Saturday, January 30, 2010

21

JANEEN IS 21 AND I AM SO EXCITED!

GOON SQUAD BABY

XOXO

la has :)

Thursday, January 28, 2010

BOOT CAMP BABY

This past fall of 2009 my school had a "boot camp" program where a personal trainer, Blaze Thompson comes in and tells us who to work out and eat healthy. It was four days a week from 6:45 to 7:45 am for a month. Blaze was very intense about everything we did. We had a strict diet and had to wright down everything we ate. If you were late to boot camp, ate badly or didn't do things to your full potential, you were 'punished.' But of course the good kind of punished, forcing us to be in even better shape. I had so much fun having structure and being a part of something.

Getting up early, running miles and lifting weights was difficult and a lot to get used to but I wanted more.

Starting out with a little over 50 people in the fall, so many people quit we were down to 19 who pulled through and finished. Blaze promised the 19 remaining we would have seniority over anyone else who signed up in the spring.

Sign up for spring boot came and there is now about 100 people participating this time. It is now 6:30 to 7:30 am, still four days a week and 5 weeks long. It leads right up to spring break so we are ready for bikini season!

We got all our measurements done and weight recorded today to see our starting point on this adventure. I am so excited to get down to it, and hopefully get into really good shape! I cannot wait to start off with Blaze again! I will be getting up very early for the next couple of weeks so if I go missing I am probably asleep.

Have a great weekend, be active and eat healthy

xoxo

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

update


"1. Yes, I am alive

2. No, I don't have time to blog

3. I'll see you soon"

(thanks for the quote greedy girl)

kind of obsessed with this photo!

xoxo

Friday, January 22, 2010

The (popular) Pearl

Check out Design*Sponge today! Joel Kimmel's marriage proposal is featured and it is so sweet and so awesome! Makes me want to marry a creative man :)

But as I was looking at other work by Mr. Kimmel himself, I saw a book cover he designed. This past year I designed the same book cover which I thought was pretty cool. Mine was part of a series, so here is his design and three of mine! I just cannot believe I am doing things real illustrators and designers are doing! What a great feeling!

Joel Kimmel

Kelsey Couch

Have a great weekend and do something inspiring!

xoxo

Thursday, January 21, 2010

real life, here I come

As a graphic design major and a junior in college it is time for me to get some experience under my belt and work with some designers. In one of my graphic classes last semester my instructor, Kyle Webster suggested I get an internship in Winston-Salem at Shapiro Walker Designs. After many recommendations and emails I finally went to an interview.

I put together a portfolio of the work I have done, and crossed my finger. I went in today and got the internship! I am so excited to be in the real world of design. To learn from these great
professionals and get amazing experience that will hopefully help me in the future.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces I have designed, hope you enjoy.


xoxo

p.s. I have thought of a few other goals to add to my Bucket List

6. Touch the four corners at the same time. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.
7. Be on the Food Network.
8. Learn how to surf.

Monday, January 18, 2010

the buried life

One mission. Four (cute) guys. 100 things to do.

These boys, Duncan, Ben, Jonnie and Dave figured out what they wanted to do before they die and they are actually doing it. How great is that? I would love to go on adventures with my best friends, and live. They are pushing the envelope and living their lives to the fullest. Not a care in the world, risking everything and not following the rules. Good for them! Every time they accomplish one of the items on their 'bucket list' they ask one person what they want to do before they die, and they help this stranger meet a goal. What good is living life if you don't have people living it with you?

What would you say? If someone came up to you and asked what you want to do before you die, would you have an answer? That is probably one of the most difficult questions to answer, in my opinion. I could never pick just one. I have so many things I want to do, so I'll make a list. I will start my bucket list here. It will take me time to get to 100 but I'm sure I can do it. Here are a few I know for sure.

1. Go to cooking school
2. Fall in love
3. Create something no one has ever created before
4. Have no enemies
5. See the Northern Lights

Thank you to The Buried Life. Good luck boys! What do you want to do before you die?

xoxo

structure

It was a very busy and fun weekend but I am longing for a routine. I am the type of person who needs structure in my life; something to stick to, and things to get done. The long weekends and short classes are not what this semester holds for me and I know that. I am ready to be given a few challenges and have the feeling of accomplishment.

The past two and a half years have been the best years of my life so far. I have met so many wonderful people and have made life long friends. College life pretty much speaks for itself and it is such a great experience and so much fun. But I am getting the feeling, especially today, that I am a little over it. I hate to say it that way, but I don't know any other way to put it. I am ready for my 'real life' to start. I am an independent person at heart and doing my own thing, having a career and my own apartment, is something I really want right now. I know once school gets going I will be super busy and want to relax, but at least I will have structure.

I always have those days when I keep to my self and question life. Today it has just been one of those days. I am missing some people, and it is hard to have these days when they are not there to talk to. I know most of these people are here for me, but I can't help but feel them slip away. Trying to keep my mind off of things, so I will be watching The Bachelor, which I love! Hope this week is eventful to keep me busy!

xoxo

Thursday, January 14, 2010

the skinny

I was watching The Real World last night (I know it's trashy TV, but what can I say) and there was an issue one of the cast mates got upset over. The girls on the show were talking about the possibility of being a playboy model. During this conversation one of the guys chimed in and made sure one of the girls knew she would not be skinny enough to be on playboy. All I have to say about that is, RUDE, how dare you. Woman are not delusional, it is our body and we know it best. We do not need a man to tell us how we look. And as a woman more likely than not, we are not completely satisfied with our bodies. If you are good for you and I am jealous.

Growing up I have always had self image issues. I have never been completely happy with my body and I hate the fact that I am not. I would give anything to love the way I look and be happy in my skin. Since I started college I became a lot more aware of my health and fitness and took action on how I looked. Although I may not be happy with my body everyday I do everything right to make me love it. I eat healthy and exercise almost every day. I am so lucky that I have never gotten to that dark place of an eating disorder (I love food too much, note the past two posts!). Eating disorders scare me and I would rather do things the healthy way, which I think everyone should.

In the November 2009 issue of Glamor Magazine, they talked about the beauty of not being stick th
in. It all started with the "woman on page 194." Lizzie Miller is a normal woman, well actually she is a plus-size model, but she doesn't have the ideal figure we all have stuck in our heads. When I saw this picture I was shocked. I had never seen a belly role in the media. I thought it was fabulous she is comfortable enough to flaunt what she has. So in the November they did an article about many plus-size models and how beautiful they are. I am so glad that Glamour is promoting a healthy body weight and showing all of us what real women look like.

As for the guy on The Real World, and all other guys who have a negative opinion about our bodies, keep it to yourselevs. I know I think about my body everyday and I am the only person I need to hear it from. on the other hand, if you have something good to say, about any woman, talk all you want!

xoxo

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

high fashion in its best form

First few days of classes are under my belt and I'm already exhausted. It is going to be a long semester. Once I get into it, I promise I will talk about something a little more interesting, but until then I found the most chic cupcakes ever! Thres photographs are gorgeous and I have a weakness for cupcakes, mix it with high fashion and I'm hooked.

Yummy and Gorgeous
xoxo

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

food for thought

As a child my dream job was to be a chef. I was so in love with play food, it was the only career I could come up with. My first play kitchen as a child was the start of it all. I grew up and realized I cannot cook, literally. Eggs, pasta and cereal is about all I can do.

I still hold my obsession to food. The food network is on 24/7 and anything dealing with food is great. Maybe one day I'll be a food stylist or something, but for now I will stick with the pretend things I cannot burn. So I found the coolest, creative play food and I am seriously about to buy some for myself, I love it so much. Bug Bites is such a smart way to home-make wonderful, custom toys for little ones! When I have kids, the cinnamon rolls will be their first toy! (working at Cinnabon was my second career option)






So cute right? Absolutely love it! Enjoy

xoxo



wonderful water

Classes started today and syllabus week begins! No homework yet (thank goodness), so I am spending my afternoon on some great blogs! Thanks to Oh Joy! I found, Looks Good To Me. Her work is absolutely amazing it makes me want to start drawing and dive into the world of water colors! So I wanted to share what I found and I encourage you to explore her work more!


Saturday, January 9, 2010

bitter sweet

Today is the last day I will live in the house I grew up in. It is a bitter sweet feeling. If it were four years ago I would probably be in tears, but I have grown to be frustrated with this house because it took so long to sell. I am really going to miss it. Remembering all the birthdays, Christmases, sleep overs, and many other memories I have had in this house, it is hard to believe I can never 'come home' again. But the silver lining is shining bright, I am excited to move, and move on. Starting a new chapter in my life, going to bigger (actually smaller) and better places with my family.
On the note of family, that is what I have been doing for the past couple days and I have had a blast. We explored condos together yesterday and made on offer on one we love today! Very exciting! The three of us went to our annual holiday dinner last night. Although we were a little past the holiday, it is never too late to go out, eat, drink and be merry! We went to McCormick & Schmick's. I got one of the BEST meals I have ever had. Known for their fresh seafood I ordered the Atlantic Salmon from British Columbia, Canada stuffed with Blue Crab, Bay Shrimp and Brie Cheese, Roasted and topped with lemon butter sauce.
Is your mouth
watering yet, cause mine is just thinking of it.
I could have literally licked the plate if it wasn't for the fine dinning atmosphere. I finished the meal with a Chocolate Box. It was literally a box made of chocolate filled with peach mousse and fresh berries. Once again, YUM! We had a great dinner out together, but the fun part was shopping before our reservations.

My mom got a Tiffany's gift card for Christmas so we thought we should go try EVERYTHING just to be sure she makes the right choice of what to buy. The window displays and the store itself is beautiful, but we gravitated toward the diamonds. After trying on some realistic things at the counter, I moved to the engagement rings! I asked to try on my favorite ring. Patrick, the sales guy said the one I chose was so expensive that I would have to go into the private room to try it on. I must have good taste to pick the most expensive ring in the room. The ring was priced at about $68,000, but it was totally worth it. My finger absolutely sparkled, I mean Tiffany's has the best lighting, next to God that is. No purchases were made quite yet, but I officially need to find me a man with enough to buy me that ring, we might be living in a trailer and walking to work, but who cares when you have a ring that beautiful!
This morning after a family affair in spinning class, mom and went to Zen Cha for a fabulous brunch before I head back to school. It was her first time there and she seemed to like it. I'm not too concerned, my tea was excellent and we had a little mother/daughter time which is priceless.

So I figure it doesn't matter where we leave or what we live in. The stuff means nothing if we don't have each other, and we are all so lucky to have such a great family.

xoxo

Thursday, January 7, 2010

the nothingness continues

Too much snow here in Ohio today, so I continued to pack and do nothing, so this will be short and sweet. By the way, it's official, I am bored. Packed more boxes, Mom's boxes (extra boring). Good Lord do we have a lot of expensive and unnecessary crap I haven't seen all 20 years of my life. Apparently this house was decorated when my mom and step dad were "young and rich", must have been nice. Now I do not see reasons for having ten different versions of the same glass, thank goodness we are down sizing.

Talked to one of my best friends today. This may seen normal but her and I have been through quite a lot of, again, expensive and unnecessary crap. She has a significant place in my life that cannot be filed with anyone else. I needed her back in my life, and now that she's here I feel complete again.

Swear I'm doing something interesting tomorrow!

xoxo

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

ah ha

Had a bit of an "Ah Ha" moment tonight. I have literally been doing nothing but eating, sleeping and going to the gym, so to have one of these moments amongst that is pretty impressive I think. I realized life is not how you see it in movies and on television. And yes I've known for a while that I will have to trade in the fairy tale ending for tears and heart break, and won't be able to sit in a coffee shop with my friends, but be working long hours. Those are the obvious ones that I would love to believe until reality bites me in the ass. The little things in all these movies, that I always assumed came naturally in life. Well through my sweat, tears and sea (see what I did there?) I have now learned to know better. I cannot always think I am right, I cannot be stubborn, I cannot make excuses, and I cannot expect things to happen to me.

In a perfect movie, the girl blows off the boy and he comes back. Or you think you're doing everything right all along, being the best possible version of yourself you can be and that's not good enough. You loose people along the way, thinking it's them, but if it were them you wouldn't have lost them in the first place, right? Well I am officially done waiting around. I have to take control, I have to say that I was wrong (although sometimes I still don't think I am, but who will ever know) I have to grow the balls and man up. If I want something to happen I am the only person who controls that, so here I go.

I am slowly getting better and doing what I need to do. I am coming to the realization of the people I cannot live with out, the people who make me a better person, the people who have held me back and of course the people I want but don't need. I know I'm rambling but it's just how I think! Love these little ah ha's I think they make me a better person, I hope.
Hope someone is out there listening.

xoxo

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

"carried" away


Four words. Sex And The City. One of the greatest series of all time. Between the fashion, the writing, the men and the sex, the fun never stops. As a girl when the seasons actually aired on HBO, I was of course never aloud to watch them. The second I saw the first episode I was hooked. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda are the four best friends you tell anything, but they're usually the ones to tell you first. In my opinion, a girl cannot get through life alive without her girlfriends. I have been very blessed with the friends in my life. I tell my friends everything there is to know, cause usually I need advice, and that is exactly what Sex And The City is all about. The glamorous life Carrie Bradshaw lives, makes a writer in NYC sound pretty damn good!

Whether they are sipping a cosmopolitan, strutting down Madison Avenue in Manolo Blahniks or falling in love these women always look amazing. I could easily watch the show on mute, just to see what designer they are wearing and how they are wearing it. I have always related to Carrie when it came to men. She has her Mr. Big, and I think I had one too. Although I don't see him sweeping me off my feet in Paris, or any of the great things Big did in the end, but I have someone who shook me to the my core, and who knows when I'll stop shaking.

On a lighter note the premier of Sex And The City the movie was to die for. I, of course, got really overdressed and saw it with a best friend at midnight. It was the best episode of SATC on steroids. Now, Sex And The City 2 is coming in May to officially make 2010 complete. I just viewed the trailer today and had to not only write about it but share it with you all!

I am now counting the days till May 28th to once again kiss and tell.

xoxo

Monday, January 4, 2010

heavenly tea


The taste of honey peach black tea with pearls is still in my mouth and I'm hoping it stays there for the rest of the day. Molly and I just returned for our trip to Zen Cha Tea Salon, and it is finally time to tell you about my love for this place. I was never a big tea drinker unless heavily sweetened and forced into me, but in February 2007 Molly took me to Zen Cha in the short north and from then on I cannot get enough. This tea is literally heaven in a cup. The quaint salon offers over 100 different kinds of tea. Although I have only had about 5 flavors (I stick to what I love) I just know everything is amazing. The 25 minute drive is well worth this tea and thank goodness there isn't one in North Carolina, because I would be there everyday and have a very large Zen debt.

Molly and I have been there countless times and usually have a great incident happen along the way. But my favorite Zen story was senior year in high school. Living in Dublin, Ohio with a supper attendant from Northern Michigan, didn't get us many snow days, but one day it was just too cold to go to school. Yes, that's right, we had a "cold day." Obviously the best way to miss school, cause the roads are clear which means you can go wherever, whenever so we were thrilled. On this freezing cold day, Zen Cha was calling our name. We bundled up and drove the 25 minute drive (on the highway and down the back roads) to get our tea. Everything was clear and it was no big deal.

After about two and a half hours of girl talk, amazing tea and warming up from the brisk wind our server came up to us asking if we had looked out the window. Totally oblivious of what was going on, the car was practically buried under thick, white snow. Downtown had turned into a white wonderland, every inch covered in snow and we were so far from home. After a good 15 minutes of scraping the car, Molly and I thought we might as well stick around downtown and do something fun, thinking the roads would clear up. We headed to Pierceology, the local piercing salon. I wasn't looking for anything, but molly sure was. As a fresh eighteen year old, she got her belly button pierced! That wasn't the only pain of the day. The attempt to get home, during rush hour, on horrible roads took almost 2 1/2 hours. Our little "travel anywhere cold day" turned out to be quite an adventure, but it is one I will never forget.

And of course the Zen Cha made all the driving worth it! Love reliving those good memories with good friends! Trying to stay warm on this cold Ohio day!

xoxo

Sunday, January 3, 2010

life without eggs


Once again deprived of my zen, I did literally nothing today besides the gym and a bit of packing. Out of boredom, and my love for Ellen, I caught up with some Tivo re-runs. The October 22, 2009 episode featuring Mariah Carey also interviewed Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. After lots of research, on his part, he no longer eats meat and from what I can tell, nothing else that comes from an animal.

Listening to him talk about the horrible things animals go through just to provide to us greedy humans really made me think. The factory farms where these animals come from raise these animals on drugs and are kept in places where they can barley move just to become our dinner. Not only are these factory's torturing these innocent animals, but is also the leading cause of Global Warming. And, all the drugs the animals have to take, hello Swine flu! The Swine came from a pig farm in North Carolina, ironically, and the farm people forced the name change so people would keep eating pork.

After listening to Foer make his very convincing points, it makes me want to give up meat forever. But it's not just meat I would have to give up. He proceeded to say, to start this process one food that is a must to cut out of your diet is eggs. That's it, I couldn't do it. Breakfast is my favorite meal and I just cannot picture my life without eggs. It might sound silly, but think about it. No more Christmas cookies, no egg sandwiches, no cake on your birthday and definitely no pancakes or waffles. That's a lot of goodness right out the door. Dessert and breakfast, my two favorite meals of the day.

I started to think more about what I would have to give up to become some sort of vegan. Besides the obvious meat and fish, there could be no milk and of course eggs. Would it really be that easy to never eat yogurt again, or the turkey on Thanksgiving? I would love to contribute to the health of our Earth and the poor animals, but I don't know if I could change something I've been doing, well eating for twenty years.

Could I give it all up? I would love to take on the challenge. Looks like I'll have some thinking to do, which will mainly involve peanut butter, fruits and veggies. Yum? Zen Cha tomorrow, I know drinking tea doesn't harm anything, except my bank account.

xoxo

Saturday, January 2, 2010

let the packing begin

Another day without my much needed Zen Cha tea, but I had a beautiful lunch at Lindy's with Molly. Lindy's, being the location of the wedding reception of my mom and step dad, all I could remember was being eight years old and doing pirouettes in tights and my bridesmaid dress.

My parents got divorced when I was three so I never really knew their life together. I would love to know all the ups and downs of my parents marriage, they are my parents for lords sake. Unfortunately neither of them are very willing to give up information, plus the fact, I try and avoid the topic. Searching through high school papers, baby clothes and memories from the past, I stumbled across a "Brides Book." Letters and papers were shoved in the book as a place to keep them safe.

Within minuets I had the envelopes open reading the messages inside Valentine's Day and birthday cards written to me as a child and referring to my parents as a couple, which was foreign to me. I started reading the book. It was similar to a baby book, but instead of describing a new born in detail, it was describing everything from the proposal to the first anniversary. Each lined was filled with my mothers handwriting describing events that didn't exist in my mind. They met on a blind date, believe it or not, and they not only had dinner and drinks but dad came back to mom's apartment to meet her cats. Good example mother! Their wedding day was located just down the street from my home, on a beautiful sunny day with everyone dressed in black, white and red. (This has my mother written all over it.) Their honeymoon in Bermuda, luckily not described in full detail, sounded amazing.

My favorite thing in the book was an invitation to a wedding shower. The theme bridal shower invite was so cute and the party idea was so great. They had an "around the clock" party. To ease them back from Bermuda into cold, miserable, Ohio. Every guest had to bring something that could get them through one of 24 hours of the day. On the back was all of their friends and the gifts from them. Red sheets, champagne and margarita mix were just a few of the gifts from their best friends.

Flipping through this book and seeing their (short) life together lets me forget all the negative things I hear. Divorce, child support, and custody, for example, and remember that there was love this relationship, and the fun they had together with their friends.

More packing (and discovering) tomorrow and hopefully Zen Cha...

xoxo

Friday, January 1, 2010

2010


I once heard a quote that describes me very well, "The cure for everything is salt water- sweat, tears or sea." This has been very true for me though out my life so far and I know that salt water will come in handy again soon. I am hoping that the sea will be present more than the tears, but you never know. I want to start this year off right. It is going to be an exciting year for me and I can't wait, so I thought I would share my life with everyone which is why I started this blog.


The first of many exciting things is the fact that my parents sold our house. It took four long years, but finally happened on December, 22 2009. By selling our house in cold, miserable, Ohio we hope to move to Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington is my cure, it is my happy place and the one place I want to be. So to start off 2010 I will be packing up twelve years of my life, getting organized and starting off with a clean slate.
Along with eating healthy, working out and being positive, I hope to write here every day. I love my life and I know this year will be worth sharing!