uncompetewithable

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I hope everyone had a fun, enjoyable Christmas. My weekend was very full, but enjoyable nonetheless. I ended up doing a shift exchange at work so that I could have Christmas Day off which meant I had to work 6 days in a row last week. Luckily I got through it pretty easily and as long as I got to spend time with my family for Christmas I was happy.

Saturday I went to Baraboo and spent the day at my parents. We had an awesome dinner of bacon wrapped beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes with cheese and bacon crumbles on top, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce, and cheesy biscuits. We exchanged gifts and hung out for awhile, and then I headed to Sun Prairie late Saturday night to be ready for Christmas day with Zach and his family. I did a black and white oil painting for my parents (from a picture of me holding Alyssa the day she was born) which made my mom tear up a little bit. [Success!]

"Widdowe Beebees"

Sunday I spent the entire day with Zach's family. I was seriously impressed with the lunch spread they had - a huge, delicious meal for THIRTY people. The entire meal went off quite well (so well, that I was stuffed full for the rest of the day/night). There was an 18.5 pound ham, 2 turkeys, stuffing, ranch mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, carrots and onions, rolls, some cabbage thing (that I stayed away from), and lots of cookies and other snacks throughout the day.  The afternoon held lots of running around, lots of present opening, and a few drinks for the adults. My presents for Zach's family (his parents Jodi and Dave, twin sister Meghan, and little brother Sam) were what I was most nervous about. I've spent pretty much the last 3 weeks knitting their Christmas presents, and I was really hoping that the sizes of everything would work out and they'd enjoy their gifts. Soooooo....

Meghan's Scarf

[dark purple, very hard to see - but SUPER warm!]

Dave's Hat

[my own pattern I made up on the spot - also SUPER warm]

Jodi's Mittens

[cabled cuffs and one of my favorite colors made them hard to give away]

Sam's Hat

[Sam has a hard time finding hats that fit his giant head (because his brain is so big) 

so this one needed to fit just right, and it did!]

I was very proud of myself because I was finished with all 5 of my projects by 2 am on Friday night - the earliest I've ever finished all my presents! The last few weeks were a little jam-packed but it seems like everyone enjoyed their gifts, and you guys know I just like spoiling people so it all worked out. 

My parents were also able to come to Zach's to spend some time on Christmas Day. Dad had to work so they hadn't planned on really doing anything, so Jodi and Dave invited them down. They got there around 5 pm and stayed through halftime of the Packer game, so we got some quality time in and my parents finally got to meet Zach's parents. 

Phew! Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got back to Madison last night (sometime around midnight). I was sleeping by 230ish which is about 3 hours earlier than usual. I'm excited to relax and be lazy for a little while now that all my projects are complete. 

I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas and you'll hear from me in the new year!

dark was the night

Thought I forgot about you? There's still 17 minutes left of Blog Monday!

This'll be a short one, as I've got about a million things to do tonight/this week. Christmas presents are coming along nicely....I've got 2 projects done, 1 project almost done, 1 project halfway done, and one yet to start. BUT if I work hard, I think I can do it! I won't lie though, I'm ready for the holiday to be over with...well, I'm ready for it to finally be Christmas so I can stop rushing around.

So, a brief overview of my week: I forgot to include last time that (thanks to a donation from my grandparents) I now have REAL kitchen chairs! The mismatched folding chairs have been put away in the closet, and this place already looks a bit classier. After Christmas, the search for a couch starts again.....

Saturday Zach and I had a fancy holiday party to go to. We took a little trip to Zach's friends' condo about an hour and twenty minutes from here. There were Tom & Jerry's, hors d'oeuvres and some pretty entertaining (albeit frustrating) games, and we had a lot of fun.

Before I close, I wanted to say a quick congratulations to my friends Lisa and Chris on the birth of their baby girl, Nora, this morning! A mere two weeks after the due date, I'm sure Lisa and Chris are excited to finally get to hold their little one.

Enjoy Christmas everyone!

handle with care

The month of December has to be one of the most tiring months of all. Maybe....... you know I can't pick favorites or pick the top of anything. But in December, everyone seems to be rushing around shopping, getting ready for the holidays, complaining about shopping and getting ready for the holidays, and it all seems endless.

As such, it feels like I've had another busy week. Lots of early [by my definition] mornings, and let me tell you, by last night I was delirious with sleep. (However, we did make some time to relax and go to the movies!)

My days off were particularly busy. Friday I spent the day cleaning, working on Christmas projects, and baking cookies! Saturday we had our family Christmas. Both sets of grandparents, our good family friends, Alyssa and Andy, and Zach and I all went to my parents' house for lunch and presents. It was really nice to see everyone, since I knew I wasn't going to be able to see them on actual Christmas.

Mom, Dad, Me, Zach, Alyssa, and Andy

I did finish one project which I can actually share with you now. Unfortunately, thats because it was supposed to be a Christmas present last year that I didn't finish until last week. It is a pair of mittens for my mom that I knit to match the argyle scarf that I knit for her last year.

Now I must get going, because I've still got a million things to do tonight! 

it's time to get out of the desert and into the sun

This week has been a very productive week....at least it feels that way, because I'm exhausted.

I worked on one of my Christmas projects during the week, and finally got it done last night. This is a big feat, because I've been working on it for more than a year. I also started to plan a little more for my other Christmas projects and gifts. Now I've got some momentum going, so it'll be a little easier from here on out.

I did get to decorate for Christmas this past week. There wasn't a lot to it, but my favorite part is complete - the Christmas tree is up! When my parents got their dog 5 years ago, they had to get a "temporary" tree, one that they could put on top of a table where the puppy couldn't eat the ornaments. Since he is all grown up, they've gifted the tree to me. It's a 4 foot tree, and although I would love to have a real, giant tree this one does just fine and puts me in an excellent mood. [I wouldn't even say a Christmas-y mood, because it's just a general happiness.]

I also finally got all of the boxes emptied and recycled from when I moved. Yes, three months ago. But that got me motivated enough to start putting some more stuff up in the apartment. I finally hung my decorated bulletin board where I hang all my jewelry and I've got some ideas where I want to put some artwork and pictures.

Friday and Saturday were pretty busy days, which is why I am so exhausted today. Friday was mostly a day of preparation for Saturday. Friday afternoon I met up with my old roommate to take care of some final things from our old apartment, and I got to sit down with her for almost 2 hours and catch up which was really nice. Even though we both live in the same city, we haven't seen each other since moving out because we work completely opposite schedules. Afterwards I picked up some groceries and went home to....... brine a turkey! After Thanksgiving, Zach and I got a turkey for a very good price. We figured it'd make a really nice meal and a lot of leftovers for soup and sandwiches. So I got that all set to sit overnight, and I also got some meat marinading and made a batch of teriyaki beef jerky [which has already been entirely eaten].

Saturday my parents came down, because I was hoping to buy a used couch that I'd found on Craigslist, and I needed a vehicle that could transport a couch. Unfortunately the seller was terrible at communication and just stopped replying. But since I was going to be roasting a whole 13.5 lb turkey, I convinced my parents to still come down (and to bring the dog!). So we ended up inadvertently having a mini-Thanksgiving. We had turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, and roasted carrots and onions and topped everything off with apple pie.  It might have been one of the best turkeys I have ever eaten. The meat stayed very moist and was super flavorful. I happen to think that Zach and I did a pretty awesome job with the whole meal. Plus we got to spend the whole evening with my parents and the puppy. Zach got my dad started on some video games, which I'm sure my mom is very excited for.

I'm currently in the process of making turkey stock out of the carcass so I can make some soup for this week. The rest of the evening I will be busy working on some more Christmas projects. If any of you have a special request for a Christmas card, let me know and make sure that I have your address!

life's a happy song when there's someone by my side to sing along

Bonjour!

[I'm getting so good at this posting on time, once a week thing!]

As I'm sure is true for most of you, this past week has been a bit hectic. Lots of running around and a few early mornings means that by the end of the week, I was ready to crash. (Don't worry, I got a nice relaxing day in.)

Since before we were dating, Zach has been waiting [mostly] patiently for the release of the newest Muppets movie. Zach is a huge fan of The Muppets and Jim Henson. I didn't really watch much when I was younger, so Zach has been educating me more and more as the release for the new movie grew closer. Finallllly November 23rd came along. (In all seriousness, Zach found out about the movie approx. 4 years ago, and if I had had to wait that long for something I loved that much, I would have gone absolutely nuts.) Moral of the story, Zach and I went with our friend Ben to the first showing on Wednesday morning. Of course, we *coughzachcough* were so excited the night before that we stayed up well past 6am watching the Muppet Show on DVD. All in all, it was a GREAT movie. I highly recommend it to you all. I've been singing the songs basically non-stop since seeing it and can't wait to go see it again.

Thursday I had to get up really early. For those of you who don't know, my current sleep schedule has me at a bedtime of about 5 or 6 or 630 am. I had to be AWAKE at 730 am on Thursday, so I actually had to put a lot of effort into trying to get to bed early. While I only got about 4 hours of sleep, I was able to get up and get ready and get to Zach's parents house on time so we could leave for the Thanksgiving festivities at his Uncle's house. The food was delicious and we even snuck a nap in during the afternoon.

Friday was my day to relax. I spent the whole day playing video games (mostly Red Dead Redemption) and a little bit of Tetris. It was really nice to not do anything, but it was a little disconcerting that I looked at the clock when I started playing (430 pm) and the next time I looked at the clock it was 1030pm. Oops!

Saturday I got a few things done around the apartment. Mostly some cleaning and a little work getting some pictures in frames and things. Sorry to disappoint, but I've still gotten practically nowhere on decorating this place. For some reason I'm having the hardest time committing to what pictures and art I want up and where to put it. I'll have to just lock myself in here one day and not allow myself to do anything until it's all put up. After some cleaning and such, Zach and I went out to dinner with a few of our friends and then hung out for awhile afterwards (where we got to play with our friends' dog!).

Alright, I should be going. Once again I have come up with a million projects for Christmas presents, but not started on them until now, so I've got a lot to do if I want to meet the Christmas deadline. (However, after everyone has received their presents, there will be pictures of all the handmade ones for you guys to see!) Have a good week everyone!

up and up, i keep on climbing

Two weeks in a row!

Unfortunately nothing terribly exciting has happened in the last week. I had a pretty relaxing weekend, which is always nice and much needed. Especially when it gets to this time of year when every free minute seems to be packed.

Friday evening Zach and I went out to dinner with Steph and Jake and Steph's twin sister Lisa, who is due to have a baby VERY soon. We had a very entertaining meal. Jake is obsessed with Spider-man, which just happens to be one of Zach's favorites. [Incidentally, I was also wearing one of Zach's Spider-man t-shirts, which prompted Jake to keep grabbing my chest and yelling Spider-man. That little kid has definitely got some moves.] Jake is also talking a ton now so he is endlessly entertaining. He started by saying that Zach and I were his buddies, and quickly changed his story, saying, "This is my brother, big Zach!" The best moment of the night was probably watching little 2-year-old Jake walking along holding 6'6" Zach's hand. AAAAAAAdorable.

Saturday we went out with a bunch of friends. Andy got a new job, so all of our work friends don't get to see him very much anymore, so he invited everyone to get together. It was nice hanging out with people that we don't get to see very much anymore. (However, I think Zach and I may have had some bad beer, because we both ended up getting really bad stomachaches.)

Nothing else to report. I just got home from work and knew I had to get a blog written before midnight. (I can't disappoint for Blog Monday!) My apartment is freezing, so I'm sitting here all bundled up waiting for it to warm up. In the meantime, I've got to do some cleaning and make dinner.

Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving!

a brief yet triumphant intermission

Alright, I know. It's been far too long.

Blog Monday's are making a comeback...

Nothing terribly noteworthy has been going on around here, but there have been a few changes since the last time I posted. [only 2 posts since May, and nothing substantial at that. boo, amanda.]

The most notable change was that I moved! I was definitely ready to get out of my old apartment - 2.5 years with a very poor management company was enough for me. I moved into a brand new apartment on August 31st. Not just new to me, 100% brand spanking new, completely uninhabited before me. The apartment itself is awesome - 1 bedroom, washer/dryer, brand new appliances, tons of cabinet space, high ceilings, balcony, giant bedroom window, walk-in closet, great location [I'm less than 10 minutes from anywhere I go on a regular basis. My gym is actually across the street, and Target is right next door.]

Unfortunately, I haven't been very on top of decorating and furnishing. I haven't been able to have any guests over, because they haven't anywhere to sit - just a lonely loveseat and 3 mismatched folding chairs. I've been slowly adding to the walls. I've hung 2 pictures and 2 paintings, but especially with the high ceilings, the walls are quite bare. So my goal is to get things put together in the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll do some scavenging for furniture, and I need to get around to hanging all the pictures and art I already have. After I've got it semi-put together,  I'll get some pictures put up.

Also in August, I took a mini-vacation with Zach and his family. His family rents a cabin on a tiny lake in northern Wisconsin every summer for a week. I wasn't able to take a whole week off of work, but I went up on Tuesday and we left Saturday morning, so I still got a nice vacation with awesome weather and great company. I even saw a bear! (He was crossing the road one evening when we were on our way to town.)

Vacation! 

sleepy from a day in the sun

I feel like September must have been uneventful, because I don't remember it at all. (This is why I should post more than every few months.) Zach and I did get to go to a Brewer game! Unfortunately they didn't win, but we had a fun day tailgating and just watching the game. We also got to spend a lot of time at the zoo. Zach also moved in August, and he used to live just a few blocks from the zoo, so we tried to visit as much as we could before he moved.

So excited!

Sassy baby lion and his mom

Also pictured: Fence.

October was exciting, because it was my birthday month! [And anyone who knows me, knows that I love birthdays!] The entire month was actually filled with birthdays. Zach's mom had a birthday, several of our friends had birthday, and of course, my dad and I at the end of the month. You know I don't like to pick favorites, but I think this could have maybe been one of my favorite birthdays of my lengthy 25 years. Zach spoiled me with a handmade card (tiger) and a painting (monkey), which were both amazing! Plus he got me 2 seasons of Parks and Recreation, plus the book by the main character, and he made me a giant breakfast. 

For more details, and pictures of Zach's present, please visit Zach's blog here! 

(http://zachwagnerillustrationdesign.blogspot.com)

As a shameless plug, Zach does some amazing work and he updates his blog regularly.

Check it out!

On top of everything, my parents got me a Playstation 3 - which I was completely shocked by because I wasn't really expecting anything big. I've been playing a lot of Tetris. Alyssa got me a giant mixing bowl, a whisk with a giraffe handle and a rolling pin with an alligator head and his tail for the handles, both of which are super cute. Most importantly, I was really happy to be able to spend the day with all the people I love.

So far November has flown by - I keep forgetting that it's actually November, to be quite honest. Zach had his wisdom teeth out, so I took a day off of work and had a 3 day weekend to help nurse him back to health [he really didn't need me at all, but I like to think I was instrumental in his quick recovery.] It was really nice to have a 3 day weekend, but working a full week last week was very tiring.

I'm working on being a lot more productive - I've gotten kind of lazy, so I'm trying to get everything back on track. Keep on checking my blog, and hopefully I'll have more exciting stuff to come!

searching for a former clarity

Hello all.

I know, I know; it's been awhile. Inquiring minds want to know where I've been and what I've been up to.

Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to say. [mostly I just don't have the time, but let's pretend its super top secret]. I just wanted to let you know I am alive and well, sick of the heat but no worse for the wear. I promise to update as soon as I possibly can.

Until then, enjoy the rest of August!

don't be alarmed, i feel we're falling back to ground

Alright, this is going to be a short one - just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive!

I have been focusing a lot on finding a new apartment. This is endlessly frustrating, because there are a lot to look at and I'm pretty limited by location and price.  I'll be living by myself again which I am looking forward to, but finding an affordable apartment when I won't have the luxury of splitting rent with anyone is proving to be difficult - especially when I want to live in a safe neighborhood.

Work has been...interesting...to say the least. It's been a bit stressful, here and there. Some days are good, and some days seem like they go on for weeks. This week was not only my 3 year anniversary there, but my 1 year anniversary as a supervisor. I've also been dealing with some car troubles, so I've made two trips to have work done on my car in the last two weeks.

So, thats it for now. Just wanted to let everyone know that things are going fine with me, I've just been busy with a lot of mundane, time consuming things. Summer is looking to be pretty busy, but I will try to get caught up with posting and be better at keeping to a schedule!

the sun is always rising in the sky somewhere

They see me rolling / they hating / patrolling / trying to catch up on my blogs / trying to catch me writing dirty.

[i am on a roll.]

Sunday May 8th: Mothers Day! Which means Alyssa and I took our favorite mom, the BEST mom in the whole world, out to brunch at the Great Dane in Fitchburg. Even though I had to work that afternoon, it was nice to hang out with my mommy for a few hours. [And she made us get up really early to meet her, so I still had enough time to take a bit of a nap before work.]

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, because it was mostly work. Friday I was not feeling very well, and I didn't really sleep at all the night before, so I spent most of the day in bed. Friday evening I went over to Marley's house for a few hours. She is finally done with school and her crazy schedule, so we are trying to get back into the habit of hanging out every week. Friday was also Andy's birthday, so Zach and I met him and a bunch of other people out at the Great Dane for drinks. We played pool and shuffleboard, and had birthday cake and lots of fun! (Andy was so happy. And I played a really good game of pool. So happy.)

Saturday morning Zach and I went to the Farmers Market again. This time we took a bit more time walking around. Its still not quite the best time of the year for the market, since it's a little early for things to be in season, but it is still nice to go. [My one mistake was not buying cheese curds, because I spent the rest of the day complaining about not having any cheese curds.] The rest of the day was kind of a lazy day, which was just what I needed. I actually feel like I caught up on some sleep.

Today was back to work, for another wonderful workweek. (vomit.) Hopefully from here on out, I can keep caught up on my posting!

it shines so bright it blinds me

"Once upon a time, I was like, 'oh I need to write a blog,' but then I was like oh my god, I don't want to write a blog." -Anonymous

Blog writing has not been particularly exciting lately, because there has not been a lot of stuff going on to talk about. Plus, my faith in my readers is dwindling - I can't imagine that anyone actually wants to read what I am writing every week [or however often I actually get around to doing it]. But onward I must go...

So....the week of May 1st through May 7th.

Nothing too exciting happened during my work week - work has kind of been draining me lately. But I've gotten much better about not thinking about work when I'm not there, which definitely helps. On Friday [the 6th] I met Steph and our friend Tina for coffee at the cafe across the street from the zoo. Tina has a little girl, Audrey, who is 10 days older than Jake so Tina and Steph get to hang out while Audrey and Jake play together. (They are like little best friends, which is adorable. Steph and Tina tell me stories about how Jake and Audrey ask for each other all the time when they're not together. Its just amazing to me to see how, as they get older, their own personalities are growing, but they are also developing friendships.) So anyways,  we had coffee and then headed across the street to the zoo. We visited the baby lion 3 times  - what a sass! He is just sooooooo entertaining to watch, and its hard to believe that such an uncoordinated, silly little cub will turn into the large, stoic lion that his dad is.

Afterwards I went out to dinner with Marley. We went to Bluephies, which has a pretty interesting menu. For my entree I had a grilled cheese sandwich. Boring, right? No way. It was two pieces of sharp cheddar cheese with a layer of macaroni and cheese and a layer of pulled BBQ pork in the middle. It was disgustingly delicious. (Only disgusting, because I felt like going into a food coma after.) We followed it up with a dessert of cookie dough eggrolls. Basically its just the normal wonton wrappers that are used for eggrolls, filled with chocolate chip cookie dough and deep-fried so the outside is all crispy and the inside is melty cookie dough. Soooo yummy!

Saturday was a full day too. Zach and I got up extra early and went to the Farmers Market so I could have my first taste of the infamous Spicy Cheese bread, which was pretty awesome, plus coffee and a donut. Later in the afternoon, Zach, Andy and I went to Free Comic Book day which they had been talking about all week. [Can't lie, I was excited to get my free comics, too.] Afterwards we went and saw Thor in 3D, which was pretty good. (Sadly, Natalie Portman sucked.)  The day ended with Zach, Andy, Alyssa, and I at Zach's house where we played some trivia games [I kicked ass] and watched a movie.

All in all it was a pretty full weekend, which has become a theme to my life. I don't really relax on the weekends anymore, and just jam-pack my weekends. Its definitely fun, but it can be kind of exhausting.

Alright, sometime soon I'll have the next post, and I'll finally be all caught up!

the shell was crushing you

Uh-oh. I'm reallllly falling behind. This is gonna be a short one - hopefully I can slowly, but surely, catch up on this.

The week after Easter was - awhile ago. BUT I remember it! Zach's final portfolio show was the Thursday after Easter, so it was kind of a hectic week for him getting all of that together. I took Thursday off to go to the show. It was at the Monona Terrace, which was nice although the setup wasn't ideal for everyone. It was my first time there, so it was cool to see it from the inside, but it was a rainy day so the view out wasn't that great. My parents also made a trip down to see all of Zach's work, so the three of us went around and looked at all of the Graphic Design, Illustration, and Photography portfolios. Since most [probably all] of you were unable to see his stuff, here is a link to Zach's blog where you can see some of the stuff he has been working on!

Zach's Blog

ps. make sure you start alllll the way at the beginning! they're totally worth it. =]

The next day Zach and I took a trip to the zoo to meet the baby lion cub! He is ADORABLE. I seriously could not handle myself - but the little cub is quite the popular little guy, so there were a lot of people around. I do have some pictures, but I don't have access to them right now, and I'm sure that in my coming visits I will be able to get much better shots. 

That brings me up to this past week which.....I am going to skip for now.

Until then.....

and now i don't know how to stop

Since I missed a post, I'm going to do 2 this week. Right now I don't have the mental energy to get through more than one, so you'll have to deal with my update from the week before Easter.

Life has been a little bit hectic for me the past few weeks - just a lot of stuff going on, in a lot of different places, and quite frankly, it's a bit exhausting. Thinking back on it, I can't remember much of the week - I don't know whether thats good or bad. I do remember feeling like there is never enough time, which is a definite theme as of late.

The weekend was where it was at - full of Easter meals and birthday celebrations.

Friday was Zach's birthday, so I made a nice big breakfast for him [at our breakfast time of 2 pm...] That night some of his friends had people over in honor of his birthday, so we went over there for awhile.
Saturday morning I had to get up semi-early to go to Hartland for Easter brunch with my dad's side of the family. It was nice to spend time with everyone there, even though it was only for a few hours. Saturday evening I had to be back in Madison for a birthday dinner with Zach's family (including his twin sister).
Sunday morning I was up realllllllly early to be in Oconomowoc for Easter with my mom's side of the family - and more importantly my Mommy's birthday!!  I hope my mom actually enjoyed her birthday present because it was a bit silly. But all she said she wanted was a cheese grater, and Alyssa had already bought that. So I got her something to go along with the grater - CHEESE! I barely made it through the day on Sunday though, which was the bad part. I couldn't make it through the afternoon without a nap. I got up at 730 in the morning, which is brutal when my usual bedtime is around 5. And to round out the day, I had to be back in Madison that afternoon for a full day of work.

That was my whirlwind weekend - 2 birthdays, 2 Easters, 2 2-hour round trip car rides, and 2 nights of barely enough sleep. I am very happy to have survived through that weekend, and now that it's over, I've been trying to avoid any plan-making at all.

Alright, I'm off to do some reading before I turn in very early for bed. More to come soon!

when i grow older, i will be stronger

This week was definitely not the most exciting, but the weekend was full as usual. Friday I actually got to sleep in a little bit, and then Alyssa and I spent the afternoon/evening together. First we did some shopping at the mall and at Kohl's. I got a much-needed belt and a much less needed scarf. It's chartreuse which is one color that I don't have, so it's okay. ;) Afterwards we went out for dinner and then I took her back to her house. 

Later in the evening I had a little birthday gathering to go to for one of my friends at work. A few people got together at one of our frequent waterholes, the Weary Traveler, which also has phenomenal food. I picked Alyssa up on the way and we just hung out there for awhile. Alyssa got a grilled cheese sandwich, which sounds kind of boring, but it looked amazing and, according to Alyssa, was pretty damn good. I had a cup of their vegan chili and vegan cornbread, which was also really good - and nice and spicy (too many restaurants make their chili wayyyy too bland).  This place is known for having a very wide selection of vegan meals on their menu, plus a lot of their ingredients are local. 

Now normally I wouldn't care about what the vegan items on a menu are BUT....I have been eating terribly the last 6+ months now and so I finally decided to make some changes. I've heard a lot about cleanses and cleansing diets, but most of them sound pretty sketchy and rather unhealthy. So I decided to just go vegan for 2 weeks as a way to jumpstart some better eating habits. Basically a lot of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Minus some of my favorite foods [and staples to my unhealthy diet]: meat, cheese, milk, any dairy products, eggs....basically everything. Sooooo, it was very hard, and it was why I was very thankful to be able to find yummy vegan options on the menu. As of late I have moved into Phase II of my two weeks, which is just vegetarian. I couldn't handle skipping all the dairy. I'm still eating very limited amounts of the dairy, but it gives me a little extra breathing room. 

Saturday morning I got to meet my friends Britny and Nick for brunch! They were visiting from LaCrosse and I haven't seen them since like....December?, so it was really nice to get together just for a little while. Saturday evening Zach and I went to see "Born to Be Wild" in IMAX 3D. It was absolutely adorable. It is a documentary about two women who rescue orphaned elephants and orangutans. It was only 40 minutes, but it was pretty awesome. Plus the women do some amazing work. Of course, when I left I wanted a baby elephant to play with and Zach wanted a baby orangutan to go on motorcycle rides with him, but it was definitely worth it. Afterwards we went over to one of Zach's friend's house to hang out and play games. We ended up playing a 4+ hour game of Trivial Pursuit (90s edition), but Zach and I won [no thanks to me] so it was worth the time. It was a ton of fun though, good company and lots of laughing. 

Sunday morning Zach and I went out for brunch with his parents and brother at a place in Middleton. It was a brunch buffet, and the food was pretty good. Plus, I had decided ahead of time that I was going to allow myself to eat meat and cheese, so it was quite a treat. I had some reallllly yummy prime rib (which sounds pretty tasty right about now...). Afterwards I had to go home and take a nap, because I was exhausted from the night before [staying up super late playing games] and getting up at a normal person's time of day for breakfast. So I took a nap, and zen fired ze missiles. (aka went back to work). 

Now I am 2/5 of the way done with my workweek, and I'm trying to get caught up on a bunch of correspondence that I'm behind on. Off to write some letters!

made with real poo!

I forgot an important detail from my zoo outing last week!

After playing with the animals, we decided to stop in the gift shop where Zach pointed out [and I promptly fell in love with] an assortment of paper products with the phrase "MADE WITH REAL POO!" on it. The one that caught Zach's eye was a mini-journal with an adorable panda on the front.

The following is from the description enclosed with the journal:

"Believe it or not, what you are looking at is a totally unique gift made from odorless and naturally recycled panda poo poo!!!

You see, the Giant Pandas from China eat lots of bamboo and because bamboo has lots of fibers and much of it goes undigested by the pandas, their poo poo is a great material to make paper from. How cool is that?

We collet the poo, we rinse, clean, grind and mix it into a pulp and make large sheets of paper which we use to craft these incredibly unique gift items!

To be exact, the entire exterior of this item including the cover and inset pages are made from panda poo paper. The smooth pages insides have some natural mulberry and pineapple fibers mixed in with the poop as well which results in smoother pages for writing." 

Isn't this AWESOME?!?!?!? 

If I've piqued your interest at all, you can find out more on their website. They have gift items made from the poop of all different kinds of animals.

Poo Poo Paper

 

and all i ever wanted was to hear that sound

A few weeks ago I was talking to Marley and I said, "I'm really ready for summer." Marley just looked at me all confused and said, "Really...thats weird." Because everyone knows that I hate summer. Its hot and sticky and uncomfortable and with nappy roots like these it is miserable. But for some reason, I was really ready for warm weather - or I thought I was. Because today was HOT. Which made the evening last night hot, which made it hard to sleep, which makes me very crabby. Because one thing I hate more than summer is anything that messes with my sleep. So....Yuck.

Anyways, this week has been much more interesting than usual. I had the day off on Wednesday, because Zach had his graphic design and illustration portfolio show that night. It was really nice to see the stuff he has been working on all put together. Afterwards we went out for dinner and drinks to give Zach a wellllll deserved break.

Thursday I called into work, which was some good and some bad. The bad news first: I had a terrible migraine. Zach and I went to the zoo and got some coffee, but I was still not feeling very well, and I spent the next few hours hiding in a darkened room with my sunglasses on and ice on my head. Luckily I started feeling a little better, and I went out to dinner with Alyssa.

Friday and Saturday were my normal days off. Friday I didn't do anything at all. I finally got to try my 100% Kona coffee that Zach brought me from Hawaii, and I spent the afternoon watching TV and movies and reading. Saturday was a beautiful day (although I may have spent a large portion of it sleeping in). I met Steph, Jake, and Lisa for coffee and then afterwards I went on a SUPPPPPPPPPPPPER cute dinner date with Zach. We went to Lombardino's, and I even got to wear my fancy[ish] cocktail dress. [and heels! So I was only like....12 inches shorter than Zach]

Back to work today, and a normal workweek. =[ I'm working on my pouty face right now.

look me in the heart and tell me you won't go

Well. I accidentally skipped a week. I really have no excuse. But I will try to be better about posting in the future! [Also, I am now in an undeclared competition with someone who is trying to show me up with his blog.] Nothing too exciting has been going on. Work has continued to be a huge stressor, which is exhausting. And so by default, I don't feel like doing much of anything outside of work.

Last weekend Alyssa, Zach and I took a trip up to Baraboo for dinner with Mom and Dad. We were super spoiled because they bought us dinner  and Dad bought shots of Jameson for Mom, Alyssa and I. [Yeah, my MOM did a SHOT of ALCOHOL.] Afterwards we went back to my parents house and chatted for a little while and got to play with Rooster, too. Dinner was really the only important thing that I remember from two weeks ago. (Oops, hope I didn't let anyone down with my forgetfulness.)

This week was also not very exciting. Alyssa and I had one of our famed late night shopping trips to SuperWalmart. Let me tell you, SuperWalmart after 11pm is not always a great choice, but there is guaranteed entertainment. There are always crazy people there at that time, and somehow we always end up witnessing shenanigans at the checkout line. Also, everyone in the store decides to check out at the same exact time, so there is a crowd just standing around at the front watching the drama unfold between some cracked out customer and any or all mildly disgruntled employees. ANYWAY....

The best part of this week was when I went out for breakfast to Hubbard. It was a large collection of some of my most favorite people! Alyssa, Stephanie, Jake, Zach, and Andy. We had lots of fun, and some pretty good food, and I tried the raspberry-rhubarb pie which was phenomenal. Awww,  I just wish I could hang out with them all the time.

Saturday I [unfortunately] had to work. I picked up a shift for Andy so that he could go out of town to visit his sister. It was weird working a Saturday, because I have to do it so rarely. After work,  Alyssa came over and we had a nice little sleepover.

I woke up this morning, albeit early, to the exciting prospect of breakfast with Alyssa, Steph, Jake, and Lisa. So we all met at Hubbard [again, I know....but in my defense I hadn't been to Hubbard in weeks; it just so happens that the 2 times I did go were within 3 days. Oops!] I love their chocolate malts.

The End. =]

every thug needs a lady

This week was actually pretty horrendous. It was basically the week from hell at work, and I do not want to go into it. That meant that outside of work, I was extremely worn out and pretty crabby.

I had plans to work on a bunch of projects this week, but I didn't get very far on that either. I worked on one knitting project [a pair of mittens for my mommy], but I only got one mitten done, and I'm going to have to EditUndo part of it, because the pattern I followed made a pretty stupid looking mitten. The second project is a hat, which I have yet to start.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day, and so I went to the zoo with Steph and Jake. We were looking the most forward to seeing the otters, but they weren't out there the whole time we were there. However, we did get to see the polar bear! He was soooo cute.

He was getting verrrry sleepy as we were leaving.

Me and Jake!

Afterwards I picked Marley up and we went to dinner at Hubbards. The best part was dessert: a chocolate malt made with fudge. Then we did a little bit of shopping, and I went home. 

Saturday I spent the day running a few errands (accidentally more shopping). Mom and Dad brought Alyssa back to Madison,  and we all hung out at my apartment for a few hours. 

Sunday I left work early, because my boyfriend Zach finally came back from his vacation to Hawaii. I got spoiled with lots and lots of gifts (Hawaiian chocolate, and cookies, and 100% Kona Coffee!!!!!, and shell necklaces and paper umbrellas anddddd...the list goes on.)

But it was back to a full day of work today, and it was a little less terrible than last week, but I am running a bit ragged at this point, and I'm terribly jealous of all my close friends who got a spring break. So I'm already looking very forward to my weekend!

Off to bed!

plum passion

This week was another weird week, because my schedule was thrown off a bit. Wednesday was Marley's 21st birthday. [Happppppy Birthday, Marley!] So I left work early and joined her family and some friends for dinner at a barbeque place downtown. The food was awesome - ribs, mac and cheese, fries, spicy cornbread...yum! Plus the company was pretty good, too. Afterwards we went out for a few drinks. At the first place we went, they were having karaoke, and there were quite a few... interesting ...participants. 


On Thurdsay, I finally got to finish dyeing my hair! If you remember, I dyed most of my hair darkdarkdark, but there was just a section in the front that was bleached. But I really missed having color.....a lot. So......

PLUM PASSION!

The interesting part about this color is that it changes quite a bit depending on what type of light I'm in. At work under the fluorescents, it looks a lot bluer. At home under warm light, it looks a lot more purple. Either way, I really like it. Much better than the blonde, and even better than the turquoise. Plus it looks really nice with the dark color.

Friday I got to spend an entire afternoon with my wonderful, awesome, entertaining, pretty, funny, perfect sister Alyssa! I picked her up and we met Steph and Jake at Hubbard for lunch. We had an awesome time - Jake has a natural talent for keeping us entertained. We actually spent almost 2 hours just chatting. The time absolutely flew by.  It's always the time with the ones you can't get enough of that seems to pass in a millisecond. Afterwards Alyssa and I went on a mini-shopping trip. When we got to the register, we got into a minor dispute [it wasn't even a dispute so much as me getting confused and Alyssa getting annoyed when she tried to explain something to me]. Our cashier started laughing and finally said, "You two are sisters, aren't you? Yeah, I knew you had to be family...you actin just like me and my daughter!" [I also got to go over to Steph's on Friday night for awhile which was reallllly nice. Thanks to Steph's husband, Chris, for letting us have a girls night!]

Saturday I got super spoiled. My mom came to town and took Alyssa and I out to lunch! We also went to a bookstore where I purchased the Complete, Fully Illustrated works of Lewis Carroll. It is a beautiful looking book, and I've actually never read any of his works [Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, etc.] AND my daddy stopped by to say hi on his way through and brought me chocolate custard with raspberries on top! Saturday evening I had the apartment to myself so I finallllly finished the painting I've been working on. It is one to go along with the collage I'm planning for my room, so this one is all in blue. It features me with my friends Jenna and Natalie from one of the most memorable nights of my life.

"Mayhem at the Marriot"

Sunday was back to work, and here I am. I am hoping to catch up on some stuff around the house this week. Cleaning, bills, taxes...all that fun stuff. But I do have two knitting projects to work on, which I especially enjoy because it means I get to watch episode after episode of 30 Rock.

Alright, I am just finishing up my cup of Sleepytime tea, so I am off to bed.

[And a very special friend is away on vacation right now, and I'm a little sad and pretty lonely, so come back soon!]

scream and light up the sky

I apologize. I skipped last week. I honestly tried writing - I even have a draft from last week! But it was just boring, and I couldn't put it up. So I will pack the past two weeks into this one post, which should be easy because there has not been a terrible amount of excitement around here. 

The weekend before last I got to go out to breakfast at Hubbard's which was amazing [as usual]. I've been trying to cut down on my trips there, so it was a treat to go - especially because of the company [and I got a chocolate shake!]. I went with my friends Steph, Andy, and Zach (and little Jake of course who is starting to say my name, and even though its not exactly right, it is terrrrribly adorable). We stretched it out and spent a few hours eating awesome food and chatting, and it was a great way to start the day. 

I have also started a new painting - another addition to the wall in bedroom. I got most of it done the week before last, but I've been pretty busy this week, so I haven't really had a chance to finish it, so that will be my goal for this upcoming weekend. I'm not going to go into detail, because I will be putting a picture up as soon as I've got the painting done. [It's had a critique, and now I've got to go in and do some detail work and finish up the background.] 

This past week was a weird week, because I called into work on Tuesday (my Wednesday) which sort of threw the rest of my days [but it was totally worth it.] It was a beautiful day on Tuesday, and Zach and I went to the zoo and hang out with the animals for awhile. It was nice to be able to walk around outside for a few hours with just a sweatshirt and jeans on. [Although I wasn't wearing weather appropriate shoes, and my feet were soaked and cold by the time we returned.]

On Wednesday I had a hair cut and color appointment. My hair is much darker and I love it. There is also a section of blonde in the front that will be there for a little while at least [there will be more developments to come on that]. I will have to post a picture at a later date because I don't have one yet, and I can't take one right now because I just got home from the gym. Yuck. Plus I got a haircut which was nice because I've been cutting my own hair since last summer, so it was definitely due for some professional work. 

I spent the weekend relaxing, which was nice since I tend to jam pack my weekends full and wear myself out. Friday morning I had some appointments, so I started the day out a bit earlier than usual [bright and early at 1030 am]. Afterwards I spent a few hours running some errands and then I came home and super-cleaned. I am not exaggerating when I say super-clean. It was a 5.5 hour project and it involved washing the blinds, washing the walls, reorganizing the pantry....it was exhausting but it felt realllllly good to have everything so clean at the end of the day. 

Saturday I didn't have anything to do until later, so I caught up on a bunch of sleep. I passed out pretty early on Friday night after my cleaning escapades, and I slept really well which was long overdue. I spent Saturday running more errands. I also went out to dinner and had some really awesome Mexican food along with some delicious margaritas [mango and strawberry, but I preferred the mango].

And finally today it was back to work. Luckily this week should go pretty fast. Alright, I think I'm all caught up, and again, I'm terribly sorry for missing last week. 

the good that won't come out

My world has sort of been a mess as of late. Its been really hard for me to keep in touch with people lately, and I'm not always the best at dividing my attention between people. For example, its very easy for me to get caught up with my friends at work, because I'm guaranteed to see them on a regular basis while we're at work. Outside of that -especially because my schedule is so opposite most people's- I've been feeling a lot of the stress that comes from not being able to see or talk to some of you as much as others. That being said, I apologize if I have fallen out of touch with some of you. It is not at all intentional, and please don't take it personally.

This week was a bit hectic. As most people are aware, Madison has been pretty crazy this past week with all the political stuff that is going on. I am decidedly apolitical, so this is a bit out of my realm. But I know a lot of people [my parents, for example] who are very closely affected by what is going on, whether it is that the bill personally affects their own union rights or whether their job entails them to be at the protests. It is a constant thread of discussion everywhere I go [especially at work, because I work with a lot of very politically minded people].

This weekend was particularly busy. On Friday I went out to lunch with a friend. [We wanted to go to a a really good burger place off of State St. but weren't able to get in because it was packed with protestors.] Afterwards, I went home and took a nice, lonnng nap which was very overdue after the busy week. Saturday I had to be up early (for me) to meet Marley for coffee. That was one of the most personally important events recently, because Marley and I have not been able to see or talk to each other much over the past three weeks. We chatted for almost 2 hours, trying to get caught up. It was just so nice to be able to see her. Afterwards,  my mom came down to spend the afternoon with Alyssa and I. We ordered pizza and breadsticks and hung around at my apartment for a few hours. Saturday night was especially exciting, because Steph, Lisa, Alyssa, and I got together to have another Sisters Night! We've been wanting to get together to go out for a drink now that Alyssa is 21. So we went out to a bar downtown famous for their Fishbowls. We shared one of those and went out for some burritos before heading back to Alyssa's house to hang out for a little while longer.

Me, Lisa, Alyssa, and Steph

As usual, I was sort of looking forward to my work week starting again,  because it means a little respite from my crazy weekends. Work is going to be pretty busy this week, and it'll be followed by another intense weekend of plans, so I am going to try and get a bit more sleep this week. ;)

I am off to do some reading [which I am way behind on] while I finish up my glass of pinot grigio.

borne on the fm waves of the heart

Spring is approaching at a much faster pace than I'd like. If we could go straight from the wonderland of winter to the freshness of spring, I would be happy. But there is that seemingly endless period where the mountains of snow melt into rivers of muck, and it makes me really unhappy.

BUT a lot has been going on lately which has been keeping me very busy, and I've been spending my time with people who keep a permanent smile on my face.

One of the best things to happen this past weekend was my first live show in a longggg time. [Far, far too long.] I saw Against Me! on Saturday night. This is one of my favorite bands, and they have been one of my top plays over the past year. I've never seen them live before, so this show was especially exciting to me. I originally had plans to see them with Marley, but she wasn't able to go after getting sick. Luckily I was able to bring Steph along last minute. It was one of the best experiences I've had in a long time. It was so awesome to see Against Me! live; they show was phenomenal. Their stage presence was super-intense which is one of the biggest things for me. They also played a large variety from all of their albums which was nice. And, most importantly, Steph and I had a bonding experience over our love for punk rock - it's always hard to find another girl [especially a friend as close as Steph is] who really loves punk the way I do, so we had an amazing time. 


And, lastly before I head off to bed...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

winding down

This week has been quite a whirlwind.  With the big snowstorm this week, work was ridiculously busy. I ended up picking up some extra hours on Wednesday and worked from 11 am to about 1130 pm. In addition to it being an extremely long shift, I was running on only about 4 hours of sleep. But I survived the day, earned a little extra money, and made it to work and home again safely.

I did get into a few debates where I had to defend my undying love for snow. I firmly stand my ground - I love snow. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but the sheer magnitude of the snow with this last storm was incredible. My only concession in this whole argument came after my drive home from work on Tuesday night. It normally takes me about 7 minutes to get home at night, but on Tuesday it took about 40 minutes. I didn't go more than 20 mph, and there were times when I could not see past the end of the car. However, it was never once the fault of the snow; it was allllll the wind.


Wednesday night, despite being exhausted after my extended, sleep-deprived work day, I stayed up extra late to chat with my friend, Joanna, who is currently teaching English in China with her husband Tomek. Steph came over and we video chatted on Skype. It is so awesome to not only be able to talk to close friends who live so far away, but also to be able to see them. We were able to see their apartment, but it also feels like you're sitting in the same room talking. So that was really nice for the 3 of us to get together like that. 


Friday I did some shopping with Alyssa and after taking her home, I had a friend over. We played some board games and got distracted by lots of different things, and I ended up not going to bed until 830am. Oops! Luckily I was able to sleep for a good portion of the day before beginning the best part of this week: Alyssa's 21st Birthday!


We did a little more shopping on Saturday evening and then the two of us grabbed some dinner. She had a  few friends over to celebrate before we went out to the bars at midnight. Afterwards,  I spent the night at Alyssa's. Sunday morning mom took Alyssa and I out for brunch and Bloody Marys. [I had requested off several weeks ago for this Sunday, purely to be able to celebrate Alyssa's birthday.] In the evening I went over to Alyssa's house again, where her and her roommates had a Superbowl party. Despite getting ridiculously nervous in the last quarter of the game, it was super exciting to see the Packers win the Superbowl!!! [And let's be honest, Alyssa couldn't have asked for a better 21st birthday present.] Afterwards we went out to the bars again to celebrate a little. One of the greatest things about living in Madison is that there is so much hometown [home state?] pride - we walked outside and we could hear and see people throughout the downtown area out in the streets celebrating the victory. Go Pack Go!


I can't believe that my little baby sister is completely grown up, and it was soooooo nice to be able to celebrate so much with her this weekend. One more time [because you can never celebrate a birthday too much]:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSSA!!!!!

Now I'm off to bed to hopefully recoup!

a lack of pleasantries

Now that it's been two weeks since I've written a real post, it's really hard to remember what exactly has gone on. The past week is still pretty clear in my mind, but the week before is a bit hazy.

I did get to go to a hockey game with Alyssa the weekend before last. Its always fun to get the chance to go to games, and its especially nice to go with my sister. I still can't put into words the crazy feeling I get when we start to sing "Varsity." In high school, I was never much for school spirit, but there is something about UW-Madison that just inexplicably takes over you. Ohhhh, Bucky.

I also sketched out the next painting for my series that I am going to put on my wall in my bedroom. [The one of Alyssa and I, all in varying scale of magenta, is the first.] Unfortunately, I got so busy with other things this week that I haven't been able to actually start any painting yet.

This week was pretty busy, as I briefly mentioned in the last post. I had to run my team meetings for this month at work. I always make a snack for the meetings, and this time I decided to make puppy chow. I have 24 people on my team right now, and not being a puppy chow connoisseur, I decided to make a quadruple batch and ended up with tons of it. However, my coworkers were pretty pleased with my mishap.

Some of my friends from work also had a gathering this week where we all got together to play video games. Somehow the boys talked me into baking a cake for the occasion, and so I made a cake to look like the 1-up mushroom from Super Mario Bros. [He grants you an extra life, who couldn't want that?!?]

Dark chocolate cake with raspberry filling

At the last minute I decided to request off on Thursday to go snowboarding at Cascade since I haven't gone at all this season. When I woke up on Thursday and it was slightly snowing, I thought that it couldn't have worked out better. OH was I terribly wrong. I ended up leaving Madison much later than intended, and had to go back home after forgetting my boarding jacket. My plan was to go snowboarding Thursday evening, stay at my parents' house, drop my car off to be checked out at the repair shop in Portage on Friday morning, and head back to Madison later Friday evening. My car had been acting up, the heat has been iffy and I had to refill the antifreeze the day before, so I was going to get that checked out.

Within the first 10 minutes of the trip, it was obvious that the heat was not working at all. I could see my breath and was shivering. Luckily, my snowboard bag had a bunch of extra handwarmers in it, so I busted those out and put them in my shoes and my mittens for the drive. Halfway to Portage, my car began to overheat. I got off the interstate immediately and was able to get to a gas station where I refilled it with more antifreeze. I made it safely to Portage, where I dropped my car off and waited for my mom to come and pick me up. Needless to say, I didn't get to go snowboarding. [My mom did however take my to Culvers, where I was more than disappointed to find that they no longer have the pumpkin shakes. Another letdown.]

Friday I discovered, much to my dismay, that the water pump is bad on my car and it is not currently driveable. Even worse, it will cost a nice chunk of change and will not be fixed until sometime next week. Luckily the place I take it to is ridiculously nice and super dependable so they gave me a loaner car until mine is fixed. But, don't stop there! I found out later that the transmission was also leaking fluid. Let's just say I didn't get much good news over the weekend. 

Saturday was filled with lots of plans. I met Steph and Jake and Lisa and her husband for breakfast at Hubbard. Seeing as I hadn't been there in like 2 weeks, it was quite a treat. Afterwards I picked up Alyssa and we went to the east side where we met our family for a birthday lunch with both sets of grandparents and our parents. [Happy birthday Grampa T, Grampa L, and Alyssa!!!] Then immediately after that I had plans with another friend, so I was going pretty much non-stop on Saturday. 

I also bought a gym membership! I've been feeling realllllly lazy, and I was at the point where I knew I needed to do something about it. So I splurged and signed up. The gym is about a 4 minute drive from my apartment, and it is open 24/7. This location has only been open since the end of the summer, and all of the equipment is almost brand new. Each cardio machine has a TV on it that you can plug your headphones into, and all kinds of other fancy media options. Its nice and open, and since I usually go later at night (I usually don't get there before 1130 pm), there are hardly any people there. This works perfectly with my work schedule, since I work late and have a hard time getting up in the morning to go work out. [In fact, I just returned home from working out.] 

I am off to read a bit before bed. Sorry again for the lapse in posting, and THANK YOU for reading!

we slowly broke contact more and more....

I'm so sorry everyone. This week has been hectic, and I haven't the mental energy to write something.

The only thing to say is....

Congratulations!!!! To Jenna, Jared, and Ava on the newest addition to their ridiculously adorable family: Adeline, born on Monday, January 24th! 


I promise a full update this upcoming Monday.

so far we are

And another week begins. Its hard to believe that it is the middle of January already. I feel like the past few weeks have rushed by like a winter wind, each day another fat snowflake - seemingly the same, but just slightly different.

This week I've been learning about one of the many joys of adulthood: insurance companies. My car was hit a few days after my birthday, and I am still battling with the other person's insurance company to try and get full coverage for the repairs. I know this is good for me to experience, but its an exhausting and endlessly frustrating process. Its still not solved, but I'm hoping to get even further this week.

On Friday, Marley and I took a day trip to the Art Institute of Chicago!! We left Madison around 9:45am and drove down to the city. We spent a little over 4 hours exploring the Art Institute and didn't even get through everything. It was exhilarating and inspiring in a million different ways. I could probably spend an entire week going there everyday to look at everything and still feel like I hadn't taken in enough. As an observer, its just amazing to think that you are standing in a building that contains collections of some of the most famous works in the world. When I was younger I never imagined I'd someday be standing in front of a Pablo Picasso, Matisse, Monet or Manet...its just an incredible experience. As an artist, there is SO much to learn. I could stand at one piece for an hour just trying to imagine what techniques were used for certain parts. There is so much I'd like to emulate, and it was sometimes a bit overwhelming to think that there is such an incredible amount of knowledge in art that I haven't even begun to unearth. The colors, the technical skill, the media, the presentation, the concept....the possibilities in art are endless. Thus the trip was something I desperately needed (whether I knew it at the time or not). I did need a mini-vacation, and the day definitely fulfilled that. But more importantly, just being in a beautifully constructed building, filled to the brim with these amazing [and sometimes less amazing] works of art was just the artistic inspiration necessary to give me a push in life  - artistically, mentally, physically, in all sorts of ways. And for free admission, I couldn't have asked for anything more. =]

Marley and I outside the Art Institute of Chicago

 The trip back took much longer than expected after we ran into a small snowstorm on the way back. We  drove a maximum of 50 mph on the Interstate nearly the whole way back, and we arrived home in Madison- safe, sound, and sleepy- around 11:30pm.

On a semi-related note, sometime soon I will have a few more pictures of some recent art projects I've been working on. And hopefully I'll be able to start some new exciting things in my life to tell you all about, too!

Until next time....

trade our places in the night

Its true - I'm actually writing on time! This week my mind is a little more put together than last week,  so hopefully this will actually be coherent.
The week went by surprisingly fast, primarily because I was ridiculously busy all week. I had things going on every single day. Thursday I met up with my beautiful, amazing friend Jenna and her daughter Ava for lunch. Jenna is due to have her second daughter in the beginning of February, so we are trying to get together as much as we can before the new baby comes along.
Friday, as usual, I didn't work. Alyssa needed to borrow my car for the day, so I was stranded at my apartment which I took as a great excuse to catch up on sleep. Alyssa picked me up in the evening and we met some friends for dinner at Hubbard.
Saturday I spent the afternoon running errands. My biggest task was to get a new pair of boots, because mine are no longer waterproof which pretty much defeats the purpose. I ended up going to Kohls, then to every store in the mall, then back to Kohls. I spent a lot more time than I wanted on that; I don't really like shopping that much to begin with, and I got bored with it easily. But I ended up buying a pair at Kohls, and I am now 90% sure I'm going to keep them. [For the record, I have a terrible habit of buying things and then deciding later whether I really want them or not. If I decide I don't want/need something, I return it.]
After I got home from my shopping extravaganza, I made an apple pie and then went to pick up Alyssa for the highlight of the weekend: Sisters Night!!!! If I haven't mentioned it before, I met my friend Steph through work. We became really close friends almost immediately. It is hard to explain, but the more we talked the more we found we had in common and we have just connected on this amazing level. Steph has an identical twin sister, Lisa. After hearing me talk about Alyssa, Steph insisted that we introduce the two of them. The first thing Alyssa said to me after meeting Steph for the first time was, "I feel like Steph is our long lost sister."[It nearly broke my heart, in the good way, it was so cute and 100%  true.] So Steph and I decided we should have a Sisters Night where the four of us get together, and we were finally able to put it together. 
First of all, the resemblance between Lisa and Steph's relationship and mine and Alyssa's relationship is uncanny - as we all agreed, it was a refreshing and exhilarating to see that there were others out there who act like us. [hey, we're not crazy!] Anyways, for those of you who know how much Alyssa and I love to laugh, be loud, be silly, just imagine that times two - together for 6 hours, non-stop ridiculosity. Lets be honest, not many people would be able to keep up with us. 

(Amanda+Alyssa+Stephanie+Lisa)*wine+apple pie=AWESOME

My weekend rounded out especially nicely because I actually had a 3-day weekend. I had off today, which is unusual, but I had to use my floating holiday from New Years Day within the pay period, and so I decided to extend my weekend. It worked out perfectly because it was one of the only days that I will be able to see Marley who I have missed terribly. Our work schedules are completely opposite and with her time in Baraboo for her winter break, its been really hard to get together. We started off this afternoon by going to a scrapbook store for Marley to pick up some stuff for a project at the flower shop that she works at. Afterwards we went to her apartment where we hung out with her brother and chatted and caught each other up on life. We ordered Chinese food and watched a movie, and I got home a few hours ago with just enough energy to clean up my apartment. 

I'm really happy right now. And I owe it all to the wonderful people that I have in my life - Alyssa, Jenna, Lisa, Steph, Marley - all of them are so special to me in their own separate ways. I know I'm terribly lucky to have to them so close to me, and to have them tolerate, if not always appreciate, me and all my ups and downs and twists and turns. 

Off to my sanctuary of pages and pillows!

it is not a ....... game

Ooooops. I'm so sorry about the delay on this one. I've been doing a lot of running around the past few days, and so I haven't had a chance to actually sit down and write this. I hope none of you have been sitting by your computers day and night just waiting to hear all about my life. ;)

Well, the past week has not been particularly eventful. Work has been super busy, but by the end of the month I finally got caught up on all of my work and the start of January is a huge relief work-wise. That was about all that was going on for me last week.

I didn't do anything particularly exciting for New Years Eve. I went and saw the movie Black Swan with my friend Steph and her sister Lisa. The movie finished at about 11:55 pm, so we rang in the new year together and I was home by 12:30. Pretty uneventful. Saturday I spent the entire day watching football and cleaning. The Badger game was reallllly sad for me. I'm still extremely proud of the Badgers for going to the Rose Bowl, but the loss was very disappointing. And I can't lie, I may have cried just a little bit. After the game, I suddenly got the urge to clean and I spent like 5 hours going through all my bills and paperwork and other things. I got rid of a lot of stuff and organized the rest, which was a nice relief.

Sunday Alyssa came back to Madison! Mom brought her down and so we met at Hubbard for lunch, and then Mom went back home. Alyssa took my car and dropped me off at work, and then when she picked me up we ran some errands together. However we forgot some things, so we went to the store again on Monday before I had to work. THEN yesterday, Alyssa and I had another afternoon together, and we did something realllllly exciting! We got piercings together at a place downtown!

They're a bit hard to see, especially Alyssa's, but Alyssa got her nose pierced and I got my rook pierced (which is that top part on the inside of my ear). So far our parents have not disowned us, although my mom did mention that I'd have to change my last name. =] 

Anyways, as you can see, the past few days have just been a lot of running around, which is probably no excuse for missing Blog Monday, but I hope you'll understand just this once.  

I hope everyone is having a great New Year so far!