waterworks

When I was younger, I was not a crier. In fact, I would laugh at my mom for crying during a movie. The only exception to my lack of emotion was when we watched "A Walk to Remember"...pretty sure it took twice as long to watch that one because we kept stopping it to calm down...and we went through a full box of kleenex...

But truly, ask anyone...I did not cry.

That all changed when I left for college.

All of the sudden, a commercial like this would come on...

...and I would be a blubbering mess.

Thus another one of my manymanymany theories about the mystery of life.

I have a theory that when you leave for college, or move out on your own, something changes inside of you. Emotions are high, there are a lot of changes that you have to deal with, but at the same time, you want to be grown-up and mature and so you bottle those emotions as best you can. However, they're still there and you have to deal with them in some way and that's when the whole crying-for-no-reason phenomenon comes in.

Hey, don't take my word for it...there are plenty of people who I can point your towards to back my theory up.....actually, I only have one other person who I know that this theory is true for, but whatever. I'm juuuuust saying....

Now excuse me while I pull myself together....that Jif commercial really did me in...

Quick Takes (11)

splendidly less-sleep deprived for this week's edition of takes!

[1]

Easily the highlight of my week was that the SFLI headquarters office now has a coffee machine. wootwoot! I didn't buy Espresso one time this week and although I have recently acquired an aversion to Folgers, buying grounds is significantly cheaper than my $4.50 large frosted pumpkin mocha.

score.

[2]

Another highlight of my week was Halloween...I actually forgot several times that it was Halloween, but finally living in a house again where we had TRICK OR TREATERS!!!! was super exciting. My favorite munchkin was this tiny lion who tried to come into our house...she was maybe 2 and I had to restrain myself from telling her dad that if they ever need a babysitter, they know where to come.

[3]

On the topic of Halloween, what is with kids dressing up as bloody people? I don't get it. And I don't think it's because I'm Catholic and think that miniature St. Francises and Mother Theresas are freaking awesome, but just because I don't think that it's necessary. Whatever.

But, in case you were wondering, yes I was that person who refused to give two kids candy because they were dressed up as "myself" and "guy in white". Nice try. Maybe next year I'll take that for a spin but instead be "tipsy-23-year-old-begging-for-free-candy".

I'll let you know how that turns out.

[4]
I bought the new TSwift cd this week...and while I only really love 8 of the 16 songs, she's still got "it"...whatever "it" is....

[5]
I'm still upset about the Jemily breakup. So much so that I stopped following Emily on Insta.
#teamJef

[6]
One extra hour of sleep this weekend. That's what I've been looking forward to since we "sprung forward" all those months ago.

[7]

Any thoughts on the whole Disney-buying-Star-Wars? I'm not a trekkie or starry or whatever they're called, but I do enjoy SW and have enjoyed the banter between concerned fanatics.

click on over to Jen's for more QT's! :)

thrifty thursday

Goodwill has ruined me for every other clothing store.

It's the both the best and worst thing that could happen. Because I went to TJMAXX which is basically the cheapest clothing store around here (unfortunately, we don't have ROSS) and not only was there really not too much that I found appealing, but I now have a hard time justifying paying $12+ for a top! Even $10 is pushing it...I mean, I'll do it, but I better REALLY like that top.

Plus, the whole time I was browsing, all I could think was "I could find cuter clothes for MUCH cheaper at Goodwill"

And so I went.

And score I did.

Before I brag about my amazing finds, I would just like to give a shout out of thanks to my mother who never placed importance or worth on brand names. Growing up, if you liked it and you would wear it, it didn't matter if it came from a department store or if it was hand-me-downs...as long as it was reasonably priced. And buying $100 jeans just doesn't make sense. So thanks Mom :)

So yes. There are such cute clothes at thrift stores! AND CHEAP! Plus, it's eco-friendly. I think...

Here we go. I found 3 tops that I'm TOTALLY happy with...and the estimated retail value of similar products can be found below.

Izod sweater: $64

Abercrombie and Fitch Cardigan: $58

ELLE shirt: $36

The Goodwill price for each item? $2.99
Yup.

For those of you who need a calculator to figure out my savings, I'm way ahead of you. By "buying green", I saved about $149. Not that I would ever buy the brands showcased above unless the prices were slashed, but my point is that I was able to buy chic, well-made clothing WAY below the original price simply because I'm not a snob when it comes to where my clothing comes from.

So thanks Mom, and thanks hipsters for making thrifting "in".

so freakin' excited!

have you ever seen this video?

that's me.
that's me thinking about Thanksgiving.
that's me thinking about Thanksgiving this year in Pittsburgh.
that's me thinking about Thanksgiving this year in Pittsburgh with all of my siblings.

I'M SO FREAKIN' EXCITED.

it's funny how as we all get older, somehow the less time we spend together, the more we like one another.
I'm not saying that we didn't love each other back when we all lived permanently under the same roof, but I think once we all began to grow up and move out, we get along a lot better. Probably the whole maturity thing helps some too :]

for Thanksgiving this year, we're road-tripping it out to Pitt to spend a few days with my broja, Tommy. and the 4 of us have not spent more than 15 hours together since Tommy left for his summer internship in Germany in May. I graduated, moved back home, and about 3 days later, T left for Berlin...then when he came back in August, I was home visiting, but by the time his flight got into Chicago, we all had 15 hrs (8 of which were spent sleeping) before I headed back to CU. Bummer.

BUT from 11/21-11/24, we will all be together once again. Huzzah.

and I'm excited.

STL, pt. 2

part 1

upon returning to our vehicle, we headed to THE ZOO! so.excited. and since I'm assuming we've all experienced zoos, I won't bore you with the details...

I may or may not definitely was "that person"

funny story about the lemur...I had been chompin' on an apple when we walked into the zoo and the first animal house we encountered was the monkey house...easily my favorite. I LOVE monkeys.

but so I had this apple and was trying to get the animals to notice my apple and maybe act funny or something...well, I had no real success until we got to this little guy's cage and HE.WANTED.THAT.APPLE. it was hilarious...he was jumping all over the place and the little kids all around were pressing up next to me trying to get a better view...and I was moving the (by then) core back and forth and not only would the lemur move along the glass with the core, so would the children. eventually, the lemur became disinterested and put his back to me and so we moved along...with a number of children on my tail, just waiting to see what I would do next! 

I felt like the Pied Piper....but instead of rats, children followed me.

my dream.

soooooo then after the zoo, we headed out in search of Oktoberfest. I have to say, I was excited!

...but then I realized that this is OKTOBERFEST. aka crowds of drunk people wishing they were German.
which I am, btdubs.

aaaanyway, Jordan and I pressed on, paid the $5 cover and ventured into the polka pit that was Oktoberfest. wellllll we lasted, what would you say, Jordan? maybe 15 minutes? perhaps closer to 20...

we stuck around long enough to take a couple of pictures for German-clad folks, listen to some really-not-German music, watch people polka horribly, and realize that there was no way we were going to stand in the 50+ person line for some gross Coors Light.

so I took some pics...

...and a video...

...and we polka-ed our way outta there.

luckily, when we got to our hotel, it wasn't shady at all...oh wait, I should tell the truth, yes?
I think the fact that our non-smoking room smelled entirely like smoke, the window we actually did want open somehow broke and wouldn't close, and this smoke detector pretty much explain it all. And yes, I'm 67% sure that the stains on the floor weren't blood....

But after checking in, we found a sports bar in which to eat (delicious) and called it a night.

Our second day in STL was pretty chill and mainly just consisted of sleeping as best we could through the car alarms and gun shots (juuuuust kidding....), grabbing a quick bfast at Dunkin' in which I waited entirely too long for my caffeinated beverage, and headed to the Cathedral Basilica. gorgeous.

who wouldn't want to be Catholic? I mean, really.

post-mass we stopped for gas at a station that was (if you can believe it) even shadier than our hotel. wowza. It seems like we're almost magnets for shadiness. Like trees or something. See what I did there? hardy har.

Overall, a great weekend! Lotsafun :) Check out Jordan's post for a better picture of our trip ;)

fun facts

• I love trashy television...think The Bachelorette and Keeping up with the Kardashians
• I hate waiting...especially if I'm waiting for someone for more than 5 mins
• I really don't like the smell of cigarette smoke...cigars and pipes are OK, but not cigarettes
• I whistle. Very well and a whole lot. Usually when I'm happy.
• I have fun causing trouble. Especially when I'm back home with my siblings
• I've sewn a couple of dresses from scratch
• I really do feel naked when I don't have nail polish on. And when I forget my rings.
• I hate eating soup with a non-soup spoon.
• I love babies. Like, a lot. A lot, a lot.