Sundae Stroll

Hello! I have a few posts that I'm working on. One of them is from when my sister and I put henna on our hair. I would have liked to have this one published a few days ago but of course that hasn't happened. I'm just trying to get an 'after'  picture of me, but nothing is cooperating. I'm finishing up my last photo skills post, but I'm having issues there too. Lots of behind the scenes. I'm just going to keep it simple around here while I lay in bed doing homework.

Leap Day: My Proposal Story

Leap Day was a very big day! I only let the cat out of the bag to a few people beforehand and literally only 1 person in the blogging community. What's the story? Well,

I had class on Wednesday, so I planned around it and it actually helped. I went to the party store before class and bought a dozen balloons, all different colors. Thankfully, they lasted in my car. I told him to meet me after class outside the bar where we first met, The Independent. On the way to class I felt excited, scared, nervous, nauseous, happy, and terrified....all at the same time.  

Chris looked a little confused when he saw me with a bunch of balloons. He asked what they were for and this is how it went:

Me: "I thought we could tie them to our house like the movie Up and go on adventures."

Him: (confused, but not surprised at my spontaneity) "Yeah?"

Me: (pulling the pin out of the pocket on my shirt) I asked him, "Will you go on adventures with me?"

Him: (confused)

Me: "Will you marry me and go on adventures with me?" (by now I'm starting to tear up a little)

Him: "Yes!"

Me: "Are you serious?!?!? Because I'm being serious right now! It's Leap day and girls can propose on Leap Day!"

Him: (taking off his sunglasses) he says, "Yes, I'm serious."

Me: (melted into a puddle on the sidewalk)

I didn't get down on one knee, I was wearing a skirt. Plus, I felt that the one knee thing was too masculine and what I was doing was masculine enough. I tried to make it 'me.' 

After that we had a drink at the Independent and then scooted off to Magic Kingdom. They were actually open 24 hours for Leap Day and my original plan was to propose there, but I really couldn't skip class. It also wouldn't have been as personal as I wanted and what if he said 'no'????

The ring? I didn't go that route. I bought him a pin instead. This pin, to be exact:

It's the pin Ellie gives to Carl in the movie Up. We love that movie and like everyone else, we both cry through the beginning. I had a light bulb moment on Valentine's day when he tweeted a picture of Ellie and Carl to me. (sigh)

Leap day is not Sadie Hakwins day. That day is actually sometime in November. It comes from a comic, but the general idea is that it's a day when a lady can ask a guy to go with her. I can see how the two would get mixed up and even merged, but to me Leap day sounds so much more romantic than a story line from Lil' Abner. Mental Floss actually has an article that explains the tradition and it's history a little better than wikipedia.

I feel like this was a huge leap (see what I just did there?) for me and it was pretty brave. Did anyone else propose today?

Sister Sister

My sister came to visit this weekend. We hadn't seen each other in 2 years and have way too much to catch up on. One weekend is not enough. We went to Taco Bus in St. Pete for dinner on Friday evening and I shared a Mexican coke with my nephew. I missed him so much and I was just so thrilled that he even sort of remembered me that when he slobbered all over the bottle, I didn't mind. My sister of course set the tone of the weekend when she squirted verde sauce all over herself and the table.

Saturday we headed to Tampa for a bit of shopping. We hit Westshore first, then went over to International. My nephew brought along a camera to document the excursion.

We walked into Lush because I always do and also because Cindy had never been in one, much less heard of the store. We found ourselves in the back corner trying to figure out what the heck they were selling hardened blocks of shit for. Well, as it turns out they do not sell hardened blocks of shit. They sell henna and call it "caca." We asked about it and the really sweet sales girl explained the whole bit. We were sold.

(Cindy and I dye our hair red because it feels more natural than what grows out of our heads. I had redder hair when I was little and my natural color is browinsh-red. She's a honey blonde. As red-heads, we stop planets from spinning.)

We bought the Caca Rouge and went to work on it that night. I'll do a post about it because it is too hilarious for this post. Anyhoo, look out for the post when I tell you about 2 girls, 1 bathtub (that was one of our gut-busting jokes). Have a fab Tuesday!

Fill in the Blanks Monday

Happy Tuesday-eve! Lauren took a break from the blanks last week, so I thought I'd come up with some of my own. These were the questions I came up with for the ladies I tagged in the 11 things meme.


1. What was your first car?   A white 1989 Plymouth Acclaim.  
2. How do your like you coffee?   Black.  
3. Who is your favorite cartoon (Disney, Universal, etc) character?   I really love Hello Kitty, but my favorite Princess is Ariel. I also really love Alice.  
4. Do you have a favorite musical? What is it?   Funny Girl.  
5. What is your go to scent for everyday?   Heaven by Gap. It's very crisp and feminine.  
6. If you had the power to end one reality show right now, who would get the ax?   All the dating shows. Gone. Go find your mate like the rest of us!
7. What are you most proud of yourself for? Right now I'm feeling extra proud that I've made it this far in college. Most proud? Making it 8 years in the Army!
8. How do you blow off steam after a long and/or frustrating day?   A glass (or 3) of wine and something to read tames this wild beast.  
9. What is one thing (or a few) that you try to keep off of your blog?   Religion and politics.  
10. You know that one drink that made you so sick that you don't even want to see it ever again? What is it?   For awhile it was Rumplemintz. A long while. I snuck a shot from the freezer the other day though. I gagged but went back for another. I love and hate the stuff!
11. What is the one food that you can sit down and eat anytime of the day, the one meal/dish you are always in the mood for?   Gimme all the cottage pie!


Link up! I want to see everyone's answers!

How have you been?

I'm still here. It's funny how when you skip a day or two and not even look at your blog, how it feels like a week. After not having classes last week, getting back into the swing of things this week was exhausting. The Sandman hasn't been sticking around as much at night as I'd like and when he does, he doesn't chase away the nightmares.

On a positive note, my best friend is coming in town this weekend. Yep. My sister. With that said, I have a lot to get done before she gets here. I have to finish my Paradise Lost midterm (kill me now), clean the house around a (sometimes unhelpful) boyfriend, and pick up some things at the supermarket.

One thing I will leave everyone with is some advice. Go watch the documentary Helvetica. Especially if you're a fan of any kind of Typography. A whole documentary about one little font and how it changed the world. (I found it on Netflix).

I don't think I'll post until Sunday afternoon, so have a great weekend!

#FebPhotoSkill Days 15-21

3 weeks down! How's everyone hanging in? Anyone else doing the photo challenges? Have you posted? Link up, I wanna see!

15. Negative Space // 16. Positive Space // 17. High Contrast

18. Documentary No. 2 // 19. Freeze Action // 20. Black on Black // 21. White on White

Happy 200th Post to me!

This teensy milestone snuck up on me. It may not seem big, but I feel like 200 is a pretty solid number at this point.

I started blogging back in '08 to blow off steam and rant about my then boyfriend. I wrote mostly to get the poisonous thoughts out of my head and the hurt feelings out of my body. I could have kept a journal, sure, but trust me the internet was actually safer. My little blog was so obscure that I knew it was safe from him and I ranted away. I've since taken that blog down because I am rid of that angst and the [insert colorful word] who caused it all.

In late 2010 I began to read a few blogs here and there, but over the holiday break I began to read them more regularly. I also made a twitter account for my cat. I was bored. Then just shortly after the new year, I made my very own WordPress blog. I blogged there until the summer and then moved over to Blogger. That was a big move for me. I was so scared that in the 5 or so minutes it took to import my blog to Blogger that I would lose everything. In the beginning everyone wants to know that they are being heard. They want readers, they want to feel apart of a community. I felt a little isolated being on a different platform, that no one read what I wrote anyway.  I was scared that when I was a little more visible (and had access to GFC) no one would even pay me the time of day anyway. I was wrong. My blog may not be big, but it is successful. By that I mean, I'm getting out of it what I want: a creative outlet. I've learned over the course of the year that the stats don't matter. All that matters is that I am able to express myself. I appreciate everyone who has given me advice and the people who have followed along over the last year. Here are a few of the ladies who have inspired me the most.







There are more, of course. I would be here all day. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has even looked at my blog long enough to see my header!