Incoming Mail: Monster Cookie Heart Squad!

It's official: I'm a member of the Monster Cookie Heart Squad!  "What in the world is that," you might ask...  Check out the mission statement!
I'm so happy this came in when it did because I'm starting a (long overdue) self-love journey that has been totally amazing so far!  Care to join?

*Want to join the growing list of awesome members?  Click me!
**Check out the blog here!
***Want some stuff?  Click here!
****Want to meet the beautiful person behind MCHS?  Click here!

Happy Friday!!

Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?

Thanksgiving!

 

   
My cousins, Eddie and Charles, and I having a sip of Puerto Rican rum / My new "bar": The Booze Cruise! / My flat tire / Salted Caramel Blondie at Argosy / My Seattle friend Davey!  Doesn't he look dashing in my glasses?!  *SWOON* / Davey and I having a moment at Church *__*

Wowzers meowzers!  What a holiday week last week!  I was definitely NOT ready to get back to work, that's for sure...
The guest list included my grandma and aunt from Puerto Rico and my other aunt and cousins from New York.  My uncle (also from New York) couldn't make it but we still had a blast.  He was missed!

I was lucky enough to host my cousins for a few nights (PARTY HARD PARTY HARD PARTY HARD) and it gave me the perfect excuse to turn my old man's fish tank into a bar!  I have dubbed it the Booze Cruise for a couple of reasons: 1) "Drunk Tank" and all other "tanked" jokes were a little too obvious (but I will admit - Drunk Tank is pretty damn good!) and 2) I needed a place for my pirate busts and I figured fish tank + water "theme" = PIRATES!  Now all I need are some actual novelty gems, some gold coins and maybe a treasure chest to make the setup complete!

Because I hadn't really partied with my cousins in FOREVER, I was trying to figure out where to take them.  I learned quickly that they both have totally different personalities but one might adapt a little better than the other.  Maybe it's a mandatory gene when you're the first born...I don't know but I felt it (since I, too, am a first born).  Luckily, Oni suggested we hit up Joystick on Friday - which took the pressure off lil ol' me since I don't really get out much anymore.  And since the selection of ladies was totally lacking (according to my single cousin), we went to Church, where the ladies were plentiful.

I had never been to Church but I always wanted to go since I drive by it pretty frequently when I'm downtown.  It was great!  The crowd was diverse and friendly for the most part.  I will admit - it was kinda weird watching my cousin talk to the ladies but it was cute at the same time.  I have to keep reminding myself that they're not the babies they once were!  LOL

On our way home, I had a flat tire but it didn't register as flat until I pulled into my driveway.  Thank goodness we were safe and sound!  That made for an eventful morning since I only slept barely a handful of hours, I had to get all 4 tires replaced!  Then, I had a lunch date with my friend from out of town (who I hadn't seen in years, btw) and it was great!  I took him to Argosy and we devoured everything down to my favorite treats: a Mondorita and the very decadently delicious Salted Caramel Blondie.  All the while, making plans for that evening - after our family dinner, of course!

My cousins and I ventured out to Church and shut it down once again.  The crowd was great and we even scored a table across the bar - which is good and bad.  It was good because we were right by the bar and we didn't have to keep going up and down the stairs like the night before.  It was bad because when it got crowded, people were spilling drinks on us because of the close proximity but no worries - good times were had by all!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Nate Day 2013

I know, I know - I missed last week's Wednesday Gif Party.  Actually, I have one saved in my drafts but I'm 3 gifs shy of my usual "party".  There was A LOT of stuff going on last week - including preparations for Nate Day.  Nate Day was yesterday.  Can you believe it has been 4 years already?!
Nate's sister, Alysia, arranged for us to go camping near Brasstown Bald and because I usually can't make it to Nate Day celebrations, I wanted to commit to this year.
We met up with Alysia at the Enota Mountain Retreat.  She texted me and told me "Don't let the name fool you".  I didn't know why she messaged that...until we drove up to our campsite.

Welcome to Fort Katrick!



Yep, we went for real camping.  I say "for real" because, according to the old man, backyard camping doesn't count.  But you know what?  It was great!  We went to Helen to get Alysia's dog (a bullmastiff) a collar and stayed for a funnel cake and beer.



And then we started our campfire - with the help of our awesome campsite neighbors.  I keep forgetting their names (sorry!!) but they were GREAT!  They helped chop the wood and get the fire going so I tried to repay them with all the S'mores they could handle.
I didn't stay up too late with them but I did enjoy some lively campfire conversations!  It was great!  Even greater - I had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Why was that great?  Because on the way out of the tent, I looked at my surroundings - including up towards the sky - and it was BEAUTIFUL.  I don't think I can remember the last time I saw that many stars!  If it hadn't been so chilly, I would've dragged my sleeping bag out of the tent and slept under the starry sky.  It almost felt unreal!  Isn't that a shame?  So much light pollution...
Anyways - the old man and I got up at around sunrise and walked around the grounds a bit (and found bathrooms!) and when we came back to the campsite, we packed up the tent and were ready to go.



We tried to stop at Brasstown Bald but it's closed because of the government shutdown - which pissed me off because that's where they spread Nate's ashes and I wanted to have a moment of silence in his honor where his ashes were.  Oh well.  Maybe next year?  We were talking about camping again next year - which would be great because I'm hoping to be a camping pro!
The old man and I were talking about camping near the coast in Florida somewhere or going back to Asheville and camping there.  Who knew I'd enjoy it so much?!

Since I didn't get to pay proper respects to Nate, I'll light a candle for him and Tim and Justin and everyone else I miss on El Dia de Los Muertos this year.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

The Glee-est Glee That Ever Glee-d

Okay, I'll admit - I had been falling out of love with Glee for some time now.  It's just not the same!  A lot of the characters we all know and love just aren't the same out of school as they were when they were still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed McKinley High students.  My Netflix is stuck on Season 2, Episode 6: Never Been Kissed.  Why?

Because that's where it all began!!  Where Kurt met Blaine!  I fast-forward right to this part.  Well, actually, I fast-forward to where Kurt first meets Blaine on the steps at Dalton.





And I cry EVERY TIME!  When they slow-motion run down the hall, hand in hand!  When Blaine sings "Teenage Dream" and he's singing right to Kurt!  Oh the love!!

Spoilers ahead - in case you missed it!

Good bye 2012, Hello 2013!

Sadly, my 366 project is over!  Can you believe it?!  2012 - GONE!  Well, almost...
I know I had all these grand ideas for my 366 project and even though I didn't do a "Theme Week" or whatever else I had set out to do, my photos have proven that the Photo-A-Day thing can be fun!  It's also my equivalent to a Gratitude Jar.
What's that, you ask?  I've been seeing some posts on Tumblr and Pinterest about making a Gratitude Jar on January 1st.  Basically, you write one nice thing that happened to you everyday (or for that month) and then on December 31st, you read them all and express your gratitude for such a wonderful year.  Not bad.  I thought about how nice that would be and then I realized that my 366 project was already doing that for me!
So to honour that, I'll post my 5 favorite photo(s) from each month from my 366 photos.  This might be a tough one...

Photos after the jump!

Feel The Project Runway Love!

So this happened on Instagram last night



Mr. Man-Cleave HIMSELF gave me a shout out on this photo!
 Naturally, this is my reaction:


What a wonderful day yesterday! First Gunnar retweeted me on Twitter and now this! I'm LOVING all the Project Runway love!
Thanks you guys!

Life Resolution: Never Give Up Hope

I might be a little late on this Ted Williams train but I don't care. His story is super inspiring and something we should all really pay attention to.

It all started last night when I was blow drying my hair. My old man was was looking around on Buzz Feed (as usual), so I didn't think anything of it. I shut off the dryer and heard, "Mommy! Mommy!" so I had to ask, "What are you watching?" That's when he shared this clip with me:



I did all I could do to stay composed. Inside, I was a WRECK. All that was going through my head was: Wow, what a voice!, What an incredible story...I was a mess. A total mess. Then, he showed me this clip and I couldn't take it! My heart was bursting with so much love and hope and joy for this man! Then, I saw the final clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was overcome with so much joy that he was able to reunite with his mother that I left after the clip finished, closed the door to the bedroom and started crying hysterically.
Even now, as I write this, I have tears in my eyes. Every time I see his face, hear his voice or even think about his story, I can't stop the tears. I think this is such a wonderful story - especially at the beginning of the new year. We need to keep hope alive!
My resolutions for this year were mainly to have nothing but peace and love in my life - keeping all the negativity and hate out of it and this story has compelled me to always have hope.
When you feel like you're losing your way, just remember to never give up hope. Ted Williams never gave up hope and even though, yeah, it might have taken a little while for him to finally find his way, he still found his way by keeping hope alive! Let that be a message to everyone at the start of 2011 and let's hope we can all keep that message for years to come.

Love and kisses,
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

London's return!

I knew this day would come - I just didn't know when, but when 12 Pack said that Sinister's real name was Jeremy Lee, I knew London would return. It was so obvious! And once I saw his leather jacketed self, I squealed like a little schoolgirl. My BF did not enjoy that at all. He thinks London is an asshole and rightfully so. But aren't those "dangerous", punk rock guys the stuff dreams are made of? I say that from experience. My first love was a punk rock guy like London: scrawny, big mouth, bigger attitude, ego, in a band and difficult. We had our many ups and downs throughout the 2 years we dated but all in all, our relationship was fun. Fun like trashing venues, movie moments, stealing things only teenagers would steal, experiencing firsts that I won't mention and a bunch of other stuff that true love evokes. London brings all that back to me. The way he looks at Daisy is the way my ex-BF used to look at me and it makes me swoon every time. And it makes Daisy fall on her ass - which was hilarious. But, I know how Daisy feels. She's charmed by London and so am I. Guys like him are jerks, sure, but it's a love that is timeless. and aren't we all jerks at some point? It's hard to explain but I can say that I totally understand Daisy and London.






♥
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Start a Hope Revolution!

My friend Krystyn, of HOPErevo, is trying to bring kindness back - in a BIG way. There is so much sadness and negativity in the world and this is a way to make it right.

Follow these simple steps and start making a change for the better - one message at a time.



I've been making handmade postcards for some time with the same kind of messages. I guess I just never had the guts / motivation to start leaving them where people could find them. Now I can with many thanks to Krystyn.

Start following the revolution on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/HOPErevo

Join the Facebook Group

And most importantly, add your photos of spreading hope to the Flickr Pool!!


♥
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Probably the GREATEST thing to take with you to EVERY party you go to.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was originally on my Livejournal and I have decided to re-post it (even though it's a little outdated...) BUT the ♥ for the item that I'm talking about is still the same.
**************************************
Let me start from the beginning.

Saturday, December 20, 2008 started quite horribly.
First, I woke up retardedly early after going to sleep fairly late after abandoning all hope of drinking with a friend.

Then, the old man and I went to the mall. Suburban mall life isn't as fun as I remember it. Anyways - that sh*tty mall experience put us in sh*ttier moods. Not to mention the old man was already upset because he had to buy a gift for his company's yearly "White Elephant" gift X-Mas party and Toys for Tots and his Secret Santa victim: ME.
I had a much harder task with my Secret Santa victim: MY MOM.

While we argued our way through Target, we ended up in the toy section. I was reminded of this when we were making our way through the toys. I had seen it before and I thought it only played songs and it did that sh*tty microphone thing where it didn't really amplify your voice - it just looked like a mic that happened to play songs louder than your voice.
Anyways - I decided that I needed one. VERY BADLY. That was the only way my day was going to get amazing.
But sadly, they only had this one. And that was NOT going to perk up my day. We started to curse the North Point Target until we realized there was another one we could go to.

It was a gift from The Gods!
But wait! My old man found the microphones before me and alerted me that there were no more Brobees. I wanted to scream. As loud as I could. But I couldn't. My chest started hurting, my heart started palpitating and tears stood in my eyes. This day was FUBAR'd. I couldn't go down like that. F*ck no! So what do I do? I go back to the aisle with the Yo Gabba Gabba! microphones and look again. Sure, Muno was in the front. I almost gave up. But then, like a beacon of hope (that I thought I had abandoned), there it was! My Yo Gabba Gabba! Brobee Microphone!!!! Of course I snatched it up! I read the back of the package - just to emphasize the point to my old man and saw "voice amplifier" in the description. The tears of sorrow had turned into tears of joy! Ultimate joy! My old man rolled his eyes, of course.

After making the greatest purchase known to man, I took it out of the package and turned it on. It was amazing. And it was then, after hearing my voice being amplified through this magical device, that I would use it at my friends' going away party.

I made so many people smile (read: annoyed)! There was even a video taken of me with my Brobee mic! How wonderful! Circle of Death was even more fun than normal - all because of my mic!

Thank you, Yo Gabba Gabba! Brobee Microphone! You truly are the greatest gift of all.
(Toodee microphone to join my arsenal very VERY soon on the account of Toodee being my God-Daughter's fave character. I know it exists. It was pictured on the directions for the Brobee mic...)

♥
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Lauren's Friday Pre-Out Update

4pm: Disco nap

6pm: Ringing alerts from ATL gays to get up and begin the dressing and
face beatdown process

7pm: Update from B-Money that he is already in the ham and driving the
pearly volvo in full force to ATL for some serious fun sessions to
kick off Singles Awareness Day...I'm such a lucky girl

8pm: Yuengling...Mmmm mmmm good.....

This is a good time to point out that this refreshing lager is econmically priced during our country's hard time and quite tastyyyyy!!!!! CHEERS!!!

♥

Lauren

S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Tonight at East Atlanta Ice House!

Don't forget!



Feel the love!
Show the love!
Dance the love!
♥
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.