April Hibernation

So April has had some super crappy weather up here in North Dakota (and according to some of the blogs I follow, the rest of the county seems to be experiencing similar unpleasantness).  We had two snow days at the beginning of the month and have set many records for temperature being unseasonably low.  The weather seems to have motivated me to dress a bit more stylish/interesting/put-together than the rest of winter, but it could be my desire for spring and warmth.

 



One thing that I've relied on a little too heavily this month was headbands, and not those small ones either.  Big, cover 90% of your head, headbands.  And the side braid.

Why is my resting face, bitch-face?  Threw this new knit piece over a maxi dress and under the cardigan to give myself a little warmth, but also so that I could play with my favorite summer pieces.

 I did a lot of my summer shopping already, so cute, short, summer dresses had to be thrown over leggings and under denim pieces, because everything looks good with a denim over it.

 

 

In the close-up curly-haired selfie, you can see the top details of my dress a bit better.  Also, posing with a globe the school was throwing because of a huge hole in Russia, is better than posing without one.  I have 4 globes already and gifted this one to my man friend.  While he worked, I obviously managed to squeeze in a few outfit pictures at his place. 

 

Far away superhero pose!  First pair of white pants I have ever purchased and worn as an adult.  Wore them to a concert at a bar (brave/stupid), and they came home unscathed.  Maybe they're lucky in addition to being white?

Here's hoping the weather warms a bit (I'm thinking high 60s/low 70s would be ideal) and that my outfits continue to be documented.  This summer I should be able to adventure into the great outdoors (my backyard) for a few real outfit posts.

March Goal Review

Well we're a little over a week into April, so I guess that means it's time to recap my 25 before 26 goals.  Be warned, March had very little progress.

1.  Etsy shop- vintage
No progress

2.  Collection of short stories- ready to submit
 No progress.  I have been feeling a lot more inspired as of late, so hopefully April shows a bit more progress on this goal.

3.  New tattoo
Done (2/21/14)

 4.  Finish framing prints
No progress.

5.  Blog redesign
Hired Kaelah of The Clueless Girl's Guide for this one.  This could have been done this month because Kaelah is extremely talented and easy to work with...but I'm the worst at turning my stuff into her.  Luckily, Kaelah's understand.  Expect a cool reveal this month though!

6.  Buy nice camera
 No progress.

7.  Learn how to do my hair
No progress.

8.  Go on a trip somewhere new
 Thinking Vegas.  Thinking Canada.  Thinking a million and two places.

9.  Bring Crookston to dog training class
 Done! (3/11/14)  I shared this graduation announcement (as a joke) here!

 10.  Figure out Spanish creds
 I'm 99% sure I'm taking Spanish this summer.  Once I enroll, I'll count this one as complete.  Or maybe I should wait until I finish the class?

11.  No credit card debt
 My tax return was a great, great, great help for this.  I'm probably halfway to being paid off.

12.  Send more letters
January: 1 package, 2 postcards, 3 letters.
February: 1 postcard, 6 letters.
March: NOTHING

 Total: 1 package, 3 postcards, 9 letters.

13.  Create realistic workout plan
 Nope.  I'm starting T25 on the 21st.  I'm also trying to walk during my breaks at work...okay, I've walked once during break.

14.  Learn to crochet
No progress.

15.  Grow closer to God
It's taking me forever to finish my first recreational Catholicism book ever.  I've been attending church most Saturday nights with mi madre y padre, so I do feel good about that.

16.  Complete a 5K
No progress.  I did have a dream last night that I completed the Color Run 5K, but it was less about running and more about how I misinterpreted something my boyfriend said and I thought we were engaged and his sister had to sneak the ring away...because that would fix all of his problems.  Weird, I know.

17.  Volunteer
 No progress.  I did just find out I need so many volunteer hours to graduate from school though so I'm going to really try to finish all of those before the end of the year so I don't need to worry about them.

18.  Finally go to the drive in theater
This is a summertime goal.

19.  Renaissance Festival
Summertime.

20.  Read 40+ books
 I've actually been doing some work on this goal...but only because I've been reading some super quick books.  I'm actually at 19 books right now.  I'm also currently in the middle of 4 books, so I need to finish a couple of those before I pick up another one.

21.  Print more photos
No progress.  Has anyone heard of Artifact Uprising?  I'm thinking of making a book of my favorite Instagram photos from last year...but that'll be after Lent since one of the things I gave up was online shopping.

22.  Create more
No progress.  I need to check out a few of my pinterest boards.

 23.  Go camping
Summer goal.

24.  Make a quilt
 No progress.

25.  Get my passport
No progress.

Wow.  I thought I had very little progress in February, but this month definitely takes the cake for nothing-ness.  Every month I resolve to do better, to do more.  The goals I want to make some actual progress on for the rest of April would be:

• Debt-I want to only have debt on one credit card
• Collection of Stores-I want to write one, new piece...or at least start a new one
• Blog Redesign-Get everything to Kaelah and check this sucker off the list!
• More letters/etc.

Coffee Selfie

I have a confession.  I take pictures of my coffee...a lot.  Now I know this fad/trend/annoying-ness has turned into a bit of a cliché with jokes circulating like, "if you drank a coffee and didn't post a picture on Insagram, did it really happen?" and the "stereotypical white girl" lifestyle, but I want to argue for a minute.  Can we just take a step back and think about this?

My first problem with people judging my coffeeness is the simple, "Who cares?  It doesn't affect you."  Why do people feel the need to fill their own life with negativity and not sadness, but still a kind of sadness?  Let me take my picture of coffee and drink it too.  It makes me happy.

Now the explaining for those of you who are still holding onto your anger.  Why do I post coffee selfies?  The reason I post those pictures is because they make me happy.  Because there is typically a bigger story behind the picture than just, "I want to share my coffee love with the world!"  Here are a few examples.

This photo is over a year ago and it was right after I'd dyed my hair and my blond streak picked up on some of the color and turned pink.  I called it my Easter hair any time someone commented.  Sadly, it washed out, but I loved it for the week or so it lived in my hair.

This mug was gifted to me by Secret Santa two year's ago at our Seapunk Christmas.  I didn't know the girl at all, but give me a coffee cup with my initial on it and I'll love you forever.  It's such a great size that my mom is constantly stealing it.  This also reminds me of the phase I went through last winter where I had a cup of coffee every night before bed.  Caffeine doesn't really affect me (obviously), so this warm beverage soothed me before sleepy time.

I'd been working at the high school for about a month when I took this picture.  Someone randomly surprised me with a coffee and despite being exhausted, I was so excited and felt so loved that I felt the need to coffee-selfie it!

This is what I look like in the morning.  Hair mussed up, major cleavage, and sports bra hanging out like nobody's business.  This cup was gifted to me by one of my best friends for my 25th birthday.  Just seeing the cup makes me tear up because I was in Bismarck a week or two before my actual birthday and she surprised me with a dirtcake (my favorite!), this mug, and this amazing book.  My friends are amazing and this picture just makes me feel warm and happy looking at it and remembering.

Coffee at Dakota Harvest as I met with two gals to discuss our pieces for the Voices of the Valley project.  I wasn't prepared at all so I drank coffee and tried to provide decent feedback to my comrades.

One of the students at my school asked me to come in early so she could work on her online class for an extra hour every day and one the first day I showed up, she greeted me with Starbucks. 

 

So despite the negative thoughts that come with selfies in general, I'm going to keep posting my pictures because they're more for me than you anyway.  Looking back on these pictures today even put a smile on my face, and I'm happy I have visual reminders of some pretty cool memories.