1. Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw.  I was 5 yrs. old. 
     
  2. I was very proud of myself during sleep-away camp, the summer after first grade, when I was the only one in swimming class that knew how to do a back float (thanks mom for the lessons at Jamestown!)
     
  3. My favorite type of food is Mexican (though, Italian is a seriously close second).
     
  4. I’m German, Irish, French, Greek, and supposedly a little Native American.
     
  5. I have THREE close friends that were born on March 6th.  At any phase of my life, my best friend has had a March b-day.  And, I know more people with March birthdays than any other single month.
     
  6. My birthday is the same day the Girl Scouts was founded.
     
  7. I was a Girl Scout for five years (and apparently, the only person on earth who hated it . . . except for the cookies, of course).
     
  8. My first job was at age 15, as a telemarketer (selling magazine subscriptions).  I was awful and got fired within two weeks.  (However, in my defense, they liked me enough to call me back a few weeks later to fill a non-sales position.)
     
  9. I NEVER buy from telemarketers (or door-to-door sales people, for that matter) — I don’t care what they’re selling.
     
  10. It annoys me when people shorten my name (unless you’re my grandma), or call me the wrong name.  It’s Kristen (with an “en”).  Not Kirsten, Kris, Kristi, Kirsti, Kristine, Krissy, or Christian. 
     
  11. I love white flowers (tulips, in particular).
     
  12. I planted a tree in a village in Africa (Uganda). 
     
  13. I get very happy when I can check an item off my to-do list. (As in, smiling, bounce-in-my-step happy.)
     
  14. I eat fast, and often have to consciously make myself slow down (or else, a tummy-ache surely follows . . . it only took me 30-something years to figure that out).  Frankly, I’m just trying to check it off my list!
     
  15. I have matching scars on my right hand (assaulted by a chain-link fence) and right foot (surgery).
     
  16. I really wanted a Barbie Dream House when I was little, but never got one.  I torture my mom about it to this day.  (That’s very nice of you to think of my birthday coming up, but I’m too big for that now . . . just send cash!)  :)
     
  17. I was pregnant for exactly 265 days in 1991.
     
  18. I went into labor at 3:30 a.m., while lying on my mom’s couch (where I fell asleep watching the Arsenio Hall show).  Went to the hospital, in a snow storm, at 6:30 a.m.  Jaz was born at 9:28 a.m.  All-in-all . . . not too bad.
     
  19. No drugs for me . . . all natural birth.  (BTW, never listen to a woman who had an epidural or a spinal (thanks mom) when she tells you that you don’t even notice when they stitch the episiotomy.  Great . . . now I’ve lost all the men – and the squeamish girls.) 
     
  20. I have a tendency to mimic the accents of people I’m around (I spent much of 1994 speaking with a British accent (when at home), because Jaz and I watched 101 Dalmatians so many times.)
     
  21. I wanted to be a singer, like Pat Benatar, when I was little.  I spent endless hours singing and dancing to Hit Me with Your Best Shot.  Music fans everywhere should be thankful that I went a different direction.
     
  22. I do not think of high school as “the good old days,” and would never, never, never want to go back and do it again, over, or any other way.
     
  23. I didn’t know that people in Ohio had an accent until I moved away for a while.  Now I hear it in almost every Ohioan I talk to.  (Why can’t you people pronounce “Ts”?  It’s BalTimore not Baldimore!)  ;)
     
  24. I didn’t eat or drink anything with caffeine in it (yes, that includes chocolate) for 10 years.  But, now . . .
     
  25. Jaz has gotten me addicted to Mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks.  I’m currently trying to kick the habit.  But, I can be found occasionally sneaking off while she’s at school, donning a hat and dark sunglasses, for a quick fix.
     
  26. I go against the stereotypes . . . I’m “a creative,” AND my desk is always neat.  (I bet it’s cleaner than yours is right now!) :)
     
  27. I don’t have a favorite color (I do not discriminate on the basis of hue, saturation, or lightness — that’s one for the designers).
     
  28. I don’t understand why people squish or stretch graphics to fit a space.  Hold down the SHIFT key when re-sizing for crying out loud!
     
  29. I always judge a book by its cover.  (I’m a designer, silly!)
     
  30. Though I LOVE books, I don’t like getting them from the library . . . eeewww, lots of other people have touched them (cooties).  Which leads me to . . .
     
  31. I like new things.  Doesn’t have to be expensive, just has to be new.  This is why you will never catch me shopping for antiques.
     
  32. I bought a car on ebay.  It turned out fine, but I don’t think I’d do it again.
     
  33. At night, in the summer, I like to drive with my hair up in a pony-tail and my windows down so I can feel the breeze on my neck, while driving and listening to jazz.
     
  34. One of my pet peeves is when people give you a gift that shows they clearly know nothing about you.  I am truly grateful for the thought (I’m not heartless, after-all), but now I have extra junk hanging around (another pet peeve).  All of this careless gifting is why there now exists a thing called a “re-gifting closet.”  I do not have one.  Do not be offended if I donate your well-intentioned gift to charity. :)
     
  35. January 2006 through January 2009, I’ve read 95 books.  
     
  36. One of my favorite days of the year is when we “spring ahead” and daylight savings time begins.  I love the extra daylight hours!
     
    OKAY, SOME BONUS TIDBITS . . . I THOUGHT OF MORE . . .
     
  37. Jaz and I auditioned and got parts in an O’Charley’s commercial, but never saw ourselves in the finished product.  (Well, that’s not entirely true.  The top of her head is in one quick shot as the waitress carries the tray of food past her.)
     
  38. I’ve read the entire bible (many books multiple times).  It’s strange to me how many Christians have not done this.  (Don’t get stuck in the mud at the Book of Numbers . . . there’s more interesting stuff to come – I promise.)
     
  39. I have a little thing against Dorothy Hamill because my mom always made me have her haircut when I was little (combined with the completely unattractive fashions of the 70s, I pretty much looked like a boy). 
     
  40. I lived in Chicago (suburbs) for one month.
     
  41. I’m bored with watching sports on TV, but love going to live events.  (Who knew hockey could be so elegant and ballet-esque?  Toothless men everywhere are having spasms over that comment!)
     
  42. I think taking out the trash, killing bugs, and lawn care are “men’s work.”
     
  43. I coined the term “Obamazombies” (meaning those who simply love the new Pres. because he’s the dreamiest . . . you know who you are).  So, I want credit when it catches on.  I was saying “goin’ postal” way before Clueless, and I have yet to be acknowledged for it.
     
  44. I’m a little bit of a neat freak.
     
  45. When I’m sleepy, I either get really really talkative or really really quiet.  There’s no predicting which.
     
  46. I had a big poster of John Travolta (from Saturday Night Fever…white suit…”the” pose…you know the one).  I had never seen SNF, but loved him from Grease (my fav movie, which I saw at a drive-in when I was six).