A change

I should probably fill you all in on a change I have made. I enjoy blogging here, but I feel this blog really had no purpose other than to fill you in on the goings-on in my life.

I have missed writing as it is a hobby that I do really enjoy. I felt like I had nothing to actually write about and no real theme. The light bulb went off and I found something I enjoy writing about and have been interested in for years.

I have started a beauty and lifestyle blog, The Spotted Poppy. You can click on the link to be taken to my Web site. I've kept this idea and blog under wraps for a bit as I was nervous to tell anyone about it. I finally mentioned it to Sean and shortly thereafter mentioned it to a friend and both were extremely supportive. I thought up a name, bought the web domain, and began designing.

I don't know how much I will be posting here anymore, but feel free to follow along and bookmark The Spotted Poppy. I'm really excited about it as I was looking for something else in my life as a hobby and maybe professionally down the road that is much more fulfilling.

Your support is appreciated.

Until next time...

Anyone out there? I haven't posted in months...

What do you want to talk about?

Decluttering.

I read an interesting article the other day on Apartment Therapy.

Have you heard of that site? It's pretty awesome. I follow them on Pinterest as well. Anyway, I was perusing my Pinterest feed the other day and found this article, "Why keeping only the clothes that 'spark joy' is magical" and found it be very interesting.

The idea is, when sorting through clothing, keep only the things that truly bring you joy should be kept. I find this idea such a good one and also very genius. While reading the article I was even thinking about the drawers of clothing that I'm going to go through and what to keep and what to get rid of. Mentally, I've begun applying this to not only clothing, but also everything else in our apartment.

Even my beloved Pyrex is getting this treatment. I don't want to collect Pyrex just to collect ALL THE PYREX, but want to have things I actually really love. I thought I would share because I think it an interesting philosophy.

Have a good night!

New (to me) Pyrex.

Yesterday was my birthday. And I decided I was only going to do things I wanted to do yesterday as my birthday is my absolute favorite day of the year.

So, yesterday a friend and I went Pyrex hunting. Or as we like to call it, Pyrexing. We went to a bunch of thrift stores and a few antique malls. It was a great time. And then I rearranged my collection.



Friendship and Daisy



Town and Country version 2 mixing bowl set

Turquoise Butterprint and some of my Town and Country collection

Town and Country version 2 Cinderella bowls - need one more to complete

Spring Blossom casseroles

Primary refrigerator set

Pyrex found yesterday



The day ended with birthday cake made by Sean. All in all, it was a fantastic birthday. Only 364 days until the next one.

Finished.

It is a 1000 piece puzzle. Done and done. Boots is probably going to be sad she won't have any pieces to hit off the table and play with anymore. 

And for the cute factor:

Have a good night everyone. I can finally sleep now this puzzle is done. 

A puzzle and a cat.

Boots was a little interested in what I was doing. Clearly. 

Sunday morning.

If you were to ask me what my favorite day of the week is I would tell you Sunday. You know why? Because I live for Sunday mornings at home. 

I'm "sleeping in" usually until about 7:30. Sometimes 8 if I'm ever so lucky. I get up usually first. Today, Boots was still sleeping at the foot of the bed when I woke up. Sean is definitely still sleeping. So, I get up. Feed the cat because as soon as my feet touch the floor she's already in the kitchen waiting for me. 

Next, I make myself a cup of coffee. Also known as a cup of glorious nectar from the gods. My current favorite is Starbuck's Veranda Blonde Roast. Coffee in hand, I usually sit in the chair and turn on the Food Network. There's a few shows on there I like watch every Sunday. By this time, Boots is on my lap for a morning snuggle. 

Soon, I will hear Sean rustling in the bedroom. He will come out to the living room to tell me good morning and then begin getting ready for work. 

I live for quiet Sunday mornings at home. It's my favorite part of the week. 

Yet another song...

Stolen Dance by Milky Chance.  Such a great song!  It's one of my newest obsessions.  Also, there's no swearing so Charlie friendly Becky...

Also, big life news coming up.  I can share more next week.

Life recently

A lot has happened since I last posted. Let's see shall we? 

Last weekend my nephew came to stay at my house. The above photo was from our trip to the aquarium. 

This was taken at the zoo. It's such a fake smile, but he's still such a cutie. 

I've started reading the book the Netflix series Orange is the New Black is based off of. I enjoy the show and I'm excited to really get into the book. 

After some brake work done on my new used car yesterday, Sean and I had a little trouble on the way home. Luckily, my father is always a phone call away. At least it was warm out with no rain or snow. Also, we had a total of three cars stop and ask us if we need help. One was van full of teenage boys, one was a man with a volunteer fire fighter, and the last one was a Minnesota State Trooper. It's nice to know there are still good people out in the world. 

It really is how crazy being completely stranded on the side if the road is debilitating. It was a nice hour stopped and taking all of the outdoors and everything else in. 

And now, this big kitten has been on my lap for close to three hours. We had a lovely nap and now I'm just waiting for her to realize she missed dinner time. 

Well, now that I've gone through all of my recent photos on my phone, I'm out. But hopefully, now that I downloaded the Blogger app on my phone I will post more frequently. 

Happy weekend!

One my newest favorite songs.  Perfectly summer sounding.

Enjoy!

I know.

I have I have no been blogging.  Lately, it has felt like a chore and I definitely do not like chores.

Let's see what's new in my life.  Bullet list style.

• I got a new (to me) car last week.  It's a Honda Civic.  I need helping naming it.  It has to start with a "C" and cannot be the name of anyone I know.  I have a few names in mind, but need some other ideas.  Annnnd go!
• I'm still obsessed with my cat.  Surprise surprise.
• Last night, Sean and I both were home and actually got to spend some time together.  It was lovely.
• Today I have the day off since I worked last Saturday.  It's been nice.
• I'm thinking about cutting a few inches off of my hair for the summer.  I do this every stinking year.  I want long hair, but then I don't.  So indecisive.

 That's about all I know right now.  Maybe I'll post more?  Who knows at this point.

Mornings.

Mornings are my favorite time of day.  My favorite moment is right now.  Morning light flooding through the huge living room window.  Sipping freshly brewed coffee.  Enjoying the quiet.  Well, except when Boots begins meowing...

I especially love weekend mornings, mostly because those are the only ones I get to spend at home.  This moment is the moment before the television is turned on.  Sean is usually still asleep.  I'm just waking up mentally.  The cat has already woken me up and she's been fed breakfast.  At this very moment, Boots is waiting patiently on the armrest of the chair for me to sit down and put a blanket on my lap.  Weekend morning lap time is a guarantee.

Mornings are a fresh start to the day.  What's not to love?  I hope you enjoy your morning as well, I know I am.  Kitty lap time is calling my name...

My new jam

This is my newest jam.  Don't worry, it's kid friendly.

It's so catchy.  It's been stuck in my head for the last 36 hours.  You're welcome.  It would be adorable if Charlie starting singing it.  Hint hint.

An ode to a tweezers

Can I take a minute to write an entire post about a pair of tweezers?  Specifically this pair of tweezers. 

Trust me, I know what you're thinking $22 for a pair of tweezers?  And I know.  I rolled my eyes for years too, at the price and the hype.  But then one day when I had some awesome Ulta coupons and cashed in some of my reward points, I got said tweezers for $6 - a price I was comfortable with. 

And trust me.  I goffed at Tweezerman tweezers for years.  I've heard for so long how great they actually are and I never believed it.  I thought to myself, "Oh whatever, I can get a tweezers for a dollar and it will work exactly the same."  Somehow though, that is just not the case.  I don't know if it's the slant of the Tweezerman tweezers or what, but it grabs my little tiny baby eyebrow hairs I can't even see.

Seriously though, I'm blown away by a pair of stinking tweezers.  If you're in the market for some tweezers, I can't recommend the Tweezerman brand more.  I've had mine for about a month or so and there's nothing but rave reviews coming from me.

A visit to the Lingenberrys

I have a few pictures I've been meaning to get off my camera and share.  Pictures of Charlie and Juniper from the visit to the Lingenberrys in October.  Warning, cute pictures of my niece and nephew ahead.

Charlie Green as I call him.  It's so awesome to see his personality and see what he's like as he's getting bigger.  I'd say Charlie is a mini-me of my brother.

This was the best photo out of the five or so Sean took.  It was the only one where no one was moving.  Juniper looks so small in this photo!

We went to a corn maze.  The corn was taller than Charlie even while sitting on his dad's shoulders.

All of the Lingenberrys.  I love Juniper's look on her face. 

What's this called, a corn box?  It was like a sandbox, but with corn instead.  The corn maze was really cool.  I'm hoping Sean and I can go down to Winona and go to it again.  There were three separate mazes and we walked through all of it.  Charlie made it walking for most of it.  He did a good job leading us through as well.

Where was I?

Where was I when I left off two months ago?  I've been here the whole time, just not posting.  There's no particular rhyme or reason as to why, I just didn't feel like posting.  I didn't feel like I had the time.  Blah, blah, blah.  I'm apparently full of excuses.

The real reason why I haven't been posting?  Because I needed a mental break.  I work all day long and stare at a compute screen.  My job is stressful and mentally taxing, but honestly I love it so much.  Yes, there are days when I'm yelled at by customers.  Yes, there are days where I feel like I get absolutely nothing done (usually Mondays).  Most days I don't actually leave on time.  But you know what?  I actually enjoy it and am happy.  And I haven't given myself stress induced shingles, twice. 

So that is what I have been up to?  What about you?

Oh, also, it's fridgid here in Minnesota.  It's a balmy -8 degrees right now.  Without the wind chill.  Super.

Things I'm doing today.

• Hoping to finish up Christmas shopping if not today, then tomorrow.
• Work on finishing up the handmade Christmas gifts for Sean's family Christmas.
• Clean and organize my closet.
• Wrap gifts.
• Make homemade lemoncello for friend's Christmas gifts.
• Go to the gym.

All in all, sounds like a well rounded day.

Stairs, day 2.

There are 132 stairs. Made it to the 5th floor before I got tired. Made it farther than yesterday before getting tired, so that's a win. 

I like my daily stair challenge. Again, going down it the easy part. Today I tried going down faster without falling. It was a success. 

Boom. 

Stairs, day 1

Day 1 completed. 

I lost count on the number of stairs when a door on the 4th floor was opened on me. 

I'll maybe not lose count sometime?

The stair challenge

So, at work I work on the 7th floor of a building.  Me being all creeped out and scared of elevators has really been testing me these last three months.

Side note, it's been THREE months at my next job.  Time sure flies.  I digress.  

Anyway, 7th floor.  I think my goal for this week is to take the stairs (going up) at least two times this week.  Going down is the easy part and I've been trying to incorporate that into my routine anyway.  Going up is the tough part.  It's 23 stairs a floor... I think.  That's 138 stairs.  It will be a good way to get my heart rate up right before work and it will make sure I'm super awake and ready to start my day.

Also, I have a weird stair counting obsession.  I've done it for as long as I can remember.  Whenever I go up or down stairs, I have to count.  I always lose count at work because there's so many stairs.  For example, there's 12 stairs in my parents house.  There's 5 stairs in the first section (from the top) and 7 on the next section.  There's 16 stairs going from the parking lot to my apartment.  There was 48 stairs going up to my 4th floor dorm room my junior year of college.

I know, it's a weird obsession and habit.  I can't stop it.

I'll update you on my little challenge at the end of the week.

P.S. Whoa!  I posted.  Hot damn.