my fight

not sure if some of you know, but i am in a constant fight with arthritis.

my diagnosis's have gone from, late on-set juvenile arthritis to rheumatoid arthritis to (most recently) psoriatic arthritis. i am glad there is more definition to what i have, but it doesn't make it any easier. the thing that sucks about having arthritis (especially at 24 years old) is that no one really gets it. it sucks. plain and (difficulty) simple.

my most recent medication is called remicade. it is basically an infusion that i get every 6 weeks that takes about 3 hours to be infused. in nashville, the nurse was really good at getting the IV in my arm so it wouldn't' hurt. in DC, its a little different as i have gotten pretty bruised the past times i have gone (see picture).

my fighting hand.

hopefully the new advances in medication will help with this fight and make it a lot less painful. until then... i will keep on posting the bruises.

and i also need new hair. or something... any suggestions??

oh october.

i love october.

why? because its fall. and its wonderful. and good things happen in fall.

last weekend was a weekend back in tennessee with my architecture friends and my parents. this weekend is a weekend in dc/alex with two of my best friends. next weekend is back home for a wedding of two dear friends. the next weekend is halloween weekend. and then its november.

and i love november even more. although not quite a busy as october, it has thanksgiving in it and that is my favorite holiday.

the weather is getting ready to change here which i am anticipating. today the high is 85, tomorrow it is 69. and then it should stay down. i am excited about boots and leggings and tights. i have missed my jackets. and i am ready to bundle up and enjoy an eastern coast winter. i am hoping it is a lot different from a tennessee winter with more snow. we shall see.

expect lots of pictures from this busy month.

redneck catering

this past weekend, one of joe's roommate had a birthday. and because this roommate is from tennessee... the theme became "a redneck birthday" (and yes people dressed up... well i didn't, but the losers did.)

and so joe was put in charge of food... i love that he cooks... and what did he make? beer can chicken. and man was it good!

and then i made a tennessee cake. its ok to be impressed by my decorating skills. ace of cake should be calling soon... but until they do, i will bake/decorate birthday cakes for 175 a pop. i can do anything that is a circle or square.

the cook

beer can chicken

my work of art

crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes

well, my friends drew and ellie holcomb (the musicians) came through town and were officially the first visitors i have had here in alexandria. it was so wonderful to see familiar faces and to be able to visit. joe and i took them to a local pizza joint and then we headed to the uncle earl concert at the birchmere. i have to say... the birchmere is a pretty cool venue. its no ryman but it was very unique and there were no bad seats.

joe, me, ellie and drew at the birchmere.

we took this ourselves so excuse the non-centering and cut-off of drew's face.

uncle earl is an all girl bluegrass band and they are amazing. they all have these separate careers and lives and then they come together and sing their hearts out and have so much fun doing it. they definitely make me happy.

"crayola doesn't make a color for your eyes" was my favorite song they sang. it was written in such an amazing way by not really using any instruments but using mostly hand claps (in the form of one of patty cakes) and some great harmonys. It won the John Lennon's Song of the year award recently. If you ever need a smile on your face... listen to this song... actually, just listen to uncle earl in general.

you tube video of this song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Exw7QAqP9Q



crayola doesn't make a color for you eyes : kristen andreassen

I went to see the doctor. I’d come down with the blues.
She said “No, I can’t cure you, but I know something you can do.
Take out a piece of paper, and sit down for a while,
and draw a pretty picture of something that makes you smile.”
Well, I know what makes me happy. Didn’t have to think for long.
But when I tried to draw it, it always came out wrong.
I had a box of 12, 48 and 64,
but nowhere could I find that one shade I was looking for.
I guess I realized shoulda come as no surprise

Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes.
There is no way that I could possibly describe you.
Crayola doesn’t make a color to draw my love.

At first I thought of Green Blue, but then I saw Blue Green.
And then sometimes in bright light, they look Aquamarine.
I think at night they’re darker. I looked again for you.
Saw Grey and Black and went out walkin’ after Midnight Blue
But the hues of the deepest skies would be a compromise...

Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes.
There is no way that I could possibly describe you.
Crayola doesn’t make a color to draw my love.

Spring Green is much too yellow, Sea Green is far too pale.
Cornflower’s way too mellow, so I’ll try again and fail.
There’s no way I can capture the way you make me feel.
One look from you is rapture, whether Blue or Green or Teal.
No color qualifies. That crayon’s telling lies...

Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes.
There is no way that I could possibly describe you.
Crayola doesn’t make a color to draw my love.

Hey look, it’s Periwinkle. So sure I got it now.
But you wink and there’s a twinkle in your eye and still, somehow,
I just can’t get that sparkle. Those glitter crayons won’t.
Maybe Glow-In-The-Dark’ll get it right. Aw, no they don’t.
Mr. Crayola tries, but I’m left to fantasize...

Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes.
There is no way that I could possibly describe you.
Crayola doesn’t make a color to draw my love.

For your eyes, something darker let’s see what I can find.
Melted mahogany and got the depth not the shine.
Just about gave up and then I peeled the paper off a little end of…
Really thought it coulda been… ahh, not even Burnt Sienna!
Your passport says they’re brown, but I’m gonna keep lookin’ round…

catherine's christening.

in continuation with getting back on track with my blogs...

the weekend of the (re)union in knoxville was continued when joe and i got back to virginia. as soon as we got off the plane we drove to vienna to attend my baby cousin catherine's christening. she was the happiest baby during the whole ceremony and would look back at us and give us the sweetest smile.

it is wonderful getting to see catherine, sassy and maddi grow. i am going to continue in just posting a lot of pictures and just letting them speak for themselves.

the sweet girl of the day.

sulking sassy.

goofy madds.

mimi with her oldest and youngest.

mimi and kitty.

the girl of the day... i don't know which is sweeter.

(re)union

let's back up about 3 weeks ago to the weekend of sept 17th. not only was it my mum's birthday, but it was the wedding of two friends from knoxville sara (sharp) and sean martin. i had the honor of playing piano for their ceremony and i am thankful they have not killed me yet for hitting about 800 wrong chords in Mendelssohn's Wedding March, and since there are only 357 chords... that's quite a feat.

one thing that was so wonderful about this wedding is that it basically served as a reunion of sorts for the architecture kids s graduated with. since we have all scattered, we haven't seen each other nearly as much as some of us would like. so in honor of the celebration of the union that became a reunion, i shall not talk quite as much and just post pictures... with maybe a few explanations thrown in here and there.

introducing... sean and sara martin.

the gangs all here... well some of them (part I)

katie, kylie, thomas, me, patty, grant and crystal (the next couple to tie the knot.)

the gangs all here... well some of them (part II)

enter creepy gabe in the background.

joey is not bored. he is enjoying the art.

before the party got started.

after the party got started.

joseph and i (after a couple of drinks)

the wedding was a lot of fun. the best part of the night was taking a whole cake and splitting it with the girls and eating it with our hands because they ran out of silverware. i know... very lady like. i didn't go to cotillion for that. but the cake was fantastic. after the reception we hit up DTGB on Gay Street and then Joe took me to Krystal for old times sake. after that we went back to the barhopping scene, picked up some crazies and took everyone home. We all had a blast!

whens the next (re)union?


Note: For more pictures... check out my facebook profile.

alright already...

i promise updates are coming. i am waiting to get pictures so i can update with wonderful stories of my life. i will try to get it done before i head home for the weekend. i am sorry for the delay!