Hooray! 7 things I love.

Right before I left for my Vegas trip last week, Jasmine from the fantastic An Experiment in Poverty gave me my very first blog award and tagged me for a little something called 7 Things I Love. Hooray! Let me just tell you, this really started my trip off on a great note... Thank you, thank you, Jasmine!

"List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love! Be sure to tag them and let them know that they have won. You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard letting the whole world know...you are Kreativ."

So, even though I still consider myself new to all this blogginess and am a little unsure of the protocol, here goes... 7 things I love.

1. Travel. I love almost nothing as much as I love traveling to a different part of the globe and discovering parts of myself, parts of this world and parts of humanity I didn't know before.

(Namibia)

2. The beach. I grew up on the beach. It was beautiful and it holds a very special place in my heart, but, honestly, it was cold. Really cold. I prefer a warm beach I can frolic on and swim in for hours. I am terribly nonathletic, but I can be thrashed around in the waves, drink my weight in saltwater, almost drown, lose my bikini top to an incredibly strong undertow and still call it the best day ever.

3. Trips. I heart, heart, heart trips. Who doesn't? One of my all time favorite trips was to Los Angeles with one of my best friends in the world, Danny. We went to see a Madonna concert and stayed at The Standard in Hollywood. (Best. Hotel. Ever.) At one point, we stumbled into the hotel's hip diner and Danny turned to me and said very dramatically, "Kathy, I have to tell you something. This is serious. Calm down. Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake are sitting two booths down from us. Be cool." {I should add that only this man can call me Kathy and that I'm not sure I followed his instructions and acted cool.} Danny and I are from the same tiny town and that night, sitting two booths down from Cameron and Justin in Hollywood, we thought we had arrived... I'm happy just remembering that trip.

4. Pools. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces, but I love the water. So many of my happiest childhood memories are playing in pools with my family and pretending to be a mermaid. (Come to think of it, my favorite memories from childhood involve trips and pools. Go figure why these two things made my list.) The smell of chlorine just makes me happy. This pool at The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas is the coolest thing I've ever seen and I can't wait to swim there.

5. Words. What can I say? I love words. I love reading a sentence that takes your breath away and leaves you reaching for a random piece of paper to jot it down. I love constructing a sentence that expresses what previously only lived in your heart.

6. These two faces. Max and Jude.

Look at them. I know I'm biased, but - c'mon - they're a-freaking-dorable. Max told his mother that kids and adults were invited to his birthday party, but not cats and not dogs. He then said, "Well, maybe cats, but definitely not dogs." Jude... How do I say this tactfully? Um, I can't. He just seems, well, stoned. We call him Matthew McConaughey. He just seems like he'd always rather be shirtless on a beach with some bongos.

7. Family, friends and this guy. I love my family. I love my friends. I love this guy. There's not a whole lot more to say.

There you have it. 7 things I love. Thanks again to Jasmine. You really made my day! Now, it's my turn. I award and tag these pretty blogs:

- Mad Girl's Love Song

- gabby, she wrote

- Through the Looking Glass

- The Fab Miss B

- Underfunded Heiress

- A Cheery Disposition

- It's Unbeweavable!

I'll miss you, Dorothy Zbornak. (Thank you for being a friend.)

Let's just be clear, Golden Girls was revolutionary. Too strong a word? No way. A successful show about four older, sassy single gals living in Miami? Incredible. In my childhood, I always pictured living out my retirement years in over sized print blouses, with shoulder pads, in a tropical location with my best girlfriends (and I always threw in my number one gay, D). I wanted in on all the fun and all the cheesecake (!) those feisty ladies had.

Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia gave us a different take on aging. They were smart (albeit Rose was smart in her own special St. Olaf way), funny, opinionated and fashionable. They went on lots of dates, but their lives didn't revolve around finding a romantic partner. Their lives revolved around the family they created in each other and, even as a little girl, I felt like these were my ladies. (Granted, I had very short hair that my mother had permed - honestly, Mom, why? - so I actually looked a bit like a Golden Girl.)

Dorothy Zbornak, you were my favorite of my most favorite fifty-somethings. Plus, you taught me as a child to look at my mother when she was bugging me and warn, "Shady Pines, Ma. Shady Pines." That's a gift.

* I even have this shirt.

By the time you read this...

... I'll be in Vegas.

Some of you know that I'm planning on moving to Las Vegas next month. If someone had told me a year ago this would be happening, I would never, ever have believed it in a million years, but I fell for a feller who lives there and am ready to shake things up a little. (Me, just a small town girl, moving to Las Vegas? It's crazy, I know.) More on this at a later date...

This, however, is just a trip to visit. I am very excited to be in the sun, get a little dressed up and eat these stuffed dates I'm obsessed with at this great restaurant, but I'm mostly just excited to see the boy. So, while I'm gone, I won't be my usual commenting self, but I'll be reading all the blogs anyway. (I just love the new community of bloggers I've "met" via blogspot!)

In the meantime, my bff sent me this cool Las Vegas design guide via Design Sponge. The Fab Miss B made this guide and I love it. Check it out. It's really cool.



I hope everyone is fantastically happy and well.

{images via Design Sponge}

Modern Living. (I would like to live here.)

I watch my lovely niece and nephew *in-law*, Audrey and Flynn, a couple of times a week. (*Family is family and they are mine.*) They live with their very fabulous Mama, Yen, and Papa, Brian, (plus new and gorgeous addition, baby Nova) a neighborhood over from mine. Brian and Yen are the kind of couple that have been together for about 15 years and have remained so in love and into each other. (My boyfriend said to me recently, "Maybe we can be the new Brian and Yen." I think that's the nicest thing he's ever said to me, except maybe that one time he said I looked like Madonna.)

This post really isn't about my family; I just wanted to gush a little.

A couple of houses down from the Yen-Brian-Audrey-Flynn-Nova residence are some newly built modern townhomes. Every time I make the drive over to watch the little munchkins, I admire them and daydream about buying one (with my imaginary savings and/or imaginary lottery win bought with that imaginary ticket in my back pocket).

Although, in my heart, I see myself someday in an older house, I have had a love for modern homes ever since I was lucky enough to work in one of the greatest houses in the world for several years. (Seriously, it was featured in a book called 100 Best Houses in the World.) See for yourself...

{At this point in the economy, however, and coupled with all that money I owe the federal government in school loans - um, I thought it was a rumor you had to pay that back - I'll be lucky to live in a van down by the river like Chris Farley's famous character.}

Ahh, a girl can dream...

{images via RainCityHomes and Miller Hull}

Evolution of a Weekend.In Pictures.

This last weekend was, well, interesting.

On Friday, I had a date planned with my roommate. Since I will be leaving Seattle before long, we have decided to spend as much time together out on the town and inside in our pajamas as possible. However, on Thursday my roomie got into a fight with her boyfriend and this, obviously, affected her mood. So... Friday evening rolled around and I couldn't get my very pretty and very grumpy roommate out of her bed. I came up with many ideas to try and lure her out.

"Boo Boo (I sometimes call her this), we could go out to a movie. We could go to our favorite sushi restaurant. We could go out to the bars and dance on tables. (I am very uncoordinated with very wobbly ankles, so I was hoping this wouldn't be the one thing that roused her interest.) We could stay in and eat junk food and rent movies. We could have a flower child photo shoot. We could go eat appetizers at the restaurant on top of the Space Needle. We could go down to the lake. We could call Todd and see if he will let us swim in his pool."

Nothing, and I mean nothing, was working. As we were talking, I was reading blogs on my laptop. Eve's blog, Sunny Night, features the song "Around the Bend" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. (Check out the song and super cool video here.) Like a gift from the heavens, my roomie looked up and said in an almost excited tone, "I like that song. What is it?" (Thank you Eve!) We then went and watched the video repeatedly and decided we would like to someday make our own video to it. (Coming soon to my blog, I'm sure.) She then said, "Yeah, let's call Todd and see if we can go swimming."

{Todd is our very good and hilarious friend. That guy has some of the funniest one-liners in the world.}

An hour later, we were dressed up with no place to go and Todd had just arrived at our house. Turns out, his pool closes early. We weren't sure what we were in for, but decided to go get some good food and drinks.

We went to dinner at Quinn's.

Todd, and the ladies, were

surprised by the man dressed

in a duck costume protesting

outside our window.

We then headed up the street to one of our favorite bars, the Cha Cha. I can't say for certain, but tequila may have been involved. It just may have... Then, sensing the end of my roomie's faux good mood, we ventured home and did what any sane, self-respecting and somewhat tipsy gals plus good guy friend would do: we took pictures of ourselves.

Next, we made up a bed for Todd in our living room and I had a slumber party with my roommate in her room because, at this point, she was just so sad. In the morning, it was a gorgeous day and we walked to breakfast and oohed and ahhed at all the flowers.

Things went south after breakfast. My roommate called her boyfriend. She texted him. Twice. She didn't hear anything. As you can imagine, she was very sad... My sister was attending a prom disguised as an auction for my nephew's school and needed to make a Forever 31, I mean 21, run. So, all four of us hopped in the car.

Unfortunately, not even shopping could cheer up the roomie. Although I tried to mostly hide it, the trip clearly made me very happy. Then we rushed home to help my sister Monica get ready for the prom. (My sister was once Homecoming Queen, for the record.)

(This is my sister and her husband

+ her husband's brother, Brian,

and his wife, Yen, before the prom.

Don't they look great?)

I had to go to work Saturday evening and Todd decided to stay with my roommate and entertain her (he's very entertaining) while I was gone. Ladies, you know when you're so sad and consumed with heartache that you can't stand the thought of being alone? This is where she was at and it was our job, as her friends, to try and make her feel better. I left Todd with very stern instructions. "Take her to a movie. Go to the store and get her favorite comfort foods. Don't drink very much. This will only make things worse. I'll be home soon. Call me if you need me." (A big thank you to Todd. He's a great friend.)

A few hours later, I got the call. Todd whispered, "I don't know what to do. She's so sad." Since he does not have the same years of education in women and heartbreak as I have, I gave him some directions. After hearing the loud commotion in the background and realizing they were indeed at a bar, I yelled, "Get out of there!" (I'm a believer that drinking makes you more of what you already are. Start the night out sad and drinking will turn you into that girl crying at the bar.) I then told him to go to the grocery store and get Beecher's award winning macaroni & cheese. I'm not kidding. It is award winning and it is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I then told him to go to the video store and rent SNL's Best of Will Ferrell and Best of Molly Shannon. When I came home a few hours later to see they had instead rented Hancock, I was not pleased.

That night, after admiring my roommate's freshly cut bangs and helping myself to some of the most mouth watering mac-n-cheese in the world, I put my friend to bed. I told her that someday she'll look back on this and not believe that she let this man make her feel this bad. I tucked her in and told her how beautiful she is and how much I love her. I told her that if she needed to in the night, if things got too bad, that I would come up and sleep in her bed with her. I told her that someday she will be adored in the way she has always deserved. She said she didn't know if she believed that and so I told her that I would believe enough for the both of us. Then I hugged her and tiptoed downstairs to my room.

In the quiet and dark of my own room, I remembered being in the same place my friend is in and I silently thanked the universe for not being there now.

The next day, she met up with the boyfriend. (Side note: It's not that I think he is a bad guy, but I want only what will make my friend really happy. I will say, however, that I have dreamed about angrily yelling at him since.) He is still her boyfriend and I still know that she deserves better, just as she has known when I have deserved better. It's like the lovely Elizabeth Marie said over at It's Unbeweavable!, it's about knowing your own worth (you said it, sister). I think it's also about having the courage to free yourself from the pain of loving someone who can't love you back.

Dear Roomie, you are worth so much more than you know. Someday, you will know how wonderful you are. I promise you that. Whatever happens, I'll love you through it all.

* PS) If you decide to veto this post, you absolutely hold that power. *

I. am. so. irritated.

... with Blogger.

Who am I? {My first post revisited.}

I first started this blog after being snowed in with family for days and days back in December, unsure of where I was going with it. Maybe knowing where you're going with your blog is like knowing where you're going with your life - something that can only reveal itself in small increments along the way.

I have recently started venturing away from my blog's little picket fence and into the big world of other blogs out there and, I gotta tell you, there are some truly lovely blogs waiting for you to find them. I could go on and on, but I won't. (At least not today.) Well, maybe just for two seconds... Gabby at gabby, she wrote is call up your best friend and read aloud funny. I still laugh about the Sunday Funday post and the one where the waiter drops the fettuccine alfredo on that poor guy's head. I might be a bit like the Mel to her Jemaine and Bret on Flight of the Conchords. What can you do? Oh, and Meg over at The Wild and Wily Ways of a Brunette Bombshell is the insightful and touching gal I wish I had been at 23. (For the record, there are many, many other great blogs I'm just now finding, but will save gushing about those for another day.)

On my journey to find the fantastic blogs out there, I realized that I always jump to the very first post of every blog because this is where most bloggers write a little something about who they are and why they started their blog. I, on the other hand, just wrote about hanging myself with Christmas tinsel and needing a strong gin and tonic. (I don't even drink gin and tonics - call it creative license.) So, I've decided to start again.

Hi, my name is Kathleen. I love my middle name, Parker. Last month I turned 31. Today I noticed that many of the blogs I read are part of what is called Twenty Something Bloggers. I thought, "I should join that." {Very, very long pause.} Shit. Luckily, there is also a little thing called Thirty Something Bloggers.

I just finished graduate school and a year of being an intern therapist or, as I like to call it, a baby therapist to the chronically mentally ill. I don't always like to admit to people that I'm a baby therapist because it somehow implies that I think I have my shit together. (My mother must be cringing because I've used the sh*t word twice in this post already. My apologies, Mama. You raised me with a better vocabulary than that.) I guess I just believe in working toward having your sh*t together and in being the most happy and healthy person you can. Someday, I'll work as a therapist again and will have to make this blog private, but that day isn't here yet. (I don't think my future clients will want to read about my jello shot intake, penchant for tube tops or my overall shenanigans... or maybe they will, but that can lead nowhere good.)

What else? I moonlight as Mary Poppins. I'm well versed in pop-culture and should have pursued a career at Us Weekly. I've always fancied myself a bit of a writer and am over the moon that I have found a place to express this side of myself. I am in love with travel and once found myself as a young, naive girl living in Namibia and traveling throughout South Africa and Botswana. Best time of my life. I've had the same best friend since the last day of kindergarten when I had the identical haircut to Sam on Diff'rent Strokes. (You can check my best friend out here and what I can only assume was my mother's inspiration for my childhood hair here.) I'm getting ready to start a great adventure that will take me away from my beloved Seattle and will be the source, I'm sure, of much writing inspiration. I have a boyfriend who I have the biggest crush on and I sometimes have to pinch myself because I was somewhat unlucky in love prior to meeting him. I heart scary movies, swimming in the ocean and napping. I believe in kindness, sunshine, volunteer work, lip gloss, big hair and big love (not the show, but that's okay too). Oh, and I'm an auntie to two of the sweetest little boys you could ever hope to meet.

This last little tidbit brings me to my story of the evening. Gather around... When I went to pick up my nephew Max at school yesterday, his teacher told me about the incident on the playground. An older boy, a dreaded kindergartner, put a plastic bucket over my Max and trapped him in there for several minutes before anyone noticed. They apologised and Max mostly seemed fine. Auntie, however, did not. It turns out this is the third time this child has done something of the sort to my sensitive little man. I actually had to shut my horrified mouth to say, "But why?! Why would someone want to scare this lovable, short redhead?" I restrained myself from telling off my nephew's bully. It's not his fault, after all, that his parents raised him to be a meanie. (I say words like meanie.)

This is what you should know about me, perhaps the most important thing. Don't fu*k with my nephews. Oh, and trips to the cupcake shop make things better, for Max and for me.

It's so nice to meet you. I can't wait to hear more about you.

Internet Inspiration.

Wow, I love the blogging world! Who knew there was so much love, kindness and inspiration out there? Many of my fellow bloggers visit Polyvore. I paid my very first visit today and came up with the following. (I see many, many more visits in my future.)