One Picture ... of yourself

it's about a year old ... but i still freaking love this picture.

10 Day You Challenge: Songs

Two Songs

1. She's Got A Way by Billy Joel
2. If It's Love by Train

10 Day You Challenge: Films

Three Films

1. The Little Mermaid — I wore out this tape as a kid.
2. Mean Girls — I employ lines of this movie in my everyday life.
3. Remember the Titans — best movie. First DVD I ever bought.

10 Day You Challenge: Books

Four Books (um, only four? eek.)

1. Night by Elie Wiesel — this book will change your life. It will disturb you, make you cry, make you think and, hopefully, make you a better person.
2. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner — this book changed how I saw, felt about and understood literature. there are so many styles, thoughts, and ways of communicating all contained in one book…it’s utterly mind-blowing.
3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott — this is one of my very favorites.
4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert —i.hate.this.book. in fact, that’s why it made my list. i don’t hate it because it’s awful, or without merit — i hate it because i started reading it at the same time i was going through something hauntingly similar to what she was writing about. it was SCARY accurate. and i’d stop reading and each time i picked it back up…my life mirrored what i was reading. still, i’d recommend it to people.

10 Day You Challenge: Foods

Five Foods

1. Potatoes — in ANY way, shape or form. Hands down my favorite food.
2. Cheese — tied for my favorite food.
3. Macaroni & Cheese — mmmmmmmmmmmhhmmm.
4. BBQ Brisket — effing amazing. And shockingly some of the best I’ve had came from the Dallas airport.
5. Pizza — I will always love pizza.

10 Day You Challenge: Places

Six Places

1. London — I love London. It’s got so much diversity, so much old-world-ness, so much class.
2. Washington, D.C. — I desperately wanted to be able to go to school here, and still would love to live there some day.
3. Boston — a place that will forever have a big chunk of my heart, and 95% of my sports loyalty
4. Rome — one of the places I want to visit most in my life.
5. Oregon — I freakin love it here. 
6. San Diego — where I wouldn’t mind spending my (early) retirement.

10 Day You Challenge: Wants

Seven Wants

1.  for my dad to get a job he loves
2. funding for pat's future endeavors
3. to be financially comfortable 
4. to get married 
5. to pay off my car quickly and on time
6. to travel the world
7. to lose some weight

10 Day You Challenge: Fears

Eight Fears

1. not living up to my potential/own expectations 
2. cancer
3. someone i love dying without them knowing how much i care 
4. my anxiety taking over my life
5. bridges collapsing from underneath me 
6. this one is a secret … but scares the bejeebers outta me
7. dying alone
8. never finding the pursuit that makes me leap out of bed with excitement. 

10 Day You Challenge: Loves

Nine Loves (in no particular order)

1. a really good book/the smell of new books
2. Pat
3. my family 
4. my friends 
5. the confidence you get from a really good hair day
6. really good comfort food
7. when a song comes on your ipod/the radio/pandora that is exactly what you need at that precise moment 
8. snuggling 
9. youtube. seriously. imagine your life without it.
10. laughing

little bit of this... little bit of that...

I've been absent from the blogging world. 

Because, my friends, as the Lovely Liz puts it: 

"Real life trumps blog."

So I've been out livin life, working, having fun, loving, dating (same boy), smiling, laughing,

and BEING.

Oh, and obsessively watching NCIS. 

Not a show that would generally be up my alley ... I'm seriously into this show. Like USA has marathons and I have them all DVR-ed into this show. I'm becoming pseudo friends with Gibbs, McGee, Ziva, Abbey, Ducky, and DiNozzo. (Aaaand it doesn't hurt that the characters are endearing beyond measure.) It's smart, it's intriguing, and it sucks. you. the. freak. in. I love trying to piece together the clues as the team does. And the way Abby and McGee can piece together forensics ... makes me want to be a forensic scientist.
(I just with USA would play them in order.)

It might make me a serious old lady -- but I LOVE The View. (Helps that I work at ABC and can watch at work.) 50 cent was on The View today...and it was awesome. He talked about his dramatic weight loss for a movie (seriously, check out the pictures (he went from 214 pounds to 160)) ... and how he's gained it back. You can see the segment here.

Gabby got me thinking about this next part -- but seriously, these things need to be recommended. 

I don't think I've ever posted a picture of my hair all curly ...but trust me -- I have quite the mane. I am always on a quest to find a shampoo I'll really love that'll take good care of my hair (when it's straight and curly), will keep my color/highlights vibrant, smells nice, and won't break the bank. I think, my friends, I've found it. 

The Dove Color Repair shampoo is AMAZING. It's light, it doesn't weigh my curls down, and it smells AMAZING. Honestly, I have mousse in my hair right now and my hair is still very soft and my curls look great even though I barely scrunched them.

I have tried mascaras from SO many different companies. And I love this stuff more than I loved my high price mascaras.

I get fairly greasy under my eyes by the end of the day (especially when it's hot) and I can honestly say the only times I've seen this smudge is when I've been really sweaty, or after sleeping with it on. I love Maybelline mascara...and this one DEFINITELY continues that love. And after my last AWFUL mascara ...  it's a breath of fresh air. My eyelashes don't get clumpy, which is great because I have so few, and it makes them look LONGGGGGG. I freaking LOVE this stuff. 

Also my sunburn is peeling/has peeled a lot and it is ITCHIN like crazy! I lotion it everyday -- but it doesn't help. Anyone got any remedies for itchy burnt skin?

And I finally got my perfect pair of mirrored aviators. I've searched for weeks (and after dropping my sunglasses in the river) I found ones I LOVE. I'll take a picture next time I'm in my car with them. 

How about y'all. How are you?

xoxox.

strange things you don't know about me...

My friend Ginny: 

{isn't this an awesome picture? it's from Holi.}

{oh! and remind me to tell you sometime about how truly incredible and amazing Ginny is. she's one of my heroes.}

challenged me to do a 10 Quirks post {like her} -- and we all know I'm real quirky, so I'll gladly oblige. 

1. I have a routine to follow before I sleep. And not like a night time face cream regimen -- like a number of flips and tosses I have to do in my bed before I can fall asleep. I start out on my back, then turn to my stomach facing right, then turn to my left, (and sometimes i do another sequence of this) and then I can slumber.

{my actual feet}

2. I have 9084560984058 pairs of shoes (okay, that's an exaggeration) but pretty much I'd rather be barefoot than wearing shoes at any point.

3. I don't set my alarms for normal times, but they're always set in 5 minute increments. 8:08, 8:13; 4:54, 4:59; 10:03, 10:08; etc.

4. I'm one of the most accident prone/clumsy people I know. Literally I can hurt myself in ways no one else would (like when I cutting stuff last night for dinner). I even broke my foot in high school by tripping over the other one. No joke.

5. I'm not a cat OR a dog person ... I'm both. I tend to think I'm slightly more suited for a cat because they're more autonomous and I work all the time -- but I love both.

6. No matter what is going on in my life, good, bad, happy, sad, ugly, pathetic, hopeful -- set me at the ocean and I'm immediately at peace.

7. I always pick the most annoying ringtone on my phone for my alarm setting. That way I'm so annoyed that I have to pay attention to it.

8. I usually cut my own bangs because I think other people mess them up. I'm RIDICULOUSLY O.C.D. about them. And I cut them (to some degree) at least once a week.

9. When I'm concentrating really hard or I'm really bored I tend to tap my front teeth with my pointer finger fingernail. I'll just sit there and tap as I think.

10. My favorite writing medium is not regular paper, or anything like that. It's napkins. I LOVE writing on napkins. They're so cushy and great and my handwriting looks awesome on them.

What about you? Let me know YOUR quirks!

Tuesday Toesies

Once again it's Tuesday Toesies or Feetsy Fotos (as I like to call it).

So join on in! And make sure you post your link over at My Teacups In Peony, to share with everyone!

This comes from the summer Dani and I went to Denver together and saw a Bronco's game. 

These are my summer feet at Bronco stadium with bright orange nail polish. 

{And the requisite cup of diet coke.}

I love this picture because in it, I can FEEL summer. 

Still.

xoxo.

showin off my feetsees

One of my favorite bloggers, Nicole over at My Teacups In Peony, has started a weekly posting trend I REALLY LOVE.

I LOVE FEET PHOTOS. 

I take a lot of them. 

In fact, last night I went to take one of my new highlighter pink toesies ... but my camera battery is dead. 

Woh Wohhhh. hahahaha. 

So here's my Tuesday feet photo.

Me and miss Lyndsi Shae at the coast when she visited last April. 

She's the super tan one ... I'm the ghost white one (yay pasty!). 

I love love love the coast. I have so many pictures of my feet in the water. LOVE IT.

winner, winner, blog friends should come to dinner!

So...I have 51 followers!

How/when did that happen!?!

It's AWESOME. 

And only a portion of you know me in real life ... and for that I am sorry!

{I keed ... I keed.}

I'm actually sorry I don't know you all of you in real life.

You seem are awesome.

I can tell.

So, because we don't get to see each other all the time ... I'm gonna do something fun. 

ASK ME ANYTHING.

Seriously. Anything.

{within reason -- no social security #s my friends, sorry.} 

And I will answer it.

All you non-commenters and lurkers -- come on out. 

I wanna get to know you!

And I want you got get to know me!
But friends, don't be shy, feel free to ask away, too! 

So, ask away my dears.

And I will answer!

xoxox.

show a little love...

I have some beef with Sonic.
I LOVE the Sonic. I want to crawl in their tator tot fryer and live there.
But I have gone twice in the past two days -- and they were closed!
I went at 1 in the afternoon, and 9 at night!
They're supposed to be open. Ugh. I'm craving a strawberry limeade like none other. 

Anyway. Let's look over some things I'm currently totally swooning over.

The 160 GB iPod. It's like a dream.

40,000 songs?! YES. PLEASE.

I mostly started looking at these because my iPod is starting to die...and I only have half a gig free space on it.

And my alma mater's bookstore has the 120 GB ones for just a little less.

And you have to have an iTrip to go with it -- I'm sobbing without mine.

EVERY.DAY. 

I love this necklace. It's hand stamped...with a phrase from my favorite poem.

I think it's adorable. And sweet.

I like this Etsy seller. She has a sand dollar necklace (I LOVE sand dollars) and tons of other cool jewelry.

 This CTR ring. (CTR stands for Choose the Right.) My current one is getting a little small on my hand. And this one is pretty.

 I FREAKING LOVE PLAID. 

And this matches my pink comforter...and the color scheme of my room.

{I LOVE bright happy colors for bedrooms. They're happy places!}

I also love this bedspread, this duvet and sheet set, this bedroom set, and this bed in a bag set.

This is why I have to stay out of the home goods sections of stores.

I LOVE these things. They're old WWII propaganda posters from England to let everyone know that all would be well. Definitely like the British--keep a stiff upper lip. And I love it in the honey color. I think it's gorgeous. It's the color my room was as a teenager.

{They have it in more colors.}

My Life Is Average.

It's pretty much one of my favorite things that got my through my sick days ... and my normal days, lately.

It's HYSTERICAL. They're all stories people send in from their every day lives.

Like one of my favorites from Halloween: 

Today, I was handing out candy for Halloween and someone rang the doorbell. I opened the door, but no one was there so I was about to close the door when I saw two people dressed as hands running toward each other down the sidewalk. They proceeded to collide midair: they were a high five. I gave them extra candy for their awesomeness. MLIA

I want to be friends with a LOT of these people. If you want a good chuckle, or even a smile, check it out.

And speaking of MLIA, I recommended it to one of my very favorite bloggers, Gabby @ Gabby She Wrote, and she mentioned me in her blog! It was a HUGE moment for me. I basically idolize this girl. 

Mental-Floss is definitely, 100%, certifiably for nerds like me. I love this stuff!

And I'm Etsying my life away trying to find a super cute, reasonably priced beanie, or two, for winter. It's getting chilly here.

What are you guys loving? I'd love to know!

Well, off to write more sweeps stuff. Yay for ratings periods! (Someone shoot me.)

Catcha on the flip side.
xoxo.

sicko ma gick oh

I am one sick girl.

You know you're real sick when the General Manager walks downstairs, hears you coughing and tells your boss that you'll be taking a sick day tomorrow.

Sounds alright to me. I need the rest. 

So here I sit on my couch with my DayQuil (and NyQuil), Orange Juice, Chocolate Milk, and my remote.

I can't even begin to think about really eating.

All I've had today was a bag of chips when I realized around 4:30 that I had yet to eat today.

Ew.

All I want are Dole Coconut Popsicles.

MMmmmmMMmmm.

Those things are DANK.

Alas, I can't peel myself off my couch....so they'll have to wait til tomorrow. 

I can't freakin wait to see this movie. I tear up nearly every time I see it. Seriously. Sandra Bullock has long been my favorite actress, and now I love her even more. Plus...football. Duh. Oh and a Jack's Mannequin song in the trailer = ♥

Oh and I have some backed up posts, so expect an overload. :)

xoxo.

circle of salt to protect from zombies, witches, and old boyfriends...

Okay, I'm a bad blogger friend.
Seriously, life has been so crazy go nuts that by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is look at a computer.

Work is work.
That's all I can safely say here for now.


As far as that whole tutu thing -- I had a bunch of questions asking how/why/what I'm gonna be for Halloween.
Well, friends, Halloween is, like, my favorite (non-traditional) holiday.
You get to dress up as whatever you'd like and people give you FREE candy!! Where's the bad in this whole situation?
Anyway, in the past I've always been something cutesy or just fun for Halloween. I've never been anything even a touch morbid. I've been a princess (a thousand times), a cheerleader, a construction worker, a witch, a pirate, etc...but never anything ... weird.
So this year ... I'm going as ...
(drumroll, please)
a dead ballerina.

I know, I know.
But dude, my tutu is BAD A.
(I PROMISE I'll take a picture when my camera battery isn't dead).
As far as how to make one -- I did mine similarly to this:

I figured a video was better than trying to describe it.
AND sewing tulle is a BEAST so the non-sew option is AWESOME.
Anyone can do this. Seriously. ANYONE.
I did mine with 4 colors: black, turquoise, hot pink, and black with purple metallic spiderwebs.
And then I have spiderweb tights, some gorgeous heels, I made a headband for the occasion, and even "invested" in a leotard.

As far as makeup, MAC has been doing this awesome series of Halloween themed makeovers.
I think my zombie makeup will become something like this -- what do we think?

I'm SOOOO excited.


In other news, last week seems like it was craptastic for just about everyone. And in one day I managed to cry, break my purse AND my dvd player, and get sick in a giant fell swoop (and that wasn't even all of it). now that I've repaired/replaced at least some of that ... I feel like it can only go up from here. BUT. We all need a little humor. So I leave you with something that keeps making me laugh, no matter how many times I watch it.

Hope you all have a great Monday.
xoxo.