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I clicked it. I've officially applied to Spalon Montage. Woot!

After the passing of the first 19 weeks of school, I've decided it's time to get serious about my job hunting. So I came home, finished tidying up my resume, thoughtfully prepared my online application and poof! I'm done!

When considering where I might find myself come licensure and graduation, a few factors have come to mind:

1. I'd like to stay central - no Blaine, no Maple Grove, no Apple Valley (NO!) for me. I need to stay in the Minneapolis area, or at least the first tier suburbs. I think. Brian works in NE Minneapolis these days, and we'll be looking for a home (NOT in Apple Valley (sorry dad)), and settling down somewhere between our two places of employment, so the thought of being "commuters" really isn't our scene.

2. I want to be a generalist - I don't want to have to choose between cutting and color/chemical services. As a stylist, especially a new stylist, I want to really hone both sets of skills and be able to provide for my client's every hair need. Besides - we're not doctors, people. Physicians specialize because they have to learn [-------- this much --------] information about their specialty. I'm pretty sure I can handle the amount of information I need to know about both hair color/chem and cutting.

3. I'm really seeking a professional, high quality vibe. At this point in school, and at this point in life, I feel like I've really put in some good work, and that I kind of deserve to work in that sort of environment. And I'm not the kind of person to eff-up and find herself on Tabitha, so I've got that going for me.....

4. I enjoy the marriage of spa and salon atmospheres. I think that hair services can be very theraputic, relaxing and rejuvenating, and fit well into that ideaology. It also comes back to the idea of a one-stop-shop for all your beauty pampering needs.

5. I hope for the kind of place that attracts a regular clientele - aka NOT a hotel salon. While that idea sounds fun, I really want to have the kind of career where I see people all week long that I look forward to catching up with, and many of whom I could consider my friends. I want to hear updates on life, babies, relationships, jobs, travels, etc. and I don't want to have to small talk my way through the days.

What salon or type of salon do you frequent? I'm all ears!

Things You Likely Don't Care About. I'll post them anyway....

I posted this on Facebook and thought it was an easy way to cheat a blog post. Tah dah.

1. I've never smoked a cigarette -- not even a puff.

2. I absolutely love Disney movies and have a few soundtracks.

3. I love babies. And kids. They love me too :-)

4. My favorite beverage is and always has been ice water.

5. Brian and I both totalled our cars last December. It sucked big time. I still have neck pain from it.

6. I think I'm pretty smart and manage to know a little bit about everything.

7. I've never broken a bone (except toes, but those aren't even real bones)

8. I've never had stitches either.

9. I have the BEST mom in the entire world -- I'm totally in awe of her poise and faith in dealing with her cancer treatments over the past year. She is absolutely inspirational.

10. I am in loungewear within 3 minutes of arriving home from anywhere.

11. I told my Kindergarten teacher that I wanted to be a Girl Scout Troop Leader when I grew up..... I'm sure there's really good money in that.

12. I hate being made fun of, even if jokingly from friends/family and take criticism VERY harshly and very personally. I've always been pretty sensitive about it. It's made me keep a lot of struggles private for fear of judgement.

13. I LOVED living in dorms and kind of miss it. All my friends were right there with me!

14. I had a really difficult time in life when I was 10-13 and it still makes me cry to think about it.

15. I was a terrible student. I did no homework in Calculus and yet managed perfect tests and a student of the quarter award.... it may have been a bit because of #14.

16. I have 35 first cousins (not including stepfamily), of which I am the youngest. I always felt left behind and I'm sad I didn't get to have the same relationship with my grandparents as the older ones did -- they had all passed by the time I was 13.

17. I secretly want to name my children after the Von Trapps, dress them in curtains and teach them to sing solfege...while living in the mountains of Austria and raising goats (that also sing).

18. Speaking of children, I may or may not have names already picked out.

19. I've spelled my middle name wrong my entire life.

20. On our wedding day, I didn't pee once during the 13 hours I was in my dress.

21. I've been told for years that I'll be a good mom and I absolutely love the compliment... I hope it's true!

22. I have TV crushes on the guy from Chuck and Agent McGee from NCIS. Total nerds, but I dig it!

23. My favorite place to be is up at the cabin on 4th of July weekend... sun, lake, beer, shorts, no makeup, great family... heaven.

24. I've always hated the feeling of being left out, since I am (WAS) the baby of the family and the only girl -- I get really jealous if friends hang out without me.

25. Going from Katie to Katrina was a very unnatural process and still causes me a major identity crisis.

I think I hear God laughing.

I'm trying to plan for my future. Many of you know I'm in the process of enrolling at the Aveda Institute for a cosmetology program. WELL, apparently my social calendar is just TOO BUSY for me to start school.

Aveda has a really strict attendance policy. All of which is completely understandable. It's an 11-month program, has the MN cosmetologist licensure requirements to adhere to and therefore only allows 77.5 hours of absence. Not a huge deal over the course of a year, especially considering that there are appropriate holiday breaks and a "mid year sanity break."

The issue comes into play when one learns that only 26 of those missed hours can be on Saturdays. That's 3 days and 2 hours total..... I now have FIVE weddings (assuming an invite to my cousin's wedding, date in August yet to be confirmed) between March 28th and September 12th.

I was hoping to start school on March 10th: get my schooling done, get into the job, eventually start having babies. This now means that I will have to either a) delay my start date until OCTOBER 20th -that's a grad date of Sept 2010- or the unlikely b) miss some weddings.

Oh, and the other super great piece is that if you go over those amounts they've pre-determined, you're termed from the program without appeal.

GOD, I should have done this 5 years ago.

xoxo

KTM

One and only holiday "party"

Get out your sequined-and-glittered sweaters, rhinestone brooches and your jingle bell earrings! It's time for a Christmas partaaaay! Tonight! Huzzah! This is the eve of our Basilica Choir Christmas Party. Wahhooo. Thankfully they're a fun bunch of crazy folks. Some crazier than others. Some funner than others. It is what it is.

So it's out on Lake Minnetonka, which is a very nice area, good for a Christmas party, yadda yadda. BUT, I'm theoretically supposed to be there AT the start time of SIX THIRTY to welcome people and I have to drive to Minnetrista from SAINT PAUL during rush hour. OMG, please CAN I?? Not to mention that I am working today, am supposed to bring a "hot side dish" that I have yet to make, still have to go home and shower and the dress is "semi-formal" meaning it takes a little more than the usual 40 minutes to get ready.

I can feel my stress level rising already. Hopefully the traffic won't be nightmarish, my hair will be cooperative, the libations will be freely flowing any my driver will be sober and steady at the wheel.

Did someone say NOG? Yes please.


You can put ICE CREAM in them? Only at Christmas!


xoxo
KTM

P.S. As I write this and budget my time to the minute (from leaving work to departing for the party), I get a call from the husband.... running late to pick me up.... OK bub, now I'm sacrificing painting my nails. Deeeeep breaths.

P.P.S. (and risking a bit of Bloggessishness) I get the very distinct privilege of helping a friend MOVE tomorrow!!! Yes, during the snow storm. Can someone say AWESOMMME? But I don't do so begrudgingly, as she is a very very dear, sweet and genuine friend who has helped us move and helps us in other ways without complaint, so I do so with absolute pleasure!

It's unfair, really.

They say like attracts like. I think I want to hold tightly to this motto and never let it go.

After completing a recent (visual) (non-formal) survey, I've discovered that I have really really ridiculously good looking friends. Oh, and they're smart, funny, talented and successful, too. I could use the term fabulous, but it really doesn't do them justice. They're stunning; they're amazing.

So.... in consideration of my new motto listed above, does this make me amazing by association? It's okay if it does. Because either I AM amazing, or my friends really aren't as smart as I may have implied to have a less-than-amazing friend like me around.

I mean it though - they truly are great people. They've accomplished great things (pharmacist, law student, new mommy, improv comedian), they look wonderful and have great style, and they are all just the most sweet, genuine, and wonderful people. The men that love them should consider themselves extremely lucky.

And to those other fortunate men out there that have yet to find their way to my incredible single friends, don't be intimidated by their beauty and fantasticalness, but also don't fuck up ;-)

xoxo
KTM

Blush, yes, but ART? Not even close.

Our girls weekend at Grand View Lodge was fabulous! We started with 8 and welcomed a 9th with the help of some circular Patron shots and a little Lamaze technique. Don't ask. We had plenty of food, booze, and a whole crapload of fun.

In the wee small hours of Sunday morning, a personal moment of bliss and brilliance occured (shear genius?). While we were going for vintage-sleepover and brushing each other's hair, the wonderfully crazy Kathryn decided to begin teasing dear Andrea's hair. From that chaos, I found a dose of clarity.

We ended up competing in a "tease off" -- while I could not compete with the "organic" and "primitive" effect that her "front-combing" technique provided, my "modern" styles did win in the structure and vision departments. It's pretty frickin' avant garde, if I do say so myself.

If a little hairspray, a brush and a few bobby pins can result in these creations, what could I do with the proper training and tools at my fingertips? My mouth waters at the prospect.


Aubrey -- Spartan soldier helmet?



Kathryn -- Roman warrior princess?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhat similarly, I've been catching Lifetime's reality show BLUSH -- a makeup artist spin on the Project Runway idea. While I do believe the artists to have true talent and occasional inspiration, I find myself disappointed on a weekly basis! These people are commissioned to create art, and they perform so POORLY, it just makes me fume.

For example: one of this week's challenges was to makeover twins into a "good twin/evil twin" look. FAIL.
















The only difference I see is a little extra darkish eyeshadow, some liner and some ratted hair (I wonder if the hair stylist "front combed" it). Really? That's "evil??" If I had been a contestant on the show, I would have gone a bit crazy. Here's a tip - if the theme is something dramatic like 'evil,' maybe that's a good indicator to take the concept outside the box and the eyeshadow outside the lines. Yes? Yes. My other idea was to make the "evil" twin look angelic on the outside and the "good" twin wear the dramatic makeup -- OMG, I would totally win this show.

And Andrea, if you're reading this: go buy new makeup brushes. ;-)

Peace, love and a Shu Uemura,

KTM

You're gonna be popular! But not as popular as me.

Well? I'm just being honest.

WICKED!!!! Brian and I saw it last night - It lived up to all the hype and then some! I was thrilled to be there after all I'd heard, and can now safely say it's my favorite musical! Although, I must admit that at first I was really wishing I could have seen it (HEARD it) done by the original cast (because I want to BE Idina Menzel and I want to put teeny Kristin Chenoweth in my pocket to sing and dance for me at my command ;-)

(And OMIGOD, I want to be Idina even more after learning that she MARRIED Taye Diggs..... droooool)

BUT, I was pleasantly surprized -- neigh, flabbergasted! -- at the talent in the actresses used for this tour! They were FABULOUS!!!! Here are a few pics from the evening:

Being wicked? - - - - - -The Orpheum

Brian, Me, Bill

And incase you were curious, YES, I wore green eyeshadow ;-)

_________________

This weekend, I'm heading out of the city for a weekend retreat up at Grand View Lodge with some girlfriends. And by retreat, I of course mean boozefest. Yes, I'm planning to wear sweatpants during the booze consumption. I really hope there are pickle rolls, because I LOVE THEM.

When I was first told of this adventure, I mistakenly googled Grand Lodge, which FIRST brought up "The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the USA"...... ?? OK, next entry -- as some Twin Citians may know, The Grand Lodge is the hotel connected to the Water Park of America. ..... ..... I was at first a bit surprised that this group of girlfriends would pick such a destination, but then I was secretly all like OMG YESSSSS!!! at the thought of bounding around an indoor waterpark in December and talking about fun stuff like The Jonas Brothers and HSM and Twilight and going down slides and stuff. I luuurve waterparks! But then I figured out my mistake and played it all cool like "Yeah, I asked if we needed to bring swimsuit and towel for the... uh... spa! YES, because that's what we chic, classy WOMEN do on weekend 'retreats'.... no not swimming. SPA." Actually I think Andrea was fairly entertained at my waterpark enthusiasm -- if anyone appreciates random (and usually humorous) displays of quirkiness and individuality, it's Miss Comedienne herself.

Point is that I'm THRILLED to go away on this little adventure with some seriously fun gals and some equally fun vodka. (Fun gals + vodka + waterslides?? Add that to my to-do list.)

Cheers!

KTM

Turkey hangover

So, I'm at work. AT WORK. Doing absolutely nothing. I read InTouch magazine already (I was going to make reference to something interesting in the world of celebrity gossip, but couldn't think of anything. Fitting, eh?), did the Sudoku in the back, stared at the wall.... UGH, there's nothing to do. If I had spent more than 10 minutes getting ready at home this morning, perhaps I would have thought to bring my thank-yous in to write. It's only been 5 weeks since the wedding. Sighhhhhhhh.

I don't understand why my bosses find it necessary for us to be here today. Especially to be here ALL DAY. I mean, I understand that a hospital never closes and therefore we will always have employees working here, but must we be here the entire day? Oh well. I'm getting paid.

Thanksgiving was successful yesterday. We had two gatherings to attend -- one "extended family" at my cousin's in Golden Valley, and one with immediate family in Apple Valley. Brian and I were in charge of making the Pumpkin Chiffon pie and "kids stuffing" (aka Stove Top) for our evening gathering at my dad & stepmom's house. Both turned out amazingly, if I do say so myself. My stepmom loves to plop strange ingredients into her stuffing -- this year it was dried apricots and.... heck, I don't know, I ate the Stove Top! We opted to make it with chicken stock instead of water, and then added sauteed onions and celery. Yummmmmmm. I think we shall incorporate Stove Top more regularly into our dinner rotation.

OK.... looking back, this entire blog post is like "what I've been doing since the last time I blogged - the minutiae of my life." BORING. Maybe I should blog about my philosophies and ideals instead? Nah.

Yesterday, I found myself thinking of Thanksgiving as really more "Pre-Christmas." For example, I showed up at my parents to find they had put up a Christmas tree and were playing Christmas music. And following tradition, after dinner, we watched A Christmas Story. Granted, my father absolutely loves Christmas. Eh well, I suppose Thanksgiving through New Years are just rolled into "Happy Holidays" anyway....

Happy Holidays,
KTM

P.S. I was quite excited to see that there were two comments on my first blog post - and then I realized that my OWN comment counted. FAIL.

Blog: day 1

Is there a blogging 101 class I should be taking? Rule 1: post more than once or you'll look really lame.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have opinions about anything and everything. And usually those people know that I have an uncanny ability to be right all the time. Weird! I guess I get it from my dad.... the man loves to write, philosophize, analyze, dissect, reminisce and know. It's that last one that really perpetuates all the others. The man just KNOWS stuff! Granted, he doesn't have the same level of accuracy as I do, but he's pretty darn smart.

Family occasions, much like tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast, involve a great deal of usless facts, witty banter, ......

WhyTF is something crashing outside of my office?? I hate this place today.

Tangeant over.

.....generally a gathering of intelligent and fabulous folk. It's a meeting of the minds, really. But the thing I love MOST about my family (and friends as well) is the sense of ease and self we have when we're together. AND, I love the fact that it's the same way they go about their daily existence, no matter who they are with. Granted, we all will adapt to our surroundings and often play to the parts of ourselves that best match with whom we are interacting, but the general sense is that we are who we are 100% of the time.

I find that I really choose to sourround myself with the same type of people. I love having good hearted, fun, genuine friends that can hold intellectual conversation, discuss beliefs, faith, politics, psychology, etc. But it's not just about intelligence. I have a 6th sense for sniffing out fake, contrived, and other general lamenesses such as these. And once I sense it, I get the most awful "taste in my mouth" sort of effect and can't listen to another word they say.

Point of the story is: be you, be your smart, crazy, mistake-making, fabulous, weird-habitted self and don't back down.

Period.

KTM