Baby, It's Cold Outside

The kind of cold where you think "maybeIshouldwearfivescarfsandtwosweatshirtsandalinedcoatandsomelongunderwearmaybetwopairsandthenIcanaddacouplehatsandmaybethenIwillbewarmohnevermindIamgoingtojuststayinside."

You know...that kind. My evidence? My backporch.

Star Wars - I has it.

I have been totally negligent...my blog and my 100/10 goals... To the point where I have forgotten to post about one! I know - totally my fault. I'm busting out the ashes and the sackcloth now.

So...moving on. This past fall, I, and several lovely other friends, were hosted by the newlywed Kincaids in their apartment for a super fun party. But not just any party, oh no. It was a Star Wars party. All six movies, one day. Start time - 9:30am. End time - 11:30pm. We. Were. (Storm) Troopers.

It was a great day including lots of good food, blue drinks, and a ton of random Star Wars quotes. We watched the movies in chronological order per the story, not the release date. Thus, the first three were the newest ones that, I'm sorry, just aren't good! I'd seen them before and was prepared to give them another chance, but they're just awful. By the time we finished those, I was wondering how the heck I would ever get through three more.

However, the three original movies continue to be ridiculously good. The time flew by and all too soon we were done. All of us agreed that we could watch A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi over and over - but maybe not again until next year...

(Now for some phone pics)


Done and done - 79) Watch all six Star Wars movies in a row

So True

The sad thing is - I've done this before. Not play with a fuzzy mouse (I'll leave that to Sugar bear), but rather laid down and put the phone on my face when I'm super tired.

So true.

A Love Letter

Dear Public Library,

I'm so sorry I've let the love between us die. The siren song of myriad Chicago bookstores led me astray. You've been good to me for years, and what do I do? I leave you stranded on the street corner as I give the cold shoulder on my way to the nearest Borders.

How could I forget all the good times we've had? The years of Book-it where I got to read all I want and earn free pizza. The hot Saturday afternoons where I would enter your air-conditioned halls and pick out books for the summer reading program. You gave me free internet when I had no computer. You helped me prepare for high school, college, and my GREs.

Oh public library, without you I would have never discovered the glory of Leon Uris, the fun of the American Girl Series, the mystery of Victoria Holt, or the beauty of Wordsworth. Sans my library goodness time, I would never had my themed reading summers during college: the Japanese theatre during WWII, the wives and children of Henry VIII, and history of the Jewish population in Europe.

So I'm sorry for all of the lost time - the years we've spent apart. But I am here to make amends. I visited you today, and it was everything I hoped it would be. I can't wait to start my new biography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I look forward to renewing our relationship and being the good friends that we once used to be.

I heart you public library, don't you ever forget it.

Love,

Katy

I enjoy being a girl...sort of...sometimes

I've never been what one would call a girly girl. When I was little I had Barbies and Cabbage Patches. But instead of Barbie cooking in her Barbie Dreamhouse, she had to deal with a Dreamhouse break-in. When I received a Barbie campsite tent and accessories, well, unfortunately the campsite was mauled by a bear. I didn't carry them around, but my Sis and I did set up a Cabbage Patch hospital. I'm pretty sure I might have missed the point of dolls. Although I was very protective of my stuffed animals.

As I got older, it didn't get much better. I didn't wear make-up until later in high school and even then pretty much used what my mom handed down. When I did buy some, it was almost always in funky colors. When most girls were getting highlights in their hair, I dyed mine blond in the front and then had red and purple highlights in the rest of it. To this day I still don't have an overriding interest in hair and makeup. My hairspray, when I have any, usually goes bad before I can use it, I keep mascara way too long, and the thought of lipstick frightens me.

And still walking into an Ulta, or the like, makes me break out into a sweat. Who needs a $150 curling iron? And there had to be at least 10 kinds of straighteners...don't get be started on face cleaners. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have no idea what 70% of that store is used for. And I still maintain eyelash curlers amount to about the same thing as a medieval torture device.

Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely have girly traits: a healthy obsession with shoes, a lifelong love of all things Jane Austen, and a strong devotion to Betsey Johnson. So when I was feeling kind of blue tonight, I thought, "Hey! I should pamper myself and see if that helps." So, I tried my new curling iron (only $13.99 thank you very much), but I'm convinced that my hair looked the same as it did before I tried to curl it. So I then painted my toenails bright blue, made a mess, and had to remove about half of what I put on. Anyone who's lived with me can attest to this sort of thing happening on a regular basis. I consider myself fairly smart but somehow nail polish confounds me.

So when pampering wasn't quite the success I thought it would be, I decided to turn to what I know best. I put on Mad Max for a healthy dose of violence and action and called it a night.

To which I say "Tant pis"

I will never be a genius in the kitchen...tant pis.

I will never pull off the demure, professional look...tant pis.

I will never have the patience to not visualize some people as voodoo dolls with pins in them...tant pis.

I will never stop yearning to visit places I haven't seen...tant pis.

I will never prefer the color pink - hot or not...tant pis.

I will never let society or the "norm" pressure me into something I don't want...tant pis.

I will never try to understand the fascination about twittering...tant pis.

I will never blindly accept the judgement of others...tant pis.

I will never stop being disappointed that most people don't write letters anymore...tant pis.

I will never get into the whole Wii thing...tant pis.

I will never break my habit of completely ignoring everything around me while I read...tant pis.

I will never be able to do my work without music or a movie or some sort of noise...tant pis.

I will never apologize for who I am or the choices I make...tant pis.

In which I discover that I am not that sentimental

This past weekend, I celebrated the bachelorette-ness of one of my former ND roommates who is set to be married this summer. I would like to point out that this is the second former roommate to be married in less than 365 days...oy vay! I am certainly thrilled for them both, however! Both girls are married/to be married to some of the best guys that I have ever met and each couple is made for each other. An ideal situation of the married state, n'est-ce pas?

Yet, at the same time a wave of nostalgia swept over me on Saturday between glasses of wine and the ridiculousness of bachelorette party games. Nostalgia for the days when I worried about grades instead of paychecks, what to eat at the dining hall instead of what to buy at the grocery, and walking across campus (15 minutes) to crossing the city (up to two hours).

Then after a minute of reminiscing I thought, who am I kidding? Hell no I don't want to be in college anymore...or even my early twenties for that matter. I'm over it like nobody's business. Gone are the days of group bathrooms, requisite swimming classes, blue books, and sweating it out during finals. Gone are the days of going to grad school full-time while working two jobs, accounting class at 9:30am, and internship applications (I still own about 200 manila envelopes if anyone needs any, by the way).

Instead I now have my own apartment, voluntary classes (vive le francais), income, and a cute chubby kitty. I have great clothes among which are a few designer labels, the freedom to choose the work that I love, and am well above the legal drinking age. As I say rather too frequently, totes awesome!

So as I look forward to my five year reunion at Notre Dame this weekend, I go with a readiness to see old friends, a fear of the mattresses in the boys dorm in which the Class of 2004 will be staying, and the happiness that while my years there made me the person I am today, I in no way feel the need to relive them over and over.

Now if I could just get those pesky student loans to go away.

Miss Pole Dance World 2009

I don't have any really strong feelings one way or another about strip clubs, pole dancing, etc. But, I did stumble across the routine of Miss Pole Dance World 2009, and what she does is ridiculous. If I tried to do the same thing, I'd probably need multiple realignments afterwards. Even if pole dancing isn't your cup of tea, this video is amazing. Make sure and watch what she does at the 2 minute mark.

Je me chausse

Or literally, I shoe myself en francais. But it really means more of "I wear these shoes." And, oh yes, I do... I love the shoes, although I've gotten rid of several in the past months, and I think I'm down to only about 50 pairs. Sad, I know. And while I wish I could say Je me chausse avec chez Louboutin, it's more like Je me chausse avec chez Payless. Oh well, c'est la vie. However, Payless has had some kickin' shoes lately and I am enamoured of their Alice + Olivia for Payless line. And, since I don't have the paycheck that allows me to buy the real A + O stuff, for now I'll stick with the low-end.

And that's exactly what I've been doing lately - sprucing up my spring/summer wardrobe with some fabulous new shoes. I'm proud to say that all of them have been on sale/clearance/BoGo from a few different stores. And I'm also proud to say that the lowest heal is 4 inches, because however tall I am, I can always be taller. I take true joy in new shoes and the act of buying them is just as fun as wearing them. Although the most fun, admittedly, is seeing the reactions of my friends and family.

So, to share with you my terrific new shoes, I attempted to take a picture. Of course, keep in mind that I have a chubby cat with a lifelong shoe obsession himself.

First try:

Second try:

Third try:

Close enough:

Aren't the shoes fabulous, though?

40 Days

Today marks three very important events: Easter, my 27th birthday, and the end of my 40 days of happiness/release of anger & bitterness. I have to say, there were a variety of successes and failures in the last 40 days as I worked to have a more positive outlook. And as I look back from the tail end of my venture I realize that, while this is no quantifiable goal, I feel like I have achieved a modicum of success. I'm pretty good at no longer obsessing about work once I'm not there, if I get shoved, pushed, or knocked over on the bus I roll with it, and I'm exponentially better at staying calm and at peace when everyone else seems to be freaking out.

So, overall, success...for now. I will definitely have to continue to work out it, but I have a very good start. Listed below is the quotes that I have collected in order to share them with you all one last time!

1. A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.--Seneca
2. Pleasure is spread through the earthIn stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.--William Wordsworth,
3. We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying without having laughed at all.--Jean de La Bruyere
4. There are some days when I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction. --Salvador Dali
5. Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.--Jacques Prévert
6. If you want to be happy, be.--Leo Tolstoy
7. Happiness is never stopping to think if you are.--Palmer Sondreal
8. Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy.--Robert Anthony
9. The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.--Mark Twain
10. If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.--Edith Wharton
11. Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place. But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.--E.L. Konigsburg
12. Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy.--Cynthia Nelms
13. Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.--Robertson Davies
14. Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.--Norm Papernick
15. Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.--Fyodor Dostoevsky
16. What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner.--Colette
17. The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.--James Openheim
18. Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.--John Barrymore
19. Happiness depends upon ourselves.--Aristotle
20. Doing nothing is very hard to do ... you never know when you're finished. --Leslie Nielsen (Thanks, Dad!)
21. In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.--Theodore Roosevelt (Thanks, Dad!)
22. Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. --Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens (Thanks, Dad!)
23. May you live all the days of your life."--Jonathan Swift (Thanks, Dad!)
24. If A is success in life, then A equals X plus Y plus Z. Work is X, Y is play and Z is keeping your mouth shut. --Albert Einstein (Thanks, Dad!)
25. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance."--Samuel Johnson (Thanks, Dad!)
26. The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.--Groucho Marx (Thanks, Dad!)
27. Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.--George Burns (Thanks, Mom!)
28. The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.--Benjamin Franklin
29. Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.--Guillaume Apollinaire
30. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.--Francis Bacon
31. Your life and mine shall be valued not by what we take...but by what we give.--Edgar Allen, Founder of Easter Seals (Thanks, Mom!)
32. It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?-- Winnie the Pooh
33. Happiness is only real when shared.--Christopher McCandless (Thanks, Holden!)
34. Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.--Storm Jameson (Thanks, Holden!)
35. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.--Ralph Waldo Emerson
36. Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.--Henry Ford
37. Our life's a stage, a comedy: either learn to play and take it lightly, or bear its troubles patiently.--Palladas
38. We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them.--Epictetus (Thanks, Meredith!)
39. I think that being relaxed at all times, and I mean relaxed, not collapsed, can add to the happiness and duration of one's life. And relaxed people are fun to be around.--Cary Grant (Thanks, Meredith!)
40. finish each day and be done with it. you have done what you could. some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. tomorrow is a new day. you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.--emerson

I'm very thankful for...

Yesterday, my friend D and I made the voyage east to South Bend for a friend's wedding. And boy what an adventure...it was anything but what we expected!

D picked me up on the southside and we made our way to I-90 which runs straight to South Bend...sounds easy right? Well, we had just hit Gary, when the car started to quickly lose speed, and it turned out...we were out of gas!! According to the needle we should have been okay for a few more miles, but oops!! guess not. So what's a girl to do?

D calls her fiance (we were driving in his car) to ask him to come meet us with some gas. He says he'll hop in D's car and be there as soon as he can. Sounds good, right? Except for the fact that he then calls back letting us know that he can't get D's car started and won't be able to get to us to help!! We then just both sort of look at each other like, "Well, what are we supposed to do now?" We weren't close to any exits or anything.

We decided to try and at least get the car completely on the shoulder of the highway as people seem to drive like maniacs on I-90. D popped in into neutral and I got out and pushed and we moved the car into a safer position. I have to say though, crappy situation aside, I was totes proud of myself for pushing a BMW SUV all on my lonesome - especially in a dress!

However, that move turned out to be helpful in more than one way. Just as I was getting back into the car, another car pulls in front of us and a young guy steps out of the car and asks us what's wrong. When we tell him that we're out of gas, and he offers to go get us some and come back!! Practically giddy that this guy is helping us we chill in the car waiting for him to return.

And he does...parking on the other side of the highway and jumping the barrier with a gas can and filling up the tank so we can get to the next gas station. Ridiculously grateful, we ask him much we owe, and he won't let us pay. I give him my card, asking that he at least send us his address so we can send him a card (and a check)...we'll see if I ever hear back! We then proceed onto the wedding and all is well.

But the real moral of this story is that there are still good people out there. Brilliantly generous and genuinely caring people out there. People willing to go out of there way to help, are out there. I am still incredibly grateful to our stranger who could not have been kinder.

Top 5 Reasons I need a PA

So, yeah, I probably don't really need a personal assistant - but in the magical world inside my head, it sounds like a brilliant idea. Thus, the Top 5 Reasons I need a PA:

1) When I'm laid low with the worst cold this side of the Mississippi (as I currently am), I can make a list of my most-wanted items and send my PA out in to the 5 inches of snow for me

2) When I feel the need to run to Target, at the snap of my fingers, my PA can rent me a car and chauffeur me there

3) I can finally escape the embarassment of my hideous handwriting and have someone take notes for me, so when I can share info with my coworkers without having to type it first

4) Two words...litter box

5) When things happen like, oh, I don't know, the plate on my electrical pipe on my ceiling falls off and I end up with plaster all over my living room floor, there's someone there to help as my vacuum cleaner merely spreads the mess around.

And yes, in case you're wondering, most "Top" lists have ten reasons, but as I've already used 8 kleenex's during this post, and still can't breathe, I think 5 is my magic number.

Now if I only had a PA to write the rest of it...

Ugh, I'm an idiot

I fulfilled one of my 100/10 goals like 2 months ago and never even wrote about it!!

57) Get certified in CPR.

Done - many thanks to the great Front of House staff at the CSO that provided the classes.

9 down, 91 to go, 9.5 years to go...totes

My being famous...sort of

So last night, in an effort to further procrastinate on my Christmas cards (although all of them are now in the mail!), I was messing around and discovered that I'm on YouTube - albeit an extremely short amount of time. But, nevertheless, it brought back good memories.

I'm in the second row of trombones after the Irish Guard - right in front of the camera - totes.

This ain't your mama's Thanksgiving

Ringing in the season of Thanksgiving means one thing to me...turkey pizza.

Ah yes, the Hall family tradition remains alive and well. In my mother's neverending quest to avoid the kitchen entirely, she remains a spectator with the rest of us as my father creates the glory that is the turkey pizza. And there's no turkey on this pizza kids, it's all in the shape...oh, yeah...totes. See below for the gloriousness:



But, nay, a girl cannot survive Thanksgiving on turkey pizza alone. There must be the shooting of the BB gun and the riding of the tractor.

Like every 17 year old girl, for my birthday, I wanted a Daisy BB gun, and my parents humored me. It still serves me well 9 years later as I wipe the floor with my competition using nothing but a steady hand, six tin cans, one wood sawhorse, and an uncanny sense of the direction that the wind blows. See below for the gloriousness:

Yet, while my mother may not be a deft hand at whipping up the traditional Thanksgiving spread, she is a expert behind the wheel of a tractor, even one that only is sort of still alive and running...nothing like jumping a tractor with a battery, eh? Brought back the good ol' days of jumping my truck...tear. She, being the benevolent maternal figure that she is, chose to pass those mad skills onto me. See below for the gloriousness:

To all of you whose Thanksgiving does not include any sort of pizza-making/gun-shooting/tractor-driving goodness...I pity you, and give thanks for my own good memories.

P.S. - One more down...51) Drive a tractor

My apathy wins

So in yesterday's blog post I highlighted my apathy towards, well, everything...at least for the day.

And apparently, voters for new entries into the Collins English Dictionary agreed with me. Lexicographers everywhere enthusiastically voted to enter the word "meh" into the dictionary. Odd that they were excited about "meh," is it not?

HarperCollins made the announcement that the word will be included in the dictionary's 30th anniversary edition.

Fun fact for the day: Allegedly the word came into popular usage after a 2001 "The Simpsons" episode where are Bart and Lisa are watching TV and Homer comes in to suggest a day trip, to which they both reply "meh."

So big congrats to "meh" for beating out inferior contenders such as "jargonaut," "frenemy," and "huggles."

I could write more about this event, but...meh...

Blarghety Blargh Blargh

I know, I should have already blogged by now...I had been doing so well.

I could totes blog about the heinous pre-Broadway production of Dirty Dancing I saw last Wednesday. The weird Australian accent, the cheesy set, the lack of outstanding talent, and the empty void where Jerry Orbach should have been.

I could totes blog about how the current state of the economy is freaking this corporate fundraiser out, and how I'm practically reading the NYTimes Business section in my sleep.

I could totes blog about the fact that I've already seen Quantum of Solace twice. Including dressing up in formal wear for a martini party with friends and working it in 4 1/2 patent leather red heels at the theater.

I could totes blog about that fact that this past week, I never made it home before 10:30pm at night which resulted in an extremely cute, extremely needy Sugar. We're snuggling as I type.

I could totes blog about how I've taken 4 vacation days this entire year - not a good idea.

However, I totes won't - because today is apathetic Sunday. I've cleaned, grocery-shopped, organized, e-mailed, and downloaded pictures - all through a haze of blahness. Really, though, I kind of need these days every once in a while. I consider it saving my energy for the crazy week ahead.

Totes.