Let Me Take a Selfie.

Last night, my iPhone notified me that its storage is almost full. I'm terrible about never deleting pictures from my phone and currently have over 1,700. It's insane. I decided to purge my photos. Most of the pictures on my phone are completely unnecessary and need to be deleted, so it was a very overdue task. It was mostly screenshots of cute things I'll never buy and several failed attempts at a cute picture with B. Then I came across a picture that shocked me. It may be the funniest and most baffling picture of all time. I swear to you that neither B nor I took this picture. SWEAR!

Y'all, Princess Fiona somehow managed to take the worlds greatest selfie. I know you can't possibly believe me, but I swear that neither B nor I took it. I can't look at this picture without crying from fits of laughter. Look at her face! She is so serious! It kills me dead. 

I also found this picture that I took recently at Target. I think this man was very lost. He stood on this aisle for an incredibly long time. 

Thank goodness for cell phone cameras. 

Do you have any mysterious or funny pictures on your phone? Has your pet ever taken a selfie? I'd love to hear your stories!

Love,

A

Five on Friday!

I'm back for another weekly edition of Five on Friday!  I will be linking up with the lovely Christina and the amazing Karli!

     

-ONE-

The weather has turned cold and rainy again here today, and it is just depressing.  I tried to cheer myself up today by wearing my NOTORIOUS shirt and unicorn earrings, but things are still gloomy.  

     

-TWO-

B and I are headed back to Atlanta today for the weekend for another one of his Continuing EEducation classes.  This means that I get to see my dear friend John again, and I get to meet his new puppy!

-THREE-

Work has been crazy busy this week (what with working in sports and having the Super Bowl right around the corner) and I feel like I am starting to get sick.  I am really hoping that I have a chance to recuperate this weekend, while still being able to have some fun.  I could really use a nap right now!

-FOUR-

For those of you that haven't realized it yet, I am a huge nerd.  B and I absolutely love Doctor Who, and I have recently started watching the spin-off, Torchwood, on Netflix.  I love it and I can't believe they are removing it from Netflix at the end of the month.  I have a lot of catching up to do before the 31st!

-FIVE-

I want to hear from you, my readers!  What do you want to see me write about?  What do you want to know?  Leave me a comment so I can make this blog even better!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Love, A

Blogging in the Real World

Blogging is something that has really taken off and become popular in recent years. Back in high school and college, I had a blog on Xanga (anyone remember that?!) that basically talked about my schoolwork and my ridiculous love life. I stumbled upon it a couple of years ago and reread some of my old entries and was so embarrassed about what I'd written. (Side note: George R. R. Martin, the creator of Game of Thrones, still has an active Live Journal site and I think that's amazing!) My posts talked about my boyfriend at the time who then became my ex, and I naively talked about how perfect we were together and how we were soulmates and that I'd love him until the end of time, and then progressed to (after the tragic break-up) me talking about how wonderful he was and how he was still my very best friend and how he'd realize one day how perfect we were together and come back to me. It was awful and total garbage. If I could go back in time and sit down with 18-year-old me, I'd punch her in the face and tell her to get a clue. My feelings were so genuine at the time, but I was so naive and had my priorities totally out of whack. 

Excuse me while I go vomit. 

I got back into blogging a few years ago. I was big into reading blogs at the time, and they were the cool thing to do. Several of my friends encouraged me to start my own, because I have a love for informal writing and my life is pretty ridiculous (especially at the time, back when I was young and single) and friends encouraged me to document my life journey, not only for myself, but also for their amusement. Since then, I have tried to blog and accurately document my life and all of the ups and downs. I've always kept it real and never tried to sugarcoat any of it. 

All of my ramblings have a point, I swear. A friend of mine from college (she was an English major while I was an English minor) recently announced that she is pregnant with her first child. She started a blog to chronicle everything that happens, but today she made the blog public after she announced her pregnancy on social media. (It is also worth noting that she is the CEO and founder of a social media based marketing firm.) AL (as I shall call her) is a great writer, and she is incredibly funny. Her blog obviously details her journey with her first pregnancy. I sincerely admire how authentic she has been with documenting her pregnancy and all of its ups and downs. I feel like most pregnancy blogs that I read (which used to be lifestyle blogs until their wonderful authors got knocked up) tend to just talk about how #blessed they are. I use the hashtag there for a reason. We've all seen people humblebrag on social media about how #blessed they are, and quite frankly, I think it's become a bit cliche. These pregnancy bloggers talk about how magical and beautiful it is to be with child, but they tend to leave out a lot of the reality. (Before anyone starts to get onto me about this, hear me out.) I dearly love all of the blogs that I read, and I think that having a baby is a wonderful thing. HOWEVER, I think that women tend to romanticize pregnancy (and many other aspects of their lives). These pregnant bloggers talk about all of the growth milestones of their fetus and about the changes in their body and daily routines, but they seem to avoid talking about the negative and sometimes scary changes. They passively reference and joke about heartburn and stretch marks, but I feel like they never get real with us. Blogging these days seems to focus on people's Pinterest-perfect outfits/crafts/meals. I honestly think that by avoiding the real topics in our lives, we are doing our readers and fellow women a disservice. By painting these "perfect" pictures of ourselves and omitting our struggles and downfalls, we are setting up false expectations. As bloggers, we open up our lives to complete strangers, and I know that that is a scary thing, but we choose to do this. We share intimate details about the successes in our lives, but we seem too afraid to talk about our shortcomings or failures. It seems silly to me to paint such a one-sided picture of ourselves. If we are willing to share our success, why are we not equally as willing to share our failures? I just feel like these pregnancy blogs (as well as other lifestyle blogs in general) tend to only talk about the sparkly wonderful moments. Why are we so scared and hesitant to talk about the real moments? I love AL's new blog because she's totally honest in all that she had to say. She talks about the constipation that comes with pregnancy, just as candidly as she talks about the joy of hearing her child's heartbeat. These bloggers that paint a portrait of pregnancy as being nothing but joy and Magic are really doing a disservice to fellow women. They are making other women feel inadequate or like they are "doing it wrong" or like the struggles they face are isolated instead of universal. I personally would love to see more bloggers paint an accurate portrayal of pregnancy (and of life in general). I'd love to know that I'm not alone in my struggles (and no, I'm not pregnant, but I hope you can see my point). It's up to us as women to spread the word about what to expect when you're expecting. As a blogger, I can easily tell you that I rely on my fellow bloggers for life intel and that I trust them more than Google or Wikipedia. By sugarcoating our stories, we are making each other feel like we aren't enough. It may not be blog-worthy, but sometimes it's nice to know that other people's houses aren't always immaculate and that other people eat Easy Mac for dinner instead of Instagram-worthy gourmet meals. 

Let's be real with each other. Let's stop making each other feel unworthy by only focusing on the magic in our lives. Let's equally share about our shirty days as we do about our perfect days. Life isn't perfect and we shouldn't blog as it it is. I challenge you to write a real post about your day, even if work was terrible, your kids misbehaved and you strongly considered shipping them off to the nearest boarding school, your clothes didn't match and were covered in stains and holes, and you burned the frozen pizza you made for dinner. Let's be real with each other. I promise that your authentic blog posts are the most enjoyable to read. 

I love all of you and I hope that we can strive to be more authentic this year. 

Love,

A

PS- I'm having frozen pizza for dinner, my work day was hell, and I skipped showering this morning so I could sleep in. That's my real life today. 

Five on Friday

I completely forgot to post and link up last week, but I'm back!  I will be linking up with the lovely Christina and the amazing Karli!

     

-ONE-

We celebrated my Grandmother's 94th birthday on Saturday.  My parents, B, and I made a day trip to Alabama to celebrate with Grandmother and the family.  We had a great lunch and enjoyed spending time together.  A day trip meant spending upwards of 8 hours in the car on Saturday, but it was totally worth it to see my sweet Grandmother.

-TWO-

I've officially finished my second week of physical therapy for my foot (and I have at least one more week left, but likely more).  I have regained some strength and range of motion, but this cold and rainy weather has made my bones absolutely ache.  I'm hoping that some sunshine this weekend will help make things a little more tolerable.

-THREE-

I bought the most magical mascara over the weekend and I am totally obsessed.  You can buy some here.  It's called They're REAL! by benefit.  It is the Holy Grail of mascaras that I have spent years searching for!  I bought the smaller size for $10, just because I wasn't sure how it would work, but I'm a firm believer now. 

-FOUR-

The weather has gotten to be super cold here over the last week or so.  When we were down to a windchill in the negatives, it dawned on me that I don't own a proper winter coat (or anything really warm for that matter).  I popped into Sears to return some Lands' End shoes and found this adorable jacket on clearance.  It is so warm and cozy (and cute)!

-FIVE-

I potentially have some big life changes on the horizon, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Have a wonderful weekend, loves!

Love,

A

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful, laid bsck Christmas and I can't believe it's already over! B and I drove "home" to Greenville, SC to spend time with my parents. He had to work on Christmas Eve, so we drove straight to church and had to sneak in the back since we were a little late. Our preacher was home sick with the flu, but the service was still great. We always do lessons and carols on Christmas Eve and I love it. Afterwards, we went with some friends and ate dinner at Waffle House, which is a silly family tradition. (We've always opted out of the standard home-cooked meal because it's always been just me and my parents and it's a lot of effort to cook a big meal for just 3 people, especially since we all usually end up working on Christmas Eve and go straight from work to church.) B has been kind enough to embrace our tradition for the past 2 years that we've been together. 

We woke up on Christmas morning and Mom made us breakfast. I think this was the first year ever that someone had to actually come wake me up on Christmas morning instead of the other way around! What can I say, I was exhausted. I'd ordered Christmas crackers for the whole family so we opened those first, put on our crowns, and told our jokes. (I first learned of their existence from last year's Christmas episode of Doctor Who, and I thought it would be a fun tradition to start in our family.) 

We sat around the tree and opened our stockings and presents. It was so funny because Mom gave me a sweater for Christmas, and it just so happens that I'd bought the exact same one for myself and I'd worn it to church the night before. The look on her face when she saw me wearing it was confusing, but I totally understood when I unwrapped it! We gave my Dad a sign for the garage that said, "1965 Mustang Parking Only," and he gave us one that said, "TARDIS Parking Only." It was completely unplanned, and so funny. I guess great minds really do think alike! B bought me a beautiful Brighton heart necklace and I haven't taken it off since! There is a jewelry shop in the little town down the road from us called Allison Love's Fine Jewelry (which is a very fitting name). We have become loyal customers since it opened this past year, so the owner knows us well and knows my taste. He told B that when that necklace came in, he instantly thought of me and sat one aside. He was right!

After we opened presents, Mom made us homemade potato soup and peanut butter pie. (It was nice for B to have soft foods to eat since he is still recovering from his gum surgery.) We continued our family tradition by going to the movies. We saw Night at the Museum 3, and it was pretty cute. None of us were huge fans of the first two films, but we chose it because it was Robin Williams's last movie. I have to say, it was a very fitting last role for him, and they did a great job honoring his legacy. When the credits rolled, they dedicated the movie to him and said, "Magic never dies." (Mom and I have always been huge fans of Robin, and we called each other and cried when we heard the news of his death. He was a tue gem and the world is a much sadder place without him.)

After the movie, B and I loaded up the car with all of our goodies and headed back home to Charlotte because we both had to work the next day. We had a wonderful first Christmas with my parents! I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas, too!

Yes, we are wearing matching Doctor Who sweatshirts, because we are nerdy and that's how we roll. 

Funny story about that mistletoe: My parents went on their first date in December. My Dad picked my Mom up at her house, and she had that mistletoe hanging in the doorway. He casually asked her, "Does that thing work?" It was their first date, so she told him, "No, I think the batteries are dead." He gave her a pack of batteries for Christmas the next week. 

Love,

A

Adios 2014!

I'm going to go ahead and state for the record that I loathe NYE. It's always been my least favorite holiday, but 4 years ago, it became my least favorite day ever. Four years ago, my Granddaddy passed away. I don't want to rehash that awful day, but I will make this disclaimer: when a family member dies, be sure all of your relatives know before you post it on Facebook, because that's a really shitty way to have to find out. 

I've always been disliked NYae because it is always full of magical expectations and always seems to ended a drunken disaster. Things never go as planned, at least in my experience. Bars are overcrowded and overpriced. People drink way too much and flake out. Thus, I decided a few years ago to not treat NYE any different than any other night. Last year, B and I rang in the new year at an Avett Brothers concert, and I have to say, it was the best NYE I've ever had. This year, we will enjoy a bottle of Champagne and some Netflix, just the 2 of us (and the cat). 

I hope everyone has a safe and fun night. Here's to big things in 2015!

Love,

A

Christmas Miracles

There is so much tragedy in the world and I feel like every time I turn on the news, I'm bombarded with awful stories about death and violence and other terrible things. The best story I've heard recently was about a woman that walked into a Massachusetts Toys R Us and spent $20,000 to pay off the layaways for all of the stores' customers. It just warmed my heart!

Today I got a text from an old coworker and dear friend. I'll call here Lee. She is a hardworking single mother with a 5-year-old son, who is the light of her life. Last month, her son's father texted her and said he would send her money to buy Christmas gifts for their son. This came as a big shock to her, as he has never even paid child support. With this news, she went to K-Mart and put all of his gifts on layaway. Money has been especially tight for her lately since she has seen an increase in tuition for her son's school and daycare. (The local public school system is atrocious, and her son received a scholarship to a local private school so she enrolled him so that he could receive the best education possible.) Lee and I had even talked on the phone last week and she told me that she was so excited that she was going to be able to give her son a really good Christmas this year, and I was so happy for her. She texted me today with some sad news. Her son's father had texted her this afternoon and informed her that he wasn't going to send money for Christmas because he was having some financial trouble. This meant that she was not going to be able to make her final layaway payment tonight. She told me that she currently has $35 to her name until payday next week and she still needed to buy groceries for dinner tonight and that her gas light in her car had been on for 3 days. Lee was terribly embarrassed but she asked me if she could borrow $20 from me until she got paid. Of course I told her yes and offered to loan her more than $20 so that she didn't have to worry about money in the coming days. 

I decided that instead of just giving her some cash that I would just make my way over to the K-Mart and pay off her layaway balance. She only owed $42.81 and I wanted to do something nice for her since she is struggling right now. I walked back to the layaway department and there were 3 women in line in front of me and a man was at the register. I noticed that all 3 women were silently crying. The man turned around and said, "Merry Christmas," and he left. After a moment, my curiosity got the best of me and I asked the women if they were alright. One of the women dried her eyes and told me that they were better than alright. That man had been sitting on the bench in the layaway department, just waiting for someone to come back there to make a payment. When the women got to the register, he asked who their layaway items were for. One of the women told him that they were Christmas presents for her young son. She pulled a worn envelope of cash out of her pocket and he stopped her. Without even asking the cashier the total, he handed over her credit card and told them that he was going to make the final payment for them. The women and the cashier were all shocked. The women immediately began thanking him and crying. He said that they could repay him by having a Merry Christmas. When it came my turn at the register, I asked the cashier if that happened a lot. She told me that it had been happening more often in the wake of the story of the Massachusetts woman that paid off layaway for strangers at Toys R Us. She told me that in fact, I was the third person that day to come pay off layaway for someone else. She told me that like me, most people that did it were making payments for people they knew, but that that man was the first she'd seen that made a payment for a total stranger. 

For those of you who think that goodness and kindness are dead, I'd like to tell you firsthand that it is not. My heart is so full and warm for witnessing this. 

I called Lee and told her I actually wouldn't be able to meet her tonight to lend her the $20. I heard the sadness in her voice as she said, "It's ok, friend. I still love you and I appreciate you trying." I told her that I couldn't meet her because I'd gone ahead and paid off her layaway, and that when she went to get her items, she would just have to pay the remaining balance of 1 cent. (K-Mart will not hold your layaway items once they are completely paid for, so I left her with the smallest balance allowed.) Lee started crying and thanking me. For the record, I didn't do this so that I could brag. I did it because I love her and I know what it's like to be strapped for money and how humiliating it is to ask someone to borrow money. I'm sharing this story because I was in such awe of that man and the generosity he showed those women who were complete strangers. The Christmas spirit is alive and well, my friends! 

Love,

A