Crackerbarrel is awesome. Me and Katie went there for breakfast (lunch for me, because I ALWAYS get lunch when going out to breakfast) this morning, and it was the most fun I've had in a while. I felt like I was on vacation. We browsed the gift shop, and they have tons of cool stuff there including vintage candy, weird john deere stuff, burt's bees, candles, toys, pancak mix..everything! I only ended up buying a glass bottle of coke.

(Just heard my dad call my mom "baby." Endearing and cute!)

Yesterday I saw Alice in Wonderland. I really enjoyed it. I went with my little brother and sisters, and they liked it, but said it was "weird." It was "Tim Burton" to me. I really liked the overall message that was basically be yourself, follow your heart, and don't listen to what anyone else thinks. I also like the visuals, especially Cheshire cat, the smoking catepillar, and The Mad Hatter. Queen of Hearts and Anne Hathaway were funny, too. Overall, I'd say it was worth seeing. Not sure the fight scene in the end was completely necessary, but I think it wrapped the film up well.

Katie and I helped her sister, her matron of honor and her mom put together invitations for her sister's wedding. It was a great time. We had some dip, pizzas, chocolate wine (tastes like chocolate martini), kaluhua, etc. It was nice to have "girl talk."

That's all. Another week of work awaits me. I'll spend the rest of the weekend relaxing, reading and watching the Oscars.

Weird

So last night, as I was flipping through the channels instead of journaling, a weird movie I had never seen or heard of before caught my eye, and it was the first movie in a long time that left me shocked. You may or may not have seen Leaving Las Vegas with Nic Cage, but damn. I advise that you do, and quick. It's weird, but I felt like I was almost able to relate to the girl in the movie. If you haven't seen it yet (came out in 1995 or something) do it. It will make your life look like a walk in the park. Nic Cage actually won the Academy Award for it. Upon further research I discovered that he got loaded for 2 weeks in Dublin, Ireland and had a friend video tape him so he could watch the footage later and study his speaking patterns and mannerisms. Later he admitted it was the funnest research he'd ever done.

I think Ebert's right about Cage. He said that he gets a bad rap, but he considers Cage an acting great, right up there with Dinero, Pacino, Nicholson. Although he does a wide range of movies that sometimes get bad reviews, he never looks the camera in the eye and winks, no matter how unbelievable the character is he's playing. He fully believes in every role he plays. I like that. I harvested a new respect for Nic Cage on a Thursday night. Go figure.

Today I went to family fun night and won some candy and looked around at the old kerkstra/ new hille. It was fun. David actually won a cake in the cake walk. Tomorrow is Alice in Wonderland! Smoking catepillar here I come.

I'm my sister's confirmation sponsor in 2 weeks, and I'm thinking of getting her a little gift. Any ideas?

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is rated PG because of:

scarys situations, scary images, fantasy action, violence and a smoking catepillar

I love that.

Vacation

Recently (today mostly), I've been trying to help my parents book a vacation. As much as booking vacations online is supposed to be convenient, it's actually very hard. They really don't know where exactly they want to go (Bahamas, California, Mexico?) or if they want to go on a cruise or an all-inclusive resort. Searching on google gives you a million different options. All of the all-inclusive vacation packages all look nicer than the next, making it impossible to make a decision. Plus there's the budget constraint as well. I guess they mostly just need to figure out an exact budget and stick to it, and narrow it down between a cruise or an all-inclusive resort. Man, maybe they should just get a travel agent. It's hard to figure out where to travel internationally, especially when your shelling out thousands.

The bad news is, while they are on this all-inclusive tropical vacation, I will be unable to attend. But I'll be on my own vacation in Vegas! I'm very excited for this trip, and it's basically all I've been able to look forward to. I'm actually thinking that if I won't be going to work that thursday, I almost wish we could travel Wednesday night and get there early. But really, I think we will have plenty of time in Vegas. I just wanna fly away and be on vacation...

Last night I went to Bubba Gump with all my friends at Navy Pier. There were some good laughs had, mainly when Katie C had dialogue with her crab claws. I got a burger, since I typically don't like seafood, but I did try some crab legs dipped in butter and it was actually really good! It's an expensive habit to get into, though, so I may steer clear. I guess I was just suprised at how non-fishy and buttery-delicious they were. I had 2 tall beers, which was awesome because I haven't gotten a buzz in some time, but that made me fall asleep on the ride home, and I found myself in bed at 11 p.m.

Tonight I'll be going to Woodridge to visit my college roomate Lo. I haven't seen her in ages it feels like. It'll be nice to catch up.

Wednesday I won a free facial for me and five friends from the Mary Kay lady that I met at the pizza-tasting fundraiser. And I won $25 of free products, which in reality may only be like one face cream, but hey, as my dad would say, "Can't beat free."

'Tis all for now. I need to make headway on my Shutter Island book.

I've been filling my life with good people and good times. When I get to feeling lonely, or I feel the stress of my real-world job, filled with deadlines and office politics, I really look forward to the time I get to spend with others.

Last weekend was good. I got to see Matt and Stacy, which I always enjoy. Last week me and the girls went to the Redhead Piano Bar in the city. I've been spending a lot of time with Mello, Katie, and Erica, and I really like that. They make me laugh really hard and I enjoy their company! Me and Katie also watched Forrest Gump on Sunday for old time's sake.

Tonight I went with them to a pizza-tasting/charity event at CD&Me. We got to try pizza from 8 or so different pizza places. The giardinera pizza and bbq chicken pizza with pineapple was my favorite. It was nice to get out and, as Erica put it, "do all these new fun things." Plus her husband Dan got to come too, and that was nice :-)

The rest of the week I might just relax until the weekend. We're talking about going to Bubba Gump on Friday in the city in honor of Can't get enough Gump week or whatever it's called on AMC. That would be cool since I've never been there, but I don't like seafood. It will still be fun.

I'm going to go out and visit Lo this weekend too. I haven't seen her in ages, and I think we'll go out Saturday and I'll spend the night over there. It's been too long.

My recent life changes have been hard. Sometimes I don't think I can carry on, and some days I feel great. But things will get easier, and I think good things are coming my way.

<3

I'm bummed :-( I wish certain things didn't turn out the way they did. Where do we go from here?

"The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed, so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life."-William Faulkner

Love this

I love Fleetwood Mac, and I love Stevie Nicks. She's incredible, and so is this song:

http://www.asklyrics.com/display/fleetwood-mac/dreams-lyrics.htm

This song has meant a lot to me lately. Even though I know things that happened are out of our hands, for the most part, it still resonates with me.

Last night saw Shutter Island, and it was incredible...I can't wait to pick up the book today. I think it will be an awesome read! I can't seem to finish the book I started, My Lobotomy, but I'm almost done with it. I have a problem finishing books for some reason.

Today I will donate some clothes to Goodwill. Then I plan on making a nice appetizer for Stacy's house tonight. It feels good to give.

Here's some eye candy. I love Leonardo DiCaprio. Not only is he goodlooking, but he's also an excellent actor! Had a great time watching that movie last night.

The good news is that Forrest Gump week starts Sunday on AMC. Life is good!

Remember the time we built a fort and hid from the world?


For the sappy-hearted like me, go to Postsecret.com and watch the Valentine's Day Video. If you're anything like me, you'll get misty-eyed from this video.