And I'm BACK!

I know I've been gone from blog world for some time... But don't you worry, my five readers! I am BACK! At least for today. It has been three weeks of sheer craziness for yours truly. And honestly, it doesn't really look like it's gonna slow any time soon. But since it's Friday and I'm forcing myself to have some down time, I thought it was high time i put up a pictorial update of my recent life. That was my birthday. The girls went out to dinner on a very rainy week night (they were not happy to say the least) but it was fun and, as you see in that lovely shot, i got to wear a happy birthday hat! The parents and Heather came in town for the birthday which was fun. I enjoy them. This is dad thinking he finnally fits in with his Nautica jacket since we were totally touristy and went on a night cruise around the city (which was actually REALLY fun and interesting. I recommend it)Susie and Natalie came to see me two days after my parents left. Good times in the big city. They are going to hate me for putting up that picture. However, I blame Suz because she hasn't sent me the cute ones of me and her. SO THERE! Natalie hasn't quite perfected the 'sassy face'. She'll learn... While they were here we did fun stuff including but not limited to, shopping, eating at Lombardi's, Rice to Riches, hangin on the town and ....are you ready for this one??? TATTOOS!!! Sorry Mom, I was not involved in the inking this time...my time will come though! Natalie got a dove on the inside of her arm. It was a little dive of a place in the East Village and our tattoo artist is named X. Isn't that so typical and awesome? We totally bonded with him. AAAAANNNNDDDDD....LOOK WHO ELSE GOT A TATTOO!!!!!!!!It was my proudest moment. She got "This I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom" across the lower back. It's pretty kickin cool if I do say so myself. Also notice the various paraphenalia in the background of this picture. Out lovely tattoo place also specializes in bongs, hookahs, and other various herbal paraphenalia. It's only appropriate right? No, Mom, we did not partake...haha

Well, overall, life is NUTS, crazy and stressful, hence my absence from all that is blogging. But hopefully, I can get through this week and get life back to normal a bit. Love to all. Hope you enjoyed the update!
cjc

Oh love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give thee back the life I owe that in thine ocean depths it's flow may richer, fuller be.

Apparently, sleep is over-rated

I know I haven't been around here much recently. That's because my life is pure craziness right now. Inside and out. So when life slows down to a light jog then I'll put an update about birthdays, family, friends and all of those other things that make life worthwhile. I have pictures, I have stories, but I have no time to put either of those up right now. Check back soon.

P.S. I'm now taking applications for a competent room cleaner. Lucky you, I have a very small room...COVERED in crap. The one downfall....I can't afford to pay you... Email me if you're interested!

Happy Birthday to me!

Cry me a river

So the Yankees lost. 5-2 I think was the score. The bases were loaded in the 9th inning and they could have tied it but no...
It's all for the best though, I think. I can now put all of my sports cheering energy (HA...poor guys, that's not much) towards cheering for the Cards.

GO CARDS!!!!

Free stuff is good

So, crazy thing happened to me. I was bored at work a couple of weeks ago and was messing around in my email inbox. I came across an ad in my junk email name that said that you could win a $500 gift card to PetSmart (and since I have a kitty AND am poor they hooked me in) so I filled out the form. They then sent me an email saying that i was "potentially the winner of a year's supply of pet food." Great, thanks. I closed it and forgot all about it. Until today when i get a FedEx envelope, open it up and see a letter from the Redeption Center (huh? I say...) and see inside that there is a letter from PetSmart and a $500 gift card. At first I just laughed. Mainly because I never win ANYTHING and now that I do the only one that can really enjoy it is the CAT. Ironic? I think so. Well I suppose that I will enjoy it because now I don't have to buy cat food or cat litter for at least a little while. So yeah, cool huh?

P.S. A $500 Starbucks card would have been cooler...oh well...

Do you need to be distracted like me?

Check out these sites if you want to be totally distracted for a few minutes:

WOOT
The iPod Flea

Both sites relatively entertaining. Especially entertaining if you're supposed to be studying or writing papers like me. I'll have to admit that I did not find them myself. Thanks to randomly stumbled upon blogger for supplying good times and good stories. Ok back to the work...

Be jealous, be VERY jealous...

This is what I did last night...Game 4 of the Yankees/Angels playoff series, box seats, FREE. Sara's dad had extra ones after the game was rained out on Saturday so Nikki and I were lucky enough to go. Here's a few pics from the night.Good times. i am now invested and MUST watch the game today...Because the Yankees won last night, they must win today in order to move on. It's SO intense! By the way, that HAT you see me in...that's a very rare occurance. For those of you who don't know, I have an abnormally HUGE head and that is the one and only hat that I can find that looks decent. Lucky me, it's a Yankees hat so it worked out for last night. Updates on the game tonight to follow...

There's a first time for everything, I suppose

Nikki and I woke up this morning to a very rainy, dreary Saturday morning. We're sittin' around over breakfast and decided that today was a WONDERFUL day to go to IKEA. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with the greater New York area, IKEA is in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Hmmmmm, you say? How shall two lovely city girls without a car get to New Jersey? And that was the question. Not to fear, however! There is a bus that goes directly from Port Authority to the IKEA store. Oh the genious of the New Jersey Transit...helping carless girls like Nikki and myself get to IKEA. Life is good. Nikki felt it absolutely required that I go because, much to her shock, I had never been to an IKEA store. Just one more way the midwest just does not measure up to these east coast/west coast people. I tried to explain to her that the closest IKEA to St. Louis was in Chicago and that was just not feasible, but there was no explaining myself. So we took the trip to New Jersey for my very first IKEA experience. And let me tell ya, this place is EVERYTHING that they say it is. it's HUGE. It's a MAZE. It has it's own really cheap restaurant. It has DAY CARE with a ball pit for the kids (I was really wanting to be young again at that point - not for the day care, the ball pit). And it has really really cheap home goods. Really, people, it was amazing I tell ya. As example of the really cheap and wonderful prices, Nikki got a pillow insert (about 20' x20') for $2.99! and two panels of extra long sheer drapes (we have really tall ceilings) for $8.99! I mean, really, how can you pass it up??? I myself got cute bottle corks with blue stars on them for $1.49. So yeah, all you St. Louis folk, make the trip to Chicago and see the IKEA. It is a great place!

(Do you think that they will pay me for the semi-commercial that I just put on my blog??!? I'm a nerd....)

Before Blue Like Jazz

So for everyone who has read and enjoyed Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What the time has arrived. Donald Miller has written a new book. It's called Through Painted Deserts. Relevant magazine has an interview with Donald Miller about the new book that is pretty interesting. When asked about why he finds his faith more full outside of the "church property" (his faith grew the most when hanging out with "party guys in Oregon") he had the following to say:

See, the pressure to be a certain kind of person in the context of the church culture I was living in was intense. When the pressure was taken off and I was surrounded by people who would describe themselves as pagans, there was suddenly no pressure for me to perform or be like anything. They didn't care, and that allowed my faith to grow for real.

I fully resonate with that thought. Not to say that any of my "Christian" experiences as of yet have not shaped me into the person that I am, but when you are confident in your faith, there is a certain freedom that comes from being with people you can really dialogue with. At least that's what I've learned so far! And therein, is the reason for growth...

Check it out

So I think that I run the risk of being completely cheesy and extremely girlish right now but here goes...
So I was watching Oprah the other day (don't make fun) and Faith Hill was on. And I love Faith (and Tim...) so I continued to watch. Then, she had this woman on who she found to write to a few of the songs on her new CD. I wasn't totally hooked until this woman started singing and they say that she has her own albums out. Her name is Lori McKenna. This woman has an AMAZING voice and is extremely talented. And get this, I think she's in her mid-30s or so, been married since she was 19 and has four kids ranging in age from 16 to 3. AND she writes songs for Faith Hill...in the words of Napoleon, "LUUUUCKYYYY!!!" So yeah, check out her stuff. She has some stuff on iTunes. She kinda has a solo Indigo GIrls with just an acoustic guitar sound to her. I recommend Ruby's Shoes, Beautiful Man, and What's One More Time. AWESOME tunes. So CHECK IT OUT!!! You won't regret it!

FALL

So I think that it is officially fall! I think I will cry if the weather goes back up to HOT again. YUCK. A friend and I were discussing the other day that we both have the opposite of the Seasonal Affective Depressive Syndrome thing. Whereas most people get depressed when the winter comes around and it is cloudy and cold, I get HAPPY when that happens and sad when the sumemr comes... So in the spirit of the season, I now reveal my top ten things I love about fall list! Drumroll please!

Top 10 Things I love about fall:

1. It's finally ok to admit that Christmas in New York is coming SO SOON!!! YAY!
2. Not sweating on my way to school/work/play therefore being able to keep a hairstyle for the large part of the day - it's the small things in life that keep me entertained.
3. Red and orange leaves
4. MY BIRTHDAY
5. Sweaters, cords, jeans, jackets, scarves, sweatshirts with hoods...
6. Nikki making Granny's apple pie
7. Seasonal decor matches my red and oragne living room
8. Double tall non-fat pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks -- ya gotta try it!
9. Crisp morning air when you leave the apartment
10. Apples and pumpkins -- they are just fun