hilarious

Last night was such a fantastic night at work. I was bummed at first because it started out so slow, and even made a comment about how I missed having nights where I ran my rear off all night. I love busy nights like that. And about an hour after I made that comment, people started flooding in. It was so fun! I had a group of 5 guys in their thirties and forties who were hilarious. They harassed me all night, but all in good fun, and if having a entertaining table like that wasn't good enough, they left me a more than generous tip, and told me they'd be requesting me next week.

That's what I love most about waitressing, being able to joke around with people and build relationships with people who choose to come back each week because they enjoy the service. There's no greater compliment than return customers.

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Another reason I'm continuing to love my bike rides...saw a man driving a big white van today for some maintenence company with a Buzz Lightyear toy strapped to the front. So, so funny. I started laughing out loud when I saw it and caught the driver's eye, he laughed right along with me. I'm sure he gets that a lot.

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Today I am wearing a cute flirty little sundress that I got for a meer $17 at Forever 21 and enjoying the warm weather. I think I'll take a chair out in the sun and read for a while. Too nice to stay inside!

geese

I'm coming to really enjoy my bike rides.

Sure, I moan about them while I'm eating breakfast slowly to procrastinate going out, but once I get going, I'm happy. I love what I see along the way. And I made a couple new playlists on my iPod that are full of summer music that I love.

Today while I was biking I decided I have to carry my little coolpix camera with me at all times. I took a different route than I normally do...well, I took a left instead of a right on the road I always bike down. It's got a nice little biking lane so I don't have to feel like someone may or may not clobber me as they drive by, and it's right along the water. Plus, most of the houses along that way are adorable.

Anyway, I took a left. And to the left, there's geese. A lot of them. I didn't know this. But I saw three old men walking down a path with five baby geese running in front of them. *click* I saw a truck stop for two geese to cross the road. *click* I saw the third goose who didn't get across the road with his friends anxiously dance on the other side until he started running and then flying across to catch up. *click*.

However, I may never get a workout if I start taking my camera along with me biking...there's too many photo opportunities I'd be stopping for!

online

I am addicted to the internet. Which might be a problem, considering I'm still mooching off of my neighbor's internet, and despite my less than warm and fuzzy feelings towards this particular neighbor, I do feel bad.

I just can't help myself though. I love blogs. I like reading about other people's lives. Especially the ones who write really well. They're entertaining, and you get to know them even though they have no idea who you are. It's like a legal form of stalking.

These blogs have also led me to find something else I like to do on the internet. Shop. Maybe this comes from my obsession with mail. Since I don't often get mail myself I subconsciously choose to buy things online so they have to be sent to me and I can recieve something in the mail. I think it more has to do with the fact that I live in a generally small city, and I don't have access to nearly as many stores as I'd like to, and the internet broadens my horizons greatly. I love browsing just as much as I love shopping, just looking at all the pretty dresses or jewelry or decor. It's exciting to see things outside of what I usually see in stores.

I'm also addicted to the internet for a few main websites.

a) facebook :: Yeah, it's an addiction. I spend far more time on that website than I should, mostly looking at other people's pictures. But it IS a very useful way to keep in contact with people and keep updated on their lives.

b) my e-mail account :: I have a friend that I e-mail nearly every single day. Even when we see each other, we still tend to e-mail. We have this continual message from December of just tidbits of information we feel the need to tell one another. It's fun.

c) imdb :: Internet Movie Database. Everything you need to know about an actor/actress/movie/tv series. It's brilliant. Did you know Chris Noth(aka Mr. Big from Sex and the City) was from Madison? Crazy!

d) pro4um :: Photography site. Had to pay for it, but oh my goodness, what I have learned is amazing. I browse it pretty much daily for inspiration.

Plus, all my blogs, shopping sites, and just regular photography sites, the professional sites of other photographers either know from random searches or know personally. Really, how I love modern technology.

...until it doesn't work...

irritation

One of the biggest irritations to me is when my iPod plays songs at different volumes. When one song is really loud and then next is mouse-like quiet so I turn it up and then the next song screams at me and I have to yank the ear buds out of my ear so I don't lose my hearing. Grrr...

wedding

Two of my friends got married today!

It was such a beautiful wedding. I know, I know, most weddings are beautiful, but this one really was great. They got married at a park with about four thousand gorgeous places to take pictures. The ceremony and reception were inside a old banquet hall, all built of stone and antique feeling. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for pictures, and we got to spend so much time with just the two of them! We always adjust our time frame to whatever's most important to the couple, but so far, not many have wanted to spend a lot of time on pictures of just the two of them. Those are my favorite to shoot, they can be so intimate and romantic, and can really capture the personality of the two of them.

There were some tender moments throughout the day. A little over a month ago, the groom's mom lost a long battle with cancer. His dad spoke before the toast, bringing up Ecclesiastes 3:4. It says there's a time to weap and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Nothing could have been more appropriate for that family. They'd just gone through mourning, but the groom's father said that today was a day where they would laugh and dance, because even in trials, God is in control. Such a beautiful reminder of the joy that is found when we trust in God.

biking

In honor of swimsuit season, I've decided to become a biker.

Again.

I did this last year, found out that biking was much more enjoyable to me than running. I'm a slow runner, with a short attention span. The scenery doesn't change fast enough for me. Biking, however, I get to see a lot more and cover a greater distance in the same amount of time, even if it's probably not going to help me be all goddess-like in a swimsuit faster. It might not do as much for the lovely layer of winter warmth hiding what really are a set of six-pack abs(ha!), but I will have excellent, excellent legs.

In fact, I feel like it's already making a difference. This may be naive of me, since I've only biked about five times, but if you're some physical therapist person and you know I couldn't have possibly noticed a change, don't you dare burst my bubble. I have to at least pretend I see a difference or I won't keep biking. But my calves really do seem to look a little nicer. They're a bit tanner too, which always helps.

I usually go for my ride between nine and ten in the morning, and I'm starting to notice some regulars who are always out at that time. One nice older lady dressed in one of those jean jackets with like birdhouses sewed on and penny loafers, riding a bike with a regular seat with the peddles parallel to the seat, man in his sixties(?) riding a normal red and yellow bike, both of them moving at a slow but steady pace. A guy who always drives by on his motorcycle. And this one tall, skinny guy.

This tall, skinny guy is, well...I think he's a creeper. I have a mind that always creates the worst possible scenarios and then automatically tries to deny that scenario for something much more favorable. Like, he was walking at ten today, and then again at six thirty when I went for another bike ride. What normal man in his thirties has a job that allows him to walk at those times? And when he sees me, he turns his head and slowly smiles and nods or waves. In a "Hi, I could potentially be a stalker" way. And he wears...well, slightly grungy clothes. All these things make me leary of him. But then my brain automatically goes, well, he could work a wacky night shift that's 11-7 or something. And he could sleep from like, 11 to 6 during the day. Or maybe he works 11-7 during the day and he got off early today or just had the whole day off. And, maybe when he's walking, he's just really relaxed and leisurely, so he moves slowly. And hey, when people are just out for a stroll, they're not going to wear their super shnazzy clothes, now are they? Now are they?!

In this particular situation, however, my brain's first reasoning won out, and I just might let the boyfriend buy me pepper spray. Even though when he first suggested it I told him not to because I'd never carry it, and it'd wind up in some junk drawer, and he'd find it there one day and wind up being all hurt because I wasn't taking my safety seriously. I'm a pretty independent girl, but sometimes, you know, having a little pepper spray might not be a bad thing...

frames

Aren't they beauuuutiful?!

Yes, I know they're not straight. Yes, I know you can still see some of the color of the frame before spray painting occurred. Yes, I know there's an extra nail in the wall. No, I absolutely do not care and I love them! The extra nail was an oops by my stepdad, who very patiently hung all 17 frames for me. I decided to leave the nail there, though, and just purchase another 3 1/2 by 5 frame, because I have issues with the number 7 and would rather it be 18, a nice, even number. No, I'm not OCD. Just sometimes, about certain things, happen to have little twinges of OCDness.

Anyway, I might change a few pictures yet. I don't have a single one of my best friend, and I feel like it might be a little bit of a criminal act to leave her out. Plus, she might feel a smidgen of jealousy, since her exceptionally attractive brother, who happens to be my boyfriend, appears twice in my happy little mess of frames. My mind thinks this, even though she would never ever get jealous about something like that. I just don't want the possibility of her getting jealous, if she were the type to get jealous about silly things like that, to be there. Everything has to be fair in my head.

Granted, she does have a whole 8x8 Creative Memories frame that's backed with magnetic stuff dedicated to her, containing movie stubs that we saw together, Mardi Gras beads that I don't even remember where we got together, a poem she wrote me about the silly things we do together for my birthday last year, and a film strip template I made in photoshop with five pictures of us from a wedding. It's practically a little shrine dedicated to her. So, if I'm that obsessive with her, maybe it's fair that her brother has two pictures on my wall.

Ooookay...I think I might overthink things a little sometimes...

moved

I moved!

Funny thing happens when you move. Your wireless connection doesn’t necessarily come with you. I thought I was out of commission for a few days, but when I turned on my computer this morning, my computer found someone else’s wireless. I thought everyone around would have security enabled due to the close quarters, but apparently I lucked out.

I absolutely love my new townhouse. It’s so spacious and cozy. Our living room all came together so nicely, the television literally fits perfectly into the entertainment center, maybe a centimeter to spare. And our kitchen is totally homey and exactly my roommate’s style, and she’s the one who loves to cook, so the kitchen should suit her. My room is all bright and sunny. Still don’t have the perfect pillows for my bed, but I do have all my frames up, just missing some pictures because my ACI photo order didn’t come in yet.

All together, my townhouse is perfect. Except for one minor detail, that has to do with that wireless connection. There are very few people in this world that I really would just love if I could go the rest of my life without seeing…and one of them happens to live three doors down. Perfect, just perfect. The name of this person’s wireless connection includes a nickname that proves it could only be them, and I knew they lived in this area, just wasn’t aware of how close we happen to be. However, the enjoyable part about this, is the only reason I can mooch off of said person’s wireless is because I’ve used it before. Security is enabled, but because I’ve used it before and I entered the password once upon a time, I can use it without a problem. Ha! I find that all too enjoyable.

One of my favorite purchases relating to my move is a dock for my iPod. I had one that I got as a gift, an off brand one that wouldn’t charge my iPod while it was docked despite the box’s claim it would do so and made a constant whirring noise while playing my music. I got my new one pretty reasonably, and the sound quality is amazing in comparison. I started dancing to the music when I first heard how excellent it was!

Alright, finishing up my first ever load of laundry in the townhouse! That fact almost makes laundry exciting. Almost.

puddles

I did something crazy. For the first time ever.

Well, no. It's not the first time I did something crazy. But it is the first time I did this particular crazy thing. My earlier post may have inspired me.

Last night, before I got out of my car to make a mad dash across campus to get to my apartment in the rain, I text messaged my roommate and asked her if she wanted to go puddle jumping. I was half kidding/half serious...but when I opened the door to our apartment she was standing there saying, "Yeah! I really do!".

So I immediately and involuntarily switched into a giddy mood. You know, those moods where you can't stop smiling and laughing and your whole body is energized and you're focused on whatever crazy thing you're doing with your friends? That kind of mood. We convinced our other roommate to take a study break, she's super serious, but everyone deserves some fun! We all changed super fast into clothes we didn't care about, grabbed a camera, and ran outside jumping and yelling, totally forgetting it was quiet hours, and found the nearest puddle and pounced. Splashing each other and laughing and taking ridiculous pictures. We got mud all over our faces and took some of the most ridiculous pictures I have ever seen.


Here's some of us jumping and making crazy faces while covered in mud.



It was the best way I could ever think of to end my junior year of college. So fun!

pillows

So, that new place I was talking about? I'll have my own room there. And in that room, I'll have a full bed again. My bed from home, that I actually sleep through the whole night in without waking up aching. I'm pretty excited about it.

What I'm even more excited about, though, is what's on that bed. I love my bedspread, got it at Kohl's last year when I decided the one I'd had for around six or so years looked too much like a kiddy bed for my liking. It's a Simply Vera Vera Wang bedspread that's yellow(my favorite color) with poppies all over it.

See the pillows that go with it? I love them too. At the time I got the bedspread though, they were more money than I wanted to be spending on pillows, so I restrained myself. But now...I really really want them.

They're so perfect with the bedspread and would add a little flavor to my relatively boring, white walled room. Everything's going to be white and yellow, with little bits of navy. I would love love love a little orange/coral color splashed in.

Since it seems to be impossible to find these perfect little pillows anymore, I've resigned myself to covering two pillows I have that were on my bed in my dorm room. They're currently brown, but I'll find pretty fabric somewhere and make some covers. That'll have to satisfy me.

tulip

It's possible that I am incredibly dense.

A few days ago, I was bustling around my parent's house trying to pack every that I want from home up for my move to my first off-campus, not-shared-with-parents place. The whole thing is quite exciting to me, so I was already in a pretty fantastic mood, when I looked out the window and saw this pretty little tulip. At least, I'm pretty darn sure it's a tulip, but I could be wrong. I appear to be pretty ignorant about flowers.

For example: I assumed that the reason this tulip wasn't all open and smiling at me was because it was simply too early in spring for it to do so. Makes sense, right? It takes flowers a little time to grow up. I just figured a bit more time and soon it would be smiling all the time.

The next day, I looked outside again. Only this time, it was earlier in the day, when the sun was higher in the sky and hitting the little tulip. And whattya know, it's smiling! All bright and shiny and perky. And then I realize...oh. Some flowers do that. They close up in the shade at night and open up when the sun hits them. They are living creatures, after all, they can move. Right. Right-o.

However, when I noticed this, I was a little preoccupied with other things, so I didn't take the time to get a picture. You'll have to settle with the pretty little closed tulip.

panic

This morning I was eating my usual breakfast of Special K cereal in milk exactly the way I always do, preztel-legged on my bed with my computer in front of me, when my roommate walked in to chat about the attractive police officer that she's been flirting with. Apparently the distraction of her in the room while I was eating was too much for me, because I managed to drop my bowl.

Right on my keyboard.

Um...AHHHH! My roommate flew out of the room to get paper toweling while I picked up my now-shutting-down computer and tried to shake the milk out of it. We got it pretty clean and took my sheets off my bed...but when I tried to turn it on, it wouldn't work. So I did whatever I do when something major happens and I don't know how to respond. I called my mom.

me :: "Mom. I did a bad thing."

mom :: "Okay..."

me :: (speaking at a lightning fast pace) "I spilled milk all over my computer and now when I try to turn it on nothing happens and one of my seniors ordered pictures this morning and all her pictures are on that computer and I just need it to work!"

mom :: "Okay...why don't you call Dell and see what they recommend."

So I did. I called Dell. And I'm sorry, but I don't like Dell at all. You have to PAY to talk to a real person about a potential problem with your computer. It's not like I was asking them to FIX any damages. I just wanted to know what I should do in a situation where I happen to drop milk everywhere. I wanted to yell, "I don't know anything about computers. This is customer service. I bought a computer, I'm a customer. HELP ME." But a lot of good that would've done me, yelling at the VOICE RECORDING. Grrr.

I called Mom back. She told me to call Bud, what we call my stepdad. Meanwhile, he started calling me, because Mom had already talked to him while I talked to Dell. He told me immediately to NOT try to turn it on and to unplug it.

Well, crap. I had just tried to turn it on like four times by that point. That couldn't be good. But I didn't mention this to my helpful stepfather, I just did as he said and thanked him for his help.

I rushed to get ready for work because I'd burned up a bit of time with the whole escapade, so I ignored my computer for a bit and packed up everything to go home after work and slapped on some make up and ran a brush through my hair. I wound up putting my computer, battery out, in the backseat where the sun would hit it and hopefully dry it out.

After work, I went out to my vehicle and changed. Yeah, in the backseat. Why I didn't just go inside and change, I don't really know, but whatever. I did go back in with my computer though, and set it up on a table in the back where the drivers take orders. One of the drivers was back there with me, and when I pressed the power button and my computer turned on I squealed and grabbed his arm jumping up and down I was so relieved to discover it worked.

Disaster was avoided. Except for a little stickiness with some keys, it works just fine. Thank goodness!

bittersweet

Today is a bittersweet day. A good friend of mine recently got a great new job...only it's two hours away, and in a matter of three days he's picked up and moved himself there. His constant presence will be missed. Tonight I'm attending a going away party for another friend who's transferring to a different college better suited for her major. Both of them are making changes that are great for them, but it's sad to see them go.

On the bright side of things, this weather is fantastic! I'm wearing white shorts and my new super cute gladiator sandals, and I smell like coconut lime. I feel so summery!



Also, the party tonight is at Buffalo Wild Wings. If you haven't been there, just go. Right now. Grab a group of friends and go buy yourself some Thursday night cheap boneless chicken wings covered in a sauce of your choice. They have plenty of options, and I usually want like six different kinds. You'll find one you love!

rainy

This picture makes me think of being a little girl and wearing a Sunday dress and totally ignoring my mother and jumping in the puddles and playing and making a mess of myself.

...except that never happened. I so wasn't that kid. I was the well-behaved little child, and the child who didn't like getting her pretty things dirty. Put me in "shed clothes" at my dad's, and I'd walk through mud and scoop dog poo like nothing. But at mom's house, in my pretty clothes, I didn't want to get dirty.

Today, however, all I want to do is put on a springy dress and run around outside and get full of grass and mud and water. Perhaps the stress of finals and being a responsible college student makes me long for simplicity.

Here's some simplicity for you...easy breezy jazz by two talented young people. Meet Grace & Julian. I saw them in Madison last year before a MadHatter's concert, and loved them. Check out their song Raindrops!

Image compliments of Vector Graphic.

yellow

On account of living in a tiny little school apartment, I tend to make my bed my desk, because my actual desk is kind of a dumping ground and usually looks like this:

My mattress is pushed a little closer to the wall than my bed can go, and the extra space on the box spring makes the perfect spot for me to rest my foot, tucking the other underneath me as I sit at my computer accomplishing(or not accomplishing) things.

One of the things I tend to accomplish while at my computer is painting my nails. I'm incapable of painting my nails without something else going on. I get bored. But when I paint my nails in this position on my bed, I put my hand on my knee to hold it steady. And without fail, I get nail polish on my jeans(assuming I'm wearing jeans at the time). Yesterday was no exception.

I decided to paint my nails yellow because I was feeling extra summery, and because I've discovered these brilliant new Nail Art pens by Sally Hansen. Mine is actually hiding in the mess of things on my desk now...but yesterday I used it to draw a happy little sun on my thumbnail. So cool! It goes on easy and after a quick top coat stays on for days. Great invention!

scent

I think someone should invent a way for scent to travel via the internet. I'm aware that it's basically impossible, but I'm just letting myself feel ignorant to science and pretending that some science geek out there somewhere will be able to make it possible one day.


Can you imagine though? Look at a picture of a beach and smell the ocean in the middle of a Wisconsin winter. Smell autumn leaves any time of the year. Sigh. Not to mention what that kind of technose-logy would do for companies like Bath and Body Works. What they do is all about scent...their online sales would go through the roof!

Personally, I'm loving their Coconut Lime Verbana body cream. Mmm, so smooth and in a perfect summer scent! Also am loving GAP's Rain Check. It's like sweet rain, very springy and fresh. Unfortunately, a girl can only use so many lotions. I'll have to reign in my buying impulses now!

brewers

I want a Brewers tshirt.

I like baseball, but it's really more liking the all-American feel of being at a baseball game eating a hot dog and cheering for the home team. And maybe singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Or liking to watch a game while I'm waitressing. Something about serving beer and wings to a group of guys yelling at the screen gets me interested in what's going on on that screen.
The problem with wanting a Brewers shirt is that last year they had these great shirts with the cute MB baseball glove graphic(above), all light blue and summery and cheery. This year, though, they've gone and made everything in the local stores all grown up and serious. It's all navy and gold and scrolly(below). Hello. Baseball isn't grown up and serious. It's lighthearted and fun. You spit sunflower seeds everywhere. That's not a sport that requires a scrolly font.
I'm considering buying my own plain tshirt and printing out a happy graphic and painting it on my shirt myself. Unfortunately, I'm pretty awful when it comes to painting things accurately, even when I'm copying directly. Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, I would love a Brewers shirt to potentially wear to a Brewers game this summer. Or to wear to a cookout, and eat my hot dog there.

Plus...if the Brewers are playing during our shift at work, we can wear a shirt supporting them instead of our usual work shirts. A little variety is always nice!

bachelorette

Saturday night I went to my first ever bachelorette party. We all went out to eat Olive Garden and it was one of those moments where I suddenly felt grown up, sitting at a table of beautiful girls, some married, some not, and talking about what our bachelorette would love most about finally being married to the man of her dreams. They've been engaged for 11 months, which isn't that long these days, but seems like a lifetime to them. After dinner we moved on to Victoria's Secret to get our bachelorette all ready for her honeymoon. It was so fun picking out things for her to try on and seeing her just glowing with excitement and laughing at some of the more ridiculous ensembles we threw over the dressing room door.

I'm photographing her wedding this May, which is special to me not just because they're my friends, but also because they're the first couple I ever took pictures of. When you're a college kid learning about photography you tend to ask your friends to model for you, and these two were perfect. They're so clearly crazy about one another!