Recently in coffee Category

1. This morning's Starbucks of choice was the new holiday Carmel Brulee Latte. It was delicious...but I have found lately that with drinks, the last bottom part is all syrup and no coffee, like it doesn't get mixed enough, so I have an insanely sweet ending note.

2. The worst part about shooting a friend's wedding is that you forget to listen to the vows. The second worst is that you don't get to be in any of the pro pics...Unless you are like me and take a lot of self portraits...

3. I apologize to anyone who ever eats my cooking. You will find one of my hairs in your meal.

4. The other day my mom debated whether Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were in the same town...

5. The cat doesn't appreciate it when I tell him that i could probably fit his whole head in my mouth.

1. I would be one of those people at my corner Starbucks who they'd know my order as soon as I came in if I ever ordered the same drink twice in a row. I bounce between mochas and carmel macchiato, and pumpkin spice lattes, and white mochas, and espresso truffles (when I am having a really depressed morning) and other froufrou seasonal drinks. This morning I ordered, for the first time ever, a peppermint mocha. I always argued against it because I am not a fan of the taste of mint. But despite that I do like chocolate mints so I thought I would give it ago. And it was tasty but I don't think it was anything I would crave to have again.

2. I am a very rational person if you give me five minutes.

3. Yesterday I texted Mat to ask him if he wanted to do something. We decided we'd watch a movie and get food. We were debating between going out or me cooking. I wasn't really feeling like cooking anything in particular so I asked him if he was craving anything. He replied tacos. I said I could make tacos. But then, of course, my mind started churning and I thought of the recipe for green chili chicken enchiladas I had come across that looked tasty. And it was the same principle as tacos. So I stopped by the Whole Foods after work to pick up the fresh green salsa and chicken and onions and tortillas. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, omitted the cilantro (I couldn't find any), used the fresh Whole Foods salsa verde instead of the "chili verde starter" and used goat cheese on top (again, couldn't find queso añejo). And I totally wung the proportions because I just bought packages in whatever size they came in and only had a small pan and didn't need to feed 12.

I could have just made tacos. I could have cooked some meat in packaged spice mix and called in a night. Instead I boiled chicken and oiled tortillas and stacked them and topped them and baked them twice.
When Mat came over as I was pulling the chicken I said I was making enchiladas and he looked at me as if I had broken his heart. "You said you were making tacos." Of course, he was just kidding and of course I spent the rest of the night apologizing for not making tacos (also kidding, of course). But he said he loved them.

We watched Audition. It's a Japanese horror film and I thought since he liked anime he might like it. Of course, I remembered why I thought it was like anime: it makes no sense. And I forgot why I hadn't watched it in forever: it has some of the most disturbing scenes in horror films ever.
We then watched Heather's Galaxy Quest and, she was right, it is hilarious because you don't expect it to be funny at all.

1. Saturday I got up early and went to work. I got there by 9am. The Starbucks was closed. I am sure there were a million open but I didn't want to go to a different one. I got a Dunkin Donuts Latte. I then worked until about 4. The best thing about the day was that at least some friends from ticketing were working so I could go bother them a bit. And Ron brought me a Pez dispenser! From the "biblical story" Kung Fu Panda. My desk is beginning to look like his.

2. Saturday night I came home from work and sat at my computer and worked until about 1am. I am really being too anal and nitpicky and spending way too much time on things no one else cares about. But I guess that is what I am paid to do.

3. I have determined that the only way to work from home is to have a movie playing that you have already seen and kind of like but not love. If there is no movie, it is too quiet. If it is a really good movie you pay too much attention. If there is nothing good on you will flip stations uncontrollably for hours. If it is porn you really can't concentrate on work at all.

4. I probably should keep my external hard drive somewhere where I won't constantly drop it.

5. I went in to Starbucks to get some caffeine to keep me working. I ordered a grande espresso truffle. Dude at the counter after making it says "I don't remember if I put an coffee in this. He then gave me two more shots and said "The worst that can happen is you get four shots of espresso." I am very very buzzed right now. Good thing I will need to be up all night working. Because I am definitely not sleeping any time soon.

1. It seems that the expresso truffle has survived past Christmas and has made it to the regular menu board at Starbucks. Score (for my taste buds...not for my wallet or waistline).

2. Jeff said he would hire me to strip for Rob's bachelor party for $22. I don't think he trusts me to be any good since I told him the last time I did my Carmen Electra Lap Dance workout video I fell off the bed. I did tell Rob a long long time ago that I would prove to him that you could strip to Ozma. It would be my last chance...

3. Since my financial panther changed around my account I have steadily gained some money back (SOME, not a lot). He's still an ass.

4. My friend Walter posted yesterday in his blog about doing something interesting each day. Not only will I steal his idea, I will also steal his first interesting thing: today I walked to House of Blues and bought a ticket to The Hold Steady concert. I got lost at the House of Blues and couldn't figure out where the box office was. I don't even know who Hold Steady is but Jeff asked if I wanted to come so I said OK.

5. I'm just gonna post this because I think I did a pretty good decent job of getting people out of there...I still think the couch just looks like a big black blob. And that the before picture is much more amusing. I usually try not to edit things out of my photos. A lot of photographers say certain things are "distracting" and should be edited out. I think they are "reality" and so I don't see the point. But Andy asked me to do this. And his bill for $100 is in the mail...

Before

After

1. Pumpkin Spice lattes are back. This is bad because it means fall is here. This is good becuase they are so yummy. This is bad because I spend too much money on them.

2. I miss this:

3. Seriously, what else could be wrong about my life right now?

1. "If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days." Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

2. I came across this picture while searching through my old laptop. I quite like it...well, other than the fact that my socks look kind of dumb. It's from the same photo shoot as the photos at the top of this website. I don't think it's ever been posted, so I choose to post it now.

3. I have been really antsy and aloof and unmotivated at work lately. I came to a realization today that may explain why: I am at about the point in this job where I quit my last job. In a few months, since I have no intentions of quitting this job any time soon, I will have been at this job longer than any job I have ever had. Unless I get fired for being antsy and aloof and unmotivated of course. It's an odd feeling. I hopefully will snap out of it very soon.

4. Dear chain coffee houses. Take a hint from the little guys and invest in a package of these thick stickers:

They probably cost 2cents a piece, but sticking one over the lip of the coffee saves me from spilling it all over myself as I walk down the street.

5. If only I lived in the LA area...

6. When Jeff tried to insult me by saying I could find something at valsmom.com I was reminded of this website I threw together a long long time ago. I had to dig through my old computer to find it, it doesn't all work. But it's kind of hilarious if I do say so myself.

7. Am I the only person in this world who couldn't care less about the Olympics? In case you are wondering though, this is what Michael Phelps eats for breakfast. I usually just have coffee.

8. I was watching a wedding show on TV last night. The guy had found the girl's blog and fell in love with her and pestered her through email until she agreed to meet him. They fell in love and then got married on a TV show. What are the chances of this happening to me?

Yesterday I turned 22 (+5). Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with me!!! It was definitely a day filled with the three things a woman wants most: chocolate, wine, and naked men!!!

1. Chocolate
In the afternoon Nadia and I met at Chocolate for Your Body. Nad got a regular mani and I splurged on a "chocolate signature". It's my party, I can splurge if I want to!

The manicure involved a cocoa scrub that made my hands nice and soft (and tasty I can assume), truffles (to eat, not for my hands), and coating my hands with a layer of chocolate.

After getting our nails all purdy Nad and I headed next door to Kristoffer's Café and Bakery

for some chocolate flan and coffee. It was a cute place but, let me tell you, I have never before peed in a bathroom that had a urinal in it. Ew.

2. wine
After gussying up our nails and caffinating ourselves, Nad and headed over to Jen's place. In the time it took to walk from the car to her place, walk down the wrong pathway and get locked in the alley, I seriously felt like my hands were going to fall off. Luckily we finally found the way in to thaw off. Then Josh called and apparently the bar lost my reservation for 15. Fuck. Isla came and drove us to the bar and they were working on setting up our table. Thankfully they were still able to accommodate us.

The restaurant we went to was Volo Restaurant and Wine Bar and it was delicious. We had good wine, good food, good friends...

I tried some marrow bones and will never ever eat them again. Honestly, I really think all those chefs pretend they like such things to be all pretentious. But how can anyone like that crap? It had the texture of sandy snot and tasted horrible. On a better note the steak tartar was DEVINE and the duck confit was DEVINE. Josh and I also shared some Seared Yellowtail Tataki, but we still haven't decided what kind of citrus was pickled.

15 people showed up, which was totally awesome. Sarah came and, despite the fact that she hardly knows me, she completely gets me because she gave me a pink sparkly dragonfly and a Victoria's Secret gift card (pink, dragonflies, and VS are three of my very favorite things). Chelsa from work came and brought a friend. Rob and Chris and Aimee showed up despite having to be at a party in Milwaukee later that night. Meredith and Isla and Jen and Alina and Jenny and Adam and Nadia and Josh came too!!! Jen gave me a cute Smurfette tee and a pink candleholder. And Nadia gave me what she described as a "lame" present of a candleholder. It totally wasn't lame! But she said it was my fake present because my real one, a pink Rabbit wine opener, didn't arrive yet...In talking about this some people overheard pink rabbit and assumed it was something else...

Josh showed me what he really thinks of me by getting me a bottle of Bitch wine.

The label is PINK and, well, I am a bitch, so it's only appropriate.

Honestly I did not expect anything from anyone, I was just happy people came out during the zero degree weather!!!

My wine was yummy too. I was bad and ordered whites then proceeded to order a lot of red meat. But ohwellz. I had a lovely white wine flight. Then I had a Gewurtztraminer. Later I also had a yummy muscado d'asti.

They brought me a yummyyummy flourless chocolate cake with mint ice cream and everyone sang and I got to make a wish on my candle, which is always my favorite part, because I wish on just about everything you can wish on.

3. naked men
After the wine bar I bid adieu to a few of my female friends and all of the few guys left and the remaining chicas headed to Annoyance Theatre. We hung out at the bar there and played the game of Memory that I found on the shelf. Did I ever mention how much I suck at Memory? Ask me exactly what a certain person said to me at a certain time and I can probably repeat our conversation word for word. Ask me to remember where the little black boy is and I go blank.

After a couple rousing rounds we headed into the theatre for SKINPROV and the perfect night of entertainment to get your mind off of the fact that your best guy friends all ditched you for another party and none of them even bothered to call to wish you a happy birthday. But who cares about that when you've got drinks and half-naked men!!!

We beat the rest of the crowd into the theatre for prime first row seatage. The show was basically a bunch of men improving scenes and taking off all their clothes. They ended the first scene by all taking off their shirts. A couple short scenes later they paired up for small scenes that each ended with "Let's take off our pants." By the end of the show (and some taking off multiple pairs of underwear) we were left with g-stringed and jock-strapped men and a whole lotta nakedmanass.

After the show we headed back out to the annoyance bar to talk with the guys, still walking around shirtless. They got me a couple of shots and I ended up having both a buttery nipple and a pussy shot on them. The one naked man told us that he'd sucked more cock than anyone else there...and then introduced us to his lovely girlfriend.

We stuck around until they closed, drank some drinks, chatted up the bartenders, then headed off to Uptown Lounge...mostly because it was just around the corner and fucking freezing.

The bar definitely wasn't my cup of tea. Mostly because I hate talking to people I have absolutely no interest in. And because every three minutes the waitress came up and asked us if we needed anything else. We stayed out till about 4:30, well past the text message the guys sent to say their party was over.

All in all my party was totally awesome and I am so happy that everyone came who did! I have tons of amazing friends and I am glad they came out to share my night of turning 22+5!!!

INCRIMINATING PICTURES HERE!

Last night I went to Caribou to meet with my financial advisor. He wanted to go over my investments and I wanted help setting up my 401(k). I determined last night that I have the worst financial advisor ever. Yeah, so this is what transpired...

1. He was twenty minutes late.


2. He tried to pass off 2% as skim.


3. He ate food that fell on the floor.


4. He forgot to bring my file, so we couldn't even discuss finances.


5. He screwed up my 401(k) form because doesn't read directions.


6. He played with a toy car all night.


7. He criticized my clothing choices and said that none of my colors matched.


8. Finally, he invited me back to his bedroom because he wanted to "show me something."

1. Please do not say that you're not really that picky about what you are looking for in a person you'd date when you do not want to date the person you are talking to.



2. Why does everything go wrong at 4:59? At approximately 4:59 on Monday our website crashed. Turned out to be a blown power circuit at the hosting facility. This meant I stayed at work until after six when it went back up. I actually don't mind the staying late...I honestly didn't want to leave if I knew there was a problem. That felt good to know I do care so much. What I hated was that I was helpless and couldn't do anything about it except to wait around for the design company to get it back up. I just hate feeling helpless.

On top of that my plane had landed late and so I didn't get to bed until 3am the night before, I forgot to bring my key/bathroom key so avoided coffee/coke/my intense caffeine addiction all day so as to not have to bother anyone for a bathroom key and be let back into the office, and when I finally broke down to get a Coke at 5:45, the machine ate my dollar. Needless to say I was tired and grumpy at this point.

During this time MattyK asked me to go get financial coffee, but I asked him if it would be OK to just go get friend coffee. I know he hates putting aside work time for play time, but I was in a bad mood and just wanted to chillax and talk. Luckily he agreed so we met at Starbucks. I showed him all my Vegas pics and he laughed at the pinkness of my computer (I'd forgotten that he's never actually seen it). It was a good night of just talking and drinking coffee because we haven't really just hung out together in a long long while now and I miss that. Hopefully he'll put aside some work time to chill with me more often :-)

An amusing quote from Matt: Maybe I'm vehicularly gay.



3. a 2am phone conversation
Him: Did you just call?
Me: Yes.
Him: Did you hang up on me?
Me: Yes.
Him: Wait, you know I answered and you hung up on me?
Me: I heard you answer but I was already in the process of closing the phone.
Him: And you didn't call me back?
Me: I didn't want to call you because I don't want to call you too much.
Him: Well, that is good. But this time you actually had something to talk about.



4. Last night I went out with Joshua to the gym. I wore a shirt that said "Official Fan of the World Hamburger Eating Championship" and watched food network (I did debate watching MTV's Return to Fat Camp though) while on the treadmill. I'm what you might call ironic.



5. Microsoft Word is weird. I did a spell check it decided that "Joe came..." was not correct and decided that maybe I meant "Joe camel..."



6. Blake Lewis's album is out! Dare I say that this will be the first American Idol CD I ever purchase??? Heather and I should have a dance party.



7. Humble Bob posted some of my pics. (see also: thoughts and pictures) He rocks!



8. Reason #5,689,890 that I should not be allowed to shop alone: Pink Illini Jersey! p.s. I also found the mecca for pink ties ;-) Just sayin.



9. Despite the fact that I already owned it on DVD from the first time it came out, I bought the new box set of My So Called Life because that show was so quintessentially me. Honestly I don't think I would have ever been so adamant about dying my hair if it wasn't for Angela Chase. But you know you're getting older when you feel more and more sorry for Brian Krakow. Honestly though, I am still searching for my Jordan Catalano.



10. I've posted a few entries over at Silly America. You should read them, and subscribe to the RSS feed!

1. Some days you just don't feel like doing anything but getting in your car, grabbing some Starbucks, and driving around with all your windows down. Sometimes it is the only thing that makes your head feel right. And sometimes the weather is the absolute perfect weather for it.

2. So, The Krystal Square Off will not be the first battle of Joey against Kobayashi since the stunning upset at Coney Island...Next Tuesday they will be facing off in a wing battle in Vegas...the pathetic thing is that if it weren't for me bailing on class tonight and for the $400 the ticket would cost, I so was considering going :(

3. Quite possibly the best commercial EVER: