Currently...

Reading: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. I found it absolutely hilarious and it reminded me so much of the humor that my best friend Kendra and I share. Damn, Mindy, and to think I thought you were awesome enough just being on/writing for The Office.

Watching: My daytime talk shows. Maury, Bill Cunningham, Jeremy Kyle, and sometimes the ever-fabulous Wendy Williams. Ok, Wendy is actually really damn obnoxious, but how can I help it when she gets such awesome guest appearances? I do hate the "oo-oo," and "how you doin'"s, though.

Working on: Getting my ass in gear to go back to school. Lord knows, it's been a while, but I'm determined! Also working on the mini trailer my mom and I bought together :) A fixer-upper for mommy and me.

Thinking about: Anxiety, seeing psychiatrists, Morgan's birthday yesterday; today has been filled with dread. But also some shopping. But mostly dread.

Anticipating: I just got engaged!!

Listening to: Sweet Home Alabama. I love this song so much. It makes me want to go to Alabama. The song itself paints such a laid back and relaxed picture - and I could really use that today.

Eating: Garlic bread. Starving from coming home after a long day of not-too-much eating, I raided the fridge and threw some garlic Texas Toast in the oven. I'm starving, but I can wait another five minutes for garlic bread. Loving carbs right now, like, a ton. Pastas, breads, pretzels (ok, yea that's a bread, but still), etc.

Wishing: For peace to come over my friends and family and loved ones. A lot of people I know are going through some hard time right now, and I just wish it were easier on them. It's hard seeing those you love go through so much and not be able to help. I just have to hope that someday all of us could look back on the time that is (was) now and say, "Thank, God, we got through that."

Currently

Can't wait for: Tomorrow! Today has been very slow, what with my daily routines, but tomorrow is going to be bursting at the seams with stuff to do. Very excited to finish my work day tomorrow morning and get paid, use said paycheck to scurry on out of Moorpark and go back to Yer Cheatin' Heart to see Justin and color-in the tattoo on my leg. Afterwords, drive back (hopefully NOT in traffic this time) and arrive at Liz's house in time for baking and Grey's Anatomy. Not only this, but on friday, Katrina is flying in from Seattle and is staying with me until Monday! Every day is girl's day this weekend.

Listening to: Well, nothing at the moment, but Gotye - Somebody That I used To Know is certainly stuck in my head from hearing it a few minutes ago. In reality, the girls that I nanny after school are watching to Disney Channel. Teen Bop till you drop.

Thinking about: How badly I'm missing out on traveling lately. I heard a song today that really got me excited for Summer and made me want to trip it out to Louisiana. Never been, always wanted to. I can just imagine myself and some friends finding a great little lake with a dock to swim in under the hot sun and drink some southern-style sweet tea. I love that stuff. I day dream a ton and those are usually the things I day dream about.

Wanting: A serious shoulder rub. Today was hell in terms of cleaning my room. I did a lot of heavy lifting to get into some places and did a lot of reaching and my shoulders are really feeling it. On the plus side though, my room has never been cleaner, nor has my curiosity shelf ever looked more awesome.

Eating: Taquitos with sour cream and hot sauce. Absolutely amazing. I didn't get a chance to have much of an appetite today, but I did have a good breakfast. One which I'm hoping to recreate for myself tomorrow - strawberries and a bagel with cream cheese and a glass of orange juice and later followed by a cup of Jasmine tea. Knock me out.

Wishing: With all the great luck I've been having at the thrift store lately, I still wish I had the money to go out and do some damage to my bank account in some of my other favorite retail stores. Seriously, lately I've been loving online shopping (ie. Zara, Madewell, Need Supply, etc.) and it saves so much money in the longrun. But I still love walking into J. Crew. Now, I could really do some damage there.

A-Z of Me

Age: 23
Bed size: Queen
Chore that you hate: Dishes! Nothing grosses me out more than scrubbing and scraping old, wet food off a plate into a germ-infested sink.
Dogs: I have two! Bart, my mom's Staffordshire Terrier and Haven, my Border Collie. She is the most loving creature and Bart is a jerk.
Essential start to your day: Deciding what to do with it! Am I going to clean my room or make it messy by making stuff?
Favorite color: I never have just one. It's always a combination of colors. Lately I'm really into woody browns, gold and black.
Gold or silver?: Gold! But if I'm being super picky - rosegold.
Height: 5'7"-5'8"
Instruments you play: Oh, honey, not a thing. But I've always wanted to learn to play the violin.
Job title: Nanny
Kids: I cannot wait to be a mom someday. Boy or girl, I'll love whatever God gives me.
Live: In southern California, but I want to move back north. I'd love to go to Maine.
Mother's name: Colette
Nicknames: Lulu, Luce, Lu
Overnight hospital stays: Thankfully, never.
Pet peeves: Bad drivers and people who overuse one phrase too much (ie: "at the end of the day," "are you kidding me, right now?")
Quote from a movie: "As Ray watches Mirabelle walk away, he feels a loss. 'How is it possible?' he thinks, 'For a man to miss a woman whom he kept at a distance so that when she was gone, he would not miss her?' And how he cannot justify his actions except, well, it was life." -Shop Girl
Right or left handed: Right
Siblings: One full-blood, younger sister, four half-sisters, three step-sisters, two half-brothers. Fun for me!
Time you wake up: My body wakes me up lately around 7:30, but some days I have to be up by 5:45 :/
Underwear: I love matching sets!
Vegetable you hate: Asperagus. You can never do anything to make me like those foul things.
What makes you run late: Other people being late. I'm very punctual.
X-rays you've had: Of my chest when I swalloed a quarter when I was younger.
Yummy food that you make: Baked zucchini with parmesean. Amazinnnnngggg.
Zoo animal: Don't get me started on exotic animals, because I'll never stop. Tigers, lions, birds, monkeys, ahhhh!

So those are my p's and q's. What are yours? :D

Five on Friday

These five things are really making my day today. Hope everyone else is smiling!

1: These pictures from Nightmare's Fear Factory are too funny to not go though. Don't you wish you knew what they're screaming at??

2: This absolutely beautiful bag from Scout & Catalogue. Not only do I love the rosegold color, but the combination with the brown of the leather and texture between it and the sequins make this bag one to drool over.

3: Marimo in the Dark Sea, underwater terrarium! This cute little guy is a living algae, once brought home by the Japanese to keep as pets and for good luck. I want one so badly and at that price? I'm so down.

4: This hilarious cat gif from iheartcatgifs.tumblr.com. I already went through all of them!

5: Finally, Katie's blog. It has the prettiest pictures and cutest stories about her day-to-day with her son, Max and daughter on the way with her husband. If you haven't seen it yet, you should! www.katiespencilbox.com

Currently

Craving: Brownies. And I totally know why. This is the last week of my church's 40 days of fasting and I gave up junk food, also my employer just came back from vacation in San Fransisco and got me chocolate from the Ghirardelli factory and it's just sitting in my car. I'm a moron. But my skin is totally showing the benefits of cutting out such garbage from my daily diet (I included pizza, ice cream, candy, potato chips and most sodas as well). Since I've done this, I've also taken up eating a lot of organic food from my other employer's house. She loves cooking organically and making smoothies using organic fruits. No objection here.

Listening to: Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl, by Broken Social Scene. This song is, honestly, so hauntingly beautiful to me and I don't know why. It reminds me of my little sister, Sally and our friends always spending the night in her room. Sometimes eight of us at a time on the floor. Totally true to the lyrics, we were the rotten ones and we loved each other for that.

Can't wait for: This week to be over! Too many errands to run, too many expenses, too much work. Can't wait to stay up late with everyone again and just enjoy their company while they crack me up and we play with each other's pets. And I've been having some great one-on-one conversations with some of my gals lately.

Eating: Left-overs from Kendra's trip to see me in Santa Monica. We brought back so many left-overs to the hotel. Wish I could remember the name of the place, but it's pastas were amazing, as well as their garlic bread knots. Mmm, come at me, carbs.

Wishing: That I were more caught-up on my plans to visit Maine this summer. I still haven't worked out the details for location, hotel, plane ticket, company or even cost, but I'm saving! I can't wait to go. I'll probably be going with my mom, since I eventually want to move there, she's curious to see the place I might end up. My good friend Kendra said she'd go with me as well, which could work out perfectly because she'll be moving to Boston in a few months anyway and would only be a stone's throw away if she decided to come.


What has you moving today? Take a moment to jot it down and appreciate it :)

First Day of Spring!

What a first day it's been. I've been kicking myself a lot lately for not blogging more, especially when it's on my mind so much. I've encountered some great subjects for posts too! It's just too bad that it's so difficult to drag my lazy butt to the computer and hash it all out.

But, first thing's first. While perfmorming my nanny duties this morning (the back-breaking hour of 5:30am), I saw what is soon to be my favorite new show. Must Love Cats. Have you seen this madness?? It's title grabbed me at first, of course, but I've seen it there before while scrolling throught the tv guide, never wanting to admit to myself that I'd love to watch it. This time I decided to read the info on it and when it said that this particular episode was taking place in Japan - sold. Japan is almost notorious for it's love of cats, so I had to indulge. I'm so happy I did. This show is featured on Animal Planet, which I sadly do not get at my house, so make no mistake that it will be pulled up on every window of my computer trying to find other episodes to rot my brain with and over-load the cuddle section of my mind.

I loved that they featured a Japanese home that featured a catwalk which I've been dreaming of having in my own home some day. But what I loved even more was the featuring of Tama, the feline station master at Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan. Now, I heard through the grape vine a few years back that Japan appointed Hello Kitty as Japan's American Ambassador - silly, right? I knew Japan loved cats, but this is truly awesome. This is an actual cat.

img source: Toru Yamanaka

And she's a good little station master, yes she is.

Keeping the good Spring times rolling, I got a great amount of yard work done today in the sun. It was the perfect kind of day for it. I plan on putting a ton of flowers in my side yard once I get it all nice and tilled up. It really made me feel like I got something accomplished today. Hopefully, that's a sign of things to come :)

Happy first day of Spring, everybody!

A Few Things

He would want us to keep smiling.

Here are some things that let the sunshine in for me today.

1. My friends. Thank God for people like you in my life and thank God that we're in each other's lives. That we care about each other and will be there for the joy and the sorrow. I want to know what's in your heart just as I would hope that you would want to know what's in mine. You are beautiful people with amazings souls and I love you dearly.

2. This cold night in early March in which I can enjoy hot beverages in again. I can't convey enough how much I am dreading the on-coming summer and it's unbarable heat on my Scandinavian skin. More scarves and jackets! Bring on the frozen dew on the grass in the mornings and foggy streets at night.

3. Switching around my closet. Dustin and I have compromised so that I can have his old side and he can have mine. He had more room to hang things which, as a girl I needed (dresses), and I was sick of our ferret climbing onto my shelves and knocking my things down. Besides, the mini kitchen in our closet is for his use only anyway and it was on my old side which limited my space even more. Now I have a fresh new start on the other side!

4. Working hard. With my usual working hours, it seems strange to admit that I don't like having as much time off as I do. I enjoy working and I enjoy saving what I earn. With the few hours that I work, my money goes mostly to gas and bills and nothing fun besides the occasional stop at In N' Out. But this week has been gloriously full and busy. I worked additional hours for one of my kid's mom's going to a dinner party for work and working more hours for another mom whose husband will be out of town tomorrow. Yay for feeling productive!

5. My hair. Oooo, baby, it's getting there. I'm almost at the length I was at when I first moved to Seattle three years ago. I'm just a couple of inches short of my goal and then growing it out will be simply for enjoying purposes only, rather than meeting a desired length. Bonus on the hair-growing front, my bangs have grown almost the entire lenth of my face meaning no more bangs for me for a while! I haven't had a bang-less hairstyle since my freshman year of highschool. Feelin' so fly.

6. Fat cats that sit like lazy men on couches. I'm looking at one right now, both online and in person.

7. A hot shower after a hard day. I swear I could use all of Southern California's water reserves just for my showers. When I get in, I never, ever want to leave. It's the best place in the world besides your bed or grandma's house.




To my friends that read this, let the sunshine in. He would like that.