Christmas Blues

I am an atheist, duh, but I love Christmas. I wasn't raised atheist, so Christmas was something I got used to and and loved.
Not exactly the presents (although i love wrapping things, and holding small wrapped boxes) but the feeling of the holidays in general. The chill, the colors, the music, the smiles, the wide open space I feel in my chest when I see something pleasant and Christmas-y and beautiful (christmas lights, decorations in the mall or at home, wrapped things under the tree, chistmas cookies, etc).

But the past few weeks I've felt the uncontrollable need to suppress that feeling, and not get my hopes up. Making me miserable. And I thought it was my new birth control pills, my erratic work schedule, my crappy paycheck, etc. But yesterday I realized that I only feel like this at home. Despite my efforts to decorate the apartment with dollar store trinkets and bushels of garland. Despite making gingerbread men and listening to christmas music. When I'm at home, I'm unhappy.

This morning, I think I figured out why. And I'm writing it here to avoid saying it out loud. I think it's my boyfriend.
For Christmas, I want to do a lot of things. That wide open space in my chest urges me on to run outside, dance in the snow (which isn't here, just to clarify), and do everything christmasy i can find! I want to go ice skating. I want to decorate everything in sight. I want to do twelve days of Christmas activities/outings and go see Christmas movies at the theater. I want to go to christmas parties and laugh and drink and play! I want to drive around the neighborhoods to see lights and spend hours wrapping presents and watching Scrooged and Rudolph or Frosty. I want to drink eggnog and hot buttered rum. Go to small towns with lights and activities and festivals. Go shopping even though I'm all out of money and make christmasy foods every night. At New Years I want to go out and go crazy!
Most of all, I don't want to do it by myself. I don't want to be the only one interested. The only one excited in the least.
But that's what happens.

Again and again and again. Until the holiday has passes and the only one who decorated or baked or suggested any kind of activity was me. He doesn't say no to things very often (except It's a Wonderful Life, apparently  but why would I want to do holiday things with someone who shows no actual interest in it?

Maybe it is my new hormones bugging at me, or maybe it's too many Forth of Julys where we sat at home and did absolutely nothing instead of going to see fireworks because he didn't have any idea what else to do. Or too many birthdays where I had to remind myself not to expect presents. Or too many christmases and new years and birthdays where if I didn't plan anything, NOTHING would happen.
And I'm tired of being the only one who plans. The only one that wants. The only one that decides.
I've had a partner for over four years. We've built a life together, more or less, and try to make decisions with each other.
And it's finally crashing down on me that --particularly in the holidays-- I don't have a partner in joy.
 I'm alone in it.

Sick Sick Sick

Sorry, I have a cold again. One that is possibly bronchitis. Not even working this weekend which sucks, but being there would suck more.

I've been trying to keep posts coming up at least once a week, I just don't have a good enough surplus, so it's not going too well. Trying to keep posts and variety up, and trying hard to go back to my original idea for this blog to begin with.

Just fyi.

World of Tastes {2} The Hanged Man

Worlds Of Taste

Food in the world of Francesca Lia Block

Part Two: The Hanged Man

(Francesca Lia Block, 1994)

I love The Hanged Man. It's one of my favorites. The descriptions are light and ethereal and beautiful. Harsh beauty full of pain and fear. There's a surprising amount of food mentioned, considering it's about a girl struggling with anorexia. But maybe that's the way it really is. Maybe when you deny yourself food, all that's left to do is think about it. To see it everywhere. Either way the images are strong and full, and the emotion connected to them deep and pure. 

I love this book. For this one I started coloring the food words with the colors I thought of when I heard them. Cake...pink or blue...Ginger...gold...wine...purple...red.

***

"...he says hello and his voice is the best thing-- it cracks like ice when you pour the liquor over." [4]

"Past the canyon market where I worked last summer, packing bags full of yogurts, avocados, peaches, and wine for the canyon people..." [7]

"...where Claudia and I drink coffee (mine black, hers sugary and milky brown)..." [7]

"I go into the kitchen and put some plums and a slice of buttered, home-baked bread onto a blue and white plate from Holland. I fill a glass with water and squeeze some lemon in. I put everything on a tray with the real butterflies pressed under glass." [9]

"My mother is cooking and cooking. She buys turkeys and reaches inside of them and takes out what is there and rubs the flesh all over with garlic and stuffs them with vegetables and bakes them in the oven....The kitchen smells of garlic and animal and yeast from the breads my mother bakes. My mother bakes breads and she makes them in the shapes of women with breasts, or mermaids with braids, of fat animals and moons with faces." [13]

"But I won't eat all that candy Hansel and Gretel ate. I will be thin and pure like a glass cup. Empty. Pure as light. Music." [14]

"Claudia buys a piece of pizza. The rich smell of scalding cheese. "You should eat," she says. But I don't take a bite." [18]

"The clown paints Claudia's dreams on her face. He paints crescent moons and pomegranates and crosses." [19]

"..."Houdini's cook has served some broiled rabbit, champagne, cake and ice cream. Pistachio. Served in top hats."..." [22]

"They are feasting on animals and wines and liqueurs and flaming cakes..." [28]

"The girl gave us ginger beers. Ginger beer burns your mouth and throat but it is dark and sweet." [36]

"After, we ate barbecued chicken and black beans and fried bananas ~plantain~ in a little shack at the base of the falls." [38]

"...I swayed on the balcony with the fireworks and the champagne in our heads exploding." [43]

"I imagine the pasta was made with basil and garlic and the courtyard was sunny and filled with flowers and herbs." [50]

"We buy watermelons, pineapples, cantaloupes, honeydew, strawberries and cut them up and put them on platters and my mother makes her punch. It is citrus-greenish-yellow color and it smokes." [58]

"He bought me pink spun-sugar candy and I wanted a dress like that." [72]

""...the colors, and stars like powdered sugar donuts and my head was a bubble of glass."" [75

"...leaving me hungry for chocolate ice cream. Everything was chocolate ice cream and kisses and wind." [78]

"and she is eating a piece of sweet potato pie that makes her voice sound thick and sweet." [84]

"My mother is cooking and cooking. She is scrubbing beets and peeling the beets and scrubbing them again....She peels the flesh off the chicken and rinses the naked breasts and legs and wings...and bakes them with pearly onions and lemons and herbs. She bakes cakes that overflow...nightmarish chocolate cakes, wicked with nuts and sugar and the chocolate that people say has the same chemical that your body releases when you are in love. She bakes these wicked love-cakes and the chocolate heats and drips and the smell fills the house." [94]

"She scrubs the vegetables; she keeps crystals in the kitchen. She chants sometimes." [95]

"When we sit he orders margaritas and tostadas. He says, "You should eat this," and he starts to put the tostada filling into the tortilla in his hand, piling on lettuce and cheese and guacamole. I watch him and drink some of my margarita. Icy and salty and sharp-sweet and making me feel that way you feel just as you're about to fall asleep... 

I realize how hungry I am, how my stomach feels like an empty hand making a fist... 

"You should eat," he says...

I take a slow bite looking down. The guacamole kisses my mouth. My throat feels tight but I swallow. Then I drink some more of the margarita." [99]

"...takes out a container of strawberry ice cream, a plastic spoon and a bottle of champagne. "Happy Birthday," he says." [100]

"He smells of the crushed mint from below my window." [123]

"The ground is littered with hot-dog wrappers, popcorn boxes, crepe paper." [128]

"My mother comes up to my room with a tray of strawberries and plain yogurt, a piece of fresh-baked bread spread with honey." [131]

"I imagine sitting in a plaza at twilight eating pasta and drinking wine, the marble statues gleaming,..." [132]

***

Also see :: Part One: Echo

Beautiful Blogs :: carry me away

"always carried away"

http://mademoiselledeva.blogspot.com/

A beautiful blog of snippets.

Photos (I assume from the internet)

Quotes

And simple blog entries.

Sometimes about life, love, work, or Mademoiselle Deva's personal life.

Beautiful images.

Often equally beautiful words.

I love that this blog doesn't require a lot of commitment or reading. 

Flip through this scrapbook-esque collection of beauty and life.

(With several different formats to choose from)

♥ I am LOVE.

Let's love more.

I love LOVE.

I need love.

I breathe love.

I am LOVE.

I am realistic.

I expect miracles.

I believe in magic.

It's easy to get lost, 

and easy to become enamored.

Perfect for a daily dose of inspiration.

Finding Light when it's Dark Inside

sit outside in the sunshine, even on a cold day. close your eyes and let the sun soak into your skin.
sip hot tea by the window. don't think about yourself, just watch the world outside. watch the sky. watch the trees.
go for a walk when it's bright out. think of songs you love and pretend there's nothing else in the world. hum.
buy flowers for your bedroom. make your living room smell like pumpkin or apple spice or cinnamon in the fall. breathe. relax.
drink iced hibiscus green tea with honey. lie on the floor and watch sunlight on the walls. daydream.
light candles in the darkness and breathe in their warmth. remember quiet times of calmness and peace and simple joy.
lie on the carpet or bed and listen to quiet, beautiful music. let it seep into you and wash the rest of the world away.
eat chicken soup or chinese dumplings. let the heat and flavor roll through you. live in the moment of your taste and savor it.
dance to music that makes you feel alive. close your eyes and see the light of the music pulse as your body moves.
remember the sun. remember the light. remember that things always get better. not right away, but eventually.
find your light. hold on to it. don't let go.

Be Like Weetzie Bat - Glamour

Ways to Be Like Weetzie

Number 18 :: Be Glamorous 

"...choose to believe in your own myth
your own glamour
your own spell
a young woman who does this
(even if she is just pretending)
has everything...."
— (How to (Un)cage a Girl)

*Find idols. Audrey Hepburn. Marilyn Monroe. Nicole Kidman. Selma Hayek. Find someone that you admire for their look, voice, style, personality, or spirit. Don't imitate them, learn from them. Create an inspirational journal and paste pictures of them (maybe doing the things you love about them; acting, volunteering, fencing, cooking, whatever!) inside, along with your favorite quotes from them. Think of reasons why you admire them, then find ways to incorporate that information into yourself. Again, this isn't about imitation; it's about finding ways to become more of the you that you want to be.

*Be daring. Glamorous women are strong and independent and go for what they want. Never be afraid to try new things, go to new places, and explore the world around you in whatever way you please.

* Accessorize. When you see a classic, glamorous person, their style is almost always punctuated with accessories. Audrey's cigarette holder, Marylin's diamonds. Studded earrings, gaudy jewelry, elegant gloves, delicate tiaras. Find things you love. Wear them all the time.

*Feel beautiful. This has nothing to do with looks. In my RLS Bible, I made a list of all the things I did that made me feel beautiful. From having smooth legs and wearing strappy pumps, to laughing and just being happy, or even being a loving person. Do things that make you feel like a beautiful person, inside and out.

*Be glamorous to others. Polite. Gracious. Thankful. Helpful. Loving. Show others the best you at all times.

*And boys, men can be plenty glamorous too. My favorite examples are Carey Grant and George Clooney. Their classic look and demeanor make them the perfect example of ("masculine") male glamor, and the wonderful flamboyance of Eddie Izzard is a more gender-bending version that is wonderful.

"The next night I went back to the sea dressed in 1950s silk travel scarves – Paris with the Eiffel tower and ladies in hats and pink poodles, Venice with bronze horses and gondoliers, New York in celestial blue and silver. I brought candles and lit the candles, all the candles, in a circle around the lifeguard stand and put a tape in my boom box. I came down the ramp with the sea lapping at my feet and the air like a scarf of warm silk and the stars like my tiara. "

~Echo

Links/Inspiration:

eHow To be Glamorous

Wikipedia entry:  "Galmour"

Recommended Reading::

How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life

Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe
The Girl's Book of Glamour (Guide to being a Goddess) --for fun

Recommended Watching::
Breakfast at Tiffany's (of course)
Nana

Inspirational Addict 2

Decor

Hair

Food

(currently obsessed with onigiri)

Worlds of Tastes {1}

Worlds of Taste

Food in the world of Francesca Lia Block

Part One :: Echo 
(Francesca Lia Block, 2001)

"her fruit trees bear lemons that taste like oranges and oranges the size of grapefruits." [2]

"She makes tamale pies, spinach lasagnas, Indian saffron curries, coconut and mint Thai noodles, grilled salmon tacos with mango salsa, persimmon bread puddings and lemon-raspberry pies, each one in minutes and without ever glancing at a recipe.

She can never duplicate a dish twice since she doesn't write anything down and is always too excited about what she will make next, so my father and I are sometimes left pining for a reenactment of the almond enchiladas or the garlic-tomato tart." [5]

"cakes so delectable as to be almost hallucinogenic-" [6]

"She is his unprecedented blossom, his chocolate-cherry-swirl birthday cake..." [8]

"She made brown rice and tofu and miso soup from a golden paste." [17]

"i went to all-night fast-food stands and ate burritos in my car in big gulps, squishing the beans and cheese out of the flour tortilla." [21]

"Sometimes instead of burritos I ate powdered sugar donuts with colored sprinkles. The powdered sugar cut and stung my mouth. The sprinkles reminded me of the lights of the city, shiny and sugary and fake and promising and nothing.

That summer tasted like a powdered sugar donut stinging my mouth." [21-22]

"He smelled of sea and salt and blueberries. I wondered if he tasted that way. My mouth tasted of blueberries when I was with him." [36]

"I attempted to make sweet green corn tamales but they hardened and stuck to the corn husk so I brought him cheese and apples instead." [36]

"She picked oranges and avocados when she was hungry..." [48]

"taught her about curries, the aphrodisiac properties of certain spices and how to make a mango yogurt concoction that was refreshing on the most burning days..." [50]

"his mother's secret recipe for risotto that shone in the dark." [51]

"window boxes of herbs and tiny vegetables." [54]

"She was sipping root beer in a state of bliss." [57]

"All summer we had looked out at the fruit-heavy plum tree and the honeysuckle vines..." [60]

"slurping coffee from huge cut-glass goblets..." [63]

"...all the Sunday croissants that soaked buttery stains through the napkins, the Kahlua and milks,..." [69]

"...I had dreams of chocolate cakes ascending stairs and smothering me in my my sleep." [71]

"I wanted Thorn to take me out to dinner and order brown rice and vegetables and white wine." [74]

"We built a fire in the shivery living room and ate our pasta in front of it." [79]

"...then they ate chocolates and kissed for hours..." [91]

"They had eaten curry and samosas at a restaurant shaped like a camera..." [94]

"...had a part at his glass house in the hills...champagne, sushi, coke." [104]

"...what if Smoke and I had made love, slept in, gone out for pancakes, walked in the hills..." [109]

"I bought some carrot juice and avocado sandwiches from the health food market..." [112]

"I picked some flowers from the garden and made green tea and lit candles." [113]

"Nothing to go home to except the canned soups and crackers she had started eating, the bottles of gin." [117]

"I made myself a salad for dinner and drank mineral water with lime." [132]

"'I live on fish and brown rice and vegetables..." [136]

"We ordered and the waiter brought carrot juice, miso soup, cold cold salads with grated vegetables, a basket of corn bread." [138]

""'Fish is the perfect food.' He squeezed a lemon slice, lifted a pink segment of salmon with his chopsticks. 'But he eats steak, too,' Nina said. 'Really bloody.'" [139]

"lick nonfat frozen yogurt, get our fortunes told..." [140]

"...we went out for sushi and sake. Mark ordered for us and we tried all different kinds of fish- translucent, firm, glossy pieces on neat beds of rice. Mark and Nina had a contest to see who could handle the most wasabi. They gobbed the pale green stuff into their mouths until their eyes teared. We laughed, sipping the rice wine that seemed to shine in our throats." [141]

"impossible to eat anything except a light vegetable broth. But I thought about food all the time. Muscles and bones and blood pleading: steak, sweet potatoes, buttery corn-on-the-cob quarts of vanilla-bean ice cream, pizza, pancakes, grilled pink salmon steaks." [148]

"Skye took a roll from under white linen, cracked the gold crust, buttered the soft inside, handed it to me over the red candle. My stomach was better. He ordered angel hair pasta for us." [153]

"Skye's hair smelled of smoke, corn bread and leaves." [154]

"We made chicken soup and potato latkes with apple sauce and sour cream. We made a large green salad and a side dish of peas, carrots, and pearl onions. Chocolate macaroons." [191]

"The book was full of mixed-up world cuisine-- Japanese burritos with fresh seared tuna, sweet rice and wasabi; Greek pasta with olives, tomatoes and feta cheese; Jewish pizza with smoked salmon and cream cheese." [192]

"I moved into the tiny room with the thirteen cats and got a job as a waitress serving blue corn tamales and kiwi margaritas at a Caribbean restaurant/gallery decorated with alters of roses and candles..." [195]

"I had taken myself to dinner at a Thai restaurant decorated in purple silk where they served rose petals in the salad, chunks of tofu with jasmine rice, hunks of sugared ginger, mangoes in coconut milk." [200]


~*~

Beautiful Foods {Recipes} :: Hibiscus Green Tea

Iced Hibiscus Green Tea

Healthy, sweet, simple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients:

Dried Hibiscus (also called jamaica flowers)

Green Tea (bagged or loose)

Honey/Sugar

Water

Ice

1. Boil Water.

2. Place small amount of Hibiscus flowers & Green tea leaves in mug. Or you can use a lot of both in a large pitcher to make a lot.

3. Pour boiling water over Hibiscus & tea, let steep for at least 5 minutes.

4. Strain liquid to get out the leaves and flowers (discard).

5. Add sugar or honey to your liking. Hibiscus is naturally tart.

6. Let cool.

7.  Once at or near room temperature, pour over a tall glass of ice.

8. Enjoy in the sunlight.

Notes: 

Add lemon juice for a hibiscus green tea lemonade blend.

If you have a Keurig or other drink machine, this is super-easy to make with one. Just get Green Tea K-Cups, put hibiscus flowers in mug before you place it under the machine, then let the tea pour right over the flowers, then let steep and follow instructions from there. I do this all the time. Just as good.

Editor For Hire

Freelance editor with experience writing and editing fiction (short and long) and comic scripts, as well as news stories and magazine articles.

Looking to publish your short story or novel? Self-publishing a novel or comic? Love writing blogs but hate searching for grammatical errors? Perfecting a resume full of writing samples? 

For a small fee I’ll review, edit, and suggest improvements for your writing, bettering the odds of your work getting noticed, enjoyed, or even published!

If interested, email cmmarts@gmail.com with a short sample of the work you’d like reviewed, as well as information about it; including type (short story, novel, blog post, comic script, etc.), title, genre, word count, and what your plans for your work are. If I feel I can help you, we’ll negotiate a fee and work schedule, and go from there. I won’t stop working until you’re completely happy with your work and it’s potential.

Happy writing and I look forward to working with you!

gomenasai

I am sorry to say that I have neglected this blog in favor of my Tumblr. It's just so random and geeky and easy to play with.

But here's some news:
--This month (June, that is) I start working with the people of Broken Frontier as a co-editor. No pay, but I think it's gonna be fun. And I'm going to learn so much about comics!
--I got my Dangerous Angels back, so Weetzie-focused blogs will return, I promise! It is, after all, the point.

...I'm probably still going to spend a lot of time on Tumblr. I'm sorry. I can't help it. So pretty.

Inspirational Addict

Decor

Hair

TiLt :: Running Hot & Cold

Things that made me happy this week...

Strawberry Cheesecake sno-balls 

<3 

Paper Butterflies 

<3 

Handwritten letters in chic cards 

<3 

Amelia Pond. -->

'nuf said 

<3 

My choppy short hair and all the short haired pics I've been finding

<3 

Tumblrs full of inspiration 

<3 

Planning picnics and get-aways 

<3

Watching the teppanyaki chefs at my new job

<3

Having spendable money in my pocket for the first time in MONTHS <33333

tumbling

While exploring a few tumblrs full of short haircuts (ie; fuckyeahgirlswithshorthair.tumblr.com) I wanted to leave a comment, so I made a tumblr account.


Probably not the best idea.

Now I have an actual tumblr.

oh gosh.

DreamCyn.tumblr.com

Selling Butterflies

For anyone who liked the images of my butterfly decor (if anybody, that is) I'm selling sets of origami butterflies on my Etsy Shop!


I think they're adorable and have been making them like crazy!
$5 gets you a set of 10, to do with whatever you'd like. If you need ideas, just let me know and I might even be able to get you the equipment to do it!

Check it out: Paper Butterfly Set

Paper Cranes & Butterflies

Current Mood: Pensive

Current Weetzie Read(s): Stargirl & Prozac Nation

Have become obsessed with origami.

Pink & white lotus blossoms on every table.

Multi-colored cranes hanging from the ceiling.

Patterned butterflies arching through hallway, tacked like beautiful experiments of spring .

The two books I'm currently reading reflect my two different (consistent) moods.

Prozac Nation. Wild. Uncontrollable. Desperate. Insatiably chaotic.

Stargirl. Light. Airy. Bizarre. Ethereal. 

The two switch, endlessly, battling for the chance to win over my quiet, empty life.

"She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her.

In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew." Stargirl

Relevant Posts: Be Like Weetzie:: Decorate the World around You

TiLt :: Dancing your heart Out

I've been working {kind of}hard the past two weeks on my way to getting more fit. After work, if I'm not out and about and busy, I dance for half an hour {Just Dance 2 is my favorite thing in the Verse right now}, and I've been cutting calories and bad foodstuffs. On days off (there's still a lot of them) I dance for at least an hour, and have small meals and healthy snacks through the day. Now that the warmth is coming back little by little I plan on spending more time outside, which always just feels naturally better for me. Unfortunately, my finances disagree, and so does the world around me.
I have to try and get myself back into the habit of being happy.

So here's some great things this week.

* lebanese deli in Raliegh, with barrels of olives and tons of fresh food * fun and crazy dances on Just Dance 2 * my vow to never drink coffee again!! {this actually isn't a health thing exactly, coffee just makes me reeeaaally sick. never again.} * family recipes from my dad scribbled on note cards * my new haircut!!! i think i'm gonna cut it shorter again in a week or so, but for now i feel super cute and I <3 it like wow! * spending the afternoon putting up frames and cleaning while the sun shines through (newly cleaned) windows * long dresses on hot, windy days * my "brand new" vintage Samsonite suitcase! a little big (and not too bright) for my tastes, but super awesome * my new 30 Day Photo Essay project * Miss Indie's Treasure Hunt post; I am definitely going to copy this soon, I love it. *



Dislike this week:: my incredible wanderlust; all I want to do right now is move around and never stop.

30 Day Photo Essay - Day Three

Day three - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

I have a lot of shows I really like, but when I think about it, there's none that I'd really call my favorite beyond Buffy.
Sure, I adore other Whedon shows, Dr Who, Pushing Daisies, and there's always Sailor Moon, my childhood addiction. But Buffy really stands apart; the most fun, the most heartbreaking, my absolute favorite above all. I loved it when I was a teenager and it was just catching on, and I love it now, watching the same episodes over and over and still laughing or (yes sometimes) getting teary eyed over this or that persons doomed love affair or death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9IjTryH1sA
(Despite the music, this is the best compilation video I could find. I love the scene where Angel slaps her, her face is great.)

30 Day Photo Essay - Day Two

Day two - A picture of the person you have been closest to longest.

Mary Campbell.
Best Friend, Hetero life-mate.

Met when she moved in next door. She had short hair and wore a long dress the first time we played.

I remember playing with Sand Art together and getting so much in the carpet that my parents got pissed and had to get rid of it.
I remember making "potions" out of leaves and grass and flowers.
I remember us spending time at the pool and working with my mother.
I remember getting into a fight and her pushing/kicking(?) me in the back, though i don't remember why.
I remember grabbing either others fingers and spinning around trying to imitate the dance scene in Titanic. (Which we never stopped doing)
I remember eating garlic salad at my mother's friend's house, and sitting in a crooked tree swing together watching the sky.
I remember living next to the school together and being poor but chill and happy.

Longest friend, closest friend, best friend.

♥

30 Day Photo Essay - Day One

Day one - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.

1. I wrote a whole mystery novel. But stopped editing it cause I got bored.

2. I love food more than just about anything. And I'll eat just about anything.

3. I am really lazy, and it's obvious.

4. I have an extremely low libido.

5. All I really want to do with my life is travel.

6. I'm pretty sure that even though money doesn't "buy" happiness, it makes it so much easier to be happy, and I really really want to not be poor anymore.

7. My favorite books are almost always fantasy based series'; Kushiel's Legacy, Harry Potter, Obernewtyn, etc.

8. I am an atheist. And I like myself this way.

9. I have pretty much no practical or artistic skills.

10. I like sweet, trashy wines.

11. I watch way too much tv, and am a well of pop-culture information.

12. I get cold in any weather below 78 degrees.

13. I miss Florida, though my favorite city is NYC.

14. I have little to no faith in humanity as a whole.

15. I need a job. For real.

30 Day Photo Essay - The Scoop

I know, it's a horrible banner. But I wanted something colorful, and i'm horrid with graphics, so this is what came out.

Anyway, my friend Mary started doing this 30 day project on Facebook this week, and I quickly fell in love and started doing it too. I've liked it so much I decided to post it here. My plan is to go out, get a small, adorable journal, and rewrite everything, with the photos, on each page. I've become obsessed with making little scrap-book like projects like this, and I can't wait to get into this one.

Here's the details:

Every day, for 30 days, post an image on your blog, facebook, or in your journal/scrapbook, using the following guidelines:

Day one - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.

Day two - A picture of the person you have been closest to longest.

Day three - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Day four- A picture of something you'd like to do again.

Day five - A picture of something you love.

Day six - A picture that makes you laugh.

Day seven - A picture of the person you do the most crazy things with.

Day eight - A picture of your favorite memory.

Day nine - A picture of someone you miss.

Day ten - A picture of your favorite band or artist.

Day eleven- A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

Day twelve - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

Day thirteen - A picture of someone who inspires you.

Day fourteen - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

Day fifteen - A picture of your biggest insecurity.

Day sixteen - A picture and a letter.

Day seventeen - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.

Day eighteen - A picture of your future spouse.

Day nineteen - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

Day twenty - A picture of your most treasured item.

Day twenty-one - A picture of something you wish you could forget.

Day twenty-two - A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Day twenty-three - A picture of your favorite book.

Day twenty-four - A picture of something you wish you could change.

Day twenty-five - A picture of your day.

Day twenty-six - A picture of something that means a lot to you.

Day twenty-seven - A picture of yourself and a family member.

Day twenty-eight - A picture of something you're afraid of.

Day twenty-nine- A picture that can always make you smile.

Day thirty - A picture of something you hate.

I'll have my first day's up tomorrow morning, and hopefully I can keep this up for the whole thirty days.

If you decide to do this too, I hope you'll let me know and send me links/pics! 

<3

TiLt :: Work, Relax, Shop. Rinse. Repeat.

Things that made me happy this week:

Scavenger shopping! I <3 the store Ross, because every time you go, you find something wonderful and cheap ** An adorable, chic new planner from said store ** Mini rose bushes from Dan ** MyFitnessPal.com and it's wonderful weight-loss/fitness support and it's great phone app ** New Christina Perri songs! ** Crazy colored belt from Claires for only $1 ** Dance 2 for the Wii, wonderful dancing fun ** Surprisingly sweet Avocado Smoothies ** 
<3 <3 <3 <3