Rock that VOTE!

So, in honor of my homeland and the Iowa caucus happening last night, I wanted to do my American duty and encourage everyone to vote. So, I am going to tell you about 2 things.

First of all, there is this cool website that allows you to take a quiz and then it tells you which candidate you align with. It will also tell you what they believe, what issues you differ on, etc. And, it's non-partisan, yay. So check it out and you can learn a lot about what to do on election day! It'll also educate you on all kinds of issues, so git to gittin'. The site is www.glassbooth.org.

Second of all, you can register to vote right here on the Suga Bin's blog! We are so cool and HIGH TECH :) So, just click on this button, fill out the questions and then you can print off your application with the mailing dress on there and everything. All you have to do is sign, stamp and mail. DO IT! And, fyi, in TN you don't even have to pick a party even if you vote in the caucus or primary or whatever. So that's great (at least I think it is). Now, be a good American and VOTE.







love youuuuuuuuu,
kat

Long Lost Seattle pics

So, by scrolling down I just realized that I never posted pictures from my trip, so here they are. After enjoying these, scroll on down and look pics in my Christmas post :) And it's almost officially Christmas, so Merry Christmas to you all!! :)



Here's my swanky hotel room


My swanky hotel room's swanky bathroom


The view of the Sound from my window


Another view from the window- of the Space Needle


The famous Pike's Place market


The fish throwers at Pike's Place


The very first Starbucks ever (it's tiny)


Eating breakfast with Nick at the CUTEST Italian place ever- Serafina


Nick sipping his cappucino at Serafina


The Experience Music Project building- unfortunately this picture is as entertaining as anything we saw inside


SUSHI! Yummmm

That's all :)

Happy Holidays

So, the last time we had a post was Thanksgiving, so I thought it was only appropriate for me to post about Christmas. I just love Christmas. Lists are easy and organized so I'm going to make a list of why I love Christmas this year.

1. I haven't been home since July, so it's good to be back
2. There was tons of SNOW! Woohoo.
3. There's nothing to do in Ottumwa so I get to just sit around
4. I stopped in Peoria on the way home and got to see Erin!
5. I got a new digital camera to replace my one that quit working this summer. Now I can have my own pics again!
6. That's all for now.

Now, let me tell you one thing that I don't like about this Christmas. When I stopped in Peoria on the way home, someone HIT MY CAR. Yes yes, this is the car that I got 2 weeks ago, that is the car I'm talking about. Hank. And, to put the little cherry on top of the situation, I called my insurance and me (being the smarty that I am) I had chosen a $1000 deductible instead of $500 or $250. Awesommmmmmme :) But, it's just a car. I'm just annoyed. C'est la vie.

Normally when I come back to Ottumwa, I feel like nothing has changed since I was here last. This time, however, is different. There is something very different than last time I was here. I have 2 cats, Cleo and Mugsy. Cleo is normally the big fluffy fat cat. But, she is now 15 and apparently that means she's the mangiest, ugliest cat ever. She has bad teeth apparently and sort of quit eating, so she lots tons of weight and looks completely sickly. She also had some skin issue and pulled all her fur out. It's regrowing now but that poor cat will never look the same. So, because I got a new camera for Christmas, I am putting up 2 pictures. One is my presh parents. The other is my mangy mangy cat. Enjoy. Happy Holidays to all!! I hope that everyone travelled safely and is enjoying family time!!

love
kat




so gross!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I LOVE MY FAMILY.
This Thanksgiving was SO fun. We celebrated my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary at their retirement home...so basically I didn't really have a true home-made Thanksgiving meal. That is okay though because my mom has a turkey in the oven this very moment. California gave me a dang cold...I hate being sick when I am trying to relax on my "vacation" away from school. But I did have a great break. I got to see "So You Think You Can Dance," now I want to be a dancer. I plan on becoming a professional hip-hop dancer, forget about Belmont. On Friday I went to a Ducks game and then my parents took my sister and I to the famous Ivy restaurant in LA where all the "stars" dine, although we didn't see any. And then we went to see Wicked!! LOVED it. So fun. Being home really does remind me of all the things I am thankful for. At thanksgiving dinner my uncle asked us what we were thankful for and my cousin Hope said she was thankful for her pets...we all thought she said "parents" which was so cute...and then she said "no i said i am thankful for my pets". I am thankful for my pets too though :) and my parents, and my sister/brother/sis-in-law/niece/cousins/grandparents/aunts/uncles, and my friends, and starbucks chai lattes, and for Yorba Linda, and for Nashville, and for my roommates at the suga bin and for health (although I feel like crap right now) and for almost being done with school and for my future (although I don't really know what my future holds) and for knowing that God has something amazing in store for me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn

We are having an unusually warm November in Nashville but can I just say......it's GORGEOUS!! This time of year always reminds me why I live here. I just felt as if I needed to share that today because of the beautiful changing leaves and PERFECT temperature this morning on my walk to work. Love it.

I took Missie to the airport this morning, Michelle flies to Denver tomorrow and Rit and I are both leaving after work today. The Holidays are here.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!
Kat

A trip of firsts

So, I never reported on my trip to the lovely land of Seattle, where the homeless beg for coffee instead of money (no lie). It was really a great trip, it was my first time to Seattle and my first business trip. I LOVE business trips! They pay you to go to somewhere fun! Free flight, free hotel, free food, yessss. And, Nick was there as my own personal tour guide. During the day I spent time in sessions learning about HIV Vaccines with people from all over the world. It may not sound as neat as it was, but I really did enjoy it. I loved seeing people from 6 continents joining together. And, now I have friends in Jamaica, South Africa, New York, Boston, etc etc. It's time for trip #2 :) At night I spent my time mostly with Nick, touring the city and trying out all of the coffee shops. He took me around to all the different area/neighborhoods in town that each had their own personality. We ate at some great restaurants too. Unfortunately I was sick/not used to the time zone and had a hard time staying up past about 9pm. I don't have any pictures yet (Nick is keeping them captive) but I'll post some when I get them. But, here is a list of firsts from the trip.

1. First time to Seattle
2. First time to Washington!
3. First time on a business trip
4. First time riding in a taxi
5. First time staying in a really freaking nice hotel
6. First time tipping a bell boy
7. First time eating grapes the size of a plum (for real, I couldn't fit it in my mouth, they were HUGE!)
8. First time eating sushi! Yummmm. Yay Blue C Coast.

that's all :)
kat


ps- come to our brunch tomorrow!!

Country Music and....Brunch?

I went to my first county music concert this past weekend at the Wildhorse Saloon. 3/4 of the Suga Bin was there along with our good friend Shelia, now I'm not a country music fan at all but I was pleasantly surprised! We saw Chris Cagle, he was a lot of fun and who can resist a man who sings "Chics Dig It."

This coming Saturday us ladies at the Suga Bin will be hosting our very first brunch. So if anybody is interested in coming we'll be cookin' up a storm, we plan to have food out around 10:30, 11:00am. Hope you'all can come!

Michelle

Leaving on a jet plane

Alright, so to start things off, I have an order of business. We now accept anonymous posts. This means that you can post comments event if you don't have a google/gmail/blogger account. But, this doesn't mean that we want them to be truely anonymous. So, be a trooper and sign your name. That's Suga Bin rules, not google's rules. Thanks

Also, Oct 26th was Jeff's 25th b-day. 2007 also happens to be Thriller's 25th anniversary. So, what better way to celebrate than with a Thriller birthday party? None! To top it all off, Elyse's sister and friend were visiting as well as Erin K. Yay. So, I'm going to try to attach an image (i'm new at this) to show you my zombie costume. I know it's alarming, but try not to run away. I was trying to look mean/dead/80s/etc. I looked bad on purpose....but I didn't know I looked quite this bad....



That's Mr. Pettit with the creepy face. He got his make-up done at Performance before the party so he could come in true Thriller style. It was frightening, I'm not going to lie.

So, one event down, one to go. On the 16-18th Jeff is performing in Thoroughly Modern Millie at St. Cecelia. He's the male lead (not Millie). I will be attending and everyone is invited! I'll probably go on Saturday at 8:00. Let me know if you're interested in joining me. Our friend Nick Palacios will be in town visiting so he may be there two. And really, whatever incentive do you need?



I am leaving tomorrow for Seattle! This will be my first adventure to the great Northwest. I'm so excited!! It's for business, so I'll be flying and staying and eating for free (in this swank hotel). And, Nicky P will be acting as my personal barista/tour guide! What a trip! If you have suggestions for places to eat or visit or things to do, let me know. I'm pumped to explore the city! I'll be back on Monday.

Last, but not least, I am going tonight to see Across the Universe for the 4th time. That's not a lie. I must say, I do feel a bit ridiculous. But it's good and more people keep wanting to go so I keep going with them. If you haven't seen the movie, you've really got to go. Go watch this video. The bowling alley scene is one of my fav's. And, just so there are no questions asked, Jim Sturgess is mine.



One last little note........Mr. Gorg bought my coffee last night. That's basically a date, right? Thought so.

:)
Kat

Gael

So we ladies at the Suga' Bin have a little tradition we've started, it's called Boyfriend of The Week. I'd like to present you this weeks lucky guy! Some of you may know him, some may not, any guesses?
Michelle

Fish and Music

Miss. Michelle and I went to a Mute Math and Eisley concert last night with some of my friends....one word...AMAZING. I am kind of in love with the drummer from Mute Math now. If you have a chance to go see them in concert, pleaseplease go. So...this weekend I went to Arkansas to meet up with my parents (they flew there for the weekend) and...I caught a fish! Kind of, my dad caught it, but I reeled it in! So basically I am a fisherwoman now.
-Melissa aka Missie