November 2012 – anywhere is….

Month: November 2012

Meet Celeste of Crazy, Beautiful, Unique!

30 November 2012 / yay

Hey guys!

I have a confession to make. It’s kinda lonely in the blogging world for a girl of color. So, any time I come across a great blog by a fellow brown woman (especially one in an interracial relationship), I get kinda giddy. And that is EXACTLY what I did when I stumbled upon Celeste’s blog. I mean, creative, beautiful, hair? Yes please!

I want lots of people to get to know this wonderful person, who has been so very patient while waiting for me to get this post up. She’s also been feeling sick, so go and give her some love after you read this.

So, without further ado, meet Celeste! 🙂

Hey ya’ll (that’s Southern for ‘hello everyone’)! My name is Celeste and I am a sponsor this month on Ronni’s amazing blog. I thought I would introduce myself so you can get to know me a little better.

I blog over at Crazy Beautiful Unique where I talk about all kinds of stuff. On Tuesdays, I have a feature called “5 Great Etsy Gifts for…”, where I go window shopping on Etsy and find 5 items that would make great gifts within that week’s theme. Last week, the theme was Autumn, so I found cute hats, scarves, and gloves on Etsy to share with my readers. I would love for you to stop by on Tuesdays to see what I find on Etsy 🙂

Speaking of Etsy, I also have a shop on there called A Girl and Her Clay. I sell cute charms and jewelry that I made from polymer clay. It’s a new craft medium for me, but I’m loving it so far! Clay is so versatile and easy to work with. I’m still learning lessons about the do’s and don’ts of clay along the way. For example, I placed some charms I made on a Styrofoam plate to make more room on my craft table. Well, when it came time for me to take the charms of the plate and place them in the oven, the charms had begun to form a sticky bound to the plate. I had to take my blade and gently scrape them off. Lesson learned! LOL!

On the more personal side – I’ve been married for almost 6 years to the most amazing man who is truly my best friend and better half. We have two ‘fur babies’ together, a dog named Peanut and a cat named Oreo. We love to spend time together walking, talking, playing video and board games, watching anime (Japanese cartoons) and hanging out with our friends.

I am a certified expanded duty dental assistant, which is very hard to become. The national board test you have to take are incredibly hard, but rewarding once you know you’ve passed them. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to work as a dental assistant because about 2 months after graduating from school, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome. This affects the right side of my body (which I’m right-handed) so I don’t trust myself to handle sharp instruments around patients just yet. Along with this, I also deal with depression, bipolar disorder, and gluten intolerance. My life isn’t easy, but I’m living and trying my best to stay positive.

Thanks for reading this and getting to know me a little bit better. I have tons more to tell you, but I don’t have the time or space to in this guest post 🙂 I guess you’ll have to come visit me at my blog to learn more about me. I look forward to meeting you 🙂

What are you waiting for? Get over there and give her some love!!!! 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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Tis The Season For an Aidan

26 November 2012 / aidan, life, pictures, shopping, thanksgiving

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was really good. My favorite part, of course, was that Aidan was here. We had a LOT of fun! We hung out, we watched Christmas programs, we braved the crowds on Black Friday and did some shopping, and I got in a lot of laughing and cuddling and good times. I suck them up now because I know they will end sooner than I’m ready.

I didn’t take photos of the spread, but we had turkey that Adam had brined in a solution from the Spice House (the turkey was good on Thanksgiving, but it was AMAZING Friday night). We had stuffing, cornbread dressing (gotta have my dressing; stuffing just doesn’t do it for me), corn, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce (homemade by Adam and awesome), and apple pie. Jeff and Deborah brought over a tart and some sweet potato fritters–I didn’t even get a chance to try them. Jen bought over a plate full of yummy rolls. We had sparkling blueberry juice and sparkling cranberry apple cider to drink, as well as the cranberry Sierra Mist. Everything was wonderful. We let our food digest while watching Twilight with RiffTrax before tackling the dessert. Good times.

Friday, Aidan and I went back and forth about whether or not we wanted to go out. He finally said “I want to go shopping.” He said he’d never been Black Friday shopping before and he thinks his dad won’t take him. So, we bundled up and headed on out! (And NOT to Walmart. Hell no.)

aidan and me on the way to state street
we’re waiting on the train, which came really quickly for once
so i had to rush and take this photo
that’s why i look crazy. lol.

I told him that we needed to go to shop for other people, not for him. But he talked me into getting him a stuffed Wreck It Ralph anyway. Hmph. Oh well.

We made our way to Macy’s. He didn’t really want to look at the store windows this year (Although he made sure I was OK with that. I was.). He did write his letter to Santa, though. Macy’s has a table set up every year and they donate money for every letter sent. 🙂

thinking hard.

mailed!

We made our way through Holiday Lane, which I like to do every year, but we didn’t go see Santa. I didn’t even try–figured the line would be too long, and besides, Aidan was getting hungry.

aidan and me at holiday lane
he was cranky and hungry
at least, until we made our way to the toy aisle

We also went up to see the Great Tree, which he and I called the “BASST”. Short for Big Ass Tree. But really an excuse for me to cuss. 😉

We actually had a good time shopping. We didn’t head out til around 230pm, so I figured most of the insane deal hunters would be home and sleeping. Most of the stores we went into had really cheerful workers (the ones in Old Navy seemed to be running on pure adrenaline or drugs or something) and also cheerful customers. There was only ONE store with a pissed off cashier–I didn’t take it personally though. Only one of the stores was so crowded I started to freak out, but the others were manageable. One wasn’t crowded at all.

We spent Saturday evening having a Christmas program marathon. We started with Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (where we tried to figure out what was going on with the doll on the Island of Misfit Toys), moved on to Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns, then plopped in another DVD and watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. I could have kept going, but Aidan turned the TV off LOL.

I had so much fun with Aidan. This will be his LAST CHRISTMAS in single digit ages; he turns 10 on December 30! Hard to believe that I have a kid who’s about to be 10. Holy cow. But let me tell you why he is so amazing.

Last night, even though he’d had dinner, he decided that he wanted spaghetti. At 10:48pm. (He’s a night owl like me and on vacation time, I let him stay up.) I really didn’t want to cook that late, but I decided I’d show him how to get it started. I told him how to fill up the pot 3/4 of the way with water (he hasn’t learned fractions yet so he was like “WTF Mom”), and then he broke the noodles into the water. I added the butter and salt and oil, and he stirred the noodles. It was a team effort. I made enough for him to have a serving and a half. When I fixed his plate, I asked if he wanted everything in the pot, and he said “No.” And you know why? He told me that he wanted to make sure I got some even though he could have eaten all of it.

He is the kindest, most compassionate kid I’ve ever met, and I’m really truly hoping the teenage years don’t steal that away from him completely.

The next time I see him will be Christmas Day. 29 Days! In the meantime, I get to make Christmas. That will keep me busy and happy until then.

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Time to Rest….

21 November 2012 / happy, life, pictures, thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a day early, but I am not sure how much time I’ll have tomorrow to write. We’re hosting an early dinner this year and we’re going to have four guests. Plus, Aidan is here! I’m so happy!

It’s been a busy few days for me! (I’m sure Mommy Bags is thinking “what else is new?”) but the next few days, I will get to RELAX and enjoy the holiday with my friends and family!

It’s Aidan! No more curls!

Here’s the lowdown on what I’ve been up to since the last time I made a real update!

– I got asked to be a workshop manager at Moksha! This is a big deal, you guys. It’s a lot of responsibility, and they don’t ask just anyone. It’s a big commitment, but I accepted because I knew I had to. Five sessions a month, I’ll get to make sure the workshops are running smoothly. In return, I get great experience, more time with the master teachers, and free workshops. Plus, I get to wear a BLUE Moksha tee-shirt. I wore a purple one for my video review, I have a white one for work study, and a pink one that I just bought for fun a long time ago. I’ve already done my workshop training, next I have to do my front desk training. Then I’ll be ready to rock and roll. Rock on! 🙂

– I finished the Tias Little Anatomy of the Chakras intensive workshop. I got a LOT of information. Right now, it’s all residing in my notebook which is now in my bedroom. I’m just taking it easy, letting my mind take in what it wants and moving from there. It was really amazing, and one day I’d love to go study with him at his center in Santa Fe. I don’t know… he has a really golden soul.

– I went downtown to do some Christmas shopping and I went up to visit the big tree at Macy’s. 🙂

– I worked one day (today, actually) at Tris3ct, one of my favorite freelance clients to work for. They are so awesome. Such a nice atmosphere and I got to leave early today because of the holiday. 🙂 I always enjoy helping them out when I can. They make me feel welcome and valuable. Really wouldn’t mind working for them part-time or full-time (but only after I’ve gotten my teacher training certification). Yeah…. I would really be OK with that.

– I finally got a KitchenAid stand mixer! I got the red one, the Classic Plus. I haven’t sent in my rebate form yet, but once I get that $30 check back, the total cost (not counting tax) will be $179.99. Considering that the mixer’s retail value is $379.99, I’d say I DID PRETTY DARN WELL. I’ve wanted one for years. It arrived today and I used it for the first time tonight–OH MAN it is awesome.

– I finally got a The North Face jacket. I actually got two. Not the big, fancy winter coat, though. Not yet. I got a yellow venture jacket and a magenta salathe fleece jacket from Nordstrom Rack (so the prices in the links are NOT the prices I paid). I’m very happy with both of them. 🙂

– I got a makeover! Well, sort of. The day that I was downtown shopping, a girl from the Benefit counter asked me if I wanted to try some stuff on and I told her sure, as long as the look was natural. This was me in the morning, waiting on the train:

I usually don’t wear any makeup except face powder and moisturizer. She used moisturizer, a pore minimizer, some foundation, some eye shadow, light blush, light lip gloss, a bit of eyeliner, and some crazy mascara that made my lashes look a million miles long.

This was the result:

What do you think? I kinda dig it. I got the pore minimizer and the mascara (they had a little bottle on sale) because I liked looking/feeling more polished and smoothed out. I also got a sample of the foundation, but I didn’t buy any of the colors because I very rarely wear that kind of makeup.

I don’t have to go anywhere tomorrow! It’ll be the first day since sometime last week that I get to stay home. It won’t be a pajama day, but I don’t have to leave the house if I don’t want to. Considering the high is supposed to be 63F, though, I might want to leave the house.

So many stores are opening tomorrow night… I’m not sure how I feel about that. It just seems like there should be one day where we’re not thinking of going out and buying more stuff… but you know, that’s me. Other people don’t feel that way obviously. Hell, I barely feel that way. I’ve shopped on Thanksgiving before–I’ve gone to Garden Ridge on Thanksgiving before. And it IS tempting to go and REALLY immerse myself in the Christmas shopping experience, get all the deals, stuff like that… but I’ll probably get most stuff on amazon.com like I always do. We have prime again this year, which is truly a godsend. I’ve never been one for the door busters (like I’m going to get up), so I doubt anything changes this year. Although Adam’s gone to some of the *ahem* less popular stores and not had a problem with crowds… and Aidan is asking to go to Toys R Us (GOD HELP US ALL). So I guess we’ll see!

I’m thinking of putting the tree up this weekend while Aidan is here. It’ll be fun to have him help decorate. 🙂

I am so grateful for so many things! 🙂 But most of all, I am grateful for the opportunity to relax tonight, sleep in a bit tomorrow, and spend Thanksgiving with my family and friends.

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The Heart of Christmas DVD Giveaway!

16 November 2012 / yay

Based on an inspiring true story, The Heart of Christmas
will touch your heart and bring home the spirit of the holidays.

You guys, the trailer will have you practically sobbing. I know for me, there’s just something about kids being diagnosed with cancer that breaks my heart. But this family pulls together to give their kid one last Christmas… even if it has to be in October.

See? The FEELS. And as I said, this is based on a true story.

Take a moment. Compose yourself. And smile because I have a copy to give away to a lucky reader. It’s easy. Just hit up my old friend Rafflecopter! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Call Me A Nerd

15 November 2012 / ronni

I’m pretty sure I was the teacher’s pet when I was in 3rd grade. It was a good place to be. My teacher’s name was Ms. Oden and she was awesome. I genuinely loved her and loved doing well in school to please her. That kind of stayed ingrained in me, and I was proud of doing well. I remember I loved school and learning.

I had some difficulties in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade (4th and 5th, I was no longer the teacher’s pet and honestly, it hurt, and 6th, I just didn’t care anymore), but by intermediate school (what you folks mostly know as middle school), I was kind of a hot mess.

When I got to 7th grade, I realized how much it bothered me that I wasn’t one of the “cool kids.” It hurt to be called a nerd (and ugly, and ironing board chest, and horse nose and God knows what else). So I did stupid things like sabatoge my grades so I could be one of the “cool kids.” That was so stupid. All the cool kids went on to become valedictorians and stuff, and I had a hard time recovering from having backslid into bad study habits and a bad academic attitude.

But… there is hope for future generations. A really fun CD titled Call Me A Nerd.

I wish I’d had this CD around when I was going through all that bullcrap. I wanted to fit in so badly, it never occurred to me that:
1.) It wouldn’t make people like me more (because it sure as hell didn’t make them like me more–my nerdiness had very little to do with my 4.125 GPA and everything to do with the fact that I was awkward, ugly, and too skinny)
2.) I would be possibly jeopardizing my future so I could seem cool (WTF)
3.) It would take me years to figure out who the hell I really was

I’ve never been “cool”, and I don’t think I’m all that cool now, but I love my life and I love how I am and who I am. If only I’d known this back then…. except you couldn’t pay me anything to get me back to that time in my life. Hell to the no.

That’s where this CD can come in handy! Nip that kind of thinking in the bud so kids won’t go around doing stupid stuff to fit in or seem cool. The songs are uplifting and empowering, but they have that Phineas and Ferb vibe kids’ll love. It’s like the Free to be You and Me for the 21st century. But maybe way cooler. Which is ironic because it’s about being a nerd. But anyway, would you like a copy for your budding scholar? Of course you would. Listen to it here. You can buy it here, but lucky for you, I’m giving away a copy! So, how about you enter this here giveaway and try your luck? 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you win! 🙂

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