Fashionably Surviving the Cold

It's cold in Las Vegas.   I hate to say those words so much.  I knew it was going to happen.  I knew that eventually, the cold would nip at my nose and would wish I had on a scarf.  And yet...I am still surprised that the cold has come.   Don't get me wrong, I love the boots, hats, and scaves just much as the next basic b*tch....But man, why does it have to be in the 40s?!  Las Vegas is supposed to be warm.  Yesterday morning when I left for work, the grass had frost on it.  FROST!  Later this week I'm going up to Salt Lake...I'm afraid to see what the weather is like up there, to be honest.   In light of the recent shift in the weather, I've put together a few of my favorite cold weather outfits.  It gets boring to always wear jeans just because it's cold out, so a couple years ago, I embraced the cold and thought of some ways to keep dressing cute and not freezing my bum off.
I learned to add tights, scarves, and hats to keep the cold away,  It also helps to wear dresses and jackets made from quality materials.     Recently, I was lucky enough to recieve a product from eShakti.    I don't know if you know this about me...but I'm kind of in love with 50s inspired fashion, and that is exactly what the eShakti store provides.  Not only that, you can get everything custom sized.  You can change the length, neck lines, and decide whether or not it has pockets.  Honestly, I should have gotten one that was a little smaller.  But you live and you learn!     Even if you aren't all that into 50s inspired style, there are plenty of options that look very modern and tasteful.  I'm in love and I can't wait to order my next dress.  

You can use the coupon code chalkituptobetterluckto get 10% OFF when you shop eShakti valid from 11/18/2014 – 12/18/2014 

Get a head start on that Christmas Dress shopping and head over to eShakti right now!

Hot Chocolate and Bubbly Bartenders

Last night there was a meteor shower!  Trav and I had plans to go to a museum last night, but shortly after discovering there was a meteor shower, plans changed.  We decided to take a drive up Mount Charleston and watch meteors from the bed of his truck. 

We knew that it was going to be cold.  But oh man...it was cold.  On the way up the mountain, we stopped in at the little lodge up Kyle Canyon.  It's a cute little place with a little pound out front that was nearly frozen over... We decided to go into the bar and hang out for a little bit before we braved the freezing cold out there.  

We ate some delicious chili and hot chocolate, Trav had a few drink, and we chatted with the bubbly bartenders.  We cuddled up next to the fire for a little bit.  On a relatively unrelated note, I also sat down at the piano and showed Trav that I have a random hidden talent and can poorly play the piano. 

Eventually, we sucked it up and headed out into the cold.  We drove down the road to Lee Canyon and pulled over at Robber's Roost.  It's amazing how we were less than an hour from the city and yet it was like we could see every star in the sky. 

As you can see, we were wearing basically all the cold weather clothes that we had, but the cold definitely found its way into our little cuddled up bundle.  Neither of us really had clothes for the cold...we moved to Vegas in the Summer! We thought of a few things that may have made it a little warmer a little too late, but we still had a great time out there.  It is truly so incredible to stare up at the vastness of outer-space and just...think about how freaking big it is.  We talked about how we feel so small and insignificant...and we talked about how we have to create our own significance...That we have to make our dash count for us...because the universe is indifferent. 

We obviously think a little too much.  But that was my Monday night with my man...I think I might be spoiled. 

We're Breakfast People

My little California Vacation, although it was prompted by a very sad thing, was actually kind of fun.  It was pretty great getting to see the place that Travis grew up. He took me out to breakfast at the Swing Inn in Old Town. Old Town is a really cool area with all kinds of different restaurants and neat buildings.  Even better, the Swing Inn is a place that Trav and his family used to go when he and his brother were kids.  It was perfect too.  Because we're Breakfast People
 
This is us outside of the restaurant.  Unfortunately, we always take picutres selfie style, so you can never actually see what fun adventure we're on.  Good thing I told you, huh?

Also, I got to give Travis a gift I have been dying to give him.  When my family visited two weeks ago, my dad brought down the holster that he made for Trav.  He totally knew he was going to get it.  That sort of made me sad, I love surprises. But he was definitely not disappointed.

 

While we were there we went out to dinner and spent some much-needed time out together.  It's hard when you're stuck in all that grief.  It was nice to get out and just be silly for a little bit. We're drinking a milkshake at Red Robin.  It was supposed to have alcohol in it, but I saw how much baileys she put in it...so much for an "Adult" shake... :P

 

We decided to take advantage of our nice clothes and took a few pictures together.  I don't know if you can see it on my face, but oh man...I'm so in love. I know I loved being single, but I love being loved more.  I guess I was just waiting around for the right one to come along...and here he is. All perfect in his Ray Bans and tie that he had to YouTube to tie...And even then it was all wrong. Don't tell him, but I think he's kind of got a hold on me..

And just for fun...While we were doing some work getting things cleaned out and business taken care of, we found all kinds of Trav's old stuff.  Sports jerseys, baby clothes, picutres, and this gold right here.  This is his Indiana Jones hat from Disneyland and his boyscout uniform from when he was 9.  If you have liked my page on facebook you may have already seen this gem.

 

Yeah...I fit into a 9 year old boy's shirt.  A little sad and a little happy at the same time. Kind of like the entire time I was there...It's hard.  We're working through it all, but it's hard.  I'm just glad that we got to spend a lot of time together and I was able to go down there and be able to stand by Trav's side while he goes through this incredibly hard thing. He's kind o fmy hero right now...I suppose it just takes time.

 

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

Lorrie

Over the past 5 days, I've been in Murrieta, California with Travis. His mom passed away a week ago today...That's the reason that I've been all about living life to the fullest.  You just never know when it could be rapidly taken from you.  It has also taught me not to take the people who are in my life for granted. 

 

All too quickly, it can just be over...I only met his mom Lorrie one time.  I met her when Trav and I had only known each other for a a little over a week...Looking back, I'm so glad that I met her.  It's after going to her service, I know what a truly amazing person she was and I can only hope to learn from her example.  I think the most amazing thing that I learned about her in the time that I spent there with Trav and his family was that she saved everything.  She has pictures, her kids old sports jerseys, paper work, old family trinkets, things for her childhood...everything.  It has inspired me to make plans to go home and get together all of my random junk that I've kept throughout the years like bagage claim tickets and receipts from the big things I've bought and actually do something with it all. That may seem silly, but because she kept all that stuff, she has some amazing keepsakes for Trav and his brother.  She was also really organized.  I could learn a lot from her.    At her funeral, the city that she worked in gave her a proclomation.  This was probably the most inspiring part of it all. Residents of the city were calling the city insisting that they do something to honor her memory. As the marketing director at Chick Fil-a she created relationships with her customers.  I was completely blown away by the number of people who came up to Travis and shook his hand and said "I was a customer at Chick Fil-A."   That is the kind of person I want to be.  Some who leaves such an impression on other that it actually does make the world a better place. With that being said, a Go Fund Me account has been set up for donations to help the family...my family with the cost of her services. If you feel like living by Lorrie's example, please click the link and donate what you can.  It means more to Lorrie's family than you can possibly imagine.    If you live in the Murrieta/Temecula/Riverside ish area, there will be a fundraiser on Novebember 20th at Chick Fil-A in Murrieta where Lorrie worked. A portion of the entire day's profits will go to family.   We'll miss you, Lorrie...I wish I could have had the chance to get to know you better.

When Things Go Right

After I wrote all those goals and my little list of things that I'll be working in the next little while, I wasted no time in getting to work.  It is so satisfying to get down to business and acutally do what I tell myself I'm going to.   For example, last night, I told myself I was going to wake up a little bit early before class to do laundry and clean today.  Usually I go to bed knowing that I'm kidding myself with those thoughts.  I was up late FaceTiming with Travis and was pretty sure that thought was a complete lie to myself.   But wouldn't you know it, this morning when my alarm went off at 05:30 I got out of bed, did my hair, got my clothes together to wash, cleaned my room, and changed the wash to the dryer on my way out the door.  Not only that, I got home from class in time to shower and blow dry my hair.  I even had some time to put way all the clothes I washed and get my next load ready to toss in the washer.  When I walked out the door, my room was clean, my bed was made and I was early to work.   I think that when you work on certain aspects of your life and improve yourself, other parts of your life just sort of tend to follow suit.   I got my butt into the gym two days in a row.  I have been drinking a ridiculous amount of water, and I'm finally not behind in my classes.  I'm actually right where I should be.  It's amazing...Maybe it's just this full moon...It'll probably all disappear next week and I'll be back to being an unorganized mess.   I have more to say, but I'm not sure how to organize it all into a real life blog post.  I am currently working on creating posts for...wait for it...the entire year of 2015.  It's not going as well as I hoped and my cutesy blogging ideas are just not working like I want them to.  So forgive me.  My brain is blog-fried.  Hopefully I've got some good things for you in the coming year!   Here's to fresh starts!

A Collections of Moments

Life is fragile.  
I think sometimes we forget that. We act like this day we're living right now isn't even going to be a memory a few months from now.  Sometimes, that may be true.  It's not likely I'm going to remember wanting to pull my hair out over studying for all my tests, but I'll probably remember the A that I get on the test.  Moments are fleeting but it's a collections of moments that make up your entire life.  I don't know about you, but I think I want my moments that I string together and look back on to be some good ones. 
 In an effort to improve the quality of my collections of moments I made a list... I kinda love lists. And this one is mine.  It consists of the things that I'd like to complete in the near future. Near can be interpreted as anywhere from a week from now to 5 years from now. 
1) Toss out the clothes & shoes that I've had since the 8th grade and buy adult clothes 2) Pass this semester
3) Be a good blogger.  Not because I wanna be blog-famous.   4) Read books just for fun.
5) Embrace my natural hair color and quit dying it. 6) See more live music. 
7)  Volunteer.  Love.  Give. Share.
8) Stop eating pizza Lunchable and Bagel Bites. 
9) Take care of my body. 
10) Start a collection so that when I'm old I have something of virtually zero value to pass onto my children.  
11) Write some music 
12)  Get married and have some kids (kids can come later than the "near future" timeline...)
13)  Let go of the things that don't enhance my life in any way.
14)  Spend more time without my phone in my hands. 
15) Don't just write lists like these. Actually do the stuff I put on it. 
Right now my life is sort of crazy and I'm not exactly sure what to do with everything that's happening.  I'm trying to just take this lesson with me.  I'm not going to be on this Earth for forever.  I have to make every single day and every moment that passes by count for something.  
What does your string of moments look like?

November At a Glance

This awesome thing just happened where I completed my homework for the entire week (and the beginning of next week) And I feel so good. I updated my "November-at-a-glance" calendar and It hurt my heart.  Ouch.  Gonna be a rough month.  However, it really helps to stay organized.  I had a little lapse there earlier in the semester...But I'm back on track and keeping my grades exactly where they should be.  Now that I have a pre-loaded excuse for being a the worst 5-days-a-week blogger ever, you don't have to be shocked when you see that I haven't posted in a while.  With that being said...I've got some November goals.  

 

My goals aren't that specific, but I think that for this month I need a broad target.  Hopefully I can stay on top of all my goals and see how things go!