September 23, 2011

I got a job for my birthday!

This week has been so great, and it isn't even my birthday yet! Not only did my mom send me that awesome box full of presents, but she ordered me a Harajuku girls gift set, too! It came the day after I got the first box! Amazing present overload!



And here's my whole Harajuku family!


These are the only perfumes I've ever liked and actually worn. I feel like it's mainly because of the bottles being so dang cute. But they smell good, too!

And I used the gift card she sent me to get a few new hoodies! (To me, it's officially fall when I buy new hoodies.) Every year right around my birthday, Mom and I would go to the mall and do some school shopping and I'd get new hoodies and jeans. So even though she wasn't here, it felt just like old times.

So besides getting lots of fun presents, I was given the gift of employment! Earlier this week, I applied for a job that originally was listed as a data entry position. I haven't been finding many graphic design opportunities, and since I'm a quick typer and pretty friendly, I figured I'd cast a wider net and try for something that wasn't necessarily art related. But it turned out to be way more art related than I could've imagined. The job is actually in an art gallery!

The lady that runs the gallery (and makes some of the art) is opening a new location in another city and needed someone to be at that store while she's getting the new one up and running. She also needed someone to update her website and other things like that, so I will actually be doing some graphic stuff! I get to use my retail skills aaaand my design skills! I was really unsure of how I'd feel if I ever got a job where I didn't interact with people and just sat in a cubicle all day, so I definitely lucked out with this one. I am so excited and nervous!

The gallery is in this amazing little spot called Pioneer Square. It's so historic and pretty. It's covered in art galleries and little coffee shops, and the whole little area is paved in bricks. And just about everyone was walking cute pups! I had a hard time not breaking down and hugging every single one of them. They were everywhere! I loved it. I do have to take a bus to and from because parking is so scarce and expensive downtown. But I only had to walk about 5 minutes to get to a bus and then about 5 minutes to the gallery, so it's not that bad at all.

I took this while waiting on Ms. Rhonda to get there.


And here's a photo of the stuff across from the gallery.


After all this excitement, I plan on taking it easy tomorrow. I want to eat Subway, get ice cream, and just having a nice, relaxing birthday. And then get everything ready for my first day on Monday!

September 19, 2011

Surprise birthday package!

I know I juuuust made a post this morning, but I felt like another one was in order after receiving this wonderful early birthday box in the mail from my mom!


She told me that she was going to grab me a few art supplies because she had a Hobby Lobby coupon and knew I wanted to start painting again, but I didn't expect all of this fun stuff!

She sent me:
• two canvases
• two tablets of watercolor paper
• a tablet of acrylic paper
• a Desperate Housewives cookbook
• two paint palettes
• a do it yourself magazine
• a set of watercolors
• a set of gouache
• two packs of hello kitty socks
• philosophy orange jelly bean lip gloss
• philosophy vanilla birthday cake lip gloss
• a sweet cupcake card
• a visa gift card

And she ordered me a set of Harajuku girls perfume that will be here sometime this week! How stinkin' nice of her to do all of that. And it's not even my birthday yet! I swear, my mom loves me fifty times more now that I've moved away. It's too late to call and say thank you since it's two hours later there, but first thing tomorrow, I'm calling her and giving her so many phone hugs. <3

Weekend(s) recap: pizza, ice cream, and more ice cream.

Holy moly, the past week has been full of all sorts of things. Mostly buying fun things for little monies and some very-bad-for-me-but-oh-so-delicious foods! And lots and lots of pictures.

Last weekend we headed out to Goodwill, and Matt found a keyboard and some records, and I found a stripey yellow and grey t-shirt and a button-up shirt that I plan on dying another color. (Hopefully I can do that without making a horrible disaster of the shirt and the surrounding area.) Then we had Olive Garden for lunch, which I hadn't had since last October, and it was just as delicious as I remembered. I had a never ending pasta bowl, which ended at one bowl because I already knew I needed the apple pie and ice cream as soon as I saw the picture on the table. I wanted to take a picture, but I wolfed it down so fast, I didn't have a chance.

So instead, here's a picture Matt took of itty bitty kitty jammin' on the new Goodwill keyboard.


And here's a Cinderella picture I colored while my tummy was way too full of noodles and apple pie.


On Sunday, we made our weekly Baskin Robbins trip, and I had even more ice cream. (Multiple ice cream weekends make me feel like it's a holiday.) They had a flavor that I hadn't tried yet, and it is definitely my new favorite! It's reduced fat lemon cream pie with no sugar added, and it was low-cal and soooo good!


Throughout the week, I found a few cute little things for decorating that I'm really excited about. I got this cute little plushy owl, a wooden acorn, two white leaf dishes, and two yummy smelling candles. And it was all about $30!


And my favorite purchase of all, I bought my very first crock pot, and it was on sale for $21! And it's full of Matt's favorite soup.


I also found two yellow planters, a hello kitty shirt, two tank tops, and a stripey sweatshirt. And I spent maybe $30 total on that stuff too. I was all over some awesome deals this week.


Then, we started off this weekend by having sweets for breakfast! Matt really wanted donuts, and the Baskin Robbins is conveniently attached to the donut place, sooo I had ice cream for breakfast! Being an adult means making grown-up decisions like this.

Sugar-free chocolate overload!


And Matt's donuts! He got chocolate iced, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and strawberry iced. I tried a bite of the strawberry, and they were so stinkin' good.


And then, Matt decided that we needed a dining room table. Eating at the table is something we have never done together. We always ate sitting on his couch at his old house, and we've always had to eat sitting in the floor here. So we were both super excited to go pick one out. We made a trip to Ikea, and we got this cute birch table and four chairs!


On Sunday, we decided to stay home and get some house stuff done. Matt worked in the kitchen, while I did some unpacking and went through the boxes in the bedroom. I found lots more stuff to sell on eBay and listed some more things. We didn't want to leave to go anywhere for dinner and nothing we had really sounded all that great, so we ended up ordering pizza and wings. I rarely eat pizza, and I never eat hot wings, so it was definitely a treat. I ate waaay too much Hawaiian pizza and ended up rolling around in the floor feeling full and fat for the rest of the night. (Good thing I got a little stretch cord exercise thingy last week, because I will be using the heck out of it this week thanks to all that pizza!)

I went to go review the place on Yelp because it was so yummy and we had such good service, and there were only a few good ones. I was really surprised! Everyone was complaining about how it wasn't that great and being really, really picky and honestly kind of rude. I feel so bad for really awesome places that end up getting crappy reviews because they aren't a five star restaurant. It's delivery pizza, so the expectations shouldn't be so dang high, you know? It was above and beyond big name chains like Dominos or Pizza Hut, but they still had so many people saying "nothing special" and "forgettable". It made me so sad, so I left a really nice review and gave them 4 stars. The only way I would ever leave a place a bad review is if the employees treated me badly, to be honest. My granny always taught me to live by the good ol' polite rule of not saying anything at all if you don't have something nice to say. I feel like the reviews were just so unnecessary and rude. It was delivered really quickly, it was still super hot when we got it, it was a good price, and it was really yummy. Why wouldn't I recommend it? Some people are just big ol' jerks. Hrmph.

So then I went on a reviewing spree and ended up writing one for the post office nearby and the Baskin Robbins that I go to every weekend! I love giving out kind words to places that get overlooked or that other people are too hoity-toity to appreciate. And it makes me feel good to think that someone might look up a place they weren't too sure about going, and they'll see my review about how sweet the employees were among a sea of "ehhh, not impressed" reviews, and they might try it out and love it as much as I do! :)

September 9, 2011

Cleanin' out the closet clutter.

I've been an eBayin' monster he past few weeks! I've sold so much stuff lately, and I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it. Of course, I haven't made a big ol' chunk of money or anything since eBay is all about finding good deals. But I've made enough to have my own little stash of spending money. I'm used to making my own money and working decently hard for it, standing up for hours and dealing with some crazy customers, so it's really hard for me to spend Matt's money on anything other than groceries or things of that sort. So it's been nice being able to have my own little fund so I don't have to dip into bill or rent money if there's something I just absolutely have to have.

I've acquired so much stuff over the past year or so, especially from trying to restock after the flood. And I ended up buying lots of things I didn't really need, but sure as heck thought I did at the time. I am the worst at buying things that I never end up using or wearing. (I blame a lot of that on working in a clothing store for so long and constantly being stared down by cutely dressed mannequins. My check almost always went right back to the store!) So now I'm getting out of that habit and am doing a serious deep closet cleanin'!

I made up a few rules to help me stop holding onto things that I don't need and to keep me from adding to the craziness with more stuff.

Getting rid of things:
1. Be realistic. If I didn't wear it last year, I probably won't wear it this year.
2. Just because it looks cute on the hanger doesn't always mean it looks cute on me. Try on everything before putting it back in the closet.
3. Quality over quantity! One awesome piece I'll wear all the time is way better than a few ehh pieces that I'll wear occasionally.
4. Think of the outcome. If I sell an item that I'm not too crazy about, that's at least a little bit of money toward something that I really want. And someone else might get tons of use out of it!

Buying new things:
1. Don't buy on impulse. (I am awful about this.) Go do the rest of the shopping and come back to it. Really think it through.
2. Consider its versatility. I should be able to build at least 5 outfits in my mind using the piece with things that I already own.
3. Is it the same as one I already have? If it's just like one I have at home, then I don't need another one!
4. How bad do I want it? If I think I'll regret not getting it, or if I've been looking for something for awhile, it might be worth it. But if I just saw it and decided I wanted it then, or if I could really go either way, I probably don't need it.

So I made sure to stick to these rules and have sold lots of things so far; hoodies, leather jackets, military jackets, scarves, purses, and belts. And I made about $200 from everything that I sold! Of course, I paid way more for all of it when I bought each thing, but I can't expect to get full price for things on eBay, you know? It's like I'm paying a 'you were dumb for buying this stuff when you didn't need it' tax. So it serves me right! And it makes me more aware of the consequence of buying things I don't need.

With the money I've made from eBayin', I made sure to stick to my buying rules! I've only bought things that are basic and super versatile so I can get lots of use out of them.
• 3 basic, solid colored cotton t-shirt dresses
• 4 wrap scarves with big, pretty roses
• 3 basic sweatshirts
• 2 cardigans
• 2 plaid button up tops
• a pair of black flats

And then today I found this super cute emeraldy/dark tealish colored lighter cotton H&M peacoat at Goodwill for $10!


And here's one of the cotton dresses and one of the rose scarves! This was my weekend date outfit last Saturday when Matt and I went out for Indian.


I can't wait to go on more Goodwill adventures. Finding that coat made me really optimistic. Maybe I can actually find some cute stuff for the house instead of buying more clothes. Pfffft.

September 5, 2011

Labor Day weekend extravaganza!

Oh, man. The past few days have been all kinds of enjoyable! I was a little unsure of what this three day weekend would consist of since I'm used to spending Labor Day running around with my mom looking for sales, or eating burgers at a family member or friend's get together. Being so far away from both friends and family, I wasn't sure what I'd do. But we ended up filling our weekend with all sorts of fun stuff!

On Friday, I was crazy productive and unpacked and organized my half of the office. I hung my note board, put away all of my art supplies, coloring books, and sketch books, and threw a few of my stuffed animals in some of the empty areas on the shelf. (Yep, I still buy stuffed animals. I loved them when I was a kid, and I still do. I had that huge pink and white pet net hanging in the corner above my bed. And some nights while I was sleeping, a random teddy bear or fluffy puppy would fall out of the net and smack me right in the face. Did anyone else have that problem?)

Here's how it all turned out! Click each one for a larger view!



On Saturday, we ran a few errands, and I finally found a Disney princess coloring book. I've been talking about getting one for a good 2 months, and just so happened to spot one while picking up eBay packaging supplies. Then we made our first trip to the Goodwill nearby, and I found a cute pink lamp and an old chair that had been painted white. It has a "Property of the U.S. Government" stamp on the bottom, so I'm really curious about its history. (They're both in the pictures up above!)

Afterwards, we headed to a new Indian restaurant near the house that was the best! I've only been to maybe 3 or 4, but this one is definitely my new favorite. I had never had Indian food until Matt took me. It's definitely not something I expected to enjoy. I refuse to let my foods touch each other, and I use separated plates if I'm eating anything in a juice or sauce. So the idea of all these runny things mixing all up made me very, very nervous. But most all Indian dishes have some sort of creamy, runny sauce, and when they mix together, it's the perfect mix of yum. It is the one kink in my perfectly constructed food logic, but I'll allow it based on pure deliciousness!

After lunch, we came home and walked around the cemetery at the end of our street. I love that place so much. There are areas that are completely canopied by huge trees, so moss has started covering the headstones. It's gorgeous! And the grass in those shaded areas is so soft and smushy that we'll walk barefoot. I love seeing all of the cute old names like Mabel, Fannie, and Woodrow. I love reading the inscriptions and learning a little bit about each person and remembering people who probably haven't had visitors in years.

Then we made our weekend Baskin Robbins trip (part one) where I had some yummy Wild "N Reckless sherbet.


On Sunday, we made a trip to the Carkeek park beach. We walked up and down the shore looking for rocks to add to our collection, and I rolled my jeans up and waded through the water. Matt found a jellyfish and a completely intact crab that had washed up and some smooth black stones covered in barnacles. It was so breezy and nice. The lakes and waterfront areas here are completely different than the ones back home. The shores here are covered in rocks, and the water is ice cold. It's a completely different climate, but it's still so much fun to explore.

After our beach adventure, we decided since it was a holiday weekend, we should make another ice cream trip! So we made another Baskin Robbins run, and this time I had Peanut Butter Brownie Frozen Yogurt. I usually try to stick with the lower calorie options, and I was super excited about this one because they had never had it before. It was excellent!


Today, we got up super early to make it to the Goodwill Labor Day sale in hopes of finding a dining room table and a desk for Matt. But apparently, everyone else was just as excited about the sale as we were. The place was packed, and we had a hard time looking for anything with the crazy amount of people everywhere. And since I'm so dang polite, I wouldn't step in front of anyone or get it anyone's way, so I pretty much just stood around overwhelmed by everything! We browsed through the furniture as best we could, but we didn't find anything we needed.

We took a break and came home to rest since we got up so early. Matt flew his remote control helicopter around the living room while the cats chased it, ran away confused, swatted at it, and chased it again. After our silly kitty time, we had a yummy lunch at Qdoba, and we drove around to two more Goodwills that weren't too far away. We still didn't find any furniture at those either. But I did come across a grey stripey sweater that I had a few years ago and absolutely loved but lost when my house got hit by the Nashville flood. And it just so happened to be $3 and part of the 40% pink tag sale! I also found an American Eagle stripey button up shirt and an H&M plaid tunic as well. And Matt ended up finding a handful of really neat old records, two of which are homemade recordings of a college concert from 1950! So we did find a few little treasures!


I forgot how much fun Goodwilling is! My mom and I used to go all the time on the weekends when I'd get off work or on days I didn't have school, and we loved it. I hate that there were just too many people to be able to look around as much as I would have liked, so I'm going to go back sometime this week and take my sweet, sweet time. Hopefully, I'll find something spectacular!

This weekend might not have been the typical ones I'm used to having back home, but it was super eventful and lots of fun. I hope everyone had an awesome Labor Day weekend and did something fun and fancy!

September 4, 2011

A little introduction!

Hihi! It looks like you've stumbled across my little blog! This is where I share my daily adventures, thoughts and ideas, photos of various things (my dog and food, mostly), and all of my creative endeavors! And to introduce myself a little bit, I figured I'd start off with a few facts about me:

♥ I'm 26, but I still feel 12 years old. And anyone who knows me would probably agree that I act it.

♥ I have a 2 year old Lab/Staffordshire mix named Peaches, who you'll see featured here all of the time. She's my favorite.

♥ I have a big ol' heart; I love puppies, little old ladies, babies, bunnies, and anything else I can hug and/or squeeze.

♥ I am really, really incredibly clumsy.

♥ I love ghost stories! Always have, always will.

♥ I've recently decided to try out a vegan lifestyle, and so far, I'm going strong and loving it.

♥ I still read Seventeen magazine. (I get too antsy when I see the Cosmo covers with all the sexy headlines.)

♥ I'm short, chubby, and sound like a little kid. But it's okay! I am a strong believer of self-love.

♥ I graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Graphic Design.

♥ I enjoy fine art, too. I like working with oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolor, pencil, and colored pencil. I also dabble in photography, sewing, and other arts & crafts. I just plain love creating!

♥ I love baking, and I have a serious sweet tooth. I'd make cupcakes for strangers if it didn't make me seem creepy.

♥ I was born and raised in Old Hickory, Tennessee, which is right outside of Nashville.

♥ I moved to Seattle, Washington in February of 2011.

♥ I love sweet tea, porch swings, and barbecues. Sometimes, I really do miss the south (minus the humid summers), but I love living in the Northwest.

♥ I have a Border Collie named Cupcake that lives back in Tennessee with my mom.

♥ I'm very happy-go-lucky, and I'm almost always in a silly mood.

♥ I love learning, and I enjoy reading books on philosophy, sociology, psychology, astronomy, astrology, science, mathematics, mythology, etymology, and other things that ignite my curiosity! Big ol' nerd right here.

I hope this gave a little bit of insight into who I am! :)