Smiles

Spring Closet Clean Out

Those who know me will read this post's title and probably laugh out loud.  Cleaning is not a thing I do regularly or willingly.  However, with the rollercoaster of  year I've had, the idea of cleaning out my closet and getting rid of some old things to make way for the new and fresh was a bit more appealing.

I know they say you're supposed to sort through your closet and evaluate based on if you've worn the item in the last year whether or not to keep it.  Who are they kidding?? I have some staples that haven't steered me wrong and have been in my closet for years but come up to bat when they're needed.  I'm also the person who has a shirt (or something) in the bottom of the drawer with sentimental value that may never go in the donate pile.  Don't worry I don't let this get to a hoarding place but some "things" have more sentimental worth than I'm willing to part with and I'm okay with that.

Sidenote: I feel the need to apologize to my sister for this statement as she is striving at all times to be a true minimalist and probably just cringed involuntarily at the sentiment that I will keep a thing that serves no immediate function and be happy about it. Hope you love me anyway!

Back to the purge.  This was a good one.  I got through things that definitely made it through the last two times I went through - even a couple of the sentimental ones.  At 31, nearly 32, and after the year of changes and trauma I am truly grateful to be in a place of ready for change rather than a place where I want to just hold on to anything familiar and comfortable - a place I was not too long ago.

Looking forward and planning a trip to donate this piles!

I dislike that...

Continuing my early onstage grump rants it seems to me that there are a large number of people who are willfully ignorant of socially acceptable actions and unless they are shamed on social media there are no ramifications that matter.

So I've made a decision to attempt to communicate with those in public in a way that they may understand.  When someone does something inappropriate in public, such as run straight into me in the street because they couldn't be bothered to look up from their phone I will make eye contact and hold up a big thumbs down.  I dislike that.

On the flip side when someone does something that clearly shows they are invested in being part of society in a positive way such as offering up their seat on public transportation to someone who needs it more than they do they get a big thumbs up.  Liked!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Ugh, why does this need to be said

I am now firmly one of those thirty-something year olds who laments when things were good. I get it, that's ridiculous and maybe I'm still too  young for nostalgia but nevertheless I have it. Early onset grump as Portlandia called it.

My friend from college who is now a professor at our alma mater posted this image the other day with a comment that she might actually start putting this with her syllabus because it includes items that actually need addressing on occasion - what?!?!  

We went to a highly competitive liberal arts college it is incredibly upsetting to think that anyone who makes it through high school could possibly thing this is okay when communicating with anyone other than their good friends.

Ugh...

Bikini!

You know when you get a puppy and you swear you won't be that weird person who dresses their dog up. But then you realize you can't help it, at all! And then you put your puppy in a baby bikini and you know she loves  you because she's cool with it...oh how far you've fallen.

Stay Creative

Oops

Tonight I had every intention of coming home and treating myself to an evening of pampering. I had even picked out some DIY spa treatments on Pinterest to try tonight.

Instead, I am currently on my couch in a tank top and underwear, with a fan directly on me, plowing my way through my Hulu queue. 

Ah, what a glamorous life this single gap leads...

Back to reality

I've been back just a week now from my amazing trip and had a birthday, jumped in to several crazy work projects, had a boss leave on maternity leave, and quite a bit of change and shifting in that short amount of time.

I'm a true cancer in many senses, not least of which is that it takes me a long time to be ok with change.  So to say that this week has been really hard for me is a bit of an understatement.  The other thing I've learned about myself in recent years is that I'm really bad at not being ok.  I get angry with myself when I'm sad or depressed, I don't do well with not doing well. I know this seems a bit backwards and like I'm being hard on myself but it's true. Overall I am happy with my life and I know, and feel, that I am truly blessed in my life. Blessed by things that were given to me, like my family, and by things I chose, like my friends. This doesn't mean that there aren't things I can work on or things I wish were different - it just means that the big picture still looks pretty good.

One of my closest friends has moved very far away, a friend that I thought I would be living near the rest of my life (yes I realize this sounds codependent) and raising our kids near each other. She moved to be with someone she believes can make her happy, which is really all we want for our friends right?  Meanwhile, I'm battling toddler like feelings of abandonment, sadness, and anger. Only made ok by that fact that we've been able to talk about all this and I know this isn't the end it's just a change. However, this truth doesn't yet make me feel better about the situation.  I'm sure I'll get there.  I hope I get there soon.

Also I just had my birthday which means my 30th year is complete. It was satisfying to complete so many projects and take on a year of celibacy. I can't help but feel frustration at the fact that after a year of "action" I can't help but feel so stagnant. Expect more projects and activities as I distract myself from missing my people and figuring out what my forward is.

Sorry for the heavy post but as the 90s so eloquently put it - reality bites (sometimes)

(clearly I did some Pinterest searching of sappy happiness quotes - please indulge me)

Smile, It's Thursday

Crazy Pills

Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, where it seems that everywhere you look, something crazy is happening? I do.  

I don't know if it's that I go through phases where I'm more aware of the crazy or there are actual upticks but either way there are certain days where I feel like I'm making the same face as Will Ferrell above and can't stop (also there are not enough moments for Zoolander references in my opinion).

As an example, one morning this week, as I walked in to my office there was a trash can on fire. Not like a urban camping, to keep warm, kind of trash fire.  A normal, on the side of the street, in the financial district, trash can that was just randomly on fire.  I appeared to be the only one acknowledging this oddity.  Was it really happening?  I hadn't had my coffee yet, so sometimes I question myself, but no, it was definitely on fire.   However, like a poor samaritan, I continued on my way, only to clumsily stumble into an argument between two homeless people.  I thought it was a standard "my corner" type of thing but then the dog of one of them jumped in and bit, I think, the other one, while the dog's owner went into a rant about how the other guy was no good and everyone knew it. 

Typically I can assume that there is a mental illness factor in these type of scenarios but I am actually fairly familiar (from my regular walk to work) with the man with the dog, and he seems rather well balanced, considering.  So again because it's before coffee, it takes several seconds too long for me to realize what's happening and when I do I'm standing nearly in the middle of it, confused and oddly detached.

I know cities are not strangers to craziness and mine is no exception but I appear to be in a phase of either heightened awareness or the city itself is getting punchy with the coming of spring and the sun.  Either way it may be time to lay low...

Happy Birthday Gloria Steinem

I am a proud Smithie (An alumna of Smith College) and honored to be part of an institution with such amazing alumnae, including Gloria Steinem.  Gloria turns 80 today and it is hard to believe how amazing she looks and how much she is still doing.  Puts a 30 something who complains about a lack of time, like me, to shame!

There are many amazing quotes and inspiration you can take from her career, this being one that speaks to me.  Take a look at the page that Smith College has put together to celebrate her birthday.  In addition, the newest president of Smith College wrote an Op Ed on CNN.com about Gloria.  Feeling inspired and proud! Thanks mom and dad, for always showing me a strong feminist lens on the world and the belief that my sister and I could truly accomplish anything we decided to work for!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  This is actually my favorite holiday, of all holidays, and not because of the drunken debauchery - though that is fun too.

It's because of my family, for us it's always been a family holiday with extra importance to my dad all of which makes it extra special to me.

We celebrated yesterday with our traditional corned beef and cabbage meal, singing and dancing to Irish songs and a viewing of Darby O'Gill and the Little People.  Once an annual tradition, we all realized that we had not watched this movie in years.  It has all the wonderful craziness of a Disney movie made in 1959 - including an incredibly young and gorgeous Sean Connery.  Though, truth be told, he was not the star of the film.  The true star is the former Irish stage actor who plays Darby - he is incredible and his laugh is contagious.  If you can embrace crazy in a movie and enjoy it, I highly recommend it!

All that said, there were a lot of strangers on my work today deserving of a pinch!  Don't worry I restrained myself...barely.

Smiles

I actually made some pretty significant progress on some projects this weekend however, I'm not quite ready to blog about them - feels almost more daunting than the project itself.   Instead I thought I would quickly share with you something that left me with a huge smile on my face, and made me want to watch it over and over again.  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Ladybugs Gatherings

My family is not a family that sits around and lounges when we get together for holidays, as much as I may try to passive aggressively get this to be the case. No, we are a family who starts the day off with a multi-mile hike up and down rocky trails near.  This is exactly what we did yesterday after all of our out of towners arrived the day before.

On the hike we encountered something pretty crazy and incredible, something that I now know (after some research) was ladybug hibernation!  Something that, if they weren't ladybugs, looks like the beginning of a horror movie - though I was alone in this assessment. 

As we came around a corner there were some fallen logs, bathed in sun and absolutely covered in thousands of ladybugs.  This morning I looked up what could be happening and found the following information.

Ladybug adults hibernate, usually gathering in large aggregations in protected places.
As days get shorter and temperatures fall, ladybugs seek shelter behind bark, under leaves, or in other protected locations. Thousands of ladybugs may gather in the same location, taking advantage of the collective warmth of a colony. Asian multicolored ladybugs, an invasive species in North America, has earned a reputation as a home invader. These beetles tend to move indoors for winter, where they can become a nuisance in people's houses. Convergent ladybugs gather in the mountains in such numbers that collectors can scoop them up by the bucket.

This must be what we were seeing but it was pretty incredible up close.  Check out the video we got below.  

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

This past Sunday I went with my family to cut down trees, a tradition from our childhood that has been on a bit of a hiatus but was revived this year.  I'm definitely the one in my family who holds on tight to traditions and occasionally has to fight for them, so I was quite happy to have this one coming back into our lives.

We gathered at 9am for the hour-ish drive to breakfast and then the tree farm.  All was not as it used to be. Our traditional breakfast spot of yore is now an Irish pub (generally not a problem for our clan) that does not open until 11am (whoops).  We asked a couple locals and got another diner recommendation as a substitute.  With full bellies we piled back in the car and headed to the Christmas tree farm.  As we pulled in there were only two cars where normally we had to wait and circle for parking.  Undeterred we got out and excitedly headed in only to be quickly told that they are sold out.  Sold out!?! With nearly 3 weeks left til Christmas, say it ain't so.  This hiccup did not dampen our spirits and we decided to take a few Christmas photos there even if we couldn't yet get our trees.

Directions in hand we headed toward another Christmas tree farm where we were assured that there were trees left. And there were.  Though it took us nearly 2 hours to find the perfect two trees we did it.  My sister and I have taken over the manual labor part from our parents this year - cause, you know, maturity. This did make me realize why I always thought this was more fun than my dad did.  That is not an easy task.

Happy to report the trees are now both in their respective homes and set up.  I even had a burst of inspiration last night, following yet another round of Christmas present shopping, and decorated it a bit.  Definitely brought a big smile to my face, followed immediately by exhaustion after hauling it in from outside setting it up, up and down the stairs for the decorations, and getting it in just the right place.  I definitely fell asleep on the couch admiring my handiwork.

Merry Christmas all!

Friend Christmas

My core group of besties - truthfully they're family at this point - and I have decided, in the last few years, that we don't really need anything and we don't need to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on each other for gifts.  So, last year we wrote up about 50-60 theme ideas and put them in a bowl and picked.  Each year we'll draw a new theme and get each other something that fits the theme but we are not allowed to spend more than $10 on each person's gift.  The one of us who's good at saving things keeps our theme ideas and each year as the holidays roll near we draw the theme of the year.

Last year's theme was Middle School.  As you can imagine this resulted in some pretty hilarious gifts, including friendship bracelets and hair dye (we were in middle school in the 90s after all).

This year's theme: Diamonds!  Diamonds for under $10 dollars? Clearly we are going to have to get creative. I have decided on my present and it is currently being crafted in my workshop, though with no elves to help it is going rather slowly, as my workshop is my garage and my garage is rather cold in the evenings after work.  I obviously can't tell you what it is, on the off chance, that one of my ladies reads the blog, but as I'm sure you can all deduce it is from a Pinterest project, or two, and I hope it works.

What would you get/make for a Diamonds theme gift with a $10 max?

Adding myself to Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I started using Bloglovin as a way to bring all the blogs I read into one stream and also made sure my blog was visible on there.

Hooray!

The makeup I totally splurged on during the makeover event came in the mail yesterday.  Hooray!  That is all for now.

How Do I Look?

I don't love the pictures I got but I do absolutely love the color and the whole experience!  Very happy. As a recap, here is the before during and after (with makeup still on from the event).

   

The salon and the people who did my color and cut were amazing.  While I'm pretty sure that they're out of my normal price range, I cannot more highly recommend Rosa and Tyress from J. Roland Salon in San Francisco - they are amazing!

There was also another surprise that I had no idea was coming.  Roland, the owner, offered me the $ amount off of my follow up haircuts as I continued on with Weight Watchers.  This was a WW event, even though I'm not part of the group that was hosting it (no one from the group wanted full makeovers).  Which is amazing and I do want to take them up on it as I continue to work on getting healthier (though I have to say it's been a rough week for that).  I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Don't worry I still want to be a fabulous thick chick, but I could definitely stand to be less thick.  Maybe one of these days I'll get the balls to put up a real, full before pic and work towards an awesome after...maybe.