i lead a simple life

i interrupt our normally scheduled programming to tell you about one of those beloved simple pleasures that sometimes take you by such enormous surprise that you just can't help but inform everyone.

i've been meaning to wash my car for seriously weeks. things that have preventing me from completing this task: 1) utah springs are unpredictable--it could be totally sunny and then raining five minutes later; 2) murphy's law is a very really thing; and 3) i'm lazy. but today, the stars aligned and i headed to the carwash. i decided to go to the self-wash to really get all that grime off. best decision ever! i literally giggled with glee when i was wielding the power washer.

in short, it was awesome. if you had told my ten year old self that i would one day love washing the car, i would have laughed in your face and then quickly gone back to my baby-sitters club super special.

but i guess this is another sign that i'm growing up. what's next--i'll want to start weeding the yard regularly?

thoughts on tuesday: recent goings-on

last week was busy busy busy, and there are some things i want to write pertaining to those great few days. but right now i just want to unload my brain a little bit :)

last night i went to a zumba class for the first time in a really long time. i've been meaning to go for literally months--i've been researching all these places and keeping tabs on schedules and trying to work up the nerve and the motivation to actually go. well, yesterday i did it (after i slept late on my birthday and missed my original first attempt). but the point is that i went, and it felt so great to go back. the music started and i was moving in those familiar latin rhythms and it was awesome.

several months ago, we heard about jolley's pharmacy in salt lake. while it is a functioning pharmacy that has been around for 60 years, it is also an adorable gift and floral shop. so, mom and i made a trip and found some really cute things. a couple weeks ago we went again and found more cute things. yesterday i went again, by myself, because there was one really cute thing that i just couldn't forget about. i limited myself to only getting that one thing (which was too expensive for its own good anyway), but there were other things that i would have gladly left with. oh, jolley's. you're a gem.

speaking of gems, on saturday i was driving home from work, and i took a different route due to my lunch choices, and i passed this cute store.

it didn't look quite like that when i passed--i would have pulled over right then to check out that rainbow cart thing--but still. super cute. so, naturally, i stopped after work yesterday just to see what could be seen. i ended up with a heart-shaped teacup and saucer, but, again, there were other things that i would have gladly left with. because emilie jayne is a consignment shop, the prices are really reasonable--there were some great furniture pieces in great condition that i was seriously debating. i'll probably need to make another trip sometime soon since my house has almost no furniture or decoration (outside of my room, of course).

the weather has been so lovely lately! i hate being stuck inside when it's so great outside. on sunday i took advantage of it and went on a walk in the neighborhood. i'm a fan of walks, and i saw a lot of cool stuff. one of the things i really love about this area is that the old houses have so much character; people really pay attention to the details.

 

 

i ended up walking for about an hour, which was actually kind of a long time, and i wore my saltwaters for the first time, which was probably kind of a bad idea. and i had to rush home to watch nancy and tonya, the awesome olympics documentary. i mean, figure skating was made for drama, am i right? but anyway, it was the first of many sugarhouse walks.

 

there has been a lot of reorganization in my house lately, which led to a lot of anxiety for me. i think it ended up that i am moving to the master bedroom this weekend; i'm still not sure how that happened, but i'm not going to complain. it does mean i'm going to have a whole new space to work with! 

reason #97 why i'm not meant to be single

i didn't really plan for this to be my valentine's post, but i guess it only makes sense :)

so, the reason: i hate driving. i feel okay about it when i'm out on the open road and no one is really around and you don't have to think so much, but otherwise, i really hate it. every time i think about driving myself somewhere, i have to think about how tricky it will be to get there or if the parking situation is difficult or if there will be a lot of cars on the road. it causes me a lot of anxiety--sometimes i won't go to a place because i know i will be too anxious. pretty much my biggest fear about moving to salt lake was that i would have to drive myself all over, and there are way more people in salt lake than there are in provo, which means way more cars i can crash into. it's probably a miracle that i've never been in a car accident, not because i'm a bad driver (although i don't think i'm great), but because i get so tense.

i'm not meant to be single because i probably won't be long for this life if i'm going to be left driving myself everywhere for the remainder of it.

or i guess maybe i just need a chauffeur? ;)

thoughts on saturday

how is this my first february post? february is the best, and i haven't even acknowledged it in social media yet! valentine's day is arguably the cutest holiday, this february has been pretty moderate, so far, weatherwise, and of course the coolest people have birthdays this month. i think having a february birthday is actually a pretty good thing, because it peps me up enough that i usually avoid the february doldrums that some people seem to suffer.

i'm feeling like it's almost time to read harry potter again. it's been too long since i've been immersed in harry potter, and my life could use a little bit of that magical wizarding world right now.

i keep buying notecards and thank you cards. i can't help it! why are there so many beautiful notes out there? is there any possible way that i can actually send all these out? i don't know that many people. and think of the postage costs! but, the thing is, i really do want to send notes and cards to people. so, if you want to get a beautiful, thoughtful note from me, just let me know. i have plenty of  stationery options to choose from :)

this week i got some cardio in by watching this amazing jane fonda aerobics video. i have a deep love for aerobics, but it's been awhile since i've done one of these. so classic! the outfits alone are priceless. but the best/worst part was that the next day i was so sore! my calves are still tight and it's been four days. that jane fonda, man--she knows how to get you working.

oh, the olympics. here again to take over my life. more later.

have i told you guys yet about my quilt? well, i'm quilting. i'm almost done with the top, too, and it's pretty awesome. i have to take frequent breaks or else i get overwhelmed by weird perfectionist tendencies (i don't get it--i am not really a perfectionist. i like to do a good job, yes, and i work hard, but i'm not someone who has to control every detail. but the sewing thing makes me really self-conscious, for some reason. that probably says some things about me, but let's not get into it.), but it's coming along nicely. i'm excited to get it done and have a real thing, that i sewed, to have and use.

oh, and can i just say how bummed i am that the third series of sherlock is over, just like that, and i am once again without benedict cumberbatch? three episodes is not enough! not nearly enough!

without further ado, a tour of my room

i made this sweet flipagram!! i was going to go into a bunch of detail about all the things, but i don't know if i really want to anymore. i've had a lot of fun putting this room together, and i think it turned out pretty great. like i said the other day, i'm really happy with the mix of found and made and repurposed and purchased. i'm still missing a couple things, but overall i love it. here's to creating a space exactly how i wanted it!

thoughts on thursday

today we bought tickets for the katy perry concert in salt lake on september 29th. i logged on for the facebook presale kind of on a whim, and i lucked out and found fairly good seats at a fairly good price. i literally could barely contain my excitement at work (yes, i took ten minutes at work to buy katy perry tickets. time theft? hopefully not.), so when somebody eventually asked me how i was doing, i blurted out that i'm going to the concert, just two weeks after we see one direction in los angeles. and my coworker said, you're really living the teenage dream, huh? and i was like you have no idea.

i went to institute with abby at the u on tuesday. i felt like a traitor. it was still pretty good though.

my room is pretty much done, for reals. look out for a room tour post soon. i'm pretty happy about it all, especially since there was so much that i ended up doing myself/with the help of others. i found this quote that has been inspiring me through this process:

if you wait until you have enough money to decorate and make your home your own it will never happen. if you wait until you can afford to buy everything new you are missing the point. it is the old, the new, the made, the hand-me-down, the collected, the worn (but loved) things in your home that make it your own. {stacy risenmay}

i am really proud of the made pieces in my room, from the embroidery to the headboard to the ikea nightstand that i am taking full credit for (i spent three hours building it--it was made by me). i also love the new things i got, like my bedding and my salty bison sign that i loooooove. and i revamped some of the old things i had. i'm in the market for more awesome hand-me-downs, though. i just saw one of my friends who inherited a sweet wingback chair from her grandma--i could really use a chair, people. and our house is in need of a couch. help a sister out.

and, in conclusion: i had no idea how much i missed sherlock until i was finally watching sherlock again tonight. seriously. but i'm still unsure how benedict cumberbatch could be both so sexy and also weirdly weird-looking at the same time. ah well. people probably say the same about me.

kinda weird, right? a little alien-esque.

but here? super sexy. it's also his voice, though, too. i guess he needs to be experienced with multiple senses. not in a weird way.

things that are making me happy right now

in the spirit of choosing happy:

slowly putting together my room. it's kind of amazing, actually, how closely it's coming to what i envisioned. and it's almost done, i promise.

having catered lunches at work. it's pretty great, you guys.

getting to know people around these parts.

new perfume. it's nice to have a new scent once in a while.

frozen. loved it!

do-it-yourself and crafting projects. this is related to getting my room all gussied up, but for other reasons, too. and it's really fun.

family time, which includes going home mid-week for dinner and just dance. i'm pretty lucky.

roommates who are involved and want me to be involved, too.

sisters.

two days off this week :)

finishing the old testament!!!

extra time thinking about the savior, his birth, life, death, and rebirth.

i really can't complain ;)

okay, i'm back

so...i guess i took a three-day hiatus from that whole post-everyday thing, yeah? it has been a crazy crazy week! i feel like i've been running around pretty much non-stop. news from this week so far:

i went to my new ward on sunday and it was good. this was me:

except without any daddy warbucks-type character. though that would have been kind of cool.

my bed came on monday, which meant that mom came early to help me put up my pictures and such. this was me:

i actually really do love it though. i'll have to have a room tour post when it all gets done. i was excited to learn last week that the unparalleled tyler walke has volunteered his services in building me furniture for my new room. ladies, revisit this as soon as possible, please. how is this guy still single?

last night, i went to the foxhill ward christmas party at my old stomping grounds, the joseph smith memorial building. it has been seven years since that first summer i worked as a banquet server. crazy! how did i get to be so old?? anyway, the food was lovely, the program was lovely (if i do say so myself, since i had a role...)--it was a good time. it really has been fun to be at home and back in the home ward, even if i am still in that "i'm not a girl, not yet a woman" phase (so many multi-word/phrasal adjectives happening today!)

most exciting news of today: i got my salt lake county library card. it feels good to be a library-goer again. i feel like i've been doing barely any reading these days, and i was starting to question my own identity. who am i if i'm not reading. it's been something of an existential crisis. but now that's all solved, because i once again have a stack of books waiting for me, most of which i probably won't read but that's just that.

i have about a million posts planned that i just haven't gotten to yet. aren't you all just dying to read about my christmas list and my thoughts about one direction? well, be patient, my dears--there are still twenty more days in the month.

moving out/moving in

everything has been pretty close to the surface over the past couple days. i'm not entirely sure why--every so often i have a couple days where i just want to cry, and pretty much anything will make me cry. combine that with moving to a new place on my own and "leaving the nest" (again), and i've been having a rough go of it.

the good thing, though, is that i know it's going to be okay. even if i don't make a million friends right off the bat or become the social butterfly of the ward or even have everything figured out, things are going to be okay. remember how i have to tell myself that multiple times a day, still?

but overall, i feel pretty good. my space is coming together, and i love all of it. i'm sleeping on an air mattress for the time being (a very comfy air mattress, though) and there are still boxes surrounding me. but it's great. it's going to be great.

special thanks to my family, for so many things, as always: for being here to help me move, for being there to console me, for being the best.

so it's on to new adventures. this sounds so melodramatic, which it probably is. but it feels like a big deal to me right now. so bear with me. i'm sure it will be a fun adventure :)