Smile For The Iphone

I feel like so much has been going on lately so I thought I would upload all the photos on my iphone and catch you up that way.

Last weekend Jon and I went to Monterey and get this, they had a dog friendly mall! Holla at your dawg. Well don't actually holler at your dog, because that is mean. Here I am trying on shoes with my pup in tow. I wish you could see the shoes because they were sooo cute, kinda regretting not getting them.

I also saw this reusable shopping bag while window shopping. I kinda really want it. Isn't it cute? Yes, that is our first lady swinging on a rope swing as a baby dear looks on.

After such a relaxing weekend in Monterey I found it difficult to get jazzed about getting back to the grind. So I painted my nails yellow on Sunday. Yellow of all colors. But get this, it totally helped.

I saw the perfect artsy fartsy photo op on my way home from work that day. See that little red speck in the middle of that tire? yeah, that is my car. I guess it looked better in my mind's eye. (My mom and I just spoke on the phone and she wants me to clarify that I was at a stop light when this was taken)

Fast forward a couple days and you will see that Jon and I took Frank to my beloved, recently graduated school for a couple rounds of fetch on the rolling green hills. How handsome are my two guys?

On Friday night Jon and I went to go see John Mayer in concert. But first we had an amazing dinner. A dinner at which I took this neato picture of a salt shaker...on accident.

I meant to take this picture instead.
And then Jon insisted that he take a picture of me with our beer. Are you ready for the least flattering picture that exists of me to date? This photo will haunt your dreams (you have been warned), here it is...
We finally made it to the concert just in time to see our guy J.May (that's what we call him) hit the stage and rock the socks off of the whole arena. Seriously, there were miscellaneous socks everywhere! But before the lights went down we snapped this picture.
And theeeeen, early the next morning I volunteered to be a judge at my former middle school's dance team auditions (more on that later) after which I went to work my last weekend shift at the jewelry store until 10pm. Why? because I am insane and somehow believe that sleep is something I can do without. Oh and before I went in to the school to judge I snapped a picture of my manicure that my mom treated me to on Thursday. Turns out, having painted nails is my thing.
I then ended a crazy day with a nice face wash while Frank observed. And yes, that is a champagne flute next to our sink because that is how we roll.

Confessions of a Sleepy Gal

Don't you hate when you start a large book and then get 2/3 of the way through it and then you realize/admit to yourself that it is kind of a huge depress fest? yeah that is where I am right now with Bridge of Sighs. I mean it is very well written but it isn't exactly the book I was looking for at the end of a loooong day.

And let me tell you I have had some long days as of late. I mean rewarding, lovely days but also very long. Remember how I was working two jobs (therapist by day /jewelry seller by night)? Well that came to a head the other day. My days are filling up (thank goodness gracious great balls of fire for that!) and I was brought to a whole new level of exhaustion when I came home from said job only to turn around two hours later and head to job number two at the jewelry store. So it was a hard decision but I put in my two weeks notice the other day and next Wednesday will be my last day at the jewelry store. phew, so there is that. And yuppers, I will be buying myself a little gifty gifter from the jewelry store while I still have a discount.

So like I said there was some wonderful moments this week. When I went to sell some of my clothes to this trendy little shop and they asked my mom to see her ID (for some reason they need to see your ID when buying your clothes?) because you had to be over 18 to sell back clothes...which means they thought I wasn't even 18 yet and folks lets remember, I am 25. Which I think is cool but now that I think about it, it may have been my angry acne giving me a less than legal look. Hmm who knows. Lets go with youthful radiance (is that a slogan from a commercial?) rather than angry acne.

But you know what is awesome? My mom saw how tired I was when I was visiting her today so she promptly treated me to a mani/pedi (don't worry, I am cringing at myself for using that phrase too) and then some frozen yogurt-I tell you, the woman knows what makes me tick. So now I maybe be tired but at least my nails are painted a lovely shade of Dressed To Empress. Out of all the mamas I could have ended up with, I am so very lucky to have been paired with mine.

So what is goin on with you these days? Are the days feeling long to you or are they flying by?

Sassy Chronicles: Just Say Yes

Have any of you seen the movie Yes Man?

Well if not, basically the premise is that a guy that doesn't participate in life to the fullest decides to start saying yes to life. Well long story short, his life starts to improve because he becomes an active participant in life instead of a bystander.

Well as part of my effort to bring back my sass I decided to start saying yes to life and see where it took me. It didn't have to be anything big just a more involved stance on my life. So I started saying yes to invites to dinners at friends houses, and coffee with friends, just to name a few. Basically I decided to be more social.

I wouldn't say that I was anti social before but I think that I have been quick to decline invites in the past because up until recently I was constantly studying, working, taking tests, working some more, reading-you get the point. And somehow since I graduated I kinda got stuck in that way of living-and it also could have been since I really didn't earn any money for a while, until recently. So in a way its like the stars have aligned. I am finally earning enough money so that a coffee or a small lunch date won't break the bank. And as for time, well I sure have a lot more of it since graduating. So it is up to me take advantage of that.

So far, since saying yes more,I feel like a little something has been added my life. Kinda like a totally acceptable, yet very bland, dish of food has been spiced up a bit. Made better in surprising ways.

How do you spice up your life? Do you say yes?

Is Sleep Too Much To Ask For? yes? Ok Then.

I have mentioned many a time on this ole blog about how I used to be an awesome sleeper. I could fall asleep on flights, in cars, sitting up on the couch, bounce back from jet lag in no time flat. Well I shouldn't have bragged because I think I may have jinxed myself. I know I have lamented how I have lost my ability to sleep, well I can fall asleep just fine, it is staying asleep that has me troubled. I will just find my eyelids flutter open at the god awful time of 2am for no good reason and then I get infuriated because I would rather be sleeping. And then I am so worked up that I just can't sleep.

I could go on like this for a couple paragraphs but I will spare you. Instead I will sum it up with blah blah, waaaaah, grrrr, whimper. Get the picture? Lacking sleep sucks. I then try and imagine what a new parent must go through with the waking every handful of hours and it is enough to make me want to get sterilized. (Kidding, maybe) I don't know how you parents do it.

Wait, wait don't close this window just yet, there is a point to this I promise! Ok so last night I went to sleep before Jon because I was dog tired and he came in to bed about a half hour after me. Let me set the scene, the lights are off in the bedroom, I am on my side eyelids closed...obviously asleep, no? Jon gets in bed and thanks me for making corn beef for St.Patty's day, I grunt a response because I am sleeping. He then starts to take a sleeping Frank's paws and click his nails together. Click Click Click. With my eyes closed I say "What is that sound?" To which Jon says "oh I am just clicking Frank's nails together haha" again I grunt in response because I AM TRYING TO SLEEP.

Jon finally shuts his yapper and we fall into what I hope will be a seamless sleep. Oh it is nice to want isn't it? About an hour later our neighbors begin to express their love for each other loudly. No joke it sounds like National Geographic is being filmed in the next room, the subject is fornicating rhinos. I of course get angry because I am now disrupted by said noise and I am so ready to bust through our paper thin walls and muzzle the two beasts. I am seriously on the verge of tears.

Eventually they stop and I somehow fall back asleep. Oh but wait there is more! An hour after that I hear the crashing of our mirrored closet doors. I swear to goodness this sound alone almost made me mess my pajamas! But I open my eyes and see A MAN STANDING UP AGAINST THE CLOSET DOORS!!! I turn to Jon and realize he isn't in bed but he is the man running into our closet doors. (All the while Frank sleeps).

I ask Jon what he is doing and he tells me that "HE WANTS BREAKFAST!!", in a tone that he has wisely never used with me while awake. I sleepily tell him to get back in bed and he tells me "IT IS TIME FOR ME TO GO TO WORK...GOD!" He then leaves the room and I hear him starting his morning routine and then I think oh no, what if he tries to shave?!

I sit up and listen to see if shaving is about to go down. Thankfully he just washes his hands (?) tinkers around in the bathroom and comes back to bed and falls back asleep effortlessly.

Harumph.

I then somehow manage to fall asleep somewhere around one. Hallelujah. But that would have been too easy. Frank wakes me up at 4am to barf on the carpet and then climb back in bed and fall soundly asleep effortlessly.

Harumph.

I toy with the idea of leaving the barf there till morning but the inner type A in me makes me get up and clean it. So basically I had a series of naps last night.

And this morning my face looks busted. The bags under my eyes (which are always there thanks to heredity) are intensified from last night's antics. And in an unrelated to sleep note, my acne is in full force. So long story short I fear I look like one of the Faces of Meth (I decided to spare you and not link to that site).

Oh and I got two separate emails from my mom today asking me to put the pictures of Frank and Monster lounging outside and her bulb garden we planted on my blog. Here you go Mom!

Ticked Off Over A Tank Top

Let me tell you a story about a tank top. Yes, a tank top.

My high school principle was a piece of work. One of the things that made her stand out to me as being ridiculous was her stance on tank tops. She was abhorrently against tank tops of the spaghetti strapped mainly but could also claim a case for tank tops with 5 inch straps as being offensive as well.

I was a good student by many accounts in high school but all that went by the wayside if I was caught in the quad wearing a tank top. I can understand in theory why she had this heinous rule, it is unacceptable if your jubblies are hangin out. Totally clear on that point. However, many girls got away with wearing low cut t-shirts (said jubblies in full view) and never so much as a sideways glance from the principle. Dare you show a shoulder, heaven forbid, you would get a talking to-and a sweater from the office.

You may have noticed I have a stubborn streak in me. Well my streak showed itself one hot high school day when I tempted fate and wore a tank top to school. It was a matter of moments before the principle was up in my face telling me to put on a sweater in the 90 degree weather. I stayed calm and told her that I didn't feel it fair that some girls were allowed to have their boobs hanging out in low cut t-shirts while flat chested girls like myself got in trouble for having bare shoulders and chests that were completely covered (and non-existent for that matter).

Well this flustered her so she said something to the effect of "well girls that wear tank tops have lower GPA's and I bet if we go in the office we will see how low your GPA is". YES SHE SAID THAT! I was flabbergasted and I told her to go ahead and go check because she would be wrong. And then the bell rang and I told her that I didn't want to be late for class because my GPA has clearly plummeting since this morning when I chose to wear a tank top.

Honestly, I often think about her careless assessment of the situation; there were far better ways for her to handle the situation. I was being a difficult teenager, yes, but then she turned into one too. And when I think of how she handled it I just want to take a picture of my college degrees to send to her, and of course I would be wearing a tank top in it.

(I just want to clarify that I don't think that college degrees are indicative of intelligence, because clearly they aren't. I think it would just be a good "take that" gesture)

Sassy Sidenote: Here and There

One thing I have made pretty clear, annoyingly so, on this blog is that I love to travel. It is almost as though I NEED to travel. Food, oxygen, shelter and traveling, yup there it is. Since I am not exactly rolling in the dough this year Jon and I have decided to forgo a trip to Greece (you see Greece is next on our list of countries to visit). But I don't want to throw the traveler our with the suitcase, we still want to go somewhere.

So that is where YOU come in.

I want your suggestions of places in the United States that Jon and I should go see.

Should we see the Grand Canyon or Niagara falls or the biggest ball of twine?

Come one we would love to hear from you!

Stay Tuned...Or Not

I have a really bad track record when it comes to TV shows, meaning as soon as I get hooked it gets cancelled. Don't believe me?

Exhibit A: American Dreams

This show had me written all over it, set in the 1960's, followed the story of a family that owns their own business, their daughter is a dancer on American Bandstand. American Dreams had great writing and historical value as well...and then when it was getting real good, it got cancelled just like that, not even a final episode!

Desperate for some closure I followed actor, Will Estes, to his new show "Reunion". And yes, I know that it was a totally different show but it was nice to see Estes back on my TV. Reunion followed a group of friends by bouncing between 1986 (the year they graduated) to current day. Their lives have gotten complicated since graduation and one of the friends (you never know who) is murdered so not only are you trying to find out who the killer is you are also trying to find out which friend was murdered! And then before anything was revealed it was cancelled!

So then I moved on and found the tv show, Pushing Daises and instantly fell head over heels for the quirky plot and beautiful colors and costumes. I discovered this TV show by way of Netflix so I knew the end was coming when the last dvd arrived in my mail box. But thankfully they had a proper series finally and I was somewhat satisfied.

So since every show I seem to think is unique gets cancelled I am really wary to tell you about my new favorite show, Modern Family. There I said it. But this show is too good not to talk about. I look forward to it every week. The writing is unlike any show I have seen in a good long while. So lets hope I didn't just jinx it. Pleaseohpleaseohplease!

Have you/do you watch any of those shows?

Photo credit here, here, here, here

The Sassy Chronicles: Jon's Suggestions

Do you ever stop and think of what makes you feel connected to life, to yourself?

I have been thinking about that a lot since I have been trying to bring some oomph back into my life instead of going through the motions.

I brought up this up to Jon and we had a pretty lengthy conversation about what makes us tick. We both concluded that traveling and seeing new places and actually, in most cases old places is an exhilarating thing we must have in our life. I then thought about what I personally love about traveling and concluded that it is the connection with cultures other than mine but with people from the past as well. I get a rush knowing that I am walking on the same cobblestones as Julius Caesar, or gaze at the same canvases as Leonardo DaVinci and so forth and so on. Being connected to previous generations whether it be talking with my parents and grandparents or looking at the relics of people that lived hundreds/thousands years ago helps me stay connected to me.

Jon said that he stays connected to himself by being in nature and by working out. So since we were in no position to catch a flight to some far off destination I decided to take a page out of Jon's book and get back to nature and take in an intense workout.

Now I know that trail walks aren't exactly "nature" to some but it was sufficient to me. And ya know what? It did give me a bounce in my step, it was refreshing and nice to be away from ringing telephones and, gasp, the internet.

And what do you know, we stumbled across a plaque that commemorated the care that a local couple had given this tree from 1910-1960-heyo, lovin me some commemorative plaques and hundred year old trees!

And yes, that is my "back to nature" outfit.

Later that day Jon convinced me (after A LOT of whining on my part) to join him in a workout.

When I was dancing I felt totally connected to myself so I understand how being physical can do that to a person. But when I danced it was fun without having to try or think. But now since my back is busted, so to speak, I am forced to exercise (lightly) the old fashioned way.

And let's put it this way...it doesn't suit me as well as dancing did.

But with Jon's encouragement and some appropriate exercises I actually caught myself enjoying the rush of endorphins and feeling my muscles working hard. And yes, I definitely did feel sassy after conquering this workout!

And afterwards we headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. And that my friends is the secret to staying together for ten years-the man knows when to feed me ha!

Good job Jon! thanks for helping me find new ways to pump up the Sass! Do you stay in touch with yourself by working out or getting in nature?

The Same Boat

Your responses to the last post totally put a bounce in my step.

I have said this many times, I don't blog for comments or feedback. That being said it still feels SO GOOD to know that others are reading what I right, no matter how trivial it may be, and have an opinion about what I have to say. (Yes, even that troll that told me it was disgusting how I treat my dog like a human, wow that wasn't nice but hey, its something).

I say this mainly because it makes what I am doing real, it takes it a step beyond a journal, it makes it a forum of different opinions and thoughts and life experiences and boy howdy is that exhilarating! So thank you for letting me know that I wasn't the only one that had a sass deficiency (and Linda, thank you for the sweetest comment, seriously I saved it). But I am really hoping that we can pump up the sass around these parts for sure.

I have decided that I am going to try different things to increase my sass factor and share them with you guys on here so then maybe you could try them too! And if you have anyways to increase your sass factor share them on your blog or email me and I will post them on here.

Alrighty, so it is decided we all need a little oomph injected into our lives...now what are we going to do about it? I think I am going to try to do one thing a day that makes me feel sassy, let's see how that goes.

* I can't begin to tell you how many times I accidentally left off the first "s" in Sass and declared that we need to "pump up the ass!", "we have an ass deficiency", "increase my ass factor". Thought I would share because that made me giggle. Oh the interesting folk that are going to find my blog because of those key phrases. Its ok though, all are welcome here.

I'm Bringing Sassy Back

I have been feeling like a muddy version of myself lately. I really can't describe it any better than that. Do you ever feel like you have lost touch with what makes you tick? I think that is what is going on. I am happy but I seemed to have lost the flash, the shine, the sass. It just seems as though one day turns into the next sometimes and it is easy to get in a repetitive state no matter how much you love your job and your life.

I was talking with my supervisor last night about personality types; more specifically, the Enneagram of Personality. She and I were trying to decipher which personality traits I had since my test results were bordering between two results. So my supervisor was helping me dissect past decisions I had made in order to try and figure out which personality trait was mine. As I explained different instances in my life that might help us understand which category I fit into I asked myself "what happened to that fun gal?"

In the past I would jump at the chance to spice life up but lately I seemed to have misplaced that spontaneity. And now that I realize it, I miss it. Life is too short to go through the motions, which is exactly what I have been doing and I am ready to get back to the real me.

Even just thinking about honoring myself makes me excited, its been too long, way too long. I will try to post on here ways in which I am shaking up my everyday by bringing back the sass!

How do you prevent your days from becoming monotonous?

Bang Bang! Blogging With Bullets

*I always have such a feeling of melancholy when the Olympics end. Where am I going to get non-stop sports coverage? Oh well I suppose ESPN might have some idea of how to do that. But its just not the same, mainly because this guy won't be on the tv nearly as much.

Photo Credit

*Yesterday Jon, Frank and myself went to the local farmer's market and I bought a lovely array of daffodils and tulips see:

*I have been having a lot of trouble keeping up with the internet lately. I try to make sure my reader is up to date and then blammo, 189 new posts. Same with Twitter, I mean to respond to a million things and then there are already 30 more tweets to respond too. So this week I am going to try to respond a bit more to the internet because it isn't as fun when you don't interact ya know?

*oh oh, before I forget! I was at a local mall recently and they were doing a wine tasting and this woman stumbled up to me from her wine tasting bliss and said: "You look just like SEGMA HEIMLICH!! That isn't her name, but I think you know who I mean"...I think she might have meant Salma Hayeck...I think.

Alrighty, here's hoping I actually get some good blog fodder to relay to you guys soon!