Five for Friday: Vanity Sizing, Caro Emerald, and White Screen of Death

Five for Friday is a weekly series about the five new things I learned each week. It could be anything from a new recipe, new skills, or a new life lesson. Caro Emerald I heard her on XM. Now I can’t get enough. This song, especially, does NOT get old for me. Vanity Sizing Reality Check I haven’t really paid much attention to “vanity sizing“.  Sure, I know that a size M dress at Forever 21 is a tad loose but a pair of size zero petite pants at Ann Taylor Loft will fit like a dream. But I don’t...
Continue reading...

Five for Friday: Crush List, Hulk Bunny, and Thunder Sheep

OakMonster.com - Hulk Bunny Make-up Test

Five for Friday is a weekly series about the five new things I learned each week. It could be anything from a new recipe, new skills, or a new life lesson. Aussies Are Taking Over My Crush List Well, this is not really new. But as I’m re-evaluating my “If any of these guys showed up at our door, I’m gone!” list, I found myself listing mostly Australian actors. (Don’t worry. Brandon has a list of his future celebrity wives as well. Hee.) Brad Pitt, the King of my Heart since I outgrew Tom Cruise in college, is losing his...
Continue reading...

Five for Friday: New Things I Learned This Week

Of course, I’ve been stuck on a writer’s block lately despite having all the time on my hand. So, I thought writing about 5 new things I’ve learned or am learning during the week would be cool. 15 minutes a day to a clean house Sure, I have all the time in the world now that I’m going on the 17th month of being mostly unemployed. But cleaning is still not my favorite thing to do.  Pinterest proves to be a useful and inspiring time suck as I found a few tips to help me get on top of this...
Continue reading...

Freeing My Creative Mind

It’s  been over 10 years since I worked in a truly creative environment. I had given up on being creative professionally.  When I got home, I didn’t do much either except for the costuming for Halloween/Renaissance Faire, food gift labels for the holidays, and the now-tradition Christmas e-card. Oh, and occasional alcohol-fueled rock star moments at the piano. It only took three months working with and for these guys at Ignited to get me to WANT to be creative. All. The. Time. I was tasked with reviving the company’s social media presence. So, for the next month, I read several...
Continue reading...

Chasing Down a Memory

If you can believe it, I was a shy international student when I arrived at the Orange County private school back in 1993.  I wasn’t “shy” because that was what I was. I was “shy” because I was insecure with my English skills and with being a total foreigner in a school full of mostly white kids. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to make friends. My host mom Bonnie, also one of our school’s counselor at the time, had it planned out for me perfectly. She enrolled me in handbell choir with ultra small class...
Continue reading...