I'm moving my blog from Typepad over to Blogger. You might be thinking to yourself,
"But why?! Typepad had so many more options for customization. Typepad=blog happines!"
And the answer is this: Blogger is free and I have no money.
So head on over HERE!! for some Friday Favorites and help me find some sold out Modcloth shoes that I absolutely must find. I moved all my blog posts over there but the comments were sadly lost, so go give my new blog some love!
Make my blog go from this: to this!
One of my New Years Resolutions was to read 12 books this year - one a month. Although I'm doing great with all my other resolutions, I'm struggling with this one even though I love to read.
Here's THE PROBLEM.
I love the Game of Thrones series.
I love the books and I love the show on HBO. I love it so much, I made a Danaerys Targaryan costume for Halloween.
I read books 1-4 in record speed and eagerly purchased book 5, which by the way, is this giant, intimidating, too-big-to-take-anywhere TOME of a book.
Then I got busy.
I forgot about it for a few months, and I'm having trouble picking back up where I left off. The plot lines are deeply entagled, there are a million peripheral characters, and I've forgotten a lot of the third book, which is where the fifth book starts.
For Christmas, my amazing boyfriend bought me a NOOK. To motivate myself, I banned myself from using the Nook until I finished Game of Thrones. Now it seems like I might never get to use my Christmas gift!
Well, enough is enough.
Forget rearranging the living room and turning that maxi skirt into a dress. All projects are officially on hold for this book!
Maybe if I had a reading list to get excited about, I'd be more inclined to finish this one. I definitely want to read The Hunger Games next.
What are you currently reading?
I was planning to do a Work-Wear Wednesday feature, but my photos wouldn't upload yesterday and now I can't think of anything clever that starts with T for Thursday. <---I sound like I belong on the "First World Problems" website with that line. I work in a business casual office, and this is pretty typical work attire for me.
Dress and scarf: Forever 21
Tights: H&M
Sweater: NY&Co
Flats: Unknown
I wanted my nails to be fun, but still work appropriate, so I worked in the subtle gold nail. The ring used to belong to my grandma.
You can see my pirate ship in the background!
I've been starting to work some nicer investment pieces into my work wardrobe because I know the day is coming when Forever 21 will no longer count as appropriate office attire. I'm hoping I'll be in grad school next year so that I won't have to worry about it for a while. My issue right now with Forever 21 is that every article of clothing I buy there ends up shrinking in the wash and I really can't afford for the hemline on my office dresses to rise an inch every time I do laundry.
Do any of you work in an office? I feel like my bloggy friends tend to have more artsy careers, but I'm not sure if that opinion has any basis in reality.
So I've had this huge cat pillow forever, and although I'm sure some people would love it, I always felt like it was kind of creepy. Also, it just doesn't go with our decor.
It was actually in my car for about a month because I was planning on dropping it off at Goodwill but I never did.
Eventually I decided to repurpose this fabulous Indian skirt that never fit quite right, and sew it right over the offensive cat. It's so big and bright, it makes a big difference in our room now...I love it!
It was easy and took basically no sewing skills. I did it by hand in half an hour.
<3
The other night I made chocolate covered strawberries (and Oreos!) for Valentine's Day (yes, it's a bit early) with my friend Monica and we had a total girls night.
We drizzled white chocolate (with some red food coloring to make it pink!) and used red sprinkles and coconut just for fun.We also watched John Tucker Must Die with a bottle of white. Don't judge.
I love you, Monica!
I was missing my man in early January while he was visiting his family and I was stuck at work, and I made this cute little frame with space to write with a dry erase marker.
Excuse the poor picture quality; I'm having camera issues.
In the few weeks we've had it, this little board has had quite a bit to say! At one time or another, these are all things that have been found written on the glass by one of us:
Rich loves me because...
"You like Indian food"
"kisses"
"you bring me snacks"
I love him because...
"I miss you when you're gone"
"You bring me cold water"
"You clean the cheese grater"
The project took about 10 minutes to make using sticky scrapbook letters
Enjoy!
I really tried to like yoga, but some things are just not for everyone. I've tried hot yoga, beach yoga, meditate-in-a-garden-yoga, and yoga of the sweaty gym floor variety. The fact is that when I am seeking inner peace, I go running. Alone. To angry music.
This is my own fault, but if I go to a yoga class, I'm not looking to align my chakras, I just want to exercise. When I'm trying to get my sweat on, and someone at the front of the room is telling me to be calm while acting like a one-person cirque-du-soleil, it gives me the opposite of inner peace.
This is what the instructor is actually doing versus what I see when I look at them:
The instructor What I see
I literally spend the entire class yelling at bendy-alien-space-instructor in my head and wondering if people would judge me for leaving early.
However, I have discovered an alternative: Pilates.
I love my pilates instructor at Alter Ego Fitness. It's basically yoga boiled down to exercise. It isn't calming - it's stimulating! It doesn't make me connect with nature - it makes me connect with my abs! My instructor says comforting things like "We're almost done! Good job!" and encouraging things like "Push harder! Remember why you came!"
I don't even mind when she occasionally sneaks in a five-minute rest at the end of class. I go twice a week for strength training and try to go running for cardio two other days because being in good shape is what makes me feel good.
By the way, have you heard of Doga? I discovered this phenomenon when searching for obedience classes for my puppy...it's yoga....with your dog. This can't be normal...can it?
I first discovered epilators in 2008 from my Brazilian friend, Gaby. I didn't hear much about them again until I roomed with a British girl who swore by them. I'm still the only person I know of stateside that uses them, so I want to review their pros and cons.
Epilators are almost a hybrid between waxing and shaving. They work like electric razors, except that instead of shaving the hair off, they pull the hair out by the root by acting like a bunch of tiny tweezers. They have a lot of the benefits of waxing, like smooth skin for a longer time and hair growing back thinner. It's pretty painful the first time, but the pain diminishes after a few uses. Unlike waxing, you don't have to wait for your hair to grow out very long before using it. It isn't messy and it's easy to do in your home. I like the epilator because it's a one-time investment - it's completely free to use after your first purchase!I've heard complaints about ingrown hairs from these and although it hasn't been a huge problem for me, you do have to watch out for them.
The first Braun Epilator that I bought came with a tiny light that turned on during use so that you could easily see hair you had missed. My new one doesn't have the light and I miss it.
They come with two speeds, which I like, and several attachments to the head that are designed to reduce pain and collect pulled hairs. I normally just take the attachments off because I find that less pain just means that the epilator isn't working as well/being as thorough.
I only use the epilator on my lower legs and underarms and it pretty much eliminates the women's version of the 5 0'clock shadow.
For me, it's completely worth it. Have you ever tried using an epilator?
I'm joining my first blog hop for 7 Pretty Things on Sunday!
1. Pretty online scrapbook paper {source}
2. My favorite Modcloth bathing suit that looks good on EVERY body type {source}
3. A picture my boyfriend took on Valentine's Day a few years ago - unedited! I love how the leaves look like hearts.
4. Our picnic blanket (that we used today)
5. Organization - at last :-)
6. Pretty bag (from Target a couple of years ago)
7. I took the ugly book jacket off the book I was reading - and look what I found underneath!
Join the hop!
Sometimes an ugly sweater can make a great bag. This was my first sewing project and it was perfect for a beginner because it was so easy. I didn't even use a sewing machine for this, although it probably would have taken all of 5 minutes if I had. Sadly, I don't have a "before" picture because I started this project a long time ago.
Hooray! I'm going to have to take on a few more projects like this.
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