Sunny Saturday

Russ and I decided last week that we wanted to get out of town for at least a day this weekend. So of course, where did we decide to go? San Francisco :) (I know, I know, we're so original)

We decided that this time, it was just going to be the two of us, though we did go see my aunt and uncle for a little bit.

We also went to the Aquarium of the Bay... sadly, total waste of money. Half of it was closed for construction, I really felt like they should have told us that when we bought the tickets. That really bothered me.

Other than that, we kind of just wandered around the rest of the day. We went to a farmer's market in the morning and ate some goodies. Russ and I sat down across from the water and just enjoyed the most amazing Asian pear ever... it was better than any kind of dessert, and it was huge.

It was a nice day, we got a lot of exercise and opted to walk everywhere, rather than taking the bus which always confuses us anyways. Plus it was beautiful out and everything was in bloom... it was lovely.

We ended the day in China town with a nice dinner. All in all, it was a great day!

-K

I am an Ingrid...

I love quizzes, I'm not sure why, but I think it's because they either tell me things that I thought I didn't know about myself, or simply reinforce what I did know about myself.

Either way, they're fun! Brittany had this quiz on her blog, and she was a Bette. This was fun, and pretty dead-on in descriptions it gave for me. It isn't a tacky quiz like the ones on Facebook... it was actually pretty neat :)

You can find the quiz here.

You are an Ingrid -- "I am unique"

Ingrids have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me
* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being an Ingrid
* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being an Ingrid
* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misunderstands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

Ingrids as Children Often
* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become anti authoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

Ingrids as Parents
* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

Kreativ-ity

Yay!

This morning I got to wake up to a lovely new blog post by Brandi of Excess Baggage. In that post she tagged some "Kreativ Bloggers" to receive an award, and I was one of them! If you haven't checked out her blog before, I would recommend doing so, it is one of my favorite reads!



Here is my award!

I am also going to put it in my sidebar, now that I know how to, along with another award that I received a while back from Brittany.

Hope everyone is getting a little taste of spring... I am thinking of getting a laptop just to be outside and doing my homework on days like these!
-K

Book Review: Shoe Addicts Anonymous

From Amazon.com:
Arriving just in time for beach-read season, the effervescent hardcover fiction debut of cookbook author and romance novelist Harbison features four D.C.-area women who meet weekly to swap and chat about... shoes. Trying to get a handle on her massive consumer debt, Lorna Rafferty posts an Internet ad looking to trade footwear with women who have good taste and wear size seven-and-a-half. A senator's trophy wife, Helene Zaharis, is dreaming of escaping her loveless marriage when she stumbles upon Lorna's post. Overweight phone sex operator Sandra Vanderslice struggles to overcome her agoraphobia long enough to attend the shoe meetings. After a few funny missteps, the threesome finds a fourth member, Joss Bowen, the nanny of a shrewish socialite's hellion boys. Joss couldn't care less about shoes, but uses the group as a reason to get out of the house. Harbison does a fine job of showcasing how each woman is trapped—Lorna by her debt, Helene by her marriage, Sandra by her self-image, Joss by her employment contract—and how the fresh eyes of the group allow them to see themselves in a new light. Harbison creates vivid, convincing characters and handles them well. Reading this novel is like eating a slice of cake.

My Review:
So this was another choice from my book club that I belong to. It's not what we normally pick, since we usually go for more "thought provoking" or discussion starting books. However, this was nominated I believe five months in a row by one of our members, and we finally chose to read it.
I'm not a big "chick-lit" reader. Not because I don't like them, just for some reason it isn't what I reach for in the book store. I did think that this was a cute book, perfect for vacation or some light reading by the pool. So if you are looking for some chick-lit or some light reading, I would recommend you pick this one up!

I have to admit though, I have no idea what the book club is going to discuss tonight about this book...

Movie Review: Gran Torino

Wow, haven't done one of these reviews in awhile... I'm not sure actually why I haven't, since I do go to the movies quite a bit, but this movie in particular I just wanted to share.
I went and saw Gran Torino last night and would definitely recommend you see it either now before it's out of theaters, or if you prefer to rent it at home when it comes out.

At first I had no interest in seeing this movie, I hadn't watched a trailer for it or anything, and thought it was only about a car based on the name...so I wrote it off as a guy movie. It does have coarse language & difficult subject matter, be forewarned, but I went with a group of girls and we all liked it a lot!

Here is the trailer if you are interested:

Has anyone else seen this? What did you think?

:]

We (Lilah & I) tried to enjoy some of the spring weather yesterday. (It was 72 degrees and beautiful!)

Now it is grey and rainy out... guess it's a perfect time to tackle my mountain of homework. :\

-K

Welcome Spring!

Well, Spring is officially here, and I'm ready to enjoy the mild weather while it lasts! Where I live in California, it is unfortunately nothing like So Cal where it is generally mild temperatures all year. (I have family that lives in San Diego... hot to them is 80 degrees, and at 60 degrees they are shivering)
While it doesn't get too cold where I live, it does get pretty hot, even up to 115 degrees in the summer. Yuck.
Right now, our town looks really lovely... we have a lot of those cherry trees that have pink blossoms... so there's lots of color everywhere. I'm loving it :)

I'm also loving that Twilight will soon be mine...

I didn't pre-order or anything from anywhere... but I'm sure I'll get my copy somewhere, somehow.

Hope you all are enjoying some Spring weather where you are!!
-K

Writer's Block

I am so frustrated with this case of writer's block I seem to have lately. It has been bothering me both in my blog (I feel like I have nothing to write about in my life), and in my creative writing class.

I guess what's bothering me about the writing class is that my professor told us that we can't write anything fantasy, or sci-fi, or even horror. Basically, nothing that wouldn't happen in everyday life.

This really bothers me, since it was listed as "Creative Writing - Fiction". What does that say to you? To me, it says be creative and imaginative, but apparently this isn't what it means to everyone. He is a nice enough guy, and I am still enjoying the class, but this really irks me.

Anyways, I guess my question is this, which I feel many of you can answer since it can pertain to your blogs as well.

What do you do to get inspired to write?

Meanwhile, I'll be around here somewhere... trying to think of something interesting yet also believable to write a story on (rolls eyes).

-K

Back to school!

So, yesterday I was able to add one of the classes I wanted, which brings me to a total of two definite classes. I will be going tonight to see if I am able to add an English class that I am required to take. So far, I have a Psychology class, and a creative writing class.

Everything went well, it is strange being a student again, but I was relieved to see people my age and older. I was a little nervous that my classmates would all be Abercrombie plastered teens, but there was a good mix of people in there, and with the exception of the guy in front of me who, literally, filled half a bottle with spit (from chew tobacco, whatever it's called), I had a good time meeting some new people. :)

Creative writing was, of course, my favorite. It was a little difficult though, because it was just like, here's a picture, now write a story. But really, the hardest part was getting started, and it was a great exercise.

All in all, it was a great day, and I'm off to do some homework from creative writing, and then to go see if I can add that English class!

-K

Spring, is that you?

Hello all, sorry about the recent hiatus, things have been a little crazy in my world in the past two weeks.

On Friday, I wrapped up my job and closed that part of my life... I was very sad to do so, but I'm trying to look at everything with as much optimism as I can muster.

When one door closes, another one opens... right? :)

It has been beyond beautiful outside this weekend. It's the kind of weather that gives your spirits an instant lift, which is needed after all the greyness of the past few weeks (both literally and figuratively). I am only on here doing a blog, because I am waiting for Russ to finish cleaning his work truck, and then we are off to the dog park!

On Saturday a couple of awesome new friends took me out to celebrate "my new chapter" in life. We went to downtown Sacramento to a cute and yummy dessert diner. I had a great time, and I am so thankful for friends who have helped me look at everything in a new and exciting way.

Yesterday I got all of my school supplies together, and I have to say that I'm feeling the back-to-school butterflies... aren't I a bit old for that? I am really excited, but also very nervous.

I hope where everyone is you are getting a little taste of Spring... I sure hope it's here to stay!

Also, I have been thinking of opening a more private blog (this one is obviously as public as it gets). I find that there are some things that are better not shared with everyone who wants to read it, and would also like somewhere to even possibly share some of my writing. Would any of you be interested in following? I know a few people who have private blogs, and they seem like a great outlet :)

-K

Playing with my page...

Just making some adjustments in here :)