Lazy Sunday

Again, there has been a hiatus. Let's not discuss it.

I was going to do a New Year's post, but in Kate-Land the New Year doesn't officially start until January 5th, as that is my birthday. It just seems like good sense to start the year with a new age. What's five days going to matter anyways?

As of right now, twenty-four doesn't seem that much different than twenty-three. Except, of course, the ever growing sense of doom and dread that twenty-five is just around that corner and holy moly there is so much I was supposed to accomplish by the time I turned twenty-five, and woah, the time from eighteen to right now didn't take that long which means the time from now until thirty is just going to fly by and oh my God WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?

But, aside from that, things are pretty much the same. Rehearsals are going great, though I'm still struggling with getting enough sleep. I get home from rehearsal at around 11:30pm and try to clock in around three and a half hours before waking at 3:45 and going to work by 4:30. I get off around noon and do my best to get in a good, long, restful nap before leaving at six for rehearsal again. I'm sleeping in chunks but never really getting in a good eight hours until the weekend. Oh well. I have deemed 2011 'The Year of Perpetual Exhaustion' and it appears 2012 won't be much different. However, I'm in a show and I'm dancing and it's just the best. The absolute best.

Side note: I'm sitting in Oddfellows Cafe on Capitol Hill as I type this, in an effort to enjoy a little January sun and get myself out of the house on this lazy Sunday. Both of the waitresses that have stopped in to check in on me have given me fabulous compliments. I feel kind of gorgeous.

View from my table.

Oh! And I mentioned this, but my birthday happened! Ricky was wonderful. The day of my birthday I had work and rehearsal so we couldn't really celebrate much, but he did cook me a delicious dinner. Then on Friday night we dressed up and he had a fancy black town car pick us up and take us to our favorite little restaurant out in Wallingford where we had the works: cocktails, three course meal, bottle of wine. Then the town car picked us up and drove us home. Perfection.

In other news, babies are cute, I love my new Uggs (don't hate), and I'm super sore right now.

It's good to be back.

Tra la la

Life is coming together. I got cast in a show ("Bebe" in A Chorus Line at Seattle Musical Theater. Three cheers for a paid gig!) and though rehearsals haven't started yet, the knowledge that soon I will once again be involved in something theatrical is reassuring. I feel like I can relax and really enjoy this bit of downtime  without stressing out about job hunting or auditioning or whether or not I'm going anywhere in life. I have a job that pays the bills and a show lined up through March. I'm quite content.

Speaking of Starbucks, things are humming along quite nicely. I've somewhat (as much as one humanly can) grown accustomed

Okay. Woah.

I started this post two days ago and was super into it, and then Ricky started talking to me and I got distracted and never finished it. And now I'm just not feeeeeling it, you know? Also, my friend Katherine came over for our semi-occasional-bi-weekly tradition of Tequila Tuesdays, so I'm obviously in a different head-space. A more drunk head-space.

And now I have nothing of interest to say.

Here is a picture of me.

In this picture I have bangs, a recent development. I hate them. I have recently taken to pushing them to the side, pinning them up, and generally pretending they aren't there. Also in this picture I have no nose.

My name is Kate, and I'm a barista.

Oh, heeeeey blog. What's up? You thought I forgot about you? No! Why would I - you're the love of my life, my creative outlet. You heard what?! Another blog?! Nooooooo. No, it's not what you think. It's not even a blog, it's a tumblr account. It's like, nothing. And I don't even write things, it's mostly just reposting interesting articles and funny pictures of babies. You're tired of me coming here and talking about how I'm totally going to post regularly and then bailing out for a month straight? I'm giving you false hope? Blog, you need to calm down.

Okay, blog has a tiny point. 

Seriously though, I miss blogging. And it's not that I haven't had time. I have. It's just...well....I've been sleepy.

So, you remember when I said this new Starbucks was going to be a 9-5 kind of thing? Apparently that's just what they say to lure you in. Turns out it's more of a 4:30am to noon kind of thing. All it took was me mentioning that I prefer morning shifts so that I could pursue performing in the evenings to get me permanently relegated to the opening shift for all eternity. 

In all honesty, once (if) my body ever figures out what's going on, it will probably work great. I get off at noon, have a nap, and then have plenty of time to go to rehearsals and things. Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet. I think part of the problem is that when I worked at Snoqualmie, I usually got home around 3 am, and was in bed around 3:45. Now I get up at 3:45 am. And before I worked at Snoqualmie, I opened at Panera Bread, where I had to be up at 4:30 am. So I've kind of been flip-flopping my internal clock around for a year, interspersed with a period of three months this summer where I actually just didn't sleep at all.

I'm not entirely sure I even have an internal clock anymore. 

So, my days of late have consisted of working early in the morning, coming home and eating lunch, passing out for two-plus hours, waking up feeling vaguely nauseous (does anyone else get nap nauseous? Is that just me?), puttering around for a few hours and then going back to bed in an attempt to get good sleep before waking up again. It's not a perfect schedule, but I'm working on it. 

Anyways, that's it. No pictures this post because I haven't taken any. Just thought I'd let everyone know I was alive and still literate. 

I'm back.

So, once again, it's been a tremendously long time since I've posted anything. My new goal is to stop starting my blog posts like that. But I'm thinking that's not going to be a problem because once again my life has gotten all changed up again and I find myself with a little more free time. Why?

Oh, I just quit my job.

Before anyone gets crazy, let me explain. I loved being a cocktail waitress. I loved making good tips and working a fun environment. But I didn't love never being home on nights and weekends.  And I didn't love that I never got to see my friends and family. And I really didn't love that I couldn't audition for shows because, as you know, shows generally happen during nights and weekends. And if I'm not dancing and choreographing and being in musicals, what is really the point? So, I'll be making less money, but I am one hundred percent confident that my general life quality will improve.

I start my brand spanking new job at Starbucks downtown (which also means I'll be saving a bundle on gas not having to drive myself up into the mountains everyday). It's going to be more of a 9-5, Monday through Friday kind of thing, which I'm exceptionally pumped about. And in just this first weekend I've had off, I've managed to see about a billion different friends that probably thought I had dropped off the face of the earth, cooked some delicious home-made dinners, and spent a whole day with my family. There is a little tiny part of me that is stressed out about my finances now that my income will be significantly less, but the rest of me is just so relieved that I'll be able to do what I love to do and spend time with the people I love, that I think it's going to be worth it.

We put a chandelier in the entryway. Our apartment is getting fancier and fancier.

Other things have happened since I last updated, but I can't remember them all. So let's just do a brief overview.

1. I finished my summer at Stage Struck. There were days when those kids melted my heart with cuteness and other days that I wanted to punch some of them in the face. But in the end, when they were wearing their lion manes made out of yarn, lisping their way through the billionth chorus of "We're off to See the Wizard" for a room packed full of proud parents and grandparents, I couldn't help but fight back a few tears. They worked so hard. And they were so cute. And only one of them wet his pants.

2. Ricky is totally fine. Don't even worry about it.

3.  My Value Village pictures went up in-store, since Halloween is just around the corner, and I have to say - it's pretty legit. I've been trying to play it cool, like, oh yeah there are posters of myself on the windows of that store over there but, you know, no big deal. Except for THERE ARE LIFE SIZE POSTERS OF MYSELF ON THE WINDOWS OF THAT STORE AND UNLESS YOU ARE A MODEL OR CELEBRITY, HOW OFTEN DOES THAT HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE? Let me tell you, not often.

Annnnnnd, that's about it. I promise, promise, promise that I'm for real going to post more frequently. For real. I really am. (Not that anyone really cares. How many people are still reading this blog anyways?)

But I am.

For real.

GPOY!

A few months ago, my friend and photographer extraordinaire allowed my to take part in his ongoing GPOY! project, in which he shoots Gratuitous Pictures Of Yourself for anyone who wants to come play with him. And I just can't say no to some fun camera time. Here are my favorite shots:

A Headache Cure

Last Monday, at the beginning of my two-week mini break in between camps, I got a little headache on the left side of my brain. It was like my body had been storing all the stress from last month and a half and waiting patiently for an appropriate time to let it run rampant. It's been a little over a week now - and I still have the headache.

You guys, I NEVER GET HEADACHES.

I mean, it's not constant, it comes and goes. But still. Someone mentioned that it might be a tension headache, which led to a dream in which it was actually diagnosed as a tension headache, but in dreamland a "tension headache" meant "hole in your brain".

My brain is weird.

Anyways, this morning was especially bad. I was starting to feel like a rich old recluse, a la Big/Little Edie, shut up in my apartment and being forced to lay down a spell anytime the pain got too great. Luckily Ricky got out of school early and made me to go out with him before we both had to go to work. And wouldn't ya know it, my headache went away.

Lil' Woody's Burgers. Burger heaven.

So, like usual, we wandered around and it was sunny and I felt better and better about life the more we walked around. Funny how that works. 

I picked up some cute little handmade cards with the intention of sending them off to my friends as a nice little I'm-thinking-about-you-and-I-love-you surprise (maybe a little inspired by the always inspiring Kelle Hampton). But then I realized I don't know any of my friends actual addresses. I know their e-mail addresses, and their facebook pages, and their tumblrs, and diligently follow their tweets, but when it comes to their physical location in space? You got me.

So maybe, friends, if you are reading this, could you do me a favor? Could you discreetly send me your address so I can discreetly file it away and then a little while later I will send you a lovely handmade card and you will get it and be filled with love and you can say "What a surprise! That Kate is so nice to think of me, and completely of of the blue like that!"

Yes, I think that plan will do just fine.

Oh, and those of you who sent me your addresses for the giveaway I did awhile back? I lost all of them. I over-zealously cleaned out my inbox of the literally thousands of e-mails I had stored in there, and my carelessness and eagerness to be finished with the task got the best of me. 

So, if you are one of those people, maybe you should resend it. 

 That's all. Happy Wednesday.

PS. My headache is gone for the moment, but I know it will come back. It always comes back. Does anyone have any real headache cures they want to offer up? I've been popping Advil like it's going out of style, drinking tons of water, and resting a lot. Is there something I'm over-looking?

Gotta get some words out.

For some reason, I think perhaps because I went so long without posting, when I think about writing a blog post now I get all twisty and nervous. Like, whatever I have to say won't be interesting or funny or blog-worthy enough to blog about. Which is just dumb. Not because everything I do is thrilling, but because I like writing and I like chronicling my life and that is enough. 

So there, self.

I have been wandering around the neighborhood some more, trying to break in the new camera (whilst avoiding looking like a creepy stalker taking pictures of strangers).

Side Note: If you have never seen a game of bike polo being played, getcho' ass to Cal Anderson park on Capitol Hill around dusk any summer night, settle in with some Molly Moon's Ice Cream from around the corner, and prepare for the most intense sporting event you have ever witnessed.

Other than that, not a whole lot new to report. Aching to dance more, to perform more in general. Still on the hunt for a daytime friendly job. Still counting down the months (nine!) until the NYC move happens. Oh, and Ricky has steadily been building his underground bartending empire.

PS. He's got his own blog now, so if you are alcoholically inclined, check him out!

And while we're posting links, I have a special one. I just woke Ricky up from a nap to show him, and while he was enthused he was also really sleepy and thus his excitement didn't translate appropriately. But maybe the internetz will care about me. Because some of my photo shoot pictures are up and I'm bursting with excitement!.

So go look at that, if you please. I'm the girl in the superhero outfit. You can't miss it.