DILLO (Short for armadillo and long for dill as in pickle)

BOOYA. That is the one word I would use to describe my weekend vacation. Before I hit the highlights I have some shout outs.
1. I-55. this four lane interstate and I had an 18 hour love affair. (Of course spent a little more time on the North side than South)
2. N. Sheridan Road Detour. this is a complete lie. It will bring you back to where you started. So, if you want to be where you are again in the next 10 minutes but feel anxious just sitting there take this route
3. my new sleeping bag. it conveniently advertises itself with details about itself. that is standard, but it also wanted to help me know more with this Recommended Capacity: one person.

Ok so Friday I got up early and drove from Memphis to St. Louis and then milled around my new apartment for bit and then got back in the car to head to NORTHWESTERN. Soph and I got into town and I saw the bright lights of Chicago for the first time. Very cool to have the water so close. I saw some dudes playing basketball and then bikers who were flying next to some sea gulls. So then we got close to campus and came across the aforementioned N. Sheridan Road Detour. After several phone calls, a gas station stop for some direction advice, and the help of an iphone, we got there. But at the cost of our sanity. We were a little slap happy (to the point of tears) After a parking escapade, we began the awesome. I opened up my sleeping bag and followed the recommended capacity and had a fitful night of sleep because I was so excited. I awoke and soon realized that I forgot the pack clothes. What is that you say? That is the main thing that people pack when they go anywhere, LIKE THE BASICS OF PACKING!!! Well it looks like I need to enroll in Packing 101 again. There was a mini fashion show as some of my fellow sleepover buddies offered some of the dresses they brought. THANK GOODNESS THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING. Dressed very un-Katherine like I had a little morning coffee and after lots of milling about we headed to the lake!!


Then some lady came out on stage and sang some words and played some instruments. Who was it? Oh, well nothing really epic except REGINA SPEKTOR!!!! I was so mesmerized. She sounds even better live than she does on any CD/myspace/record/cassette tape/mp3 player/seashell. She played so many of her songs that I love like Fidelity, Eet, Folding Chair, That Time, Blue Lips, Us. She is so adorable it hurts. At one point, she was singing, playing piano, and playing the drums. INCREDIBLE concert. It was in sun listening to a beautiful voice. Afterwards, we hit up Chipotle and had burritos! A little more milling and beach time. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there is a beach because of the huge lake. I played in the sand and water (avoided most attempts at being pushed into the water). The beach also offered two more things 1. buried boy 2. swarm of flies that would pick a head and circle it exclusively 3. sand wrestling?

TALL KATHERINE!!!!

Then it was time for Nelly, who was not as stellar as Regina (but who could be?) Some girls took his songs a little too literally and I saw some football players dance in the most strange way. Then it was nap time and then finally, finally bed time. A great night of sleep. On our way out of town, we hit up this breakfast place called Le Peep and it was delicious. We had blueberry pancakes and a pepper/onion/cheese omelet. Yes and yes. Overall, a great great weekend.
red shirt, white shorts, headband = great outfit

Zootastic!

Today is Tuesday. And around here that means the zoo is free after 2:00. So, around 4 something I strolled on in and made a beeline for the polar bears. I got a little side tracked by the new Teton Trek and the huge lodge. It was awesome. They built this whole bo.ardwalk around the grizzly bears and the wolves. I know the wolves would probably like to take a bite out of me, but they were so cute and dog-like. I kind of wanted to take one home. And the grizzly bears were taking a rest in this sand pit and kept rubbing their bellies and being cute. Finally, I got to the polar bears and watched them walk around a bit. They have HUGE paws that I still cannot wrap my head around. Yowza. On my way to the baby giraffe, I started watching a sliver back gorilla. He was really displeased by the crowd. My evidence? First he sat there with an air of scorn, just staring at the crowd and every now and then scratched himself. #2 He retreated to a cave and minutes later came back out and charged the glass and then pounded on it. he then went to a part of his enclosure where everyone could see him well, which brings us to the most important #3 He turned around and let everyone stare at his butt for like five minutes. He TOLD us.

Later Felix and I took a walk in the park and he found a fish head to smell. yummy! Then we watched a cat. He was so snuggly to me after I fed him. Now he is chewing on a rawhide and looking as handsome as ever. I was just watching a few minutes of a movie on TV and my mom came in with these words, "Ooooh Princess Diaries 2, that's a good one." So many things wrong with that statement. #1. completely wrong movie/actors #2. why would I be watching that movie?

Today the USPS finally came through and I got the TWO letters I was waiting for. Booya. RED LETTER DAY.

Hello Again

Oh hello. I haven't seen you in quite a while. You seem to be doing well. What have I been doing? Well, I have been spending quality time in Whispers, securing an internship and stipend, biking around the city, and over taking care of things. I did have one beautiful day biking to the arch. Some friends, some bikes, some picnic food = silly Katherine. I had a great time watching wedding parties, prom parties, and a certain plexiglass van with four young ladies dancing inside and a chicken leg eating-suited-business man telling the police that they are "so out of here."

Summer is upon us! For now that means Felix and pie. I came home a week ago to a delicious strawberry pie and a dog who seriously has been acting more and more like a cat. He has been my roommate a couple of nights even after I accidentally took him on a looooong run. I did not realize how hot the day was and we got pretty far away from home when I realized how much he was panting. We ended walking home most of the way, and I kept sending him into the creek to cool off. Other than causing him to overheat, Felix and I have been participating in some pretty decent photo shoots. (I caught him on the couch today).

Other than that, I am filling out medical school applications, which is a delightful experience I am thoroughly enjoying. I might even get to take statistics my senior year! Hurray! My mother even said that If I go to school in Memphis I could live at home!

Today I was in Panera. Normal right? Well, sort of. This Panera used to be an Atlanta Bread Company (endearingly called ABC). And this ABC was my first job back in the day. The space has been remodeled a little, but I still feel weird in there because I have an urge to pace around the aisles and take away trash from abandoned tables. That restaurant was where I met the chicken salad ladies who could never be pleased, that 30 year old man who interrogated me about my life, the nice elderly man who would always tell me I had a nice smile, and my never-boring coworkers. I went to work during the middle of reading the 7th Harry Potter book and had to avoid anyone who seemed to be talking about it. I reconnected with a bunch of people and got my job working at a pool concession stand through my boss. It makes me a little nostalgic because this was when I was fresh out of high school and still afraid of Wash U.

I have read a few books and made pleasantries with the dental office people. I went to the library last week and once again checked out too many books. But, this time it was night quite my fault. I was in this aisle and I see a book by some author Katherine Stone. (Hmm I think to myself, I don't usually see my name, especially spelled my way) Ok, so I move on. Well a couple feet over is another book titled Katherine's Marriage. Weird, here it is again. And of course that doesn't really apply to where I am in my life right now. So, I move over a couple of feet and bam! there is a book titled Katherine. That is it. The complete title. I open this one and do a dramatic reading of the last page (reading "I said" instead of "Katherine said") This was some historical fiction about some broad named Katherine. Apparently that was my aisle. I had to at least check out a few from that aisle or just pass the whole experience off as mere coincidence.