what goes on in Vegas. . . .

After 5 days in Vegas with 8000 hairdressers, The Mix, 5 nights of heavy drinking, tequila shots, Natasha Beddingfield, Redken Platform Artists, Fremont Street, Japonais, The Fashion Show Mall, serious shopping (much better than in the minne city), all of my co-workers, a lil Gossip, room service, table service, runway shows, beautiful hair, a few good workouts at Spa Mandalay, a lack of privacy, and a lost cell phone, it is tough to step back in to the redundance of my little life in Minnesota.

My mailbox is overstuffed, the bills are unpaid, the money in my bank account in untouched, my clothing is unpacked, laundry is undone, and the pooch finally came home.

I am forced to face my move to Chicago. To face the people that are unsatisified with my decision. My boss is not happy, my co-workers are not happy, they would all love for me to stay in Minneapolis. Me moving to Chicago complicates their lives. They will be forced to find someone to replace me - which (all jokes aside) will not be an easy thing to do.

I want to be happy. I want to feel excitement. Instead, I am often reminded of the disappointment I am causing others to feel. I am letting my team & my friends down.

Since mymove to Minneapolis almost 2 years ago, my friends in Chicago have been sitting on the edges of their seats awaiting my come back.

You win some, you lose some.

I watched 2 people cry this weekend, in anticipation of my departure from the Twin Cities.
On the flip side, I watched people celebrate with excitement due to my relocation back to the Chicago market.

This is not going to be an easy year for me.

I opened my e-mail to find this:

Hi Crista,
It was so nice to spend a little time with you at Symposium- Im as sooooooooooooooo excited to bring you on board in Chicago . Please keep in touch with me and let me know how I can help you with any transition. Im looking forward to working with you and I just know you are going to be amazing for us in Chi town. If you ever want to spend some time with me in the field, please let me know.

However I can help you – Im there for you.

i'm going down.

i just spent the last half an hour attempting to de-frost my freezer with a blow dryer.

i spent the last two days driving to Iowa* and driving back home from Iowa. in a snow blizzard.

i have spent the last 3 days with my freezer hanging open, hoping that it would thaw it.

i came home to an open, frozen freezer after being in Iowa for 24 hours.

i experienced two mondays this week. sunday was monday and monday was monday.... and it is still monday.

tuesday means that i am obligated to drive to Duluth**. wednesday means that i will still be in duluth.

forget getting off of work at 5 and going home to the fresh food that is spoiling in my fridge, the pooch, or the boyfriend. this week, i have no time for a personal life.

friday means that i fly to Vegas. for the biggest Redken event on this planet. i should be excited. but instead, i am exhausted.

i just spilled a bottle of water all over my bed. the bed that i so badly want to cuddle up in and cry myself to sleep.

and it is still monday.

*No Man's Land

**No Man's Land

gone home

Fort Wayne. "Home." not 'home' to me, rather 'home' to my family.
nothing fancy about this place... besides my mothers car and the piano player at Von Maur.

i grew up here. from the age of 6 to the age of 21.

everyone moves so slow. nothing changes. everything stays the same. upon entering the Fort, i am perceived as the same person i was 5-10-15 years ago. a flawed teenager. that could not smoke a cigarette, dropped out of high school for a month, and dated all of the wrong guys. i will also always and forever be labeled as bric's ex-girlfriend.

i see the same people, shopping the same stores, at the same mall- all of the people slightly pudgier than in the past. i take a double glances as if trying to remember what interaction (if any) i had with these familiar-looking people.

i shop with my mother -giving her the opportunity to show off the daughter that she seems so proud of, that she is proud to have be-friended. she trots me in the bank, the nail shop, the coffee shop - these places that she visits frequently. she takes the opportunity to introduce me to the bank teller, the barista, the manicurist, the chinese lady. she receives plenty of compliments - she thrives off compliments.

i am reminded of the distance between my mother and i when her husband refuses to show his face the entire 36 hours i visit their home. he keeps himself locked in the bedroom. my mother takes him a plate full of food... and returns with an empty plate.

pops. he's a good guy. a man of honesty. messy, yet systematic. he appreciates the simpler things in life. he provides highly intellectual conversation during road trips to grandpa's place. content included: Colorado Snow Tire Chains Laws, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar, ”Santa Baby” by Taylor Swift, Sunflowers grown in Colorado, The rice production in Sacramento, & ”a 40 Caliber Glock.

both of my parents homes are still filled with gifts that i have given them in prior years: elephant candles, picture frames, angel ornaments, george foreman grills, and spoon rests. both of their refrigerators are still filled with diet cokes. pops still keeps 24 packs of sams choice water from wal-mart... for me.

Fort Wayne is a dark place, one that i do not associate with positive happenings. the young boys carry guns and weapons... while at work... while at the club... while holding their babies. my brother, being one of these boys has become a product of his environment. he is impossible, stubborn, a heavily-opinionated jesus-worshiping republican.

On Sunday, I will leave Fort Wayne via the "Fort Wayne International Airport." And I will not be back for another year.

there is no place like home... right?

: : : NEWS FLASH : : :

MINNEAPOLIS — A number of young Somali men in Minneapolis have gone missing in recent months, and some fear the youths are being recruited to return to their homeland to fight with terrorist groups.

One of the men who disappeared is believed to have
killed himself in an Oct. 29 suicide bombing in northern Somalia, according to a
U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. That official
confirmed the FBI and Justice Department were investigating.

Another
U.S. law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said
authorities are calling it one of the first instances in which a U.S. citizen
has acted as a suicide bomber.

The Oct. 29 bombings included a series of
five seemingly coordinated attacks in the breakaway republic of Somaliland and
the Somalia's Puntland region. More than 20 people were killed.

"We're
aware of the circumstances in Somalia right now and the events of the Oct. 29
bombings. And we are aware that a number of individuals from throughout the U.S.
and Minneapolis have traveled to Somalia to potentially fight for terrorist
groups," said Special Agent E.K. Wilson, an FBI spokesman.

Members of the Somali community in
Minneapolis said small groups of young men have been disappearing over the last
year. Anywhere from 15 to 20 have left Minneapolis in recent months, said Omar
Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

"We
know for a fact this is happening, but we don't know who is doing it," he said.

Osman Ahmed, a Somali activist, said his 17-year-old nephew is among a
group of at least seven people who went missing Nov. 4.

The Associated
Press is honoring Ahmed's request to withhold the name of the teen for the
youth's safety. Ahmed said the teen came to the U.S. as a young child and was an
American citizen, like the others who left that day.

Ahmed said his
nephew was a high school senior and had a normal routine of going to school,
going home then going to the mosque.

"He was a very nice guy," Ahmed
said. "He was very clever. Very shy. Very cool."

On Nov. 4, he told his
mother a friend would pick him up from school, but he never came home.

"We started checking hospitals, we went to the police station," Ahmed
said.

The family then realized that the teen's U.S. passport was
missing, and Ahmed said authorities found a flight itinerary showing the teen
arriving in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 5.

Within two days, the teen called
his mother, saying only that he was alive, safe and in Mogadishu, Somalia, Ahmed
said. The teen gave no other details and has not been heard from since.

"We are praying to see him one day," Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who has
been talking with other relatives of missing young men, said the families
received similar phone calls.

Some members of the Somali community are
concerned the young men are being recruited to go to Somalia and fight. The
impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa is caught up in an Islamic insurgency
and has not had a functioning government since 1991.

"It has to come to
an end right now," said Jamal. "It has to stop. ... We have so many families
grieving. We don't want any more kids to get brainwashed and programmed."

Jamal and Ahmed said it is suspicious because someone is providing money
and transportation for the men to fly from Minnesota to Africa.

"My
nephew, he doesn't have money for a ticket," said Ahmed. "None of these kids
do."

Jamal said he hopes the situation isn't a black eye for the state's
Somali community, which the U.S. Census numbered at more than 24,000 in 2006.
Local activists claim the actual number is higher than that.

"We hope
that this won't be an issue where the community will be looked at differently,"
Jamal said. "Somalis at large are very peaceful people. ... We don't want the
Somali community to be looked at as a group of suicide bombers."

Source: Fox News
----------------

Remember how I live in a predominantly somalian neighborhood?

Here is another piece of news (almost as serious):
You can utilize the check boxes below my posts to "react" to the post.
(told you it was serious)

Bird*

Protein Overdose

As a vegetarian, the #1 question I am asked is: "How do you get enough protein?!?!"

This question is especially annoying because the people who ask are obviously un-educated as to what a well-balanced meal really looks like (their idea of a hearty meal is steak/pork chops/meatloaf, fried potatoes, a dinner roll, and a diet coke.)

For those of you curious; vegetables, soy, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains all contain protein.



Vegetarian Protein Reality:

Over the last few decades, wide spread practical experience of vegetarian diet, knowledge of traditional cultures, and hundreds of health/diet studies, all tell a different story.

• Too much protein is as harmful as too little, and is linked with shorter life expectancy, increased cancer and heart disease risk, widespread obesity and diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney stress, and bad digestion


• High protein-diets bring about temporary weight-loss, at the expense of overall health, and people quickly regain weight once they return to a normal diet


• A varied vegetarian diet with a balance of protein, fats & carbohydrates, and adequate calorie intake provides more than enough protein


• Complete animal protein is not superior to complete protein from more than one plant source – they give the same result in different ways


• Protein from plant sources doesn't include excess calories from fat, toxic residues, or an overabundance of protein, which stresses the kidneys

Protein deficiency is very rare in the US and is generally diagnosed in people living in countries suffering from famine. It's been estimated that the average person in this country eats two - six times more protein, usually from animals, than is needed for good nutrition.

So then comes the question on Thanksgiving. Am I REALLY NOT going to eat TURKEY on Thanksgiving. And to be completely honest, if i WERE going to eat meat, TURKEY on THANKSGIVING would be the last piece of meat on my list because I know the facts:

There are 300 million turkeys killed each year—more than 40 million during the holiday season alone—for human consumption. Turkeys on factory farms have their beaks and toes cut off without pain relief. They are crammed by the tens of thousands into dark, stifling warehouses where disease, smothering, and heart attacks are common. Today's turkeys are genetically bred to grow so quickly that their bones and leg muscles often give out under the stress of supporting their huge upper bodies. Millions of turkeys die every year from heat exhaustion, freezing, and accidents during transport.

Thousands of free-range turkeys are raised in a single warehouse-like structure forced to stand on accumulated fecal waste and breathe in ammonia fumes. These turkeys are then taken to the slaughterhouse through transport containers where they are hung upside down in shackles. There they cry out in fear and pain as they await their own slaughter. Think of how much it hurts when we get a little speck in our eye, and we might understand the degree of suffering that the turkeys are been forced to endure day after day.

And in an earlier post, I pointed out that the Union of Concerned Scientists points out that 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used to treat healthy livestock...



Anyhow, due to my family being hundreds of miles away, I am spending Thanksgiving at home, alone, with the pooch. I have resorted to the couch, in boy shorts, un-showered, with Forrest Gump on the tube. I will take the opportunity to work on my Weekend Commitments

Oh, and did I mention the house next door was on fire this AM? 5 Fire Trucks parked outside of my window, Channel 5 news, & LOTS of firemen (including the Chief.)

Throughout the week, I have been busy creating my very own little Thanksgiving meal. On the menu: Sweet Potatoe Souflee, Apple Crisp, Butternut Squash Soup, Black Bean Salad, Minnesota Wild Rich & Squash, Spinach Salad, Jalapeno Cornbread, Apple Cider, Cranberry Fruit Salad, and Pumpkin Pie - mostly made from scratch. THAT's enough to be thankful for. (did i ever mention that i LOVE cooking in my kitchen??)

I rarely get excited about the holidays, for various reasons. The #1 reason tends to be the many obligtions that come including: being expected to showing thanks, thinking of thoughtful gifts, (gift-giving is no longer natural - it is EXPECTED), the consumption of garb foods, the guilt of gathering with relatives ONLY once a year , and a years worth of the positive & negative life stories (I feel guilty telling a positive story, when everyone else is living in the negative.)

I DO enjoy Gift Wrap. (actually, obsessed. I have a collection of wrapping paper, bows, string, glitteratti, need I go on?!?!)

And I DO enjoy receiving gifts. Refer back to my Official 2008 Christmas List

OH AND, I do enjoy sending Holiday Cards.

I have been humbled on this day, Nov. 27th, 2008.... Thanksgiving. I will pour one for all my Turkey homies that were literally plumped to death for your dining pleasure.




**Facts Found at: goveg.com, articlesbase.com, savvyvegetarian.com, peta.com

Disturbia.

I found some information I needed to share. WARNING: May Be Disturbing.

-Americans eat more meat than anybody on Earth packing away approx 200 pounds per person in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which forecasts that we will add another 20pounds of it annually by 2016.

-the Union of Concerned Scientists points out that 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used to treat healthy livestock... what does this say about our own health?

-2,500: The number of livestock animals butchered for each meat-eating American in his or her lifetime.

-Americans throw 22.5million pounds of meat in the garbage every day - the equivalent of 15,000 cows, 36,000 hogs and 2 million chickens.

-"Healthy People 2010" report showed that vegetarians typically weigh less than meat eaters and suffer from lower rates of type 2 diabetes and other diseases.

All of this information was pulled from an article entitled "Of Calves and Carnivores" in Oct 2008 issue of Mpls St Paul Magazine.

Everything you need to know about my HALLOWEEN experience: