etc.: yes i do listen to ben harper

guess i'm still in the father's day mood because i really can't help but reblog this incredible flow chart!  music has been a constant love throughout my life and i owe pretty much all of that to my father.  his love of pretty much every genre of music (but mostly classic rock) was passed on to me, and although i'll never understand ke$ha or justin beiber, i love that i was the middle schooler with music by nirvana, bob marley, and the clash all proudly displayed in my room.  maybe it wasn't "cool" at the time, but i thankfully missed out on some absolutely terrible pop music.  thank you daddy :)

but i digress...back to the flow chart!  now i couldn't get it to show up here large enough for anyone to read it without a microscope, so i encourage you to go over to the sonos blog HERE to check it out, find the result, then come back here & let me know if it was accurate!  a lot of work for a monday, i know - but seriously, you should do it :)

*discovered on habitually chic

oh, and in honor of my results, i'd like to share a two songs by BH ~

 the "kait" song :

 "but if the sun sets you free, sets you free/ you'll be free indeed, indeed"

[full lyrics]

and this one here is probably the most romantic song ever :

side note: i once had a boyfriend who would sing this to me.  even though our "forever" didn't last, i still can close my eyes, hear his voice, and break out in a great big smile.  [read the full lyrics]

side note #2: once out with some friends, my country-lovin' date [different man] let me pick a song on the jukebox, knowing it would likely be something he'd hate.  i chose "steal my kisses" by ben haper.  he laughed because as suspected, he does not like that song, but then he danced with me, right there in a sports bar certainly not known for dancing.  tres romantique.  well, for me -- little things like that are my idea of romance.

side note #3: now that i think of it, i have known some pretty sweet men :)

then again, as ben harper said,  

"it takes a hundred miles of love to heal a mile of pain"

a personal post: me & my daddy

in honor of father's day i decided to write a post dedicated to him and to our interesting relationship.  so here is a sort of time line of me & my daddy ::

daddy & toad

yes, you read that right - toad.  my father didn't call me his princess or his angel or anything like that.  i was his toad.  why?  well now, that's the best part!  i was toad because i looked like a toad.  sweet.  above is a picture of my very young daddy and his baby toad.  

from the start i was a total daddy's girl...

we were best friends.

daddy & little kait

 as i grew up i maintained my daddy's girl status, apparently living on his shoulders?

or in his arms in general.

daddy & kait age 8 - 18

{no pictures to share}

it's not that there are no pictures of daddy & me during this time frame, it's just that i don't have any on my computer right now.  i would probably have to search for one of just the two of us as i don't think we took many pictures together during my prolonged angsty stage.  unfortunately, we didn't have the best of relationships at this time.  it would take a long time to explain why exactly but in short - he did nothing wrong, he loved me and always had my best interests at heart, but for whatever reason i couldn't see that.  i became much closer with my momma and didn't pay as much attention to my dad.  i was quite the sensitive pre-adolescent/adolescent and his tough personality offended me [but i repeat: he only loved me and only had my best interests at heart.  it's just taken me a few years to realize that].  i wish we didn't have this lapse in our relationship but i'm glad to say that moody phase is finally over!

daddy & big-girl kait - college & beyond

when i went away to college, my parents' alma mater actually, i constantly heard from my father's friends that i had become just like him.  at first i was really shocked but then the more i thought about it, the more i realized they were right.  everyone had always said i was like my mother's twin but i now knew i was far more like my dad's sarcastic, outgoing, confident, occasionally reckless self.  i realized i inherited so much more from him than a love of eclectic music - i also could hold my own with pretty much anyone, get along with pretty much anyone, and refuse to let any of those people bring me down.

the other night at dinner with my family, my mom asked me & my two younger siblings, "who is most like dad?"

the answer was unanimously, kait.

i couldn't be happier.

 p.s.  i was also decided to be most like my mom. 

it's common knowledge that i am the perfect mix of my parents.

just when i thought i couldn't get any happier . . . i am.

happy father's day 2011

a personal post: mothers day 2k11

first of all, happy mother's day to all you beautiful mommas out there!  i have made it pretty clear before that i absolutely revere my own mother and i also long to one day join this exclusive club of women, so this is a day i do not take lightly.  i wish i could say i spent all day with my own madre, pampering her and pretty much doing whatever she wants; alas, it's the weekend so instead i worked all day.  but that's fine - my gift to her this year was to have a momma/daughter day sometime soon when i am actually not working.  she had purchased us spa vouchers at some crazy promotional price and i got her a gift certificate to white house black market which happens to be virtually next to the spa.  why white house black market, you ask?  let me tell you a little story...

back in december i was going through quite a lot: mostly, preparing for my store to open and my professional life to begin full-force, moving out of a fun apartment with friends in wicker park and into my childhood bedroom with my family in the suburbs (due to the job change - the commute was just too much with my crazy hours), and having my college best friend admitted to a mental health institution nearby.  whew.  that's stressful just remembering...

but anyways, i had to go shopping for an entire new wardrobe to fit my new professional life.  i had nice clothes, sure, but now i needed really nice clothes - all tailored, all quality, all black.  it was one week before the store opened and i realized that i had created a dress code for my employees that i could not comply to myself -- business professional, all black, optional 10% color; no sleeveless, no bare legs, no cleavage or midriff (although those last three were no issue for me).  so i went on over to white house black market, prepared to drop quite a bit of money buying quite a bit of clothing.  there's one right on the way to the hospital where my best friend had just been admitted so my plan was to shop first to get my spirits up and prepare me to see her in what i knew would be a difficult state.  the problem was, i went in jeans and a hoodie.  and with a generic brand purse.  and i look 12.  no one in the store took me seriously.  no one gave me any attention.  i had absolutely no idea what size i was, no idea how to shop for suits, and no one helping me.  near tears, i texted my mom "s.o.s." in the fitting room.  i guess she was at home, eating popcorn in her sweats and grading papers.  but she got my text and jumped in the car and was there a half hour later. 

my magical mother took the situation from bad to beautiful.

she helped find me incredible clothes, she made me speak up and ask for help from the consultants, and she most importantly soothed my anxiety over seeing my friend in the hospital.  we finished shopping early but she didn't leave me quite yet, as she knew i would just stress and stress and stress until visiting hours at the hospital had started.  so instead of letting me ruminate, she took me "dream shopping."  we went to pottery barn, williams-sonoma, and most importantly - crate + barrel .  we built my dream apartment and took home fabric swatches and catalogs and all-in-all had a good time.

she saved my day.

she made me strong enough to go see my friend as the rock of support i needed to be, instead of the ball of anxiety i would have been.  that's what my mom has always done in my life - made me stronger.  made me more confident.  made me into a better me.

so of course it makes sense that now i take her shopping to white house black market, and help her feel beautiful!  she never buys quality things for herself so it's about damn time!  i honestly cannot wait.  oh and the massages afterward?  yeah, that's gonna be nice too!

i'd also wish a happy mother's day to my dearest grandmothers - ema and nana.  here is a picture of my ema (mother's mother), momma, and i: taken when i was but a child, only 17, and on the day of my high school graduation.  we are all wearing purple to commemorate my college choice (it's my alma mater's school color), which also happens to be where my mother attended, and where my grandmother is an honorary alumnae.

and then me as a real child, with 5 generations of amazing mothers: my own, my father's mother, her mother, and HER mother!

man, i have some big shoes to fill!!
  

i only hope that one day i can be HALF as great a mother as those in my family.

xx, kait

a personal post: photo challenge - 15

Day 15 - A picture of yourself and a family member

my last photo challenge post (yeah, 15 days is a whole lot more fun than 30!) and i wanted to make it a good one.  i brought a bunch of great pictures to work where i could use the good scanner and then share with you the my most beloved people in the whole world.  well... i forgot.  whoops.  my pic selection is super selective on my fancy new computer because of the aforementioned theft of my previous laptop, the one with all my photos and songs and documents... sigh.  but anyways!  my momma had sent me a few pics when i did my second photo challenge post, and i'd love to share another, slightly more recent pic, of us for my last post - it seems very fitting and a perfect conclusion to my little fifteen day personal experiment ~

my momma & i, back when i was a little 17 year old, getting ready for prom ::

{gosh i look so young here!}

i honestly love my madre.  love, love, LOVE.  so even though i wanted to post a bunch of pictures of a bunch of my lovely family members, it's fine that i only have my momma, because she is representative of them all: strong, intelligent, motivated, and compassionate. 

so there you have it -- me with a baby face.  my gorgeous mother.  my utter admiration of my family.  my 15 day photo challenge. now you know just a little bit more about me, my life, & what i'm about :)

{p.s. want a recap? days: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14}