Kristabella: Full of Snark Since 1977

Posted By Kristabella on November 2, 2011

I have a slight addiction to Crystal Light and all kinds of fruit drinks. If calories were no option, I would drink Kool-Aid and fruit juice all day, every day.

I think I’ve written about it here before (combs through five years of archives) and yes! Yes I have.

Just call me Girl With Red Tongue.

I know that the fake sugars aren’t good for you. And regular sugar isn’t any better. But my problem is that once I get home from work, I don’t want to drink plain water anymore. I’ve had plain water all day. It’s quittin time! Now it is time for fruity, chemical-laden beverages!

I’ve read a lot of articles about how the fake sugars are just not good for you and that your body thinks it is real sugar, yada, yada, yada. I have blamed my inability to lose weight on this fact, and not the fact that I frequently eat enough food in one sitting to feed an entire starving nation. Don’t try and tell me any differently, by the way.

So! I have vowed to try and limit the fake sugars in my diet. I doubt I can cut them out completely. But my new goal is to limit myself to just the Splenda I put in my coffee every morning. No more Crystal Light after work! Yay for health!

This weekend at the grocery store I picked up a case of sparkling water. It was naturally flavored with a hint of orange. Let me make one thing clear, I don’t like sparkling water at all. If it isn’t going to taste like Orange Crush, then why would I be drinking it?

But, I figured what better way to get into a healthier habit! It’s water, but your brain thinks it is pop! Except not really because while it smells like orange pop, it tastes like sparkling water!

When I had my first can, it took me hours to finish it. Now? Now I can finish a can in just a few minutes. I’m slowly getting used to it, all of it – the lack of flavor, the strong smell of fruit that you can’t taste and the bubbles, oh those bubbles.

So, slowly, but surely, I’m getting there. I’m going to make myself healthier.

Do you all have any tips for anything else to drink that isn’t plain water and yet isn’t filled with fake sweeteners? My health thanks you.

Category: A Day in the Life of Me, Healthy Living, NaBloPoMo | 15 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on November 1, 2011

Today is November 1. That means, it is the start of National Blog Posting Month, also known as NaBloPoMo. I have participated in this blogging movement (blogment?) in the past. It’s a lot harder than you think. Not just because some times I have a life and don’t want to come home before midnight just to post, but also because it is hard to come up with different topics to blog about for 30 straight days.

But the good part is that it kick starts your creativity, which is exactly what I need when it comes to this here site. I need to start writing more and posting here more. So while there will be many posts that are utter crap, be thankful I’m getting it out of my system and hopefully then they’ll be few and far between.

Plus, I know it takes 21 days to make a habit. So I’m hoping that 30 days straight means I will get back in the habit of writing in the evenings, as opposed to stuffing my face full of cheese and ice cream. (I can hear my pants breathing a sigh of relief already.)

Do you have anything you’d like to see me write about? Of course, Bacon will be back in the mix. As will my cats. And I’m going to try showing some old photos of myself, if I remember to get them from my mother.

Until then, don’t forget to enter my Shutterfly giveaway for free photo cards! It ends this weekend, so don’t delay.

One day down, 29 to go…

Category: All Things Blogging, Land of Random, NaBloPoMo | 8 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on October 29, 2011

I used to send out the world’s most awesome Christmas Cards. You can read all about them here and here. The first year I ever did them, not knowing it would start a tradition, I ordered them through Shutterfly. They have so many options and you can customize the text and upload your own photo and it is super easy!

So when Shutterfly approached me and asked if I wanted to give away some free cards to some of my readers, I jumped at the chance! Because you all should be able to send out holiday cards as awesome as this:

I’m still holding out hope that I run into Rahm in the next few weeks to make this year’s holiday card EPIC! He’s on my list, along with John Paxson and Jim McMahon. They are the holiday card Mecca for me!

And Shutterfly has some great new designs for your holiday cards. Check out some of them from their photo Christmas cards:

Or some from their collection of holiday cards:

And you can even select some thank you cards to send out after you receive many lavish gifts!

I have codes for 25 free cards to give to three of you (THREE!)! All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what card you like best from the Shutterfly collection, or if you’re planning on sending holiday cards this year to family and friends.

The contest will run for one week and comments will close at 11:59 PM (Central) on Saturday, November 5, 2011. I will pick three winners at random from the commenters and send them their code for free cards!

Easy as holiday pie!

Good luck!

I have partnered with Shutterfly to help promote Shutterfly’s 2011 holiday cards. I have not been compensated for my time, but I was given product to facilitate my review. My opinions are entirely my own and I am not paid to publish positive comments.

Category: All Things Blogging, Contests, Sponsored | 31 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on October 25, 2011

I’m forcing myself to write something, and something funny, because today was a rough day at work. I can’t get into it, but let’s just say I hope today never repeats itself in my tenure. And I hope that tenure is long!

So Monday morning, as I was getting off the bus and heading to the train station, I was like the 15th person in line. My bus route ends at the rail station, so everyone gets off the bus and I would say that most, if not all, people go into the station to get on the train.

This can cause quite a back-up at the turnstiles. Not only are you having to deal with the throngs of people, you also have to sometimes deal with the person who is trying to exit the station through the turnstile you’re trying to go through.

I’m not patient. I’m especially not patient early in the morning when I’m running late and haven’t had any coffee. So I will go to any open turnstile.

We have accessible turnstiles at most rail stations. They are wider and can fit a wheelchair through it. It’s also helpful when you’re bringing a suitcase or some sort of large bag with you that won’t easily fit through the narrow turnstiles.

So Monday morning there was some back-up at the three non-accessible turnstiles. I decided to use the accessible one to a) help move traffic through efficiently and b) because my fare card/pass has been acting up and only likes to work when it is the first smart card to touch the pad. Otherwise it takes me forever to get it to work and then I hold up people and they curse at me under their breath.

Let me preface this with the fact that I was not cutting off someone in a wheelchair to use the accessible turnstile. I was not putting myself before others who NEEDED this turnstile, whose only option was this turnstile. I just really didn’t want to hold up the other line with my touchy card.

So, I enter the turnstile and push the door open. As I do this, I see a little kid coming towards me, followed closely by a man with a stroller. I decided to be nice and hold the gate open for him, seeing as it is hard to maneuver.

This was my first mistake.

He then looks at me and starts screaming at me. (Keep in mind it’s like before 8 AM.) He’s decided that I, as a non-wheelchaired person, shouldn’t be using this turnstile. So he starts shouting, “Because you’re handicapped, right? Because you’re handicapped?”

My jaw drops to the ground. And yet, I STILL KEEP HOLDING THE GATE OPEN FOR HIM AND HIS STROLLER. And then he’s at it again.

“Because you’re handicapped? Right? You’re handicapped? Because you’re handicapped.”

I can do nothing but glare. Which is my second mistake. I should have punched him in the junk.

I finally get my uncaffeniated wits about me and scream back “BECAUSE YOU ARE?” And then I run up the stairs to catch my train. (Thankfully, not falling up the stairs or escalator.)

I have the whole commute in to work to think about this, which just makes me seethe. I have every right to use that turnstile, no more or less than he does. And my using that turnstile didn’t make him have to wait, even a nanosecond, to exit the station. I was through the gate and HOLDING IT OPEN FOR HIS CHILD HE LET RUN AHEAD IN A CROWDED TRAIN STATION AT RUSH HOUR when he got all pissy.

There is no rule you can’t use the accessible turnstiles if you’re not in a wheelchair. And how do you know I don’t have a medical issue where I can’t go through turnstiles? What if I had a fake hip? What if I had a bad back and the turnstile made it hurt more? OH WAIT, I DO.

The worst part is that the Customer Assistants at the stations will encourage exactly what I did during the rush periods. The faster you can get people through, the better. Everyone is happy and no one misses their train.

I just don’t understand. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??

Category: A Day in the Life of Me, Chi-town, Rants & Rants, Transit Tales | 9 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on October 24, 2011

Blogging is awesome. Through it (in five years, holy hell that seems like FOREVER), I’ve met some of the best people in the world. It also gives me opportunities I probably would have never gotten. Like getting to see Duran Duran in concert!

WOOO HOOOO!

Yep, last Friday my friend Kelley and I headed out to the Chicago Theatre to see Duran Duran live and in person. I was super excited because I had never seen Duran Duran live and I had also never seen the inside of the Chicago Theatre! Win win!

After a very teeny tiny issue at will call with the tickets, which caused me to call Sarah in DC, which was interesting since I don’t think I’ve ever talked to her on the phone. We’re bloggers, we just text. It also caused the guys at will call to give me the stink eye because they were probably thinking I was a Simon Le Bon groupie and not a blogger, waiting for my tickets.

Not that I wouldn’t mind rolling over next to that. But he’s apparently a very happily married man. Sad panda.

Our seats were awesome! I can’t even tell you the last concert I went to. (I’m not much of a concert goer, oddly enough, but I love them when I do go!)

The show was amazing. Duran Duran has a new album out, so they played some new stuff. But they also played all their hits and sounded amazing! Simon was getting a little hoarse (we are getting towards the end of the U.S. tour) but he rocked it out like only he can!

Speaking of Simon, he’s oddly political, which I did not know. He made quite a few political jokes, including one about Gaddafi and how George W. Bush and Tony Blair were the next war criminals that needed to be captured. It was met with a smattering of boos, which I was surprised about since Chicago is a blue city. Must have been the suburbanites.

The only thing that I didn’t like was all the flashing lights in the background on stage. As my friend Kelley said “I’m either going to have a seizure or wake up knowing the cure for AIDS.” I should send her an email to make sure she’s alive.

Also, these creepy faces. They would show video through them of the boys singing and talking and well, it gave me nightmares. Granted there are worse nightmares to have then a giant Simon Le Bon head.

It was so much fun! I’m so glad I got the opportunity to go! If you’re an 80s music fan (because let’s be honest, Duran Duran IS the 80s), go see them live. You will NOT regret it!

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Disclaimer: I was given two free tickets to the show in exchange for sharing my thoughts about the concert. My thoughts and opinions are all my own and were not swayed by the free tickets. Although they may have been swayed my Mr. Le Bon’s hip shaking. Swoon!

Category: A Day in the Life of Me, All Things Blogging, Chi-town, Reviews, Sponsored | 8 Comments »
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