I've become a bag lady...

Confession:  I've become somewhat of a bag lady with all of the bags that I find myself lugging to and from work on a daily basis.  It's frustrating.  By the time I make it up 2 flights of stairs to the door of my apartment I'm out of breath and ready to throw the bags off of me. It's so much weight to be carrying around!

Guess what else?  Twice this past week I have left my keys in the doorknob!  This is probably because I can't wait to set bags down after opening the door.

I usually bring at least 4 bags to work on a daily basis:  my work backpack, my purse, my lunchbox, and a re-usuable shopping bag that plays the role of gym bag for the days I go to zumba.  I sometimes come home with even more bags if I stop at the grocery store or run a few errands on the way home.

This evening I switched out the work backpack for a more professional looking work tote.  I've had this tote since grad school and I'm going to see if I can condense my bag load by throwing my wallet and lunch in the work tote to eliminate two of the bags.

Let's see how this works...

How many bags do you take to and from work?

I love Target!

It is no secret that I love Target.  Unfortunately, the closest Target is a ferry ride away, making it more difficult to visit.

This weekend, we made the ferry trip along with two of our friends.  I went right to the home section with Hubs to look for inspiration for our apartment.

We came home with some string lights (clearance priced!), a vase, and vase filler and created a pretty cool light for our entry-way table.

It took a little trial and error to get things looking just right in the vase.  On our first try we ended up with an extra bulb outside of the vase close to the wall outlet. We used an extension cord to give us the extra inches we needed to make all the lights fit inside the vase.

 I am pleased with the results!

A Random Acts of Kindness Birthday

Guess what world?  I celebrated my quarter century birthday this week. 

One of my “30 before 30” items was to celebrate my birthday in random acts of kindness.  I got the idea from reading other blogs and I was intrigued to try it myself. 

It felt so good doing things for other people on my birthday.  (You should try it too!)

Here is a breakdown of my 25 random acts of kindness:

1.       Made lunch for hubs

BTW his lunch looked SO delicious.  He was grateful!

2.       Had a bouquet of flowers delivered to my mom

My mom called me to let me know she received the flowers.  She was so excited.  She couldn’t remember the last time she got flowers.  It felt great to know how much she enjoyed the surprise!

3.       Held the door for someone

So easy!

4.       Donated clothes at the Salvation Army

Donated some great professional clothing that will surely be loved and worn by someone new.

5.       Donated cans for a food drive

I choose cans of soup that would appeal to children.  NOM NOM NOM.

6.       Recycled a plastic bag

So easy!

7.       Dropped off half a dozen donuts at my local pharmacy

I purchased donuts and then wasn’t sure who to give them to.  I was traveling in the direction of my pharmacy when I realized that pharmacists are underappreciated!  I dropped them off explaining I was celebrating my birthday in random acts of kindness.  They were surprised and elated to have a morning snack.

8.       Left a lottery ticket taped to a gas pump

I chose a “Lucky 9’s” ticket.  I mean…it was the 9^th of October after all…

9.       Mailed a surprise to a friend in Canada

She’ll love it!

10.   Mailed a surprise to a sister-in-law

She’ll love it!

11.   Mailed a surprise to a friend in South Korea

He’ll love it!

12.   Picked up trash

So easy!

13.   Taped quarters to a soda machine

The soda machine was in a heavy people traffic area, but I did manage to pull this off and get away without getting caught!

14.   Bought a $5 Panera gift card and had the manager use it on whoever was next in line

The manager was surprised by my request but happily obliged.

15.   Gave a street performer $1

She was playing the accordion with a big smile.  

16.   Gave a complement

So easy!

17.   Left a generous tip

So easy!

18.   Left a note on a changing table in a public restroom

Moms are rock stars.  I hope this encourages someone.

19.   Gave a Yelp review for a local business

So easy!

20.   Left quarters in the laundry room

So easy!

21.   Left returnable bottles by the bottle redemption at the grocery store

 So easy!

22.   Returned a misplaced cart to a cart return

So easy!

23.   Made a charitable donation

Feels good!

24.   Wrote nice note to waitress on receipt for dinner check

So easy!

25.   Left a dollar in a geo-cache with a note

So fun!  I wonder what the person that takes the $1 will do with it?

My random acts of kindness birthday was a success. It was a great way to celebrate an awesome milestone birthday!  Are you intrigued?  Try it!  It doesn't even have to be your birthday - it could be an any day adventure!!!

Fall is here!

It's officially fall in our apartment.  It's the perfect Sunday evening.  Rain is drizzling outside and candles are glowing inside creating a warm atmosphere.  Hubs made apple crisp and apple sauce from scratch.  A pumpkin roll scented candle is wafting through the air. 

October will be here in the morning and we are ready for it!

Don't you just love fall?

Christmas in September?

This afternoon I participated in a Stampin’ Up event where we made Christmas ornaments. I was happy to get crafty for the afternoon.

There were so many steps to the ornament we made!  We started by stamping specific stamps in specific colors.  We then used this awesome device that outlines the stamp to die cut it for you!  (Thank goodness...I can only imagine how long this would have taken if we had to cut out each of the stamped shapes!)

Many stamps, die cuts, and glue dots later… (2.5 hours later to be exact) I came home with this beauty.

I had a good time.  I'm wondering what other craft groups I can try out in the future!

Zentanagle

2 weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in a zentangle class as an opportunity to learn to focus and improve creativity.  I jumped on the opportunity to use the right (and more creative) side of my brain for a few hours.

The art of zentangle involves learning to draw repetitive patterns in structured patterns on 3x3 tiles.  Our instructor taught us 8 patterns and encouraged us to let go of the inner critic and embrace our creative side.

There are 6 steps to zentangle:

1.  Focus - Clear your mind!
2.  Frame - Mark 4 dots and connect them with lines to frame the tile.  (Uneven lines are encouraged!)
3.  String - Outline the structure of your framed tile by breaking the frame into different sections.
4.  Fill - Fill each strung section with a different zentangle pattern.
5.  Shade - Shade patterns using pencil.
6.  Sign - Hold tile out at arms length and determine the orientation you desire for your zentangle.  Initial the tile.  Sign and date the back.

 

 

I really enjoyed learning zentangle.  I intend to buy a book to learn more patterns and to purchase a pre-strung ensemble set that I can frame for my future craft room.

30 Before 30

Confession:  My 25th birthday is creeping up on me.  In just over 5 years I will turn 30!

Below are 30 things that I will endeavor to do in the next 5 years.  I will blog updates as I go.

This is going to be fun!

1. Buy a house
2. Host a family meal (at least once for my family, at least once for Hubs family)
3. Hold a garage sale
4. Learn to swim (better)
5. Learn to knit mittens
6. Get PHR certification
7. Run a 5k Color Run
8. Learn to play a new song on the piano
9. Try to ski
10. See a show on Broadway
11. Get a kitty!
12. Learn how to apply makeup
13. Get rid of acne FOR GOOD
14. Send a secret to PostSecret
15. Visit 4 new states
16. Do a 365 day photography challenge
17. Create a photo collage wall
18. Celebrate my birthday in random acts of kindness
19. Find 500 geo-caches with Hubs
20. Pay off student loans
21. Host a theme party
22. Start a craft group
23. Learn to cook 2 new recipes each month for one year
24. Complete wedding scrapbook
25. Learn 10 new hairstyles that can be put into practice regularly
26. Identify my signature drink
27. Color my hair
28. Buy stock
29. Take dancing lesson with hubs
30. Maintain this blog!