HEY! It's me!!

So much for the resolution to blog daily.. DOH! Oh yeah, I traded that in to resolve to "doin' it" with Donnie instead. Anyway, AppleSass Studio is up and running and has actually been a fairly successful venture! I love product design and am so happy with my new-found freedom from living life under the iron fist of THE MAN! Business was a little slow for a good portion of the summer but, hey, it was summer. I really can't complain!

I have spent the bulk of my spring/summer fund raising and doing training walks in preparation for the upcoming 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. I am so grateful to everyone who has donated their time, money and support. It's been pretty awesome! Walking for hours upon hours a day has recently started to wear on me. My attitude had begun to turn sour. However, my rejuvenated love for NKOTB led me to Danny Wood's tribute to his mom, Betty, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 1999 (www.rememberbetty.org). After reading the site with tears in my eyes I feel freshly motivated to get back out there and finish what I've started. It couldn't have come at a better time with an 18-mile training walk scheduled for this weekend. The 3-Day is just 2 weeks from this Friday. I am really pretty excited for it! 60 miles in 3 days... It will be a great bond for me and my cousin, Jennie. I anticipate a pretty emotional journey.

The aforementioned rejuvenated love for NKOTB has been super fun!! My junior high b/f/f and I went to check them out at Mall of America a couple weeks ago. I was amazed at how quickly all those feelings came back - "Oh my gosh! There they are! They are so hot!!!" It was a blast. I've been recording their interviews and performances and picked up the new CD "The Block" yesterday. The funny thing is, this time around I am taking their pictures with my digital camera, recording the shows with my DVR, reading blog entries on My Space and driving myself in my own car to see them perform. Oh, and I have WAY better hair now. The most noticeable difference between me the Blockhead then and me the Blockhead now is that this time I am attending The Kids concert with friends who are pregnant with their 2nd and 3rd children! My how we've grown up. It's so much fun to experience this all over again.

Oktoberfest is fast approaching. Crystal and I are taking our guys to brew beer for the party as part of their birthday present this year! Should be a great time!! We are also planning a coaster invitation craft-a-thon for this Friday. Invites should be in the mail soon!

Linden Hills is Minneapolis' pilot neighborhood for organics recycling (aka commercial composting). Do-do-do-doo-do-dooooo... I am our block's Compost Captain! Unfortunately, this honor does not come with a cape. DRAT! We should have our compost bins next week which will be pretty awesome. I am hoping this year's Oktoberfest party will be a near Zero Waste event! That is, if all you drunken foolios can figure out which bins to use to dispose of your trash. ;)

I suppose that's enough blogging for now. I'll try to be better at keeping it up.

I'm off to draw some Martians while watching Project Runway! GO KENLEY!!

Hello Kitty

Has anyone else noticed that you can get ANY product imaginable with Hello Kitty's face on it? Since I've been freelancing, I've been using Google Images a lot to look at what different things look like when I'm drawing them. So far, I think every single thing I've Googled has had a Hello Kitty image somewhere in the mix...

Car floor mats? YEP!
Face mask (can't actually remember what I was Googling here)? You betcha.
Guitar? OF COURSE!!

Weird.

Twinkle, twinkle...

...52 little F-ing stars. The people who lived in our house before us stuck 52 glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling of their daughter's bedroom. They didn't use poster putty. They didn't take them down before they moved out. Oh no. They put them up with double-stick foam squares. Jerks.

Screw this AND that!

NKOTB's first photo together in 15 years! I decided I'm trading in my resolution to blog this year. My new resolution for '08 is to have sex with Donnie Wahlberg. Yep, that's right. My new goal is to become Donnie's baby mama. HA! WATCH ME!! ;)

Sew Buttons on your Underwear...

...and watch them pop off! Hehe.. My mom used to say that. What a "mom" thing to say. Anyway, here's my new pattern. All finished! Constructive feedback is appreciated.

What tha?!

Okay, so my lips have been sealed for WAY too long. Oops! Well, I'm back. I left my job and am feeling quite liberated. Keeping busy with freelance work, resume/portfolio updates and a new pattern design I've been rockin' tonight (I'll post it when it's done). Massive quantities of bubble tea and silver needles iced tea have been consumed. I spend my days working on my laptop at the Tea Garden while listening to my jams on iTunes. It's a good life if you don't mind microscopic pay checks.

As an ode to my blog title, I am also spending a lot of my time watching the complete series of "My So Called Life." I'm currently as in love with Jordan Catalano as I could possibly be. He is seriously the hottest thing alive (sorry Josh). Speaking of Josh, ScarJo and I seem to have the same taste in men. She dated Jared Leto pre-Hartnett phase and now the adorable Ryan Reynolds?! Share the wealth, bitch! Whatever.

*sigh* So dreamy.

A New You (Me) at 32.

I turned 32 yesterday. Ancient? P-shaw! :)

However, I have decided it is high time I address my "medical condition". I have severe pains/gas/bloating/constipation - you name it - pretty much every time I eat anything. It is embarassing and super uncomfortable. I have started to think about correcting/diagnosing the problem for years without much patience for it all. Now that I've reached a mature 32 I think it's time to get to the bottom of this and knock it off. This transition should help in my quest for a more organic lifestyle and better physique, as well.

I've known I am lactose intolerant for awhile now, but haven't done much about it. What can I say? I love pizza and pretty much anything with cheese. Who doesn't?! In addition to the LI, I've suspected for quite some time that I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Prompted by a sketch on an SNL rerun the other night, I Googled IBS symptoms and concluded that is likely what is ailing me. So, I'm keeping a food diary (starting this morning) and am trying to avoid the foods associated with both LI and IBS. Here's what NOT to consume...

Chocolate
Milk
Alcohol
Carbonated beverages
Caffeine
Artifical sweeteners (this includes gum, diet pop, sugar-free candy, etc.)
Too many salads/fruits/vegetables
Dairy products (except yogurt)
Beans
Fatty foods
Red meat
Beverages through a straw
Heavy meals

If you see me eating these things, shoot me a "tisk! tisk!" Thanks!!

Here's what I AM supposed to do...

Drink lots of water
Eat several small meals, rather than three large
Track everything I eat (what, when, how much, where I am when I eat it, who I'm with, what I'm doing, my mood and how I feel during/after)
Exercise
Yoga/meditation/massage (in addition to food, IBS can also be triggered by stress)
Some people get acupuncture and take herbs

Seems like a lot of work, but will probably come more naturally after I've done it for awhile. It will be so worth it to get past all the pain I have. Today is the first day I've followed the diet to a T (including food diary), but it is the third day of no chocolate, artifical sweeteners, carbonated beverages, red meat & dairy. That's a pretty big deal for me. I've been drinking a ton of water to make up for the lack of other beverages.

Besides putting a stop to my discomfort, my reward if I stick to my plan is this dress:

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=13658&pid=570619