Best Day!

Oh happy day!

My car is getting fixed! All thanks to the greatest aunt/uncle duo I could ever ever ever ask for!

And a CA judge did the right thing and overturned the prop 8 decision. I was at every protest here in Sacramento except for 1 (I had class I couldn't miss). Gay straight whatever. This proposition was contradictory to the separation between church and state and countless other terms of the US constitution and the CA constitution. It makes me incredibly proud to be an American when I see our country work the way it was meant to.

I can't believe how lucky I am!

Anyone there?

I see I have about 55 followers and I was wondering who YOU are (nice ta meet ya!)?

What do you like about my blog? What could I improve upon? What would you like to see more or less of?

Anyway, a mini update:

• Rode my bike 30 miles with my friend Jimmy to Davis and back to Sacramento
• Bought my first dress pattern and am learning to sew with my amazing aunt (and am obsessed with becoming a ruffles master!)
• I think I have solved my hankie dilemma.
• Work was stinky today (by stinky I mean smell.)
• I have no set plans for the next 2 weeks which is fine with me. These are my last 2 weeks of no school
• My family (aside from my aunt) is in complete disarray. 
• My beloved Kioko (my Toyota) is dead forever. I am still mourning her.

I am hoping things start looking up in the next few weeks. Even if that means some sacrifices need to made.

More Design Help Needed!!

I have a ton of these fantastic hankies I inherited from both sets of grandparents. Originally I had wanted to do this fabulous method of displaying(at least my favorites since there are so many) them via Martha Stewart:

(Via Martha Stewart.com)

So I went ahead and hit up Ikea and bought the Clips frame. I couldn't find a picture of the size I have for your visual pleasure but I can do you one better! Here is what happened:

So, either the handkerchief was too big and spilled out the sides (the next size up in these frames would not fit. Unless I wanted there to be negative space. Or the frame was not a perfect square and was more rectangular).

OR....

It was so big I thought maybe I would fold it.

I don't want to turn these into pillows. I just don't use throw pillows that much.

I can't think what to do. I would still like to frame them how Martha did, but with what frames?! I can kind of tell some of her frames vary in size a tad which I wouldn't mind. But the larger frames are much larger or, as I said before, more rectangular.

Uhhhh. Help?

I need to get it together.

I have a meeting for work via Skype in 9 mins.

I need to eat something

So I can be motivated to run and work out tomorrow morning

So I can even wake up tomorrow morning.

So I don't give up on moving and school and everything and hide in my bedroom.

At work when an autistic kid is crying or hitting, biting, cussing or doing any behavior that is undesired we ignore them. We do so in order to silently convey that their crying, which has gotten them what they wanted in the past, will not work. We teach them to say "I want x" or single word utterances (as we call it. ie: phone, bubbles, hugs etc) will get them what they want much quicker and usually with a very excited "awesome job asking!!" from us. I've tried this out on the rest of the world. Sadly, its worked very well. I try and remind myself that showing attention to bad behavior is counter productive. What happens when I am aiming to ignore the ENTIRE WORLD?! What happens when the bad behavior is so hard to ignore I start crying or screaming?! What if it becomes too much to ignore and starts to tear me down?! How do I ignore my own mothers bad behavior?

I start to feel like I am alone on a deserted island screaming for support and someone to have faith in me. Now my mom has pitted her  half of the family on me simply for being upset she can't be supportive and offer me some faith in moving out I really feel like I have no one. I know the economy is bad but I have run down so many options of what to do if I can't make all of rent. I can take out a student loan, I can ask for help, I can try my best. What do you do when your parents don't care for you to succeed? ITS NOT THE 1930'S!!! If you are so concerned that you will loose your job as a result of the economy then save your extra money and quit buying useless crap from home shopping networks.

I don't know if I can make it through sometimes.

Mid (almost) Week Update.

I have been eating like a queen the past few days. And low cal no less!

Turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

Click  for recipe via Real Simple

I of course destroyed all the good my DELICIOUS  low cal meals did with a 

handy dandy root beer float.

gnocchi with roasted cauliflower and Parmesan cheese.

REALLY REALLY GOOD! Make this.

Recipe at Real Simple

I have been so busy lately it feels. Sort of mentally preparing for school to start in a few weeks. The biggest change thats going to happen is I am moving into my own place! I am a ball of mixed emotions that change faster than my hair color did when I was a teen. One minute I am super excited; the next I am scared out of my mind! The best I can do is do my best and don't worry. No apprehension with the roomie. I am so excited to live with her! Rose is the bestest bestest! I am sort of excited to see how many books total we have. 

Been watching the first season of Mad Men. I am in LOVE. I have come to the resolution that Rose and I need to have a Mad Men themed house warming cocktail party. 

I am trying to pick up as many extra hours at work that I can to afford the move. Still loving the job, the good and the bad. Its rough to see some of the horrors these kids do live in. For me the most difficult part is the feeling of helplessness and frustration that CPS is so inept nothing can be done. 

Did I mention I HATE ants?

Remember This? (Your Help Needed)

My desk. Its an Ikea, so it didn't cost me too much. During the few moves that she has been through my little desk has gotten pretty banged up. But I am just torn on what to do to it. I have some chalk board paint that may be fun to paint it with. Or, I can even just repaint my desk white.

Some inspiration:

I love a good mix of vintage and modern. Do you have any suggestions? I just can't decide.

I HAVE to share this.

Christina Hendricks, or better known as Joan Holloway of Mad Men, wrote A Letter to Men for Esquire Magazine. I think it is just inspiring. I wish for all men to read this because it is so factual. I hope you ladies will enjoy this as much as I have. I also hope if men come across this they take it to heart. ENJOY!

"We love your body. If we’re in love with you, we love your body. Your potbelly, everything. Even if you’re insecure about something, we love your body. You feel like you’re not this or that? We love your body. We embrace everything. Because it’s you.
Speaking of your body, you don’t understand the power of your own smell. Any woman who is currently with a man is with him partly because she loves the way he smells. And if we haven’t smelled you for a day or two and then we suddenly are within inches of you, we swoon. We get light-headed. It’s intoxicating. It’s heady.
We remember forever what you say about the bodies of other women. When you mention in passing that a certain woman is attractive — could be someone in the office, a woman on the
street, a celebrity, any woman in the world, really — your comment goes into a steel box and it stays there forever. We will file the comment under “Women He Finds Attractive.” It’s not about
whether or not we approve of the comment. It’s about learning what you think is sexy and how we might be able to convey it. It’s about keeping our man by knowing what he likes.
We also remember everything you say about our bodies, be it good or bad. Doesn’t matter if it’s a compliment. Could be just a comment. Those things you say are stored away in the steel
box, and we remember these things verbatim. We remember what you were wearing and the street corner you were standing on when you said it.
Never complain about our friends — even if we do. No matter how many times we say a friend of ours is driving us crazy, you are not to pile on. Not because it offends us. But because it adds to the weight that we carry around about her.
Remember what we like. When I first started dating my husband, I had this weird fascination with the circus and clowns and old carnival things and sideshow freaks and all that. About a month after we started dating, he bought me this amazing black-and-white photo book on the circus in the 1930s, and I started sobbing. Which freaked him out. I thought, Oh, my God, I mentioned this three or four weeks ago and talked about it briefly, but he was really listening to me. And he actually went out and researched and found this thing for me. It was amazing.
We want you to order Scotch. It’s the most impressive drink order. It’s classic. It’s sexy. Such a rich color. The glass, the smell. It’s not watered down with fruit juice. It’s Scotch. And you ordered it.
Stand up, open a door, offer a jacket. We talk about it with our friends after you do it. We say, “Can you believe he stood up when I approached the table?” It makes us feel important. And it makes you important because we talk about it.
No shorts that go below the knee. The ones almost like capri pants, the ones that hover somewhere between the kneecap and the calf? Enough with those shorts. They are the most embarrassing pants in the world. They should never be worn. No woman likes those.
Also, no tank tops. In public at least. A tank top is underwear. You’re walking around in your underwear. Too much.
No man should be on Facebook. It’s an invasion of everyone’s privacy. I really cannot stand it.
You don’t know this, but when we come back from a date, we feel awkward about that transition from our cute outfit into sexy lingerie. We don’t know how to do this gracefully. It’s embarrassing. We have to find a way to slip into another room, put on the outfit as if it all happened very easily, and then come out and it’s: Look at me! Look at the sexy thing I’ve done! For you, it’s the blink of an eye. It’s all very embarrassing. Just so you know.
Panties is a wonderful word. When did you stop saying “panties”? It’s sexy. It’s girlie. It’s naughty. Say it more.
About ogling: The men who look, they really look. It doesn’t insult us. It doesn’t faze us, really. It’s just — well, it’s a little infantile. Which is ironic, isn’t it? The men who constantly stare at our breasts are never the men we’re attracted to.
There are better words than beautiful. Radiant, for instance. It’s an underused word. It’s a very special word. “You are radiant.” Also, enchanting, smoldering, intoxicating, charming, fetching.
Marriage changes very little. The only things that will get a married man laid that won’t get a single man laid are adultery and whores. Intelligence and humor (and your smell) are what get you laid. That’s what got you laid when you were single. That’s what gets you laid when you’re married. Everything still works in marriage: especially intelligence and humor. Because the sexiest thing is to know you."

PS. After now becoming completely in love with the show I have decided (especially since I am single and kissing no one) I need to start wearing lipstick and such more. If only my job weren't so laid back. Boo.