nae-say

Belated playlist.

2011-12-08T09:04:00.001-06:00

A little late, okay very late, but this is what I was listening to at work in November. So, if you are procrastinating, needing something new, or just like to have pre-made playlists available, feel free to give it a listen. There are some gems on here, and some songs that are just easy to work to. I typically put it on shuffle in order to spice up my life, but hey, you do what you do, world.

11/11 by Janae Time on Grooveshark

Things I keep learning.

2011-12-02T13:54:00.000-06:00

I do not like broccoli.

If broccoli happens to be in a creamy, cheesy, incredibly rich, warm delicious ooey-gooey soup, I still do not like broccoli.

Exhibit A: In which I eat around the broccoli in my broccoli-cheddar soup.

Thanks for letting me confess this, Internet.

Here you go, Joe.

2011-11-18T08:50:00.003-06:00

You know how, when you are still in your early twenties and there are times when you really think you have it figured out and you're pretty cool and then the next moment you have no idea what you're doing? Yeah, that feeling? It's kind of hard to explain/deal with/etc. and I have no idea if this is typical across generations or not, but sometimes we 20-somethings think we have it all figured out when really we are just faking it until we make it.

Recently everyone who I've ever known/met/friended on Facebook is all of a sudden getting engaged/getting married/having a baby/getting a new puppy. Really? All at the same time? You see, I'm a maverick. I don't roll with the crowd, I forge my own path.

I also don't currently have a boyfriend/fiance/husband.

And my apartment is pet-free, not that I'd be good at dealing with a pet and it's needs anyway. My roommate and I are really not pet people. But we enjoy that you are, friends on Facebook! Sure looks cute!

All this is to say that I'm in that wonderful age of being incredibly happy for my friends, all while eating ice cream straight out of the container on my fabulously large couch next to my equally jaded roommate. We recently splurged on "Mud Pie" ice cream, which is basically heaven. Eaten with a spoon, straight out of the container is not sad, my friends. It is wise. We do not have a dishwasher you see; water is a valuable resource and washing dishes is not fun. We're environmentalists.

All this to say I'm off to another fabulous friends wedding this weekend! The person who is getting married is someone I truly could not be happier for. She deserves all of the good things in life, and I feel really special that I get to partake in the day. So, even though this sarcastic lady will not be attending with that "plus 1" box checked, I will be looking good in some new heels. Watch out world. (And please, catch me when I stumble. The shoes are pretty high.)

Good morning.

2011-11-10T08:07:00.001-06:00

Have a fantastic day!

Thankful.

2011-11-08T22:07:00.000-06:00

Image from here.

Many of my friends (and I'm sure others) have been expressing their thanks each day in November and will continue right on through to Thanksgiving. Some are doing this via Twitter or Facebook, others are writing it in their own journal or blog. I think this is a wonderful little tradition.

Yesterday, I was chatting with my roommate after she and her coworkers had a day together to continue strengthening their work relationships. One of their activities was writing down their top 10 moments/experiences from the past year. It's an interesting concept, and each individual takes it their own way. At one point in our conversation I was thinking, did I even have 10 big things that happened this year that I could put down on a list?

And that, of course, is when it hit me. It's not about those "big moments." It's about all of the little ones. The ones where you're driving along and suddenly realize "I'm really happy!" I'm smiling to myself, I'm content, I have good people in my life and a great home to go to. I have people I can count on all around the world. I have everything I truly need. Wants are an entirely separate thing and are saved for Christmas wish lists. Everything I need to be content has been granted.

Last night, I talked with a friend I've known since kindergarten on the phone. After only a few sentences she said, almost incredulously, "wow, you sound really happy." It was then that I realized that even though daily stressors may gnaw at us, it's great to keep a positive outlook. It's wonderful having a job I love and want to be at, it's fantastic to have a place full of shapes and stories and giggles and ice cream to come home to each night, and I'm truly blessed to have smiling faces to share all of these things with.

So yes, there are definitely hard times, but overall it's been a good ride. I'm thankful for that, and hope to continue reminding myself what this season is all about.

In case you missed it...

2011-11-04T23:45:00.000-05:00

This has been making me happy this week! Originally seen here.

My favorite parts? Push It and the Dougie. What are yours?

'Tis the Season

2011-11-03T23:23:00.000-05:00

I decided today was the perfect time for my first Starbucks red cup of 2011. The signature red cups signify the holiday season, and I can't remember the last time I got one of these without snow on the ground. I know that we do need the moisture, but I'm honestly loving not having to deal with snow yet. But I digress.

I was in the drive through at Starbucks, truly having a battle with myself as a casual, chai tea latte is not really in my spending budget throughout the holiday season. I ordered it anyways. Hey, I'm human. When I got up to the window to pay for my drink, the lovely woman in the red van ahead of me had already done so. What a fantastic way to start off the season of giving. Thank you, stranger, for your thoughtful random act of kindness. You made my day.

Now that Halloween is over and November has begun, let's all try to remember that this season is about more than long hours traveling, snow storms, and purchasing things. It's about being a good person and remembering that we can inspire happy moments in each other. It does not have to be through a financial act - it can simply be smiling at the person next to you in line or helping someone with their groceries. Be nice. We're all in this together.

Last night...

2011-11-02T13:06:00.000-05:00

I made Pioneer Woman's corn & cheese chowder. I've been so busy lately that I forgot how nice and relaxing it is to be able to come home and cook a full meal from scratch! This soup is delicious - I left out the green onions and bacon (one because I didn't have them & the other because I don't really eat it) and it was still delicious. I also halved the recipe because I'm a single lady. I ate a heaping bowl hot off the stove last night and have lunch for the rest of the week. Success!

While cooking, I was listening to Florence + the Machine's new album that came out yesterday. I highly recommend it! I'm still not sure what my favorite songs are, but I've linked to one below. My friend Travis said that when he heard this song it reminded him of me, which I kind of love:

The song I hope is on the radio when I've been getting in my car lately.

2011-11-01T05:05:00.000-05:00

On Omaha.

2011-10-31T17:01:00.001-05:00

"We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be."
-excerpt from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

My venture to Omaha was one of those weekends that you really cling to. The laughter, the stories, the familiar discourse with a close friend who has only been a voice on a phone lately. The new places, the walking outside, the fall air, the cobblestone, the new faces and unique chat. The man from Georgia dressed up as Julius Caesar who told me that he "finally found someone he had a connection with" and that connection was with me, someone who had arrived just as quickly as she would leave.

It's truly a wonderful thing to be able to have someone (in my case, multiple someones) who will go with my bits. My stories. My make-believe lands. It's even easier for this to happen when you're together. I'm a person who communicates with my entire body - lots of arm and hand gestures and I get told that my eyes give me away almost instantly. Therefore, phone chat is not nearly as fulfilling as personal, real human interaction. Skype is a healthy alternative, but still only a snapshot.

I'm lucky because I have a lot of friends who have stayed around the cities post-college graduation, but there are still many friends who have challenged themselves to leave and are striving in their new worlds. There are also friends I knew from circumstances besides college who were never in Minneapolis. By catching up, in person, I've realized how much gets missed over the phone.

Life offline is different for my generation. Even when we are out experiencing things - pumpkin patches, new coffee shops, concerts - we are tweeting, updating our Facebook statuses, posting photos, letting others know who we are with. We are never truly disconnected. I'm going to go so far as to say that we don't necessarily know how to be disconnected anymore. It's natural for me to tweet what I'm doing. It's even more natural for me to take a photo of it and send it up to that 140-character land for others to see.

This weekend there were wonderful conversations that tended to circle around our lives post-graduation. Our futures. Our plans. Our ideal. It's hard to know exactly what that is and it's hard to know that sometimes our present isn't what we thought it would be. For the longest period of time, I had this expectation that graduating from college would set me up for life. Somewhere in between then and now I forgot to exactly qualify what that meant. We get caught up in our online and real worlds, our twitter conversations, celebrity gossip, acting cool, that we forget to take a deep look at what our next goal is.

Thankfully I also have friends in my life who let me reflect on this with them. I laughed a lot this weekend. I made many new friends, judged a costume contest, searched for Anna in a corn maze, walked on cobblestone paths like Roz Russell and Ava Gardner, had fun with a horse named Henrietta, and heard a cute little boy scolding his brother with the words "this ain't no joke talk!" It was refreshing and fantastic. Here's to more like it.

Three months and many thoughts.

2011-10-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I'm taking one of my last big road trips of the season. After the long, exhausting but thrilling and motivating camps I ran this summer, I got over 60 hours of comp time. (Lots of late nights, no sleep, and reminding myself to take deep breaths, but of course, it was all worth it.)

The comp time expires at the end of October, so in these past couple of months, I've been fortunate enough to travel home (SD), and to Denver, CO, Phoenix, AZ, Marcell, MN, Fargo, ND, and will be on my way to Omaha, NE at this time tomorrow!

I've stayed either with friends, family or at my friend's grandparents cabin in all of these instances. It's been so wonderful getting to reconnect with people. I typically travel to visit people in the summer. Now, with this job, my "new normal" will be late summer/early fall travel. It's honestly been wonderful and I know how fortunate I am to be able to do so. With the exception of Phoenix (where it was 114-120 degrees the whole time), it's been the perfect, warm but not-too-warm weather.

I've been able to soak up the vitamin D I had been lacking over the summer, eat delicious food, and explore new cities with really wonderful hosts. I have a lot of really great people in my life who have been opening their doors to take me in for an odd weekend and I hopefully have brought a little something to their lives as well.

My car and I have become very close. (I got a new car, did I tell you all that?) Anyways, with the subscription I had three free months of SiriusXM. My free subscription ended early August and I honestly did not know what to do with myself. I had gotten so used to having music at my fingertips no matter where I was - the middle of nowhere or in the city driving to work. I opted to get a 6-month subscription, knowing all of the travel and driving I would be doing this fall (and full disclosure: the 4 times they called me; I'm a sucker for persistence.) It's been a lifesaver. In my previous car, I did not even have a CD player - now I have a CD player, USB hookup and SiriusXM. You're welcome to join me for a drive anytime.

I'm not sure if it's because I've never driven to Omaha from Minneapolis, or because I get to have a fun weekend in a new city, but I'm really looking forward to this drive. It will be a bit warmer, but still fall. I will get to take a big deep breath of fresh air and get away from the past few weeks (lots of events and conferences.) And most of all, I will get to hang out with a friend I haven't seen in a few months! I think it'll be invigorating.

As things are starting to slow down again for me, I'm hoping to be around here more often. Thanks for bearing with me during these past few crazy months and for all of the well wishes on camp! I'd never been in charge of 200 people at a time before - and I did it for two weeks straight! It's something I'm really looking forward to recreate again next year.

Have a happy day!

Day 3.

2011-07-11T00:18:00.000-05:00

The campers came today and I have so, so much I want to share. However, I've been going strong since about 6am this morning and we are rounding up to around 12:30am. It's bed time. For those of you who are checking this for updates about camp from me, just know that this morning I woke up happy. I'm living a dream that I didn't even know I had when I graduated from college. It's the best feeling!

Day 1.

2011-07-08T22:43:00.000-05:00

I am in a dorm room.

I just opened up my suitcase and took out my carefully rolled clothing. This is how I pack, rolling my clothes so I can jam as many of my possessions as possible into one bag. As if I would never see my favorite tank top again if I didn't get to bring it with me for this week away. I was able to shove not only clothes for a week, but also two blankets, a bed sheet, a pillow, a towel, full-sized blow dryer and five pairs of shoes in one bag. I was happy with that accomplishment.

I lined up my shoes underneath my bed. I made the bed, using my old college dorm room sheets. They are lined pink and green and gold and white and worn in from the many years of hauling them from my bed down to the basement washing machine once a week. Maybe once a month. It was enough to make them worn in, so the timing really doesn't matter much.

I put my clothes in unfamiliar, too-bulky drawers for my week's worth of clothing. Intimates in the top. Tank tops next. Then the thin, more fun t-shirts soon followed by the sporty t-shirts. Pants go on the bottom. Pants should always go on the bottom.

I'm in an unfamiliar room yet I'm in one of my most familiar states. I'm at a summer camp, and for most of my life this is what I did every single summer. I stayed in new dorm rooms. I carefully unrolled my clothing and put it in new drawers. I tried to look hip everyday. Whatever that meant. It definitely did not mean wearing Winnie the Pooh sweatshirts. Silly 7th grade. Silly camp kids.

This time is different, though. I didn't roll up in my parent's car with a sleeping bag stuffed in a garbage bag. I didn't shyly tell a stranger my name for my name tag, hoping my mom was nearby to make sure I was doing it right. I didn't walk into a funky smelling dorm room, afraid of who I was going to be spending a week scrunched between the same two walls with. I didn't carefully select my outfit weeks ahead of time. In fact I didn't 'select' my outfit at all, I just wore clothes today. Like every other day.

It's different because I am the one in charge. I've made the name tags. I've worked on the room assignments. I get the pleasure of a single room. I'm the face people are going to be looking towards if they are having a bad day, roommate problem, or crisis. I created the t-shirts. I got the internet code (which are hard to come by at camps.) I'm the adult.

I think this is going to be a whirlwind of a week. A whole new experience. A new era of my 'camp-going' days. The other volunteer 'staff' come tomorrow and the students arrive Sunday. I'll let you all know how it goes. :)

Foster the People.

2011-07-08T06:07:00.002-05:00

I leave for my camp TODAY. Wish me luck!

Tuesday.

2011-07-05T20:16:00.001-05:00

Let's forget for a moment that I still have the marker capabilities of a three-year-old child and tend to get a good swipe or two on my hand. Let's also forget that the red marker that's been nary an arm's length away from me for the past two weeks smells like cherries. Yes, a smelly marker. That's what I've been proofreading all of the materials I'm about to hand out to high schoolers with. Don't you wish you had my life? Or at least my marker?

I've been playing phone relay all night, where you make one phone call and leave a message to said person. Then a separate person calls you. While you are on the phone with the second person, the first calls back. While you are on the phone with the first person, a third chimes in. While you are on the phone with the third person, texts seem to come floating to the surface. I've finally put my phone to updating/resting heaven for a few hours so I can finish the work I brought home with me. (Work like making sure I have all of the rules to the games I'm going to play with said high schoolers next week typed out so everyone can understand them, as opposed to my hand-written, red marker, smelly blobs that are currently all over the piece of paper to my left.) It's going to be a good night.

Hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July! I fell asleep late last night listening to fireworks pop and sizzle and slip into the unknown all around the neighborhood.

sisterhood.

2011-07-04T21:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had characters in a book really take up a place in your life?

My friend Sammi introduced me to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books one summer when I was around the age of sixteen. I loved summer reading, and when she found out I hadn't read the sisterhood books she promptly shuffled through her bookshelf and gave me the first one right then and there (it was one of a few weekends spent at her house in Minnesota instead of mine in South Dakota). I read and reread all four of them over the course of the summers following and have seen the first movie more times than I care to admit to the public.

Last January my friend Hanna asked me to buy a GroupOn to a small bookstore in Stillwater, about 30 minutes away from us. We traveled there this past week to use said discounted coupon and I found the book Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. The premise? "Four friends, one sisterhood...ten years later."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How had I never heard of this book coming out? Albeit, it is still solely in hardcover so it couldn't have been out long, but I didn't know about it at all. My anger is so silly, because there is no actual connection that I have to Tibby or Carmen or Bridget or Lena. I've never met or even seen Ann Brashares, the author. I'm not signed up for her author newsletter nor have I ever been to her website (if she has either of those. Laziness is causing me not to care to look.) Yet, I felt like I was personally abandoned because more information about these characters lives, these friends I met and knew and stayed up far too late to read about so long ago, existed and I was unaware.

Obviously that is the book I bought and this weekend I started reading it. And continued reading it. All of it. To the end.

You know when you are so invested in a book that once you realize you are on one of the very last chapters you somehow try to will yourself to read slower? You get a sense of anxiety thinking that it will end soon and you try as hard as possible to savor the words and moments? That is such a horrible emotion.

When a book's characters intrude your life at such a vulnerable state (puberty, the first crushes on boys that lead to boyfriends, etc) and they seem to be going through the exact same things, you keep that with you, possibly without even knowing it. The four girls' stories became my anecdotes. Their actions taught me what I should or should not do. Their tribulations helped me work through my own. I have really open, encouraging friends in real life, but sometimes the people authors write about are easier to relate to because you put yourself in their situations. Find a piece of yourself in their makeup. What would I do in a situation like this? Am I guarded and cautious like Lena? Do I jump into the unknown chaotically and without a plan like Bridget? Do I have set views and strong convictions like Tibby? Do I let my emotions make my decisions and document my life a la Carmen?

What I think was most heavily revealed in reading this documentation of the girls' lives ten years later was seeing that so much can change in those years. I've been noticing this more and more lately as it has started becoming my reality. People move away. Change jobs. Find their significant other. People build houses and families and new groups of friends. I've recently been thrust in this "adult" world and I honestly have no idea what that means. An insightful new friend asked me this weekend "When will we actually feel like adults? When does that happen? I thought it would happen after I graduated from college, graduated with my masters, but it hasn't. When will it?" I had no answers for her. I have no answers for myself.

As I'm writing this I'm remembering a conversation I had with a boy who sees the world entirely different than I do. He was asking a similar question about six months ago, and I told him that we would feel like adults on "July 30th. I'm not sure in what year, but that's definitely the day." I'll let you all know how that works out for 2011.

I think the point of this post is to tell you that this book is absolutely nothing like I thought it would be and everything that I needed. I'll leave you with a small passage that I appreciate:

"You get older and you learn there is one sentence, just four words long, and if you can say it to yourself it offers more comfort than almost any other. It goes like this...Ready?"

"Ready."

"'At least I tried.'"

It's Friday!

2011-07-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Crankypants.

2011-06-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

When one is a cranky lady, small things help.

For example, last week Thursday I just could not do it anymore. You ever feel like this? You're done. You're afraid to be around people any longer because you might end up saying something in your cranky, too-tired, stressed state that you actually don't mean at all. You might get too emotional and your boy roommate might think that you are actually sick and offer to make you soup...well that is if you have soup because he does not. You might cry later that night because you are so tired and just need some time to sleep and don't really have it. You might do all of these things. And then you'll pick yourself up because that's what we do.

We as people. We move on. We gather oxygen in our lungs and breathe out deeply and remember that little things add up, but we can deal with them. And when we deal with them, things are okay again. Maybe the only thing that you can do to deal with whatever else is on your mind is finishing a project you told yourself you would do last September. This is what I did. And I cannot even begin to talk about how much happier I am now that that silly project is completed. It's launched me into a state where I'm excited to continue on. It's the beginning. It's a perfect way to move on, by finishing something I told myself I would do.

It was a project that truly only benefits me. No one else. But I had a friend by my side, fantastic conversation, and just the right attitude to make things happen. I think for the next month, that will be my motto: Make Things Happen.

So watch out. Feel free to join. Make Things Happen. Today.

The 10-year plan.

2011-06-23T13:44:00.001-05:00

Last December I met a partner in a top law firm in Minneapolis. While I did not know her job status at that point, I was already intimidated by her matter-of-fact way of speaking and how she challenged everyone in the room. I was the new person. The fresh meat. The one who sat with her head down, just like in school when you hadn’t quite gotten all the reading done and hope that your teacher doesn’t call on you, when of course they are actually looking for the person with their head down. I was the meek one. She was the cobra.

A few weeks ago, I ended up grabbing a drink with this woman. She is someone who expects a lot out of you. She wanted to know what my goal is 10 years down the road, while also forcefully reinsuring me that I am young and shouldn’t have everything planned out. I was thinking about this today, about how hypocritical that is. The fact that she asked me what the big goal was in one breath and was I going back to school and if so where and would I still work or would I put all my time into school and how would I pay for that? And when I made up a plan that sounded like something I might think about doing one day, she told me in her very next breath not to have it all planned out yet because you never know where life will take you. That you should want to travel and be free enough to take a job in a new city. That you need to have connections everywhere and keep fostering them. Saying what every adult figure in my life has always told me but in her own unique, forceful way. Her east-coast way. Her direct, un-“Minnesota Nice” way.

I left that outing a bit worse for the wear. My heart was beating, skin prickling, mind whirring. What was my 10-year plan? I have a friend who is incredibly good at this. At planning things out, every month, to make sure that what needs to be done gets done with enough time measured in for happy hours and impromptu get-togethers. Who knows what is going on every weekend, because most of them are planned. (If they are not it is only a matter of time.)

I’m a planner, but when I’m planning too much, too often, I get incredibly stuck. I feel like I’m trapped. Suffocated. I’ve started telling my friends that I will be disappearing in July (which is semi-true) solely because I know I already have a few weeks of that month planned out and know I’ll need spontaneity in there. Planning for spontaneity? Yes. That sums up what I believe in best. I hope for adventure while living with my feet on the ground.

I think what impresses me most about the first woman is the fact that she is totally open with her love life. She is a lady in the middle of her life and she calls her boys, lovers. Right now, though, she has a boyfriend. This is big. They are both too busy to actually have what us Midwesterners would deem a “normal” relationship, one where you see your significant other at least every other day. But she has planned time with him, and that is what she wants. I want more. As much as I want to foster the relationship I have with her, I also want to know what she did or didn’t do that led her to this point in her life. I’m surrounded by young 20-somethings getting married every weekend. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but that is not what I want right now. Open bar and cute groomsmen, yes. Lifelong commitment and buying a house? No, thank you.

The independent streak in me is running rampant right now. Because of this, and because of my hectic, fantastic, work-filled July, I am planning out August to include a few plane rides and adventures. When I change my scenery I also typically figure out what my next move will be. Here’s to the unknown. Here’s to the next 10 years.

Happy thoughts.

2011-06-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

*I got to hang out with so many fun people this weekend, many of whom came to me and my roommate's bbq!

*In about three weeks, I'll actually be at the camp I keep talking about.

*Today, one of my best friends called me and we talked for over an hour. We rarely get to talk or see one another, and it was really fantastic to catch up.

*I chatted with my dad and mom. Last night they saw the Beach Boys in concert and John Stamos made a special appearance!

*I got to go out to brunch with really good friends both Saturday AND Sunday this weekend. It's one of my favorite things to do in the cities!

*I picked the first strawberries from our garden!

*And last, but certainly not least, yesterday I was asked to be the Maid of Honor at my beautiful friend's wedding! I'm really excited for it!

Work.

2011-06-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I forget that people are not passionate about their jobs.

As in, I actually forget that people wake up every day and go into work, maybe interacting with a few coworkers, and then go home, leaving everything at the office. I've never had that. I'm not sure I'd ever want that.

Instead, I wake up at 2:00am thinking about the color of t-shirts I want to order for camp and what I have left to do regarding scheduling speakers for the 350+ students who I will be in charge of one day soon. I stay up at night going over a speech I'm giving to future volunteers and making sure I look mature enough for my age. (Many of our volunteers are my parents' ages. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that - in fact I find it awesome - but I've encountered a few situations where my age came up. For example, when I was presenting in classrooms I would chat with the students as I was waiting for the teacher. Multiple times I was mistaken for a high school student myself. They always would say things like "Well, you just fit right in!")

I find that many people in the blogging world are also very passionate about their work. From opening small businesses in the Etsy sense or in the brick and mortar sense, to being teachers, to graphic designers. They all find joy in what they are doing. It's really refreshing to see and to know how passionate people can be about what they do each day.

Do you have this? Are you someone who wakes up each morning, passionate about what is coming up at work? Or, do you focus that energy on hobbies and have a day job that maybe isn't exactly what you want to be doing? I think that in this economy it's difficult to have the job you might want, especially at the wage you might need it to be.

The writing exercise I've been taking part in has been bringing up a lot of questions in my mind, including the overarching theme of: What do you want to be doing? and What are you doing to get there? Right now I truly want to be putting on the most fantastic camp for high school students. It's exciting to me that I am actually getting paid to do this! What's been the most exciting thing for you professionally lately?

Alternative Paths.

2011-06-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

(Author: Jonathan Fields)

In the recent future, I feel that my ambition is not necessarily “blind” in order to get to one goal as quickly as possible, but “blind” in the fact that as much as I’ve been trying to plan things out, that is just not the way it will end up going.

I’ve had to do a lot of regrouping and reorganizing and pushing things back and rescheduling and saying no to a few friend outings because I simply needed to lay in my bed and do nothing for 20 minutes. Sorry friends.

I think that one of the best parts of working in a nonprofit is the fact that you never know what will come up or what you might be called upon to do the next day. This is also one of the worst parts. I mentioned awhile back that I went to a class called “Achieve Your Highest Priorities.” A very large chunk of this class was teaching us how to, very specifically, plan out our lives. Using a planner, setting big goals, understanding that email takes up a large chunk of time, etc. I honestly tried to use this system for 2-3 weeks. Every single day that I went back to it and was really excited about having planned out my day and “this was the day this is going to work!”, something went incredibly awry. Like people leaving because of a family emergency and me needing to step in awry. Like last minute calls for sponsorships that takes the entire morning awry. Like “hey I thought I sent you this email but actually I didn’t include you and a firm deadline for everyone’s extra information needs to be in the online system by tomorrow…system down right now but should be up in a couple hours” awry.

This is not due to me not planning. This is a larger power working against me. I’ve been trying to go with it, keep a positive attitude, etc. but it is starting to get incredibly hard. Like the state of Minnesota isthreatening to shut down causing for us to have no support on campus our first week of camp – hard. This is not a joke; this is a reality we are currently facing.

Don’t get me wrong, I expect little road bumps. I expect obstacles. But when do they stop?

Five Years.

2011-06-08T13:31:00.000-05:00

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

(Author: Corbett Barr)

How fitting is this? I’m heading home at the end of June for my 5-year high school reunion!

Dear 18-year-old Janae,

Dude.

Remember that time when you made a “List of things to do before I’m 22?” Do it. Okay, you don’t have to do that one. You know the one. But the rest: DO THEM. You will be forever changed and enlightened.

Take risks. It’s okay if you settle on a college based on the weather on the day you visited, but then remember, REMEMBER, that if that was your choice, it’s also okay to realize it was the wrong one and to change it for the better.

Be brave. You are about to embark on a new chapter of your life: college. There will be lonely nights. There will be crying. There will be drama. There will be new friends. There will be an epic prank war. There will be hope. There will be enlightenment. There will be inspiration. There will be stupid moments. There will be things you’ve never dreamed of. You will travel. You will find a purpose. You will start living in a way that makes you feel good; socially responsible, informed, connected.

Remember that you have to get through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff. This too shall pass.

And finally, start learning to say “no” to some things. It’s hard, I know. You want to be included and you are so excited about new clubs and being involved. You will burn out. You will not sleep. You will start scaring your friends with your crazy, too-tired antics. Sleep, water, exercise. Repeat this to yourself each day!

Good luck,

Janae at 23

Dear 28-year-old Janae,

GIRL, you look good.

I hope you figured out that whole turning-on-the-grill-and-getting-it-to-the-correct-temperature thing. That was embarrassing.

Where are you living these days? I cannot imagine you are living with two boys. Well, unless they are YOUR two boys. Hmm…that’s odd to think about.

Also, I hope you’ve started eating something other than sandwiches and lean cuisines for lunch. Probably not, though.

I truly do hope you’ve mastered the front crawl. Like, actually putting your face in the water and not just doing the arm movements, mastered. That’d be neat. Maybe you even invested in a pair of swim goggles! Man, what a star.

For real, though, I hope you are happy and loving life. I hope you’ve learned to choose a few things to do really well instead of trying to do it all. I hope you have continued baking and making new friendships and being open-minded. I hope you’ve never stopped learning or traveling. And I truly hope you’ve now been to Coachella. At least once.

I don’t know where these five years went, but I’m sure they were a ride!

Have fun and laugh always,

Janae at 23

Dare to be bold

2011-06-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

These big picture questions are incredibly hard to write daily. I’ve been mulling over this particular one for a while now and I’ve come up with three answers.

1.) 1.) I’ve always wanted to move to a new city by myself. This doesn’t necessarily mean moving somewhere where I don’t know anyone, but taking a leap of faith in myself. However, I’ve already semi-finished this goal as I moved to Minneapolis without knowing anyone at the University of Minnesota, and have built a great group of friends here.

2.) I’ve always dreamed of traveling to faraway places alone. Challenging myself, learning about my own strengths and weaknesses in the busy streets of some exotic locale. I’ve technically already done this, though. I went to Japan for a summer when I was 16 years old. I didn’t really know the language and I was on my way without a friend. That is, until one Ms. SammiJo showed up in the tiny Sioux Falls airport holding the shirt I was wearing (we were supposed to be wearing particular shirts so at our connecting flights personnel could spot us easily and make sure we knew where we were going. She was much too cool/her shirt was much too big for that to happen. Mine was also an XL (too large for me at the time,) but I was that loser trying to make it work. SammiJo has taught me many things, not the least including how to dress for your body type.) SammiJo and I were hours away from one another once we actually got to our host families’ homes in Japan, but we managed to meet up a few times and wrote letters to one another every week.

3.) The newest dream that I want to accomplish is opening my own business: Sarahnae{d}. It would be a bakery/coffee shop. We would have fantastic treats and I would get to bake every day. Baking makes me calm. Do you have that? Something that you know if you put the time into it, you will be calmer after? Baking is that for me. I bake when I’m bored, I bake when I want to surprise people, I bake because it’s fun. I’m a happy baker. Obstacles to this definitely include money/financing/finding a sugar daddy (kidding), feeling confident enough to leave full-time work with loan payments still looming above my head, location, figuring out how to start my own business, etc. Lots of trial and error. At least we’ve started the baking part. That’s the most important. I’ve also read a few books on starting a business and that is exactly what my camps this summer teach high schoolers to do, so I know I’ll keep picking up tricks!

Come Alive

2011-06-07T06:33:00.001-05:00

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.

(Author: Jonathan Mead)

I'd love to say that I would definitely keep on living the way I am if I had one week to live, but the truth is I'm too far away from key people I'd want to visit before my last days. Obviously, the easy answer to this question is no, I'm not quite living the way I would if I knew I only had a week left to live. However, knowing that I only have a few weeks until my first session of camp has made me prioritize that in my life. (For those of you who don't know, I'm planning two summer camps for 9-12th graders in July.) This includes working later than expected and keeping on top of small tasks that could eventually build up.

I really like the core of this question, though. What have you done to make sure you are present in your everyday life? This is something I've been working on more and more; something that has actually led to the lack of posting on this blog. I've been saying "yes" to a lot of little get-togethers and opportunities to have actual face time with friends.

For example, last night I got home around 7:00 pm and was chatting with my roommate and his friend. We watched a bit of the Twins game and then I went into my room to get some work done, surf the internet, etc. Once the game was over, though, they were yelling at me, asking "JANAE!!! Do you want to play football or Mario Cart?!" There was no "Okay, you can stay chilling in your room." It was a choice. Football or Mario Cart. I chose football so we went to a little park and played catch until the bugs were eating us alive. I discovered a new park in the neighborhood I've now been living in for 10 months, and got to hang out outside with a couple boys I truly enjoy being around.

Once we got back home, naturally we had to play some Mario Cart. Thankfully, they were patient with me and would describe the games and the controls I needed to use before we started (I did not grow up playing video games and therefore am horrible.) If you know anything about Mario Cart, you know that the fact that I ended up having the most coins in the end is pretty awesome.

Moral of the story: living in the moment will bring you all kinds of joy that you never expected. So say yes!

Travel.

2011-06-04T20:09:00.001-05:00

If we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?
Author: Chris Guillebeau via #Trust30

I would truly like to go to a smattering of places. Honestly the hardest part of this prompt for me is choosing one. I would love to see any of these beaches, as a relaxing vacation staring out into the wide abyss that is the ocean, enjoying fresh fruity drinks and laying in the sand reading a book would basically be my version of heaven.

I would love to climb to the top of any mountains, especially this one, as I do have a bit of a thing for the song "Africa" by Toto. (Click here to listen if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

I even want to see the exact opposite of sandy, fantastic beaches in the more desolate, yet (I assume) still serene space of the Grand Canyon.

What does this all mean? I'm a wanderer. I want to take in any place that will make me feel small, that will put things into perspective, where I can think and process and come up with new questions. I want to be able to breathe in deeply and remember what's important. I want to travel to understand the world, and my place within it. I don't want even a year to go by where I'm not exploring.

For example, last summer I had little money and only a part-time job. This could have truly deterred this curious spirit of mine, but instead I focused my sights on the wonderful locale that is the Twin Cities. With a good friend by my side, I explored Grand Avenue, read for over an hour in an alcove in Garrison Keillor's bookstore, gathered a group of friends to experience Movies in the Park, took in local and international art at the MIA, and strolled around and dipped my feet in many new lakes (Minnesota is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," donchaknow.) We got to know one another better and realized just how fabulously diverse this place we call home can be.

Exploring new places is a way of life for me, instilled by my mother and her parents. I hope that never goes away.

Staying on task...to choose one place I really want to see as of this moment, I think it would have to be the Redwood National Forest in California. Hmm...even I'm surprised by this decision! I might have to start planning a trip for the fall. :)

Where would you go?

Post-It Challenge

2011-06-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

Bonus: tweet or blog a photo of your post-it.

Author: Jenny Blake via #trust30

One strong belief.

2011-06-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

(Author: Buster Benson)

This is a very hard question to answer, as I have built quite a diverse group of friends in Minneapolis. Many of my friends' beliefs are different from my families, and I lie somewhere in the middle with most of them. One of the largest things I feel that varies is religion. I grew up going to church every single weekend with my family. It was a natural part of my life. I went to Sunday school, participated in a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) weekend and even started leading younger Sunday school classes while I was in high school.

Now, I attend a bit more liberal service; however where the belief comes in is during times of talking with atheist friends. It can definitely always be a topic of conversation, but thankfully we do not make it a point to focus on. Instead we enjoy one another's company and leave the debates out of it, which I am very thankful for.

A somewhat related issue is the topic of gay marriage. I am in favor of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, being able to claim and legally state that they love another person. I have friends and family members who would disagree with me on this.

I think the way in which I live this is by trying to educate those who do not believe in gay marriage. I still know people who use the term "gay" in a derogative way. This is not okay. In college, I had many friends in the GLBT group, recruited them to come on my community service tour, and had a good friend as the Community Advisor (sometimes called RA's) of the GLBT floor in the residence halls. I support all of my friends, no matter what their sexual orientation is. And, if I would be in the cities that weekend, I would definitely be attending the Twin Cities Pride festival in Minneapolis June 25-26. (I have a class reunion/family coming in from out of state.) If you will be in the area, learn more here.

Today.

2011-06-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

Prompt: If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tracks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.

(Author: Liz Danzico) #Trust30

One of my best friends made me laugh and remember what it's like to be stay calm, dig in the dirt, and remember that sometimes we cannot do it all but that doesn't mean we can't make changes for the better.

Also, our garden has officially been started!

Prompt 1.

2011-05-31T21:50:00.000-05:00

We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.
1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
2. Write the story that has to be written.

"Well!" she said as she slumped onto her flowered couch cushion. Her brow furrowed as she realized this was going to be the last time she ever sat here. The last time she ever saw this couch. The last time she ever smelt that little puff of perfume that comes off, the smell of her grandparents, the smell of her childhood.

Someone else was going to get the couch. One of her cousins still in college who could schlep it from dorm room to beaten-up apartment and then eventually leave it on the side of the road as most couches tend to end up these days.

"Tell me a story."

This is how it always started. Grandpa sat in his recliner, while she huddled up on the flowered couch, a maroon shawl as a blanket wrapped around her. The time didn't matter. Their age didn't matter. The place mattered. The people mattered. The connection mattered. And grandpa took an interest in her that many other people did not.

"Well, we met when my mother made me go to high school..." he would start. This one never got old. The story of true, young love. The story of a family wanting more for their children. The story of my grandparents meeting solely because my great-grandparents believed in education, something that was then instilled in my parents, my siblings, and myself.

I told someone this once, that I never even considered not going to college. They said that no one else in their family had ever gone; that they were the first and they didn't know if they could hack it. I told them that it was never a topic of conversation. I always knew I was going to college; I just never knew where.

And I didn't. I started at a small, rural college with 5,000 people and corn fields surrounding it. I basically went from my small rural town to a larger, yet somehow still small rural town. That was not enough for me. I think a lot of people knew that, but no one ever said it out loud. I had to fight through it; crying most nights, calling my friend Kenny for guidance. Kenny was a big part of my life then.

It's one of life's great coincidences that my grandpa was named Kenny, too.

But I survived and I moved on. I somehow made it through in four years and am now facing today. A tired day that doesn't seem to quite ever end. I came home to my roommate having taken out the trash; something I don't think he's ever done before. I sat in my room and ate a taco. I kept thinking about how the other people, the older young professionals I had just been in a meeting with probably didn't do this. Didn't end up basically on the verge of tears because their roommate did something so nice. Didn't sit on the floor of their room eating while also pretending they'd vacuumed in the near future. (Never.) Didn't log in to their work computer and then just shut it down instead of nailing out some hard facts.

But maybe they didn't notice the sky today either. The ethereal blue and iridescent white that floated above on the ride home. Maybe they didn't have friends from far away places calling just to chat, just because they felt alone and thought you could understand. Maybe they don't have big wool boots sitting next to petite heels in their closet. Maybe they don't live a nomadic existence, flitting from place to place at least once a year. Maybe they have pictures on their walls and piles of clean laundry and organized bathrooms. Maybe they do have all that. But I do not.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going next. I'm not quite sure what time I'll get up tomorrow morning. But I am sure that I will figure it out on my own. I have an almost stifling independent streak about me. I need space. I need to breathe. I need to feel as if I'm in control of something.

I also need story time. Which brings me back to the couch.

Grandma is dusting around the living room, keeping busy in that way that grandma's do. She lifts her feather duster to the large photograph of my grandparents and all of the families they created. My aunts. My uncles. My cousins. Myself.

Grandpa breathes in deeply in his recliner. "Look what we started."

Trust 30.

2011-05-31T09:57:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!

My apologies to those who have been sitting at home, clicking the "refresh" button several times a day, hoping NOT to see the Easter eggs at the top of the screen and actually starting to feel a bit of resentment towards those bright pastel ovals. I'm back!

Truth is, I've been in a bit of a flux, trying to figure out how to do everything I signed myself up for, (I'm a self-admitted overachiever/overscheduler) while also seeing all of the friends I've been wanting to hang out with.

This all came to a turning point when I attended a class called “Achieving your Highest Priorities.” You see, it helped me to realize that, as much as I like to claim I’m a planner, I’m a bit more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of girl who literally rushes in at the last minute, similar to a baseball player sliding into home while the ball is being thrown to the catcher and everyone in the crowd is standing up and cheering and the anticipation of what might happen is so thick you can actually slice through it. Yes, like that. And you know what people like that have? A lot of stress.

So, I came across a wonderful little challenge called Trust 30. From their website: "#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey."

While this may look like just another thing I’m “adding on,” I think it will actually get me thinking about the most important things. Instead of filling my nights with yet another young professionals gathering, event, conference, you name it, I’ll hopefully be digging deep and using their prompts to learn a bit more about myself. (And start my garden, dang it.)

Totally understand if you think this sounds cheesy. But! This is my little space. I might learn a bit more about me. You might learn a bit more about me. Feel free to join in with any of the thoughts you would like to also talk about. Or feel free to email me at janaetime [at] yahoo [dot] com to go over these more in depth.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Easter everyone! I'm just popping in to say that I hope your days were fun and you got to celebrate the holiday and weekend with people you love. I was lucky enough to head home to South Dakota over the weekend. I fit in a lot of time with friends and family, including seeing the movie Water For Elephants, having breakfast at my aunt's house on Saturday morning and a delicious lunch today at an aunt on the other side of my family's house. The younger kids had an Easter egg hunt and there were many jokes about an unfortunate incident having to do with a turkey going around. All in all it was a great little trip. It never seems like I have enough time when I go home, but I try to pack in as much as I can every weekend I do make it back!

I also have a fun surprise from the weekend - I got a new car! More information/pictures on that soon, but now it's time to sleep. The 5+ hour drive to get back to the cities always wears me out. Hope everyone has a great start to their Monday!

Last week's playlist.

2011-04-20T16:44:00.003-05:00

A short mix of songs that helped me get through work in the early days of April. Maybe you'll find something you like!

You gotta swim.

2011-04-19T22:25:00.000-05:00

I've been learning that I really enjoy swimming as a form of exercise. It makes me happy, protects my joints, and has helped my back quite a bit ever since my car accident. I like gliding through the water, and after enough laps, truly feel strong.

My favorite part is when I'm one of the only people in the pool. Last night was the perfect example. I happened to get there during a lull, and had the entire "leisure pool" to myself. I'm a wuss, so this was absolutely awesome. (As opposed to the lap pool, which is always colder.)

I was just getting to about halfway through my normal routine when a few more people showed up. Not a big deal, I'll move over a bit and we'll all have plenty of room.

Then an entire family came. And another one. All of a sudden it was kid hour; mind you, this was around 9:00pm on a Monday night. Don't kids need sleep?

I was still fine with this until a mother was putting a life jacket on her son. He kept saying "Mommy, I need to go potty!" Her solution to his problem was by scooping up her son and throwing him into the water.

I hadn't moved that fast the entire workout.

I'll brave the adult lap pool next time.

What have you been doing to stay in shape? Any new workouts I should try?

It's been a month.

2011-04-17T15:37:00.000-05:00

I took an impromptu month away from blogging life. It all started with the fact that my computer was broken, and it took longer than two weeks to fix. Then it just felt good being able to be offline in the few hours I was at home. I'm planning two camps for high school students this summer and that has made work ramp up in the past month. I love it, I've just been busy!

Beginning last October, I found a church that I really enjoy attending every Sunday. This morning, the pastor said one thing particularly true: "Life is not for understanding and comprehending. Life is for living." I didn't really think about it this way until today, but this past month I've been enjoying ordinariness. Going out for happy hour, re-uniting with friends I hadn't seen in a year, baking for an entire day with one of my best friends, trying new restaurants, planning and hosting a party, grilling with my roommates, having impromptu movie and wine nights, painting my nails, going to brunch, eating fruit, going to a swanky event with a good friend, helping friends with video projects, acting like an adult, realize I'm not acting anymore, showing up.

Really, I've just been focusing on the relationships I have in real life. This has been fantastic, and reminded me why I love this place. I've built a wonderful, supportive community around me. I have a blessed life.

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

2011-03-17T23:30:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone. I apologize for the break in blogging, but thought I'd give you a little snapshot of what's (unfortunately) been going on that has attributed to the delays.

1) Car accident = lots of paperwork, a few doctor visits, and trying to get my car fixed.

2) My computer broke. I got my old, slower computer to turn on but it's not much help in the blogging department. I'm currently in the process of getting mine fixed.

3) On top of that my DVD player broke which doesn't affect blogging per se, just adds to the frustration level.

4) Then today, I lost my cell phone. Figuring out where it is/how to replace it also takes a little time. (I've searched all over. I distinctly remember having it in my car before a meeting, but it was nowhere to be found once I got there. Ghosts?)

5) I also locked myself out of my house. Icing on top of the cake.

In other words, it's been a hard couple of weeks, especially these past few days when things just haven't gone my way, no matter how much I've tried to plan things out.

On the positive side, I do have a full-time job where I'm finally starting to earn enough money to pay for a few of life's unexpected glitches. Well, that is if one would happen at a time instead of all of them in a row. I'm sure I'll have everything figured out soon, it's just taking me a little while to troubleshoot!

I'd appreciate any happy thoughts you have to send my way!

Song for your Sunday.

2011-03-06T15:39:00.000-06:00

I've been on a Lissie kick lately. What have you been listening to?

An update.

2011-03-04T23:01:00.018-06:00

I've been behind in blogging this week and I'm finally ready to share why. I was in a car accident last Sunday. Before I continue, know that everyone involved walked away from the accident and both our vehicles were still functioning, just a lot worse for wear. We were all very lucky.

It's hard for me to put exactly how things happened in print, but the fact of the matter is, it really shook me up. I had never been in an accident like this before, and hopefully won't have to experience anything like it again. I think the most interesting part is how I handled it at the time. I was very calm, called 911 after my car finally came to a halt (literally propped up onto a snowbank), and then rifled in my glove compartment for my registration and proof of insurance.

The other driver and I made sure each other was okay. Once the policeman got to the scene, I handed him my drivers license and insurance like he asked for, and started filling out the information he handed us. I had one, maybe two moments where a tear tried to slip out. At this, I took big deep breaths and kept saying "stay calm, stay calm."

I never realized that this is how I react to incredibly stressful situations until a few months ago when my friend Ashley mentioned it. I'm a pretty vibrant, sometimes over-dramatic person day-to-day, so when she said that I don't freak out in crazy situations until they are completely solved, I absolutely did not believe her. Well, she was 100% correct! It took me about 3 hours to come down from the adrenaline, but once I did I was a balling baby who could hardly communicate what happened to anyone else. I had planned on doing many things Sunday night but instead I curled up in bed with my cozy comforter. I went to work Monday morning and they immediately could tell something was wrong and ended up sending me home for the rest of the day.

I went back on Tuesday morning and my coworker said that I had looked like a zombie the day before. She felt like the life had just been sucked out of me and the fact that I didn't smile once was very telling.

I'm getting better, slowly but surely. I've experienced a lot of back and neck pain due to whiplash and the two impacts I was a part of (car to car and then my car to a large, icy snowbank.) I went in for three treatments this week and will be back in for a few more in the coming weeks.

I need to thank my friend Katie and my roommate Joe for being at the scene (and for checking up on me multiple times throughout the day/week!) To everyone else who found out and made sure I was doing okay, I truly, from the bottom of my heart, appreciate it. And for those of you who are just hearing this for the first time, it's honestly because I haven't wanted to repeat what happened more than was necessary for the insurance people. It's still too fresh in my mind and when I talked about it a lot on Sunday and Monday I wasn't able to sleep. It's not because I don't value your friendship/input, it's simply because it's an emotional event that I don't like reliving through storytelling.

March.

2011-03-01T22:40:00.001-06:00

March means: madness. more sun. recruiting for the summer camps I'm helping plan. lots of student interaction. recovering. encouraging. remembering. laughing. snow melting. crafting. getting my bedroom in order. wearing heels. helping good friends with big projects.

Happy first day!

*kudos go to my friend Nick who introduced me to this song.*

Song Saturday!

2011-02-26T18:10:00.000-06:00

A whimsical tune because that's what fits my current mood:

"The thing about coming home is that it settles around you like unset cement. The habits and the safety, the Things you accrue and the money. And the weeks or months you meant to stay grow unwieldy around you, into years and now I am thinking and thinking: There’s a finite amount of time for adventures. For actively choosing a life and rushing in to it. Not everyone gets free.

It’s snowing again like cherry blossoms hatching. Like it will never, ever stop. And I am considering wet shoes and grinning cheek bones in the coffee shop, eavesdropping and worrying about the hearts of the people I love. Worrying about the women, for whom you can have a world of respect and admiration and still not know well enough to comfort. Women who don’t need comfort. Times are hard all around. And still we all keep going toward so many better ends. We might be the luckiest people who ever lived."

"There’s only so much time left to waste. And you can make it anywhere."- from here.

Someday.

2011-02-24T05:54:00.000-06:00

photo credit.

It's a beautiful, busy, crazy life and we all need to take a moment to remember to live it. Look at your city or town or country as you go to work or school or out for breakfast this morning. Breathe in the crisp winter air. Take a few moments to reflect on why you are so busy. Are you doing something you are passionate about? Because then, my friends, it is all worth it. Hang in there. Someday you will miss this.

Colleagues!

2011-02-22T07:36:00.001-06:00

I was really involved in a nonprofit during college named Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF). It has had a big impact on my life, giving me a great group of friends and tons of volunteer and programming experience. It has even led me to my current full-time position!

Well, one of the founders of STLF wrote a blog post talking about how a few of us are now colleagues, working on bettering youth in the Twin Cities. Here's the post if you'd like to read it: Colleagues Today Leaders Forever

I think one of the best parts of this is that my friend Nick and I are featured. Nick was my neighbor in the dorms our sophomore year of college, and I never would have started my involvement with STLF if Nick hadn't yelled at me for many days in a row in order to get me to join. What a great friend!

Video time.

2011-02-21T18:51:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! Like I said, it's a snow day. Here is my friend Ashley and I and our basket full of questions for your viewing pleasure. If you are bundled up inside today, please feel free to take a little peak into our lives.

Extended weekend song?

2011-02-21T14:36:00.000-06:00

I've been pretty awful at getting songs put up on Saturdays lately. This weekend I made it back to my hometown just in time for it to snow and to keep me stuck inside my house. It's still snowing and some of the interstates are actually still closed due to the ice and snow, so I'm not sure when I'll be brave enough to venture back to Minnesota, but it might not be until tomorrow.

So, if you are one of the people in the Midwest getting barraged by this storm, here's a little song for your snow day:

Listen to Adele's new album here.

Too hip.

2011-02-17T21:39:00.001-06:00

Earlier today on Twitter, I mentioned that I was asked to dress "hip" tomorrow and that I really don't think I've ever done that in my life.

Some really nice friends reassured my fears and told me that I am, indeed, hip.

They have no idea that this is what I'm wearing right now.

It's a kind of hybrid between a sweatshirt, cape and Aztec print.

Did I mention it has a hood?

Oh yeah, I'm definitely hip.

For the record, I really like this top.

Solo celebration.

2011-02-16T22:29:00.000-06:00

Today was my first-ever solo celebration! The celebration was for an email mentoring program my company runs, and that I'm a program associate for. I planned this celebration from the inception, including coordinating volunteers to mentor a classroom of students. I felt really positive about the interactions the students had with their mentors, and was really happy with my speeches at the event.

During the celebration, a wonderful man named Paul gave a speech and ended it with this video on how advanced technology is. I found it really interesting, so I'm sharing it with you!

What do you think?

The best valentine.

2011-02-14T23:20:00.002-06:00


Photo credit.

My beautiful, darling friend Sarah came over Saturday morning and brought with her one of the most fantastic Valentine's gifts I've ever received. The Pioneer Woman's story of how she met and was wooed by her man, nicknamed Marlboro Man. I read the story through her blog last summer, and thought it was fantastic. She's a really witty, funny writer who keeps things real while also twirling a fantastic story. She added more to the story, including the entire first year of marriage and released this book in the beginning of February. I knew it was being made, but had no idea what day it was being released. Luckily, Sarah did, and got me my very own copy. I was shocked when she pulled it out of her bag and am so happy! I can't wait to read it!

Weekend song.

2011-02-13T18:25:00.002-06:00

Tonight is the Grammy Awards and I not only was reminded of this earlier this evening, but just got cable set up in my ROOM so I can actually watch it! I'm not going to lie, the boys would probably not let me watch it had this not happened. The fact that I now have cable may have been influenced by this past Thursday night when I rushed home from the gym to watch the new Grey's Anatomy, only to find my roommate and his friend playing old school video games. In that moment I may have overreacted a little and yelled "YOU'RE KILLING ME, JOE! KILLING ME!"

It might have happened.

I'm definitely over it now...

Anyways, for your Sunday listening pleasure, here's a little song from John Legend whose group John Legend and the Roots are nominated for a Grammy in the best R&B category.

Jimbo.

2011-02-12T08:24:00.000-06:00

Last night began with a little text from my sister K that read "What are you up to tonight?"

It led to Jimbo.

This is the story.

I climbed into my cold, salt-crusted car to go and pick her up from her college dorm. I took the quickest way I knew how, which is actually probably about the speed a turtle would go - people on bikes were passing me, and by the time I got there I was just happy that the other crazies on the road hadn't hit my dirty car yet.

She came clamoring out, hopping down the steps, her open red winter coat flailing to the sides. Once she hit my car it was like a football player hitting his opponent and she got the door open and was safe...like in baseball. Keeping up with these mixed sports metaphors?

Wiz Khalifa's Black and Yellow is playing on the radio and I'm zooming out of the minuscule parking lot in front of her residence hall as my phone rings. I talk on the phone to a friend who is going to an event called "The Awkward Dance" and is wearing two skirts to said event - one as a shirt, one as a skirt. It's supposed to be awkward, and KB on the phone asked why my sister wasn't going. Well, the very first thing K had told me as she was safely in the car was "I really don't want to go to the awkward dance." So I relayed the information.

We kept rolling on in the messy green Chevy, stopping to grab a RedBox, and then proceeded about 10 blocks out of the way in order to go to Wendy's.

I'd been craving a frosty. You know you like them.

So here we are, going through the practically deserted Wendy's, when the man who comes over the speaker to take our order starts legitimately SINGING to us. "WEEELLLLLCOMMMMMEE TOO WENDYYYYYYYYYYY'SSSSS! Can I take your ooorddddeeerrrrrr pleeeeeeease??

"Wow! Oh hello there, you are VERY happy!" I said back.

"Whenever you're readddddyyyyyyyyyy!" He sang.

"Okay well we would like two fries and two orders of your five piece chicken nuggets and two LARGE Frosty's."

"LARGE FROSTY'S? I don't want a large!" - K said. "That's way too big."

"Medium, then?" "Okay sir, sorry! Let's actually change the two large Frosty's to two medium Frosty's. The original chocolate ones."

"ALLL RIGHTY! That'll be $12.79, $12.79! $12.799999999!!!!" He sang.

K and I are doing that whole gut-wrenching laughter at this point, and as we turn around the corner of the drive through, this singing man opens the drive-through window and practically climbs out of it, with a beaming smile.

"Well hello ladies! $12.79!!!" His name tag reads 'Jimbo.'

"Hi there! How are you tonight?"

"Just dandy!" He hands back my card. "Now if you want to come back to see me I'm here every day but Wednesdays and Thursdays."

"Okay, that's good to know."

"AFTER 5!"

"Okay, we'll be sure not to come before 5!"

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"

And with a happy smile and wave, we drove to the second window to retrieve our tasty snacks.

Jimbo, we will be coming back to you, even if it is out of our way. Also, will you be our Valentine?

Reading for pleasure.

2011-02-10T22:33:00.001-06:00

"I thought a lot about this tendency I had, towards language. How when I saw a tree I immediately began describing it in my head. I had talked about it with my boyfriend right before he'd left. He had countered that he never did that. That when he looked at the tree he saw only the tree. And if he started to break it down, it was into colors and shapes. Images, not words. I didn't understand. He never read for pleasure either."

Sometimes I feel like I have a separate life within my head. It's one of twisting reality into make-believe. I note the intricate details in everyday things and then create a head full of stories.

I've been reading a lot of articles lately on widely-ranging topics, so much so that when one thing I read two weeks ago all of a sudden links in with something I read two minutes ago, I kind of gasp and think, why didn't anyone tell me that before? Naturally, the reason no one has told me the information is because no one else is reading the exact same things I am, and while other people may be coming to similar conclusions, their path to that conclusion is entirely unique.

Today, I was reading an article my friend Colleen linked to on Twitter that is by a fantastic writer I've been reading for a little over a year now. Her name is Molly Lambert and she writes for an online magazine called This Recording. The article is airy and real and many passages resonated within me, but when I came across this particular one, I stopped and realized that I'm the exact same way. I'd never thought about it before, which makes sense because we all tend to believe that our minds work similarly until we encounter someone who can vocalize how different we are. I appreciate the way she writes about real emotions, especially those that hit you in the last semester of college, and how she scoffs at her ex-boyfriend in a simple sentence, as well. If you have a little time, I recommend reading the whole piece.

I'm starting to feel better!

2011-02-07T22:02:00.000-06:00

Why is it that on the days that one wakes up and can't seem to get out of bed, so the whole morning is way off routine and simple things like choosing what to wear for the day gets thrown to the waste side so really, all one does is look in one's closet or drawers and comes up with something completely ridiculous or old or a combination of the two and then one puts that particular thing on (perhaps a red jumper from London circa 2008) and scrambles out the door in the morning and that happens to be the day that MULTIPLE people comment on how good that particular person looks?

How does that happen? And how do I replicate it for tomorrow?

Song Sunday!

2011-02-06T07:03:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I hope you've been having a great weekend. I've literally been sleeping for most of it. There are times when I'm up to get some soup, medicine, or press play on the video I'm watching in order to fall back asleep. I'm hoping to cure this sickness in these two days by laying low.

Since I didn't put up a song yesterday, here's a song for your Sunday. This past week, this is what I'd put on to get myself moving in the morning; hope you like it, too!

That stuffed up stuff.

2011-02-03T20:27:00.001-06:00

image credit

Why is it that whenever you're sick, you just want to call your mom? Am I the only one who feels like this? My mom is over 5 hours away; I logically know that there is absolutely nothing she could do to help me right this moment. Nevertheless, I just want to let her know that I am not feeling well. If she was here I know she'd get me some mashed potatoes or soup. She'd make me eat crackers. She used to always make me eat crackers when I was sick. I kind of hated it actually. So, what did I do when I came home from work today? I ate crackers. Naturally.

The point is I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so I'm going to lay in bed and watch movies all night. Here's to feeling better tomorrow.

It's February.

2011-02-01T23:15:00.001-06:00

Do you know what that means? It means that I can officially cut my hair!

You see, I've been growing it out so I can donate it to Locks of Love.

So, what's the problem you ask? Well, I've actually been really enjoying the length lately. I like the ease with which it flows and the extra warmth it provides doesn't hurt during this cold Minnesota winter.

So here's to one more month of long hair! Happy February!

The last day of the first month of the new year.

2011-01-31T21:49:00.001-06:00

I want a date that takes me to a mall or bookstore, laughing and pulling one another, hands intertwined, to the dictionary section, plucking out the latest Webster's and looking up a word that he said or she said and the other challenged, all the while laughing in that giddy way that first daters hope for and second and third daters are finally comfortable enough around each other to have. Whether its 'Pasching' or 'haranguing' we'll fight over how it's spelt and maybe even think about asking a sales attendant or Googling it but instead being satisfied in the archaic tale of our junior high selves that actually used to look up words instead of using dictionary.com. It becomes a laughing-out-loud people-staring-as-they-walk-by riot and his red shirt compliments my gray top so well it's as if we were made to sit on that bench and read words and share definitions with one another if only to have something that we could look back upon and say That was It. That was when I knew we had begun.

And the quote from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations crept into her mind, even though she hadn't ever taken the time to read the book, she remembered the passsage:

That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a long moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on that memorable day.

Song Saturday!

2011-01-29T14:55:00.000-06:00

Hello there friends. What are your Saturday plans? I didn't get to bed until pretty late last night and woke up early to eat a little breakfast and take part in a Zumba class. There are lots of things I want to do for the rest of the afternoon, but I also wanted to leave you with a song. If you can't get motivated today and need a little extra push, or just want something to jam to as you are getting ready for your Saturday night plans, this is my recommendation:

red hat tales.

2011-01-26T21:25:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to lie, I actually wore this hat at work half of the day on Tuesday. You see, yesterday I didn't shower. I had decided it was a night for swimming on Monday, so I went to the gym where I proceeded to run into an approximately 8-year-old boy every time I tried to do a lap. He didn't seem to grasp the whole concept that this line was mine, and his only real job at that moment was to not be in my (or the 60-year-old lady to my left)'s lanes. Oh no. He was CROSSING them.

He was a Maverick. I get it, because I like to call myself a Maverick from time to time.

Maverick is a word I like to use better than rebel, rule-breaker, et al.

But then, an old friend who I have not seen in about a year walked into the pool area. He was with another friend of his; they were heading to the opposite end of the pool in that slow, lethargic, too-cool stroll that some boys have. And what do I do? HIDE. All I think is that I don't really want this boy who happened to have been in my life at one point to see me in my swimming suit, trying to dodge an 8-year-old kid at 5:30pm on a Monday night. So I decide it's time for some underwater swimming and strategic water treading where my head is not looking anywhere in the vicinity of this boy. Cool, right?

JUST LIKE A MAVERICK.

How was your day?

2011-01-25T21:52:00.001-06:00

I spent a large portion of today pouring over one Excel spreadsheet. I was armed with a transparent red 32 ounce water bottle with "Wells Fargo" emblazoned on one side and ice slowly dissipating within, four dum-dums - two watermelon, one strawberry and one green apple, and, at a particularly desperate point when my eyes kept flicking open and closed and a dull pain began pulsating in my left temple, a small bag of mesquite bbq chips. Fun fact: I hated bbq-flavored chips growing up and have only started trying them within the past year.

I also had The Current's online stream going throughout the entire day. What fantastic music. If you never listen to The Current, you really should. My absolute favorite part is about the middle of the afternoon, when you are sure you cannot go on anymore, that you are going to tell someone you feel sick because you are just so tired of working and it is 2:30, and hey that was a good effort for the day...well at that exact moment, The Current plays something completely off the wall. Literally. It's an alternative, local, small band kind of station but they'll throw in Destiny's Child or TLC or a really popular Prince song or Backstreet Boys. Seriously! It makes my day every single time. They know what they're doing over there at MPR. I highly recommend them for your work day.

And because I've just rambled about the radio, here is a song I've been loving every time I hear it:
<br>D
Do you have any stories for today?

Another chance to turn it all around.

2011-01-24T22:23:00.000-06:00

This is the New Year by Ian Axel, first seen here.

Last night.

2011-01-23T15:15:00.000-06:00

Last night was the big fundraiser my work put on. Everyone in my office has spent months sending out letters for donations, procuring and mapping out the location, choosing the food, securing volunteers, inviting people to come, and doing all of the little things (like printing and double-checking name tags and creating booklets and planning a program and figuring out when the big rent-a-truck is going to be coming to the office) that go into creating an event for over 500 people. I was up at 6am yesterday just so I could make sure I had enough time to breathe and gather all of the things I'd need for the day before I had to be at the venue. We built signs and huge, people-sized golf tees and put up miniature golf holes, and I even spent a few hours counting golf tees into an aquarium for a "guess how many" game. (There were 5, 463 by the way. Thankfully, I had a third grade girl named Abbi helping me or else it might have made me go a little batty!)

By 4p.m. we had already been working for over the normal "work day" of eight hours and that is when my job really started - the students arrived. These were the people we got to 'man' each golf hole and I got to entertain them by telling stories, trying to give them the information they needed to know to successfully do what we needed them to do, providing them with pizza and snacks, and teaching them a few of my favorite icebreakers. They were a very spirited group and after running from hole to hole every few minutes, making sure they had everything they needed, I was exhausted. Then it was time for me to help out at registration, where I met more board members than I had at the board meeting I attended! I'm still a new face to the organization, so I shook a lot of hands and listened to a lot of stories and met a few people whose names I am going to try to remember. I think I'll make flash cards with their name and business on one side and their photograph on the other.

That last sentence was a joke but it's not a bad idea.

All in all the night was a hit! We had record numbers of attendance, raised a large sum of money for the 5 programs we run, and everyone commented on how much fun they had all throughout the evening. I never once tried the delicious-looking food, and if my friend Katie had not been there I'm sure I would have missed out on the free old-time photobooth as well, but I love helping at big events like these; the energy of people coming and the excitement of seeing so much preparation actually culminate into a night people thoroughly enjoy and appreciate is really thrilling and fulfilling to me.

And now today, I rest. It's been a hectic few days and I'm giving myself the day off. I went to a place that is starting to feel like a community this morning and had brunch with some pretty ladies. Soon I think I will head out to a coffee shop and create my list of things to do before my next birthday. (That's something I missed mentioning here, too. I'm 23 now!)

I hope you've all had a fantastic weekend and are taking some time to rest up for the week ahead!

Busy bee.

2011-01-16T23:04:00.001-06:00

On this late Sunday night, I'm working on proofing a book for a fundraiser my company is holding next Saturday. It has been a busy weekend, full of family, friends, really good food and a little bout of sickness. Thankfully, I'm starting to feel better and will be heading to bed to rest up for the busy week ahead once I finish proofing this book!

Bear with me this week as I'll be working extra hours and have a lot of my free time already accounted for with friends, meetings, and a two-hour period where I'll be speaking to a group of teachers and parents. I've been given a lot more responsibility at work lately, and am expected to live up to what I said I could handle. This is really important to me, so I've been putting in extra time to make sure I'm on top of my game. It's fun having a job that constantly surprises and challenges you because then you see what you're made of and what you thrive on. I've been trying to remind myself that being busy means you're integral to what happens at work instead of getting stressed out because of all of the tasks I have yet to finish. It's a balancing act and sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough, but I know that I'm still new and need to get the world of full-time work down. It's only been two months; I have a lot of time to get it right!

Today's song.

2011-01-15T15:24:00.001-06:00

Have you seen Country Strong? I saw it last weekend with a good friend and in a weird way, it was just what was needed that Sunday. I grew up in rural South Dakota, so country music was the norm. I have since changed my musical tastes, but whenever I am driving home, as I get closer and closer I tend to find a country station on the radio. I think that this might always be what happens, and I'm totally okay with that.

Also, his voice, especially in this song, is soothing to my ears. If you need to take a big deep breath and refocus on the task at hand (even if it's going to sleep) I recommend listening to this.

If you saw the movie, what did you think of it? Do you listen to country music?

Songtime.

2011-01-12T08:44:00.001-06:00

This is the thing I've personally missed the most being featured on here, primarily because it always made me pay attention to what I was listening too, and also because for the weeks I wasn't, I got to hunt around the internet for something new. Not many things can beat this video, though. I find it charming and think it's really creative!

Oh hey, 2011, didn't see you there.

2011-01-11T19:51:00.001-06:00

As you may have noticed, I've taken a little rest from blogging these past few weeks. There were so many things going on everywhere, and honestly, I was so excited to be at home or in Hawaii (yes! a big Christmas present was a trip to Hawaii) and with friends and family or even just alone for a bit that I just wasn't quite in the place to share.

I've been feeling a bit lackluster lately and know that there are ways I can start feeling better, writing better, and being a better friend. I've just also been learning that a lot of these things include spending more time offline, unplugged, etc.

Honestly, 2010 was a fantastic, infuriating, rough, exciting, challenging, happy, stressful year. I had Chinese food for my 22nd birthday, spent most mornings writing at 4:00am, interned at a fantastic youth serving nonprofit, planned and executed a community service trip with 4 other inspiring people, wrote things my teacher would read out proudly in class, wrote things my teacher would pass back unhappily, spent a lot of time at a theatre, lived with six different people (4 boys, 2 girls), graduated from college, spent one of the most relaxing weekends of my life at my friends grandparents' cabin, crafted, started reviewing books, started hoarding used books, went on weekly adventures, rarely shopped for clothing, started distinguishing the difference between "he likes you" and "he's hanging around you because you're fun to hang around," added somewhere around 8 new rings to my collection, threw in hats "just for fun," went on a cruise, was unemployed, became extremely discouraged by how long it took to not be unemployed, became employed, said goodbye.

Happy 1/11/11. If you ever said that you wanted to do something "one day," I think today is it.

the wish list.

2010-12-21T21:57:00.003-06:00

Here's a small wishlist for this holiday season, which happens to include a few big things like time with friends and family, a fun trip, and my birthday!

fantastic print from here.I'd love a large print of this for my office!

I've been wanting this hat for too long. It shows a lot of self-restraint on my part that I haven't bought it yet!

I actually really want a mousepad. I know how silly this sounds, especially for those of you who know that my sole computer is a laptop, but at work I've been using a desktop and the mousepad they gave me was a super freebie and is in pretty awful shape. Maybe something like this would be nice?

I'd also really love this book, or any of the books on my Amazon wishlist. I've haphazardly been adding to the list throughout the whole year; usually a few books at a time and then nothing for months. But! Just Kids by Patti Smith was the first book to be put on the list and is still a want.

I really, really want the movie "You've Got Mail." Really.

And last but not least, I'd love to make janaetime.com a domain name!

It's pretty random, but that's it! What's on your list this year?

Song Saturday!

2010-12-18T17:47:00.000-06:00

I'm bringing back a song I loved a few years ago for today's Song Saturday! I added it to a mix I listen to at work and have been loving it every day. :) Hope you do too!

Do you have all of your Christmas shopping done? I'm much more behind this year than ever but I'm slowly starting to catch up! I hope you are too!

books!

2010-12-15T00:08:00.001-06:00

Like many of you, I've been a busy lady these last few weeks. I'm getting in the groove of working full-time and all that entails. I've been trying to stay warm in our very cold middle of the US that has been getting lots of snow dumped on it. The mayor was literally quoted as saying that we had over a million cement trucks worth of snow dumped on our city over this past weekend. Needless to say, there was a lot of time spent shoveling out and staying in.

I will be sharing a little wish list this week and hopefully a few other things. Please bear with me! Until then, think about how fantastic this little used bookstore is. I cannot remember the name of it, but it was in Washington D.C. and is overrun with books. Books are in the corners, in the closets, all along the stairs so much that it's difficult to get to the second level (yes there are levels!) and, my personal favorite, books for sale that live in the bathroom. What a fantastic place. The owner is a crabby old man who writes signs so you can try to find authors. He could tell you where any book you wanted was...even if it was incredibly misplaced, out of alphabetical order, and just stacked somewhere random. If you know the name of this bookstore, please remind me of it in the comments. Until then, I'm going to be dreaming of going back here and actually taking it all in and I'm sure purchasing many books!

*Please excuse the very raw photos. And have a happy day!

Secrets of Inspiring Women

2010-12-06T23:04:00.000-06:00

I recently came across this website and specifically, this series of photos of inspiring, everyday women and I strongly recommend it! Seriously, click on the link. There are beautiful, heart wrenching stories, fun quotes and incredible pictures awaiting you. It may just be the inspiration you need today.

"I may be just another girl chasing challenge and chance in the big city, but my life is important. And I am living it that way."

All photos from Pictory.

snow snow snow!

2010-12-04T00:52:00.002-06:00

Hi there friends. Like my "I just dug my car out of the snow for the 3rd time today" hair? Because it's probably here to stay. Our nice little city in the Midwest is getting hit really hard today into tomorrow and this is literally the only time I wish that I didn't have a car in the city. I'm always behind on snow emergencies and what side of the road it is okay to park on, and where did we put that shovel again? and can we just find some salt, please, because I need to make it to ___(insert destination here)___ and fast! (To which my roommates or whoever happens to be around me at that time says, "Janae, there is absolutely no way you can make it to ___(insert destination here)___ in only ____(insert time I used to be able to get to destination when there wasn't a layer of ice and a foot of snow on the ground)____ .")

Alas, this is my life as of this moment, though. After I accepted my job, one of the first things that hit me was that I wouldn't be able to move out of this area for at least a year, most likely for many more! Don't get me wrong, I love the area, I adore the people, and I have so much fun getting lost on these streets that everyday ends up being a new adventure. However, on a day like today, when all you really want is to be able to go outside of the house, get in the car, and drive to ___(insert destination here) (and include ice cream and hot chocolate and friends and laughs at said destination, please)___without spending 20 minutes scraping snow and ice, well, it's a trying moment.

I think the worst part is that this is my 22nd winter and it still never ceases to amaze me. I was born during a blizzard, for goodness sakes! Honestly, the sheen the snow gives everything and its ability to wash away any ugliness and replace it with an iridescent white glistening layer is incredible. It has the feeling of the holidays. It feels like things can happen. It feels like home.

Now if only it could have that feeling AND clear roads, I'd be in heaven.

UPDATE: Saturday morning.

My entire neighborhood was having a little 'shoveling out time!' party at 8am today and dang it, I love a good party so I joined in. At least now I can cross off "go to the gym" on my to-do list. Also, this is what I look like after I wake up in the morning, scared my car got towed (it didn't!), and then proceed to shovel it and lots of sidewalks because neighbors, even ones you don't know, deserve clear sidewalks, right?!

Wintertime.

2010-12-01T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day in quite a few that I didn't have to completely scrape ice and snow off of my car early in the morning, just to make it to work. I'm very thankful for that. I've also gotten busier at work, getting more and more things to do and relearning how to prioritize and manage my time. At one point on Monday, I sat back and thought "Wow, it feels good to be busy." I think I'm finally getting back in the groove of things that makes me, me, and it feels good. I also took a Zumba class tonight, and was laughing and having a fantastic time. It's so nice to work out in a way that makes you excited to go back the next day. This week it has become a bit of a tradition for my roommate and I to watch a movie each night. Tonight's is Love Actually (his choice!) and I'm a happy lady, snuggled up under a blanket on the couch. December is going to bring big things, I can feel it.

Song Saturday!

2010-11-27T13:49:00.001-06:00

I'm actually a bit proud of myself for posting this on Saturday, and at a decent time at that! This long weekend might be the reason, but I'm just going to pretend I'm on top of things.

Today's song comes from the band Gregory & the Hawk, and is entitled "For the Best." Listen to more from this band here or here.

Gregory & The Hawk - "For The Best"
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Happy weekend everybody!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T11:03:00.000-06:00

My mom woke me up this morning with her famous caramel rolls straight out of the oven and now this lady came to visit before all of the festivities start! I'm a lucky girl. I'm thankful for all of you. Hope you have a fantastic, happy Thanksgiving!

Today,

2010-11-23T21:00:00.001-06:00

at the celebration for a program that I will be planning soon, a student got up in front of the crowd consisting of business professionals and her classmates and addressed us all on what she thought about the program.

She said a few things, was a bit dramatic and true to her 16/17-year-old self. And then she said this:

"This actually went off exactly as our teacher told us it would. We've all gone through so many disappointing things in our lives, but this wasn't at all. I'm thankful that we got to see that some people really do care about us and our futures."

This is why I know this job is right for me. Successful second day.

I'm employed!

2010-11-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

I'm officially a full-time, working woman! I've been offered and accepted a position with a fantastic nonprofit that promotes financial literacy and college and/or career readiness for high school students in Minnesota!

Today was my very first day, and it almost went by too quickly for me to really focus on it! I was up super early to get ready and on the road, only to go outside and find that my car was literally iced shut from the freezing rain we've been having. Yikes! I finally got into the passenger side of my car, and shoved the drivers side door open. (I'm super graceful at 7am.) There were a bunch of accidents on my way in, so, even though I left extra early, I was starting to get nervous that I'd be late! Thankfully, I got there on time and everyone at the office is incredibly nice. I couldn't ask for better co-workers. They all came up to me at different points in the day, purposefully using my name, offering me coffee, asking me questions, and really being warm and welcoming all around.

Now that the big first day is behind me, I already have an out-of-the-office event to attend tomorrow and another one on Wednesday! I'm really getting thrown in to the mix, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My role is as a program associate for two of the five programs the nonprofit has. I get to network and recruit professionals to be e-mailing mentors for classes of high school students, and then plan special events where they actually meet up in real life. This is my main job during the school year, and then during the summer I'll be planning, recruiting and putting on two camps! This is going to be fantastic. :)

For Kayla (and you!)

2010-11-18T21:53:00.001-06:00

Let's listen to The Script for a moment, shall we? We shall.

For those of you who do not know me in real life, Kayla is my sister. She's been a bit upset with me for the fact that I haven't been blogging very well lately, as I am one of her tabs and she likes to postpone/delay/stop doing homework and see what I've been up to. My apologies!

Dear Kayla:

2010-11-18T21:41:00.001-06:00

This is what I've been up to. (Okay, you're right. That's you. But we were chatting so it counts.)

Would you like to see another blog soon? I'll work on it, promise.

Love,
Janae

Song Saturday.

2010-11-13T23:07:00.001-06:00

Today we had the first snow in Minnesota, and man was it heavy. First of all, I'm not lying when I say that it was 60+ degrees at one point this week. And now we have so much snow that both Minneapolis and St. Paul are in snow/winter weather advisories. It's crazy!

There are all sorts of silly ways Minnesotans like to share their love/hate relationship with the flurry, white flakes, but a few of the best are claiming that we now officially live in Minnesnowta or, like in this particular situation, we are in a snowpocalypse.

I prefer a few calming songs, some delicious hot chocolate, comfy clothes, snuggling under blankets and reading or watching a movie. And that is just what I am about to do as I had to leave my warm house before 7am this morning in order to make it to a day-long conference I helped plan. It was a wonderful, productive and energizing day, but I am one tired lady who is happy to now be sitting on my bed in dry clothes instead of driving down slick roads in a car that may need new tires.

Happy first snow!

Have you been feeling neglected?

2010-11-11T23:45:00.000-06:00

Because I've been feeling like I've been neglecting this little space of mine. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, it's more along the lines of the fact that I haven't felt like anything I've been doing is very interesting to write about.

As of the end of August, I've been unemployed. I've done a few odd jobs since, but have been facing the hard battle that is the economy for the past few months and let me tell you, it's a beast. It's been a trying time for me because I've never been someone who can't get a job. Usually, I am someone who tries to take on too many things, who has a hard time saying no to any new opportunities. Lately, I've been forced to realize that this is not always the way.

I know that I am not the only recent college graduate (or person, for that matter) who is going through this. And, I am very, very lucky in that I have a wonderful support system - full of family, friends, and past colleagues who send me tips on new jobs and give me recommendations and references. I do know that, and I definitely appreciate it.

But, even with lots of people behind you, rooting for you to succeed, that doesn't always mean it happens right away. I've been applying to jobs all over the country, am willing to move at a moment's notice, just wanting to help people, and so far I haven't gotten anything.

I've had interviews, and I know I'm good at interviews. That may sound super narcissistic but go through a 2-hour-long interview when you are 16 and trying to prove to someone that yes, they should pay for your entire summer studying abroad in Japan, even though only 17 people in the country will get that honor. And then win one of those spots. And then tell me that you can't do interviews, because if anything will get you to learn how to interview and do it well, well, that is it.

I think the real issue is realizing that even though I checked off every goal I had for myself in college, I still am coming up empty handed.

graduate in 4 years? check.
have 3 internships before I graduated? check.
study abroad? check.
get involved in at least 2 clubs? check.
graduate with 3.5gpa or higher? check

If you are thinking "well, she had 3 internships, why don't they hire her?" I have an answer for you. I took internships for the work experience and knowledge I would gain, not for the potential for employment post-internship. This was probably a bit naive of me, yes, but what's that they say? That it's in hindsight that everything is 20/20? Because that is true.

Yet, I worked in an office in London on an online magazine. I had over 50 stories published with my name as the byline before I even took my first official reporting class in college. I helped a woman start a business. This meant long hours, lots of research, figuring out how to make podcasts, and keeping up relations with a whole host of people I'd never met in real life. I was a marketing intern for a nonprofit that I truly believe in. I got over 80 stories published about this organization in the few months I was interning, and I learned more about how a nonprofit functions on a day to day basis.

I had experiences that will definitely fuel any future endeavors that I may come across.

I just have to find that position that will take a chance on me. That will see that I am qualified and eager to learn new things. And in the mean time I have to keep my spirits up, which, I admit, was much easier to do a few months ago. The brave face is on, but that doesn't mean I'm not struggling with this.

I guess I just want to say that if anyone who reads this is in a similar situation, I feel you. I understand. It's not something a lot of people openly talk about, including myself. It is a struggle. It is hard. But we will get through it.

Song Sunday!

2010-11-07T21:22:00.000-06:00

A little song and video for your Sunday. Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday! I started a part-time job and have been busy training in, which leaves less time for extra things like blogging. Hope you have all enjoyed an extra hour of sleep, or friends, or coffee, or a movie, or something equally enjoyable today. Happy Sunday!

Halloween!

2010-11-03T12:05:00.000-05:00

I hope all of your Halloween nights were fantastic! It was the first time my roommates and I all went out as a group, so we had a lot of fun. Since I hadn't really thought of what I wanted to be ahead of time, I threw together a little Clark Kent/Superman outfit - super easy and comfortable and I already had everything I needed! The boys in the above picture are my roommates, and I can honestly say this is my new favorite picture.

What were you on Halloween?

Music Monday!

2010-11-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

So, I got behind (actually I got a bit into the Halloween spirit) and forgot to post song Saturday!

Here is a song for the week! I chose it primarily because it was the song that was on in my car as I finished up an interview today. Hey, why not? :)

The Script - For The First Time found on Pop

Bars!

2010-10-27T07:19:00.000-05:00

On a random Sunday, my friend Matthew called my phone and left a message that went something like this: "Hey Janae! I'd love to get together with you sometime soon and I have a few days off so if it works we could go to this new place I read about. It's called Bars Bakery and, well, I know how much you like bars so I figured we should go together."

I seriously laughed as I was listening to the message because, of course I enjoy bars! Earlier this year, I introduced him to the word "bars" for the tasty treats that they are. (In case you have no idea what I'm referring to either, bars are desserts that are usually made in a cake pan, maybe a longer version of a cookie sheet but with a higher lip. There are all different kinds - from Special K bars to banana bars to pretty much anything you can think of.) Is this a Midwestern term? Or even a South Dakota/Minnesota term?

Anyways, we met for coffee/tea and bars and man were they delicious! Bars Bakery is in St. Paul on a quaint little street, with fantastic people watching and the kind of architecture that makes you think back to when the cities were just being built. Or to London. I always seem to acquaint beautiful, old, stylish buildings with London, and Matthew acquaints them with Spain. This makes sense if you know that we both studied abroad in those respective countries.

Anyways the point of this is bars = delicious. Bars Bakery is fantastic. And I highly recommend the oatmeal, apricot, heavenly bar I devoured. (And the raspberry green tea!)

pretty prints.

2010-10-26T07:40:00.000-05:00

These fantastic prints are all from the etsy shop The Big Harumph and I couldn't be more smitten. I'd love to frame them on my walls, making sure to hang them up close to where I get ready in the morning or in my eye-line when I'm working towards something big. I've always been a fan of maps of the world, so the gray print would be wonderful. In fact, I was one of those teenagers who had a huge map of the world in their room and stuck different colored pins in it, indicating where I'd been and where I wanted to go. Of course, the "where I wanted to go" pins constantly outnumbered the "where I'd been" ones, but it's still fun to go home and see how many places I can add to the "where I've been" list. The shop also has it in orange and yellow, which are equally fantastic.

And I'm curious, do any of you have lists or maps with places you want to go? What are those places?

The Lucky Ones.

2010-10-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

Here's another song on my traveling playlist! You can get this song for free on iTunes as one of their "Discovery Downloads." I highly recommend it!

More from Brendan James here.

Song (for a traveling) Saturday

2010-10-23T07:09:00.002-05:00

I'm headed to our nation's capital for a few days! I get to hang out with a few fantastic ladies all weekend, and then have Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday to explore all of the museums and locales I can fit in!

This will technically be my third trip to Washington in about 2 years, but the first one that I'm in D.C. for more than 48 hours. In other words, the other two times I've visited, I've done a very quick run around the monuments and that's pretty much it. I'm really excited to be able to take a little time to enjoy and actually see all of the places I've heard about.

So, this weeks song Saturday is "Strip Me" by Natasha Bedingfield - the first song on my travel playlist. I don't know why, but I can never seem to take a trip without a new playlist. It's a curse while packing (because I focus on the music more than what I should bring!), but I'm always a happy lady when I have a wonderful new soundtrack for the trip.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Fill in the blank Friday!

2010-10-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

prompts from here.

1. I am a happy, crazy girl who fills up her time with friends, crafts, yoga and the occasional bouts of writing.

2. I wish it was easier to get a position in my field of choice. But then again, nothing worth getting is ever easy, right?

3. I like chai tea lattes, cookie dough ice cream, pretty photos, storytelling, random adventures, setting off for a new place with no directions, baking for the boys, laughing, feeling free, unique rings, comfy moccasins, scarves, indie music, movies, fun people, skype to keep in contact with people far away.

4. I can almost smell the airport now! I'm heading to D.C. tomorrow!

5. I hope everyone can feel loved and missed and needed on a daily basis. It's a wonderful thing - knowing other people are happy when you're in their life. And vice versa.

6. I think it's fabulous that my room is truly clean for the first time since I moved in almost 2 months ago. And the fact that my roommates noticed and commented all on their own is hilarious. "OMG THE CLOSET DOORS CLOSE!? Look! Janae! Your closet doors are closed!"

7. I was reading an article describing how people act the other day and the part that I related to most was "engage in calculated risk taking." This basically means that I'm not afraid to dance on the table, take a spontaneous road trip by myself, try a new type of ethnic food. The article then said "It is unlikely that any of these things will kill you, but they will probably make you more interesting."

Fondue time.

2010-10-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

We had a fondue party!

A few good friends of mine get together on Sunday nights and cook large meals. All of the tasty dishes are eaten that night, and then the leftovers are separated so everyone has a head start on lunches for the week.

This particular week, it had been E's birthday, so they thought of an extra-special treat to celebrate and came up with chocolate fondue! H had a fondue pot handed down to her in pristine condition, but hadn't ever used it. So, we broke it in in style!

There were so many delicious things to dip: pineapple, strawberries, shortcake, grapes, marshmallows, raspberries, peanuts and bananas, oh my!

If you can't tell, we were all big fans. We even finished all of the chocolate we could scoop up on our sticks and set the rest in chocolate molds with peanuts.Yum!

Zombie Pub Crawl!

2010-10-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

Oh man. Those who are faint of heart, please do not look any further. A group of my friends and I decided to attend the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis a couple weekends ago and it was amazing! It was such a unique night out - one of those nights you actually plan for, and then have to commit too. If you were going out, you were going out, the 'undead' way. There were thousands of people all around the area, doing their zombie walk to and from each bar, squirting fake blood everywhere and pushing up against you as if they never knew you existed. A few of my favorite zombies were: Gumbi zombie, Lady Gaga zombie, and a nurse zombie that legitimately had some blood-looking liquid in an iv bag and drank from it periodically throughout the night. Here are just a few pictures of my life that fateful night!

p.s. have you seen the bed intruder story and song? my good friends R, B and E went as "Hide yo kids, Hide yo wife, and Hide yo husbands" zombies! I thought it was incredibly clever.

dear friends,

2010-10-18T23:42:00.001-05:00

I have a secret.

I own the most fantastically comfortable scarf ever.

And it is from the Gap outlet. (I encourage you to purchase one, too.)

(silver ring from Greece 5 years ago, flowered ring from Indie and Chic)

Seriously, this thing is fantastic.

So fantastic, that, even though I've only worn it a few times, I've made everyone I'm with feel it...want to sleep with it...try to steal it from me.

Also, I should never be allowed to use a webcam camera late at night.

Happy Monday from me to you!

King of Wishful Thinking

2010-10-15T10:47:00.001-05:00

Go West - King Of Wishful Thinking
Uploaded by jpdc11. - See the latest featured music videos.

This song always seems to make me blare the radio and sing along whenever it comes on. I get in a happy mood and do a lot of car dancing that probably alienates anyone in the cars on either side of me but I don't care. I'LL GET OVER YOU! I shriek at the top of my lungs. Oh yes. Yes. I will.

Anyways, as I've been moving and grooving these past few days taking a spontaneous trip around, I haven't taken the time to upload the zombie pub crawl pictures that I'm sure some of you are very excited to see more of. (Yes, you Jan.) I promise they are coming!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday! And do a little car dance on the way to/from wherever you're going today. It'll put a smile on your face, promise.

(And did you know, that kids laugh, on average, 400 times a day. Adults laugh, on average, only 17 times a day. This is sad. So picture me dancing a little and put a smile on your face!)

Let's Colour.

2010-10-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

A little happy inspiration for your Wednesday morning. From here.

AHH! Song Saturday!

2010-10-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

In honor of what I'm doing tonight (ZOMBIE PUB CRAWL!) here's Thriller by Michael Jackson to get us all in the mood to put on all sorts of funky makeup and get "zombie-fied." I'll be sure to get some pictures and share with you all.

p.s. For those of you not of the young adult age in Minneapolis, the Zombie pub crawl brings tons of people - 10,000 people say they are attending according to the Facebook group - IN COSTUME to a myriad of bars on the West Bank of the U of M campus. Technically off-campus, but still super close so that's what it's called. There are drink specials and I'm sure costume prizes and live music. It's just ridiculous! If you're from the area, I hope we see one another tonight!

Painting time.

2010-10-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

It's a bit of a photo-dump kind of day as I've been meaning to post these photos for a little over a month now. Whoops! Anyways, where I used to live, I painted two of my walls a calm, mossy green to give the extra-large room a bit of the relaxed, cozy feeling I would need after long days at school or work. It took my mom and I a couple of hours to paint the color, but it made a world of difference.

Then, the time came for my lease to be up and for me to find a new place to live. (In September...I told you I'm a bit late!) So I recruited a few friends on a random Wednesday night and we went to town bringing the white back to the walls, and making me feel like that chapter of my life was officially closing. This room was the very first of my whole college career that I stayed in for an entire 12 months. It was a turning point. I'm now a bit of a rolling stone again; content and happy with where I am now, but willing to move if the right job makes an offer.

But really, with friends like these, who will sacrifice their night, bodies, and clothes for a night of crazy loud music, silly conversation and lots of painting, who could ever want to leave?

Oh, and did I mention the hot tamales? :)

I'm a storyteller, that's what I do and love.

2010-10-06T09:19:00.001-05:00

There are numerous, wonderful TED talks on their website, but this one caught my eye and ear today. I've been reading up on authors, their writing styles, why they write what they write, where they get their inspiration from, etc. It's just something I'm interested in. This woman, Elif Shafak, presents an incredible piece on the politics of fiction. If you have a little time, it's worth it.

Here are a few gems I especially liked from the talk:
"Everywhere I went I felt like my imagination was the only suitcase that I could carry with me."

"In the face of death and destruction our mundane differences evaporated and we all became one for a few hours."

"But don't you see? There is nothing in me that is not in everybody else and there is nothing in everybody else that is not in me."

"Identity politics divides us. Fiction connects."

Like what you heard? Watch more inspiring people giving riveting talks here.

I've become...

2010-10-05T14:48:00.001-05:00

a tea drinker! Actually, I'm pretty sure that around this time for the past three years I've gone through a period of intense tea intake. However, this year it has really taken off! I haven't even had coffee for over two weeks. If you know me in real life, you know that's an accomplishment upon itself.

I'd been hoping to reduce my necessity for caffeine for awhile now, but never felt that it was 'the right time' to limit my caffeine intake. In other words, I was dependent for a reason: because I was far too busy to focus on my own health or to notice that the one cup of coffee I used to have had turned into around 3 caffeinated drinks a day. Whoops.

Don't get me wrong, I do know that some teas are caffeinated and I do not discriminate against them. Baby steps, people.

I hope this tea splurge lasts for more than a season, but I'm certainly enjoying it for now. My most recent flavor tries include: vanilla rooibos, orange green tea, english breakfast, earl gray, vanilla bean, and the absolute cream of the crop (my favorite) chai.

photos from here.

Do you have anything that the changing season ushers in as a change? Do you have favorite tea flavors? I'd love to hear them!

Have you seen The Social Network?

2010-10-03T22:15:00.005-05:00

I'm not going to lie, I still haven't, but I have heard from a myriad of people who have. Some of those people are around my age, in college or just out of it, the first wave of Facebook users (at least, the first wave of when high schoolers were allowed to have an account.) Some of those people are from other blogs I read, including Meaghan O'Connell's account of how the movie made her feel. She is the director of outreach at Tumblr at 26 years old. (and also a bit of a personal hero.)

Anyways, I was wondering what you all thought? I'm planning on seeing it at some point this week - I still am not sure when, but it will happen - but I love reading up on something so real like this. This probably sounds a bit juvenile for those of you who haven't grown up in the Facebook/blogging/Twitter/smartphone generation that us Gen Xers have, but the film is about something that we ourselves have lived. Checking Facebook is a daily, usually many-times-a-day occurrence for over 500 million people. Those people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site. (Stats found here) This is where we document everything. This is how we check up on people, friends, family and foes alike. This is our world, at our fingertips.

Anyways, in case you have a little time and are equally interested in this topic, I've compiled a short list of articles I've found educational to read, and that hopefully will make me go into the movie knowing full well what is true and what is Hollywood lore to craft an entertaining film.

Mark Zuckerberg's Most Valuable Friend - by Miguel Helft from The New York Times
-A really wonderful in-depth article on how a 41-year-old woman and 26-year-old Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) truly work in real life.

Would That the Real Mark Zuckerberg Talked As Much As the Facebook Movie Zuckerberg - by Kara Swisher of BoomTree
-A unique glimpse into the chatty portrayal of an actually quite terse and less-than-chatty real world Zuckerberg.

With a Little Help From His Friends - by David Kirkpatrick of Vanity Fair
-A "he's not always the villain" article detailing Sean Parker (who helped create Napster and was a founding president of Facebook) in his real life. While his work ethic may be erratic, he is actually quite visionary and works hard....for awhile. I liked seeing the other side of the man who is cast as a villain in the Hollywood rendition of the film.

Now I'm going to go look up movie times!

Song Saturday!

2010-10-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to have Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings be a song Saturday for awhile now, but never did it! This summer, one of my roommates went to her concert and came home with her album on vinyl, on CD, AND with rave reviews. We listened to it a lot, and I've been a fan since.

Maybe you are, too?

STLF's Annual Event is Tonight!

2010-10-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I know I've been pretty quiet here on the blog all week, but I've been overcoming a sickness that pretty much wiped me out this week. I'm still not 100%, but I'm working on it.

However! That doesn't mean that I'll be missing out on STLF's Annual Event tonight! STLF stands for Students Today Leaders Forever and is a nonprofit I've been involved with in one way or another for three years now. There was a chapter on my college campus that I was involved in quite a bit, and I even interned for the national office all last semester. Tonight is our annual fundraising event, where all of the money we raise goes directly towards scholarships for students to go on Pay it Forward tours. Pay it Forward tours are 9-day community service trips that travel to different cities each day, helping out in each community we stop in. I've been on four trips now, and helped plan or lead three of the trips, so I'm a big fan!

If you want to learn more about STLF, (or want to sign up for a tour!) head on over to stlf.net. Or! If you are around Minneapolis, come to The Crowne Plaza Northstar hotel tonight from 7-10pm and join in the fun! Don't worry if you didn't register, tickets are available at the door (and I'm helping with registration at the event so you will just have to look for me!)

on being sick.

2010-09-28T15:28:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit under the weather and a fellow blogger posted this and I sympathized with it so well, I thought I'd share rather than try to get up the energy to write my own post. (Sorry, more original content soon.)

Feel better and then worse, and hot and then cold. Feel all the little hairs on your whole body stand up. Open and close windows, get under and crawl out of blankets. Maybe one leg under, one over. Watch 30 Rock in your sleep. Awake to a red Netflix screen. Hit “Next Episode” and close your eyes. Buzz him upstairs. Look in the mirror. Move your hair to the other side. Give up. Let him bring you soup and grapefruit juice. Try to act like you know how to be taken care of. Wonder how long until he realizes you’re a fraud. Watch TV with him. Try not to touch him or breathe on him. Let him leave. Get bored and try to write, try to gchat anyone who will listen to you say absolutely nothing, try to watch reruns of everything you’ve ever seen. Clean the stove again, take another shower, take two kinds of meds that probably counteract each other. Lie in bed and think about every stupid thing you’ve said this week that you wish you could take back. Every personality flaw you wish you didn’t have. Wonder if you would be better off going to work tomorrow. Wonder if there are still 1-800 numbers for psychics. Wonder if they would just talk to you for a while, free of charge, if you told them you wanted to apply for a job. Check your e-mail. Check your e-mail. Check your e-mail.

from here.

(except I've been watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, and at a particularly horrible moment in the middle of the night last night I found what I now realize are outdated Advil Cold & Sinus pills and took two, but the part about not knowing how to be taken care of is very true. at least, by anyone other than my mother, who is 5 hours away. a boy did offer to get me soup, though, and for that I'm very appreciative.)

Song Saturday!

2010-09-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

Here is a (maybe new) song for your weekend!

I first heard this song in the film "It's Kind of a Funny Story." A good friend of mine got 2 free advanced screening passes and took me (!!!) so I saw it last Wednesday with her, even though it's not officially out in theaters until October 8. I liked the movie, it was truly aware of what it was at all times. (That probably doesn't make sense to everyone, but I guess what I'm saying is that it knew what it was. It wasn't trying to be some crazy romantic comedy - there was even a cinematic version of "fast forwarding" through the cheesy parts - yet there was a legitimate story line that was addressing issues that face many people today.) I digress. I thought the soundtrack was incredible. Sadly, most of the songs are not even being released until the soundtrack is on September 28. I plan on scooping it up then!

Here's a trailer for you, in case you've never heard of the movie:

(and the song in the trailer is Ida Maria's "Oh My God" which you can listen to in full here.)