57-63: Week Nine/Picture a Day for a Year

57/365: We went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner (we being Liz, Trudy, Jaci, Ryan and me). After we ate and had dessert, I decided to try the lavender pear martini. It was... interesting, to say the least. The lavender part came in a really cool tea bag and was supposed to steep in the pear martini for a while. The tea bag became a fun part of the evening and amusement for Jaci.

58/365: I am 90% packed and ready to go to Vegas on Thursday night! I laid out all of my outfits, necklaces and shoes for our 3 day trip. I'm so excited (especially since I finally get to wear my cute Shoedazzle pumps)!

59/365: Driving to work this morning, all of a sudden whispy snow started going across the road. I thought it was lovely and I was so confused as to where it came from. Then I realized there was a semi a few cars ahead and all the snow was blowing off the truck bed onto the road. I thought it looked cool so I stupidly took this picture while I was driving... you can kind of see the light snow drifts though!

60/365: Mom and I went shopping again today (I've never been so exhausted after shopping than I have the last few times we've gone out). While she was trying on clothes, I was staring at my hair in a nearby mirror. The left side of my hair always looks better than the right side so I took a picture of the beautiful curls. Haircut tomorrow. I have to do something with my bangs.

61/365: I painted my nails GLITTER today. I figured I had to do something fun for the occasion of going to Vegas. I'm pleased.

62/365: Here is my little corn that went on vacation with us. He's in many pictures that you can see here.

63/365: This horse lamp was in the H&M we stopped at on Friday while we browsed around the shops at Caesar's Palace. I want one.

#17: Inspiration Struck

Because I had nothing else to do tonight, I made some more inspiration boards (see the first set here. This time I used Etsy and ModCloth for a lot of my inspiration. Now my eyes are shutting because I'm so tired/computer fatigued so I think its off to bed I go for a weekend full of NOTHING.

If you don't see a picture but you know one should be there (sometimes the pictures don't want to load on my screen), just click on where it should be to see the full size. I recommend clicking on all of these to make them bigger to see the details!

Champagne

Multicolor Board Games

Pewter

Red Plaid

Sage & Cream

Yellow Vintage

Love.

50-56: Week Eight/Picture a Day for a Year

50/365: A few days ago I posted a link to this little cutie on my Facebook. Then I arrived home from volunteering today to a package from my dear friend/former neighbor Tyler Treptow. Little corn guy was inside as a belated birthday present. I'm in love.

51/365: This is the sad tree outside my window. It normally stands straight next to the house and I shouldn't be able to see it outside my window. After a foot of snow, it looks like its going to snap. Sad tree.

52/365: Pina colada time tonight. I thought for sure I'd have the whole day off when I woke up to a woman stuck in the unplowed snow in front of our house. My boss/neighbor went out to help said woman become unstuck. I still had to go to work today. It wasn't so bad once I got there but I was still annoyed. I wanted to stay home and make a fort.

53/365: Oh hey cute Goldfish! They made my chicken noodle soup so much tastier.

54/365: My purse is a MESS. Instead of taking the stuff out of my clutch that I used over the weekend, I threw it in. I have cash just thrown in. My Panera Card is just sitting there. I have miscellaneous papers strewn about. Its driving me crazy but I'm too lazy to clean it out. It took me at least a month to clean my messy room- my purse won't get the necessary cleanse until next week before I go to Vegas.

55/365: This morning when I should have been getting ready for work, I decided to organize my purse so I dumped out the contents and took a picture of the TWENTY things that were inside because its a fun blog post, I'd say (I've done it before/seen it done elsewhere). Here are the 20 things in my purse:
1. Megan McCain's Dirty Sexy Politics. I was intrigued after reading her blog occasionally during the presidential campaign. I've been carrying this book around for weeks but haven't really felt like reading it.
2. Cupcake recipes from my cupcake-a-day calendar.
3. A note of the nutrition facts for something I ate so I could enter it into Weight Watchers later.
4. A necklace I took off and tossed in my purse yesterday before I went tanning.
5. My "MyPanera" card. We got a free cookie on Tuesday!
6. The VB clutch I've been carrying around for a week because I was too lazy to empty the contents of THAT and return my credit cards and such to my wallet.
7. A receipt, no idea what its for.
8. VB Sleek Wallet in Purple Punch.
9. A dollar bill.
10. My favorite mints EVER.
11. A coup for Cabana Tan.
12. ThermaCare thing for my neck because it was KILLING me yesterday. I was healed for a while after I went tanning.
13. A piece of paper. I'm sure there's actually something written on it but I also often carry around blank paper, just in case.
14. Giant camera case (obviously the camera is usually inside so it could technically count as the 21st item in my purse).
15. Sudoku book- the perfect size to carry with me everywhere in case I get bored. I love Sudokus!
16. A coup for Givan's when I dye by hair back blonde this spring.
17. Camera USB cord- usually in camera bag, sometimes get lost in the mess.
18. Sunglasses.
19. List of schools across the country that have college student affairs and higher education administration programs.
20. VB address book.
Keep in mind, this doesn't include all the stuff (pens, mascara, lipgloss, etc) that are in the pockets inside my purse. I carry too much crap.

56/365: Update on my 30 Day Challenge. Today I was supposed to post "a picture of my day". I took this at work early in the day. My desk stayed consistently messy all day due to the huge project I'm working on plus my regular work. Add in a weird headache/stomach ache combo and it seemed like the mess would never disappear. I cleaned up enough to leave for the weekend and not freak out on Monday. This is the link to my 30 Day Challenge.

43-49: Week Seven/Picture a Day for a Year

43/365: I made French palmiers today. We had a sheet of puff pastry dough in the freezer, I found the recipe (basically roll the dough out onto sugar, fold up and bake- simple), and badda bing, badda boom, we had these lovely heart shaped treats (even though I am not a fan of Valentine's Day this year). I also made little pies in ramekins and the first of two batches of mini cupcakes. I've been busy baking today.

44/365: I made grilled cheese for lunch today- with sprinkles. We did this in Lourdes every once in a while a few years back- it seems gross but it makes the sandwich like dessert!

45/365: Happy Valentine's Day, I suppose. My mom bought these flowers last week and they're just starting to droop (which is how I felt today). Walking in to work this morning, I slipped and fell on some ice. Not a good start to a day I was already not a fan of. I'm sure someday I'll be less cynical about this holiday but today is not that day.

46/365: I made dinner for mom and Liz tonight. Yay for lovely fruit (that needed sugar because the raspberries weren't very sweet). I love photographing food (obviously). I also love eating it. :)

47/365: To continue on my food theme this week (technically, you can eat rose petals, I guess), this is a picture of organic butter. I'm in love. Today is my dad's birthday and for his birthday from a coworker (whom I love for being a foodie/farmer's market fanatic) he received two loaves of artisan bread and this giant log of fresh cream butter from a dairy in Wisconsin. Its like eating heaven (we're big butter lovers at the Palin house). I can't wait for summer and exploring bigger and better farmers' markets!

48/365: I found this photo op on a walk with the dog. Its a little blurry (I took it with my phone) but I thought it was cool how all the pine-cones were just sitting there like that. Its things like this where you wonder- did someone line them up or did they just happen to fall into plate like that? Nature is amazing sometimes.

49/365: Lunch with Kim at work- our own Cam Ranh Bay day! Yum yum yummmmmm. I found my new favorite meal- chicken over rice noodle. FANTASTIC. I want to eat lunch there everyday.

#16: The Next Six Months

My plan for the next six months was originally to get in to Colorado State, finish work around July and make my way to "where the columbines grow" so to speak.

There are no columbines in this picture, its just cute and proof that I pretty much belong in Colorado.  I'll make it back someday.

Plan number two involved me obviously not going to CSU (in case you missed it) then attending this Oshkosh Placement Exchange in March where I would interview for a bunch of residence life grad assistantships and/or full time positions across the country.

THEN I attended a workshop at the University of St. Thomas on Friday where in my first breakout session, a girl not much older than myself (and far more cheerful than I have been at this particular point in my life) told us to BE PURPOSEFUL.

On a side note, I love mantras that start with "be..."

We used it for our @15 campaign in our Campaigns class spring semester last year.  Be You @15.  It was incredibly clever and catchy (and we probably should have won that round).

I want my tattoo to say "be fearless" (thanks, I admit, to Taylor Swift).

So I'm sure its obvious why a mantra such as "be purposeful" really hit me and got me thinking about the decisions I was making and why.

I think I panicked and started rushing into this OPE thing trying to make something work but when I finally sat back and took a look at what I was doing, I realized it wasn’t the right thing for me. I’m going to stay home for another year and approach applying to grad school in a much more “Mary” way. I was cocky this time around, only applying to CSU, and I definitely got burned for it. I need to sit and really think about where I would be happy, what programs fit with my future goals, and apply to those schools.

So in the next six months, my plan is to:
* Volunteer more
* Take a break from this situation that has become more stressful than necessary
* Go on vacation with my mom and sister
* Find an apartment and move out of my house
* Have many gatherings at said new apartment (dinner parties and craft nights, of course including cupcakes)
* Work on my list
* Smile more
* Help Jaci plan her fantastical wedding (which I will now be home for)
* Bake lots of cupcakes... I love cupcakes

36-42: Week Six/Picture a Day for a Year

36/365: Our neighbor came to our house yesterday to sell Girl Scout cookies. Their dog Henry is friends with Jazz so they let Henry loose in our house and the dogs ran around in circles and all over the furniture, so very happy. I think we should get another dog to keep Jazz occupied.

37/365: I made three pro-con lists for options I've got regarding grad school and such. On the left, "Grad school/OPE". The middle "Staying home another year" and on the right (goes with staying home) "Moving out on my own". It seems that the pros on the "staying home" list exceed those of the "grad school" list but I still don't know what to do. I just want to make a decision now, start next week with my mind made up and move on.

38/365: I'm doing a 30 Day Photo Challenge on my Facebook and today's challenge was to post a picture of my most treasured item. I chose this jade necklace that my grandparents bought in Bangkok just before I was born (they had to cut their vacation short and fly home to welcome me into the world). I have a pair of matching earrings as well and I think they're just lovely. I want to wear them every day but at the same time, I don't want to wear them at all so nothing happens to them. Follow the 30-Day Challenge here.

39/365: This was the beginning of my day. Stupid flat tire. I got like 3 blocks from home, heard a weird clunking noise, thought it was a giant ice chunk and found this. Luckily I was close to home and I was smart enough to investigate the noise and Liz's car was waiting for me in the driveway. Still, no one wants to start the day with a flat tire.

40/365: Tonight while we watched TV Dad asked Liz to move the armchair over so the dog had more space. When Liz and I looked over, we found Jazz in a tiny little space between the love seat, arm chair and end table. He likes the small spaces. Of course before we moved the chair, I had to take a bunch of pictures of him shoved in such a little place. Too cute.

41/365: I brought a cupcake for Kyle at work today and put it in this cool container (perfect for cupcakes!). Jason and Lisa thought it looked like the "stapler in the Jell-O" prank Jim pulls on Dwight in The Office.

42/365: I'm making two large batches of mini cupcakes to bring to a potluck at work on Monday. I've been trying to figure out how to display them all since I don't have a mini cupcake carrier (do they even exist?). Today when I browsed through Target briefly, I found this cute striped tray. I love it. Its perfect. The cupcakes will look so beautiful!

Post Grad Book #6

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Finished: February 4, 2011
Page Count: 576
Why I read it:  
It was on the "Buy 2 Get One Free" table at Barnes and Noble (I think, its been a while since I purchased it) and it seemed to be right up my alley of loving all things First Lady.

Publisher's Weekly review:
Sittenfeld tracks, in her uneven third novel, the life of bookish, naïve Alice Lindgren and the trajectory that lands her in the White House as first lady. Charlie Blackwell, her boyishly charming rake of a husband, whose background of Ivy League privilege, penchant for booze and partying, contempt for the news and habit of making flubs when speaking off the cuff, bears more than a passing resemblance to the current president (though the Blackwells hail from Wisconsin, not Texas). Sittenfeld shines early in her portrayal of Alice's coming-of-age in Riley, Wis., living with her parents and her mildly eccentric grandmother. A car accident in her teens results in the death of her first crush, which haunts Alice even as she later falls for Charlie and becomes overwhelmed by his family's private summer compound and exclusive country club membership. Once the author leaves the realm of pure fiction, however, and has the first couple deal with his being ostracized as a president who favors an increasingly unpopular war, the book quickly loses its panache and sputters to a weak conclusion that doesn't live up to the fine storytelling that precedes it.

What I thought:
If ever there was a book written FOR ME, this was it.  I loved every second of this very long book about a woman who was minding her own business one day when a man her best friend claimed expressed interest in her instead.  They fell in love, they had their share of issues, and then he became president (obviously a lot more happened in the 576 pages of this book but that's the basics).  I could not put this book down (and its hard to find a good book like that these days).  This book was separated into 4 parts by addresses at which she lived- CLEVER, especially since the last address is so iconic and well known.  I knew that she and her husband were going to end up in the White House and that it was nearing the present time, I just wasn't sure how it was all going to fit together once they made it there.  Turns out the author was very intrigued by Laura Bush and somehow this book related to her life growing up?  I'm not clear on the details but I found it fascinating that by the time the main character Alice Lindgren Blackwell and her husband President Charlie Blackwell were in the White House, the current events were that of the Bush administration.  It really made me think about Bush in a bit of a different way, I'll say that.  For a girl who wants to be the First Lady someday (that would be me, if you hadn't caught on yet), this book was perfection and made me wish I was Alice Blackwell in the book, despite her many issues throughout the novel.  I give it an eleven on a scale of one to ten it was that good.