Creole Wisdom

the social rooster

•This is a story about how I went to the fair, the fair, along with sorority sisters, on public transportation, on a Saturday, still hung over from viral eye issues... and survived.  Thrived!!!
•Blog readers, I give you... the birthing center.  Men like to wait outside (please roll your eyes along with me).

•and behold, the famous foot picture.  mental note: flip flops + tons of people + bad sidewalks = bad idea.

•I live for the poultry building.  I do.  I love those birds.  I could of spent all day there.  I think they are gorgeous, and we even got a rooster to "talk" to us on command (video coming later)

•I took my fair share of bird pictures.  I am just obsessed with them.  Someday I will frame them all and keep them in my kitchen.  Oh, and this is coming from a city girl who was never around chickens and likes them in pens or on her plate...

•Yes, let's not forget where I'm from.  After all, who wears madras shorts and a lacoste polo around livestock- complete with monogrammed bag?  I almost donned my cowgirl boots, but they would of clashed.  Bless my heart.
•On to the actual rides... just one. The best view in town


•And, clearly... the photo of the day:

quarantine.

•It was Wednesday, my second day at work and third full day back at the sorority house.  With recruitment meetings running almost all morning and then some into the night plus work... you know- something had to go bad.
•Yesterday mom picked me up for a little dinner out at Pizza Nea, mmm.  I ran into the restroom before we sat down and looked in the mirror as I was washing my hands and saw... A BLOODSHOT EYE. 
•Then. I started. To swear.
•I dropped f-bombs all the way down the (empty) hallway.  This is not the time for pink eye...

(flash forward to sorority recruitment)
•"Hi, I'm Katie, don't you want to join my house?" with an ugly red eye... um, probably not.

•I get back out to the table and start crying.  Cause, you know, I'm a drama queen and don't do well with eye issues, see this.
•The waiter comes by and looks at me like I am crazy.  Then mom ordered the quattro fromaggio, and my tears slow down.

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS.  I have work. school. recruitment.  Ahhh. Just the thought of some toddler's poop bacteria swimming in my eye was so upsetting.  And I am so careful with germs... how (sob) could this happen (sob) to me?  I am hand sanitizer, gloves, 45-seconds of hand washing queen!

I get back to the sorority house and put up my quarantine sign.  I am not about to get anyone else sick.  Then I watched Barack Obama with a cold compress.

Thank goodness Alicia had her left-over pink eye drops and administered two for me (yes, I know that is wrong, but sharing medication is how I roll).  Picture this: me with my head back in a desk chair on the third floor of the sorority house, kind sister leaning over me... oh, so classy. 

Today, doctor's verdict: viral infection, not pink eye, and my eye is looking better- albeit I still have glasses on.  That was a close call. 

lucky.

I didn't like second hand stuff growing up.  I wanted new, new, new and had expensive taste (my poor parents! sorry!) 

But then- I started to love vintage as much as I love new, and found myself seeking out the funky places and taking on goodies from friends/family. 

It was another- I am becoming just like my mother moment (you know, it starts to happen once adulthood sets in)

So, thank you dad, for the hand-me-down iphone that was a pain in the $%#! to set up, but so worth it.  I love hand me downs. Ones like this:

So now, I can check my e-mail whenever and even look on my blog.  It is so great.  And last night I was giving stock market updates to my sorority sisters, even though I can't really read what it says!

Here is where you, dear readers come in: help find me a cute case/accessories for this beauty?  Etsy shops?  Sites?  Fill me in!

xoxo
CW

creole wisdom q&a

So friends, I am all settled in, but as I blog here via ethernet cord with the windows open and the breeze blowing I want to really blog prose about being back at my school in my city at the sorority house... but that can wait until later.  But alas, I had my very first q&a/a study in narcisissm (haha!) to do-

Keya asks...
•What is your favorite food to eat?
I would say my fall back is pasta, but sushi is my number one choice for going out.  I love it!

•What is your dream job?
Wife/Stay at home mom, but for making money- probably a creative editor at a lifestyles magazine/work for Martha

•How many children do you want to have?
4-6

•What state do you eventually want to live in & raise your family in?
I would have to say MN.  I love it here, and I grew up here.  I want my children to grow up close to their grandparents.  But yeah, I'd do the upper east side of manhattan, too ; )

Cat asks...
•What about the church first intrigued you to investigate?
Hands down, the values. 

•How much did the first LDS people you met/knew influence you?
They really did.  I think that is how a lot of "new" places/things are.  The families and individuals I met at the ward I investigated in were fabulous, awesome people.

•What was the BEST part about living in Provo this summer?
Being able to see all the places I had heard of.  The "Y," BYU creamery, sundance, St. George…

•What was the worst?
The dating pretty much sucked.  And I missed my family, and I had "interesting" roommates. Oh, and socially people act a bit different there. 

Low asks...
•Is there anyone's blog that inspires the way you blog?
Yes, and no.  I think everyone has their own style.  I love Pioneer Woman (her writing is clever, witty), obviously Nie is amazing and missed one helluva career in marketing because she can make anyone want to live in Arizona and raise four adorable children and makes everything look amazing, Shannon for her good ways of depicting dialogue, Princess Lasertron who makes blogging cool for young/childless writers...

•What has been your favorite past Halloween costumes?
My mom was/is a sewing genius, and made all my (albeit extravagant) Halloween dreams come true growing up.  Bless her!

My favorites (another should be blog post):
-The wicked witch of the west with metallic stars and moons sewn on (age 3)
-Pebbles from "the Flinstones" with white, felt bone bow (age 7)
-Cat woman with fishnets, pin-on tail, and mask (age 5)
-Pipi longstocking (with wire in my dyed red hair) and drawn on freckles (age 4)

Shannon asks...
•If you could have it all planned out (which I'm sure you do) where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Bwahah.  In five years (at age 26) I see myself: married to my lover, 2-3 children, living in a gorgeous old home in a historic neighborhood (harhar).  I imagine I am creating things, hopefully healthy, and loving life!  I also imagine that I might have a few more cool things on my resume, like jobs/graduate school.  I don't really know anymore, things are kind of in the air!

•What is your favorite photoshop trick?
Well, I love using actions.  But as far as tricks, having fun with opacity is always good.  And the eyedropper tool is very helpful because I can exactly match colors. 

•Will you be keeping in contact with anyone you met in Provo this summer?
I sure hope so!  New people who I met that I plan to stay in touch with are: Beau, Robbie, Spencer, Anna, Robynn, and Rosie.

Lisa asks...
•Okay, is there anyone who is making your heart skip a beat right now, or are you contendedly single?
No.  And I am really happy right now.  More than I have been in years.  Good era for me.

Mo asks...
•Other than your camera, what is a prized possession you can't be without?
My iphone : )

•How/who introduced you to the world of blogging?
I started blogging after seeing links in people's signature lines at a scrapbooking website.  It was Ali Edward's typepad blog though, that got me hooked on blogging and typepad.

•When did you start scrapping?
December-January (winter break) of my Junior year in high school (age 16-17).  I was given a scrapbook by my mom and thought, "I need to make these."  However, I "scrapbooked" growing up in various ways.

•What is your favorite dish or goodie to bake/make?
Salmon-spinach quiche for savory and cupcakes for sweet (not a big eater, but love making them).

•What is your favorite childhood memory?
Oh man, just one?  I should do a post about this.  If I had to narrow it down to one it would be going to London when I was eight.  I was on cloud nine.

Tia asks...
•Where are you now?
I live in MN.  I am midwestern girl who has flirted with PDX (4 years), NYC (1 year + 2 summers), and Provo (1 summer).  That's a lot of flirting. 

•How does being in a sorority conflict with your newish LDS lifestyle?
It doesn't.  Strangly enough, there are a lot of similarities between being Greek and LDS. People love it, there was a girl last year in my house writing a missionary.  One of my buddies came and visited me out in Utah.  People ask questions, but there's a lot more acceptance on the sorority side then on the others... I think when you're Greek you're used to people judging you for being Greek, so you're more apt to ask questions and inquire then judge.  (clearly I could go on and on)

Teresa asks...
•Have you picked your future children's names, if so what are they?
I love the names: Veronica, Malcom, Rosemary, Edward (not for the books), Anthony, Valerie…

So there ya go!

holding on.

Laughter of Lilacs
Rainbows of roses
Songs of the robins
Lily of the valley borders
Sunshine to warm the heart
Oh what joy this season does impart!

-Anne Lindberg

Oh please. oh please... don't go!  I feel like I've just gotten home and so therefor summer starts, and it's all in the details readers.  The details:

 1. new shoes. chinese laundry. $11. score 2. college of st. kate's way to go mom (now both my parents are going for their Phds,yikes!) 3. dress. legs. heels. divine. 4. fresh mint tea 5. post cards in my package from the princess 6. chicken run ingredients 7. my great-great-aunt rosie's jewlerey box 8. from the desk of creole wisdom 9. view of the city 10. favorite chineese food 11. second play in one week 12. saturday wardrobe 13. my heart 14. stephanie's boutique, dear nie I thought of you! 15. sushi with dad at crave

xoxo

Creole Wisdom

PS- I am still doing a little q&a session.  Here is your chance.  I am answering Monday night.  Ask away!

PPS/PSS- In t-minus 24 hours I move back into the sorority house.  praise jesus.

an announcement, and ask away!

2 things:
•Arlene and I are co-authoring a blog, Womanist Today.  Check it out.  We're still in very much in the planning stage, and I love working with trés simple blogger- it's going to be fun, positive, a celebration.  Don't worry, this will always be my personal blog and update daily, but to get a bit more of blogging goodness check out Womanist Today.
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•I thought it would be fun to do a little q&a session before school starts and I get too busy to do it.  So here's your chance ASK AWAY- I will leave this up for a while, just comment with your question and it will be tomorrow or the next days post

my prairie

•On Tuesday night my family and I (plus second cousin Katy) drove downtown for a dinner of sushi followed by the most fantastic production I have ever seen:
•Little House on the Prairie, the musical, at the guthrie...
•The entire play, it just made me want to weep... it was so beautiful.  I have never seen something like that.  It was every childhood fantasy come to life (I was unnaturally obsessed, and I mean unnaturally with Little House growing up).  It was good, Midwestern childhood with trips to the real Walnut Grove, summers spent watching the show, and an entire hardcover collection of Ingalls books... Oh, did I leave out the Halloween costume? 
•The guthrie: what can I say.  It's like the best theater in the country.  And the new building designed by the grandfather of one of my sorority sister's boyfriends looks so grand.  It was huge, spacious.  A long call from the old, tiny guthrie next to The Walker.


•And Melissa Gilbert, who played "Ma" signed my program... Ahhh.  Bliss!
•I hate to admit this, but usually I get bored during plays/musicals, but I can tell you- when this comes to your town you will not be disappointed!

a story of two katy/ie(s)

•This is the story of two cousins, second cousins actually, and you know you come from a big family when you have second cousins who are close to your age.
•Sweet-sixteen Katy came and visited my parents and I arrived home just in time to have her for one day...

•When I think of Katy a few words/phrases/memories come to mind:
SWEET book-worm horse-lover freckles hulla-hoop contest at grandma's "girls night" years ago... intelligent wise-beyond-her-years bit by the travel bug SUSHI EATING...


•Just yesterday Katy was an adorable four-year-old who we all thought was going to be a redhead, but her lovely mane has turned a golden brown! 
•We enjoyed/endured:
Getting Henna tatoos at the Somalian Market being screamed at by a psycho Somalian woman who scared the s&#t out of me for taking a picture of her shop lunch at big bowl borders for stephenie meyer books figuring out that our family is pretty much divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood: giant, catholic, crazy... but entertaining nonetheless!

the wild wild west.

•Photos taken by Dan, their own vintage pistol.  Katie get your gun... So, if you ever go to play at the Garfield house, know that they will offer you delicious, home cooked food, a cute dog to love, and guns to pose with!

good bye dinner

•My dear friends Beau and Robbie cooked for me the most delicious good-bye dinner on Monday evening.  I will never forget it.  Hosted at Beau's parents' gorgeous home... complete with the famous Israeli rice that Beau learned on his mission (mish, as we like to call it) in Russia from an Israeli companion.  I could not get enough.  I think they thought I was "special" because of how much I eat-

•And here is Beau tending to his delicious rice on the most gorgeous stove... it was so good!  I'm serious, I had like 3 helpings-

•Then Beau and Robbie, always the good LDS boys, led a giant FHE with Beau's siblings and our mutual friends.  It was so cute.  You know they were raised well!  To learn about FHE, go here.

•Good bye friends, thank you for being good to me!