So. It's 1:30 am and I have no idea when it got this late. I suffer from OCD and it time gets away from me a lot. I was finishing up my Galaxy Prints tonight ... You know how they say, "you waste __(amount)__ of time sitting at red lights your whole life" or "you waste __(amount)___ of time watching tv your whole life"....well - I am sure I surpass all of that with my OCD. I get so lost in it sometimes and the worst part is that I know I do... I wish I was blind to it but I'm not. So - if you suffer like I do, just know that you are not alone. Before I call it a night, I wanted to post my finished galaxy prints that I am so proud of and will have up for sale in my Etsy store which I am currently setting up! :) Coming VERY soon, I hope! You can refer to THIS post for a behind the scenes video when I first started this project. So without further ado - here are all 12 Galaxy/Zodiac Prints(I will make a post when they officially go up for sale on my Etsy page):
Well, I can't believe May is basically over. I really love May and not just because it's my Birthday but because it's always so beautiful in Pittsburgh. The weather is always perfect and it's not too hot or not too cold - all the leaves and flowers are out and it just makes me so happy to see this!
I want to start by saying that I started a new book called In Order To Live by Yeonmi Park. I am not finished yet but I can't seem to put it down. She went through so much and it truly tells you the struggles in North Korea and what goes on in the country we know so little about. She is an incredible human being for going what she went through and still being such a positive voice. I am sure I will finish it in the next day or two but I highly recommend this one!
On Sunday we went to a car show that our friend entered his car into and we had a blast. They had a wine tasting and beer tasting tent set up where you paid 15$ to taste it all! You cold get into trouble fast if you weren't careful. I did get to try something new - a coffee flavored wine! I bought two bottles it was so so so good!
Matt ended up winning 1st place in his class and got a trophy. We were so happy for him! We then asked that he and his wife Nikki come join us for dinner and a game night- we played all sorts of games and stayed up while we drank wine, listened to music and I even read Matt's Tarot Cards!
I have a couple of days off of work and have been keeping busy with yard work and little projects around the house. Brian went back to work today and I have off until Thursday so instead of tackling my 1,000 projects - I decided to ENJOY the time I have off and not get caught up in the house. My parents got me a bike two Christmases ago and with planning our wedding last year I wasn't able to find anytime to ride it. I made up my mind to take it out to North Park today as I was getting sick of seeing it just sitting the garage even though I was going to have to go by myself. I think a lot of the times I didn't take it was because I had no one to ride with...well today I said "screw it, I want to go and I'm going to!"
I tried to make it fit in my hatchback today. It may have worked out better if I had a smaller bike but I really fell in love with the vintage ones that are HUGE. I had to remove the bike seat and wiggle it into the back but I made it! I made sure to lather my pale self with sunscreen and I was on my way!
I was halfway to North Park (it's only about a 20 min drive from my house) and it started to get VERY grey outside. It looked to just be a very small but VERY angry set of clouds but I continued my journey to the park. It down poured and I was afraid that after all my work to get the bike in the car, I wasn't going to be able to ride it. The rain only got worse and so did the thunder but just as I thought, it was just a quick summer storm and it moved through in no time. That made me so happy.
It was hard for me to mentally tell myself to pack up my bike and get to the park without a proper bike rack and having not ridden a bike in... well, years. I struggled to get the bike out of the trunk but I succeeded and attached my seat. I then started my fit bit on the bike setting and took off! There was still a slight drizzle and I have to say that it felt so good since it was getting to be about 80 degrees and it was really humid.
The lake at North Park is 5 miles so I mentally prepared myself to finish it. I use to run it during high school when I was in Cross Country. I loved running that lake but I'm 34 now and not in the best of shape, even for a bike ride.
Angry Clouds Pictured Below:
I look so tried - lol- it's the no makeup look!
Saw a deer:
See him in the center?
North Park is SO BEAUTIFUL!
Yep- this is after my ride- 5.5 miles! I was so tired and dreaded putting my bike back in my trunk. I took the seat off and started wiggling it into place and a guy that was running even yelled over to me, "BARLEY FITS!" At that moment, I decided to go to Dicks on my way home and buy a bike rack.
Bike Racks are not cheap and I had to get one that would fit my hatchback. I also picked up a helmet. Now I'm broke for this pay but hey- i got the Bike Rack and now I don't have to struggle getting it on my car...right? WRONG- this thing was a BITCH to put on and the instructions are totally so ...vague. I am so glad I decided to visit my parents on the way home from Dicks so that I could ask my Mom to help out holding tools and extra straps for the bike rack. My Dad came out and helped me get it on the rack itself - I love them so much for always helping me out! I'm assuming now that I have it set up that it will be easier get on and off and that since I know how to get it on there and fit SNUGLY it will be much smoother next time... We will see. Tho- you know what? Pat on my back for getting shit done! :)
I was a little bummed I didn't think to take my go-pro and shoot a video of the lake- I got it out and I'm ready to mount it for next time though (maybe later this week)! Here is a short cell phone clip I shot just to show how peaceful the ride was! :)
Lastly I just wanted to say I picked up these lovelies at Ulta this week! I am in LOVE with this brand guys! Pacifica is 100% vegan and cruelty free and that makes it a winner in my book! I don't paint my finger nails very often but I do paint my toe nails and I have to say - I love that the nail polish (on top of vegan and cruelty free) is 7 Free! You can read about it on the site here. No - I am not paid for this- I don't even know if I have readers of my blog...but I am all about good in this world and being vegan and cruelty free is so important to me when it comes to my makeup- I'm still trying to work on the diet thing...but that's another story. P.s the perfume hair and body spray, Tahitian Gardenia, was my favorite but there was also another one I loved that smelled like vanilla!
Okay, I'm exhausted! Goodnight all and I hope to have at least one or two more posts together while I am on my little vacation from work!
I have a very exciting coffee date tomorrow with the woman that read my Tarot Cards at my Bachlorette Party and I can not wait to sit down and talk with her about the cards and magic and eeeepppp! So happy!
Hi. Hello! My Birthday Happened. Yeah. May 13th is THE day...
I was actually born on a Friday the 13th which I'm very proud of! My Mother almost had two Friday the 13th babies- my sister Erin, who is a little over 2 years younger than I, missed Friday the 13th by two hours- She was born in the early morning of Saturday, September 14th! That would have been cool though!
So here's the recap on things this past week or so...
Oh! Before I start- I need some opinions:
I am saving for a new Nikon DSLR camera. I have to say that the focus is going on mine and it's about 7-8 years old. I would love to switch to a Canon BUT I have a lot invested in my lenses with Nikon... so I think I'm stuck. I can tell my photos just aren't as sharp anymore! I want to pay for it up front- it's so easy to just stick things on credit cards- I find that working to save up and pay for it not only helps me not build debt but makes me realize what I really want to put my money into! Do you guys have any thoughts on some Nikons? I'm looking at this one: D7200. I'm not shooting weddings anymore - it's more for me and my artwork and taking photos of family and what not - opinions????
Ok- next:
Brian and I joined a 5k on June 17th called Restore the Shore - I will keep you posted with how training goes. I'm determined to be healthier and do some 5k's this summer!
Now on with the blog post:
My Parents took me out Saturday May 6th for an early Birthday dinner and then headed back to their house for cake! They had raspberry sparkletini waiting to celebrate- which I love!
I have a thing for unicorns and they know it...
Meems even put one on my cake- she is adorable and I just love it!
Thanks Mom and Dad! <3
On Sunday, May 7th, my Mom and Erin took me out to breakfast. We did it a week early because my little sister was going to be graduating college on the 13th!
CONGRATULATIONS SEESTER!
I am so proud of her!
They took me out to breakfast and invited a surprise guest! My dear friend Nikki came along! I was so excited to see her and have her join us, it was so thoughtful of my Sister to invite her along!
We ate at a small diner near the Airport called Eggs N'at (it's a Pittsburgh thing). It was so good but very busy there.
Nikki got me the most beautiful print and frame from Etsy! I have a thing for lavender if you didn't know already- I mean, I have it tattooed on me ;)
Nikki, Me and My Seester!
Mom aka: Meems
After Breakfast we stopped at my Sisters house to change into comfy clothes and she took us to hike along the Panhandle Trail which was really cool! It actually was where an old railroad was and they put down a stone path. The entire trail is 29 miles - we only hiked about 2.5 of that!
It was a beautiful day to hike- a little on the chilly side until you started to get moving. It was so nice to be outdoors and in the sun!
Look at all the nature! It's so refreshing!
Side Note: I can't tell you how much my life has changed with my new job. I have time to do these things that I didn't before. The medical field was so difficult to work in- unless you want to do it and have no free time. Here's to new chapters and taking chances!
Okay - onward...
We stopped by this small town on our way back to her house that seemed like it was out of a story book! It only had a little corner store where you could get bread, milk, ice cream or pizza! The homes were so old and had so much character- they were all so well maintained!
I had to try their Strawberry Banana Smoothie and it was SO GOOD!
We stopped back to her house before we left back home (she lives about 30 mins from the area where I live) and got to visit with her adorable puppy, Rocky!
He's such a good boy! He doesn't tear up his toys like our dogs do!
So on my Birthday, Brian asked me what I wanted to do for the day and then we planned to go to dinner in the evening. We ended up staying home since Chance hasn't been feeling too good and we were gone a lot of the day and didn't want to leave him again. I am okay with doggy snuggles and kisses instead of dinner anyways! :) My request for the day was to go hiking at North Park and then for him to take me to get a new record! Sounds like a perfect day to me! We found some pretty awesome trails at the Park and hiked for about 2 hours!
I really like being in the woods
After hiking, we stopped by the record store... Brian really likes music but it's not on the top of his list of fun things to do so this was really exciting to me! He got a Jimi Hendrix record and I picked up Simon and Garfunkel and The Mama's and The Papa's! I LOVE The Mama's and The Papa's - I am so glad I picked it up and for only 6 dollars! WOOP WOOP!
Here's Chance and Bear as we hung out that evening:
I feel so bad- Chance must have jumped on the bed and hurt himself and he's been acting a little sore lately so we are keeping an eye on him and if things don't improve soon, we are off to the vet.
That face though...
Brian then gave some gifts - he's so thoughtful- and sang Happy Birthday to me! :)
I had a great Birthday this year- even thought I think it's the first year I wasn't counting down or even relatively excited about turning a year older... ;) Thank you to everyone who made it so very special!
I have to also include that I help plan our yearly retreat at work and I get to view the hotels- well I found one that we HAD to go and see to take a site tour! I want to stay there on my own sometime even though we live right outside of Pittsburgh- I'd have to spend one night downtown with Brian there- it was incredible and so unique! Here are a few of the 100 photos I took to give you an idea of how neat it really was:
I feel like these photos don't do it justice. It was that amazing and unique!
Another Side Note/Random Thought:
I have been trying my best to keep up with blog posts- I tried doing it twice a week and then once per week but I think it's going to be pretty sparatic. I am still working on the constellation prints and some monsters when I have the time (and if my plate wasn't full enough, I am trying to write a book too! That will take a lot of time though and I only write when I'm in the mood so that I don't stress myself out over it)- I really hope to get an online store going ASAP! NO EXCUSES!
