Dating in Seattle.

What a weird phenomenon it is. I mean, if I were actually DOING it. Which, I guess, I kind of am. Or trying to. Or at the very least trying to figure out if I am. Because it's different around here. In a "foreign" culture, it's hard to tell if you're doing something that you usually do when everyone else is doing it differently. Man, I am totally not making sense.

But in all actuality, I like dating. At least, I like the idea of it. It's like trying a whole bunch of ice cream flavors and deciding which one you like...for life. Whoa. What a prospect. But, the problem is, you are not only at risk of getting fat from eating the ice cream (which can be compared to all the emotional baggage one has after a breakup), you are also at risk of changing tastes. So, what happens if you don't necessarily WANT mint chocolate chip after all these years? What if you want butter pecan instead? Or cookie dough? Do you make the switch? You've already tried the butter pecan and determined it gives you acid reflux, but it wasn't that bad. Was it? Or, do you just try mint chocolate chip ice cream with a little chocolate syrup poured over it to make it all new again? Perhaps this isn't the best analogy.

What I'm trying to get at is: How does one go about dating in a city where dating is...so covert?

Maybe it's simply a matter of opening my conscienceness to the prospect of dating. Right?

Saturday Birthdays + No Travel Sundays = PURE BLISS!

Here are some picture highlights of my birthday.

PS - The fact that I am sitting in bed ALL DAY today makes me immensely happy.

Fruit cheesecake from Whole Foods from Miss Emily.
What a delightful surprise!
(It was yummy.)

Flowers from parents, birthday sign faxed from
friend in Arlington, Texas!

More flower pictures - I can't get enough of them!

The beginning stages of the cake-making process...

Yummy Fun-Fetti cake!

My wedding cake and bouquet.
Or my naked birthday cake and flowers.

Almost finished!

The finishing touch!

Isn't she pretty?

Reminiscent of one gooood birthday.

Pencil Sharpening

It's something I'm doing quite a lot of. I need to sharpen at least once per day, sometimes twice. We're only using pencil around here and it's a change of pace. Last time I used this much pencil, I was learning how to write cursive.

My birthday flowers are beautiful. They're sitting at my desk and I can't help but smile every time I see them. I'll post a picture when I get a chance. I blog at work sometimes and my personal pictures are on my laptop, so it's just a matter of downloading them, then uploading them to the blog.

Tonight, we're going to happy hour in Bellevue after work. I love the idea that I can "run errands" when I get done with a work day! I am so elated. Last night, I got an amazing massage for a mere $15 co-pay. Friends, let me tell you how wonderful it feels to have insurance that pays for me to have "medically necessary" massages. I mean, don't get me wrong, they actually are pretty "medically necessary" (my back is effed up from grad school), but it's generally pretty kick ass for my budget to finally not have to pay the full price of the massage.

In other news, I'm having a birthday party tomorrow night at a great brewery in Capitol Hill, then we're going to get wild and crazy on a dancing spree throughout the neighborhood. It's gonna be mayhem, I think. Actually, I KNOW it's going to be mayhem. All of my favorite Seattle peeps are coming. I'm so excited! I have the perfect outfit, too! It's gonna be great. Plus, the expectations are over since the actual DAY of my birth is over. Even better yet.

K, I'm out for the day. Peace.

I'm Finally an Adult

Marked by the fact that yesterday, I dropped off my first item to be dry cleaned. It's my foray into adulthood.

In other news, I got pulled over this morning. On my way to work. By a rather good-looking police officer in Bellevue. I was going 51 mph in a 25 mph zone. A $174 infraction. He let me go. Told me it was my lucky day. I wanted to stick my head out the window and ask, "Hey! Would it be inappropriate for me to ask for your phone number?" I didn't. What a story it would have been if I did. Apparently, I'm also committing "car fraud" in the state of Washington by having Wisconsin plates as a Washington resident. Who knew?

Obviously, I'm a criminal.

Top Six Birthday Moments of 2008 (So Far)

6. Getting drunk and laughing with pear martinis and wine with colleagues during an after-work birthday happy hour!

5. Lunching with a past (and lovely) coworker in Madison last week and an unexpected birthday fruit cheesecake from Whole Foods! Yum!

4. Dining at Melting Pot for a birthday dinner with two of my favorite people in the whole wide world!

3. Crafting pizza, playing football, and eating ice cream cake with my family at a little surprise birthday party while in Green Bay for the weekend!

2. Receiving two dozen, brilliantly colored birthday roses at work yesterday from my parents!

1. I can't tell you. It's classified information. ;)

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I literally popped out of bed this morning at 4:30am, ready to start my day! I love my birthday! Truly, it's the only day of the year that I get to say, "It's my BIRTHDAY!" I can't believe it's here!

So, I stretched a bit, pondered some special birthday thoughts, and then jumped in the shower for 20 long and glorious minutes. I pampered myself this morning with a full exfoliation and body scrub, a face mask, and a leg shave. Then, I blowdryed my hair (something I never do unless I'm going out on the town - for work, it's out of the question), dressed myself in my new birthday outfit (emerald green wrap top with a black pencil skirt and heels), put on some makeup on my already beautiful and glowing face, and made myself a GREAT lunch (craisin, pecan, and blue cheese salad from Whole Foods with fresh strawberries, yummy crackers, and a chocolate chip cookie)! I sashayed out the door with a smile on my face and a song in my heart around 6am, ran to Top Pot for my favorite coffee and a free birthday donut, and drove to work. On my way, I called both my parents (in an unlikely, but very Kelly birthday gesture) to tell them -- "It's my BIRTHDAY!" Naturally, right? I know they know what day it is, it's just a matter of getting to celebrate WITH them in the moment of excitment!

I got to work and one of my coworkers brought me some birthday donuts (yum...we all know how I feel about donuts), and I found my cube was decorated with birthday paraphenilia when I got here! I got some birthday hugs, smiles, and well-wishes...plus, you better believe I'm totally wearing my "Birthday Girl" pin! I've been getting emails, texts, faxes (!) and voicemail messages all day long and THEN, just about 10 minutes ago, I got two dozen birthday roses from my parents delivered to me at work! I feel so loved! :)

Thank you! Happy Birthday to me!

Ending in Appleton! Almost My Birthday!

Last seminar!

4 days till my birthday!

Last seminar!

4 days till my birthday!

WOOHOO!

Happy Tax Day!

I hope you all are receiving stellar returns on all of the income tax you've paid this year.

In other news, my birthday is one week from today and I can't decide for the life of me what I want to do for it this year. I'm hung up on perfection: I want it to be fun for everyone, but in trying to achieve that, I'm losing the sense of what I want! Argh! I've asked too many people for their opinions. Most of you know how much I love my birthday, so the fact that it's getting to be a hassle to plan is really a shame. I gotta shake it off! Put my game face on! Talk it out! Anything we do for my birthday will be great as long as I shrug off all of these crazy expectations! Ah, easier said than done. I'm putting too much pressure on myself and it's not fun anymore. :(

And, as always, I have a magnificent birthday list this year, which I'm sure all of you would love to peek at, so here goes:

-Cake from Whole Foods or Le Fournil (you know, those ones that you always see there and never get because you don't have anything to get it for...but they look so delicious! But I also love ice cream cakes, cookie cakes, homemade cakes and pies and cupcakes and cookies...or maybe we should stick with fruit this year...)
-Gift cards for classes (hip hop, yoga, strip tease)
-Ralph by Ralph Lauren perfume (or should I switch scents?)
-Sonicare toothbrush (well, this wouldn't really be the funnest thing to get for a birthday)
-Make up from Sephora (perhaps a gift card would be better)
-New clothes! (specifically, tall boots or cowboy boots)
-The **new** Gavin DeGraw CD! (Yay! Came out today! I might get it for myself...)
-A fun day with you! (An experience together is always better than material things...)
-Anything that reminds you of me or that you feel compelled to send to me to make my birthday that much more special... :)

I'm not that difficult. You could get me a massage or bring me a cup of homemade coffee or just call me to tell me you love me - anything extra on a birthday makes it 100% better because I know that someone was thinking about me and took the time to do something special. That kind of love is always the best feeling and every year, I'm surprised at and humbled by who remembers my birthday.

Anyhow, right now I'm in Cincinnati, Ohio at a Holiday Inn that's a fricking million miles away from the airport and we have a 5pm flight to catch tonight. Last night, coming in from Cleveland, we saw the most amazing thing: a military jet refuel in mid-air! It was really incredible to see and something I don't believe I'll ever witness again in my lifetime. I feel really lucky to experience these type of things on the road. I always feel grateful for my life and the people in it, but right now, I feel especially blessed to be where I am.

Thank you universe! Thank you friends and family! :)

I'm Having a Scandalous Week.

Not only am I positioned in Tornado Alley and being forced to dodge the raging storms that have been washing away this part of the Midwest all week, but I also drank my cares away in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition (Monday, April 7th as an FYI) with a random, attractive, young hotel manager who ended up spending the night in my upgraded Embassy Suites room. I'm so hardcore! (Don't worry, Grandma, I'm being safe. In fact, he told me that when he first saw me, he thought that I was good-looking, but he also thought in the military and that I liked women. How's that for having a protective bubble? Adrian, you should try that.)

I'm in Kansas City right now after starting the week in Oklahoma City, then jumping (or driving) to Tulsa and Wichita. Tonight, we fly to St. Louis. This weekend, I'm hanging out with colleagues in Austin where it's 80 degrees! Woop, woop!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' on a River...

I'm in Syracuse, New York.

I'm wearing a green wrap shirt today. It's a jewel tone.

I've been running a lot lately.

TLC is one of my favorite stations.

I'm being productive today.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

The view from my 47th floor hotel room in Atlanta.

The sun setting over Birmingham, Alabama.

Bubble tea in Maine, anyone?

Church Street in Burlington, Vermont.

Crossing the bridge from Vermont to New York.

April Foolery & More

I almost just ate a raisin. What a mistake.

Yesterday was one of the weirdest days I've had in a long time. It felt like the universe was playing tricks on me the whole day, which is appropriate for April 1st, I guess. I was in Burlington, Vermont (which is beautifully quaint, by the way) and the hotel was testing their fire alarm...ALL DAY. And it was LOUD. And disruptive. I had angry participants.

Then, we drove to Albany, New York (to which there is not a direct route) and had to take about 20 different "Routes" and "County Routes" and roads of the like, so basically, we were going through the most rural parts of southern Vermont and northern New York. (Something I never guessed I'd ever be doing, that's for sure.) We drove past little cabins on big lakes and, at one point, we swore we were going to die a death right out of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" because the fog was so similar to that of a horror movie, right before someone commits a fatal error and perishes forever. When entering New York across a magnificent bridge, it was so amazing with the sun shining through the clouds on the Adirondack Mountains and the icy waters and the Lake Champlain monument we were passing that we decided to stop and take some pictures. It was humid out, past 60 degrees Fahrenheit, but while we were stopping, it started to rain (with the sun out) and we caught sight of 2 gorgeous rainbows right over the lake. Really incredible.

We got back on the road and drove through the middle of nowhere (several times, in fact) and came to the mountain range during which it started to POUR. And I don't mean just a minor, brief rainfall...we couldn't even HEAR each other in our black Ford Escape. So, we stopped talking for a while because the noise was as if we were at a rock concert...our ears were even ringing afterwards. It was intense. PLUS, the fog was so dense that I could barely see our route. And by this time, we were on the Interstate, so while the road was wider and straighter than previous ones we were on, there were huge trucks and more traffic.

The entire time we were in the mountains (well, when we could hear each other), we joked that there would probably be a huge thunderstorm that night because it would just add to all the weather oddities we experienced that day. Sure enough, last night we had a thunderstorm and I had to move the car in (again) pouring rain. We had lightning, thunder...the whole works. The wind gusts were so strong that I thought someone was moving furniture in the adjacent room. I only realized it was the wind when I couldn't get to sleep and heard it whipping through the windows and tearing apart any loose pieces of the building.

Apparently, we're supposed to have 30 mph winds today, with gusts up to 60 mph.

Perfect weather for driving to Syracuse, eh?