{T.I.L. #21}

Today's post on something I love may be a little bit shorter (edited to add: nope) because I'm always pooped on the weekends. I'm especially pooped today because I woke up extra early to attend one of those "do it HERself" Home Depot classes on installing a faucet. I was hoping my new kitchen faucet would thank me...plus I really don't have running water in my kitchen yet. 

When I got there, they didn't really realize they had a class scheduled (even though I registered) so the guy tried to 'make do' by finding one of the plumbing guys to help. And by help, he meant that the toothless worker stocking the shelves was going to 'talk me through' how to install my kitchen faucet. This ought to be rich.

{T.I.L. #20}

Sometimes I enjoy these weekend, 'put-a-bunch-of-things-I-love-all-in-one-post-because-no-one-is-probably-reading-this-anymore' posts. I almost stopped blogging about Things I Love the other day because I felt super arrogant all of a sudden. 'Who cares about whether you like twinkle lights when kids are starving in other countries?' Right?

Then I realized that enjoying life and all the things in it do not make us selfish or arrogant. They also do not stop our hearts from caring for other, more important things like people. I also really enjoy seeing what makes others tick, so 'about me' pages are kinda my favorite. This month has been like one, ginormous, all about me page. In fact, I've just been literally updating mine by cutting and pasting the links to all these posts. Double-duty, people!

With that said, here is some more nonsense so that you can know me better:

{T.I.L. #7}

Since it is the weekend, I thought I'd slip in some of the Things I Love that don't need a whole post of their own. I mean, it is pretty self-explanatory to know that I love Starbucks no-water chai tea lattes. What else can I really say about it? {Other than the fact that it is completely true.}

So, here we go: 

I had wanted to watch this show from the beginning but never made the time to get into it. And, as you know, I have great friends who suggest great shows to me so I finally took the plunge and started at Season 1. Oh.em.gee. Not only is Amy Poehler one of my favorite comediennes, the whole cast is just so great together. My favorite scenes are Leslie's "I'm just a girl" rant, Tom Haverford's food language, and Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa harmonizing their point. You probably gotta watch it to appreciate it, but there ya go.

Also, 

I never realized quite how sedentary some of my days can be until I got my Fitbit flex. Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to increase their health. 

 Speaking of stuff to buy, Amazon Prime has been amazing as I've had to purchase things for my new house. I love that you can get things quickly or you can choose the 'slow route' and get credits toward digital purchases. If anyone is debating about it being worth it, it is. Plus, I like the video streaming and Seasons of Fixer Upper and Rehab Addict on there (its Rehab for houses, not people. Ain't nobody got time to watch real addicts go to rehab. That's called 'my childhood.')

That's pretty much it for now. I'm sure next weekend I'll find a couple more things I can clump together. I know it looks like I'm materialistic after all these posts, so I'll throw in a few that should be obvious. Just in case...

{T.I.L. #6}

Yesterday I talked about art prints from a blogger I really love. Well, that's not the only talented blogger I buy stuff from. My other favorite blogger, Elise Blaha Cripe at Enjoy It Blog is super-talented and somehow manages to be Type-A with a chillax personality. She's kinda the best of both worlds in my opinion. 

Her designs are super simplified (it's obvi that I like simple at this point) but they all have a sort of thematic element that I'm drawn to. I'm so drawn to it that I pretty much own her entire rubber stamp collection.

But that's not the point of this post. 'It's nooooot?' you cry. No it isn't. The thing I really love right now that she just churned out is like having her art prints & stamps at your own fingertips. So:

Digital stamps are one of those "I didn't realize those existed and yet why didn't I think of that?" things. 

I can make my own personalized versions of her work and use it for framing, scrapbooking, screensavers, whatev.

I'm just learning tricks to make it fun and she has some videos on her site to give you ideas. Gosh, I love this girl and all her craftiness she puts out into the world (I actually have another post about her coming up this month.) So, I'll use her favorite word to describe these digital stamps...Rad.

And since it is Friday, I'll leave you with one of the pics I created from her digital stamp set:

{T.I.L. #5}

I feel like I've exhausted the house news for this week, so I'll take a wee break from that arena to tell you that:

I have a specific style artistically and I have searched for bloggers & designers who stand out to me. 

One of my very favorite bloggers is Emily from Jones Design Company. Her art prints are easily my go-to prints and I feel like everything she creates is clean, classic, and beautiful. 

In fact, I love her style so much that when she started offering her Simplified Graphic Design Class, I jumped on it. I am still making my way through the lessons (it is self-paced, which is the devil for me) and I still need to buy Photoshop/Illustrator to practice (um, remember those fridges I spoke of? Photoshop. Fridge. Photoshop? Fridge? Sorry Photoshop. I'm busy saving right now.)

Someday, maybe I'll finally make my way through the self-paced class & start creating art prints for myself. Until then, I always have Emily and her darn cute art prints...

Things I Love Series

One February, 2 years ago, I wanted to share about some topics that were near and dear to me. My idea was to share some 'Things I Love' {or T.I.L.} each day for the whole month. Well, as with most things, my intentions are better than my actions. But hey, at least I know myself, amiright?

Sooooo, since it is February, the month of love, I thought I'd share some more Things I Love. They will be listed in no particular order (ok I lie a little...a few are in a particular order) and I will try so so hard to post one each day because I know your quality of life depends on it. If you want to start with the first batch of Things I Love, you can see them here on my About Me Page.

Here is #1 for 2015:

Get the Guy?

"You seem different...like you are more confident than before," said one of my best guy friends as we were hanging out recently. This may seem like it's not a big deal to you, but it is for me. You see, there are several reasons why this made me grin from ear to ear.

For starters, I've been told by friends that I'm a pretty easy-going, charismatic, jovial kind of person. I tend to agree...untiiiiiillll an attractive boy enters my 'awkward' radius. I seem to turn absolutely robotic. If you don't believe me, ask some of these friends of mine. They've witnessed the brain-mouth delay firsthand. I recently answered a flirty guy with something that sounded like this:

This particular guy friend I was hanging out with is someone who knows me very well and has seen me at my absolute worst/awkward times. Because of this closeness, he also knows the different boys I've liked and flirted with (I use that term loosely); he has graciously given me words to say so that I don't sound like a doofus. Ooops. I might've failed that test though.

To be honest, I've even turned the tables on this same guy friend and tried to DTR with HIM! {I kinda hope he's not reading my blog...I guess it wouldn't matter because although he's darling, we're totes in the friend-zone.} Regardless of where we stand, I was so excited that he noticed a genuine change in me. I'd love to say it's because I'd taken some risks with my hair or started dating someone but it wasn't. I'm going to let you in on the secret to my new confidence...

Matthew Hussey.

Wait! I thought you said it wasn't because you started dating someone. Well, that's true. It's a dude I found on YouTube. I'm totally serious. I've been watching his videos over the last year and I hinted to his program a bit during goal #2 in this post.

When I started watching him and his 3 minute nuggets of wisdom, I wasn't totally sold. His advice kind of flies in the face of what I've always been told. Then I realized that what I've always been told is a load of poop. I started taking his advice and trying it out, bit by bit, until it came more naturally. I've still got a looonnng way to go overall (have you forgotten the above clip of the camel doing Peter Griffin's laugh? I haven't.) but man, I feel like a different person when it comes to confidence around cute peacocks.
 
When I hopped aboard the Matthew Hussey love-guru-train I had no idea he was about to become a wee bit famous. He's now one of the relationship experts on NBC's Ready for Love and he's just released his book Get the Guy!

I mean, even Eva Longoria read his brand new book and called him "a genius who has cracked the code on men and relationships".

He's blowing up! And I knew him way back when...haha. But in all seriousness, he created a system to get women a date with the guy they want within 30 days, and then keep him! It gives you the behind the scenes secrets to how men think, and how to have your ideal guy chasing you for a relationship. He's done events for over 50,000 women (and I'm going to one in Dallas! Keep reading if you wanna come with...)

Here's Matt talking about the attraction formula:

And here's a Q&A at one of his live events:

The good news is that I've bought the book and I nabbed an extra to give away to one of you! But that's not even the best news...since I'm so tight with Matthew's people (you see what I did there?), I've secured 30 special guest tickets to his live tour. I'm not kidding. {Married peeps--don't run away yet! You keep reading too...}

He's going to be holding his talks in San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, NYC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, and Dallas. I'm heading to the Dallas event on May 11th. You can view other dates here. 

You wanna ticket to the live event? Easy peasy:

Just grab a PRINT copy of Matt's book from Amazon. That's it. (kindle/ebook orders won't count towards getting your free tour ticket, so make sure it's the print edition you order).

Once you've made your purchase, email your receipt to me and I'll get your place confirmed. Woohoo. I've only got 30 spots, so get crackin'!

>>>Get the book
 
**And if you are married and made it through this post, I hereby declare it your duty to forward this blog post to a single gal you know! Or better yet, buy it for her and get.her.to.this.seminar.

Trust me...if Katie, the Princess of the Awkward, can start to show some real confidence, then you know this dude's advice is legit! E-mail me that receipt and if you can't buy a book right now, that's ok...still comment or e-mail that you are interested so I can give one away!

WIWIW: Hair

I've done a couple of WIWIW (What I *wish* I Wore) posts in response to blogland's versions called What I Wore Wednesday. Feel free to read them here, here, and here. I ain't got nothing in my closet you'd want to see, trust me. In fact, my jeans are so threadbare and worn that I've split 2 pairs of pants in 2 weeks. If that doesn't make you want to lose some weight and get fit, I don't know what will!

My clever friend assured me that all threadbare pants split like that so I am choosing to believe her. I DID realize that one pair of those jeans was purchased 8 years ago from Goodwill for $3. Maybe it was time for them to go in like 2005?

Back to the point: WIWIW. This week I've been thinking a lot about hair. I've cut my hair before and always regretted it, except for the one time I chose to chop it off for charity. When I donated my ponytail to make wigs, it felt so purposeful. 

Very opposite to purposeful was the time I cut my hair to an Annie-style 'do because my grandfather gave me $100 to do it. True story. I've shredded all those pics but this will give you a good idea of what I looked like:

*Shudder*

The good feeling from donating hair also helps when all the awkward-hair-stage annoyances crop up as I'm growing it back out {which I ALWAYS want to do as soon as I cut it!} This time around, I wanted to give to a charity that makes wigs specifically for kids. So, we'll see if I bite the bullet and go for it.

I've been thinking/dreaming a lot about changing up my hair pretty drastically. Many of the organizations want minimally processed hair without coloring or highlights. Because of this, I wonder if now's the time to go ahead and ponytail it/chop it/donate it and THEN proceed to color it and experiment. What color would I go for, you ask? I've always been drawn to red hair {must be my Irish roots!} and I love how this gal Katie styles/colors her hair. 

Her blog is called Skunkboy Blog and she also makes adorable handmade critters. Awww.

I've toyed around with the idea of going really dark {maybe it's my Native American roots!} or edging more toward my natural tendency for blonde highlights if I spent more time in the sun. My hair typically looks like these pics in that perfect world of sun and no responsibilities (read: when I was 13):

I also like some version of those blonder looks but with the ombre style that allows for darker roots (a subtle, natural dye job though). Something like this:

Just kidding. Nast. I mean, like this:

 Or this:

 Not so much this:

I guess if my hair is chopped, I can't pull off these longer ombre styles as well. I may have to wait for that until it grows out a bit. 

Any ideas on what might look good on me? Should I go for it?

T.I.L. #5

Y'all remember when I mentioned I'd been payin' off debt aggressively? Well, I took 2 steps back in this area around Thanksgiving. Hear me out though. I think you'll find that it was probably needed(?)

This Toyota Camry has been an amazing ride. She's been with me for 12 years and I got this car right after I graduated from college. You see, I'd only had one car previously and its name was Doo-Doo Brown. Partly because my last name is Brown, partly because it was a brownish color, but mostly because it was a piece of poo. Many weekend nights my friends & I would drive by my lonely car chillin' in the school parking lot because it wouldn't start. It served me well my freshman year at A&M and I am grateful. Oh, I definitely abused ol' Doo-Doo Brown. I once parked it in 'Fish Lot' way across campus for 2 weeks and when I retrieved it, it was covered in bird poop (Doo-Doo White?) Seriously, A&M parking lots are like scenes from horror flicks involving crazed birds! In fact, there was so much bird poo that I ran into a pedestrian (thankfully he jumped out of the way just in time). He took one look at my car after cussing and started laughing.

On my way back down my sophomore year {with my sissy transferring in! yay!}, ol' Doo-Doo died on the side of I-35 near Waco. I called my dad to deal with it and I never saw it again. We high-tailed it in my sister's car the rest of the way and shared her car for a couple more years until graduation.

So, as you can see, the one-year old Camry was the fanciest thing I'd ever driven. And I drove her to the ground (kind of):

Once I hit that mark, I decided it was time to get another ride. I was losing hubcaps by the hour and maintenance costs started to add up. I didn't want to buy a new car because I am soooo close to being debt free (I would make an exception for a house though...doesn't count to me). But rather than hold on to this idea I'd had, I decided to start looking for something I'd love as a replacement. I had a list of things I liked, didn't like, and didn't care about. I searched some lots and found them to be just awful. Horrible deals, high pressure sales, and they treated me like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, only I was flaunting good credit, not a wad of hooker cash. It was ridiculous.

Thankfully, a friend's wife saw my plea on Facebook and directed me to her husband's new business: Sign It Drive It. He basically FINDS the car you are looking for and gives you a great deal on it. No pressure. No gimmicks. No shady business.

I know Jake's family and his business partner seems like a great guy. They are a local small dealership but waaayyyy better than any of the other guys. Please give Jake a call if you are in the market for a car. Here's what he found for me:

Haha, nope. That's what I traded in...here's the slightly pre-owned ride I'm sporting now:

It's a 2012 Nissan Rogue (note the spelling...the 'other' dealer before Jake kept writing Rouge. I couldn't help but call it that after seeing him write it so many times!) It ha(d) 6,700 miles on it until I got a hold of it.

And I absolutely enjoy driving it. And it has 4 hubcaps. And room to carry crap around. And it's fully loaded (which I didn't care to have before...but is it wrong that I now use my seat warmers as a heating pad after a long day?)

Before (oxidation and rust suit her well, don't ya think?):

 After:

I mean no disrespect to Camry-girl, but this car is Bad-A! I can officially say I like driving now. So boo to all you high school folks who didn't understand why I was nervous about highway driving. When your car shakes above 55 mph, you'd be scared too. Now I have to be careful that I don't go 90! Anyway, I waited to share the news in case Jake sold me a lemon. Which he didn't...and he wouldn't. But now it's official:

WIWIW: Joyfolie

Since it is Wednesday, and tons of other peeps are taking pics of What they Wore, I thought I'd continue to show you What I *Wish* I Wore. You may remember why? If not, read this and this and you'll see that this way REALLY is better!

On to the beauty that is Joyfolie. Once you click over, you may see this...

and be thinking, 'You want to wear baby girl boots? Whaaa?'

Well, yes. I wish they were in big girl sizes, but look a little closer and find the 'Women' section. It is only a few items, but she is expanding. And so is my wish list. For every item she puts in there, I find myself drooling over it. 

I already own these:

 but I got them for a ridiculous discount. I'm so glad I did!

I just adored this whole outfit and I'd totes dress like this every day if I wasn't fending off rogue sharpies and spastic sneezy-snot children: 

I did, however, buy those boots for Christmas (at another amazing discount...see a theme here?)

 
The sad part has to do with my trying them on. See how they look so roomy with her darling jeans all tucked in? I was like, 'oh, I'm sure these will fit my 

ginormo man calves if she's swimming in them!'

Um, no. Could.not.zip.them.up. Almost but not quite. Surrriously?! I'mma have to send these back because my calves are massive and fit no boot on this earth? Dag.

The next day, I thought I'd give them one more go just in case I was having a fat calf day before. Maybe I could start a Project Shrink the Calves?? Well, whuddyaknow? Zipped right up.

So, hope to be sporting these soon (apparently, depending on the day.) But sadly it won't be with that gorgey outfit and it'll be a hearty hell no to tucking in anything thicker than a human hair.

Anyone else feel like this when they are trying on boots?

No? Just me then?

WIWIW: Scarf-Tastic

You may have heard about the What I Wore Wednesdays around the web; the basic premise is that some mommy bloggers take pics of their wardrobe to inspire them to dress up a bit. I think it's a cute idea but I'd probably scare off the 11 of you who are faithful readers if I posted mirror shots of my 2004 Ann Taylor top or my 8 pairs of Toms in rotation. I'm not even sure how many ways you can wear your hair in a bun, but I've been doin' it successfully for 10 years. {Wow, maybe WIW Wednesdays WOULD be good for me after all!}

Well, anyway, until I get up the courage to pose for WIW, I decided to post about  What I Wish I Wore (WIWIW)! I come across some great blogs and people with fashion sense that I really love, so these posts are a shout out to them. 

Because of the colder weather and my complete adoration of scarves, I decided to post about Wendy's Lookbook and her amazeballs scarf tutorial. 
Yes, she's gotten famous because of this video.
Yes, it's already circulated the interwebz. 
Yes, I just used interwebz with a z. 

Regardless, I *heart* this video and I'd like to try out each one of these styles. I think I might need more scarves though!

Isn't it incredible? The video landed her national fame & her boyfriend a sweet film job as a bonus. And of course, more important than her well being & happiness, it taught me not to be afraid of styling scarves. 

My only question for you guys is this: Does anyone else feel like they've just taken off one of these after an evening in a scarf? 

No? Just me, then?

4 Simple Goals

After reading this post from a blog I love called A Beautiful Mess, I decided to play along. This blog is great because it covers so many areas of life. I am also partial to it because it is written by two creative sisters and I happen to have an incredible sister myself {if only she and I could work together. man, what an awesome job.} Anyways, how cute are they?

I often get overwhelmed by life and work and making/reaching goals, but I thought the challenge to write '4 Simple Goals' might be right up my alley. Because on any given day, I could sing "I'm too lazy for my goals" (while borrowing the tune from these guys) to describe myself.

So, I'm gonna do it. I will post mine in picture form because that's how I think. I'm pretty visual, so maybe they'll stick better that way? *fingers crossed* Time will tell, folks. Time.will.tell.

Here you go if you want to keep me accountable. I'll post back on

 'the P' to report how I've done before 2013 rolls in. Update here.

I have had several opportunities to dance like I used to (swing, Country Western, ballet, hip hop, ballroom, flamenco) but I have chickened out lately. I'm not really sure why (well, I guess because I'm afraid I've lost all dance ability and will look like a complete fool!) But, I'm going to just try SOMETHING before the year is up. Here's to hoping it's like riding a bike. Only with a sweaty partner. And using every muscle in your body. On your tippy toes. Eeek.

I'm a hopeless romantic. I believe a boy should stop traffic to tell me I'm beautiful or ask for my number. Only that's kinda unrealistic I'm finding out. Oops. Thanks a lot, rom-coms and Twilight (Edward LITERALLY stopped traffic. But he also sparkles in the sun, so....back to my aforementioned goal #2). Since there are no Mr. Darcys, Mr. Knightleys or sparkly vampires inhaling me in science class, I guess I need to be more open to how modern men actually behave.

I have always hated walking and running but I know it is good for you and I want to love it. Or maybe just LIKE it. Plus, I want to participate in a race when friends get together for a Turkey Trot or a Reindeer Romp or a Cupid Shuffle (I think that's a dance, not a race. In either case, I'm still in: see Goal #1).

You ever notice how many people can just join a 5K race on any given weekend? "Hey, I think I'm gonna go do a mud run on Saturday after my spin class." What?! I honestly have to talk myself out of using a motorized cart at the grocery store after a long week of work. But no more. I want to stop disappointing my dog every night (seriously, look at that face! She does that EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. while simultaneously glancing at her leash.) I'm using the 8-week C25K app on my iphone to help me keep track. If only it supplied the energy...

Friends who know me have heard me use the phrase, "I'm saying 'yes' to life!" It's super cheesy, but it is what I have to do. My default answer has been 'hell to the no' when it involves risk-taking or stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm over that. That life is safe but boring. I have a lot of passion and creativity and I'm not afraid to use it. Ok, yes I am. But I'm ready to take some chances before 2013!

That's it! I'll update if & when I start meeting these 4 Simple Goals. Feel free to comment about your own 4 Simple Goals or leave a link to your blog/Facebook/Twitter/other cool social media tool I'm probably not using...I'd love to see who else (besides me!) needs a kick in the pants for the rest of 2012.

Blake Mycoskie: Annoying or Adorable?

I’ve always been a Toms-shoe wearin’, Blake Mycoskie-lovin’, hippie-at-heart prepster. {Well, as long as Toms have been around. The hippie/prepster thing was before that though, I promise.}

My 6th Pair of Toms...the new flats!
A gift from my sister for my bday.

So last year, when Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie wrote a book called Start Something That Matters, I was equally thrilled and annoyed. Does everything this guy touch turn to gold?? I mean he’s adorable and so are his shoes, but really? I think I was not-so-secretly jealous because I want to publish a book and he does everything with such ease. Or so I thought...

I learned about the program called Books for Bloggers that he was doing--they send me his book for FREE, I read it, review it on my blog, and then give another one away for FREE. Goes right in line with Toms’ one-for-one concept, doesn’t it? Clever boy, that Blake (you like how I think we are on a first name basis now?)

I was excited because I really wanted to read it, as I had some ideas that had been stirring about a non-profit and giving back, etc. As soon as I signed up for it and was selected, doubt set in. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t read it because of this jealousy...would I give it a fair shake?’ But they assured the bloggers that a bad review of the book was just fine. Well then, sign me up.

So here we are. One year later. I suck at the Books for Bloggers program. I NEVER follow the timeline that others have for my life--in fact, I downright resist it at every turn. But hang with me...at least I’m honest.

The two FREE books sat by my bed for months (yes, months) as I struggled with my desire, curiosity, and apathy to read what he had to say. I honestly wasn’t ever in the mood to read about the golden boy and his life-altering story, especially when my own life was in the doldrums. Even if I HAD a million-dollar idea, I am living with my mom to pay off tons of debt. There would be no way to pursue it...so I’d probably get frustrated...so I just won’t read it. Mature line of thought, isn’t it?

Then one day, the guilt of getting 2 FREE books set in. I overcame my frustration with myself (which was ultimately the problem, not sweet little Blake) and started in on the book. I read pretty fast, so I was halfway through in no time. His style of writing and anecdotal emphasis made it read that much faster. What I thought was going to be a detailed recounting of his glorious story turned out to be nothing like it. Yes, he shares bits of how Toms gets started...but it is nothing like I expected. It was very inspiring, moving and informational at the same time. What I didn’t realize was that the book is less about him starting Toms Shoes & more about YOU starting something that matters. {Which it says on the back of the darn book, duh.}

Halfway through the book, he asks you to stop and put the book down so that you can let it resonate in your own life. ‘What matters to you?’ he prods as he walks you through the process of figuring that out. I genuinely took his advice, put the book down, and let it simmer. And simmer. It took a month or two for my personal inspiration to arrive. Once I wrote it all down and prayed through it, I picked the book back up and finished it in a day. He takes you from inkling to inspiration, all the way to implementation of your idea.

I have to say, you don’t need to wear Toms shoes, or give back to orphans or desire to solve world hunger to enjoy this book. But if you are entrepreneurial by nature {which I am!} or you long to work in line with your passion, then this book is a must-read. Take that advice from someone who let it collect dust out of ridiculousness and fear. I sincerely wish I had read this last year when I received it, but I honor the process that my mind took to be ready to receive the information. I am not re-counting all that the book entails because I think it is about taking a personal journey. Each person gets out of it what they put in, and I hope his book continues to inspire people to live out their passions. I know it has for me. I will let you in on my specific inspiration at a later date but know that it is in the works...

So, on that note, I am giving away the FREE book! (Finally, right? Sorry Blakie.) I would give away my copy as well, but he lists lots of resources that are helpful. Therefore, it is a book that you might want to reference from time to time in the future.

Who wants a FREE copy of Start Something That Matters? If you feel like it, you can also post a review on Amazon when you are finished with it (though that is not required in order to win the giveaway.)

Leave a comment by finishing this statement about your passions/life:

                     If money were no object, I would ______.

I will randomly pick someone at the end of September {yay for Fall!} and send you the FREE book. Feel free to share this post on your blog or Facebook page...or just send the link to a friend who might like this book for FREE. Did I tell you it was FREE?! Ok, thought so.

Princess and the Plug: Oh Happy Day!

                         

               **WARNING: Shameless plug alert!**

I want to use my first 'Plug' post to introduce you to a friend and co-worker of mine, Ashley. I have never found someone at work who shares so many likenesses to me, and yet, with such a different personality. It is awesome!

Just today after school: we shared some jokes, shared some serious stories, talked about our upcoming trip to Canton (my first time there!), and then we laughed/cried as I demonstrated this dance move I am 'working' on, with a twisted ankle {from doing something ridiculous at work yesterday I might add}, ALL while holding onto two uneven recycle bins to steady myself. Did you follow that run-on?? Yeah, that's what our friendship is like...and I love it.

Since she is part of the inspirational 'push' I needed to expand my blog world to more closely match my personality, I decided to make a shameless plug for her super-cute-crafty blog (click on pic) and her online store...seriously people, she can make just about ANYTHING! Check her out.

{More pics to come of our trip to Canton...they will probably be of me making this face because I'm too broke to buy anything, but oh well! At least the company is great, right??}

Katie