Not Quite A Woman...

I don't know how I feel about all those FaceBook quizzes... I'm slightly annoyed at how often they take over my entire Newsfeed page but otherwise, I find them kind of amusing... until tonight.

I just took one of the FaceBook quizzes to see how "girly" I was. Here is the result:

Shanna took the How GIRLY Are You? quiz and got the result: 0% Girly..

0% Girly: You are all man and no girl."

Um.... what? Did a quiz just tell me that I'm not much of a girl?? I know I'm not much of a "girly girl" but I still wasn't expecting to get a score of zero! Apparently, I am kind of manly?

Most of the responses to my posted quiz score registered a lot of H's and A's.

But seriously, who has time to get manicures and pedicures every week?

What Changed?

Yesterday, I went shopping for a new pair of jeans. It's been a while since the last time I bought new jeans so I was really uncertain about my size. I got my second very pleasant surprise when I found out that I was, once again, a size 3. (My first very pleasant surprise came last week while cleaning my closet, where I happily found a pair of size 7 shorts that were now too big for me.)

I excitedly exclaimed to my friend, who had come along for the ride, that it felt good to be a size 3 again. She (mostly jokingly) flipped me off in response.

As I returned to the dressing room to change back into my own clothes, I had to wonder… “What changed?” This friend was a girl from high school who once shared my problem of not being able to find size 0 pants in a sufficiently petite length.

I was one of those people in high school that could eat whatever she wanted and never gained a pound. Once I hit 20, my jet-engine metabolism turned into a little water wheel machine. Everything I ate went straight to my hips. Unwilling to admit defeat to biology, I rejected the ideas of changing my diet and taking up regular exercise on the simple basis of never needing them before. But when I went up yet another size, I realized it wasn’t just me filling out anymore… I was just plain getting fat. I just wasn’t who I used to be and I needed to adapt.

Even though I still don’t exercise as much as I ought to, I’m extremely content with the changes I’ve made to my diet. I rarely eat anything fried, almost never drink soda (usually opting for water), and frequently choose vegetarian options. I cook at home often, using olive oil instead of corn oil and trying to make things from scratch.

A couple months ago, I went to In’N’Out and ordered myself a Double Double with animal-style fries and a vanilla shake, since I so rarely went there to eat. Halfway through my burger, I realized that the milkshake really wasn’t cutting it as far as thirst-quenching went. Then I thought, “I really just want some water to wash this down. Why did I even buy that milkshake?”

That’s when I knew that I had become a changed person.

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." -John Dryden

Another Name for Novelty

In both the apartment I am vacating and my old room at home that I am moving back into, I am attempting to clear out as much as possible of what seems to be endless drawers, containers, etc. of just... random stuff. Really random stuff. Novelty items and event exclusive collectables.

I've sort of have a reputation for being fantastic at collecting free stuff. And I am finding all sorts of fun little things that are just really not worth keeping. For the first couple of seconds I see it, I think "oooh, that's neat/cool/awesome/etc." Then I drop it in a bag, take it home, stick in a drawer, and completely forget about it until the next time I've dug it out during a cleaning attempt.

Among the notable "treasures" dug up so far, I've discovered a light-up yo-yo, juggling balls, several frisbees, bottle openers, and about a dozen stress balls (how appropriate).

I am so tired of having so much stuff that I don't use. I really don't know why I have it. One of my solutions was to throw all the stuff in a box and stick it in the hallway of the apartment complex with a sign saying that everything was free and in good working condition. (The free pens all went really fast.)

I've gotten to the point where I would just rather be free of all the stuff than think "what if I need it/want to use it someday" or consider the sunk cost of the item. Those thoughts weight me down. These novelty things are so useless. So I am endeavoring to part ways with all of them.

Happy 4th

Food, friends, family, fireworks, and...

(via Le Love)

Paper Straws

If you're a sucker for drinking through straws, go green with paper straws!

Jordan Ferney at Oh Happy Day featured these lovely paper straws and directed us to Kikkerland to get our own! A box of 50 for only $3? Sold!

(photo: Jordan Ferney)

Don't they kind of look like wafer sticks? Yummy.

Marketing 101

Know your target audience.

Easily in my Top Ten webcomics (and if you know how many I read, that's quite a statement), Girls with Slingshots is written and drawn by the talented Danielle Corsetto!

Burton in Wonderland

Am I the only person who hasn't heard about the Alice in Wonderland movie by Tim Burton, scheduled for release next year?

Ms. Jenn, at {Bits of Beauty}, shared gorgeous pictures of the film yesterday and it was the first I had seen of it.

(More pictures here.)

The movie has an all-star cast including Johnny Depp (par for the course), Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter. It's definitely going on my must-see list!

Instant Karma (Nutty Creme Caramel)

Anyone getting some free Ice Blended Drinks from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf today? Promo is running from 3pm-7pm at participating CA and AZ locations.