Getting Organized: Clothing Edition

Clothing:

Black sheath dress

Cream colored cardigan

Bright, blousy top, possibly sheer or with tie neck

Brown tweed skirt

Long button-up, tie-waist sweater, grey or brown

Denim jacket

Short, brightly-colored, chunky cardigan

Black, red, grey or cream mock turtleneck

Leather scuba jacket in grey, brown or kelly green

Brightly-colored wool coat

40's style trousers

Stove pipe jeans

Shoes:

Black, calf-high flat boots

Grey booties

Men's wear inspired high heeled oxfords

Brown wedges or kitten-heel

Sexy platforms, possibly with zippers

Bags:

Oversized frame bag

Brown briefcase bag

Small, bright envelope clutch

Slouchy fold-over bag

Accessories:

Tights in cream, grey and red

Bold necklace

Small silver hoop earrings

Cuff bracelet

Bold gold jewelry

In my 28th year....

In my 28th year I will:

1. Get a great reference librarian position somewhere where I can contribute and be successful

2. Achieve my goal weight

3. Run a 1/2 marathon

4. Spend lots of time with my best friends and my family

5. Take Collin to Chicago

6. Focus on paying my student loans

7. Pay off my credit card debt

8. Go to a roller derby match

9. Make another trip to the Menil Gallery in Houston

10. Frame our unframed prints

11. Take more photographs, film and digital

12. Volunteer my time to help people and/or animals

13. Try my best to be more understanding

14. Make that chocolate chip cookie recipe from the NY Times

15. Only buy clothes that are unique and express my personality

16. Save some money every month for emergencies and for the future

New apartment

So we moved into the new apartment about a month and a half ago. An now that we are basically all moved in, we need some stuff for the apartment to finish it off.

1. I want the paint the Kitchen, it is too white. I guess we will just repaint when we move out.

2. We need a table and chairs for the dining/living area, I hope to get those from IKEA soon.

3. Collin needs a bed-side table and lamp so that he can read in bed without being on my side.

4. It would be nice to have some sort of guest bed for the 2nd bedroom/office, people can sleep on the couch, but it doesn't provide much privacy.

5. I would like to get frames for several prints and photographs, I love our movie posters but sometimes its nice to have some traditional art/photographs

Things I'd like to accomplish

Inspired by my friend Susan, who was, in turn, inspired by another.

-Get a full time Librarian job where I can make a difference
-Get a 2nd Masters and/or a PhD
-Publish a paper or study
-Learn to speak, read and write in Spanish
-Travel to Spain
-Travel in Mexio
-Travel to Greece and Italy
-Run a 1/2 Marathon
-Run a full Marathon
-Get fit enough to run in shorts comfortably
-Buy a really fabulous, very expensive dress
-Buy a pair Louboutin shoes
-Find a really cute swimsuit
-Have pretty toes
-Make mole from scratch
-Make the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie, with a butter recipe
-Get a kitchen table
-Entertain friends around said table
-Buy and renovate a 1920s Bungalow or a Mid-Century Modern Ranch
-Get veneers
-Have a really big party with all my friends and family
-Visit a large, amazing farmer's market
-Live in Austin again
-Pay off my student debt
-Buy myself a car
-Take my parents out for dinner

Friday

So we still don't know what school/schools Collin got into, but we know we aren't moving to Lubbock. Which is ok with us. Lubbock is a lot like Riverside and doesn't really have a lot to offer that is attractive to us. So I'm still hoping for Denver or Houston.

In other news, I run. A lot. About 25 miles a week right now. And I love it. I've been running for about 2 years now. For the past 6 months or so, I've been training continuously for a half-marathon that I'm too chicken to sign up for. I'm not worried about the distance. I've run 15 miles at a time before, but I'm worried that I'll be slower than everyone else, which I probably will be. My pace is about 11:30 min/mile, which is tons better than where I started. I can't help but wish that I could do a 9 min pace. I'll get there, it just frustrates me how long that may take, mostly because I hate speed work. I have a mental block about running fast, it makes me panicky, like I'm haveing an asthma attack, instead of just breathing hard. I think once I get over the mental issues. I should be able to run much faster, I just have to learn that I'm not dying. This week I ran 4 miles at a 9:55 pace and last week I ran 2 miles at a 9:38, so I'm making some progress.

My weight loss hasn't been going as smoothly. I'm extremely active, so I'm hungry a lot and I tend to overeat because "I deserve it" for working so hard with the running and all. But I rejoined online Weight Watchers and I've been tracking my food intake a lot more. I've already lost the weight I'd gained in the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas extravaganza, but I've sort of stalled out for the past couple of weeks. So this week, I'm trying harder to stay on plan, and I decided not to eat all of my Activity Points, perhaps that will make a difference. Next week, I'm going to try really hard to stay within my point balance for the day, instead of using Flex Points every evening. I have a problem with saving my points all day and then having an eating fest when I get home. It would be better to more evenly distribute my points throughout the day, so I'll try that as well.

Nothing else exciting is happening. My parent are coming in a couple of weeks (hopefully). So, we'll be doing all sorts of fun SoCal stuff, like the Tar Pits and Pink's and the Getty and the beach. I'm looking forward to that.

Wow....

Its been awhile since my last post. So just to fill you in. I am in California now, and I'm not loving it. In fact, Collin has applied to a bunch of schools outside of California, and we are waiting to find out where we are moving next. I hope to know by the middle of March, and then we can start making plans and decisions. I like the planning and deciding phase better than the sitting and waiting phase we are in now.

So, why didn't we like California? I have a list of reasons.

1. Collin can't find work. There were jobs advertised for English teachers when we moved here, but the budget situation in California caused most of those jobs to go unfilled. So living in California on one income is difficult. I would love to explore the area more, but we just plain can't afford it.

2. Riverside doesn't suit our vibe. I was hoping California would be like one giant Austin, but its not. Riverside is like the Lubbock of California. No art theatres, no Whole Foods, no used book stores. Riverside does have a Trader Joes, but its not the same as Whole Foods or Central Market. I think the worst is the lack of used book stores, we miss Half Price Books more than I can say.

3. We haven't made any new friends here. My co-workers are really nice, and some of them have reached out to me very kindly, but we haven't found any good friends to hang out with yet. Part of that is because Collin is not working, many of our friends in Texas were met through his school and work. I guess we could get involved in something, but I'm lazy when it comes to socializing. I miss our Texas friends.

4. Its freaking expensive to live in California, granted this one goes with number one, but the fact remains. I hate living in our 1 BDRM 1 BATH apartment. Which is $400 more than the 2 and 2 we had in San Marcos. Cereal is $4-5 a box and eggs are $3 a dozen. If I was making as much as a do in Texas, we could afford a new car and still have money to save. Here, I'm going into debt just living here, to pay for car repairs, etc.

5. I miss my family and friends. I'm missing out on seeing my nephew. Its hard to communicate with my dad and my brother over the phone. I just need to see them more often. Same with my friends, its hard to keep up with them when we are so far away, and it was so nice to see them when we were there at Christmas.

So, that's why California sucks, and that's why we are moving. I don't know where. Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Lubbock, Houston, and Athens, GA are the options. I hope we know soon.