Photo diary and weekend recap

Hey, remember that time less than a month ago when I tried to make a photo diary of my day, and then it turned out to be the most Boring Day Ever? Well, I made another one, and this time it was a much more interesting day. Of course it was last week, and then I got all busy and forgot to post it, but it's still relevant and awesome. You should be warned, though, that the last couple of pictures are kind of hazy in my memory. Still a great day!

Thursday, 28 March, 2013

11:30 am. Wake up, find my shadow taking a bath. She sleeps in the guest room but comes and gets in bed with me when Josh gets up. (Feel free to ignore the stack of shoe boxes + random bras in the background.)


12:30 pm. Cook breakfast (potatoes & eggs, bacon) and sit down and eat it.


1:30 pm. Just got done with my eye doctor appointment. Got contacts, finally.


2:30 pm. Bored, so I took a picture of what I was wearing. (Note the shadow...) 


3:30 pm. Heating up jambalaya and unloading the dishwasher...


with the help of my shadow.


4 pm. Our Tonx finally arrived, so of course we immediately made some mid-afternoon coffee.


6 pm - another delivery! New dress = wardrobe change, duh.


8 pm. Showered, getting ready to head out, and making faces...because it's what I do.



The rest of these happened between 10 pm and 2 am, but there's no rhyme or reason. Just a great night out. :)

Josh on the decks.


I started out innocently enough...with water.


But for some reason was craving something salty. Had a dirty martini...which didn't cure it.


So I tried a flaming flamingo...which also didn't cure it, but also made me drunk enough to not care anymore.


I was given a bracelet.


Juzeh showed up and hung out for a good while.




and then things got...weird.


Fun fun.


Anyway. Friday I had my MRI in the afternoon, and we went and saw Juzeh's band play at a different bar...even though I was sober that night I managed to fall and almost die in the street (ok, that's a slight exaggeration). We still ended up at Grindhouse later though, and Josh got fed some crazy shots but didn't get too drunk. We had a lot of fun...again.

Saturday and Sunday we stayed in, relaxed, watched TV, and I started on my Spring cleaning...which means that that is exactly what I am avoiding doing right now....I always take about two weeks to finish it because I take so many breaks...ugh. But we have company coming next Thursday so it needs to be done by then! Yay, motivation! Anyway, I should probably get back to that, just wanted to share these pictures of what a slightly more typical day in my life is like.

Random thoughts pt 5

I don't understand the fascination with British accents...or any accents, in general. Not in a "those people need to talk better English" kind of way, just in that I don't find them sexy, or exotic. I'm just kind of indifferent to them, really.

While I was cleaning out the storage room this past weekend I found a box of stuff that my mom had given me from when I was little. It had some of my rock collection, a weird straw hat that I got when we visited relatives in New Mexico, a pair of ruby slippers that my mom made me when I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz (when I was 3), a bib that I guess was mine (eww), and my first ballet slippers, among other stuff like birthday cards and postcards...and I threw it all away.

I had to wake up at 10:45 today...so I'm exhausted right now. That is incredibly early for me. I have to get up even earlier on Friday, though. I probably should just go to bed, but I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway.

On the menu this week: those amazing stuffed bell peppers, again! They're just so great. Josh also asked for a repeat of the jambalaya I made on Tuesday (my own recipe, maybe I'll share it someday), steaks as the main course for some saffron & lobster mashed potatoes, (sorry, don't remember where I found that recipe) and I'm trying out two new ones, both in the crock pot. One involves beer, brown sugar, and kielbasa, and the other is beef carnitas tacos. Very excited for both, I love crock pot recipes...they make my day easier.

I got the most amazing grey striped maxi skirt at TJ Maxx on Friday. It is perfection. I, on the other hand, am a hobbit, so I have to take it up a couple of few inches before I can wear it.

I really like the way I've been feeling the past month. Not only physically, but mentally as well. I truly believe that having a purpose when I get up every day (even if it is just to cook our meals and clean up afterwards) is keeping me from falling into another pit of depression. It probably helps that (almost) everything I cook is pretty healthy, too. Even though I haven't worked out the past couple of days because I hurt my knee, I just adjusted my calories and am still logging everything, and staying just below my goal.

My dog weighs 143 pounds. He is a monster! (Actually he's a giant spoiled baby who slobbered on everyone who would let him at the vet's office today.)

My brother got engaged! I'm very happy for him and his fiancé, Marla. She's awesome, and I'm excited to have her be a part of our family. Also? I finally have a niece to buy girly things for.

In case anyone isn't aware, saffron threads are...kind of pricey. I had never bought them before, and I was a bit surprised when Josh returned from grocery shopping yesterday and told me that them and the lobster tails were the two most expensive things he'd bought. (Ironically, they're going in the same dish. Guess we better savor it!)

It stormed pretty crazy here today, and I was on the phone with my brother when it started hailing. I hung up immediately and ran outside to pull the car in, but by the time I did that it was mostly over anyway. And then I was just cold and wet and angry.

I found this dress at Dillard's on Friday. I actually kind of liked it, I just thought it was a bit much - I'd have preferred it as a skirt. Or tights!

And since I keep talking about food and health, but not really giving too many examples of what I'm doing, here's my food log from today. This is a pretty typical day. (Although I actually came in below my total daily calorie goal, and both my fat and protein goals, and went over on sugar, but I'm not really strict on that since it's mostly natural.) Also, the 'snacks' category actually depicts my dinner. I try to follow the rule of thumb to have breakfast be the largest meal and then work down from there to having dinner be the smallest...so my dinner everyday is a smoothie. Most days if my calorie total was that low (I aim for about 1550) I'd have a snack of some sort to raise it, but tonight I'm just too tired to put in the effort...

(You can see what I meant when I said I get a lot of fiber.)

I noticed while skinning (peeling?) almonds today that the empty skins look like cockroach wings, so I think I'll find a way to use them come Halloween. I'll probably just end up scaring myself though.

Part of me wants to go full-paleo next month, but another part of me thinks that while it's do-able, it's also kind of selfish. I don't want to force Josh into it, he's already been really understanding with me having to give up gluten, and he's cut his eating out almost completely now that I'm cooking at home everyday, and I don't want to mess that up by restricting even more, and forcing him to fend for himself. I mean, it's not like I'm eating unhealthy - my intake of processed foods is minimal, and my intake of fast food is cut out completely, so I think I'm doing ok. I may just keep doing what I'm doing, maybe throw in a 10 day juice cleanse while he's out of town (but oh man, cleaning my juicer is intense) and just wait it out.

I decided to go with major side slits on my velvet 90s dress. I figured if I don't like it after a few wears then I can change it, but shortening it feels too permanent.

Ok...I think I'm going to go find something to do that involves less effort. (Yeah, I'm that tired.) And cold, I need to go close the windows.

Random Adventure Wednesday!

Today I went to ReStore. And I bought a dress. Not on a whim, though, I had seen this dress the last two or three times we've been there, but I kept passing it over...and yet, I couldn't get it out of my mind! It was just so perfect, in all it's 90s glory...and so today, 10 minutes before they closed, I ran in, grabbed it, and left.

You may not find it as amazing, and this picture sure isn't doing it (or my figure) any favors (better ones tomorrow, promise!) but trust me - it's amazing. Perfect condition, black velvet maxi overall dress. (There's got to be a better name for that, than overall dress.) (and yes, I did try on it over all my clothes, before I even washed it. THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE IT.)

Maybe there's not, but I don't care, I love it. I'm having a hard time deciding between making one slit, slitting both sides, or just making it shorter. Because as much as I love it, it's a little too much 90s in one dress. It definitely needs a minor facelift. :)

After that we headed to a new bar that opened up downtown, Josh had talked to the owner a few days ago about playing there, and so we were going to kind of scope it out, talk to the other owner (or manager? I really don't know. They're brothers though.) and have a look at their set-up...long story short, he's going to play there on Friday night but he has to take his own decks because they have stuff set up for vinyl and Josh uses CDs. It's going to be awesome, though, the place is really cool, and everyone there was nice and friendly. Josh talked to another guy from Austin who's also DJing there this weekend. We had a great time, nice to finally find a place in this town where it's nice to just go hang out.

Joshs brother mentioned he wants to come stay here for a few days so that means I have to actually make an effort in my craft room tomorrow. It's horrible, and there's no way I'll finish it by the end of the day, but I'm hoping to at least find the VCR that I know is somewhere in the closet, and get that in the bag of stuff that's going to ReStore next time we make a trip, and then clear the bed off. If I can at least do that, then at least he'll have somewhere to sleep and the rest I can figure out later.

Oh, right, today is Valentine's Day, so...kiss your lovers? I'm really not good at mushy romance stuff - I gave Josh a hand-written card with a dead cricket taped to it. (I was going for a 'love-bug' theme, and it was the only bug handy.)

Even though neither Josh or I am Catholic, since we're already in the midst of eating better and working out, we decided to go ahead and give something up for Lent. I am giving up any processed food with more than 5 ingredients, and he is giving up added sugar. It's going to be a fun challenge for us, because we have our routines, and our go-to foods, and we so seldom take the time to read the ingredients...it'll be good, though, to take that step back and think more about exactly what we're putting in our bodies, and why.

My hair is all kinds of ridiculous right now. I'm trying to not cut it again until it's grown out some more, but it's long on one side, and it's just...annoying. Every time I wash it, it fluffs up and I can't do anything with it. I at least want to make it to March before I give in and cut it. I had a reason but I can't think of it right now.

Isn't this a cute little wallet? I think I may make one like it...if I ever have time to go sit and craft in my craft room, rather than clean it.

Angel

I may not be the kind who holds onto things for their sentimental value, but I am cheap. I'm not going to shell out for something I already have, especially if all my current one needs is a little facelift. So when I pulled my 6 year old angel tree-topper out of the Christmas box this weekend, and her wings fell off, I figured I'd spruce her up a little, and fit her into my Christmas tree color scheme before I glued her wings back on.

I learned a few things in this process; first of all, sewing a Victorian style gown in size DOLL is a lot harder than I anticipated. Also, real (or at least soft/moveable) hair is far easier to work with than painted hair. (I would have preferred a higher neckline, but her hair prevented that.) And last but not least, when you leave feathers laying about, your cat will feign sweetness in order to sit in your lap and try to eat the feathers.

Anyway, let me show you a few before and afters of her (minus her wings, I'm trying to add some different colored feathers to them but am not too sure of how to proceed with that...) Also, I'm not too sure why she had a wand. As far as I know, angels don't typically have wands. So she's not getting it back.

I painted her face, darkened her hair, and brought her forward a few centuries, fashion-wise.

And for comparison purposes, a side-by-side.

I think she looks great. :) I love being able to take something I paid less than $10 for and make it uniquely mine.

(You like how I got completely distracted and haven't even touched the new/old table and chairs?)

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