Creative and Crafty

I scratched it. That itch I was talking about? I scratched it. I crafted. And I had FUN. I spent a lot of last week watching the DIY channel and surfing Pinterest (weird) and found a few things I wanted to do. So on Thursday I spent my lunch scouring the city of West Des Moines for everything I needed. I'm still looking for a few things, but all my projects don't need to get done RIGHT NOW. I got some great deals at Goodwill, Dollar Tree and Michael's and headed home. I poured myself a glass of wine, turned on HGTV, and got at it. Toby wanted to help.

And here's what came about after my crafting... TA DA!! 

After an evening full of crafts, I decided to rest my creative brain for the weekend. Friday was celebrated with friends and the newest X-Men movie and my mission to read ALL the X-Men comics. I'm still in the process obviously. Saturday was full of football and friends and an early bedtime. Sunday was my favorite. It was a beautiful fall morning - just a little crisp and a bright, shining sun. The roomie and I walked up to Smokey Row for coffee and breakfast, and on the way home we decided to take a mini walking tour of Sherman Hill. These houses are AMAZING. I want to live in at least 7 of them. And I definitely want to flip at least another 10. Now if only I had that unlimited budget to do so... Instead of flipping a house, I decided to watch other people do so in Flip or Flop (hello HGTV marathon) and relax. Wonderous. Sunday night consisted of the WWE Divas and some cranberry and apple stuffed chicken, purple potatoes and peas. Noms. And then straight to bed. Snore.

Today you guys. It was a hell of a Monday. No thanks. But what I had to look forward to was my first volleyball game in YEARS. I joined the YPC volleyball league and was so nervous. How embarrassing. I used to be pretty good at volleyball - and maybe a little too competitive. I was put on a team with people I didn't know and loved it. My arms are sore and we went 0-3, but it was fun. So my Monday nights will be full of volleyball for the next six weeks. And maybe I'll bust out those spandex. We'll see. And we'll see if I can actually move tomorrow.

Tomorrow I get to hang out with my long-lost gym buddy who just got ENGAGED! Wine night after we both work is going to be wonderful... we've got lots of catching up to do. Better make sure I get plenty of wine after work... don't want to run out!

Well I'm going to flip between The Middle and Kitchen Crashers and see what kind of dreams I end up with. Stay tuned for more creativity coming from me. It's happening you guys. It's happening.

xoxo

S

Craft Itch...

It’s that time of year again kids. That once a year time where I get the craft itch. This craft itch started a few years ago when one of my best friends was getting married. I was to be the Maid of Honor in her wedding and wanted to do something special from the bridesmaids and myself. So I did what any normal girl would do. I logged in to Pinterest and started my search. I found an idea I thought would be super easy – and managed to make it 1000 times harder. This project was for a “Letters to the Bride” where each bridesmaid would write a letter to the bride and send a picture with the two of them as well, put it in a book, put it together and BAM – perfect wedding day gift from the best girls in your life. Easy enough right? Well here’s the thing. I don’t really craft. Like at all. But I thought it would be easy enough to turn this into a scrapbook for her – and do it in their wedding colors. Black and white were simple and classic – this should be CAKE. Until I realized I didn’t have any of the correct tools to make said scrapbook. I had to enlist another friend’s assistance in what to buy – because I had no idea. This was such a stressful project for me. And really it wasn’t THAT hard. Picture, name, letter, glue it together, done. I put it off till the week before the wedding (which actually yesterday was their second anniversary so congrats guys!!) and barely finished it in time for the actual ceremony. On the morning of the wedding, the girls were all eating breakfast together when we gave it to her. Tears ensued (yay!) and I was greeted with “But you hate doing crafts! This makes me love it so much more!” But I hated it. I haven’t done another scrapbook since. I even gave away all the scrapbook paper and stickers and such to my trusted assistant because I bought everything thinking that SOMEDAY I would learn how to scrapbook. Maybe another time. I just don’t have the patience for it. I tried.

Last year’s “craft itch” was less of an itch to MAKE something, and more of a trip to the dollar section at Target (the devil) when their fall décor came out. I ended up with big coffee/soup mugs, some mini scarecrows, a little bin with leaves on it (because why not?), and a little paper pumpkin that I arranged on the island in my kitchen. I also hung up a fall sign that was passed down from my grandma. I bought every Fall smelling candle at Bath and Bodyworks and burned them simultaneously. I didn’t even care if my house smelled like a mixture of Pumpkin Spice, leaves, and burning fire. It was glorious. I attribute my lack of “craft itch” last year to the fact that I didn’t have cable. I had no way to scratch that itch.

 

This year though – it’s hitting me HARD. I need to scratch this itch. I have actually started planning for crafts. WHO AM I AND WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE NON-CRAFT GIRL?! It started last weekend after a trip to the apple orchard – I immediately wanted to bake EVERYTHING pumpkin flavored, bring out my decorations, carve pumpkins, burn candles, make SOMETHING. I decorated our home with my tiny assortment of fall décor, and immediately wanted more. So once again, I logged in to Pinterest and began my search. And then I wanted flowers. So I held off on my Pinterest search and did some grocery shopping – and stumbled home with a bouquet of Baby’s Breath and a couple Spider Mums to decorate. And some mini pumpkins (they were 3 for $1 so they’re pretty much FREE) and some Indian corn – because WHY NOT. So now I have a beautiful table-scape (thanks Sandra Lee – I love the Food Network) perfect for Fall. And then I turned on the DIY Channel (because I’ve got cable now – do you see a connection?) and started watching Rehab Addict. Now you KNOW I love my weird stuff that would entail “rehab” or “addiction” – aka Hoarders, Intervention, etc. But this type of Rehab Addict is about this bad ass chick who flips houses – and does everything inside them. She fixes the floors, refinishes old furniture, paints, knocks down walls, paints the outside, adds in details. She rules. And I could watch that show for HOURS – and I did yesterday actually. So then I remembered that we currently have an abundance of mason jars at my parents’ house – and wanted to add them to a project for the bathroom. And as I was googling “DIY projects with mason jars” a bajillion websites popped up. And then I found printouts for fall decorations. And then I found more printouts and other DIY things. So now I want to DO ALL THE THINGS.

I’m sure at some point I’ll tire of the DIY-ness, but for now it’s going full throttle through my system. Keep an eye out in the next couple weeks when (hopefully) I’ll be able to showcase some of my talents. Or maybe instead my Scrooge factor will be out in full force with people putting up Christmas trees while simultaneously throwing out their Jack-o-lanterns. You just never know with me. There really is no in between.

Hoping for the best in scratching this itch. And let’s hope I don’t scratch it till I don’t ever want to craft again.

Here’s hoping.

S

Productivity v Procrastination

Productivity is hard. Procrastination is SO EASY. Last week, I somehow managed to make both happen. Talented? Obviously. I worked out four days in a row – doing FOUR different types of athletic activity. I made myself coffee every morning. I finished THREE books. I did all my laundry. I cleaned the whole house (with help). I made dinner and breakfast that involved more than a microwave or an oven. I followed RECIPES. Oh and I baked. I pretty much dominated my life last week. I was totally winning. Let’s see if I can keep it up this week.

 

*This was written early last week. As it turns out – I could not keep it up two weeks in a row.*

I had a lazy end of the week last week. I took Friday off so I could get a massage and sleep in. And then the garbage man came at 5:30, and construction in the building across the parking lot started at 6. So about that sleeping in… not so much. At least I got to enjoy an impromptu breakfast date – at the expense of getting locked out of her apartment. Woops. Being a grown up is tough sometimes. And then it was time for massage and I was expecting to relax. But meh. I mean it felt good – but my mind was running in circles, and she touched my feet which I wasn’t prepared for. I mean it ended up feeling good – but still surprised me. And then I was getting my back massaged and the neck/face holder thing clicked down twice. And it was over for me. I was ready to be done. Wandered the mall for a hot minute before heading home to watch some Mad Men and relax. The relaxing ended up with an early afternoon buzz, pizza, and a finished book on my list for 2014. I don’t hate days like that.

Saturday morning came early – and after a quick shift at the yoga studio, I was ready for the afternoon I had planned. I ran to the store to pick up stuff for lunch (grilled cheese and tomato soup), dinner (chili), and some other things as needed. After lunch and a bit of lounging, we headed to Cambridge to visit the Center Grove Orchard. I was hoping to pick some apples and bring home some pumpkins to carve, but I was informed it was “too early” to begin carving pumpkins. Lame. But we brought home a pretty perfect pumpkin we can carve in a couple weeks, a peck of Honeycrisp apples (NOMLICIOUS) and some fun memories from the orchard. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend taking a visit this fall. It was a gorgeous day – and there was so much to do! We went down the giant slide, pet and fed some of the animals (well I did, someone else has a strong hatred to the Devil’s children – aka goats), played with the apple sling shot, and sampled everything apple flavored in their little store. I spent more money than planned – but bringing home some coffee samples and apple cider felt worth it to me. Saturday night was a lazy night in watching some hilarious movies. Please add The Neighbors to your “to watch” list – Zac Efron is hot (and shirtless A LOT), and Seth Rogan is hilarious. Just do it. Trust.

Sunday morning, Toby got grounded. Real early. I think the fact that I was off on Friday confused him (he’s a little slow sometimes) so he thought Sunday was Monday and that we should be up at 6. He was wrong. And got grounded. All day long we tried keeping him awake like he did to us that morning. Except he’s a cat and he don’t care. Ah well. Sunday morning coffee was delicious – courtesy of Center Grove Orchard. I was your basic white girl – drinking my Pumpkin Spice coffee in my yoga pants. The only thing I was missing was a pair of Uggs. Breakfast was homemade with some scrambled eggs, maple sausage links and breakfast potatoes. I started another book to try and recover from my book hangover I acquired on Friday night after finishing Lena Dunham’s “Not That Kind of Girl.” (READ THIS. SERIOUSLY.) I started Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s “The Language of Flowers” out on the porch in the bright sun, and remained there for the majority of the afternoon. I decided to be lazy and skip yoga that afternoon and prep for some dinner – BBQ chicken legs, mashed potatoes with HOMEMADE country gravy (yeah you heard that right) and  green beans. Pretty impressed with myself.

Monday was Monday. We had six new people start in the office, and I was running around like a crazy person until all of a sudden it was noon. The rest of the afternoon was full of catch up – and I got home after work and wanted to do nothing. So I didn’t. I finished up The Language of Flowers, watched Gotham, and went to bed. I wasn’t even mad about it. Tuesday was Monday it seems. I ended the day with a brisk walk/bitch sesh downtown and back home, an episode of Mad Men, and a Boston Lager. The rest of the week shouldn’t be too crazy – except for tomorrow when we are hosting/sponsoring TechBrew. A networking event – yeesh. Let’s hope I’ve improved since the last one! I think it will be great – and an even better way to get our name out there. Fingers crossed it goes off without a hitch!

Next week you guys – whoa. So much to do and seriously SO LITTLE TIME. More new hires, orientation for Mentor Iowa, Book Club, Dog Day (best day of the WHOLE YEAR), volunteering at Animal Lifeline, holiday party planning, blood drive logistics, Halloween party planning… and sleep. At some point. Before I know it, October will be done, November will be here, and Christmas decorations will be up at the mall. And I will be a scrooge. At least until December 3^rd, when I’ve celebrated my 28^th birthday and will allow my friends and family to put up their Christmas decorations. My apologies to those of you who LOVE Christmas and put up decorations the minute you feel a chill in the air. Celebrate one holiday at a time, please and thank you. Halloween is awesome, Thanksgiving is wonderful, and Christmas isn’t until THE END OF DECEMBER. **End Rant**

And that’s all I’ve got for you today. It’s Hump Day (phew) and the end of the week is near. Keep your heads up kids – you can make it.

Peace and love. Mwah.

S

Challenge Your Mind

It’s that time of year again kids… time to celebrate books and read all those that parents DIDN’T read but still challenged them so their kids didn’t read them. You know those books – the TERRIBLE ones that made your kid have an imagination. Like Harry Potter. Or Where the Wild Things Are. Or Captain Underpants for the love of all things holy. If you haven’t noticed, I love reading and am very passionate about all things literary related. And what really gets under my skin about the number books challenged over the years, are the actual reasons that these books have been challenged. Anything from discussion of homosexuality to political viewpoint to religious viewpoint. Nudity, anti-family, gambling, violence, drugs and alcohol – you know, anything and EVERYTHING that kids can see on the news or a TV show or a movie. But reading it is just totally a terrible thing. (sarcasm.)

And the majority of these challenges come from parents. Of course they do. I understand that parents want to protect their children and shield them from everything bad that could happen to their kids. But if they really want to protect them, LET THEM READ THESE BOOKS they’re challenging. They could LEARN something from these books – rather than find out through a late night HBO special, a magazine left out at a friends’ house, or even the 6 o’clock news. Reading a book can teach you so much – it can take you places you’ve never been, increase your vocabulary, and make it so you don’t sound like an idiot when you speak. I personally cannot IMAGINE a world without books. A world without beautiful speech and words. 

Did you know that 33% of US high school grads will never read a book after high school?

Or that 42% of college students will never read another book after they graduate?

Or that 50% of adults are unable to read an 8^TH GRADE LEVEL book?

These statistics are completely MIND BLOWING. Reading is something you will have to do for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Not something you don’t have to worry about once you leave school. Adults NEED to be able to read – they have contracts to sign, bills to pay, and forms to fill out. And just think of all the places you can GO when you read a book – you can travel to any time period, anywhere in the WORLD when you read a book. You can have super human strength, the knowledge level of a doctor or philosopher, the imagination of a child. Books are the windows into the imagination. Open your eyes and see what else is out there.

I was extremely fortunate to have parents who read to me daily, and who consistently work with me to read on my own. I’ve heard this story many times from when I was younger – I’d grab a book from the shelf, tell my parents to come sit with me and read, and then I would sit and read out loud to them. Reading has ALWAYS been a huge part of my life. And it always will be. I love everything about books and literature. Taking trips to the library or the book store make me SO HAPPY. I love old books, new books, electronic books. I don’t love all GENRES of books, but I try. I love books that make me think. I love books that make me cry. I love books that make me angry and want to change the world. I love those that make me laugh, and those that were turned into a movie (even though the book is ALWAYS better.) In my dream house, I want a library. Where I could spend HOURS looking at the beautiful words written throughout history. I love that I’ve found a group of girls who love reading as much as I do, if not more.

Reading is good for the soul. It awakens your heart and mind, and allows you to go somewhere else – even if only for a short moment. And the fact that people try and take this away from children at such a young age hurts MY soul. Reading grows your imagination – and a life without imagination is... reality.

From 2000-2009, 5,099 book challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom. The reasons for those challenges? Sexually explicit material, offensive language, materials deemed unsuited to age group, violence, homosexuality, Satanic themes, religious viewpoint and anti-family. The most challenged book of 2013: Captain Underpants. For reasons of offensive language, unsuited for age group, and violence. I wish I were joking about this. Sadly though – parents are ass holes. Sorry parents out there – let your kid read a book. It is a CARTOON book. This isn’t a real child wearing underwear and a cape. IT’S NOT REAL LIFE.

So during this week and the celebration of banned and challenged books, I challenge YOU to hit up your local library, Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books and pick something up from the list of challenged books. You might learn something new.

S

Ch-ch-ch-CHANGES

So remember how I pinky promised that I would write more? Well as it turns out - I have commitment problems. I haven't written more - as you could probably tell. Probably because I said I would, and didn't tell you exactly how MUCH more I would write. And for that - I apologize. But I'm tired of apologizing. I'm ready for a change.

When I started this blog, I was going through a rough time. I was unsure of where my life was going at that time, and I wanted to challenge myself to do something new. Things have gotten much better, TENFOLD, and at this point it's feeling like a job. And that's absolutely not what I wanted. Of course I love writing - but I see this going in another direction. So if you continue to follow me, which you totes should, just know that there will be a transition period. But it will be worth it.

But let's see, what's new with me. I'm reading more since I'm home ALL ALONE during the week, but it's all good. I'm also working out more regularly. I actually gave myself some rules regarding my health. I'm grounding myself from booze during the week. No workout = no booze. RUN. LIFT. YOGA. Sweat - every. damn. day. Five meals a day. Read. Wear sunscreen. (Just kidding - but really.) Go to bed before 10 during the week. NO EXCUSES. My clothes are tight and I don't like how it feels. But you know what's cheaper than new clothes? My FREE gym memberships. When we had our Wellness Fair in the office a few weeks ago, we did our biometric screenings. She told me my BMI (I'm too short) and we discussed ways to get that number down. Anything she told me, I already knew. I was pretty much answering questions for her. Eat better. Be active. Lay off the sugar and alcohol. Drink more water. I know all of this. It just needs to happen. So I'm just making it happen. It's going to happen. No matter how I have to do it. 

I learned something about myself last week. Networking makes me anxious. Last week I had two different networking events and I actually STRUGGLED. I never thought I didn't like it, until then. I even went with a couple people from work. Still. Pretty positive I was pitting out of my shirt. I don't know what it is! I'm sure it will get better and easier but dude. It was rough. Next month our office is sponsoring an event and I'm pretty much in charge of this. Looks like I'll have to get over my stage fright whether I want to or not!

And more planning in my future - I have somehow become in charge of our office holiday party. I've got less than 3 months to make this party awesome. And it totally will be - a roaring 20s/Prohibition themed shindig. Decorations, drinks, appetizers, attire. I need to watch Gatsby multiple times between now and then. And anything else having to do with the 20s. And obviously I'll have to find a new dress... because why wouldn't I need a flapper style dress? Exactly.

Okay kids. I'm out for the night. After flying out of bed 30 minute before I had to be at work today, I feel like I need to get to bed a little earlier tonight. Have a wonderful night y'all - get excited for the future!

Peace, Love, Dove
S

Enthusiasm Propels the World

What a LONG week. I am completely exhausted – mentally and physically. And I won’t have a lazy day until Sunday. Wah. After a mentally draining Monday, I spent most of Tuesday afternoon/evening in a car doing the drop off for RAGBRAI. SO MANY people. All you RAGBRAI-ers… get at it. You rock. It’s on my bucket list to complete the whole thing – but first, I need a bike. And some miles on that seat. Ouch. Maybe another year. Anywho – Tuesday night I got to puppy sit the Germans. And those little turds thought it was a good idea to wake me up at 6 am on Wednesday morning. I get it – they were hungry because they couldn’t eat after 10 pm since they had a dentist appointment on Wednesday morning. After dropping them off I headed to work for a busy morning. And then I got to pick them up over lunch. We hung out while I ate Pizza Bagel Bites (pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at supper time – when pizza’s on a bagel, you can eat PIZZA ANY TIME!! You’re welcome) and watched Maury (who’s the father?!). That’s the best part about going home over lunch – you get to watch terrible daytime TV talk shows. That’s literally the ONLY THING I miss from being home in the summers during school. That AND inhaling cans of Spaghetti-O’s. Good stuff. Being a kid was so easy. Why can’t I go back there? Sigh.

Tuesday morning was a morning of exciting news – not necessarily for ME, but for the roomie. As the kick ass consultant he is, he gets to head to Cedar Rapids and work there on a project during the week and be home on the weekends. Which is SO GREAT for him – more money, great experience, 100% billable, etc. However – this goes all the way through the end of March. Like 8 months from now. Which means Monday through Thursday, Toby and I will be kicking it, single girl style. My current plan for those months consist of working out, reading, dinner and coffee dates with friends, phone dates, Netflix marathons, and probably a little bit of “poor me, poor me” time. Don’t get me wrong – I love my alone time. Sometimes it’s nice to stay at home alone, with a glass (bottle) of wine after a long day of work. Pants off at the door and I don’t MOVE from the recliner till it’s time to go to bed. Those days are great. But doing that four days a week… sigh. Sadness. I’m going to miss my snuggle buddy – although I’m sure Toby will take over nicely – and also my someone to watch mindless TV with while we eat dinner. No one will be there to “sensuous” a beer for me (Sensuous up… can you get me a drink?) and as it turns out, Toby doesn’t have thumbs to help me out. He really needs to get a job to start helping with rent.

I know I’m being a little selfish here, that I’m the ONLY one who will be sad that I’m sleeping alone, coming home to an empty house, etc. But this will be hard for him as well. Staying in a hotel or furnished apartment for 8 months doesn’t sound awesome to me either. Sure it will be an easy place to keep your stuff – but it’s not HOME. And those are going to be long days for him. Four 10-hour days, with some additional work on Friday – it wears me out just thinking about it. And I feel like this winter will not be awesome… hopefully Jack Frost/Mother Nature are nice to us and there’s not an outrageous amount of snow where he’s unable to make it back to Des Moines. I’ll definitely be doing the no-snow dance WEEKLY that whole winter. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be a test. But we can handle it. Maybe I’ll become a crafter while he’s gone. Maybe not. We’ll see. We’ll see what Pinterest does to me while he’s gone.

In other news… I started reading a new book I’d seen a thousand times at Target, and once I bought it, I put it on my shelf for three months and never touched it. So Monday over lunch, I cracked that bad boy open. Susannah Cahalan’s memoir called “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness” terrified me. I’m only 1/3 of the way through it, but I know once I sit down with some concentration I will FLY through it. This first part is her going through a psychosis really – different manic and depressive states, seizures, nausea, not eating, etc. The most impressive part about this – she doesn’t remember most of it. This book is all accounts of her doctors, parents, friends, nurses, etc. And the worst part – they can’t figure out WHY all this is happening. Her CT, MRI and EEG scans all came back completely fine. Yet she was having all these crazy things happen to her. It’s really a little bit scary – because some things I can relate to from my own personal happenings. They’re obviously not as severe – but this is really the first time I’ve gotten to revisit my “week of madness” since it happened. Plus – I LOVE books that deal with the brain and all the crazy, amazing things that happen inside that gray matter. If you get a chance, read this. I’ll gladly lend it out.

I’m pretty pumped about work right now. Things are going well, I’m getting a raise (yay!) and I’m getting bigger projects I get to be in charge of. Come August, we will be holding a Wellness Fair in the office. Our benefits vendors will be in the office, we will have yoga and healthy snacks, and a lunch and learn. All things I am REALLY excited to plan. And next week, I’m heading to our corporate office in Chicago. On Thursday, I will attend a seminar downtown – Leadership and Management for Women. Then on Friday, I will be in the office out there, working in the morning and assisting with the company picnic that afternoon! I planned a great time to visit. And then I get to hang out with one of the girls who used to be on my team out there on Friday night! And after a brunch Saturday morning, I’ll head back to Des Moines. Hooray for mini vacation weekends! And after that little mini work vacation, I’ll hit the books. Because this winter, I’ll be taking my PHR (Professional in Human Resources) exam. Lots of studying and tests to take. Let’s see if I can remember how to do this. Those extra three letters behind my name can only help… and then come May, another three letters: CAP (Certified Administrative Professional.) Do you know how good I’ll be at writing emails by then? Damn. Go me.

And now my dears, it’s time for me to go. I vow, during my next 8 months of loneliness (okay I won’t be totally lonely – just sometimes) to write more. I promise. I pinky swear. 

Love and memories, hugs and kisses, all that jazz –

S