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I have never ever before kept a New Years resolution.
Last year at this time I pledged to have 12 hair colors, to have a life, and to have my best year ever. Three things that normally would have probably slipped by. But I definitely accomplished everything I wanted this year. Sure there were some sucky times (food poisoning in Florence, finding out that the last person who told me he loved me moved right near me the next week and didn't tell me, falling head over heels for someone who doesn't feel the same way, my car getting hit, missing the Fourth of July...) but they were far outweighed by the good
My Year in Random Highlights:
- Quitting my job
- Finding a great new one
- Getting over the one person I never thought I would.
- Having the Best Summer Ever
- 3 weeks in Europe
- making out with a Canadian on the grass in front of a Vienna museum
- Taking snuff from a random German
- Vegas, D.C.
- Getting over my fears of White Water Rafting
- Standing up at one of my best friend's wedding
- Calling bluffs :)
- Many many nights studying or watching tv at MK's
- My Funny Valentine
- Playing Easter Bunny
- developing a higher tolerance for alcohol and discovering the joys of wine bars
- Making new friends (Scott, Andy, Brandon, Heather, everyone in D.C...)
- ditching my novel in favor of a memoir
My Year in Numbers:
- Photos taken: approximately 2,042
- Job Applications 52
- Gelatos eaten: over 14 in one week
- Hair colors: 13
- Trips to wine bars: 12
- Theatre/dance/opera seen: 7
- Interviews gone on: 6
- Countries visited: 6
- U.S. states visited: 5
- Number of coins I threw into the Trevi fountain: 4
- Times I was told I look like Kirsten Dunst: 4
- Championships I watched Takeru Kobayashi win on TV: 3
- Funky elevators ridden: 3 (sideways at Luxor, Paternoster, cave in Switzerland)
- Nude puppet shows seen: 2
- Buffets that cost $30 or more: 2
- Casino Royales seen: 2 (the movie and the casino)
- Times lucky 13 paid off big in vegas : 1
- Flash masterpieces I designed: 1
- Hostels owned by parrots: 1
- Raves thrown in my honor: 1
- Pairs of MK's underwear I froze: 1
- Boys who bought me flowers: 1 (JoeJoe)
My Year in Pictures:
- New Years 2005/2006
- My 25th Birthday Party
- Auto Show
- Las Vegas
- Jen's Birthday
- Brandon's Birthday
- Valerie's Unemployed and Ready to Celebrate Celebration
- BBQ in the Bend
- Jenny's Surprise Wedding Shower
- Europe
- Jenny's Bachelorette Party (password protected, ask me for it)
- White Water Rafting
- Venetian Night
- Jenny's Rehearsal Dinner
- Jenny's Wedding
- Washington D.C.
- Josh wins the Chicago Marathon
- Valerie's Employed and Ready to Celebrate Celebration
- Andy's Birthday
Thank you to everyone who helped make Valerie's Best Year Ever my Best Year Ever!!!!
Let's hope 2007 is even better!!!
mattyk, brandana, and I went to a FREE champagne tasting at WineStyles today.
Yummy. I liked the Toad Hollow the best (because it was the sweetest). It's apparently made by Robin Wiliams's brother. :)
After the tasting I finally got to give MK his Christmas present: a replicate vintage toy Bugatti racer :) Bugattis are really expensive and one of his favorite cars, so I've been telling him for weeks that I bought him a Bugatti, but he didn't believe me :( Matt really liked the car I think, he played around with it a bit :)
Alas even though I came through on my word of buying him a Bugatti, I got no Tiffany boxes :( Its OK though :) Since we were talking earlier about how he feels guilty when someone gives him a present and he doesn't have one in return, I pulled a Marge Simpson and gave him something to give to me. I was so surprised when I got a coupon for a massage :) (it wasn't with full release though, damn, I suppose I can still add that in ;-) )
Too bad I didn't get to cash it in though, since MK had to leave to do some business (I really think he went to go hang out with a bunch of hot strippers though). Oh well, I'll have to cash in next time. And it best be a damn good massage because that car cost like $500...yes...hehe. I'm thinking scented oils and hot stones and hot Brazilian men should be involved. :)
a.
Jen to Nat: It's easiest to pick you as maid of honor.
Nat: Yeah, we can say that I will be your MOH and you will be mine.
Jen: Right, then no one gets offended.
Me: What about me?
Jen: You've already said that we aren't even going to be in your wedding party. You said we were too old.
b.
I have been sick this week. That means I've been doped up on DayQuil/NyQuil and has resulted in some very loopy email conversations:
me: i don't like mustard i like boys i think the medicine i took is putting me to slleep
scott: hehe, that's an awesome email. Just random stream of conciousnessinvolving mustard, boys, and medicine. That's sounds like a badcombination.
Me: are you free satursday to do thingds?zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Matt: What did you feel like doing?
Me: right now i feel like sleeping. silly dayquil isn't supposed to put you to sleep silly sickme. i want to go fishing or golfing. or maybe we can go to maine. or we could buy a puppy. or we could go swim. or we couldsleepy
Matt: Well if you feel sick, then you should become unsick first. Go to sleep, silly.
Me: i cannot sleep i am working. by working i mean i am on myspace. i hate myspace. i also hate that my sick days don't kick in for another month :( we will do something fun on saturday! i want to do something fun yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay i will bring you a bugatti. you will drive it vroom vroom
c.
Applebees tonight was rocking the best collection of 80s music ever! Too bad I can hardly taste my food. Silly cold. I exchanged gifts with Nadia and Jenny. Jenny gave me a gift certificate to Pottery Barn and a cute dragonfly ornament. Nadia got me a set of stemless wine glasses and a Wine Tasting Party Kit. Now I can host my own blind tastings! Then I will guess them all correctly! Hehehe.
p.s. I have so many wine glasses because this is the third Christmas ever that Nadia has given me wine glasses :) I totally love her for it.
Christmas Eve:
We all went over to my aunt's house. Everyone kept asking what I was doing there as if they didn't expect me to come. Basically all the guys went and watched football, my mom and aunts talked amongst themselves, and me and my sisters talked amongst ourselves. Umm, we also ate. We had pierogi and dumplings and lox and bagels and a Greek salad my sister made thrown in to make it more multicultural.
At night we had our Christmas Eve tradition of ordering Dr. Pizza (tradition started because when I was a kid I was a much pickier eater and one year my aunt didn't bring the bagels so I didn't have anything to eat). We also watched the wonderfully appropriate holiday classic "Hostel." It was OK. We managed to convince my mom for the first half hour that we were watching a sex comedy. :) Then we ate snowman-shaped Krispy Kremes and I made my hot chocolate. Yumyum.
If you have ever wondered why I tend to take any idea anyone comes up with too far... We keep trying to think up things to tell Dale (my sisters boyfriend) "holiday traditions." For instance last year we told him that we normally go caroling at hospitals. This year we decided to tell him that we have a bi-annual Bromann Bowl tackle football game. So, before settling to watch the movie, we made a trophy and a list proclaiming the winner of every game since 1980. Basically every year we put that my dad won, since he would obviously win a tackle football game :) I then aged the paper in tea and coffee. It really looked like we pulled it out of the fire to keep it. Hehe.
Before retiring for the night I put out my cookies and Pepsi for Santa (my dad always told me when I was a kid that Santa likes Pepsi and not milk). :)
Christmas!
Santa ate my cookies and Pepsi!
He left a little of a half-eaten cookie. Maybe Matt can sell it on eBay for me and make me rich! I bet someone would buy a cookie eaten by Santa!
Yay! We went to see Dreamgirls. Dale didn't go because he he's "not gay." Whatever. It was a really good movie, but the audience was funny because after Effie's big song everyone burst into applause. I don't see the point of clapping for a movie unless it's like Jason making a good kill :)
Then we opened our presents. I got lots of cool stuff (I tend to get more too because I usually also receive all my birthday gifts too). I got:
A pink ipod (engraved on the back with a quote from Perks of Being a Wallflower):
A softest sweetest robe, etc. from Bath and Body Works (it seriously is the softest sweetest robe ever):
Board Games:
DVDs:
Kitchen Stuff:
Yay!
Then we busted out the 80s Trivial Pursuit, and Dale kicked our asses. Then my aunt came and we ate. And then, since it wouldn't be a holiday without me bursting into tears... my aunt was chasing the dog around trying to put a collar she bought him on, but he was guarding a new ball so she chased him near me and he pounced and growled in the way that I knew he would have bitten me badly if he didn't have the ball in his mouth at the time. :(
The best news of the day though...My sister Jen is finally engaged! She got the ring on Christmas Eve night. :)
Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!!!
1. A pic I stole from Julie from Friday night:
2. So, last night I get a random text messege that says "OK, Jimmy's it is at 8:45." I kind of assumed that was a random wrong number text or something until around 7 when Joe asks me if I am going to Jimmy's (it was Julie who had texted me). It apparently isn't a person, it's a bar. Yay for fun times with JoeJoe and Alina and Glen and Jen and Julie and Emily and Amy and Aaron and Dave and Mike. :) The martini I got sucked though because it was $11!!! And they put ice cubes in it. Who the hell puts ice cubes in martinis???
3. A conversation I had with my dad:
Dad: Guess what I just found out we get? Fox Reality Channel.
Me: Damn! I could have been watching My Bare Lady.
Dad: Yeah, I've been watching that all day.
Seriously, I've been looking at the line up of programs on Fox Reality...umm, do you think it's possible to get a cable plan that only includes this station? Really, there is no need for anything else :)
4. Merry Christmas Everyone!
Things I want for Christmas, but will not recieve:
1. Sony Vaio Pink Laptop:
Cost: $1,200 to $3,000
Is it a bad thing that my only criteria when making a major electronics purchase is that it comes in pink???
2. Victorias Secret Diamond Bra:
Cost: $6,500,000
I'll wear it for whoever buys it for me...I'll also not wear it for you too :)
3. Tiffany Dragonfly ring (with diamond)
Cost: $975
I've been asking for this for years :(
4. A boy :(
Cost: ????
I've been asking for this for years too.
1. I got my car back!!! It was technically done yesterday morning, but they wouldn't give it to me until the insurance gave the OK, so I got it back today. After about a month of being carless, I am free again!!!!
2. Had dinner at Giordano's because Julie is in town from Florida and wanted some good deep dish. After about the standard 45 minute wait for the pizza, the manager came to our table and said they forgot to make our pizza and it would be another 45 minutes until we'd get our food. They brought us 3 huge plates of fried appetizers to make up for it. Finally we got our food and I apparently am bad at rimming. :)
Then we went to the Kerry Piper and I had a yummy pineapple upside down cake martini. Yum. We all got carded but the three year old at the other table didn't. Bummer.
3. MK purposefully planned 2 ski trips in January because he knew I don't have vacation time yet and therefore can't go. I am sticking to this theory.
1. My hair
Wow, I should beg for comments more often :) So much feedback on my hair post!
Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. Here are the standings as of 8:26 on December 21:
12 - 5
16 - 3
09 - 2
10 - 2
06 - 1
08 - 1
11 - 1
14 - 1
12 was a pretty popular pic, for both color and style.
Now, I do have to say I did quite like the color and cut of 12, unfortunately that color was a result of 2 weeks of fading of the bright orange, and the pic was taken immediately after i had gotten my hair cut and I was never ever able to restyle it to look anywhere near as nice. And I do like my current number 16 (runner up), but it is starting to fade weird now.
What I found funniest was that Rob voted blonde when he's said before he likes dark hair and MK voted dark when he told me all year he liked the blonde best.
My final decision is actually to go blonde, somewhere between 8 and 9 maybe (Chrises win!), but probably a little darker of blonde. I actually had a really tough time when I dyed my hair away from blonde at the end of the summer. I really really liked it, but alas, a goal is a goal, and I had to move on. Now I am looking forward to getting back to being a blondie!!!!
JoeJoe, yes, I am a natural blonde. I would try to go natural (believe it or not I did do that for a whole year just a few years ago) but it's always hard because no matter how close you get, you are always having to deal with 2-toned hair.
As for cut, I am apparently the only person on earth who likes me with long hair better. I feel girlier with it long I guess. I probably won't let it grow as long as it was (it kept getting caught in my armpits) but I definitely want it longer again. Eh, who am I kidding, I will let it grow that long because I am lazy about getting haircuts. :)
2. My foot
The ball of my right foot is killing me. Now the heel of my left foot is killing me. This makes it impossible for me to find a pair of shoes that work.
3. My aura
I shall leave you today with Scott's thoughts on me as a girly girl:
Glitterbot: you are the girliest girl I know
faeriewingtips: hehe, i will take that as a huge compliment :-)
Glitterbot: shall we explore how girly you are?
faeriewingtips: hehe
faeriewingtips: just because i plan my wedding and wear pink?
Glitterbot: lest see, why are you girly..have the wedding planned out, obsess about interior design/decorating, the pink aspect is very amusing, obsess about watching reality tv, cooking shows, heck, just watch soaps and it woudl be perfect, lets see, what else...
faeriewingtips: i used to watch soap operas
Glitterbot: ah yes, you're obsession with theater, though that's not as girly
Glitterbot: hmm, you do have an interest in fashion, but I"m not sure how much (although you're the only one I know who put a bra on their wish list)
faeriewingtips: haha
faeriewingtips: i change my outfits 20 times before i'm going to see a boy i like
faeriewingtips: and about 10 any other time :-)
Glitterbot: ah yes!
Glitterbot: I forgot about that
faeriewingtips: :-)
Reasons why I hate myspace:
1. it is ugly
2. when i tried to look up how to do something today on the forum, somone was posting 40,000 times the same empty message to prove some kind of point or something. I couldn't get through it at all.
3. Most forums are only about people who NEED TO KNOW how to view someone's private page. One woman seriously said "My husband unfriended me and set his page to private, and I need to know how I can see it." Umm, maybe talking to your husband would be a good first step...maybe?
4. The FAQ says that you can set Band profiles to private, but you can't.
5. I have no friends :(
(please note, I really hate MySpace, but only started it because I need to make a kick-ass one for work and wanted something to practice on)
I didn't start the year off with a mission to completely destroy every follicle of hair on my head in a bath of multi-colored dye. My thought process at first was, quite simply, that I had never had black hair. I had been blonde and brunette, have had red and green and orange and purple, but never black. So, I tried to go black with a non-permanent dye. It didn't work, so I used a permanent one. I bought red lipstick and tried to pass myself off as snow white. Considering though that I am much more of an earth-tone girl (I much prefer brown shoes, pants, etc. to anything black) the lust for black hair was very very short lived. I decided after my first attempt that this would be the perfect time to experiment. Try a bunch of colors out, see what I liked best. And so I developed a mission to have twelve different hair colors, one for every month this year. So what if I fried it with ammonia or I didn't like the color? It is only hair. It grows back, it can be dyed again.
My hair has officially stopped paying attention to the color I have dyed it. This last color looks absolutely no different than the one before it despite the fact that I chose a light brown without a hint of red and that last color had already faded quite a bit. After I dye it now, about a week later the color will revert to whatever I dyed it three tries ago. Maybe my hair is trying to tell me, "enough already". And I agree. The last couple of times I didn't really want the change but felt as if I owed it to myself and my two loyal readers who might actually care, to finish off, above and beyond, my goal. I dyed my hair thirteen times this year.
I will still have to dye it next year. First to get it to the color I want to keep with and then to maintain it, but I assure you that every dye will be done with the same brand, and the same shade. Which color that will be, I'll let you know later. For now, you can choose for yourself, as I present...
(note: there are 16 pictures, the 13 times I dyed this year plus my incoming color, a wig I wore, and the one time I actually got a hair cut)
Please leave a comment with the number of the color you liked best (please don't everybody choose 10, and if you do at least leave something serious too). I'll then see if all y'all agree with me. :)
my last color of 2006.
in the next few days i will post a collage of all the colors i've had this year :)
"There are four women outside. No, wait. Four women divided by vodka equals two women."
1. So apparently the neighbor who hit my car robbed a White Hen in Western Springs the other day. The police came by and confiscated some stuff from his house, but I guess he is hiding out somewhere and they haven't caught him. I think I should get a new car for that. He could have at least been polite and stolen me a Jetta or something. Hopefully I will have my Saturn back soon.
2. The other day at work I saw the dress rehearsal for Die Fledermaus. It was pretty awesome. A very light opera and very funny. Basically it was about this couple who were both kind of unfaithful, and then as a joke someone sets it up so the wife will witness the husband cheating. And then they drank a lot of champagne. For a better explanation than that, you can click here: Die Fledermaus. What struck me as odd was the amount of spoken dialogue. There was a LOT. And I always thought that opera had no speaking at all ever. Who knew?
3. Yesterday was our holiday party. Yay for free food and wine and meeting people! :)
Amy Sedaris on gift giving:
"The best presents come from the heart and say something simple: 'I like you.'"
"Some people put very little energy into buying a gift and then use the excuse, 'Well it's the thought that counts'...They're the same people who start their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve."
"Make you own gift certificates like: 'good for one back massage with full release'"
...
Woohoo! I now know what to get every male I know!
Hehe, obviously kidding (can't give that to everyone) ;-)
So, I officially finished Christmas shopping this morning, and believe it or not this is very late for me. I like to be done by Thanksgiving, this year I didn't even start until after that. :( So, everything is bought, wrapped, and put under my little silver tree. (I hope nobody minds all the hair that got stuck under the tape, I tend to shed.)
So, since pressure is off, if anyone is looking for a person to help out on that last minute shopping I'd love to go along! Hehe.
Oh, and in case you want to buy me something, remember I am a ring size 6...
Reason One Why I am Insane:
I don't think that I am ever going to find a place to live for the sole fact that I do not want to move into a neighborhood that is cold and snowy.
I know that this is completely irrational. It is December in Chicago. Everything is cold and snowy. But that that is how my mind works. I can't get over it though. I hate everything I see because I keep thinking this apartment is cold and there is snow outside.
I went to look at some Lincoln Square apartments today. I didn't see anything good though. In theory, I really like this area :) Especially just right around the main square. Hopefully I will get over my weirdness and just move already.
Reason Two Why I am Insane:
I was talking to Scott about how I need a boyfriend because I need someone to cuddle with right now. He told me to get a teddy bear. I told him I needed a boy to give me a teddy bear.
And now, my theory on stuffed animals...
If you are to buy a girl a stuffed animal it has to be the right size. It can't be huge because that is just tacky. It can't be too small or the girl can't hold it while she sleeps. For instance Hood once gave me a little monkey named PeeWee who, while I loved, it was in fact a peewee and was too small to hold while I slept.
I had been sleeping with the same stuffed monkey for the last 6-7 years. It was a build-a-bear monkey that mood like a cow when you pressed its paw. I finally retired it a few months ago though because the guy who gave it to me is an ass and I am finally at the point where I am completely over it all. Those build-a-bear people are geniuses though because they made their amnimals the right size for sleeping.
Scott told me that it was OK for me to buy my own stuffed animal to sleep with. I then went deeper into my theory...
Stuffed animals are only good if they come from a boy because they are not just good for cuddling with they are also good for talking to. If you have a stuffed animal given to you by a boy, you can talk to it about that boy. You can talk to that stuffed animal about that boy and the animal will understand because it will also know the boy (because it will have spent some time with him at the checkout counter, at his place, in his car, etc.). If I buy one for myself, no matter what I tell it, that amnimal will just not understand. :(
1. According to her eye doctor Nadia's eyes are allergic to her eyelashes. True story.
2. Jenny might be leaving Adam. (shush, not really)
3. We might try to go to the Green Mill for New Years for Battle of the Saxes. You know you want to go! I mean, it isn't LaLos! I can't wait!
4. If that New Years plan doesn't work out, we are skipping this New Years and going out for the Chinese New Year instead.
I got them all correct today, see:
Hehe, so it wasn't a blind tasting so, technically, I did guess 6 for 6 right! Go me!
So, MattyK IMs me and says that he is thinking of going to the wine tasting at WineStyles tonight but doesn't have anyone to go with and "ideally, one goes to a wine tasting with a pretty girl that has hair died several different colors per month, a tatoo, and perhaps a penchant for artsy stuff and collecting furniture" and asked if I knew anyone. So, of course I begged my dad to borrow the SUV so I could go. Of course, I guess Brandana also fit that description :) The wines were OK but really I like things a lot sweeter, but oh well, since MK is a member of their wine club he and a guest get the wine tastings for free, so I got to have free wine. :)
Then we went back to his place where he busted out the whipped cream... ;-)
Mmmhmmm. Hehe, it was for my coffee! Yumyum. I then got my special private showing of Top Gear starring Simon Cowell!!! Woohoo! He critiqued some cars and then drove faster than anyone else! On the show they also tested which toupees worked best with sports cars. Hehe.
And then...out of nowhere...a GIANT PENGUIN APPEARED! I am so completely serious. A giant penguin barged into the room and waddled around! Of course, it was only ChrissyK in a costume. He is wearing it to school tomorrow. Man would I pay to see that! Matt then spent the rest of the night wondering how he was related to Chris. I think the answer is easily :)
Alas my dad didn't want me to keep the car out too late so I had to call it an early night :(
So... was that entry nice???
I've noticed something that I find kind of funny.
Whenever one of my friends introduces me to someone, they will introduce me as "Val." Joe did this when introducing me to a coworker at lunch today, MattyK did it the other day when his friend was over to watch Top Gear. It isn't something that bothers me, I just find it funny. Because almost exclusively when I introduce myself I will tell whomever I am meeting that my name is "Valerie," because, well, that is my name.
Joe likened this to the fact that he never introduces himself as Joseph, and I suppose I never introduce him as that or Matt as Matthew. But neither of them go by those names really, I don't think. But I actually go by Valerie. As I said, it is my name. Everyone else just calls me Val :) It doesn't bother me as I will go by both names equally but it is just an observation that I find to be interesting.
I can tell you exactly why I have always gone by Valerie though. It mostly stems from the fact that I have horrible hearing and it is easier to distinguish the three-syllable Valerie from other words than it is to distinguish the one syllable Val. Just like the time Joe's brother told him "Val called" and so Joe called Baehl to return the call. It's too easy to get confused.
a.
The estimate on my car was $1,000. The mechanics though will look at it further and then deal with the insurance. Hopefully it will look and drive like new. My OnStar recently lapsed and I am now waiting 'till the car gets fixed to resubscribe to it so I am not wasting the money while not being able to drive it. In retrospect it would be funny if I did still have it and got my email diagnostic that told me to check everything.
b.
I really should not be allowed to ever buy anyone any type of edible Christmas present because inevitably I will break down and eat it.
c.
I was all prepared to write a genuinely nice post about MattyK...and then he reneged on his word. Reneged I say! He invited me over to watch Top Gear with him and some other peeps on his new huge hdtv tv (I am in love! I bet food network would look amazing on that!) I complained that I would in a heartbeat come over to watch a car show with him but if I invited him over to watch American Idol, he never would come. So, he retorted by saying that there was in fact a Top Gear episode that Simon Cowell appeared on and that we can watch that. Good compromise I say. So what happens when I get over there? Not only do we not watch that episode but one of the episode's we do watch is one that I have already seen :( I guess I can give him some credit that he let me have coffee with ice cream and that one of the episodes not only dealt with interior design but also had Ewan McGregor talking about his huge penis. Anyways, MK told me I could have a special private showing of the Simon Cowell show whenever I would like. He will inevitably forget that this was ever promised.
After watching Top Gear Matt's friend suggested we play a game that is kind of like couranging but not. Basically someone writes a sentence and then the next person draws what the sentence said and then the next person writes what the picture was... Here is a sampling of the zaniness:
The sentence I wrote (damn, I will make a fine writer):
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Story 5
1. Wednesday I made MK come pick me up to go out for coffee so I could wallow about my car. It was really NICE of him to do so, so I was NICE in return and bought him his coffee even though I always go to see him and he never comes by me. Did my attempt at being NICE to him on here work?
2. I went Christmas shopping this weekend and am almost done.
3. While Christmas shopping I ended up buying way too much for myself. I bought a new coat because a) I am having a bad week because of my car (did I mention I had to go with my dad everywhere because I don't have a car right now???) and b) I wanted something warmer than what I have. I bought one of those down puffyish coats that goes down to the knees and has fur around the collar. It wasn't until I got it home that I realized that the fur is real raccoon.
4. I haven't done much else because I do not have a car. :( It really pisses me off because it was in no way my fault and the drunk driver who hit my car has been driving around all week and I am forced to sit at home doing nothing. The insurance company is looking at the car tomorrow.
5. Question of the day: Do you think the thuggish black back-up dancers for Weird Al hate their lives?
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