Knoxville's Gay Pride Parade

Well - I have officially checked off the first thing on my Bucket List.

61. Go to a Pride Parade.

Knoxville, TN had their annual Pridefest on June 25, 2011. The one day a year where this small Southern community can come out and join together to cheer on buff men in their underwear, women (womyn?) on harleys and you can hold hands with anyone you wish. It was truly a day of happiness and community.

The actual parade was quite small, lasted about 15 minutes - but, let me tell you! The groups who marched made the best of those 15 minutes! I got hit in the face with candy, coasters, sparkly necklaces (think rainbowed Mardi Gras) and lots of glitter.

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" had recently debuted and was the anthem of the Parade.

Your quintessential Dykes on Bykes.

Local gay families came out to march! It made my heart smile to see these couples with their children!

What Pride Parade would not be complete without.....

hot men in underwear?!?!

After the parade, local groups, businesses and gay friendly churches set up booths with giveaways, free goodies and general awesomeness.

I signed up to be a volunteer with HRC, which is something that I have wanted to do for years, but have never actually LIVED in one place due to my job as a traveling slave driver. I hope that they call me up for some events. I miss volunteering. I also hope that it will help me to get out and meet people in this tiny mountain town. (anyone? anyone?)

The entertainment was a bunch of local singers who were AMAZING! The special guest performer was Tiffany of "I Think We're Alone Now" fame. We had to leave before she came on - and I was tempted to return downtown to watch her concert, but the heat and mosquitos kept me inside with the aid conditioner. Here is a taste of the concert stage as they were getting ready for Tiffany.

To conclude - I got several bracelets, pins and my official Knox Pridefest t-shirt. Patricia and I decked ourselves out and then went back to her house and showered her hubby in identical gifts. We were a rainbowed bunch that afternoon.

This picture made me laugh - not only because I was able to get all of my rainbowed accoutrement in the shot, but because my bangs are magnificent and I almost pull off the Biebs look. Just a few head tosses and I am good to go.

So - I have checked the first thing off! It is always the hardest part to begin a challenge... but now - let the bucketing begin! :)

Happy Friday!

When I grow up...

I don't want to be a rockstar. I want to be a librarian.

I am SUCH a bookworm - the thought of living my life in a building filled with words is amazing.

I hope to attain my master's degree in the next few years. There are so many schools I want to go to. I am applying to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (where I am currently employed), UW: Madison and for the hell of it - Pratt Institute. Pratt has a performing arts specialty! *dying and going to heaven... *

I was recently reading a book and there were two passages that put my thoughts into beautifully written words. I had to share. They really touched that dream part of my heart!

“I was always a fanciful little girl, but especially after I’d learned to read when I was four years old. Real life just couldn’t compete with the stories in books, though I never really gave life a chance, anyway. Books were too delicious and far-reaching. You could curl up in a corner of the couch and travel to other worlds, be other people, feel every emotion ever invented.”

“People who go to bed alone often have a TV playing. They say it keeps them company, assuages the onags of solitude, but in fact, it doesn’t work that way. When you read a book, you fully and completely enter a universe. Your mind is an energetic participant in the written language. It cannot be otherwise. But when you watch television, you cannot enter that world You always remain on the outside looking at the the screen, and the screen is the wall blocking your entrance. And so the television makes you horribly aware of the very thing you wish to escape. Your loneliness.”

Josephine Carr

This is a short one. Those two quotes say it all. :) Happy day!

The Bucket List

I have decided that it is time to start living my life and doing all of the things that I have always dreamt about. There is nothing too silly, nothing too unattainable. Whatever came through my mind, went down on the paper. I have spent months thinking about writing this list down, but I had resisted because I got scared. Scared that if I put it down then I had to do things or I would fail at bucketing. J I had a wake up call and realized that my fear was holding me back from doing all of these awesome things! I shouldn’t be scared to live my list. I should be scared to NOT live. I know that a lot of people give themselves a deadline on completing their lists, but I refuse to do that. Life does not have a deadline (well…. not one that we know!) and I am going to enjoy each day as it comes. No day but today, right? J

If you see something that you would like to help me cross off of the list – let me know and LET’S DO IT!!!!!!

These are in no particular order – they are the first 100 ideas that came into my head – interesting to see my thought patterns. J

… “The List”

1. Parasailing
2. Go on a cruise. To anywhere.
3. Work with the USO.
4. Live in New York City.
5. Visit Egypt to see the pyramids and walk where Cleopatra walked.
6. Go to Prince Edward Island and walk around Green Gables and the Lake of Shining Waters.
7. Watch all six Star Wars in a row.
8. Adopt a greyhound.
9. Visit Gilda Radner’s grave and leave her red candy.
10. Visit Ireland and drink REAL Guinness.
11. Have an avocado tree.
12. Drive Route 66 from start to finish (Chicago to LA)
13. Get a Master’s Degree.
14. Fall in Love. Real love.
15. Foster kittens.
16. Learn Sign Language.
17. Learn about who my grandparents were and write about them.
18. Learn how to play chess.
19. Read all of the Jane Austen books.
20. Go to a formal Ball (and have the big dress to go with it!)
21. Learn how to Waltz (for aforementioned Ball).
22. Go fishing. (Will write about soon!!)
23. Visit all 50 States.
24. Take a cooking class.
25. Read the entire Bible.
26. Stop being scared and take myself to Europe.
27. Fly First Class.
28. Send a military care package.   (Will write about soon!!)
29. Sew a sundress.
30. Finish a Cross-Stitching project. Just one. Any one.
31. Organize my photos.
32. Build a snowman. (a real big one with a coat, carrot nose and top hat)
33. Go Sledding.
34. Volunteer at a Food Bank.  (Will write about soon!!)
35. Touch someone’s life.
36. Go tent/sleeping bag/hiking-with-a-pack-on-your-back camping.
37. Become a mother.
38. Find the job that makes me jump out of bed in the morning.
39. Run barefoot through a field of wildflowers.
40. Memorize the Lady of Shalott.
41. Create and send out homemade Christmas Cards.
42. Sing in a musical again.
43. Learn how to play Raquetball.
44. Go Skiing.
45. Learn to surf.
46. Visit a volcano.
47. Go ice skating.
48. Do a handstand.
49. Ride a Vespa around the Blue Ridge Parkway when the leaves are changing.
50. Hug a Redwood.
51. Run in a 5k.
52. Go on a canopy top Zipline Tour.
53. Plant and maintain a vegetable garden.
54. Go to Vegas, stay in an outrageous hotel and have an amazing girls only weekend.
55. Ride a horse through the surf.
56. Throw a themed Dinner Party.
57. Take a beautiful picture.
58. Go on a trapeze.
59. See a real circus (i.e. Ringling Bros.)
60. Stroll hand in hand with someone I love through Central Park.
61. Go to a Pride Parade.
62. Spend a week at a mountain cabin with no TV, Internet, or Phones.
63. Pet a tiger or a lion… or at least hear it purr.
64. Visit a psychic.
65. Take a bicycle tour across a state.
66. Be on a rowing crew.
67. Wear a two piece… in public.
68. Go to the Olympics.
69. Play Golf.
70. Ride in a Helicopter.
71. Visit the astronomical clock in Prague.
72. Watch the Oscar Best Pic nominees BEFORE the awards ceremony.
73. Watch the Tony awards Best Musical nominees BEFORE the awards ceremony.
74. Become a morning person.
75. Live in a house with tons of windows, a huge yard, bay window with a window seat and a red or purple door.
76. Take a silent retreat.
77. Go skinny dipping.
78. Sit in the audience for Saturday Night Live.
79. Go to Durban, South Africa.
80. Walk the Great Wall of China.
81. Donate my hair to Locks of Love.
82. Climb the Statue of Liberty and pretend like I'm in that scene in Ghostbusters!
83. Go to Utah and see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Christmas.
84. Drink coffee on the patio of a cute café in Paris while eating fresh baguette.
85. Have professional photos taken of myself.
86. Learn how to play the piano.
87. See the ruins of Greece.
88. Go to a UT game and sing Rocky Top with the crowd.
89. Be part of a CSA for a year.
90. Throw a dart at a map and just go! No planning – complete spontaneity.
91. Go to Salem, MA.
92. Participate in Mardi Gras.
93. Help a friend cross something off of THEIR Bucket List.   (Will write about soon!!)
94. Join a local book club.
95. Do a split.
96. Go snorkeling.
97. Make chocolate croissants from scratch. (Will write about soon!!)
98. Crush grapes with my feet a la I Love Lucy.
99. Indoor skydiving.
100. Go on an exotic beach vacation with my sister and drink girly pink drinks with little umbrellas.

My promise to you is that when I complete something and can cross it off of my list, I will do a full write up here on my adventures!

I am so excited to get started!

Thoughts…. ? :0)

A Mountain Wedding

This Saturday I was privileged to witness the marriage of one of my dearest friends, KY and her new hubby, Nik.
The wedding took place at Fontaine Vineyards in Leicester, NC (pronounced "Lester" for you non-native Western NC peeps). This vineyard is obviously a well kept secret! It was stunning. Off in the distance you were able to (just barely!) see the Asheville skyline off in the distance. I spoke with Nik about it and he said that they just stumbled across it online. What a lucky stumble!
I was able to snap a few pictures with my phone, so I will supplement my story with a few pictures.

8:00am - Belle wakes up and tries to become coherent in the morning hours while attempting the whole makeup, blow-drying the hair thing. Normally, not a problem - but I went to bed late due to a marathon of The Nanny. Addicted!

9:15am - FINALLY done! Attempt to take a photo for Twitter and end up with this:

Just another photo to add to the collection of "I am incapable of taking a normal face so therefor I must make a funny zoolander smirk in every self portrait" pictures.

9:30 - Annie arrives with fresh Starbucks and we are on our way! It is a 2+ hour drive through the mountains to hit Asheville where we head to Hops and Vines to pick up some nifty gifties for the KY/NH nuptials.

12:00 - I purchase a bumper sticker that says, "Save the Ales"
I then continue to giggle about said bumper sticker for about 10 minutes.

12:15 - Annie and I eat a DELICIOUS lunch at the West A-ville market and begin the trek over to the Vineyards.

**Despite the fact that Annie and I have both lived in Asheville/Leicester for quite some time during our past, we had never been this far out. I may or may not have started a Captain's Log *stardate 3.14159* for our uncharted territory. **

12:45 - After coaxing my car up windy, gravel, treacherous roads... We are the first to arrive at the vineyard and just take in the scenery until others begin to arrive. Again... stunning. They could not have picked a more perfect place for their wedding. They also could not have planned a better day! No clouds, low 80s, sweet smelling air and NO HAZE!! so that the blue ridge could be seen in all it's glory.

1:00 - The rest of the helpers arrive and we start unloading cars and working our magic over the ceremony and reception site.
My pre-setup jobs included:

• Unloading boxes
• Placing tablecloths on tables
• unpacking vases, votive holders and candles
• placing said votives on tables
• sprinkling flower petals anywhere I deemed worthy of sprinkling
• lining the aisle with gorgeous yellow rose petals mixes with purple iris petals (you can see a tiny bit of this handiwork in the picture above!)
  
• Tying purple ribbons around the not-so-beautiful white bows that came with the ceremony site.

Let me just say, by the end of the 2 hours, we were ALL soaked in sweat, dirt and looked gorgeous. Though, you could not find a happier group of people. We were all so happy to be there helping out our friends.
There was one bathroom with no lock. Annie and I took turns changing in said bathroom while standing guard for each other. I put on my makeup while sitting in the groom's car and looking in the rearview mirror. :)
My favorite part of the day - putting on my shimmer lotion. I felt like a Cullen stepping into the sunshine. I was glittering! Thank you, Clinique Happy Shimmer Lotion!

3:45p - Annie, Dominic, Clara, Adam and I venture out to the ceremony site where we all then break off to go hug and visit with old friends. It was SO nice to see everyone join together for Kristen and Nik! It is always a joy to see my opera friends! Made me miss it even more!

4:00p - Ceremony starts right on time - thanks to P.J. and her awesomeness! :) Nik looked handsome in his suit and Kristen was a vision! I mean, stunning... and absolutely glowing with happiness! :0) The connection between them was electric. I do not have pics from the ceremony, I decided that I would just enjoy and not worry about getting the perfect shot! The ceremony was gorgeous and ended with Adam singing the Irish Blessing... could not have been more perfect.

4:30p - Annie and I (and all other helpers) pretty much bolt from the ceremony site to our reception helper positions.
My duties included:

• Manning the lemonade/mint water beverage bar
• All things ice bowl related
• Lighting votive candles on tables
• making sure P.J. remembered where she hid the toasting flutes.
• moving flower vases from ceremony site to reception site

The food was delicious! My favorite was the family bread and the grit cakes.
The beverage selection was great! They had a keg brought in from Craggy Brewing Co. which is so smooth, it goes down like water!
The cake was gluten-free and honestly, one of the best tasting cakes I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
The toasts were heartfelt, funny and touching.
The music was AWESOME! Plenty of old school Michael Jackson, 80's amazingness, Dixie Chicks and, my personal love, lounge lizard favorites.
I was up and out of my chair dancing as soon as Billy Jean came on and did not stop until there were only the helper crew left! So much fun! KY's mom, Pam, danced with me until the cows came home. Literally... there was a pasture across the way. :) We all broke down the ceremony site while Kristen and Nik sat down for the first time of the evening and just took it all in. :0)

Here are a few pictures I snapped during the reception - just a few but I like them. :)

Kristen taking in the scenery - looking gorgeous!




The first dance as husband and wife!
(just look at that connection! electric!)

We all say our goodbyes and wish Kristen and Nik a glorious honeymoon in Cancun and then start to head home. Which, I might add, was extremely scary as Garmin took us some backwoods way where we ended up off a mountain in TN. It was gorgeous until it turned dark and there were no street lights! ;)

My victory pose!

To Kristen and Nik - if you ever read this, it was such an honor to be a part of your wedding day! You are such an amazing couple and I am proud to know you! Lily has a new D.A.D. and all is well in the world. :) Lots of love to you both!

<3 <3<3

Confliction

Wow - two posts in one week. I am on a roll!

I feel as though I am at a crossroads. I have this great job at The University of Tennessee. I enjoy what I do, working with the students and helping out where I can. I love education so much, it is such a joy to be in an institution of learning.

We found out in March that Boss-man had taken another position at a different university. I am very happy for him and feel that it is a great move for him! He is taking his girlfriend/fiance with him - who also happens to work in our office. So, there is two gone.
Fashonista, who works at the front desk is leaving us to go to Law school in Washington, DC (yaaaaaaaaaaaay!). So, there is three gone.

NOW - and nothing is ever definite - one of our other employees who shall remain nicknameless may be leaving their post here at UGP for another job. That would be four. That is pretty much 1/3 of our office all gone in a 3 month span.

While I am SOSOSO happy for all of them and for moving up in the world towards their dream jobs, it really stinks. I am going to be purely selfish and whiny for a moment and say:

What the hell am I going to do?!?! I know, I know... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but I honestly think that this might kill me. I am in no way qualified to take over either position OR train someone new in those positions. Ugh... I am very nervous. It is making my stomach churn. Which is not good... I have enough stomach churning issues going on as it is.

Is this the perfect time for me to cut my losses and leave? I have only been here a little over a year. As I was walking Sophie this morning, I couldn't help but think - wow! You have been in this apartment for a YEAR! That is the longest I have lived in any place for at least... *counting on fingers*... 6 years? I lived in an apt. in Houston, TX for 2 years. That is my record. Before that... my parent's house when I was in High School. Oy.
Am I that unsettled? Can't stay in any place too long? Maybe it was the inconsistencies of my last career - on the road 50/52 weeks of the year. Always in a new place. Living out of my car and in hotels.

I have options of places to go. I have friends all over the country. Yet, i can't decide. I would like to go back to school - in fact I just bought 2 huge and expensive books on the GRE and plan to take it in the fall. Working here at UT gives me the option of FREE tuition! I get 9 credit hours a semester of tuition coverage. That's 3 classes!

Am I being overdramatic? Probably.
Should I wait it out to see what happens? Probably.
Should I start applying for new jobs? Probably.

Well, hello there stranger...

I have spent my morning procrastinating my work (shhhh...) and stumbled across a co-workers blog. Besides being the most upbeat/positive person I have met in a long time, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her musings regarding life, love, pets and makeup. :)

It has given me a serious case of blog-envy and I have decided to give myself a dose of blog fiber to get things moving again. :) I used to write all the time on LiveJournal (you remember that, right?) and lo-and-behold - my journal was still there! I checked today and very much enjoyed reading about life according to my 23 year old self! Hilarious. I had a serious potty mouth! (Some things never change...)

I will not promise that I will write each week. I *will* promise that I will write as often as the mood strikes me. I am not even sure who still follows my babbling as it has been such a long time between posts, but I assure you. I am alive and well in TN!

Summer is coming.
Air is warming.
Flowers are blooming.
Pollen is falling.
I am sneezing.

This weather is delicious. There are certain times of the year where I love living in the South. Fall - right around mid-late October when the leaves change and that hint of crispness hits the air.
Spring - April-ish when the cold starts to leave and you can go out in the morning sans jacket. The sandals come out the air smells of fresh earth and flowers.
This feeling of love stops when the temperature hits 90 degrees. Usually around 1 week after the Spring feeling hits. :) Then I wish for Colorado.

The grass is always greener...

Anywho - leave me a comment, send me some love. Let me know you are still around!

--smile!

Biggest. Loser no more.

Well, some sad news - Halfway through the UT Biggest Loser competition, I suffered an injury. I strained the muscles in my lower back last week. After spending last weekend and most of this week hunched into a ball while laying on a heating pad... I have started to walk upright like a human again! I went to the Dr. yesterday to find out if I had really hurt myself. For those of you who know me personally - last November, I had 2 bulging discs in my lower back (L4 & L5 for those who know spines!) and was off my feet for almost 2 months. From that, I am now extremely hyper-aware (redundant??) of my back.
I was SO nervous I had done it again. BUT - Doc told me that I had strained it and will be good as new with 2 - 3 weeks of light activity, no heavy lifting and plenty of heat, ice and advil.
Due to this, I have had to withdraw from the program. I will get to keep my leftover training sessions with my personal trainer for when I am healthy. I will keep up with my eating like a champ.
I just won't get awesome undisclosed prizes... but I can deal with that. :)

I have a new goal... I will be spending a glorious 9 days in Wisconsin in July/August and since that in the of their heat wave, I *will* be dressed comfortably in sundresses and the fun corduroy skirts that I have not fit into since 2004.
Bring it on, size 10.

Bring.
It.
On.


(Now I want to watch Bring It On... oh Eliza... you complete me.)