….you should do whatever makes you happy.
No work. No school. No responsibilities.
Just crack open a beer, relax and enjoy your life.
Or come over to my place. I’ll give you beer and cookies. Whatever kind you want!
You deserve it. Why? Because you’re awesome. Anybody who disagrees will have to answer to my fist. In their face.
Love you friends š
P.S. Happy Easter!
The cuteness is killing me.
(Picture courtesy of an Ellen Degeneres tweet š )
Every time my brother comes to visit he asks me if I still listen to crappy music.
Part of me is offended.
The other part has been singing āWho saysā by Selena Gomez nonstop for a week.
I donāt know why he gives me such grief over what I choose to listen to. I mean it canāt be because I forced my whole family to listen to NSYNCās Christmas Album everyday for a month every.single.day, right?
By the way, that CD is totally missing and Iām completely sure a family member stole it. I need to hire a detective. Or make one of them buy me tickets to the NSYNC reunion concert that I dream about every night.
Seriously? That concert needs to happen, like yesterday.
I miss you...
Anywho, I know I have extremely mainstream tastes. And by that, I obviously mean I have the musical taste of a 13-year old girl who thinks sheās going to marry Justin Bieber.
Minus the marrying Justin Bieber part. I donāt want to marry him. Thatās gross.
Sometimes I think my brother has a point, especially when my iPod goes from Celine Dion to Hairspray to Adele to Lil Wayne to Taylor Swift to Adam Lambert to the Jonas Brothers. But then I realize that having the Hannah Montana among Adele, Aerosmith and Mumford and Sons isnāt the worst thing in the world.
Yes, I said Hannah Montana. Not Miley Cyrus. The artist is literally Hannah Montana.
I realize Iāve probably lost 90 percent of my readership after that statement, and Iām okay with this. For the rest of you, just hang tight. Iām going to make this better.
Reasons why Hannah Montana belongs on my iPod:
I know there are more 24-year olds out there like me, but I understand if they are too embarrassed to speak up. Sometimes Iām embarrassed of myself.
Thatās a lie. Iām not embarrassed. Sorry Iām not sorry.
Oh, and to answer my brotherās question: Yes, I still listen to crappy music. Love you too š
My sophomore year of high school we did Fiddler on the Roof for our musical. During the auditions we had the choice to sing a solo or do the audition with a group. All my friends chose to sing together, but I decided to try a solo. I thought it would help me stand out. I knew I wasnāt a very good singer, but I figured I could at least be guaranteed a chorus part, and get brownie points with the director.
Instead, I was the only one who didnāt get a part.
Eventually I found out that my teacher (the director) didnāt even remember me auditioning. Awesome. Because high school isnāt awkward enough, now I felt even more invisible. I would rather be told that Iām the most vile person on this planet, than not be remembered at all.
I basically fell apart for a few days after that. My poor mom didnāt know what to do. This was reason 385049 why she wanted me to be a doctor. The only rejection there would be from med schools, and that wouldnāt happen for another six years. Plenty of time to prepare.
After that episode, my dreams of being an actress kind of went away. When you handle rejection that badly, you know something is not for you. Itās just not healthy. My mom was pretty happy when I made that decision. Being a typical teenage girl, though, I made sure her happiness didnāt last long. My new dream was to work for Cosmopolitan magazine.
The poor woman just couldnāt win with me. I like to think it was easier for her to support that dream though. At least she didnāt have to hear me talk about who I would be thanking at the Oscars. Instead I talked endlessly about my NYC loft and how I would decorate it.
When I first read The Devil Wears Prada, I honestly thought it had been written about my future life. Creepy.
Eventually I realized journalism wasnāt for me. I love to write, but I like to do it on my terms. None of this āstory assignmentā business. I write what I want to write, okay?
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I followed that dream. Would I have landed an internship with a major magazine in college? Maybe even a job after graduation? Would I be writing about the best hairstyles for summer everyday? Would I be writing this from my little New York City apartment?
Who knows. My dream changed when I was in college, and Iām glad it did.
I will admit that sometimes I feel like I gave up. Like I should have kept going with that dream just to see if I could do it. But I know I wouldnāt be as happy as I thought I would be. I mean nobody can say I didnāt try. I was the freaking editor-in-chief of my university newspaper when I realized journalism wasnāt for me.
I think certain jobs require certain personality traits. And I slowly but surely realized I do not share personality traits with Anna Wintour.
Iām not classy and confident. Iām awkward and goofy.
I love fashion. I also really love wearing my polar bear bathrobe for hours on end.
I would love to have fun, dating stories to tell. I also love not having awful, dating stories to tell.
I always forget my sunglasses when I need them. Anna would never forget her sunglasses.
Plus we all know that if I ran a magazine, it would feature Justin Bieber on the cover, recipes for cupcakes, tips on how to get away with wearing jeggings everyday and weekend plans that involve more laundry nights than date nights.
So sue me.
I love my job. Itās literally exactly what I wanted in a first job, and exactly what I worked for. I worked hard to get internships my last year of school and I worked hard at those internships. Luckily for me I truly liked the work I did there. PR fits me, which is good because all those little outfits Anna Wintour wears probably wouldnāt.
Sometimes I feel guilty because I know so many people who are still looking for their perfect job or perfect life, and I feel like I shouldnāt be so happy with my life. I know my friends are happy for me, yet I still feel bad. Iām ridiculous like that.
But then I look up at the crack in my ceiling of the apartment, listen to the sound of the little mouse Iām convinced is living in my wall, and think about how Iām stuck here for another 12 months. Then I stop feeling guilty. I also start to think about how I should probably work on getting furniture, because having a dance studio instead of a living room isnāt really practical.
THEN I remember that all I have in my freezer is two bottles of vodka and frozen strawberries.
My life may not be perfect, but it fits me perfectly.
P.S. My mother got over me not being a doctor. She actually loves what I do now and is instead putting all her efforts into finding me a doctor husband. I canāt imagine this is a surprise to any of you.
Alright friends, I’m going to give it to you straight: After today, I honestly don’t know when my next post will come.
In about three hours I’ll be moving to San Antonio. While this is all good and exciting, I won’t have a computer until I’m able to afford one. And I won’t be able to afford one until I get a few paychecks. And my first paycheck won’t come until the middle of April. So we’re looking at a no computer life until early summer.
How will I live? I have no clue.
I start my new super awesome job on Monday, and obviously I’ll be working on a computer there. But I don’t want to assume that I can just do whatever I want, so for at least a week the blog is going to take a back seat. When I get more settled in and comfortable with my schedule, I’ll get back into it. I promise. I have wonderful friends who have already said I can use theirs if I need to.
Sadly, this also means Vitrual Book Club might be pushed back a little. Sorry sorry sorry! I promise it will happen, so still read the book š
Oh and before you start worrying too much, I can get on Facebook and Twitter on my phone. How awful would it be if I couldn’t? *Shudder* I don’t want to even think about it.
Before I leave on my journey (dramatic much?) I just wanted to thank all my readers again. Y’all are so sweet and amazing and the fact that you care about what I have to say means a lot. I really hope my writing gives you at least a little bit of entertainment or light throughout your day š
Oh! And instead of a regular Read this instead (I bet you thought I forgot, huh?) I’m just going to leave you with links to my favorite blogs. The ones that I will be glued to my phone reading for the next couple of weeks. Most of them are food blogs, don’t judge.
Also check out this article Peter Shankman wrote for Mashable. And then feel bad about yourself because YOU are the reason Rebecca Black is famous.
Ha, just kidding. But he’s right, it’s everybody’s fault. I like to think it’s only half my fault because I haven’t made it through the entire video. I’m afraid my brain will fall out my eyes if I see it through the end.
I think that’s it. If I left any out, I am horribly sorry.
I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend, week (and possibly next weekend too)!
I haven't even left yet, but I already miss him š¦
Bye loves ā¤ —(did you hear, ā¤ is officially in the dictionary. So wrong, yet so wonderful).
I have never really needed anything from IKEA before. And until one was built 10 minutes from my house, I had never set foot in the store. Prior to this weekend, I had been a whole three times and had walked out with nothing more than tupperware or a coffee mug.
But all that has changed. Oh, how it has changed!
Friends, your little blogger is growing up. I got my first “this is why I went to college” job last week and I start next week!
The job requires a move from Austin to San Antonio. Which requires a new apartment. Which requires furniture, of which I have none.
Hello IKEA!
I really only needed a few things (famous last words?) because we don’t want to have to rent a u-haul. My bed frame fits in my mom’s car and I’m not buying a mattress until I get to SA. I can’t afford a couch and TV right now so those were going to have to wait anyway, BUT I figured I might as well get a coffee table, dresser, etc while I was still in Austin.
The beauty of IKEA is that all the furniture comes in boxes so it will fit in my little bitty car. Love that. Not sure how much I’ll love it when I have to put together all my new stuff, but for now I’m giving thanks to the IKEA Gods.
Ideally I would have liked to go during the week because IKEA is super stressful on the weekends. What with all the people, carts and screaming children. Alas, we went on a Sunday because my dad works all the time and we needed him to lift the heavy stuff.
We decided to leave at 11. So we left at 12:30. Typical.
We stopped at the liquor store right across the street first because my mom decided she wanted to start drinking martinis. Also typical.
Got to the door before realizing it was Sunday and the liquor store was closed. SO TYPICAL.
All of that had nothing to do with my IKEA experience, I just wanted to make sure you guys know how ridiculous my family is.
Back to the furniture. I’m sure all of you have been to IKEA at least once, but if not just picture a huge warehouse with a bunch of kitchens, beds, sofas, chairs, tables and whisks. Now imagine a million people walking around in those kitches, laying in those beds, sitting those sofas and chairs, looking under the tables and grabbing eight whisks because they’re only a dollar and “you can never have too many whisks”
That’s in quotation marks because I actually heard somebody say that as they dumped a bunch of whisks in their cart.
Oh and add about 500 screaming kids. That’s IKEA. On a Sunday.
We walked through the whole store because it seemed like the polite thing to do. Even though I don’t need a new kitchen (even though some of them look amazing) and an actual couch won’t fit in our car (or my budget). Going to IKEA and not looking at everything is like going to Disney World and not seeing Mickey Mouse. You just don’t leave Disney World without at least waving to the guy!
But it’s really the last few rooms that capture my heart. Candles for $1.99! Plates for $.59! 18-piece tupperware for $3.99! Apple slicers for $2.00!
Who cares if I never slice apples?! It’s $2.00!
This was when our cart got filled up. And this was when my dad kept trying to get my mom and I to go towards the check-out area and not back to the candles. Did I mention how cheap the candles were?
I’ve always been lucky in that my former roomies have always been smart enough to remember the little things an apartment needs. Like a utensil holder thingy. Or a paper towel holder. Or a rug. Whatever it was, they already had it before it every occurred to me that we would need it.
But now I’m on my own, and my paper towels aren’t going to hold themselves.
So thank you IKEA, for providing me with the things I didn’t even know I needed. Because of you I might start slicing my apples and whisking things that probably don’t need to be whisked.
Although I should probably work on putting together that coffee table. And the side table, two lamps and dresser I bought too.
This might not end well.
P.S. On our way back home we stopped at another liquor store because my dad was hoping to find the one place that would miraculously be open on a Sunday. I swear we don’t have a problem.
As many of you know, I’ve been working at the cafe inside Barnes and Noble for a couple of months and before that I worked at Starbucks for a few years. I know the life of a barista, and even though I adore Starbucks (and other coffee shops) working there can be rough.
When I ran across this article I knew I just had to share. And by “share” I obviously mean “complain about my experiences.”
13 Things Baristas Won’t Tell You (Read this for the original article. I just pulled the main points for this post and added my own commentary. Of course. )
1. Drinking two quad-shot, 22oz, vanilla lattes every day is bad for you. So is the pumpkin loaf you have for breakfast every morning. Just saying.
2. Sometimes the owners of independent coffee/espresso carts buy cheap coffee and sell it as a respected brand. I know nothing of this, but it’s not surprising.
3. Please believe me. Listen, I get that you think I’m dumb just because I work in a coffee shop. I mean, how are you to know that I am going to college/just graduated? And you! Well you wear a suit, so I can only assume that you have a “real” job and are very smart and know everything and basically trump me in every way possible. So I suppose it makes sense that you would repeat the word “nonfat” eight times while placing your order (hey, those suits gotta fit, right?). And I mean you might as well repeat it again while I’m making the drink, juuuuust in case I decided to pour whole milk because I get the letter “N” confused with “W”. And fine, watch my hands carefully and yell if you think I brushed up against the whip cream because you DO NOT want whip. Of course, I know you don’t want whip because the cup tells me you don’t want whip, but it’s alright if you want to tell me again. HOWEVER, when I look you in the eye and say “here is your grande, nonfat, no whip, mocha” the last thing you should even think of asking me is “is it nonfat?” Seriously, believe me.
4. If youāre not at Starbucks, donāt order like you are. The main reason for this being that Starbucks likes to make up words. A caramel frappuccino did not exist before Howard Schultz allowed it to exist. See also: Vivanno, misto and marble mocha macchiatto.
5. You are the reason for the wait. Yes, you with the cell phone who had 10 minutes to decide what you wanted but were too busy telling your BFF about your new man (who is so sweet) to look at the menu. You and your “do I want a frappuccino or a white mocha?” are the reason for the wait. Oh, you really wanted a vanilla latte? I thought so.
6. Be nice. Not just to us. To everybody. Just be nice all the time. If you never go to coffee shops but happen to be reading this anyway, please take note of this one. I’m tired of rude people. I’m tired of annoying people. I’m tired of people who think they’re better than others. The only people I’m not tired of are the genuinely nice people. The ones who I know are nice to everybody they meet, not just me. Incidentally, these are the people who get free drinks.
7. Just because theyāre vegan doesnāt mean our cakes are good for you. Sorry.
8. Yes, I went to school for this. I wouldn’t really call it “school”, but I do know what I’m talking about. And if I don’t, I will still help you to the best of my ability. I promise.
9. There is an art to pulling a perfect shot of espresso. And it takes more than half a second. So stop with the foot tapping already!
10. Tip. It’s nice. I won’t be mad if you don’t, but it’s nice.
11. A bigger cup doesnāt mean more coffee espresso. Hold on to your hats kids, this ones a doozy. A bigger cup really just means more syrup, milk and whip cream. And money. So when you come in all sad and tired because your life is SO hard and the only thing getting you through is the idea of a mocha don’t laugh and say “obviously I need a venti” when I ask you what size you want. Grandes and ventis have the exact same amount of espresso in them. So jokes on you because you could have saved yourself a few cents (and calories) had you gotten the smaller size. Another thing: if you’re really THAT tired you should just order a brewed coffee. It has more caffeine and makes you less annoying to us.
12. Latte art isnāt merely decorative. I know nothing of this. I can barely get all the milk in the cup….I’m far from latte art.
13. A real macchiato has just a stain of milk foam and no sugar. Weird, right? If caramel macchiatos are your drink, try to stay away from the cafes in Italy. They don’t have what you’re looking for.
1. The kitchen is my happy place. And I know that’s such a cliche thing to say, but let’s face it, I’m kind of a walking cliche. So there. And to be honest, I’m pretty much happy all the time, so the kitchen is really just another place for me to be happy, but “happy place” sounds cuter and less “ugh she’s so damn happy all the time”.
2. Sometimes while I’m cooking I come up with a script in my head of what I would say if I had my own cooking show. And just so you know, in my head I’m totally charasmatic, clever and not the least bit annoying. I also don’t say EVOO or Ri-COAT-ta.
3. For the most part I follow recipes when it comes to baking. At least the measurment parts. I do have a tendency to throw chocolate into everything though. Blame it on my momma, I watched her do it for years and now it just seems natural.
(Source)
4. With that said, if you ever ask me for a recipe based on a savory dish I will look at you sheepishly and try to avoid the question. Because I made the recipe up. In my head. Even if it’s the 74957 time I’ve made it, I still couldn’t tell you how much of what went in it. Hell, I probably couldn’t tell you all the ingredients in general.
5. If you saw our spice cabinet you’d understand why. I’m more of a “grab and shake” (haha) type of cook, not a “look at bottle, decide if it will go with food, measure out spice and gingerly stir it in.”
6. Remember when I told you I was entering that Food Network Magazine “cook with honey” contest? Well, I HAD to measure everything, write it down, make it again, tweak it, write it down again. Such drama, all of which made me realize I don’t really like honey that much. Whoops. Although, my honey-chipotle hummus was pretty legit.
7. So I guess I could never have my own cooking show, because that would require me to remember all the ingredients and measurements. This would stress me out. And stress is not a cute look for me. And I HAVE to look cute on TV. Duh.
8. I complain about small kitchens because I feel like, as someone who truly enjoys cooking and baking, I have to. But in all honesty, I think small kitchens are charming and I kind of like cooking in them. Especially while I’m single. A big kitchen + nobody to love = Saaaaad. Sure, a big counter is nice when rolling out pie dough, but will a big counter hug you when you’re sad. No! It’ll probably be in your way and cause you to drop a pan of freshly baked cookies. UGH.
9. I’m still a drama queen in the kitchen. Why people let me near gas stoves and sharp knives, I have no idea.
10. I made these scones for my aunt the other day. I watched her eat three, which is more than I’ve ever seen her eat in one sitting. This made me immensely happy.
Happy Monday friends! It’s “Confession Week” over here at Anywho.
What’s that, you ask? Well, every day this week I’ll be posting things about me that people don’t know.
Except, my life is kind of like an open book, so if you know me at all you probably know some of these already.
Either way, it’ll be fun š
Shopping Confessions
1. I prefer shopping alone. You’ll find out why within the next nine statements.
2. When it comes to clothes shopping, I turn slightly psychotic. I start grabbing whatever I want and then walk around the store fighting with myself (in my head, of course. I’m not THAT crazy) because there is a 95 percent chance I don’t need anything of what I picked up.
3. I’m even worse when it comes to shoes. Do I need another pair of black heels? Duh, of course I do. I should probably get them in red too, just in case.
4. I have this rule that if I find something I like, but don’t need, I have to put it back. If I’m still thinking about it days later, than I go back to get it. I end up making a lot of trips to Target due to this silly rule.
5. I’m convinced that the book Gods hate me. Whenever I need a book (like for VBC!) I can never find it, although I do manage to find another book that I’ve been “meaning to read”. And by “meaning to read”, I obviously mean “put on bookshelf for years before I remember it’s there.”
6. You’d think my love of to-do lists would carry over into making grocery shopping lists. But you’d be wrong. This is why I always forget something, and why I’m at HEB at least every other day.
7. Speaking of HEB, I do always walk out of there with at least one of two things: A magazine or new make-up. I have a major problem.
8. This is how I pick out nail polishes:
Guess which one I bought? None of them. Managed to convince myself that $3.79 was too much to spend on “Craving Coral”, and bought People StyleWatch instead.
9. I go to the store too much. This is how I ended up with $1.00 nail polish the day after I had decided to not buy any.
10. Yet, I’m still craving coral. I think I need to go back.
I haven’t been around. I know this.
One thing I’ve never been into is chronicling the details of my day. I read other blogs that do and I adore them, but my life is not made for blogging in that manner. I have stories to tell, and clever comments to write. That’s what I do. I never started this blog to make money, write a book or push an agenda on anybody (not that all blogs are like that). I honestly just really like to write, and decided this would be the best way to do that.
So because of that, I don’t post every single day. I promise I’m not bringing this up because I think you guys miss me oh so much (shoot, I barely miss myself) but rather because I know it can be weird to read a blog that doesn’t fall into any sort of genre. However, I don’t like be categorized as a person, so it’s better that my blog stays the same.
With that said, I don’t have any funny stories for you today. Unless you count me asking my dog for shoe advice last night funny. I call it sad, but what do I know?
So until I have a ridiculous tale to tell, I’ll leave y’all with this. A few things that I’ve been into recently. Hopefully you’ll be inspired to try something out. If not, at least you’ll know exactly why I don’t blog about everything in my life.
I’m all about honesty kids.
What I’ve been doing instead of writing about my life, because my life is boring (hey, never said I was good at titles)
Baking: This AMAZING bread. Seriously, so good and so easy. I don’t know why I thought baking a sugary treat while alone was a good idea. All I know is that there is a cinnamon sugar crumb trail all over my house and I have no problem with that.
Reading: Lunch in Paris (Elizabeth Bard)
It’s a really sweet story, but it’s taking me a while to read it. There are a bunch of recipes throughout the story which is really cool. That’s probably why it’s taking me so long, I keep stopping for snacks. Sigh.
Oh and speaking of books, I’ve got more information on the virtual book club coming up. We’ve got a couple of members so we can finally get started. So exciting!
Watching: Sex and the City (seasons 1 & 2)
I will never stop loving this show. NEVER.
Doing: Work, work, work. Yay for selling coffee.
Misc: Game night, job interview (fingers crossed), drinks with friends, quality time with my puppy. Organizing my closet (again), cleaning the kitchen like a crazy person, not cleaning the rest of my house, forgetting to return a Redbox movie, obsessively reading StyleWatch while promising to put on a real outfit, livin the life.
What have y’all been up to? Hopefully it’s more exciting than what you just read.
On February 26, 1987 this little butterball was born:
A few hours old...
And today she looks like this:
Eh, it could be worse right?
š
P.S. Because photobooth is fun and I have no life:
And the ridiculousness continues
Posted in Random
Anywho 