The Weekend

I had a positively lovely weekend. I hope you did too! Spring has finally sprung around these parts. Brad and I went for a walk to the library and ended up wandering a lot farther and longer than that. On Sunday, we had a a little cookout with Brad’s cousin Shawn and his wife Rebecca…LOVE THEM. Here is a Vine video I took of it. Do you use Vine? It’s the best.
Anyway, here are some of photos from the weekend.

Obviously I was having some fun with the Instant Film edits on Afterlight!
The last picture is from a little project I worked on for the blog.
Keep your eyes peeled for that in the near future!

Hoping for a good week…Brad’s doing work in California this week and I have to work my first Saturday shift in a month this coming weekend.
Borrrrring. But I’m going to be catching up with a friend from the West Coast when the weekend does come, and as long as I survive Monday, the rest of the week seems like a breeze. Just hope that’s true.

Recent Reads: Spin (Book #12 of 2013)

A couple of days ago, I finished book #12 of my challenge. It took longer than I had intended, but I guess that’s to be expected when it’s nearly 400 pages, I’m not completely invested, and then I end up getting a stomach bug in the process.

Spin, written by Catherine McKenzie, was brought to my attention by Amazon recommendations. I did some research on Goodreads and it got higher than 3.5 in reviews (5 is the highest) so I figured I’d give it a go.

Our narrator is Katie, a 30 year old who works as a freelance writer and spends most of her time scrounging for food and drinks at university mixers. Because of this, a few of her friends think she’s 25. And she feels that way…she has yet to lock down a solid job and is stuck in a rut. Until a job opportunity at one of her favorite music magazines arrives. The day before her 30th birthday, she is called in for an interview the next day. She is over-the-moon, and decides to join her friend out for a few drinks to celebrate her birthday and the beginning of an exciting life. The only problem is…a few drinks is not where she stops. When she shows up at the interview the next morning, she is still drunk. She makes a terrible impression, excusing herself to go vomit. She’s hit rock bottom and missed out on her dream job…so she goes into a wine-drinking and couch-squatting tailspin. Suddenly, she’s given a second chance by offering to enter rehab for 30 days to snoop on Hollywood’s It Girl, Amber Sheppard and write a killer exposé at the end of it all. 
She goes and…well, I’d just be ruining the whole thing.

I was kind of excited about this book. I loved the idea of a woman stuck in an ambition-less life, going to rehab thinking she doesn’t need it but gaining something from it. I think this book had a lot of potential to explore some of the deeper issues Katie is dealing with. Instead, it sort of turns into the usual chick-lit with a romantic twist. I was bummed.

I don’t regret reading it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it. Instead of being satisfied, it left me wanting more.

Recently…

Eating:
Strawberry Jell-O! Come on, I was sick! I haven’t had much of an appetite, but this gelatin dessert hit the spot without upsetting my tummy.
Drinking:
Gatorade. Again. Replenishment. I like it diluted with water and some ice.
Reading:
I am currently 2 books behind schedule, according to Goodreads. I am almost finished with my 12th book.
Watching:
Awkward. which you can stream until the 3rd season begins on 4/16 on MTV. I know, you’re probably rolling your eyes and scoffing, I did at first. But when the second season began last year, I got hooked. It’s super funny and smart and, at a short 20 minutes, easy to watch.
Listening:
Step, Vampire Weekend’s latest song. SO good.
Lusting:
Dunkin’ Donuts has new flavors of iced coffee…Mint Chocolate Chip and Butter Pecan…MUST HAVE SOON!

Easter Weekend

For those who celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! Sometimes, it can be difficult to split time between my family and Brad’s, but some of my family celebrated on Saturday and some of Brad’s celebrated on Sunday. We got to split time up perfectly between the two, and it was an excellent time. Good food and family…I got to see my cousin’s baby boy Niall for the first time since September!

The only unfortunate thing is that, including myself, a whole bunch of my family got a stomach bug. Not sure where it came from but at least 4 of us are sick. I’ve spent the last two days in bed. It’s not fun to get sick at all, and I haven’t had the puke-y kind of sick that came with this in a very long time. How very draining and discouraging. I am getting better, but I still feel positively BLAH. What can you do?

All photos above taken with my iPhone and edited with Afterlight.

March Photo a Day Challenge Completed

March is over, can you believe it? It feels like an April Fools joke…
For one of the longer months in the year, March sure did fly by.
And with the end of the month, comes the end of another Fat Mum Slim challenge…

Here we go…

1. L is for little things that make me happy.
2. I made this buffalo chicken mac and cheese for dinner one night…it was pretty great.
3. I can never find the key I want on this cluttered ring.
4. I didn’t win a single dollar on any of these Five Times Lucky scratch offs.
5. Loved the shadow projecting under these plants in the office.
6. The pink chair we all fight for at home.
7. Eleanor talks about one of her brother’s fears in Eleanor & Park.
8. My favorite boy holding my favorite pizza.
9. My faceless self-portrait is accurate because I’m always looking at my phone anyway.
10. I want more time in the day and on the weekend to do whatever I please.
11. It’s important that I have at least one cup of coffee a day.
12. A man walking with his umbrella in the distance.
13. The sound of “Happy Birthday to You” and blowing candles out to make wishes.
14. Super tasty pasta with vodka and alfredo sauce, sprinkles with crushed red pepper.
15. Birds warming up on a line before they fly off to explore some more.
16. I did two photos this day: 9 o clock AM is coffee time. 9 o clock PM is beer time!
17. Yuengling Lager comes in green bottles.
18. Old shoes I wear in snowy weather.
19. A faded stop sign spotted on a walk.
20. Squeaky clean out of the shower after a workout.
21. Working hard or hardly working? Reading on my downtime at work. (It’s allowed.)
22. A list of some things about me.
23. What I Do For Fun: Wear bright lipstick, watching movies, buy and use nail polish, and enjoy a brewski or two.
24. Going up the stairs.
25. It’s a mess in my drawer at Brad’s. Lots of lip balms and jewelry.
26. A total of four exercises from these two DVDs is something I did.
27. My trust pair of glasses.
28. In the mirror a few times.
29. Beer and friends make for a good night.
30. Brad and I relax with a cleansing clay mask and a scary movie.
31. A bunch of nail polish stuff in a Ziploc bag for touch ups and changes when I’m at Brad’s house.

And that’s the list for now! As always, I use Instagram and the occasional frame on Afterlight for these pics!
Can’t wait to share April with you…I just hope it doesn’t go too fast!!!

A Passion, An Obsession

If you had told me two years ago that I would eventually accrue and obsess over hundreds of nail polishes, I wouldn’t have believed you.
I only painted my toenails, mostly in the summer. I hated painting my nails for a few reasons, but the main one was laziness. I knew I’d goof it up, become impatient, mess my nails…I wasn’t good with shaping (I’m still not) or cuticle upkeep (I’m still not).

But now, it’s 2013.
Last Wednesday, I laid all of my nail polishes out on the living room floor, color-categorizing them and marking them down in a notebook for kicks and giggles. After counting, I realized (minus base and top coats) I had 101 polishes. By this past Monday, I’d have 106.
There are two more coming in the mail for me, and plenty more on my lust list. I don’t know how this happened, but I’m kind of glad it did.
Nail polish is one of the little things that helps save my mind. Maybe that sounds crazy, but it all comes down to the little things.
It’s the way I treat myself, express myself…it’s exciting and fun and pretty. It’s my hobby, my obsession, my passion.

So I thought, “Shame on you for not blogging about this more.” My various manicures, nail polishes I’d like to get, the new brands I’m trying, various techniques I’m doing or I’m curious about…this is a huge part of my life at the moment and I’m not even sharing it.

Of course, if you follow me on Instagram (@mikeylynn), you will see my latest purchases and NOTD.
But I want to share them on here more. Expect to see more posts like this in the near future.

Recent Reads: Your Voice in My Head (Book #11 of 2013)

I don’t know what prompted me to add Your Voice in My Head, Emma Forrest’s memoir, to my To-Read list. Usually, my interests are piqued by reviews in Entertainment Weekly, Goodreads, or Amazon recommendations. I don’t remember what led me to read it, but I’m glad I did.

Your Voice in My Head is Emma Forrest’s account of her battle with bipolar disorder, which she has dealt with her entire life. That is enough to be intriguing for me to read. As someone who deals with anxiety and depression, I admire when people are honest about their mental illnesses, and I appreciate when they showcase every high and low point of it all.

When I started reading this, I had a sort of “Why?” moment. Why do people write memoirs, why do people read them, why is your story more important than someone else’s, enough to write a book? But I’m still very thankful for them, at times, because they show you a glimpse at real life, real pain, real love…what’s not to love?

This book is short, only about 210 pages. I probably would’ve finished it sooner but last week was crazy, and then I forgot it at home for a good 36 hours or so. I would recommend this, especially for those that suffer any form of depression or anxiety.