a stroll down memory lane: cookie disaster

I stumbled on Sundresses & Smiles the other night when I was reminded of a pretty embarrassing baking experience of mine. Mind you, I was pretty young.. I don't remember exactly how old, but I was probably around 14... ish.

I'm telling you now that I am a cookie addict - I LOVE COOKIES! For real, I'm a cookie monster. So one night I decided to bake some sugar cookies. Apparently I wasn't quite feeling chocolate chip that night which is actually pretty surprising since I have a serious chocolate addiction too, but anyway... I made sure I had all the ingredients and got the cookie sheet out. Once I was sure I had everything, I mixed all the ingredients together. Everything was going smoothly so far, then I started placing the cookie balls on the baking sheet one inch apart like I had read on the package. Once they were placed, I put them in the oven to begin baking....

DING! The timer went off and it was time to take the cookies out. I ran over to the oven, opened it, and what did I see? 12 cookies?? NO!..... ONE GIANT COOKIE!!

I was wondering what the heck went wrong! Well, I finally realized later on that I read the package wrong - I was supposed to make 24 small cookies on two baking sheets not 12 big cookies on 1 sheet... Well, at least I thought it would make 12, but NO - just one giant cookie! Just a massive baking fail!

ew, get off of me!

As some of you may know, I went to an anime convention (yes, I said anime convention) with the BF and our friends about 2 weeks ago. I know I told you about the conversation on the car ride home, but I forgot to mention anything that happened during our time at the convention center. This place was absolutely nuts! There were so many people dressed up as their favorite characters... so many artists selling their artwork.. so many vendors selling various products. The people dressed up were my favorite. It was so interesting to see how many people actually dress up to go to these things. Well, unfortunately not everyone was dressed up....

As we walked to the vendors section of the convention center, we heard people running behind us so we turned around to see what was going on. To our surprise, there was a somewhat large man running behind us without a shirt. Apparently he thought he was dressing up as a character - yeah, right!... We all know he just wanted an excuse to run around in public without a shirt, right? Okay, I'm getting off track, but this man was somewhat large, running towards us, and VERY HAIRY! I had made it a point to stay away from him no matter what. We started walking toward the vendor section entrance again - I was leading the group with the BF behind me and our friends behind him; basically single-file. Next thing I knew the large, hairy man without a shirt rubbed up against me!!

I was mortified! Completely disgusted and grossed out! How was it that I tried my hardest to stay away from this man and he ran into me?!? I still don't know. As we entered the vendor section of the convention I discovered that I had disinfecting wipes in my purse (yes, I have anti-bacterial liquid or wipes on me at all times - what can I say... I'm a germaphobe). Immediately, I opened the wipe pack and started scrubbing my arm like you would not believe (the people around me must have thought I was super crazy). What I really needed was a shower, but unfortunately I didn't have that convenience at the time. I'm sure you know as well as I do that the very first thing I did when I got home was take a very hot shower!

a stroll down memory lane: tanning

Another rainy day today here in NJ. It seems like in the past 3 weeks we've only seen the sun maybe 3 times. For the month of June, it sure doesn't feel like summer is approaching at all. Anyway.... I've wanted to tan for so long now with only slight opportunities during the very few sunny days we've had recently. My sister asked me to go tanning with her.... at a salon. Now, normally I'm completely against myself going to a tanning salon, but I figured when I haven't seen the sun in such a long time and I have free sessions that my mom bought me, I had to do it.

So I haven't been to a tanning salon in a very long time - probably over a year or maybe even two. I walked in and immediately I was reminded of my very first tanning session.

I was 15 and on vacation in Florida for Christmas break when I got upset that I was away from the BF (yes, I'm talking about the same BF I talk about now). I was so upset about being away from him that I made my mom send me home the next day (how pathetic, right?). I was only in Florida for two days which really didn't give me time to get tan, but I wanted to have some kind of color when I went home. I saw a tanning salon while we were driving in Florida and made my mom stop. I walked into the salon, purchased a session, and off I went to the tanning bed... or so I thought. When you picture a tanning bed, you normally think about a horizontal bed that you lay in and fake sunlight penetrates your skin.. well, they decided to put me in a stand-up booth instead. So I walked into the changing area, got undressed, and waited a few minutes for the lights to come on.

Well they never came on! I was so disappointed - I thought the booth wasn't working. Little did I know I had to open the door and walk into another section of the booth. I didn't realize this until 2 minutes before my session was over!

I know what you're thinking.. How stupid is this girl?! How did she think she was going to tan without any lights?! Well, I sat and pondered that too while I was waiting for the lights to come on. In my defense, I was 15, stupid, and it was my very first time tanning. What a waste of money that was!

Have a great weekend everyone!! :)

a first for me

At 22 years old, I should have played beer pong before. Well, I haven't! I know what you're thinking... how lame can this girl be?! To tell you the truth, I haven't had a single drink since I was 16 - I'm scared, but that's for another day.

So I ended up playing beer pong today at a friend's graduation party. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into and had not a clue what the rules were. I figured it couldn't be that complicated if you play it when you're drunk. I seriously amazed myself. I was sooo good! My very first shot, I got it in the cup!

Sorry for the completely overexposed photo, but I had to post it since this was my very first shot. Anyway... I was soo proud of myself! I couldn't believe that I had never in my life played this game and my first shot went in a cup. The BF and I won 2 games in a row.  It was like I had a hidden talent.... Maybe I should go pro?! Yeah, right. What a great night!

toilet talk

I ended up going to AnimeNext for the first time ever today with the BF and two of our really good friends. Let me tell you.... It was such an interesting experience! I'm not really interested in anime, but I had a lot of fun anyway. I pretty much went to see some of my favorite artists. I know I said I wasn't interested in anime, and that is true, but the artwork that some of these people create are just amazing!

On the ride home, we had one of the strangest conversations. Now, don't get me wrong... when we're with these two friends, we definitely have strange conversations, but I'm not sure anything else can top this one - TOILETS! We had about an hour drive home and we spent half of it talking about how great my toilet is.

Some really great points during this conversation included:
1. The flushing is similar to that on an airplane; does its job and does it quickly!
2. The seat goes down slowly; no slamming = no loud noises during your middle-of-the-night pee.
3. It's just perfect, damn it!

Who in their right mind talks in-depth about toilets for a half hour?? Only us! Since we had this highly intelligent conversation about my toilet, I felt it was only right to write today's blog from my toilet.

Just kidding... or am I?!

A Little Pit Stop

I'll start out by saying I'm a BIG BABY! Instead of going straight to booking a flight to Florida, I decided to go for a discovery flight at a small local airport. I know you're asking yourselves "why couldn't she just get on the damn jet and get her @$$ to Florida?!", right? Well, like I said... I'm a big baby! I had no idea what this discovery flight entailed. I walked into the hangar wondering which plane I'd be getting into. There were some gorgeous planes in there and I was getting so excited about flying in one of them. Of course, that wasn't the case..... Instead this is the plane we walked up to:

Soo I finally got myself on the small plane - just me and the instructor. I was horrified as we taxied to the runway. I wasn't familiar with the noises in a small airplane at all, so every little noise freaked me out. We were given the go-ahead to take off and next thing I knew I was in the air. A little bumpy during take-off, but that's what I expected especially since it was a little windy that day. We only got up to about 2,500 feet, but that was such an amazing experience. I got lucky for once and got to tour the area the day after major flooding had happened. I got to see the full extent of the flooding from 2,500 feet... I also got to fly directly over my house!! It was just a great experience. I knew that if I could fly in both a private charter jet AND a small little Cessna, I could definitely fly in a commercial jet.

I was now on a mission! MISSION: BOOK FLIGHT TO FLORIDA!

Fear of flying: Conquered?

Afraid of flying at 22. I know what you're thinking "What a baby!".. Well that's what I thought too! Every year... I mean EVERY YEAR for the past 6 years, my mom has asked me to visit Florida with her and the family. My response the past six years: NO. I didn't understand what was wrong with me, but I knew I couldn't get on a plane. It's not like I hadn't flown soo many times before! It just seemed so ridiculous and I felt like a baby. At a certain point, I decided I really needed to conquer the $h1t out of my fear of flying. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in New Jersey without the possibility of visiting other states and even other countries! I've always wanted to visit soo many places, but I knew I would never get there with this fear putting some serious weight on me. I did the only thing I thought would make my fear of flying magically disappear.....

I emailed every small airport and every charter company in the area. I didn't think any of them would respond since they must get a billion email a day from much more important people. Next thing I knew... I GOT A RESPONSE! I was scheduled with a private charter company to take a short flight on a private jet - and yes I said PRIVATE JET! I had a week to prepare for this, and I was sooo extremely nervous. Never in my life did I expect to fly on a private jet - this kind of thing normally costs over $1,000 per hour! I flew for free! I was sooo excited the day of the flight that I wasn't even really nervous. At that point, I knew that my anxiety and fear of flying was just stupid and something made up in my baby brain. I finally stepped foot on the jet and I felt like a million bucks.. literally I felt like a millionaire! We taxied to the runway and took off to the skies. This was the most amazing feeling that I had felt in soo long. I was soo proud of myself that I was speechless. I just kept staring out the window with such a smile on my face. After the flight, the first thing I did was call my mom (she was flying to Florida that night) and said "I FRIGGIN' DID IT!" She then wanted me to take a trip to FL with her in April soooo.....

Next step was to book a flight to Florida! Did I really conquer my fear of flying?? ......

oh, heyy life!

A few things about oh, heyy life! and katie elizabeth that you must know:

1. i, katie elizabeth, am neurotic, filled with anxiety, and a dreamer - quite possibly the most important although i am not actually neurotic i just have some tendencies - i am not perfect
2. oh, heyy life! will consist of ridiculous thoughts and ramblings from the mind of me, katie elizabeth; photos and drawings will also be posted frequently

I've created oh, heyy life! to describe and explore my own thoughts and experiences while my followers can enjoy them as I know my friends and family do. I'm prepared to take you on a comedic journey of my daily life that I know so many of you can and will probably relate to.

Over the past few years, I have developed anxiety of just about everything in this thing we call life. From the food I eat to the places I go, anxiety is always present. I'm sure soo many others can relate and that's one reason I wanted to create oh, heyy life!

It's been a long journey to get where I am today, but I realized that in order to have a life, I needed to conquer some of those fears, big or small, every day. You'll see through this blog that I'm not only not perfect, but you'll also see that my experiences are somewhat funny and sometimes pretty pathetic. I've had a lot of fun conquering some of my fears - some are experiences that I will never forget and some that have turned into things I love to do. You'll see....... but I say "Oh, heyy life!"