and America's Next Top Model is.....

NICOLE!
Yay! I've liked her from day #1. She's a model that I would actually be interested in, because she's a real person. She "embraces her inner nerd". I'm really happy it wasn't some stuck up bitch. Yay!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bean!

To my beloved boyfriend, Happy Birthday Mr.Bean! I hope the time you spent with your family was wonderful! Sorry I was not there for most of it.

I Love You!
*Bean*

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to take time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I think everyone should take the time once in a while and really think about what they are thankful for. Not just the materialistic shit, but what really means the world to you.

Genuine Things I am Thankful For:
1. Mr.Bean, who I have been with for over 4 years now and love so much.
2. My parents, for giving me all the childhood experiences I needed.
3. My true friends, for being so wonderful eventhough I may not keep in touch as well as I should.
4. My overall general health.
5. Nursing School. I have learned so much from school to take with me for the rest of my life. I've had some really wonderful experiences with some awesome classmates.
6. Mrs. Needham (professor at school). She has taught me a lot about finding myself and figuring out what I really want to do with my life. She has been nothing but supportive in my school endeavors and re-entrance into school this year.
7. Traveling. I don't know what I would do without knowing I was free to travel wherever I want. I'm so thankful I've been to China twice, France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Canada.
8. Freedom to quit my job if I want to.
9. Good opportunities, which come along once in a while.
10. Being a woman and knowing I can do whatever the hell I want. :)

Shallow Things I am Thankful For:
1. Peanut Butter! Peter Pan Plus, Creamy. MMMmmm.
2. Yarn, oh so lovely yarn.
3. My new laptop.
4. Fabric! I can't resist a good piece of fabric.
5. Coupons for craft stores.
6. My blog! I love having a place to vent or just get my ideas/thoughts out there.
7. My bathrobe, for it lets me do nothing if that's what I want to do.
8. Sparkley stuff because it's so pretty.
9. Leopard print faux fur slippers, size 9, which I need a new pair of desperately!
10. My sewing machine, which hopefully will make me some money one day.

Finally a Rhinebeck recap!

I'm one to always have my camera with me. How the heck could I forget it when I went to Rhinebeck??? Needless to say, I'm annoyed. I have to use Erin's and Elizabeth's pictures. Ugh.

I wish I could get a llama. Or an alpaca. If I had my camera I would have taken pics of some alpacas. This is me with my new friend.

Holy Awesome Fries! Elizabeth and I ordered a "Jumbo" fry. They served it to us in only what looked to be a cardboard DOG bowl. Boy were they delicious! Not to mention the place is called "Tish's Amazing Fry Factory". Who is named "Tish" other than MY mother??? I didn't think it was a real name because it's mom's nick name.... Actually, I just noticed I'm in the pic on the right. I never knew Elizabeth took this with me in it! ATLEAST LET ME POSE!!

After a long day's work, here we are, goodies in hand!

Surprisingly I bought the most stuff out of all of us. It's odd to me because I don't know how to spin, yet I only bought fiber! Do I have fiber fever???

Here I have 2 skeins, 2oz. each, of Merino Tencel. Color? "Fire".
This is from The Sheep Shed in New Hampshire.
See the shimmer? I can't believe how soft this stuff is.

1 Pound of Superwash Merino, White with rainbow colored specs. Shall I try dying it??
This is from Misty Mountain Farm in Virginia.

1/2 Pound of Merino, color unspecified but its blues and purples.
This is from The Sheep Shed in New Hampshire.

This is a 1/2 pound, contents and color unknown. Honestly, not really sure where its from either! It feels like a wool blend, and the colors are to die for!

There. That's my recap. That's all you get.

Atleast being home sick I can catch up on some blogging!

I don't talk about the penis as much as some others....?

So today is day #5 of being home sick. That's 2 weekend days and 3 days off from work. Do you think I would have gotten ANYTHING done yet? Answer? NO!! No knitting, sewing, reading, studying, or cleaning. Not only have I gotten nothing done, I now have more to do because I've done zip since Saturday morning.

Actually, Saturday morning I went to Starbucks around noon with Elizabeth to knit, the headed over to The Sound Garden to purchase a Christmas present for someone, then stumbled upon RazzBerry in Armory Square where I surprisingly found another Christmas present! I love when things happen by accident- one less shop to go to when everyone is down to the last 5 shopping days of hell until Christmas. I really hate those days. Saturday night James wanted to spend some quality time together, so he invited people over. Bleh. Atleast I like the people =-)

Sunday I still felt like crap. I slept most of the morning then went to Carousel Mall and bought a new tote at Eddie Bauer. (It's Chocolate with a lavender lining! Yummy!) Sunday night James' sister/husband/child were supossed to come over for dinner. Elizabeth and her DH (James' Brother) came over and made appetizers and such while we waited. And waited. And waited. No call.... No show.... How dare they? Atleast I got to bed early.

I'm so exited because my new checks came in the mail. woohoo! They are the cutest Hello Kitty checks in 4 pastel designs.

Today instead of studying like I should be for my HUGE ASS test Friday for nursing school, I roamed around the net. I've decided I'd like to start selling crafty goods on my own website. I will be taking some pictures soon and asking for input on what you all think will or will not sell. I'm concentrating on Wine Charms, Stitch Markers, Tote Bags, Run Around Bags, and Origami Lapel Pins. Please give me input when I post the pictures!! I'm going to add some to my eBay store Bean's Stock and see how they sell within a few weeks.

While roaming around the web, I came across THIS. I can't believe someone actually made this!

Congratulations is in order for PDX Super Crafy on releasing their book Super Crafty. Anyone who has interests in craftyness should spend some time reading this site and exploring all the links that are presented. I spent hours on this website...

Yesterday I rejoined "Friends of George" and my profile is now current. I can't believe how many states I have considering I've only been a member since April of this year. go me! Not to mention, I have a hit in EL SALVADOR! Now if only I could get a hit in North Dakota before someone else does... MUWAAAHAAHAHA

I'll leave you all with this for now:

You are Jacques Lacan! Arguably the most important
psychoanalyst since Freud, you never wrote
anything down, and the only works of yours are
transcriptions of your lectures. You are
notoriously difficult to understand, but at
least you didn't talk about the penis as much
as other psychoanalysts. You died in 1981.


What 20th Century Theorist are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

What???

Rhinebeck Here I Come!!!

So I've decided to go to Rhinebeck, thanks to a persuasion by Erin and Elizabeth. We're all going to carpool the 3 hour drive to spend the day trying not to spend money. My problem is, I am new at knitting. I started almost 1 year ago. I have made a scarf for my boyfriend, a hat and 1 mitten for myself (the otherone is coming i swear!), 1 3/4 socks (they seem to never end), a neonatal winter hat to donate to the hospital, and I've started making some Christmas presents that I can't talk about because some of those people read the blog. I've seem to fallen out of the knitting mood lately. I'm hoping this festival will help enthuse me! I guess the blogger meeting time is NOON outside of Building #26. See you all there!

So I'm annoyed with eBay. I listed my "coach-like" bags, and they deleted them because they're violating some stupid eBay rule. UGH. So, if anyone wants to buy a bag, they're $12 w/o shipping and I take paypal. Just let me know. On that note, I'm looking for a somewhat local retailer who would be willing to buy all of my Chinese items off of me. I have about $25K worth of merchandise. I believe that justifies my 15-20 40gallon totes in my storage closet... Bleh. I just don't have time to eBay them all. Any leads for me??

I really should be working on my homework....

F*** SPAM Comments... I HATE THEM.

Hey guys- Due to a MILLION rejects posting SHIT comments on my blog, you now have to be a registered user for my BLOG. I'm not sure how this will all work, but if you have any problems posting a comment, please let me know. Thanks!!

*Bean*

Bags Bags Bags

I have some new things up on eBAY including these 2 WONDERFUL bags... Let me know if you're interested!


Bag #1- Imitation COACH handbag. Great Buy!!

Bag #2 - Faux Suede Messenger Bag, made by J&J.

All but pleasurable....

I've finally found my CD to study to. It's Sarah McLchlan's "Acoustic Pleasures". It's so soothing.... I guess this is kind of ironic because what I'm studying is all BUT pleasurable. It's stressful. What if I mess something up on clinical with a patient? I can only read so many times on how to give an enema, but get this- my professor told us a true story on how someone inserted the enema into the wrong part of the body and it killed the woman. How horrible is this? How could someone let this happen?! Another classmate that started last year with me said that for her FIRST patient ever on clinical, she was giving her a bed bath then a few minutes later the family was called in because the patient died. That's what scares me... What if my patient dies on me??? Lack of pleasurable things may be why nurses can make so much money.

Guess Who???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!!!

I'm so happy that we got reacquainted after all these years! Ahh... To remember the days when we were young... HAHAHA. I hope your weekend is going fabulous! Love you!

I did it... FINALLY!!

After months of agonizing over what haircut to get when I donate for Locks of Love, I finally decided. Today was the day! I went over to Trade Secret in Great Northern Mall where they will shampoo/cut/style your hair for free, then mail it in. Nothing felt better than a FREE haircut!

Here is before:
(Me and James for Christmas 2003)


And after:
(this evening after my haircut)



Do you all approve? I feel like the picture on the left ages me, but the pic on the right doesn't. How the hell does that happen????

Goodnight y'all.

I was reading Diana's Site and decided to try her little "What's your summer ride?" quiz. Here are my results:

Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible

Fun, funky, and a little bit euro. You love your summers to be full of style and sun!

What's Your Summer Ride?

Unlike Diana's results, mine are OPPOSITE of what I really drive. I drive a Hyundai Elantra. Not even one with a sun roof!! I like my little car... it gets me from A to B, and I get 400 miles to the tank (I think its a 12gal tank?). Either way, it will be paid off in under 2 years I believe. Then I will milk the damn thing until it dies on me, and buy myself a nice new car. My dream car will never be a reality, but I can always hope... Hell- my brother has one. If he can buy one so can I!!! Ahh.. to be rich.

But then if I was rich, I wouldn't be working fulltime. Maybe per diem or something if I felt like it. I would spend my days travelling the world. I really do want to live in China and Europe for sometime in my life. Rather it be because I'm wealthy or because I have a job there.... I miss travelling. The US is okay, but there's nothing like other cultures.... When I was younger I used to want to be Asian. Now that I know that's impossible (damn!) I really want a Chinese baby. I mean, I want to HAVE one, not just adopt one. Seeing as how James is not Asian, I guess adoption will have to do. But give me time.... Maybe in 10 years I'll have the time and money for little children to be hanging on me.

Can you tell I'm home and BORED????

Just my luck...

This morning I get to work and I have to cover another secretary's position. No big deal- at least I still get paid. I got up to go on my break, went over to MY desk, and noticed that someone opened the window that is supposed to always be closed due to patient confidentiality. I tried to close the window but it was stuck. The damn window had come off its track, which it does on occasion. I went to lift it back on track and I felt my upper back muscle tear. HOLY SHIT it hurt! I went to the Employee Health Office and laid on a stretcher for an hour with ice and meds. I am so paranoid to begin with because I had lower back surgery in 2002, the last thing I need is another back problem. Needless to say, I went home at noon today. I couldn't take the pain! So I've been sitting here now, for 10 hours, doing nothing. I mean NOTHING. Actually, the past hour I did work on my 2nd Magic Stripe sock. Yes, you read that right, my SECOND one! I'm now almost done with the heel, and headed for the toe. Yay! I can only knit a little at a time because my shoulder blades are not thrilled I'm moving them at all. I am unsure if I'm going to work in the morning or not. I want to go see my MD or my surgeon, but I don't have the money to right now. We'll see what the morning brings. I'm off to sleep. Goodnight.

Darien Lake

So last weekend I hung out with Andrea. On Saturday we ventured out to the Chalet. Here's the traffic we encountered... STOP START STOP START for 1 hour.... And for what???

To see this RV that was flattened on the side of the road in the Montezuma Refuge. It's not like it was a little RV either- it looked to be about a 35-40 foot-er. How horrible is this? There was a little girl bent by the side of it trying to find what remains she could... How sad.

All I could think about was my Mom being in the mid-west all alone in her RV travelling for the summer.... I sure am glad she's back in town.

On a good note, I FINALLY REACHED 30,000 MILES ON MY CAR!!! I was so pissed I missed the 30K picture....

On Sunday we went to Darien Lake. It was such a gorgeous day! I thought I would enlighten you all with some photos:

Bathing Beauties! (Including the goose!!)

You think we got enough sun? Our skin was so fried! :)

You all have to go on the Superman Ride of Steel. It's so awesome!! Plus, it takes a good picture in the evening.

We're thinking of going one more time in September maybe....

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Dorky Bean

Isn't my profile photo rediculous??? The lovely hat I'm wearing is a CHILD'S hat made out of wool. I think it's not that flattering. I was just goofing around and Liz took my picture. I don't really look like this, I swear.....

Look at what I bought this weekend!

Last Saturday I went to Starbucks with my knitting gals. Unfortunately, I somehow, with some help from the wind, managed to spill my IZZE Sparkling Blackberry drink on our table, the ground, IN my purse, all over the outside of my knitting bag, on my pants and sandals, and worst of all.... on Erin. I felt like such an idiot! I decided to blame it on my least favorite person, George Bush. Erin, her mom, and I took a drive over to our LYS and look what I bought!!

4 Skeins of Rowan Kid Classic! Colors are #827, 835, 845, and 847. I am going to knit myself a Dr. Who Scarf. Isn't this exciting?! Purple is my favorite color, the red matched my shoes and my skiing gear (that I still need to buy), the orange matches my shoes AND my kneelength jacket, and the sage is just perrrrrty. And, all of these skeins were 20% off. YAY!

10 skeins of Rowan dk tweed in color #852 Seal. This eventually will make me a luscious sweater. All of this yarn only cost me $50! Seeing as how it's normally $10 PER skein, I got it all for 1/2 price! That's HALF PRICE!!!

Last but not least, I got these 6 balls of GGH Gala. I bought them because of the color and the slight shine to it. Little did I know that regular price was $11 per ball. I got ALL 6 for..... SIX DOLLARS! What a steal! This will make a heavenly scarf.

Needless to say, I have a few things to make. Now I just need to find more time.... Thanks for the fun day Erin!

Nothing is wrong....

So apparently "nothing is wrong" with my car... How the hell can this be true?? Obviously, if the damn thing didn't start on more than one occasion, SOMETHING IS WRONG. Either way, I got it back today and they fixed a few things under warranty that I wanted replaced. Let's see how long my car makes it with "nothing wrong".... Screw you Billy......

Also- today is Dad's 46th birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! I love you!

Count away!

This is short, but I don't care.
Check out my new Andale Counter! Isn't it COOL!!

I'm so proud of it, sitting on the bottom of my left sidebar.... YAY! I got it only to read when a new person comes onto the site, not when it's just refreshed. Now if I could only remember my chinese numbers....

Billy Fucillo isn't so HUGE.

I have to start on a good note, because the rest of this will not be so pleasant. School is going much better than last year Currently I have a B, and I'm trying to raise it to an A. I do need to study more so I've joined a study group. I can't wait to get into the hospital and have the chance to work on a REAL person- not just a dummy.

So Saturday I was leaving school to go on my lunch break, when low and behold, my car wouldn't start. The radio/AC/lights came on, but the engine didn't even turn over. HOW INCONVENIENT! James came to get me at school and we went out for a lovely lunch at Biscotti's Cafe. After class ended I called Hyundai Roadside Assistance and they came to get my car. Unfortunately, I was in a parking lot, parked on a hill, with a barrier infront of my car. The towtruck guy couldn't move my car enough to get it on the flatbed. If we waited until Monday to tow it, he would have about 200 extra cars in the way. So I told him I would do it. He put it in neutral and I pushed the damn thing up the hill to a spot where he could get it on the flatbed. Yay for adrenaline and my muscles =-) My car is now at the dealership where it "could take a couple weeks to get it looked at". WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT. I have a warranty that covers all the work on the damn thing as long as it's not the battery or the remote car starter. With my luck, it will be both. They don't have any loaner cars, so I'm going to have to find ways to get around for a while. If my car is in the shop for so long, I wonder if they will pay my car payment for next month??? Hhmmm... I HATE them.

Coming soon....

Bear with me- I'm trying to update all of my links, my template, and load in more pictures. If you have any suggestions to this blog, feel free to comment! Seattle pictures are coming soon!! So is my creative project gallery!!!

Also 1 rant.... THIS WEATHER IS AWFUL. I can't believe how hot it is outside. I started my car today, turned on the A/C, and let it run a few minutes before I got in it. After I climbed in, I drove for 15 minutes... Shouldn't the A/C decide to KICK IN by then? I think my car is soaking in the heat and ignoring the A/C.... Maybe I will move to Seattle in a few years.

Seattle here I come!

James and I are leaving for Seattle, Washington today. I CAN'T WAIT! We've been together almost 4 years and this will be our first REAL vacation together. YAY! I still have yet to pack- actually, I'm still doing laundry. Did I ever tell you I'm a procrastinator? Yeah- It's 3pm and we're leaving the house at 430pm... I will post my vacation notes, as well as pictures of course, when I get home next week.

Bean's Stock

My EBay store has opened!!!

It is lacking many items, but the basic stuff is up and running. Despite Liz's reactions to the name of it, it is Bean's Stock. You know, Bean, like Jillybean, and Stock, like BeanStalk. Get it?. Atleast I thought it was a cute name. I plan on selling Instrument Mouthpieces, Designer Cosmetics, and most of all - Chinese clothing (traditional and non). If you want to purchase anything without going through the shipping, let me know and we can make a deal. I hope to create a catalogue that I can bring to our knit-ups.

Wish me luck!

My Idol

I just have to say congratulations to Carrie Underwood for doing an outstanding job during American Idol. Bo Bice had a very good season as well. I wish them both best of luck in their careers.

Does this post make me a geek?

*Bean

Appendicitis-less

So I spent the last 2 days thinking I had Appendicitis. Now I think that I'm just fine. I had a temperature of 101.6 with severe lower abdominal pains. A nurse that I work with checked me out yesterday and suggested I go the ER. I called my on-call doctor and she suggested the same. However, like a bad patient, I didn't go. A few hours later my pain and temperature decreased. (Yay!) Today I just had mild stomach tenderness and NO fever. Whatever it was thank goodness that It's gone...

YellowJackets

The otherday James won tickets on NPR to go see the YellowJackets This evening James and I headed out to Rome (NY) to see them.
They were outstanding!
I haven't been to hear a Jazz Quartet in some time. It makes me think about how much I miss playing my saxophone.
The opening band, however, was the Rome YMCA Jazz Band I guess they were good for their ages, but honestly I would not have felt bad if I missed them. Sorry guys (and 1 gal).

Glad to do nothing day...

For the first time in who knows how long, I slept in until 1015am. Can I tell you how GREAT that feels? To actually wake up to NO alarm clock... What a great concept!

My goal for today was to do nothing. Hooray for achievement!!!

I went to the Knitting Meetup at Wegmans. I'm kind of disappointed that there were only 4 of us. I understand things come up, but I still have yet to meet 1/2 of these knitters! COME TO THE MEETINGS!!! I stayed there for 3 hours and worked on my Magic Stripe Socks.








Er, well, sock.

I do have to mention that I am in LOVE with Wegmans' coffee cake muffins. Soooo Yummy.

James and I went to John and Liz's tonight for some food. We had paella- it's a rice dish with chicken, sausage, roasted red peppers, peas, and saffron. It did have mussels in it though.... they really creep me out. Liz and I took a stroll over to ACMoore before dinner. I bought some Gedifra Fashion Trend Color yarn in a nice Navy Blue to start the Stitch n'Bitch Sparkle Hat (minus the sparkles).









The yarn is WONDERFUL. I also bought another pair of dpn's- Clover, size 10 1/2. Thanks goodness for coupons! I really need to start knitting more.

For some reason it's 2:10am and I'm still awake. I think I need to go to bed. I have a date at the gym at 9am for a class. Let's see if I can get my butt up and out of bed!

Welcome

This is my first attempt at a Blog. I hope to spread my interests to everyone that reads this. Feel free to inquire on anything I have posted here! Welcome to my life.