Dog Comic Strip

My dog is one of the laziest out there. But he is also really, really loyal. Thanks Lenny, buddy ole pal.

{found via this awesome website}

Heeeey Lenny!

A "Meet-Cute"

{I believe that this couple had a meet-cute. Maybe they met at their first UW football game}

{I took this after leaving Camp Randall...I understand that I'm a creep. Whatever. It was too cute to pass up}

Wikipedia defines a meet-cute as: "In film, the encounter of two potential romantic characters in unusual or comic circumstances. Usually involves something awkward or embarrassing taking place." Well, I would say the following true story definitely qualifies as a meet-cute.

Four years ago, when i was 18, i noticed that at night my front window is very reflective so i was pretending to dive in slow motion and shoot, dual pistol style. Suddenly a really hot girl walked past and i was startled and fell over. Embarrassed i waited for a bit and then stood up. As i stood up i saw her slowly shooting an imaginary rifle from behind a car. We then proceeded to do this for 10 minutes until she died an extremely dramatic death. She wasn't getting up so i went outside to meet her. Once i got to where she was, there was nothing but a piece of paper with a mobile number on it. Today, we are getting married.

{found via Tumblr betterversionofme}

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ! ! !

In unrelated news: I HATE when teachers are overly ambitious when making exams. I just came back from a test in which my professor basically squished 90 minutes worth of essay questions into a 50 minute class period. NOT cool. Usually I am a slow test taker, but this time everyone was slow. I think just about every student was still writing when he said, "Hey folks hand in your exams. There is another class waiting." Don't you "hey folks" me. If you were in my position you'd still being sitting down too. Argggg frustrating. Whatever. I'm over it (but not really). To forget about that stupid exam, I am lying in bed, looking up Ty Beanie Babies that remind me of my childhood, eating a bagel with cream cheese, and about to to watch Bottle Rocket... which I actually have to write a 10 page paper on for next week.

Happy Birthday Momma !!!

Happy Birthday to a mom that makes the lyrics, "God only knows what I'd be without you," so true and close to my heart. Each day I see how I am turning into you, and while at times it is seriously scary (my cackle becoming more and more in tune with your own), I can't think of a person I'd more like to take after. Your spunk, warm personality, go get em attitude, attention to detail, sense of humor, 50's style dance moves, and way of making everyone feel welcomed, are just a few of the things that make me smile on a daily basis.

When stressed you always remind me to pause, take a step back, and look at the bigger picture - I have a healthy family, loving friends, and a good education. Little things are important, but not as important as friends and family and my well-being.

And at other times, you tell me to cut the shenanigans and JUST DO IT. Those words have gotten me through several exams, papers, workouts, games, apologies, confrontations, and the list continues.

Happy Birthday Mom. I hope you are drinking a margarita at Cafe Salsa this very moment. Or maybe not this very moment because it's only 3:45. But, in three hours I hope you are drinking that margarita.

Love you,

KQ

Greg Otto + Chicago

In July I saw a free prescreening of 500 Days of Summer in Evanston with my mom. My dad, per usual, had a thought process like this, "Ok it might fill up quickly. You should get there at least 2 hours before the show. And leave 40 minutes for driving. And maybe 15 extra minutes in case you can't find parking. Oh, and if you plan on eating, all the nearby restaurants probably will be booked, so you should give yourself another 20 minutes."

So my mom and I left about 3 hours before show time. And needless to say, we were the first freaking people there. By a lot. My dad really likes to be on time and he hates being in a rush. I should probably follow his lead, for it seems as though I am almost always in a rush (my roommate Lauren can attest to this...I usually leave like 5 minutes before my classes start... Yet I still manage to be on time. Thank you Jesus).

What was I even talking about? Oh yes, 500 Days of Summer. Well long story short, we had a lot of time to kill. Lucky me one of my favorite stores was next to the theater. BLICKS art materials. Now I am no artist (painter, sculptor, animator etc.) but I sure do like art supplies. And crafts. Crafts are fun. dgahdghasdfjaskldfhash Who cares? I think I am delirious right now. Need. Sleep. Well, again, long story short, I found these Greg Otto note cards and I bought them. The end. I hope that was enlightening. I think I just put myself to sleep. Whatever. Greg Otto is awesome, and these note cards are my favorite. Woooo yay for writing letters. Ok I'm going to sleep now. Sorry for wasting your time. But before you go, check out Greg Otto!! (actually it's a pretty lame website. it only has his contact info and such. but if you want that, then by all means, check her out!)

Wonderful Tonight

Gets. Me. Every. Freaking. Time.

I want this to be my "first dance" at my wedding. Yeah, I decided that quite some time ago. If my mom is reading this she's probably rolling her eyes and muttering something like, "Kathleen, you are always looking ahead. Why don't you just enjoy the here and now?"

Well excuse me for once in a while (aka almost every night) not being able to go to bed, putting on my "Sleepy Time" playlist, and putting this song on repeat. So what if I've already imagined this dance with a mystery fellow. So what if this day won't come for like years and years and years (if ever).

Pattie Boyd is so freaking lucky. Eric wrote this song for her, and George Harrison (sigh, swoon, batting my eyelashes, and other girly expressions) wrote "Something" for her. Any boys that wish to write me a song as romantic as either of the aforementioned are more than welcome to do so.

Oh yeah, and this may or may not be the dress I want to wear on my wedding. Ok I'll stop.

{found via Cup of Jo}

I think I'd like that very much

Olivia over at everyday musings (one of my favorite favorite blogs) is having a giveaway! AND it is a super cute giveaway. busybeelauren makes them, and this one is called "angie." Isn't it just darling? It would be perfect for a night out with some girlfriends, OR it would be perfect for a more sophisticated African Safari party. I know, you are thinking, "Kathleen, there aren't peacocks in Africa." And to that I say, "YES THERE ARE!" Trust me I've done my research. Last year I went to an African Safari party and really wanted to be a peacock, and guess what, there is the Congo Peacock. Now the girl Congo's aren't that pretty, but the men are beautiful! So I went as a male. Oh well.

{katie and me at the African Safari partaaay.}

{you can see my feathers in the upper right corner.}

{i don't know that i have ever tried smiling so hard in my life. yikes.}

Now go enter the giveaway over at Olivia's to win!!!

Rando

{this has nothing to do with anything. and yet, it has everything to do with everything}

1) The smell of Cetaphil face soap is literally one of my favorite smells in the whole wide world. Does that make me weird?

2) I am super grossed out by the hard stuff that forms in a lotion pump when you haven't used the lotion for a few days. Ya know whatta mean?

3) I don't understand the "view all" option on clothing websites. Why wouldn't you want to view all? Separating dresses onto a million pages doesn't make sense. Maybe I'm wrong.

4) The fitted sheet is enough. All other sheets just make me feel claustrophobic. My legs get tangled.

5) I'm really good at laughing at inopportune/inappropriate times. I gotta work on it. Like laughing out loud during a presentation when a student says the word "whiz" to describe a bike riding by is pretty immature. Not being able to stop laughing and having to leave the room is even worse. Yikes.

A Photo-shoot with Lenny

"Home is wherever I'm with you"

Don't make fun of me. I really like my dog.

{Whether or not Lenny likes me on any given day is pretty much solely dependent on how many treats I've given him}

{Smooshed}

{Lenny, you're scaring people}

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday to a man who gives so much and never asks for anything in return. I know right now you are at work, probably removing a gallbladder or doing some other kind of surgery that would make me and a lot of other people want to puke. But I hope at least at some point today you get a chance to relax in the lazy boy, close your eyes, and be at peace.

I hope that sometime soon you get to fulfill your dream of going to Estes Park, Colorado with only a sleeping bag and spending the night on a mountain top underneath the stars. I'll come with if you need company.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you and always will.

{another post about my dad}

One year, One month, & One day Kidney Stone Free !!!

{For the sake of everyone, there were no pictures taken during either kidney stone disaster. However, I did find this gem... 5th grade... when i broke my nose and had surgery. And when i thought it was a good idea to tuck my shirt into my jeans. Double ouch}

Soooooo the disclaimer is: Drink lots of water with lemon juice. It helps prevent Kidney stones.

Though most people who get kidney stones get them when they are in their 50s, I have had the pleasure of getting them when I was 18 and 19. I've had three. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! Total bogus. I don't know what I've done to deserve them, but they sure do like me. Well anyway, I've been a little over a year kidney stone free, and that makes me mucho mucho happy. KNOCK ON WOOD.

I'll never forget my first kidney stone. It went a lil something like this.... Freshman year. Dorms. 9 PM. Day before leaving for home for Thanksgiving break. Laying on couch. Reading Youth in Revolt. Sharp pain in back. Think I have food poisoning from eating my roommates salsa (because ya know, karma's a bitch). Go to the bathroom and lay on floor (I know disgusting). Proceed to throw up for a half hour. Cry a lot. Go to my bedroom and try to fall asleep. Can hear loud drunk floor-mates being drunk because they don't have class the next day. Go back to the bathroom and lay on floor for 1 hour. More throw up (girl on my floor who I never really talked to asks if I am alright. She thinks I'm wasted. I'm not). Go to my RA and tell her I'm really sick and think I have food poisoning. We call the hospital and the nurse tells me to just try to fall asleep. Now I start really really crying, because that's like the worst news ever (how am I suppose to fall asleep when I can barely sit still without moaning in pain?). My friend Shannon says that's ridiculous and decides to bring me to the ER anyway. Can't even walk so they wheelchair me in. Doc says "you have a kidney stone". They won't give me any medicine until I give them a urine sample (which is really unfortunate because when you have a kidney stone it's nearly impossible to go the bathroom). I go the bathroom. I cry more on the floor because I'm in pain and just want the flipping drugs that'll make me feel better. I guess I went. They give me the medicine. I finally fall asleep around 2 AM. Wake up and my dad is there. He drives me home to Chicago. I spend Thanksgiving in bed.

Fast forward about a year later to December 30... the kidney stones strike again!!! But this time I knew EXACTLY what it was. It's a very unique pain. I was trying on the Juicy Couture bathrobe my godmother gave me for Christmas. 4 hours later I was in the hospital. Happy freaking New Year's Eve.

I was always an Ashley fan

it felt like everyone liked Mary Kate growing up. but not me. i was an Ashley fan. i'm not quite sure why. i'm actually probably more like MK - louder, lil more outgoing, more tomboyish. i like how i'm acting right now like i actually know the Olsen's. if only.

So I grew up in the early 90s. And being a girl, that almost automatically made me a MK&A fanatic. It was almost a law. I even went to a birthday party in 1st grade that was Mystery themed just like their mystery adventure films. Needless to say, it was Awesome.

Oh, and a cool tidbit. circa 2003 a random website had a giveaway for two outfits from MK&A's movie "When in Rome". Well my cousin Pattie was a die hard fan and obviously entered the contest. Well she won! And she still has the clothes. She said it's almost impossible for anyone to fit their arm through even the pant leg.

{image from Nylon Magazine}

Winter Break Reminiscing

Dear winter break, at times you had a way of making me feel really lazy and spoiled and useless. But now that I am back at school and already submerged in reading reading reading, I kinda want you back. At least the part about getting to sleep in.

{sunset outside my bedroom window}

Ice Skating at Wrigley (but I'm still a Sox fan. South Siiiiide)

Ann, me, Lauren

makes me laugh every time. surprisingly, Lauren doesn't fall

awwww. hi mikey!

Art Institute of Chicago (my favorite place ever)

contemporary art in the Modern Wing

I want to be that cabin on the river's edge.

Harald Sohlberg - Fisherman's Cottage

Van Gogh, our love blossomed in the summer of 2003 when I read three books on you.

Still going strong.

Vincent Van Gogh - Bedroom in Arles

The Shedd Aquarium

yay Shauna came to visit!!! and I nearly got us lost. woops.

flubbery

imagine waking up to that every morning. yikes.

Turning 21 !!!

On MLK Day, January 18th, I turned 21 !!! It was a blast. Thank you to all my friends and family for celebrating with me and for all the birthday wishes.

My parents, my brother Matt, and his girlfriend Lindsey went to Benihanas on the 14th to celebrate early since I was leaving for school on Saturday. I was so pumped for the night because I was really craving Japanese food, and I love watching them do all their tricks. Well then I got super super pumped when I walked into the restaurant and was surprised by my cousins and aunts and uncles!!!! My mom invited them without my knowing. It was the best! I couldn't stop smiling.

Aunt Maureen, me, Aunt Sharon

Lindsey, Matt, Colleen, me, Sean, Brendan, Kelly

Our chef Jay cutting up some zucchini

My mom listening intently to Lindsey's ordering advice since my mom was overwhelmed by the menu and Lindsey actually knew what was going on.

My Uncle Skip and Uncle Jim looking on as the food preparations come out.

Benihana Punch

And then on Sunday we had people at our place until Midnight. And then we headed to the bars because, ya know, I'm a cool 21 year old and I'm now able to to actually able to get in. We had a short mishap when I lost my wallet at like 11:50 pm right when we were ready to head out. My roommate Lauren was yelling at people to help, "Why are you just standing THERE??? Kathleen is turning 21 in 10 minutes and she can't find her ID!!!!" Turns out the wallet was on my bed. I'm pathetic. Anyway we get to the bar the Nitty Gritty which gives out free beer to anyone celebrating their birthday. So my roommate Annie and I go up to the bar and they say "What kind do you want?" and I answer "Bud". I have no idea why I said that, especially considering I could have gotten like nice, real quality beer like Spotted Cow or something. And my friend Luke goes, "Kathleen, you just ordered a Budweiser. Did you mean Bud Lite?" Well, I did mean Bud Lite but I was just being too stupid to know the difference, so Luke had to run after the bartender to let her know what I actually wanted. Rough Kathleen, rough.

My friend (and future roomie) Shauna singing happy birthday to me. You go girl!

By the time I got to the bar, the only two balloons they had left were orange and yellow. And I definitely was not too happy about it. But I went with orange because it's my dad's favorite color.

Oh well. Cheers to being 21 !!!!

Snookie

Paying respect where respect is due.

"Now there goes a hair-do any guidette would be lucky to snag a nail on. Oh my god."

All is Quiet on New Year's Day

Per usual, I'm late. NYE/day was quite some time ago, but I thought I'd still document them. Because they were just THAT good. I'm kidding. Well no I'm not kidding. They were good, but they weren't like OMG good. You know what I mean. Or maybe not. Whatever.

We always see a movie as a family on NYE. This year we saw "Up in the Air" and it was awesome. Probably the best movie I've seen in awhile. George Clooney was perfectly cast. And the soundtrack is good too. Definitely see this movie if you haven't already.

Later I went over to my friend Lauren's house where a small group of us gathered. We ate chips with homemade guacamole, drank some good ole beer, and played different games including one called Telestrations. Lauren almost peed her pants with excitement (not really though). But she just really likes the game. And then we ended the night by all getting into our pajamas and watching The Lion King. Nature can be such a B*tch. Why does Mufasa have to die? It still makes me tear up.

And Lenny and I took a New Year's Day walk in our quaint town. The most hoppin one in Illinois (sarcasm). But I sure do love my town. Even if it's not all that hoppin. And Lenny likes it too.

Oh and here is just some U2 for ya. Alright then. Cheers.

"A world in white gets underway"