New/Old Friends

This weekend Jared's friends Joel and Meredith came to visit the lovely state of Indiana. They live far away in Connecticut so we don't get to see them much. I met both of them at my wedding, but haven't seen them since! Meredith and I have become internet budz, chatting over facebook and reading each other's blogs. This weekend we were able to be friends in REAL LIFE! We met up with them for lunch at Yats, where the waiter called me "baby." Then we walked over to Luna so the boys could look through every record available and Meredith and I could have some quality time chatting it up in the aisles of the record store. I also made friends with a very old and sickly looking dog (not pictured).

Yes, I am wearing shorts!! Is it possible that I have accepted the fact that summer is terrible and I have to wear summer clothes to survive? Possibly. Meredith was looking super cute in her vintage skirt and lovely handmade necklace. Later we stopped by Broadripple Vintage (my first time!) to do some shopping but we didn't find anything. Maybe next time! Although I could only hang out with them for the afternoon, it was super fun and I can't wait to hang out in person again!

In other news, many of the members of the Hair Cut Party Council received feather hair extensions this weekend! I chose to go for a feather that blended in well with my hair, but I'm thinking if I ever do it again I'll go for something that will stand out a little more (like purple?). Go big or go home - am I right??!!

Well today I was informed I may be starting my new position even sooner than July 1. Looks like I'll be full-time as an outpatient counselor by June 20th (which is in 2 weeks!!). I'm a little nervous because it seems sooner than I thought, but I'm sure I'll survive. I mean, I've been hit by a car AND I have two tattoos (that's pretty bad ass)! Take that!

Oops all Storms!

I get busy. Most of you know that. I thought I'd share a few of my recent experiences and at least one outfit that I really liked wearing! I am currently taking a summer class, which basically means my life revolves around that class for the duration of the summer semester (thankfully only 6 weeks). It is difficult to do much else because so much work is crammed into such a short period of time. Also, I recently received a promotion at work and will be transitioning from my case manager position at the women's house to an outpatient counselor position at our outpatient office! I'm super excited about the change (and the promotion, of course). So I'm busy trying to train for my new position while still working my current one. By July 1st I will be in my new role full-time. I also got permission from work to be gone for four weeks to go on tour with Rodeo! It's going to be one crazy summer for me, but I'm real excited and just so glad that things have worked out. In July I will also be flying out to Portland to see my bud Danielle, who is being ordained as a minister! Then I'll fly home, work for a few days, and meet the dudes on tour in Chicago.

Also in recent news: there was a tornado in Bloomington! The tornado sirens went off at least 4 times that day. Each time the sirens went off, my brother Zack would put on his bicycle helmet and walk outside to check out the weather. Needless to say he looked a bit like someone with some serious special needs walking around like that:

That night we had many discussions about whether we should seek shelter (it's hard to know about storms). At one point I decided to sit in the bathroom for a bit, just in case. So I grabbed some snacks, my homework, and King James and hung out while the storm raged on:

Of course snacks are necessary for survival (as is the Clinical Handbook for Psychological Disorders).

I was a little nervous about the storm. For a time we also just sat in the hallway, looking out the window, trying to decide if we should wake up Jared or not. Ultimately we let Jared sleep and the storm was over pretty quickly. I didn't realize how bad the storm was, or that we even had a tornado, until I was driving to work the next day. Rogers street looked like a battlefield! I read today that the city lost almost 500 trees due to the storm.

In less scary news, this is an outfit I wore last week to work/school. I recently picked up the skirt at Goodwill but had trouble figuring out what to do with it. I've seen a lot of bloggers tying their shirts and sweaters up so I decided to go for it! Turns out it was super fun! I also have mixed feelings about longer skirts, but it worked out alright.

I love the detail on the bottom of the skirt! It's so flirty! I gotta get my legs out for summer!

Well, that's all for today. I hope you are safe from storms and tornadoes and don't have to choose between sitting in the hallway or the bathroom (neither one is desirable).

Hiatus

Okay, so it's been almost a month since my last post. I promise that I have been very busy with school, work, practicum, and hanging with buds. I have a few new clothing items I need to feature, but I will not be posting them until my semester is over (next week - eeeeee!!). Here are a few things I have done worth noting in the last month:

painted my nails black to show my inner teen angst

bought two pairs of platform sandals from Target to wear every day of the summer

sexted some gurl buds

watched Return of the King at least four times

bought an elliptical machine that is still laying in pieces in my family room

gave up Diet Coke, then gave in and drank it again in the same day

downloaded every ITFOW song so I can be prepared for their big last show

sent numerous emails to my main gal Danielle, complaining about work

sent some hilarious pics taken with my computer to my friends who were trying to study

uncovered my grandma's old accordian that I thought was lost forever

and participated in a traditional Seder meal, in which someone threw up from trying to eat Horseradish.

I hope your month has been filled with incredible experiences like mine! Hopefully soon I'll be back to posting.

Oh, this is my normal study face:

1st Clothing Swap = SUCCESS!

Well I think the title says it all. The clothing swap/haircut party was super fun and a total success! Lots of buds stopped by and brought their unwanted clothing - and lots of buds went home with their arms full of more desirable clothing! I got rid of tons of clothes myself, then realized that half of the clothes Jess brought were hand me downs from me! So half of the clothes in the room belonged to me at one point in time. Yikes. Too many clothes.

We decided to divide the clothes up in to piles since that seemed the easiest way to rifle through clothes. We also divided them up by type of clothing. This whole bed was covered with piles of shirts and sweaters!

We had a bin designated for shoes (most of which belonged to Jess).

A hallway designated for dresses and skirts!

And a living room for hangin' with buds and eating snacks!

And couches to lose your cellular phones in! A big thanks to Casey and her small hands for fishing some phones out of the couch.

There may have been some sexting.... this has yet to be confirmed.

There may have been some snacks...

Some nails gettin' did....

And some sweet inner arm tattoos!

All in all it was a great night! We hope to have another swap in the near future. Also I cut my hair a bit shorter (the council can really talk me into anything - including sexting everyone a picture of my glittery undies). I only took 3 clothing items from the swap since I was mostly excited to get rid of clothes. But now I can go shopping and fill my closet back up!

I finally did it!

Well folks, I have conquered to the tattoo parlor. That's right. I finally got my tattoo and boy do I have pictures to show you! First, a big thanks to Jessica and Tara for going with me and being supportive. Also Jess took a ton of pictures with her iPod telephone that I plan on sharing with you below. Second, I changed my outfit a MILLION times before going to the parlor. I just wasn't sure what would be the most practical thing to wear. So, with that said, I wore a tank top that is not super flattering and that I usually only wear to bed... please don't judge me for wearing something so unattractive. I'm sure you'll forget about it once you see the tattoo and realize how bad-ass I am now.

I am patiently waiting for Adam of Little Blue's Tattoos to be ready for me... and trying not to freak out.

Waiting in a different position.... he's almost ready!! AAAHHHAH!

It hurt a little bit.

Okay, it hurt a lot.

After a while I couldn't really feel much... and starting to get cocky.

Tara was a so patient and such a good friend. She even drove to the ATM for me to get some cash monies since I totally missed the sign that said "cash only."

I survived! And I look very weird and scary! But I'm really excited!!

The finished product. I just earned like 100 scene points.

Now my brother has already made so much fun of me for this tattoo. In case you need an explanation, "Carry the Weight" is a Denison Witmer song (you all know how much I love him). The first time I heard it I think I cried (of course). This is what I do - I carry the weight for other people... and the weight can be really heavy sometimes. So it seemed only natural and perfect for this to be on my body forever and ever amen.

Young Professional

Warmer weather is finally here! While I detest the summer (I can't wear layers and tights aren't the most practical option), I do love spring and fall. I love being able to wear cardigans and jackets! This outfit is what I wore to work on Wednesday (by the way, most of the outfits I post are what I wear to work). I had to participate in a documentary for the Addicted To Music festival at IU. The Addicted to Music team is interviewing myself and some co-workers from Amethyst House about how to help someone who might have a problem with alcohol and to learn about some of the resources available for students. Since I was being interviewed I felt the need to look professional.

I bought this jacket from Charlotte Russe a while ago and had some difficulty figuring out how to wear it! Turns out it's pretty fun to wear, I love all the fabric in the front (it hides my lumpy parts) and I can wear it with dresses that don't fit me that well (because it hides my lumpy parts).

These tights were $5 from Target! Unfortunately I ripped hole in them the first time I tried them on. But so far you can't see the hole, so I will continue to wear them until the hole turns into a gigantic run.

This is one of my favorite vintage pins! I don't wear it that often, but it looked so nice with my tights!

Today is a big day - I'm going to the tattoo parlor at 2 pm.... to get a tattoo! I'm a little nervous because I don't have a high tolerance for pain, but I figure if I can survive getting hit by a car, I can survive getting a bigger tattoo. I'll be taking some pictures and posting them sooooon...

This week I'm actually taking vacation time from work! I'm planning to do mostly school/practicum stuff instead of working. I'm also planning to sleep in every day and NOT think about work. In addition, I am committed to cleaning my room and picking up all the clothes off my floor. And my sister Breezey is going to be in town later this week to do some major sisterly hanging! Let me know if you wanna get some lunch this week - I don't have too many plans!

Announcement!

If you haven't heard already, the Clothing Swap has been officially scheduled! My friend Katrina and I have decided to merge this long-awaited event with another totally awesome event - a HAIR CUT PARTY!! Doesn't this sound like the best night you've had in a long while? Well, if you haven't received an invite yet, this is it. The Hair Cut Party/Clothing Swap will be held at Katrina's home on Saturday, March 26th. The party will start at 6 pm and goes until 10 pm (or whenever we are partied out). If you'd like to come, let me know!!

Life continues to be insanely busy, of course. Monday I helped put together a forum about problem gambling and college students at my practicum (which is why I'm wearing a name tag in this picture). I needed to look professional, so of course I went for a plaid pencil skirt. I really liked this outfit - but I had one major clothing malfunction. Every time I leaned forward, my mo pants caused the zipper of my skirt to go down! Yikes! I think it's time to start exercising. I can't let these mo pants get too out of control!

I accidentally turned on the self-timer on the camera, so while Jared was trying to take my picture, the camera went nuts and started taking all these pictures in a row! Unfortunately that is what created this face. After all the fuss with the self-timer, Jared was done taking pictures, so I didn't get any close ups of all the fun things that were going on in this outfit (like elbow pads on my sweater and bright purple tights)! Also - my head looks HUGE!

I hope you have better luck with your pictures and that the tickle in the back of my throat doesn't cause me (and all my friends) to get sick. I'll be sure to load up on Vitamin C.