Oh, Friday.

Flashback Friday // Me & my Pop, circa 1988

Whelp...I tried my darnedest not to get sick, and it happened nonetheless.  My head feels like a balloon floating a million miles away up in the sky, and I keep coughing up the most disgusting things.  TMI, I know.  My apologies.  

Hopefully I feel much better come Sunday when Jason and I are off to San Antonio for our little getaway.  I'm working the evening shift tonight at work which will be really weird.  I hope I can stay awake!  Then, I'll have to turn around and work the morning shift tomorrow, but oh well, it's the price I pay for requesting too many days off I suppose.  

I'm still job hunting.  I've applied for a total of eleven jobs so far this year.  Here's hoping something catches!  I'm trying my best to stay as optimistic as possible.

Enjoy your Friday!

xoxo

Currently

New glasses & old birthing sweater

Making: Delicious food.  A few nights ago I made one of our go-to cheap meals, soft tacos, except this time I whipped up some refried black beans Trudy's-style with a little bit of sugar and lots of cayenne pepper.  Last night I made a dish I've made once before - Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps from Taste of Home.  Those will definitely go into the dinner rotation.  So, so scrumptious and only 275 calories for two lettuce wraps!

Watching: Too many wonderful shows!  As of right now I'm keeping up with Shameless, GIRLS, Parenthood (season four finale is on tonight!) and Vampire Diaries.  I'm in the process of trying to catch up on New Girl, and we just caught up completely on Homeland, which is ridiculously amazing.

Listening to: FIDLAR's debut self-titled album, SXSW 2013 band Popstrangers, London-based shoegaze/psychedelic band TOY, and the always-lovely Bat For Lashes.

Anticipating: Our mini-vacation next week!  One of my Christmas gifts to Jason was a romantic one-night stay at the Riverwalk Vista in San Antonio, so we're doing that Sunday night, and then on Tuesday we're making the drive north to Dallas to see Jason's extended family and our friends Chris and Evelyn's new addition, baby Nathan.  We will also, hopefully, get a chance to see some of my friends that live in the DFW area, so it should be a really nice time.

Working on: drinking more water on a daily basis.  This has always been an issue for me.  I'm a HUGE drink person.  Growing up, my mom always kept Coke, Dr.Pepper and lots of juices in the house, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I always opted for those drinks over flavorless water.  I am also currently working on not getting sick.  It's cold and flu season, and I typically get some kind of head cold/stuffiness twice during the winter months.  I've already been sick once toward the end of November and that was no fun.  Yesterday evening my throat started itching and this morning when I woke up it was a little sore.  I've been drinking Emergen-C, loading up on actual vitamin C tablets and keeping my throat coated via cough drops.  I seriously do not want to get sick right before this getaway!

As always, thanks for reading my "Currently" posts, and thanks to Danielle for the inspiration.

xoxo

Dream Thoughts & A Bestie's Birthday

Random thought in relation to a dream I had last night: Do you ever have fond memories of a movie or TV show you used to adore as a child and then decide to watch it as an adult, and it's just not the same?  How can this happen?  It makes me so incredibly sad.  I guess it's just one of those downfalls of growing up.  Like the traditional Disney movies used to seem so alive and awe-inspiring, and now something just seems off and a bit lackluster.  Don't get me wrong - The Little Mermaid is still in my top 10 favorite movies of all time.  I'll never get sick of that gem!  Sometimes I still pretend I'm Ariel.  Embarrassing, but 100% true confession.

Moving on.  Today is the birthday of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Taylor.  This morning I sent her a quick "happy birthday" text, and it turned into a thoughtful conversation wandering down memory lane.  We went to elementary, middle and high school together.  We initially met in Girl Scout Troop 3215.  What can I say, our friendship blossomed in a whirlwind of cookie sales, crafting, snacking and camping.  Ah, camping.  I think our troop might have only gone on one camping trip in January or February when it was freezing and miserable outside.  We slept in these makeshift tent-cabin structures and were strictly advised not to go to the restrooms alone, as it was pitch back out there at night.  Of course, I end up having to go to the restroom in the middle of the night so I try to wake someone up to go with me, but it doesn't work and I end up peeing all over myself.  So that is what I remember most clearly from the camping trip, but I believe we also participated in some sort of sock hop talent show thing as well.  I suppose that was a good time.  Anyway, Taylor and I have been through interesting situations together including numerous prank phone calls to infomercials, trying to start a girl band, stalking boys (mostly my doing), creating fake personalities named Jeb, Bertha and Sidalee Bock, Bobo, Buckbo and Bob-O Bonfire, and of course Sidalee's boyfriend Jimmy.  Fun, weird times were had, and here's to many more!  Love you, Bertha-Funky Lady-Taylor.

Like Crazy

Like Crazy is one of the sweetest, most realistic movies I have ever seen.  I am so mad at myself for letting it just sit on my Netflix queue for months without checking it out.  The actors are brilliant, the story is haunting and lovely, and I just can't stop thinking about it.  Definitely one of my new favorite films.

The story begins with two young college students who meet in a class in Los Angeles.  Anna is an ambitious writer from the UK studying in LA on a student visa.  Jacob is starting his own custom-made furniture business with his degree in architecture.  She pursues him by writing him a love letter and leaving it on his car.  He is smitten with her tenacity and beauty and calls her up and of course they fall madly in love.  Then the sad part happens - she's only in the states for as long as her visa allows and must go back to the UK.  Time runs out, and she panics and on a whim decides to ignore the requirements of the visa and just stay in LA with Jacob for the summer.  That, of course, comes back to bite her as the government doesn't mess around when it comes to immigration policies.  After a week's vacation to the UK to see her parents, U.S. Customs at LAX will not let Anna back into the states because of her visa violation so she is forced on a plane back to the UK, away from Jacob.  The remaining length of the movie illustrates the struggles and insecurities of their long distance relationship as they both build separate, successful lives in totally different countries.  

I highly recommend seeing this film if you're into love stories.  It's one of the best that I've seen.  It's a story about first love, being human, making decisions, facing consequences and the reminder that change is beautiful and devastating all at once.

In Transit

I had a conversation earlier with a friend about how frustrating real life can be.  You don't realize it when you're in college.  Everything seems so fantastic (minus exams and papers and what not), and you just feel as if the world is your little baby oyster to do with what you please.  Then you graduate, and you're probably still hopefully optimistic, rearing to go, "WATCH OUT WORLD, HERE I COME!!!" attitude popping out.  Two years later, it hits you.  I'm still working here at this job that was supposed to be a transition job?!  I'm still in the exact same place I was TWO whole years ago.  What is going on here?  I'm beginning to think this is just how it is in your twenties.  Everything is up in the air, you're on the fence about everything, waiting on opportunities that may never arise.  Life is mythical and absurd and challenging and exhausting and abrupt and weird and spontaneous and scary and the list goes on and on.  When does this awkward stage end? When does life begin?  It's especially difficult for me because, by nature, I'm such a planner and an over-analyzer.  I try to relax and just be content with where I am right now and accept it, but eventually it all starts to overwhelm me again.  It's a never-ending cycle of uncertainty, but I'm doing my absolute best to just go with it and take another step forward and not two steps back.

I'm attempting to get back into writing poetry again.  I dabbled a little in high school and I remember it making me happy so I think I'll give it another go.  Maybe I'll try to publish a small collection.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

I jogged/walked three miles earlier out on the Lady Bird Lake Hike & Bike Trail.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  I chose fitness over slothing it on the couch all day watching TV.  Tonight Jason and I are meeting our friends Corey and Helen for drinks on the east side.  It should be a fun time.  One of my favorite bars, Brixton, is over there, and I'm looking forward to trying a couple of new bars as well.

Well, it's time to get all of this disgusting sweat off my body.  Happy Friday & enjoy your weekend :)

A Warm Welcome to 2013

Photo credit - thedailygreen.com

I have never been real big into new year's "resolutions" or really even setting goals for myself.  I'm not sure exactly why; I just don't see the point I guess.  If you really want to do something, work hard and do it!  Why the need for a big proclamation and scene?  Having said that, I do think it's important to hold yourself to some standards and make plans to gradually better yourself as a person.  I guess that could be considered the same thing as "setting a goal"?

Am I contradicting myself??  Very well, I contradict myself.

In all seriousness, I believe self-improvement is continuous, constant and never-ending.  You should always strive to be a better you than you were the day before, if that makes any sense.  Look at me - giving a pep talk.  Never thought this would happen, haha!  I think when it comes down to it, I just hate the words "resolution" and "goal."  So there.  Actually, there's a long list, as my close friends know, of words I cannot tolerate.  I'll spare you, and save that for a different post.

Here are a few things I would like to accomplish in 2013:

1.  See The Great Gatsby Baz Luhrmann style.  (Summer 2013)

2.  Finally lose the weight I've been complaining about gaining for the past 2 years.

3.  Apply to at least one job per day, and, hopefully, find an actual CAREER.

4.  Seriously limit my intake of sugar and fatty foods in general.

5.  Try something outside of my comfort zone.  I've been toying with the idea of trying Crossfit.  We'll see...

6.  Become a little more confident in myself.  I've always doubted myself a bit too much for my liking.

7.  De-stress.

8.  Take a moment every day and stop whatever I'm doing to truly appreciate and feel all the wonderful components of my life.

LOTS OF LOVE &

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Cheer 2012

Well, the holidays came and went like a flash of pure, unadulterated lightning, but they bought some pretty nice things along with them - lots (but not nearly enough) of family time, Mom's pancakes and bacon, a movie date with my brother, hugs, laughter, christmas gifts, silly cats, sushi, a best friend brunch, tornado warnings, green skies, a whirlwind of leaves in Nana's front yard, feasting, tea-drinking, new friends, an introduction to Duck Dynasty, signature meals, margaritas, Scattergories and so much more.