Quick Pics

There's not too much to share this month. Things have been pretty mellow. One cool thing that did happen last night was a 90s themed party at a bar that I went to. I dressed as Britney Spears and my friend dressed up as Mia Wallace. Everyone else there pretty much just dressed in flannel. They clearly took the easy way out.

My friend and I didn't get to exchange Christmas presents last month, so we met up for dinner and wine at this cute wine bar and exchanged at the beginning of this month. I am not a big wine person, but I actually liked all the wines I chose! One was an autumny one, one was a pink blend, and one was a blush riesling. They were all good!

Speaking of Christmas...one of the presents that Chris had gotten me didn't arrive until this month since it was a custom thing from Etsy. When I opened it, I was very excited. It's perfect for reading by at night!

I used to love to watch the sunset at the beach and I hadn't done it in a long time. I had free time to myself a couple of weekends ago so I decided I would go sit in my car and read during the sunset. I was able to get this really pretty picture of it!

I got these cool new sunglasses from Hot Topic. I love the matte black and silver frames!

I've decided that I want to collect some of the Funko Pop figures. Not all of them, just the characters that are special to me. Chris started me off by surprising me with Mickey! I found a strategic place for him on my bookshelf...right near a Disney book!

Here is a newer picture of Poe. He loves to roll around and make funny faces and he also sleeps in all crazy ways. I love him so much even though he is a terror sometimes. When he was a kitten, he would attack and lunge at my dresses a lot (they are all hanging on two clothing racks in the open against a wall). He stopped doing that for a long time and I thought that he just grew out of it. Now he has started doing it again and it makes me want to scream with rage because he puts holes in dresses that cost a good amount of money and in delicate material such as tulle and mesh.

I literally don't know what to do about it. I don't have the closet space to put all my dresses away. I have sprayed the stuff that you use on furniture all around the dresses. I didn't want to spray it directly on the dresses in case it might ruin them somehow. We shall see how that goes. I really hate when something happens that is irreversible such as a dozen claw holes in a new tulle dress I haven't even worn yet. Any suggestions from fellow kitty parents are definitely welcome!

Bingo. Dino DNA!

I have had my eye on this dress for years, I'm pretty sure. I originally saw it on ModCloth, but once it was sold out there I had to find it elsewhere. Finally, it made its way to me in the form of a Christmas present from my parents. I love dinosaurs and Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies, so a dinosaur print dress is always much welcome and desired. Plus, it's a neutral shade that lends itself nicely to remixing. But honestly...dinosaur print is enough to sell it for me.









Our first snowstorm this season wasn't terrible. The library closed and I didn't have to go to work, which meant I didn't have to drive anywhere. That's the best possible scenario for a snowstorm, in my opinion. No obligations to be anywhere. I spent the a lot of the day in bed with kitties and books. The next day the roads were pretty much clear, so I didn't have to be stuck inside with cabin fever. There is a very short amount of time that I'm ok with not having to go anywhere, then it just turns into extreme boredom and feeling trapped. I constantly crave the outside world, even if it's just sitting in a car or in a park somewhere. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.









In other news, I am trying to eat better and healthier. I would say that I am trying to eat clean, but I'm not too extreme with it or as dedicated to the idea as some people are. I'm simply just trying to eat less processed foods and less sugar. The sugar part is hard, especially when you work somewhere where there seems to always be some sort of baked good or treat in the break room. It's hard to resist cookies and coffee cake and donuts, especially when it's right there in front of you and you have a huge sweet tooth like I do. Basically, I'm trying to stick to healthy foods like turkey and chicken, eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc. If I make a sandwich, I use 100% whole wheat bread. Honestly, though, it is really confusing and overwhelming for me when it comes to this stuff because it seems like for every article online about how a food is bad for you, there's another saying it's not. It's hard for me to determine what's really bad and what's not. That's why I am sticking to a general "no processed foods" rule. I'm not saying I'm never going to cheat and eat pizza or burritos or cookies from time to time. I'm just trying to eat better generally and also to try not to binge. I could easily eat 8 cookies in one sitting, but that doesn't mean I should. I like the whole "if you can't read it, don't eat it" idea of looking at ingredients for the gross processed stuff.









I was looking into American cheese because that is the cheese I have pretty much always used at home. I love grilled cheese, and that's usually what I make it with. Now, here's where some confusion is: is cheese necessarily bad for you? Does it depend on the cheese? I was reading about it and apparently there are some cheeses like mozzarella, feta, and provolone that are better choices. The thing I couldn't figure out is if the American cheese that you get sliced at the deli (usually by Land o Lakes or Boar's Head) is processed like "cheeses" like Kraft Singles are. I tried for about 20 minutes to figure it out, then got tired and gave up. I always got cheese from the deli and I was wondering if all American cheese is created equal, or if the deli stuff is actually real cheese as opposed to just some sort of "cheese product". Regardless, I think I'm going to switch it up and try other cheeses that have less grams of fat in them. I can't live without cheese.









I am also trying to get more into soups, particularly ones that are heavy on the beans. Another thing I am also looking into trying to add to my diet is quinoa. Really,  I just need to find time to experiment with food and cooking new things. It's really about fitting it into my schedule. I'm not too into cooking like I am baking. When I actually do it, I tend to enjoy it, but making time and making myself do it always seems to come as a challenge for me. It's so much easier to just quickly make a grilled cheese and then do all of the other things I would rather be doing once I'm home from work. Plus I usually tend to wait until I'm feeling ravenous to eat which makes me not want to wait for something to have to cook to be able to eat.

Dress: Folter Retrolicious//Sweater: Le3no//Tights: Apt. 9//Shoes: Clarks//Sunglasses: ASOS//Belt: Forever 21//Lipstick: Colourpop

I never really make resolutions for the new year, but I guess in 2016 I am going to try to be better about food prep and eating better. I am also trying new workouts, which is exciting! I was doing Insanity Max 30, but now I am trying the PiYo and T25 hybrid workout to see how it goes. I like that it's not a super intense workout every day like it is with the Insanity workout. I am also going to try to blog more consistently this year and I think I would like to take up some sort of dance class since I love to dance and would like to get more advanced at it. I would also like to get back into playing music, travel more, and I also have a goal of reading 50 books this year. I don't know how many of these things I will achieve, but I will try!

January is the Worst

I saw a graphic online the other day that said that January is the Monday of the months, and I couldn't agree more. It's definitely my least favorite months. And yes, I have ranked the months from best to worst in my head. What else am I going to do when I'm laying in bed unable to sleep? January always come out at the bottom. It's long, cold, and boring. It's the worst.









I know I always discuss how fast the time goes, but when I notice that I'm getting into 2-3 weeks since my last blog post, I wonder how the hell it happened. How is everything going by so quickly? It's good since it's winter and that means warmer weather will seem to get here more quickly, but still....HOW IS IT GOING BY SO FAST?! I guess I'm keeping busy without being busy. I spend my weeknights reading and my weekends trying to go out with friends. I work full time. I workout. It all eats up time and energy every day and then I go to bed and repeat and before I know it another week is over. Another week where I haven't blogged or edited pictures.











It's not that I don't enjoy it anymore, so I don't know why blog stuff isn't on the top of my want-to-do list. I feel ashamed to say that. I want to be successful and engaging. Blogging can come with a lot of pressure. I feel like I had a great flow last year and then I slowly went on the decline. Posting less, feeling less inspired. I don't know. I feel like once you stop, it's hard to build momentum again and it might never be the same as it once was. I know that a lot of you have discussed the pressures of blogging. I feel like I've let myself lose a lot of my audience. I hate to be negative and down on myself, but sometimes that's what's real. That's how I feel. No one can be positive all the time. Sometimes you just need to vent a little with people who understand.









Anyway...on to more fun topics. Chris got me this dress from ModCloth for Christmas and I LOVE it. I love everything about it, particularly the giant bell sleeves and the floral print. It makes me feel like I'm in the 70s, which I enjoy. I also love how perfectly this Colourpop lipstick matched the dress. The shade I'm wearing is called Clique.

Dress: ModCloth//Tights: Hanes//Shoes: LifeStride//Lipstick: Colourpop

We are supposed to get our first real snowstorm of the season this weekend. Unfortunately, I will be working and will most likely have to drive in it. I am not a fan of the snow, but I like it a little more when I don't have to drive in it and be anywhere. Driving in it is the worst, and my car does not do well in it. I ended up crashing into a curb last year after my car slid on a snowy street. It was not fun. It was terrifying. Did I mention that January is the worst? :)