Monthly Archives: April 2016

A Week of Disappointments

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This is pretty much a big rant. You’ve been warned.

It all started when my brother decided last week that the house he lives at must be worked on. My parents and I discussed this briefly and somehow I became the horrible one for suggesting that if my parents were paying for repairs, it should be done on their timeline. They felt rushed, I felt rushed, we both didn’t know why he couldn’t push it out a week if the contractor told us to start when we were ready. But they were mad at me for not being gung ho.

That’s how I became the horrible one. With the race being that weekend, I really didn’t want 2 people and 2 more dogs and moving furniture to be part of the mix.

It happened anyway. We discussed it Monday and on Tuesday, I spent my afternoon driving out and moving boxes and books and directing heavier furniture to clear three rooms worth of stuff with others.

Tuesday night, I readied a space for 2 extra bodies and 2 dogs who are apprehensive of change.

Wednesday evening, I come home and find out my SIL is sick and my brother recently had a stomach bug.

Thursday I get chills, discomfort, and a fever at work and leave at lunch.

Friday I don’t feel better and take the day off to rest so I can be ready for the race on Saturday.

Saturday comes. I’ve spent half my night in the restroom. I have to fold my cards and tell the crew I can’t be there for the event.

All because my timeline doesn’t matter. Because, you know, I haven’t been working on this event for the whole year and meeting Saturday mornings planning this. So it was a bigger inconvenience for my brother than me.

I don’t think so. He also denies my being sick has to do with him or his wife. I think the fact we all had the same symptoms, touched the same surfaces, and were under the same household suffices as enough evidence to that.

So no race, no free time, no workouts, no eating good foods. This week was full of disappointment. I bawled my eyes out Friday night knowing I wasn’t getting better, and then Saturday morning, when the reality sunk in, that I wouldn’t get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Two vacation days gone, one year of work to not see it in action, and feeling terrible both physically and emotionally. That was this past week.

I’m finally back to eating normal food although I fear coffee would still be a bad idea for my tummy at this point. ‘Hoping to hit the gym Friday and get back into the groove.

Life sucks sometimes.

Fitbit Bits #4

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I still haven’t strapped my fitbit back on since the whole cord fiasco. I’ve gotta eat crow for that. But moving on…

I’m moving!

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That’s a screen capture from yesterday. I use an app called Swarm to privately log in my workouts. Only my friends on the app see my check ins.

My boyfriend is on board with the gym too and that makes keeping the commitment so much easier because on nights we see each other we plan it into our schedule. We do our own thing at the gym but it’s still nice to have a buddy go with you. He lives too far to work out consistently with me but we usually get a gym workout in on Mondays and Wednesdays.

My parents made some hurtful comments last night about me being too busy and that I should focus on myself and my health. Well, yes, I should keep my health a priority, but what the heck guys, what do you think my gym stints and passes on your junk food offerings are? Chopped liver? It makes me upset because it negates all that I am doing and makes me feel like all they see is my outer self. Yes, I don’t look like I’ve lost an impressive amount of weight, boo-fricking-hoo. If they’re going to just judge me by appearance than I will never have their approval. Which is why at this point, I don’t care what anyone thinks, except that if they don’t have words of encouragement, I don’t wanna hear it. It hurts me more because blog-as-my-witness, I’ve told them that after the event this Saturday and my bible study wraps up 1&2 Thessalonians, I am keeping my schedule more open for organizing, cleaning, working out, eating right, etc. They know my intentions and yet keep ignorantly commenting.

On the plus side, I feel better in my clothes even though the scale isn’t moving much. I’m dealing with water retention problems after hard workouts and still haven’t found a good solution. And my event this Saturday is going to be awesome and all the work everyone is doing behind the scenes is worth it. We’ve raised nearly 30K so far for foster youth and that’s before  event day of donations and our silent auction!

12 Days until Race Day!

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The race and foster festival is almost here! Like, less than 2 weeks away! I’m so excited. The culmination of our year’s worth of efforts will finally be put to action very soon.

I have so much respect for all charity races now, especially ones that are just starting up. It’s A LOT of work, and there are so many people behind the scenes to make it possible.

You start your year hoping that enough donations and fundraising help spread the message and provide you a backbone for all that happens. Then you run into little setbacks and people trying their hardest to secure a race place and work with the city to set the route and all the planning aspects. You work on race cards and flyers and hand them out hoping businesses will let you display them on their community boards and that they catch the attention of people around town and county wide.

This is my first year on board, for the fourth annual event. Our race numbers are the highest they’ve ever been which is a good sign, and God definitely put a hedge around us as other charity races around our timeframe were cancelled due to low sign ups. Now we are just praying that rain doesn’t get in the way.

I have learned so much about foster youth and some of their struggles. And I know what I currently understand is only a tiny amount. I think I naively assumed for a long time that all foster children wanted to be adopted and one of the primary reasons to foster was to adopt. The reality is that the heart of fostering is providing a temporary home and safe environment where you can foster hope, love, and encouragement. Sometimes that leads to adoption, and sometimes that leads to a child reuniting with a parent or a relative gaining custody. Sometimes children do wish to age out of the foster system with no plan of being adopted. Sometimes they place their loyalty in their parent(s) and refuse. Our race helps pay for things the state may not be able to offer, like orthodontia, extra curricular activities, and learning programs – things that help boost self-confidence and prepare them for a bright future.

Next Saturday and Sunday, we go to the site and walk through plans and do our training with volunteers. We need an estimated 200 volunteers, we’ve grown so much!  I’m just flabbergasted at that. 200 volunteers from all over the county have stepped up, local businesses and big corporations have stepped up, and the feeling of community is just so overwhelming. There are so many hearts unified for a great cause. This is what fuels us for next year.

Scent-imentals

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Are you a fragrance fan?

I am. I’ve been a fan since I was little, cuddling up to my mother’s neck and smelling some sort of loveliness on her. Scent often plays a narrative in mood or gives us an extra memory for our five senses. Now that my sense of smell is gone more than half of the year, I internally weep for the delight I took in smelling food and fragrance. I find it’s more important for me to wear something now as I have no idea how I smell and I fear -although my hygiene is definitely in check- that my scentless self might be offensive.

As a teen, I owned some sunflower scent that I sprayed in my hair and a tiny bottle of Poeme I treated like liquid gold. On my 16th birthday, I was gifted a beautiful perfume in a glass bottle shaped like a lily. It traveled to me all the way from France. For my graduation, my auntie gifted me J’adore. It was so strong and I couldn’t distinguish the notes so it sat sad and untouched for a long time. I couldn’t understand the full beauty of those scents because my young nose was still wrapped around cheapie jellybean vanilla scents from the drugstore and 5 for $20 body sprays at Victoria’s secret (who hasn’t spritzed Love Spell in their lifetime?)

Vie Pivee
J’adore
Poeme

I lived in body spray land until college. That’s when my nose and paychecks offered me the freedom to sniff things in glass bottles rather than plastic. The first one that stood out to me was on the endcap at Target. Not only was it dainty, it was on sale. It wasn’t sweet or fruity like my usuals. It was heavier, woody, mossy, musky, spicy, but still toned down with a good amount of sweetness and some florals mixed with fruit. It was a little of everything. I think the complexity is what won me over. And yes, it was a celebrity perfume. By Hilary Duff. But it was an oriental and most other celebrity scents were sweet fruity scents. And I was shopping Target’s limited offerings. This perfume made me feel quite mature. It was a mental note I needed as I was exploring independence and individual thought.

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With Love by Hilary Duff

Nearly post college, I found two perfumes I gravitated towards because of their lightness. I think this was a combination of preparing for career-hood and office settings. I wanted to smell approachable and pleasant, and I found those qualities in the ever popular ‘Daisy’ by Marc Jacobs (who I just love as a designer) and the more romantic and unique ‘Giulietta’ by TOCCA. I’d say my nose is almost over Daisy. Everyone wears it, and in the heat of summer it’s sometimes sharp to my nose. But it tells a story, and is a gorgeous bottle – the first scent investment I made with a designer label. The first and only scent I’ve been gifted from a man is also from Marc Jacobs. Josh gifted me Lola our first Christmas together. That scent is a bit heavy and old lady, but in the most romantic and refined way. She doesn’t get spritzed much but she brings back happy memories when I see her bottle in my perfume tray. It’s like he gifted me an eternal rose and the contents are the bouquet.

Daisy by Marc Jacobs
Lola by Marc Jacobs

Giulietta is my signature scent. When finding a signature, many people opt for something that connects with them or that is off the beaten path so they are distinct from the crowds wafting Thierry Mugler’s Angel, Viktor and Rolf’s Flowerbomb, and all the top sales from the Estee Lauder, Lancome, and Channel counter. I would say both come into play for me, but it’s the scent that really won me over.

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Giulietta by TOCCA

 

Giulietta is elegant and romantic without being stuffy, like the warmth of a kind hearted woman that is soft and sweet and considerate. The scent is rather clean but feminine and there’s a little fruity floral with a creaminess at the end that just seals the deal for me. She is perfect for the day into the evening, work or pleasure, and while she isn’t as lasting as some perfumes, she lingers on you just like a hug from someone dear. Her label tauts notes of apple, pink lily, ylang ylang, vanilla orchid, rose, and woods.

Now that my nose is dysfunctional, I’ve decided to add a scent to my collection rather blindly. I’ve been enamored by the bottles for years, and even if it doesn’t end up being something I love, it will be a bottle I’ll adore every time I pass by. It is Lolita Lempicka EDT. EDT, because I’m still wimping on the fact it might be too heavy for me as an EDP and the whole nose issue.  It’s supposed to smell like a fairytale, and if anyone knows me, they know my fascination with fairytales and and fables.

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Lolita Lempicka EDT

What scents would you consider signature, or if you’re not into fragrance, do you have any scent memories?

Spring Cleaning

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First wave of Spring cleaning: my mind!

Start here this year and I guarantee a better physical decluttering experience of your stuff. You live in your home many hours of the day but you live in your mind 24/7.

Toss out thoughts of self hate and doubt.
Organize your goals and plans for the future so you can access them daily.
Dust off personal achievements so you can see how far you’ve come.
Take care of issues that are keeping you from peace.
Last but not least, save room for good things and don’t let negative things sit in their spot.