My week in bullet points: April 4-10, 2011

Spring is has been such a tease this week, but even though she only teases, she still fuels my positive moods and my productivity. Here's a taste of what I did this week, just in case you missed it.

• I was in the city this week with Rachel Rabbit White talking to a Korean television crew about No Makeup Week. It was a fun experience and it was great to spread the word about a project that I loved participating in. Of course, I am awkward and sometimes I do awkward things in front of strangers, like this: Cameras make me awkward. And boring.
• Justin and I went out! With other people! And sang karaoke! This probably doesn't sound exciting, but I haven't been out with Justin like this in months, so it was incredibly exciting for me.
• I had a fabulous Saturday! The weather was lovely, so I took Weetzie Dog to the playground down the street. She hated it, I loved it. I took in the weather and the budding trees. I especially enjoyed the swings, as I always do: Higher! Go higher!
• The entirety of yesterday was spent with Netflix. I don't regret it.

One last thing! My friend Jackie is running a half marathon for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and she needs support in all forms! For any of you that have participated in charity races or Relay For Life events, you know that meeting your fundraising goal can be difficult and that sometimes, asking your friends and family for help can be awkward. Blood cancers are the #2 cause of death in children and LLS is dedicated to looking for a cure. Please visit her fundraising site here and donate to this important cause. You can also support Jackie by checking out her blog, Jax Race. It chronicles her adventures in running and preparing for her half marathon in September.

Alright, I'm out. Have a good week, everyone!

Higher! Go higher!

I'm an adult who loves playground swings. I always have. For a kid who was afraid of just about anything (from needles to zoo animals), I conquered the swings. My awkward long legs let me soar higher than all the other kids. Queen of the Swings, that was me.

I still soar on playground swings every time the opportunity presents itself. Years of practicing my swinging stride allow me to be sky high in virtually no time. I'm free up there. My mind is completely blank. It's the one time when my mind isn't racing, when I'm not worrying about things I have to do, or reading too much into the littlest things. When I'm on the swings, the gears in my mind stop turning. I am fully in the moment, and I never want it to end. I never want to come down from that high place in the sky; I never want to come down from the high of the adrenaline rush. I can see myself just going up, up up...

Higher! Go higher! For the other kids, it was a dare, a challenge. For me, that push to go higher was a necessity. I needed to fly higher, farther from the world below and closer to somewhere new. Somewhere special. A place where I could be myself and love myself without anxiety or pressure or teasing. As an adult, I know that I can't logically go higher; my sight line is already far above the bar (and, hello, gravity). Even knowing this, something about the swings still forces me to push. That need to soar and escape is undeniable.

With each playground communion, I feel closer to something great, something wonderful. The swings allow me to have a private and intimate moment with myself. I find myself simply breathing and feeling the air around me, examining how it feels to be in my body. I can shut everything out and enjoy the simplicity of the experience: no noise, no distractions, no racing thoughts...just bliss.

Cameras make me awkward. And boring.

File this under: "Evidence Of Kait's Supreme Awkwardness"

So yesterday I was in the city with Rabbit...and a film crew (more on that much much later). Later in the afternoon, we all walked to a local coffee shop to shoot some footage of Rabbit and I "working." We figured we could easily pretend to do work and we pretty much didn't need to. We sat with our computers open, talking about projects and brainstorming some things.

Buuuut I ran into a problem with fake working when the cameraman decided that he needed of closeup shot of me doing work. So I figured if I typed I was typing, I would look very serious and very productive...until the camera was right in my face and I was struck with anxiety. My brain seized up and here, dear friends, is what I typed while I was "working" for the camera:

Fake work! Fake work is fun. Doing fake work with no makeup is interesting. I am eating some delicious pie right now. The employees called us "models" when they thought we couldn't hear. Models with no makeup. HAHAAAAA
There is a camera on my face right now so I am FAKE BLOGGING. I have nothing to say but I feel really awakward doing NOTHING so instead I type. About nothing. With my apple pie. 

Special, right? I would also, from time to time, stop writing, stare at the screen, tap the "Delete" key furiously, and the re-type the same awkward sentence. And, to calm anyone's nerves, my laptop screen was not in the shot, just my face.

I'm feeling that awkwardness clutching my brain again, so I have no idea how to end this post. Fin.

My week in bullet points: March 28-April 3, 2011

Better late than never, right? Here's what I did this week, just in case you missed it.

• On the blog, I recapped my Spring Getaway to Southern Illinois: Part One and Part Two
• My best friend (who has an insightful blog about art and life in New York City, btw) sent me a link to this great blog: Le Dog Blog. If you love happy, smiling puppies as much as I do, I highly recommend you clickclickclick!
• Also, spent a good portion of my week, laughing at this video: My Little Pony meets The Dark Knight
• Almost got into a fistfight with some librarians. First telling me I didn't return of my DVD's (hello, I'm ncredibly anal, I always return two DVD's at once, it's what I do on Mondays) and then they had me run back upstairs to see if the DVD was on the shelf. I worked in DVD rental, I know how it goes, but come on, in my day the employee was the one who did the running around to see if another employee made a mistake, i'mjustsaying.
• I did a lot of personal journaling this week, thinking about my introduction into love, dating, and sex. It's stuff I haven't really thought about in a long time and it's taken me to some dark, painful places, but I think I will eventually be able to make something good out of this. :-)
• I didn't fall victim to ANY April Fool's Day pranks. My friends/family are not jokesters and skepticism reigned supreme!
• Had a crazy Sunday date with Justin, complete with a good movie (Cedar Rapids) and screaming hooligan children at the Cheesecake Factory. The dinner was a little fraught with stress thanks to a booth a little girls behind me who ran around the restuarant (two of whom actually leaned or fell into our booth) and threw cheesecake at their tween "supervisor," but it's always lovely to have a day out with my boyfriend, especially after a busy, moody week.

Spring Getaway, Part Two

Part Two of my Spring Getaway post. If you missed Part One, check it out here and then come on back.

Saturday

Saturday was our Carbondale Adventure day. The hotel might have been more of an adventure than anything else. Arguing cleaning staff, room confusion, and guests using the parking lot as a party space until four in the morning. Justin and I got terrible sleep because of the loud guests, but i maintain that the worst part about that Carbondale hotel was the fact there were two copies of the exact same painting hanging in our room on adjacent walls.  ANYWAY, Justin and I had lunch at a (fake) Lonestar Steak & Saloon because the Showme's that the Internet promised us was now an Applebee's. (We really wanted burgers brought to us by busty girls). We went to two college town shops that my cousin recommended to me: Tropicana Vintage Clothing and Plaza Records. At the thrift shop, I picked up a fuzzy red and black coat AND convinced the shopgirl to knock off five dollars and sales tax because we shared a cosmic, tingly connection to the coat, which we both separately named Lola (oh, and because I asked). At the record store, which was being run by two snotty college kids who were way too into Laurie Anderson for my tastes and who loathed Soundgaren, I picked up a vinyl copy of Neko Case's Blacklisted. Now I just need a functioning turntable...another day, another problem. 

Dinner with my cousin and her husband was OUTSTANDING. We went to the Newell House in Carbondale, which I will now be recommending to anyone I ever meet for the rest of my life. Great drink list, delicious appetizers and salads, tremendous entrees, and desserts that make you melt into your chair. Also? Four people ate like kings at a not-necessarily-cheap bistro without holding back for under $200. Impressive.  If you are ever in the Carbondale, IL area, GO TO THE NEWELL HOUSE.

Sunday

The drive home. We were exhausted from being kept awake by partying youths outside our hotel and, despite not wanting the spring getaway to end, I think we both were anxious to get home to our beds. Justin was excessively silly on the drive home, which can be a blessing and, well...less than a blessing. I napped and ate way too many snacks..

We're back at home now, already dealing with the life stuff we left behind. Yeah, there were moments on our trip when we would look at each other and say, "I wish we could run away like this forever." It sounds great, running away from all your troubles and just living for yourself, and it is...for a little while. Eventually, though, it starts to feel strange and stale. Being back at home means going back to work, getting into disagreements, and personal pain, but this trip reminded Justin and I that no matter how messy our lives get, we have each other. We have each other to talk to, to lean on, to confide in, to laugh with. We have each other to love. I hope that we can take more trips like this, trips that serve as reminders that we enrich each other's lives and, more importantly, that we can handle whatever life throws at us. 

Spring Getaway, Part One

Hello, friends! I've been gone for a week, but this time it was for a happy reason, not stress or sadness. Justin and I took a romantic, love-y dove-y spring getaway to beautiful Southern Illinois (or So-Ill, as I like to call it). We'd been stressed out by school, work, friends, family, just life in general, so this trip was much needed. It was a wonderful extended weekend of laughter, silliness, and reconnecting with each other. This update is a bit rambly and unorganized, but you really didn't expect me to spend time on my trip documenting every detail, did you?

(This thing turned out be way too long, so I split it up into two posts. Part Two will be posted tomorrow!)


Wednesday
Justin and I hit the road on Wednesday morning, stopping at a Cracker Barrel along the way and I ate waaaay too much, leaving me with that awful my-tummy-is-going-to-rupture feeling for the rest of the drive. We were pleasantly surprised by our hotel in Marion, IL. Comfortable king-size bed, big desk, comfortable chairs, flat-screen TV, aaaaand a jetted bathtub. Awesome. Luckily for us, there was a 1920s-themed steakhouse right next door to the hotel. Our dinner plans for the evening were pretty much sealed when we spotted the old-timey cars on display in front of the restaurant.

Thursday

True to form, the first full day we had in So-Ill was an abrupt change in weather from three days of 80 degree weather and sunshine.....to 40 degree weather and grey skies. (We tried to shake the notion that we had brought the horrible Chicago weather with us.) But this was our spring getaway, so weather be damned! We had outdoor plans and we were going to do them on the ONE day in our entire trip that didn't have rain in the forecast. We drove down to the Shawnee National Forest and walked the observation trail at The Garden of the Gods. It was cloudy and a bit chilly, but it actually turned out to be an interesting day to see the park. I've always seen it in the summer, when the sun is shining and everything is green. Going on a grey day in early spring was very different. Less green, small buds, and some fantastic colored moss and weathering on the rocks. I was so pleased with the afternoon that I took a lot of pictures, that you can check out here. They are all scenic with a few cloesups of rock surfaces, if you're into that sort of thing. After our communion with nature, we met up with my So-Ill family at a pizza place in Marion.

Friday

Friday had a bit of a slow start. We woke up to rain, so I was crabby. Justin had been dealing with some indigestion/heartburn problems for several days, so that made him crabby. But we got through it and after a lunch with my grandmother, we had talked away the crabbiness and our love-y dove-y spring getaway was back on track. We nixed plans to go out to dinner so that we could both stay in & relax and so that Justin could give his digestive system a rest. We had food delivered to the hotel (and it.was.AMAZING) and watched TV in bed. Ended the night by dropping a vanilla-toffee bath bomb into the jetted tub. Hellooooo, relaxation!

Stay tuned for Part Two!

My week in bullet points: March 14-20, 2011

It's the first day of Spring! With the beginning of Spring comes the beginning of a transitional period in my life. I'm doing more with my time and feeling good about it. Here's some of what I did this week, just in case you missed it.

• I learned from Facebook that a member of my graduating class passed away this week. Read my thoughts on the news here.
• I got hit with another cold! I felt like complete garbage within two hours on Tuesday afternoon (the Ides of March, how suspicious) and was convinced that I would be suffering from the Whine-Flu 2.0, moaning about how horrible my cold was for days on end. Fortunately, it wasn't so bad, I felt functional by Friday morning.
• Wednesday was a BEAUTIFUL spring day! So beautiful that I forgot about my cold, sat outside, and enjoyed the moment. If you haven't already, read my thoughts about the possibilities of spring here.
• Having "Friday" stuck in your head on a Friday is pretty fucking horrible, you guys.
• Had dinner with some of the extended fam this weekend. Seeing my baby cousins is always a delight. L is walking now and she looks like me when I was a baby. The little boys weren't interested in playing with me, but the little girls were my best pals, asking me to put their hair up and showing me their new favorite toys. The best, though? 9-year-old J announced that she likes my current boyfriend way more than my former boyfriend. The old boyfriend has been gone for nearly two years and Justin wasn't even there to provoke this declaration of preference. J just likes him so much and thinks he's so much fun that she wants him to hang out with our family all the time. Adorable.

To top it all off, I am now the proud owner of this wonderful plastic pig:

Looks pretty typical, right?

HE POOPS. JELLYBEANS.

Amazing.