What I'm Loving Wednesday...Newbie Edition!

 

This is my very first "What I'm Loving..." post! Once again I'm taking the lead from my blogging guru, Miss V, and linking up with Jamie :-)

This week will be very simple to choose a handful of items that I'm loving because I'm officially in "countdown" mode for my trip back to the Midwest next week for my little brother's wedding weekend. The Canadian and I have decided to make it a long weekend for both of us to enjoy so I have a LOT to look forward to...

1. Though obvious, it must be said, I'm LOVING the fact that I get to see my lovely Canadian very soon. Each time apart seems longer and longer (which is funny, cause it's actually become shorter and shorter)...so it will be great to hug the crap out of him in the airport.

Self-portrait during our camping adventure in Canada, late Summer 2010

2. Which brings me to this...I'm loving that the Canadian finally gets to meet the rest of the fam. He has met my parents and my little bro, but has yet to meet my two older brothers, who mean the absolute world to me. I know he'll love them, I know they'll love him, so I'm just excitedly anxious to spend time with them all together!!

Love these two.

3. Speaking of all together...another huge aspect of my life that still resides in Chicago (or some surrounding areas) are my *sisters*!!! <insert: annoying sorority joke here>. Trust me, I NEVER believed I'd become one of THOSE girls in college, but I did and I would never have met these lifelong friends had I not...so YAY for good decision making :-) Anyway, I will be bumping into these crazy girls at some point over the weekend, too, which makes my stomach gurgle with excitement!!

Lake Tahoe, Summer 2010

4. I'm absolutely in LOVE with Adele's new album. My little friend Olga gifted me this today and it has made my work day so much more enjoyable <3

5. Last, but certainly NOT least, I'm loving that I get to hold/love/spoil/smother/etc my little niece next weekend. For those of you who know me outside of the blogging world, this child is my whole world. It brings me to tears (see: "Cry Baby") just thinking of how much she means to me and I just cannot wait to see her so soon....oh, and yes, she's a mini version of me.

Michelle and me, Christmas 2010

Had to include because it makes my heart melt...The Canadian bonding with Michelle, Christmas 2010

I'm loving a lot of things in my life right now, so this is obviously just a snapshot for the time being. Sorry for being an MIA Blogger as of late...the long weekend threw me all out of whack!!


xoxo

Cry Baby.

Hi, I'm Kristin, and I'm a crier. (Dana tells me that admitting is the first step to recovery...so perhaps this will help ;-).

So our office is a pretty different "work environment" than most. We're all pretty much the same age, we all have friendships with co-workers outside of the office and we typically have rousing lunchtime conversations that either lead to discussing poop/vomit or embarrassing/personal topics that most would not discuss with their co-workers. 

Anyway, the other day the topic of crying came up, and it proved to be very interesting to see the contrasts amongst everyone, particularly amongst the girls. For example, my lovely friend Kim, NEVER cries (Not even when Homeward Bound was brought up). While Tina, well she is my "crying soul mate", she pretty much cries as much as I do, and I love her for that. 

My "crying soul mate". No tears here though...but there may have been later that night :-/

Here are some pretty humorous quotes from this convo:

"Last time I cried? Toy Story 3, for sure." ~Keenan

"Oh yeah, I cry at least 3 times a week. Derek hates it. Remember when I cried cause you forgot my burrito, Kristin?" ~Tina

"I BAWLED at the Friends finale." ~Me (and Tina agreed)

"I can't watch an animal movie without crying. Marley and Me? Forget about it!" ~Ben

Now, I must say, I cry for numerous reasons. Sometimes I have happy tears, angry tears, lonely tears and sometimes sad tears. I want to believe it's because I'm a "sensitive soul", but I kinda think it's because I'm a big baby, too. I must give credit to the Canadian, because he *deals* with my tears on a pretty consistent basis, for which I am truly grateful for and love him even more for (though I'm pretty sure he has numerously said, "I don't really know how seriously I'm supposed to take your crying anymore, since you do it all. the. time.") UH-OH, That's. Not. Good.

The point of all of this, is that I'll be crying A LOT come Saturday. I'm unfortunately parting ways with one of my lovely kitties, Alfie. For those of you who have heard my MANY stories about the trials and tribulations with this cat, may understand, and I really think I've held out longer than most would have. However, his love and company will definitely be missed, but his poor behavior (and bathroom issues) surely will not. I'm giving him to a no-kill shelter here in SF. It's really for the best and I need to keep telling myself..."Animals are not human. Animals do not feel human emotions." The shelter is great, it's actually where I got him from 6 years ago, so I'm just hoping a nice family or elderly person will fall in love with him and give him another great/loving 6+ years in their home.

Love this little guy.

Luckily my Roomie and friend Nicki are taking him for me, because I'm pretty sure the shelter does not need another blubbering idiot in the vicinity. But I'm positive that I'll be stocking up on tissues and placing numerous calls in to my mother and the Canadian throughout the day :-( 

Sorry to be such a Downer Debbie on a FRIDAY!!! Hope you all have a lovely long weekend!!! Today marks one week of *clean* eating for me...WOO-HOO!!!

xoxo

Attention men:

If you are ever dating a girl, for just a few weeks and it's still pretty *new*, but Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and you wanna do something, but you don't want to scare the poor girl away...copy this idea and run with it...seriously, do. It'll gain you points with your new lady friend as well as her roommate(s). 

Buy her flowers, deliver the flowers yourself (because I'm pretty sure the person on the phone taking this card message down may not be able to contain his/her laughter) and hand write this exact phrase in a card.

Funny, non-committal, not overly sappy. All in all, a perfect blend of thoughtful but not over-the-top. Well played, "Buddy", well played. 

(If you haven't guessed already, my lovely Roomie got a gorgeous tulip bouquet hand delivered to her last night and this is the card her admirer, who shall remain nameless at this point, included with it. We both sat and laughed about the card for a solid 10 minutes afterward). 

Sorry, boys, I'm sure this *advice* would have been better a few weeks ago...but, there's always next year, right?! xoxo

“My ___________ Valentine”

So, it’s obviously Valentine’s Day, which means our office has been flooded with flower deliveries and girls chatting about their plans tonight. Now, I’m not *anti* V-day, but I’m also a big believer in not putting huge expectations on one specific day to show your loved one how much you care.

Case in point, The Canadian and I decided not to do gifts this year because we’re going to my little brother’s wedding in a few weeks, so we’ll celebrate then…but then I get this little nugget in the mail over the weekend, which made my stomach churn with happiness. He sent me a lovely card and this engraved keychain, holding copies of his apartment keys. It was a very heartfelt, thoughtful symbol to prove how serious he is in wanting me to move in with him. *swoon*

The title of this post is obviously a nod to the great Frank Sinatra, but also sums up my feelings for my Canadian. At first I was going to use Sinatra’s direct quote, “funny” included, since The Canadian makes me laugh SO hard sometimes that it makes my gut hurt. But I thought better of it because our relationship is so much more than that. I could fill this blank in with loving, caring, protective, supportive, handsome, etc. And other days I could fill it in with not-so-adoring words. But all of those things rolled into one is what makes me love him more and more each day.

In the (almost) year that I have known this kid, he’s changed my world. It sounds so cliché, but alas, it is not. He has made me happier than I’ve ever felt before and I am so lucky we both bumped into one another in that Las Vegas nightclub last April (yes, we met in Vegas…).

So this post is dedicated to you, my lovely Canadian, and luckily I don’t need to ask…you already are *mine* ;-) 

xoxo

"Walkering" through the Marina...

Happy Sunday, everyone!! I've been enjoying my low key weekend, sans wine and diet coke. I'm on Day 3 of the cleanse and it's going *ok*...most important thing is that I'm still sticking with it, I suppose. 

My friends Walker (who talked me into this in the first place), Kim and I decided to get out of the house today and take a lovely walk to the Golden Gate bridge. One of the main highlights of living in the Marina is our close vicinity to places such as this...

And this...

Yep, all in all a pretty nice little Sunday jaunt. I then came home and made a productive little trip to Trader Joe's with my lovely Roomie. This "no drinking thing" definitely has its benefits...more later!!
xoxo

Oh, California.

After living in the great state of California for a number of years at this point, I have to fully admit that it has changed my Midwestern roots, more than even I like to admit. I now sit amidst my family on holidays, cringing when everyone says words like “Chicaaaaago” and “oh my gaaaaaaaaad” (although, my dear friend Clark has the most adorably THICK Chicago accent, that without it, she wouldn’t be the same). Anyway, as I embark upon a new personal challenge that starts tomorrow, I am reflecting a bit about just how much my mindset has changed over the past few years.

Thanks to Tina for capturing this LOVELY image.

     1.    The definition of “cold”.

February 5th, it was 75 degrees. At our friends’ Super Bowl party I was wearing shorts and a tank top. My Canadian hates when I tell him such things. He also hates when I complain about the “freezing cold mornings” that I endure at the bus stop en route to work. It's 40 degrees when I complain.

     2.    The new mission that begins tomorrow.

So, call me crazy, call me insane, and then call my friend Walker and ask her how the hell she got me to agree to this. As of tomorrow, I’m embarking upon the 21-Day Quantum Wellness Cleanse. Even as I type it, I can hear my adoring mother yelling over the phone, “A cleanse?!? We have GOT to get you out of CA!!!” (True story). I have very mixed feelings about this, I’m excited to feel the “clean” results, I’m scared to be without my beloved diet coke (and yes, WINE) and I’m nervous I won’t be able to hold out from eating steak or chicken for that long…BUT, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it (I'll just keep telling myself that...)!!

3.    Prices.

This seems obvious, but it still blows my mind for some odd reason. Last weekend, I was literally jumping for joy when I saw ground turkey was on sale for $4.50. Now, my Canadian will (lovingly, of course) tell you this is because I love “sniffing out” a great deal; however, it’s also because it’s slightly close to the price of my trusty Woodman’s market back home where ground turkey is $2.50. Yes, I'm officially my mother. *sigh* I suppose the price of any type of meat won’t matter to me for the next 21 days…

I think that’s all for now. Little differences still astound me, but what’s the most interesting NON-difference between here and there is the fact that I have made incredible friends both near and far. Simply proving, it doesn’t matter where you are…good people are simply that.

xoxo

To blog or not to blog...that was the question.

So, it looks like I’m starting this whole blogging thing. I’ve oddly been quite resistant toward it for a few years now. I’m not really sure why, well actually, I do know…probably best described in this quick “Cons of Blogging “ list (I heart lists, by the way).

o   Who the heck cares what I have to say?? My typical day consists of working, working out (sometimes), eating, texting and watching shamey reality television. Truth time: I was fearful of rejection in the blogging world :-/ I guess I figured I don’t have a niche…I’m not a great cook who can share incredible recipes, I don’t have inside connections to celebrity gossip, etc.

o   I’m a copywriter. This is kind of a two-fold reason because a. I tend to shy away from plopping down at my computer once I get home from a full day at the office since I’m in front of one attempting to be witty and creative for 8 hrs as it is and b. It’s kinda the “hip” thing to do when you’re a copywriter. To throw around a business card and say, “Ohhhhh yeah, and you can check out my BLOG to get a taste of cool writing samples that I do on my own free time.” Total rebel without a cause moment, I suppose. I have those sometimes.

Now, I’m not always a Pessimistic Pamela, I actually tend to think of myself as a “glass is half full” type of a gal, but I wanted to put those *negative blogging* thoughts out there before I state exactly why I’ve chosen to jump into this game. Thus, my “Pros of Blogging” list…I know you’ve been waiting for it.

o   Capturing life, one entry at a time. Though my lovely boyfriend, The Canadian, is very anti-blog…I truly believe the small moments within a given day, week or month can often be forgotten in the grand scheme of things (and as I quickly near the big 3-0, I seriously am finding my short term memory lapsing). I figure this will be the best way to truly cherish every memory that I experience along this funny road we call life.

o   Keeping everyone in the loop. Though it may seem narcissistic of me to believe that my friends and family care enough about my daily “comings and goings”…I’ve lived in a handful of places throughout my life, and since many of my friends stretch across the country, at this point I think this will be the easiest way for everyone to see what I’m up to (and I’m pretty sure FB status updates can’t cover everything)

o   My dear friend “Miss V”. This little lady has given me the “blogging bug”. She introduced me to the Pioneer Woman’s blog a few months ago, and ever since then, I can’t get enough of checking into certain blogs on a daily basis. We went to PW’s book signing last night together in SF and for some reason, it finally clicked that I wanted to do this. And so I did.

So that’s about it. I’m excited to start getting the hang of this as the entries go by. Forgive me as I gain my own “voice”, and I’ll try to keep things interesting…

xoxo