Weekly weekend update. Sort of.

Wow, so this week got all kinds of crazy. It was totally my fault though. One of the shows that we watch regularly is Bunheads, and we always see previews for Pretty Little Liars...so Sunday night I made the mistake of telling Josh that maybe we should go back and watch the pilot to see if it's any good.

Famous last words.

Less than 48 hours later we were done with season one, our sleep schedules were non-existent, and I was having nightmares about being A.

Needless to say we decided to do ourselves a favor and made a pact to not watch more than one episode at a time going forward...

Luckily Josh had a light work week (well, I think it was light, I slept through the day on Monday, Tuesday, and most of Wednesday) so he would go to bed after I got up and made breakfast at four or five in the afternoon, but then on Thursday he was asked if he could do DJ at the club...that night. He hadn't slept at all that day (after waking up at midnight on Wednesday night) so he took a two hour nap and off we went. He ended up playing again Friday night (but at least he was prepared!)

It was a lot of fun, but Thursday night we took the stairs (it's on the third level of this huge complex downtown) and then when no one else showed up to play I had to run down and get the rest of Joshs cds and when I woke up on Friday I finally admitted that my knee is in pretty bad shape and went to the doctor. They referred me to a specialist and gave me some painkillers, which only added to my weird sleep cycle. I napped all Friday afternoon, and most of today. But at least my knee doesn't hurt as much! (Taking the elevator on Friday night helped too.)

Well...that's all I got. Check my tumblr for pictures of our exciting club nights (which mostly involve Josh playing and me standing around drinking water and taking pictures.)

Oh, goal update...ended February with a 7 pound weight loss, but then my eating got all crazy this weekend, and the doctor said that other than some light stretching, I can't do anything involving my knee, so hopefully I can get to see the orthopedic surgeon asap, and get past this nonsense. I have a good menu planned this week, and am going to focus on arms until I get the okay to do more, but I'm ready to get back to normal. Normal sleep (even though normal for me is 5 am to noon), normal eating, and normal anti-social life. (Ok, not really, I enjoy going out occasionally, but two nights in a row, with no warning, and on days that I had missed meals was...a bit much. Just a bit.)

Nautical cuff bracelet

I finished it! Ahh I'm so happy, it came out even better than I imagined. I don't have too many pictures of the process because once I started I had my hands covered in glue and it went kind of fast...but here's a poorly worded breakdown, with fewer pictures than I had hoped for. Enjoy!

First off, though, let me remind you of my inspiration...these gorgeous Chanel Resort 2013 bracelets. (Here's the one picture source I could actually find, they're all over pinterest but most of the links are bad.)



And here's my take:



I used a really sturdy cardboard piece from an old roll of tape for the bracelet base...it was kind of small so I cut it open to make it a cuff. Then I measured it, and cut a piece of fabric that was approximately 9" by 5½". (The bracelet part was 2" wide, and I wanted the fabric to wrap around it almost three times...back, front, then back again, if that makes sense.)



You can sort of see what I mean in this picture. Of course this is after I glued it all...I just used some Elmer's glue with a few drops of water added to make it easier to paint on (I used a paintbrush). I started on the inside, spread glue all the way along the inside, then placed the fabric on top, and then went over it again with glue. Then I did the front part the same way - it was a bit of a challenge to get the fabric folded over the top, and keep it straight along the inside since I did it all at once instead of doing one piece at a time and letting them dry. (Which, in hindsight, might have been easier, but I had poured too much glue and I was trying to use it all at once so it didn't dry out.) Then, I folded it back down on the inside, and spread a few more layers of glue on there.



I let all that dry for a few hours, then went back and added the anchor charm onto the front with hot glue.



And then I let that dry overnight, and now I have an awesome new cuff bracelet, made for free because I used stuff I already had lying around.

P.S.
Linking to:

Not Just a Housewife's Show Me What Ya Got

Spring projects & weekend words

I've been feeling more productive the past few days...I've managed to organize a lot of stuff in the bedroom, vacuum 90% of it, pulled out all my warm weather shoes, (even though the weather still isn't cooperating...which is cool, I don't mind extra winter) and even have a few spring projects to work on this week.

First up is a simple hem, but a major update...I bought these as pants last year, and then cut side slits, but only ended up wearing them a couple of times. I decided yesterday to cut them into shorts. There's still about a 3" slit on each side, and I like them much better now!

I'm also hoping to find time to make a bracelet...based on these gorgeous Chanel bracelets from the Resort 2013 collection:

Here's a sneak peek at what I'll be using for mine:

I'm actually pretty excited about that, I've had that scrap of seersucker for a while, but couldn't ever seem to find a project that seemed good enough to use it on...same goes for that anchor charm. A friend of mine gave it to me a while back, it used to be a clip-on earring, but it's long since lost the clip, and I don't have the pair anyway.

One more fashion trend I've been craving for spring is a good pair of lace shorts. I've had my eye on this pair of alice + olivia ones, but was pleasantly surprised to find these really similar (but more reasonably priced) ones in the new Pearl by Georgina of Marchesa collection at J.C. Pennys! I'm hoping to get them next month.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of them:


...Pretty sure I can find plenty of things to do with the $335 that I'll save!

Our weekend has been pretty uneventful...as usual. Well except for Josh creating his own little fiasco last night/this morning. He got drunk, and I went to bed, and apparently some weird stuff went down but he doesn't remember anything. I think I'm happier not knowing.

We walked to Family Dollar this afternoon because we forgot dish soap while we were at the grocery store yesterday, and tonight Josh grilled steaks and a lobster tail, and I made the saffron & lobster mashed potatoes. They were good, but not $36 dollar good. The saffron threads didn't seem to add anything special. I may make them again because we still have a bunch of saffron left, and I really don't know what else to use it for, but I think I'll have to mess with the recipe some...maybe add cheese. I don't know. I feel the same way about the spicy shrimp dip I made last night. Good but not great.

Anyway, on the menu this week are a couple of new dishes (superfood salad, and pineapple pepper pork chops) along with some of my recipes (spaghetti, crock pot jambalaya, and almond crusted cod). Not as adventurous as last week, but that's ok.

Still doing good on my goals for this month. Should be able to finish the month with only having bought 4 things, (sunglasses, a skirt, and two sports bras) and with a decent weight loss. (Not quite 10 pounds, but that was a long shot for a 28 day month anyway.) So far, five pounds this month, so if I can bring it down one more by the end of the week, that'll be perfect! Hopefully my knee will stay calm and I can get in my normal amount of workout time this week.

Well for some reason (oh, maybe because I'm on my 4th cup of Mio for the day) I have a ton of energy, so I'm going to go use it productively...or just dance around the living room. Whatevs.

Friday things.

Last week, on Sunday, I told Josh to go through the list of recipes I have and pick some out for the week. Then, I made a grocery list based on that, and he went to the store and bought everything. What I did not anticipate, however, was that he picked a large number of meals that yield leftovers...so now we only have to go replenish a few things for this next week, since we still have some frozen meat, and leftovers. Crazy. I should have realized this years ago. I have forever revolutionized grocery shopping.

Tomorrow night we're actually going to have a pretty fancy, and rather seafood-heavy, meal. Spicy shrimp dip to start, and steaks with saffron & lobster mashed potatoes on the side. I'm really excited!

The doctor visit went really well today. She actually concluded that I'm not bipolar, which was nice to hear, but then she said that I am delusional, which, apparently, is it's own diagnosis. I knew I had delusions, but didn't realize it was it's own disorder. Anyway, that plus anxiety NOS is what I have. Pretty sure she hit the nail on the head, though, because she actually read me the definition of each diagnosis and it was one of those, "Oh, hey, that's me!" moments. (Well, minus the exclamation point, I guess.) We talked for a long time, longer than any other doctor has ever talked to me (usually after one or two questions they hand me a prescription and show me the door) so it was really nice. I feel really comfortable with her, and I'm glad that it seems like this is going to work out. I have two more appoints with her, plus one with the actual psychiatrist (who, she warned me, will hand me a prescription and show me the door, but it'll be in conjunction with talking to her so I'm not worried.)

Just so I have a picture in this post, here is part of what I wore today. Alice + Olivia cashmere striped skirt, black tights, my Uggs that I swore to never leave the house in (it was cold and I was running late!), and you can kind of see my purse (Michael Kors) with it's fox fur keychain. (I pet it when I'm nervous.)

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the smell of shrimp off your hands after you peel and de-vein two pounds of them? IMPOSSIBLE. My hands smell disgusting.

While we're on the subject of Annoying Things...my sunglasses are HERE, in this town, but I won't get them til Monday because Fed Ex is stupid. (Well, I think, I don't really know if they deliver on Saturday or not.)

I got inspired to make a bracelet today! Unfortunately my desk is still a horrific mess so it may be a couple of days before I get it cleared off, and work up the nerve to open my Giant Box of Fabric, but I promise it'll happen this week.

All those empty boxes from the gluten-free stuff I've been meaning to talk about are still in my kitchen. They're stuffed in a large bowl, and they get moved around at least once a day, but I haven't really been inspired to talk about them since I've cut out processed food for the time being.

Sometimes I get really sad about the fact that there is so much beauty in the world that I'll never get to experience. I mean, even if the whole world just stopped, right this second, and I never slept again, and spent the rest of my time alive just wandering the earth and experiencing everything this amazing planet has to offer - I still couldn't fit it all in.

"Getting old is a fatal mistake."

On working out

Whoa.

When we got our kettle bells, Josh and I looked up a bunch of videos to get started; we figured out proper form, and learned a pretty good variety of exercises, then sort of put together our own personal routines, and have been doing those ever since.

I focus mainly on swings, and try to get in as many of those as I can. I started with 100, by doing five sets of 20, then moved to four sets of 25, and then upgraded to 120 swings by doing four sets of 30. Today I upped the number of swings I do at once to 50. I thought I was going to pass out during that second set! It was intense! I think I'll do one more set of 25, then call it a day. (That's not all I do, though, that's just what I do the most of. I also try to get in about 50 reps of various arm exercises, as well as doing a few non-kettle bell things, like squats, jumping jacks, leg lifts, etc.) Right now I'm still using the 20 lb kettle bell - once I work up to more than 200 swings I plan to move up to the 25 lb one and start back at 100 swings. Or whatever feels right at that time.

So far I've lost 7 pounds. (Well, since I weighed myself and started keeping track. That was on Jan. 14) I think that's pretty decent progress for 5 weeks. I know that it seems slow when I watch people on The Biggest Loser losing much more in much less time, and I know that if I put in the effort and worked out 4 hours a day I might see numbers like that, but I don't want to. I want to focus on a lifestyle that I can maintain for the rest of my life. I didn't gain an extra 50 pounds in 5 months, I gained it over 5 years...and while I certainly hope it doesn't take that long to come off, I think that 10 months to a year is a much more reasonable time frame. I'm not going to stress out over it.

I can feel a change already, in my arms, and in my stomach. My muscles feel more toned, and I feel...taller, almost. Like my arms and legs are longer. I know that doesn't make sense, but it's how I feel. And it feels good!

My lung function is also improving, which is great. When I was a senior in high school, one of the things that happened during The Unexplained Illness was both of my lungs collapsing halfway...leaving me with, essentially, one lung worth of breathing capacity. A few months later, when we moved to Arkansas, I lost my little breathing machine that was helping me improve my lung function, and so I just kind of used that as an excuse for the past 7 years...I can't run because my lungs are broken, can't do cardio because my lungs are broken, and I'm so tired of it! I know very well, and have all along, that I can do breathing exercises on my own to improve my lungs, and that physical activity is good, and also helps, even when it hurts. I've just been lazy and scared of a little bit of discomfort.

I'm finding, though, that getting back in shape after so many years of being out of it, is all about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Pushing your body to it's limits isn't always fun: it's painful, and exhausting, and sometimes even scary. But - it's worth it. It's worth it because the alternative is lying in a hospital bed, sick, scared, dying, and knowing you could have prevented it. It's worth it because the end result is a body that can run, jump, lift, swing, dance, and hike, comfortably.

Anyway, I just wanted to document all of this, because at any other point in the past, I would have already given up by now. I always thought that if I wasn't losing 10 - 15 pounds a month then why even bother. I'd get discouraged, and think that I must just be destined to be fat. I know, I know, but it's true, that's really how I'd feel. This time, though...it just feels different. There's no impatience, no feelings of discouragement because I didn't lose 100 pounds overnight. Even my motivation is different - I don't have any illusions about growing 5 inches and turning into a willowy supermodel. I know that's not how I'm built. Instead, I'm going for fit. I'll always have solid, muscular legs, thanks to both my mothers genes and my years as a gymnast. Might as well make the most of it!


I am not looking forward to going to the doctor tomorrow later today. I know that I need to, because no matter how much I want to be able to control my sickness with a healthy diet, it's really not up to me. And that's not my fault. So, I'll go, and I'll explain all my weird delusions, and hope that maybe there's some way they can fix me. I'm going to show up on less than five hours of sleep, though, so I may go in there and sound so crazy they just lock me up. DO THEY STILL LOCK PEOPLE UP? I feel like that's outdated, but maybe it's just kept quiet. Great, now I'm really worried. THANKS, INTERNET.

Nothing in particular

I have this very intense love for Arkansas in the summer. I love the humidity, the way you walk outside, even late in the evening, and immediately your clothes stick to you and sweat beads form at the base of your neck. I love the sound of hundreds of bugs, thick and loud in the lush, green trees. I love driving around at night with the windows down, feeling the hot air rush by. I like tank tops, sundresses, sandals, and having a reason to wear sunglasses all day long.

I do miss the beach, though. The one truly awesome thing that the valley had going for it was it's proximity to the beach. Long summer days spent with your toes baking in the burning hot sand, your hair dry and unmanageable, drinking lukewarm water to try and stay hydrated. But it was worth it, every uncomfortable second. For the glorious nights, eating fresh seafood, drinking frozen daiquiri's, walking along the strip and listening to the sounds of happy people. 

And yet despite all of that, I've always had this desire to live somewhere cold. Particularly Maine. I think my mother instilled that in me, she's always talked about having a cottage on the coast in Maine, and now I want that too. (I also read a lot of books that were set in Maine.) Two years ago, before Josh and I moved here, one of the other places I was considering (well, besides Portland, Maine) was Ithaca, New York. Not exactly cottage-on-the-coast, but still the recipient of long, harsh, white winters.

I guess maybe it's because I really love experiences and adventures. I grew up in a place where, even on the coldest day of winter, you would still wear a t-shirt and flip-flops. I didn't see snow until I was 16 and my mom and I went to Pittsburgh over our winter break. Even then it was leftover snow that was already on the ground - no snow fell during the time we were there. So while I can't say I'll ever reach a threshold of experiences with hot days, I do feel like I'm lacking experiences in the cold/snow.

This past Christmas we had about 8 inches fall, and despite the fact that we lost electricity for two days, and I had to change three times throughout the evening because snow kept falling and I kept ending up soaked, it was amazing and I loved every second of it. I stood in it, ate it, jumped in it, threw it at everyone and everything I possibly could, and missed it when it finally melted. I would say that I like extremes, but I love fall just as much. The changing leaves, the crisp evenings that follow warm mellow days...wearing tights, sweaters, and boots.

I don't know. I love it all. I really and truly feel like I can (and do!) appreciate whatever the weather throws at me. I know for a fact, though, that I couldn't live anywhere that has long stretches of time where there's no sun - even if it was balanced by times where there was no darkness, that is the one thing I couldn't handle. I need the sun, just like I need the moon and the stars.

That was kind of random, huh?

Man, my knee has been hurting for the past week, and it's making me really mad. I don't remember any one incident that could have caused it, it was more of a gradual pain that came on over a couple of days, and now it hurts really bad sometimes, but not at all other times. It's weird times, too, like I can't sleep in the position I'm used to, because it hurts, and I can't sit with my leg tucked under me, and if I put it up on the foot-rest while I'm watching TV, I have to keep it straight - any time I twist it sideways even slightly, it hurts. But today I did my kettle bell swings with no problem. Squats hurt if I go all the way down, but otherwise, anything that keeps it straight seems to be painless. I just don't know what to do. Stupid knee.

The only other problem I have is my collar bone. I cracked it years ago when a fridge fell on me (just...don't even ask) and never got it set, and the other day while we were outside playing baseball I sort of aggravated it. It's so annoying! It also has weird things that will make it hurt. So, again, I can still work out, but can't do other normal stuff like look back and up at the same time. Ugh.

Maybe if I just keep my work-outs light (because swinging a 20 lb kettle bell is light, right?) then my body will chill out.

Whatever. I'm going to bed.

Fantastical.

Last year I pinned/posted a lot of 'around the house' type things, home-improvement projects and the like, and that was cool and all (still is, I mean), but for some reason I just feel like this year of my life is going to be geared more towards fashion.

I think it's what I've always loved, but for some reason was too scared to really express. I don't know if that makes sense. Like, when I was younger, obviously my parents bought my clothes, and I wasn't that great at shopping. I read Lucky, and Teen Vogue, and would cut out stuff I liked and paste it onto printer paper and make 'inspirations sheets' (aka mood-boards, and now, pinterest), but my style has always been sort of eclectic, and a lot of times my interpretation didn't turn out the way I imagined it, and I'd get frustrated and just end up wearing jeans and t-shirts from ropa, and spending the majority of my shopping budget on nice purses and shoes.

In the past few years, though, my justification for not expressing my love for fashion has been more superficial: I've felt like I'm too fat to deserve to wear nice stuff. I know that's kind of ridiculous, but it's true. I justified it all sorts of ways, mostly by claiming it was a tactic to save money (which, if you know about my addiction to Marc Jacobs sunglasses, you would know is not in my character.) Now, of course, I realize that I've had it all backwards; wearing nice things at any size is what gives you confidence, because feeling like you look good really does make a huge difference. Of course I would figure that out after losing weight, and while on a shopping strike. Oh well...I guess the up side to it is that I don't have too many things that I'll be conflicted about having to get rid of, or worry about altering.

What really sucks, though, is that while I feel like I have finally identified my personal style, and come into my own, so to speak, I can't do anything about it at the moment, because I am still losing weight rather consistently, and should continue to do so for the next 8 - 10 months (ideally), so I don't need to spend money on really nice stuff that I won't be able to wear for very long. (Sunglasses don't count. Those will fit forever.)

Well, on a completely different note, do you like how I talked about things being weird, and the next few months being...unpredictable, and then proceeded to post nearly every day and not mention any of that again? Haha! Well, the two Situations are still looming, but the unpleasant one turned out to be a little less unpleasant than we first thought, and the second is still exciting, and still in the works, but...well, there's really nothing we can do about either of them now...other than cut back on our spending. Which we're bad at. Really bad at.

One thing you should never do, apparently, is type 'Marc Jacobs' into the search box on pinterest...because you will, inevitably, buy something. And even if it's on sale, it's still probably moderately expensive  absolutely necessary for life and a totally justified purchase.

Sorry, I think my dogs disgusting fart muddled my brain for a minute there.

Since Aaron was here the past few days, him and Josh have been joined at the hip so I've been doing my own thing (when I wasn't cooking food for two humans that can really put it away!), which has mostly consisted of dumping a lot of junk from my childhood, and designating even more stuff to be donated. I did, however, manage to pack away all my winter boots (ironic, since we're under a winter weather/ice accumulation advisory over the next couple of days) and vacuum approximately 2 square feet of my bedroom. It's progress. I did a lot of laundry and a lot of dishes, so don't judge me!

When I was in high school, I would let people write on my pants. It started with one boy (duhh) who drew a skull (♥) and then, in an effort to disguise my insanely obvious favoritism, I had to let other people write/draw too. And then it became my trademark, and everyone had to write on me. (I would like to say it never got weird, but it kind of did, and I kind of liked it.) Well, the point of all this is that I found the one pair of pants that managed to survive, and am conflicted on what to do with them. I'm pretty sure no one out there wants a pair of pants that says 'This leg belongs to Fred" on the back left thigh, or "I CRAP PURPLE!" in purple sharpie...on the butt. And yet I can't bring myself to throw them away...they're so much more valuable to me than the normal stuff like yearbooks or even pictures. I think I'm keeping them. Ugh. Now I just need to figure out how to fold them up tiny enough to fit into my memory box.

Ever since I opened up and talked about my past, I've slept better, and not had any more weird dreams about where I grew up. I'm glad I got it all off my chest; it really was about time, I guess. It's amazing how immediate the reaction was. Two weeks ago thinking about that place would have made me angry, scared, and probably given me an anxiety attack, but today I am indifferent; it's there, I know some people there, but it's just a place; it can't hurt me, it never could, and I am not defined by it.

Wow, it's almost 5 am. That really snuck up on me. I should probably get some sleep.

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.

Everybody loves my baby

Wow it's been a long time since I've listened to the Doors. Glad that's being remedied right now.

You know how they say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to...uh, solving it? I guess. I ususally  just hear that admission part. Anyway...we went to ReStore. Again. We took a pretty big bag of stuff, and we actually had a purpose today. (Wait, that's what I said yesterday too, huh? Hmm...)

A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned to Josh that instead of trying to play the Valentine's day game, and out romance each other, or go out to a crowded restaurant and spend money unnecessarily, we should do something fun and different. I told him to pick a movie, and we'd recreate the cover. He mentioned a few different movies over the past few days, but didn't have anything definite until today...so, again, we rushed to ReStore just before they closed. I managed to find a pair of white Keds, and then we had to go to Wal-Mart to try and find a baseball bat. I also found an off-white sweater on the clearance rack that I grabbed, and then we rushed back home take this before the sun went down.

In case you can't tell (no worries, I had never even heard of this movie before today), it's Bull Durham. It was pretty hilarious taking turns setting the timer on the camera and then running back to the car...there are quite a few blooper pictures, and I'm glad that sweater was cheap because it did not survive. But we had a lot of fun!

Then I cooked dinner while we waited on Aaron to get here, and the craft room got neglected just a little bit longer. Luckily we're all night owls so even though it's still only like 90% done, I've still got a couple of hours. I'm doing some laundry, too, while I can. We have a lot of plans for this weekend.

Tomorrow we're taking Aaron to TJ Maxx, so I think I'll probably manage to stay away from ReStore. Then, tomorrow night is Joshs first gig here in Hot Springs! He used to play a lot more when we were in Austin and the music scene is...more active. It'll definitely be a lot of fun to see him back in his element, doing what he loves to do for fun, rather than working. I'm still in the process of deciding what to wear, as if I'm not going to be in a dark club all night, hiding in the back and taking pictures. Haha. Oh man, that reminds me, I have to remember to charge my camera battery. The one I have is really good, and can usually go a week (sometimes more) without being charged, but when I'm doing something with long exposures it uses a lot more battery, so I have to make sure it's full before I end up mad at myself for missing a great shot!

There aren't really any words to explain this, but she gets goofy when there's a camera around. She actually rolled back up into this pose when I asked her to, because my first picture came out blurry. She could totally be in commercials. She will do anything you ask if there's a camera out, but she really prefers to make up her own poses...which is fine, because they're hilarious.

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.