Adding to the collection

Posted on October 27, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001, updates | Comments Off

Well, since it’s past midnight I can officially say that tomorrow is my birthday! In 23 hours (well, just under 30 technically) I’ll turn the big 29.

I realized earlier today that 2 years ago at this time, I was getting ready to fly from London to Hamburg, Germany to see Muse for the very first time on my birthday. Time flies…

As a ‘happy birthday to me’ present to myself, later today I’ll be making a trip to Tomato Tattoo in Lisle to get ink piece #14! Starting on my left half-sleeve (the outer space themed one) with the fabulous Jeremy, who was responsible for Chris’ Chicago/pirate flag tattoo on his chest. Needless to say, I’m pretty effin’ excited about it. Another item to cross off the 101 list!

Also, on a more serious note…

Since I decided that I wanted to finally find my biological mom by the time I turned 30 (which is most certainly on my 101 list), and my mom had actually sent me a scanned newspaper clipping involving my biological mom this past weekend (we’ve always known her name, as they mistakenly gave my parents paperwork for an open adoption first before realizing that it was supposed to be closed. My mom managed to catch her name on the papers before they fixed the error), I started hunting around online for any adoption registries. Just to see if I could get lucky and find something.

Lo and behold, one of the first sites I find has a hit.

The entry is under her name, and the birth information matches perfectly.

So why am I freaking the hell out?

The entry was from April 6, 2000.

6 months before I turned 18.

Like she pre-emptively put the listing up in case I decided to try and find her when I turned 18 (which, thanks to the Nebraska law that says you can’t search through the adoption agency for biological parents while under the age of 25 unless you have your adoptive parents’ consent, I didn’t even think about at the time).

Anyways…

This website not only gives her address and phone number, but a place to send an email message.

So I’m currently losing sleep trying to figure out what the hell I want to even try to say to her. For all I know, the email address doesn’t even work anymore (it HAS been over 10 years). I’m trying to hash out a short draft right now, with the intention of sleeping on it and then sending it off tomorrow. At this point, I doubt I’ll actually be able to sleep until I send it.

Hence why I’m writing this entry. Trying to distract myself for a couple minutes…

Assuming she actually still wants to get in touch with me, how awesome would it be to get a call from her on my birthday?

Zzzzzz….

Posted on October 18, 2011 by admin in updates | Comments Off

Been too tired to post the last couple days.

Chris spent the weekend sick as hell with a bout of food poisoning (we swear it was from the McDonald’s he ate after the Blackhawks game on Thursday), and I spent the weekend keeping up with him and teaching his brother Pete how to make homemade ravioli and marinara sauce (which came out fabulously, I might add).

The kitten is doing great, despite the fact that Chris apparently discovered her secret pooping spot last night. So we’ve gotta keep an eye on her when she’s wandering in the living room. Other than that, she’s getting used to the apartment and is pretty much free to roam wherever (except the computer room, cause we’ve caught her nibbling on cables).

At some point this week, we plan on making a trip out to Chris’ ink man at Tomato Tattoo to chat about the possibility of me getting some new ink. Still debating on which piece I want to work on (between starting my space-themed half sleeve, doing the wings across my upper back or doing either the Wolverine claws slashing through the back of my calf or the Man United crest).

My work schedule is a little screwy this week, as my co-worker’s father-in-law passed away last night. So it’s up to the two of us left to get shifts covered (which we’re totally cool with, obviously). Although the idea of doing a turnaround shift (here til 11pm tonight, back at 9am tomorrow) is a little daunting lol

So between normal work, website work at home for 3 sites now AND trying to get the house sorted out and ready for winter, I’m freakin’ exhausted.

Lets go Hawks!

Posted on October 14, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 - Completed Tasks!, Sports | Comments Off

Chris took me to my first Blackhawks game last night (yeah I know, I’ve lived in Chicago for 8 1/2 years and I’ve never been to a Hawks game). They played the newly-moved Winnipeg Jets, and it was a GREAT game! Hawks won 4-3, so we were very pleased to hear “Chelsea Dagger” multiple times during the game.

I finally broke down and bought myself a Blackhawks jersey, which I was very proud of as I got a Winter Classic one for only $99! AT United Center! I was figuring I’d have to spend twice that to get a nice jersey at the stadium. I also bought a pair of super comfy plaid pajama pants, since my other favorite pair is an oooold St. Louis Blues pair from like, 4 years ago. Needless to say, I’m wearing both at work today :)

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…

Posted on October 12, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 - Completed Tasks!, kitty! | Comments Off

Starlight!

Despite staying late at work and running an extra errand before coming home, Chris only beat me there by 5 minutes last night. Which was just enough time to get my kitty into the apartment and still be able to make it a surprise for me :)

After letting her wander a bit to get used to the apartment, she spent the rest of the evening curled up on either my shoulder or Chris’ tummy. The hardest part about last night? Forcing myself to go to bed and ignore her little cries when we put her in her pen for the night.

All I want to do right now is go home and hang out with her…

KITTY!

Posted on October 10, 2011 by admin in kitty! | Comments Off

This is Starlight.

She’s a 4 week old fluffball that will be coming home with us by the end of the week.

She’s jet black (with a little gray tuft on her chest) with these gorgeous blue-gray eyes.

After spending about an hour or so with her yesterday, Chris’ aunt actually called to say that she’d been whining since we left cause she wanted to be picked up. We’ve spoiled her already :D

Now, to spend the rest of the week kitten-proofing the house and buying supplies and awesome toys for her!

Early birthday present

Posted on October 9, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 | Comments Off

My boyfriend > your boyfriend. Period.

He informed me yesterday that I will be getting the most AWESOME early birthday present in the history of ever:

A KITTY!

His aunt rescues animals, and she has a couple of itty bitty kittens at her house right now. We’re going to take a look at them tomorrow, decide on which one we want, then Chris’ present to me is taking care of the pet deposit (originally we weren’t allowed to have pets in our apartment, but he managed to work out a deal with our landlord) and bringing home the kitty! I’m already looking around at both Petsmart and ThinkGeek for awesome toys haha

The ones she has right now (a boy and girl) are long haired black kitties with bright blue eyes.

I already know what I want to name him/her once we get them home…

Pictures to most likely be posted while we’re out there playing with them tomorrow!

After 10 years…

Posted on October 6, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001, 101 In 1001 - Completed Tasks! | Comments Off

I met my cooking hero tonight.

Can’t even begin to describe how much this meant to me.

My hero <3

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 | Comments Off

Fabulous news in the realm of an item from my 101 list…

Tomorrow I will be making a roadtrip up to Winnetka to pick up my copy of the Good Eats 3 book and to attend Alton Brown’s Q&A/signing.

10 years, people. 10 years I’ve been watching Good Eats and taking in every bit of geeky cooking advice I could fit in my brain. 10 years I’ve spent watching and re-watching all the GE episodes and making AB’s recipes for every occasion imaginable (including one Thanksgiving where every recipe I made was something of his). After all this time, I finally get to shake hands with the man I consider my personal cooking hero.

Pictures to follow tomorrow night!!

Goodbye old 101, hello next 1001 days!

Posted on September 30, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 | Comments Off

So my previous 101 in 1001 ended yesterday, and thanks to massive issues on my hosting services part, I wasn’t able to post my recap. Regardless…

While on paper it looks like I barely touched the list, I’m ridiculously proud of the things I DID accomplish from my last 101.

Getting my drivers license reinstated
- it was suspended then expired for…a long time. And I finally got it fixed so I could drive ‘legally’ lol

Reconnect and hang out with old friends
- I got back in touch with my best friend from home (whose wedding I went to last month), an old friend from St. Louis (visited him in Austin on a roadtrip) and my friend Jason from out here, whom I practically lived with for a summer.

Reconnect with my nieces
- I actually managed to go to Texas for my oldest niece’s high school graduation (a trip to Texas to see them was another item on the 101 list), I saw them for xmas and I actually text with them on a fairly regular basis (which has included late night video game advice).

Get a raise
- while I *did* get a raise at the LMG office, I got an even better one with CG. Plus more hours, to boot! Hence why I’m here and not there anymore

Get a new bed
- the first thing I did when moving into my last apartment was buy myself a double pillowtop king-sized bed. ‘Nuff said.

Now the main reason why I didn’t accomplish a good majority of the old list had to do with my living situation. At the time the list was created, I was still living with my ex and a fair amount of the things on the list were things we planned to do together (or things that I thought would be cool for us to do).

Us breaking up and my subsequent moving out was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. Period.

Not only did it prompt my absolute favorite of my tattoos (the bass line of Muse’s “Hysteria” around my right forearm), it reignited my love and passion for Muse. Which then, in turn, brought about the items on the list I was the most proud to be able to check off.

Get my passport
- even after paying to have it expedited, I still didn’t get the damn thing until the day before I left for Europe.

Take a trip to the UK
- I’m still SO PROUD of myself for pulling that trip off. I literally planned, saved and paid for my entire 3 week trip to England/Germany/Scotland in the span of about 3 months. Not only did I take the trip BY MYSELF, but I managed to see 3 Muse concerts, including my very first show in Hamburg, Germany ON MY BIRTHDAY.
- I also took my second trip to the UK last September to see the boys from Muse play at Wembley Stadium in London. I spent a couple days lounging around in their beautiful and quaint little hometown on the southwestern coast of England, got to see locations from my favorite Doctor Who episodes, and finally laid eyes on Old Trafford in Manchester for myself. Not to mention that being among 90,000 people for both of the Wembley Stadium shows

See Muse live in the UK
- took care of that with both of the previously mentioned trips!

See Muse live in the US
- Kelsy and I took care of that by taking a week-long roadtrip from Chicago through Nashville, Ft. Worth and Houston to see the boys play in March 2010. We also met up at the show in Milwaukee last October, and she flew here for Lollapalooza (which despite having a personal ban on festivals, I attended) last month.

Get my other forearm tattoo completed
- Knocked that out while on our Muse roadtrip. We stopped in Evansville, IN to see my friend Shawna and her husband Josh (who was responsible for both my previous Muse tattoo AND my Little Sister from Bioshock on my left calf). We spent the better part of a night in his shop so he could ink the piano melody from “Starlight” around my left forearm.

So despite only having about a third of my list checked off, I’m still ridiculously happy with the ones that I did.

Here’s to the next 1001 days!

Rough seas ahead…

Posted on September 28, 2011 by admin in 101 In 1001 | Comments Off

I was just going through the Big Read List from BBC and taking a look at what I’m up against if I’m REALLY going to read all 100 of the books on the list.

While I’m thrilled that some of my favorite books are on there (I already planned on re-reading Harry Potter, I had just started in on the His Dark Materials series while on vacation earlier this month, and I’ll take any opportunity I can to read Good Omens again and again), there are some classics that I haven’t read since high school (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Catcher In The Rye, Animal Farm, Lord Of The Flies and Great Gatsby [which is actually one of my favorite classics]), and there are a few that I’m not terribly interested in (ie: Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice [unless it's the zombies version], Little Women, Emma…see a pattern emerging here?)…

There’s one book on this list that just makes me groan.

Let me start off by saying that I’m a Stephen King fan, but not of his horror books. Shining? Meh. It? Couldn’t get through it cause I don’t like clowns. Cujo? Don’t like big dogs.

However, I’m a MASSIVE fan of the Dark Tower books. The last item on my 101 list should show just how big of a fan we’re talking here. I’ve been hunting for a first edition hardcover copy of The Gunslinger for YEARS. Eventually when I have a spare $1000 laying around, I’ll buy one (maybe with the money saved from accomplishing goals on the 101 list?). It’s my holy grail of books. I have a half sleeve tattoo planned that’s dedicated to the Dark Tower series. I plan on naming my first son Jake Roland. See the kind of love we’re talking about here?

But back to the matter at hand…

THE STAND.

I’ve tried a grand total of 6 times to read that damn book. Every time I only managed to get a few hundred pages into that thousand-page behemoth before I gave up.

I’m pretty sure the only way I’m going to get through it is if it’s the VERY last book on that list that I haven’t read (and knowing me it’ll come down to the last couple weeks of my 1001) and I’m determined to get through the list.

Just thinking about it right now is making me cringe. Ugh.

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