caught red handed! (with yummy deliciousness!)

Wow. Already 21 days into January. Hopefully it will conclude nicely. I'm sure it will.

Let me tell you one thing right now. I have to get this out.

I hate the Kardashian family. I REALLY do. However, I am always tuned in to their damn show. I love their stupid drama. However I love Khloe. Once I tune in, I have to finish it.

I am VERY ashamed of this, but whatever, we all have our guilty pleasures.

I'd rather have mine be a show than be something like..mass amounts of apple pie.

So Sunday I was definitely tuned in for the Golden Globes. I LOVE award shows.

Back in High School, my friend Dan and I would dress up & go to Jewel before our GGparty.

We would announce to everyone we encountered that we were headed to the Golden Globes.

It was a hoot. We would all have sheets marked with who we thought would win and would watch the pre-shows on E! Those were the days. Eric even watched it with me this year :)

Thank goodness for TiVo (24 was on) I knew what he was sacrificing.
However we both enjoy a little Ricky Gervais and knew a lot of the nominated roles.

I guess watching award shows is another guilty pleasure.

But I enjoy the Academy Awards a lot more. It goes into each movie more in detail.

However the Globes this year were pretty good and I agree with the winners for the most part.

Of course plenty of shots taken at NBC by all--(always hilarious)

Speaking of NBC the 2010 Winter Olympics are coming up soon! I cannot wait! Sunday was the day when the three Olympic contenders where chosen; Jeremy Abbott, Evan Lysacek, & Johnny Weir are those three. I am so excited. I used to train with Evan back in my skating hey day. We had the same coach for a period of time as well. I am excited he made it but I am especially excited for Johnny Weir. I recently watched a hilarious documentary on him.

Be Good Johnny Weir is the name. It has a great look into the sport of figure skating and the pressures of being competitive on a world scale. Anywho...

The Olympics inspire me like crazy. Competition season (October-March) normally does.

I think it is absolutely remarkable to see so many talented athletes in one arena.

Winter is the best because figure skating gets out there on a large scale--which is exciting.

I just cannot wait to see which American ladies are going!

I'm for Ashley Wagner & Mirai Nagasu. They both have so much potential. Moving on...

This last stretch of the week is a busy one. Work the rest of the week until Sunday. It will be good though. I need the money (Saturdays always rake in more $$--long hours).

My thoughts are always in the midst of changing my entire look. But I adore my long hair, I like it's colour (it's natural color), and I like how easy my hair is to manage. It would look ridiculous short (shoulder length-ish). I've been there. I hated it.

I always say "anyone can have short hair." You really don't hear many people with long hair saying "Oh I wish I had short hair." But you always hear a girl with short hair say;

"I'm growing it out." or "I regret cutting it."

I don't know. I just feel like my look is getting boring.

I used to change it up constantly in high school. I want to get a wig actually.

A wig with black just above the shoulder hair with straight across bangs. That'd be perfect.

So tonight Flaming Hot Cheetos have the best of me. I love this unhealthy snack indulgence. I love it because it brings me back to my youth a.k.a. high school a.k.a. 4 years ago.

But I ate this almost every day freshman year.

You could see me skipping or running down the halls ALWAYS with a bag of flamin' hots

(with red fingers to match) and bottled water. I haven't really had them since freshman year which was 2002.

So flash forward to tonight at work;

(a girl I work with right now is pregnant).

In general without the pregnancy we talk a lot about food. I'm always spurting out my cravings (I have insane cravings and have had them my whole life). So today we were talking about snack foods and I mentioned Flaming Hot Cheetos.

Like always most of the time if a food is mentioned at all in the shoppe, I end up eating it later.

Chipotle, Noodles, Panera, Subway, Pizza...etc etc. I mean how can you resist??

Plus I always try to get something healthy (with tons of veggies!)

But tonight this was not the case AT ALL. I declared I was stopping on the way home to get my beloved long lost snack item. I was worried about eating the whole bag.

Eating the whole bag I have not.

Yet.

See I was worried about this. I shared how I always worry about bags/boxes of chips or snacks. I don't want to eat the whole thing! But I worry I might so I never get snacky foods like that usually. So this girl I work with tells me to just get a small bag.

No one is ever satisfied with that one bag of like 12 cheetos.

So I get the medium bag. I have consumed about half and I'm sure I'll go get more as soon as I finish this entry. The night is young. I have good spirits.

P.S. I will feel like shit later from this, I'm sure. I'll try and stay optimistic.

How cool is it that during Local On The 8's "Eminence Front" is playing?!

Now I will show you a completely random picture that has nothing to do with anything in this post!

(but I will tell you about it.)

This is the Mosta Dome located in Malta. That woman in the picture is JoAnn.

She was in my group when I traveled there. Anywho Malta was a big player in WWII.

So one Sunday during a service the church was struck by a bomb.

It came through the top of the church and fell on the floor.

It didn't go off. A faulty bomb. It was their Miracle.

This church is also the third biggest domed church in Europe.

:)

listening to: Kaleidoscope by Sleepy Rebels.

I guess we will never know...

Why.

Why is the shittiest toilet paper in the house placed in MY bathroom? Really?

Why is it that I cannot drag myself to the gym today? Oh yeah--my hips are screaming at me.

The scene last night: Noodles.

The happening? Me scarfing down a large Mac & Cheese. (it's been awhile, cut me some slack)

Me saying to myself then: "I need to kick my ass in the gym tomorrow."

Me saying to myself now: "eh never mind." dammit. It's okay. I'm over it.

At this point its not good for my body to pump iron and physically exert my body.

Why is it that I am always low on money? I'm good at managing it, it just seems like I'm always worried about it. That's okay. MO MONEY MO PROBLEMS!

Why is it that I always put off washing my hair? (I am lucky, this is not my biggest problem)

I try to go a week without washing it. My hair is thick (very thick) & long, this allows me to go a long period of time without and ensures faster growth (I'm not stripping my hair of its nutrients everyday). But it takes awhile to dry (I refuse the blow dry process) so I'm always putting it off.

Why don't I have some spectacular talent that allocates fame fame fame?!

Then I thought about it. Even if I did have some great talent, 9 times out of 10 someone else is going to be just as good if not better. If I were a great singer, that doesn't make me special persay, it just makes me more well rounded. I guess that makes me feel better. It's all relative. But I seriously think I should have been famous by now.

Why can there not be thousands of Cookies By Design locations in the Chicagoland area so that Eric and I can move wherever we please? (Seriously, I almost wish I was still at Jamba so then I can up and quit entirely and just find a new job. Unfortch I'm attached to my job.)

Why the hell there are there things like THIS on the market? Seriously pretty soon there will be something to make your fingers, toes, and ears less fat. Jeepers.

Why can't I go anywhere without someone exclaiming "You're weird." WOW! Tell me something I don't know. I always accept this as a compliment.

Why do I buy magazines and barely read them? I always read my Vogue, but the January Issue is still sittin pretty on my bedroom floor mostly unread but already skimmed through.

Why is my boyfriend awesome? For thousands of reasons, but in most recent because he gave me an iTunes gift card as part of my xmas gift. At first I thought this to be odd because we both are avid downloaders, but not everything can be downloaded, so new music and apps are now making their appearance in my iTunes/iPhone and I'm quite grateful I didn't have to fork over that $4.99 for the AWESOME Trivial Pursuit app!

Why is it that I sometimes sit back and allow life to roll on by? Sometimes I feel like I do nothing with my free time. I'll just sit and stumble upon the internet, watch weather channel, download music, etc. Sometimes I feel like I'm really livin life, but I hate feeling like I let time go to waste. Such a sad thing. I should start putting myself to good use.

Why is it that no one else seems to have seen a squirrel walk? Seriously it's the funniest thing ever--they look so sly and shady and it's so different from their usual scamper. (this allocates the "You're weird" statement, I suppose)

Why can't we all be a little more emotional and sensitive? Sometimes I feel like I'm too much of both. But at the same time sometimes I feel completely cold and detached. I just feel like we have to put ourselves in other peoples shoes sometimes and think about how we would truly like to be treated and then treat others that way. Be open, accept others, and laugh a little. It cannot hurt.

Wow. Why did I get the idea to write this?

This one is for you, David Byrne.

I wrote a status on facebook yesterday.

"David Byrne, Cream Cheese, & Everything bagels are just a few of the reasons why I'm lovin life today."

So true. On the way to the local Jewel, I popped in the "Once In A Lifetime" Album.

While I was at the store, I snagged Everything bagels and two types of cream cheese.

Garden Veggie and regular (obvious choice, especially if you're me)

I had gotten into 2 in-depth conversations about Everything bagels smothered in cream cheese on Monday and decided that Tuesday needed to include this simple breakfast item.

While I was on the way back I realised how much I LOVED David Byrne.

This was not the first time.

David Byrne is the front man of The Talking Heads-- one of my favourite bands.

I was practically raised on the song "Psycho Killer" & "Once In A Lifetime".

Eric and I watched the "Stop Making Sense" DVD a few weeks ago & I was hooked.

Those cheekbones! That Lankiness (which normally is a turn off)! Those awesome moves!

Sometimes I think that David Byrne would be the only one who appreciates my funky dance moves. He would have TOTALLY let me dance on the stage while he sang awesomeness.

He just seems so fun to work with.

The movie is worth seeing if you love great music & interested in seeing a unique way of making it.

It's odd, normally I am not one to think anyone of pop culture is good looking. Mostly overrated.

(of this era anyways).

I was never a Brad Pitt/Orlando Bloom/Josh Hartnet kind of girl. I just never saw a point.

I never had posters slathered over my walls of the latest "hottie" of the time.

I'm into something different I suppose. But David Byrne is sexy in an odd way. I dig that.

When I refer to David Byrne in this post, I more so am pulling that from 1984. See here;

RIGHT?! So awesome.

Watch the intro to Stop Making Sense HERE

So needless to say;

David Byrne, everything bagels, & cream cheese

rocked my world yesterday.

Skating 5 days a week is taking it's toll on my body. The double loop killed my hips.

It was worth it since they are getting much better. I worked on my spins today.

The one thing I'd love to exude in skating is my love for the sport. I want people to know I love it when they watch me. That emotion is so important to emphasize in skating.

You can truly tell a difference between someone who loves it & someone being forced into it.

I love how each time I step onto the ice I get nervous. Where I say;

"Wow, I have to do things on this ice."

I love that I still get nervous. That's how I know it means a lot to me.

When it literally changes my state of mind and enhances my nerves.

I'm taking a break from skating & hitting the gym tomorrow.

It will be good to strength train when my body isn't at its strongest.

PS: I MISS WALKING WEATHER!

I cannot wait till the days warm up to the 40's and 50's. Then I can take nice long walks in the morning/afternoons. Come summer I want to walk before breakfast and after dinner.

I don't mind the gym, but if I can be outside in the summer, I'm all about it.

But I'll always prefer the ice or the dance studio.

I am so excited to go to work tomorrow :)

Wednesdays are looking fabulous. It's a long day at skating as well a day to catch up and hang out with friends/do anything I please. Today I hung out with Cady for the majority of the day.

This included lunch at Jason's Deli, setting up and using my GLOW DOME!, and seeing NINE.

All very good. I'm glad we ended up seeing Nine. It was interesting but fun to watch.

Anywho tomorrow will be a morning where I devour an everything bagel smeared with cream cheese. It will be a very good morning.

Don't forget to eat a delicious breakfast tomorrow morning!

A mug of warm water and a slice of lemon will do the body good (a tip from the sis-in-law).

Have a great day tomorrow :)

This is how I am repaid.

Here is me. I am writing about my life again.

I know this is exciting stuff.

well lets start off with work.

the weeks before and of Christmas we were slammed.

It was staying till 11pm almost each night.

I'm not necessarily complaining about that = ($$$$)

I love my job, but the hours are finicky.

I normally start each day at 2pm.

I could get out at 6:30pm or 2am. You just never know.

Although it's all over the board, I really like that. Sometimes I get out early (that's lucky)

Sometimes I get out late (but that's money.)

I say it completely balances out.

So this week we were rather slow. By slow I mean get out at 6:05 or 7pm.

This is rare, but when it happens it's quite nice.

Especially since Valentine's Day is going to be major busy.

I miss out on something fancy for the date, but after getting my credit card bill

I'm sure that paycheck the week of Valentines day will do me good!

HEY! BIG NEWS

(well kind of, and only if you're me)

I drove to Eric's house! I know, this seems lame.

He lives about 45-50 minutes away and it's all highway driving.

Highways freak me out.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE going fast and maneuvering along the road...

It's more so the fear of missing an exit and not knowing where I am.

I am terrified of getting lost. Of course, my phone has GPS so that's a huge perk.

So this week Eric needed me to drive to his house and I did it no problem!

I wasn't even really that nervous about it.

(he asked me to drive to his house about 2 months ago and I practically had a panic attack)

But 2010 is bringing me some highway "you will not get lost!" confidence.

GO YEAR OF CONFIDENCE!

So I've been thinking a lot lately. (well, I guess)

I'm done with school for the time being and now I'm thinking about what lies ahead.

I am getting more hours at work, which is GREAT news. Four days a week is perfect.

I hate the fact that I feel like I need a day off during the week to "recoup"

and do what I need to get done (laundry, long skating days, cleaning, seeing friends).

I am so excited that I am skating more & have potentially found a coach I want to work with.

I want to get into ballet more. I'm dying to get up on pointe.

There are other things I'd like to fill my time with.

I feel like as soon as I share a goal with people, it's no longer going to get accomplished.

Or completely the opposite. Sometimes sharing a goal with someone encourages you to do it.

& Sometimes I just feel like I lose sights of it all together when my goal is publicized.

A GREAT DAY OF FOOTBALL!

The Packers Vs. The Cardinals!

What a game. It's great watching amazing football games.

When you're from Chicago & you've got the Bears, you envy a GREAT game

played between other teams. So this playoff game was GREAT.

Back to back touchdowns by each team.

With the decent lead Arizona had going into half time, the Packers REALLY picked it back up.

I love those "edge of your seat" sports moments.

I was going for the Cardinals.

I'm over the Packers (I was never really into them actually)

I'm glad I'm with someone that loves Sunday Football.

I love watching the games together and keeping track of the season.

I can't wait for the Super Bowl! Plus, THE WHO is playing halftime!

Thank goodness it's someone awesome!

on another note...

I have to recommend that you listen to the song:

"The wanting comes in waves/Repaid"

By: The Decemberists

I love this song. I love it's dynamic and what it makes me think about.

For now I am going to crochet before bed.

Skating and Work tomorrow. Should be a great day!

I guess you can say I'm a LUSH lush?

Why hello there, Tuesday evening!

It has been quite a good day thus far.

I am just so amped about the fact that school no longer interferes with my skating.

Some of you are thinking

(cue Jim Gaffigan's 'audience thoughts' voice)

"she must have this all backwards...education is so important!"

Yeah whatever it got in the way of my skating.

I just REALLY hope that I can start getting lessons again.

That'd be fabulous.

So on Saturday night Eric and I cuddled in for a movie.

The movie? Julie & Julia.

No, I would NOT call this a situation where I had said

"HONEY CAN WE PLEEEAASSEEEE WATCH THIS CHICK FLICK!?"

I'm not really that type and the movie wasn't that type either.

I loved it though. I love cooking (I wish I did WAY more of it) & I LOVE France.

I say it like I have a summer house there.

I've never been, but I love the culture, the clothing, the COOKING!, & of course the sights.

However it got me thinking, since its so heavily based on blogs;

"I wonder how crazy it would be to get that many comments/followers!"

"Should I make some sort of goal like that and follow through?"

"Should my blog have a theme?"

EEK!

Then I thought about my blog. Wow.

I just write about my days and various things that go on in my life.

I do this more so to keep track of it all and spill some thoughts.

It's sort of like "Who would want to read this?"

But I always enjoy getting a peek into other peoples lives.

It adds another dimension; a new perspective.

It's refreshing and assuring if that makes any sense at all.

I feel like I need to make a shout out to the store LUSH.

I have been there three times in the past two weeks.

No complaining on this end. Each time I get more and more.

I love that the products are made with natural ingredients & are not tested on animals.

This is what I racked up this week;

These lip balms are AMAZING. They moisturized in no time!

They also taste and smell AMAZING. I would make this your main lip wear.

When you go into LUSH and ask to sample something

someone will come over and test it and also give you like a 2 minute hand massage.

It is the best store ever. They tell you what it does and how to use it.

This is for your body/face/hands. I love it for the hands, but of course also good for the face.

It smells like lime and coconut and sand. In the best way ever of course.

I love this stuff. Being a skater, anything to make my feet better is a plus.

This is great after you get out of the shower or right before you hop into bed with socks.

(I know, sometimes sleeping with socks on is annoying as hell, but it's worth it. Heh.)

It has peppermint, cocoa, almond oil, etc etc.

It makes your feet tingle and makes them feel clean and fresh.

Which is always nice.

I've got two jars of this gold. It is the best hand cream ever & smells super earthy,

but delicious. I love slathering this over my paws in the morning and before bed.

Eric got me 2 jars for Christmas! I'll have smooth hands in stock!

As you can see, I'm loaded on the Lush. I am a Lush lush.

If there is a Lush by you--GO! I went there like two times before loving it.

You've just got to do some exploring. They've got GREAT bath bombs.

But lets be honest, I get so bored in a tub unless I've got a glass of champagne

and a Vogue. Most often it's the champagne that I lack :(

(or my spelling skills as Eric pointed out.)

I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday!

Drink lots of water and be sure to learn a fun fact.

xx
tessa

watching: Futurama

but wanting to watch Top Gear :(

What 2010 is bringing me.

Oh. my. goodness.

Where do I start? I feel like it has been forever since I have touched this blog.

I've missed it.

I feel like there are a million different directions I could go with this entry.

I'll just write it stream of conscious.

Good luck followers...the six I have... ha ha

Does anyone else feel that the full moon tinkers with EVERYTHING?!

I never did until now. Needless to say, everything is fabulous now;

but there were a few mishaps along the flow of our New Years Eve Plans.

But....

Before I delve into what I did this past week/weekend

I feel like I should do a little bit of writing about "ringing in the new year"

and what it all means to me.

For the past four years (or more)

I have spent so much time and energy bringing myself down.

"I'm fat", "I'm ugly", "I'm stupid", "I'm worthless".

You can constantly hear me mutter these things on a daily basis.

No more. I am so sick of it.

I was never looking for you to rush to say "NO YOU'RE NOT!"

I was never looking for your denial or reassurance. I just stated it as fact.

2009 brought many great changes in my life.

I feel like I have found my counterpart, I found a job I enjoy going to, & I have finished school.

I still have a long way to go with making myself a better/more knowledgeable person.

For now, I just feel like I cannot waste my time putting down the person I've grown to be.

I cannot let other peoples encouraging and warm words go to waste.

I will not allow my boyfriends feelings to crumble each time I deny his compliments.

I will believe people when they say I'm good/pretty/smart/beautiful.

I will accept my body and know that I do a lot to keep it in the best shape that I can.

I might not know everything, but that's what life and learning is all about.

I cannot be afraid to ask questions or admit that I don't know something.

I am calling 2010 the year of confidence.

There are always ups and downs. Insecurities will always linger.

But I am who I am and I have to stop bringing that person down.

Old habits are hard to break, but I feel that I'm worth it.

So let's dive into those plans of ours!

I headed over to Eric's on Wednesday night so we could be ready to go on Thursday morning.

We were headed up to Milwaukee to see Spoon, one of our favourite bands.

We got on the road at a good time, checked into our awesome hotel,

& we ate at an AMAZING restaurant for our New Years Dinner called Roots.

(I am still craving this amazing salad they have

--& really I'm really not the "I'll just have a salad" kind of girl.)

We ended up heading over to the venue around 8:30

Spoon came on around 10:50pm-ish.

THEY WERE PHENOMENAL.

They played every song I wanted them to play & I felt so great at this show.

So great I cannot explain it. My body was feelin the music (gin & tonic will do it!)

& I loved seeing the excitement on Eric's face as they belted our favourite songs.

This is the problem. Every show Eric & I see together is amazing.

(which isn't really a problem)

But how do you rank them?

Modest Mouse, Phoenix, Chairlift, Metric, Spoon--ahh! All fantastic bands.

Anywho...all I have to say;

MILWAUKEE--GET YOUR CAB SERVICE SHIT TOGETHER.

You screwed up our New Years Eve together.

Or should I say; the full moon screwed our plans.

On the bright side, New Years Day brought all sorts of amazing things.

Eric surprised me with staying another night in a hotel (The Hotel Monaco) in Chicago.

He also surprised me with a fantastic dinner at one of my favourite restaurants in the city;

Avec. It's French cuisine & everything on the menu melts in your mouth.

A divine dinner followed by popping some Veuve Clicquot & Dom Perignon.

This was the best way to spend the first day of 2010.

I couldn't be more lucky.

Normal life resumed Saturday evening when we got to Eric's house.

I made gnocchi and a nice salad and we gulped down some wine

& enjoyed our low key evening together.

While I love our nights out & sleeping in high end hotels, our nights in are the best.

The nights were I cook and he cleans up :) What a team.

Now I'm back home and work (and skating!) starts again this week.

I'm excited to get back to life as it should be.

But I had the most wonderful holiday season! I spent it with people I truly love.

People I am so blessed to have in my life.

I must admit, I feel weird when I used the word "blessed"

since I am not at ALL into the religious thing.

But I feel extremely lucky. I have GREAT people in my life.

I wouldn't trade any of them.

Thank you so much to all of you who made the holidays extremely awesome.

Thanks for dealing with my shitty confidence through the 2000's.

2010 is here and there's no more bullshit.

I am who I am and I'm loving it.