goals that weren't going to happen overnight and I carried many of them out. I held myself accountable, I stretched myself outside my comfort zone on many of them, and I'm really dang proud of myself.

I'm trying to figure out what my next "challenge" should be. Part of me thinks I might just wait until December 31, 2012 and spend the next 3 months figuring out goals for my next 3 years of life. Hard to believe that I might be writing another post like this in 2015, but that might just be the case.

Do you have any ideas? I've considered a few: this one (although I think I could do in conjunction); or this one? Totally different direction on both of them. Send me your ideas!

Myers Pig

OK we are going to play a game. Ready?

Take out a piece of paper.

Draw a pig on it. Yup, a pig.

I'll wait while you laugh, but seriously, draw a dang pig!





My pig. Oink oink!

Results of your Myers Pig Test can be found here. This has created endless hours of amusement for me.

I am:
If your pig is drawn toward the Top of your paper, you are an optimistic person with a positive attitude. You generally anticipate the best possible outcomes of actions and events. In other words, you see the glass as half full.

If your pig is drawn facing Left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, outgoing and tend to remember dates and birthdays.


If your pig is drawn with Few Details, you are more impulsive, care little for detail and are willing to take risks.


If your pig is drawn with 4 Legs showing, you are secure, stick to your ideals, and can be stubborn.


The Larger the pig's Ears you have drawn, the better Listener you are.


And last but not least, the Longer the pig's Tail you have drawn, the more satisfied you are with the quality of your love life.




Key Takeaways:
My love life sucks, this is not a secret. I am optimistic, also not a secret. I am secure and stubborn. I am sometimes a good listener. I am outgoing and remember dates and birthdays.

What are you based on your piggy friend?

Busyness

How many times have you had this conversation:

Friend: Hi! How are you?
Self: OMG So busy, you wouldn't believe it.
Friend: Yeah, me too. Tell me about it. I know the feeling.
Self: Yeah, life's just super crazy right now.

I've had that conversation so many times it makes me want to throw something. Do I have nothing better to say than, "look at me I'm so busy and important." So, I have focused recently on not telling people about how busy I am. Instead, when they ask how I am, I answer honestly. I'm stressed out because I feel like my life is falling apart. I'm really happy, because my parents are coming into town. I'm excited for a long weekend away with extended family. I'm geeking out over the Olympic Trials.

I am doing all of these. Clearly I am busy. That goes without saying, so I try really really hard not to say it.

Then I found this article via Facebook friends and realized that I'm not the only one annoyed by my constant proclamation of busyness.

So I challenge each of you to change your answer from Busy to Something Else just once and see how it feels. I bet you won't feel quite so busy.

Sleep cycle



Ya'll, I gotta tell you. I'm addicted to apps. Every time someone talks about a new app, I immediately download it. And like I have said a hundred times, I'll buy anything for less than a buck! So of course when one of my friends told me about Sleep Cycle I knew I had to have it. 

Basically you set an alarm, but the app determines the best time to wake you up in a 30 minute range. Then, upon waking it shows you this handy dandy chart to see exactly how you are sleeping.

I happened to capture this screenshot after a night when I got in a fight with and then resolved said fight with my best friend, hence the 2am bedtime. What can I say, late night fights are my M.O.

But seriously, I knew I got pretty crap sleep due to said argument, but having this little graph to show me just exactly how terrible Wednesday was going to be was awesome. What I really like is that I can compare, I can see how adjusting my bedtime routines affects my sleep, etc.

Have you seen this app? Do you use it? Please tell me I'm not alone in my "will buy anything less than a dollar" habit...



Happiness still can't be found at the grocery store...

I'm not sure when it happened, but it has. Now, instead of feeling instant happiness for my friends as they start new relationships, buy houses, move in with significant others, travel places I've never been, get engaged, have children, move to new cities, etc, I feel jealous.

I wonder why those things aren't happening to me. I wonder what I did wrong, what I could have done differently...if I hadn't gone to Spain, would I still be in love with someone who wasn't in love with me (but I thought I didn't care)? If I hadn't been a total lush, would that 1 guy I met at that 1 bar that 1 night 3 years ago have worked out? If I hadn't waited for the 'right' job and instead just accepted any job, would I be in a different place?

I've written before about happiness, and how there isn't a limited supply. It's not an item on the shelf in a grocery store. My friends, the people I love and care about more than anything, can be happier than they have ever been and it doesn't mean that I too can't experience the same feelings at the exact same time.

So now I need to figure out how to shake this 'tude. Deep down I am truly happy for my friends, excited for them, and want nothing but the best, and I want to be able to convey that instead of forcing a smile while thinking, "man, why isn't that me?"

I am going to try really, really hard to turn my attitude around. It's not going to be easy. I'm going to fail at it miserably sometimes. I just have to keep remembering that we can all be happy together. We can all have great things happen to us at the same time. One is not exclusive of the other.

But seriously, when is it going to be my turn?

A tour of Australia via my iPhone

Survival guide

Arrival

Good morning Cairns

Kangaroo friends

Koala friends. Lots of marsupial friends.

Good afternoon, Australia from 300 ft in the sky

The 12 Apostles. Fun fact, there aren't actually 12 of them.

Surprise surprise, I found a Mexican joint in Melbourne.

This giraffe has arguably the best views in all of Sydney

NBD, just hiked a mountain, saw a lighthouse and took pictures at the top

Then we had beer at lunch and more wine when we got home and then this happened. Accidentally drunk at 6:30pm.

Bondi --> Bronte

More Bondi --> Bronte. dying to go back.

Sydney Harbour Bridge at dusk from the ferry in the middle of the harbour.

Aftermath.

And a few fun facts I learned each day:

5/5/2012 - The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organism that you can see from the moon.

5/6/2012 - Beef jerky is not permitted entry into Australia, unless accompanied by an import permit. Unpopped popcorn (eg. microwave popcorn) is not permitted entry into Australia and must be destroyed.

5/7/2012 - There are more kangaroos than people in Australia. (Thank you crazy lady who owns a kangaroo skin shop)

5/8/2012 - Crocodiles and Pythons are cannibalistic.

5/9/2012 - "Bogan" is the slang Australian word for "Red Necks"

5/10/2012 - Koalas can only be held for 30 minutes a day, and only 180 minutes a week.
 
5/11/2012 - Although they are called the 12 Apostles, there are many more than 12 of them (and they were originally called the Sow and her Piglets but I guess that sounded too lame for the Aussies)


5/12/2012 - In Australia, instead of saying "You're welcome" the appropriate response is "No worries." My goal is to speak like a native by the time we leave, Amanda's goal is probably to disown me. She's not loving my Aussie lingo.

5/13/2012 - Mother's Day is the same in Australia as it is in the US... today!

5/14/2012 - The Tasmanian devil is the only carnivorous marsupial.


5/15/2012 - Only ~35% of Australia's beaches are accessible by car.

5/16/2012 - Kings Cross (the red light district in Sydney) is home to the largest Coca-Cola sign in the Southern Hemisphere.

5/17/2012 - Australians are some of the most politically incorrect people I have ever spoken to. Particularly after a few beers.

I said I was going to use this more as a journal, so that's what this is going to be.

The last few days have been hard. I found out something that one of my closest friends was keeping from me, and it hurt. I hurt. I felt betrayed and stupid and foolish and a whole bunch of other things. I guess the silver lining is that said friend was totally unreachable through the weekend, so I had to deal with my emotions and my feelings by myself. And I did.

I'm actually really proud of myself. I am such a knee-jerk person. I react instantly and predictably. People who know me and like to get me riled up recognize this and antagonize me (Sister, I'm looking at you). The fact that I couldn't have that knee-jerk reaction in this situation was such a great lesson for me. I processed the situation, I figured out what I was really upset about and why, I planned out very carefully what I was going to say and how I was going to say it and I didn't just rush into a yelling match with someone who I care so much about. Guess what? There was still yelling involved. My feelings were still hurt. My friend's feelings were hurt that I didn't trust the relationship we have and believed what someone else told me. Hours of conversation, laughter, and tears later, I think we're fixed. I hope we're fixed. Can't imagine life without a best friend.

But man, what a learning experience.

The most interesting part? Once we finally talked, I found out that what I thought was being kept from me wasn't true. It was a 'he said, she said' misunderstanding on the part of the person who told me, and the person who told them. This presented a whole new set of issues around spreading gossip and why I trusted someone else instead of my friend, but it makes it that much more 'lesson learned.' If I had flown off the handle, if I had let loose and lost control of my emotions, I would have made a fool of myself.

I guess the point in writing this is to warn each of you to slow down, take a step back, and give the people you love (and the one's you don't) the benefit of the doubt. It didn't solve my problem, but it made the whole situation and experience so much more bearable. I know it's something I am going to be acutely aware of going forward.

10,000 foot proposal

Tuesday remains the worst day of the week. There are so many reasons why. Today all I wanted was for it to be Saturday so I could lay in bed until 9:30am, get up and move to the couch until noon, eat lunch, lay back down on the couch, and get up around 6pm frantic because I had done nothing all day and so do a mad sweep of my room and the house and collapse into bed around 9pm from my "exhausting" day. Doesn't that sound like it would have been fantastic today?

Instead, I present you with a "This could really only happen to me" story. I'm not a very good story teller, so this will likely be long-winded and not at all funny. It happens. So here it goes.

I went to Washington DC for Easter weekend. 2 of my best friends are there, and it just seemed fitting. My parents are staying in Florida until early May and well... I had nothing else to do here. To DC I went!

For some reason I booked a 7:30am Friday morning flight. Why I didn't fly out Thursday night will always be a mystery, especially now. So I haul myself out of bed after a wild night at the nearest Mexican joint with my best friend. And by wild night I mean we only ordered 1 queso and 1 guacamole instead of the usual 3 guacamoles. Split between 2 of us. Anyway.

Arrive at airport, wait a few minutes, all 11 passengers board the plane. At this point I'm convinced that God doesn't care about anyone on the plane and since it's not full clearly it's going down. I know, logic evades me at 7:30am. And most other times of day. So I get on the empty plane. Sit down in my lovely window seat that I hand-picked because the row was empty when I checked in online. MISTAKE NUMBER 1.

I close my eyes, listen to the lovely sounds of Hairspray the Musical and drift off into dreamland. Except more like nightmare land as I think of every possible worst case scenario on an airplane. Then, 2 women sit down next to me. Great. The only row ON THE ENTIRE PLANE that is full. I can see 2 completely empty rows around me. But not wanting to be rude, I stay in my seat. I break the rules and listen to my music as we take off, and then pull out my computer at the wonderful cruising altitude of 10,000 feet. I'm going to work, and then when I get to DC I can have an actual, real vacation day.

SIKE. About the same time I pull out my laptop, the woman in the aisle seat pulls out a box and presents it to the woman in the middle seat. She starts to open it and I'm kind of side-eye watching. The box is neverending. It's a box inside a box inside a box on and on for probably 15 boxes. It looked like the image you see on your right, only not quite as artistic and more real life. You get it.

So at this point I'm blatantly staring. There are no more discrete looks. And the flight attendant is standing at our row with his hands clasped. And then I realize... this is about to be a proposal. I am about to witness a proposal on an airplane within 6 inches of me. And I dare not tell a lie, because 5 boxes later what does my middle-seated friend open but a ring, which is promptly placed on her finger. The flight attendant is squealing and I'm doing the best I can to pretend like I haven't been staring the entire time when really I've been staring and updating my Facebook and telling every person who is on my work IM system at 8am about what is happening.

That's not even the kicker. I'm thrilled that I witnessed a proposal on an airplane and in such a cute way. Seriously, thrilled. The problem is that I then had to sit through 60 torturous minutes of these women making out and giggling and groping each other 6 inches from me. I wanted to get up and sit in the empty seats I was staring down, but I didn't want to be rude or seem like I was feeling uncomfortable. Even though I was, in a major way. So instead I just turned toward the window and kept working...and let's be honest, really listening to their conversation and sweet whispers because I was so close I could HEAR THEM.

Lesson #1: When selecting a seat on a pretty empty flight, go for the middle. Chances are only 1 person will join you and they either pick window or aisle, leaving you with 2 glorious seats.

Lesson #2: Attempts to not be awkward (ie leaving the row) result in even more awkward situations (ie proposal in my face)

I hope your weekend started off as exciting as mine did. No flight will ever compare.

April Goals

You are going to be shocked. Seriously.

I have run two 5k's. RUN. Not walked. Not crawled. Maybe stumbled some.




My goals for April are simple:

1. Participate in 2 more 5k's (already on the books!)
2. Celebrate my birthday on my actual birthday.
3. Finish 3 books.

What are your goals for April?

What I've Been Doing

Things I have been doing:

• Running 2 5k's and signing up for 2 more.
• Planning a trip to Australia (hopefully Sydney, Cairns, Melbourne, and maybe Tasmania?)
• Working pretty much all the time
• Traveling - Miami, Dallas, Miami, Washington DC, Miami
• Getting almost-but-not-quite stood up by possibly the sketchiest man I've ever met (and that's saying a lot, I know some sketchballs)
• Obsessing over friendships and what it means to be a friend and the kind of friend I want to be and the kind of friends I want to have
• Playing tennis 3-4 times a week. Singles, doubles, ALTA, Ultimate Tennis. You name it, I play it. Sometimes I even win.
• Celebrating the triumphant completion of my parents lakehouse
• Planning birthday parties and dinners out and pub crawls
• Spending entire weekends laid out on my couch alternating between reading books and watching terrible Lifetime movies and whining to EV about my lacking social life
• Attending weddings and baby showers and worrying about the next funeral I'll attend
• Getting paid monthly instead of bi-weekly. The 27th of the month is now my least favorite day, but it's followed by the 28th of the month, my new favorite day.

Things I haven't been doing

• Keeping up with acupuncture
• Eating salads for every meal
• Getting the check engine light on my car... checked
• Unloading the dishwasher (it's my most hated chore, and the #1 reason I hate when EV travels)
• Wearing a jacket. Winter 2012 was nonexistent.
• Falling in love with the right person
• Letting my fears hold me back
• Obsessing over money and budgets
• Superfluous spending. Define superfluous...!

Net-net, life is muy bueno 'round these parts. How's life with each and every one of you? Please share - I'm dying to know.

PS - Sorry I have no pictures to share. Consider that one of my new 2012 goals: take more pictures using DSLR! I bought the damn thing, I need to start using it again.

What the heck

Why not start blogging again?

I stopped because I felt like I was putting too much of myself on the internet. People who I knew only tangientially (hello consulting word!) were running into me and asking about my garden or how I was liking my new couch or how my trip to Argentina was, and it just made me feel... uneasy. Like I was exposed and vulnerable and not in control.

Control. Isn't that a funny word? I've been thinking about it a lot recently. So many of the things I do are fueled by control or lack thereof. Fear of airplanes? Because I'm not in control. Creating drama in perfectly normal relationships? Because I felt like I had lost control. Always being the one to drive? Need to be in control. I find myself wondering more and more... why?

What I'm trying to say is I'm going to start blogging again. Rather than feeling like I'm sharing only snippets of my life that all make it sound perfect and wonderful and happy, I'm hoping it will be more like a journal of what I'm doing, what I think about, and how I'm feeling. It will still be a bit reserved and there will likely be things going on in my life that I don't blog about (trust me, you don't want to know all the things that go through my mind...) but hopefully I'll find a rhythm that feels a little more natural to me.

Lucky you!

Thoughts about online dating

1. Why would you ask "Are you having any luck on here?" What am I supposed to say? Yes - but it's not with you? No, I'm a troll and no one wants to date me? Seriously. Does anyone have a good answer to that question beyond ignoring the email?

source

2. If you wink at me, or nudge me, or poke me, or whatever me, and I whatever back... now what? You whatever-ed me first, so are you now going to email me first? Or should I take the wink as an invitation to send you an email? But then that just means you are lazy. Or I'm lazy if I'm the one winking first.

3. If my profile says "interested in 6'0-8'11" then why, Mr. 5'4", are you winking at me?

4. On that note, if your profile says "interested in women age 30-45" then why are you sending me emails asking why I visited your profile but didn't drop you a note? I'M IN MY TWENTIES.

5. If you know me in real life, the appropriate thing to do is block me from seeing your profile and never visit mine. The appropriate thing to do is not send me an email saying, "Katie, is that really you? Why are you online dating?" The appropriate thing to do is also not visit my profile every other day. Guess what? I can see that you are doing that. It's weird.

6. Chatting online is reserved for Gchat and Microsoft Communicator. Not Facebook. And definitely not dating websites.

7. Poor grammar and spelling mistakes are an immediate turnoff. If you suck at spelling, copy/paste in to Word for a quick spell check before posting your profile. Or have a friend read it. Or your mom. "u" is not a substitute for "you", either.

8. I know all you gentlemen callers are looking for someone who is genuine, drama free, motivated, active, healthy, fun, smart... you get the idea. Newsflash, no girl is drama free. Even the most drama free girl. And we all want someone who is all of those things. Let's either recognize that and eliminate that part from our profiles OR come up with more creative adjectives.

9. Pictures of you from 1,000 feet away or so up close that I can't actually tell what you look like are not helpful. I look at pictures after I have read a profile so as not to bias myself, but it's an instant buzzkill if I'm really digging you and then your pictures contribute nothing.

10. I'm a picky bitch as evidenced by #1-9, so you probably shouldn't try to date me.

Anything else you'd add to this list?

Amazon Prime > Everything

I can't tell if I'm tardy to the party (as per usual) or if I'm really ahead of the curve on this one, but you guys really need to check out Amazon Prime's subscriptions.

When I bought my Kindle FIYA I also bought an Amazon Prime membership. Although I have a hard time watching all the shows on my DVR, surely I will stream live videos wherever there is free Wi-Fi. Surely.

Now while I have yet to use Amazon Prime for what I bought it for, it has come in disgustingly handy for...other things. Like subscriptions.

For a 15% discount, I have 5lbs of sour patch kids delivered to me once every 2 months.



And my mascara gets delivered once every 6 months.


And I'll never need to walk into Target again because everything I need from there I can just order via Amazon. Like the round brush I bought while I was trying to fall asleep the other night.

While this might sound like I'm spending frivolously, I'm really doing myself a favor. The less places I have to go to shop, the less money I spend. I can't go look at shoes (and unfortunately there is no Amazon Prime subscription for shoes, I checked), I can't pick up random bathing suits in February, I can't buy $39 books that I don't need...nope, I ended up buying only what I "needed" - a boar bristle round brush. BRILLIANT I TELL YOU.

So go, little friends, and subscribe. You will not regret it.

Party Eats

It's no secret - I love to host a party.

New Years Eve 2011

New Years Eve 2010

Jersey Shore 2010

Engagement Brunch 2010

Tacky Sweaters Christmas Party 2010

Game Night 2010

You get the idea.

I also love to prep food for parties. I'd probably guess that I already have 9 out of 10 ingredients on hand. I tried some new recipses for a Super Bowl Party with a few friends, and thought I'd share them (and what I thought of them) with you.

1. Stacy's Healthier Buffalo Wings



 Rating: 4 out of 5

Tips: I did everything except bake in the oven the night before and stored them in the fridge overnight.

2. Closet Cooking Hot Corn Dip (found via Pinterest)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tips: I used frozen corn and a frozen green pepper, red pepper, onion mix. I subbed greek yogurt for the mayonaise and didn't include any jalapeno, so I just added a whole lot more cayenne.

3. AllRecipes Spinach Artichoke Dip

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tips: This is totally not the first time I have made this recipe but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the addition of alfredo sauce. I also like to add a package of no-fat cream cheese. So creamy, so delicious.

4. MY guacamole

Recipe: 3 avocados, 2 pits

juice of 2 limes

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 large onion (yellow or red) finely chopped

Red pepper flakes if I'm feeling feisty

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Tips: Get the avocado all nice and creamy, dice up the onion into tiny little chunks and enjoy. I LOATHE tomatoes, so you won't find any of that around here.

5. Chili's Knockoff Skillet Queso (courtesy of Pinterest)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tips: I didn't even end up cooking this!! Way too much food and not enough peopl.e.

So there you have it. Those are some of my delicious recipes. Do you have any that you would absolutely add to the list? Normally I would have buffalo chicken dip, but I felt like that plus the wings would have been a little overkill. I also had a couple of other things out that I just didn't make myself so didn't feel like sharing.  

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES

I've been really inspired by my friend j.

j. & I don't actually know each other, but we've been 'friends' for quite some time now via blogs. And now she's been an inspiration. See, j. was a runner. Well, still is. But she got hurt, so she had to find other things that she liked to do that would help her stay in shape. And so she discovered bicycling, rock climbing, and Core Fusion. And she's slowly but surely kicking all of their butts.

So when I drove by a rock climbing gym tonight, I thought, "I want to be more like j." Tennis once a week just isn't cutting it for me, even if I did 1-2 nights of hot yoga also. So I came home, and on my thrilling Saturday night I signed up for a singles tennis league.

I've steered clear of singles since I picked tennis up again almost a year ago lest for 1 match when no one else could play. But I'm ready, and it's a really awesome workout to play singles! So now I'm going from 1 match a week to 3 matches a week but it will be fine. I have plenty of free time (HA!) - even if it means taking it easy on a Friday or Saturday night (or both as evidenced by this weekend), it's important to me.

Now, who wants to come and watch me play? I might need a photographer in the near future, seeing as how I have zero pictures of myself playing tennis, so if I keep playing I'm going to keep talking about it and you won't have any pictures to look at - just a page full of words. BORING.

PS - thanks j. love you!

The Great Vase Exchange

October

December (kind of)

January

Best free vases I ever got, seriously.

Snuggie Time

I have zero shame. I own 2 snuggies. One I got at a work function, and the other my mom got me for Christmas this year. I know some people may have gotten snuggies for Christmas 3 years ago, but we can't all be ahead of the times.

This weekend, I have every intention of wearing one of my snuggies out in public. Snuggie pub crawl time!

2 years ago we went as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, albeit the wrong color Mario and my snuggie was really a bathrobe...

This year I'll be dressed up as a sassy kitten. Meow! Leopard print snuggies are all the rage.

Are you pub crawling through the Highlands on Saturday afternoon? Because I really can't imagine a better way to spend my Saturday.

Redecorating.

When my roommate moved out in the middle of 2011, I made a few changes around the condo. Nothing major, but I added some of my own personal touches. And now, I'm at it again and I have to tell you, decorating is FUN.

I started out with a big, empty wall. I knew I wanted to do a picture frame collage (thank you Pinterest) but wasn't sure which frames, which pictures, etc. I started grabbing random things I've collected over the years and putting them in a pile on the floor. Last week I finally got tired of said pile and grabbed a glass bottle of wine and decided to do something with it. I'd say the final product turned out better than I hoped! The pictures below tell the story of how I did the project, but honestly it was super easy. All you need is wax paper, tape (painters and scotch), a sharpie (try blue or black!), nails and a hammer.

Lay out your design on the floor, trace it onto wax paper, and then hang on the wall. If you are patient, leave it up for a few days. If you are not (I am not), leave it up for a few minutes.

I am missing 3 pictures for the bottom frame, but I know exactly which ones I am going to put in there.

   

Some of my favorite people & memories from 2011.

two thousand twelve.

Hot damn, I can't believe the new year is actually here. I don't really know where 2011 went, but I know one thing: it was probably the best year of my 25. No exaggeration. Nothing fantastic happened. Nothing extraordinary. Instead, life went on. I didn't survive anything major. But I survived life's ups and  downs and am 100% better because of it. I can honestly say I'm a better person, a more mature person, a wiser person, a smarter person, than I was in 2010. What an incredible thing to say, right?

2011 was aboslutely constant. I've had the same friends all year. I've had the same lacking romantic relationship. I've had the same job. I've driven the same car. I've lived in the same place. My hair has stayed the same color. All the important things, right?

So, what do I hope for 2012? If 2010 was grown-up and 2011 was constant, I hope 2012 is FUN. All in all, 2011 kicked some major ass and I say bring it on 2012!

My new years resolutions this year are simple.

1. Run (or walk, crawl, whatever you prefer) 6 5k's.
2. Read 50 books.
3. Get another promotion at the end of the year.
4. Spend at least 1 weekend a month at the lake with my parents.
5. Win at least 1 tennis match in any given season.
6. Knock out the remaining things on my 101 in 1001 list and make sure it is well documented.
7. Keep my car clean.

What are your new years resolutions?