Picture Dump

Party Rats that Nate won at trivia.

They're finger lights. In the shape of rats.

What?

Little girls playing violin in Pike Place Market. She was hamming it up. Her sister wasn't so sure.

Kid on the bus. His faces were priceless.

Playing in the blinds is one of her favorite things.

Yummy sushi from Umi!

Bus tunnel under Seattle downtown.

 

Fireworks over Lake Union for Fourth of July!

besides being slightly obsessed with bones, recently,

i am in love with Dayplayer's EP. John Francis Daley is their keyboardist and sings on some of their songs.

in love.

(dayplayer - caveman)

waiting in the dark

most of the time, I think all my problem spring from being entirely too self-centered.

that is...I don't know what I want to do with myself.

I like photography, but I'm not naturally awesome at it. and I don't care enough to learn more, because I don't want to take pictures of other people, I want people to take pictures of me.

even though I hate pictures of myself.

I like writing, but coming up with a good story -- one that flows, that twists when you aren't expecting it, one that other people want to read, one that has characters and adventure and great dialogue -- is hard. it takes time, practice, planning, editing and I'm just not sure that I have all that in me.

 I like cooking, but I don't know that I'd want to be a chef as a career. I left retail because being on your feet all day, with very little recognition for the work that you do? that doesn't sound like fun.

 I want to sing for a living, but choir and a cappella isn't exactly a high-paying vocation. you have to be able to take rejection again and again. not sure I'm strong enough for that.

 I guess maybe that's what this is all about. I hate rejection. but doesn't everybody? doesn't everyone fear going out into the world and having people reject them?

time to put on my big-girl pants.

"jumping up and down the floor, 

my head is animal." 

(of monsters and men)

i arranged this

i'm singing soprano (the highest part.)
and my boyfriend is singing the solo.

sometimes, I say things

usually they happen. sometimes they don't.

I'm not sure I'm back for good, but here's a small laundry list about me. in case anyone still reads:

1. Because of my red hair and fair complexion, people assume I have more Irish blood than I actually do. I'm only about 1/4 Irish. Sorry if that's a disappointment.

2. My biggest fears are: confrontation, falling, and having people dislike/be disappointed in me. Probably in that order.

3. I've always been an above average speller. It annoys me when people can't spell, but I've gotten better at letting it go.

4. I love filling out forms. The more forms the better, no matter how repetitive they are. That's probably why I get drawn into things like this.

5. I have anxiety and authority issues that I tend to try to ignore. It doesn't always work, and often results in tears.

6. My favorite scent is Clean Linen, followed closely by anything that smells delicious. Liike vanilla or baking cookies.

7. I miss being in Boston, where I lived for only two years,  more than I miss being in Tallahassee, where I lived for over 20. It makes me think that Boston is where I was meant to be, and that, no matter what, I need to end up there.

8. I have a very addictive personality. Thankfully, I can't hold my liquor and smoking often gives me a migraine. So I get addicted to less hazardous things. Like surveys, and facebook games.

9. For the first time in my life, I am making enough money to support myself. This means I am indebted to many people, and I have a running tally of the amount I owe them, which I fullly intend to pay back. I haven't forgotten.

10. I miss my mom and my sister more than I thought I would. I would love for us all to live in the same place, but I don't know if that will ever happen again.

11. My biggest want is to be in the know. I like giving advice, and I like to have all the information. I think this is because I try not to have my own drama, so I enjoy hearing about everyone else's. I don't, however, exude sympathy, which might hinder me in this endeavor.

12. My favorites foods are as follows: anything pumpkin flavored, stuffing, dark-meat turkey or chicken, ham, chocolate, pasta, cheese (pretty much anything except swiss,) utz honey bbq chips, coke, chai, green beans, anything peach flavored, mussels, cooked: mushrooms (pretty much anything except portabella,) spinach, white/yellow onions. my favorite spices are is basil and rosemary. i tend not to salt things very much when i cook. i hate anything pickled, most things involving vinegar and anything remotely spicy, including pepper/s/corns or anything pepper related.

13. I miss tap dancing. I'd liked to start it again.

14. Being on stage is my favorite high. I miss theatre, but I've found a decent replacement in a cappella.

15. That being said, as much as I like singing a cappella, I only like listening to some of it.

16. One of my life goals is to write a novel, but I don't know that I have the planning skills, or even the creativity, to do it, anymore.

17. In 6th grade, I learned to type correctly. I promptly forgot, but played online text-based games enough that I can type 80 wpm. Ergonomically split keyboards are my demise.

18. I'm passably good at a lot of things, but not great at many of them. This means that I have many interests, and pretty much anything that takes work gets abandoned quickly. This includes: foreign languages (excluding sign language,) and drawing/painting. And math. Not because I'm not good at it, but because I just don't much like it.

19. Remember how they told us in elementary school we would never write in print again after 4th grade? They lied. RESENTFUL!

20. I am obsessive about knowing Dog Breeds. To the point where I spent a lot of time in middle school studyin the AKC breed list. Ask me what kind of dog it is, I'll probably know. And I can sometimes pick out specific breeds within a mix.

21. I tend to second guess myself a lot, and I don't like being wrong. Therefore, I hate guessing games. But I still like gameshows. Go figure.

22. My Father gave me this genetic hearing issue where I have problems distinguishing speech from background noise. It seems to get progressively worse. On top of that, on my Mom's side, hearing seems to go as you get older. Awesome. Especially for a musician.

23. I love being able to play piano, but playing in front of people makes me super nervous. Even if there's just other people in house while I'm playing, it makes me nervous. I think this stems from my need to impress people, but it's rather frustrating.

24. I had a weird premonition (and I think my sister did, too,) once, when I got one particular phone call: The one from my  Mom when my  dog, Scout, was put down. We just new.

25. The thought of one of our cats, Nala, being dead still makes me want to cry. I can't tell if it's because of the way she died, or because she was the most awesome cat EVER. Probably a combination.

26. I love miniature things. Love.

27. I love reading, but I'm not a primarily visual learner. So I can reread books multiple times and still get enjoyment, because I re-learn/remember new things each time I read it.

28. Grocery shopping is one my favorite activities. There's just so much to choose from!

29. I want to learn how to sail. I also want to learn how to do Irish dance. These two things aren't really related, I guess.

30. When I was in 4th grade, my best friend and I became fascinated with little junk things we would find on the playground. We wound up writing a whole set of stories about Rick the Brick (a piece of brick who had a split personality,) Ms Lady Ma'am Person (not a real thing, just the voice of reason,) Eagle (a plastic cutout of a seagull,) Bead (a bead,) Feather (a feather) and probably some other characters. I'm pretty sure I got left on the playground while looking for new characters at some point.

bye, now.

i know, i know

it's been a while.
this is the post after a while.

i have to admit, i haven't been doing anything terribly exciting. working. singing. we're moving tomorrow, so i've been packing. i hope this will be the smoothest move of my life. our current apartment is only 320 square feet, so we can't fit that much in it. so...yeah. almost everything is in boxes. we only have the kitchen, bathroom and a little bit of clothes/misceallaneous from the bedroom. tonight, everything gets packed up or taken apart. then we start moving at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

in any case, i wanted to point you to two sites i have found recently that I think are kind of cool.

go here

So, this site is cool if you're like me and like categorizing things. It's basically an online way to keep track of your closet. You have different areas that you can input pictures of your clothes into: tops, bottoms, jeans, outerwear, etc. They have a searchable database of clothing, but if you can't find it (because you're like me, and everything you own is like, 20 gazillion years old or on super-sale when you buy it, and no longer available online,) you can also just upload it from your phone/computer/whatevs. You can also follow profiles of people you know (or just like the style of,) define your style on your profile, make wishlists, etc.
Then, once you've built up your "closet," you say what you wore on a specific days, for specific things. You can have different outfits for work, the gym, going out to dinner, etc. all in one day. And for adding things to your closet, and choosing your outfits, you get points. And then they do giveaways! I actually won a cool pair of vintage Hugo Boss sunglasses back when it was in Beta, so this shizz is real, y'all! They aren't just pulling your leg.
FINALLY (I feel like I'm writing a middle school paper here, y'all,) it gives you stats of things in your closets. Want to know how many times you've worn purple this month? What your top brands are (as if you didn't know already, HAH!)? What your typical color pallet is? It also compares it to the "average" stylitics user.

 

 (check out how I have more items, but they cost less. That's because I'm a cheap-o!)

That's cool, right? Yeah...I thought so, too.

Any number two, is based off an idea called the 'endless closet.'

 

This was originally an Australian website that did so well that they moved it to the US to try it out here. Basically, it's a place to trade dresses (they plan to open it up to other clothing items, if it does well enough.) Have a dress you don't want? Just want a new dress, but don't have money to spend on it? This is good for that!

You list the dresses that you have worn and never want to wear again (too many posh parties, huh? fancy fancy...) and you get 'buttons' for it. The buttons are your ticket to other dresses that people feel equally as 'get it away from me as soon as possible' about, as you assign your dresses (or the website suggests an amount, based on how much you paid originally) a number of worth in buttons. You can buy buttons, but you also get buttons from adding your own dresses, so you don't ever have to actually pay any money, if you so desire. (Except shipping. You pay to ship stuff. But then, if you order things, other people pay to ship it. So it works out.)

The thing that I love about this website is that it can only get better the more people that use it. Instead of feeling like I want to be exclusive, and one of the few people on the site, I want EVERYONE to be on it! Cause ladies, let's be real here: I don't have money for new dresses for each occasion. And even if I did, not having to spend it is so much better an option. Then I can buy jewlery! Or, you know...food?

(this is a dress I want, but I have to find some other things to list before I can afford it. 

But I just kind of LOVE it, okay?)

So that's that! I'm moving, go check out those websites.

I'm also getting another VoxBox in May, which I'm excited about. And I've started using big-girl makeup (Tarte, specifically) and I freakin' love it. And I wash my face with Aveda and my body with VitaBath. It's like I'm a real person with real money or something.

Fancy.

ten on tuesday

 Link up for Ten on Tuesday at Roots and Rings.

 1. What are your designated chores in your home?

Me: Cooking, Dusting, Laundry, Vacuuming (occasionally,) cleaning the kitchen in general (except dishes.)
Nate: Dishes, Cat Box, cleaning the bathroom (mostly,) taking out the trash. Anything that involves heavy lifting.
 
2. What is your least favorite chore to do around the house?


Dishes. Ugh.



3. What was your designated chore growing up?

My sister and I did the dishes when my Mom cooked (when I figured this out I started cooking. I HATE DISHES.) and then whatever we were told to do, when we were told to do it. Mostly vacuuming and cleaning our room. We had a cleaning lady who did the bathrooms/kitchens/floors, so we only did those occasionally. (I make it sound like we were rich -- our cleaning lady came once or twice a month I think, it's not like we had a maid.)

4. Did you get paid to do chores or was your allowance connected to you completing your chores?

We sometimes got rewarded, but I don't think we ever got paid for them. We didn't really have an allowance, either, after a certain point. We just asked for money when we needed it. I guess when we were younger we'd do chores and such to earn money so that we could buy American Girl stuff, though. But we didn't get paid for every chore.

5. If you had a bit of extra money, would you hire a cleaning person or would you save the money for something else?


Probably save it for something else. We live in a <600 square foot apartment, we can handle the cleaning. =P

6. What chores will you make your kids do around the house?

Probably the same ones I had to do, depending on...stuff.

7. How frequently do you do laundry? Wash your sheets? Dust?

Laundry we do just about every week. Sheets...we probably need to do more often. And dusting? Hah. Once a month? When the patina of dust covering the entire apartment causes me grief because people are going to come over?

8. Do you have a designated “chore day” during the week?


Kind of Sunday, but it changes depending on what we have going on.

9. What is your favorite chore–if such a thing exists?

LAUNDRY! I just love it. It smells so fresh and clean.

10. Do you do anything to help pass the time while doing chores (music, TV, etc.)?
 
Music or the tv will usually be on.