it's not easy being blond

resolutions

2008-12-31T13:18:00.003-05:00

just like last year, i think this year i'm going resolution-free. last year i went into the new year hoping it'd be better than the previous one, and it was. it was better and in some aspects it was worse. i'm not complaining.
but for this year, i'm going to take whatever life gives me. it can't be that bad.
but i do want to run every day next year. that's not a resolution. it's a wish.
oh, and it's SNOWING! just had to say i got one of my 11:11 wishes. finally. it's so pretty out, even though it messed up my hair a little. jamie straightened it last night for me =]
i hope your 2009 is better than your 2008. and i hope everyone has fun tonight, whatever they're doing. i'll be back blogging within two weeks sometime. a girl needs a break (even though i've had plenty) and i have tons of schoolwork i should be doing. i'm making a menu for spanish, a magazine for bio, and i'm writing an essay for history.
i should probably start those. =P
xoxo,
caiti

musical picks!

2008-12-06T21:14:00.004-05:00

I've been watching tons of music videos and whatnot lately...

Beyonce completely amazes me.

So does Fall Out Boy. This isn't a music video, just the song, but it's amazing. End of story.

I love Forever the Sickest Kids, especially this song (though Phone Call and Catastrophe are pretty amazing too). This song is just, like, it makes sense? I don't know.

I've been loving Sing It Loud too.

And surprisingly...though I don't like Miley Cyrus, I love this song. And possibly the video.

Britney Spears. Awesome. All I have to say. (Sorry for the bad video, apparently on the "official video" embedding is disabled. Whatever.)

This is one of the songs from Juno (though I love them all). The one they sing at the end. Best. Song. Ever.

That's all, folks!

xoxo,

Caiti

oh, and by the way.

2008-12-06T21:05:00.002-05:00

I'm officially in dire need of braces.

I practically vomited on the person who tried taking impressions of my teeth today--I started crying and gagging and spitting and whimpering, and the lady (who had a British accent, which was really cool) was like, "Calm down! Calm down! You're going to make yourself choke!" The only thing there was to choke on anyway was my tongue, and who knows, I was freaking out so much I probably would have.

So then the orthodontist sat me and Dad and Mindy down and was like, All right, you need braces. Or you couuld do nothing and have your teeth fall out. (I hope he's not serious--that would really scare me!) But apparently I'll have ugly teeth and look like a hoodlum or a hooligan and I'm rather look like a normal teenager with straight teeth. But for now, braces.

Sigh.

We stopped at a VW dealer today on the way home and I looked at all the cars and now I realize I pretty much either get braces, or eventually get a nice car.

Straight teeth. Or car.

I think I take the car.

pure, pretty whiteness

2008-12-06T21:01:00.002-05:00

Guess what...it's snowing! I'm so happy. It hasn't felt like Christmas this year, but the snowflakes are twirling down, tumbling from the sky in all their pure, pretty whiteness, and I just fell in love with winter all over again.

milestones? blogging? school? breaks? EVERYTHING.

2008-12-01T19:17:00.007-05:00

Dear faithful readers,

Apopos for my absence. This is my first post since....October 14....and I do believe it's been a while. In fact, according to the calendar a month and a half has passed (DUDE! it's been FOREVER! I am so, so, SO sorry you haven't been allowed these sweet little glimpses into my life!), and it's been even longer considering what went down...sheesh, I have a lot to update you guys on. I've been uber-busy and I probably need to look at my caldendar to aid with this post. First things first, I had my first midterms ever, about two weeks ago and I had pretty sweet grades =) I am proud. My classes haven't changed, except now I have DV (digital video) instead of tech but that's all right, it's not so bad...filming at school is kinda fun because you pass by everyone in the classrooms and laugh at them in your head.

My writing is coming along swellingly by the way! I'm on the second book and sooo proud of myself when Jamester, Ash, and mis otras amigas read it and they all looooved it so much. I was proud. So proud. I worked my butt off on that thing. And I'm working hard on the second one too =)

Oh, my bday was two weeks ago (November 14) and I got some awesome loot, fyi. A Juicy Couture charm bracelet, two pairs of Converse with my bday money and a cute dress, two CDs (FTSK and Sing It Loud), the Juno movie + soundtrack (guess that's three CDs hahaha), a cute Coach bag, the Hollister guys' SoCal cologne + Hollister body wash and whatnot, and lotsa money.

Thanksgiving was cool, pretty uneventful for the most part except the country club delivered an uncooked turkey so we had to return it for another one. Oh, and I took advantage of some free-shipping-Thanksgiving-day-sales and grabbed two cute tees from PacSun for $15 total. Woooohoooo! Haha, I was proud. Oh, Halloween was swell too, fyi. I think the rest of the updates are gonna have to wait till tomorrow cuz I gotta updates the photo blogginz!

xoxo,
Caiti!

P.S. Check out the photo blogginz for updates soon!!!

news news news

2008-10-14T20:13:00.002-04:00

fall out boy's new album was pushed back =/
fall out boy's new song "what a catch donnie" almost made me cry. a must-listen, really, so check it out here (couldn't find it anywhere else)
new macbooks = the bomb!!!!!!
new york city + central park + the best aunt in the world = pretty awesome time, pretty awesome pics
ben and jerry's for lunch. nuff said.
one broke teenager + $90 worth of copies at staples = unhappy caiti
my *new* story is not even close to being done but i miss posting and saying it's almost done.
seeing the apple store in new york = priceless.
something in the air in bio today was making me laugh uncontrollably for a flat twenty minutes =] i love those days
my overuse of equal signs = so annoying!

pics to come on my photo blogginz,

xooxxoxooxo!

caiti

new fall out boy with the bestest, most ironic title ever

2008-10-08T23:32:00.003-04:00

okay, so blogger is being mean and won't let me embed a youtube video to the post.....but fall out boy has a new song called "headfirst slide into cooperstown on a bad bet." kudos [kudos?!?!?] to them for even knowing what cooperstown iss, and that's so awesome because, uh, i was there. and my whole summer basically revolved around that place and oh, how i miss it. badly. =] well, i can't embed the video because blogger has NOT been working with me lately but whatever. this song is amazing. so listen to it here. please. =]

juno!

2008-10-05T10:35:00.003-04:00

okay, so last night I had a bit of a movie marathon: first Saw, then Juno, then about half of Titanic (right in the middle--I couldn't watch the end, it got so depressing that I had to leave the living room, because I've seen it before and it really is depressing), and omg. Two new favorite moviess: Saw and Juno!

First Saw. They're awesome. I did get kidna-sorta nauseous watching some of it (lots of blood. And gore. And nastiness killing and dude, I thought that guy was dead!), but that's okay, I love horror movies so it's all good, rigght? Anyway, so right after we're done watching it Mom's like, "I gotta go to the store for something" and Pat and I both jumped up and raced for shotgun. Let's face it, you so don't wanna be home alone after watching Saw. You don't. Anyway, so then Pat goes, "You guys are scared stiffless!" =] so funny.

Juno. First of all, I'm completely in love with Michael Cera. And I want to punch Jason Bateman in the face. (If you've seen the movie you would totally get why.) And I want a hamburger phonee. Buy me this movie + soundtrack for my birthday and I'll love you forever. Really. Plus Ellen Page is awesome. And the song that they sing at the end is stuck in my head. Omg, I loved it. So much. =]]]]

gotta run. I'm watching it again. =] and then I have a bio project to handle. i'm a busy bee, sowwy I haven't been blogging mucch.

xoxo,
caiti

yucky weather + bad news

2008-09-28T16:39:00.003-04:00

Bad news.......so I went to the dentist yesterday. And I need braces. =[ Noooooooooo! Okay, I sound so superficial, but...I really don't want braces! It's so stupid. I have straight teeth. But apparently, like, I also have an overbite that's causing "damage" to my "gums." Bleccch.

(I'm sounding really obnoxious, even to myself, and almost like the kind of person I would do anything to get out of a conversation with. Sorry. Venting over.)

And it's yucky out. (Okay, NOW venting is over. O. V. E. R. Over.) Otherwise, though, I'm good!!! I got to sleep this morning, woohooo, and I've been writing like crazy. So crazy that my hands are starting to hurt from all this writing. But that's okay. It's a good kinda pain. Plus I babysat for these two adorable boys last night--they were so sweet! I'm babysitting for them again, too, which makes me happy. And yeah, so....that's basically what's up with me right now. Hahaha. I feel like a boring person.

Gotta go. My writing awaits. =]

xoxo,
Caiti

the four.

2008-09-21T15:42:00.004-04:00

brie is the leader of the four. she's pretty, she can be mean, but there's something else about her. she's insecure. and she doesn't let anyone see it but her friends. it's her birthday soon, and so she's fuh-reaking out about the party.

taylie is independent. she's been brie's friend since pre-school, but lately brie has been especially controlling and she's getting sick of it. she just wants to be her own person, and brie is hindering that completely.

savannah is sweet, a southern-belle in northern new jersey. she's somewhat quiet, but can be just as much of a spoiled brat as brie. she has charm, and she and brie get along better than anyone else.

hayden is the preppy girl with a fashion obsession. she's been under stress from brie for everything she does lately, and then there's the fact that her dad is never home. she can't handle it anymore.

this is the cast of my story. the introduction.
more to come =]

what i want for my birthday

2008-09-21T15:18:00.003-04:00

**my birthday is november fourteen. =] this list is mainly for my fam and friends. so if you're a creeper and wanna sent me a present, don't bother.**

this jacket from hollister

this jacket from hollister

jewelry from forever 21 and american eagle

a macbook pro, macbook air, or black macbook, and photoshop cs3 for mac

crochet uggs in brown (mink)

baby grace perfume

this hoodie in yellow and white

this navy toggle coat and this jacket in white or black from american eagle

a whole day all to myself!!!

2008-09-20T12:26:00.003-04:00

So today is Saturday and I get a whole day all to myself...actually, I think I'm going to do my world history and bio homework, but for now it's all to myself. I slept until ten o'clock today. I've written like ten pages already...last night I had the time to have a two-and-a-half-hour phone conversation with Mar, who I haven't seen in ages. Tonight I think I'm going out for pizza with some friends I haven't seen in ages (I miss them!), since like before school started. Yuck--to the part about not seeing them. Last night I even had the chance to take a bath, edit some photos, and try to pick which picture I'm going to choose for the photo club contest next week (theme is water, and for once I had a willing model!).

I feel so ridiculously relaxed I should be featured in some Zen magazine. So sowwy I haven't had the time to blog--but I've honestly been so busy that I haven't known what to do with myself. I'm taking advantage of all this TIME.

I don't actually have any reason to end this blog post except that I really really want to work on my story--it feels amazing to write. Like, scary amazing.

xoxo,
Caiti

today.

2008-09-11T21:24:00.001-04:00

remember.

work work work = busy busy busy

2008-09-09T19:21:00.003-04:00

so yeah, i am a very busy girl, i have three projects due next week (monday and tuesday), two quizzes tomorrow, a test friday, i'm pretty sure a pop quiz tomorrow, daddy's wedding saturday, and spanish homework. which is why i'm not exactly blogging regularly, even though i'd looooove to.

got lockers today--i don't have to share mine! =] wooohoooo. got an email from maggie today, she's going to another one of the spesh schools. they all use the same bbs. it's pretty cool. ate lunch outside yesterday & today--it's so much nicer eating lunch outside. went to a park for a school trip last friday--lotsa "bonding" activities but i made friends, woohoo! =] got agendas. taking more pictures again, slowly. getting back into writing. my laptops being a butt so i'm generally just using dad's account on it--for some reason, my accout won't work. have been using macs at school, and since i'm using a pc now i keep going to the upper left corner to x out of programs. it's killing meeeeee!!

yeah. so. better go--secret life midseason finale is in a half hour and i have spanish homework and quizzes to study for but i figured i would let you know i'm still alive and writing, so whenever i come back with a bang....it will be with a bang. (wait, did that make sense? no. it did not.)

whatever. gotta run. xoxo, caiti

schooooooool cool. =P

2008-09-04T18:55:00.003-04:00

yeah, so i went there with a cheesy joke. =X today was my first day of schooooooooooool. top ten things i love/love about my new school:

bathrooms. so big. nice mirrors. very social during lunch.
lunch. we are allowed to roam. and hang out with people. and go outside if we want. and use a microwave. =]
stairwells. so much fun--i like that i have to keep going up and down. call me crazy.
the eclectic mix of people. i hate to use labels but from the preppy abercrombie-clad girls to the ones with drawing pads, from the guys wearing polos to the ones wearing band tees, everyone is so different and that's why i love it. it's so awesome. everyone seems to get along, too--it's so NOT mean girls reincarnated.
the clubs. photography, creative writing, volunteer, etc.--i love that there are so many.
the lockers. they're ginormous. we get locker buddies, but whatevs--a ginormous locker is a ginormous locker, and i shall not look a gift horse in the mouth. or whatever.
my teachers. they all seem so nice. even though a few of my classes sound hard. but i'm still looking forward to the semester with them.
the macs. they're awwwwwwwwwwesome.
the classes. computer applications, anyone? =] i like it. that, and bio, spanish, and world history makes for an interesting day. lunch is divided into two--activity period and lunch--so there's a lot of time.
time. my bus picks me up at around 6:20 and i was dropped off at school at 7:15ish. first period starts at around seven-thirty so there was a lot of downtime. and then there's the whole divvied lunch thing, plus school ends at about two-twenty, and my bus got me at 2:40 today. that's 20 minutes....plus i ended up getting home around four. lotsa time. my ipod will be my best buddy. that, and homework, and books, and studying...lotsa time to study too.

i'm loving school! i wore a denim skirt, a navy tank top, and a gray sweater and my navy blue converse (they're all sold out of orange in, like, every size imagineable). and my big ginormous hollister tote bag which came in handy for lugging around all my stuff and straight hair. thank you mommmy. =]

plus i already have hw! some stuff for bio and spanish. spanishhhhh.....oh, how i miss italian. pat finds everyone opportunity to rub it in my face that he has italian and i have spanish.

gotta run to get a grilled chicken sandwich at wawa--xoxo, caiti

wisdom.

2008-09-01T12:00:00.005-04:00

"i think there's some truth in that. that if someone points out the flaws, that's all you're ever going to see. it's like looking in a mirror and never being able to see the real you, every single day, because only the flaws are there. but you have to look past that. the flaws are what make you you. the perfection is what makes us like everyone else--it's the imperfection that makes you you, and me me."

*caiti wisdom, august 2008*

lighthouse.

2008-09-01T11:56:00.001-04:00

photography genius courtesy of my uncle vin. =] august 2008

yo.

2008-09-01T11:39:00.003-04:00

sorry i've been gone so long--vacay, summer, shopping, writing, swimming, sleeping, cleaning, and blahity blahity blah take up so much time && effort!--but i am back. and i promise i won't take such a long leave of absence ever again.

so....welll, right now it's labor day and i actually have plans for once this summer (i think) but i just wanted to let you know i haven't fallen off the face of the earth. i have, however:

been complimented by the girl working at hollister.
asked how to apply for a job at hollister and/or six flags.
gone shopping.
fallen off my mom's bed going in to say good morning to her this morning.
found out my bus gets here at SIX OH FIVE. in the MORNING. (inhumane? i think so.)
found out fall out boy has a new album (yayy!)
gotten a dress for daddy's wedding.
started writing again.
been tormented by my brother and his friends (long story, could take a whole blog to explain. shyahh, little twelve year old MONSTERS)
found my ORANGE CONVERSE!! because you can see orange converse in the window of any store from a mile off. =]
lost in our annual mini golf championship to my dad. =/
found my opi russian navy nail polish! woohoooo for navy, buh-bye lincoln park at midnight. =X
hung out with jamie, who agrees that my brother IS a brat. he pushed me in the pool and i landed on jamie. sowwwyy.
cleaned my room.
killed a spider! woot woot, i'm improving.
gotten ready for school (hello, last year's binders && the best pens in the world, i missed you)
reread "the truth about forever"--i looooove that book.
given amazing advice to a bestie.
gotten amazing advice from a bestie.
written about fifty letters.
written thank-yous.
gone to six flags!
ridden kingda ka 3 times in a day: with daddy & pat, with pat (front row!!!!!!!!!), with pat (nighttttime!!!!!!!)
ridden el toro 3 times in one day!
gotten stuck on nitro because the car behind us stopped functioning. hahaha.
found a new favey sandwich at wawa.
went up a lighthouse--lighthouses make for awesome pics. =]

happy labor day, peeps, now i gotta run cuz my laptop has decided that my battery sucks and i should have gotten that mac with amazing battery power over the weekend. i didn't. so i gotta run and get my charger.

later, dollss!

xoxo, caiti

xoxo

2008-08-15T21:45:00.002-04:00

Heyy all. I'm gonna be going on vacation tomorrow morning.... so I'm taking a brief hiatus from the blogginz (although it seems like I've been taking hiatuses left and right lately!) and I'll be back in a week to tell you all about it. Sorry I haven't blogged much this summer, but I guess it hasn't been an interesting summer? =] Just kiddding. Haha. Funnnny.

xoxo,

Caiti

it's been a while? haha

2008-08-14T10:21:00.003-04:00

It's been a while--apologies =] Last week Daddy took my laptop for some "repairs" (aka a bigger hard drive because I couldn't buy any more iTunes music or take any pics) and then I went on Aunt Shell's boat for the weekend and then Sunday I was at Mar's and I came home Tuesday and yesterday I didn't feel like blogging so today here I am and yeah, that was a long sentence.

I haven't been doing much--bts shopping w/Mar, we went to this fun waterpark on Sunday, went to the beach on Tuesday (water was PERFECT seriously it was amazingly perfect, most fun I've had at the beach ever), lazing around, not running in the mornings like I've planned, planning outfits--but my schedule for school finally came. Woohooo!! I'm so excited. School starts in less than a month. And my back-to-school outfits all look pretty good if I do say so myself =] I want school to start. It's gonna be fun, I think at least. I also got questions I have to answer for The Tao of Pooh, and I read my other book I had to read--The House on Mango Street. I liked the second one better.

Oh, I go on vacation on Saturday (beachh) and then when I come back it's a week and a half till school!! I still have to get shoes (Converse in navy, orange, and possibly striped) and some other stuff, probably from Hollister. I want their polos in a few colors and a hoodie and some tank tops (their tank tops are so comfy-cozy). Haha. I still have some money left. I think $200? Something like that.

Plus next week the new Academy Is... album comes out. Guess who's buying it? =]

xoxo,
Caiti

loving it x 10

2008-08-04T20:27:00.003-04:00

this song is AMAZING. fast times at barrington high = amazing album already, i can tell. and funny thing about barrington, which is where the lead singer of the academy is... is from. the barrington mustangs (12-yr-old baseball team) were at cooperstown last week when we were. so pat has the pin and i'm thinking of begging him for it cuz it'd be pretty cool to have a pin from the place the album is named after. lol.

typo, shopaholic awakened, whatever

2008-08-04T19:58:00.004-04:00

random stuff: mar went to warped, got signatures from mayday parade (and thought it was we the kings), someone found a pretty shell that i'm never getting rid of, i need a pedicure, i now have like two billion new favorite bands because mar went to warped (i wanted to go to warped sooooo bad! i'm jealous!), i started back-to-school shopping, i went for a run today, i discovered that jamie and mar have the exact same taste in music and they've never even met each other--weird, mar made a cool typo in her phone, my computer is going bonkers-haywire, school is in ONE MONTH TODAY (holy crowwwtastic), and i now have a cute blue cozy for my phone and pins to put on my bag for school when it arrives in the mail from hollister. whewww! deep breath.

typo: mar made a typo in her phone and spelled my name caitti, not caiti, and i can't decide which one i like more. all i know is, i'm definitely going by caiti next year at school, not caitlin, but i can't decide how to spell it. deeeelemma. caitti? or caiti?

shopaholic: finally kick-started my bts shopping. ordered some stuff (orange polo, two sweaters, two pairs of flats, a scarf, some lip balm, some bags from ae and two tanks, a bag, and a scarf from hollister) online. i'm so so so happy. plus tomorrow i'm going shopping with jamie. and i have to order my uggs too. i'm getting navy-blue tasman if they ever get them in my size, which i kinda doubt but i hope so! ahahaa.

magazines: my first september magazine was in my mailbox when i got home from cooperstown. teen vogue. i love/love the marc jacobs mouse ballet flats but i cannot afford them in a bazillion years. ($250? for flats? aggggh) i'm still waiting for seventeen and cosmogirl.

warped: mar's so lucky she got to go to warped!! she found new bands and saw old bands and i'm jealous. but she got cds (which i'm so stealing when i can put them on my comp) and some cute pins to put on my new bag. they're adorable. i like the one with a little black heart on it. plus she got me stickers and a cd from peta2 that has all these celebupeople trying to convince you not to eat meat and go vegan. i don't know about the vegan thing but i felt bad for the pigs that were being tortured. poor pigs. they were really cute!

computer: i'm out of disk space on my laptop, my almost-four-years-old inspiron 1150 which is so mad at me that right now i can't even log in without it telling me it's got issues. um, i know it's got issues. and i'm mad at it. stupid computer. so yeah, i can't even put music on my computer or upload pics. annoyed much? i'm barely surviving.

music: thanks to pat's friends who were playing this game (find a song on youtube or whatever, have someone guess who it is--it's really funnnny to see what people come up with, ahahaaha) i re-discovered jesse mccartney's song "beautiful soul" and i love/love the song "forever" by chris brown and also "i'm yours" by jason mraz and a bunch of others. thanks to warped, too. =]

school? omggg: school. is. in. one. month. today. and. i'm. kind. of. flipping. out. wowwww, that was a really staccato sentence. ahahaaha. i can't believe i'm going to a new school. i'm beginning to realize i'm not gonna know ANYONEE. i hate that feeling. well, whatevs. i'm gonna brave it out like i always do. =]

so, yeahh. that's what's going on in my universe right now. must go. text to answer. and i'm a little sleepy. i've only slept in my own bed twice since we got back from vacation and it's annoying me. lol.

xoxo,
caiti

coca comola

2008-08-02T20:52:00.003-04:00

polar bears are dying! what are we gonna do about the coca comola commercials??? when we have kids, they're gonna look at the commercials and go, "those bears aren't real!!"

just a tidbit from my phone conversation with mar. we were talking about the secret life of the american teenager and how there's gonna be a marathon tuesday and then a commercial came on about the polar bears. haha. best friends. =]

cooperstown, new yorkk!! dreams parkkkkk!!

2008-08-02T19:26:00.005-04:00

oh my god, so yesterday i got back from cooperstown, new york. can i say...best week EVER?!?!?!?! oh, my god. it was so much fun. and sure we were there for the baseball (the week revolved around the boys, duh) but i had so much fun. see, there are four boys on the team with sisters my age--hello, so much fun!--and then there's also a handful of littler girls the same age.

everyone there was so awesome. i mean, the families are great. we had two houses on the same property, right next to each other (separated only by a muddy expanse that i fell in, hahaaha!), and there was also a pond that was this weird blue colorr--can you say fake?--and a big field for the boys to play baseball in. one night we had a huge dads-against-boys wiffeball game. these boys do NOT stop playing baseballl. ever. even though the season is now over, today pat and his friends were still outside playing home run derby.

i'm gonna break the week down day by day and even then it'll probly be all messed up... hahah.

oh. let me explain what cooperstown is. cooperstown, new york is supposedly where baseball was born, so this guy had a dream that every boy should get a chance to play baseball where the game was born, so the baseball hall of fame is there and cooperstown dreams park is a huge tournament with 98 teams that battle it out for the title of top seed. the town is separate from the park, but both are very nice. the town is gorgeous. the park has free internet, too, so i brought my laptop one day and downloaded two new songs from itunes. best of me by the starting line and up and go by the starting line. and then there's like barracks where the boys sleep (thank GOD they weren't always in our houses) and a gift shop and some of the games are on webcam, which is SO AWESOME. aunt shell was watching from home and when pat got out on a really REALLY horrible call, so she called like a minute later saying how horrible of a call it was because there was a minute delay.

so that's what cooperstown is. haha.

last friday

mom and i drove down a little later than everyone else, because mom had to work until 12. our car was designated as the "everyone's extra crap" car. we had a cooler, our wagon, the food, our stuff on the roof, and omg so much stuff. haha. so anyway, i was the co-pilot and i kind of got us lost (long story) so we turned around to ask these people at a gas station how long we were supposed to be on this one road. and then i lost the mapquest directions. and then i found different directions in mom's glove box.

then we called one of the mothers that was already there and we're like, "so how is it?" and she told us that apparently we were NOT taking advantage of friday-night check in as planned and the boys were staying with us that night.

head count? 39. probably more. mom and i tallied it up in the car and just the people sleeping there friday night equaled 39. divided across two houses. eight bedrooms. four bathrooms. two living rooms. two kitchens. TEN BOYS. five girls. AGGGGGH.

so all the other girls decided to sleep in the other house, but i decided to sleep in the house with my mom and pat and the kids that were staying in our house. i was kicked out of my bed to make room for a coach. not that i cared. i mean, i was just sleeping on the floor. nothing big. =p but i didn't care. i hung out with the boys in our house until mom made me go to bed. when all the boys aren't around and it's only a portion of them, most of them are really cool. even the one that i thought was the worst on the team. ahahahaha.

saturday

all the boys woke up at like seven and one of the dads bought donuts that were really good--like homemade. the boys had to check into the barracks saturday morning, so they got up kinda early and all got dressed. i was the only "big girl" who wanted to go to the barracks. confession? the barracks looked like shacks. barns. long lumps of number-labeled barns whose inside walls were lined with rickety bunk beds covered in plastic, mud-ridden sheets. i found a crusty booger on one of the sheets--i was helping out, wiping down the beds and looking at the pins the boys got while they were out pin-trading. i was a good sister. except pat kept bossing me around and telling me to do his pins for him and i didn't feel like it, so i said no and he got grumpy. but all in all it was fun. the other boys are nicer to me than pat is. haha.

then we hung out at the house for a while minus the boys...and then we went to the opening ceremony. i actually went early with a handful of the mothers and we spread out towels and sweatshirts and stuff across three rows so we would have room for everyone. even then, when everyone got there we had to squeeze. we're a very supportive team. =]

the founder of cooperstown dreams park certainly likes to hear himself talk. he talked. and talked. and talked. agggh. it was sweet--i mean, he told nice, inspiring stories about people in iraq and kids who couldn't play baseball and i appreciated it--but i really wanted to see our team come out! there's a procession of athletes, but first there was a big kick-line on the field with some of the mothers, and some of the fathers did the YMCA, and there were skydivers and stuff, and they interviewed all these kids who had been there already (they all fessed up and said the food sucked ahahaha), and then FINALLY there was the procession of athletes. we all ran to find our team and we were laughing and taking pictures and being goofy. it was so fun.

then we had the skills competitions--roadrunner, some throwing thing, home run derby, and round the horn. we didn't win, but for roadrunner we came SO close. the kid who did that competition for us was almost in the final round. but not quite. haha.

sunday

first day of games! the first game was at ten or eleven--i can't remember--and we all wore our team shirts to show support for the boys. i'm such a good sister. =] i don't even remember all that much about it except that i remember a fly ball coming our way and screaming and jumping out of the way and screaming. and when the team won its first game we all clapped and cheered and took pictures. like i said, we're such a supportive team. =]

monday

there was an 8:30 game monday, and i wasn't sure whether i wanted to go or not. i was like, yes, i do. then steph was like, no, you don't. stay here with me and sleep late. and i was like AGGGGGH i don't know what to do. so i stayed home. (it was a webcam game btw. haha) and i'm so MAD i stayed home. pat got a home run. AND he pitched. my brother DOES NOT pitch. tyler and i were even talking about it last week. tyler got a home run off pat the last time pat pitched in rec. so we were REALLY surprised when he pitched. and i wasn't there. i swear i almost cried. ahahaha. they won that game by a lot. it was webcam, so aunt shell was texting me telling me she wanted to hear me scream (except i wasn't there), and i was texting her and she told me the score (like 10-0 in the first) and i was jumping up and down in an empty house. i was happy. =]

i think they won the other game too. i think. ahahaha. all the games blurred together, tbh. but i do remember they had another game in the afternoon and then they came back to our house to sleep over again, because they had a full day between games. we were gonna go to the hall of fame that night but we decided it would be too much work and the boys would be tired (ALWAYS all about the boys. always) so we went the next morning to the hall of fame.

so that day when they all came back to the house we had a huge barbecue and everyone was there--even the families that weren't staying at our house. EVERYONE came back and had a huge barbecue. i love having all these people over, seriously i do, but it got overwhelming fast. so there was this fence near the driveway and the deck of the empty house, and i sat on it and i was talking to my friends for a while before people started coming back to our house. some of the boys came back and joe shoved his phone in my face and he's like, "are you crying or somethin?" and i was like, "i'm not crying, joe, chill," and for the rest of the night he was bugging me about what was wrong. nothing was wrong. i was just seriously tired and i didn't feel good.

so then later when all the boys in our house were going to sleep i came out of our room to go to the bathroom and joe started bugging me again. he's like, "what's wrooooong?" and pat was just laughing at me i think. haha. and i'm like, "i'm not gonna tell you even if there is something wrong, which there's NOT." i found out later that when they were all going to sleep that night they were talking about me. which is great. just great. agggh. i still want to know what they were talking about.

oh and pat was talking in his sleep and he just woke up and randomly goes "wishy wishy wishy" and joe was so tired he pushed pat's head back down on the pillow. i don't know why but this makes me crack up. =]

tuesday

hall of fame dayy! we all woke up really really early to get to the hall of fame before it opened because apparently it gets packed really quickly. it was kind of boring, tbh. i mean, the boys loved it, i guess because they play baseball and what baseball-loving kid isn't gonna adore the hall of fame? my favorite part was the "women in baseball" exhibit and the abbott and costello "who's on first" skit. i love that. haha. and then we got pat a custom-made bat and we all went to lunch at dimaggio's (cool place, free internet, expensive food).

then they had two games that afternoon and i truly forget which was which and whether we won or not. seriously...i can't remember, like, at all. haha. tuesday was pretty uneventful except for the hall of fame--and i started reading my story FINALLY. i love it so much. i'm proud of it. =] lol

wednesday

wednesday was the day it hit me that we only had two more days and that it might even be the last day they all played together as a team if they didn't make it to the championship game. aww. i got a little sad.

there was a ten o'clock game....forget whether they won or not. ahahaha. but then our play-off game was at four, so mom and i went to lunch after the game and then, since i was already with her, she decided to take me along to cocktail hour at this swanky hotel in otesago (otesago? something like that, ahahaaha) with all the parents. There was no room on the patio for all of us, so we sat on the second-story terrace on these gorgeous white wooden rocking chairs with blue-and-white striped cushions...it was totally a movie-worthy moment. i took notes on all the things the parents said. we kind of felt like we didn't belong at this hotel, because we were all dressed for baseball games--i was wearing plaid shorts and a gray tank top and flip-flops--and i turned to mom and whispered, "i feel out of place. do any of these people even own a pair of flip-flops?" but it was fun.

then we had the playoffs. oh, my god. so nerve-wracking. single-elimination. our last game was at six o'clock but started late and ended at almost nine. pat was last up in the last inning. two outs. two strikes. and then a pitch that was at his ankles. and....the ump called it a strike.

poor pat. that always seems to happen to him. i felt so horrible about it! he was the last out on a horrible call. so after the game we all lined up to give the team high-fives, but the coaches wanted to talk to the team first in the outfield. i guess when pat was out there on the field he found a frog...which he dumped in my hair after they all filed out. and i gave him a hug. and then mom asked him what he named his frog. what did he name it? "bad call." ahh, i love that kid. =]

so the boys stayed at our house that night. they didn't wanna stick around and i couldn't really blame them. everyone was so hyper--i don't know why!--and i was so tired i pretty much just went in my room and passed out.. yeah, i'm such a party animal. =P

thursday

thursday...thursday was supposed to be busy. they all went go-carting at this fun place near our house but i wasn't feeling good so i just holed up in my sweatshirt (it was raining) and watched until we decided to go into town. i got me and mar t-shirts that say "my brother hit a homerun in cooperstown" (yaaaaay pat!!!!!) and i got this amazing gelati. j'adore gelatis. yummm.

then we all had lunch back out the house...they played more wiffeball i think (of course), and then at 5 or something there was the closing ceremony where they gave out the rings. it was sweet. mom cried. we cheered the loudest for our team, i think. we love them so much. =] and we were proud. ahaahaa. the rings were really nice. huge. but nice. with a big red stone and all. soooo pretty.

after that there were fireworks. jake, the only little brother (he's four) sat on my lap on one of the walkways and watched silently. he was so perfect throughout the whole thing! then there was the championship game. mom didn't stay for that and neither did any of the older girls so it was just me, the coaches, and the team. one of the coaches saw that i had the same phone as him and he asked me to show him how to get to the cooperstown website on his phone so they could leave the game early and still watch online. then he and his family left, so the only seat available was next to this really tall kid on the team (he's really tall...like six-one or something, i'm five-three) and all the boys were teasing me next morning that i liked him and i don't. it was the only seat left. ahahaha.

so we watched and it was pretty cool, the second-seed team beat the first-seed team and when they came around to give everyone high fives, they looked soooooo happy. it kinda made me wish that we were in the championship game. but i think the team still had an amazing time anyway. ya know? =]

thursday night some families left, but we gave out awards to the boys that were still there. the team awards. ommgggg, how funny. all the parents had already come up with some of the categories (nicest, best hair, most showers, messiest, biggest eater of barracks food, blah blah blah) but then we let the boys formulate their own categories. that was SO funny. and they got to vote. then they told us what went on in the barracks and how they woke people up and they told us about the showers. dom reenacted what he sings in the shower. i almost spewed popcorn all over everyone, i was laughing so hard. and we read the notes we took all week--again, i almost peed my pants laughing. i love these people! i wanna go on vacation with them next year too. i think we should. =]

friday

we had to be outta there by ten o'clock friday morning. we all woke up, blah blah blah. i was lucky i kept all my stuff folded cuz i almost couldn't fit everything into my bag. and then i lost my phone charger--turned out one of the other kids on the team took it. we had amazing breakfast of chocolate-chip muffins and then we were basically just packing up the car. at like nine-thirty, pat and mikey were throwing a wiffleball bat across the pond, back and forth--until pat didn't reach the other side and the bat was stuck in the pond. so he and mikey were chucking rocks at the bat, trying to get it over to the other side, until like three minutes before we had to go when they finally got it. and then they started doing it again but thank god, it didn't fall in again.

so the ride home, we followed a caravan of the parents that were heading home. then we stopped at a mcdonalds on the way home and it was finally goodbye. =[ aww. i was almost crying. our vacation was soooooo awesome.

so then later on friday--because our car was still the "everyone's extra crap car"--one of the coaches came over to pick up his wagon. and his sons ended up sleeping over. we were watching world's most amazing videos on spike and some of those videos are just scary, duuuude. some of them made me kinda nauseous.

vacation. over. all here. =] and i'm forgetting stuff too. like i got a pair of really cute sweats at the gift shop that say "live the dream" on the butt--it's cooperstown's, like, slogo or whatever. haha. and when we were on our way up, we saw a HOBO walking along the side of the road! seriously, a hobo! ahahaaha.

so that's it. awww. i loved it. awesome vacation. im gonna miss everyone so so much!!!!!! (and sorry for the late post. took me a while to write it. like....two days. ahahaaha.)

xoxo,
caiti

news x 10

2008-07-24T23:27:00.002-04:00

wow, it's been a while. i've been a busy bee getting ready for cooperstown, finishing my novel--yuppers, it's done, done, and done!--and bargain shopping. yeah, bargain shopping. ahahahaaha.

so on monday jamie and i were hanging out at her house and we decided we definitely had to shop around in this little town on the way to the mall the next day, because we both thought we saw cute stores there but there really weren't any (turns out we were thinking of red bank--how did i get those mixed up? ahaha). but we did stop in a consignment shop. i've never been in one of those before, but i got a pair of comfy-cozy, broken-in hollister jeans for $8.40. yup, $8.4o. so that set me off on a bargain-shopping kick that lasted the whole day. =] cuz those jeans would have been like $6o normally. that's right. i was so proud.

then, since there was such a lack of great stores in this little town, we decided to go to the mall. and it was actually better, because i didn't bring as much money with me--because i thought we were only going to this little town--so i didn't spend as much money. we went to forever 21 and i got a really cute purple dress and two tank tops (i spent $21.10 total! seriously!). the whole day, including lunch (mcdonald's and snapple), cost me $33.64. for lunch, jeans, a dress, and two comfy tank tops. i was proud. =] again. we also went to hollister and i contemplated buying this adorable skirt, but after all my amazing shopping it seemed way too expensive ($44.50) and so did the tank ($24.50) so i put them both back on the shelves. even though that skirt will probably be on my thighs by the time school starts. if i have money left over.

and then we stopped in the apple store, which had a line for iphone 3g out the door. we slipped passed those people and into the store to ooh and ahh over the macbooks. i want one. so bad. and sheeeesh, the macbook air is italian-runway-model skinny. god. turn it on its side and it disappears. and it's light too, you can barely feel it when you pick it up. it makes the other macbooks look like clunky, outdated pieces of tech.

on tuesday mom also got me a bathing suit from pacsun, roxy, brown with white hearts, so adorable, and a pair of turquoise plaid nollie shorts that are so cute. that got me a pacloot card that'll save me $25 when i have to buy jeans in a week. then we had a pre-cooperstown party for the sisters of the guys on the team at one of the girls' houses, and we had fun. we watched the secret life of the american teenager, made signs for the kids on the team, and went swimming. i'm so excited for cooperstown. tomorrow!!! ahhhh. =] i'll send you updates from cooperstown if i can find internet up there. if not, i'll take notes and post them for you eventually.

wednesday we went for a walk with grandpa (a mile) and saw the dark knight. the dark knight. oh, my god. i'm not usually one for comic-book movies (and this was a comic-book movie, right? batman and all? well, whatevs) but this was a really great movie. i think heath ledger honestly deserves some sort of award for his interpretation of the joker--and not just because he died, although i think he'll get it anyway because he died. that's just the way the world works. but, i mean, he was amazing. and so was christian bale and, surprisingly, maggie gyllenhaal (or however you spell it). i wasn't expecting maggie gyllenhaal to be all that great, and she was! the whole movie was great. there were a few parts when i don't think i was supposed to be laughing, and i did anyway. the joker's laugh made me laugh, even at times when everyone else was completely silent. whoops.

and then some of pat's friends slept over last night, sooo today we were mostly hanging out with them. my official bug bite count = more than twelve. yooowch. my blood must be extremely tasty--either that, or everyone else has gross-tasting blood. that's my conclusion.

last night, at 3:12 a.m. (history, people! =] total history!), i finished my novel. yeah. i was so proud. and the ending was how i'd seen it for a while but the way it got there--well. i definitely had no idea it would be the way it was. and i have so many ideas for the next book. i was so happy that i texted mar. i told her i would! and then i texted ashley, g, and jamie too, to spread the news. i'm so happy. =]

better go. it's late. and i'm tired. i got no sleep last night, obviously. ahahahaha.

xoxo,
caiti

whatever. random photos.

2008-07-20T22:48:00.010-04:00

some random photos =]

all courtesy of photobucket. they have a fake feel to them, which is kind of comforting. i don't know why. =p

(i love the third dress from the left. that's why this pic is here.)

(this little girl reminds me of me when i was little. it's not me.)

jump

the last few pictures are all jumping.

i love to jump, i love the feeling and the exhilaration and the worry that you'll never touch the ground. i love jumping in a pool, i love jumping in the ocean, i love jumping on my bed. it gives you such a sweet childlike feeling that i can never seem to get back.

i was looking through old photo albums today. i looked different seven years ago. i had side bangs. and my hair looked really nice thick. i don't even remember my side bangs or some of the people i saw. but i guess when you're little you're so wrapped up in you and who you're with and your happiness that you don't notice the big people around you.

so jump. anyway. jump somewhere or jump anywhere and feel like you're falling through the air, you're never going to get your breath back.

and blow bubbles. =] it's a really fun child-like thing to do and it makes you smile to see the filmy bubbles fluttering through the air before you pop! them and little droplets spray everywhere.

xoxo,

caiti

that sweet?

2008-07-18T21:34:00.004-04:00

life itself, when understood and utilized for its means, is sweet.

"sweet? you mean like honey?" asked pooh.

"well, maybe not that sweet," i said.

--benjamin hoff, the tao of pooh

so this is the book i've been reading for school. and it's so adorable. i like it. it's about taoism, which is about turning the negatives in life into positives--even if you're having a crummy day and all you wanna do is inhale down a pint of ben and jerry's, curl up under the covers, and watch america's next top model reruns all day long. (okay, i made that last part up. but that's what i'm inferring it to mean.) and i love it. when i asked for it in barnes and noble, i was shocked x 10 to hear that it was in the humor department. humor? wait a second, school assigned us something humorous? but yep, there it was. in the humor section.

i'm liking it.

i got a haircut today. or a hairtrim is really how i should put it, haha. i HATE/HATE getting my hair cut with a passion. maybe because my mom cuts it. (love you, mom!) and because if i get annoyed with her, she'll mind and i can't just not tip her or whatever, i have to live with her so if it's ugly it makes it excruciating to move about the house. seriously. this one looks okay, though. last summer's haircut made me look like a guy. and not even a hot one at that.*

i'm packing for cooperstown already. i'm trying to think of everything i'm going to need and i know i'm going to bring way too much stuff--last time we went on vacation, at the end of august last year, i overpacked by about three pounds which i had to lug up (and down) a huge steep set of stairs. we rent an apartment on the top floor on a street just about five houses down from the beach. our family's expanded since we first starting renting it out, like ten years ago or so, and it's getting kinda cramped after all this time. except i think we ALL realized this by now, so it's all good. =]

yeah, i know i'm probably going to bring something cute/fancy/wildly-inappropriate-for-a-baseball-tete-a-tete, way too many shoes (ballet flats are just as acceptable as flip-flops! and sometimes comfier!!!), a bathing suit that i doubt i'll need, jeans just in case it gets cold (it can get down to like 57 during the night), a few sweatshirts--that's just the stuff i won't need that i'm bringing anyway. then i'm also bringing shorts, tank tops, flip-flops, tees, polos, toiletries (we have to share a bathroom. we're the smallest family going, since we're split into two, but everyone has to share bathrooms because it's four families in a 3-bathroom house), and blankets, and perfume, and books, and this laptop, and chargers for my ipod/phone/camera/etcetera, and probably some dvds. wow. i wasn't even sure of what i was gonna bring until now. this helped. =]

oh, i was reading something on aren's blog about music and how it takes you back to a time and place. i love that quote from just listen, by sarah dessen. i love her books as well--they're amazing, simply put. =] a few of her books are on my summer reading list and now, well, i'm probably going to reread just listen, even though that's more of a fall book. but anyhoo, music. and how it can transport you to another time, when you were different--or times were different--and your feelings were different too.

like camisado, by panic at the disco. i was listening to this song just before we went to visit my grandpa in the hospital a week and a half before he died. i can still remember the way i cried in the car on the way, as we passed under an overpass, the tears coming slow and careful. the way they traveled over my cheeks and dripped onto my sweatshirt seemed to take an eternity. and i remember the scratchiness of my sweatshirt. and i remember crying when i saw him.

or the reason, by hoobastank. (off topic: hoobastank is the best band name ever. i laugh every. single. time. i see it.) i remember listening to that song the last day of school one year, lying on my bed and writing in my journal, the warm summer breezes ruffling my sheer curtains. it reminds me of summer.

or one day robots will cry, by cobra starship. october song. songs have months and dates and memories assigned to them--my brain kinda does it subconsciously, i think =] --and this takes me back to last october and november and the things that happened. a sad feeling, kind of. melancholy.

so yeah. songs have definite meanings to me, and times and places. i was just thinking about that today, actually. =] weird.

oh, and one more thing.

best friends can yell at you and scream at you and tell you the truth, no matter how harsh or criticizing it may be, and even though it hurts to hear it, you know they're right because they know you just as well as you do. that's the worst part, because a best friend can't lie and won't lie so you might as well not even try to avoid it. that's how you know who your best friends are. instead of hearing the truth and thinking, no, she's wrong, she's lying, i don't want to hear this, you hear the truth and think, wow, this person knows me better than i do. and she's right.

yuppers. deep. =] or maybe it's just cuz it's 10:19 and i'm still writing. i just wrote a really "deep" part of the story. which is still unnamed. i need to name it.

gahh. i'm gonna go finish this story. i promised myself yesterday i would. and then i fell asleep on the keyboard.** drool much? =]

well, toodleoo!

xoxo,

caiti

*if i'm gonna have a guy haircut, i would at least want to be a hot guy. wouldn't you??? otherwise what's the point?

**i've always wanted to do that! hahaha.

hold your head high

2008-07-17T23:04:00.004-04:00

So hold your head high gorgeous,

People would kill to see you fall,

In the dead of the night they can’t hear you screaming

You swear revenge, against them all.

So stay strong beautiful,

It won’t matter it they think less of you here,

But you cry by the window when wishes in moonlight don’t come true

Doesn’t mean you have to fear.

So never take the words he said to heart darling,

He has no idea what he meant,

To you it meant a life time,

To him, a lie worth less than a cent.

So don’t drown yourself in what you call medicine honey,

It will only do you harm,

because you never got drunk enough to get him off your mind.

So don’t believe you will never amount to anything sweetie,

You truly have no idea what your worth,

I see what you’re trying to hide from me,

I understand how much you’re hurt.

So don’t be afraid to crumble love,

Have you even forgotten who you are?

You walk around thinking you aren’t beautiful,

The truth could never have been more far...

So when you forget about him,

Don’t regret the pain you felt,

It’ll only make you better

And you’ll know how to play the hand you’re dealt.

So hold your head high gorgeous,

Show the world you're fine,

Don’t give in to the heartache,

Because people would kill to see you fall...

--anonymous

insomnia?

2008-07-17T22:47:00.003-04:00

well, whatever it is they call it when you can't sleep. maybe it's not insomnia.

gah. my brother's friends trekked through my room, spraying my perfume--at very close range, shuh-eesh--and my body spray, almost stole fourteen dollars (wholesome kids, i tell you), and borrowed my laptop to go on myspace. (i swear there's chocolate on the keys. from them. not me.) yeah. seriously. i think it's the perfume-and-body-spray thing. the clouds from both are mingling to form this nauseating smell. hmm. tropical peach and dkny be delicious--aka granny smith apples. how tempting.

whatever. i think it's that. i've decided tonight i'm going to finish my novel once and for all, even if it takes me until three in the morning or whenever i wake up tomorrow. i'll post an excerpt on here when i'm done. so you'll probably be seeing me then.

xoxo,

caiti

oogah bloogah.

2008-07-17T16:31:00.004-04:00

it's been one month since i graduated. and i don't know why but i feel kind of sad.

i read this book. maybe that's why. it's called my sister's keeper and it's about this girl who just wants to be her own person. because she was made to keep her sister alive. nothing more. and it made me cry so hard that even now i can't really look at the computer screen--it's kind of hurting my eyes. i don't even know why. but it was sad. read it and you'll get it. i mean, i never cry over books. i cried over marley and me (please, tell me you didn't. that book was a sob story and a half). that was it, though. never have i really cried over a book. and this one made me sob.

which is why i wanna go to princeton, where jodi picoult, the author, studied creative writing. if she can write well enough to make someone sob, i wanna write well enough to make someone sob. that's a talent. wow. that sounds pathetically twisted. but it's true.

but enough of that. it's been a month since i graduated and in one month more i'll be on vacation. summer is never just an endless oasis of go-with-the-flow. it's broken into chunks. the first day or two. baseball. a weeklong sleepover at mar's (at least, it always feel like they're weeks long because i'm practically a second member of her family). a trip to aunt shell's boat. baseball. mindless stretches of time. then vacation and baseball rolled into one--cooperstown. then a few more baseball-less weeks marked by back to school shopping--woooohoooooo! and then vacation. then a week of collecting back to school supplies, forming outfits to wear, a few last sleepovers, and then i dive headfirst into my new life at my new school.

sounds like it's all mapped out for me. =] only a month and a half left, after all. i'm already itching to spend my back to school money. so is mar. we're going shopping together. plus i promised jamie we'd go, and g.

oh, i went for a run this morning. a half-mile only, because it was so hot i swear my hair probably took up a tenth of the atmosphere on its own. then i walked a mile and a half with pat and grandpa. i read my sister's keeper from the beginning to the end without stopping once (expect i did text mar a few times. i'm getting so sick of my text ringtone that i had to change it) and then i decided i'm going to finish my story today. i'd better get to that, because my laptop is about to conk out on me and i should probably find the plug underneath my desk.

one more thing--i've been watching that show, the secret life of the american teenager, and have decided it is offish my new favorite show. i never ever watch tv, like EVER except for america's next top model (duh). but this is seriously like an amazing show. and tuesday i wanted to watch it so bad but i couldn't because i was at pat's baseball game (they won!) so i ran home to download it from itunes. and i couldn't. i had to wait until the next morning. oogah bloogah.

oh (hahaha, sorry!) and i started one of my books for school, the tao of pooh, yesterday. i'm reading it one chapter at a time, and taking notes on each chapter. so far i only read the foreword, which is so cute. i love it already. and i hardly ever like books that we have to read for school. but maybe it's only because winnie the pooh is in it and i haven't read a book about winnie the pooh since i was a toddler. or younger. i bet when i was little i would sit on my grandpa's lap and he would read me books--all my family members did--and i bet they were about winnie the pooh. i bet that's why i love this book so much already, three pages into it. =]

i reorganized my dry-erase board--yeah, i'm the kind of loser who would rearrange her dry-erase board, get over it =] --and put two of my favorite pictures front and center (one of me and mah three besties, one of me and my grandma when i was so little my knees were pudgy) along with a to-do list, two samples of hollister perfume, a billabong tag wedged under the frame, a storyline for my book, my grandma's address, replacement words for "said," a "proud family of an honors student at ****" and a list of my summer reading books.

gotta go. this story is hitting another good point and, well, i should probably get to writing it. otherwise i'm never gonna be able to send it to a publisher and have a finished copy returned, all dolled up and ready for sale. oh, and i have to put my clothes away.

xoxo,

caiti

funfun

2008-07-14T21:58:00.002-04:00

making ice cream yourself.

and going swimming.

and even being pelted by wiffleballs.

and chasing boys around the block.

and watching the home run derby.

and reading books by the pool.

and finishing my novel.

and wearing bikinis non-stop. (and shorts.)

and flip-flops.

and watching baseball.

and hanging by the pool doing nothing.

and back-to-school shopping already.

and trying not to laugh at the stupid things guys do.

it's called summer.

changes and other things

2008-07-14T11:19:00.005-04:00

I don't know about changes.

I mean, sometimes they're welcome. Right? Like...like getting a new haircut. (And sometimes even that's not welcome.) Or...or a new friend or something. Like the new school I'm going to next year. But other changes--like the new school I'm going to next year, or Grandpa dying, or my best friend moving far, far away--or other things, take your pick. The changes always seem to come when you're least prepared.

And sometimes the changes leave you a different person entirely.

That's the worst, when people change. Most of my friends have remained the same and I love them so so much, but some people have changed and when I look at them I just see the person I used to see--not the one that's in front of my eyes. Eh. Well. I'm not trying to be all morbid or whatever, I was just thinking about it. Change seems to be shoved in our faces lately, with Obama and all. Not that I don't like Obama. I do. Really. But the whole change thing seems to be a theme lately and I don't know if I like it.

quotes about change.

we all have big changes in our life that are more or less a second chance.

--harrison ford

every beginning is a consequence--every beginning ends something.

--paul valery

all change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.

--ellen glasgow

when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

--victor frankl

all changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.

--anatole france

and my favorite:

if nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.

starlight

2008-07-11T22:33:00.005-04:00

They can’t see your heart.

They don’t care to see who you are.

They’re just a pack of wolves.

Don’t let them break you down, don’t let them break you down.

You are the starlight that sparks up the whole night.

Just let their voices fade out and stand in the spotlight.

Take a bow.

Everybody’s lost.

Most people think they’re not.

But I’m not losing you now.

I don’t think I can at all.

Don’t let them break you down.

You are the starlight that sparks up the whole night.

Just let their voices fade out and stand in the spotlight.

And take a bow.

Please don’t run away from me.

I don’t wanna find you lost in their lies.

Please don’t make a fool of me. (a fool of me now)

Cause I don’t wanna find you lost and alone.

One day they’ll see.

One day they’ll all see.

One day they’ll be shouting the truth.

One day they’ll all be cheering for you,

they’ll all be cheering for you,

they’ll all be cheering for you.

You are the starlight that sparks up the whole night.

Just let their voices fade out and stand in the spotlight.

Take a bow.

armor for sleep "stand in the spotlight"

different isn't always so bad

2008-07-11T22:12:00.004-04:00

"be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary"

--cecil beaton

doodlebugitis. and no sour watermelons?!?

2008-07-10T18:44:00.006-04:00

I've totes been absent for the past, like, week and a half--sorry bout that =] but I'm back! and better than ever...probably. haha well lemme tell ya all about my week

First I was on Aunt Shell's boat watching the fireworks, which was kinda nice since we sat on the bow of the boat and we had, like, front-row seats anyway. But my favorite part was watching the reflections of the fireworks on the hospital's windows. And we were talking about whether or not it would be nice to give birth in a waterfront room on the Fourth of July with the fireworks right there. Eh, I think I'd hate that. Because, um, isn't giving birth stressful enough? {Not that I would know. Seriously. But just saying.}

And then we had baseball...God, I was in such a grumpy mood for the first double-header that I refused to talk to anyone. And, well, sorry if I alienated anyone by being a grumpy butt. I was in a seriously bad mood.

And then more baseball. Oh, and a barbecue at Stacy&Uncle Vin's. And fireworks.

Okay, confesssion time: I HATE fireworks. Like, ever since I was a little kid and we lived near a beach that shot off fireworks every Thursday night, I've been terrified of them. And then when we moved here like ten years ago, our neighbors set off fireworks every Fourth of July. I can't seem to get a break! =] ahhh, I don't mind. It just seriously freaks me out when there are so many fireworks. Like the noise, and the booms, and the fire (did I mention I hate fire???)

So, yeah. Oh, and I went to Mar's for a sleepover and we made this funny-looking things we called "friendship bracelet mess thingies" or something like that. And we watched Meet the Spartans, which was so funny. We were counting all the spoofs it had and there ended up being a lot. I forget how many (wikipedia has a full list of them, hahaa). Even the title is a spoof of Meet the Parents&&Meet the Fockers.

Oh, and then Monday I was...doing nothing. My laptop was broken. And is still kinda not working. And then Tuesday we went to Aunt Shell's marina for a while, before going to Grandpa's.

Aww! Wednesday we saw Wall-E. It's so adorable. Seriously, you totally have to see it. It's amazing...and it calls all us Americans fat people, which, um, is totally true (not to be mean or anything) and points out the fact that we're screwing up this earth with, like, way too much garbage and also....okay, just go watch it. It's totally a PSA basically declaring we seriously have to save this planet or ELSE we're all gonna end up fat with no bones left in our bodies living on the mother ship out in the middle of space, which we've ALSO gunked up with garbage. And the commercial for the movie on TV just said so. Well, basically.

I just realized the movie sounds so depressing. =[ and it's really not, it was so cute and perfect and lovable and god. I've been away from this blogging thing far too long.

And today we went to the boardwalk and had a Skeeball tournament....Aunt Shell won. But I was most annoyed about the fact that the fudge shop we went in last year didn't have sour watermelons. Um, hello? They TOTALLY had sour watermelons last year and this year...nada. I was so upset. So now I gotta go all the way to the candy store in Red Bank for my sour watermelons fix. Seriously. =[ oh, boo-hoo.

Oh! {grrrrrrr---I really have to find a new way to start paragraphs} I got a catalog for Delia's in the mail--how, I have no idea--and they have the cutest sweater boots that are deff cheaper than Uggs and cuter. And they have ALL COLORS of Converse! I can finally get the bright orange Converse I've been pining for!!!!! You don't know how happy I was. I even texted my friend Courtney who's in Florida right now to tell her the news. She loves Converse and has like every color known to mankind {and probly even more!!! ahhaha} and she was happy for meeeee =] and also, my friend Jamie showed me all kindsa cute shoes that she wants for back to school. I'm kinda sad that I'm not gonna be able to see her wear them at school next year cuz I'm not gonna be at her school. Gahhhh it made me sad. very sad.

Ya know, iTunes is being a butthead today. I bought two songs on my iPod Touch and now it's not putting them back on my computer. Sheesh. And it won't even OPEN support, so how am I supposed to get support?

Well, yeah. OMG I'm so close to being done with my story--like thisclose. Seriously. I'm probly gonna post the characters soon. SOON, I promise!!! I might even give the story its own blog. It's that special. =]

Oh (gahhhh! need new word!!!!) and lately I've had a mayjorr case of doodlebugitis. I can't seem to stop doodling. I'm lucky to have a ginormous dry-erase board next to my desk. And a big chalkboard wall in the hallway =] both are covered in my ginormous, loopy scrawl. and my friends' contrasting handwriting too. i love doodling random stuff =]

songs I've been obsessed with lately:

shut up and let me go, the ting tings (on mtv hits right now!)
all again for you, we the kings
if i never see your face again, rihanna and maroon five
i kissed a girl, katy perry (this is actually a good song. despite naysayers. lol.)
forever, chris brown
when i grow up, the pussycat dolls
stand in the spotlight, armor for sleep
six feet under the stars, all time low
burnin up, the jonas brothers
seven things, miley cyrus
my saving grace, armor for sleep
the end of a fraud, armor for sleep
leavin, jesse mccartney
vulnerable, secondhand serenade
there's a good reason these tables are numbered, panic! at the disco
take a bow, rihanna
juliet, some random band. lol
check yes juliet, we the kings
viva la vida, coldplay (i hated this song at first! i don't know what happened but i like it now =] weird)
what you got, colby odonis and akon
mercy, duffy
fall for you, secondhand serenade

wow...i really love music. lol =] well, later gators!

xoxo,

caiti

sorry!

2008-07-03T09:28:00.005-04:00

Holaa! Sorry for the lack of updates. Sheesh, it's already July 3...yupp, July! Dang. I can't believe it's already July && that means we're already halfway through 2008, which means if I'd made new year's resolutions, I would be desperately trying to finally start resolving them. So lucky I didn't. Haha. My exact words on my resolutions, from January 1: I've decided something: this year, I'm doing away with New Year's Resolutions. I'm just going to live my life and see what happens. Hopefully it's something good. :-) Bahh. Moving on.

Anyway, I haven't been able to update in the past couple of days because yesterday I was at Grandpa's and then we were at the neighbor's swimming and making smores. (How do you spell smores anyway?) And Tuesday SOMEONE *coughcoughpatandtimmy* stole my laptop and my phone so I was pretty much stuck chasing down the street after them trying to get my technology back. And then I was locked out of the house. I wonder who did that.

Yeah. So today I'm off to watch Red Bank's fireworks on Aunt Shell's boat on the Navesink. Tomorrow Mom will come pick me up at like eight in the morning off the boat so I can watch Pat's double-header (read: two baseball games in a row) and then go to Dad's for the weekend.

Oh! And I'm almost finished with my book. I'm on page 312. =] && very excited about it! I'm probly gonna post the characters soon. Well, anyhoo, I'm gonna be on blogging hiatus until Tuesday or Wednesday. Sunday night I'm headed to Mar's, and then I don't know when I'm coming back. Well, I better go pack.

Oh! (haha) And expect lots of pictures on Monday or Tuesday or whenever. We were walking around town and I took TONS of pictures. Of signs. I don't know why...some signs just look so quirky and cute. =]

Gotta go pack. Talk to you Tuesday or whenever =]
xoxo,
Caiti

P.S. summer reading update: finished GG: The Carlyles, now reading Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen =] and I'm reading the back-to-school issues of the magazines that keep appearing in my mailbox, of course!

the four.

2008-06-30T11:29:00.007-04:00

is the leader of the four. she's pretty, she can be mean, but there's something else about her. she's insecure. and she doesn't let anyone see it but her friends. it's her birthday soon, and so she's fuh-reaking out about the party.

is independent. she's been brie's friend since pre-school, but lately brie has been especially controlling and she's getting sick of it. she just wants to be her own person, and brie is hindering that completely.

is sweet, a southern-belle in northern new jersey. she's somewhat quiet, but can be just as much of a spoiled brat as brie. she has charm, and she and brie get along better than anyone else.

is the preppy girl with a fashion obsession. she's been under stress from brie for everything she does lately, and then there's the fact that her dad is never home. she can't handle it anymore.

this is the cast of my story. the introduction.

more to come =]

more fun with flickr

2008-06-30T11:25:00.002-04:00

i'm trying to figure out how to make this the banner at the top of the blog. i seem to be technically inclined today. lol but isn't this cute too?

xoxo,

caiti

my pics

2008-06-30T11:14:00.003-04:00

i just updated my flickr with a bunch of pictures...okay, not a lot but i figured i'd let you know

my portfolio, which is just my favorites&&what i think are my best

and all the fire hydrant chronicles. you know those =]

xoxo,

caiti

loving it!

2008-06-30T11:13:00.001-04:00

is this not awesome?

check it out!

just for the record.

2008-06-29T20:25:00.002-04:00

this is why i can't stand miley cyrus. she mangled her own good song with a ridiculous video.

and this is why i don't hate the jonas brothers. they can pop out a good song or two. and a goofy video.

fire hydrant chronicles v 12.0

2008-06-29T19:47:00.002-04:00

blue

congrats pat&&the team and also, shopping woes

2008-06-29T18:49:00.007-04:00

First of all.....woooo Pat&&his baseball team! They won the districts and are headed to the states. =] Congrats! They decorated Mom's car last night--it looks just like it did after graduation. Pretty spazzy. The game was excruciatingly hot and gross. But it was an intense game and I seriously did watch every second of it (which Pat doesn't believe but I definitely did, mmkay, so get over it). Next up for baseball is a Fourth of July tournament. Yupp, that's right. I get to spend my Fourth of July watching baseball instead of chilling at the pool && joining in on the festivities. At our old swim club we would have a sand-castle contest, play games in the pool, have a dj, and just have fun. This new one is a little blah. But either way I'm gonna be watching baseball, so it doesn't matter. =[

Second of all, my clothes from Hollister came in yesterday. And all three bikinis are being sent back, having been deemed "too small" by Mom. Ughh. I really liked them. And I thought they were absolutely perfect. But I have to go by what Mom says, right?

That puts a hundred bucks in my pocket, though. I've already decided how I'm going to spend it: buy one bikini that does fit (according to Mom) and save the rest for back-to-school. I've already decided what I'm buying for back-to-school too--this really cute sweater, some polos, and a wristlet from American Eagle, and a navy blue skirt and either a navy, gray, or pink tote from Hollister, and Bullhead jeans--but I'll wait a little white to go back-to-school shopping. Since, um, school let out eleven days ago. And Mom would be very mad if I tried buying new jeans, sweaters, and polos in June.

At the other end of fashion news, I bought some Bullhead shorts and a really cute pair of flip-flops yesterday at PacSun. And Mom painted my toenails OPI purple. They're still drying. =]

as for my purchases (billabong flip-flops, hollister tank top and bullhead jeans).

i love summer clothes =]

xoxo,

caiti

tickled to my toes.

2008-06-28T20:39:00.002-04:00

Today it was raining and thundering when I got home from shopping.

So I opened the back door, stepped onto the porch, and let the rain tickle my toes, the wind whipping the rain at my bare legs and my arms.

Then a bolt of lightning lit up the sky above the shed and I started screaming for Jack. I was scared that he would be hurt, because the lightning looked close. So I let the screen door slam shut behind me and I went running to find him. I had to get Jack in. I was so worried about him. He doesn't do well in the water. He hates water. He's like a cat. Only bigger. And frecklier. And kinda clumsy...okay, he is nothing like a cat except for the water thing.

I found Jack and I ushered him into the house. And I kissed him on the top of the head.

I love the rain. And the thunder.

the 6 funky quirks tag game!

2008-06-27T17:28:00.005-04:00

So I've been tagged by Blaire (http://blairebear-bookworm.blogspot.com/) and apparently now I gotta do this tagging thing. It's actually kinda fun =]

The rules:

Link the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules in your blog.
Tell about 6 funky quirks of yours.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers' blogs letting them know they've been tagged and telling them to go to your blog for the details.

Okay. So my 6 funky quirks (haha. funky quirks together is an awesome combination. and it makes me giggle):

Whenever I wear socks, I pick the lint out from between my toes when I take my socks off. I've been doing this since I was like two and never really stopped. I don't even think about it anymore.
I have to write or read every day.
My shoes always have to be lined up in front of my bookcase neatly, or else my room looks funny to me.
I can't walk out of the house without spraying perfume on myself, or body spray, or something yummy-smelling.
It's impossible for me to fall asleep without my stuffed speaker-pig, which I just call my pig, and my iPod Touch. I need both. Or I can't sleep.
When I wear flip-flops my toes curl over the edges really far and when school starts again in September I'm always kicking off my shoes in class and curling my pinky toes around the edges.

Ta-da!

So I gotta tag six people. (If you've been tagged already you don't have to do it, but it's still fun!)

Ellie (elliencompany.blogspot.com)
Aren (canyousayfashion.blogspot.com)
Aly (alyy407.blogspot.com)
Rach (fashionista-confessions.blogspot.com)
Becca (b3cc4lov3sy0u.blogspot.com)
Bethany (from-her-heart-x.blogspot.com)

Okay, there you go! I'm off to leave the comments on their blogginz. (And sorry I put this off--I was tagged a few days ago but, well, I've been busy the past couple of days. LOL)

xoxo, Caiti

new tunes.

2008-06-26T23:16:00.003-04:00

lately i've been craving (musically):

secondhand serenade. "fall for you"&"vulnerable"
armor for sleep. the whole "smile for them" album but espesh "somebody else's arms"
all time low. "coffee shop soundtrack"&"running from lions"&"lullabies"&"the beach"&"vegas"&"shameless"&"the girl's a straight-up hustler" (they have great summer songs!! =] can you tell?!?)
fall out boy. "a little less 16 candles"
forever the sickest kids. "she's a lady"&"believe me, i'm lying"
jesse mccartney. "leavin'"
cute is what we aim for. "practice makes perfect"
metro station. "california"&"control"&"shake it"
boys like girls. "thunder"&"on top of the world"&"five minutes to midnight"
amy winehouse. "rehab"
we the kings. "check yes juliet"&"skyway avenue"&"august is over"
diddy. "last night"&"tell me"

yeah. so, summer songs. =] and lots of quotes. sorry. xoxo, caiti

splash fights and, yup, baseball

2008-06-26T22:40:00.003-04:00

Today was an awesome day. =]

First we went for a long walk with Grandpa in the morning at 9. It's actually really nice to wake up early and go walking along the water. There's this paved path in the next town over that goes along the bay, so it's like really nice to walk along. There were so many missed photographic ops: my camera is working (wooohoo!) but it's, um, dead. Then we caught breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Yumm. I have to say, I totally love Dunkin Donuts. Their donuts are really good. Yummyyy. Haha.

And then I was writing for a while--actually, reading my story over--before Mar came over to hang out. We were gonna go to the pool club, but it was raining and we didn't want to have to, like, get caught in the rain. And then me, Mar, and Pat went swimming for a while at the neighbor's pool, playing Sharks and Minnows. And some other games. Before we went back home because...actually, I don't know why. Oh, because Pat can't swim two hours before a baseball game.

So then Pat and I had a little fight over some chocolate and smores, nothing out of the ordinary.

Aiight, baseball. It was the game-before-the-championship-game, whatever that means, so we actually had to watch. Mom's extra chair was reserved for Aunt Shell, so Mar and I found a towel and plopped down on it behind the fence to watch. Of course, before long we were watching the little eight-year-olds practice on the field behind us. They're just so ADORABLE. I wanted to take one home, like they were little puppies or something. We were writing stuff in the sand, too, because while the game was interesting for the parents--who were whooping it up like peppy cheerleaders in maroon-and-gray garb--it was kinda boring for us. No offense, Pat. =] It's just, like, I don't know. Boring? So anyhoo, we were getting snacks and stuff from the snack stand. Because, um, the fight Pat and I had resulted in us not having lunch. So we were starving. First we got fries. Bleccchh. Then we got Churros. Ehh. Kinda yummy. And then--the creme de la crop--we got ice cream hahaha. We sound like pigs. I got a chipwich. J'adore chipwich!!!!

So they won the game 7-1 woot woot!! And after, we were all just hanging out at the field because the game after ours was apparently important to them. And they were eating McDonald's. I had to chase Pat around because he was being a butthead and annoying me. Ah, little brothers. I'm so lucky, I have TWO.

Then we're like, "Hey, we should totally go swimming again." So we rounded up the kids from Tuesday--Timmy and Tyler--and headed over to the neighbors' again at like nine. Second time in a day, and the second time in a week with Timmy and Tyler haha. Our neighbors are very, very kind. =] We were having so much fun. First we were playing Sharks and Minnows, then Goofy, and then we gave up and had a major splash fight, boys against girls. I think we won, but I bet they disagree. We could argue for hours. Well, it was seriously fun. I think Pat was just out for revenge for the whole smores/chocolate debacle earlier, but I still had mayjor fun.

So then--of course--they're like, "Let's smash some more lightning bugs." Boys will be boys, right?? Yupp. Except that we already killed all the lightning bugs on Tuesday, so they were just tossing the bats around and being guys. What a surprise. And then they were teasing me about past choices of boyfriends--thanks, seriously--and Mom was arguing whether my Soffes were a mayjor waste of fabric or not, since I just roll them up anyway. And we were doing "shoes" x 10. Mar and I taught them that. It's totes gonna be widespread one day. And we'll be at the root of it. Haha. And more ice pops--sheesh, I can't write a post without mentioning them anymore!--and chasing Patrick down the street because he was spitting at me. Well, did you know I can run faster on concrete barefoot than I can with my expensive running shoes on? Yeah. That's oxymoronic.

That was my funfun day. =] Now I gotta go cuz Mar's sleeping over and she must be bored because she has doodled all over my dry-erase. I think it's gonna be completely covered when she's through with it! LOL. Catch ya tomorrow. xoxo, caiti

fire hydrant chronicles v 11.0

2008-06-24T22:55:00.002-04:00

at aunt shell's

hanging out, down the street.

2008-06-24T22:42:00.004-04:00

More summer=more hanging out with the neighborhood boys. It always seems to be me, my brother, and two of his friends, this time Timmy and Tyler from down the street. Guys are so weird. Fun, to them, is bashing lightning bugs with wiffle ball bats and just being generally goofy. Oh, and more ice pops: guys can't get enough of those either, apparently.

That's enough of my observances, though. I'm just happy it's summer. That, and I just ordered a boatload of stuff online from Hollister. =] Three bathing suits and an adorable yellow and white tank top, to be exact lol. I have exactly $4.01 left on my prepaid card. My order is expected to be here before July 2nd. Woohoooooo!!

Oh, and sad news: I thought I was gonna be able to make it to Warped Tour this year (woot woot!) but...I'm going to Cooperstown that week. And Cooperstown wins out over All Time Low, Gym Class Heroes, and TAI. Do you know how devastated I was? Espesh since Courtney already ordered me a ticket. Now her sister is going instead of me. =[ Oh, well.

Anyhoo. Gotta run. Oh, check out this pic. I love it!!! I just edited it in Picasa. =] It's a *vintage* Fire Hydrant Chronicles, back when I just decided to take a pic of a fire hydrant because, well, I was bored. And I figured it would make a cute picture.

fire hydrant chronicles v 10.0

2008-06-24T20:07:00.001-04:00

my favorite. click on it: it looks better all blown up.

over capacity.

2008-06-24T18:30:00.003-04:00

when twitter is over capacity, i am greeted with this adorable little dude. i offish love this whale.

rain.

2008-06-23T22:38:00.001-04:00

rain.

cameraphone pic. env2.

random updates.

2008-06-23T22:03:00.004-04:00

my camera:

it's fixed. thank you, grandpa. somehow he popped the lens back to the right angle. thanks. =]
apparently it costs MONEY to text pics from my phone to my email...i had no idea.

baseball:

yeah, more of it. this week is the districts. which is...important? yeah. important.

music/tv/entertainment (ha. ha.):

as far as music, well, boys like girls have a new music video for "thunder." and the song is great. the video is blehhh. generic. quite boring and bland, actually.
as far as music (again), cute is what we aim for's new album comes out, um...tomorrow? yeah. tomorrow. it's called rotation. you can find the vid for the first song somewhere on the web. i'm a little lazy right now.
as far as tv, i've been watching cheesy mtv shows (i.e., My Super Sweet 16, that Legally-Blond-on-Broadway thing, Made, TRL) and pete wentz's mtv show, fnmtv, which is actually pretty good and is where i saw the music video for "thunder" (see above)
as far as entertainment, um, baseball. that, and my friends. they are amusing. and i j'adore their texts. oh, and some people's comments here: they make me giggle.

the ice pop diet:

another ellie commented on this. the ice pop diet. it's basically, um, consuming scary amounts of ice pops. and nothing else. not that i don't eat other things, but ice pops are pretty high up there as for what i eat during the summer. they're just so goshdarn yummy.

lazy summer days:

today was a pretty good example of a lazy summer day. i didn't get up until ten thirty (keep in mind, i wake up at five-fifty every morning for school, ahh sweet relief) and i didn't change out of my pajamas until five-thirty p.m. when i had to go to pat's baseball game. which they won, btw.

to-do list:

configure graduation spending. (shorts, bathing suits, flip flops, sunglasses. rinse and repeat as needed.)
wash face and brush teeth.
finish writing story--contemplate ending.
contemplate ending of next story.
organize shoe section of closet.
join pool club!!
put sweatshirts away. will not need. seriously.
post next fire hydrant chronicles.
post (last?) cameraphone pics. which cost me more than they should have.
pay mindy back for ringtones.
bathe jack? he smells.
run.
charge phone! must not have phone die again! espesh not at baseball game. must charge. daily.
clean kitchen for mom.
transfer pics from camera to computer. post.

summer reading.

finished love, stargirl and the truth about forever. second time reading both. both were good. both made me think. both made me want to write a book that makes people think.
am reading one of pat's cheesy baseball books by mike lupica until i can make it to b&n or the library. i think i'm gonna start the tao of pooh and get it over with.

later, gators.

gotta go.
my cranium is tired.
and i also require another ice pop before beddy bye.
oh, and i should wash my face.
and brush my teeth.
xoxo,
caiti

warning.

2008-06-22T15:42:00.002-04:00

you'll be seeing a lot of cameraphone pics in the coming days...my camera is busted. =[

fire hydrant chronicles v 9.0

2008-06-22T15:41:00.002-04:00

fire hydrant chronicles, mobile edition. taken via my env2.

fire hydrant chronicles v 8.0

2008-06-22T15:39:00.001-04:00

fire hydrant chronicles, mobile edition. taken via my env2.

toes.

2008-06-22T15:36:00.003-04:00

my toes. mar's toes. some cheap flip-flops.

(taken via my env2)

kickoff to summer, more ice pops, and cheesy disney movies

2008-06-21T11:18:00.003-04:00

So the last two days I've been AWOL because I've been at my BFF Mar's place, and having tons of funfun (I totally stole that from Ash haha sorry charlie).

Well, my summer offish started on Wednesday night when I watched that cheesy CW reality show, Farmer Wants a Wife. It's so cheesy, I love it! Mom bought this great cream pie and I happily devoured a slice. I have a picture on my camera of it--yes, it was so yummy that I had to document it; Mom laughed at me--but, well, more to come about my camera's fate later. You'll see.

Then Mar called and asked if I wanted to sleep over the next day. Um, of course!!!! Haha. Summer is all about friends and that's it, dearie. Well, and sleeping late. So Thursday morning Mar and her mom came and picked me up and we high-tailed it to the beach, baby! Can you tell that I absolutely love the beach? lol The beach was okay...and I say a mere "okay" because the water was icy and frigid. Our feet started cramping up as soon as they hit the water. Yeah, not good. So not good. So we passed on the swimming part of the beach and instead just chilled out... Of course we left the cards, my yearbook, and pretty much all our entertainment at home. Except for the watermelon (yum!) and our sunblock and iPods, but of course Mar's porta-speakers had to fizzle and die. Of course. And then we had amazing pizza at this great pizza place across the street from the beach...yumm.

So Friday, we were officially kicked out of the house because it was unanimously decided that we had to do something other than sit there and eat Razzles all day. I absolutely love Razzles, btw, except they give you mayyy-jor headaches when you consume, like, twenty at once. But that might be from the weird colors Razzles turn when you mix them all together. Mine was dog-poop brown, and hers was Chanel-nail-polish plum. Tempting, seriously. So, because we were banished from the house we headed to a park by her house, except soon I had to pee and she was thirsty, so we headed back just as it started to drizzle. Then the sky decided to pelt hail at us, just as we got back in the house. Um, yeah, seriously funfun. So we hung out on her screened-in back porch and that, m'dears, is where this story takes a drastic turn. I, ever the annoying photograhper, was taking some really great candid shots of her and her doggie Rosie, when I decided to turn the tables and have her photograph me with Rosie. Well, I was handing her the camera, and somewhere along the line I dropped it.

My camera refuses to turn on. Its little LCD reads "lens error, restart camera" and that's because its lens is pointing at a very, very weird angle that refuses to snap back into place. I'm a little concerned, because a) it was a Christmas gift and it was one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received and b) I might not be able to get it to work again and c) I have to figure out Canon's return policy/warranty/guarantee stuff. Ay-sap. Oh, and d) if I have to pay for a replacement I'm going to be down a couple hundred bucks. Grrrrrr.

Oh! And Friday night, we watched Camp Rock on Disney. It was cheesy, of course. What Disney movie isn't the slightest bit cheesy? (Only Pirates of the Carribean wasn't cheesy&&that's cuz I love Johnny Depp, he can pull off a pirate without a smattering of cheesiness.) At every commercial break, we ran to the freezer and got more ice pops...Yupp, we are obsessed =] but they are just so yummy.

Gotta run--errands. And then a birthday party for Stacy--maybe then I can ask Uncle Vin to fix my camera for me, or diagnose the "issue." Well, later, gators =] xoxo, Caiti

j'adore ice pops!

2008-06-18T20:51:00.001-04:00

6:44 PM
Mar: heyy
me: heyy i just ate a HEALTHY dinner it's so weird
Mar: what did you have
me: grilled chicken, corn, and rice
and now i'm finishing it off with ice pops haha
6:45 PM
Mar: nice job
me: yeah my mom has us all on diets
Mar: how was my ice pop lol
me: fantastically yummy haha in fact, im gonna eat another one for ya :)
Mar: well i had my own like 5 minutes ago there frosen now
6:46 PM
me: ohhh well i'm still gonna have a few for you haha i eat WAY too many in a day
Mar: me too
6:47 PM
Mar: you no what im gonna have one for you brb
me: hahaahaha ok
6:48 PM
Mar: mmm. so good
me: agreed, yummmm. i just had blue+orange lol
6:49 PM
Mar: i just had red and now green
me: hahaha i get like three at a time too lol
Mar: lol
6:50 PM
they are so addicting
me: seriously
6:51 PM
Mar: mm. mmm. good
me: hahaha i'll be right back, i gotta reload lol
Mar: hahaha ok
6:52 PM
me: yummm, orange+blue+purple= amazzzzing
6:53 PM
me: these things should be outlawed, they are too yummy

{monday night, me and mar were enjoying our ice pops way too much hahahaa, this is just a chunk of our three-hour long conversation, it's only the part about ice pops! haha}

baseball is summer (for us)

2008-06-18T20:21:00.004-04:00

Because we had a half day today, and because Pat can't go even a day without baseball, today Pat and Dad and I headed to the baseball fields right behind my school--correction, my ex-school--to go hitting (meaning that they hit the balls and I had to chase after them and dodge the ones that Pat hit toward me), and being there so soon after leaving the school was...weird. Because I've had track practice and gym class and walkathons there, and actually, tbh, it was so nice being there without having to sprint halfway around the field.

But it was cool because, well, to me anyway, baseball signifies the beginning of summer. I know baseball season ends right around summer, but with the travel team, Cooperstown, and All-Stars, the next month will be baseball-packed.

So anyway, after I almost got beaned in the head (um, yeah, my reflexes are nil when the sun is blinding me and I don't have my contacts in), I was up. And I actually hit most of them. Having the big, clunky helmet plopped on my hair was reassuring, even though I was concerned for the welfare of my flip-flop exposed toes. Plus, the shadow of my straight hair with a helmet on top was actually pretty...awesome. I mean, of COURSE I was paying more attention to the fact that a dusty, grimy baseball was whizzing past my bat than the fact that my shadow looked awesome. xoxo, Caiti

for my homies...

2008-06-18T20:13:00.003-04:00

bee team '08 baby! im gonna miss you guys!!!!

xoxo, caiti (caiti-lyn, cockroach, boo, caitlin, butt tongue)

my last day EVER!

2008-06-18T19:58:00.003-04:00

Today was my last day ever at this school.

I didn't cry (really!) but I was about to, on so many occasions. Like when I realized it was the last time I would ever eat lunch in the cafeteria, or see some of my teachers, or do my locker combination (that one really made me sad, I love my locker so much), or walk out to my bus with G and Ashley, or text them before and after school on the bus, or...or... Grrrrr.

It was pretty uneventful other than the waterworks factor. Ash won Best Effort for math. Oh, yeah, I forgot: yesterday I won Best Effort for language arts and science, which was okay, I guess. I never thought I'd get it for science, but l.a. I could understand. I mean, I'm a writer and all, and they even mentioned that when they gave the award thingie to me. We got our diplomas today, too, and they do look really nice and fancy and kinda expensive (although the diploma covers we got yesterday at graduation were really cheap-looking, just like the platform).

My locker, 422, is empty, ready for a previously-seventh grader to come and inhabit it. My classrooms are ready to be taken over by another crop of students. And I don't know why...but I'm actually in a really, really great mood. I'm happy. It might be the fact that I'm going on a shopping spree soon, or that all of my friends keep insisting we chill over the summer, or just the fact that I can sleep in tomorrow...hmmm. J'adore summer!!! xoxo, Caiti

loving it!

2008-06-18T16:18:00.007-04:00

I was helping Grandpa weed the flowers along the front walk today, and I found this adorable little mushroom. So I just had to document it.

no high heels required

2008-06-18T13:12:00.003-04:00

I'm so so so glad I didn't wear high heels to graduation yesterday. As I was stepping off the cheap, rickety platform that the school rented for a day, empty diploma case in hand, my foot nearly fell through the air instead of landing on the metal step. My hand shot out and I grabbed the nice teacher's hand that was standing there for instances like this.

Then I hurried back to my seat. Because, um, it wasn't even the first time I tripped at graduation. It was the second. When we were first filing onto the high school football field, I went to sit down at my seat and then remembered we were supposed to stand, so I tripped over my (extremely painful) black AE-knockoff flats from Payless and fell over the chair in front of me. Somehow I remained standing, but because I went to sit down, Steph, who was next in line, went to sit down, and she tripped too.

There were a few hiccups during the ceremony, like when thunder boomed across the sky, threatening our chance at a perfect graduation (and having six attendees--fire limitations stated that we could each only have two in attendance if it rained), or when one of the mikes malfunctioned so that those in the bleachers couldn't even hear the student council president's opening remarks. But otherwise, it was perfect. Except for my stupid shoes. They hurt. A lot. And when we went out to dinner afterward, I wanted so bad to kick off my shoes, but I couldn't because, well, we were in a nice restaurant. And exposing my toes to the world would be "disastrious." I should've brought flip-flops.

But my personal favorite moment was during the procession (I think that's what they call it) when we walked in--because I saw my grandma, who I hadn't seen in over a year. And it made me smile so big that my cheeks hurt and I almost tripped (again). After graduation she gave me a big hug and a bigger balloon and a bouquet of roses and brought my aunt Eva and uncle Dave with her. Then we took bazillions of pictures of me, me with Courtney, me with Jamie, me with Lena, me with Nick, me with Grandpa, me with Grandma...okay, me with everyone =] I mean, it was my "big day" haha and I enjoyed every minute of it! Every minute.

Oh, and one of my other favorite parts was after dinner, when Ashley and Heather and I decorated Mom's car with window paint. Oh, yeah. It looks so awesome!! Thank God Mom was a good sport about it =] because Aunt Shell looked a little dubious, haha.

I'm out. I have more posts to write =] peace out! xoxo, Caiti

chain e-mail

2008-06-17T13:32:00.003-04:00

my aunt stacy sent this to me...i don't usually do chain e-mails but things like these are fun

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? my middle name anne is a family tradition
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? yesterday
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sometimes--i love my signature
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? salami
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? no!! and i won't for a while
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WHO WOULD YOU BE? hmmm. marilyn monroe, just so i could have that beautiful white dress of hers.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? eh, sometimes.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? nope, they were taken out march 25, 2001.
9. WOULD YOU BUNJEE JUMP? yes!!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? corn pops and cheerios
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? only my running sneakers
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? physically, no. mentally, yeah
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? mint chocolate chip
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? their shoes and their smile
15. RED OR PINK? red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my hair's VOLUME uggh
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? grandpa. and grandma.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK? well...i'm posting it on my blog lol so if anyone wants to do it you can
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? barefoot--but i was wearing orange flats
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? a chocolate-chip granola bar
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? my air conditioner humming
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? lime green.
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? brownies in the oven, dkny be delicious, the beach
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? yes, i love you stacy!
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? umm...none?
27. HAIR COLOR? blond on its way to brown
28. EYE COLOR? brown
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? sometimes
30. FAVORITE FOOD? brownies, clear soup they serve at Japanese restaurants, ice pops!
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? scary movies WITH happy endings. wait, do they have those??
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? you don't mess with the zohan. but i don't think it counts because we walked out of the theater an hour into it--it was BAD
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? white with an orange tank underneath
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? brownie w/vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. OR a mango-vanilla custard gelati at rita's.
37.MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not applicable lol
38.LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? see #37
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? love, stargirl by jerry spinelli.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? a blank photo frame
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? nothing, actually...wow
42. FAVORITE SOUND? the ocean, my dog's snoring, my iPod =]
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? saint martin
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? umm...writing
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? red bank, nj @ riverview hospital

let's look back.

2008-06-17T12:58:00.003-04:00

I've been looking back a lot lately--through my old yearbooks and photos, thinking about my life and whatnot, since graduation is tonight. I'm a little sad. I remember another graduation a few years ago, and I remember bawling because I didn't get a cell phone (what a little brat, you're probably thinking. I agree.) when we were out to dinner with my friends and their families.

But I also wanna look back because this is post 200 of 2008 for me. I never thought I'd get so far with the blogging thing! And 2008 has been a fairly uneventful year for me so far, except for moving into our new house (and going on Kingda Ka for the first time!). Who knows? Maybe that'll change...

xoxo, Caiti

butterflies!

2008-06-16T20:28:00.002-04:00

So tomorrow is graduation--"promotion"--and I have mayyyy-jor butterflies in my tummy.

I'm kind of nervous. Because this is it, this is it, this is it. Once the board member hands me my empty diploma case, I'm officially...done. Done with this school. Done with my teachers, done with the school year, and summer is unofficially commenced. Because the next morning, we can roll into school wearing sweats and yesterday's hair, lay our paws on our diplomas, and scram like Houdini. Of course, you wouldn't want to wear yesterday's hair and lazy sweats because the last day is when everyone snaps mayjahh pics on their PowerShots and LGs, but it's the principle of the thing, you know?

So tomorrow I'll be forever leaving this place behind...hmm. Doesn't sound so bad. Sure, I'm gonna miss, and sure, I might bawl my eyes out when I realize that next year I have to start over and make new friends, meet new people, and all-around start afresh (shush, that thought is currently shoved in the back of my brain like a balled-up pair of old gym socks), but leaving is nice too. Gee, I'm confusing myself.

I better go take a shower and steam my graduation gown--they're cheap, and ironing is outta the question. xoxo, Caiti

happy father's day!

2008-06-15T12:39:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day, Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Vin, Uncle Mike, Uncle John, Uncle John, Grandpa, and...well, everyone else that's been a father to me! =]

(daddy and pat in saint martin)
I love you, Daddy. You've taught me so much and I couldn't have possibly made it to where I am today...who knows what I would be without you??? You taught me how to play baseball, and how to use a computer, you've inspired my writing, fueled my photography, and you showed me everything I ever needed to know....I love you, and happy Father's Day!!

baseball and lightning (and french fries)

2008-06-14T21:25:00.003-04:00

So today was a lazy day...I pretty much did nothing except write about ten pages in my book, get a father's day gift, give Jack a bath, make cookies, and sleep =] but I did manage to finish the cookies just in time to drag my butt and Jamie's to my brother's playoff baseball game, the first I've been to all season (and possibly the last game ever haha) when it started lightning. And thundering. And raining. All before I even got my french fries from the snack stand. Oh, in case you haven't noticed I j'adore french fries with a passion haha, well this baseball field has the BEST french fries ever in case you're ever in NJ.

Anyway, so it starts thundering and lightning and I'm like, "Okay, great. I finally made it to a game and we have to sit in the car and wait." So we waited thirty minutes for it to be lightning-free, and almost as soon as they got back on the field it started up again. So we waited...this went on for TWO HOURS. Finally we decided to just go home.

Well, that was my experience at my brother's baseball game. Did I mention I HATE lightning? As a photographer I should love it...it's amazingly photogenic...but as a scaredy cat I can't stand how it illuminates the sky like something straight outta Jekyll and Hide. It's so freaky...Well, peace out. My laptop's bout to die and I'm not allowed to plug it in, you know, cuz of the lightning and all. =[ xoxo, Caiti

summer reading

2008-06-14T10:37:00.002-04:00

required:

the tao of pooh, benjamin hoff
house on mango street, sandra cisneros

not required:

the truth about forever, sarah dessen
lock and key, sarah dessen
love, stargirl, jerry spinelli
the clique summer collection, lisi harrison
airhead, meg cabot
the it girl series, cecily von ziegesar
the a-list, zoey dean
this lullaby, sarah dessen

I love Sarah Dessen, and I love the Clique, even if the books are pathetically unrealistic, and I love Meg Cabot too...there's nothing better than sitting at the beach or the swim club reading a really good book =] that being said, my front porch is also a great spot for reading, I love listening to the sounds of the neighborhood. any suggestions for what I should read this summer??

summer dayssss

2008-06-13T23:18:00.002-04:00

I was hanging out with my brother and his friends at the neighbor's pool for a while, then at the neighbors' for smores which of course got all over my face and somehow my legs too haha. I'm just excited for summer =] only five more dayss!
oh, and the mosquito bug bite count so far=two. on my leg and arm eww.

pools, french fries, and extremely long waits

2008-06-13T19:51:00.004-04:00

Today was our second last hurrah (wow, how oxymoronic), in the form of a trip to the semi-nearby swim club to tan, chill, eat, swim, and have fun. I did four of the five, if you wanna guess which ones. =] Well, so we were carted off at nine in the morning when it was pleasantly warm outside. Because of my sunscreen mishap at Great Adventure, today I made sure I applied enough sunscreen to coat three whales with the slippery, gooey stuff. I borrowed my friend's SPF 70 super-super-super strength and put it EVERYWHERE. I wasn't risking getting a weird tanline from my bikini, which had little heart-shaped rings holding it together on the sides instead of strings. I mean, who wants to have a tanline in the shape of a heart?

Anyhoo, we had to take a swim test upon arrival to make sure we knew how to swim. We had to jump in and swim across the dive tank, and then we were given bright pink, tan-line-inducing bracelets for access to the deep end, which I thought was pathetic but whatever, I know there were a few people that don't know how to swim. Then we watched as everyone took turns doing flips, dives, and all-around weird moves off the diving boards, but that got boring fast so we went and played tennis. Well, I sat in the shade and watched, because I seriously didn't wanna tan...at all. Then Heather hurt her foot so I had to locate a band-aid (and a bathroom, because I seriously had to GO). We swam a little more, blahblahblah, it was kind of boring to be honest, and then we decided to get lunch.

The teachers thought it would be a good idea to implement lunch in shifts. No one actually followed that particular rule and everyone just kind of drifted over there. We waited an hour and a half to get salty, greasy, ketchupy, amazing, greasy, did I mention SALTY?!?!? fries (yummy yummy) and a slushie (not so yummy but hey, I still love slushies) and that was basically it.

Except...when we got back to school, there were three deep vats of Rita's Italian ice waiting for us, wooooohooooo! I <3 Rita's ice, and while they didn't have my favorite flavor, grape, they had blueberry, which was awesome except for the disconcerting purple blueberry stuck in the middle of it. SO out of place, but whatever. So that really was our last hurrah...next is graduation. On Tuesday. omg omg omg...I'm graduating. And I'm never looking back. Grrrrr. This is it!!! xoxo, Caiti

the last hurrah, the dance, and feeling glamorous

2008-06-13T18:44:00.003-04:00

Last night was our dance.

Wow oh wow, it was the last hurrah, the last time I'm going to see some of these people ever again, and instead of crying as I am wont to do at functions like that, I had one of the best times of my life. I was getting ready with G and Jamie at G's house, and of course because I'm just so hoity-toity I got my hair straightened at a salon beforehand. Can I tell you, my hair was like silk. And ten pounds lighter than usual. It was almost flat against my head. I felt like a normal person with normal, flat hair! Oh, it was amazing.

So I had a really pretty white dress, and G had an amazing deep green dress, and Jamie's was green and blue and had a really gorgeous pattern. We were getting all dolled up--G's sister was straightening G's hair and curling the edges, Jamie was fretting about with her necklace and her hair, and I...well, I, truthfully, was photographing the whole thing. I decided to pass on makeup entirely and, to match my dress, go for an au naturale, beachy look (to be honest, it was inspired by the model on American Eagle's website wearing the same dress that I got!). My hair was already done, courtesy of Elsa at my mom's friend's salon, so I didn't have to worry. And my hair was so perfectly stick-straight and sleek that I was afraid to move.

We left G's house at seven, which was when the dance started, and got lost on our way to the restaurant-place where it was being held (of course, my sense of direction is in dire need of a GPS upgrade). Quite appropriately, the song being mini-mixed on the radio was "Glamorous" by Fergie. We definitely were glamorous =] and it felt AMAZING!!

So we arrived at the location at seven-thirty and I swear I could feel the music in my brain before we even stepped inside the doors. Jamie and G and I all didn't want to go first. I forget who offered, but we charged into the room with our heads held high. We didn't care about impressions anymore. We just wanted to have a good time regardless of who was there or what people had to say. Quickly I kicked off my heels. There's no way to have a good time, even in the cute $17 wedges you got at Payless. At least our teachers warned us about how horrific it is dancing in heels--so we all tucked socks into our wristlets. And it did look funny to see girls in these beautiful dresses, jumping up and down and tossing their hair all around (me!)...and wearing athletic socks. Some people matched their socks to their dresses. I wore a white dress and white socks that I once used as gym socks.

And then...we danced.

The dance floor wasn't exactly small, nor was it ginormous--but everyone was crowded into the middle, determined to take up the least amount of space possible. And everywhere you looked, there were gorgeous, glittery dresses and guys wearing nice pants, ones that weren't ripped at the knees or covered in grass stains, and button-up shirts. It was like we'd been transported from our regular world, scrubbed down and glitzed up, and planted in this alternate world where all was shiny and clean and beautiful. I hugged so many people. I didn't even know half of them. They probably didn't know me either, but hey. The last hurrah. Hugs all around. Why not?

The dancing made my calves ache. It moved my newly-implemented side part over a good inch back to the middle (except for, oddly enough, one chunk of hair right in the front). It made my throat hurt, but that could have been from all the screaming I did on Kingda Ka the day before. The dancing caused my hair to become wavy again. I danced with people I didn't know. I stuck by my friends. I jumped up and down; my hair was all over the place and I probably hit someone in the face with it too. I think I even discovered that I might possibly have a sense of rhythm, shocker! I found some of my other friends and screamed because I never ever thought I would see Courtney in a dress. And she looked ah-maze-ing!

Every once in a while we would take a break to rehydrate (man, it was H-O-T on the dance floor, sheesh) and check our hair and make sure we still smelled daisy fresh (we did). The DJ played good songs, okay songs, and totally cheesy songs: the Cotton-Eye Joe, the Cha-Cha Slide, the Jump On It song (LOL the one that Carlton on The Fresh Prince always did) and some others too. It was...perfect. Nothing bad happened. No catfights as far as I know. No girls fighting over dates, because honestly no one went with dates. No wardrobe malfunctions, no one passed out, it was allllllllll good. All good. And it was over way too fast. When the parents started showing up at the doors I couldn't help but be extremely dismayed. I was having an awesome time, I didn't want to leave at ALL, and then we had to go. Of course. =[ Well, it was still awesome and I was the last one off the dance floor....unfortunately the music was stopped by then so it didn't matter.

The last hurrah. In four days, I graduate. In five, I'll officially no longer be a member of this school that's been my home for the past three years...I won't even be a part of the school district anymore. Wow, that's depressing. But it was the best dance I've ever been to, not that I've been to many, and I'm going to miss these people when I move on to a new school in a new place with new people. I'm never gonna forget it... Love you all so so so much!

xoxo,

Caiti

kingda ka baby! (part 2)

2008-06-13T16:13:00.008-04:00

The pictures from our Great Adventure trip are in! In no particular order...

Nitro--going up, up, up!

El Toro, which has a huge drop (btw, doesn't that cloud look like a lizard?)

Kingda Ka--notice El Toro in the background. And how Kingda Ka's easy second hill is TALLER than El Toro. This was taken from the parking lot as we left.

That's us going over the tower on Kingda Ka!

It was such a fun day and I wanna go back ay-sap, it was awesome!!

just my luck

2008-06-13T15:53:00.004-04:00

Today is Friday the 13th, and yeah I'm not usually superstitious--I can leave that to people who think stepping under a ladder is crucial to one's imminent future (and luck)--but I happen to be superstitious about Friday the 13ths. Four years ago, Friday, August 13, 2004, I woke up at about 10 a.m. and was almost immediately carted off to the hospital because I was disgustingly sick. It turns out that there were a boatload of undiscovered problems lurking beneath my skin. That's just my luck. But what stinks is that August 13 is my cousin's birthday and I was so excited about being able to go to her party, since she's older than me and I would be able to hang out with her and her friends. and I had traded in her party for a day vomiting, being prodded by needles, and peeing in cups at the hospital. Funfun, really.
So whenever a Friday the 13th rolls around, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, my shoulder muscles tense, and I have to take ten deep breaths before I can walk out of the house. I'm always afraid that something bad will happen again...believe me, if I land in the hospital AGAIN I will freak out. Because I hate hospitals and being in them. They give off bad vibes...wow, that sounded so trippy-hippy pathetic. But you know what I mean.

spf-uppage is in order

2008-06-11T21:45:00.003-04:00

I have SUCH a bad sunburn on my chest and shoulders. And I used--wait, lemme check--okay, this is what the bottle says:

{new!} Banana Boat

Ultra Defense

Broad Spectrum Sunblock

SPF 30

AvoTriplex photostable UVA technology

Long-Lasting UVA/UVB Protection

Protects & Hydrated

Enriched with Aloe Vera

Waterproof - Absorbs Quickly

The label of my sunscreen, in a nutshell. Oh, and it's 8 fl oz.

I slathered it ALL OVER myself this morning. Everywhere. Especially my shoulders and chest, because that's where I always seem to get sunburned. And now my torso and my shoulders are the same shade of OPI's Big Apple Red nail polish. I am burned (as my lil bro would so kindly put it) like the Godiva baking cocoa I stupidly left in the microwave for two minutes. Grrrrrrr.

kingda ka baby!

2008-06-11T20:41:00.003-04:00

So I just got back from Great Adventure and guess who went on Kingda Ka? Guess who skipped out the first time?
Meeeeeeeeee!
It was 91 degrees and hot, but we kept cool by getting soaked on the log flume, downing Powerade and water, and sweating--ewwww but true =[
So, in order (I think) we went on:

Great American Scream Machine, which was totally not as bad as everyone said it would be and was actually kind of fun but made me lose a hair tie haha, so on every ride after it I took the hair tie out of my hair and just left my headbands in
Superman, which was awkward and almost made me lose my Etnies (I had to keep jamming my feet back into them, next time I'm just wearing flip-flops) but laying down on one of the loop-de-loops was kind of weird

(at this point we bought flash-passes, which granted us a way to cut the line without being escorted out of the park by a burly security guard)

Medusa, Aunt Shelladored this ride for some reason, she liked it the best, I thought it was okay. not as thrill-inducing, but hey. sometimes a little moderate thrill is okay too =]
El Toro, okay I totally almost banged my head like ten times...I was too busy ducking to really enjoy the ride. And OMG the first drop. Straight down. Inverted. Wowzaaaa lol but so fun and the bankings...sheesh
Kingda Ka, I was about to get on line and totally chickened out! So I watched Pat and Uncle John get on it and have an awesome time while Aunt Shell and I waited, and I SO wanted to go on it so we decided we would go if we had time at the end
Log Flume, Uncle John was splashing us and it soaked my shorts AND my two tank tops AND my hair AND my Etnies but it felt really good, did I mention it was really hot out? So at the last drop I ducked and I got even more soaked, but I dried in like five seconds
Runaway Train, my first EVER roller coaster back when I was six and first came to the park with Aunt Shell, and even though it's definitely not as exciting as it was when I was a timid six-year-old, it still holds memories
NITRO!!! my all-time favorite ride at SF, and even better, we had FRONT-ROW seats! we waited a little extra for it, but it was worth it because 1) the view from the first drop is amazing and you can't really feel the drop unless you're in front and 2) Aunt Shelly got some really great pictures of us because we were in the front row and she was watching us from the ground =]
Batman: The Ride, which is really cool inside and decorated all, like, Gotham City-ish and stuff....I liked it, lotsa twists and turns and upside downs and totally picturesque shots of the sky between all the screaming...funfun!
The Dark Knight, an indoor one which was, TBH, really really bad...it was pretty bland and boring, all in the dark and stuff but just a lot of jerking really fast around the corner, nothing fun
Rolling Thunder, my second-ever roller coaster, it was totally empty and still as rickety and loud and fun as ever =] I'm always gonna love Rolling Thunder, even though its wooden-coaster sibling El Toro (which loops through it and is built around RT) is better
Kingda Ka (again), I finally went on this time, we were waiting for HOURS (probably) to get front-row seats which I was like ants-in-my-pants about, cuz um FRONT ROW? ME? a novice little beginner? nw jose! so we switched over to the second row and got on much faster, it was over so fast but it was AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME if you get a chance go on it, you will adore it x 10 and it IS the world's fastest and tallest coaster, ever. so do it!!!! =]
El Toro (again), which was shut down temporarily for repairs and whatnot, boring stuff, but we got on line anyway and were on the ride in five minutes, the second time I didn't even duck like the first =] instead I just screamed really really loud, even louder than I did on Kingda Ka probably, but now my throat is totally sore...ouchies

That was it...wow. We did a lot. Probably not in that order, because I can never remember semi-important things like that, but it was so much fun and thank you Aunt Shell and Uncle John =] it was an awesome Christmas present and the flash-passes were a nice bonus...along with all the food we devoured, the preferred parking, and getting us outta school for a day!! Pictures to come along soon...they're on Aunt Shell's camera, not mine, so I gotta badger her for those (if you're reading Aunt Shell, I want some of the pics!!!)

Gotta go, our school dance is tomorrow and I should probably shower, blow-dry my hair, and cater to the sunburn I developed...ughhh

getting ready.

2008-06-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

Today Aunt Shell, Uncle John, Pat, and I are going to Great Adventure (wooohooooo!) as our Christmas present from Aunt Shell & Uncle John and I am sooooo excited! I went last year with school but fell ill and had to go home early :(
Anyway, I'm excited and I want to go on every single roller coaster except Scream Machine, because everyone says that one gives you a major headache and rattles your brains around in your head, which doesn't sound appealing at all. So I'm gonna pass on that.
I'm going on Kingda Ka too.....oh, boy!!! The line for that is like really long, but since everyone is still in school hopefully there won't be too many people. ;)
Gotta go get dressed--check back later for updates!

perserverance...how icky.

2008-06-10T20:55:00.003-04:00

So, yesterday I informed you of the wonderful, fantabulous, gorgeous weather we here in New Jersey have been blessed with.
It's still chugging along, wonderfully perseverant as ever (and I don't even think that's a word but who really cares? It is now), and oh my God we spent a whole day on a boat today and the only respite was the bottom deck, on a bench/storage area stuffed to the brim with childrens' and adults' life jackets. Thank God we didn't need them. The air conditioning inside, as nice as it was, hardly provided a respite from the brutal, brutal heat. So we were chilling (literally haha) on the bottom deck, where there was a Marilyn Monroe-worthy breeze. It was nice. I'm sick of the heat already and--what a shocker--we're not even halfway through June.
Shoot. Me. Now. If this is a propecy of what summer will be, I almost want to press fast-forward and speed past summer to August 20th, which is when we leave for our annual vacation. After that vacation, there's a week left before school, the perfect amount of time to stress over the quintessential back-to-school outfit, finding the right shoes, deciding whether to wear a headband or not...oh, right, and see who's in my classes.

106........gross!

2008-06-09T18:06:00.002-04:00

Soooo the weather outside is definitely frightful...
It's gross out. Like a hundred and six degrees--say it with me now, "eeeeeeew." I can hardly even breath, let alone, like, survive, which is why our school district deemed it too hot to learn (hello, finals were last week anyway) and gave us a half day today and tomorrow. So Jamie, G and I took advantage of it and hung out at Jamie's pool after school. Ooh, amazing. :) Her pool is awesome, and we had so much fun. I can't believe it's summer...we totally skipped over spring. It went from being frigid and coooooold to muggy, hot, and humid. Ugh. My hair has been a series of one frizz cloud after another. It's been so bad that I've been wearing it in buns almost continually, and if you know me I never wear my hair up. Except for track.
And on Sunday, my stepbrother's baseball team had the bright idea to go to a Blue Claws game. Oh, my GOD. That's all I have to say is OMG and whyyyyyyyy???? It was ridiculously hot--so hot that the seats almost seared an inch off my thighs, there was a fire truck rigged up so that it was squirting water all over everyone, and my Italian ice was melting before the scooper-person even had a chance to put it in my hand. And we're in New Jersey! Craaaaaazy!
Heat wave. Global warming. Just icky weather.
Whatever this is, go AWAY!!! Come back when we actually can sit and stew at home in the air conditioning...instead of when we have to sit and stew in a hot auditorium watching movies that incorporate every time of crude humor possible.

envious!!/raob #5

2008-06-06T23:00:00.005-04:00

So today, as an early gradution present I was granted a brand-new cell phone, the LG enV2. Oh, it's so pretty :) I'm so happy with it. Well, we were at the mall, and the woman ringing up my phone was activating my new one and deactivating my old one. I was trying to squeeze out the last possible usage of my old LG I possibly could--sending one last text. And then my phone was deactivated so it wouldn't go, and I was so confused. I was like, "Wait! Why isn't this working? Um, it's supposed to be working!"
Everyone gave me a look and rolled their eyes at me, and that's when I realized my old phone was now defunct (something I'd been waiting to hear for a while now!). Ahh, sweet victory, in the form of the lighter, more pretty/fun enV2 in my hand in its shiny new leather case. Another blond moment I thought I should inform you of: I gave my old phone to the guy for him to transfer my contacts over. And, well, the phone was still locked. My friends mentioned today that my hair is getting blonder and blonder as summer creeps closer.
Oh, and then to top off my wonderful day (last day of finals, went to Rita's + tried a new gelati combo, brand-spankin-new phone, some great news from my aunt, yada-yada-yada), we stopped in at Johnny Rocket's and got milkshakes. Btw, their chocolate peanut butter milkshake is aMAZing, even though everyone gagged when I ordered it.
I'm telling you guys, it was soooo yummy. Like a slap to the cerebrum.*

*Ever seen those Altoids commercials? Haha they are so funny!

fire hydrant chronicles v 7.0

2008-06-05T18:28:00.002-04:00

perfecting the drive-bys

random acts of blondness #4

2008-06-05T18:23:00.002-04:00

My zomborific/Frankinsteinian performance today in gym.
I was first-baseman while playing softball, and so the ball was hit at me and I went to catch it but it bounced off my finger (of course) so it went bouncing right back to home plate. I went scrambling after it, apparently like Frankinstein reincarnated, holding my hands out and shrieking.* Whatever--these gym-class "Bash Caitlin" days are so not my cup of tea.

*Maybe I was shrieking. But not that loud. I mean, I didn't catch the ball. You want me to CHEER about that?

ipod shuffle.

2008-06-05T18:14:00.004-04:00

press shuffle. rinse. repeat.

you're crashing, but you're no wave--fob
grand theft autumn/where is your boy--fob
swing, swing--the all-american rejects
friends of mine--bowling for soup
neighbors--the academy is...
the truth about heaven--armor for sleep
secret valentine--we the kings
wake up--hilary duff
how far we've come--matchbox twenty
bleed, everyone's doing it--the spill canvas

WHY???????

2008-06-04T21:08:00.001-04:00

WHY are We the Kings on Z100 again? On the 9 at 9? Soon they will be universally adored...
Just remember, I loved ya before all the hype and god, I hate z100. On the other hand, Pete Wentz has a new MTV show called FNMTV=Friday Night MTV, which will be like old-school MTV (yay!) So maybe, just maybe, music will be better again...

Maybe.

so fitting

2008-06-04T21:05:00.001-04:00

Make it a sweet, sweet goodbye - it could be for the last time and it's not right. "Don't let yourself get in over your head," he said. Alone and far from home we'll find you...

Dead - Like a candle you burned out; spill the wax over the spaces left in place of angry words.Scream - To be heard, like you needed any more attention; throw the bottle, break the door, and disappear.

Sing me to sleep, I'll see you in my dreams, waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."

Forever's never seemed so long as when you're not around it's like a piece of me is missing. I could have learned so much from you but what's left now?Don't you realize you shot this family a world of pain? Can't you see there should have been a happy ending we let go?

Sing me to sleep, I'll see you in my dreams, waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."

Sing me to sleep.Sing me to sleep.Sing me to sleep.Sing me to s...

Sing me to sleep (You've taken so much with you...) I'll see you in my dreams, (But left the worst with me...), waiting to say, "I miss you. I'm so sorry."I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

all time low, "lullabies"

the thing about best friends...

2008-06-03T20:51:00.003-04:00

you're stuck with them for life (and who said that was a bad thing?!?)

random acts of blondness #3

2008-06-03T20:42:00.002-04:00

My gym teacher...reenacting me in gym today.
I do not squeak when I try unsuccessfully to hit a softball.* Okay?!?!
Nor do I do funny gestures when I run/walk/exercise.** All right?!?
Thank you. Case closed.

*Maybe. Just a little. No, like, major squeaking, just a little pip if I don't hit the ball.
**Okay, maybe here too. Ugh.

fire hydrant chronicles v 6.0

2008-06-03T18:23:00.001-04:00

a drive-by shooting (of the photography sorts)

a bunch of pages.

2008-06-03T18:15:00.003-04:00

I am, yes, a writer. I mean, you knew that but I hate admitting it sometimes. Or, really, displaying it. Yesterday we had to do a writing prompt for school (btw: 12 days!!!), and I wrote two and a half pages of my messy, loopy, second-grader-esque scrawl while my friends all managed a page, if that.
But really where I've been gaining somewhat of a notoriety for my writing is in letter-writing.
One day a few weeks ago, when I was in a particularly crummy mood, I sat down in social studies and began penning a letter to my grandmother. We had a substitute, so it wasn't hard to ignore the boring video we were supposed to be watching and instead watch as my mixed-up thoughts turned into words on the paper. It's more of a revelation to myself than anything, a way to sort out my feelings. For the past three weeks I've been writing it in my free period in school, under the watchful eye of Ashley, who was probably waiting for me to burst out into tears again, which is what I did the last time I wrote something particularly emotional in school. I wasn't sure whether to send it, and today I decided I'm going to.
It's pretty long...fourteen pages, I think, front and back. I'm going to make a copy of it to keep for myself, so that when I'm twenty-eight I can go back and laugh at myself and what I thought the world was like. For now, though, I'm content to send the letter and possibly put its contents behind me forever. Maybe I'll bury the copy of the letter and dig it up in fifteen years, like a time capsule. Either way, my letter is almost done and I'm pretty sure sending it is the right thing to do.

happy birthday, baby!

2008-06-02T16:19:00.002-04:00

happy birthday, jack!

this is my baby jack...happy birthday, sweetie!

(he's seven today...wow!)

vintage all time low

2008-06-02T16:09:00.002-04:00

remember all time low? inaugural artist of the week? yeah, of course you do.
this is their first music video, for "coffee shop sountrack" and the whole video just makes me giggle so much. better quality available somewhere on the interweb...

currently consuming

2008-05-30T17:02:00.002-04:00

ice pops!

I cannot get enough of these things, they are amazing!!

fire hydrant chronicles v 5.0

2008-05-30T15:47:00.002-04:00

weirdly entertaining

not fair

2008-05-30T15:43:00.001-04:00

"Check Yes Juliet" by AOTW alum We the Kings is on Z100.
And as we know, every song that ever pops up on Z100 is viciously overplayed until I want to stab the radio (like this one).
Nooooooo! It's like the curse of MTV/Z100 (aka popularity). I want to keep my little unknown bands all to myself!

the annual fair=awesomeness

2008-05-29T21:21:00.003-04:00

Ahhhhhhhh the annual fair is soooooo much fun, I just got back. And I would post crummy cameraphone pics, since I've gotten really good at doing ten things at once (i.e., screaming my guts out on the ride, texting, taking pics, and also grabbing my friend's arm in sheer terror AND not swallowing my gum), but I have a confidentality contract with my parentss :-)
This one ride me and G went on, it took FOREVER to get everyone on but once we were all strapped in it was so funny. We were giggling and laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants, and I almost did!!! lol and then it starts going and I was still texting Ash who was still on the ground, and my phone fell out of my hand and hit the bars and almost fell out of the ride, I only saved it by like a second.
Ahhh, it was fun. GTs. GTs.*
Can't wait to go again on Saaaturday with Mar!!
*good times, good times (new phrase)

pretty.

2008-05-29T18:10:00.002-04:00

"It's the way that you blush when you're nervous.
It's your ability to make me earn this.
I know that you're tired, just let me sing you to sleep.
It's about how you laugh out of pity,
'Cause lets be honest I'm not really that funny.
I know that you're shy, just let me sing you to sleep.

If you need anything, just the say the word.
I mean anything.
Rest assured, if you start to doze,
then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklace is close.

It's those pills that you don't need to take,medicating perfection,
now that's a mistake.
I know that you're spent, just let me sing you to sleep.
It's your finger and how I'm wrapped around it.
It's your grace and it keeps me grounded.
I know that you're weak, just let me sing you to sleep.

If you need anything, just the say the word.
I mean anything.
Rest assured, if you start to doze,
then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklace is close.

While you were sleeping
I figured out everything,
I was constructed for you, and you were molded for me.
Now I feel your name, coursing through my veins.
You shine so bright it's insane,
you put the sun to shame.

If you need anything, just the say the word.
I mean anything. (I really do)
Rest assured, if you start to doze,
then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklace is close.
If you need anything, just the say the word.
I mean anything.
Rest assured, if you start to doze,
then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklace is close."

the spill canvas, "lullaby"

what i love about summer

2008-05-28T20:03:00.002-04:00

no shoes
ice pops
soffes
skirts
shorts
bikinis
ponytails
pools
pool parties
sleeping in
staying up late
graduation
midnight swims
no socks
sand between my toes
the beach
fourth of july
great adventure
tennis
ping-pong
baby pools
fireflies
weird traditions
fireworks
fairs
sunscreen
bright nail polish
flip flops
photo ops at every turn
loud music
crazy neighbors
the sun

fire hydrant chronicles v 4.0

2008-05-28T19:55:00.001-04:00

my next door neighbor's fire hydrant

fire hydrant chronicles v 3.0

2008-05-28T19:51:00.002-04:00

i've been wanting to get this shot for ages