Snuggle up to your self!

If you live inside the continental United States, or have walked into a walgreens/walmart/any other awful chain store- you have definitely heard of... The Snuggie.

It's epic. It's one of those things that VH1 is going to talk about on an "I love the 2000's" segment in years to come... something we can all look back on and say "yeah! That was so 2009!LOL"( Oh dear, I hope I never utter the letters l-o-l, that would be a sad sad day in Katie's world!) Anyways, The Snuggie comes in colors, it comes in sizes from adult to children to dog... but most importantly... it's got the most ridiculous and sugary sweet commercials to happen here in the good ol' USA since the Welch's grape juice kid. These commercials even top the babies sitting in the high chairs giving out insurance advice, or the rubbish "bump its" commercials for plastic pieces that girls can put in their hair to get that ever so lovely stiff and bumped look on their head... because we all want to look as though there is a growth or a tumor poking out of our skull, it's a sign of beauty at Arizona State University, that's for darned sure! Yes, as more snuggies come out, more ridiculous over the top commercials come out to promote The Snuggie! Snuggie has found a way to really sell it's product, it has embraced this goofy and stupid idea of wearing a bath robe backwards. People buy them just because of how silly they are! What a great way to make money!

How smart was Snuggie( I'm going to talk as if Snuggie is a person), Snuggie worked what he got! And that is when I realized. We should all work what we've got going for us... even snuggie!

I'll be the first to admit I'll never be the sexy and sultry woman who rocks her black jimmy choos with red leather soles... I am forever doomed to be the short cutesy 19 year old with a braid pinned back into waves and dresses and flowers and lace socks and red pea coats! But don't worry, I am turning that frown upside down! Let me tell you the advantages I have in life, that I work.

The puppy dog eyes... yeah they work well in a multitude of situations and can solve my worst problems. Hiding in small places... useful if someone is after me or I just don't want to be found And the fact that I will look young probably for forever is probably the best advantage! I mean, I've got youth on my side! Proof,that we all can work what we've got, if I can! So what do you have going on your side? See the positives in who you are!

Let's learn to be satisfied with what or who we are! There is no use for me to sit around and contemplate wearing a black leather mini with stilettos. I quite like my plaid mini dresses anyways! I am content with who I am, and like snuggie I am going to sell who I am to the world. Let's do it together wonderful people.

Let's snuggle up to who we are... instead of a backwards robe sold for 20 bucks.

Don't nobody bring me, no bad news!

Yep, you guessed it, today was shit. So shitty in fact that my title just alluded to The Wiz...that's a pretty bad day.


Now let's get one thing straight first off, I am a happy person. And I don't let things get to me, I mean, why would I? When circumstances arise that are beyond your control, why let them ruin your day? Life is far to short for that, and far to exciting! But today was not so good, I mean let the bad times roll type day.

Now again, I am not sitting here wailing and spoon feeding myself nutella or anything, I am just frustrated, and anymore bad news would really make me seriously consider ripping this desktop dell in front of me out of it's cord and hurling it across this room of crappy dell computers into all the girls who managed to look real cute today sitting near me, while I managed to look like a homeless person who rolled out of bed...or a cardboard box. Okay, bad idea, I really don't need two broken computers in my life right now, I can't even afford one.

Days like these are not meant to be spent trying to accomplish the pile of anthropology homework in front of me, they are meant to be spent in bed- hoping that tomorrow will come faster than the bill from the broken computer while hiding myself from the big bad world under my down comforter and wrapping my body around my body pillow.

So what can we do on days like these other than wish that our computers aren't broken, our rooms aren't messy, exams aren't coming up, and our bank account isn't declining at a noteworthy pace? Well, I'll tell you! We forget about it, and go do something absolutely goofy or ridiculous...because why waste a day wallowing! I am done being a grouch...it's taking to much energy from me!

The best thing about life, is that we get to choose to be happy! Even on days when my macbook is broken, therefore causing the only communication I have with some important people to be ruined, I can choose to be happy! So for all of you out there having days just about as miserable as me, snap out of it!

We are only going to be happy if we choose it, so choose it already! Things will always go wrong in life! Now, I am not going to use the phrase... "things could always be worse" right here for two reasons. 1. When that is said, things do get worse. 2. Because what is happening to someone else is completely irrelevant to what someone else is feeling when something happens to them. The situations can't be compared...nor should they be!

So come on lovelies, let's be happy. : )

P.S.- Who in the world made dells so hard to use?

War & Vegetarianism.

Hunting is, after all, a form of war; at least I would think so if I were an animal .- Judith Koll Healey

As I laid in bed, beginning to doze off under my snug and toasty comforters surrounded by my eclectic variety of smooth and soft pillows I read the statement up above, and immediately became attentive. Okay, this quote really has nothing to do with the book- nor does it actually have any relevance other than the fact that I immediately thought to myself... Yeah! Good point historical fiction novel!

When I answer the ever popular question of... "why in the world do you not eat meat... are you insane?" I like to give the person who is scowling at me a big ol' smile and say... "well why do you eat meat?" I then go into a short and well performed informative speech on how I am absolutely not a crazy PETA protester( however amusing they may be), but I do think gnawing on flesh and fat is absolutely disgusting. The person then makes a grimace at me completely put off by my word choices of gnawing & flesh and I think to myself... yeah that grimace is how I feel when I see you taking a chunk out of animal carcass!

Now, I am a firm believer in every man for himself, as long as it isn't having a negative affect on those around you. So, if you eat meat, I am not going to start yelling at you nor debating the fact that meat gives protein and iron and it's part of the circle of life and blah, blah, blah... But, I will just say now, I run every day and work out and lead a very active life... and I do it all without meat! And, no I am not wonder woman, well maybe I am but that's beside the point, tons and tons of people lead incredibly active and healthy lives without eating meat! That's pretty exciting- it can be done!

The trick is, to go into vegetarianism full heartily and just jump in. I was on and off for a while before I actually got the hang of it, so just do it already!

Here are my tips and tricks for those of you out there who want to stop waging war on animals...

1. Take an iron tablet- no questions asked...just do it. Lack of iron in your blood can cause serious problems so yeah, take an iron supplement!

2. Calcium is extremely important, and the more of it you have... the more your body absorbs iron! Eating things like spinach( yum), broccoli (yummiest), and even sun flower seeds will give you more calcium in your diet! Fantastica!

3. Don't live off of protein powder and protein bars... while they do play a huge part in my diet... you also need more natural forms of protein... tofu, soy milk, soy beans (edamame), and if you eat eggs those are a great source of protein as well, soy cheese/ real cheese ( depending on the kind of veg head you are), beans, & peanut butter/ soynut butter! Just make sure you get some natural protein!

4. Take vitamins... again do it! This is not only because you are a vegetarian, but because vitamins are an amazing thing my friends and will keep you healthy and happy. : )

These are just some basic tips... but they are ones that I have learned from experience are extremely important.

Just remember... the animal you are eating does in fact come from a family of animals... and they do in fact have a nerve system so they feel pain. Now, I know all of you are going to hate me for this statement, but think about your pet... be it dog or cat or chinchilla or who knows what... imagine it playing with you, imagine the bad mood you can tell it's in, or when it's sick and lays on the floor just waiting for you to rub it's stomach...now imagine killing it and eating it. That's what eating meat is. It does not matter what animal it is... you are killing a living, breathing, feeling animal.

Vegetarianism doesn't just give you a clean consciousness of knowing that you aren't killing your dog, but it's healthy! Stop eating fat and flesh, and join me in a lifestyle of health and a clear mind!

What a first hand encounter of abuse has taught me.

I want you all to meet someone who used to be a very big part of my life. I also ask that everyone has a moment of silence for her, as her body is laying in a graveyard of solemn left overs and poorly made choices to go when they should have stopped. A moment of silence for my love.

I need to introduce you to Louetta the Jetta.

On my 16th birthday in Virginia, I found this small black car with a gold racer stripe taking a nap in my cold concrete garage- with a big red bow I might add. I remember the first time I revved her engine... mostly because I sat down in the car and I remember this boy Ryan yelling at me to rev her engine... to which I asked, "how?" Ah I was one smart 16 year old! But either way, I remember the feeling of putting my narrow foot onto her pedal and rocking her world. Once I revved that girl's engine, we hit it off. : )

We were so close, she taught me how to park, get a diet cherry vanilla coke from sonic(aka heaven), roll my window down and blast the music, strategically make the person in the car next to me feel awkward at a stop light, make turns, pick up boys, use highway ramps, play car games, do chinese fire drills, all the normal things a 16 year old girl in America should do. But the thing is... that love was equally matched in hate. Louetta and I abused each other.

When I drove Louetta across country from the east coast to Arizona she was not very pleased. It turns out she really didn't want to survive in the Valley of Dante's inferno... oh excuse me... the valley of the sun. She did not want to put up with 115 degree heat... so she abused me. Things started to happen in our relationship- it got ugly. She decided to shatter her own window, so i starved her of gas... the screws fell out of the door forcing me to drive around with a taped door and climb in through the passenger's seat, so i starved her of gas... she decided that her "check engine" light would be on at a constant rate, so I starved her of gas... she decided that the glue that held the lock of my door in place would melt in the heat so that the lock actually fell out of the car into my hand making it literally impossible for me to get in the car, so I starved her of gas. I did the only thing I knew how to do- I punished her by not feeding her. Well that in turn created a hole in some thing-a-bob in the shmer-mher under the car hood... I am not going to pretend like I knew what the mechanic was saying... I just nod and smile. So one lesson of the day is... yes you can drive a Jetta with the gas light on for 30 miles, but it's pushing it to go further than that. Louetta abused me and I abused her.

But in the end, she saw a tragic death that I was not there to witness actually... and it was very unexpected. I'm glad I wasn't there to see it because watching someone t-bone my precious vw would have broken my heart... just as having to go see her at the graveyard to get music scores out of my trunk broke my heart. RIP Louetta the Jetta: we abused each other, but we loved each other.

Now the reason I just described to you a tragedy from my past is because if Louetta was a person I would have regretted not feeding her... especially when I wasn't there to say goodbye to her. This isn't about a car folks, this is about not appreciating what we have. I had no idea on that day that she was going to have her life taken from her... I took advantage of her so often. We can not take advantage of the people in our lives, even if it's unintentional. And more importantly- we must always thank them for being in our lives! Lately I have just felt the need to let everyone I know around me how grateful I am for them, because I know that my life is headed in new directions as I am growing up, and I have no idea where I will be ever again! So I want to take the time while I am near them, to thank them.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has affected me in my life and I think you should as well. Because the facts are, we all have to go sometime, but we never know when that will be. Okay, that took a morbid turn, but honestly! So let's not take advantage, let's love and be thankful to those around us with an open heart every day!

I want to thank you, who ever you are, for listening to me ramble on in an attempt to make a metaphor out of my car. : )

Crafty- with art and other things

( Yep, I am absolutely pretending to be a vampire here at a film festival...)

One of the saddest stories I ever heard was when Callum told me he stopped having stockings last year for Christmas... seriously, my heart feels for this situation. I can not imagine a stockingless Christmas- not because I am all about the gifts... but because Christmas morning to come down the stairs and see my stocking gracefully laying with my named perfectly stitched in gold letters is a feeling that trumps most of the other feelings I have.... it's that intense.

So this year, I promised Callum he would not have a stockingless Christmas- so I am currently making a stocking for a 20 year old boy, really my life is hilarious sometimes! Anyways, I have been trying to be very crafty about this stocking- making it better than your average ho-hum or the over done glitzy stockings that looks like christmas threw up all over it in glitter. I am really trying to avoid both of those situations. Just call me Crafty Katie- I think it's fitting!

Ironically enough when I told Callum I was being crafty he replied with... "arts and crafty or crafty like a fox?" After I muttered to him something about me being arts and crafty and he told me how cunning he was like a fox ( just call him cocky callum...kidding =] )I really began to think about what it means to be crafty.

I'm not talking crafty as in a bunch of 30 year old pregnant women sitting around scrap booking about their marriages... woah stereotyping.... but seriously. I am talking prime time crafty. I am talking CIA , long black trench coats, Sun Tzu Art of War crafty. That is crafty.

Now, I have had my fair share of crafty times before, but these happen to not be my shining moment I'd imagine. And although some days being devious and wearing leather and black eye liner and being mysterious and crafty sound rather appealing and alluring... I am far from crafty. Which is A okay with me!

Why is it that we all have this seductive draw to dark, mysterious, cunningly artful crafters. I mean, that idea sounds so...hot. But in reality, being crafty is being cunningly artful at lying and giving out false ideas... not so hot. We are drawn to this idea that is actually not a very becoming trait if you want to actually have a connection with that person.

I think what may be the true allure though, is the idea that we could be the one to finally tame the cunning... that just one lock of the eyes and the crafty, mysterious, tall, dark, and handsome with eyes as deep and tortured as his past turns honest just for us! How romantic! I think it's not that we actually want to be with a crafty and skilled deceiver...but we want to be able to turn that person into mush and daisies( which I also love by the way) with one glance in his direction.

I think this is why books such as Twilight are so popular... not because the author is a brilliant writer or sheds truth on something... no it's the idea that this girl turned a vampire ( tortured soul) into her lover. Plain and simple... we feel powerful when we tame someone. It's the epic good girl turns bad boy good scenario... and it is so romantic and dreamy... in thought.

In real life, the tortured soul is not going to feel peachy keen on anyone who just gives him a glance of longing...in fact he will have the upper hand in this situation! He can be crafty and use this person- playing to their weakness. Because that is what the crafty one does... he uses his lies for control and the upper hand.

So in conclusion... I no longer want to be crafty like a fox! I will be very satisfied being little cute Katie who gets overly excited about everything and spends her days singing everywhere she goes. I prefer to be arts and crafty! Ah, a toast.

To not being crafty! Here, Here!

The good and the complicated.

Well today was one of those days where it not only looked dreary outside my window but in fact it was dreary outside my window. The clouds were white with darkened grey bottoms filling the sky so that my awe filled view of the mountains was completely non existent. I had to literally tear myself out of my bed, the idea of staying under my down comforter was gripping my heart. Why, oh why do I have to go to classes on days like this? So, as I ran into my shower and got out I decided it was time to take the day into my own hands. Yes that's right, the dreary weather does not control my day, I do!

So I put on my tights, my blue plaid dress with a bow in front, and my red peacoat. Out I went ready to take my day by storm! Well it felt worse outside than it looked from my bed, my 3 minute walk to class was consumed by wind and sleet, a runny nose, red cheeks, and the thought that winter is finally here to stay... aka I am going to be as pale as the snow on the grounds very soon... lovely... But besides that- I have a lot on my mind other than my white skin, fading summer freckles, icy rain, and exams coming up.

The Good:

Callum makes the trek from Manchester to Arizona in 11 days. I am so glad, I am so ready. American Thanksgiving is brilliant and having an englishman here to share the American holiday with me makes it all the better! It is going to be an eventful thanksgiving as well... to say the very least.

Also, Christmas season is here, which does insane things to me. It's a known fact that I already sing and dance wherever I go during the day- but Christmas ups this to extreme levels...I'm talking so much singing and dancing that I am almost unbearable for people not in a fantastic mood! Yeah, that's a whole lot of crazy for one short 19 year old girl. I am already planning all the fantastic things I will be doing and all the fantastic gifts I will be giving!

I have also decided in an attempt to help out the earth this Christmas I will be using recycled materials for all my gift wrappings- creativity time to the max! I think that this will be not only a chance to get artistic but also to take small measures to be a better person on earth. Win & win for Katie. Anyone want to take the plunge with me?

By the way, I have such great news... my shin splints are getting better! This is cause for a huge celebration! I have found wrapping them to be comforting for about ten minutes of a run usually- then it all goes down hill. But I have been doing this pressure/ice/heat/ stretch combination that is really seeming to do the trick! This is big everyone, shin splints hurt like hell.

The complicated:

And on a different note- I have come into some new realization's lately about honesty. And my realization is that honesty may not always be the number one priority in life- but when you feel awful for not being honest, like something is pulling on your conscience- that probably means you should be honest in the situation. I try to be an honest person, I really do, but I will say that I have big emotional issues with being a disappointment of a child- as silly as that sounds, which can sometimes lead to a lack of honesty with my parents. As of late, I was tending to hide some big decisions I was making from my accepting parents which was the wrong way to handle the situation. I made excuses for myself and thought I was doing what was right, even though i felt something tugging at my brain saying... "katie, you are a complete hypocrite, just tell the truth already you son of a gypsy!" The truth of the matter was, I wasn't being honest with people who deserve sheer honesty from me.

But here is the hard part: when is complete honesty important? We don't want to tell our friends that they have gained too much weight, we don't want to tell our family member that their new hair cut makes them look like Billy Ray Cyrus, we don't want to tell our boyfriend that his new guitar song sounds like a dying coyote, when is real honesty important? I think for me- how I know when it is complete honesty I need- is when it actually feels wrong for me to not be honest. Now, I realize everyones moral compass points a different direction- but I know how mine works by this point in my life.

So my new rule- when for some reason I am feeling upset about not being completely honest- that is when it is time to pull out all the stops- and let honesty ring! Okay, that was a ridiculously dramatic crappy comparison to let freedom ring, but I imagine you get the point!

There it is, the good and the complicated. What's the good and complicated for you right now?

I hear that George has another woman...I'm not surprised!

(Sunday In the Park With George is based off of the relationships that the character's in this painting have with George Seurat the painter. Celeste #2, the character I played is the young girl sitting down and holding flowers while looking down.)

Okay, I know that after reading this title the majority of you are wondering what I could be talking about and the other small percentage are humming along to that wonderful song! The title is an excerpt from the tune Gossip from the show Sunday In the Park With George.

Last spring I got the honor of playing Celeste #2 in the show( a role that I had far to much fun with... from having to orgasm on stage with a fishing pole to singing with a cardboard soldier... yeah I bet you are all rushing to look this up on youtube now, and you should!) and sang those lines with Celeste #1 as we sat on stage gossiping to our hearts content. Sometimes when I sit around listening to my friends gossip about someone I actually start singing this song in my head. As much of a lunatic as that makes me, I can't get that rhythm of banter out of my head It's mind blowing! It's a completely different sound when people gossip, honestly, listen sometime. The tone changes and the pace quickens and people get cautious and people get so emotionally worked up and it becomes unsettling for me and it feels just like a scene from a musical. Which, if you haven't realized by now, I tend to compare everything in my life to something from a musical or a musical in general, apologies! But the reason behind that is a story for another day.

Now, I am not trying to prove myself high and mighty because just like everyone in this world I am guilty of gossip of the petty and more serious variety. But I try very hard to stop myself and focus on the fact that their is a story behind what is happening, more than what we know.

For example, the other day I listened closely to a room full of girls talk about how one of their close friends was "insane." Their friend had been at fault many times definitely- she had rudely "hooked up" with boys that were interested in her other friends just because she craved that attention and the feeling of winning over others. I am in no way condoning what their friend did, but to me, as I sat there listening to the 45 minute conversation on this... that was only broke up because their friend happened to walk in... I felt so awful for this girl. Her closest friends were in a room wallowing in their frustration together instead of realizing that there was probably a reason why she was doing this beyond she is just "insane."

Whenever I see someone who does something a bit off or a bit extreme my mind immediately goes to frustration just as anyones does, I am not different than any other human. But, I then always think about that story behind it. There has to be a reason that people do what they do- we just never see that part. I think that if we all want to get along and be tolerant we have got to start realizing that their is always an action that has caused this reaction. There is always a background story that we don't know. And as humans we tend to make things about ourselves. In this situation the girls could have realized that this was actually a problem of the girls that needed to be worked on and figured out, instead of making the situation about the "suffering" they were going through by being her friend. Ugh, I get really frustrated sometimes at just how plain mean we can be to each others... friends or foes.

How abusrd that we can sit in a room judging someone for their fault instead of talking to them about what's wrong, or even realizing that something is wrong. That's what's really insane! We have to start realizing what is really the issue at hand if we are ever going to solve problems in this world. We can't be blind to everything else that is going on just because our feelings got hurt. And I know that is easier said than done, I know that it is hard, it is in no way a breeze for me to do. But the facts are- we have got to do it.

We have got to start caring for each other better and understand there is more than we know to every situation, because don't we want the courtesy of knowing that other's aren't gossiping about us? The Celeste's are fun characters to watch on stage and play on stage- but in real life- no one wants to be a Celeste... well except maybe the part where she gets to orgasm with a fishing rod... oh dear... I am completely kidding!

But how about it? How about we stop gossiping? I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to be Celeste in real life.