I used to own this hat.

A few years ago, between one shitty relationship and into another. I bought it at Ragstock. I thought it looked good with my reddish hair and my green coat. It was kind of my signature piece, this green hat. I had it when I owned kitties.

When I replaced the kitties with an abusive boyfriend, he overhauled my things. My pictures, my clothes, my jewelry, my shoes, my everything. I can't even begin to tell you how many of my things he broke, made me throw out, or threw away when I wasn't home. The reason I can't tell you is that I would cry. So hard. So long.

Why would I cry? Not because I miss my stuff. It's just stuff, stuff can be replaced. I would cry for the loss of memories and experiences that were precious to me. Because I'm still disappointed in myself that I didn't have the guts to stand UP to this asshole and be myself. Because I let him control my life for a year and a half. I don't regret the choices I made, but I have learned from them.

Back to the subject at hand--this green hat. One of the things he threw out, into the garbage, was this hat. When I found it at Ragstock again yesterday, I almost cried. I had to have it. I remember how friggin' GOOD this hat made me look. How it went with everything I owned. How everyone knew it was me, because there was my hat.

It's a building block, this new green hat of mine. It's a stepping stone that will eventually bring me back to 100% center. I hope some of you remember the first awesome green hat, but that all of you LOVE the new green hat.

The Universe works in mysterious ways. The Universe giveth, and The Universe taketh away. Be open and receptive, my friends.

:)

I'm 80% sure my ears are bleeding. :P

I just got home from an EPIC girls night out on the town. It was more fun than I anticipated...decidedly looooonger than I anticipated.

Mega props go out to Spike, who came and rescued Shaya from the downtown area. I wish I'd been with her so I could have gone home, but at the same time, I'm glad I stayed out with Erin.

She picked me up shortly after 8, and I just got home, at 3am. That's a 7 hour night. HOLY CRAP!

Seriously, my ears are ringing so hard. I can't think. I don't want to talk. I want to pass the eff out and sleep in all day tomorrow, but I'm going to get up at 9am. Bah.

I am on a baking kick and it's great! I baked a loaf of banana bread for Jerry and Thad to enjoy while they play video games tonight. Carmen and I are going out on a date. :)

Tuesday, I baked about three dozen cookies. I also baked a jello cake for Bertine's b-day. Last night, I baked BACON.

I want to learn how to bake AND cook more things! Tell me your favorite recipes! :D

Re-posted for a friend. :)

I'm currently taking a class on counseling procedures at school, and for our final project, we have to do a 30-minute counseling session. The session is video taped and will be reviewed by the instructor and 5 students in the class. It will be strictly confidential outside of class discussion, and destroyed afterwards.

If you're interested in a half hour of having someone listen to you, let me know and I will pass your name on to my classmates. We're all very pro-style about this, but it's not professional counseling in any way. Shoot me an e-mail or leave a response if you're interested and I'll get in touch with you.

Any questions, feel free to ask!

My Flickr is about to expire in two days. I am going to wait until this job business sorts itself out to re-up my paid account. That's $25 toward bills, baby!

A few moments I will remember and cherish FOREVER:

* Waking up on October 12th, 2008 with Amanda's glass full of sangria next to my bed, and her Guest of Honor in my bed.
* Eating Luce and drinking beer while playing Wario Ware on my Wii and talking till all hours of the morning the very next day.
* Eating Thai food with Jerry back in January and he wore the only sweater he owns.
* Standing next to the upper floor railing during the intermission of Singin' in the Rain at the Ordway with him holding me from behind.
* Lying in bed on Friday before Eric's Halloween party, just having eaten dinner and cuddling while watching The Mitchell and Webb Look. Legs intertwined, holding hands, touching the other person's hair... :)
* Our first Cheap Date Night at the Red Stag.
* One of many meals at Our Kitchen.
* Jerry pushing me and my dead scooter back to safety.
* Drinking jynnan tonnyx fortified with hail while watching Look Around You.
* Fixing my tank top with twine.

<3

I'm so ahead of the times this year--I've already picked out my holiday card and am getting ready to start working on them. If you want one, leave me your address here or send me an email. Comments are screened, so LEAVE ME ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL INFO, KTHXBAI.

I started a new community to keep track of my budget spending. If any of you want to join, it's here:

10dollarsaday

Make sure you read the community info. I laid out some basic ground rules and ideas. Be sure to post your lists of necessary versus luxury spending, as well as emergency spending versus non-emergency spending. I am excited to see what everyone comes up with!

I'm starting my budget next Thursday, October 22nd. That's my next payday. Who's with me?! :D

Happy birthday kalmn, fleur and manoman. That's a lot of birthdays for one day! :)

A year ago today, I went to an awesome house party thrown by the lovely Amanda and her equally lovely roommate, Katie. It was called Party (with Jerry!)

According to Amanda's FB invite:

The date of this party has been specifically and meticulously picked for the attendance of Jerry. For those of you who were at the May BBQ, you may remember Jerry. Some of you (Paul?) flat-out fell in love with him. Some of you were amazed by his scooter (not a euphemism, he drives a scooter, also a euphemism), his crazy stories, or his quippy nature. Some of you may have missed him altogether. IT'S NOT TOO LATE. Jerry has given his word as a scholar and a gentleman that he will be at this party... SO YOU SHOULD BE THERE TOO!

There will be non-Jerry related entertainment in the form of drinks and other people. Bring a beverage or snack to share! Jerry will be providing prizes for those he deems worthy and/or likes the best.

Details:
WHAT: Party (With Jerry)
WHO: Katie, Amanda, everyone they know, and Jerry!
WHEN: Saturday, Oct 11, 8:00 until whenever.
WHERE: Chez Awesome, XXXX Colfax Ave S. Mpls.
WHY: Holy crap, why not?

Amanda writes the best invites. :)

I don't know that I ever wrote out the story of how Jerry and I "started". I've told this story a hundred times over, I'm sure. It's one of the best stories I know, and the best part is, it's true!

.....

I made a few comments on the invite page, as well as in my own journal about not being able to resist Jerry, that I would win all of the prizes, etc...I didn't even really know Jerry at that point. We met back in 2006 when Amanda was back for a week from Japan. She had a little get together at Psycho Suzi's in NE. I mentioned Jerry in the entry I wrote about the night. Our paths crossed again shortly after CVG08 at yet another Amanda function. Jerry, Brandy and JD all scooted to the party, and I did, too! The real turning point was the party in October. :)

I went to the party with the intention of drinking one of Jerry's gin drinks, holding a beer for the rest of the night, and excusing myself home at an early hour. At the time, I lived less than a block away from Amanda. Amanda knew that I loved gin, and told me that Jerry and I would be awesome friends because of it. She was so right!

Jerry showed up at the party and he looked good. I mean really good. ;) He made me one of his gin fizz drinks, and I hated it. :P It grossed me out that it was made with egg whites...srsly. I dumped it out when he wasn't looking, and was like "Mmm, tasty business!" when he was. After that drink, I grabbed a beer, but the party didn't end there.

We ended up crashing the neighbor's party with anney and drinking their crappy keg beer. We drank some of the beer that I brought over from my place. We drank the sake that Jerry brought in celebration of his new job. Before drinking the sake, we of course had to venture to my place to get sake cups. :) We returned to the party and talked with a "Japanese" accent (think O HARRO!) for about an hour and a half on Amanda's bed while totes tipsy. We drank Amanda's AMAZING apple sangria and ate the boozy fruit. At some point, I'm sure we drank more beer. We drank the first bottle of the Lambic that Jerry brought and then decided to sit outside so we could better hear each other.

It was super cold, so he gave me his sweatshirt. After a few minutes of sitting outside being cold and drunk, we decided to go to my place (less than a block away) and play Mario 3 on my Wii. We got SO MAD at Mario for "not being able to jump" properly. We agreed that it was Mario who was drunk, not us. :P

I woke up the next morning in my bed, laying next to Jerry. The only piece of clothing missing from our original costumes from the previous night was Jerry's shirt. It was like something out of a movie, where the heroine wakes up, her eyes flutter open and she gets her bearings. She's thinking to herself that she had a great time last night, but she's happy to be home. She remembers who she was with the night before, and when she rolls over in bed, there he is!

I shyly said good morning. He folded his arms up behind his head and said it back. We made tentative plans for hanging out again soon. :) He gave me a ride to work. So much for that "one drink and then hold a beer all night so I can get to work on time" plan. Whoops!

.....

Today marks one year since that party. A lot of things have happened in both of our lives. Friends have come and gone. SPW/SPS had its first successful season. The Happy Merry Christmakwanzaaka took place. I bought my 2009 scooter. CVG09 came and went. He put his house up on the market. I turned 27, he turned 28. My 2009 scooter officially died for the last time.

So many other wonderful things in there, too. Every day is a wonderful thing, my friends. Be good to each other. <3

Monday, I got up and finished my laundry. I was super happy that I sent the frozen items home with Jerry the night before. I got bundled up and headed out to Jerry's place to cook him dinner. :)

I bought a tasty steak for him to eat, and had some portabella mushrooms with a white onion to fry up. The butcher told me to cook the steak five minutes on each side. I had Jerry stop in after I did that to check in on it so I didn't mess it up. He added some salt and pepper, as well as some steak sauce. The response was positive, which I thought was good for never having cooked a steak before. :P I also bought an angel food cake, made homemade whipped cream, and had frozen blueberries on hand for dessert.

The suspense was about killing me before the guests began to show up for Jerry's party. Evan called, a few people texted me, and I was SO READY for everyone to arrive. Jerry was setting us up to watch LOST when the doorbell rang. Thad, Dan and Kari were the first ones to come and yell surprise. :) I think he was pretty surprised. The gin-a-thon was a rousing success. Many different gins showed up, and many awesome people came, too. Nate brought ice (awesome!) and Eric brought cucumbers and limes. Amanda even made an appearance, which was so cool. We <3 us some Amanda! A little over a week later, I can *finally* think about gin again.

Tuesday was Jerry's actual birthday. I woke up SO entirely hung over it wasn't even funny. I spent most of the day in bed, except for the hour or so where I was up and made him breakfast. I baked a popover pancake and cooked up some bacon. Best. Girlfriend. Ever. :) I assisted with cleaning up as much as I could...being awake hurt too much. :P

We had dinner with Jerry's family. Ham, broccoli and cheesy potatoes, per his birthday request. His Mom baked apple pie and brownies, too. We headed to Psycho Suzi's for weekly beers. The waitress brought me olives and pickles. That helped a lot with my hangover. :P

Friday, we got up and had our Deluxe Breakfast at the hotel (that didn't include coffee or juice...wtf) and checked out. We convinced the front desk people to hang on to our stuff while we walked around. Super nice! We found a lot of neat art, walked around town, and packed it up pretty early. Both of us were feeling crappy, and we wanted to beat the rain.

Of course, as soon as we got on the road, it started raining. We figured we could handle a little rain...until it started POURING on our heads. :P We pulled off the road at the first paved driveway we found, and hung out on someone's front step with an overhang area for about half an hour. :P We tried to get garbage bags out of the deal to use as raincoats, but no dice. Both of the houses we tried, there was nobody home. Oh well.

By the time we got home, we were soaked to the bone, had water pooled at our elbows, and frozen through and through. We stripped all of our gear off, threw things in the washer and dryer, and huddled under the covers with soup and hot beverages. Watched a bit stuff on the tee vee, took a bit of a nap...got up in time to head to NE for Wes and Lydia Burdine's housewarming party.

We invited Erin to join us, and I'm so glad she did! I really love Jerry's friends, but I don't have the same kind of history with them, so I don't 100% fit in with them just yet. It was nice to have Erin and Spike join the fun. Lydia made PHENOMENAL Minestrone. Wes is such a lucky guy! If he ever gets sick of her, he can send her MY way. SRSLY. ;)

Nate joined the party at some point. Things at the party lasted a little later than anticipated. Wes had gone to bed earlier, and Lydia announced around 2:30 that she was in need of hitting the hay. Since Erin lives directly across the street from them, I suggested we move the party over there so the Burdines could get some sleep. We ended up staying at Erin's place until around five in the morning! I'm pretty sure I was still drunk in the morning when I got up to head to Tiff's. :P

Saturday, I had a very rocky ride to Tiff's. I had to still be drunk, and that turned into a nasty hangover. :P It was a beautiful day out, so we decided to go to the Ren Fest. I'm so glad we did! The crowd wasn't too thick, the weather was perfect, and we had a great time. Ran into Ann and Dani at their booths. We popped in to a couple of shows, one comedy/Robin Hood thing, followed by the belly dancers. Caught a few minutes of Puke and Snot, who added an animatronic bird to their routine...weird. I looked at rings, but didn't see anything that I couldn't live without. One shop had a beautiful ring in a light green, but I wanted the dark green. If they'd had the dark green, I would have bought myself a new ring. :P

I got all dressed up, which was fun. I wore one of my new wrap dresses, my flip flops, and did my hair. I totally looked like a girl! :P We ate pickles, corn, turkey legs, and florentine ice. Jerry had the REDDEST teeth and lips when we ran into Twig the Fairy. We got wishing stones and gave her tips. So cute!

We stopped at my place for a bit and ate some dinner. We ended up falling asleep on the couch instead of parting ways before the parties we had to attend. Whoops! When we came to, we headed to Spike's b-day party at Grumpy's, and then to Crystal's b-day party at Tiff's condo. Both were super fun! People said that we both looked about dead, but they were still happy to see us. :) I was happy to see everyone, too! :) After the parties, we headed back to Jerry's place for the night and passed the eff out!

Sunday, I dragged myself out of bed over to Tiff's again. Good times! I met up with Erin, Jonathon Ford and his lady friend, and Eric at Sally's on the U campus for FOOTBALL. I had no idea what was going on, but apparently, it was super exciting. I enjoyed the free popcorn, the tall glasses of water, and the enthusiastic high five action. You can't go wrong with high fives!

*****

At this point, Sunday is only half completed, but I am out of time. This story and more, to be continued...

Wednesday night was so super fun! People convened at Jerry's house for a night of game playing and drinks. Off the top of my head, it was Brian, Amanda and Chris, Brandy and JD, Wifey, Crystal, Carmen and Anna, Asian Dan, Erin, Spike, Nate...and that's about all I can come up with this second. I'm sure there were more of you, and I sincerely apologise to anyone I may have forgotten. :( Good times were had by all! The stragglers left around 1 or so. Quite a successful hangout at the Arden B Casa de Jerry. :)

Thursday, we got up and ambled about the house for a bit. Got on the road to Stillwater around 1 and arrived before 2. It's only a 20 mile drive from Arden Hills to StilH20! We walked up and down the main drag in an effort to kill a little time, and to find a suitable place for lunch. We ended up at a cute little restaurant with a retro arcade theme. Jerry played about five free games of pinball. He is (very rightly) convinced that his super power is to get free pinball wherever he goes. As soon as I touched the machine, it stopped giving him free games. He even got a quarter out of the return slot! Wacky. The place had great sandwiches, too. :)

It was finally close enough to 4pm so we could check in to our hotel. Cute little place! Of course, we got in the elevator with an older couple who had just checked in and was staying down the hall from us. Awkward conversation ensued. :P I've never gotten why it's considered weird or impolite to not make pointless conversation in situations like that...

We found our room--it was beautiful! It was really spacious, with super high ceilings. The bed was nice, but Jerry kept hitting himself on it. First, his head on the decorative carved headboard, and then his knee on the bed frame. Poor guy! We hung out in the room for a bit. Got some ice to keep our beer cold, then hit the road to see the sights.

For those of you who have never been to Stillwater, it's a touristy town. Nothing is open on a Thursday after 5pm. Probably rightly so, but it makes for a slow night for anyone who is there on a weeknight. :P We walked down by the river. Got some good shots of the water, birds and spiders. We tried in earnest to work off our late lunch so that we would be hungry for dinner later. The last place we checked out before heading back to the hotel for dinner was kind of on a lark. They advertised buy one get one free t-shirts. As we walked by, a really pretty dress caught my eye, so we stopped in. I ended up buying a couple of Kariza Wraps. They are super pretty and now I have two gorgeous dresses that fit well and I like the style. :D I wore one to dinner. :)

As we got ready for dinner, Jerry popped the cork on the champagne. It shot pretty far and ricocheted several times. I am always too scared to open champagne. :P We ended up taking the rest of the bottle with us to dinner, which was nice. Dinner was so fancy! We had the choice of an appetizer to share, soup or salad each, an entree each and dessert each. WAAAAAY too much food, if you ask me! We shared the artichoke dip and each had chicken noodle soup. He had fancy kebabs with steak, sausage and shrimp. I had a cream sauce pasta with smoked chicken. I could only eat about five bites of my meal by the time I was through with the first two courses. Dessert (Bailey's cheesecake for me, caramel apple pie for him) had to be boxed up. We couldn't eat another bite!

It was really nice to be there on a weekday. There was one other couple in the dining area when we arrived, and they left fairly early on in our meal. There were two dining rooms, as well as a patio outside. It was starting to cool off, so we opted for the inner dining room. It was nice to have a big table with lots of room to spread out. We had some lovely chats over dinner, and then sauntered back up to our room. On the way back up, Jerry wanted to stop by the scotch tasting event that was going on. The guy who was running it had chatted with Jerry earlier about scotches and liquors and whatnot. Jerry was totally right that we would be able to get a taste of a very fine scotch when the event was over. I didn't know thing one about it, other than it tasted better than I anticipated scotch would, and that it cleared my sinuses rather well. :)

We had a great night in Stillwater. We hung out in the room's hot tub for goodness only knows how many hours. I'm really wishing I had a hot tub in my room right about now. I don't think I would ever leave it in this kind of weather! :P Drank some Two Hearted...I spilled some Two Hearted on the bed and on Jerry. Whoops! I fell asleep while Jerry was watching crazy public access TV. All in all, a very successful trip...that was only half over!

Tuesday, we went our separate ways. Jerry, off to physical therapy, and me, staying home and keeping busy. I worked again. An early shift, which was nice. I spent a lot of time cleaning and NOT waiting tables. There were none to be had! I stayed for an hour after work to do the schedule, and left it unfinished. There were too many time off requests, and I wasn't 100% sure what to do with the shifts that needed filling. Based on how god awful SLOW we've been as of late, I'm not even 100% sure we need all of those shifts filled! :( I had a fancy drink that Dominic made me, some dinner, and hit the road.

Met up with everyone at Suzi's. We had a really good turnout. Nate and I ordered tots. So tasty! Everyone paid for my beer since it was my birthday on Wednesday. We have such sweet friends! :) Jerry and I headed back to his place. We headed to bed early so that I could get up early.

Wednesday, I got up sooooo painfully early. Something like 8am. Gross! I chatted with Amanda on the gmails, and generally tried to wake myself up. I double checked the map and headed out to Mom and Doug's place. What a beautiful ride from Arden Hills to Elk River! The sky had been cloudy, but on my way out there, it cleared up and the sun came out. Less than an hour TO the house, including a stop for gas. :)

Mom and I did lunch with Darin, and brought treats for his class since it was my birthday. The kids were all SUPER cute, and said thank you about a hundred times over. :) It was really cool to see how much they all like my little brother. He's cute, funny, and sociable. I'm really happy to see that he's well liked. :)

After school lunch, Mom and I found *real* lunch. We didn't eat with Darin, just hung out with him and his friends. We had hand made Mexican food at this tiny place in Monticello. So great! We went home and baked a cake. My prescription strength Sudafed kicked in and knocked me out. I slept until Darin and Doug got home from school and work, respectively.

We went to dinner at a tasty Chinese buffet place in Big Lake. Mom and Doug gave me a super nice set of knives. I'm so spoiled! We bought birthday treats for Darin at the grocery, and then I had to head home. My scooter left a giant hole in Mom and Doug's newly paved driveway. Whoops! :( I felt bad about that.

The ride back to Jerry's took longer, due to a nasty accident AND increased traffic in general. I stopped for gas again just to be sure, since we were leaving for Stillwater the next morning. Then I wouldn't have to stop right away, as is my usual. :P

**********

I'll update on the b-day party later. Now, being Monday, I have to take a shower and get on the road. :)

This jacket is adorable!

This hoodie is great, too! Perfect warmth and size for wearing under my scooter jacket as the weather cools off.

Every girl needs a giant velociraptor for her living room.

When I win the lottery, this bracelet...and the matching necklace shall be mine!

This summer, I've noticed many things around the city that I've always wanted to do, but never done...or at least haven't done them in a long ass time.

Never done:

* Take a ride on the trolley that is by Lake Calhoun
* Eat at Galactic Pizza
* Rent a canoe and paddle around Calhoun and Isles
* Go to the Mill City Museum
* See a play at the new Guthrie location
* Go to the Bakken Museum
* Walk around Lakewood

It's been a long ass time:

* Walk/bike the Stone Arch Bridge
* Visit the Sculpture Garden
* See something/someone at First Ave
* Go to Acme for open mic night
* Do Improv A Go-Go or Late Night Improv at BNW
* Go see Comedy Sportz
* See a play at Heart of the Beast
* See an Opera or Ballet
* See a show at the Chanhassen
* Go mini golfing

I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind. There are countless restaurants I'd like to visit, too. Gah, I need to just start going to these places! :D

I'm putting together ideas for my birthday next Wednesday. I'd like to do something with all of you lovelies...I'm thinking card/board games like last year, with the addition of a fancy dress party. What say you? I'd need access to a domicile with lots of table space, since mine has only four chairs and one table. :P

We have a rather large Grain Belt Premium sign that needs hanging. I'm not 100% sure how to do it, but I'd like it done SOON. Please, if you are the one to come hang it, bring tools. I can't guarantee that my one hammer and one screwdriver will be what you need. :P It's about three feet by five feet and made of pressboard. Preserving the sign for future use is pretty important.

Crystal suggested last night that we may need a piece of furniture that will function as a bar. Something that we could put directly beneath the Premium sign. Any ideas?

I also have a mirror that I need hung in my closet, as well as two posters in my living room. There may be other fun little projects when you get here, so come prepared to work! I will provide tasty beverages and potentially dinner for your help. Any takers? :)