Mantras, Manifestos, and Affirmations! Oh my!

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stuart-smalley1

What do you do for yourself when you’re feeling sad? Do you have a ritual? Do you go for a run? Is there a phrase (or two, or three) that you repeat to yourself when you’re stressed and overwhelmed?

I’m always curious about what people do to make themselves feel safe and comfortable when Life is throwing curve balls, or bowling balls, or the kitchen sink at you.

Mantras

I don’t have any mantras, per se. Maybe I should. The idea of having something soothing to repeat to myself during times of duress seems comforting. But maybe I’m more charmed by the idea of mantras than their actual use.  Still, I have some sayings I turn to again and again when I’m feeling frustrated, small, or nitpicky–especially in regards to my career (or lackthereof).

mantras

When it comes to blogging, writing, or creating in general, I can be a bit of a perfectionist. And when the craft is done, I have a difficult time letting go of the mistakes and the flaws in my finished product. It’s not healthy for me to be comparing every aspect of my life to what I see on Pinterest.  So that’s when these mantras come in handy.

I also really like this one below, since I tend to be pretty hard on myself about what I think I SHOULD HAVE accomplished already, but haven’t. Or when I’m reading blogs by really successful women and wondering why I’m not there yet. Continue reading →

Obsessed with: My Wanderlust Watch

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GUYS. Guysszzzzzzz!

I just bought this watch and I am head over HEELS in love with it.

watch

It’s so friggin’ gorgeous! Bought it from Urban Outfitters for a cool $30, thanks to an online code. (I’d post it, but it’s expired now). This purchase was worth every penny, since I’ve barely taken this watch off since I got it in the mail.

Wearing it makes me feel all summery and Bohemian and dreamy.

Here’s a (clearly professional and flawless) shot of me wearing the watch while simultaneously doing something weird with my fingers.

wearingwatch

I have obviously missed my calling. Should’ve studied photography ;-)

Do you guys have accessories that you’re obsessing over lately?

Happy Monday, my loves!

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happymonday!

I’m coming in fresh from a fantastic weekend with the boyfriend! Hope your end o’ week breaks were just as rewarding.

Stuff that was awesome this weekend, in list format

*Seeing the Great Gatsby–it WAY exceeded my expectations. The BF and I are both Three Floyds Dreadnaughtbig fans of the book, and we both loved it

*Watching ‘Hit and Run’ on Netflix.

*Super late night Burger King runs

*Sampling some delicious Dreadnaught IPA from Three Floyds Brewing Co

*Bumming around downtown Chicago

Up and coming posts to look for this week

*More on that health & weightloss journey I’m trying to make happen

*An accessory that I’m currently going ga ga over

*Possibly a post about hanging heavy stuff on the plaster walls in my apartment–we’ll see if that happens

Chatter

DID YOU GUYS WATCH THE DOCTOR WHO SEASON FINALE??? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS???????????????????

Also

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My Costa Rican Adventure: Part 1 – TEFL International Costa Rica

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tefl

When I first scanned the list of countries on the TEFL International website, I had no specifc designs on Costa Rica. It was simply the cheapest program offered in a Spanish-speaking country. What I didn’t know then was that choosing to do my intensive, month-long teaching class there would affect my life for the next year; that it would change me as a person and cause immeasurable growth in my personality and outlook on life.

But I didn’t know that then. I just wanted to speak Spanish, and I needed to do it on a budget.

It was September 2010. I had graduated college that May and spent 3 months writing greeting cards during an editorial internship that I had hoped would result in full time employment, but it didn’t pan out. After my internship, with nowhere to go, my brand new kitten and I moved back in with my parents. I spent my time blogging for a now defunct blog called The Girly Nerds, taking Zumba classes with my mom, and sending job applications into the void.

My decision to teach English abroad was the direct result of a very bad day. I needed a change. I needed OUT. So I blew almost my entire savings account on the month-long course in Costa Rica and got ready to travel. Before then, I’d never flown in an airplane alone. I’d never traveled out of the country alone. I’d never been south of Mexico. But I was in the moonlight months of 22, cocky, and teeming with excitement. I was ready to explore the world. Continue reading →

What’s on Your Summer Reading List?

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Iced coffee and good book in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Iced coffee and good book in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Remember when schools would give you a Summer reading list? I went to public school, and I think our list was more a list of suggestions than a mandatory thing. Still, list or no list, as a kid I DEVOURED books all summer long.

There’s something about a warm, sunny day that makes me want to slap on some sunscreen and lounge on a blanket with a good book in my hand, and this summer will be no exception.

Here are a few of the books on my personal reading list:

  • Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card
  • Nine Stories – J.D. Salinger**
  • Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger**
  • Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
  • Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
  • Nerd Do Well – Simon Pegg

**re-reading these

What’s on YOUR summer reading list?

My Living Room Mood Board

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Colorful living room mood board via zombies4breakfast.comMy entire apartment is a work in progress, but the living room has consistently presented the biggest challenge for me. I have 12 foot high ceilings, so there’s a mass expanse of blank wall space just waiting to be filled–but with what?

I created this mood board using polyvore. Some of the stuff on there, such as the bar cart, the sofa, pillows, lamp, and blanket, are things I already own. The rest is on my wish list, or just decorative accents I’d like to add. The color scheme was inspired by this picture, as well as my general love for bright colors.

colorschemeI’m interested to hear your thoughts on the board. Does it work? Does it look okay? Also, if you have any cheap DIY wall art projects, I’d love to know. I could use a few pieces of art to hang!

25 Things to Try: #6 Get a Spanish Tutor

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I’m trying to do 25 new, odd, and interesting things this year, since I’m 25. Some of my projects are simple and mundane, and others are a little more off the wall. These are my adventures.

Translation: "If you never played this (and played it with beans), you didn't have a childhood!"

Translation: “If you never played this (and played it with beans), you didn’t have a childhood!”

Sooo this goal turned out more interesting than I had ever expected.

Since I returned home from Costa Rica, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a Spanish tutor to help me improve (and retain) the Spanish skills I developed abroad. Even though I double majored in English and Spanish, I’m terribly self-conscious about my Spanish speaking skills. I’m not fluent (although I can communicate basic ideas with ease) and I very often feel that I didn’t deserve my Spanish degree.

Sometimes I even omit the fact that I majored in Spanish, as well as English, in college. It’s a lot easier than explaining how poor my Spanish skills are.

I do use my Spanish on the phone at work from time to time, and eventually one of my lovely co-workers noticed my Spanish proclivity and invited me to join her weekly Spanish Circle. Continue reading →

Welcome, New Friends!

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Hey everyone! My Mini Travel Guide for Costa Rica is being featured on Yes and Yes today, so go check it out if you have a minute!

For those of you visiting from Yes and Yes, welcome!

On the sky bridge of the cloud forest

On the sky bridge of the cloud forest

Here’s a quick breakdown of some of my best Costa Rica-themed posts. I’ll be adding a few more in the coming weeks, as well. Feel free to ask me some questions in the comments.

My trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve (with plenty of photos)

That time I killed one of the most poisonous spiders in the world

Standing in the destroyed part of the insane asylum

Standing in the destroyed part of the insane asylum

A trip to a haunted insane asylum near a volcano

How to do laundry in Costa Rica

Some pictures of my apartment in Costa Rica (and also some zombie-related goofiness)

Welcome to my blog everyone!

 

an old poem about spring

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108_03_twilight_sky_4nn

Here’s a poem I wrote several years ago, when I was in college.

drunken musing, mind wanders a straight curve to you

i keep losing thoughts, like a mental record
skipping when i stumble on cracks
in the sidewalk. my eyes will travel along
the dusky ivy that clings frantic
and childlike to the crumbling walls
of that abandoned store. 

i could scale those purpling tendrils to the height
of the city, where i can canter 'cross the starlight,
toss my body, straight n' bare-backed into
the countless loveletters i wrote you:
they will swallow me whole, more completely
than your bedclothes ever would allow.

my bubblebaths full of cherryblossoms
are too syrupy for you. The lather too
pink and feminine, the way i clasp
for your hand but fall through 
your fingers. Your bravado
leaves me with empty palms

cupped to catch rain drops
when the sky tastes cold and grey,
and clouds wisp across the horizon
searching for something more
meaningful.

Grab a sweater! I always tell myself
the temperature is often fickle in an Indiana
springtime. when we walked, knitting our hands
used to be easier than cocooning myself in that
tattered old scarf on my way out the door.

No Poo Hairwashing for Hard Water: An Adventure in Beauty Experimentation

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An edited Noo Poo technique specifically for hard water from zombies4breakfast.com

I’ve been meaning to post about my No Poo experiment for a LONG TIME now, but honestly the road to shampoo-less hair has been a bumpy one, and there were a variety of issues to troubleshoot and overcome, the most daunting of which was the hard water in my apartment.

I’ll assume most of you are familiar with the term “No Poo”, which is a method of washing your hair using baking soda and vinegar instead of shampoo or conditioner. And let me tell you, it IS pretty awesome, now that I’ve gotten the hang of it. Of course, getting the hang of it took me about 2 months of trial and error and frustration, but since I’ve already gone through all that, I’m happy to give you the cliff notes.

Transition Phase

When you use shampoo, the soap strips your hair and scalp of the natural oils your body produces. Regular use of shampoo (especially DAILY use, which I was guilty of before I switched to No Poo) can cause the oil glands in your scalp to over-produce oil because those oils are being constantly stripped away. Thus, when you stop using shampoo, you have allow time for your scalp to readjust and return to normal oil production. This transition can take a few weeks to several months.

For me, the No Poo transition took about a month. During that month, my hair felt greasy and flat at the roots, but it didn’t really look dirty or even that greasy. Here are a few photos of my hair during the transition.

week1nopoo

On my greasiest looking days, I wore my hair up in a bun, a ponytail, or a clip and no one was the wiser, but I had good enough days to wear my hair down also.

week2and3nopoo

For the first 3 weeks I was going strong, but around week 4 or 5, I started to hit road blocks. Continue reading →