I'm alive! Just not so much here. I started a Tumblr to see if I liked it better and I do. So I'm staying. I want you to come visit though. Still friends?

Love you!
http://themargaritaglassishalffull.tumblr.com/

Even in sweatpants & a sports bra.

Girls have this bad habit of not letting themselves believe or say that they're pretty. SO many of us are allergic to compliments- batting them away with denials or disbelief. Heaven forbid you sit in a circle of females and declare yourself attractive. You'll probably be automatically dismissed as conceited or obsessed with yourself.

But you know what I've realized? There's no beauty quota. Nowhere is it written that there can only be X number of beautiful women in the world, and the rest are shit out of luck. When you declare yourself beautiful you're not secretly saying you're more beautiful than someone else, you are simply.making.a.statement. And you shouldn't feel bad about speaking the truth.

You're not a bitch, you're not stuck up, you're not delusional. You're just beautiful.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.” Miss Piggy

I'll say it first... I'm fucking gorgeous. Your turn!

Lovely lovely lovely love...

Life is eating my ability to keep track of things. GOBBLING IT THE HELL UP.

• Tomorrow is my last day at a job that I just feel really good about leaving. Partially since I'm be going off to spend the summer at my happy place: camp. Partially (okay MOSTLY) because I dreaded walking into the building most days. To be fair I loved parts of this job (cute kids, sweetie pie co-workers) and I learned a LOT during my time here, but the fact remains that there were some aspects that made me want to run screaming by lunchtime. But for good or for bad, tomorrow is the time to bring cupcakes, hug goodbye and sail on. Who knows? Maybe I'll be back. NOT FOR NOW THOUGH.

• I have been having stomach problems for like 2 weeks now and I am at the point where I have to debate if I feel it's serious enough to break my health budget and see a doctor. When you don't have health insurance it takes a lot to make an appointment, but maybe daily pain and nausea for almost 14 days is enough?

• I love The Roots and I love this song. Yes it's from Yo Gabba Gabba and yes that is where I first heard it. Sorry I'm not sorry that this will be stuck in your head all day.

• I need a fairy godmother of hair-care. It's getting so bad that I am starting to daydream of pulling a Kim Zolciak and just living in wigs. I can't seem to tame the frizz monster or make my curls sit the way they used to. Does this mean I need a better haircut? Different conditioner? Does my hair just hate me and life? It's too confusing! In an ideal world I could wash it, throw minimal amounts of goop in there and roll out with luscious tresses. Right now it's like goop, fiddle, spray, be sad, give up, ponytail/messy bun/hot mess. AYUDAME.

• Read this. DO this.

• I just found round-trip airfare to Ireland for two weeks with a 4 day hotel stay included for 750. It's in January which seems cold. I'd probably be going alone which seems scary. Yell at me to buy it?

What should I bring to the BBQ?

This weather does wonderful things for my soul. 

So far this long weekend I've gone for a lovely long walk with a sweet boy, built a bedsheet tent by an imaginary sea with my baby brothers, baked lemon ricotta pancakes and pizza from scratch, unearthed some vintage ladybug pins & rosaries at a flea market, received my first driving lesson with an Argentinian man who says I'll need many more, and read 2.5 very good books. The rest of the weekend promises to bring a home pedicure, as many more books as I can stuff in, and a BBQ or two.

What are you doing this long weekend?

Tree Hugger

It's a gorgeous day and I'm standing in front of a quaint sea-side/ lake-side/waterfall-side cottage. I'm pinning clean sheets on the clothesline and the smell of freshly baked bread from scratch wafts through out from in between the sprigs of cilantro and mint growing on a windowsill. Poppies  and sunflowers guard the house while my scruffy but gorgeous husband with an adorable accent sneaks up and surprises me with a kiss on the cheek and a dark chocolate candy bar for a present. I'm making pasta by hand with chunks of tomato from the garden and mozzarella cheese for dinner. Oh and did I mention my curls are blowing perfectly in the wind and I sewed my sundress myself from vintage fabric I found at a flea market?

I want to be a gorgeous carefree tree hugger SO BAD people. But at this point in my life I'm less homemaker and more hit the mall. And I don't like it. It makes me feel guilty every time I rip the plastic off some stupid trinket I don't really NEED to have. Whenever I see trash on the ground and realize I have some of those same products in my house just waiting for their turn my heart drops. It's time to make some changes.

So far I've begun composting, try to buy my clothes second-hand as much as possible (I have to give in to the stores though when it comes to pants due to my anti-pants trifecta of freakishly long legs, a large booty and child birthing hips... and I don't count things like you know, UNDERWEAR and stuff. Plus I admit I succumb to the siren call of the clearance rack many a time but I TRY.) and recycle pretty regularly. I'm trying to grow some edible stuff in my backyard this summer and I use a reusable water bottle and tap water whenever humanly possible but it's not enough. Here are some things I've been reading about and am interested in trying:

• Moving away from store bought deodorant/anti-perspirants. I'm looking at this recipe but I always forget to put deodorant on until I'm far far away from my house so I find it necessary to prepare for this by throwing a mini deodorant into every purse I have. So while this crystal sounds crazy face it's at least portable in the hot summer months so I'm considering giving it a try.
• Simplify my beauty products. I've been using tea tree oil shampoo which is awesome because it totally clears my hair of gunk. I usually get dandruff as a result of the sheer amount of crap I put in my locks to make them behave. I haven't had a problem at all since I've started using the tea tree oil. I'm going to move away from using body washes to relying on the yummy and longer lasting bar soaps from The Body Shop.
• Um, that's it. What a sad sad list.

I already know that it's all about less. I'm trying to train myself to ignore that little "BUY MORE" voice and sift NEEDS from WANTS. But I need help with those little switches to transform myself into the full blown tree hugger I want to be. 

Do you have any secrets you can share with me?

Who needs a to-do list when they have Netflix?

Don't mind me, I'm just holed up in my bed cutting out pictures from magazines and watching back to back seasons of Eureka. I also am eating large slabs of chocolate mousse cake and debating the merits of buying this little gadget for my hair. It looks like the perfect lazy girl way to straighten my locks when that mood so strikes. I lucked into a 4 day weekend from work so I see a couple more days of extreme lazing in my future...

What about you? Will you be practicing the ways of the sloth or channeling your inner busy bee this weekend?

My week in photos

Found on a walk

Current reading- may be giving me nightmares.

Chai latte

$35 a ticket- I'll go by myself if I have to

Train station