When is it time to purchase Rain boots?

(snapshot of the weather forecast from weather.com)

That is the anticipated weather report for the next 10 days for NYC.

Gross. You do not want to see the past 15 days either. It looks very similar.

Where do I live anyway? I did not sign up for this. NY summer begins promptly at the end of May and the beginning of June. Immediately the temperature rises to about 78-85 degrees Celsius, the sun comes out, air conditioners go into windows, hemlines rise and collars lower, the cat calls get louder and everyone drinks their coffee or tea on ice. NY is like this all summer and doesn't let up until late August or September.

NY is not: the loudest thunderstorms of your life, rain jackets, galoshes, wet pants, wet seats on the train because someone HAD to put their umbrella on the seat, or hot coffee at the end of June. It does not rain, then rain, pour, sprinkle, thunder storm then keep raining in NY. I guess someone did not tell the weather.com people this and unfortunately I'm experiencing a new NY.

I wouldn't mind sooo much but this has gone on for over a month and when I came back from Wisconsin everyone was considering ME tan! Something is not right with this picture. I tend to go back to the idea of cough cough... climate change. My parents like to disregard the whole climate change "theory," as they would call it, and defer to the more widely accepted idea that our plant's poles are shifting.

I personally think it's pretty reasonable to think bad carbon molecules and greenhouse gasses--that we create through processing fossil fuels and eliminating rain forests that would otherwise consume them--are trapping sunbeams into our atmosphere and then warming the planet creating irregular climate patterns. Or it could be both but if you want to think it's only that the magnetic poles are switching, that's cool too. Either way, this weather pattern is not normal. 80 degrees in Wisconsin in early June and 50 degrees in NYC in Late June? You decide.

On the bright side of this dark weather pattern, I love running in the rain and I have always wanted rain boots and a clear umbrella but I only think about those things when it is raining. So lately I've been enjoying wet outdoor runs and if this keeps up I may just remember to go buy some cute rain boots and a clear umbrella. Or maybe I'll get this one by one of my favorite Graphic Designers.

"Not Worth"

At 9:14am this morning I received two kinda disturbing anonymous txt messages. They were not disturbing because of the content but because they disturbed my peaceful sleep and lovely dream about driving around in England. I was on the wrong side of the road and everything!!!

The texts stated:
#1 he knows about your blog. hope you are ready for personal and possible legal implications.
#2 make sure he has nothing on you. not worth risking your reputation. from a friend
(exact punctuation, capitalization and spacing, for accuracy)


Holy cow!!! Someone is actually reading this!?!?!?!? I'm floored. I just write on here to vent and a couple friends stop by to say hi or see what I'm up to. It's like an open Facebook account but it's okay to talk only about myself on here at all times because, well, it's MY blog. :-)

So anyway, back to the purpose of this little blog all about me. I have since deleted my previous blog post 'And the Award for All time worst "Random Act of Guyness" goes to...' This post was a true story about my really bad ex-boyfriend who lied to me about having cancer so that he could cheat on his girlfriend and me... it's complicated but regardless I'm over it.

Txt #2 was right in two words "not worth." The whole thing was not worth my time, energy or anything for that matter. I've been over that situation for quite some time. So much so that I'd almost forgotten about it. I'm good at starting over, I've had to do it a lot. So I figure why not erase that little post just as I've erased that sleazy guy from my life? And with the miracle of techmology, I was able to do that in less than a minute. Woot for techmology!

Hmmm.... I am just assuming that "Random Act of Guyness" is what the anonymous txt was about. Shoot, what if someone is denying that I'm their friend or Eric is upset that I revealed my attendance at the Xmas party in Hawaii? Geeze I hope that's not the case.

Side Note: In case anyone--Since I now have admirers--is wondering, Yes everything I write on her is 100% truth. I don't feel the need to lie about anything here... I just tell it as it is. Besides that would be like making up your facebook status.

Wisconsin Girl in Wisconsin

Whoop! Whoop! was the theme of my past week +2 days in Wisconsin. My BFF Dana got married and so I flew from NY to WI with costumes, dresses, makeup and books to celebrate her marriage and party like a Wisco girl.

I'm in the airport on my way back now and I'm a bit early so I thought I'd write up my little adventure.

Day 1-2: The Flight from 90 degree hell
I thought I'd be all smart and get one final day of work in before I left NYC. I'm a freelancer so no work = no pay, yuck. So somehow (a $12 cab ride) I got my 47.8lb checked bag, a backpack, and a carry on from Queens to Rockefeller center (aka work). After work, with the help of Cathy, I got my stuff to a train then through my lady-charms I found a nice man to help me get my bags to the Northwest check-in counter in Newark. (fyi, this was the easy part).

Once I got on the plane it was... on time? No, it was not. It was delayed but only after everyone was on the plane and they established the fact that we would NOT be getting AC--on an airplane where the temperature was 90 degrees--until we took off. I hear getting stuck on the tarmac is the new cool thing to do so I got to do that and I'm now part of the cool crowd. Unfortunately, my flights ended up getting all messed up because I was partaking in the tarmac wait trend.

I am an optimist but also a New York City resident and I know that if you want to make something happen you have to act, immediately. So I did. The tarmac wait gave me time to make several phone calls and at the end of it all I had secured my spot on two later connecting flights and sweet talked a very nice Enterprise worker to wait for me to arrive at 11:26pm (2326 for those who speak military time). The end of Day 1.

Day 2: Ready, Set, Bachelorette Party!!!

(Dana, doing the honors of first flabongo)

The reason I went to Wisconsin a week before the wedding was to host Dana's Totally 80's Bodacious Bachelorette Party at my parents cabin on Pickerel Lake.

This was pretty freaking great. Dana kicked off the night with a 'flabongo.' This was a new thing to me but from observing the rest of the guest's skilled flabongo techniques, I could tell it's been around Wisconsin for some time. Note to NY, it's time to ditch the $9 beer nights and start flabongo parties, they are cheaper and more colorful.

My dad was there too. Okay, yeah weird my dad was at the bachelorette party? Yes, he was the DD for our pontoon boat. After a few drinks and kabobs at the cabin we took off with Dad and the neighbor on their pontoon boats. There were pontoon races, pontoon flabongos and pontoon 80's dancing.

It was a great day and night and the pics say all you need to know.

tip: It might be a good idea to sanitize the 'flabongo' before, after and maybe a few times in between. A few of us (including myself) now have sore throats. ew.

(Me and Little D)

(Dad with the cops. There was an incident with cops but Dad took care of it)

Days 3-5: RRC (Rest, Relaxation & Cheese)
This title kinda sums it up. I rested, hung out with my family, read some books, ate cheese, drank beer and hung out with friends.

A couple of highlights from these days were: Seeing my god son take his first steps, A sleep over with my nieces and nephew and kayaking down the Eau Claire River with an old friend from high school.

(My nephew Silas entertaining himself and me after bath time)

Days 6-8: Party, Party, Party, Wedding
On the Thursday before the wedding Jacci came up from New Orleans and I drove to Appleton to party with Dana & her future sister in-law Janelle and Jacci & her real sister Jessie. We (or I) played "See what a Wisconsin Cosmo tastes like in every bar in Appleton." It was an interesting and slightly painful experience but I ended the night with water and ibuprofen so I was tip-top the next day.

This was key because the next day was the rehearsal. After rehearsal we partied more, drank more and hung out on a creek with a campfire and the moonlight. It was awesome.

(Rehearsal. This was a very serious rehearsal. I am not trying to climb on Janelle, I'm practicing in case of... ummmmm choking? Oh, and the boys are hydrating with water)

(Dana, nervous and getting ready to be a wife)

Then there was the wedding day. Dana is kind of a nervous person to begin with so getting married is probably the scariest thing she's done yet. Somehow (force feedings of pizza and mimosa) we got her through it all and everyone had a great day.

Note: It's a good thing that rain is good luck for weddings because Dana got married outside in the rain and then it down poured the entire day after the ceremony.

Day 9: Now

(Me enjoying my last bag of cheese curds for a long long time)

I drove back to the airport early so I could see Mom and Dad once before I left and we just had lunch and they left me here. Now I'm waiting and writing. I should read or do some work but I didn't want to forget too much before I wrote it down.

There are so many more details to go with the trip, like: falling out of a kayak on a trip that should have been 3 hours but was 5, following 2 bald eagles down the river, giving fishing a 10 minute shot then giving up shortly after, picking my nieces up from their last day of school and watching Stella skip a bar on the monkey bars, and many more experiences. All in all I had a great time I think this story covers the gist of it.

Trip Theme Songs (an idea I stole): Rainbow Warriors-CocoRosie, Float On--Modest Mouse, Ha Ha--Emiliana Torrini

And boy did that fat lady sing...

(My Real Family ((Mom & Dad)) and my work family ((Anita, Sarah J., Rob, Elizabeth...Cathy, & Blake).

(And just a few from my ex-school family, Casey, Me, Mike & Renee)

Yay, I'm finally all done with school, graduation parties, and drinking away the slight depression that follows the ending of an era of my life.

This past monday was my big graduation day at the famed Radio City Music Hall. Yes for all of my musical friends, I did get to walk across the stage and sorry Aren but I got to be there before you.

Mom and Dad flew all the way from Antigo, Wisconsin to see me graduate. It was pretty cool. They have visited me twice in the past 5 years and this was the 2nd time. I didn't think I would care if they came or not but I realized on graduation day––as I was standing outside of Radio City Music Hall–– it would really suck if I didn't have someone waiting for me when I was done. I'm really glad they made it and I really enjoyed their visit it meant a lot that they could share that moment with me. We saw a Broadway show with Angela Lansbury, rode the tourist bus to Harlem and back, ate some exotic foods in Chinatown and k-town, and got tipsy in their hotel room. It was fun.

I think I'm finally adjusting to not having homework to do. My initial instinct is to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL and I have been doing quite well at that since the last day of class. Well, that's not totally true, I've been partying a lot and watching a ton of Netflix. But I do think I'm getting to the point where I'm ready for my next big adventure and to start working towards it.

I've decided to try something new but in pure fear of counting unhatched chickens I'm not going to post it on here yet. I have lots of planning to do before I'll do that. But It does required that I move out of NYC... So that's enough of a preview to my big plan for now.

There are also some immediate plans I need to get out of the way and I'll broadcast them loudly for all to hear (or read). They are:

• Finish my Spin Instructor certification (just completed!!!)
  
• Throw the awesomest 80's Bachelorette party for my BFF Dana (Next weekend)
• Gather as many freelance projects and clients as possible (hint, hint, for anyone reading this, Hook me up!!!)
• Update my website/business cards/Resume/CV
• Design a super sweet Logo for a Life Coach/Creative Wings
• Design another banner for Words At Play (going for better than the last one I did)
• Run another Marathon this year (in NY or elsewhere, I hear in Germany they drink beer and eat bratwurst after their done)

(See I really did it, I'm now a Certified Spin® instructor, yay!)

(My Totally 80s Bodacious Bachelorette Party Outfit... hells yeah! I'm way better at dressing 80s now than I was in the 80s)

So there's my short list. I'm still a busy busy girl I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have it any other way.

I woke up this week realizing that although Dad was a cop for 30 years and worked at one job, he was actually an entrepreneur at heart. He was always doing something on the side, building houses, mounting game (yes taxidermy), cutting wood to sell or boughs for wreaths. Anyway this made me realize I think I have a little bit of that in me. I like design, and maybe I'll be a designer/manager for a job but I'm also going to try my hand at the Spin instructor thing, and see what else I can dabble in to keep my curiosities satisfied. I might even pick up my camera again and start shooting again. But I'm happy like this and just doing what my heart tells me to do.

Oh but first I have to pick up my diploma.

Phase III: And You call yourself a DMer?

(the goodbye party that the 2nd year DM class threw for us... it was great)

I just finished my degree in Design Management which is defined as:

The identification and allocation of creative assets for a sustainable strategic advantage.

In plain English, Design Managers (DMers) figure out what they've got for themselves or organizations that is awesome and that no one else has, then they find out where the cracks are and guard them so no one else can poke at them, Set up their awesomeness to not do to harm others or the planet and if possible benefit people and the planet, and then make some (lots of) money while doing it.

I've been in a funk (and finding out my fellow DMers are in the same funk). So today I put down the German Chocolate Cat Tongues and had a *smacks the head* moment....DUH I need to analyze my problem and discover my "key findings" so that I can develop personal recommendations. Whew!

This revelation came after IMing with a classmate yesterday and then by chance I happened to run into two more classmates last night while I was out with Sarah S. (Merv on the V train and Lydia while I was having Red Mango).

All signs point to getting my DM on so Here we go: We'll start with the first tool we learned in school... S.W.O.T (or S.P.O.T if you're Richard). P.S. this will be a little hard cuz SWOT is meant for analyzing a company but hey it works on everything... I think.

(SWOT courtesy of Wikipedia ((couldn't find SPOT tho)).

Strengths of the Completion of Grad school

• Realization of Free-time
• A Degree that "will get me ahead in life"
• Beginning of a new Era
  
• A Huge toolbox of DM tools
• Network of DMers
• Advantage over other job applicants
• A really silly but cool cap/gown/sash-thing
• Time to develop own thoughts/ work on DM

Weaknesses (Problems if you're Richard)

• End of an old Era
• Loss of continuous intellectual challenges
  
• Missing classmates and routines
• Not being challenged to present
  
• Not being challenged

Opportunities

• Expressing ideas to new people
• Spreading the DM love
  
• New ventures/jobs/opportunities
• A changing economic climate
  
• Techmology (Listen to Merv: Twitter, Facebook, Skype, blogspot, Etsy, and more!!!!)
• Websites/Newsletters/Eblasts (create our own community)
• Our own DM network=our own DM organization? Free?
• DMI (get involved)
• The Pratt review/Catalyst
• more tk...........
  

Threats

• Lack of courage (but Jackie's class fixed that)
• Current jobs lacking support
  
• Global meltdown
• End of the world
• Massive Swine Flu Epidemic
  
• Becoming Disconnected!!!!

Key Finding from SWOT:
I'm fearing losing touch with my classmates and still want the challenging atmosphere we gave eachother.
--------------------------------------------
NEXT: I'd like to run through the Deming Cycle with the Key Finding and see what I come up with.

(The Deming Cycle courtesy of Wikipedia, I personally am intrigued by the orb in the center)

Plan:
I will not loose contact with my DM classmates. Sorry dudes, your stuck with me. I will create some sort of community to keep us on a touch-base level. We're some smart assed people and I'd hate to lose that. Lydia mentioned a website? I'm interested. I always thought a Skype/conference call night would be hilarious.

Do: Okay so this I now need to Do. I will send this blog to all of my classmates and they'll know my intentions and craziness at a new level. Then if they still want to talk to me... we'll KIT.

Check: Richa is good at checking on things so I'll put her in charge of this checking part. Richa... you need to check on this. Thank you! And in Richa's absense I think I'll appoint Nicole to check on it. She's a good checker too, but I don't really trust that Mike character, he was sketchy.

Act: Based on Richa's or Nicole's checking... we will act and make the changes necessary. So if this plan ends up being a website... or a conference call or just a stupid 'Wisconsin Girl In NY/UK" blog... we'll make the changes Richa or Nichole deem necessary then start the lovely Deming Cycle over.

Ha, there we go, one problem solved and it only took two tools... Well for now. I think I might have missed some Key Findings (like the insy weensy challenge at work thing) and may need to go back but that's enough for tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll attempt a value chain exercise or go crazy and run it through the acclaimed GADMAP process.

Phase II: Happy/Sad

Okay so I've moved on to the next 'phase' of ending school.

I'd have to say this phase is very conflicting and annoying and I hope it passes in a day just like "forgetting something" did. I woke up really really tired today and I went to bed early compared to what I usually do. I had charlie horse cramps all night and bizarre dreams that had nothing to do with school or work and I don't remember them now but I didn't like them much.

I think I actually picked my outfit to match my mood. Red & Gray = Happy & Sad. I wanted to wear bright colors today since it's been sooooo gloomy outside this week (rain rain rain). But then I realized my office is like an icebox in Antarctica and so that I didn't have to huddle next to my G5 tower for warmth all day, I put a long sleeved gray "cardigan/robe-like thing over the top." It's usually my favorite cover-up cuz it feels like going to work in PJs but I always get a million compliments on it. However, today I just feel dopey.

(a peek at today's outift with the bland office floor backdrop. Oh and I forgot to mention I even pulled out the flower shoes, I really wanted to be happy today, I'm covered in flowers and butterflies that aren't doing the trick)

After a rather irritating morning meeting, I decided to try to fix my mood. I kept looking at my sad chipping nails thinking... I want to fix these, they look bad. So I decided to be a complete risk taker and actually leave the office to venture into the outside world during lunch to get my nails done. It's really something I've never done so I thought the excitement of actually taking a half-hour lunch would put me straight. Nope... But I do have some really hot nails now. I went for the hottest color thinking it would perk me right up. Don't get me wrong I love them!!! But it didn't do the trick and I think I'll need to take more drastic measures to move on to Phase III, whatever that will be.

(My nails in OPI My Chihuahua Bites. I don't have a dog but my cat does bite)

Phase I: I'm forgetting something

Welllllllll, it's over. All over. I'm talking about Grad school. I'm not going to take my life or anything and leave a devastating blog to tell everyone. That would be sick. I'm 100% sane (I think) and healthy so no, there is no goodbye letter today.

I'm kinda hesitant to leave a "I'm done" blog so I think I'll have a few posts rather than one. I'm definitely going to go through some 'phases.' I think this is will help me come to grips with the things I no longer have to sacrifice in life, and the crazy things I had to commit to.

I am in denial right now. I could not leave my apartment this morning because I thought "I was forgetting something." I do not feel done. The same thing happened when I left work today. I stood facing my cubical thinking "where am I going? I'm forgetting something." This lasted a bit too long so I know I'm in denial now.

So yes, we'll ease into this transition from crazy life to real life. I'll start with coming to grips with all of the things I no longer will sacrifice for the good of my education.

I no longer will give up:

• SLEEP!!!! 2-4 hours is NOT adequate
  
• Eating dinner at a table without a electronic device in front of me. The laptop is probably not good on the food or me.
• Eating 'real' meals. Apparently an avocado and red wine is not considered 'dinner.' Ha, who knew.
  
• Spending time with my friends.
  
• Running or Spinning when I want and not just when I have enough time to.
  
• Cuddling with my cat (yes we cuddle, and mostly on the weekends. We have a date for Saturday morning actually, she's stoked).
  
• My precious weekends. I will give them up to Netflix, weekend trips, and sleep instead.
  
• Brunch. (Jeewon, we will be 'those' people again)
  
• Clean clothes (p.s. I always had clean undies even if I had to buy more, i do have limits)
  
• A tidy apartment... you DON't want to know how bad it got. uuuuhhh. It still gives me nightmares.
  
• A full refrigerator
• Healthy food
• My personal alone time. Believe it or not, I'm an introvert and that means I went through 90% of grad school not in my prime energy level, just imagine if y'all left me alone...
  
• Reading for enjoyment. I have two books lined up thanks to Sarah Schlow.
  
• Getting my nails done (I am a Wisco girl, but I DO live in NY)
• An Amazing BEER on a Friday night.
  
• Moisturizing! I realized I'd forgotten about this after talking to Richa on Saturday. She was amazed that she had time to moisturize before school that weekend and I realized I had forgotten about that luxury.
  
• Going home for Thanksgiving which is more fun since I realized that drinking with Dad is pretty awesome.
  
• Shopping for necessities. My cat will appreciate this as well.
  
• Going to the Beach. I've never really gone to the beach in NY but... I plan on it this summer.
  
• Summer!
• Going to see movies
• Waking up Happy!

(me giving up sleep)

(Apples for dinner!)

(Eating dinner—courtesy of Sarah S—in front of my macbook)

(I told you we cuddle)(We really cuddle)

(Not waking up happy)