Listen up, nipples!

Dear boobies,

I don't mind so much if your nipples are going to show through my shirt just a little. However, if you are going to do so, please attempt to, at least, point in the same direction. I know that you are very large and uncomfortable (in fact, friends often make shocked faces when I tell them what size you are... a number and letter combination I usually guesstimate, since stores for "normal" people don't make bras large enough to fit you) but can you just try this one thing for me?

Thanks so much,

Kelsie

My Poor, Sad Mailbox

Every year, I send out so many Christmas cards, and get so few back.

And every year, I tell myself that I'll only send cards to the people who sent one back the previous year. I just can't bring myself to do it. I like the tradition, and I enjoy sending out cards, even if I know that people aren't going to return one.

I guess Christmas cards are just an outdated tradition, and I'm an old-fashioned girl.

I am already excited to send out my Christmas cards for next year. It will be Marc and I's first Christmas as husband and wife!

Ridiculously Awesome Christmas Music

I'm sentimental, so my favorite Christmas album will probably be Kenny and Dolly's Once Upon A Christmas. My mom had it on record when I was a little kid, and I loved listening to it every Christmas.

However, the past couple years, I have discovered some really awesome Christmas music.

(Links go to YouTube. Take a listen.)

A friend burned Run DMC's Christmas in Hollis for me a couple years ago. It is my favorite song to listen to first thing in the morning, on my drive to work. This hip hop Christmas song came out in 1987 and has a hilarious music video!

Relient K has one of the best Christmas albums I have ever heard. They are pop-punky versions of traditional Christmas songs with a few original songs thrown in. I like "Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town." It's a catchy tune with awesome lyrics such as:

"Because, Rudolph's puking boughs of holly! Old Saint Nick ain't all that jolly. And the sleigh's in the shop 'cause it's broken down, but Christmas won't stop 'cause Santa Claus is thumbing to town."

And their version of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" is my ultimate 'going home for Christmas' road trip song.

Finally, I can't go through the holiday season without cracking up and singing along to Taking Back Sunday's version of "The 12 Days of Christmas." They're just so hilarious and adorable!

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Christmas Shopping Sucks

There are people on my list who have everything. And never seem to want anything. They are so hard to shop for!

I found a fun website that helps, Gifts.com.

You can do a personality profiler where you can answer questions about the gift recepient (or yourself) and it will pick out gifts for you.

Have fun!

Poor Chanel! (UPDATE!)

My little girl kitty is at the vet today. I had to drop her off before work, and can go and pick her up after I get off.

She's getting checked out because she may have a urinary tract infection. I haven't heard anything yet, and I'm a worried mama.

UPDATE:

After a terrible experience at the vet, I finally found out that Chanel has a urinary tract infection. It cost nearly $200, but she should be better in two weeks. We had to buy special food, a second litter box, different litter and antibiotics. Pets are expensive, but I love my little girl, so I'm glad she's going to be better soon.

Fun Christmas Games

(Photo courtesy of: www.planetc1.com)

In the middle of another tragically boring work day, I decided to check up on the NORAD Santa Tracker, and I discovered that they have games.

Magically (thanks, Santa!) the games aren't blocked by my work's Nazi-like computer program, that usually makes playing games impossible.

The games, found on the "Children's Countdown," are pretty fun. They are set up like an advent calender, with a new game available every day. I would suggest playing the game for building number one. You have to connect all of the Christmas lights to the power source. It's really difficult!

While you're there, check out the story about how the Norad Santa Tracker began. It's really sweet.

Wedding Survey

(Photo courtesy of CanadianBride.com)

Now that I'm thinking about weddings again... I've got a couple questions for you masses:

- From weddings that you have been to in the past, what have been your favorite parts?

- If you are married, what was the most memorable element of your wedding?

- If you have been to a wedding where you felt something was really boring and unnecessary, what was it?

Leave your answers in the comments, and feel free to share your favorite wedding stories. I'm looking for inspiration for our wedding, and also some good entertainment, as I'm heading off to work in a half hour!

Thanks,

Kelsie

IKEA

I love Ikea.

I love their fat free, 99 cent frozen yogurt cones and lingonberry juice.

I love their tiny showroom apartments. I especially like the one that is something like 275 square feet, and is so awesomely decorated and designed that it makes me want to downgrade our apartment.

I love their oodles of goodies on the bottom floor, and their excellent prices.

We went to Ikea today, and I loved that they had almost all of their Christmas goodies on sale! We got ornaments for the tree, little note cards and tea light holders... all at discounted prices. I love a good deal, especially at the holidays.

Hurray Weddings!

So, being in the weddings I was in recently, and helping with their planning, has got me really excited (again) to plan my own wedding.

I was really into it after we first got engaged, but after I realized that I had two years to plan a back yard wedding, I became disinterested. After all, there is only so much you can do from 24 months out when you already know where you're having the wedding, and that you're not going to have many vendors.

But now, we're less than 11 months away! I can get excited again. I am going on a diet HARDCORE after Christmas is over, because I'm going to start shopping for dresses around April. I am going to talk over plans with my Mom while I'm up at her house for Christmas.

It's good to be excited again, and for it to be less than a year until the wedding. I just can't wait to get married!

Pretty Christmas Quote

One of our receptionists, Laurie, writes a quote on the envelope for the credit card receipts each day.

This is the quote for today:

"Heap on more wood! The wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will. We'll keep our Christmas merry still."
- Sir Walter Scott

Isn't that just perfect?

Christmas Traditions.

I have tons of Christmas traditions... decorating the house after Thanksgiving dinner, exchanging Christmas jammies and watching It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, having Mom's home-made cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning... the list goes on and on.

One of my favorite traditions is also one of the newest. Every Christmas since Marc and I have been dating, he has got me a Christmas-themed book to read during the holiday season. The first book he got me was The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. He gave it to me right before I got on the plane to go to California to visit with my family for the holidays.

Our second Christmas together, Marc gave me Skipping Christmas, which was made into the movie "Christmas with the Kranks." Last year, I got The Paper Bag Christmas, which is a lovely book.

Last night, Marc gave me my book for this year. It is a collection of Charles Dickens stories, including A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth. I am excited to read it, as I have never read the original version of A Christmas Carol!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

Congratulations Joe and Kerry!

Our friends Joe and Kerry got married yesterday in a lovely garden ceremony at Joe's parents home.

Although we haven't known the couple very long (less than three months, I believe) it was wonderful to share in the special moment with them. They are two people full of love and passion for each other.

I loved the feel of Joe and Kerry's wedding. It was a small, informal ceremony with friends and family, personal vows and lots of laughter. Kerry and Joe are thrilled to be married, and that's the best part of all.

Tiger Woods drama.

Tiger Woods cheated on his wife. That is bad. We all know that. Of course, being a soon-to-be wed female, this bothers me.

However, that is not my biggest problem with the whole situation. News stations, radio programs, gossip websites, newspapers... basically everywhere you look Tiger is being condemned.

Shockingly, the problem that the media seems to have with the situation is not that Tiger cheated on his wife, it is that he got caught. The local newspaper this morning said "No more racy texts, okay?" and a local radio station host proclaimed that Tiger should have not left a "paper trail" by leaving voice mails and sending text messages to his mistress(es?).

It seems that Tiger is at fault for having a sloppy affair, not for having the affair itself.

I heart Chicago.

Chicago is my favorite city that I have ever visited. I went for the first time when I was 13, when my family drove over from Anderson, Indiana to catch a Cubs game. Riding in the car along Lake Shore Drive, I fell in love. Ever since, I have wanted to go back every chance I got.

So, when Marc and I went up to St. Louis for the wedding last week, we decided to check on flights out of Chicago back home. Turns out they were several hundred dollars cheaper than if we flew out of St. Louis.

We took the train from Alton, Illinois to Union Station in Chicago. It was so cool! I had never ridden on a train before!

We kicked butt in Chicago. We ate at The West Egg and Burrito Beach and White Castle while we were up there, which are my favorite places in Chicago to dine. We saw The Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, The Sears Tower (technically it's the Willis Tower now, but it will always be the Sears tower to me), Wrigley Field and Millenium Park (from the car).

It was incredible, even though it was rainy and cold the entire time we were there. Marc had never been and I loved experiencing things with him that he had never done before. As much as we loved visiting the city, we were exhausted and very happy to lounge at the airport and get started on our trip home.

Congratulations Lisa and Zach!

Lisa and Zach's wedding was this past Saturday, in Bethalto, Illinois.

The wedding was beautiful, and the result of many hours of hard labor put in by the bride and groom's friends and family.

Their baby, Curtis, successfully made it down the aisle, and was pretty good... except for a little fussiness during the ceremony.

Diana, Lisa's 12 year old sister, and Maid of Honor, nearly fainted while they were saying their vows and had to go and sit by her parents for part of the ceremony. However, she managed to get to her feet again in time to be escorted back down the aisle.

Lisa stepped on her dress several times, and once I thought she was going to topple over. Her crinoline made a little "crunch crunch" noise every time her shoe came down on it, and somebody always had to be there to lend a helping hand.

But, on the whole, the wedding was wonderful! I felt glad to help out with so many family members who were there to support Lisa and Zach. Their families came together and worked all day Friday and most of Saturday morning to give them the best wedding they could have had. I really enjoyed the sense of family and togetherness that they displayed, and felt like I was part of the group almost immediately.

Being a bridesmaid is probably one of the hardest jobs I have ever done. It was extremely hard, sometimes physical, work. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the wedding! That said, I wouldn't change any of it. I was there for my friend, to get all the single ladies on the dance floor for the bouquet toss, to hold her dress up while she peed, to clean up after the reception... whatever she needed.

Now, Kerry and Joe's wedding is in less than four days! They are having a much more low-key ceremony and reception, and I don't think the work shall be as exhausting!

Either way, I can't wait to be a bridesmaid again. For all the hard work, it's a pretty rewarding job!

Turkey Day.

It was a very unusual but fantastic Thanksgiving this year.

Marc and I usually do the traditional Thanksgiving at our house, or go to my parents house. Either way, we spend the day watching the parade, cooking the food, and watching It's A Wonderful Life after supper while decorating the house for the Christmas season.

This year, we woke up in our gorgeous hotel room at the Hilton St. Louis Downtown, ordered delicious room service (coconut and pecan crusted french toast for me, and eggs and potatoes for Marc), and then walked down to the parade route for the St. Louis Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We heard MJ, the Tampa morning show DJ's, voice coming from a radio station tent and wandered over to say hello. Since I lived in St. Louis before I lived in Tampa and St. Petersburg, I knew that they are one of the markets that plays MJ in the morning. When we went over there and started chatting, the people working there gave us two free tickets to sit in the bleachers to watch the parade from the old courthouse.

After grabbing a very warm and delicious Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks, we grabbed our seats on the bleachers, which had an amazing view of the Arch. We watched the floats, bands and balloons(which were lacking helium, and dragging on the road a bit) go by, often centered in the Arch from our view.

It all made for some really cool pictures, which will be seen in a ridiculously huge photo posting that I will do after we get all settled in at home.

After the parade, we raced back up to our hotel room (so I could defrost) and caught the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Hearing Al, Matt and Meredith (how I miss Katie on Thanksgiving) really made it feel like Thanksgiving for me. Following the parade was the National Dog Show. I spent the rest of our time in the hotel room pointing out to Marc which dogs I "absolutely have to have."

Shortly thereafter, Lisa's friend Kassy, (who came to visit us in Florida when Lisa came down for vacation) picked us up and dropped us off at Lisa's Mom's house in Collinsville, Illinois. Since nobody was there at the time, we took a walk down to my parent's old house, just down the street from Lisa's parents. We trespassed in the backyard so I could show Marc the windows to my old room and the deck on the pond where I used to sit and talk on the phone as a teenager.

After our trespassing adventure, we went back to Lisa's parents house to wait for Lisa and her fiance and hung out with her Mom's dog, Prince, a little chihuahua who vibrates like my cell phone he shakes so fiercely. Less than an episode of Mythbusters later, (did you know that fourteen boxes of pepperoni pizza in the warmer things that delivery boys carry will stop a bullet from killing you?!) everybody showed up and we headed over to Lisa's grandparents house for their family Thanksgiving.

It was nice, and good to be around a big family for the holiday, but they had already eaten dinner by the time we got there! However, we were just in time for dessert, which was delicious. We even stuck around long enough for the leftover turkey to be pulled out for sandwiches, so we (kind of) got some Thanksgiving dinner in the end.

Afterwards, we were exhausted, and went back to Lisa and Zach's apartment to watch kiddie cartoons with their adorable son, Curtis, and work on the final planning for their wedding.

Definitely different from our normal Thanksgiving, but wonderful all the same.

Hello, St. Louis.

After nearly eleven hours at the airport in Orlando, we finally made it to St. Louis yesterday around 10:30 am.

Even though I have only met my friend Anja in person twice, including this visit, we had a great time together. We met online in 2004 on StLPunk.com and have been friends and 'pen pals' ever since. The last time I came to St. Louis, for Lisa's baby shower, we walked around and met for the first time.

Anja is totally cool. There is no awkward moments and weird silences when we're hanging out. I enjoy spending time with her whenever we are in town, and I'm glad we got a chance to run around St. Louis with her again this time.

We went to The Loop, and had lunch at Blueberry Hill, which was delicious and very cute. Afterwards we walked around, hung out at Anja's apartment, and had custard (it's not really available in Florida) at Ted Drewes, which is very St. Louis.

After all our running around, Anja dropped us off at our fancy, schmancy hotel, the St. Louis Hilton. I felt very spoiled, with their 12 foot ceilings and floor to ceiling curtains on the windows, and my king sized bed.

After a total of 5 1/2 hours of sleep over a period of three days, I was pooped and almost missed out on the marble shower and cozy sheets, because I nearly fell asleep on top of the comforter in my jeans. I finally convinced myself to shower and put on my night gown, and crawled into bed and slept for 10 hours!

I love being in St. Louis. I am definitely not a Florida girl, and up here is a lot more my style. It's beautiful, but I can't wait to go to Chicago later this weekend. It's my favorite city I have ever been to.

But for now, I'm going to enjoy my time in Illinois with Lisa and Zach while we get ready for their wedding!

Benches Aren't Cozy

We are about four and a half hours into our overnight stay at the airport.

So far, it's been alright. Orlando International offers free wi-fi, which is a life saver. Marc watched Heroes on Netflix while I tried (unsuccessfully) to nap on a wooden bench. Now I'm guarding our luggage while he sleeps, and watching the first season of South Park.

We aren't able to check in our luggage until 5:30 am, and then we'll be able to go through security, grab some breakfast and maybe nap more comfortably inside the terminal.

Then, it's off to St. Louis!

Leaving... on a jet plane!

Technically, I'm getting ready to leave my house in a car, to go to the airport, spend the night there, and THEN get on the airplane.

Either way, the ball is THIS CLOSE to rolling, and my vacation has ALMOST started.

I have this thing for airports.

It's not quite like my thing for a shirtless Taylor Lautner, but I still like them a lot.

That's why it doesn't even bother me that we are going to have to spend the night in Orlando's airport to wait for our flight tomorrow morning. In fact, it kinda tickles my fancy.

When I'm making travel arrangements, whenever possible (and as long as it doesn't jump the price) I try and have layovers (which, apparently most people avoid), especially if it's in an airport I have never been to before.

What can I say? I'm a freak.

Who else is a travel fanatic?

Icky Nasty.

I just had a customer who smelled like he had been swimming in an ashtray for the last 30 years. It wasn't even fresh cigarette smoke smell, or cigarette smoke breath. It was stale, gross cigarette smell, like when you leave an ashtray outside and it gets water in it and you discover it several weeks later.

I literally had to hold my breath while I was waiting on him, to avoid throwing up.

People are just gross sometimes. How can you not know that you smell that bad?

If you're ever around me, and I stink to high heaven, please tell me so I can go take a shower.