Monthly Archives: November 2007

WORLD OF CHOCOLATE!

Yes, that's right. I'm going to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's benefit, the WORLD OF CHOCOLATE. I remember watching TV shows about this when we lived in BG and now I get to attend! I'm currently working on my buffet strategy. Wish me luck.

11.29.07 11:03am(1 comment)

The 2008 Kristyland xmas wishlist extravaganza buying guide and suggestions

HERE is my xmaslist this year. A few words about the xmaslist:

1. No, I don't expect to get everything on here, this is mere suggestion. I like giving gifts more than I like receiving them (no seriously - I am *damn* good at buying gifts and I like to make them sometimes too). I'd be just as happy if you donated to some of my favorite charities in lieu of giving me a gift.

2. There's a lot of kitcheny stuff on the xmaslist not because I'm undergoing some sort of anti-feminist regression into the kitchen but rather because SOMEone encouraged me (read: nagged) to go fill out a whole bunch of wedding registries. I didn't get a wedding shower and not too many people bought us stuff off of our registry (this is completely OK, btw and we're very thankful for all the gifts we did receive), so now, after all that research to find the best items and what everyone simply must have for their home and kitchen, I want a lot of the things that I put on the registries. I found it incredibly easy to transfer that stuff to my xmaslist, so there ya go.

3. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy me *stuff* - knick knacks, things that exist only to be looked at, various items that i would need to put on a shelf somewhere. I am out of shelf and am actively removing stuff to get more shelf. Don't put us in that awkward position where I had to donate your xmas present so that I could save the apartment from looking like a horder lived there. Pretty Please.

4. I am also going through my crafty stash so outside of what I've listed on my xmaslist, I need no further craft supplies. The exception to this rule is always luscious, natural fiber, handspun, hand dyed yarn. Pink is my favorite color but I also have a penchant for rainbowed yarn.

5. Unless you're my mom buying me my xmas PJ's, don't buy me clothes either. This also makes for very awkward situations for me. I do need clothes, though, so if you want, you could buy me a gift certificate to Torrid, Lane Bryant, Avenue or Old Navy

6. Gift certificates are OK too - Tom and I shop a lot at Target, Ikea, Costco, Peapod, Whole Foods, New Egg, Amazon, etc.

7. If you can, try to buy local or independent. Etsy.com offers a lot of really cute things from indie artists.

That is all, I think. By following these suggestions I think we'll all be able to avoid most awkward holiday gift giving situations. I'm not trying to be bratty here, I just don't want anyone to waste any money - xmas is commercial enough as it is and doesn't need further contribution.

11.29.07 7:46am(2 comments)

Technology is a beautiful thing

The quarter and the first major holiday of the season are both over and all of the stresses each carry with it have been dealt with thus leaving me time to blog again. Huzzah! I have survived!

Many of you know of my arch nemesis, the hypodermic needle, and our various encounters over the years, most of which I have emerged defeated, fainted, and on the tail end of a panic attack. Syringes and I don't get along and haven't since I was about 11 years old. I'm not quite sure why I have a specific phobia with a syringe trigger, but I do have some theories. Don't worry - I will spare you the fantastic journey deep into my psyche, but it has something to do, I think, with various loved ones and childhood friends being in and out of hospitals throughout my youth. Young Kristy spent a lot of time in hospitals, none of that time was for her own illnesses. At some point, I must've made some sort of severe association that I'm still trying to break.

And there are various stories - from when I passed out during the TB test when I volunteered for the hospital and they changed my assignment to outpatient phlebotemy (damn sadistic catholics and their hospital). Or when I cried during a hepatitis vaccination and the dr. told me to suck it up. Or, more recently, when I was able to get firmly in my happy place enough to have someone get a blood sample, only to find that my veins were, all of a sudden, nowhere to be found - only to be stuck in the other arm with no luck there either.

Well it looks like there may be some developments, thanks to an ink jet printer, that my solve some of my issues: Check it out

This is all very exciting for me, although I'll still have to find my power animal for those consarnate blood samples.

11.28.07 7:43am(2 comments)

A day in the life

I haven't been blogging as much as I had hoped; between working full time and going to school full time, I've been keeping myself pretty busy. A shout out goes deservingly to Tom, who has managed to keep our home in good shape in my absence (thank you). Instead of a full post, I'll just give you a few interesting tidbits:

From the small world dpt:

My stepdad ran into one of my college roomates on a pest control call in Bartlesville. He was chattin her up while doing his thing and somehow got on the topic of Ohio and college and then me. Strange thing is that this is the old roomate who was from Chicago. I guess her husband got a job with Conoco Phillips and they recently moved to Bville recently. Talk about six degrees of bartlesville- i swear i know so many people who have some sort of strange connection to that place.

From the bandwagon dpt:

After five years of active resistance to any pc games, I've started playing World of Warcraft. Why start now? Well, I needed something to help me get out some aggression and let me tell you, slaying some monsters really helps. Also as much fun as playing is creating characters and getting set up to play. Right now I've got a few different characters that I play, but my main is a level 19 Orc Warrior whose name is an old norse word for sword goddess. I started another character whose name is esperanto for 'made of candy' which I think is incredibly funny. I play on Icecrown and usually at night after for an hour or so with my workmates (it's teambuilding right?) and my pal E set me up with this tricked out, super-ergo game pad, so I've got a really nice setup.

From the nostalgia dpt:

Thanks to many years of tv, video games, and especially the Internet, my attention span is short, so I find myself day dreaming in class sometimes. My management professor kind of looks like a hipster David Hasslehoff (young Hoff, not old, creepy, plastic face, drunk on the floor, videotaped by his kid Hoff) so at the point when I can't absorb any more information, my mind laps into a dream where some of the students turn into karate choppin' bad guys and then Kit drives into the classroom to the knight rider theme song. Dodo Dodo Dodo. Dodo. Dodo. Yeah - a three hour class and Kristy's brain do not mix very well, but making fun of David Hasslehoff is fun :)

This one is just hilarious:

I have a newfound admiration for Steve Carell who informed NBC that he is unable to work due to a case of "enlarged balls." See more about the WGA strike at United Hollywood

From the 'I can't believe it's so awesome' dpt:

Guitar Hero III is awesome, but I really don't like battle mode. Ooooohhh Barracuda!

Ravelry.com is also awesome - and a ruby on rails app to be much admired. If you <3 yarn, you should join. Speaking of yarn, my pal E went to peru and brought back some fabulous alpaca yarn for me that I've finally decided to turn into my first fair isle project - maybe a scarf, hat, gloves combo if I have enough yarn. So now I'm looking for some super geeky fair isle - I know there exists some star wars, pirate, and 8 bit fair isle, so I'll let y'all know what I come up with. The yarn is maybe a fingering / sock weight, so whatever I do will be very fine and feminine with a little geek thrown in for kicks - it is all very exciting.

11.08.07 7:40am(0 comments)