Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Two of my biggest passions in life are animal welfare and protecting the environment. I'm not sure where these passions originated from, except they are just values that were instilled in me when I was young, but I can honestly say there probably aren't any two subjects that I feel more strongly about. In light of some disagreements I've had recently with a friend about the importance of being environmentally friendly, I've decided to write a series of blogs about a few topics that are close to my heart. While most of what I say may not be new to you or touch you the way it does me, if it makes even one person think, I feel like it was worth my time. 

The place to start with this is the easiest one in your life to adjust: recycling! I could probably go through any random person's trash can and pull out 30-75% of what was tossed that could be recycled instead. Pretty much ANYTHING made out of glass, plastic, aluminum, or paper can be reused. Jars, glass bottles, hard plastic containers, paper cereal boxes, plastic grocery bags...ALL of this can be recycled. I know the idea of this seems like a lot of extra work for you, but the truth of it is, recycling is as easy as placing that beer bottle you just finished into a different 'trash' container than the one you normally use. (Look to the bottom of this post to find out how to get recycling services to YOUR house or neighborhood) 

Everything I was able to recycle from making just one dinner and packing the next day's lunch

A few facts about recycling: 

1. The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste. 

2. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now! There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled. 

3. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years. 

4. Approximately 1 BILLION trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
5. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year! (More on this later) 

6. Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!  

One of the things I find most offensive about our lack of compliance with recycling is something I've realized very few people are aware of. Did you know there is a 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'?? It is the largest landfill in the world and it is on our oceans! This gigantic vortex is estimated to be more than TWICE the size of TEXAS and weighs more than 3.5 MILLION TONS. It is visable during air travel on the way to Hawaii. Roughly 80% of the debris comes from land, washing out to sea from lakes and rivers and the remaining 20% falls from cargo ships and other oceangoing ships. In Japan, Alaska, and a few of the smaller Hawaiian islands, trash has begun piling up to over 10 feet high on some of the beaches as a result of the trash circle. More than a million marine mammals and birds die every year from ingesting debris from this circle that they confuse to be food (see picture below). Plastic accounts for over 90% of the trash floating in the world's oceans and is the most harmful of all debris because it does not biodegrade. There is no natural process that breaks down plastic, so it pollutes forever.

For more on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, please go to THIS blog post that I found which does an amazing job of illustrating the horror of it and what you can do to help.

Some pictures of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch:

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So what can you do? Like I mentioned, the easiest thing you can do to start is recycle! Two of my favorite ways to reduce my impact are using reusable canvas bags whenever I go to Publix or Target (they're about $1 a piece, you can fit more in them than plastic bags, they make fewer trips in from the car, and they're good for years!) and to buy a BPA-free reusable water bottle for work/gym/pool and continue to refill it with water instead of using water bottles. Not only is it good for the environment, think of how much money you'll save by filling the same bottle with filtered or Brita water as opposed to buying case after case of bottled water!

 For those of you living in my neck of the woods, here is a link to the Hillsborough County Recycling Webpage with everything you need to know about setting up recycling services at your house and in your neighborhood. It also offers links to where you can find similar information if you live outside of Hillsborough County. I urge you to go, take a look, and make use of the information there!

For the sources of information in this post or to research further, please visit the following websites:

http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/43575.aspx

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm

Love,
KayCee

Ch-Ch-Changes

 Very exciting things happening in my life lately...I got my hair done! (Yes, this is very exciting to me) I've had some sort of red in my hair, whether it was highlights or a full dye-job, probably since I was 19 or 20.  And over the last few years I've gradually been going darker and darker with my color. Well, I decided it was time for a change and after seeing my friend successfully go from a dark brunette to a light blonde in one dye job with her colorist, I decided to book an appointment. I didn't want anything drastic, just to strip the red out (which can be a task), go closer to my natural brunette tones, and add some caramel colored highlights. I didn't take a before picture, but there are plenty posted previously in this blog. But here are the results...

Letting the color set for an hour or so. I'm surprised I didn't get hit with a lightning bolt despite being inside with the amount of foil on my head!

After!

So what do you think?? I'm pretty happy with it. I did a double-take in the mirror the first time because it was weird not to see any red! I'm getting another Keratin treatment done on Tuesday and then my hair will officially be beautified!

Other exciting news...I officially booked my trip to Vegas for July! So it is written in non-refundable stone now. I'm super excited. There's just 4 of us, so it'll be a small manageable group and we'll be there Wed night thru Monday night, so we'll get to experience a whole fun weekend. Besides Tiffany's show, I think we're going to see Zumanity (Cirque du Soleil's more provocative offering) and then just spend the rest of the weekend being tourists, participating in ridiculous pool parties, and seeing the animals at the MGM and Mirage. The only "down-side" (if you can call it that) to Vegas is its just given me a whole new excuse to go shopping. Yesterday it was 'I need a Vegas-worthy bathing suit!' and today it was 'I need cute platforms that I can wear to the pool and while walking around!' Yes, these were true thoughts that went through my head. So despite my wallet's protests (which were minimal at best) I ended up with these goodies:

The bathing suit top is actually a light black-on-black leopard print with solid black bottoms. That green print is just the inside lining. But I think the gold adds just enough sparkle. And I love the shoes. Tiffany's been working on me to a) show my legs off more and b) get over the fact that I'm probably a minimum of 6 ft tall when I wear large platforms, so these are my effort to show off my dancer calves and let the boys know that you should be over 6 ft for me to be interested in you anyway! (Or something like that, lol)

My Vegas-body quest continues. Today I stayed on track and ate an egg white omelet with fruit when I went out to brunch with friends and now I'm headed to Tiff's for some wholesome meat and asparagus grill action before the season premiere of True Blood! Bring on the shirtless Ryan Kwanton and Alexander Skarsgard! 

PS...yes, last June I did devote an entire post to shirtless pictures of those men right before the True Blood premiere. Just a reminder in case you need a little pick-me-up ;)

Love,

KayCee

Favorite Things

I've been MIA from the blog world lately because I've felt a bit daunted when trying to come up with something interesting/entertaining/inspiring to write about. I don't want to get on and babble just for the sake of typing something. But one thing I'm always excited to share with you is my favorite things of the moment. Since I've decided to make this a reoccurring topic, here are my favorite things for June 2012...

Channing Tatum comes as close to physical perfection as any male could hope to come and the fact that he can DANCE just adds to his attractiveness. Well on June 29th we will get 2 whole hours of him dancing and stripping just for our female enjoyment. And if Channing doesn't do enough for you, feel free to also enjoy Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. If you're not sexually frustrated after watching this preview, we may no longer be friends.

This girl, and getting back to the gym. I know, this statement may surprise many of you (the second part of the statement, I mean!) But ever since I've met Tiffany, a fellow nurse on my Neuroscience floor, we've been fast friends. She is constantly smiling, happy, and optimistic which balances out my realism and occasional pessimism. She has become my constant cheerleader and has been a great motivator in terms of gaining control of some parts of my life. As you can see, she's pretty close to physical perfection and will be competing in some national figure fitness competitions this year. Well, we now have a new goal together... since I will be accompanying her to Las Vegas at the end of July to cheer her on at one of her National competitions, we not only have to make sure she's ready to kick some butt, but we have to make sure I'm in shape enough to walk around a Vegas pool in a bathing suit as well! We've got about 8 weeks left and I've actually been excited about getting back in the gym. So far I've been going every day that I'm not at work and doing 30-45 minutes of cardio followed by a good hour of weights/further exercising. Yesterday she took me through a back weight training work out and today its painful to move my arms or shrug my shoulders. But I've missed the burn and I'm excited about toning up and slimming down a little bit over the next two months. Ready to get my confidence back! Want some of Tiffany's advice on getting in shape? She's starting a blog right here on blogspot soon! So stay tuned and I'll advertise the link when she gets it up and running!

Keira Knightley is engaged! I've had a bit of a crush on her for pretty much as long as I can remember...I don't know, I have a thing for quirky, atypical beauty. And I am so happy to hear that she's found some happiness! Her finace, James Righton, of a British rock band the Klaxons, proposed with a 2 carat solitaire diamond on a platinum band. So not only does he have good taste in women...he has good taste in diamonds! I love simple, classic engagement rings. I've always thought a single, beautiful stone with no extra adornments was the way to go. So congrats Keira and James!

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Onto the music front, I believe I have a new favorite song and possibly a new favorite artist. I know I'm a little late to the game in my discovery of Florence and the Machine, but I was actually introduced to her song 'Shake it Out' from an episode of Glee when they did a really cool rendition of it. I searched out the real version of the song and fell in love. Now I'm on a mission to hear more of her music and I hope I love it as much as I love 'Shake it Out.' My favorite music has always been quirky, off-beat, non-mainstream music and I think Florence will fit right in to that. Here's her video for 'Shake it Out':

And finally, my offerings in animal cuteness for the month of June. First we have Donna the 2 year old elephant of England's ZSL Whipsnade Zoo playing soccer:

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And finally, awhile back my sister sent me a link with pictures of dogs that look like Panda bears and I've basically become obsessed. So if anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday in August... just a thought! :) I've posted a few here, but definitely go to the site and check out the others! The adorableness is pretty out of control.

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Love,

KayCee

Chi-town escape

I've had a busy couple months lately, with little time to write, but that time has been littered with lots of mini vacays and escapes so its been a nice break from the blog world. Currently, I'm home in Tally celebrating Mother's Day weekend and visiting family. It's been a busy, but fun weekend. Gorged ourselves on some yummy mexican food Saturday night and a delicious brunch Sunday morning. Got the title of my car (which is officially paid off and MINE) put entirely in my name. Introduced my family to Game of Thrones and watched most of the first season. But the best part of the weekend was my sister's mother's day gift to my mom. Instead of dressing up in spring dresses and doing something classy, we put on older clothes, grabbed a bottle of wine, and went to Painting with a Twist. What a better way to spend the day celebrating mom than getting a buzz while painting your pet, right? None of us are particularly artistic on our own, but with the help of two instructors, I think we got some pretty good results!

A few weeks ago I took another mini vacay...to Chicago! I had been there once before when I was 12, but I was so anxious to return and get to experience the city as an adult! I went with my roommate and coworker and we met with my roommate's friend Kelsey that she met while they were living abroad in Australia. We got there early in the morning on Thursday and didn't leave until after 8 pm Sunday night so we got a full 4 days of fun and boy did we pack every second of it!

We spent an unnecessary amount of time shopping, if I'm being honest, but we did so much authentic Chicago sightseeing as well. We spent the first day walking around downtown, seeing where Kelsey worked, walking through Millennium Park, and taking pictures in front of the famed 'Bean' before going to a Speakeasy that night. Friday was spent working up an appetite on Michigan Ave and then gorging ourselves on some authentic deep dish pizzas! Chicago food at its best. That night we got dressed up and spent the night at one of Kelsey's favorite downtown bars, Rockit. Saturday was the day we all had been waiting for: the Chicago Cubs game and visiting Wrigley Field! I grew up a Cubs fan so I was super excited to put on some red and blue and cheer on the Cubbies against the Cincinnati Reds. I was not let down, Cubs won! We ended the evening frequenting a few bars and having some drinks in Wrigleyville before calling it an early night. Sunday was our last day and we wanted to make the most of it, so Tiffy and I packed up our stuff early so we had all day to finish sightseeing. We walked around downtown a little more and then went to the top of the Hancock Building for some views of the city. Last stop on our city tour was Shedd Aquarium. We had such a blast seeing the otters and belugas and penguins but the best part was walking out afterwards: we had the most breathtaking view of the city! We must have stood there for 30 minutes having our own mini-photo shoot. It was such a fun, amazing weekend and definitely a place I would love to visit again! Here's a few snapshots from the weekend:

in front of the Bean

Tiffy and I before our first night out

Meagan and Kelsey with their deep dish pizzas

the whole group in front of Wrigley Field

cheering on the Cubs!

view from the Shedd Aquarium

So two fun weekends down, but I've already got 3 more mini getaways planned for this summer! In June I'll be spending 5 days in Orlando with my family celebrating Father's Day and my sister's 23rd birthday. I have a tentative weekend planned to Vegas (my first time!) for the end of July to watch Tiffany's national figure fitness competition. And then I'm planning on renting a condo in August for a long weekend to celebrate my birthday with a few friends. So many things to look forward to!

Love,

KayCee

Cream colored ponies and fresh apple streudels

I so enjoyed sharing some of my favorite things with you guys a couple weeks ago that I thought I might make it a bit of a regular post. Sort of a tribute to Oprah's Favorite Things but this is going to be KayCee's Favorite Things instead.

First is a song that has been on repeat on my iPod for the last couple weeks: Gotye's "Somebody that I Used to Know" feat Kimbra. I love the offbeat sound, the lyrics, and the tone that Kimbra's voice adds to the song. For once I'm actually grateful that I don't have a recent ex because I don't identify this song with anyone and therefore it won't be ruined by constantly causing someone to pop into my head when I hear it. (I have countless songs that I love but often don't want to listen to because it will bring particular people or situations to mind that I prefer to keep in dark corners of my memory) So here is the video for your enjoyment:

Another of my favorite things lately is planning my upcoming trip to Chicago with my roommate, one of my coworkers, and one of my roommates friends. We will have 4 full days and 3 nights there. I was in Chicago once when I was about 12 but I'm looking forward to experiencing it as an adult. So far we know we're going to a Cubs game, which is super exciting because my dad is a huge Cubs fan so I grew up watching games as a child. I can't wait to be back at Wrigley Field and cheering on the team against the Cincinnati Reds. We're also planning to go to Millennium Park and take pictures next to the big 'bean' and get some authentic Chicago pizza. If anyone has any further ideas of what we should do, I would love to hear them and add them to our list!

Every year I try to treat myself to a new bathing suit. Normally I get them towards the end of the summer while they are on sale and save them for the next year. But this year I broke my rule. First because I cleaned out a lot of my bathing suits during spring cleaning so I thought I deserved a replacement. And second because I've been trying to get in better shape and have officially gotten my first "have you lost weight?" comment so I thought I deserved a reward, haha. The numbers on the scale haven't changed yet but my scrub pants at work have been getting increasing looser so I'm going to call that progress. Now I just can't wait until I'm finally over this cold/flu funk I've had the last two weeks and I can start hitting the gym again. Hopefully I'll start seeing some even better results. But this bathing suit on the left is the one I decided to treat myself to. Whenever I get a new suit I try to pick a color that I don't currently have, so this year green is my go to color. I love the combination of stripes 

and polka dots. Plus I love the removable straps that make this a bandeau top because I despise tan lines so I always try to lay out in strapless tops. Otherwise I end up untying the top of my bathing suit and I'm always scared I'm going to sit up and forget that its untied! But because I don't like going to social outings (pool parties or beach) in strapless tops, I also got a second top in the same green polka dots that is a halter (see right) for more secure control over the girls. Hey, when you've got my curves its something you've always got to consider!

This last favorite thing is just a fun picture I came across yesterday during my daily People Mag Online stalking. Pictures of a baby pygmy hippo from South Africa named Prince Harry. I love pygmy hippos because they always look like they're smiling and are much less scary than their much larger cousins. So please allow Prince Harry to brighten your rainy Saturdays!

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Love,
KayCee

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

The moment I'd been waiting for finally happened at 12:04 am on Friday...the first scene of The Hunger Games appeared on the movie screen. I was in one of 20 sold out showings at my local theatre and my friends were finally admitting to me that I was right for wanting to show up to the theatre 2 hours prior to the show starting. And I have to say...it was all worth it. There was so much they did right and so many scenes were shot to perfection...from the reaping in District 12 to that first fight at the Cornucopia at the beginning of the games, they really brought to life the world that Suzanne Collins wrote about in her trilogy.

HOWEVER, being a true fan of the the novels, I have to lament a few things that I thought were lacking. (Spoilers included below for those who have not read the book or seen the movie!!)

First, this is a fight to the death. Twenty-four teenagers enter a fight for their lives and 22 of them die horribly. I understand that this was a PG-13 movie (and rightfully so since the book is largely aimed at a young adult audience) but I felt as though the violence and deaths were actually glossed over. All of the violent fighting scenes were filmed almost in flashes, with just fast glimpses of what was happening. There is nothing about this that was wrong, but I felt like it cheapened the horror of the experience and, for those who had not read the book, I felt as though the trauma was glossed over. It's not that I wanted or needed more blood or gore, but I wanted to feel the wastefulness of this loss of life more than I did.

Secondly...Rue. The book took such pains to explore Rue's innocence and the world she came from. Her intelligence in foraging through the games and her passion for music. Reading the book, all you wanted to do is wrap this child up in your arms and protect her. I didn't feel as though the movie took enough time establishing Rue's background or why Katniss felt such a kinship with her (she reminded her of Prim). Again, I felt the death was rushed though. And while I was glad it showed Katniss's 'burial' of Rue and her signal to District 11, I missed  the explanation that her burial was supposed to be a slap in the face of the Capitol. Also, when I reread the book a few weeks ago, I got most emotional at the point when District 11 sent Katniss bread to thank her for Rue's tribute. This is where in the books she signals to District 11 and thanks them. So of course I was sad that part was missing. However I will say, I got a little emotional in the movie when it showed the rioting in District 11 after Rue's death and Katniss's gesture, so that made up for it a little for me.

And lastly...Katniss and Peeta's relationship. This is one of the most complicated aspects of the book so of course I was not surprised that I felt too much of it was left out in the movie. I loved their back story in the book...how he purposefully burned bread and risked punishment from his mom just to feed Katniss when they were young. They did a good job showing this in the movie, but I wish they had elaborated more on how desperate she was at the time and how much he risked doing this for her before they even knew each other. Also, until the point where she finds Peeta hurt towards the end of the Games, Katniss does not believe Peeta actually has feelings for her and thinks he's just playing the game and working against her. Finally when she does give in to the fact that his feelings are real, she only returns those feelings as part of strategy at Haymitch's prompting. She does care about him as a friend but she's confused and just trying to make it through the Games alive. Once the Games conclude she tries to take a step back and revert back to just being friends but realizes she has to keep the charade up to basically keep the Capitol from coming after her and Peeta. And when Peeta realizes this he is extremely hurt and angry. I guess after this long paragraph, what I'm basically trying to say is that I felt the movie too easily simplified Katniss and Peeta's relationship and I was sad to also lose the dynamics that almost all of Katniss's motivation in her behavior towards Peeta was intuiting what Haymitch wanted from her. And to oversimplify their relationship, to me, is to cheapen it. 

Honestly, I really did enjoy the movie. The fact that I'm picking on the small details says two things...a) the book was just so good that no movie depiction can actually compare and b) they obviously did most of it right if the main things I find wrong is just not elaborating enough. They hit all the important points, they told the story, and they set up the sequel perfectly. I'm anxious to see it again and see if and how my opinion changes.

Love,
KayCee

A moviegoer dressed as Effie at the Hunger Games premiere

Four Leaf Clovers and Other Irish Things

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day for the very first time this year. I'm part Irish (you may or may not be able to tell...but once you see my redheaded sister you will have no doubt) so I don't really have an excuse for this, but considering I abstain from all carbonated drinks, green beer has just never had a particular allure for me. But this year it fell on a Saturday, I happened to have a three day weekend with no major plans, and I had a green dress hanging in my closet (see above) so I felt as if the stars had finally aligned. I spent the earlier part of the eve at a bar-b-que at my roommate's parent's house in Orlando, stuffing my face with delicious food and acquiring an adequate buzz and then we headed downtown to meet some friends. We frequented some really random bars and my night ended sitting on a curb outside of Corona Cigar Bar drinking riesling and discussing fantasy novels with my friend Donny. I love how excited some guys get when they realize I love fantasy. Yes, I do have some more mainstream and occasionally girly tastes that run towards the Harry Potter/Twilight/Buffy the Vampire Slayer end of the spectrum, but I love the more nerdy Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones fantasy worlds as well. From vampires and demons, to theology and mythology based stories, to the recent fad of dystopian societies (i.e. Hunger Games and Divergent), I can hold my own in a fantasy discussion with the best of them. One day I will make it to Comic Con and my life will probably be complete. And I am secure enough in my femininity to say that. After a relatively low-key evening as nights out in downtown Orlando go, I came back to Tampa today and spend the afternoon doing one of my favorite activities: lounging at the pool (see below). I am not a naturally tan person by nature (as is plainly shown) but if I continue to be able to work on it at least twice a week, I'm hoping to be able to get there. Though my "work" days may have to switch to week days...the pool is decidedly less zen when there are about a dozen screaming, running, and splashing kids constantly circling. God bless school days and me not having to work those days!

In others news...I got my one-year annual review at work this week. They like me! They really, really like me! I've always gotten along well at jobs in the past but I've often found that my work style has not always meshed well with my management's style. I feel like on 9A, and in nursing in general, I've finally found a career that my personality and autonomy will thrive in. Not only are they happy with my performance the last year, but they want me to further my education, become more involved on the floor, and take on more responsibility. On one hand its a little scary, but its also very exciting. I'm already Kristen, RN, BSN...am I ready to add clinical ladder, official preceptor, charge nurse, and possibly MSN to the list? I guess 2012 is the year to find out!

Love,

KayCee