Psychic Reading Part 1

A lot of balls can get dropped when you are attempting to maintain an interesting blog and lead an interesting life at the same time, but one thing I did promise (and have actually spent a significant amount of time working on) is that I would post my "transcripts" of the psychic reading I received a few years ago. It was an extensive reading and while transcribing it I added my own thoughts about her input, so it will most likely take a number of installments to post here, but this is how it starts.:

About 4 years ago, when I was working the front desk in a fancy salon on Capitol Hill my wacky boss arranged for my Christmas present to be a reading with her well-renowned psychic friend. It was really sweet, though at the point that she told me about it I was on my way out and not her favorite person working there, so it could have been an attempt to make me feel bad. Either way, having never had a real in person psychic reading ever before I was excited as well as nervous, but willing to take her up on it. I had to wait to be scheduled with the obviously well respected teacher and psychic, ending up on her appointment books for a blustery night in February. She lived in a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with at the time as well as giving somewhat incomprehensible directions and when I pulled up there were broadcasting vans from the local news stations parked almost in front of her really cute older house. Bewildered, I searched for a way to her front porch and was stopped by what I must presume was some kind of reporter who inquired as to my concern about the stability of the hill the houses were built on, to which I was completely uneducated about and increasingly concerned about. Once he determined I really had no idea what he was talking about, he tried to get a sound clip and let me go on my way. I went up to the porch and knocked on the front door, but strangely did not receive an answer. Perplexed even further, I peeked over and realized she was currently with a client so I lit up a cigarette and walked towards the bottom of the steps to wait. It took at least another 15 minutes, but then she wished her current guest goodbye and welcomed me in.

She was a hippie-ish woman in her late 30s or early 40s, dressed comfortably and somewhat in the typical northwestern style that requires fleece sweaters. Her place was filled with spiritual symbols and beautiful shrines, interesting art and character that one can only find in an older construction home. She invited me to sit down in a wing-back chair near a side table, next to what was apparently the chair she uses. There were ashtrays around, yet the air did not reek of cigarette smoke over the smell of sage and incense.

As she readied the tape recorder and moved into place for the session, I made myself as comfortable as one can in a relative strangers home whom you may never see again that claims to have psychic abilities, you know? I will do my best to convey the things she told me that evening as well as my unspoken reactions, though it covered over 90 minutes of tape and I have only listened to it once since then, so some of it is a little fuzzy. In the beginning, there was prolonged silence as she did whatever she had to do to prepare mentally, then giggling before she told me

“This is a pure place” then starting a chant that she recited clearly asking the spirits to assist her on my behalf that evening, then a soft, soothing hum before she straightened up and looked me in the eyes.

This is where I will end for the evening, as I do have a few more overdue posts up my sleeve to work on and it is Domestic Goddess Sunday, dontchaknow? Once again, please accept my apologies for the absence and be assured that you will be seeing me here much more often.

Dumped and un-dumped....

...via text message in the span of 24 hours.

Almost completely my fault, really. Yes, I'll admit it.

My lovely, sweet, incredible boyfriend is a musician.....A very talented musician, from a band that is extremely popular in his home country (Turkey), and his new band is releasing their first album. This means he is a very busy dude right now with recording and mixing, etc., and that he will have to go home soon for an extended period of time for the release and to tour. This also means that his schedule is constantly changing and we have limited time to be together before he leaves for a number of months, which is really tough for me as I am a super schedule-y Virgo with a 9-5, Monday through Friday gig. Learning to be more flexible with my planning and scheduling has been trying, to say the least, and though his English is great we still occasionally hit a language barrier.

We typically get to spend most weekends together and sometimes I can find the time to stay over on a "school night" which is perfectly adequate for me -though in theory I would be happy to wake up next to him every morning, it's also great to be able to have some time for my friends and other activities.

Still though, the idea of seemingly less frequent visits followed with not seeing my boyfriend for MONTHS was sad (and essentially the only issue we had any difficulty with). Since I wasn't expressing what I needed to help me feel secure and he apparently isn't a mind-reader, he didn't really understand that he could help me with just a smidge of reassurance. On Wednesday, I didn't find out our plans for the evening were falling through until a mere few hours before and then was also informed that I wouldn't see him all weekend either and there was still work to be done on the album after that. Couple that with his manager's Facebook posts that the countdown to leave the country was starting and it all degenerated into a back and forth exchange that ended with me being dumped via text (at my urging and for my own good, of course).

I was instantly miserable and figured out pretty quickly that it sucked a lot more to not be with him at all than to have to miss him for a few months. And I told him that. And I got myself undumped.

Hi, my name is Alyson. I'm a shopoholic.

Not really though.

Well, maybe kinda.

Truthfully, I used to be a tomboy. Fashion wasn't ever a big thing for me until I was well out of high school and I still don't read Vogue or any other style magazines. But now I like to look pretty - I even have big pink tattoos. I watch What Not To Wear. And now that I am dating a man who actually has decent taste in clothing (very impressive, actually) and doesn't look under-dressed next to me, I am given an even better reason to tighten up my wardrobe.

Though I have a pretty large closet, it has most definitely not been enough space to house my huge collection of clothes and shoes. Losing weight over the past year has been a blessing, since it meant I could jettison all the clothes that were too big for me now, though realizing some of my favorite items aren't worth being altered to a smaller size is a bit sad. Lately, I've found myself constantly editing my closet and dresser, removing stuff that I have to admit I will never wear again. All in all, it amounts to about 10 garbage bags worth of stuff.

I know this because it's all sitting in my living room right now.

On the right I have piled almost everything that is going directly to Goodwill (except the cat). On the left, I have almost everything that I am going to try to sell to a local thrift shop/ebay.

That's probably at least $1k worth of clothes and shoes, and I'm just hoping to get at least enough to pay for the Guess shoes I'm bidding on right now. Thankfully the Olsen inspired revamp won't be too costly since I already have a number of key pieces (they're the classics every girl should have) and I've been pretty lucky to find other items very similar to their designer things but with a much cheaper price tag.

The new etsy addiction is a whole 'nother story.

Shameless Plug Sunday: Helle

I've known Danielle Decanti for a number of years now, and though she has been an UH-mazing friend one of the things I most appreciate about her is that she created the circumstances that allow me to tell people to "go to Helle" on a pretty consistent basis. I met Mrs. D about 5 years ago when I was working at an awful salon in Belltown that experienced an abrupt exodus of employees that resulted in me being promoted from receptionist to manager in a few short months. We had a tiny room for our esthetician and when the upset sent one girl packing, Danielle found her way to us.

She is incredibly talented at what she does and incredibly fun as well, and since we left that godawful place we have remained friends. Not too long after she left, she put her heart and soul (and bank account) into opening her own "skin sanctuary" in June of 2006 in the Georgetown neighborhood - a place that is as cute and full of character as she is.

"Are you looking for an alternative to the same old spa scene? You know where to go. Helle is a sanctuary from urban grime and pretentiousness. We provide clinical grade skincare in an it’s-o.k.-if-you’re-not-feeling-quite-so-zen environment. Maybe you’re no angel, but, baby, we’re gonna make you look like one"

It may be cheeky, and it's the perfect presentment.

Helle has an uber talented staff, including Danielle, who is a Skin Guru and able to perform miracles on seemingly stubborn skin and probably entertain you very much at the same time, if you are so inclined. She uses and has gotten me addicted to Dermalogica products, as well as her own occasional concoctions, such as an unbelievable product that was immediately deemed "snake oil." Amy is a triple threat - a Licensed Massage Practitioner, Reflexologist, AND(!!!) Tarot Reader. Word from many of her clients that I have run into is that she is really really really good at what she does. All of it.

Now they have a fantastic new location opening in Georgetown (6253 13th Avenue South) on February 1st aaaand as if they didn't rock enough, as of February 2nd they will be offering Happy Hour from Helle on Tuesdays - discounts on their express treatments, with delicious noshes and beverages to ease you through those rough after work hours!

My new style icon: The Olsen Twins

No, seriously.

As I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs recently (On Common Ground) I came across a post the Missus had written back in November about how she felt Ashley Olsen was "the prettier and more fashionable of the two Olsen twins." I didn't understand how anyone could think of either as "fashionable" until I scrolled down to see this picture:

Um, WHAT? I love that outfit. Classic, casual, pretty...I immediately started mentally taking stock of my current wardrobe to figure out what I would need to pull it off.

This is not the slubby stuff I normally see them running around in on the cover of gossip rags, but I can relate to having a very casual side to my wardrobe. Considering I wear jeans, flats and a hat to work everyday (with no make-up) my coworkers would probably tell you that my sense of style is questionable. Ask my friends who see me on the weekends prettied up, hair down, heels on and they would probably say they appreciate and/or admire my taste.

Last year I found myself striving to locate and purchase "signature" pieces and promised myself no more t-shirts and less jeans - everything I bought would be quirky and eye-catching. This year I find comfort in heading out to the bars in a nicely cut t-shirt and a blazer on top of cute jeans. I'm almost 30, and though I don't need to dress like an old lady, there are some trends that are just too young (or just plain unflattering) for me.

The twins may only be 23, but they have developed a great taste for casual and attractive clothing (that picture is from 2007, but the outfit could still be rocked today with nary a dirty look from self-proclaimed fashionistas) and dammit - I want to be like them (at least clothing-wise). After I got over the shock, I spent the next hour googling them and found that people actually devote entire blogs to the Olsen's fashion. Yes, really. And I am kind of in love with ♥Nohemi♥'s Olsen Twins collection on Polyvore.

Pardon me, I'm off to jettison half my wardrobe again to see if I can sell it for new duds (maybe now the remainder will finally all fit in my closet).

Oops.

My hiatus was obviously much longer than I anticipated and now I don't even know where to start to catch up...So I probably won't in some cases. Just sayin'.

Let's work backwards for a moment and see what I can cover quickly.

NaNoWriMo: Wrote about 40 pages. Technically, I was writing about 30 days in my own life and eventually I realized that is a pretty crappy format to try to keep up with while actually living your life. Also, at the time I had some pretty heavy stuff going on and some major distractions. All in all, I understand this just amounts to poor excuses, but I've never written 20 pages for a novel let alone 40 so I don't see it as a total failure.

Char's reading: I actually do have the psychic reading transcribed now (thanks in part to NaNoWriMo) and will be able to publish it throughout the next few weeks (it's loooong).

Training and balance: I just recently started my second round of 5k training, which has been pretty easy since my lovely boyfriend has been uber busy with his music and recording the past few weeks.

Ohhhh yes. Part of the distraction in my life lately has been the introduction of a new beau and amazing new friends, as well as a lot of change happening for my long-term buddies. I feel like it's the end of an era in a lot of ways for many people I know, but when one era ends another begins and I can't help but look forward to the things ahead for all of us.

My apologies in advance...er, just slightly belated.

At the very beginning of the month I decided to participate in the
NaNoWriMo challenge, which is "an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world." To win the challenge, you have to write 50000 words of a novel within the 30 days of November and anyone who fulfills the requirement wins. In the past I have written poems, short stories and started a play or two, but I have never undertaken such a grand task of attempting to write a novel so I felt this would be a fantastic project to take on and stretch my writing skills.

With an average of 1667 words a day needed to meet the deadline, you are forced to write with almost a reckless abandon; going back to edit what you have already written has the potential to decrease your word count and increase the hours that you have to dedicate to the piece.

Unfortunately, making time to blog in between work, running and writing has been progressively more troublesome and honestly, I don't feel I have the capacity to dedicate my words to both. Please pardon my absence and understand that when I return I will do so with a vengeance.

Fine. Be that way.

My Mom is pretty rad. Prime example:

Last night I did my run, showered and got into my super comfy robe, turned the lights down and popped the "Char Reading '06" tape into my stereo. Hmmmmm - the tape deck wasn't working right and wouldn't play it. I went to try the other deck but the door was jammed shut, so I gently forced it open ANNNNNND ending up breaking the door mechanism. So now my tape player doesn't work and the door won't stay shut. Way ghetto and it will need to be replaced a to the sap.

My first instinct? Call my Mom. Even if I am totally frustrated, I know I can call her and make her laugh at my silly stories of misfortune, which inevitably cheers me up. It's always nice to have an outside perspective and she can usually turn any of my grumpiness around pretty quickly.

After talking to her I resolved myself to being patient and calling it an early night; I haven't been sleeping well but the run had me in a lovely state of healthy fatigue I haven't felt for a little while.

As soon as I settled on my couch to dash off a quick post, one of my bffs called me up and I got sucked into actually using some of my minutes (I'm a textoholic and usually barely use 200 minutes out of my 1000 per month). I finished up with him as my battery died, but no sooner had I plugged it in than I was getting yet another call, this time from Nat.

My evening wasn't going as planned, but I still ended up having some lovely conversations with friends and family that I probably would have missed if that damned tape player hadn't broken. So, fine - be that way.

As for the originally intended content of this post, I'm hijacking the radio/tape player from work in hopes that it actually functions and at some point this weekend I can make time to listen to the tape. Wish me luck.

Sloth and balance.

I haven't run in two weeks. TWO WHOLE WEEKS. This is unacceptable.

Alright, so I was trying to be available for the occasional emotional breakdown and I was sick, but still - Not Okay.

I had dropped all but 2 pounds of the 8 I wanted to lose and those bad boys are steadily creeping back on - Not Okay.

Basically, until the end of the month I will not be taking on any additional social obligations during the week on days that I am scheduled to train. No more rearranging, no more pushing back a week, no more slacking.

Come to think of it, this seems to be an obvious example of how easily I lose balance in my life when I find myself in more stressful situations (or start dating someone). My running suffers, my blog is ignored, my apartment gets dirty, and my diet becomes atrocious. All of it - Not Okay.

2009 has been a year of growth and education about life, and I guess this is one of the lessons I desperately need to learn.

Tonight I will make myself a little dinner, run, then come back here to start busting out some content as promised.

It's time to find the balance.

The psychic reading, almost 4 years later. Do I want to know?

For Christmas of 2005, my boss at the time (a pretty, young, yet practically bat-shit crazy Capital Hill salon owner) arranged for me to have a reading with a well reknowned psychic friend of hers - Char Sundust. At the time I had a lot of things going on in my life and a lot of changes and I have always been far from anti-"woowoo" so it was a really thoughtful gift, despite the fact we barely liked each other at the time.

Over the past month or two I've had a few really amazing things hit me (as in, "holy shit, that's what she said would happen!")from my vague recollections of the reading, and I found myself very curious about what I may have forgotten since my reading in early 2006. Lucky me, the session was taped and I believed I still had a copy. After distractedly searching my place the other day when Nat was there and not finding it, I assumed I had packed it into one of my storage boxes and it was going to take some serious motivation to locate it.

Yesterday while doin' my usual Sunday ritual thang, I opened a drawer on my livingroom table and there it was atop a few random DVDs and CD cleaning kit. Hmmmm.....Could've sworn I looked there. Lately I find myself questioning/noticing the timing of the universe and wondering why things are presented to us at certain times in our lives, so I am going to chalk this one up to it somehow being the right time (and apparently better than the last time I searched a few days ago) to give it another listen.

So, my domicile is clean and it's been a mellow day even though I was super busy at work after being sick last week (seriously, I am so tired of stress negatively affecting my health), I think I will make myself a nice healthy dinner, do a bit of meditation in a bubble bath, get comfy in some pjs and then sit down to listen to my reading. This time I take notes and report back here. I don't care if you believe or not, it's sure to be surprising and probably even a little creepy...

Shameless Plug Sunday - my laundry favorites.

We now interrupt your (less than) regularly scheduled programming for a moment of consumer love.

I may hate ironing and folding and hanging things up, but I'll be damned if I don't love doing my laundry. I love it when my clothes and linens are soft and smell fresh and clean - there is nothing like the feeling of slipping into newly laundered sheets and gathering the softness around you as you drift into cozy slumber.

For me, a big part of my laundry experience comes from the scent in my detergent and dryer sheets. A while back I found Tide Pure Essentials in White Lilac. It's absolutely girly but not creepily fake like some of the aromas that are on the market these days.

The smell has longevity, and I will find myself catching subtle whiffs of it off of my clothing as I move around throughout the day.

There has been the occasional problem finding it in stores, though I'm not sure if it is an issue of discontinuation or just being in specific markets. I have grown to rely on the Target near me for the stock, since it hasn't been found in any other nearby discount stores for some time.

Bounce offers a coordinating dryer sheet with the additional hint of aloe and typically I would use it, but I recently found a new dryer sheet that was screaming for me give it a try - Snuggle Creme in Sweet Almond Essence.

I recently discovered my love for the almond essence when I found Estrella Soaps and I find the fragrance makes me feel cozy and peaceful and even sexy, I guess.

I got to use these for the first time today when I laundered my sheets and I can tell you that I am enjoying the hell out of my bed right now. This seems to be the perfect warm bouquet to comfort me through the cool fall season.

This is not for the faint of heart.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/20386598/detail.html

Read the article. Feel free to watch the video. Take moment and let it all sink in.

That man has been in my life since I was 16 years old. He was one of my best friends and is one of the only men I ever considered marrying. He is also one of the only men who has ever hurt me more than I imagined I could be hurt. I kicked him out of my home and my life and hoped that would be the end of it.

A few days after the break-up with B, out of the blue he sent me a brief email that said:

"Hello Alyson I am sorry it has been so long since the last time we talked but you may have heard what has happened to me. I would love to talk to you you can call me if you want. I would call you but I have lost your number so this is my number call anytime please 206 ***-**** you are one of the neatest people I know and I miss my friend so there it is take care and i hope to hear from you. Nathaniel "

I had no idea what the hell he was talking about (since I hadn't talked to him or his family for months, if not a year plus) and sent him a terse reply telling him that I didn't think I had it in me to be a good friend to him. He was understanding - we have a past that involves a lot of pain as well as a lot of love.

A few weeks later a friend (who is a pathological liar and in hindsight completely unreliable as a source of information) told me at a party that he had done a certain illegal drug (that disgusts the hell out of me) with Nat. I was piiiiiiissssssed - that was one bind I was not willing to help him "out of" nor am I willing to have friends that are involved with that shit. So, I tracked down the number he had sent me a fired off a text essentially telling him to fuck off.

Then he called me. Like, immediately. After he calmed me down and told me that the drug thing was untrue he told me to google that article.

If there is one thing that I want to leave this life with, it's the knowledge that I was a good friend and I did everything I could to help the wonderful people I've surrounded myself with when they needed me, and the thought I improved their lives by doing so. He reached out for my support and though it was hard to deal with my emotions and our past starting at that very first phone call, I knew it wasn't in me to turn my back on him.

This story may seem sad, but it's a story of love and loss, growth and grief, and we all come out the other side as better people when we experience these things.

Major Life Distraction Alert!

Wow - the past few weeks I have totally sucked as a blogger and I must offer my apologies to anyone who does actually like to read my posts (or at least likes to come here and figure out what I'm up to lately/stalk me).

The absence was truly unintentional and will most likely be thoroughly explained here over the next few weeks as I take time to catch up and take a mini-break from my somewhat over-burdened social calendar, but I will say this now: things at the O'Holic household have been shaken up.

You'll be reading about things that will make you giggle, chuckle, and hopefully even solicit a hearty guffaw as well as sh*t that will smack you in the face with a big "WTF?" and may even make you cry, but stick with me Dear Reader - you might just learn something about the human condition and how to deal with life with a smirk and a sense of hope.

Bruised fingers AND bloody knees.

I have discovered that my running stats just aren't that interesting to anyone but myself and other runners, so I won't be posting them here unless for some reason they are extraordinary - if you are that curious, may I refer you to my nikeplus "mini" over there in the side bar? Alright
now.

Lately I have been messaging back and forth on Facebook with one of the Turkish musicians I met through my Bass Player friend a few weeks ago and somehow ended up volunteering to learn a song on my guitar by the time he returns from Istanbul. At the same time that I am kicking myself for suggesting such an idea, I find myself fired up by the challenge and motivation it presents. Not to mention I love my guitar and it's about damn time.

See her over there? I call her Madeleine. She's kind of sexy but in a classy sort of way, and for those of you who like details - she's an acoustic-electric Yamaha Compass Series XP in the violin sunburst finish. When I bought her I needed a smaller sized guitar to fit my frame, and I wanted something that was of decent quality, but knew I shouldn't bother with buying something super expensive as a beginner. Now I feel like she and I could be together forever, you know? Okay, this is just getting weirder by the moment.

What I was getting at is that I started practicing after work the other night, checking out tabs and trying to find a song that I like to sing along with but isn't too old or booooring. It took me a little while to refresh my memory as to "top" and "bottom" strings and then I started working out the notes with my little, so non-nimble fingers. I'm sure there's a proper way to place your fingers for the specific notes, but right now I have to do it any way I can make it work. I started around 5 PM and by the time I knew it 8 PM had rolled around and I had a few of the notes worked out and was trying to get better with the transitions through first four/five notes of the verse. My fingertips were bruised and sore when I finally called it quits for a run.

I actually took a week or so off from running while I was sick with THE FREAKIN' PLAGUE that is sweeping through Seattle, so it felt awesome to finally get out on the pavement again until about 2 minutes into my run when I caught my toe on the sidewalk and biffed it. I fell onto my "bad" knee and knew I had scraped it up but decided it wasn't bad enough to stop the session. Even more awesome - there were people walking towards me on the sidewalk, so despite the minor embarrassment I quickly got back on my feet and got back into my pace. When I got home I found this:
Which two days later looks like this:



I had to cover up the scrape with a band aid yesterday, since it kept rubbing on my pants and stinging like all-get-out, but the whole kneecap is bruised and there's no getting around that. Oddly enough, my normal knee pain doesn't seem as bad, so maybe I broke up some of the tissue that was causing the problem in the first place...Who knows?

I do know that no bruised fingers or bloody knees are going to keep this girl down, so tonight I'm back at it. No rest for the wicked, right?

The new way to end a Sunday.

The past few weeks I have found myself concluding my weekends in a similar way, and I realized that I've started something that equates to a new ritual, I suppose.

I sleep in, spend a little extra time snuggling with Gizmo and Wilson who are inevitably flanking me in the form of warm furry balls when I wake up, put on some comfy pjs and set to cleaning my apartment. I'll usually queue up episodes of Mad Men and Dexter from my laptop to my TV and occasionally throw in a new release or an old favorite to have something interesting I can be distracted by as I pick up around my place.

I may walk/drive to the shopping center down the street for coffee or groceries or stuff for the house, I may run or do yoga, but when the sun goes down I start the relaxatin'.

I make sure my bed is made up, turn down the lights in my apartment then in my nice clean bathroom, light some fantastic smelling candles, brew up a cup of Yogi Bedtime tea or pour a glass of champagne, roll one up, bring in my laptop with Mad Men queued up, set up my bath pillow and run a hot bubble bath. After I am all set up, I proceed to enjoy the remainder of my weekend.

When I am ready to start easing myself out of the warm coziness I grab my favorite soap to get myself spic and span, then I get out of the tub and into my super fluffy robe. I head for my vanity, where I schmear my face with beauty products, ditch my robe to get some lotion on my skin (especially important after a hot bath AND in the fall/winter) then I take the laptop to my bed and slip in between the luscious sheets for a bit of mindless Facebooking and maybe a little bit of reading.

God, I love my life.