Claiming the page

Keeping a diary always sounds good in theory.

If you are anything like me, you write it in about 11 times (at max) and then forget it exists.

I just came across my diary that I started in third grade. Here is a memorable entry:

“Grace was over. We made a dance routine to ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls. I told her Posh was my favorite and she told me that Posh is ugly and looks like a camel. When she left I ran to my room and cried.”

WOWZA someone get my 9-year-old self on Dr. Phil stat!

Well, my dearest friend Anne got me a journal from Florence when she studied abroad in Italy.

I am determined to write it in often. Anything and everything. I keep it at my bedside. Here is my first entry:

"When I was 15 this popular girl in my Foods and Wellness class told me that in order to get rid of the suds quicker when rinsing the dishes, you should use cold water. I never really investigated it; I always just took it as fact. I almost asked her why but instead I told her I liked her jean jacket. 15 - eager to smile - naive - dumbo eyes -- I still haven't changed."

*I just investigated the cold water trick. Turns out she was right. Something about dissipation or some shenanigans of that sort. Sounds made up to me.

Chumba Confession

One time I asked Teddy (my boyfriend at the time) to our high school's turnabout dance - King of Hearts. I made him this plate and piled on homemade chocolate chip cookies. I remember driving home from giving it to him and being all giddy and blasting Chumbawamba (because it was on the radio and I was feeling it. get off my back.)

Then a possum darted in front of my car and I killed it. On accident.

Whenever I drive down that street or hear the song "Tubthumping" (what a peculiar name) I get the shivers. Bad shivers.

martha's vineyard and cape cod

Vacationing with my parents = one big fanny pack adventure

OK there weren't actually any fanny packs involved, but there might as well have been. Between my mom's constant picture taking, me with my video camera, and my dad's three maps, we screamed tourists. My mom literally stopped traffic to take a picture of a fire hydrant. The people in the cars weren't even upset that my mom was holding them up; I think they were just stunned that there was a lady taking a picture of a fire hydrant. It kind of reminded me of the scene from Anchorman when Ron Burgundy says to Baxter, "What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole... wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing." In both situations, there was just pure awe.

I must admit though, I was the one who asked my mom to take the picture. Upon seeing this particular fire hydrant, I think I said something like, "Mom, look at that fire hydrant. Light blue? Take a picture." My dad then just rolled his eyes and kept walking.

{Window shopping in Falmouth with my mom}

{A random barking chocolate lab my mom and I named Buster}

{Walking through a garden on the Cape. Notice the map in the back pocket}

{Houses in Martha's Vineyard that are too cute for their own good}

{The infamous fire hydrant. But honestly, are these common? I've never seen these colors in the midwest}

Memorial Day

{Memorial Day circa 1993. I'm on the far left}

Between the huge bruise on my foot from clumsily dropping the hair dryer, the nasty sunburn I received on Sunday (I kept reapplying spf 50 only to find out that the sunscreen expired in 1996 and therefore wasn't doing diddly-squat...), and the ghastly pale skin that hasn't had sun exposure, I am red white and blue. How appropriate for Memorial Day. I'd like to say I planned it, but that would just be a lie.

{The lovely side view of my sunburned thigh}

I started off my Memorial Day at 3 am to the sound of a whimpering dog. Lenny? What the heck? I haven't heard him whimper since he was like 8 months old. So begrudgingly I go downstairs to let him go the bathroom. How nice of me, right? Well then the darn dog didn't want to come in. No good deed goes unpunished. Finally I got him back in and I head upstairs to return to my slumber. Five minutes later the whimpering is back. I think to myself, "Maybe he's not done doing his business." So I go back down and open the backdoor. He just looks at it and instead sits next to refrigerator and looks up at where we keep his treats. Oh hell no. So I go back up to bed. Three minutes later? More of the damn whimpering. Apparently Lenny was lonely or something because eventually I moved my pillow and comforter to the family room couch where he nestled his head into the crook of my arm as I slept. That darn dog. God love him.

Once I finally woke up, the rest of the day went a lil something like dis...

1) It was rainy for a good chunk of the afternoon, so I welcomed the opportunity to bury myself in covers and finish reading Wonderful Tonight. I started reading it last summer right before school started and unfortunately didn't get to finish it before classes got into full swing. I wasn't alive in the 60's but I'm pretty sure I have/always will have Beatlemania.

2) I soothed my sunburns by applying aloe a bajillion times.

2) Inspired by old photographs of Pattie Boyd and her beautiful eyes, I tried my hand at 60's eye makeup. Needless to say, it didn't quite turn out.

3) Watched the Blackhawks win (!!!) and watched the Bachelorette (some of the guys = holy hair gel) with friends.

4) Laughed out loud as I watched this clip literally four times in a row. Stephen Merchant, I love you. Extras, I love you.

happy birthday sammy rae !!!

My dear friend Sam turned 21 yesterday and I was fortunate enough to celebrate with her in Chicago!

Between all of us convincing Sam to dance on the bar, boogy woogying to Twist and Shout, our cab driver speeding like a madman and randomly blasting Single Ladies with 30 seconds left in the trip (?), eating chili con queso at three in the morning, a leaky toilet, and me pleading with everyone to go back to sleep because it was 7:30 in the morning, I'd say it was a successful birthday!

{Sam, me, Anne}

Sam and I have been close buddies since Kindergarten. She had long hair but then she got a bowl cut. I remember I asked her why her hair was so short and she told me she stuck her head in an oven and the fire singed it off. Besides that being one of the meanest lies ever, the worst part is that I believed the story until about my sophomore year of high school.

{Anne, Sam, me}

All the greats wore hats

Prime examples include -- Abe Lincoln, Donald Duck, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez.

So, you can imagine my discontent when my brother told me I didn't fit in with the hat wearing elite. Here is a conversation from two days ago. I was sitting in the kitchen eating (naturally) and he walks in from running errands.

Matt: What are you wearing?

Me: A swimsuit and coverup. I was just reading outside.

Matt: No. What's on your head?

Me: Uh a Sox baseball cap.

Matt: You don't wear hats.

Me: Clearly I do.

Matt: When?

Me: When I played softball.

Matt: You were like six.

{silence...}

Matt: It looks weird. Take it off.

Clearly this picture proves that I (on the left) am a hat fashionista. Actually, this picture asserts that I'm a fashionista in general. Little Mermaid skates? Check. Hawaiian themed hat? Check. White washed jean overalls? Check. Bright orange shirt? Check.

It's no wonder I had soooo many boys chasing me back in the day.

Missing Mallory

One of my dearest friends Mallory is studying abroad in Buenos Aires. It's great for her because she gets all this life experience and blah blah blah, but it is bad for me because I don't get to see her months at a time.

{Oh well aren't you just a little charmer wandering around Patagonia }

Mal, remember that time we went to Ian's Pizzeria around two in the morning? After eating our slices we kinda just sat there and watched as others moseyed in and out of the place. I then spotted you eyeing a piece of crust sitting on a paper plate at our table that someone had left behind. You looked at it with such longing and I said, "I won't judge." It's all history from there.

Yearning and other unfavorable feelings

I think this song speaks volumes for just about any person who went to high school. Heck, even preschoolers could probably relate (minus the whole drinking aspect). Isn't being jealous one of the worst inescapable feelings? Well, I think so.

Sidenote: I have about 5 of those turtlenecks the lead singer is wearing.

Anyway, this song rules (as do turtlenecks). RIP Doug Hopkins.

Tell me do you think itd be all right

If I could just crash here tonight
You can see Im in no shape for driving
And anyway Ive got no place to go
And you know it might not be that bad
You were the best Id ever had
If I hadnt blown the whole thing years ago
I might not be alone
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
And you can trust me not to think
And not to sleep around
If you dont expect too much from me
You might not be let down
Cause all I really want is to be with you
Feeling like I matter too
If I hadnt blown the whole thing years ago
I might be here with you
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
She took my heart
Theres only one thing I couldnt start

"Is this real life?"

Today and the past few days I've felt like an odd combination of the following clips.

Strange. Very, very strange.

"We were twenty for such a short time"

I absolutely love this poem. It makes me think of my brothers and how lucky I am to have them in my life.

You Can Have It by Philip Levine

My brother comes home from work

and climbs the stairs to our room.

I can hear the bed groan and his shoes drop

one by one. You can have it, he says.

The moonlight streams in the window

and his unshaven face is whitened

like the face of the moon. He will sleep

long after noon and waken to find me gone.

Thirty years will pass before I remember

that moment when suddenly I knew each man

has one brother who dies when he sleeps

and sleeps when he rises to face this life,

and that together they are only one man

sharing a heart that always labors, hands

yellowed and cracked, a mouth that gasps

for breath and asks, Am I gonna make it?

All night at the ice plant he had fed

the chute its silvery blocks, and then I

stacked cases of orange soda for the children

of Kentucky, one gray boxcar at a time

with always two more waiting. We were twenty

for such a short time and always in

the wrong clothes, crusted with dirt

and sweat. I think now we were never twenty.

In 1948 in the city of Detroit, founded

by de la Mothe Cadillac for the distant purposes

of Henry Ford, no one wakened or died,

no one walked the streets or stoked a furnace,

for there was no such year, and now

that year has fallen off all the old newspapers,

calendars, doctors’ appointments, bonds,

wedding certificates, drivers licenses.

The city slept. The snow turned to ice.

The ice to standing pools or rivers

racing in the gutters. Then bright grass rose

between the thousands of cracked squares,

and that grass died. I give you back 1948.

I give you all the years from then

to the coming one. Give me back the moon

with its frail light falling across a face.

Give me back my young brother, hard

and furious, with wide shoulders and a curse

for God and burning eyes that look upon

all creation and say, You can have it.

Dancing like an Elephant

I'm just gonna stomp my feet to the beat, bob my head, and carelessly sway my arms. I JUST finished my last exam and now all I wanna do is mindlessly dance.

Oh and I also want to watch Toy Story. And in aboooout one hour that desire will come to fruition.

Rex and Woody, here I come!

*Sidenote: Is it just me or in Toy Story 2 isn't Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl being abandoned my her owner one of cinema's saddest moments?

fun things 2 do when u should study 4 finals

In no specific order

1

Wear your ma's pepper themed pajamas because you failed to bring anything other than possible interview outfits home for the weekend. Throw on her glasses for the heck of it

2

Almost break a dishwasher (that was a close one)

3

Eat four Fannie Mae mint meltaways for breakfast (don't judge)

4

Talk to a slightly confused Polish lady who needs help printing at the library

5

Have a 5 minute face-to-face conversation with your dog Lenny telling him he needs to stop growing white hairs. Aesthetics aside, it just reminds me that I'm getting older

6

Take a cab ride with a guy who asks how old you are, what town you live in, your major, what school you go to, and what company you're interviewing for. He is either being über friendly or meticulously plotting... Anyway, proceed to answer his questions with the following: "I'm Claire from Oak Park, majoring in Journalism and interviewing for a temp job at a newspaper". Lies, Lies, Lies!!!! (I kind of feel bad for being untruthful, but at least I feel safe)

7

Watch the entire 2003 Britney Spears and Diane Sawyer interview on youtube

happy momma's day, momma

Don't worry momma, I am right here at home - Steve Miller

Happenstance brought me home to Chicago this weekend, so luckily, I got to spend Mother's Day with my momma.

Between my interview and her work schedule we still managed to watch Modern Family (the same episode twice), cuddle on the couch, and walk through the backyard garden. When I asked you if you and dad walk through the garden on a daily basis, you said, "Of course. I make him." That made me laugh. And it still is making me laugh.

Mom, it feels almost silly to say it, only because I think you already know it, but I'll say it anyway -- I'd be lost without you. You mean so much to me. I admire your smile, your kindness, your sincerity and your goofiness. I appreciate your advice and your continuous love. You listen to me when even I wouldn't want to listen to me and you put up with me when even I wouldn't want to put up with me. I guess that's what love is all about. More or less.

Come on mommy just dance wit me, let the whole world see your dancing feet - Kanye

Speaking of goofy, ya know what was goofy? This weekend when you insisted dad turn off the instrumental music he was playing and made him turn on Lady Gaga so we could dance. You then proceeded to show me your moves and asked me to show you mine. And why did you want to see my moves? You said you wanted to practice so you could look cool when you come to party with me and my girlfriends to Lady Gaga at my house next year. I think you think all I do is party and dance. But hate to break it to ya ma, but if you wanna get good grades, college can't be just one big dance party, despite how enticing the music may be. You make me question how much work actually got done at Marquette when you went there. Working hard or hardly working? Hee hee I'm just kidding.

Love you,

KQ

la la la I'm Nervous!

I have an interview today. And I'm quite nervous. I wouldn't say I have butterflies. No, it's more like I have a slew of yippity yappity squirrels dancing about in my stomach. I sure wish they would take a rest. Right now I am looking over "behavioral interview questions" via google. Questions like, "Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem." Or, "Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree." I'm nervous coming up with these answers in my head and no one is even around (well, except for the guy snoring at the library table next to me), so I'm a bit anxious about how it will go down when I actually have the interviewees in front of me. I hope they're nice. I really, really, really hope they are nice.

To calm my nerves I will momentarily dream about the following

{Pumping water like I use to at the ole family reunions in Earlville}

{via}
{Quiet time spent reading books in she shade}

{via}

{Walks through secret gardens that aren't all that secret. I don't care }

My Little Lamb turned 21

Lauren, my little lamb, and who just so happens to share a bedroom with me (I know, isn't she lucky?), turned 21 on May 2nd !!! Her mom and sister came to town and treated a group of us to dinner at a place called Brickhouse BBQ. It was deeeeelicious! I chowed down on that pulled pork sandwich like I hadn't eaten in days.

Here are just a few of the reasons I love Lauren:

1) She puts up with my 3 alarms. But really I think after sharing a room with me for two years, she has grown so accustomed to the sound ("I don't wanna be a playa no more" in case you were wondering) it has just become background noise. Like birds chirping in the morn. Don't even faze her.

2) She's got a sass like J.Lo that only I understand and appreciate.

3) She makes the best homemade guacamole and shares it with me.

4) She has a pretty smile and a pretty dimple.

5) She let's me use her hair dryer because mine is really crappy.

6) We gossip and giggle before we go to sleep.

7) Back massages.

8) Her one liners like "Shoot a monkey" that don't make sense but make me laugh. And now I say them too.

{Birthday Girl and her free beer}

{I bought purple daisies for our kitchen because purple is her favorite}

{We are always laughing}