TGH Lovin'

Just wanted to give a shout out to my place of employment, Tampa General Hospital, and to all my amazing coworkers on the Neuro floor!

30 Things to Have and Know

In 1997, Glamour magazine posted a list of 30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Know by the Time She's 30. Some of this may be outdated, some of it may be cheesy, but I thought I'd take a look at the list and see how I'm doing. My 27th birthday is coming up within the month and considering I made a list of 25 things to do during my 25th year, I'm thinking a second bucket list by the time I'm 30 may be in order...maybe this list will give me some ideas of things I need to start accomplishing...

By 30, you should have:

1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come. Gotta admit failure on this one. I'm very thankful for all I learned while involved with my ex's but I can honestly say I would never imagine going back to any of them. Some experiences certainly remind me of how far I've come though!

2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family. Done. My king sized, double pillow top bed is amazing!

3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour. Could probably manage to scrounge something up...though my wardrobe is currently in a complete overhaul.

4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying. Love my Coach purses, giraffe-print suitcase, and polka-dot umbrella!

5. A youth you’re content to move beyond. Yes.

6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age. Oh yessss.

7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age—and some money set aside to help fund it. Savings account is comfortably padded and being further cushioned monthly.

8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account—all of which nobody has access to but you. Done.

9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded. Check.

10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry. I've got more than one that falls in each category!

11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra. Screwdrivers and black lace bra - check. Really need to look into that cordless drill though.

12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it. Hmm...does a new car before I really needed one count?

13. The belief that you deserve it. Hell yeah! It was my congrats to myself for getting into accelerated nursing school!

14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few facets of life that don’t get better after 30. The plans are ever evolving, but they're in place.

15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better. Satisfying career...check. Satisfying relationship...ha! This list has a sense of humor. As for the other facets...working on it.

By 30, you should know:

1. How to fall in love without losing yourself. I've accomplished it in the past.

2. How you feel about having kids. My mom promises me that I'll like my kids (ha)...so I'll address this when I'm old enough to consider it. (No, almost 27 is NOT old enough to consider kids yet)

3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend with-out ruining the friendship. Yes, yes, and yes.

4. When to try harder and when to walk away. Depends on the situation. Sometimes I hold on too long to things...but I've learned how to let go.

5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next. I'm better at the first than the second, haha, but I've got nonverbal communication down pretty well.

6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town. Maybe (I know other members of the government!), one of the them, and no idea. Definitely need to work on this one...

7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to. Loved it for the period of time I did it.

8. Where to go—be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat—when your soul needs soothing. Got it.

9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents. I'm good with the first and the last...however the width of my hips is a daily battle with the mirror and my jeans. I suppose I might be greatful when I get around to childbirth...

10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over. True.

11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love. I'm not sure...limits are constantly changing and evolving.

12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long. So true.

13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally. Learning not to take it personally is the hardest, but eventually you accept it.

14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault. Good rule to learn.

15. Why they say life begins at 30! Gotta wait til I'm in my 30s to learn that one!

Damn, now I really want to ask for a cordless drill for my birthday...

Love,
KayCee

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