Things you dont need to know (ROUND 2)

I did my first blogmopolitan quiz back in December. Which is how I originally found Erin at Two Thirds Hazel, which has since become a favorite read. So we're back for round two! As I said last time these are great reads, but completely unnecessary. So here is another list of things you don't need to know about me!

 Please go visit Erin and check out some of the other quizzes. While you're there, you can download the quiz for yourself to answer. Looking forward to reading these!
Happy Friday.

Getting a plan so we can organize our plan to plan

Source

Burning man shopping has commenced. Tickets have been purchased today and our tent, cot, camp stove, picnic table, sleeping bag, 2 chairs, and various LED lights are on their way to my house. I find myself focusing on the details on the things I can plan and prepare for. On the packing and the checklists... so many lists! I have Need Lists and Want Lists and Already Purchased Lists. Costume ideas,  food ideas, and shoes. Pinterest is a mess, my notebook is a mess. All I keep trying to do is get less messy and working these lists simply provokes more inspiration of more things to be done.

So where is the break in all this ranting to be genuine? I think I found it. I've realized I can ask all the questions, and read all the blog stories, and advice I want. I can absorb guidance from friends and family, and continue to mull over all my lists. I can be prepared physically.

When was the last time new experience you have absolutely no reference for?

However I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. Really no clue. I can't begin to imagine the smells, sounds and actual feelings of being there. I can't prepare myself for the emotions I'll feel. I feel like I'm going in blind and that part is really starting to scare me. This will be the first time in a very long time that I will do something that I have nothing in my past to really compare it to. 

So here I am terrified, of being exposed. Both emotionally and possibly somewhat physically, but openly exposed in a way I never have been before. That this may not be as amazing as the wonderful thing that I have imagined, what if it just isn't good enough. What if its not worth the suffering and I'm not the camper I used to be, and lack of pillow-top mattresses and overpriced coffee actually peels back my tough exterior to expose the city girl that lurks underneath.

I see it going grand. I think I'll be fine to camp and figure out how to make real food while we're there. I'll appropriately press my fashion limits to just beyond my usual level of comfort. I'll take the time to meet more new people than I usually would and find an easy way to get to know them in just a few questions. (suggestions are welcomed). And then there's a little question mark, in the very back of what if?

And all I have now is 6 months (TO THE DAY) to dwell on it.

Breakfast foods and getaways | Sunday Social

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social! Visit one of their pages to find the full listed of linked up blogs that participated this week!

1. What is your favorite breakfast food?
Huevos Racheros from Fume or a breakfast burrito from Golden Bagel 
(I'm too healthy for my own good when I'm home)

2. What is the best way to spend a free day?
 Hanging out with my TheDJ and my Princess. Walking the dogs, going out to eat, catching a movie. 

3. If you had an airline ticket to anywhere in the world....where would you go and why?
 Go visit my cousin and his new baby in Hong Kong

4. You can only leave the house with one thing...what is it?
Sunglasses I'm just miserable with out them

5. How do you take your coffee?
Black at home or a diner at Peet's its a latte with almond milk

As always I hope you participate with us, I love reading these.  If you repost please be sure to link up with the girls above. Part of my Sunday morning is now dedicated to couch time while reading all of these! Have a wonderful weekend.  

Have a wonderful Sunday!

In the wake of Valentine's our world could use more love

In the wake of candy hearts and pink sparkles you would think love has some overwhelming hold on the world. You'd think all the mushy flower-buying saps would have worn off on general society. That trends like galentines day might have brightened this weekend. However I feel like I experienced more F(orget) Valentines day sentiments than ever before. Which really makes me sad. This year I happen to be attached, but I've spent many Valentine's days single and found much more fulfilling ways to celebrate. At the end of the day, what is wrong with a day focused on adoration and telling someone you care about them. If you're having trouble being alone make plans with your girls, send flowers to your sister or take yourself to the spa.I think my conclusion about how to make Valentine's a better day is this: Romantic relationships aren't the only ones you should express you should celebrate. Moms, friends, dads, cousins and even coworkers could use a little spoiling too.

So what prompted this express your love ramble? Looking around my world, regardless of their relationship statuses, too many people need a little extra love. So I guess watching the sulking singles was a little hard for me. I have friends and family waiting on pins and needles over test results, planned surgeries, and simply hoping their loved one wont get worse. My aunt is grieving for a friend who lost her husband, suddenly, without any current answer as to why. A childhood friend and fellow blogger is simply questioning her faith and spending time trying not to panic. My future father in law and his wife spent Sunday at a celebration of life saying goodbye to a friend of 53 years. We live in world with so much pain, and tragedy. So many heart-wrenching tales of pain I wish I could help with, that seeing anger over hallmark's favorite holiday just feels like a waste of energy this week.

So here I would like to challenge you, and will participate myself. Next week, spread more love than sugar on Valentine's day. Take this week to buy an extra cup of coffee, send a friend a cute 'thinking of you' card, call your grandma even if she talks for 45 minutes. Invite that girl at work out for a drink, you know the one that just moved here and doesn't know many people.

I want to make an effort this week to do this as well. Write thank you cards, bring flowers to a friend, drop off a casserole for a neighboring family. I have a list of ideas but also want to hear yours! Please share any kindness you've extended, or wish to extend this week.

Kick-backs and Lazy days | Sunday Social

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social! Visit one of their pages to find the full listed of linked up blogs that participated this week!

1. What are your favorite things to do on a lazy day?
Netflix or go explore a new restaurant or store

2. What is your tv guilty pleasure?
 One Tree Hill over and over and over and over

source

 

3. What is your favorite road trip music?
 Something laid back and relaxing like Citizen Cope or Black Mill

4. What are your favorite magazines of books to read by the pool or laying around?
James Patterson is always a favorite or gossip mags

5. What is your favorite snack?

 Dried snap peas or frozen grapes

As always I hope you participate with us, I love reading these.  If you repost please be sure to link up with the girls above. Part of my Sunday morning is now dedicated to couch time while reading all of these! Have a wonderful weekend. 

Genuine, Authentic, Indubitable

In this mixed up effort to find a more organized life I've been realizing that I must decide what it is I want to be, portray and share about my life. Of course, there are things off limits to the blog, but what exactly am I holding back that maybe shouldn't be. There's something to be said for staying super positive, but when does that come at the cost of being genuine.

Here are some things I do know: I want to share more of my real life (not just fluff), I want to share more of my hometown in all it's glory, I want to share more of my love (not just the person, the entity that is our love), I want to share my struggles and successes as a parent. I want to focus on who I am becoming as much as who I am. So hopes dreams goals and aspirations will be presented. Passions, plans and accomplishments will be more transparent.

I think I set out to make this a journal more than anything, and I fell into something more trivial than that. So be prepared for more lessons and explorations. If you'll bear with me it should be a fun ride. I'd like to tie in more of what I do, what I really desire and why I'm here. Hope you'll stick around.

What do you feel most compelled to blog about?

What would you like to write about more?

What would you like to read about more?

SHOWS and MOVIES: We're back for Sunday Social

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social! Visit one of their pages to find the full listed of linked up blogs that participated this week!

1. What is your favorite thing to watch on a girls night?
 Cocktails and bar patrons, now that we're all mommies "Girl's night" is very rarely taken at home.However there's always Mean Girls, Pitch Perfect, and Pretty Little Liars
 

 
2. What is your favorite thing to watch on your day off?
Series on netflix (currently Orange is the New Black and Breaking Bad) then I can try to pace myself. (ex: 2 episodes then laundry and lunch, 2 more then bathrooms and floors)
 



3. What is your favorite thing to watch when you're sick?
80's movies. I have seen them so many times that they're easy to sleep to

 
4. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?
FROZEN... twice hah! And we're seriously considering going again now that it's in sing-a-long mode. 
 
5. What are your top three favorite movies or tv shows?
One Tree Hill, My Fair Lady, Walk the Line


 If you repost please be sure to link up with the girls above. Part of my Sunday morning is now dedicated to couch time while reading all of these! Have a wonderful weekend.

radical self-expression and self-reliance

Okay so I have one of my most massive bucket list items planned for this year. On the 20th of February I will be purchasing my ticket to the Burning Man Festival. If you're not familiar with burning man you can click the link to visit their site, but here is a quick synopsis.

source

Burning Man is an annual event and a thriving year-round culture. The event takes place the
week leading up to and including Labor Day, in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The Burning Man organization (Black Rock City LLC) creates the infrastructure of Black Rock City, wherein attendees (or "participants") dedicate themselves to the spirit of community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, leaving no trace. As simple as this may seem, trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind.

So I guess heed this is a warning, this whole festival, and prep and planning and packing will be a big part of my life for the next six months. Which means you all get to hear about it. It is part of what is driving my urge to get organized and find new ways to STAY organized. 

Step 1- Paper and Pen - I am one of those archaic types that feels the need to write things down, it helps me remember and feel more productive. I just cant seep to keep focused using my phone's calendar especially since it seems to be all muddled up with Facebook events. So I opt for a non-virtual hardback planner. This is my third year with this brand & format. This design is apparently unavailable on line but the have several others. Isn't she pretty!

Step 2 - Gift culture and contributions.  There is a gifting culture of Burning Man, most vets will tell you the best thing you can do is a smile and contact, but most people hand out trinkets or small necessities while wandering the playa. Everything I've heard says First timers (like yours truly) really don't need to bring anything, but that's not really my style. I'm planning on carrying a bag with essentials to start (lip balm, sunscreen, dusk masks). Now I want to find small hand made gifts to share. Maybe something to help deplete my yarn collection. I made fingerless gloves for my man last year and might make a few different sets to pass out.

Step 3 - List the lists of lists - I have lists. EVERYWHERE. Amazon Wish lists, Pinterest boards, packing lists printed and taped to by camping Tupperware Tubs. I think the next step is to actually make a list of my lists. Sounds a little neurotic but when you live in the desert for a week with nothing but what you bring and or are given you'll really want to be prepared.

Do I have any Burners among my readers?

What would you like to receive as a random gift?

Is there anything you're checking off your bucket list this year?

The Tale of the Toothless Princess

There once was a Pretty Little Princess who's teeth needed a little work. We called the magic Dr Tooth Fairy and the Tooth Fairy recommended a bit of work do to be done. A removal here and a filling there. The Fairy tried to help the Princess but the princess got too scared and made it quite difficult for the Fairy to cast her spell. So the fairy called a wizard, who would allow the princess to doze off into a deep sleep so the Fairy could work her magic. Sounds like a wonderful fairy tale, a little magic that fixes anything. However this sweet little tale, does not quite feature the Queen in the best light. The Queen who is nervous as a cat and is not a Tooth Fairy fan herself.

This will be my story Wednesday. Princess is scheduled to be put under general anesthesia for Dental work. As a mother, who has never been put out herself, this is a huge challenge for me. I can't be happy, comfortable, or relaxed knowing that she is doing something that is such uncharted territory for me. I've never been less qualified to help prepare her for anything. I'm sure it will be fine and she'll be back at school talking about her fantastic feat before we know it. UGH Parenting is hard, have I said that lately?!

What's even harder is this whole thing doesn't feel fair. How on earth do I explain to her what is happening, without terrifying her. How am I to keep my personal discontent out of my words and voice as I help her to understand. I try not to lie to her, but there's part of me that makes it really hard to say "it will be okay" because I don't know that. Being "put under" scares me and always has, I can't say how lucky I feel that it's never happened to me. I just hope this is the first and LAST time she has to go through this.

Here's to hoping the princess arises from her deep dreamy sleep to the smiling Tooth Fairy and a satisfied wizard. Then the queen and king escorted their princess out of the Tooth Fairy's office, off for milkshakes and home for a Netflix marathon and the Princess lives toothlessly ever after.Or until her adult teeth come in anyway.

Its time for Sunday Social

I'm joining Ashley and Neely with their link-up today for Sunday Social!

 This week is all about the number 4.

1* 4 Favorite bands you loved in high school (lets start off with some randomness)

Freshman: Modest Mouse

Sophmore: Muse

Junior: Eminem

Senior: Chevelle

2* 4 go to meals you’d love to learn to cook or can cook really well

Grandma's Biscuits and Gravy, Pulled Pork (crock pot awesomeness),  Penne Ratatouille, Zuchinni tots

3* 4 necessities to your daily life

Coffee, music, blogloving, meditation time

4* 4 makeup necessities you must have if you could only have 4 on

Sunscreen, bronzer, black eyeliner, mascara

5* 4 favorite apps on your phone or iPad

Instagram, Quizup, Pinterest, Todoist

Time to get social with us and make new friends, leave some comments on some new blogs.