Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

My baby brother Matthew

 (December 1991)

 Today was the day we took him to college.

He's going to be a freshman at Christopher Newport University, which is in the Newport News/Virginia Beach/Williamsburg area of Virginia. Since I knew that having Spencer and me there when they were trying to move everything in would be a DEE-saster, we left a few hours earlier than then and visited some of my friends in the area.

Our first stop was to see my friend Jenny, who just had her own baby Matthew two weeks ago.  I was so mad at myself because I forgot my camera, but trust me, he's a cute little guy.  He was born a few weeks early, so he's he very tiny, but I got to hold him and smell that sweet baby smell!  Spencer was actually really good around him- I thought she'd want to hold him and "play" with him, but she was more interested in playing with Jenny than Matthew, haha! She did give him a little kiss on the cheek and wanted to tickle his feet, but otherwise, she only had eyes for Jenny.  It was so nice to see Jenny and her precious little one. We stayed there for about an hour before heading off to our next destination- Casa Toni!

We went to see my friend Stephie at her parent's house and enjoyed an afternoon of swimming in their pool and eating lunch.  It was great to see her family again and Spence had a blast swimming.  They made us a lovely spread for lunch and it felt just like old times back in college.  Spencer had so much fun playing with Dylan, Steph's 6 year old nephew, and I think she has a little crush on him because she keeps on talking about him, haha! Hopefully we'll get down there one more time before the summer is over and when we can spend a little longer than a few hours.

Steph's parents only live a few minutes from CNU, so it didn't take us very long to get there- which was good, because Spence had had her fill of being in the car.  I found my brother's new dorm and as we walked to his room memories were flooding my mind of being in college.  Everyone looked so excited and for a few seconds I was jealous of them.  But then I snapped out of it and put on my happy face- because I really am happy for my brother.  I hope and pray that these next four years are as wonderful for him as my college years were for me.

 (Can you believe that's how my mom dressed us for Easter?  I thought I'd post this uber-embarrassing picture of me, circa 1993, so Matthew doesn't get mad at me for just showing his funny, but cute, pictures.)

It was mad chaos in his room- boxes, crates, trash, you name it, and it was in that tiny 12x10 room.  I helped do a few things, unpacked his clothes, hung up some things on the walls, and tried to organize his DVD collection- but it became pretty apparent that the less people in the room the better, so I figured we should say our goodbyes. I didn't cry, even though I wanted to.  I knew Matt wouldn't want me to cry because it would set off my mom's overactive waterworks (she was a tad emotional), so I bit my cheek, gave him a hug, and told him I loved him. Then, when no one could see, I let a few tears escape in the elevator.

Spencer slept for the entire hour and half ride back to Richmond and we finally got home around seven.  It was a long emotional day, but certainly one that I'll remember forever.  We said hello to new baby Matthew and waved goodbye to my own always-will-be-a-baby-to-me Matthew.

Scenes from a Jersey Wedding

You Have a Question, I Have an Answer and More

In honor of my 28th birthday: I give you a list of the most random 28 things about me that I've never written about before. Since I think I've blogged about most aspects of my life on here, making this list was really hard, I had to dig deep for some of them, ha! Ya'll know almost everything about me, hence the randomness of the list, but I think I managed to do it!

1. I am very claustrophobic. It started when I was on a ride at a theme park and when it was over, both my seat and shoulder harnesses wouldn't open. There was some "mechanical difficulty" and I couldn't get out. To make matters worse, in trying to free me, the ride operators accidentally pushed down on my shoulder hardness too hard- just enough to make it click down a notch and get stuck there, and it very hard for me to breath. The whole incident only lasted around five minutes, but it was long enough to make me forever claustrophobic.
2. Oddly enough, I still love all roller coasters and theme park rides, I'm not afraid to ride anything. But put me in a small elevator, or a large one with a lot of people, and I break out in a sweat- mentally preparing my escape route should something happen.
3. In high school and college I would always wear my glasses when I wanted to be taken seriously at things like Model UN Conferences, job interviews, meetings with professors, traffic court, and whenever I had to give a speech or presentation. (It worked like a charm)
4. I can do a very impressive British accent. During one Model UN conference, I pretended I was from England for four entire days! My team was the UK delegation and my accent ( coupled with an extensive background story, complete with British pop culture, common idioms, and slang) gave us a huge edge over the competition. I never dropped the accent, even when we were in the hotel room, because I didn't want to get out of the habit. And let me tell you, it was HARD to stop talking that way when the conference was over. I thought my friends and family were going to kill me.
5. I get very car sick driving in the mountains, but nowhere else. Well, unless the person driving is an accelerate-break kind of driver, and then I'm a mess.
6. I've never had stitches.
   
7. Although I did have staples for my c-section, but that's it.
8. I'm allergic to almost every antibiotic in existence. One very bad reaction when I was a kid landed me in the hospital on IV steroids. I have to be really, really sick for the doctors to prescribe me one because they don't want me to build up an immunity to the only ones I can take.
   
9. I love to drive. Long road trips all by myself, listening to my iPod, NPR, or an audio book is how I like it.
10. I can still walk on my hands across a room.
11. I had (have) my high school's record for the sit-n-reach. I can also put both legs behind my head.
12. During my teenage rebellious years I pierced my own ears when my parents wouldn't let me get a second earring hole. Once I saw how much I liked the second one, I got brave and did a third and fourth one in my left ear a few months later. I eventually let those close up, but I still have the second holes. And none of them ever became infected!
13. I was grounded for that incident for a LOOONG time.
14. I met James Brown on a trip to New York while eating dessert at the Plaza Hotel. He wore a gold lamé suit and was so nice, he even took pictures with us.
15. I don't like ice cream. I'll eat it on some things, but I never crave it. And when I do eat it, it's only vanilla.
16. I would love to live a small town, with twinkle lights on the trees, and little local shops you can walk to- where there's an actual community instead of suburban sprawl. Let me know if you know where one of these towns exists, please!
17. I love crossword puzzles but I hate sudoku,
18. I know all the of the US Presidents in the order of their terms. When I can't sleep I go through them all.
19. If that doesn't work I name the US states and their capitals by order of their entrance into the Union. Then I do it alphabetically.
20. After watching two of my grandparents suffer from Alzheimer's, I'm terrified of it happening to me. That's why I do many crossword puzzles and mental activities that exercises the brain.
21. My favorite one to do, and the most difficult, is to turn one hand clock-wise while also turning the opposite foot counter-clockwise. So right hand turns right and left foot turns left- and then you switch them. It took me awhile to be able to do it!
22. I am a firm believer in high thread count sheets. They are a little costly, but they last forever and get better with age. I never buy anything less than 500, but I prefer 800. It's the one real luxury I allow myself these days.
23. I didn't have curly hair until I was around 8 or 9 years old. Before that it was stick straight and would NOT even hold a curl. I could sleep in rollers all night long (which I did many times) with loads of hair spray, and within two hours it would be straight again. Then it just changed, becoming a frizzy mess first, then wavy-ish, and finally curly.
24. And then after all those years of wanting naturally curly hair, it happened; which of course meant I wanted straight hair again. I shudder to think of all the money and hours I spent over the years on straightening products and hair straightners- trying to tame my super thick, very stubborn hair into submission, before finally embracing the curls.
25. I've gotten 3 speeding tickets, the last of which was my senior year of college.
    
26. But I've never successfully been convicted of speeding. I appealed my way out of one and for the other two I found legal technicalities to argue my way out it. For one of them I requested the police officer's radar calibration records and it turned out he hadn't calibrated it at the beginning of his shift. I probably wouldn't have gone to such great lengths if it weren't for the fact that my mom said she'd take me off of their car insurance if I ever got a speeding ticket on my record.
27. I have never found a four leaf clover.
28. And finally... When I first watched The Wizard of Oz (age 4) I became terrified of becoming a "dwarve," ( a dwarf, or little person) as I called it. I thought I would stop growing and be like the Munchkins. For at least a year, every night, I'd make my mom promise me that I wouldn't stop growing , that I wouldn't be like the Munchkins.

Whew, I am tired- if you made it through that list I'm pretty impressed. I've been thinking about doing a question and answer post for a long time now. So if this lengthy list of Katie Randomness didn't answer your question for/about me, please ask in the comments! I'll answer all your questions in a post later on this week. Since there are some things I just don't write about on this blog, if I don't feel comfortable with a public answer, I'll send it to you in an email. So feel free to ask all those questions you've been wanting to know :)

It Started Off Like Any Other Day

I was walking to an early morning class and I was a jumble of nerves. The night before had been my boyfriend's 21st birthday. I was only 19 so I didn't want to be a drag on the festivities of the evening, since I knew the plan was a crawl through town. In my mind this was a huge sacrifice on my part, but in reality I had an early class the next day, had celebrated with him over the weekend, and was in the middle of sorority rush (before I was a Kappa). But I had this sick feeling in my stomach that bad was going to happen and I was so worried. He hadn't called me, like he promised he would, when he was safely home and I just knew this meant that he was either in bed with someone else or in the hospital.
 (What can say, I was a drama queen).

All these thoughts are racing through my mind and spilling out of my mouth, as I told my best male friend as we walked together. He said all the right things, but I could tell he was thinking I was acting nutsy. We walked into Morton and it was eerily quiet, we looked at the clock and it was a few minutes before 9am. As we got to our classroom I saw the tv turned on, there were students gathered around it. No one said anything, tears glistening in their eyes. Neither of us still had any idea what was going on, we saw the first tower on fire with a hole in the side, but the reality had yet to sink in.
And then we saw something else, it was like a horror movie where you're helpless to do anything but watch. The second plane zoomed into sight, obviously headed in the direction of the World Trade Center, and then it disappeared into the other tower, as though it had been swallowed whole. A ripple of cries, screams, and gasps went through the room and then the building.

Everything I had been worried about before left my mind, I was now convinced that this was the End of Days and the end of the world. No one on the news was able to give an explanation other then America was under attack. A few minutes later we learned that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, which was only 90 minutes from Richmond. The next speculation we heard was that "they" were moving down the East Coast, and that the FED in Richmond was being evacuated, as the possible next target. Our cell phones wouldn't work and the Internet had crashed. I felt so helpless. But it got worse when they speculated that the next hit might be the nuclear power plant, which is in the Williamsburg zone or Camp Peary, in Williamsburg, which is a CIA training ground.
I felt trapped. Against the advice of my friends, I hopped into my car and drove home. No matter what happened, I wanted to be with my family. I was only a sophomore and we weren't allowed to have cars yet, I just happened to have mine because of rush. The roads were empty. I saw only a handful of cars on the hour drive to my house.

And we watched the news, listened to the stories, and then came the realization-the feeling that nothing would ever be the same again. It's easier to forget that day, to pretend that it didn't change the course of American history forever. It's not a day I like to think about, but I feel a responsibility to remind myself of it every September 11th. For those of us who were lucky enough to not loose anyone we love, I think the anniversary can become an abstract day of remembrance and ultimately "just another day." But for so many, it's when lost their life as they knew it- something impossible to forget because it's defined their every day since then. And it's for them that I choose to remember.

Acts of Kindness

Yesterday afternoon I went to the mailbox, as I always do, expecting to find nothing in it but bills. When I opened the door I saw a little red envelope. (And no bills!) I hadn't ordered anything recently, and it's not my birthday, so my first thought was that the Letter Carrier must have put it in the wrong mailbox. But when I took it out, there was my name written in big bold letters.

I was so excited!
Something for me!
That I didn't order for myself!

I had to force myself not to open it until I got back to the house- so I could savor the moment, haha. When I got to my porch I sat down and opened the envelope, reading the card first. It was from my college Roomie, Beth- kind and encouraging words about me going back to school.


Tears immediately began to well up in my eyes as I closed the card. I started to open the little box underneath of it and that's when I saw these perfect, darling earrings.

The Fleur-de-Lis is the flower of my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. It's also my favorite symbol/design/motif and I have them all over my house. Bethie was in a different sorority, but she still remembered that after all these years!

Aren't they so cute? When I saw that they were little Fleur-de-Lis earrings, the brimming tears in my eyes came spilling out and I felt so thankful, filled with gratitude. This whole week I'd been feeling unsure about going back to school, nervous that I wasn't as smart as I once was, and thinking that I might have made a mistake about everything. Then the mail came and I read Beth's thoughtful card, saw the sweetest earrings, and I instantly felt her support and encouragement. And did you notice the message on the card holding the earrings? It says:

HOPE_

LIVE IN POSSIBILITY

(How perfect)

I've always been one of those people who has many acquaintances, a lot of casual buddies, some good friends, and just a handful of Real Friends. But I have the BEST Real Friends. They've always been there for me, even when I was unfriendable. They were supportive and never gave up on our friendship. Beth's generous token reminded me of how grateful and lucky I am to have her in my life- how fortunate I am that she's my Real Friend.

Thank you so much Beth, I love, Love, LOVE the earrings, and as you can see, they're already in my ears :)

I Have Tribe Pride

A few days Forbes issued the the nation's Top Public Colleges, and they ranked William & Mary 4th! Who was ahead of us? The United States Military Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, and the United States Naval Academy. Which means W&M was the highest ranked non-military college/university!
I'm so proud of my school!

Here Comes the Maid of Honor

This week on Show Us How You Live over at Kelly's Korner, the topic du jour is Bridal Parties and Flowers. I was the maid of honor in my best Sara's wedding, which was shortly after I graduated college. It was The Event of the year- 12 months of non-stop planning, 4 showers, a week of pre-wedding festivities, 300 people in attendance, 4 musical soloists - including a song written for them, and a toast given by yours truly (in front of those 300 people!). It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to, with every single detail meticulously planned by Sara.

This is me walking down the aisle. The color of my dress was Tiffany Box Blue- no kidding!

The roses look red, but they were a deep magenta.

I'm not naked, the picture just cuts out my dress. Can you tell how excited I was for them? As MOH, it was my job to keep the couple happy and iron out their kinks during the previous 12 months. This is my thinking to myself "job well done, Katie!" (And you look beautiful, Sara!)

All of the bridesmaids had different dresses in the same color.

And this is the happy couple, with Sara in the most beautiful gown I've ever seen.

___

So if and when I ever do get married, I like this bridesmaid dress. In the picture it looks floor length, and I would want it to be tea length, but I think it's simple and elegant.

For the flowers, I want a bouquet of ranunculus and a centerpiece of peonies. I think both of these displays are lovely.
And that's the end of my wedding experience history and future. Can't wait to see every else's fabulous dresses and flowers!

**See I Have a Child. The Jig is Up for further wedding explanation**

The List

I was going through some of my old college disks yesterday, trying to put the data on CD's, when I stumbled on the funniest thing. It was a list I made throughout all four years of school, called "My Perfect Man." Every time I thought of something I liked, or didn't like, I would add it to my list. There is an obvious progression in taste and maturity, but some of things I wrote down were just laugh out loud funny.


I'm going to post a few of them today, maybe more tomorrow, if I can ever get over the embarrassment of having actually thought that was what I wanted in a man or having actually thought that one might do some of those things.

• Lets me watch Felicity, even when it conflicts with a sporting event (obviously the days before DVRs)
• Will buy me tampons without griping
• Does NOT wear seersucker or linen, unless we are super rich and in the Hamptons, or pop his collar when wearing polo shirts
• Does NOT wear saggy pants with exposed underwear
  
• Enjoys a good debate/argument without getting nasty
• Mows the lawn
• Doesn't expect his son be a Jr., because that's never going to happen
  
• Cries at appropriate times, but isn't a cry baby
• Plays the guitar or another comparable instrument
  
• Does NOT hit on my friends

The sad thing about my list, is that these are the least embarrassing things I wanted in a guy! The majority of my likes and dislikes came from things I had experienced with past boyfriends. If they did something I liked, I put it on the list as something I wanted in the future. After we'd end things, I think of everything I didn't like and put it on the list.


At the top I wrote "Any potential mate must be in compliance with at least 70%." Let me just say, if any man could ever meet this 70% requirement, he'd have to be genetically engineered- or a robot! What's even more comical, is that I never, not even once, used this list as some sort of guideline in my dating choices. It just made me feel better to know that "one day" I would have high standards.


What are some embarrassing things you used to think you wanted in a potential life partner? Are any of them as ridiculous or as shallow as the things on my list? Youth is such a funny thing!

Flair

I don't consider myself to be a trendy person- I like to think that I'm classic with flair! I hate to be boring or not unique.

I dated this boy in high school who's voice was like a seducing siren calling out to me. He was in a band and was unlike anybody I had ever dated, he was what I might call "underground," finding trends instead of following them. I don't think we ever listened to the radio once because he always wanted me to hear something by an up and coming band, or his band. I would never call myself a music snob, I mean really, I went to the Spice Girls reunion concert, I've seen DMB 4 times, and I know almost all the words to the Mamma Mia soundtrack. But yeah, I'm a bit of a music snob.

Not in the way you're probably thinking, so here's what I mean. Due to my dalliance with Band Boy, I was suddenly aware of an entire world of music I didn't really know existed. (remember, religiously sheltered) I started listening to Jimmy Eat World, The Dandy Warhols, the original version of Dashboard Confessional, and Rilo Kiley in high school! No one had ever heard of them, and I loved that.

Jimmy Eat World was one of my favorite bands (the old stuff), but part of what I liked about liking them was it made me a little different than everyone else. I'm sure there were a lot of other people listening and liking that band, but I didn't know any of them. Then one day I heard Jimmy Eat World on the radio and suddenly everyone loved them. If I told someone they were one of my favortie bands, they'd get that look in their eye like I was a mainstream follower. Not that there's anything wrong with being a mainstream follower, because that was me in almost every other area.

I know it sounds weird that a band becoming popular could somehow be bad, but a lot times popularity and record deals, etc., force the group to put out different, more radio-friendly type music. If you listen to early Jimmy Eat World, it is very, very different than what you've probably heard on the radio.
So it took me writing all that to get to why I'm writing this. I was watching Without a Trace the other night and the last song was by Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley! I know that RK has been getting more popular, but I've never heard them on the regular radio. Immediately I was excited for her, but then came the old familiar feeling.

Here comes the exciting part!

I DON'T CARE!

So what if I look trendy for liking a band everyone else likes? I know that I've liked them for years, why should I care that other people are now finding out about them? Funny side note, Jenny Lewis played Shelley Long's daughter in Troop Beverly Hills, one of my favorite movies from back in the day!

Oddly enough, when I fall in love with something, it becomes popular, especially baby names. I wanted to name my daughter Madison for years before it became the trendy name du jour. I was going to have two daughters, Madison and Reagan, after my two favorite presidents! What was I thinking?? Before I settled on the name Spencer, my favorite names were Harper, Harlowe, and Finley. And wouldn't you know, 6 Hollywood babies have been given those names since Spencer was born!

I like to blend in, but stand out. I don't see that changing about myself, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on my music.  So I'm not going to abandon Jenny Lewis or Rilo Kiley, I'm going to promote them instead! Here's the song Jenny Lewis sang on Without a Trace.

	Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

And here is my favorite Rilo Kiley song, Science vs. Romance.

	Rilo Kiley - Science vs. Romance
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Besides music and baby names, I also have a large collection of crazy coats! My coat addiction is for another post, but here's me in my all time favorite!

Caio Italia

After my sophomore year at W&M, I spent my summer studying abroad in Florence, Italy with my best friend from college, Stephie. I just found my negatives from some of the pictures (yes, this was before the digital era) and I'm getting all nostalgic looking at them. I had such an amazing time on that trip, I really don't have any words that could do it justice, so I'll just post a few pictures instead.

You're not allowed to take pictures of The David, but I was able to get this shot before my camera was taken from me.



Vino with lunch in Sienna

Seriously, the smallest shower ever. I didn't even like to shut the door when I was in there, I'd always keep it cracked a little, just in case.

Ciao Italia!

Wine Country

I didn't actually drive this, it was parked on the street and I climbed on- oh, the days of my carefree youth.

The air conditioning on our bus broke down on our way home from Venice during a massive heat wave. It was 101 degrees outside, but inside- it was like being cooked to death in a massive oven!

Gondola Ride in Venice

DC For the Day

I am driving to DC, as in Washington, to see my old Suities. I'm just going for the day, since the baby doesn't do well apart from me for long lengths of time, but I am SO excited. I haven't seen them in such a long time and I can't wait. Here's a trip down memory lane.