30 August 2010

headwear

Today was definitely a Monday. So busy. I looked up at the clock and was like, "What? It's 1 o'clock?" Diggin' the day going by fast.

Having some Gluten Free Houston frozen cheese pizza dressed up with green bell pepper and slightly freezer burned pepperoni. Gotta have the pepperoni. Delicious.



I do not apologize for being ghetto and covering everything in tin foil. One less dish to wash.

So I got to thinking about the hurty headbands that I mentioned the other day. A simple solution would be those elastic around-the-whole-head ones, but my hair's so fine that they just slip right off. When I wear them I can feel them slowly creeping towards the back of my head every time I move or turn my head, and I'm super-aware of them until they finally pop off.

So I did a quick google search and found a ton of forums complaining about hurty headbands. If the internet has taught my anything, it is that I am never alone! [Except maybe when carpet beetles invade the comfy 'old man' chair.] *shudder* Anyway.

I came across some pretttyyyy ones that I would LOVE to wear, and they're cheap to boot!



But as gorgeous and girly as they are, will probably be hurty. Just look at that curve.
But I'm also thinking I need to go to Forever21 soon. You know, just to see. And also because they have super cute cheap hair pins. Be still, my heart.

I have had two tutorials from Heart of Light and Kotori bookmarked forever, but have yet to try them because they fall under the "slip off my head" category. [Regardless, they are really cute blogs]

In the forums someone mentioned this headband, and it has promise but it's so darn plain and kind of ugly! Come on, Goody, make it pretty!

Also, this crochet headband is just adorable but I dunno if I can pull it off. If you read the second paragraph of the crochet tutorial, it's like she took the words out of my mouth.
I think I need to add "Learn to Crochet" to THE LIST.

This is what I do with my life now that I have free time: eat pizza, research headbands, and contemplate crochet.

LOVE it.

29 August 2010

pleasantries

A few things that have made my life a little more pleasant lately:

  • Sugar cubes for my coffee instead of regular sugar. There's something so fun about dropping a sugar cube into my cup every morning.
  • Going with the curls & rockin' the big hair. Saves me time in the morning. I do need to invest in some cute hair clippies/pins to keep my bangs out of my face. I like these but there's no way I'm paying $18 for hair pins. If there were headbands that didn't make my head hurt, I'd totally go for those. Why do they make headbands perfectly round? No one has a perfectly round head, and all it does it make the tips dig in.
  • On-the-go breakfasts. Tacos, breakfast cookies, even french toast is being re-engineered for eating while driving, because I need breakfast but I also need my snooze button.

sugar sugar how'd you get so fly... [in my head]

  • New shoes. My poor tootsies.
  • Shmoopy texts from the CA coast.
  • Sleeping most of the weekend. Oh my, it was wonderful. I think that may happen again today.

26 August 2010

scientist

Today it occurred to me: I am a scientist.

Like, really, a scientist.

Like I'm not just talking about being a scientist one day...

I AM one!

BA-HAHAHAHAHAHA sweet.

25 August 2010

humpage

*looks around*

I LOVE my life.

I hesitate to say that only because I'm scared that somehow, something will hear that declaration and come swooping down like a dementor and all of a sudden things will come crashing down, because no one's allowed to be that happy.

This may have been partly due to exhaustion and partly due to pre-bedtime ice cream sundaes, but the other night I went to bed and I spent a good ten minutes sitting up in bed, admiring my pretty quilt, thinking of my life, and grinning like a goofball.

Third day of work and I'm liking it more each day. I'm pretty tired and my feet hurt, but I'm getting used to it. I forgot to mention that there is an entire wall made out of windows and I LOVE that. Most labs are in basements but mine's a few floors up and I get a pretty view while I work.

I don't think I've ever drank so much coffee during my breaks, but it's there freshly made, and it's so delicious at 830 am when the deadline for results have passed and it's been 4 hours since breakfast and I'm starting to fade out.

Today I spent some time improving my microscopic urinalysis skills, and I'm happy to say I'm getting the hang of it.

I have to figure out a way to keep myself awake naturally for the next 3 hours.
I'm over the hump!

23 August 2010

employment

I have certainly earned this today.



Even the spots of ice cream left by the ice cream scoop agree. I swear I didn't make that happen on purpose.



This day has left me with a few realizations.

1. I need new shoes. My feet and back HURT.

2. Getting up at 330-4am will definitely be an adjustment and no, it doesn't make the 9 hours go by faster, like I thought it would. At least not until I get the hang of things. I must not nap so I can fall asleep at the appointed time and get this ball rolling smoother.

3. I think I will enjoy this new job.

22 August 2010

Quilt!

Post Secret is not loading. It can't be Sunday without secrets!

I woke up worried that it was Monday and I'd overslept for my first day of work. Then I realized it was Sunday and thought about making those pretzels, some mini pizzas to freeze, and ginger snaps. I really want ginger snaps.

The thought of turning the oven on today... Ugh.

In the meantime, I have finished my quilt! I didn't realize it would be done so fast, but I guess that's the good thing about being unemployed.

I just kind of winged it, only looking up how to do the binding. It went fairly simply, and I think it turned out really pretty and colorful. If you look closely there will be some bunched up spots or uneven sewing, but I think it's really good for my first quilt. It's not huge, just big enough to wrap around in and fit my twin bed.

The Front:


The Back:
(I mis-measured and didn't buy enough of the fabric for the back, and I was NOT going back to the store for the umpteenth time. So I had to get creative and use fabric I already had to fill it in. There's actually yellow on each side of the blue, and it turned out okay!)

Both sides:



21 August 2010

win...fail... win?

Wow, yesterday was quite the day. Not only did I become employed, but I had plans for the evening.

Akhtar convinced me to go see Vanilla Ice. I know, what random things would I do if I wasn't friends with him, right?

So we go, and we go early when the doors opened at 8 to snag a decent table. However, all of the available tables were reserved and it was standing room only, but at this point the place was pretty empty. So we stood there and hung out and waited for the show to start. At about 930, the opening act came on, and it was pretty mediocre, but I was glad for some entertainment (besides the AWESOME people-watching).

Dude played for about 30 minutes, then it was back to some rather awesome old-school music that just played over the speakers. It sounded like Vanilla Ice wasn't scheduled to come on until much later, because another band was (eventually) going to play first. At about 1030, my feet are starting to hurt from just standing, waiting, for that long. And it's not like you could have a decent conversation to pass the time because it was so loud.

We met up with some of his coworkers, one of which who was cool and one of which was a huge old creeper. At some point we ventured outside to the smoking area, which was this cool parking lot under the overpass. I got a call from Chris because he's on weekend liberty, and we have a quick convo about how he's been using grenade launchers and machine guns and the like. Very cool and more on that later.

At about 11, I'm at the point where I'm freaking starving and my feet feel huge and I'm pretty much over the whole show and I'm starting to wish I still carried around emergency candy. Fortunately, Akhtar is also starving, so we decided to brave the crackies and get some food at the McDonald's across the street and come right back. Of course, the dining room closes at 11. Simple solution: get the car and go through the drive through.

Problem: when we get to the car, it's blocked into the back row. It was one of those gravel parking lots and rather than keep a pathway open for cars to leave, people just parked in a solid line from fence to fence. I couldn't believe it.

So starts a wild goose chase from calling the towing service to talking to the valet to the club to the parking management on the other side of the building to the policeman at the club to the valet, to the club, etc etc. Everyone's trying to say it's someone else's responsibility. At that point I'm REALLY not feeling the show and I'm getting shaky from hunger and we decided to look and see if anyone had left and magically created an opening. Before we can get back to the parking lot, we run into another person who's trapped in the back row taking to a policewoman and he seems to have gotten a fire lit under people's asses. Thank goodness.

Tow trucks are called and arrive, but there's dispute over who can give authority to tow cars. So we wait, in the presence of about 5 tow trucks. SO CLOSE.

In the meantime, there is a small crowd of about 5 people wanting to leave and we're milling about and talking. One guy leaves the club and pulls out of his parking spot, to go where... I don't know. Akhtar first notices that he's very obviously drunk and driving, and decides to give the police a head's up. While he's in the process of doing that, the drunk guy REAR ENDS a parked car in which one of our newfound trapped friends is sitting. So then he's just opened a whole new world of entertainment for us. In short, he couldn't find his insurance, and when they did it was expired, and his license was expired for a year, and the policeman said it was probably so expired because it was suspended for a DUI. So they want to arrest him, but have to wait for a sergeant to arrive.

We end up waiting to see what happens, and eventually at 1230 or so all the tow trucks leave and the policeman tells us that they can't tow anyone and the people who can give the authority elected not to tow because they share the parking lot with the living space above the club and would probably get sued if the cars blocking the entrance were residents' cars blah blah blah. He said we'd just have to wait until the club let out and people cleared the lot.

By some miracle, by that point two people had happened to leave and cleared a pathway out of the back row. The odds are crazy and no one really noticed until that point, and I wonder how long it had been open.

We high-tailed it to 59 diner and had some grub and a banana split, and came home exhausted and never did see Vanilla Ice. Good riddance! Despite all the crap, I actually had a decent time.

Oh, oh, and THEN I came home to a relationship request on facebook. Whaaa? For years, I've set it to not specify mine and Chris has stayed single. I've teased him about it a few times, but in the end, I like my nondescript status.
But for some reason he decided that it was time to make it facebook official, and it's not like I could deny it. It actually makes me nervous for reasons I'll get into later, as this post is much too long. It's really weird to see this when I log on- it makes it very... real. But it makes me happy at the same time because I really miss his ass.



20 August 2010

employed

I JUST ACCEPTED A JOB OFFER!!!!!

I think it's going to go really well and I'm FREAKING EXCITED!!!
I start on Monday.

I am a tad bummed about not being able to do the temp positions- I was looking forward to wearing cute clothes. But BAH, that doesn't matter- I have a JOB!!!!

I'd go all into the details and the company, but in the interest of keeping things fairy anonymous, I'll just call it The Lab.

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

19 August 2010

open windows

My my, today has certainly turned around.

After that discouraging interview this morning, I went straight to the temp agency to get some random office jobs to 1. get some cash flow and 2. get myself out of the house- I've been so bored!

When I got home, I bummed-ly applied for a new position and to my surprise I got a call within an hour to set up an interview. It really looks like something I'd be interested in. I can't help but get excited.

Then later this afternoon, I missed a call and it was from a manager wanting to schedule another interview at two different places, each part-time that would add up to full time hours. I was stoked!

And THEN, I got a message from one of my classmates saying that he and his manager talked about ME this afternoon and he kind of has a say in who they hire, so hopefully he'll put in a good word for me.

Aaaand, I got a call already from the temp agency for tomorrow but unfortunately it's cutting it a little close with the interview I have scheduled.

When it rains, it pours!

It's so nice after this job-search drought.

Oh, Oh, I hope they go well.

chin up

What a discouraging morning.

Trying to put it in the past and keep my thoughts positive, and keep trying.

Akhtavious sent me this, and it helped. :o)

I'd like to work on the quilt some more, but the ZIT in-between my eyes is giving me a headache. It's not even that big- it's just hurty.

Sorry about that. Enough about my zit...

18 August 2010

wants

I want to go to the beach today.
Too bad my friends have jobs!
I'm thinking this weekend, FO SHO.

Sue's moving to college today!
I want to go to Austin tooooo, just to hang around.

Looks like this morning is a bunch of "I wants."

I had really restless, strange dreams last night and I made myself wake up at 8 today. I can't lose my "getting up early" sleep schedule completely by sleeping till noon every day, but it's especially hard because there's no REASON to get up so early! Oh, bother. Second shift is looking really good, but I initially hesitate because I hate being on a completely different schedule than the rest of the world.

Thinking HARD about CA. Ticket prices go down in September, and if by that time I'm still unemployed I'd really like to go for a while. Sheesh, August is already half over. How'd that happen?

I'm thinking today that pretzels from scratch might happen.

17 August 2010

missing & quilt

I think once I get a J-O-B I won't miss him as much.

Maybe.

Fuck, four years. When I look back at all that has happened in the last four years, I can't hardly begin to imagine what's going to happen in the next four years.

Anywho, I decided that it's time I try to make a quilt.

Here's the squares:

I want it to be as colorful as possible, and I have no idea if it will turn out ok, but at least I'll have a ghetto quilt that I made all by myself. :o)

Also, I have a zit trying to be all huge on my nose. Not cool.

Good Book

The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards

This is another book that I randomly picked up at the library. It's one of those books that you start reading, and three hours later you look up and wonder when it got dark outside.

I finished it in two sittings. Without giving too much away, it was thought-provoking and heartbreaking and hopeful and it made me think about circumstances and the choices we make and how things might have been- but you can't change the past, you just gotta keep on going.

The book is based on a simple idea but the author does so much with it- and at some points the writing was as smooth as buttah. I usually skim over paragraphs that describe the surroundings or get into too much detail, but this was written very well.

So yeah, I recommend it.

15 August 2010

charmed

So Melissa and I had a charmed Friday the 13th weekend.
Everything just seemed to happen our way.

We headed up to College Station Friday to see Kathy's husband's band play at an icehouse on Lake Bryan. I wore a new dress that I got for $6 on clearance, the band was upbeat, and we had a great time watching all the drunk old people dance.

We managed to get a hotel room for $89 a night at La Salle, a quaint historic hotel in this old-fashioned part of downtown Bryan. Heck yes, a screaming deal and when we got there, we were so surprised at how nice it was. I wanted to take everything from the hotel room home, including the view and this chair. Don't you freaking LOVE it?


We got lost several times, but always managed to get to where we needed, exactly on time, no matter how lost we got. It was uncanny how everything fell into place perfectly.

We were under a sunny, toy-story cloudy sky the whole time.

We took a tour of the Messina Hof winery, tasted grapes straight off the wine, and got to do a wine tasting-- and we even got to keep our glass.

I got amazing gas mileage, even for highway driving.

I came home to this:

punk in her windowsill with the tail hanging out...

and an ice cold room thanks to mom turning on the AC.

I'm thinking these weekend trips to random places need to keep happening, because I had so much fun.

14 August 2010

Pay it Forward for realz

Remember this Pay it Forward post? This weekend I was so excited to receive a package from my blogging friend, Drew.

Look at how cute this patchwork quilted checkerboard is!!! I was just gushing when I opened the package.


I love that it's such a unique idea, and I can tell it took some work and attention to detail. She was kind enough to include instructions for checkers, because I couldn't remember how to play either! It's been so long since I played and this is definitely coming to the next game night.

I tried to upload a picture of my dad and brother playing; it was a very intense game. However, Blogger still has this "pictures uploading sideways" thing going on, which is really starting to get annoying.

I also couldn't upload pictures of the handy pouch attached on the back to hold the playing pieces, or how neatly it rolls up for storage. I'm still so excited and flattered to receive something so cool and handmade. Mad props to Drew!

I still haven't decided what to make for my Pay it Forward craft. But soon!

Time to drink some of the wine that I carried back from College Station today after our Messina Hof tour.

More on this weekend, which was absolutely fabulous, later.

12 August 2010

tv

Thanks to a night of girl talk and wine with Jessica last night, I have some inner peace.

I have a backup plan and the worries are alleviated. Sweeeet. I can laze around and enjoy my vacation now.

Was going to start back with the working out today but I woke up with a dizzying headache. Suspect allergies. At least I didn't have cake for breakfast. Gotta get back on the healthy train.

Decided to lay on the couch and watch House reruns. I love guessing what's wrong with the person before he can. Wilson's disease was super easy, as was malaria.
I also love Monsters Inside Me. Helped me remember stuff for parasitology.

Food Network during commercial breaks. Giada's hot, but she's too skinny and because of it her head looks like it is too big for her body. Then ugh, Rachael Ray. She's so annoying.

What else have I been watching now that I can watch tv freely?
America's Next Top Model, Tosh.0, Jersey Shore (Yes, I got hooked), and other mindless wonderfulness.

10 August 2010

movie


Yesterday I returned a redbox movie for Sue, and while I was there I figured I'd check to see if any caught my eye. The Invention of Lying did. I don't remember seeing any previews but I've been pretty much under a rock when it comes to entertainment lately. So I got it, brought it home, and sat down late last night with my cat to watch it.

I was giggling within the first 5 minutes. Then, you can't help but start thinking about how different it would be- one of those late-night-stoner "my mind is blown" moments.

Although Jennifer Garner's acting is not my favorite (anyone else think she got stuck in 13 going on 30 and acts like a little kid?), I enjoyed the movie. I though it was a very cool idea executed very well and I'd recommend this movie to anyone. And when you can get it from Redbox for a buck, you can't beat it.

Also, look at how freaking cute this kitten is. I wonder if it ever learned how to jump.

09 August 2010

book-age

I just finished reading 2 books: Bridget Jones's Diary and One Fifth Avenue.

Bridget Jones's Diary was a lot like the movie, which I loved: cheeky and cute.


I liked it, and it made me want to watch the movie again to see how they differed. I also loved the term "fuckwittage." Perfect. On a slightly related note, I love the word "snog." That's also a perfect word for what it describes.

One Fifth Avenue was a little different.


I struggled through the first half of the book, which introduced the characters and set the scene. Then about the halfway point, some sex was introduced and it got more interesting. I know, I AM my mother's daughter. But besides the sex, the second half had some twists and it was rather enjoyable.

Two more books down. I love this no-school thing.

08 August 2010

scientist-ness

My friends and family are too amazing for me to even describe.

First of all, I GRADUATED!!!
The ceremony was long and boring except for when I walked, and I was hungry.

At the party the next day, I was greeted with surprise T-shirts:

For me:
My siblings:

My parents:

and even my sister's fiance:
Then Missy was a total badass and ordered these:

and everyone sported these t-shirts all day.
I was floored!! How cool.

The party was great, with scientist-y themed decorations:




Although it was hot and sweaty, we bashed the pinata,


made much merry with champagne, wine, and jello shots, (and a keg for the gluten-drinkers)


and I had a GREAT time.



My dad (CA) flew in for the weekend and I drove him to the airport today. I wish he could have stayed longer.

For now, I'm super-tired and a nap needs to happen.

05 August 2010

what what

Ahhhhhh. That's the sound of a newly ASCP certified Medical Laboratory Scientist.

The test was crazy hard. The way it works is if you miss a micro question, they give you more micro questions. If you miss chemistry, they give you more chemistry, etc. Apparently I missed some instrumentation and troubleshooting questions early on because I had a TON of those and no one really focuses on those when they study. I honestly did not think I was going to pass. When the screen came up and it did say PASS, I was shocked and literally started at it for a few minutes to make sure that's what it really said.

It hasn't sunk in yet; like I said I think it will once I get a job. In the meantime I get to clear away all of the notes that are laying around. I can have a coffee table again!

Gotta figure out what real clothes to wear for the luncheon and rehearsal today, and go get my makeup done by Smash at the Chanel counter at Dillard's.

But first, lots of coffee.

04 August 2010

books!

My mom came into my room last night and started going through the stack of books on my coffee table. I picked up several from the library, and borrowed a few from Missy. I'm in the process of reading several of them, but none have really grabbed me.

Yesterday while in the library studying for the certification exam this evening (GAH!), a book on a nearby shelf caught my eye so I picked it up and checked it out.

But back to my mom. She was sitting on my couch in her flowered mom nightgown and while we were chatting she read the summary of each book. Then she said, "None of these books start with sex. You need to start a book with a really raunchy sex scene to pull people in, so they'll keep reading wondering if there's more raunchy sex." I can't make this stuff up.

The book I picked up randomly was The Tea House on Mulberry Street. And it was just the thing I was looking to read. No, it didn't start with raunchy sex. Everything I've read in the past few years (ie textbooks) has required thought, and I'm tired of thinking so hard when I read. This book was not too heavy, didn't require a lot of thinking, had some humor and scandal, and was just a fun, simple read. I didn't want to put it down, and finished it in one sitting last night.


Now maybe that the seal is broken (the first novel I've read in a long time!) I can get into the other books.

I just want to get this test over and done with!

03 August 2010

changes

Last night after even more wine I decided I needed a change in scenery. Rearranging the furniture again was NOT happening, but as I was sitting at my desk I realized that I've been looking at the same cluttered wall and the same dark, cluttered bulletin board for years. So, down came the bulletin board, and I started a project at 10pm.

This bulletin board has been re-done several times. Once it had a kelly green background with white trim and hot pink ribbon, and the fabric that was currently covering it was pretty, but much too dark for what I was looking for.

Half of the pictures uploaded sideways, and I can't fix them. The other half came out fine. Blogger, you suck.

Anyway, I picked out a new fabric, something light:

I do love yellow.

I rummaged through my ribbon scraps and came across a shiny peach-colored one that happened to JUST be long enough to border the edges. It was a sign.

The project was pretty simple. I dug through my acrylic paints to settle on a light purple color. After easily ripping off the existing fabric, I painted several coats on the wooden border. It took a few to cover the black paint already there.

While it was drying, I noticed the crazy-ness that had taken over my bookshelf this past year. Papers falling out everywhere, binders crammed into tight spaces... That was cleaned out as well.

After it dried, I hot-glued the fabric to the board, and edged it with the peach ribbon.

I put the bulletin board back up, went outside and clipped a few sprigs of greenery from the yard, moved some other things around, and now it looks much cleaner, brighter, and organized. That particular corner of the room doesn't get much light, and I never noticed how the dark colors made it look so dreary. The yellow and the slightly reflective ribbon made such a huge difference.


I should have taken Before pictures. It was so bad!

Now I'm going to work out and get a good start to this day. Then- to the library- certification exam tomorrow!

02 August 2010

no more meh.

I graduate from college with a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Laboratory Science on Friday. Four short days to go, after years of work.

I went to Party City with mom today and got party decorations, supplies, and even a fun Spongebob pinata.

Countless late nights spend studying, too many answers bubbled in on scantrons to count, literally hundreds of days and miles driving back and forth to class.

It's all over.

My existence as I've known it for the better part of a decade has finally changed. So many times I've imagined that day with infinite amounts of jubilee; up to this point, the greatest day of my life.

I should be elated.

Instead I feel tired, sluggish, and meh. Today, there is a distinct lack of happiness.

The suspected reason for melancholy isn't really worth getting into. I'd rather try and push past this and find the place in my mind where I can be ecstatic and not let outside worries interfere with my mood.

I deserve to be fucking ecstatic about this.

And yes, a job offer that I actually want to accept sure wouldn't hurt the mood.

*update*

A couple glasses of wine later, I feel much better.
Oh, GOD. I AM my mother!

01 August 2010

:o/

A few days was not enough.
Back to reality.
Another start of another unknown.

Had a lot of those "hm, this is new and I have no idea what to expect" moments in the past few months, and there will be a lot of those moments to come in the near future.

People in general do not respond well to change. Not that I'm a huge fan of monotony, but I've had to constantly roll with the punches on so many levels. My natural optimism has been seriously challenged this past year, and many times I've had to force a smile and I've found myself saying, "We'll see what happens" a whole lot.

Because everything happens for a reason, and everything does turn out ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end. I truly do believe that.

I feel like I'm going to have to make "we'll see what happens" my new motto. Not that that's a bad thing, just seems to be the theme of my life lately.

Fuck, I just wish so many things.

I just have to keep telling myself that GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

*update*

Oh yeah, and why is Chelsea Clinton's marriage considered big news?? It's everywhere and I don't care!