11 Things:

I miss filling out questionnaires like this on the regular, just for fun in the good old days.  I'm so glad Beca tagged me because there's really no way she'd know that I have a nostalgia for filling out & answering surveys, questions & even forms for random things.  I just really love filling in blanks!  Enjoy!

There are five rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

1. This is the first time in my life that I've ever had straight bangs.  My mom used to always cut my bangs like this when I was little & I'd push them aside.  Side bangs, anyone?  

2. I have a fond love of reptiles.  My iguana, Wall.e is the cutest thing on earth & loves to have his neck scratched because he just can't reach anything with those T-Rex arms.  One day I hope to own a chameleon named Pascal.  

3. I was the only true blonde in my elementary school in Rubidoux, which caused a bit of bullying on behalf of being so darn different.  I was also taller than everyone & had glasses & braces, oye.

4. I can pretty much speak Spanish but am so nervous about it because of the above fact.  I was in a bilingual kindergarten class, have had to use the language with one of my ex's families & my childhood best friend's family, as well as at work & in school for the 3 Spanish classes I've taken.

5. When I was younger I couldn't eat fat.  My mom had to buy me fat free milk, I gagged at the site or bite of fat on meat, & I couldn't handle eggs or avocado because of the fat content. 

6. I am a lot more sensitive that people think I am.  My mom says that I used to be "hyper-sensitive," to sounds, situations & over stimulation, to the point of tears.  I also had separation anxiety, which couldn't have helped.  In high school I tried to prevent my sensitivities from showing by being more of a jerk than I needed to be.  I think that I might have finally evened out now, at the ripe age of 26.

7. I recently stopped drinking beer & eating gluten.  Since I gave up these little pleasures I have not been bloated or nauseous once.  Instead, I drink red wine & opt for gluten free goodies like corn chips or rice crackers, yum! 

8. I have a very high tolerance for pain.  When I get a cut or wound I barely feel it & am perfectly fine, but if I let my imagination see & feel it like I should, I get queasy feeling in my stomach & more of an emotional reaction than when I initially got the wound.

9. Like Beca, I also highly prefer old country music.  This goes all the way back to growing up listening to my mom's old cowboy records & old western music like Happy Trails, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Don't Fence Me In, & Red River Valley.  I think that modern country music is anything but country, it's pop-rock with a twang.  

10. I don't have any phobias.  If I see a spider - I find something to pick it up with & put it outside, if I see a bee - I don't really do anything even though I've been stung 8 times, if I see a snake - I just avoid it or pet it if it's someone's pet.  The ideas of sharks don't bother me in the ocean & I've heard bears outside my tent while backpacking before.  For some reason, I just never get scared.

11. I could eat brown rice for any meal of the day, every day & I'd be perfectly happy.  I cook it with a bit of broccoli & top it with soy sauce & I am in heaven.  

♥ Beca's Questions ♥

1. If you had to put 3 things in a time capsule for future generations, what would they be?

A copy of Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, an iPod with headphones & a portable charger, filled with my most loved & cherished music, & The Muppet Show anthology.

2. What is one skill/craft you wish you could perfect?

Rag time piano.  I've been playing since I was about 6 or 7, & to be able to perfect the playing of my favorite songs would be amazing.  Especially Scott Joplin's The Entertainer & Maple Leaf Rag.

3. If you had to describe yourself in senses, how would you smell, feel, color, taste, etc?

I would smell like California wildflowers, feel like sleek feathers, be the color of a Southwest Sunset, taste like citrus & sound like a mockingbird.  Also, I have to say that because you asked this question you must now read A Wrinkle in Time series because in book 3 there's a character who describes people solely on how they smell.  

4. How do you take your coffee or tea?

Coffee with vanilla coconut creamer, tea with sugar & cream if it's black, plain if it's green, only sugar if it's herbal.

5. What is your favorite junk food/go to snacks?

Tacos, nachos, loaded {bacon cheese & sour cream} potato skins/baked potatoes/fries, & popcorn.

6. Describe the wall in front of you. What color is it, what's hanging on it?

The wall in front of me is spring green with a huge window on it, looking into my front yard filled with California wildflowers, hummingbirds, bees, lizards & frogs.  There's even a box turtle out there hiding & maybe even one of our cats, watching the wildlife.

7. If you could keep any animal for a day, without fear of getting maimed or killed, what animal would it be?

An elephant.

8. Have you ever sewn anything? If so, what was your best project?

One year, for Christmas presents I made my cousin Amanda & aunt Emily both purses of the same design but with colors to fit their personalities, with button & hand stitching details.  

9. Who in your family do you think you are most like?

While I look more like my dad, I am more like my mom than anyone in my family & that's a fact.  I want to be a teacher to help children & teach them about nature & bugs & how to read.  I pick up plant & animal names really easily, & have an expert green thumb.

10. It's Sunday afternoon, what do you wish you were doing?

On a Sunday afternoon I wish I could be sitting on the window seat, looking into the front garden while it rains, drinking a cup of earl grey tea, & listening to the sound of my record player spinning Joni Mitchell.

11. What was the first blog you started reading regularly?

Bleubird Vintage.

♥ My Tags & Questions ♥

I tag Francesca, Ruthy, Bradee, Stina & Amy.

1. Have you ever been in a haunted house & do you believe in that sort of thing?

2. Do you have a large or small family & which do you prefer?

3. Are you a cat person or a dog person?

4. If you could travel anywhere for a day, where would you go?

5. What is your favorite book & why?

6. Do you speak any other languages?

7. If you were to host a tour of your hometown what would you do?

8. Do you have a comfort food & if so, what is it? 

9. If you could live in any time period, when would that be?

10. Which character in any movie or television show do you most relate to?

11. If you were a dinosaur, what kind would you be?

Happy day!

♥♥♥

Oscar Night:

It's Oscar night here in the southland & what better way to spend the night than being decked out in my best pajamas, drinking two buck chuck while cuddling with Turbo in front of the boob tube in anxious await of the results & the big show in general?  I mean, isn't this a night for celebration?  I think every day is a celebration, so why not celebrate for those lucky few who get to take home their very own naked gold dude?  I'd like to some day celebrate this event in style.  Hosting my very own dinner party, themed to whichever film I personally dub best picture.  With "The Artist" in running this year I'm missing out on a spectacular party of old Hollywood glam!  There would be the best finger foods little money could buy, champagne a'plenty, guests in their best tuxedos & red carpet worthy dresses.  We would politely banter instead of fighting over who the winners should be.  As hostess, I would make sure to put on my best old Hollywood accent & try to get Mike to do the same without it sounding like a gangster flick.  & all would be well in the world.  Another bonus this year is the returning host, Billy Crystal.  Like every good Oscar host, Billy's got it all, comedic timing, charm, charisma & has been around long enough to hold his own on the red carpet.

& who doesn't love a man who's palls with the Muppets?

Whelp, I hope you all  enjoy the show tonight & don't bicker too much about who should have won what.  Have fun & celebrate!

How do you usually spend Oscar night?  Do you have any party plans?

♥♥♥

The Art Of Roller Tapping:

Yesterday I was blabbing about how I'm taking up tap dancing & how it makes me so happy to dance in those lovely shoes with metal.  Well folks, I've been shown something of astounding brilliance.  Something I probably saw as a young girl but never remembered.  Something of pure magic.  That's right, Gene Kelly, roller tapping aka tap dancing on roller skates.  How many years of my life have I wasted without the though of combining these two magnificent talents into one?  All the while, not knowing that this was already in existence!  Anywho, no regret.  Let's move forward & know that one day, I will master the art of roller tapping!



Till next time ladies & gents!  Oh & don't go breaking your neck trying out these sweet moves.  Safety first!

♥♥♥

Spinning Right Round:

For the longest time I've been in a strange blogging rut.  So long, that I can't even tell you when this started.  Things I've been posting lately have been on a rigid schedule that doesn't fit my form.  Which really has no form.  In all reality I'd like to just go with the flow & blog whatever I please when I feel like it, because that to me feels like truly inspired blogging.  But I digress.  The point of this blog is supposed to be a happy, whimsical place for me to share what I like, love, have found, am interested in, am doing lately & such.  Not a place with a schedule, a time-line, a routine.  Don't get me wrong, routine is good, but where does it get me?  Well, it gets me avoiding my blog so that I don't have to see what's on the schedule & don't have to blog what I should.  Instead, I'd love to come to this blog wanting to post things for the readers & for myself.  I want this to be a place of inspiration, of joy, of learning, of loving & of friendship.  I want the posts to spark imagination into the readers minds & make them want to get out & play!

I have recently taken up a few majorly fun hobbies just so that I can get up & start moving a little bit more.

Hula Hooping:  Well, I had a hula hoop for years but it was the cheep kind from the grocery store with the little beads in it.  I was at Target recently & stumbled upon a magnificent hoop filled with distilled water.  The weight was spectacular & I left the store, hoops in hand.  I've been doing it every night & almost every day since then!

Tap Dancing:  When I was about 5 years old I wanted to dance.  I wanted to be a ballerina & I wanted to tap.  The problem was, I suffered from separation anxiety.  So much, so that I couldn't even be at Sunday school or day care without my brother having to leave his class to take care of me because I was crying.  Being out on that dance floor was no different.  Without anyone, my mom, my brother, nobody, well I just cried.  I couldn't do it.  Fast forward 20 odd years & you'll see me every Wednesday night at the dance studio, learning some moves & pretty much every day at lunch practicing steps, clickity clackating away!

Hello Giggles:  To put a bit more pep in my day, I've become a daily reader of the blog Hello Giggles.  Not only does it provide witty anecdotes from breading your cat to karaoke, but it also provides some much needed inspiration & heart.  It really is a friendly place for women to share things with one another & I'm so happy to be able to visit this welcoming place on the web whenever I'm feeling blue.

Let's see, what else have I been doing to cheer myself up on the daily?  Well, there's the shows New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother & Big Bang Theory.  Those always cheer me up.  There's also Netflix & it's assortment of musicals, gangster spoofs & it's selection of Walter Matthau films.  Grumpy Old Men, anyone?  

I'd also like to have more time in my day for jumping rope, bike riding, roller skating, ice skating {when Mike takes me out}, gluten free cupcake baking & drinking a glass of champagne because every day is a celebration.  But all that, all of these little things that keep me breezy throughout the day are my inspiration for this blog.  They make me want to share all of this whimsy with you! I hope that this happiness trend sticks & I hope that you all come back for more every day!  Thanks for reading! 

What keeps you inspired?  What do you like to do for fun besides blogging? 

♥♥♥

Juice Me:

I am probably the biggest documentary fanatic out there, especially when it comes to blogging about them.  Trust me, I have other hobbies!  I walk my pup, Turbo daily, I read for over an hour every night & I also like to partake in the elliptical at lunch.  These are just every day hobbies, not mentioning the camping, diving, hiking, climbing, swimming, jumping, skipping & singing I love to do on weekends.  But, with that said, there is a new documentary in my heart.  Continuing with my love of this earth, my body & what is real, here's a documentary about feeding your body real food.  It's called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead & it's mainly about juicing!



Now, with the universe & it's crazy cool way of working, I have a bit more news & linkage for you.  This morning as I was browsing my Pinterest homepage for inspiration, recipes & such, I came across a delightful link to the most beautiful Strawberry Mint Spritzer.  It wasn't just the recipe that intrigued me though, it was the blog itself.  The language used & the links I saw.  So, I began clicking away.  & just what did I find?  Well, I saw a post titled, Health Benefits of Juice Feasting.  You heard right, feasting, not fasting.  A key word which makes everything so clear & yummy sounding.  While juicing, you are getting the same amount of calories you normally would, but on top of that, you're getting a feast-full of nutrients directly to your blood stream with no fiber to process.  You are filling your body with more good than you could ever imagine & it will thank you for that.  & that's just what Linda's site is.  It's a blog filled with recipes to fuel your body, each being a feast of nutrient rich, delicious food!

I'm sold.  I've been sold on this idea for quite some time, but this was the straw that broke my back.  On top of this documentary, I've found this amazing blog & that's really all I needed to try this.  Before moving to Seattle in June I plan on doing a 10 day juice cleanse.  Once we move, I'd like to try an extended juice cleanse to reset my system & prepare it for a life without a fridge filled with condiments.  {more on that later}  Until then I'll be trying some of her other recipes out, such as Cauliflower Pizza Crust & Baked Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs.  Don't those look amazing?  I love me some spaghetti squash!  & this is the perfect answer to my pizza dilemma!  I can't wait to try them both out.

Time-Out:

Why, hello there empty computer screen which I am to type on as if speaking to an audience.  How has your week been?  Oh, blank you say?  Sorry about that, I'll try to pay more attention to you, it's just that life get's in the way.  & here is a bit of that for you.

Turbo, the first child of myself & Mike, is now four months old.  With that came his rabies shot, access to dog parks & time for training!  Lucky him.  Last night while out getting his food, as he searched for long lost goodies under the racks in the stores I found myself a little piece of doggy training.  A manual, if you will, on how to Train Your Dog Like a Pro.  Instead of stories & technicalities, this book is at it's best a step by step guide on the technique used to train your pup.  I cannot wait to work on this with Turbo!  It has a DVD with step by step visuals on what you are going to be working on which I'll watch tonight & hopefully after his walk I can even get a training session in!  

Since Turbo already has "sit" pretty much down, I'm going to continue working with that & begin incorporating the other first level commands.  Sounds so official!  

Oh well, that's what's been happening here.  Fun times in the land of puppy-hood!  

Kinda Wordless: