Please observe...

This is my new favorite shirt. It's fresh and clean and I love it. This is the look that I am into right now. Perhaps I am getting older and more mature. Perhaps I wish to change the way the world perceives me. Or perhaps I just don't want to look like this:

P.S. Her song Tik Tok is very addicting though

Word of advice. If you look at the laundry basket and want to kill yourself- you should have an extremely exaggerated (and pretty much fake) meltdown in front of your boyfriend. Collapse on the bed and sob uncontrollably. Make your legs turn to Jell-O and hang off his shoulders. And scream, "Don't make me do the laundry! PLEASE don't make me!!" And try to look sad even though both of you are laughing uncontrollably. Then your boyfriend will take pity on you and offer to split the laundry 50/50. Hallelujah! I'm so easy to please.

Quick Rant

My boyfriend has a tendency to use my bath products (shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc.). Because of this, I bought him soap made out of beer for Christmas. Also, I decided that I should stop buying my expensive stuff for curly hair, specifically my conditioner. I also decided that this habit of his is very annoying and I should somehow train him not to use my products. So I bought this...

...instead of this...

I figured, "It's cheap and it smells like strawberries. So I can buy this and Justin won't want to smell like strawberries so he'll go back to using his stuff and then when it runs out I'll go back to using the conditioner that actually makes my hair look good and he'll be trained not to use my stuff anymore!"

The result: my boyfriend smells like strawberries and my hair is frizzing into a fro.

Today is filled with:

Starbucks Red Cups containing Peppermint White Mocha.
Toast with tampenade and a piece of Gruyere.
About 7 episodes of The Office.
Packing to go home.
Not cooking dinner.
Getting $60 off of a $97 oil change and wiper replacements.
Working on my last Christmas present.
And sharing this completed hat!!


For this hat I learned how to use DPNs, how to make a pom pom, and how to half double crochet!

Today my good friend Ida took me to my favorite restaurant for lunch. Giuseppe's. And I got Gnocci Spinaci for an appetizer (which I ate too fast to take a picture of) and this Ravioli Porcini. I pretty much died and went to the Land of Carbs. It's a beautiful place of naps and sauces.

In other news, I am two presents shy of being done shopping/knitting/wrapping. And I am beyond excited to bring all the presents to my parent's house this weekend. There is something about that house that is more than a home. It's everything everyone else's home wants to be, but never could be. And they're all jealous. I realize that barely made sense.

My latest challenge

THAT, my dears, is a crochet needle. And I, my dears, have learned how to do a half double crochet edge stitch. And I am excited.

Knitting around the world...

No- that picture is NOT of leftover Chinese food. It is in fact, of a defeated enemy. I have conquered the foe. He goes by the name of Mr. Pointed Needle. Double Pointed Needle. His accomplices refer to him as DPN. And I have beaten him into submission.

Tonight, I started a Christmas present for my beau's sister. The yarn I'm using was spun by the greatest in the world (the picture is not flattering). You can find her other creations here. This particular gift was going to be a wonderful hat with ear flaps such as these (except with a pom pom on top to hide my less than honorable beginnings):

Thorpe Pattern.

However, due to the unfortunate circumstances of tired eyes and cramping hands, I think I'm going to stop the hat where I'm at and make it into a yamaka in celebration of Hanukkah. :)




(just kidding)

Second Interview Today

I've got....

my peacoat.

my Chinese coin on a necklace from Chinatown.

my hair pulled back.

my contacts in- they are like forcefields for my eyes! Protecting me just in case they attempt hypnosis.

my resume- oh shoot, gotta print that out.

and my premature nervosa taken care of last night.

Interview starts at 9:15. Too bad it's not 1:37, because that is an excellent time.

Yarn and French Fries

Sorry for the long absence.

Every spare moment I have has been dedicated to knitting. I am a very slow knitter. Just as I am a very slow reader, runner, reactor, and calculator. The only things that I am actually really fast at are writing and test-taking. Just a little fun fact for you. Anyways, I would love to put pictures of all my knitting projects up on here but they're Christmas presents and therefore cannot be divulged. I hate that. I'm really bad about keeping secrets.

I have 5 projects done and have about 4 more to go. Scratch that- 5. Taylor just asked me to knit him socks. (Jessi- I'm going to knit you wristlets as a graduation present but they won't be done till after Christmas probably. But I got the yarn for them and you will LOVE the finished product. I hope.)

Other than that- things have been pretty boring. I am on a diet and have already lost 6 lbs since Thanksgiving. Hooray for me! Some people may ask, "Hey crazy person- why are you dieting during the holidays!?" To which I will reply either, "There's no time like the present" or "I'm a masochist." But the truth is that I was looking at my Life List (aka Bucket List) the other day, and "#52. Weigh my goal weight" was on there. Along with things such as the following:

#3. Visit all 50 states.
#34. Go see an Opera.
#37. Go on a boat ride through the deep South.
#57. Take a glass blowing class.

HOWEVER, I am broke and therefore cannot afford to do such life-changing events. So I'm making at least #52 happen right now. Because you gotta move forward. And you only live once.... probably.

When I diet...

I dream of food all night long. Mostly desserts. Caramel, brown sugar, cheesecake, fruit crisps. All night long. Funny thing is- when I dream of marshmallows, my pillow is gone in the morning! (Just kidding on the last part).








Images provided by FoodPornDaily.com. Click, drool, repeat.

Weekend at Bernie's (aka Jessi's)

A quaint little restaurant....



A trip to the movies....

The world's most delicious cupcakes....

A ride on some roller coasters....

A walk by the lake...

What a pretty place Jessi lives in. So peaceful, so serene...

And then there's this character:

I can't explain her.

On the road again...

Right now I am at my bestest-friend-in-the-world's house. It's in an adorable town near El Lay. I can't tell you where because apparently it's So Cal's best kept secret. Suffice it to say, there are hills and cacti and houses that actually have YARDS! *gasp**shock**thud* Very quaint and podunk.

It was a long drive but it is going to be worth it. We're going to bake cookies, drink wine, blog, walk dogs, watch bad television, see New Moon (don't judge us), and go to Ree Drummond's cookbook signing!! It's going to be fantastic. You can all be jealous that I have practically an identical twin that is going through the same situation as I am. She always knows how I feel. I miss having her around all the time.

My Thursday.

I just walked down to Cowboy Cookies to get Jessi a Maverick (or two). Except Cowboy Cookies moved down the street next to the gallery. "Oh dear. The gallery. I suppose I better check on that 600 dollar photograph that I have been lusting over for 2 years. Yup, still there." And then the gallery curator came over and asked if I needed help. "Oh no- I'm just a big fan of this photo. Catherine Archuleta is amazing." So we start talking and she introduces me to Dotty Hawthorne- a fantastic watercolor painter who owns part of the gallery and, of course, is on display. Very nice lady, beautiful paintings. She was painting all day in the Eucalyptus grove. So turns out that the curator also is a career counselor and she wants to help me find a job.

Oh and I also met the guy who puts on the football office pool, so I entered.

Crazy world we live in. It's amazing the people you meet when you smile.

This makes me remember the good ol' depressing days in Dr. Preston's class. I haven't seen it yet, and I honestly don't know if I will. There's only so much I can do for the environment and when I can't do more I start reevaluating my life. And there's only so much reevaluating you can do before you start doubting everything.

Guess what this picture is.....

We're gonna ignore the fact that I took this photo on my phone and that the light was really bad and that I, frankly, suck at taking pictures. We're just gonna call this photo "art".

We're also gonna call it the recipe of the day!!

Cashew Butternut Squash Raviolis

What you need:
...Pre-made Butternut Squash Raviolis (maybe I'll make them from scratch one day- but not today)
...Butter
...Olive Oil
...Parmesan cheese (or Gruyere- that would've been good but Jessi and I ate all of my Apple Smoked Gruyere the last time she was in town.)
...Cashews
...Nutmeg

What you do:
Make the ravs. Remove from water- stick a bit of butter in with them and let it melt. Add some olive oil cause it's delicious and better for you than more butter. Add cheese and just a shake of nutmeg (it's a very strong spice- careful). Toast some crushed cashews and pour on top. Nom nom it up.

Quick recap

My apologies for the neglect, things have been crazy. Drea came to visit!

(This photo was not taken this week- it was taken long ago. Back when my hair was au natural.)

My beau went skydiving.

(Better pictures to come from my disposable camera.)

I had my interview on Friday.

And now what I feel I really need is a good session at Red Hot Pottery where I paint a "Our First Christmas Tree" ornament. Because it's not our first Christmas together, nor our first Christmas married, but it is our first Christmas living together and sharing a tree. Thus: Our First Christmas Tree.

Things I love about San Luis Obispo

...you can hear jazz music from the Italian restaurant on the corner as you walk down the street.
...there's a candy shop that plays Willy Wonka on loop all day, every day.
...there's a medley of college students, oldtimers, middle agers, and toddlers sharing space during Farmer's Market.
...it has amazing shopping, movie theaters, and restaurants.
...Avila Valley Barn. They sell honey sticks.
...at least one of the local beaches will have nice weather at any given time.
...it's a town that encourages personal growth and education.
...it is involved in the green revolution.
...there's cows, horses, sheep, and pigs.
...the hills are green in March.
...Perfumo Canyon.
...good hiking.
...downtown at Christmas time.
...there's only one major freeway.
...the air always seems clean.
...you will probably run into someone you know while walking downtown.
...the people are pretty.
...you're a short drive away from art galleries on the Embarcadero.
...everyone is always glowing.
...the clock tower chimes Frank Sinatra

The Tummy Beast

BY ROALD DAHL

One afternoon I said to mummy,

“Who is this person in my tummy?

“Who must be small and very thin

“Or how could he have gotten in?”

My mother said from where she sat,

“It isn’t nice to talk like that.”

“It’s true!” I cried. “I swear it, mummy!

“There is a person in my tummy!

“He talks to me at night in bed,

“He’s always asking to be fed,

“Throughout the day, he screams at me,

“Demanding sugar buns for tea.

“He tells me it is not a sin

“To go and raid the biscuit tin.

“I know quite well it’s awfully wrong

“To guzzle food the whole day long,

“But really I can’t help it, mummy,

“Not with this person in my tummy.”

“You horrid child!” my mother cried.

“Admit it right away, you’ve lied!”

“You’re simply trying to produce

“A silly asinine excuse!

“You are the greedy guzzling brat!

“And that is why you’re always fat!”

I tried once more, “Believe me, mummy,

“There is a person in my tummy.”

“I’ve had enough!” my mother said,

“You’d better go at once to bed!”

Just then, a nicely timed event

Delivered me from punishment.

Deep in my tummy something stirred,

And then an awful noise was heard,

A snorting grumbling grunting sound

That made my tummy jump around.

My darling mother nearly died,

“My goodness, what was that?” she cried.

At once the tummy voice came through,

It shouted, “Hey there! Listen you!

“I’m getting hungry! I want eats!

“I want lots of chocs and sweets!

“Get me half a pound of nuts!

“Look snappy or I’ll twist your guts!”

“That’s him!” I cried. “He’s in my tummy!

“So now do you believe me, mummy?”

But mummy answered nothing more,

For she had fainted on the floor.

“The Tummy Beast” from Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl, published by Jonathan Cape Ltd & Penguin Books Ltd (UK) and Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc (USA) © 1983.

Source: Dirty Beasts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001)

My space, your space.

Today's Non-Etsy Find(s) of the Day:



That's the interview outfit I bought today! My interview is on Friday (yes, I'm terrified) and I have to look great. In a "I'm super professional and mature, but also inexperienced enough to take this entry-level job and to use the word 'super'" type of way. Hopefully I succeed.

Sidenote:
I am eating fat-free, lactose-free chocolate pudding. Despite being deprived of everything delicious, it is still quite tasty. Probably because it is guilt-free, as well.

Today I also adopted a corner of my residence. I got so used to not sharing space with someone, I forgot what it was like. A one room apartment for two 22 year-old's with A LOT of stuff (apparently) is just not enough room. So I took advice from Francis Mayes, "The trick to overcoming buyer's remorse is to have a plan. Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself, so it can introduce itself to you." Ok, it doesn't totally apply but I tried to live up to the quote's expectations. I picked a corner (cause my apartment is too small to pick a whole room) and made it my own. It needs some work but here it is thus far...


I moved my computer from the living room and the evil Wal-Mart desk that cuts into my arms and put it in the bedroom. I'm planning on burning that desk in an epic bonfire. Now I can listen to music and play on the computer without hearing video game sound effects, "TOUCHDOWN!!!", or other manly noises (aka farting, burping, cussing, or snoring) from my manly boyfriend (whom I happen to love more than anything in the world). One day we'll have two bedrooms and he can have his mancave rather than adopting the whole living room. BUT! It's ok- cause like he says, I have a womancave now. I am woman- hear me roar.

roar.

The many faces of...

Today's Etsy Find of the Day:



Oh what a mood I'm in today. My poor boyfriend doesn't know what to do with me. He's treading softly and giving me lots of kisses. I think it's a combination of not spending enough time with my family when I saw them and driving too much. Baloo (my bf) said it best when he asked me if I was happy to be home. I said, "Yes, I just wish our home was somewhere else."

But that is besides the point- this month is about making things happen. And although I cannot make big things happen at the drop of a hat- I can rearrange furniture, download music, knit something for those I love, or listen to Bing Crosby croon about the color of Christmas (white, obviously). I just need to remember that "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." Sage advice from an inanimate object. (I think it was on a candle holder I once had.)

In other news! I didn't blog for the last 2 days...*forehead slap* I fail. Friday, I totally100% forgot. And yesterday I drove to San Jose, went to dinner, drove to Santa Cruz, went to a concert, then drove to Felton. And frankly- I think that's a fantastic excuse. It was good to hang out with my brother and his adorable girlfriend and to talk to my mama. I hardly got to see my sister (thanks for letting us crash, though!!) but I'll be back for Thanksgiving and we'll see each other then. Her house is like my regeneration station. More inspiration, kitty kisses, blogging, reading, knitting, and drinking tea in a weekend than anyone should be allowed to do.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that I am writing this on my laptop which is perched on my vanity because I despise my Wal-Mart desk which has corner edges that are like scalpels. And since Bryce (my laptop) is on my vanity, I am constantly staring at myself in the mirror behind my screen. Let's just say, I make some very concerning facial expressions when I am concentrating on something. Learn something new about yourself every day.

And with that- here is my "Um, I'm driving. I love you- but stop bugging me" facial expression.



El Fin.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Today's Non-Etsy Find of the Day: (sidenote- this was not the original posting, the other ring was similar but prettier. Their website crashed.)


Someone please buy that for me at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your cooperation. This is a recording...

I am making a Christmas playlist!! Horray! Don't tell the Thanksgiving lovers though, they'll stone me to death. Now if we could just get some snow- my life would be complete. Ok, or some rain. I guess that works too.

If my heart was a house, you'd be home.

Today's Etsy Find of the Day


Before I begin my ranting and raving, I thought I would update you on my November goals since it's been a couple days.

Here are my November goals:
...Wake up at 6:00am every weekday (to ensure that I get all these things done)
........... I have since decided that this is a stupid goal. I don't work till 8:30 on MWF and not till 3:00pm on TR. So I am amending the goal to say 7:00-7:30.

...Start health-ifying my body
........... New diet is going well. No dairy and less sugar. Need to exercise more though. I just have this horrible hatred towards sweat and being out of breath and I'm having problems getting past that. :-P

...Rock my interview on the 13th
........... Everyday that passes I get more and more nervous.

...Learn to be patient with my love
........... Still working on this. I wish I didn't babysit two rambunctious boys twice a week, they're zapping all my patience.

...Kiss more
........... Work in progress.

...Knit more- gotta finish Christmas presents!
........... I finished one! I can't post a picture though- just in case.

...Jump start my thesis
........... I'm rolling around a very promising idea in my head. Meeting with my adviser today.

...Make more memories with my man
........... Dropkick Murphy's this weekend!

In other news! I got the greatest Christmas present for my sister-in-dating (bf's sister. Get it? Cause we're not married... if you don't get it then I can't explain it to you). Check this guy out:


Bahaha! He's a little coin purse! So cute/fugly. I love Christmas shopping.

Also, in other news. I cannot stop listening to the Owl City album. Great beat, great lyrics.
"If my heart was a house, you'd be home." It's sweet. We need more sweet in this world. Plus indie is my favorite genre in the fall/winter time. Then rock n' roll in the spring and country in the summer. It's the cycle of life and it is what it is. Just let it be.

P.S.

Today's Etsy Find of the Day:

Happy Birthday bro-ha

Today is my favorite, and only, brother's birthday.


He and I were great friends growing up. That's what happens when you're stuck in the woods for the majority of your childhood. Even though I left our grove for college and now we only see each other every 2 months or so, I would still be lost without my little brother. Just knowing that he is there to share music, make me laugh, go on a roadtrip with, or beat someone up, is enough for me. He's such an awesome little dude and I will always think of him as 12 years old (regardless of the fact that he now goes to college and has found a great girl for him).

Happy Birthday Gaber-roonie. I got your back. :)

National Blog Posting Month

Today's Etsy Find of the Day:

I love rocks. So much.

I am contributing to National Blog Posting Month. Because this month I am WILLING things to happen. No, scratch that, I am MAKING things happen. Health, money, love, career. It's all happening.

However, sometimes you need help to make things happen. And I need help coming up with inspiration. There's not much going on in my life that is pretty and poetic. I'm working on improving that, but as of now I still feel like I'm in a beige box. Don't worry though- I'm slowly turning it electric orange. I'm using my spray paint and spicing up my life.

Here are my November goals:
...Wake up at 6:00am every weekday (to ensure that I get all these things done)
...Start health-ifying my body
...Rock my interview on the 13th
...Learn to be patient with my love
...Kiss more
...Knit more- gotta finish Christmas presents!
...Jump start my thesis
...Make more memories with my man

Here's to the beginning of a new and better month. Here's to us.

The First of November.

Yesterday was Halloween. It was a fun night. We went to a bar that only serves beer and food. As in, we actually SAT. At a TABLE! I'm sure it was a total 180 from everyone else out and about downtown. See- we have this thing against lines to get into bars. And then lines to get on the dance floor. And then lines to get a drink. It's not like we're at Disneyland, people. Anyways, these are my people as of late:



I am definitely one of the guys. Sometimes it's great- sometimes not. They're all good boys with hearts of gold. And I happen to be madly in love with the one dressed as a Scot (don't tell him that though- he's got a big head already). But they ARE boys. Thus they don't really want to talk about cooking/yarn/menstruating/babies/blogging/knitting/cakes.

*sob* I MISS JESSI AND BRIE!!!!

This is how I cope:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin-Banana Bread.
Mmmmm.

Happy Halloween!!