31 Days of Adventure: Day 4

This whole adventure thing is turning out to be quite an interesting adventure in itself.  Today's adventure was feeling a bit shy for most of the day.  No matter how closely I looked and stopped to ponder, it just refused to show it's bashful little face. There were events and happenings, sure, but adventures?  Psssh.  Not even.

And you wouldn't even believe where that little sneaker turned up today.  On Twitter.  Right?!  Who would think to look on Twitter for an adventure?  But there it was all bright and beautiful staring back at me from the Blackberry while I waited in line at the grocery store.

Care to see it?

I have no words for the feelings I get when I look at this picture.  One of my very bestest is playing this adventure game with me this month, and these are her beautiful kids.  She posted this as her adventure today, and I realized how much I look forward to seeing what the day brought her.  I was on Twitter for the sole purpose of seeing if she posted anything.  I honestly felt excitement when I saw she did, and that's when I realized someone else's adventure was my own.  Not because I was physically there, but because my heart was invested in it, fully present and experiencing this moment.  Seeing this picture fills me with joy in ways that probably can't fully explained.  In it, I see her dreams realized in a son and daughter and know that they have the greatest Mom and Dad that God could have ever picked for them.  And because she is my soulfriend, her adventure is mine.

3 Years....

 

3 years ago today, you had to leave us.  Too soon, we were left without your smile, your humor, your friendship, and your love.  Not a day goes by that you are not remembered and missed terribly.

Love you whoadie.

Simple Mind, Simple Pleasures...

Oh good gravy, people, do you have as much stuff as I have?  I mean it's like a Belongings Party all up in my homestead.  My lovely parents were kind enough to load all of my belongings that were still behind in the Texas and haul it all down here when they came for a visit. (Ed. note:  My parents RULE parentdom.  Fact.)

When I first moved back to my home sweet home state in March, it was after having been out of work via layoff for almost a year and a half.  I was a little bit broke, and due to circumstances, couldn't afford to transport anything.  But, I had an unbelievable living situation fall in my lap that I could not pass up.  So I loaded my tiny little Mazda 3 down with whatever pomeranians and clothing and miscellaneouses could fit and drove on home. No furniture. No bed.  No nothing.  My dear, darling friends, Shara, Amanda, and TJ, met me at my new townhouse to help me clean and get settled.  I sat in an overwhelmed heap in the middle of a room FULL of trashbags while my little busy bees buzzed all around me, cleaning and organizing and mother henning.  I owe those girls. Huge.  Were it not for them, I would undoubtedly STILL be sitting amongst those trash bags in a fetal position, trying to figure out just where to put everything considering the whole "no furniture" thing. Amanda and TJ loaned me an air mattress and sheets that I would end up sleeping on for a good 4 months.  Some would call them friends.  I call them angels. (OMG, can you believe I said that?!?! hahahahaha. My cheese-o-meter REFUSED to budge unless I typed it! Ha!Sorry! Live, laugh, love, and all that.)

Point:  After living so sparse for a good block of time, it kind of frees the mind a bit. I've been unpacking and unpacking all of the stuff my parents brought me, and while there is a good bit of it that I intend to keep for want/need purposes, I realize how much of the stuff I "needed" is really just stuff.  Something about the sentimental reasons I keep things goes by the wayside when I've lived without it for a significant amount of time. Or maybe it's just in the grand scheme of life, when you've been through the fire, it all of a sudden seems so trivial.  The sentimentality behind it can remain, but the material thing is just that: material. Just because I'm getting rid of that glass dolphin (yes, I have a glass dolphin. Shut up, you know you do too.) that I've been hanging onto all this time, because ohmygosh, I got that from so-and-so that one time at that thing with those people, doesn't mean I'm garage sale-ing the memory, you know? 

Wouldn't life be so much easier if I could just apply this thinking to all areas of life?  I don't want that shirt anymore because it no longer fits or serves a purpose in my life.  Can't I say the same thing for an unhappy memory or an unresolved hurt?   I've been hurt. BAD.  So have you.  So what good does it do us to let ourselves feel that ache everytime a certain song comes on or a reminder pops up?  There needs to come a point when the scar has formed just enough that I can choose to not wince when something hits it.  How much of it is actual pain, and how much of it is just a habit?  How much of it is the fact that I want to hold onto it because admitting it doesn't hurt as much means admitting that I'm letting go?  Nobody likes to let go.  Nobody wants to get rid of their crap that's buried deep in the recesses of home and heart.  Because it becomes comfort.  It becomes what we know.  But what if we cleaned out our hearts/minds like we cleaned out a cluttered closet?  What if we vacuumed and swept and Febrezed the heck out of our spirits so that anytime we open that door, we're bombarded with the scent of fresh and clean and airy?

Whew.  That went down a totally different thought path than I was expecting.  I planned to tell you all about my Electric Youth perfume (with the hot pink lighting bolt inside the bottle!)(!!!!), but instead we had therapy.  What do you guys think?  Do you have cluttered lives? Cluttered emotions? 

Let's share a group hug!

The Rest of the Story...

So here it is.  The reason behind the cryptic message requesting your awesome.  I needed this dress.  On the cheap, no less.  And don't you know it only took me two Goodwills to find it.  And it was only $5!  Holler!

So to ease your troubled minds, here is The REST of the STORY: (you said that all Paul Harvey-like right? Good.) 

(*Plus 10 cool points for those of you who made my day and tried to guess the answers.  I heart you.)

Alright, so I'm looking for a dress that is required for a 50's party that is coming up in the next couple of weeks. As long as it fits the theme and doesn't have a poodle on it (because I HATE POODLES! DISLIKE!), then it'll work. Oh, and it can't cost more than $20. Follow?

My BFF's parents' 30th wedding anniversary was this month, so their wonderful children threw them a fantastic surprise 50's themed sock hop.  And because my BFF is a bit theme party obsessed and would likely fight me in the parking lot if I even dared consider not dressing up, I began the hunt for The Outfit.  And you guys?  Costumes are expensive, yo!  My initial plan was to go sort of 50's housewife a la Stepford, but don't you know that's impossible to do without spending $150 on a Vintage Frock or whatever.  BFF was all on the whole poodle skirt bandwagon, and, just...no.  I couldn't do it.  On principle!  I cannot have a poodle on my person!  I cannot! (My sincerest apologies to those of you who have poodles that you love and cherish and who provide you with the companionship you so deserve.  I am very happy for you and your poodle because although I DISLIKE! them, I do not want any harm to befall them and am happy that you are providing them with love and care.  But please, keep it over there away from me and don't make me look at it.  But still, happy for you.)

So yeah, poodle skirt is not an option, and I found several that had other appliques like records or music note which is fine, however, they all cost like 30 bucks.  Which I know is not outrageous or anything, but y'all, I still don't have a j-o-b and 50's costume was never in the "Food, Clothing, Shelter" list of needs my Dad raised us with.  So sorry non-poodle skirt.  You will not be coming home with me.  On my second Goodwill trip, I found the above dress. WOO HOO!  It was a couple of sizes too small so I had to cut the seam all the way to the waist in the back to allow for all the breathing stuff that the medical community insists is so important.  But I'd say it worked quite well.  Except that it smelled like a Goodwill and I forgot to wash it until the day of the party and it's made of really high quality classy rayon so it was all DRY CLEAN ONLY and yeah right so I threw it in the sink with lingerie soap to do some handwashing.  And then I was in such a hurry to not be handwashing this dress that I didn't exactly rinse it all the way so instead of smelling like a Goodwill, I smelled dinstinctly like a 90 year old woman IN a Goodwill.  So there's that.

My lovely friend, Amanda, loaned me her cute little white shrug, and I got the ribbon for my hair and the waistband for like $3 or something at a fabric shop. Then there were the shoes. The adorable, pinching, suffocating, blister making shoes I had to borrow.  See, the party was an hour and a half away from where I live so I was getting ready at a friend's house nearby. I bought some faux Keds at Wal-Mart to wear with these little white bobby socks.  Don't you know I was all ready to go before I realized I left my shoes at home.  An hour and a half away.  I yelled a few words I think.  I can't be sure.  But my darling friend had these cute pair of Steve Madden pumps with a kitten heel, and because I didn't see myself strutting into this party with my Asics on, I figured I'd have to make them work.  Here's the thing:  I wear a 9 1/2 shoe.  Except in Steve Madden's, which I have to wear a 10, and even then there is zero wiggle room.  The shoes she loaned me?  Were a 9.  Sometimes, you just have to commit to the character.  I wore them and danced and twirled and laughed all night about how agonizingly tight they were because apparently my Self thinks that kind of thing is funny.

And then we went home and drank orange juice while reading the news and making sarcastic comments.  Because that's what they did in the 50's.

500 Days of HOT....

Alright, movie star sighting.  Here we go...

(Before I begin, I would like to say that I am aware that it has been like 100 years since I first mentioned this, meaning it has pretty much lost all it's glitz and glamour and mystery and all that, so I have already prepared myself for your disappointment. The end.)

So, last week, I met up with 3 of my cousins for a girls' night of Mexican and Margaritas at my all-time fave Mexican restaurant downtown.  For reals, they have the BEST fish tacos you could ever even imagine eating. 

Fact: Cousin Val was seriously debating whether to get the Special of the Day - Flautas or go on my recommendation and get the fish tacos.  She decided on the flautas because "they're special for a reason."  Once the fish tacos showed up, I gave her a bite of them, and her eyes got huge and she said "Don't you hate that moment when you realize you ordered the wrong thing!" Mmm hmm, sure do. Those poor flautas were special no more. Moral:  Respect the fish taco.

We're waiting for our table buzzer thing to go off, and all of a sudden, Cousins Chelsea and Austin start whispering frantically and looking towards the door.  I tried to turn around to see what was so whisper worthy, and they both shriek/whisper "NO, DON'T LOOK!"  You know, because we're in high school and stuff.  Then Chelsea says "You know that guy from 500 Days of Summer?  He just walked in."  Then I said "SHUT UP OMG I LOVE HIM HE IS SO CUTE OMG YOU ARE LYING THAT WAS LIKE THE BEST MOVIE EVER ARE YOU SERIOUS CAN I TURN AROUND NOW OMG."

Do you know who I'm talking about?  Joseph Gordon-Levitt!  I've seen a bunch of his past stuff and sure, he's cute and all, but man, 500 Days of Summer?  He was so stinking cute in that movie that it effectively created a mega crush causing me to regress at least 15 years at the sight of him.  And I will tell you this:  homeboy is even better looking in person. (Also, how stinking cute was Zooey Deschanel in that movie?  Don't you just want to be BFF with her?)

So yeah, I turne around and there he was with two other dudes talking to the hostess.  Here, I took the liberty of creating an artistic re-enactment to better help you grasp what was happening.  But really,  I just wanted to cut and paste some things.

Look how close he was to us!  I mean, we're practically holding hands!  I guess the table wait was too long for them because they went right back outside.  Which coincidentally I had to do also to "take a call" on my cellphone.  (What did we do before cellphones really?  How did people successfully follow famous people without a cell phone to pretend talk on?) 

He and the two dudes with him were standing not far off (discussing topics such as how hot that girl on the cell phone is), and I realized he is kind of standing right in front of my car!  Right when I'm working out The Plan in my head about how I have to go get something out of my car or whatever and I will just casually be like "oh hey, I loved your last movie" and then he was going to be like "wow you're hair looks really amazing short like that, can I get your number, and do you have a dress to wear to the Oscars", Aussie came out to tell me our table was ready.  Darn it all to heck!  So because I am a good friend and didn't want to keep these girls waiting any longer for dinner than they already had plus I have a raging case of Chickenitis, I aborted The Plan and went in for fish tacos.

(Which were WAY better than those flautas.)