first day of school - fall 2010

Today I treated myself to a Frappe from McDonald's. I don't usually drink coffee because I'm afraid of getting hooked, but today I thought it was necessary. And delicious. I haven't gotten much sleep the past few days, and my only class today was an 8:30-12 drawing class. On the way to school I listened to some of the music that I loved in high school, and fell in love with these songs and groups all over again. Alkaline Trio, The Weakerthans, The Shins, The Decemberists. Love them. Takes me way back.

this picture is from last night. i spent my last day of summer working 9-5 (yes, on labor day) then i saw my oldest friend. (in years known, not age) we got subway and picniced in the park. he knows me better than anyone in the world. love this guy. and after the sun went down, i went to see my newest friend. we watched a movie called "the good, the bad, the weird" about korean cowboys. lol of course, i loved it. :-P

This is why today was great:

1. I found a great parking spot without having to hunt for it 
2. got to school early enough to drink my Frappe and eat my egg n' cheese biscuit
3. drawing teacher seems like he's a pretty cool guy
4. he has a Russian accent. I think that's neat.
5. this class in on the 2nd floor, rather than the 4th like my past drawing classes. Less stairs!
6. got out of class at 10 instead of 12. Didn't have to draw on the first day.
7. great old-school tunes in the car
8. saw a butterfly
9. knees are healed and I can jog again (I hurt my knees a couple weeks ago from not prepping before jogging)
10. saw my new friend today and watched a funny movie
11. Got a letter in the mail from my Dear Darling Penpan, Jaymie. She gave me a CUTE little owl necklace! I can't wait to wear it tomorrow! :)

And now I need to get some rest. These allergies are driving me nuts! XD How was your day today?

September 5th

So I guess fall is really here. I miss summer. But a part of me is looking forward to the new adventures that autumn holds.

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My sister and brother came over today with their kids for a little labor day BBQ. It was fun to spend a little time with my immediate family. Extended family get togethers usually aren't as much fun..

This is my oldest niece, Jocelyn. Everyone comments on how much she looks like her good ol Aunt Angie. ;) I had a ton of fun today teaching her some  Korean words. She liked 'milk' (oo yoo), 'pretty' (yeppo), and 'poop' (Dong). Although I think that last one might be a profanity. . . Oh well. :]

I painted these corn hold boards for my brother-in-law, Matt, about 4 years ago. He's a big Jimmy Buffet fan. I never got around to taking pics of them when I first painted them, so I was glad he brought them over today so I could get a few shots. 

I bought a nice mouse today for my laptop. Hopefully this will make it easier to work with programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I really want to get back into my old graphic design and illustrating stuff. If anyone needs any design work done, let me know! I could use a little practice. :]

Here's a little sneak peak at what I got for my friend. Her birthday party/ going away party is next weekend. I'll share more about this later. ;)

And the running total of money spent for the months of September is $75. That is $25 gasoline, $25 gift for friend, and $25 mouse. I haven't bought anything frivolous in a whole week! Aren't you proud of me? ;) And I feel like I have the will power to keep this going. 

I got an "intention bracelet" in the mail yesterday from Melissa of Oh My Darling (far right). Seeing it helps remind me to Spread the Love to others. And I love the fact that I've made real friends from having this blog. Something about knowing people in another part of the country feels really special to me. I've never had out of state friends before, unless it was someone who moved away, and I lost touch with them because of it.

The heart bracelet is from my good friend, Alyssa, as a Spread the Love week gift. And the Silly bands are from my nephew. They're shaped like a helicopter, a submarine, a dolphin, and a Jeep. And a beach umbrella from my niece.

I spent some time with a new friend today. This is one thing from my 4 Simple Goals list. Not this is something I can check off, but rather it's an ongoing activity. That is to spend less time alone in my room, and more time with my friends. My new friend gave me these books to help me learn Korean. I think they're for preschoolers. But that's perfect for me! :) 

Happy weekend. Love.

Spread the Love Week - Day Four

Day Four of Spread the Love Week has been pretty fun. I had a friend come over and we watched the movie "I Love You, Man," which is pretty hilarious.

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At work, in honor of Spread the Love Week, my friend Alyssa gave me a couple really great mix CDs of Hanson. Yes, that Hanson. They're so much more than MMMBop! They're still playing music and they're petty great.

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And she gave me this aaawesome friendship bracelet!! Look it has little hearts!! AA! So cute!

And! And and and! ... It glows in the dark! *squeels* My friends are the best. <3

Also, in honor of Spread the Love Week, I listed my Sarang heyo - ("I love you" in Korean) bracelets in my etsy shop. And they're Pay it Forwards. That means that they're only 20 cents. They're not listed to make money, just to Spread the Love.

And I wanted to say that lately the news has been making me sad. I've been hearing a lot about people committing hate crimes against other people based on their religion. That breaks my heart.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. Despite the color of his skin. Or the culture he was born into. Or who he prays or doesn't pray to. Or what he wears or what country he lives in. We're all in this together. Let's hug it out.

Spread the Love Week - Day Three

Sometimes I'm just amazed at how things work out. I think sometimes God sends us little challenges as a friendly way of messing with us. All you can do is laugh about it sometimes.

At the risk of being a little too personal, I'll tell you a little story. About a year ago, a very close friend of mine moved into a bigger house, while my family had recently moved into a smaller one. I loaned him some furniture, since he needed it and I didn't. After a few months, this guy and I had a falling out, and we stopped speaking to each other.

Well last night his room mate texts me saying they are moving into a smaller place, while this time my family is moving into a bigger place! (still waiting on the bank to accept the offer, but we're pretty confident..) He told me no one would be home tomorrow (today), and I could come pick up my furniture any time. (They had made me a spare key back when him and I were close. )

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So here I am, standing in the house of "the boy who done me wrong," all alone. I could have done anything mean and nasty. For months I've been mad at this guy and kind of hoping the timing would work out so I could have the opportunity to give him what he deserves.

But I didn't. It's Spread the Love Week.
When I got home I texted him. "Hey. Thanks for taking good care of my kitchen table. It means a lot to me.  Sorry I was a bitch to you." And I think I have closure on that now.

On a less personal, just for fun note, I made some CDs for a friend. I told my good friend Alyssa about Spread the Love week, and she told me she would make me a mix CD of her favorite group. And today I made her one in return.

It has 8 tracks of the English versions of some Korean Songs. Sounds kinda weird, I know. But these songs are actually pretty good. ;) Here! Listen!

mmm Taeyang.. abs like a Hershey bar..


this one makes me think "team jacob." lol


and these are English covers by JD Relic. Sounds great but the videos are a little awkward and silly to just sit and watch.





What do you think? ;)

Spread the Love Week - Day One

Day One of Spread the Love week was a success. (And yes, as you can tell by the picture, I'll be wearing love-themed clothes all week.. because I'm dorktastic like that.) ;)

When I opened my eyes this morning, first thing I thought was, "Wasn't there something I was supposed to do today..? .. .. OOH! Spread the Love!" So I hopped out of bed (around noon.. I LOVE summer) and started working away on making friendship bracelets to take to work.

 
Probably like 90% of my good friends are my co-workers. It makes it so much easier to go into work, knowing that you love all the people there like family.  After I got a little sun out back, I came in to make cookies. I found this recipe that looked pretty simple, with normal ingredients that I already had.

As it turns out, after I mixed the dry ingredients together, I plopped by butter in the bowl and went to put in the sugar. .. .. I WAS A CUP SHORT! AAAH! So I had to get in the car and drive to the store.. When I got back, I was finishing up the cookies and went to grab the last ingredient- vanilla. .. WE WERE OUT OF VANILLA!! WHO THE HECK RUNS OUT OF VANILLA?? Seriously though, you never use more than a spoonful at a time- a bottle last for like, years.. *uugh* (and I don't say these things in an angry tone- when things like this happen, I just throw my hands in the air and laugh) Aaanway, when the cookies were FINALLY done, I brought them to work to share with my lovely friends. And the cookies were delish, if I do say so myself. ;) Hard work and frustration paid off.

While I was at Hobby Lobby, dropping off my cookies and bracelets, I got a little something for my kitty cat. She loooves pom poms. She has about a million scattered around the house already, but she likes them best when they are fresh out of the package. (I know, I know, spoiled. and kind of weird. But hey, what can you do?) Normally, I wouldn't have gotten these for her, since she really doesn't need them, but I thought, "You know what, it's Spread the Love Week."

And check out this picture. Action shot. lol

Also while I was there, I got this little wallet card for my Ex. Him and I broke up a year ago, but we have a long history, so we stayed friends. And we are both much happier that way, just for the record. But I wanted him to know that I'm there for him, even though too often in his life, he feels like everybody is against him.

So that's it for day one. I wonder that tomorrow will bring. <3

SUUURSPRISE!

i got my surprise ball from the lovely Brina last night! :D it was so exciting! and i was fortunate enough to share the event with my bff, who had come over after work to go jogging with me. hence the bad photo. lol i was in a rush to photograph it and tear into it before it got dark outside. :]

it was soo much fun unwrapping this little pretty!! :-P Brina had put CUTE CUTE owl stickers all over the outside, and every so often, a little bit of pink butterfly confetti would sprinke out onto my lap and we would giggle uncontrollably. ^.^

such awesome stuff in here, for real! some super adorable handmade owl stuffies, red polka dot hair bows, a pink manicure set and fun glittery and pink nail polish, 2 cute rubber stamps, lip gloss that smells like peeeaches *mmm*, the cutest owl stickers I've ever seen in my life! and caaaandy! she gave me swedish fish here too, but i couldnt wait.. i gobbled them up before i could take the picture.. *blushes*

so freakin cute! these are soo my style.. i was actually looking at stamps the other day that looked a lot like these. so perfect!

pale pink is one of my fave colors. and of sparkly is too, if sparkly is a color! ;) hehe

every flat surface in my room will soon be owl-fabulous.. :) arent these just so cute you could die??

and these guys! nothing like the handmade touch to warm the heart. <3 i think owls are the mascot of team AWESOME. .. .. :]

thank you, Brina, for all my wonderful surprises! i love them all!

the little things

i love the little things in life. here are some things that are making me super happy right now:

a random customer who checked out through my line at hobby lobby gave me this little puppy card. i thought it was super nice. :)

purple pig watering can! :)

this little birdy mirror was a gift from melissa over at oh my darling. :)

this mini journal i keep in my purse. and a pink kneaded eraser! :)

still waiting to see if i'm going to be moving to a bigger house. i already bought this awesome fabric to recover the dining room chairs if we get it. :) *i like to live optimistically*