I've always thought the title "artsy fartsy" is pretty hilarious. Maybe it's because it's the phrase my mom always uses to describe artsy things that I like. Well, she definitely would have been using it last Saturday if she had been with my roomie and I at the SLC Arts Festival. What a hoot and a hollar it was! Between the crazy graffiti art to the live sand sculpting and amazing vendors, it was right up my ally and I absolutely loved it.
And to top it all off I was looking pretty artsy fartsy if I do say so myself. :)
{Shirt: Limited, Necklace: Forever 21, Earings: Forever 21, Sunglasses: Quilted Bear, (What can I say, I get my clothes/accessories at super random places!) Lipstick: Sephora, Shorts: Walmart, Hat: Walmart, (Yes, I just typed the world Walmart in a fashion post. All I can say is the shorts and the hat were cheaper there than anywhere else and they fit better. So there.) Shoes: TaiPan}
It is rather amazing how many emotions one can go through in a single day. For some reason today has been rather eclectic in its collection of thoughts and feelings. I blame Aunt Flo's monthly visit.
The day began rather glumly...
:( Waking up lonely is never a good feeling. Especially after falling asleep lonely listening to your go-to feel sad song. {Currently mine is Come Wake Me Up by Rascal Flatts. It's wonderfully sad.} We all have them, and even though we know how they will make us feel at 11 o'clock at night all alone in our apartments. But we listen to them anyways. Over and over again.
:/ The day got a little better when I realized I had a cute outfit to wear and I got free Papa Johns pizza for lunch from work. It's greasy goodness all but canceled out my 4 straight nights of ultimate frisbee. But oh was it worth it. I'm pretty sure I sometimes scare all the warehouse guys with my ability to tuck it away at our weekly Friday lunches.
>:( Listening to angry people on the phone makes me angry. NO the company I work for is not personally trying to make your life a living heck. But you are making mine one right now. Thanks.
:) I got out of work a bit late, but after filling up with gas I headed to a retreat for a group I am a part of through the LDS institute up here in SLC. It was a bit of a drive, but it was nice to just put pedal to the medal and let off some steam. When I got to the house we were having this little get together at, my smile grew even larger. The yard was GORGEOUS. It wound and wound with a sport court, hammock area, fire pit, trees, a fountain etc etc. All I can say is I want a cool yard someday that my kids can explore to their hearts content...Ok, I admit it. I really want it so I can explore it to my hearts content!
;) I am so grateful for the people I get to work with in LDSSA (Later Day Saint Student Association). Going to this retreat tonight was exactly what I needed to raise my mood. There was good food, spiritual nourishment, and more laughter than I've had in a long time. Even coming home smelling like campfire was alright by me.
:D For some reason by the time I got in my car to drive home after the retreat, I was feeling sky high. There is just something about driving on the freeway at night with the windows down, music blasting, and the city lights surrounding me that always gets to me. I sat in my car and realized that I don't need to let anyone bring me down. I don't have to do things I don't want to do just because someone who doesn't want me will be there. I can decide how to live and how everything affects me. Maybe it won't be easy, heck I know it won't, but will it make you happier in the end? Probably. Will you be happier for because of it? Most definitely. Will I regret ending my day listening to Brian Regan's All By Myself CD? Not one little bit.
First off, I have to pay my dues and give a shout out to the most amazing man in my life.
My Dad.
He has done so much for me in the almost 21 years I've been around, I can't even express my gratitude. He is the reason I love sports and especially basketball. He is the reason I can ride a bike and drive a car. He has pushed me to become the best that I can be and he has loved me through every up and down. I don't know what I would do with out his influence in my life and I am so thankful to be able to spend the day with him!
Love you Dad!
Inspiration:
"Love isn't something that's just tossed around between lost and found."
Charly always makes me cry, and for those of you who know me, I don't cry often. So of course when I had to come home early from church with my little sister who isn't feeling well, it was my Sunday movie of choice. Someday I'll find a man who will love me as much as Sam loved her and would ride with me for hours on a ferris wheel.
Tunes:
No matter how many times I hear this song, I still turn it up loud and sing along at the top of my lungs when it comes on the radio. There is a reason it is still #1 on iTunes! Also, the music video is horribly funny, just wait until the end!
I also can't help but love all the memes that have surfaced because of this song!
Obsession:
Fonts.
I am totally a font nerd.
My Font Book is organized by type and I use it often.
Helvetica, Comic Sans, and Papyrus are my worst nightmares.
Projects:
I honestly don't have any right now. Sad days. But my mind is bursting with ideas like refashioned men's shirts, t-shirt make-overs, a new patchwork purse and a color blocked pencil skirt just to name a few!
1: Sometimes my cat Maggie is my very best friend. She will cuddle without questions, demand my attention 24/7 and listen without interrupting. If only I could find a man who was just as dedicated. ;)
2: I have a bad habit of buying fabric and patterns...and then never doing anything with them. Boy do I need to get on it before I become a little old lady pushed out of her own room by her fabric collection!
3: I have seen all three High School Musicals more times than I can count and have most of the songs memorized. And to all of those who were discussing it at FHE last week, you know you secretly like some of the songs too and stayed up to watch the first one when it first aired on Disney Channel. Just admit it. :)
4: I really don't like baseball. I went to my first game in years last Monday and ended up talking through the entire game and leaving early to go get non-ridiculously priced food. Call me unAmerican, but I just don't see the draw of a bunch of guys occasionally running around in a circle. On the plus side the peanuts were good!
5: I'm really wantin' me some summer lovin'. If only so I could sing the song from Grease with my roomies!
Well there you have it folks. That's all for me today! Here's hoping the next week will be a little less hectic and some real blogging and project doing can get done. Until next time!
I've come to realize that sometimes it takes living in a situation you wish you could run away from to really find out who you want to be and what you need to change. No matter how much you wish you could change your scenery and escape from all the things that are wrong, sometimes the only solution is to live through it and become stronger, even if it seems like each step is extremely minuscule.
I've always been one to run away from a situation when it gets uncomfortable or there is a possibility of me getting hurt. But this summer has become the summer of sticking it out and learning to deal. It isn't always fun or easy and sometimes it feels like a punch in the stomach and you just have to eat ice cream and watch a chick flick and cry, but you just have to live through it.
On the up side, other times, these feelings of discomfort can be empowering. It can be empowering to realize that you don't need to hold on or change or be someone you aren't in order to impress others. It can be empowering to rediscover yourself in little ways like realizing you've missed doing some of your favorite things because you were busy living the life you thought was best but wasn't. It can be empowering to do something well and be recognized for it, even if you don't feel like you need the recognition. It can be empowering to know you are strong enough to move on, even if it is only in little ways every day, week, and month. It can be empowering to meet new people and realize that there might even be someone else out there who will check 'yes' on the "Do you like me?" note you pass them durning sacrament meeting.
I have to admit that Kelly Clarkson's What Doesn't Kill You (Makes You Stronger) is getting rather old as I flip through my radio stations and it is playing on three at the same time {what can I say, I'm a fan of variety}, but its message, no matter how cliched, is true. It is empowering.
Living without someone who had become your best friend and then disappointed you...
Being the bigger person and helping that same person out that you wish you could snub...
Learning to open up to people again even though you're afraid of getting hurt...
Trying new things that might scare you to death...
Being okay with being alone sometimes...
Changing the way you see others and the way you see the world around you...
Realizing that you shouldn't change for anyone, no matter what...
Learning to accept the past and try and find hope in the future...
Makes You Stronger.
And it is in these low points, where you feel like all you can do is slowly scratch and pull yourself up the walls of the pit you've dug for yourself, where true life altering change can happen to a persons character and soul. It is in these times of discontent that one may have to realize that: "There is no growth in a comfort zone and there is no comfort in a growth zone."
I know we all have some growing to do. That's why we're here, right? We can't expect to be able to do any of this growing if everything is always right all of the time. There has to be those scenes of rain and melancholy background music before the protagonists can find themselves and love at the end of their happily ever after. Love stories wouldn't be very fun to read if everything was always right. It is usually at the times of wrong where you really come to know the characters and are able to sympathize with them so that their triumph is that much sweeter.
I know I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one and that anyone who is going through hard times or is just coming out of them already knows all of this and is probably tired of hearing it. I know I get that way when people try to pull the "It will all work out in the end" line. But no matter how much we wish we could just wallow in self-pity forever, change always comes. The sun always rises. New people will always show up and new beginnings are not always bad, and you know what? They might even make you stronger. :)
Here is another fun thing I'm going to try and start doing on the blog. It's called Sunday Confessions, started by a fellow blogger who I follow. You can find her blog here.
1: I really don't like it when guys wear short sleeved dress shirts. I think it makes them look like they are 12, not 22. Buck up and wear the long sleeved ones boys. Church is only 3 hours. You can do it.
2: I really don't like eating breakfast. I know it is supposedly the most important meal of the day, but I just don't like making the time in the morning to eat it. I mean, I'm already running out the door in a mad dash trying to get to where ever I'm going on time anyways, I don't have time to make scrambled eggs and toast!
3: I had a song from the Disney Chanel TV show Lizzie McGuire stuck in my head today. No idea where that one came from. I promptly had to sing it to my roommates as to insure my own sanity.
4: I love wearing tall heels and being taller than all most of the guys at church. There is just something empowering about towering over people and looking good while doing it. It makes singlehood a little bit more bearable.
5: It's the middle of summer, but I am already excited for Christmas and Christmas music/movies. Call me crazy, but I really do believe it is the most wonderful time of the year. Hands down.
Katie: Shirt: H&M, Skirt: Chadwicks, Shoes: Target, Bow: Forever 21, Lipstick: Sephora. Me: Shirt: Target, Tank: H&M, Skirt: Forever 21, Shoes: Forever 21, Necklace: Claire's (gotta love super old 13-year-old jewelry), Watch: Anne Klein.
This is my first attempt at a fashion post, so bare will me.
I know the pictures are in the entryway of our apartment and the colorful rug beneath our feet is just awesome, but we didn't take the pictures specifically as fashion post material. At first we were just marveling at the fact that we ended up semi-matching as we got ready for church this morning, then I decided I might as well blog about it because that's what I do now. Or at least I'm trying to. Ha. Multiple people throughout the day commented on how we were kind of matching and that we must be roommates.
Yep. We are. And we love it.
Oh, and we love stripes. And polka dots.
And taking awkward pictures.
Here's hoping for better outfit pics later on. I need to invest in a tri-pod.
Seeing as how I totally forgot to do this on Thursday, better late than never, right?
Inspiration:
Mustard, navy, polka-dots, big sunglasses. Four of my all-time favorite things.
Tunes:
Every time I hear this song come up on my Pandora station I go to like it and realize it's already been liked. It's worth a listen.
Obsession:
We watched Ramona and Beezus as an apartment last night and fell in love with Josh Duhamel all over again. So tonight I am watching Life As We Know It just to stare at him all night again. Yummy.
Projects:
A few days ago I made a post about some lyrics I wrote recently. Well, today I got with a good friend who helped me put some actual music (and good music at that) to the words. It was rather amazing. He is a spectacular guitar player and is convinced I will be able to play the song someday on my own. I am not as strong of a believer, but it does sound good! Maybe someday when I get the melody down I'll post a video...maybe...
I also finished a dress today! Unfortunately I did not look decent enough to take pictures of myself in it. Another "maybe someday" to keep you on your toes. ;)
My phone finally takes decent photos. Therefore you can be expecting more posts like this in the future. I'm kind of obsessed.
New Job.
Yes that is a lazer-tag gun I'm holding. And yes we played in the warehouse with a fog machine going and Tron music. On my second day of work. Awesome.
Shopping Trip.
New job = Paycheck = Shopping = Cute New Clothes/Jewelry
Movie Night With Myself
Sometimes a night in really isn't that bad. Cafe Rio, She's the Man, Channing Tatum and Haagen-Dazs is enough to keep this girl happy.
It helps me not feel as lonely, hurt, sad, depressed, or angry and helps me express my joy, happiness, love and excitement. Every one is a little piece of me put into words with a rhyme or two.
