"I tied it to the radiator"

This can be found on my bedroom floor;

You can say I've delved into fashion again. This is never a bad thing.

It always goes this way;

I am fastidious about it for a period of time (dressing better, studying fashion, acquiring clothing, inspiration, and most importantly; ideas! ) then I kind of let it all go. It all comes in waves. So the time again is now.

It all starts with an issue of Vogue I randomly snag one night, then inspiration, then the purchasing of fashion books...& then I'm making impromptu trips to Goodwill (there is an AWESOME Goodwill by me). The Goodwill trip is ALWAYS the best part.

It is like rummaging through 1000 closets of people who are all shapes and sizes and all have different ideas of what is "give away-able".

Anywho, I found some great items there today. Along with these purchases I got a brand spanking new pair of red skate guards at Triple Toe today (thanks to a gift card I had). I have been hellbent on getting red ones. I am so excited to sport them at the rink as silly as that sounds, but part of the fun of skating is all the accessory crap that goes with it. I hope to sneak in a freestyle tomorrow.

But speaking of purchasing all this stuff, I have got to cool it with the spending. The thing that always throws me back is the travel that Eric and I do. I think it's worth it. I am smart about my purchases and always really consider each thing I buy. We are somewhere different every weekend which encourages shopping. Indianapolis always puts a dent in my account and we were there again this weekend. I told myself that Goodwill was the last place I was going to spend. I am good about managing my accounts in the sense that I always have enough for what I need and I make sacrifices if my oil needs changing or something needs to be bought for gifts or something. I always pay my bills on time and in full. It gets harder to do, but it's so important to keep my credit in check. I have just a little bit more time to throw my money around how I want to and then it comes to a point where I just don't need any more shit. I feel like my wardrobe is really well rounded and I hope to just focus on getting staple pieces and things I will have around for awhile.

I will retire for the evening with watching The Royal Tenenbaums (has to be one of my favourite movies) and cutting up fashion magazines for inspiration (one of my favourite pastimes). How perfect.

How will you enjoy yours??

gold is in.

The Olympics have this funny way of inspiring me while making me feel horrible about myself.

Same goes for watching award shows.

I am so proud of each athlete and I know how much work goes into every sport & then...

there is me.

I have accomplished nothing great. I am not a household name. I have no immediate goals.

I guess that's not true, I have goals, but nothing I would call "jaw dropping".

It just makes me feel very, very lazy.

It's a bummer. But anywho-

I am super excited about Evan Lysacek!

I trained with Evan back in my competitive skating days. A long time ago.

We had the same coach and all of her students at that time were about the same age

so we all hung around with each other. Evan's parents actually live about 6 blocks over.

It's really exciting and I'm really happy for him; it's such a huge success

& it brings good to the town.

Unfortunately, I just know the results and not how the actual programs where.

I plan on watching them in the a.m. heh

Work got out later than expected and my mom resorted to taping it.

I have something to look forward to tomorrow morning!

But that's not all I have to anticipate;

This weekend is another one down in Indy. Woohoo! Stopping at Fair Oaks Farm! Awesome!

Going to a baby shower this weekend which should be nice :)

For now I am beyond exhausted.

Enjoy the weekend!

-Tessabee

the Olympic spirit.

I feel like I HAVE to say something about this...

So the Winter Olympics are in full swing and along with that comes... figure skating! YAY!

Pairs skating was on this weekend.

(I'm really more into solo skating, but I enjoy pairs none the less)

Skating gets me SO emotional these days. (I am not really into this emotional streak I'm on)

If you compete at all in figure skating you know the work that goes into it.

The technical and artistic meaning behind it all, the insane judging system, the pressure & competitive nature of the sport.

Every fall or slip affects me personally and my heart really goes out to every skater.

They work SO hard and to see it all down the drain with sometimes quite minor flaws...

it kills me.

The ridiculous requirements and elements they have to perform perfectly.

I am so proud of the Chinese team Shen/Zhao.

They skated so well & they were the oldest ones in the competition & their story is so great-- (they came out of retirement to try competing one last time).

Sometimes you just need some time off to get it all into perspective.

One story that makes me sad is the Russians end to the gold after a 12 Olympic streak.

I just felt horrible for this girl in the pairs team for the Russians;

Yuko Kavaguti <--her story.

She went through so much just for a chance to compete in the Olympics & she did.

She didn't skate a clean program and the Russians took fourth.

Of course none of this was a waste for each competition you learn so much about yourself,

but she just looked so sad after it all. I just hate to see that after all that hard work.

I have to thank Eric for bearing through the pairs skating.

It's not dire that I watch it right when it's on, but I'd like to see it at some point. We actually had the games on most of the weekend. Winter Olympics have a lot of good sports to watch. Summer Olympics are cool because of Rhythmic Gymnastics and Gymnastics

but other than that I'm set.

I am actually waiting for them to include Ultimate Frisbee in the Olympics because then I have a shot! Heh, I love Frisbee.

But all this skiing that I'm watching is making me want to try it.

Especially this awesome downhill skiing! It looks insanely fun.

I love the speed and jumps in there. Man oh man!

But you are so injury prone when you do stuff like that.

So on another note;

It turned out that Valentines Day was not as crazy as anticipated at work. We got out later than midnight only one night and before midnight the other four. I got really lucky in that sense.

Eric dropped by work on Friday to surprise me with a room key for the Westin this weekend.

It was a really good weekend and it turns out I didn't have to work Sunday so that gave us the day free. I'm really not big on Valentines Day, so we did something we would normally do while in that area; we bopped around the Oakbrook Mall. We did a little shopping but nothing extensive.

One shop I am always pleased with is Urban Outfitters.

I love the books and random trinkets they sell.

We ended up snagging sushi in the evening hours--all in all, a GREAT weekend.

I'm glad I worked a lot last week and I'm glad it's all done & will return to normal until graduation rolls around.

I'm glad that next year I will be considered "seasoned" in the cookie decorating biz. I will have decorated every holiday bouquet and know the flow of it all. That's pretty exciting to me!

I'm glad that I spent a great weekend in a nice hotel with my counterpart--I feel really lucky.

Things are good right now.

& I shall go to bed in a chipper mood!

Bonne nuit!

the week where sleep is vital.

With all this snow that just blew in-- I cannot wait for summer.

Short sleeves and longer days. mmmm.

But for now I shall live in the moment

(& enjoy the 6+ inches we are expected to get by the A.M.)

Although, the moment I am living in is quite hectic.

At least in mindset (for now, until tomorrow when it really starts picking up).

It's Valentines Day on Sunday which means my job is at its busiest week of the year.

This will be good in terms of pay (and experience!) but there is so much hype I'm freaked out.

There are so many orders going out--

& so many people are going to be bopping around the shoppe.

But as hectic as it's going to be, I'm kind of pumped for it.

I like the excitement and productivity that will be going on.

It is really fun when there are a lot of people there because it always comes down to everyone just acting goofy.

I feel good when a lot of people are there to get a job done.

So yeah. This week I should be expecting to get out around 2 a.m. Each night.

Maybe earlier, maybe later.

Bring. It. On.

This week Eric and I headed down to Indianapolis for the weekend to hang out with his cousin & her husband. We also caught the Super Bowl get together that her parents were throwing.

It was a really fun weekend and I'm glad we made it because it snowed late on Friday.

We didn't even make it to Indianapolis until 5:30 a.m. that next Saturday morning.

It was unfortunate the Colts lost the game (it was a good one!)

But in the end, Eric & I are from Chicago--not Indianapolis

& we are used to the disappointment that a football team brings to its hometown.

So we were able to walk out of the Super Bowl party with ease.

Us at the party;

Life has been pretty good these past few days :) :)

I'm anxious for the rest of this week.

I stocked up on food and brought it to work today.

I better snag some zzz's unless I'll be dragging tomorrow!

lets lay down some images.

What my day will include; in pictures.

In chronological order.

A Blueberry bagel :)

Figure skating :)

lunch at Clara's with the people I skate with.

(it's right next to the rink)

This is a GREAT restaurant, it's always packed.

I've been going here for years and my parents actually know Clara :)

A little shower time of course! ;)

I get to hang out with Eric tonight!

Hopefully this night will include wine, great conversation, fantastic music, & xbox!

but whatever we end up doing it will be awesome.

I made him a CD and I'm so excited to give it to him.

He has to be one of my favourite people to make CD's for because it's a challenge!

Woohoo! this game rocks, but sometimes the categories/questions really suck.

This tea is awesome.

It contains valerian root which is also used in vicodin.

I know that's not the greatest plug in the world, but it knocks me out.

Just don't let it steep too long :)

You can find this at whole foods.

Have a GREAT day!

What I'd like to call a "creative day"

What could be better than a Monday off?

I get Mondays off frequently. (I know, be jealous).

What a great start to the week (thus far).

I hope I will not be found biting my tongue later, but that's usually the case.

I stayed an extra night at Eric's last night. Normally he drops me back home Sunday nights.

But I didn't have work today and he didn't need to be in at 9 so it worked nicely.

We were ready to go to bed at 1 a.m. but fortunately/unfortunately we talked until 3:30am.

We both were not tired and we always find ourself getting into conversations that lasts for hours.

(those are the best nights). I wouldn't have it any other way.

But things weren't so awesome when his alarm clock went off at 7:15 a.m. We were both pretty tired, but I made sure he got a good breakfast in him before a long day & he dropped me back home. I decided to skate...

This was a rather interesting idea. Skating on 3 1/2 hours of sleep?

I only have to devote every fiber of my being while I'm on the ice.

However it was a great time. The usual crowd was there and we were being jokey & enjoying the ice being free from college kids back home and toddlers that never seem to have school.

Talk about slaphappy! It put me (& everyone else) in a great mood so that three hours of sleep turned out to be all I needed for today. Thank goodness I was in a good mood because there are two sides to the "no sleep" coin.

So back to re-capping...

Work was pretty crazy last week, well, more crazy than usual. We got out pretty late each night.

I will look forward to that paycheck. However, I hope this week is not as hectic.

This weekend was a good one. Eric and I went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I wanted to go there because I had never been. I enjoyed it. I love pizza and I always find myself acting like a 6 year old because I order it at so many restaurants. So it's nice to go somewhere where pizza is a specialty. There are so many vegetarian options, so that's always nice. We had a nice weekend. We ran small errands here and there, but pretty much laid low.

I'm proud of myself because I made a nice little meal on Saturday :)

I can't wait till we get settled in together because I will get in the habit of cooking and trying new recipes all the time.

Plus we will have all the utensils/cooking items I need and we will be good to go..

So much to look forward to!

I guess we can let music creep into this post...

after all, the Grammy's were yesterday and everyone is all into the music hype.

There are a few bands/artists that I am really into right now;

Margot & The Nuclear So & So's

Animal Collective

Sleepy Rebels

Bloc Party

Adele

Spoon (obviously)

I burn people CD's like crazy. & I feel like I put these artists on the most.

I love the challenge of trying to fit 1.2 hours of music onto a disc and give it to someone and have them really love and enjoy it (the order of songs is crucial, it has to flow just right)

Especially when you don't exactly know what they listen to.

As Cady said "Each CD should be a journey." That's what I try to accomplish.

I love introducing people to new artists and different genres of music.

Music is one of the best things that you can share.

I really like Margot & The Nuclear So & So's because I don't normally listen to acoustic-y kind of music, yet it really captivates me coming from them. I also like how certain songs on the album remind me of Radiohead's Pablo Honey/The Bends days. It's always a perk.

I also REALLY dig Bloc Party, but I'm still in Love with their first album, Silent Alarm, so I give people the old tunes. I'm lucky I came across Sleepy Rebels.

Eric & I shazam'ed one of their songs on our iPhones during a U.S. Cellular commercial and that's how I found out about them. I fell in love with the song "Kaleidoscope" which is the song that plays during that commercial. So yeah, I sputtered a bit about music there, and no, you cannot find any of this music nominated for a Grammy. The closest thing might be MGMT or The Ting Tings. I actually only caught about 50 minutes of the Grammy's from the start. Whatever. I'm kind of glad Taylor Swift won. I have never heard any of her songs, but she seems alright and good for her. Beyonce had a really good performance, same with Pink & The Black Eyed Peas. The Grammy's ended up taking a backseat to Xbox with my dearest and I was fine with that.

I look forward to a good week of work. Valentines day will be hell (busiest day of the year).

Indianapolis this weekend for a super bowl party! I'm really excited for the next few weeks! Good stuff for sure, busy, but that's never a bad thing!

I am exhausted. It's so early (9:39pm), but I'm thinking that my bed time is near.

Goodnight!

-Tessa