Dorothy Argeanton, Jan 12, 1922 – Nov 8, 2010
Today, on the 8th of November, 2010, Dorothy “Dottie” Argeanton passed on from this life on earth. I’m new to the Argeanton family so I didn’t know her as well as everyone else, but she really did make an impression on me with her laughter, smiles, songs, stories and fun-loving personality. Continue Reading →
Dona la vita
Deborah Kaye Haines is coming up on her 5 year anniversary for her pancreatic + kidney transplants and her daughter Meredith (a friend of mine from high school) lovingly wanted to dedicate a piece of art to her mother and her courageous story! Congrats Deb and a big thank you goes out to her donor Patrick for his life-saving donation! It’s truly amazing that perfect strangers have the compassion and love in their hearts to give their precious organs to those in need. It’s so inspiring!
Dona la vita: Donate Life. Be an organ donor and be a hero to those in need!
See more pictures of the piece on Flickr >>
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
So I get home from a stressful day at work last Monday and sort through all the mail, try to put my emotions on a leash when thinking about our mortgage situation and all the hassle and unfortunate circumstances we are in and I see this box from amazon on my desk. I open it and to my surprise is this book, Outliers – which I distinctly remember hearing about from Justin at Mike Nourse’s Opening and also subsequently remember adding to my Amazon wishlist at some point weeks earlier. I’m thinking, “Oh! I mistakenly clicked the ’1-click ordering’ button on the right hand side of the page and accidentally bought it.”
But then I look at the receipt and it says the billing address is from Justin Winget – um, awesome! I couldn’t have known it at the time, but now reading half way into the book and spending a little more time with myself lately for some quiet time, how much I needed some inspiration and a great book to read. Continue Reading →
Hot damn, I’m cookin’!
I’ll explain.
I always had this impression that I couldn’t cook – or the delusion. Never really tried to do anything outside of the easy stuff like instant mashed potatoes, prepackaged meats/fish, and canned/frozen veggies. Well, I’m here to tell you, real food is so much better! In the past 3 weeks I’ve cooked a homemade dinner at least 6 times….and I’ve made a cake and a dessert for a couple of parties. I realize it’s not easy to do every night because most times I have to make an extra stop at the grocery store for real veggies/spices….but it’s way more fun when you just enjoy it. I didn’t think I would but I was wrong.
Growing up my mom always cooked and took care of absolutely everything and no matter how AWESOME that was (thanks mom!) – I think I just never thought about cooking, since it was always done for me. All through college I’d eat ramen noodles, mac-n-cheese, weird combinations of random things I found in the pantry, lots of snacks and fast food – I don’t know how I got through college on that and beer…it was neither healthy or energizing.
Well here’s the news – I THINK I”M A CHANGED WOMAN. ;) Last night I made yummy Cajun Pasta with real tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, asparagus, green peppers, cucumber, chicken breasts, and spicy sausage, all mixed with some olive oil, paprika, oregano, black pepper, garlic, linguine and Parmesan cheese. It was soooo good and yeah I had to cut up a lot of veggies and prep some stuff but it turned out perfect and tasted delicous. Yay!
2 cool ladies :)
Just wanted to post this pic of my good old friends Ashlee and Aimee from high school that I miss and think about a lot. It makes me sad that we didn’t keep in touch as much as we should have (most of that being my fault)…they are both very interesting, smart, and funny women that I’m sure are making lasting impressions on the world as we know it.
I truly regret that I was either too depressed or selfish or busy or inconsiderate that I didn’t make time in my life to pick up the phone or visit more. I think we first lost touch when I started college (after my divorce) when times were just crazy and I was trying to forget about my ex and all my life’s problems – not to mention just starting all over and learning to be my own person.
Life does take twists and turns and sometimes it becomes really hard to keep up with yourself, your significant other, your work, your social life, your finances, your family and then also to keep in touch with all of your great friends. Well, here’s my virtual shout out to all my great friends that have continued to bare with me throughout the craziness of life. No matter how much I see you guys, I hope you know I love you and care about you with all my heart…and I know that next time we see each other it will be just as great as the last.
*Sigh*
Goodnight. ….zzzzzzZZZ
Condo Update!
We picked out our condo finishes on Monday night! yay! It was fun….much more fun than I had thought it would be. I originally thought it would be intimidating and Bobby and I would be having a hard time deciding on stuff, but it ended up that we have close to the same taste and were able to agree on everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring a camera so that we could take a picture of all the samples that we ended up going with….so bare with me and try to imagine. he he.
First of all, we settled on bamboo floors (similar to this link) that are a golden color with a cool linear textured look. We are doing Caesar porcelain tile in the master bathroom and in the 2nd bathroom we’re doing Colonial Caesar – a lighter/natural color…..the tile on the walls inside the shower and tub will be White Ceramic Subway tile and the countertop in the master bath will be white Carrara Marble (not the sink style but the marble style). We just stuck with the standard stainless steel appliances in the kitchen that come with the unit because if we upgrade those we’ll do it ourselves…but we did choose some Wenge Woodline cabinets (similar to this look – yet the grain is vertical in our place) and Cohiba Brown granite (though this link doesn’t do it justice – it is actually very iridescent and shimmery in the light) for the countertops and island topper.
Anyway that’s the gist of it though we did pick sinks and carpets and shower doors and other misc. stuff, but I don’t want to bore you. We are so excited and impatient right now…we still have like 8 months til the place is finally complete, but I’m sure it will all be worth it!
Flor
Flor…yep, I said Flor, not floor. It’s the colorful, modular floor covering perfect for the Do It Yourself-er.
er, um….perfect for people like me who are sick of their current boring living room rug and are looking for something new and fun to brighten up their living space. ;)
We are getting a 6×9 foot area rug similar to the picture to the right >>> The style is called “Toy Poodle”…if you haven’t checked out flor.com, then you should, because 1. It rocks, 2. There are so many types of rugs you can make and be as creative as you like, and 3. It rocks. ;) There is also a design tool where you can mix and match tiles virtually…be careful, you may get carried away – I did.
Oh! I also highly recommend getting samples before you buy, that way you can see the actual colors in person…thats what we did…and it’s only 5 bucks which is a pretty good deal for a live preview.
Yay!
Living the Life
So today I was typing back n forth with Kurt on IM, like we do every day (almost seems like he’s right next door or down the street ~ ahhhh the sweetness of IM)…anyway I was telling him that last night I went to Rene’s place for taco night and all the girls from work came and we drank margaritas and talked and played cards until late and tonight after work I was going to meet up with my good ol’ web editor friend Nicolette (that I worked with for two years at SAIC) at the Lovely Bake Shop. I was saying how I was gonna finish up some stuff and bike over there since it was such a nice day out, and he said “Well aren’t you just livin’ the life?” and I was like “huh?”
But then after a couple seconds I got it….and I AM living the life. I’m designing websites by day (which I must say is pretty much what I’ve wanted to do with my life), I’m going to themed dinners with co-workers (next week is Italian night at Libby’s), I’m doing yoga with Tracy Von Kaenel once a week, I’m meeting old friends for coffee and buscuits (and corn chowder), and biking to and from work….and although things are non-stop…life is good and interesting and I’m happy. This is like a 360 from last year in the burbs, working corporate, having no social life, sinking into my couch with depressed thoughts and no motivation.
My heart is happier today and that feels awesome.
And I hope you all are finding happiness too, because you deserve it.
Back home + happy
So, I’m home! Can’t believe I made it back in one piece with my crazy cats climbing all over the car – but here I am , in Chicago, in my office chillin…haha.
Had a great fun and relaxing weekend! Got into Findlay Friday real late and woke up early Saturday to go to lunch with Mom, Jen, and Alex (my adorable + awesome nephew) even though Mom had the flu and that was all I got to see her the rest of the weekend. :( I’ll have to get some extra “Momma Time” next time I visit. So after lunch we dropped mom off at home so she could sleep and we went to the famous Findlay Mall.
We picked out some new clothes for Jen’s birthday since her birthday’s next weekend and I’ll be in London….we about shopped til we dropped! The Findlay Mall doesn’t exactly have the best track record for cool stores but we found a lot of great stuff. Found two great outfits for Jen and I found this great clearance rack sweater for 14 bucks! Ding!
I had originally planned to go to my friend’s engagement party in Toledo but decided to stay in Findlay and hang out with my sis, since we never get to see each other and plus she’s super cool! So after the mall we went to dinner and Melinda drove up from Dayton to see me!!! Yay!! We originally were going to go to Tony’s Pizza/Ribs but that place was packed and we didn’t wanna wait 45 minutes…so we got back in the car and headed to Max and Ermas. I don’t remember anything except the 20 or so soft, warm, yummy, just-out-of-the-oven cookies that we got for desert at the end of dinner. God. Yum! They were soooooo good!
After that we said goodnight to Jen, Dave, and Alex and Melinda and I went back to my parents house with the intention of renting a movie from On Demand. We never quite made it to the tv…but instead decided to be huge dorks and just play on the internet the rest of the night and then go to sleep at 11. haha! …the WWW is so much fun. :)
Got up today and kinda lazied around with the fam and had a big pasta dinner (for lunch) and then sadly it was time to go home… And the cats were not happy about being in the car this time, they were pissed the whole time…I thought I was going to have to pull over and give them a talking to because they were meowing like insane balls of fury. I love them so much but they can be weird little animals…
Anywayzzzzz a BIG shout out to my sis who has lost 17 pounds and is looking fabulous as you can see in the above pic! Beautiful darling! Muah!
Hope everybody had a great weekend! Love Love Love – shells n cheese
Shopping with Large
Got to hang out with Large last night and today unexpectedly….which was a nice surprise. :) Today we went shopping on Division Street and tried to find some cool deals and fun stuff. Jess found some sweet jeans on sale for half price and a very nice smelling candle…and I got these sweet handmade earrings from Renegade Handmade that look like doylies hanging from my ears! haha. But they’re actually really pretty on…the picture on the site doesn’t do them justice (plus I got the silver color, not bright blue). Jess and I also stopped into Cocoa Rouge for some hot cocoa after our shopping exhibition for some rest and warmth! What a cool place…really decorated in a unique way and we both had some delicious (not so normal) cocoas. Jessica had the GIANDUJA cocoa, which is a belgian blend of chocolate and pureed carmelized hazelnuts with house-blended milk chocolate. I had the Chile Pepper Cocoa that was hot cocoa with a blend of cayenne pepper…I know, sounds terrible but it was really good – kind of sweet yet hot on your throat. Anyway, that little stop was delicious and relaxing!
Last night Bobby + I went to Fearon’s Bar with Bridget and John for Kat’s birthday party…we had a couple beers and some chicken wings but since Bridget was feeling crappy (she’s been sick all weekend…boo!) we went home a little earlier than expected….but we had fun while it lasted and took a late night stop to the grocery store for some cold medicine and kitty treats (my kitties were all out. haha).
Hope everybody had a great weekend!
The big P
Pregnancy.
ha ha…fooled you all for a second…it was just a dream.
I had a dream last night that I was pregnant….like full-on-9-months-about-to-give-birth-pregnant! I was in the hospital room with the nurses and doctor and they were telling me to hold on because I should wait a couple more days to deliver and I was like ‘nope, I’m ready now, lets do it.” but basically I was just waiting and talking to all these people about it and looking down my belly was huge. It felt really real in the dream too.
So I just googled dreams and pregnancy and I found an article that said, “If you are close to delivery, this usually means that something you’ve been planning or thinking about is close to materializing in the waking world.” That’s pretty cool…maybe its just all this talking that Bobby and I have been doing about buying a condo and having a home and getting married and all this stuff. I mean we’ve been talking and talking and talking about it and I’m ready to see it happen, its just money that holds us back. I guess that’s one of the challenges of living in Chicago. I kind of have this ideal situation in my head from when I grew up that I would have a house and have a big perfect wedding and have like 2 or 3 kids, but most likely I’m going to pay way more than I ever thought I could for a small condominium (although it’ll be kickass) and I’ll probably have to wait another year or two to get married even though I want it now and I’ll probably have to wait until then to have kids because I really would like to be married first.
And you can’t have exactly what you want especially if you don’t have a plan. I think what my biggest regret (although you should never have regrets) is that I didn’t start making plans or having goals until now about my personal life. I always had career goals and I’m finally very happy with the state of my career, but now I’m like “whoops” did I forget about what I wanted personally? I put a lot of pressure on myself with my job and how well I do in design, but then what about friendships, relationships, and my future as a person? I want to really work on that this year and moving forward. I think that’s one reason I’m really looking forward to writing more about whats going on with me here. Hopefully we can all keep in touch a bit better (even with my busy work schedule.)
One of the people that comes to mind when I think of good planning is Justin Winget – ever since I’ve known him he’s had a list of goals on his desk, things he wants to do this year and things he wants to do in his lifetime. I’ve never had a list like that. Maybe we should all take a lesson from him and make our own lists. I mean look at Justin, he’s like one of the most productive people I know…in the words of Jessica Large last night, “I think he might one day become president.”
Next on my list: Make a list.