It's New To Me

Yesterday I bought new glasses. I'm VERY excited about them. After my last favorite pair were stollen out of my car, I thought for sure I'd never find a pair I liked more than those. I was wrong =) These are D&G, wire, lightweight, square frames. They're adorable. I apparently didn't quite understand the whole purchasing process of eyeglasses because as I was browsing through the styles, I found it relieving that the ones I really liked were only $171!!! I was thinking well in the $400 dollar range for a pair of designer frames. I quickly found out however that the frames are a completely separate entity from the prescription and the glass extras (ie: anti-glare). I was apparently pretty dead on in my original estimate =)

I officially signed up to be a volunteer at the Milwaukee Humane Society. I have my first volunteer orientation on Wednesday March 1. I'm going to be a dog walker! YAY!

Today, I sent in my check to begin Belly Dancing classes here in Burlington. Inspired by both Jayne and Amanda, I'm ready to try my own luck at the belly dancing phenomenon =)

And that's what's new with me =)

A First Taste of Spring

The thing I've always loved most about living in the Midwest is the ever changing seasons. We get a little bit of everything (some a little more than others): our Summers are hot, our Springs are mild, our Autumns are crisp and colorful, and our winters are white and brutally cold. It's a nice balance in life, which I am a firm believer in. But occasionally, the seasons tend to drag on a bit longer than is wanted.

Such is the case with Winter.

By mid-February I am fighting the cold, and begging for warm air. The green grass, and the jacket-less days cannot come fast enough once Winter is upon us, and I welcome the first spring-like day with wide open arms.

While today is nowhere near Spring-like, it has a Spring feel in the air...a smell of what's to come if you will. It's funny how a simple scent can remind you of so much. I walked out of my apartment early this morning, and an instant smile came upon me as the hint of Spring lingered in the air. Suddenly I was brought back to days off of school with my mom, Freshman year track practices, and spring walks around downtown Chicago.

I love the first spring day with the Cabby top down, blaring music through the speakers, and jamming with my oversized sunglasses on. I like the Spring bounce in people's steps, the sound of snow melting and running down the street, and the first glimpse of new life budding on the trees around me. I love the hope of spring, the new life, the fresh start. It's coming! I'm so excited.

Martinis, laughter, and one Icelandic Princess

Last night, I took a much needed break away from life to enjoy an evening of cocktails with my roomate Nicky. Although the two of us have lived under the same roof for 7 months now, the amount of time that the two of us actually spends together would amount to the equivalent of a weekend visit...once a year! With our opposite schedules, significant others, and personal responsibilities our time together is very limited, and it makes me sad to think that I still barely know this girl!

Thus, we took some much needed bonding time last night and plopped ourselves at the bar at The Knickerbocker for some fab martinis, a few shots, and a lot of laughs and catching up. Mid way through our evening, a mob of people came strolling the doors of the quiet little bar, including one Icelandic Princess, Anna. She was in from Iceland promoting the Icelandic Vodka Reyka. She bought us all a round of shots and Nicky and I chatted with her posse who reminded us more of the New York Mafia. After about an hour at the bar they were ready to party hop a bit more, and off they were.

What began as a chill night with a few martinis, ended in laughter over meeting the Princess of Iceland. What a night! =)

Snapshirt Fun

I've been seeing this pop up on a number of blogs throughout the cyber world, so I decided to succumb to the masses and do this myself. Here is my blog jumble from Snapshirt.com. Check it out for yourself fellow bloggers! =)

I'll Pay Your Way, And Mine

I LOATHE freeloaders! It absolutely positively just makes my skin crawl, when I think of the people that are living day to day on someone elses tab!

- The man and woman that walk by my store twice a day, every day, with bags of food from Love Incorporated. All of it is 100% free for them to fill their lazy mouths.

- The man or woman or group of kids that broke into my car this summer and stole all of my clothes and accessories needed for my job interview that morning! I truly hope you enjoyed your used makeup.

- The person that picked up my phone New Years Day and downloaded $125 worth of sports games onto my phone. THANKS FOR THAT BILL!

Ugh. Get a job people! Work for you own food, buy your own makeup, and get your own damn phone.

My Own Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

I am currently reading “Enclyclopedia of an Ordinary Life” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; a book that came highly recommended from my dear friend Erin. It’s a strange read as it doesn’t follow the typical flow of traditional memoirs, instead follows the format of the common encyclopedia!

I have been reading the book for about 2 days now and each night I mark a few pages that have sparked interest with me, mostly interest in blog ideas. You know, just something new to write about, instead of my everyday life (as exciting as that is sometimes).

Last night, as I read through the “C” section, I came across an entry that she titled “Childhood Memories” in which she, in chronological order, went through the major happenings of her childhood. Some of them are funny…okay most of them are hilarious and one in particular struck me as highly interesting and got me thinking about my own life! Therefore, I decided to blog about it.

Amy writes about “Things That Have Confused Me For Much Longer Than They Should Have”. In this entry she describes a number of thoughts that confused her as a child. My favorite was when she asks, “Why would terrorists take credit for bombings…why would they want to admit that?” With that, I began to compile my own list. And it goes a little something like this.

Things That Have Confused Christi For Much Longer Than They Should Have

How was Jenny ever going to get married when she was an only child? I was convinced for the longest time that every family had one boy and one girl and that was the person that you would marry someday.

Why didn’t the cops ever catch the bad guys right away on Unsolved Mysteries, instead of just video taping them? I didn’t understand the concept of reenactment. I honestly thought what I was watching was real.

Why did the girl in the song take a piece of meat with her everytime she went away? I later found out that the song was titled “Every Time You Go Away, You Take a Piece of ME With You”.

How come nobody ever saw me on TV, and how come I never saw anybody I ever knew either? It took me a while to realize that TV was FAKE, and that those weren’t real people living out their every day lives. I would honestly walk around during the day trying to look my best and be as interesting as I possibly could thinking that someone somewhere was watching me on their TV at that very moment. Yes, even then I had an ego on me =)

When I was full, I thought that meant I could open my mouth and see my food filled up to the top of my mouth.

So that's my list! I could probably come up with a million more, but for space purposes we'll just go with those. You get the idea of how I thought as a small child =)

Do any of you have any every day occurances or thoughts that were just way too confusing for you as a child?

A Weekend Off

Having days off, after a few weeks of really hard works, makes them feel a million times more worthwhile.

I spent my 5 days off doing what I like to do the most…relaxing!!

After a Tuesday night rendezvous with Erin to watch the fashion show video, as well as my TV interview, I went home feeling stress free and relaxed. There is nothing like the anticipation of a few days off to put you in a really good mood. I crawled into bed earlier than usual, only to awake 10 hours later.

I was tired all day Wednesday, as I put my body through a recovery routine of watching my favorite Soap Opera (Days of our Lives) and eating my favorite lunch time meal (Velveeta Shells and Cheese). It was a perfect beginning to a perfect week end.

On Thursday I awoke bright and early to drive to Burlington to pick up my mom for our day of pampering. We were going to spend the day at Fusion Salon and Day Spa in Lake Geneva. Our 5 ½ hours at the spa included a body elixir complete with body exfoliation, massage, and 15 minute hot bath. We also indulged in an hour facial, a fabulous spa lunch, scalp treatment and shampoo, hair style and makeup touchup, and finally a fabulous pedicure. It was the perfect place to distress ourselves! We finished up the day with margaritas and appetizers at the Cactus Club then headed home to vedge on the couch to some Chick Flicks (not my first choice, but I humored my mother).

The rest of my weekend involved a number of cultural activities. On Friday Tara and I went and saw Memoirs of a Geisha at the Mayfair Mall Theatre and I absolutely loved it of course. I had just finished reading the book and was dying to see the movie, so Tara took me to see it. The book was definitely better but the movie was great as well. I just love Eastern Geisha costume!

Saturday Tara and I headed downtown with our first stop being the Milwaukee Art Museum. I unfortunately can’t say that I have much of an appreciation for art but it was still a great experience none-the-less. Even if you aren’t a huge art lover, the building itself is such an aesthetically pleasing structure that it alone could merit an entire visit just to study its architectural greatness! I was quite fond of the building =) Much more than the paintings on the walls. Tara did manage to find a few that she really liked, including one with a painted rainbow in it…go figure.

We finished off the Art Museum tour with lunch at the Museum Café which has fabulous sandwich wraps. I highly recommend it! Tara and I chatted over our Chicken Caesar Wraps, BLT Sandwiches, and herbal teas and people watched as the intellectuals of Milwaukee came in and out. For those of you sensitive to the people in your surroundings (i.e.: ERIN =) ), the Art Museum may be the perfect place for you to spend your day. There are well-kept people everywhere!

After the Art Museum we headed even further downtown to visit the Milwaukee Public Museum, a favorite Milwaukee spot of mine….well, it used to be anyways. I was so excited to show Tara what I thought to be one of the greatest places to spend an afternoon. With the streets of Milwaukee, the large dinosaur exhibits, and the many levels of interaction with Milwaukee past and present, what could be better! Unfortunately, the museum hasn’t changed a bit since I was a little girl and I found most of the exhibits to be rather old and tiresome.

The streets of Milwaukee still have granny rocking away on her rocking chair, the Native American exhibit still contains scantily clad Indians harpooning Buffalo while a toy rattle snack rattles in the distance, and the rainforest exhibit is still playing the sounds of crickets and frogs that they have been since I was a little girl…and apparently well before that. It’s sad to think that this place may in fact be shut down but I guess I can see why. While they do receive their occasional special exhibit, such as the new Vatican exhibit which is currently running, the majority of their exhibits have been there for an absurd amount of time and they’re really quite dated.

I remember walking through the museum in awe and wonderment at just how cool the place was, but this weekend I found it to be just old. I felt bad as I’m sure Tara was quite disappointed seeing as how much I had talked up the museum, but how was I to know it’d lose all of its nostalgia as the years went on! =)

After the museum we headed for home and bailed on dinner plans as my back was in very rough shape. I blew it out this weekend, don’t ask me how, and I was in a lot of pain. So we opted for an evening in with our favorite Chinese and some home made martinis.

Sunday was spent lounging around and a quick trip to Mayfair mall to pick up some much needed items. I needed to go to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a few books, including a book on fasting/detoxifying/purifying which I plan on doing come next week. A 7-Day detox plan is something my body definitely needs right now! I only hope I have the will-power to follow through with it all.