A Basket Full of Goodies

I realize I haven’t been doing a really good job of posting regularly, or uh…at all, really. I realize that those of you who used to consider yourselves my “regular” readers (all three or four of you) are probably feeling quite neglected and abandoned. I realize everyone else probably didn’t even notice I was MIA…well FINE! ;-) But seriously, I hate that I’ve been such an inconsistent blogger lately, and am hoping to turn things around. See, life has gotten incredibly busy these last few months, so the “real world” if that’s what we’re calling it these days, has pulled me away from the blogosphere. But, I LOVE the blogosphere, and as much as I haven’t had time to visit, I’ve been missing it dearly.

Not only do I miss regularly updating you on the shenanigans of my OH SO EXCITING (don’t laugh) life, I REALLY miss reading about all your adventures and misadventures. My google reader is up to oh geez, probably 500 or 600 posts, so when in the world I think I’ll find the time to catch up is beyond me, but I refuse to clear it out and start from scratch. What if I miss something vital? One of these days, I promise, I will catch up.

In the meantime, I’m going to ask you to leave me a comment directing me to one or two of your most recent posts that I just MUST read. Pretty please? I really want to know.

So, now that we’ve covered my catching up with YOU, here’s a bit of what’s been going on with me. And there’s a lot folks. I warn you now, this is a long post, but hey, you’ve had barely any reading material from me all summer, so maybe you’ll enjoy my ramblings.

First of all, starting next week I’m embarking on a new writing venture. Because this is such a huge thing for me, one that I’m incredibly excited about, I’m going to save the details of the announcement for its very own post in the next few days. However, because I don’t want to be a terrible tease, I’ll share with you that I’ve been asked (uh, maybe I volunteered myself) to contribute to a wonderful Ezine called Blissfully Domestic as part of their “Inspired Bliss” channel, which is their faith channel. Yes, I know, funny how things happen, right? But because of this, I’m making some new blog-buddies, and want to take a moment to say HELLO to them. Can’t wait to get inspired by you ladies! If you stopped by today, I hope you’ll poke around to get to know a little more about me, but for purposes of knowing why I’m joining you, the next few paragraphs, and links therein, should give you an idea. The rest is just my crazy mind at work.

Moving on then, we’ve already discussed the amazing summer I’ve had reconnecting with God, my faith family, and the youth of my parish. As things move along in that field, I’ll give you more of that story, but for now, you can read this (if you haven’t had the chance to do so yet), and just know that I’m still the same snarky, sarcastic, and shoe addicted Karina, I just have a greater sense of my place in this world now. It feels nice. And in case you are wondering, the tattoo is healing quite nicely as well.

The summer is now drawing to a close and you would think that would mean that I’d have less activities planned with the youth and all, and get back some of my free time. You would think wrong. The Fall and Winter are going to be just as, if not even more, busy as the summer was, but this is a good thing. I’m looking forward to all that is lined up for the next few months.

Another major change in my life has been this career move of mine, and with the exception of a few posts to tell you about my new job, I haven’t really told you much about how that has gone. Let me tell you now. I LOVE my new job. LOVE IT. I went from a stressful, pull my hair out of my head every day, holy crap how in the world am I ever going to catch up with any of my work, and I’m going to kill my coworkers one of these days, kind of job, to well…how do I even describe it? Some days, I’m bored with nothing to do. GASP! I KNOW! My new boss, The Don, is fantastic. He’s a great guy, with a heart of gold, and the type of boss everyone always wishes they could have. My new company is wonderful. They truly care about their employees and their customers, and I feel good about working here, and it’s the kind of place you want to promote to your friends and family, because they really stand for something. My new coworkers are all great, and I’ve made some new friends, and am looking forward to things like the holiday party, because I can see it’ll be a blast. And the job itself is easy. I have great freedom to my days to do my work at my own pace, without anyone (see Nazi) breathing down my neck, there are NO MORE Whisper Wednesdays, and there are plenty of opportunities for me to step up and be challenged when I want to be. There is also great room for growth here, so while I’m okay with the laid back pace for now, I know when I start to feel stagnant, I can step up to the plate and take on new ventures.

I also love the location of where I work. Working in the historical downtown area of my home town has been great fun this summer. I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends for lunch, enjoy daily walks, and just see other people out and about, something I, as an avid people watcher, was really missing in my old job in the boonies.

The downside to this working environment has been that going out to eat lunch every day (practically) made me gain quite a few pounds. I was pretty busy and active all summer long with the youth, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but still, it was getting to the point where I knew I had to do something about it.

SO, a few weeks ago I joined Jenny Craig. I went with Candid Mama as moral support, but after listening to their introduction (uh, sales pitch) I decided to give it a shot as well. I signed up for a 6 week trial, and am now on week 3. I’ve lost 5 ½ pounds in my first two weeks so far. Considering I’m not working out, am not feeling particularly hungry at any time, and actually enjoy the food, I’d say this is a success. My goal is 20 lbs so hey, I’m a quarter of the way there…that’s not too bad. The best part is I’m learning some really easy and manageable ways to keep this going once my six week trial is up. It’s been an amazing boost to my confidence to see the weight go too. It’s slow, but healthy the way it is going, and I love that I’m taking charge of my body. And yes, I do feel healthier; it’s amazing how what we put in our bodies can totally affect how we feel isn’t it? Yeah, yeah, I know old news.

Speaking of a confidence booster, I bought a product off an infomercial that changed my life. No, seriously. I’m not getting paid to say this (but really, they should pay me for all the publicity I’ve done for their product), but I am in LOVE with the Wen by Chaz Dean hair stuff. You may not know this, but my hair has been complete crap for years now. I had some stuff going on a few years back, and my hair which has always been really thin, just became crap, and for a while now I’ve pretty much always worn it up, sort of hidden and kind of “out of sight, out of mind”. I HATED my hair. I wouldn’t even get it cut, because there was no point. I have tried every hair product known to womankind and nothing worked to fix it. So, one day, while cleaning my house with the television on for background noise, this infomercial came on. Now, for the record, I don’t buy things off infomercials, pretty much ever. I don’t buy into the whole “this will change your life” thing, EVER. But, since I was already spending all sorts of money weekly on trying new hair products, to no avail, when I heard the words “Just one use of this product and you won’t believe the change in your hair”, right after I said “yeah, right” I said “Well, whatever, what have I got to lose?” So, I ordered it. With much dubiousness, when it arrived, I tried it.

And HOLY CRAP if my hair wasn’t completely different after just one use. That stuff really works. I’ve now been using it for about a month, and LOVE my hair. I wear it down most days now. I get compliments on my hair from strangers. MY HAIR! The rats nest I kept hidden for years. LOVE IT. Huge confidence booster right there as well.

One more vital thing I changed this summer. You all know I’m a big sister through Big Brother Big Sister to Lil’K. Have been since she was 8 years old. She is now 15. For the last year or so, we’d drifted apart. I was having a hard time finding ways to connect with her. I was looking at her as a teen who didn’t much need me in her life anymore, and I wasn’t sure how to stay involved in her life. Part of me wasn’t sure I needed to anymore. I never had any plans of walking away, but it was getting easy to just not call her for weeks and blame it on the fact that we were both busy with our lives, and she was doing just fine without me. But I was wrong, because now, more than ever, she needs me. Now, more than ever, she needs some positive influences in her life. Now, at a time when every decision she makes could truly affect the future of her life. Because of the youth group activities this summer, I was able to find a common ground with her, and we spent a summer having a great time together, and getting closer. This weekend we take another step in our relationship, which I am hoping will open all sorts of new doors for our communication as she faces what will surely be the toughest years of her young life. We are attending a “parent/teen” retreat. I have always been a parental figure in her life, and it’s time I take a more active role, so I’m looking forward to this retreat like you can’t imagine. It was time I stepped back in and took charge a bit, because last year was a rough year for her, and I wasn’t a very present figure. I blame myself for that, I’d become complacent in a lot of things in my life.

See, here’s the funny thing that happened this summer. Somewhere along the way I realized I’d been just going through the motions of daily living. It wasn’t that my life wasn’t a good one, it was just that I wasn’t exactly doing much of anything. I looked back at the last few years, and pleasant and peaceful as they’ve been, I had a hard time differentiating one from the other. I’m 33 years old. That’s way too young to settle for status quo. It was time for me to stop living on the sidelines, and take an active role in my life. It wasn’t enough to be living, I need to be ALIVE. I’ve done things this summer that I swore you’d never see me do. I went canoeing. I’m deathly afraid of drowning folks. It was exhilarating in a terrifying sort of way, I loved it. I got on a roller coaster. The kind that turns you upside down. Ladies and gents, I DON’T DO THAT. Correction, I didn’t do that, because now? OH, I can’t wait for the next one. I’m doing it folks, I’m doing it all.

Next adventure? Hmm, maybe I’ll try my hand at dating again, what do you think? After all, we can’t let my fabulous new hair and soon to be svelte figure go to waste, now can we? Right..yeah, okay…

Follow-Up Friday - New Beginnings

I started off this week with a look back, before I forged ahead. Fun Monday this week was all about our favorite vacations, and I had a fun trip down memory lane, looking over my Mexico photos and sharing them with you.

Then on Tuesday I started my new job. I was a bit nervous for my first day, a bit like a little kid on the first day of school. But, I was also excited to start this new chapter in my life. Thank you all for your positive words of encouragement.

Wednesday we had a little party here. It was time to launch the Re-Design of the blog, so we had cake and ice cream...well, actually, we had ice cream cake...and prizes. If you didn't get a chance to stop by the party yet, pop on over, there's still ice cream (a recipe too) and you can still enter to win one of the prizes.

And yesterday I filled you all in a little bit about the new job. One more day in and I'm still really enjoying it. I'm also really enjoying the fact that I now get home from work around 4:45, as opposed to the 6:30 or seven pm I was used to with my old job. How sweet it is!

This week I also recapped The Bachelorette and did a mini-recap of So You Think You Can Dance over at Cafe Karina.

Also, after a way too long hiatus, Candid Mama is back and has posted a new entry this week, won't you stop by and give her some love?

Finally, I will be helping out on a youth retreat this weekend, so won't be around, but I will have a Photo Hunter post up on Saturday and a little something something on Sunday as well.

Fun Monday next week is being hosted by Karisma, and it looks like a really fun one...I'll definitely be in on that one. Well, it's all "auto-publishing" from here on out, so have a great weekend everyone!

In case you missed it...

I've been a busy busy girl the last week or so. In case you missed it, I went to New York City last weekend, and had a lovely 3 1/2 hour lunch with Frances, another blogger, and told you all about it here.

I also discovered that an old college buddy of mine is one of the bachelors on The Bachelorette. You can read all about that at Cafe Karina this week. Now that American Idol is over (Yay David Cook), I'll be doing Bachelorette recaps, as well as recaps of "So You Think You Can Dance"(once the auditions are over that is) over there as well.

Yesterday I very quickly shared some photos from my visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. I didn't really say much about the photos because I was in a bit of a hurry and on my way to a graduation, but my visit to the cathedral was on of my favorite parts of my trip last weekend. There was just this incredible sense of serenity and peace in that big old building. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and I wasn't even really sure where to focus my eye, there was so much to take in. The photos do not do it justice.

I promised my ice cream cake recipe, and you will get that, with photos, but it probably won't be until next week. I'm making the cake sometime this afternoon, but will save the post for next week.

Tomorrow's photo hunter is all about my favorite subject...shoes. You know I've got photos to share for that topic. And Fun Monday is all about our favorite vacations...should be a fun travel experience for all of us.

And...as you can see by the sticky post above, there's a new blog design in the works over here at Candid Karina...we should be live soon...stay tuned.

Follow-Up Friday with a side of AWESOME.

So yours truly had her very first job interview in over five years today. And yours truly was extremely nervous about same. I'm happy to report that I ROCKED IT!!

That's it. End of entry.

OH, you want more? Alright fine, twist my arm.

All kidding aside folks, I don't think I've ever interviewed as well as I did today. I was very much at ease, and feel I said all the right things at all the right moments. There were two people interviewing me, the head of HR and the CEO of the company, who would become my boss were I to be hired. Both were really nice and the CEO totally reminded me of my boss at the firm (in all the good ways, that is). Anyway, the company sounds like a great place to work, and the job sounds interesting and I think I could not only do the job well, but actually really enjoy working there. I liked them, and I really think they liked me. I basically walked out of there feeling like I did all I could, and if I don't get this job, then it simply wasn't meant to be, but it's not due to my screwing up the interview.

Anyway, they didn't really say "when" I'd hear back, but as I was walking out with the HR lady I said it was a pleasure to meet her and looked forward to hearing from her, and she said something like "We will definitely call you". So, I am not going to do that whole "counting chickens before they hatch" thing, but I feel pretty good about this.

I've already sent off my thank you notes, so now it is out of my hands and into God's. If it is meant to be, then it will be, and if not, well then, that's just the way the cookie crumbles, isn't it?

Thank you all for your prayers and good luck wishes and vibes though. I have no doubt they helped tremendously.

And now I was going to do a whole follow-up Friday post, but mom wants me to head over to tell her all about my interview so instead I leave you with this VERY RANDOM question:

Thong underwear, yay or nay?

I said it was random. I'll elaborate more at a later date, I promise.

See you all tomorrow for Photo Hunter.

Follow-Up Friday - Whew...I made it through the week...

Well, this was a crazy week here at Casa Karina. I wanted to try and keep blogging everyday, since I signed up for Blog 365 t the beginning of this year, an I just barely managed to do so this week. But I haven't missed a day yet. Not that that's saying much considering some of the content of my posts of late. But it's been helpful to me to disconnect from all the nuttyness that is my life currently and come in here and post for a bit.

For Saturday's Photo Hunt theme of Thirteen, I shared a photo of myself along with my Jr. High BFF, "B", at the tender age of 13. In all our feathered hair and bangs glory. I laughed so much when I found this photo a while back, that I was glad to have an opportunity to share it with you all. If you haven't laughed seen it yet, be sure to pop over.

I almost didn't participate in Fun Monday this week because I didn't think I could find the time, but I'm so glad I decided to post a "quickie" which turned into a great list of things, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Wednesday I got a bit "deep" and spiritual with the help of Wayne Dyer...and that kind of made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside too.

I didn't do a Thursday Thirteen yesterday either, so I just sort of "waxed poetic" (or not) about life in general.

I also sadly dropped out of NaPoWriMo on Creative Karina. I was doing so well with inspiration that I was writing a poem a day, and having great fun participating in National Poetry Writing Month, but the muse was seriously overcrowded in my brain this week, so she decided to take a vacation. Can't say that Iblame her.

I did, however, managed to do my American Idol recap at Cafe Karina, since reality television has been my "escape" for much of this week. Thank goodness for those crazy folks who put themselves on tv for or entertainment!

I have slowly, but surely, been catching up on visiting all my favorite bloggers, since I miss you all so much. I'm not quite caught up yet, but I'm getting there!

And in case you are wondering, the job search is moving along...slowly, but moving along. I've applied for quite a few jobs, and am hopeful that some phone calls and interviews will be forthcoming soon. I'm trying not to get discouraged every time the phone rings at it's someone I know (not someone offering me a job)...fingers crossed that'll change soon.

I'll be posting a "Unique/Funny Sign" for Photo Hunter tomorrow, and uh...does anyone know who's hosting Fun Monday next week? Cuz I have no idea, and I'd like to sign up.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Follow Up Friday - The calm after the storm

Oh, what a week it's been. Let's recap, shall we? (By the way, I responded to all comments individually at their respective posts).

In Saturday's Photo Hunt I showed you all a glass sculpture that sits in the middle of the "mall" at Mohegan Sun Casino. Many of you asked if it was a Dale Chihuly piece. Well, I had no idea, but it turns out that in fact, it is. Here's some more information on it, if you're interested. I think I may have found a new favorite artist...his stuff is just amazing.


Sunday I had a bit of a meltdown. Tough as it was that day, I think it was MUCH needed in order for me to "cleanse" the soul and start all over again. Once again, thank you so very much to all of you for your sweet words of encouragement. I don't think any of you will ever know what a bright spot you all are when I'm having "one of those" days.

Fun Monday was the funnest indeed. It seems everyone loved my new "interview" shoes, which I bought to go with my new "interview" suit. I do love them! ;-) Nobody got the "five by five" reference...but I'm not revealing the answer yet...I'll save it for this coming Fun Monday. Anyone out there taking any guesses? I'll give a hint, it's a television show reference.

On Wednesday I decided to change the subject a bit, sick as I was of dwelling on this job loss issue. It turned into a much more inspired post than I had originally planned. Funny how those things happen. Anyway, Frigga wanted the recipe for the Strawberry Passion martini I had at dinner Tuesday night. I wanted to oblige girl, but I can't find the recipe anywhere, and don't remember what was in it. I will tell you, however, that I had it at The Outback Steakhouse and it's their "Featured" drink right now. It's not, however, on their website anywhere.

Oh, I also threw out there on Wednesday that I want to go see NKOTB live on the Today Show on May 16th, and would love if anyone wants to meet up in NYC that day, we could go together, and act like teenage girls. I'm totally not kidding, so any takers?

On Yesterday's Thursday Thirteen I shared some of the photos I took at the New England Aquarium on Saturday, including something rarely seen here...a photo of myself (with the girls). It wasn't on purpose that the reflection of the flash is right above my face...but I was kind of glad for the distraction...hahaha...I've got even more aquarium photos, so I'll share those in the future.

And today I sit here, at work, on my last official day. I will actually be in, sort of "part-time" for the next few weeks, or until I find a job, whichever comes first. They're doing what they can to help me out with some extra cash, and in the meantime I'm going to help them tie up any loose ends I can. It's been really strange cleaning out my office, carrying bags and boxes home. You wouldn't believe the amount of crap one accumulates in five years at a job. Sigh...

Still, as sad as this day could be, I'm in good spirits. The job search is going quite slowly, which is scary, but next week I'll be able to dedicate some serious time to it, so hopefully something will turn up. And the good news is that since I'm on a "forced" vacation next week, I'll be able to catch up on all my favorite blogs.

Tomorrow I'm feeding the poor with my church group, AND helping Shoppaholic move into her new apartment, should be a busy day, but a feel good one too.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Playing Hookie - Follow Up Friday

Shhhh, don't tell anyone at The Firm, but I'm not really sick today like they think I am. See, I had promised my mom I would take her to Mohegan Sun tonight to watch Richard Marx in concert, and I need to save all my vacation days so I can get paid for them after my layoff, so a sick day it had to be. Oh yes, I did say Richard Marx. Yep, THAT Richard Marx. He's actually performing in a FREE concert tonight at the casino, and mom was a HUGE fan of his music back in the day. So, I'm off in a bit, but I thought I'd do a quick Follow-Up Friday since with the whole job situation I didn't really do well on replying to comments this week.

I really just want to thank you all for all your kind words of encouragement, and offers to help, and positive thoughts in the last week. This whole job loss thing is a hell of a lot more overwhelming than I could ever have imagined it, but having so many people out in the universe sending me positive vibes has certainly made it a lot easier to bare. So thanks.

In looking over my posts this past week I realize that I'm turning it into "all about the lay-off" and I certainly don't want that to happen, so I've got some non-job related stuff coming up next week. However, a good thing about this lay-off is that it will give me plenty of blog fodder in the coming weeks, if not months or years. See, life as it was with the current job was not "boring" but it was kind of...routine. Things are certainly about to change though.

Can you imagine the blog fodder I'll have simply by going on job interviews? And then, with a new job, comes a whole new slew of characters to blog about, doesn't it? And if I end up having to "return" to working in Boston, as much as I'm dreading the commute and long hours, life should certainly get more interesting. I hated the commute, but I've said more than once in the past five years how much I miss working in the city, the hustle and bustle and all that.

Yes ladies and gents, there will be some interesting material coming up for sure.

Okay, well, I have to get out of here, mom and I (and dad's coming along too) are hitting the road in about an hour, and I have to go get ready.

Tune in tomorrow for a "Twisted" photo hunt. And the Nekked Lizards are hosting a truly FUN Monday I'm looking forward to participating in.

And NaPoWriMo is still going strong over on my Creative Karina blog, if you feel so inclined.

Happy Friday.

Spring in New England - Follow-Up Friday

Well folks, it's Spring, or so they keep telling us...but I woke up this morning to the all too familiar sound of a snowplow outside my window. Ah yes, Spring in New England. Right now the snow has turned to some sleeting and we're expected to get more snow later on. Good times, good times. (Note heavy sarcasm please).

A note about comments: I once again replied to everyone's comments individually within the posts, so if you left me a comment that required a response, check in there...I did reply!

This week's Fun Monday was a fun one for sure...I learned my ABC's in all sorts of ways travelling around visiting others, and got to share a few of my favorite things in mine. This list was definitely not all inclusive, but I figured you had enough reading to do as it was. However, I did get quite a few surprised comments in regards to the revelation that I was born in Africa. I guess I owe you all the story of how that came to be...so stay tuned, I will share part of it next week. Also, I want to thank those of you who've stopped by Candid Mama's brand new blog. You've made her feel very welcome to the blogosphere, and I'll have you know that she's quickly becoming as big an addict as we all already are. In fact, she'll be participating in next week's Fun Monday herself.

Tuesday I shared with you some Family Time moments. I really am blessed for the family I have, and am always happy to share them with you...thanks for your sweet comments.

On Wednesday I gave you some tidbits about the random Dream I had. But then, aren't dreams always random? I'm still trying to decipher why certain elements creeped into my sub-conscious, but hey, without those I would have missed a perfect opportunity for a funny blog entry.

Thursday Thirteen yesterday took an interesting turn for me. I was going to give you a list of things I don't do...silly things, such as I don't wear nylons with sandals and nobody ever should. But somehow, in the process, the list took a serious turn, and I wound up getting all introspective. That's the way it works I guess.

There was also a bit more poetry at Creative Karina, and the Idol recaps continue at Cafe Karina. Also, if you're wondering when your favorite shows are coming back, drop by the Cafe sometime this weekend...I will have a post up later on with some insider (not really) info. for you.

Coming up at Candid, tomorrow's Photo Hunt will have us feeling "High", I will dig into my African roots, and Fun Monday promises to be a Quotable one. Also, maybe, just maybe, if you're really good...I'll properly introduce you to Velvet, my new Beta Fish.

Extra Extra I've got news - Follow-Up Friday

The first day of Spring here in my neck of the woods brought with it some insanely strong winds. With temps in the 30's, it felt more like a mid-winter day. Ah, Spring in New England. But, today, although still windy and cold, the sun is out. There's at least a false sense of the new season as I sit in my office with my heater on.

Once again this week I've managed to reply to comments directly at each individual post, so, if you left me a comment this week, check for my response accordingly. I'm attempting to do this daily now, and really, it's not like I get so many comments that I can't keep up. (That was a poorly disguised plea for comments if I ever saw one).

This was an interesting blogging week for me. I had a "bloggy" success moment on Saturday when I tried a bit of a "picture switch" magic with my Photo Hunter on Saturday....and it worked!

It was also a bit of a catch up week here at Candid Karina, with two memes I'd been tagged for on Monday, another more poetic meme I'd been meaning to do for months on Tuesday, and answers to some reader's questions on Wednesday. Yesterday it was all about Spring. And there were shoes, oh, how I want those red shoes.

I also managed a bit of poetry over at my oft-neglected writing blog, Creative Karina.

And at my new pop-culture blog, Cafe Karina, I not only kept up with my American Idol recaps, but I ventured into new territory as well. This post should show you the direction I plan on taking with that blog. In a word...random. It is for my random thoughts about the media world we live in. There will be celebrities, there will be music, there will be (of course) television, and yes, at times, there will even be news and politics. There will be snark, there will be humor (I hope), and there will be eye candy. I hope you'll come by for a cup'a.

But that's not all the bloggy news I have. I have two more ventures I'm extremely excited about.

First up, if you don't know by now, I belong to a fantastic group called SheWhoBlogs. It is a community of female bloggers offering one another support, fun and friendship. We have our own blog, and also, if you click on the handy little button on the sidebar, you can join our Yahoo Group. I'm inviting you, we'd love to have you.

But here's where the NEW comes in. Our fearless leader Frances decided that she wanted to begin a new weight loss program, and asked if any of us would be interested in joining her, and turning it into a blogging venture as well. Since I'm constantly saying I really need to get serious about getting and staying in shape, I decided I would have to join in. So, together with a group of ladies from SheWhoBlogs, today we launch our new blog SheWhoDiets (you know you love it). I'm excited to see what we will all come up with, and how we can all motivate each other to succeed in our health goals. Despite the name, this blog is not just about dieting, it is about exercise, about choosing healthy options, and just in general about making the right choices, and supporting one another in those decisions. I'm really looking forward to what's to come. I hope you'll stop by and see us.

And finally, the other new venture I'm giddy with excitement about. Last night at dinner at my parents' house, I was discussing my blog and the wonderful friendships I've made in the blogosphere. Quite unexpectedly my mom said "I should start a blog". Can you all hear me squealing with excitement? As a blogger I feel that everyone in the world should blog, and wish I could convince all my friends to do so, because they just don't know what they're missing out on. So, how cool is it that mom wants to join our ranks? I will be spending some time with her this weekend setting up a brand new blog for her...so stay tuned for Candid Momma.

That's all I've got for you today, and really, that's enough, ain't it? Come on by tomorrow to see what I've come up with for the Photo Hunter "Metal" theme and next week's Fun Monday is being hosted by Swampy, so you KNOW you've got to check that out.

Have a great Easter everyone.

Let's play tag

There's no real "Follow-Up Friday" this week, because I replied to each and every one of your comments in the comments sections of the appropriate posts. Therefore, if you left me a comment this week, you'll want to check back there for my replies.

If you've been busy this week and are curious about what's happened here at Candid Karina, here's a quick recap...Saturday we kicked off the Ultimate Blog Party. Sunday I had technical difficulties, so barely managed to get a post in. Fun Monday was all about movie quotes. On Tuesday I told you all about my birthday weekend, and shared some photos and on Wednesday I had a great big thank you to my blog-buddy Sognatrice. And in yesterday's Thursday Thirteen I had a chance to share with you some of my zoo photos. And of course, for my latest recaps and opinions on American Idol, take a gander on over to Cafe Karina.


Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, I thought today would be a good day to tackle one of the many memes I've been tagged for recently.


This one is the 30 Questions Meme, and I was tagged by Frigga. Here we go:

If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say? Somebody call the pope, we've got ourselves a miracle.

Do you trust all of your friends? My real friends, yes.

Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love? I think it would fully depend on the circumstances, how serious we were, why we'd have to move, and what state and/or country we'd need to move to, and what I'd be giving up personally by moving, but for all the right reasons, yes.

Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? I actually do. We might not always know what those reasons are right away, but I do believe eventually it all makes sense.

Can you make a dollar in change right now? Probably, yes.

Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor? Hmm...that's a tough one. I'm not sure any of them would, to be honest.

What naughty word do you use too often? Probably the F word. I try not to...really, I do, but sometimes it's called for.


Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times? There are several people who pop into my mind at random times. Lately, it's been one particular random person from my past...hmmm

What's your most favorite scar? I don't really get this question...do people really have favorite scars?


When was the last time you flew in a plane? As opposed to flying with my wings? Uh...it was almost two years ago now, I think...how sad. I'm due for another trip.


What features do you find most attractive in the preferred sex? Preferred sex - I like that, it's funny. What do I find most attractive though? I don't know, it depends on the guy, but I've noticed that my tastes range from one end of the spectrum to the next on appearance, so it must have something to do with personality, right?


Fill in the blank. I love __________. Life!

What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? Get caught up on updating my blog roll...I've been trying to do it for months now.

If you were to wake up from being in a coma for an extended time who would you call? Definitely my mom.


Where was your favorite picture taken? As in favorite picture 'of me'? I have no idea, I hate pictures of me.

What's your middle name? That's a little known secret around these parts.


Honestly, what's on your mind right now? My deadline on this HUGE project I have to do at work today, and how I should really log off and get to it.

If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be? I don't know...I'm not sure that I would change much.

Who was or will be the maid of honor/best man in your wedding? Don't know, but with the number of weddings I've been in, I've got plenty of victims to choose from.


What are you wearing right now? Black pants with a red pinstripe, a red shirt and red stilleto boots.

Ever had a bar fight? Nope.

Who knows you the best? Hmmm, probably my mom.

Did you buy something today? Amazingly enough, I haven't bought a single thing since Sunday.


Did you get in a fight with someone today? Not yet, but it's early. ;-)


When was the last time you had a massage? Wow, it's been a long long time.


Last person to see you cry? There was a whole group of them actually.


Who made you cry? It wasn't a who, as much as a what, but it wasn't a bad thing.


What was the last TV show you watched? I watched pieces of Good Morning America before I left the house.


Who was the last person you hung out with? My parents, I had dinner with them last night.

Have you ever taken a peek at someone else's diary? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I haven't, no.


This was different, and fun. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tag people, but I'm not going to...I'm going to instead tell you to feel free to tag yourself, if you want to.

Have a great Friday everyone, and stop by tomorrow for Photo Hunter, won't you?

Say It Like You Mean It - Follow Up Friday

There were a few changes here at Candid Karina this week, a new header, a new look, and a whole new blog too!

I kicked off this week with an incredibly FUN Monday. How much fun was it to write our own proposals for the movie of our life story and get to cast the roles as well? I enjoyed writing mine almost as much as I enjoyed going around to read everyone else's. And this week I actually managed to visit almost everyone on the list! Everyone seemed to love that I cast Marisa Tomei as myself, and I have to tell you, I really wish she did more movies, because I love her as an actress. Karmyn mentioned that she was glad I didn't chose Sarah Jessica Parker, and I had to laugh, because I actually considered her...for a milisecond. But only because out of all the Sex And The City characters, I'd have to say I'd be Carrie for sure. SJP really isn't me in any way, shape or form, so it didn't fit.

On Tuesday, I had a lot of fun creating and then handing out my very own blog award. If you haven't seen the Candids yet, please stop by and check them out, and do go visit the winners, they're all wonderful.

Wednesday I had a little fun with my Boston Accent here at Candid Karina, but I also launched my new pop culture blog, Cafe Karina with this week's American Idol recaps. I'll be using that blog for all things pop culture, from commentary on television shows I watch, to movie and book reviews, to even bits and pieces of my opinions on celebrity gossip. It won't be a celeb gossip blog though, just my thoughts.

My Thursday Thirteen this week took a bit of a serious (and almost negative) turn, without my even noticing it. I did a "Things I Haven't Said" list, and rereading it today, I realize that some of those sounded pretty bitter and negative. Guess that means I choose to hold in hurtful words instead of spilling them out, overall, right? That's not all bad, is it? I did want to say something about some of the things I said, and especially one of the comments I received. Laura gave me some wonderful words about my situation with my friend's child. There was some great advice there that I most likely will follow, depending on how things pan out in the next few months. Her child is in the midst of evaluations, and therapies, and seeing all sorts of experts, so I think it might still be too early for me to "play doctor". I don't know the extent of what she knows, or suspects, to be honest, so that is why I have held back from bringing my suspicions up. Yet. But as I learn more, and speak with her more, I'll know better if there is something to my uneducated suspicions, you know? A very touchy situation, that I'm trying to handle with care at the time. But thank you so much for your comment.

Lissa commented on the fact that I haven't been posting over at Creative Karina very much (at all) lately. I really have been SO BUSY that I just haven't found the time or energy to be creative, but Lissa, head on over there today, I posted something for Pensieve's Poetic License.

Frigga said I should really say...well, just about everything on my list! And I sort of agree with you on this girl, for most of those you mentioned anyway. And some of them (3, 6, 7,9) , I know I will say, or have said in smaller ways, but not as straightforward. Others, I know I will not, cannot say, not yet anyway. As for number 11 on the list? Ah, if only, but even if I decided I wanted to actually say it, I wouldn't even know where to find him now. But then I'm not so sure I'd want to...some things are better left in the past, you know?

Still, this list was actually very therapeutic to write, and gave me some food for thought about the power of words, and how sometimes, we should let those words come out. Even if they come out with a Boston accent.

This weekend I'll be celebrating my upcoming birthday with some friends, and with family, stalking Bon Jovi and Daughtry tomorrow at Mohegan Sun(damn it I never did win those tickets), and hopefully taking some pictures.

Next week's Fun Monday looks to be a fun one, and also happens to fall right on my birthday, so hopefully I'll find the time to post. I've been tagged for a few meme's that I believe I might post Tuesday and/or Wednesday, and I hope to have some pictures to share on Thursday's Thirteen.

Oh yes, and there's a bloggy party going on that I plan on participating in, but I can't get the hosting blog to work for me right now, so I'll have to check that out later.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, what do you have planned?

Follow-Up Friday - Leap Year Edition

It's February 29th. Not something we get to say all that often, is it? Leap Year...making this a unique year indeed, different, special. So, maybe it was this extra day in the week, maybe it was the magic of leap year in the air, maybe it was something else altogether, but it was a special week for me personally as well.


Here at Candid Karina I started the week with the theme of Wooden for Saturday's Photo Hunt. It was a great theme for me as it reminded me of my neglected pencil sharpener collection. I shared three in that post, I will share more in the future, now that I've dug it out, I'm looking forward to showing you all my treasures.


Fun Monday this week was all about our blog names, and our favorite dish/recipe. I had a lot of fun photographing my meal as I cooked it, and think I may have to do this more often in the future. Hey, maybe I'll start a cooking blog, and call it Cooking Karina as Pamela suggested. The possibilities are endless. (Kidding, I really don't cook often enough for a whole blog). I got some grief from Frigga for using pre-minced garlic. I know, I know, but with my schedule cooking at all during the week is nearly impossible, so I've learned to have "shortcuts" on hand. As it was, I didn't eat until 8:30PM that night...I know, I know...shame on me. Oh, and Jannis wanted to know what the wine was, and I'm happy to oblige and tell you because I have been experimenting with wines, buying new brands everytime I go to the liquor store. That evening it was a glass of "yellow tail" Pinot Grigio. Not bad stuff.


On Tuesday I was sort of at a loss for words. To put it simply, I was blessed to play a very small role in an event that quite possibly has made a very large impact in someone's life. In the process, my own soul was touched, deeply, and a small change has begun within me. If I'm being overly vague it is because the details are unimportant, it was the emotional and spiritual experience that mattered, and will stay with me. I don't speak of religion too much here on the blog (or in my life in general) and I have my issues and my doubts about organized religion that I deal with, but I will tell anyone that I am a highly spiritual person who sees God's work in all the small things daily. What happened on Sunday, and continued to happen as the week progressed, was that I witnessed an example of God's presence in a much larger way. It left me awed and amazed. Also, about my picture of the roses, since I got some comments on them, those gorgeous roses were my father's Valentine's Day gift to my mother. The picture was one of a series I took while messing around with some of the settings on my digital camera, and then with the photo editing software I have. I was thrilled with how it came out, so I'm glad you all enjoyed them as well. And Swampy, I did notice how much they looked like yours as well.


And the last two days I've been recapping American Idol. The guys on Wednesday and the girls on Thursday. Last night's results show was full of surprises for me. Let's start with the guys. First off was Jason Yeager...he was one of my picks to go home, so no surprise there. And then we're down to the last guy to be voted off and it's between Luke Menard and Robbie Carrico. I wasn't overly impressed with either guys' performance, but I had picked Luke as my other guy to go home. I was wrong. I didn't expect Robbie to win it all, but I aslo didn't expect him to go home this early. But overall, no huge surprises with the boys. So, it's on to the girls. Here's where the surprises came in for me. First girl voted off is Alexandrea Lushington. Now, by no means is she one of my favorites, and I didn't think she did all that well this week, but I was surprised to see her go before some of my other picks...namely Kristi Lee Cook and Amanda Overmeyer. Still, no surprise was bigger than the next girl voted off. Especially when they pull up Kady Malloy and Alaina Whitaker. Kady was terrible this week, Alaina wasn't great, but by far has a much much better voice. And yet, she's out. Such is American Idol. Oh, the fun begins, doesn't it?


Now, onto some business I need to take care of. Quite a while ago I posted a question to my dear readers about how to create a "photolink". You may have noticed that I've been using them, so obviously, I received an answer. I owe a great big thank you to Sognatrice, who emailed me privately with instructions on how to do this in my sidebars (which I had been struggling with for months). With her instructions I was able to do it, and can now make some additions to my sidebars I've been meaning to do. I wn't post those instructions here, because it might get too complicated, but if you need them, please let me know and I'll be happy to Pay It Forward and teach you what I've been taught. But I also owe a bit thank you to Qualcosa di Bello, because unbeknownst to her, she left me a comment that totally taught me how to make a photo a link within a post in a SIMPLE, SIMPLE SIMPLE way that I'd never even thought of. Sometimes it's the simplest solutions. Her comment, in case you are wondering, was this: "how to link from a photo in a post (highlight it and hit the link button, just like words)". DUH, why didn't I think of that? So, thank you very much to both of you. By the way, if you do nothing else, click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph for some eye candy ladies. You will not be sorry.


And that's it for this week's Follow-Up Friday. Coming up next week? Tomorrow's Photo Hunter theme is "party", stay tuned for some photos from my Christmas party, I had a blast with my girls and have yet to show you all photos. Fun Monday this week is going to be A WHOLE LOT of fun, you don't want to miss it. I have the first of my winning blogger tributes to be posted on Tuesday...and I'm growing bored with my blog look, and am also slightly unhappy with my blog format in general, so there may be some changes (and possibly a whole new additional blog) premiering soon as well.


Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Follow-Up Friday - American Idol, Giveaways, and more

A lot to talk bout today, so let's get right into it.

First of all, a while back I held an impromptu contest. I had a Friday where I had nothing to say, so I asked my readers to fill in for me. I then asked you to vote for your favorite. And the winner is: uh, well...see, the thing is that technically, there was no winner. I pretty much had one vote for each of the entrants, so in all fairness, I can't pick a winner, so guess what, you're all winners. And the best part? Well, the best part is that I had decided (before I knew who the winner would be) that the prize would be a bit of Blog Lovin' from me. I was going to write a special post, all about your blog, and tell folks why I visit, and why they should. And then, if you were not already on my blog roll, I was going to add you. Turns out most of the contestants are already on my blog roll, but not all, so for those of you who are not, before this weekend is over, you will be. But for all of you who entered without even knowing you entered (that is Frigga, Lil' Mouse, Pamela, Ana, Joy T, Lisa), stay tuned, because in the next few weeks you will all get a post from me, here at Candid Karina, all about why I love ya!

Moving on to yet another contest. On Valentine's Day I held another little contest. This time I asked some trivia questions, as well as some fun little questions. I got some fun answers, and you really must click the link to read them all. But I picked a winner based on...well, basically, I took the five commenters (wow, slow comment day that was) who took the time to answer the questions, threw numbers 1-5 into a had (okay, actually I used a bowl), and picked a number. And the winner is: The Mama Bear. Congrats lady, email me with your address and I'll send off the little Love themed mini-books.

Moving on...on Saturday I posted three pictures for Saturday's Photo Hunter theme of "Free". Qualcosa di Bello wanted to know if that was me in the last picture I posted. Yep, that's me. Enjoying the serenity of Lake Winnipesauke.

Fun Monday this week was all about funny things we see on our travels daily. Unfortunately I didn't learn what the assignment was until it was too late to go out and take photos...so I'm glad you all enjoyed my tale about the Buffalo. I have paid attention on the way to work this week, however and I must tell you...you missed nothing...I see NOTHING funny on the way to work. Just bad traffic, rude drivers, and the occasional crater...uh, I mean pothole. Nothing to see here folks.

On Tuesday I reviewed a few movies, including two more dance movies. If you missed it, check it out.

The last two days I've been recapping American Idol. The boys, and the girls. Last night was the results show, and we said goodbye to Garret Haley (he was not one of my bottom 2 picks, but he was one of my bottom 5, not too surprised or disappointed to see him go); Amy Davis (one of my picks to go home this week, no surprise here); Joanne Borgella (my other pick for the girls to go home this week, so again, no surprise) and Colton Berry (my first surprise of the night, not that I was shocked, he wasn't great, but he was not even in my bottom 5, still, not one of my favorites by any means either). Now, you all know I love Simon, he cracks me up, and I think he's right "most" of the time, but what in the world crawled up his ass last night? He was exceptionally mean to the poor kids going home. Lighten up Simon, it's only tv. Sheesh.

But, more importantly, can we talk about Paula Abdul's music video? I mean, come on, we grew up singing along with and dancing to Cold Hearted Snake and Straight Up, how could we NOT love this new song? It's PAULA Abdul! I love it, it's fun, and you know what, the song is catchy. Good for you Paula!

Finally, I should clear something up, only because I don't want you all to think I'm sunning myself on the beach somewhere in Spain, when in fact I'm wiping snow off my ass, from where I landed this morning when I took a pretty nasty spill right outside my condo complex, in the middle of this LOVELY (said with heightened sarcasm) snow storm we're getting hit with today. See, I want sympathy from you folks, not jealousy! haha...But Jannis left a comment on my TT post about how I was at the beach with her, and I am...mentally. See, if you click on that link it'll take you to Jannis' most recent post, where she said she was taking a mental vacation at the beach, and I asked to join her. So, I'm there...in spirit anyway. Mentally right now we're having a couple of glasses of wine and checking out the cute spanish guys in speedos. Physically? My ass hurts and my shirt is still wet from the snow. (Sympathy, folks, I want your sympathy!)

And there you have it, hope you all have a great weekend, come back tomorrow to see what I've got in store for the Photo Hunter theme of "wooden".

Follow-Up Friday - It's Baa-ack!!! (with a contest)

Okay, I'm forced to admit that moving Follow-Up Friday to Sum-It Up Sunday was unsuccessful. It turns out that with my new duties volunteering Sunday mornings (well into Sunday afternoons) with the youth at the church, I simply don't have the leisurely mornings I'd grown accustomed to on Sundays to blog. So, instead of doing the wrap-up posts I'd been intending to do, I end up just posting a quick thing...and although I'm not sure any of you care whether or not I do them, I actually miss doing the wrap-ups. I like that they give me an opportunity to address questions or comments you might have left, and I like how it allows me to tie my week up in a nice little bow. So, Foll0w-Up Friday is back, and we've got a few weeks to cover, so, I'm going to try to keep it as short as possible. There is a little contest hidden within this post, so please read on and vote. Off we go:

We'll start with the Fun Monday of January 21, the Anniversary Edition. We were asked to show the view from our front doors, so I obliged. But since the view from my front door is my neighbor across the hall's front door, I also gave you the view from my balcony, with some pretty sunset photos. I'm glad you all enjoyed them so much.

On Tuesday, January 22nd, I posted a bit about trolls. No, not the cute cartoon kind with pink and purple hair, the kind who post anonymous comments on blogs meant only to incite, hurt or upset. I was glad to see that you all seem to have the same attitude of delete, forget, move on...really, no better way to deal with it, right? And yes, I'm running out to buy the red wig really soon.

I'm skipping the next few days because I want to dedicate some extra space to the Friday of that week. On that day I didn't have a whole lot of blogging time, so I left it to you to "fill-in-the-blanks". Those of you who responded are so darn creative you all deserve props, so I'm giving them here. I'm going to post the 6 responses I got, and then you, dear reader, are going to vote for your favorite. I'll have a little gift to send to the winner.

The sentence you were asked to finish was: Today, Candid Karina couldn't write a blog entry because _____.

1. Frigga - of the universal forces that prevented that. See, she had every intention to. She even got up this morning, got dressed. But when she stepped outside to grab the paper she was abducted by aliens. As much fun as she's having at her inter-stellar party - those aliens don't have the wrireless connection necessary to post to her blog. You see, aliens don't need blogs, they can read minds. However, I did hear a rumor that they were going to teach Karina how to do this mind reading, and then she can publish from the space craft.

2. Lil' Mouse - she is too busy eating cheese on her couch in her pajamas, listening to lifehouse and being otherwise covert. (refer to this post to see why this was really funny to me).

3. Ana - she is experiencing cranial flatulation - hopefully it will pass in the next day or two. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

4. Lisa - she was too busy picking the fuzz from between her toes, and using said fuzz (along with belly button fuzz) to knit herself a pair of really warm mittens.

5. Joy T - she was too busy researching which brands of peanut butter and jam go best together in preparation for her very first pb & j :o) (FYI, nope, I still haven't had one).

6. Pamela - she had frostbite on her fingers from digging through 17 inches of packed snow to save her future boyfriend who was buried by an avalanche. - he's out there in the c-c-c-cold somewhere right now... brrrrr

Funny gals right? Well, here's the deal, I have to get back to work, so will continue Follow-Up Friday later on, there are some other posts of the last few weeks I still need to adress. But for now, vote for your favorite, so I can send them a little prize. ;-)

Taking care of business - And some eye candy for the ladies

A few blogging items to address, and then we'll get on with the eye candy (that's what you all came here for anyway, right?) Above is just a preview.

First of all, I'm asking for your input as to what website/program you use to track your blog stats. I have something I use, but I'm not in love with it, so I'm looking to poke around and see what's out there. If you have something you use that you like, please let me know in comments, so I can check it out. I'm not a "stats" crazy blogger, and can go MONTHS without even looking at my stats, because I really do this blogging thing for the love of it, but I am curious, and would like to track it a bit better.

Secondly, I wanted to give you all a head's up that I have a few ideas for some giveaways in the future, and even for a "swap" of sorts. Stay tuned, one of these giveaways will happy VERY soon.

Third, in keeping with both the stats and the giveaways, if you are a lurker here on my humble blog, I'm going to be providing you with an opportunity to delurk in the very near future. No obligation to do so, but perhaps just the invitation you've been waiting for to open up.

Fourthly, I know there are some of you out there who I visit regularly and have not added to my blog roll yet, fear not, this is coming. I've just been too busy, but am hoping to do an update soon.

Five, I still have to answer some of your questions from WAY BACK...I haven't forgotten, they're coming up soon.

I swear I thought there was more, but I can't remember now, so we'll leave it at that for now.

Oh, right, one more thing, there's still time to enter the giveaway above this post..the contest closes on Saturday at midnight (my time), and I will draw and announce a winner on Sunday.

UPDATED: I remembered the other thing I wanted to ask all of you/one of you...any of you? Whatever...anyway, photo links. You know, putting a photo on your post, or in your sidebar, so that someone can click it and be taken to another blog/website/whatever? I've followed all kinds of html instructions and can't for the life of me get it to work. So, if you have it down to a science, can you let me know? You don't have to post the instructions in comments, because I think I'll need a serious tutorial here...let me know and I'll get in touch with you for help. I'm not an html expert, but I'm no dummy either, and I've taught myself a lot recently in that area, but this one thing is driving me bonkers. Thanks!

Now, for the eye candy portion of your evening. The disclaimer here is that I have no idea where the following photos originated, so I cannot give credit, but I received them in an email "forward" format. Because they're just WAY too good to keep to myself, I have to share them with you. (If anyone knows where credit should go, let me know, and I'll be happy to give it here). In the meantime, I'm giving his mom and dad credit...and his personal trainer.

Ladies (and gents, if you are so inclined)...I give you Dolce & Gabbana's new runway model:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Follow-Up Friday - and then some

Please note that although I will continue to do Friday Follow-Ups, because I enjoy them, I am also responding to all comments as they come in in individual posts, so if I don't address a particular comment you may have posted in my Follow-Up, I will have addressed it at the original post.

Anyway, what a week it has been. It seems the new year started with a HELLO for me. As in, Hello out there Karina, here is your life, what are you going to do with it? New opportunities, new challenges and new adventures all on the Horizon.

For starters, speaking of NEW beginnings and Horizon's, I had a creative few days over at Creative Karina, with my Sunday Scribblings AND Writer's Island entries. I was also given an award, my first for that blog, but I will post about that over there next week.

Back over here at Candid Karina, I started off the week (or technically finished off last week) with an entry into the Saturday Photo Hunt, featuring the DELICIOUS Smiley, my cousin's son.

On Sunday I posted a few photos that I happened to take driving home last week. It was one of those moments when I drove past something and thought "what a beautiful picture that would make". And then turned my car around, and took the pictures. So glad I did.

I didn't participate in Fun Monday this week, but my fish Blueberry did. He wants you all to know that he had a fantastic time blogging, and hopes to do it again soon. He's also grateful for all your wonderful comments. He replied to all of them in the comments section of that post, so be sure to stop on by and read them.

On Tuesday I was a bit of a tease. I had a story to tell, but couldn't reveal it here, due to security not being as tight as I'd like it to be over here. If you haven't yet, you simply must check out what I'm talking about. I did finally find a way to tell all...so...oh, just go see, will you? And there will be a small update later on today as well, I think.

On Wednesday I started my first attempt at not participating in Wordless Wednesday and...well...my post was practically invisible, and received the least comments I've received on a week-day post in ages...hmmm...maybe I should re-think this "no" wordless wednesday" thing. Still, I kind of enjoyed a day to just write randomly, so, maybe I'll stick to it a bit longer and see what transpires. What do you think?

And yesterday I took a page right out of my buddy Frigga's Thursday Thirteen book and went with an inter-active list. It was SO MUCH fun to read all your responses that I may make this something I do from time to time. I did NOT respond individually to those comments, but that's only because I'm planning on posting my responses sometime next week, and will address yours then. Stay tuned!

So, what's coming up, you ask? There will most certainly be an update to the "oh so secret" tale in the next few days. Saturday Photohunt this week will possibly feature yours truly. There is more creative writing on the horizon over at Creative K. And I have another edition of my "All The Boys I've Ever Loved" posts in the works. I also still have some "interview" questions my readers have posed that I have yet to answer and a few other goodies up my sleeve as well. Don't stray too far, I love having you here!

Happy Friday!

Follow-Up Friday - Live from Winter Wonderland

Boy, what a few week's it's been in these here parts, with about 20 inches of snow delivered in the last week and half. We will certainly be having a White Christmas like we haven't had in years.


I've said it before, and I'll say it again, snow may make for beautiful postcard like scenery (and truly, my drive to and from work has never been more beautiful than it was this morning), but man is it ever a pain in the ass.


Anyway, onto the follow up. Fun Monday this week was all about the history of our homes. I read some fascinating stories traipsing through other's posts, but didn't really have much history to speak of about my little condo. So I just gave you the history of my life in the condo instead. Thank you all for your lovely compliments on the work I've done to the place, I really am proud of how it all came out. I got quite a few comments on how lovely the view is from my balcony, and it truly is a great view. I'm lucky with the location of my particular unit, some of the others in the building have a nice view of a wall or the parking lot. I took even more pictures of the snowy "hill" yesterday, I'll post those maybe this weekend. By the way, Willowtree commented on my use of the word "Unit" to describe my apartment being unusual in the states. To be honest, it's not widely used around here, but that is how it is listed on my deed, and I much prefer it to "apartment" because that makes it sound like I rent, and I prefer it to "condo" because that just sounds snotty ;-).


On Tuesday I reflected a bit about the spirit of Christmas. I'm still feeling it, even more so today, because as soon as I leave work I'll be on vacation until Wednesday. A nice long Christmas break makes for even more of the "Holiday" spirit.


Now, Wordless Wednesday is the post I'm sure most of you were waiting for my follow-up on (okay, maybe two of you), so here it is...the story behind the house featured in those pictures. Normally, I would agree with those who commented that the "light display" was overkill, because truly, well...it is. But this house does it on purpose. It's one of those houses that people come from far and wide to see. And the owners stand out there and take collections for various charities from the folks who drive by to check it out. It's a local Christmas "phenomenon" and the owner is a well known guy in the town where I work. The pictures don't even capture the magnitued of the light display, because the day I chose to go take the pictures was after our ice storm, and the road this house is on was beyond treacherous, so I took a few shots, but wanted to get the heck out of there before someone crashed into something (namely me). The next door neighbor has actually gotten in on the act, and so the display extends a bit into his property as well. It would appear "garish", but it's actually just really kind of cool and festive. And I'm lucky enough to drive by that road every night, and see the house as I go by.


All that said, I still wouldn't want to live next door to them! ;-) Oh, and I definitely wouldn't want to pay the light bill, which he also gets donations from local businesses, etc. for.


And finally yesterday I opted out of Thursday Thirteen and instead did a mini-tribute to my brother in honor of his birthday. I actually took yesterday off work so I could run some last minute "Christmas" errands, and we got a walloping 10 inches of snow, so that made for an interesting time trying to get around to run those errands. I'm happy to report I managed to get at least 80% of what I needed to do done, and with no major incidents to speak of. It did, however, take me twice as long to get just about everywhere, and we won't even speak of the nightmare getting around parking lots was. Still, all my Christmas Shopping is done, and I'm presently wearing my new eyeglasses.

What eyeglasses you ask? OH, see, it's become a personal Christmas tradition (or end of year tradition) that I go shopping for new eyeglasses around this time. This is because I participate in the pre-tax dollar program that's offered as a benefit through my job. But through this program, if you don't use the money by the end of the year, you lose it. And I always end up with extra money left over, and the money needs to be used on "medical" type things (or daycare, or other things that don't apply to me). So, I go buy eyeglasses. Several years ago I developed some major issues with my eyes, and had to stop wearing contacts full time. I can still wear them from time to time, but my eyes are extra sensitive and after a few hours of wearing contacts, they get very red and irritated. So, I now wear glasses full time. Therefore, I figure that if I have to wear them full time, I might as well make them a stylish part of my outfit. After my visit yesterday I now own 6 pairs of eye glasses and two pairs of prescription sunglasses. And two of the pairs I bought yesterday? Channel and Burberry. Yep, I'm cool like that.

I'll share pictures of my eyeglasses in a future post, cuz I'm silly that way and I want you to see them.

Also, dinner with the family last night for "Shortstuff's" birthday was a nice time. We ate, we chatted, we laughed and we all acted like complete fools playing with Diamond, the puppy. Funny how a puppy can turn five grown humans into babbling idiots! She's the cutest thing and we are all in love with her.

Today I am at work, but I can't honestly say I'm "working"...I'm just going through the motions, waiting for clock-out time, so I can begin my Christmas weekend. I am off to help "Shopaholic" finish her Christmas shopping tonight, then my friend "Traveler" is flying in from Florida today, and we are going to a Boston Bruins game tomorrow afternoon. Sunday I will probably help mom with baking and preparations for Christmas, and Monday is our family's big day, as we celebrate on Christmas Eve.

I will definitely post again before Christmas, but in case I miss you, have a WONDERFUL Christmas Everyone!!!

Follow-Up Friday - Under Blizzard Conditions

Ladies and Gents, in case you missed, the Northeastern part of the U.S. of A. was hit with a bit of a snowstorm last night. IN the grand scheme of snowstorms, it wasn't even that major of a storm...I believe we had about 10 inches by the time it was all said and done, so yeah, a lot of snow, but we've had more.

HOWEVER, in terms of the commute home, this one will go down in history as one of the WORST EVER. At least for me it will. It started snowing around 1PM, and my boss was kind enough to send us home at 2PM. I kind of wish now he had not, because it seems that everyone else on the planet ALSO decided to leave at the same time. I was home a little bit after 5PM.

Let me put this in perspective for you. I live 11.5 miles from my job. ELEVEN MILES. It took me THREE HOURS to go 11 miles.

When the storm began, I took some before and "during" photos, with plans to take "after" photos and do a fun post about the storm today. After my travel ordeal, I went home and finished off a bottle of wine and pretty much said "screw the storm pictures, I want nothing to do with this freakin' storm anymore". So, you get no pictures. Maybe I'll give you some for Wordless Wednesday next week. Maybe I'll be over it by then.

That said, because I left work early yesterday, I have A LOT to do today, so Follow-Up Friday is being cancelled this week. My apologies, but I just have too much to do. Instead, I direct you to this post. I'm getting some interesting responses, and the different viewpoints are exactly why I asked the questions I asked. What do you think? How do you feel? (I have responded to comments in there, so drop in if you left a comment too).

Have a great weekend everyone, I have my company's Christmas Party on Saturday night, and another Nor'Easter is expected on Sunday, so I may not leave the house that day.

THREE HOURS!!!

Follow-Up Friday - The Blogger screws up URL edition

Follow-Up will be slightly different this week, thanks to blogger messing with the URL links thing in comments. Due to that glitch, I can't really link to some of my commenters blogs and give them proper credit for their comments, which kind of bugs me because I like to spread some link-love in my Follow Up Fridays.


SO, here's what I'm doing today...I'm going to direct you to my posts this week, where I have replied to each and every one of your comments in their respective comment sections...If you commented, or were curious about my response to any particular comment, please visit the following:


Monday was a Fun Monday all about revisiting an old post. I chose a post in which I told you about how I equate doing dishes with a bit of therapy.


Tuesday I did the 5 Post Meme, and traveled back through some more of my old posts.


My Wordless Wednesday was a collection of pictures of my Christmas Decorations in my living room. I'm happy with how it came out this year.


And yesterday, in my Thursday Thirteen I gave you some of the search terms used to find my blog...strange, interesting, and completely unexpected some of them.


I also gave you all my expertise (ahem...not so much) with blogger and the comment/url situation. I know this fix will not work to fix ALL the link issues, and I'm sorry to say that I'm not really a computer expert, I just play one on tv. ;-) But seriously, I've reached about my limit of my knowledge with this fix...everything else will have to wait until Blogger gets their act together.


I've considered moving my blog, but there's no way that I can even think about whether or not I want to do that until after the holidays, so we'll just wait and see what happens with blogger in the meantime, I guess.


It was a quiet and slow week here at Candid Karina, guess NaBloPoMo kicked my butt more than I realized. But hopefully by next week I'll be back on my A game (B Game? Whatever game it is that I'm usually on) and post some more creative stuff.


Hope you all had a great week, and have a fantastic weekend ahead! I might be back later on today with another post.

Friday Follow-Up - the two week edition

Last week I was too busy braving the crowds and getting some killer bargains to do my "Friday Follow-Up". I apologize for this, but as we've discussed here, it was the shopping Olympics people! I train all year for this event, I'm not going to just sit at home and let it pass me by.


But, not to worry, we'll just go back in time and review all the stuff I missed.


We'll start with Saturday, November 17th. If you missed it, this is where I shared the story of my first kiss. Remember all the romance, the love, the perfectness of it all? You do? Well, then obviously you didn't read my post...there was none of that involved folks. Kissing didn't get any of those things for me until much later in my dating career. Qualcosa di Bello commented: "i wonder, as a mom to an 18 yr old & 19 yr. old ~ both beautiful girls...should i really be reading your stuff??" Worry not QDB, my stuff really is mild at best, at least until we get to the post college relationships. And the guys, for the most part? Harmless. Besides, if they're your daughter, from what I know of you so far, then they've been raised right and have a good head on their shoulders, so they'll be just fine!


Sunday, November 18th, I stuck with some silly "blogthings" quizzes and we found out I am 44% cynical, I am "Big Black Boots", "Wedge Sandals", and "Very Happy Being Single". I could have told you the last one without a quiz! The cynical thing? I guess that's accurate. But the big black boots and wedge sandals? Both a little too "bulky" for me, I like my shoes more slim and sexy...but, then, the quizzes weren't really about shoes, were they. haha. Oh, and Frigga, no wonder we get along so well, we're practically twins! Or not. haha


Fun Monday on November 19th was a fun one. Okay, they all are, that's why we call them Fun Mondays after all, right? Still, it was fun taking a trip down memory lane and sharing some of the family stories that are repeated time after time within our families. I had so much fun reading everyone else's tales. Tiggerlane said: "Too cute! And your mom - she is beautiful in those photos.Now I want to know the word for "ashtray!" - First off, mom thanks you. She really was a beautiful woman (still is), and I love old pictures of her. I'll share more in the future. And as Willowtree said in his comment (smart guy he is looking it up on the web) the Portuguese word for ashtray is "cinzeiro", I, in my four year old voice, used to call it "cinzello". Oh and WT...stubbing cigarettes out in mashed potatoes? GROSS.


Tuesday, the 20th, I answered some of the questions posed to me by you, my lovely readers. I picked the silly ones for this particular post and had so much fun answering them. I'm glad everyone agreed with my coffee, chocolate and Johnny Depp choices. I mean, really, how could you go wrong?


Wednesday, the 21st, I posted pony pictures for Wordless Wednesday. Frigga, no, I do not have a pony of my own, but boy, it would be fun, wouldn't it? The title was indeed a reference to the toys of our youth. I had "Megan and Sundance", and I still sing that song from the commercial every time I hear the words "My Little Pony"....if only our memories held IMPORTANT stuff this long. Julia said "I'm so glad you seem to have your camera at the ready, Karina. I miss a lot of shots that way". I never leave my house without my camera for that reason exactly Julia, because you never know what you're going to drive past, you know?


Thursday Thirteen on Thanksgiving Day was, not surprisingly, all about giving thanks. I want to thank everyone who commented on that particular post, because you all had such nice things to say, so a little moment of "link-love" here: Adelle, Mom on the Go, jayedee, damozel, Linda R. Moore, Nicholas, and Qualcosa di Bello who said "you are blessed for sure & you are a blessing as well...especially to all your readers :D" How sweet is she? I truly am blessed though, in so many ways.


As we all know, I crapped out on Follow-Up Friday last week, because I was shopping. In keeping with NaBloPoMo, I posted, but it was just a short "here's what I'm doing today" post, besides, I think everyone was in turkey comas that day, there wasn't much blog traffic on Friday in these parts.


Saturday I spent with my friend "The Traveler" who was visiting from Florida, so not much blogging was done that day either. I posted, it's NaBloPoMo, so I had to post, but...really, nothing to see here folks.


And Sunday wasn't any less busy this past weekend, so you all got a fun little youtube video to entertain you. Haven't seen it yet? Check it out.


And we're back to Fun Monday again. This week it was all about our unfinished projects. Of course, after posting mine, I remembered a MAJOR unfinished project in my house that I didn't share, but by then I was at work and couldn't take photos, and well...you don't really need to know about the wall in my living room that still needs some kind of crown molding or something to hide the quite obvious unfinished paint line against the ceiling, do you? Nope, didn't think so. Now, I know Susan was trying to make me feel better by telling me that my kitchen wallpaper was "vintagey" and all, but uh....didn't work. I still hate it. ;-)

Tuesday I answered some more of your questions to me. This time I went with some of the more introspective ones. Turns out Frances shares my "head under water" phobia, and although I shouldn't be happy about this, I kind of was giddy at the thought that someone else understood how I feel. I know it's irrational, but phobias are irrational fears after all, aren't they? It was also interesting to see how others could relate to the whole phobia thing in general. Unless you have a "TRUE" phobia, there is no way you can understand it though. That "panic" feeling is unlike anything else...so strange.

In my Wordless Wednesday this week I shared with you some drinks. These were drinks from dinner with "The Traveller" Saturday night. I had the Espresso Martini (oh yum) and she had some fruity concoction. The picture was taken with my new cell phone camera, and I'm impressed it turned out as decent as it did. Not bad. Lissa said: "I'm wondering is this what you're going to do when you finish NaNo and NaBlo."...Yeah, I didn't wait, I did that on Saturday. I'll celebrate again this weekend. ;-) Jannis recognized the place immediately by the glassware, saying: "before I saw the beverage napkin. I am a part time server at Applebees. ps I hope you had good service...." I actually had exceptional service Jannis. Our waitress was a real sweetie. In fact, in all my years of eating at Applebees, I've never had bad service at one.

On Wednesday I also shared my rejection story. Okay, technically I wasn't rejected, as I didn't really "put myself out there" to be rejected. Again, you were all so sweet with your comments...y'all make me feel so loved! Lissa said "Sounds to me like you're better off - I mean an ex-girlfriend stalking him?" This could in fact be true...but then again, not entirely his fault that he has a psycho ex, right? Frigga said "Oh, and as for being a *new* girlfriend, it could be that he's the one for you and you'll just have to wait until the timing is better." and Lisa said: "Damn - you waited this long and . . . well, maybe she'll be a temp, you should check back with him next year. :)" --- Good point ladies. After all, we've played the "once a year" game for 4 years now, what's another year? hahaha

By the way, I've decided that just in case this "new girlfriend" is really new, and in the option of it not working out (not that I'm wishing that on anyone, but hey, these things don't always work out, right?)...next time I have to send a complaint to the condo association (and it will happen as soon as we have a snowstorm, I'm sure), I'm going to send him a cc and include my phone number, you know, in case he needs to follow up with me or something...because he might have questions or something...WHAT? I'm just sayin'... ;-)

Yesterday, my Thursday Thirteen was a reflection back on the month of November. And what a month it has been.

So, this is it...NaBloPoMo - COMPLETED, and successfully accomplished. NaNoWriMo...not so much.

See you all in December!