80's party and Brewers on Deck

80's party was awesome. My coconut-banana-pineapple cake turned out great! I love making things in bundt pans; they turn out so pretty.

Brewers on Deck was awesome. I wanted to leave earlier, but after talking to some people the lines to get in when it opened at 10:00 a.m. were so long. We didn't have to wait and we got there just past 11:30. I got 10? autographs and got my picture taken with some of the players. The autographs cost money, but the money went to Brewers Charities. Pictures were free. There were different stages with different activities going on. I had so much fun. I am definitely going next year.

Pictures from 80's night and Brewers on Deck to come tomorrow or Tuesday. I open tomorrow, but I'm done at 1:00 so I'll have a chance for a quick nap before going to orchestra. I guess there's a chance for some snow so I'll have to pay attention.

Random thought: Is it April 5th yet?

~Nicole

Today is a better day

 For the most part. However, my period came about 10 days early so that kind of sucks. Hormones, 1. Nicole, 0.

I was still a bit down this morning after last night's events. I ran some errands and FINALLY have my voicemail figured out. So if any of y'all try and call me it will eventually go to my voicemail. I guess it takes quite a few rings, but it's there. :) I also stopped at Cool Beans and chatted with the gang. I really needed that. I felt so much better. My outfit for 80's night is now ready. It won't be completely authentic, but I wanted to buy stuff I'd wear again. Found some cool accessories that I will definitely wear again. And a cool make-up kit for $4. I also bought some salmon at the grocery store and had that for lunch. Best impulse buy of the day was at the grocery store: cupcake cases for $0.20! Cub must have had an order cancelled at the last minute or something since these usually go for at least a dollar each at other stores.

I'm about to make a Hawaiian-inspired cake for 80's game night tomorrow. I should really post some yummy recipes I've made, but I don't really feel like typing it all out at the moment. I know, lazy. But I am tired. I'm always tired the first two days of my period. The one constant symptom I've had.

Random conversation from work yesterday:

Me: Joanna (co-worker), I should tell you about some drink specialty ideas for VD - I mean Valentine's Day. I probably shouldn't say VD.
Customer: *Snicker*
Me: Yeah...sometimes my mouth gets me into trouble.
Customer: Oh honey, I believe it!

My regulars are great.

Late-night blogging at its best

 I just want to be held right now. Preferably by a male who's bigger than I am. And warmer - I get cold very easily. It's kind of like I want someone to hold me and I can sigh away my problems for the time being. Not necessarily a lot of talking; just telling me everything will be okay. And not necessarily anything romantic. Is there anything wrong with that? I don't think so. I think I need another break. My friend Ginette seems to need these breaks a lot and I used to think "how the heck are you able to travel? and want to travel?" But I think I get it now.

Today or technically yesterday was a variety of emotions. Work went well for the most part. Post work was all right. I made my soup, which was good. Then it took a turn south. Dad's job might in jeopardy and some other stuff happened tonight that I won't get into, but it was just stressful. Booth came over for our weekly Project Runway viewing. I wasn't really feeling the wine tonight. Some people drink when they're feeling low - that wasn't me tonight. We watched basketball, the most of an NBA game I think I have ever seen. I enjoyed watching a sport where I didn't have a favourite team/player.

I have a bunch of errands to run later today. If I stop at all of my possible places it will be a total of 7 or 8. What's most important is getting my voicemail figured out on my phone so if my phone is off people can actually leave me a message.

Random thought: I really need to bake those bars later.

~Nicole

Almost time for work

 Have a good day, my friends.

FINALLY going to be a sunny one, but cold. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go to the grocery store today to pick up some seeds and grains. If not, oh well. After work I'll exercise, make my soup and watch some Project Runway.

That's my day - nothing too exciting.

I should post my vegetable ragout-pasta recipe I made last night. It was based off of 1-2 recipes by Giada di Laurentiis. Delicious!

Random thought: Instead of watching the prez speak last night mom and I watched "Julie and Julia.

~Nicole

He's gotta come in when it's not busy

 So I can get my flirt on. Although I kind of did, but not really. Still have to get his number. He graduates in May so I gotta get going. LOL

So creeper guy came in twice today. I waited on him, but did not make eye contact and spoke monotone. I found it a bit funny since I was done waiting on him the second time I was immediately back to my friendly, bubbly self with the next customer. Work was good. The last 1 1/2 hours were super busy. I went shopping for my 80's outfit. I BARELY caught the bus to take me back home. I was waiting to cross Johnson and saw the bus turn up State. Luckily the bus had to wait at the next light and the crosswalk signal came on so I sprinted up State and got on the bus. I wasn't planning on taking that bus, but my errands took shorter than I thought. Plus it got me home about 20-30 minutes earlier. Mom and I made fish and eggplant fries for dinner. Am waiting for "Life After People" to start.

Yesterday was okay. I worked 6-2. I missed the bus going home by 5 seconds so I did some "pre-shopping" for what I bought today. After I got home I went on the treadmill for a little bit. Last night was also the first night of my orchestra class; I'm going to enjoy it. It's nice taking the earlier class this time. While waiting for the bus to come back home I started a conversation with a women also waiting for the bus. We ended up realizing on the bus that we were both in the same orchestra class! We talked music until she got off. She's really cool - hopefully I'll see her next week.

Tomorrow I have the day off. I'll go grocery shopping with mom. I already have tomorrow's breakfast picked out - sour cream pancakes! Recipe looks soooo good so I want to try it. I also have to find wine for Project Runway night. That seems to be the alcohol of choice.

Random thought: Grandma, you are a funny one.

~Nicole

Another thing added to my 24 List

Move out.

Most of the time things are peachy, but today was one of those days where I just want to move out and have more independence than what I already have. I know I am saving a lot of money by still living at home, but part of me feels like I just need to get out. I'd probably have to live with somebody or get a pet since I don't know if I could live alone. Well, I could but I'd get awfully lonely. Sure I'd piss away money on rent, but I just gotta get out.

In other not-so-fun news one of the creepers at work really got to me today. He came in when I was working and that was fine. After I was done I met up with Val and Ali at work for some good times and good cake. Well said man came in and said to me "are you on break?" I replied "no, I'm not working." He then spotted my co-workers who were on duty. After he got his drink he came over to my friends and I and started talking to me and showing me a list of something or some letter. I don't know; I wasn't paying attention. I ignored him and he finally went away. Not only was it creepy, but it's also very rude just to walk up to someone and interrupt their conversation. It would be one thing if he or someone else for that matter actually knew me and said "don't mean to interrupt, just wanted to say a quick hello." That's fine. I don't think said customer is mentally all there since he talks about random stuff, but if he bothers me off duty again OR makes me uncomfortable on-duty I'm just going to have to do something. I don't know if that would be going in back when he comes in or what, but it just really bothered me today. Maybe I'm overreacting, but he really did make me feel uncomfortable.

I work 6-2 tomorrow. I have my first orchestra class tomorrow evening. I'm taking the earlier class incase I open on Tuesdays so I'm home by 9:15 instead of 10:15-10:30. I'm kind of nervous about it, but it's like that whenever I start something new.

Random thought: Thanks for reading - I just really needed to blog about some things.

~Nicole

I'm going to have a very healthy heart

 I've drank a good amount of red wine in the past week-and-a-half. Hell Booth and I split almost an entire bottle last night while watching Project Runway.

I currently have a caramel Baileys cake in the oven. I've been wanting to use up the Baileys. projectlost1 has a point where I could just drink it, but I only drink it with coffee or hot chocolate and I don't drink either one of those often. Except at work, but drinking while working probably isn't a good idea. Angela bought it when she was here in early October. Now with that bottle gone I can buy my rum. I need to have a margarita night so I can use up more of that tequila. Or just do shots. Man I sound like a drunk.

Luke, Lindsey and I are going to Goodwill tonight to buy outfits for tonight. I'll probably pick up a pair or two of black pants for work so I'm not wearing the same two pairs for work. Speaking of work I work tomorrow evening. I hope it's not slow, but heck I survived working a few days when it was super slow over the semester break so it'll be okay. I also work Sunday morning and am meeting Ali and Val after work. Going to be nice to have a girls day.

Random thought: I'm really thirsty.

~Nicole

Tiredness. And a visit with Alison :)

Today was a tiring day at work. The first 4 hours of my 8-hour shift were great. Then it seemed like hell broke loose. We had some issues with the water pressure so the espresso machine was in-and-out for a little over an hour. Then the fire alarm went off; this time it wasn't a drill. We finished orders, told people to evacuate and cleaned a bit (mainly the espresso bar since we didn't want to leave espresso grounds all over) before going outside. Myself, Melissa and Erica were outside for not even three minutes when we saw other people go back into the building. Then our computers went down so we couldn't ring in any orders. If people had cash we used a calculator to figure out change and tax. Luckily, the computers were down for only 30-40 minutes so once they were back up I rang all of the orders back in. Oh and the fire alarm lights were still flashing for at least an hour after it was all over and that gave me a headache. At least Project Runway is on tonight. And Booth is coming over to watch. I'm having me a drink. And some cinnamon-raisin-walnut bread.

Yesterday was great. I rocked out another fedora at work. After work I visited Alison and Hatim. Oh my gosh is he a cutie! And he looks a lot like her. I imagine as he gets older he'll look more like Oday. It was nice spending some time with Alison again. She has a part-time job working from home so I know that makes her happy. She's able to provide for them as well as take care of Hatim.

Tomorrow I have the day off so I'll probably run or walk on the treadmill first thing. Mum and I will go grocery shopping at some point. I'm probably going out tomorrow evening.

Random thought: There are a few people I want to make friends with at work.
Random thought #2: Brewers on Deck schedule came out today - gotta plan accordingly!

~Nicole

Busy, busy, busy!

 First day back to school and we were almost as busy as we were toward the end of the semester. I was so happy to be busy again! Working 8-8 1/2 hours alone is bad enough, but add a maximum of like 25-35 customers and it got rough. The money I took in in my drawer in about the span of an hour was about as much as I had done in an 8-hour shift over break. It was good to see some of my regulars again. My hottie came in, but I was unprepared and there were people in line so I could not get my flirt on. On some funny news a customer accidentally left a burnt joint at the counter so Erica, myself and a few customers had a good laugh over that. After work I met up with Ali and we had some laughs. I ran a few errands this evening and am now going to do a bit of reading before watching "Life After People."

Monday was good. My upper legs were sore from my impromptu 7-mile run so I went for a nice walk instead. Mum and I ran some errands. I did some misc. kitchen stuff. I did a lot of reading too. I finished "The Diary of Anne Frank." How that girl could write so eloquently, honestly and with such passion at her age and in those conditions just amazes me. I think now at almost 23 I can appreciate it. I found I had some things in common - current and non-current - with her. A few times I felt like how can I compare myself to her since she was living in such conditions and her life ended so tragically, but we are/were both young women just trying to figure things out and see how/where we belong in the world. And I think that's why her diary resonates generation after generation.

Random thought: This calorie counting thing is harder than it was last time.

~Nicole

Late night = MLB Network

Am watching a World Series game from 2006.

So yesterday at work wasn't bad. It was still slow for a Saturday, but definitely busier. I ran some errands after work. I was going to get the car washed, but their was a line and I was hungry and did not have patience. After I came home I had some food and took a nap. Sam and CC came over and we grilled and talked. We played Life - old school Life from 1960! I totally kicked their asses.

This morning it was nice enough for me to go for a run outside. I've had a lot of stuff on my mind lately. Well, just one thing but it's been annoying and confusing and just damn frustrating at times. Well I think I ran some of that out since I ran 7.25 miles - no walking! Sure where it was icy I definitely slowed down, but I really needed this run. Plus I picked out which marathon I am going to do so pretty soon I'm going to get serious about paying attention to mileage. I have a few training schedules that already have mileage worked into them so I'll see how that works out.

This evening was pizza night at Kay and Alyson's. I made my pear-almond tart which was delicious. We drank and played dress up. I really want Kay's gold dress that she wants to get rid of. We'll discuss this sober. I didn't drink much since I was driving.

I start back up with a normal work week and I am excited. It'll be nice to be busy, work more hours and see my regulars again. :)

Random thought: Shit, some of those thoughts came back.

~Nicole

You'd better carry on and make it work

 So I was hoping to make it down to Chicago for a friend's birthday celebration next weekend. Figured I'd probably have to work Saturday night or Sunday morning, but I could switch with someone. Turns out I work BOTH so I won't be attending. I could have tried to ask off, but I found out it recently and the semester is starting again so we're working with new schedules, etc. I'll just come down to Chicago another weekend. :) On a related note I hope clopens don't become a regular occurrence. I don't mind them once in a while, but every weekend would suck. But hey I'm working so I can't complain too much.

On other news of the day yesterday was fun and interesting. I went with my friends Sam and CC to the mall to buy an outfit for CC. We went to lunch at the Cupcakery afterwards. Later in the afternoon I went to the grocery store for stuff for that evening and made some pita bread. I doctored up some pre-made hummus by adding more chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cumin and toasted pine nuts. Booth came over and we all watched Project Runway. I tried one of my new New Glarus beers - Stone soup. It was quite good.

This morning I ran 5 miles - woot! Sunday I'm going to run outside and take a break from the dreadmill. I went grocery shopping. I also dropped some stuff off at Goodwill and went back to the mall to buy those Lady Gaga'esque sunglasses. Good thing I went back since they were almost all gone! I read a bit this evening and will do so again soon. I am re-reading "The Diary of Anne Frank." It's amazing what you miss the first few times reading it.

I work tomorrow. I don't really know what to expect business wise. We'll of course have the girls from the salon from next door. Students are starting to come back so we might be busier, but classes don't start until Tuesday so it may not pick up until after that.

Random thought: I need to make a list of what I all need to do after work tomorrow. And also make my lunch.

~Nicole

Small hangover + bad milk = bad combo

 So I drank last night, as you can tell by my previous post. Woke up with a bit of a hangover, but I felt fine. I had a small bowl of cereal and left to catch the bus. Well being on a bumpy bus with sometimes bumpy streets did wonders for my stomach. I kept telling myself that I could make it to work. I made it to work, but went straight to the bathroom. Luckily Melissa came in at 6:45 so she helped finish the opening duties. I was in-and-out of the bathroom until I left at 8:15. Most of that time was spent in the fetal position shivering.

I came home and napped and felt better. I then sniffed the milk - stinky! So a combo of me being a bit hungover and that nasty milk did me in. I've watched a bit of TV and am now listening to the radio. I may take another snooze, not sure. I feel better, but still don't feel 100%. Had plans tonight, but I cancelled those.

In awesome news from yesterday my $10 pedicure was great! I requested one of the girls who comes into the shop all the time. There were 3 of us getting pedicures so all 6 (us and workers) had a good time talking. As you can tell from my previous post I had some wine last night and some good/interesting conversations.

Random thought: Oatmeal has yet to let me down.

~Nicole

Margaritas and coffee

Margaritas and coffee

Not together. Gross.

Yesterday I met Val for lunch and we had Philly cheesesteaks. YUM! We hung out at her place for a bit and played with her kitties. I then went home and did some stuff to get ready for game night. I make crostini aka toast. Got to Sam's just past 6:00. I made some damn fine margaritas. We had food, drank some dranks and played some games. I left just past 10:00 since I had to work early today.

Work = SLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW. Thank God I brought a magazine. Since it was just me it took a while cleaning up, but it wasn't too bad. I was out of there by 2:40. Picked up Booth and we went sledding. Alabama Boy (yes, since you read my blog now, I refer to you as that sometimes) had never gone sledding so I had to show him how awesome it is. We had fun. I had spiked coffee. My butt is sore now though. Jump-started his car after I dropped him off and we talked for a bit. After I left I picked up broccoli at the store and attempted a mac 'n cheese with broccoli. I wasn't using an exact recipe so it wasn't the best, but I was hungry so I ate it. Mum and I made s'mores this evening. Think I'm going to watch a movie.

Photos of my attempt of dinner are below. Warning: they are blurry. Plus there's one of me in my snuggie.









Random thought: Matt Nathanson, please come back to Wisconsin!

~Nicole

Sneak peak into my 24 List

Make a full-fat meal. So that means not cutting out any fat, sugar, etc. If I bake something not substituting some of the flour for wheat flour, oats etc. Y'all think I can actually make this one?

In other news, check out this cute lolcat:

Being smart, staying in

 Even though I really wanted to go out I decided to be smart and stay in. Roads are probably slick and the plow hasn't gone through. Heck it wouldn't have been surprising if by the time I came home tonight/early tomorrow the plow would have gone by and I would not have been able to get into the driveway. And dad is anal about having his car parked out on the street. I saved money by not going out, but it would have been a fun night.

I'm excited because I've already thought of 12 things for my 24 list. The 24 list is something I will start on my 23rd birthday: 24 things I want to do before I turn 24.

The next few days are going to be cold so I won't be doing much outside. Except misc. shoveling.

Random thought: Nicole, you really need to go to the cell phone place and work out your voicemail.

~Nicole

Snow...great

I know I live in Wisconsin and am used to snow, but I had some probable plans tonight and if the roads are shit i'm not going to go out and kill myself. Well, probably not. Alabama boy would understand. He's still getting used to snow and probably wouldn't want to go out just to watch the football game. Unless he doesn't have a TV. Now I'm just rambling like I do when I leave phone messages. Moving on...

The hockey game was fun Tuesday night. The UW lost 9-0, but at the same time I didn't want the Olympic team to look bad. And look bad they did not! Just watching these women playing and passing and "doing their hockey thang" it was like wow, now I know why you were all chosen! I think this team has a very good chance of making it far into the medal round. Plus with Mark Johnson as their coach that will also help them since he is awesome.

Wednesday I worked out, had breakfast and went to work. The first 3 1/2 hours were slow. So my manager left at about 2:45 since she had been there ALL day and it was slow. I kid you not we became busy right after she left. And it was only me. No one had to wait for anything so that wasn't bad, but since we were closing at 4:00 and I was the only one there I had to do all of the closing tasks. No biggie, but when it's just one person closing and you have to stop constantly to help customers you fall behind. I was frustrated only because I had people coming over for dinner and I still had stuff to do. The last person left at about 4:40 and by that time all I had to do was mop. Annoying? Yes, but good for business. Plus I was trying to be polite and not kick people out. I caught a later bus that dropped me off at our bank where I met mom. If I didn't have people coming over I would have walked home since it's under a mile from the bank to my house.

This morning I'm not really doing much of anything. i'll shovel later. I'll try and come up with something creative for lunch. Maybe I'll take a porkchop out and do some BBQ stuff. Or something with my jerk seasoning. I'm not sure yet.

Random thought: More snow = sledding :)

~Nicole

No tickets

I looked, but when I tried to find better ones I was already getting the message saying that tickets were unavailable. It would not have worked out anyways. Fun thinking about though.

Today was good. I didn't work out since I'm still not feeling 100%. I'll do a workout tomorrow. Either walking or running at a slower pace. Heck I still don't feel 100%, but I ate a bit too much pizza tonight so I need to work that off. Will I ever have a good relationship with food? Probably not.

In good/fun news I am going to the UW women vs. USA Olympic women's hockey game tomorrow! $5 to see an Olympic team - heck yes! Plus it has to be weird for Mark Johnson and the UW Women. Johnson is usually the UW coach, but he was chosen to be the coach of the Olympic team.

Random thought: When I am really into a big I read really fast!

~Nicole

More Lady Gaga'ness

Last post about her...for awhile at least.

The rest of her tickets go on sale at 10:00 this morning. I'll hop on the internet before work and see if I can find any good seats. I probably won't. Plus the only day I can go is Friday - that doesn't give me much time!

Onto cuteness, check out this awesome lolcat:

Random thought: Feeling better today so far.

~Nicole

 So this older, perhaps homeless man, came into work and got some stuff. He sat down for a bit and wandered around the shop. Didn't think much of it. Then he just kept lingering and staring at me and it kind of creeped me out. Since we were going to be so slow I was the only one there. I gave myself a time that if he was still creeping me out I was going to call one of my male friends that lives near by and ask him to stop in. I was serious too! Luckily a man with his young son came in and sat down; the guy left soon after they came. If it would have been dark instead of 10:15 in the morning and sunny, I might called him or one of my other friends then. I felt kind of bad since if he is homeless than he probably wanted a warm place just to sit for a bit. He's been in before, but I guess I just felt different since I was alone.

The rest of the day was okay. I felt crappy once I got home from work. My legs ached, I developed a terrible headache and my throat became sore. I feel better after having dinner, but my throat is still a bit sore and I feel kind of out of sorts. I'll head to bed early tonight.

In good news my friend Jaime is home for a little over a week. Hopefully we all can get together and have a dinner party. I REALLY want to make some almond croissants.

Random thought: It's quarter to nine and I want to go to bed.

~Nicole

Tweaking with the blog

Just doing some tweaking. I'll see how I like this. If I don't I'll just change it again. :)

~Nicole

Being smart while drinking

It can happen.

I got paid yesterday so I didn't care about spending a bit extra. Only took out $20 extra and I set up my credit card payment so we are good.

So about being smart. For one thing I don't have a hangover. I woke up during the middle of the night a lot thirsty, but that was it. Two, while leaving the dance club, someone else drove us back to the hotel. Three, sometimes when I drink I get a bit flirty. I totally could have gone that route, but I didn't which was good for both of us since we're on the friends vibe/route.

Tomorrow is back to reality for me since I work from 6:30-2:30. I'll only work 26'ish hours next week, but once the semester starts I'll be back to my 35-40 hours. I've enjoyed my time off, but I'll enjoy being busy again and seeing everyone and finding out how their holidays, vacations, etc. were.

Random thought: The floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade are so pretty.

~Nicole