The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

I will write all about this terrifying, near-drowning experience later. For now, here are pictures. Keep in mind that this all happened in like, 30 seconds. Nina is in the front on the left. I am behind her. Sarah is behind me, and Nancy is on the other side of the raft, next to Sarah.

Let's talk about the things that are making this the best week ever! (I'm thinking of that show on VH1.) 1. Brian texted again today. We are hanging out next week and possibly going to a Cubs game. 2. Sarah called, and we are on good terms again. 3. Today I went to the beach, ate guacamole, and played skee ball. 4. Tomorrow I am going whitewater rafting in northern Wisconsin. 5. Thursday I am doing one of the following: Hiking/Seeing waterfalls, 4-wheeling, or tubing. 6. I may be getting my tattoo on Friday. 7. Breaking Dawn midnight release party Friday night! I have my "La Push Cliff Diving Team" tee shirt ready to wear. I fully plan on staying up all night to read. 8. I ordered my cowboy boots, and they should be here in the next few days! I have some seriously good karma right now. What did I do to deserve all this goodness? Something bad needs to happen to even things out. Every time in my life when I have thought to myself, "Wow, life is so g

1. I finally decided what tattoo I want, and I want it NOW. I have to wait till I get paid on August 8, and the waiting is killing me. 2. Brian texted me last night. I almost had a heart attack. I'd had a lot to drink (I was at a neighborhood block party), and I thought that when I sobered up, it wouldn't have happened. But no, the texts are still there to prove it. It's been over a year, and he misses me and wants to see me. I'm so excited.

Go there. It's delicious. It's a vegetarian restaurant that opened yesterday on Division. I just love vegetarian restaurants because it's so nice to have options . Sadly, I had dinner before we went (there was a mix-up and I thought we weren't going), so I couldn't eat that much. But I recommend: the asparagus with roasted pepper salsa, the baked goat cheese, the watermelon salad, and the chocolate dessert. It's kind of like tapas; you can get small plates or big plates. So if you get the small plates, you can share and try a bunch of stuff. I can't wait to go back and try more things.

So I've been wanting to write about my fabulous weekend, but now every time I want to write about something fun, I'm afraid I sound like this girl . I don't want to sound disgustingly happy because it's obnoxious, but I kinda am. (Disgustingly happy, that is. Hopefully I'm not too obnoxious.) So I'm going to write about how fun my weekend was, because, as I've said before, I don't blog because I think I'm a great writer; this is just my journal. My friend Sarah LOVES this 80's cover band, Sixteen Candles, and invited me and Nancy to go see them on Friday. They were playing up in Palatine, so I met my birthmom (Kathy) and her husband (Greg) for dinner before the show. I knew I was in trouble the minute I sat down because Greg was doing shots. So then I ordered a shot of Patron, and yes, I ended up getting very drunk. I had soooo much fun hanging out with them. Once again, I realized how eerily alike my birthmom and I are. Nancy hung ou

My cousin Katie posted this on Facebook. Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search: "Erin needs a drink." Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search: "Erin looks like Harry Potter on drugs." Type in "[your name] says" in Google search: "Erin says...sit happens." (This was a site for dog obedience school!) Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search: "Erin wants a story." (Like I want to "wake up in the morning with a story to tell? Sorry, I've been listening to Ludacris.) Type in "[your name] does" in Google search: "Erin does the cha-cha-cha slide." (No, I certainly do not.) Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search: "Erin hates whores (named Chad)." (Oh dear...) Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search: "Erin asks, How does THE MAN keep you down?" (Damn the man! Save the empire!) Type in "[your name] goes

I spend a lot of time feeling un-trendy. This is partly due to where I live. (Seriously, what am I doing in the Arts District?) But lately I have come to realize a few ways in which I was oh-so-close to being trendy. 1. I've been a vegetarian since I was 2. Now, a lot of my friends are becoming vegetarian as well. And now I'm not trendy anymore, because when people ask why I became a vegetarian, I can't say, "Well, I started considering the environmental aspect of eating meat and realized it was better for the Earth..." 2. When I was pregnant, Ross and Marilyn asked what I would name the baby. I told them he wouldn't be mine, so it was entirely up to them. But they persisted until I told them I loved the name Jacob. I didn't know it was a popular name; I just loved it. After they named him that, I discovered it was like, the most popular name that year. Sorry, Jacob. 3. Over the past few years, I've thought of other baby names I like. It&

Today was day 4 of extreme foot pain (I had a procedure done on Friday), and I was ready to go crazy. I am soooo tired of canceling plans and missing out on fun and sitting on my couch instead. My fabulous friend Sarah came and kept me company on Saturday night, which helped a lot. And my parents took me to lunch yesterday (to Adobo Grill, where they have valet), and that was nice as well. But today was so beautiful, I wanted to go out and DO something. Nina came to the rescue and invited me over to lay out on her deck, which is on top of a high rise. She even offered to park my car for me since I can't walk very far. We laid out, made fajitas, ate sorbet, and watched Sex and the City. Best of all, I even procured some Vicodin, so now my foot is not throbbing in pain; it's just a dull ache. I decided to go home a little after 11, and Nina said she'd walk me to my car since she'd parked it pretty close. And when we got there, it was gone. She'd unknowingly

I am slowly checking off things on my list of things to do this summer, but I still have much to accomplish. Right now, I am working on my goal of joining the DAR. I just emailed the Chicago chapter to see if they will help me prove the relationships in my genealogy. I kind of thought of it as a joke at first, but now I'm actually excited. After being in places where George Washington hung out and hearing Obama's awesome speech on patriotism, I will be honored to claim this relationship to a Patriot. I think I'm also in the mood to cause a little trouble, so I'm going to get Rachel going on the "find my birthfather" thing. They both live in Phoenix, so she's going to do a little recon for me. I think he still lives with his mom. Ha ha.

Soon, I will have another BFF. Hopefully. Sometimes I get too excited about new friends, and then it doesn't work out. Like that girl who lived behind me. I thought she was too cool for me and was way excited when it seemed like she wanted to be friends. I pictured it being like college again; having all your friends in the same building. Then we went out to dinner one night, and the crazy in her was revealed. She talked about getting hit on while buying cigarettes when she was 8 months pregnant, mentioned that the baby lives in Wisconsin with no further explanation, and then gave a detailed description of her digestive problems. My hope of us becoming BFFs turned into dread of running into her. Anyway, I digress. So I saw this foreign news correspondent on The Daily Show: and I thought, I need to support our troops. That's not just for Republicans. I disagree with the war in Iraq, but I still have the utmost respect and admiration for our soldiers and what they do f

After spending only an afternoon there, I want to make it my new home. Possibly even more than Charleston. Charleston has the beach and the history and the cute preppy boys and the southern accents, but Asheville has even more pro's. And I bet people in Asheville have southern accents, too; I just didn't notice any. I read somewhere that Asheville is one of the most vegetarian friendly cities in the country, and I would agree with this. Rosetta's Kitchen is vegetarian and organic and one of the best restaurants I'd ever eaten at. There were fliers for events posted all over, most of which I would have liked to attend. After lunch, we shopped at the unique stores downtown, many of which were eco-friendly. I bought some really cute apparel, including this Organic Rocks tee shirt: So, in summary, Asheville has lots of vegetarian food, boutiques with gorgeous, unique, and environmentally friendly products, cool people (some of whom have southern accents), and a Dill

I thought this was one of the most beautiful cities I'd ever seen when I visited last spring, so I was eager to go back. Our first stop was Magnolia Plantation, which was full of views like these (taken from their website, since I forgot to take pictures): I was a little disappointed though, because most of the flowers weren't blooming, so it wasn't as beautiful as it was last spring. But we went on a boat tour that was really cool- we saw alligators! Then we went downtown to find a nice place for dinner. There are sooo many nice places there, but it was a challenge since I'm a vegetarian and Nina's allergic to gluten. We ended up at this Irish place called Tommy Condon's. It was some of the most disgusting food we've ever had. I guess we should have known better than to go to an Irish place in a town that's known for its seafood. We had to somehow make up for this awfulness, so we went back to a place that had a delicious-looking dessert menu. Mc

We went to the beach or springs almost every day. We hung out with my fabulous cousin Amber a few times and met one of her more interesting friends. My uncle cooked delicious food for us. Probably the most interesting part of Florida was Saturday night. We went out to a bar with Amber and her boyfriend. When we got home we weren't drunk, but we didn't feel like going to bed. So we decided to make guacamole from the ingredients we'd gotten that morning at the farmer's market. It was delicious. We then stepped out onto the screened-in porch to have a cigarette. (Yes, I smoked on vacation, but don't worry, I'm not buying another pack.) By the this time, it was a little after 3 a.m. When we finished, Nina went to pull open the sliding door, and nothing happened. We were locked out, through no fault of our own. Apparently that door has a tricky lock that will sometimes lock by itself when you close it. Nina immediately collapsed on the floor, laughing hy