One minute I'm studying the practice exam for the MBLEx, and it's going pretty well...but the next minute I'm stumped on one question..."Is Ryan Gosling Cuter Than a Puppy?" This website is single handedly c*ck-blocking my career.http://ryangoslingvspuppy.tumblr.com/

Heinz 57

Time to play ketchup catch up!

• Things that have gone down since February:










• I ran a 5k! 
• SOMEBODY hired me!
• I moved! (not far, just back to my old hood)
• I got hooked on True Blood
• Started planning programming for the Hunger Summit in NYC this year for FeelGood
• Online dating!
• Independence day in DC
• Pirates and Wenches weekend in Rock Hall
• Bernardo Family Reunion in Toronto
• Weird Al, Ke$ha, Halestorm concert
• Met super spectacular author Jen Lancaster
• Said goodbye to my bff who had the audacity to move to Austin, Texas for grad school
• Things that will happen in the near future:
• Graduation from Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy
• Tea Trade, courtesy of Melita
• Reading more books
• Business & career planning, building, dreaming
• The Hunger Summit! Featuring keynote speaker Obura Tongoi
• FeelGood4Life information dinner
• Get on a consistent budget!
• Things happening in the immediate future:
• Read a chapter
• Take a nap
• Make dinner out of the two coolers in my kitchen (my fridge is no more, ceased to be, bereft of life it rests in peace!)
• Take an evening autumnal stroll through Shadyside with my friend N, drinking tea and picking out our future houses.

Job, Goals, and Other News

Well it's about GD time!

FIVE months after my department closed, somebody FINALLY found it in their lovely heart and mind to hire me.

Luckily I had a super supportive safety-net to fall back on, but it still blew...big time.

I'll be working in retail, which is new, as my resume consists of mostly restaurant work, and working with animals (grooming, humane-education, stables).

I found the posting (among others) on craigslist. I can't tell you how many ads I responded to and nagged without hearing back from ANYBODY. I had my interview on Friday, and start training this Saturday. The manager was really sweet. Hopefully she remains that way, as I've learned my first impressions of people are usually dreadfully wrong.

Anyway, I suppose this brings me to cover some goals I created around New Years, one of which was, GET A JOB. Some have stuck around, and some have evaporated (as resolutions tend to do)

5k- Run one
Job- Get one!
Books- Read one per month
Car, apartment, kitchen sink- Keep em clean!
Pets- Care for them better
Juice- Drink some!
Invisalign- Finish
FeelGood4Life Etsy Store- Create it

Floss- Do it

Frustrated

Finding a job...

is. frickin. hard.

Redneck Ice Skating

On the frozen stone quarry behind my friend Carole's farm

Very Merry

Happy Christmas/New Year!!!!

Santa was super excellent to me this year, I finally got my paws on a Breville Juicer so green drinks are right around the corner!

I've been at my mothers house in Central Pa for the duration of the Hollydaze until I get to don a super sparkly dress for a New Years Party Bus in Pittsburgh--Can't wait!!!

The Gecko Guy

Attention DC residents!!!!! My big brother Colin is running a Gecko exhibit at the National Geographic Museum! He's there all the time but tomorrow is World Animal Day so

GO VISIT HIM!

Here's a clip of him on the news:

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!!!

As today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, I felt like jotting down some things I'm super grateful for lately.

1. Having half of my family be Canadian, and therefore getting to have two Thankgivings
2. The beautiful weather Pittsburgh has been having these past few days
3. My recent motivation to clean my apartment
4. Candles
5. Living in an area that is so convenient to anything I could possibly need (except for my momma, she's four hours away)
6. Having the means and the time to go to school for Massage Therapy
7. Halloween decorations
8. Hot mulled apple cider
9. Flannel sheets
10. My friends, who put up with my bitching, and listen to my stories far more than anyone should ever have to
11. My mom who just paid a $50 parking ticket for me
12. Pumpkin Pie with maple syrup
13. A vacuum cleaner that WORKS
14. The short and sweet moments that remind me that I'm EXACTLY where I should be
15. Going to my very first STEELERS game this weekend!!!!!
16. The Pittsburgh presence on Twitter
17. Twinkle lights
18. Sleeping in
19. The $10 gift card from Victoria's Secret that just came in the mail
20. Finally having a camera again

Tea Trade

That trainer kicked my tush into gear!

Almost one week later and I'm just now not sore anymore.

We began with cardio, then she had me do lots of tricep work with a medicine ball, tricep pushups, and "rest" activity with a kettlebell to work my core muscles.

ouch!!!!

LUCKILY I received a soul and muscle soothing tea trade package from Alyson from Onyx and Alabaster!

I love that she included beautiful stationary and a sprig of lavender.

Thanks Alyson!!!

Also, thanks to Melita of Gussying Up the Tuttle for organizing the trade again!

Massage Therapy School & 5k

Seattle Sunset

I started classes at Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy last week and so far so good!

My classes are Principles of Touch, Anatomy and Physiology I, Swedish I, and a class that varies every Thursday afternoon

.

The very first day of Swedish we got to be hands on with our classmates and just get acquainted and cozied up to the idea of touching people.

To quote my partner "I loooooove schooooool"

So now I have to figure out which massage table to purchase.

(and in which price range...eek!)

Also, I recently visited my family in Canada. My nine (NINE!!!!) year old cousin Maddi ran a 5k with her mom. Soooo methinks I have to get my exercising act back together. Luckily I got a call from my gym Urban Active this morning that I won a complementary session with a trainer! So I'm scheduled for that tomorrow afternoon.

Now off to continue the job search, study and ship a tea trade package!

Scenes from Seattle: Microbus Camping Whidbey Island

Seattle Bound!

Realized while packing my suitcase that I've become incomprehensibly high-maintenance.

Shall amend this unfortunate situation immediately.

There's no way I need all this CRAP

Last Weekend

Photos from the wedding of my bff's momma.

Thanks to Jon, Wendy, Larry, Jesika and Ben for a fabulous time!

+1

Son-of-a-Bride!

M of H and Beau

(I could not keep a straight face to save my life)

High and Low

High: NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!!!

Low: The department I work for is getting cut, so as of Sept 15, I will be UNEMPLOYED

.....ALREADY!

FRICK

Say Cheese

I really need to get a new camera, blogging is no fun with old photos

MondayWorkday

So I FINALLY started working!!!!!

So far it's going well. I'm still a bit intimidated as I have boatloads to learn about TSS-ing and Autism. There are ongoing trainings, so I suppose I'll just have to absorb the information in a more timely manner. Today is my first day without supervision so we'll see how it goes.

I went to Animal Friends to see if I could still volunteer without having to go through the orientation process again, it turns out that I can so... YAY!

Hopefully this will cut my summer boredom streak short.

It's kitten season again so they'll definitely need lots of help this time of year.

I'm currently reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and there are SO many passages and phrases in this book that when I'm reading I think "YES!!!"

The latest of which is a quote from the former Catholic nun at the Ashram in India

"Guilt's just your ego's way of tricking you into thinking that you're making moral progress.

Don't fall for it, my dear."

Oh What a Day is Today

I am one very very sad panda as my camera is no longer functioning. This means there are no pictures from the phenomenal Ingrid Michaelson concert at ArtsFest last night. I missed the Matt Morris (not Morrison as I originally posted) show, but Ingrid made up for it ten-fold. She was very funny interacting with the audience.

Specifically a cute little 4 year old named Jacqueline who was sporting spray-on pink hair. She did a rendition of "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga and "Toxic" by Brittany Spears. (There were accompanying dance moves...awesomeness)

The band seemed like a very tight knit group of people, two of them were actually engaged to be married in a few weeks. So the concert was a great time and I can't wait to see her perform again (she had to censor herself onstage because it was a "family show" so I'm looking forward to Ingrid Michaelson: Uncensored and swearing like a sailor)

Afterward we went to Peters Pub for a drink, and then on my way home I ran into (not over) the neighborhood calico who high-fived me. Just darling.

Today I'm planning to go back to ArtsFest to see the exhibits, and possibly pick up a piece to decorate my sparse-looking bedroom walls. Later on we're going to SingSing, a dueling pianos bar, which is always a hilarious time.

<3

Hardly Workin' Part Deux

Son of a NUTCRACKER!!!!

Another week of work postponed.

However, I do have a treatment plan to review in order to make myself somewhat useful.

Also, Three Rivers Arts Festival is this week, so maybe I'll just hang out among the vendors and soak in all the creativity.

Last year I saw The Wailers (as in Bob Marley and...) at Artsfest and this Thursday Matt Morrison will be performing followed by Ingrid Michaelson so I'm really excited for that. Matt Morrison was the guy who did the Hallelujah duet with Justin Timberlake for the concert for Haiti. Very pretty man with a very pretty voice <3

Download it. Listen to it. Love it.

Woo!

Just got my work schedule!

Starting next week I may contribute to society like a normal person.

In about 7 months I may be able to afford a new camera with which to post photos on this pretty little blog.

Gotta love "non-traditional" hours

<3

I Like to Move It Move It

Alright!

Pickin' up the pace!

I've finally stopped playing dead!

Wednesday: Ice cream w/ Angela

Thursday: 3 mile walk + gut-wrenching Greys

Friday: Vision boarding then out for a drinky-poo with Holly

Saturday: Strip District w/ Holly, Waterfront with Angela

Sunday: Shadyside Arts Festival, 40 minute walk, concoct Vegan Overnight Oats a la Oh She glows for tomorrows breakfast

After hiding in my apartment until 9pm on Friday night, I decided enough was enough.

It's not like I was in bed the whole time, mind you. I did spend most of the day creating a very large vision board for the devastatingly blank wall in my bedroom.

However, when I left my apartment to go all the way to the front stoop, I figured I had be antisocial for long enough.

I wound up going out for a drink with a good friend from FeelGood, and we had made plans to hit The Strip District the following morning. (Hooray for leaving the house before noon!!!!!)

Later that afternoon, I went flip-flop shopping and to dinner at Bravos with a different friend and we braved the ensuing monsoon that hit The Waterfront that afternoon.

I finally purchased a new juicer. It's not quite as effective as my old(broken) one, but it did the trick, and is MUCH cheaper than the $200 juicer I've had a crush on.

In the spirit of using this time to focus on being healthier I've stumbled across some awesome wellness blogs and websites.

Oh She Glows

Crazy Sexy Life

Spoiled Yogi

Of course there's always many more, but these have been my current obsessions.

Also? I've had Stephen Lynch's "Craig" Stuck in my head all day and have resorted to inserting "Cait" into the lyrics. Evidently my newfound social freedom has yet to have any effect on my sanity.

Where will you be when the Cait machine comes partying through?