100,000 hits looms ahead…

WOW, people. Seriously….WOW.

What a journey this blog has been since it began in March 2008.  I’m amazed at how much fun I have had,  how others have enjoyed my posts, and how I have challenged myself as a writer but putting this information out there in the universe. This is a thrilling ride that only grows more exciting at the possibilities that lay ahead.

Stay tuned for more…

I now present…keyboard cat! Play ‘em off!

Fitz officially wants to name our firstborn ‘Keyboard Cat.’ Watch this and you’ll see why:

Disclaimer: I do NOT own this clip. Found via YouTube: theKeyboardCat

Follow me as I tweet!

I am running around attempting to get ready for a charity event  this evening, as well as the Kentucky Derby. In the words of Scooby Doo, “ZOINKS.”

In the mean time, follow me on Twitter! My user name is TheMissQ. Why is that my user name, you ask? Ever since I was a little girl, my parents have called me ‘The Miss.’ I’m not 100% on the origins of said nickname but I believe it had something to do with my prissy, lady like nature as a young child…let’s just say that I had an affinity for matching my clothes, hair ribbons, and shoes while staying free of dirt. That hasn’t exactly changed, either.

And of course, my middle name is Quinn, which comes up in conversations everyday (people want to know what the initial ‘Q’ stands for, or they just like saying it because it’s different). I sort of like the play on words with the username also being phonetic spelling for ‘the miscue.’ I looked up said word in the dictionary (okay, it was the online dictionary…who has an actual dictionary nowadays???) and here is the definition of a miscue:

1. GAMES. A stroke in billiards that misses or just brushes the ball because of a slip of the cue.
2. A mistake

Ahhhh….how strangely  fitting!

Sleepy times…aaaahhhh 90,000 hits!

I’m sooo exhausted after a long, family-filled weekend…but I’m also full of love and happy memories.

Yay!

I just finished updating my eBay listings so check them out! I will add more stuff tomorrow after I get my hair cut and colored (because yes, I have gotten some gray hair, and no, it is not about to become a look that I will cultivate going forward. But thanks for asking).

Also, can I please mention how cool it is that my blog has reached 90,000 hits????? BEYOND AMAZING! I’m so grateful to all the readers that stop by and check in on my life and my writing. My 28th birthday is coming up in May…here’s hoping I can hit 100,000 before then!

Well slap me silly and call me Martha

My blog ranked #93 on the top 100 ‘Growing Blogs’ on WordPress.

One word…FABULOUS.

Carry on with your day…I’m going to skip down State Street.

Be inspired by her words and her life

I read the most remarkable story in the Chicago Tribune today and felt compelled to share it. It is the story of Kindra McLennan, a beautiful 29-year-old Chicago woman who recently passed away after battling a rare form of cervical cancer. Her bravery is that of legends- after her diagnosis she created a blog and chronicled the ups, downs, and downright awful parts of facing cancer.

After reading of her passing in the Tribune, and then reading her blog, I couldn’t stop the waterworks from flowing. Kindra was newly married, progressing in her career, and looking forward to starting a family with her husband. So much of her life aligns with mine…and in less then a year, she was gone. Yes, you read that correctly. She began treatment in April 2008, and passed away in early Jan. 2009. Reading her blog posts made me grieve for her husband, her family, her friends…and most of all…for the long life she so rightfully deserved.  While my heart so badly hurts thinking of this situation, I’m going to remind myself that Kindra found hope in every scenario, and that she used her words to feed inspiration when there was so much despair.

Today let’s be inspired by this amazing woman. Today…let’s have hope.

You can view her blog here: http://kindramclennan.blogspot.com

A message for you: Live in grace

After 50,000 hits, 401 blog posts, endless random complaining, a few glasses of wine, a heartfelt bit of thanks, and a delicious Lean Pocket for dinner…I have a little something to share.

My assistant gave me a really beautiful Christmas gift yesterday. It was a necklace with a charm featuring a tiny pair of wings. This piece of jewelry is titled ‘Grace,’ and with it came a lovely message that seemed appropriate to share:

Grace
Make a wish and put on your necklace. Live in grace. Be kind, thoughtful, and conscious. Remember to give thanks for all the world has given to you, and take nothing for granted. Let your necklace be a reminder to honor yourself as well as others.

Perhaps lately I have felt a little lost- it’s understandable, I’ve been treading on unknown territory. But this message of grace put me right back on my feet, in a place that felt really secure and reminded me that I cannot lose faith that good things happen everyday.

As I sit here typing, reflecting on the past year, I’m astounded to think of the curve balls that have been thrown my way. The elation that arose from success, the tears that came with the difficulties, and the joy that came from the many surprises…all of this…is life. Sometimes the messages we search for are sitting right in front of us, just waiting to be noticed and embraced. And well, sometimes your assistant just gives you the message in the form of jewelry. Oh, and did I mention that my assistant’s middle name is Grace?

So that being said, as we move forward (in the dual journey of blog and life), here is the message I stand by: let’s live in grace. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones and thank you for stopping by and getting all ethereal.

Necklace: Dogeared

50,000 hits, people!!!

Back in September I told Fitz that I was going to aim to have my blog reach 50,000 hits by Christmas. This number was purely suggested as a joke, as it is clearly beyond my wildest dreams- after all, I’ve only operated this blog since March (a grand total of nine months). To think I could drum up that many loyal readers was not practical- it was downright silly. I feel like I just recently celebrated my 15,000th hit….50,000 is just…well it’s just remarkable!

So imagine the elation building within as my blog now creeps toward that mark…yes, that’s right, I’m on target to reach that number fairly soon. Whhhaaaaat?! I know, it’s true, I can hardly believe it myself.

What should I do when this milestone occurs??? Typically I run around performing wildly unpopular dance moves in public (a.k.a. the ‘happy dance’) and scream all sorts of joyful nonsense. Perhaps I should up the ante. Maybe sing Lionel Richie songs for an unsuspecting crowd? Learn to juggle? Become friends with cool people, like the 9-year-old who wrote a dating book on how to pick up girls? Ask the government for a bailout? (I don’t really need it, but who couldn’t use some extra cash?!)

Stay tuned. I will be moon walking in the mean time.

Who has this kind of patience? I mean, really?!

Or interest for that matter!

My blog hits have spiked today and while that brought a smile to my face, I couldn’t help but bite my bottom lip, lift my eyes to the heavens, and wonder why. Then I checked to see which posts had activity and noticed that nearly ALL of my posts (and there have been 360 of them) were read today. Yeah. I’ve had nearly 300+ EXTRA hits today.

Someone literally had the patience to read my blog in it’s ENTIRETY. I am both impressed and puzzled- how the H did I manage to keep this person’s attention for so long?! This blog was created in March so this reader had their hands full of random crap to sift through. Either way, he/she/they pretty much know my entire life story now….so…welcome, person with little to no responsibilities in life and endless free time.

I mean, really, who even has the time to read all of my nonsense?

Sigh. I’m jealous.

Unsolved Mystery: The Facebook Exposure

I’m completely puzzled as to why my blog is getting a lot of referrals from Facebook. I’m not on Facebook and I don’t really know about Facebook other than hearing people say, “Facebook is like MySpace…only better.”

I mean, really? How so? Aren’t both just sites that give you a personal web page with pictures and blogs?!

Regardless…if you know why or how my blog is tied into Facebook, will you please let me know? Until then…it is an unsolved mystery.

Creepy. Strange. AND AWESOME!

This week I noticed an odd spike in my blog hits…and whenever I checked my blog stats, I found that a lot of referrals (a.k.a. a link to my blog on someone else’s web page) were coming from something called “crepusculo.”

After four years of AP Spanish in high school…I still couldn’t figure out what crepusculo meant. Whenever I clicked on the link, I was sent to a Spanish login page (similiar to logging into your email account). So thanks to the magical tool that is Google, I now know that crepusculo is ‘Twilight’ in Spanish!!!

Yes, that’s right. My blog is crossing cultural boundaries, including foreign languages. So crazy!!! I should have known that Twilight fans are global!

ALSO…in the past I wrote about pre-ordering the Twilight Movie Companion from Amazon (the teasing comments of my blog were free of charge), and yesterday, Amazon decided to be AWESOME and the book arrived a few weeks EARLY! I was beyond giddy.

The book has tons of photos from the film set, as well as fascinating back story on the difficulties in bringing Stephenie Meyer’s book to life (weather, sparkling, killing vampires, etc). Oh, and did I mention it has a few fun Twilight movie spoilers??!! But not too many, of course. It’s a great read- any Twilight fan or movie buff would love it.

I Heart New York

Miss me much?!

I write to you from the fab city that is New York…I simply love it here. My work thing was a success and now I’m ready to have a great time in a great city with great friends. Don’t worry, more stuff to come. But for now, discuss the recent debate, the recent bail out passing, and simply wait for my ethereal return. It has felt bizarrely strange to not blog once day or even have my computer with me. Funny how sickly attached I am to technology. Ugh. Discuss.

xoxo,
Chicago Girl

P.S. Kidding! Ridiculous reference, I know.

Hello October…it’s been awhile

So tomorrow will be October 1st.

Back up…WHAT?! Where did this year ago? Sheesh. On the other hand- AWESOME. I love October, particularly Halloween and the gloriously changing weather. And Columbus Day, which just so happens to be designated holiday according to my employer. High five!

I will be hopping on a plane early tomorrow en route to New York. Be back on Sunday. Till then blogging will be light…but that just means I’ll be photographing everything and saving up memories to post upon my return! New York is a fantastic place so get excited for fantastic photos….yaaaaay!!!

On a side note (and I mean really far off to the side), I simply had to post a link to this utterly absurd story. I don’t know what’s more disturbing…the concept of a nude Sarah Palin portrait hanging in a bar or the fact that the bar owner’s daughter served as the model. One thing is for sure: alcohol sales are up.

A Bunch of Nonsensical Crap…Enjoy!

So fresh and so clean

A few things:

My blog is nearing the mother of all milestones- 20,000 hits. Does it get any sweeter? No, my friend, it does not. As now is a time for pensive reflection, let me drop this little nugget of wisdom: 

One thing I know for sure- as life moves forward and as we get older and wiser…things become very, very clear. You KNOW what you are supposed to do and what your purpose is. All the feelings of uncertainty fade away. And that is a truly remarkable thing, considering the fact that society looks down on the idea of getting older…but in some ways, it’s really fantastic. Alright, I’m done getting all Ferris Bueller on you.

On a side note, my sister had a rather scary experience yesterday and had to go to the hospital for some tests. I spoke with her and she is feeling better (though I still maintain she could have been faking it for attention….relax I’m kidding!!! Seriously…I’m kidding, don’t tell my mom I said that). I love you Erin!!! Sincerely, your favorite sister, Alice.

And just for kicks…because I cannot get this song out of my head…here it is…ROSANNA by TOTO!!! You know you love it! Where else can you find an exotic beauty dancing around a junkyard to an 80’s rock song?!

P.S. This video has no significance to my post at all. Come to think of it, could this post be any more random? Pink water, waxing philosophic, my sister’s medical records, my claiming to be a fictional character…can you tell I’ve had 1.5 glasses of wine?! Crap. Whatevs.

Disclaimer: I do not own this clip. Found via YouTube: oslovanet

You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me….I’m Gonna Hurl

Alright, relax…I won’t hurl. I will compose myself long enough to write out a few erratic sentences.

Sooo….when checking my blog stats today, I become immediately confused when I see that I am somehow getting blog referrals (links) from CNN. This cannot be…why would CNN be posting a link to MY blog? True, I am a 27-year-old woman with a Journalism degree…but last time I checked, no major global media outlet gave a rat’s a$$ about anything that I wrote, blogged, or thought. And so my investigatory journey began…

I clicked on the CNN link and it brought me to a page detailing a story about a woman’s difficult journey in conceiving a child. Um, right…I haven’t written ONE IOTA on stuff like this. Child conception and child bearing are completely outside of my realm of thinking at this time. It doesn’t make sense- did my blog address accidentally get hyperlinked from some major news story? But even if that happened, that means that someone who works at CNN read my blog, and just made a big mistake in their web publishing. Right? Or…wait, what?

(The frustration was eating away at me- clearly, I was going delirious)

And then I noticed…a little blue box at the bottom of the page titled “From the Blogs: Controversy, Commentary, and Debate.” When you click on this title, it then gives you three blogs to choose from, with varied content across the board. Mine just happened to be one of them.

HOLY FRICKIN’ COW. CNN????????!!!!!!!!! My little blog….ON CNN?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really think I might hurl now…