Hottest Day Ever!

How exactly do you enjoy getting dressed and living when it is 107 degrees outside? I love this new top and skirt, but you might notice that my face is looking a little bedraggled. That is from having just finished 'Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins. It's the third in the 'Hunger Games' series, and just devastated me. I love young adult fiction that tells it like it is, no covering up the feelings when you lose someone, no easy answers to complicated questions, just honest human interaction. These books are brilliant, you must read them.

Top: Target

Skirt: Target

Belt: Target

My apartment looks deceptively clean behind me! hahahaha

Food and Fashion

If you haven't noticed, I'm taking a turn on this blog. I'll be talking about my life in general, food, fashion, all kinds of things. I hope that you all, my faithful few readers, will stick with me while I figure myself out here.

I've been trying to make a effort to look good everyday, but with the heat that we've had it's been a challenge. This pic is from the end of the day, after I pulled my hair up to cook, after I took out my earrings and took off my sandals. This top is an old faithful and I hit myself for not purchasing it in five or six colors.

Shirt: Torrid

Shorts: Lane Bryant

Tonight's dinner is my favorite easy recipe - Taco Soup. I make variations of this depending on what I have in my cabinets. Tonight I made it with Ground Turkey, but usually it's beef. And, yes, that is a glass of Kool-Aid.

Taco Soup

1 pound Ground Beef or Turkey

1 packet Taco Seasoning

1 packet Ranch Dressing Mix

1 can Diced Tomatoes

1 can Kidney Beans

1 can Lima and/or Black Beans

1 can Whole Corn Kernels

1 can Sliced Carrots

Brown the meat in deep pot, sometimes I will caramelize some onions first and then add the meat to cook, drain oil off then add both seasoning packets. At this point I like to add about an half cup of wine or Balsamic Vinegar, but it's not necessary. Reduce liquids. Add all other ingredients, with the water in their cans. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. I sometimes add pasta. This can easily be done in the Crock Pot and it is delicious!

Blue Tuesday

Ohh, the uselessness of an alarm that I can easily sleep through. Yesterday started in a rush, when I woke up to the realization that I had been sleeping through the alarm by about 30 minutes. My hairs didn't get washed, since I knew I was headed to a haircut that night anyway, but I was also feeling super uninspired by my closet. I am officially starting another shopping ban, so it's all about remixing for the rest of 2010. This top is one of those things that I can throw on and get complimented on all day. I actually have no idea why, but it's super soft and comfy in the heat.

Top - Lane Bryant

Jeans - Lane Bryant

Pink Chucks - JCPenneys

I must find someone to take pics for me so that I can stop doing to in the mirror style ones.





Love my Chucks!

Loves to cook....

One of the many joys of living on my own is getting to cook. Or rather, not having to cook, and not having to justify my food choices to anyone else. Tonight, after attending Pecha Kucha at Starline, I came home and fixed myself a fried bologna sandwich.

Yum, look at that fried bologna deliciousness!

I also adore my newly organized pantry cabinet ---->

I'm Back!!!!

Hello all! I've been going through a lot the last couple of months and have missed getting to share here. I think I'll just jump back in the deep end.

I have been a resident of Fresno for just about five months now. I love living in Fresno! Love it. I will never understand people that complain about where they live. If I am bored with my city, I think that it is my responsibilty to create or find something to do. As my grandmother used to say 'Boring people get bored', and that is not me. I love that I can walk my neighborhood, go to Twee Boutique on Friday afternoon and craft with the girls there, find a friend at one of the bars in walking distance any night of the week, and that there is live music every night within an eight block radius. Living on my own has been great. I clean when I feel like it, which is never, but nobody else has to live in my sloppy house. It does get lonely and sometimes, even if I force myself to get out and socialize, I still feel I'm missing out on something.

Friends, I've never really had a long term romantic relationship. Sure, I've had guys that I dated for a few months, but never an honest-to-god, I could spend my life with this person, relationship. It's frustrating and humiliating in a way that I think few people can relate to. For the last ten or so years I've thought 'What is wrong with me?' I certainly don't have the romantic notions of one person for everyone, that I had as a little girl and teenager, but I do believe that it should be possible to find someone that thinks I'm tolerable. That being said, I do have pretty set opinions, and am not willing to settle for someone that I don't feel tugged towards.

So Kelly's and Stacy's mom (Kelly and Stacy are friends from high school and Encore Theatre days) is getting certified as a life coach. She needs to get hours together with clients before she can be certified, so I'm going to be one of her guinea pigs. There is, of course, a minor issue in the opening questionnaire. It asks questions like 'What would you like to get out of this experience?' or 'How do you want to grow?'. To which I say, I don't know, that's why I signed up for life coaching. I don't know what I want. Heck, I barely know what I want to wear each day, and clothing is something in my life I actually actively engage with. I'll keep you updated on this front, I might even ask for help from a few of you.

Speaking of help, I need a full time job. If anybody knows of someone that is hiring, please let me know. Thanks all!

It's Time

Friends,

After much thought and soul searching I have officially decided to shutter The Date Project. It seems that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all, since all I have managed to do is hurt other people and myself in the process.

I will be blogging on my Belles and Whistles blog again and will continue to talk about clothes, guys and life in general, only in a much looser fashion.

Thank you to everyone for the love, support and input, and for taking this crazy journey with me, it's been truly life altering.

My Time Off

Well Friends,

It's certainly been awhile. I am officially a resident of Fresno, and my little apartment is looking really cute so far. I've been a busy girl, going from working at Laura's to rehearsal to Rogue volunteer meetings and back to Tulare to get more stuff from the family. My parents have been super cool, providing me with everything I needed to get going in my new home, and grandma gave me so many groceries, I won't have to go shopping for at least a month.

Unfortunately, no dates. Actually, my friends, I have a confession, I have begun a relationship. Sort of. You may remember ARN that I went out with on New Year's Day. I wasn't sure how I felt about him, and frankly, he lives in Oregon at the moment, so I wasn't expecting anything to happen, but it has. We started talking online, on the phone, texting and it just escalated. It's still nothing official, and I'm frankly freaked out by it's advancement. Feeling slightly crazy about that.

I am a skittish girl.