Krazy Koalas

Jason is fortunate enough to have a large incredibly loving family. His father Joe is the oldest of 6 children (all J-names) and all of the sibblings except one has anywhere from 2-3 children themselves. Suffice to say Jason has more than double the first cousins I do.

My family is huge on my mother's side, but they are all second cousins. I mean, I totally win in that department but we're talking 9 first cousins. And they are all pretty close and grew up together.

All of the cousins + one cousin's baby.

I am fortunate enough to have the Koalas as a surrogate family. I adore Jason's family and I can't wait to (eventually) be part of it.

They are all fun, exciting people who just enjoy life and the company of their friends and family. What more could you ask for?

Well they are also very supportive during hard times. I got to see this first hand this weekend when all the Koalas gathered together to pay their last respects to Grandpa Joe.

I'd only ever met Grandpa Joe a handful of times. By the time I regularly visited the family in New Hampshire he was no longer living with Jason's family and instead was in an assisted living home nearby. So I never spent a whole lot of time with the man but he seemed pleasant when I did interact with him. I had to respect a man who helped raise six children on a shoestring budget and served in the AirForce as well. Alls I can say is they don't make them like that anymore.

Jason drove up to me Friday morning and his cousin Matthew met us after a midterm and we all drove up to NH together. Made it there for part of the wake and spent some time catching up with the Syracuse Koalas that I met a few years ago.

The funeral mass the next morning was a traditional Polish Catholic mass. It was a little different from the Roman Catholic masses I'm used to but the church was beautiful.

Jason's mother was wondering about what the deal would be for the burial. Since Grandpa Joe spent so many years in the AirForce he was entitled to a colorguard and a salute. She had heard that at least two Airmen would be there, and if they were lucky maybe three. Well we were all surprised to see two Airmen to fold and pass along the flag AND a full colorguard with three riflemen.

The salute was touching. I think by this point we all know how I feel about the men and women who give their lives to protect our country.

After the burial we all went to a local diner's party hall and had a meal together. There were easily about 50-60 people (most of which were immediate family) who gathered together to have a meal in Grandpa Joe's honor.

Joe, John, Jeff, Jim, Janice & Jennifer Koala
Yeah, you heard me.

This is where things got fun. I use the term lightly because after all we were at a funeral but in my opinion funerals should be a celebration of the life the person had...not a sad affair.

All of us of similar age (college students/grads) sat down at a table together and immediately dubbed it the "fun table" and hit the bar. That is where Amanda introduced me to a Grateful Dead. Basically imagine a Long Island Iced Tea except instead of soda, there's a splash of Chambord. So essentially the only non-liquor part to the drink is the sweet&sour mix. They're fantastic.

When dessert came Joey was at the bar getting a drink so Doug decided that he would pay his son Shawn $5 if he could finish off Joey's ice cream before he got back. Again: this is why I love this family. The look on Joey's face when he got back to the table and his ice cream plate was empty was priceless. Luckily the waitress had witnessed the whole thing and was ready with another ice cream for Joey. But really, just good clean family fun!

Apparently it is Koala tradition to go around the room and introduce yourself when you don't know everyone. And this is why I love this family: we went around the room despite the fact 90% of it was immediate family - and everyone was introduced.

It all went something like this:
Jennifer: Hi I'm Jennifer.
Everyone: Hi Jennifer!
Jennifer: I'm six of six... [meaning she is the sixth child out of six] ...and I'm mom to so and so and wife to so and so.

This went on for a good 15 minutes. I shit you not. EVERYONE was introduced either by themselves or by a parent or sibling.

And what's a family party without a ridiculous story:
When we got around to Jason's mom she popped up and the following amazingness occurred.

Sue: Hi I'm Sue!
Everyone: Hi Sue!
Sue: I'm Joe's wife and mother to Joey, Amanda, Jason and our soon to be daughter-in-law Elise! ...

Amanda: [As an aside to Jason] Aw hell, Mom just called you out in front of everyone!
Jason: [To me] Surprise!
Me: Does your Mom know something we don't?

Throughout the rest of the meal people were coming up to us laughing asking if we were actually engaged or if it was just a joke. I personally thought it was hilarious. The whole weekend while everyone was catching up with Jason and found out he got his full time position the next question was, So when are you getting engaged then? I mean I guess it's common knowledge to everyone in his family that we didn't want to rush into anything and we wanted to wait until Jason was settled and we were both financially stable before we got engaged.

So add Jason's job with his mom's choice phrase and apparently as far as his family is concerned we're engaged now.

Sunday morning Jason's mom and I were talking and she felt so awful about what she had said and how she had embarrassed me. I just didn't want to call you his girlfriend because you're more than that, you're family. But I guess it came out wrong. I love her, she's wonderful and I don't embarrass easily in fact I honestly thought it was funny. In fact, the only thing I felt bad about was the fact that she felt so horrible about embarrassing me. Really, it's okay!

We had to head back home early on Sunday so Jason would have enough time to drive back down to Virginia so we missed the trip to the bowling alley. Grandpa Joe was a huge bowler so the family went to bowl for Grandpa which I thought was great.

When I kick it I don't want a funeral. I think funerals come so close after someone's passing that you don't have enough time to mourn and it's just all to final. I'd rather donate my organs, be cremated and have the people I love get together and have a party in celebration of my life. Then when enough time has passed and everyone is ready to actually say goodbye, go on a vacation to Key West, sprinkle my ashes on the beach and have a margarita. That's what I want, listen to me know believe me later.

Celebrate life!

A Day in the Life of Charo

For those of you who don't know, Charo is the wonderful woman I have the privilege of working with 5-days a week. No, that's not her real name, but her utter annoyance, ridiculous appearance and moronic banter has reminded me of Charo so much, that everyone else around me now knows her as Charo and understands exactly what I'm talking about whenever I mention her in a story. In case you were wondering, Charo is a 45 year old divorcee single mom living with her Mother.

8:42am Calls my cell phone. Why on earth did I EVER give her that number? To tell me that she's "down the block" and that she "suffered a migraine yesterday and didn't get much sleep"...LIKE I NEED TO KNOW?! Insight: she's never on time to work, she supposedly works 8:30-5:30 but often doesn't get here until 9:00 or later. At least she's stopped calling me to let me know she's running late and to tell our manager that this came up or that slowed her down this morning. Because honestly, he doesn't give a damn when she's here.
8:45am Strolls quickly into the office.
8:47am Calls friend to tell her a story about her night.
8:55am Finally hangs up with friend, only to go to the restroom to fluff out her ridiculous hair.
9:00am Calls mother to make sure son got to school okay. Mother makes comment about how he was "warm enough for you" when she sent him off to school. I love with Mother makes a crack at Charo's parenting skills.
9:03am Forgot to set the DVR and tries to explain to Mother how to do it for her.
9:05am Pouts when Mother can't figure it out.
9:06am Realizes she's forgotten to send son to school with a snack, and "NO, the other kids won't share with him." Probably because he's an outcast since he has massive ADD.
9:08am Tells Mother to read the directions in the book to learn how to program the DVR because apparently she can't miss this program that is probably something stupid to begin with. Key phrase: "Look in the book, that's how I learned!"
9:10am Knocks hand impatiently against desk.
9:12am Continues to patronize Mother as she attempts to set DVR. "I knew I should have done this, I have too much on my mind." Read: You're a dumbass Mother, and I can't believe you can't figure this out yourself!
9:13am Cell phone rings while on office phone. For once it's on vibrate instead of some awful loud pop song. Charo actually doesn't answer.
9:14am From the sounds of it, Mother asks why doesn't she just come home and do it herself. "This really isn't that difficult, HIT RECORD! I have to work! This is exactly what I wanted to watch."
9:15am Mother finally figures it out. Charo demands address to someone's house barely thanking Mother.
9:16am Finally hangs up.

9:53am Charo walks into my cube, without announcing herself or knocking, and asks if we have mailing labels. She literally has her hand on the box of them while she's asking me where they are.
9:54am Asks me if I went away this weekend, even though we had this discussion twice last week that I wasn't going away because I have work and I have a lot of house-hold things to take care of.
9:55am Charo's one actual friend in the office comes into my cube...at least he knocks! But he isn't here to talk to me. We'll call him Doofus. Doofus goes on to tell Charo how he met someone who was asking about her and Doofus gave random guy her number.
9:56am My manager T, whose office is right next to my cube closes his door. I can't help but laugh at the fact that he doesn't want to hear their mindless drivel about Charo's pathetic personal life any more than I do. Doofus thinks I'm laughing about something he said in his story. I tell him I was laughing at the closed door behind him.
9:58am They finally leave my area. But continue their conversation in Charo's cube.
9:59am T's door opens and Denise pops out. I actually like Denise, we commiserate together often about the annoying people we have to deal with. It was actually her who closed T's office door and I tell her how I thought it was him because they were standing right there talking.
10:00am Denise can't believe they were standing in my cube having a conversation without even involving me...not that I wanted to be involved in said conversation.
10:01am I eat a cookie T has given me. It is delicious. He never gives Charo cookies. I am his favorite assistant.
10:07am Doofus finally leaves after T calls Charo on her phone (despite the fact she's 20ft away from his office and doesn't hear him calling her). In parting she says she's eating lunch in the cafeteria today and he should join her so they can continue what I'm sure was a very interesting an crutial conversation.

10:20am Message from the email happy Charo: she has a dentist appointment tomorrow morning! Is it okay if she comes in early so she can leave for an hour during the day? THIS IS MY BUSINESS HOW?!?!

10:28am Call from friend (possibly ex-husband?) something having to do with son's hurt feelings. Apparently Charo loves new baby niece more than her own son?! Key phrase: "I get excited because she's a girl, but he is my pride and joy and I tell him that!"
10:30am Explains that she has to tell her son constantly, "I am the adult, I make the decisions." *laugh* "But that little girl's cheeks! I just want to eat her up!" I fear for this child.

11:34am Calls friend. Some guy friended her on Facebook and she needs confirmation from an outside source that she does in fact know him.
11:38am After a long-winded reply, her friend assures her, yes in fact Charo, you know this random guy! And she hangs up.

12:53pm I get back from lunch and Charo is just finishing another personal call...wonder if she was on the phone the entire time I was gone?

1:02pm Oh dear God! Her holiday ringtone is back! "Santa Claus, Santa Claus, must have been old Santa Claus..."

1:25pm Passes off work to me. Yeah, thanks for that. This is actually her responsibility to take care of, not mine.

1:34pm Finally realizes her phone had rang while she was away from her desk. Calls back to confirm dentist appointment tomorrow that I didn't need to know about in the first place.

2:09pm Enters my cube yet again unannounced and asks if I suffer from migraines. I'm sorry were we having a conversation? Did I miss the beginning of it?

3:20pm Phone buzzes on desk. Charo answers. It's a friend and she tells her all about the date she's going on tonight.
3:35pm Now that I know everything there is to know about this man since Charo really has no indoor voice, she hangs up.

3:40pm Doofus is back. Charo tells him all about how at lunch she was sitting in her car in the Sushi Express parking lot and a teenager hit her bumper.
3:41pm Doofus is aghast, how could a new teenage driver be so stupid and irresponsible!
3:42pm Charo explains how she's totally saving teenage driver's father like 5 grand a year just because she's not putting it through insurance and instead he's just going to pay for any repairs to her bumper.
3:45pm Urge to smack Charo...rising...
4:10pm Gathering my things to leave, Charo is still going on about the "accident". GET ME OUT OF HERE!


Sometimes I wish I was creative enough to make all of this up...but I'm really not. I'm so glad I don't have to see her face or hear the stupid quiet voice she puts on to sound attractive until next year!

Manjoyment Monday

Back in my college days one of my roommates Belinda posted a new b&w picture of a super sexy guy every Sunday night on our apartment door.

Even though we were upperclassmen we lived in an apartment that shot off from a freshman residence hall, so please understand that the first floor (where we lived) was entirely populated by freshmen boys, and some of them didn't realize women lived on their floor. Needless to say, they were always confused as to why so many images of hot sexy men kept on popping up on a door that they thought freshman dudes lived behind.

So every Monday morning on my way out the door I got a glimpse of a new hottie.

To continue that tradition, I will institute Manjoyment Monday. And without further ado...

Uh...yeah I'm Team Jacob. Don't judge!

No, I didn't go to see a midnight showing. And no, I'm not a crazed fan. But seriously, these men are hot!

Dance Party Friday

I'm not sure how many of you work full time jobs but for those of you who have the dreaded 9-5s (or in my case 7:30-4:00), the week definitely drags on.

So when Friday comes, it's time to celebrate!!!

My friend Ashley (of trashy novel swapping fame) usually posts a ridiculous dance party every week. I have to admit, I look forward to Dance Party Friday. It gives me a good little giggle to start the day off with.

Here's one in celebration of New Moon's release:

ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINOS!!!

In other news, I'm headed back up to Albany/Troy this weekend. If you're in the area, you should totally come to the PC Show Saturday night! Be there or be L7!

The Lulu Saga...beginnings

If you haven't noticed by now, I give names to everything. Inanimate objects are my favorite things to name. The most popular things to name on my list are computers and cars...mostly because there are so many of both in my household.

My first car, The Tank was an '85 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon, complete with faux wood paneling. You're jealous, don't lie. The Tank is still around, it has literally become the garage meaning we drove it in and started piling things inside The Tank inside the garage. I have lofty plans of restoring The Tank come next year when it's technically a classic, but for now he waits, a sleeping giant.

My next car was the Hunter (seen in all his deliciousness right). Hunter is a 2000 Subaru Forester in, you guessed it, hunter green plus he has after-market wood detailing. I named him such after we found a rifle shell casing in the trunk that the detail guys missed. Hunter himself has been all penguined out and is still kicking around Virginia with Jason.

This year I bought a new car. A shiny black Subaru Outback Sport, when we first met I got inside, started the ignition and drove her off the lot. She said, "Hi, I'm Lulu!" To which I replied, "Hi Lulu, we're going to be good friends."

Lulu has been wonderful. She loves the snow and rain, has just enough trunk space for a long weekend getaway for two, and most importantly she's mine...all mine. I am very protective of Lulu, she is a lady after all and needs some taking care of. The Tank and Hunter were big gruff men and needed no tending to.

That being said, Lulu got her face knocked in, and I couldn't even be mad about it.

Let's jump back here a second. When I go up to Albany to visit my friends who are still living in the area after college, I typically spend most of my time with Laura and my now good friend Chrissy. Usually we park our cars at Chrissy's house and one of us volunteers to drive around town for the day. So I parked Lulu across the street from Chrissy's house in a little cut out near the dead end. This is where I always park when I'm at Chrissy's.

We have a fantastic evening and returned to Chrissy's house Sunday morning to go out together for breakfast. This is when a ridiculous series of events occurred within seconds of each other:

• We pile in Chrissy's car JeepJeep (yes she names her cars too)
• We're super excited and super hungry for breakfast
• Chrissy reverses out of her drive way
• Chrissy checks behind her to make sure the dog and little children haven't snuck out of the house
• JeepJeep comes to a screeching halt
• There is a violent shudder
• We all exchange glances thinking: wtf did we hit?!
• We all exchange glances realizing: shit, my car is back there!!!
• We all pile out of JeepJeep, Chrissy takes one look at Lulu and takes a minute by herself to tear her hair out
  

That being said, Lulu got her face knocked in, and I couldn't even be mad about it.

Chrissy is a ray of sunshine ALWAYS. I've seen the girl sad once in my life and within 10 minutes she's a ball of energy again. I love her dearly. Because of all of this and because of how horrible Chrissy felt, I couldn't be mad at her. In fact, all I could do was laugh.

There we stood, staring at Lulu with her headlight, bumper, and fender all mashed in...and all I could do was laugh!

After about a million phone calls (the least of which I wanted to make was the one to my father telling him my friend had hit my car in broad daylight accidentally), and with the help of Chrissy's Dad, we got Lulu's fender popped back out and zip-tied in place so I could drive the car over to the dealership and leave it to get taken care of. And then we had breakfast....well...lunch at this point.

Chrissy had to run off to work so Laura was kind enough to drop me off at the Poughkeepsie station so I could catch a cheap[er than Amtrak] train. So I finally get home after an hour in the car and a few hours on the Metro North train and another 40 minutes on the LIRR and my Dad meets me across the street from the station in the White Castle parking lot.

To put the icing on the cake, not only could I not be angry about my car being smashed and having to leave it in Albany for the week, but the backpack I borrowed from Laura to take on the trip home with me allowed my klean kanteen to slip out of the water bottle pouch on it. So that pissed me off a whole lot because I love my klean kanteen!

Tune in next time for another installment of the Lulu Saga!

101 Things in 1001 Days

As inspired by many, I am going to make a 101 Things to in 1001 Days list. Julibean just made one and I figure we could do some things together.

Start Date: Monday, 8/24/2009
Finish Date: Monday, 5/21/2012
Last Updated: Thursday, 4/15/2010

Family & Friends
1. Answer the phone whenever any relative calls, no matter what.
2. Write speech for Jaclyn & Andy's wedding.
3. Let Julianne motivate me to exercise.
4. Reconnect with one old friend.
5. Help Casey stick to her guns and finish school.
6. Meet up with the CC girls in Disneyland.
7. Visit Albany friends once a month (8/33).
8. Have a "date night" with Casey once a month (9/33).
9. Call Randi at least once a month (7/33).
10. Go to Randi's shows when applicable.

Love of my Life
11. Call/talk to Jason every day (234/1001).
12. Get engaged. AHHHHH!!! Completed 4/30/2010
13. Get engagement photos taken.
14. Move in with Jason.
15. Learn to dance with Jason.
16. Buy a house or condo.
17. Get married.
18. Watch one movie Jason recommends that I have never seen every month (2/33). [Live Free or Die Hard, Shoot 'em Up]
19. Watch one movie I recommend that Jason has never seen every month (2/33). [The Sound of Music, Star Trek]
20. Go hiking with Jason.
21. Visit the beaver pond again.
22. Eat healthier foods.
23. Teach Jason to kayak.
24. Have Jason teach me how to snowboard.

New Things
25. Make my own jam.
26. Make my own soap.
27. Make my own lotion.
28. Make my own bread.
29. Learn how to can fruits/veggies.
30. Go sky diving.
31. Learn how to drive stick better.
32. Add my DNA to the Be the Match registry. (Completed 11/10/2009)
33. Plant a garden.
34. Go antiquing and re-purpose furniture.
35. Go to a rodeo.
36. Go on a wine tasting tour.
37. Brew my own beer.
38. Go snowboarding.
39. Go to four new states I've never been to (0/4).
40. Go skinny dipping.
41. Go ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza.
42. Take a cake decorating class with Julianne.
43. Go to a gay bar.
44. Learn how to make lace.
45. Learn how to knit a sweater.

Mind, Body & Soul
46. Weigh myself every other day to chart fluctuations (158/500). (I usually weigh myself every day, but I have to account for days when I am away from home and without my scale. This number might reach over 500 in the meantime.)
47. Maintain weight (never going anymore than 2lbs over current weight).
48. Gradually lose weight, 0.5lb or more per week (11/143).
49. Wake up early at least three times a week to work out (15/429).
50. Take photos/measurements once a month to chart changes (1/33).
51. Get properly fitted for a bra.
52. Put some form of sunscreen on every day (234/1001).
53. Complete the 30 Day Shred.
54. Read the bible all the way through.
55. Go on Mission to Guatemala to visit sister parish.
56. Play flute once a month (0/33).
57. Learn five new songs on the guitar (0/5).
58. Try to actually listen to homilies at church.
59. Do some sort of brain teaser every day (160/1001).
60. Research local tattoo artists.
61. Get tattoo.
62. Get 20 followers on my blog (6/20).
63. Commit to the Couch to 5k Challenge.
64. Run a 5k.
65. Condition myself to run outdoors in the winter.
66. Sit up straight while at work and work on posture.
67. Get a professional massage. (Completed 9/5/09)
68. Get a facial. (Completed 9/5/09)
69. Go one week without eating fast food.
70. Go one month without eating fast food.

They Will be Mine...oh Yes, They Will be Mine...
71. Buy underwater case for camera. (actually got it as a Christmas present!)
72. Buy new laptop.
73. Donate clothes to charity at least once a year (3/3).
74. Re-populate pantie drawer with new better fitting panties.
75. Donate/make rags out of old pajamas and buy new happier ones.
76. Always search for coupons for any product.
77. Buy/adopt a puppy.
78. Buy Jason a bike.
79. Acquire all B&N Leatherbound Classic Series and read them all way through: Acquired (2/16), Read (0/16).
80. Start an on the side design business.

Leaving on a Jetplane
81. Go to Atlantic City. (Completed 11/7/2009)
82. Go to Las Vegas.
83. Go to Vancouver. (Completed 2/25/2010)
84. Go to the Olympics! (Completed 2/26/2010)
85. Go to Europe.
86. Re-learn conversational Spanish.
87. Learn conversational German.
88. Go to California.

Around the House
89. Re-organize bookshelves. (Completed 9/1/09)
90. Try on older clothing and donate everything that doesn't fit (2/4).
91. Donate everything that is not useful or beautiful to reduce clutter.

Do it Again, John Glenn!
92. Go canoeing.
93. See a Broadway show.
94. Go apple picking.
95. Go to the Zoo. (Completed 8/30/09)
96. Go to an amusement park. (Completed 4/10/10)
97. Drink around the world at Epcot again.

Maintaining Sanity
98. Re-organize entire music file.
99. Always make a shopping list.
100. Try not to stress over the little things.
101. Think about the good things in my life each night before going to bed (234/1001).


As I complete these things I'll mark them differently in the list. For every thing on my list that I do not complete, I will donate $2 to a charity. I'd say that I'd donate more, but a bunch of my things already involve donating different things, so in the long run I'm sure I'll have donated quite the pretty penny worth of things.

Done and Done!

I have one best friend from college. This isn't to say I don't have other friends that I see and talk to frequently and love to death. But I only came out of college with one best friend. Laura is my other half. We are both sharp and witty women who know what they want. We wound up living in an apartment (with other changing girls) for three years and to this day I'm positive that other than my sister, Laura is the only girl I could ever live with.

Last summer, Laura and her boyfriend of 6 or so years, Jim got engaged. Woo! Weddings! The date is still not set but it will be Spring of 2010 and the past few weekends I've been traveling up to Troy to see reception halls and try on bridesmaid dresses and assist in many other bridesmaid-like duties.

A few weekends ago at the Birch Hills Expo, we met some women from Angela's Bridal and since Laura hadn't bought a dress yet, she made an appointment. So this past weekend I went back up to Troy to help in finding the perfect dress.

First off, allow me to say that the women at Angela's were fantastic. They were extremely helpful and each of them had wonderful things to say (even when negative) about the dresses that Laura tried on. When Laura put the first dress on, Chrissy, Meg and I all let out a sigh. It was beautiful, it was perfect, it was well priced, it was SO HER. It was classy yet modern and had just the right amount of sparkle in just the right places.

Laura tried on 4 more gowns but none of them compared to that first dress. She was concerned it might be too dramatic for her mother's taste but when Ursula (her sister and maid of honor) walked in, the first words out of her mouth were, "Wow." And she assured Laura that she thought Mom would also love it.

Meanwhile, Michelle, Chrissy & Meg all tried on some beautiful Bill Levkoff dresses and we all decided we loved them. Bridal gown, done! Bridesmaid dresses, done! Bam! Just like that. It was amazing. Our other two romps to David's Bridal were all for naught after that 20 minute talk about how perfect these dresses would look on all of us.

They had the sweetheart neckline that mimicked Laura's dress, they had tank straps so we could all wear supportive undergarments, the taffeta was airy and not at all grabby, they were the perfect spring wedding dress...well, in cornflower blue with an ice blue sash they would be!

And, best of all, since January when I was measured for Jaclyn's bridesmaid dress, I have officially lost an inch to my waist....
...only to gain it in my bust. *sigh* All I have to say is I'm looking forward to having to pay to get both my bridesmaid dresses taken in by the time the weddings roll around.

For the rest of the day Saturday all us girls celebrated. Laura had bought her dress! It was real, her wedding was happening. Her and Jim had a moment when they both said to each other, "Wow, it really feels real now." And they were excited about it.

Jaclyn (my cousin) and her fiance Andy had a similar moment a few months ago while we were hammering out Save the Date details. He just turned to her and said, "Hey, we're getting married this year." And they both squealed and clapped in joy.

This is going to be exciting and torturous at the same time! Hurray!

(Digital Illustration of Laura and I done by me.)

Blogging: A New Frontier

Why hello there and welcome to Persnickety Penny. I decided that it was time to enter the blogisphere and thought now was as good a time as ever. I’ve been a long time reader of blogs but never really thought my life was interesting enough to share with others. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was right, but either way, here I am!

I read a lot of different blogs, environmentalist blogs and “going green” blogs, wedding blogs, design blogs and even fashion blogs. I know what you’re thinking, environmentalist and fashion? Isn’t that like jumbo shrimp? I find a lot of things in my life are a huge juxtaposition and I haven’t yet found a blog about someone like me, torn between what the right side of my brain wants to create and what the left side of my brain wants to keep orderly.

So I plan on just being myself on this blog, so if you don't enjoy that, my apologies and have a fun day reading something else!