old skool

the public library

source: google images

Who needs the mall for people watching when you have The Public Library? Allow me to enlighten you...

case in point #1.
I just watched a girl, my age or older, pick her nose. right out in the open! SICK! I don't know why I looked. I guess it is like roadkill--don't wanna look but you just can't help it?

case in point #2.
there is a man here, asleep at his computer. he keeps waking himself up as he falls forward a lot, but it is only moments before he's totally out again. this kind of irritates me because he is hindering the use of electrical outlets by people who are not, in fact, sleeping at the library. electrical outlets are a hot commodity in this joint! last week I was charging rent on them.

okay not really, that is a lie. but the computer terminals where outlets are located have 2 plugs and I only need one. as such, I was swapping out the power cords of two ladies at the table behind me. I probably could have weaseled them out of money if I'd really tried.

alright, I guess I'm back at it (the checklist that is). I have a paper due this weekend, a test later this week, and basically all kinds of crap to do. in case you are wondering, I'm not at the NY Public Library. It is, however, a NY landmark I need to mark off my list...

see you in April :)

Saturday nite photos + doggie woes

We went out to celebrate my husband's 28th birthday last night! He is very hard to buy gifts for, because if he wants something, he usually saves up and gets it himself. He likes to go to the casino, but I don't, so we don't go very often...so I had the idea that we'd go to dinner at the casino and I would give him some money to spend. I invited our friends Priya and Chris and we had a yummy dinner & fun at Mohegan Sun. It was packed, plus our dinner was later, so I don't think he really got to enjoy the "casino" aspect of the night, but on the bright side our dinner was yummy. Here are a few pics :)

Me and the hubby...you cannot tell but we are color coordinating. His shirt has green stripes. He said it was "very green!" I bought it to go w/my loveRly green blouse!


Our friends Chris and Priya. Priya is one of my BFFFs (movie reference: Pineapple Express). We always have fun when we're together. Plus she is my fashion icon. Don't you think she looks great in purple?


"ahhh my precious"

Yummy dessert recommended by our strange waiter. He called this a chocolate cookie. I was expecting a big chocolate chip cookie. This delicious thing was a welcome treat. It was impossible to eat the whole thing. I considered slipping it in my purse but against my better judgment, I left it. Dangit!

It was a late night so I'm tired today! Being the risk taker that I am, I put $5 in the nickel slots. I got up to $15 playing Mr. Lucky's Fortune Cookie since I got in the bonus round 3 times ("ahh! mongorian beef!). Stupid me kept playing. When I got it back to $5, I cashed out and broke even. See, this is why I hate gambling. I'm just not a big risk taker!

In the "doggie woe" front, our "new" dog Taffy had a seizure Friday night. I got really upset, because it was so scary. To our knowledge she'd only had one seizure before, and it was two days before we got her (happened at the vet's office when she was there to get a health certificate). I'd read about them online, so I knew it was what was happening. I felt so sorry for her. I'll be taking her to the vet this week. Hopefully they will just treat her for the seizures and not try to test her for every known cause,  because there are a lot, and the vet's office is a big money racket. Still, she's one of our babies, so we will take care of her.

That's pretty much it for the weekend! Today is filled with Market-Based Management and being tired. Woohoo for having a day off tomorrow! :)

Fashion Friday: 1st Edition

So let's see if I can keep up with one MORE thing! :)

First things first...I got the idea for Fashion Friday from Big Mama over at The Big Mama Blog. When I went to the site, I was expecting something out of "Big Mama's House." Well, I was wrong.

Big Mama is not at all a Big Mama. She's actually a cute Texan with a southern accent I can relate to ;) She takes fashion questions and does something called Fashion Friday where she gives her advice (which is quite good and has put a dent in my wallet on more than one occasion, I must admit).

I don't plan on doing the same thing. I'd never copy someone when it comes to fashion (and if you know me, you know this is a bold-faced lie. Bold-faced? Bald-faced? I digress). First of all, I don't even think enough people read this blog to even ask fashion questions. Second, I might suck at it and cause people to leave their house dressed ridiculously and well, I wouldn't want that to happen to someone else. Happens to me all the time but I just suck it up and silently give on-lookers the middle finger in my mind ;)

I personally plan to show you some things out there that I consider "hot items." Things I'm hoping to add to my wardrobe. Now, you may not consider them to be hot items, and that is okay. But if you do, then I just saved you the trouble of searching for a hot item, right? Right!

Let's get started, shall we?

The first item I'd like to share is my first Big Mama-inspired purchase. This was also my first-ever purchase from Nordstrom. I thought I did okay! Unfortunately--I was wrong. It is on it's way back to Nordstrom land, where it can be purchased by someone who can still, in fact, wear a junior's medium without having their armpits feel as though they're being strangled. Not that that happened to me or anything.

The second item could also be considered Big Mama-inspired, since I wouldn't have known about it had I not hopped on over to Nordstrom's website. I have not purchased this beautiful ensemble but I've got my eye on it. It completely reminds me of my friend Becca. It also makes me think DERBY! Unfortunately it is not going to ship until early June. That is clearly after the Ky Derby (not that I'm going, I ain't that rich just yet peeps)...and also, I have a wedding to attend in late May and thought this would have been cute. Sad day for my closet, happy day for my wallet.

While we're in the mood for dresses, let's check out this hot item. I LOVE the color and find the design of this dress to be quite classy. You can find this item at Newport-News.

You may be wondering why I keep saying hot item. I'll explain later. But it is a good story.

Also from Newport-News, this hot camisole/halter! I'm not 100% sold on it yet, because I'm not sure where I'd wear it. However, I do know I'd pair this with some super dark jeans, black patent peep toes, and a black chunky bracelet. Oh and a TAN. Maybe I should just buy it and create a reason to wear it!

Some days, I just wanna go cas...ok, most days. I really want to get this (or one of it's siblings) because I keep hearing so many good things about these "ringspun" tees from J.Crew. I am anxious to see it in person. You see, I have some J.Crew tops that look similar, but I purchased them at an outlet. I love the material/fit but the necks on them look terrible--so stretched. Anyway, I really like this next one, and it might be my trial run. It might also be acceptable under the coral jacket I posted in a recent post...hmm...

Now, if I wanted to jazz up the plain-jane-grey-tee, I might add this cute and spunky hot pink scarf from Target. I don't know about you, but I love me some Target. They always have plenty I need (and even more that I don't!) Anyway, I love scarves, so I know I'd get a ton of use out of this hot item!

Last, but certainly not least, black workout pants! My husband says I can never have enough black workout pants (and believe me, that is another lie). I am particularly interested in these because they come in different lengths and have great reviews. I play for the short-team, so these peaked my interest.

Alright folks, that concludes Fashion Friday! Now, run out and buy something that will make you look hotter than you already do! Now, if any retailers are reading (which I highly doubt), and you're interested in sending me ANY of these items...please feel free to email me at ukjillc@gmail.com. I'll model the pieces, take pics for the blog and everything and be forever indebted to you for making me fashionably richer.

Right after I get spray tanned! ;)

 

march 26...feliz cumpleaños!

today is my husband's 28th birthday! :)

here are some random things about him:

--He absolutely loves to eat cereal, at any time of day. I think his favorite is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, tho he might try to tell you Basic 4.

--He is in the Navy but you probably already knew that. He gets out later this year. This is exciting because we don't want to live in CT anymore, but SCARY AS HECK because I worry like crazy about him finding a job and also because we have never paid a dime for healthcare. He doesn't worry--but I do enough for both of us!

--He plays World of Warcraft. I hate this but I am trying not to get so mad about it because I spend so much time immersed in schoolwork. As a result of my griping less about it, he doesn't seem to play as much or as seriously. And I appreciate this very much :)

--He drives a red Ford Mustang. We call her Rosey. Unfortunately, this is the same car he had when he was 18. When we first got married, he'd just bought a new car, a Ford Explorer. Well at some point, I started driving it. Then a guy crashed into me. Then we got a Toyota 4-Runner. I drive it. Poor guy gets the short end of the stick. I told him I'd be okay if he wanted to get a new car but he says he is gonna "drive it 'till the wheels fall off!"

--He is very smart. He has both a BS and an MS in Computer Science and a minor in math. He likes math. I do not. See, this is good because sometimes he is able to help me with economics when it gets less conceptual and more mathematical. 

--We are on a bowling league together. We bowl every Friday night and we are the team to be reckoned with. Our name is the Sparedancers, which I came up with. He has multiple bowling balls and a 200 average. Me on the other hand? I have the lowest average on our team.

--He has the patience of JOB! Sometimes I'm a little crazy, a little stubborn, a little bossy...and he somehow manages to put up with me.

Happy Birthday babe! I love you! :)

wayyy back wednesday: vol. 2

Welcome to Way Back Wednesdays, Volume 2! Woohoo!

Jill (L) and Danielle (R)

This picture was taken my senior year of high school, before a basketball game. Specifically, it was our homecoming game, and while I was in uniform I did not cheer. My cheerleading "career" basically ended after football season, due to my car accident and rather extended hospital stay, but that is neither here nor there!

Danielle was a grade behind me, so we met when I was in 8th grade and she was in 7th. That was the first time we ever cheered together. She was really funny and I always thought she had the most beautiful eyes!

Anyway, this particular year (2001) our squad went to nationals in Orlando, FL. Again, I wasn't cheering but I went anyway. After all, I competed in the competition that earned us the bid to get there. On one of our "off" days or nights, the team went to Magic Kingdom. We were allowed to split up and go off in our own groups, but we were supposed to meet back at Cinderella's Castle that night for the parade. Danielle and I were together, and a couple others I think. We got "turned around" in the park, amongst the crazy swarm of people for the parade, and we could not find our coach and the rest of our team.

We tried to find them for what seemed like forever. We even went to the bus/tram stops and just sat there, thinking we'd see them, but we never did. We knew we'd be in hot water if we took the bus back to the hotel on our own, so we just sat and waited. We knew our coach would come back for us.

And ohhhh, did she.

I do not think I had ever witnessed my coach so angry. I also don't think she believed that we had truly tried to find them! You know that feeling you get when you are disappointed, because you know you've let someone down? That is how I felt. But at the same time, I was aggravated because she thought I was being dishonest. Together, Danielle and I alternated between being hurt and being mad. But whatevs. That was a "moment."

Another thing "moment" I'll never forget was the time Danielle checked by blood sugar. Danielle had diabetes and pricking her finger, checking her blood, it was no big deal. She did it all the time. Once, before a game, I felt super light-headed and shaky. She said that is how she felt when her blood sugar was low, so she said, "give me your finger!" Ever the obedient little one, I did.

POP!

OWWWW

I felt like I had just got an ear piercing in my index finger! Thankfully the pain was short-lived. I remember thinking, "how does she do this multiple times each day?!" At any rate, I was fine. I probably just needed to eat.

Eat...something besides a Little Debbie cake and Mountain Dew. Which I pretty much ate multiple times, every day, yet still managing to weigh about 110 pounds. Remember this scenario is when I was in HIGH SCHOOL.

I'm pretty sure if I ate like that now...I'd be in the HIGH weight category, HIGH blood sugar category, HIGH number on the scale and size of my pants category. Omg man.

I miss eating Little Debbie Brownies for breakfast.

Sigh. The good ol' days...

"I hate myself for lovin you!"

ok, for real, I don't hate myself for lovin' nobody! I have just been wanting to use that lyric for awhile. Secretly (or not so secretly, since I'm posting it on the internet) I want to do karaoke to that song and be all "angry-singer-ish" but yeah, probably not gonna happen anytime soon!

anyway, let's do an episode of "I need"...cause you know, this is tv and all.

What do I need? I need...
1. a tan. for sure. today Dana says to me, "you look tan." I respond, "thanks. it's bronzer."

2. a new j.crew wardrobe. seriously. Carrie puts these fabulous get-ups on polyvore.com and so of course, I click the buttons that say "Buy it" and what does J.Crew tell me? Oh, they're all, "we're sorry! this item was so popular..." and then I get pissed and close the site.

3. a pedicure. a real one, from someone who speaks decent english, so they can understand me when I say "Scrub the crap out of my feet and make them soft like a baby's butt!" I don't want them to simply smile, nod, and then talk about me in Chinese to their fellow pedicurists (or whatever they're called).

4. to wake up and actually feel rested. I have been so tired lately--more than usual. I drink coffee in the morning, out of habit really, because coffee does not rev me up or help me stay awake. I could (and have) drank coffee at 9 at night and gone to bed just like normal.

5. all these new clothes...for reals. ready for a fashion show? cause here ya go!

J. Crew

J. Crew

Nordstrom

Old Navy

Old Navy

Nordstrom

alright peeps, that is it for now. I'm up waaaayyyy late so I must go to sleep now, and hope that tomorrow I have many people interested in buying my stuff off craigslist. I need to support the above shopping habits (or purchase an iPhone, I haven't determined which one yet).

Stretch Armstrong

Since my blog *is* called "old skool" and all, I thought I'd go a little old skool today. Remember the Stretch Armstrong action figure? Originally introduced in the 70's, when I was still just a far-off thought, the toy was a hit. It was re-introduced/re-debuted in the early to mid 90's.

source: google images

My brother, Jake, had a Stretch Armstrong doll action figure and I can recall playing with it. I don't know about you guys, but I am telling ya...that Stretch Armstrong guy was onto something.

That was the extent of my "old skool-ness" today.

I often make reference to the fact that I wish I were like Stretch Armstrong. You're probably thinking, hey, cool, we could stretch our arms out ridiculously far and not have to get up to fetch a Sprite from the kitchen. Don't you think it'd be neat? I know it is crazy, but the reason I often "reference" Stretch is because of my neck problems. Often I wish I could s-t-r-e-t-c-h my neck out ridiculously far, because in theory, I think it'd feel better. I wish I could s-t-r-e-t-c-h my arms back and elongate the muscles in my shoulders and chest, because, in theory, I'm a doctor obviously and know it'd cure all (right).

Since Wednesday, my neck has felt as though the muscles running through my neck, shoulders, and upper back have literally contracted/shortened. It feels like it just needs to POP and ahh, there'd be relief. I have been taking Excedrin like it is my job, to fight the headaches it causes, and muscle relaxers at night in hopes it will feel better. I HATE being 25 years old and in a situation like this. I have been to multiple doctors, specialists at Yale, etc. There is no medical reason (that can be fixed, anyway) causing my neck to flare up. There probably WAS a problem, 3+ yrs ago, and something probably could have been done. Except my vehicle completely FLIPPED multiple times after being hit at a pretty high speed, and MUSC never bothered to x-ray my neck. Something does not seem right with that?!

I feel embarassed when I go to the pharmacy and pick up prescriptions for Valium, pain pills, etc. To look at me, I'm a perfectly healthy 25 y/o girl woman. I feel like they must think I'm a pill-poppin-druggie. Fortunately, I have one of the most understanding doctors. He is the best doctor I have ever had, actually, and I feel really lucky. He always listens and has never made me feel like a whiny complainer when I talk about my neck. I have to go see him this week, for a follow-up appointment, and I think I'm going to ask him to send me back to physical therapy. That really helped my neck before because I got STRONG in my upper back and shoulders, and worked on lengthening the muscles (which truly had shortened, pulling my shoulders forward, and screwing with my neck).

</end rant>

That concludes today's broadcast! Thank you for listening to my complaints :)

wayyy back wednesday

I think I'm going to start a weekly series called Way Back Wednesdays (hopefully I can keep it up!). Each Wednesday I will post an old-er picture, and give ya some commentary to go along with it. What do you think? Shall we give it a go?

Circa spring 2002...Audrey (L) and Jill (R)

Audrey and I were roommates second semester of my freshman year of college. My first semester, I lived somewhere else. When I moved to the dorms after Christmas, I was originally assigned a room by myself. It was completely empty, so it was just me. Audrey lived on the floor, but with another girl. She and the other girl didn't get along that great...the other girl had some questionable extracurriculars, we'll see. So, Audrey moved in with me. We lived in room 1414.

For the most part, Audrey and I were okay. I think we both judged each other a little too much. We each did things that pissed the other off. We had our disagreements, and as first year college students living away from home, we made bad choices. Our relationship wasn't great. When we moved out at the end of the semester, I don't know that we even said anything to one another (I can't remember).

In 2006, I joined facebook, we friend'ed one another, etc. As it turned out, Audrey was getting married that summer! I just happened to be in Kentucky for a month or so around that time, so her sister invited me to a wedding shower. Then I went to Audrey's wedding. Luckily, we have both matured as we've gotten older!

Now, Audrey and her husband live about a mile from my husband's parents, so I got to see her over the holidays. She has a little baby girl who is just precious and adorable. I am SO GLAD we were able to re-connect in these past few years. In all honesty, I think we are probably more alike than we ever would have admitted "back in the day," which could have contributed to our disagreements and petty arguments!

I feel lucky to count her as a friend :)

ambitions, intentions, GOALS

Happy Monday! I must say I'm glad the day is almost over, as I am not a huge fan of Mondays. Before leaving work this afternoon, I made a list of some things to do this evening (8 to be exact). I've only completed 3 of those things thus far :( Completing this post will put me at 50%...I hope to be 5 for 8 by the time I hit the hay!

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about things I don't do, things I wish were habits, etc. There are a lot of things I consider to be goals that may be stupid to others, but are things I wish I would take the initiative and actually implement. I thought I might get started "getting them down," so to speak.

1. go to bed earlier
I usually go to bed between 11 pm and midnight. Ideally, I'd like to start getting in bed by 10:30.

2. wake up earlier
this one goes hand-in-hand with number 1! my alarm goes off each day at 7 am. I will admit that lately, I've rarely gotten up at this time. for some reason, I have been super tired lately! at any rate, I'd really like to get up early enough to exercise, shower, eat breakfast, and all that jazz. this would likely mean waking at 5:30-ish. this will be a long journey!

3. make my bed each morning
this happens...very rarely. when the bed does get made, it is usually after I've arrived home from work. but again...very rarely.

4. exercise regularly
this is something that has really gone by the wayside since being in school full-time and working full-time these past few years. that waking up early to go work out? I know I can do it, because when I was in undergrad I did almost every day for quite some time. I need to get back into the habit of exercising regularly, regardless of the time of day.

5. change my sheets weekly
yep, it is digusting, but I'm just keepin' it real, like P-Dub says. And I'm admitting I do not do this on a regular basis. Are you getting that I need to establish some routine in my life?!

believe me, there are many many more, but it is already past 10:30, so I'm going to go to bed. that is enough for one day.

What about you? Do you have goals or intentions such as these?

Menu Plan Monday

Orgjunkie.com is one of my fav/well-liked blogs. I haven't been reading it as often lately, because I took it off my google reader. Why, you ask? Well...the truth is I was spending too much time reading the Orgjunkie and not enough time getting stuff done! yikes! Anyway, she hosts "Menu Plan Monday" and I've found when I plan my menu...I not only do a much better job at grocery shopping, but we also eat better!

Here's what I've got lined up for the week!

• Sunday: Slow-cooker Pot Roast
• Monday: More pot roast delicious-ness
• Tuesday: Tex-Mex Meatloaf (never tried this one before...cross your fingers)
• Wednesday: Crock-pot Pineapple Chicken
• Thursday: Corny Chili w/cornbread
• Friday: We usually don't cook on Friday since we have bowling :D
• Saturday: Stove-Top Casserole

Now hopefully, all of this will get made when it is supposed to and all that jazz. The good news is that I'm off to a good start with Sunday completed ;) Some of these are recipes I've never made before (ok, only 2 of them) so I'm both nervous and excited.

Got my gym bag packed for tomorrow, woohoo! A small accomplishment in and of itself. I realize it isn't even 10pm, but I've been super tired lately, so I'm going to shut off the computer and go get ready for bed.

That's that!

 

Coming Soon: A List of Personal Goals [could get lengthy!]