Soundtrack of My Life

I am kind of obsessed with today's topic - Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories.

I know I've mentioned this before, but I love music. There's nothing better than finding a song that relates perfectly to your life at that exact moment. It's even better when you flip on the radio and hear an old song that instantly takes you back to a place in your past. It's crazy how a particular song can define certain phases of your life, get you through heartache, or make happier times that much happier. I could probably go on forever with this post, but I will try to limit myself to just five songs...or six...or ten.

Ironic by Alanis Morissette. I have such vivid childhood memories associated with this song. I have a crystal clear recollection of my friend Marina and I performing this song (with coordinating dance moves obviously) for my parents in our living room in St. Louis. Now why on earth I was allowed to listen to this song when I was 11 is beside me. It's the good advice that you just didn't take. Who would've thought...it figures.



Wannabe by Spice Girls. If you were a girl growing up in the 90's you can't tell me Spice Girls music doesn't define your childhood. Yo I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want.



Roll Out by Ludacris. Without a doubt whenever I hear this song I immediately think of high school cheerleading, and riding to games in those big ol' vans rapping our little hearts out. It's insane how many different versions of this song we created. Now where'd you get that platinum chain with them diamonds in it?



For Good from Wicked Soundtrack. This song brings me right back to college and more specifically Theta recruitment. Happy times :) ...But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.



Wrong Baby Wrong by Martina McBride. I may have played this song on repeat for upwards of 4 months, but this song seriously got me through my break-up in Cincinnati. ...everyone falls down. Everyone crawls now and then. Then they get up again. You cry if you want to that's what we all do, but if you think you'll never move on you're wrong baby wrong.





Ordinary by The Alternate Routes. This song reminds me of happier times in Cincinnati. :) If you haven't heard of this band check them out. They are pretty great. When you die will you be surrounded by friends? Will they pray for a heaven out loud, a hope that somehow they will see you again.

I Would Do Anything for You by Foster the People. First summer back in Kansas = perfect. ...and it's better this time than ever before.

A Place in This World by Taylor Swift. An anthem for almost every 20-something girl. And tomorrow's just a mystery oh yeah, but that's okay...

The Moment I Knew by Taylor Swift. Yet another break up...and another TSwift song that I can't get enough of. Do you see the trend? You should've been there, should've burst through the door with that baby I'm right here smile...

Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding. I know I've already included this song in my blog before, but it is just so great. It should seriously be playing at all times. Yet since we found out, since we found out, that anything could happen, anything could happen.


Nothing in This World Will Ever Break My Heart Again by Hayden Panettiere. And one more for good measure. I don't necessarily think this applies to my life right now, but I'm a sucker for a sad song and this has been on repeat since the Nashville finale. Don't need a miracle, a superhero. There's only one way up when you're at zero. You took my innocence but it was knowing no I don't need you and that made me a woman.



Ok that was 11 songs and not 10 so sue me. Happy listening!

Only Pictures

Finally! An easy one - today's topic: only pictures. Here is my Memorial Day weekend in pictures. Sorry if you follow me on Instagram. Most of these will be repeats! If you aren't following me, you should. I promise to provide you with an obscene amount of food and cat pictures. It will be awesome. Follow me here.

The first of many extremely unhealthy weekend snacks. I don't have a picture
of it, but I also tried the Wendy's Frosty waffle cone. Ah-maze-ing. No words.

Happy Bachelorette Party to Mandy! I had a great time even though I could only
attend the first part of the celebration. Can't wait for your wedding in 17 days!

Squeezed in a little shopping before Bloom's wedding Sunday night.
I had to buy a new outfit...and accessories. Obviously.

Pre-reception drinks with great friends!

Love these two!

Congrats Ashley and Jay! What a perfect night!

Because no weekend is complete without at least one Mexican meal.

Without a doubt the best ice cream ever. If you find yourself in Lawrence,
do NOT, I repeat, do NOT leave without going to Sylas & Maddy's

Time to detox.

Finally got my new living room chairs I ordered months ago! Kinda
obsessed with the chairs, and of course Evie too :)

things that really irk me

Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is supposed to be links to favorite posts in your blog's archives. Seeing as I've only been at this for a few months (with several week long hiatuses) I don't have very many to choose from (here are my top three posts in terms of page views - one, two, three). I'm going to go ahead and skip to the next topic because I highly doubt I will get to it tomorrow.

Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off).

Well obviously I don't have a husband...or even a boyfriend for that matter so I can't rant about him. Can I rant about my lack thereof? I probably shouldn't even get started on that topic. Honestly, I really try to avoid controversy and arguments, but I do have a list of pet peeves that could stretch to the moon and back so I'll leave you with some of these today.

• People who misuse there/their/they're, to/two/too, your/you're...actually just people with bad grammar in general. I think most second graders could spell better than one of my exes, and it made me cringe every time I got a text or IM from him. Bad writing skills are a deal breaker in my book.
• Slow walkers - especially in crowded malls and narrow hallways/aisles. I've got places to go and people to see. No time for lolly gagging!
• Crumbs on counter tops
• When people go around telling everyone how awesome they are at their hobbies, jobs, or life in general. Newsflash -- If you are truly that awesome you shouldn't have to tell anyone.
• Anyone (they can be male or female) that says "we're pregnant." Last time I checked only one of you is growing a baby inside you.
• When someone proceeds to start running on the treadmill right next to me when there are at least 15 other empty ones.
• People that drive slow in the left lane. I'm all for being safe and driving the speed limit, but get in the right lane for the love of god.
• Hair in/on bathroom sinks and shower walls. So gross.
• People who leave their empty popcorn bags and soda cups in the movie theater. How lazy are you?!? There are trashcans right outside the door. Didn't your mother teach you better? Come on.

A Day in the Life

Today's Topic: A Day in the Life

My weekdays are pretty mundane so props to you if you make it through this whole post!

6:30 Alarm goes off. On a normal day my alarm goes off at 4:00 a.m. because I"m crazy and like to go to the gym in the morning. I wouldn't necessarily have to get up this early if I didn't live an hour away from work (by choice), but I'm so used to it now it is second nature. This morning was particularly nice because I spent the night at my parent's house last night which cut down my commute time to less than 15 minutes. Ahhhh-mazing. Downside of staying at their house last night? It was 91 degrees in May, and the air conditioner was broken. Go figure.

7:00 Decided against washing my hair this morning. Ponytail day it is! I decided my time would be better utilized making breakfast since I normally just have a protein bar after the gym on my drive to Topeka. Side note - If you haven't tried Quest bars, order them immediately. 20g of protein and SO delish!

7:15 I almost always get to work early (usually not quite this early), but I love that first 30 minutes when there aren't very many people there yet. I can get so much accomplished! There is nothing I enjoy more than checking things off my to-do list.

7:15ish to 12:00 Work. Meeting. Training. Squeeze in a  few more minutes of work before my next meeting. Training. You get the picture. I'll spare you the details of what I do specifically, but just know that there is a lot of math and Excel involved, and I love it.

Did I mention I get an absurd amount of free shoes??
It pays to wear the sample size :)

Lunchtime Normally my friend Alex and I work out over lunch (Payless has a little gym), but we were feeling particularly lazy and she had a few errands to run so I tagged along with her. It is always nice to get out of the office for a bit!

1:00-5:00 We had a treat day for our manager's birthday today, and my self control was rock solid all morning, but it all went downhill after lunch. Basically the entire afternoon (when I wasn't working or in training) was spent going back and forth to the treat cube. Does everyone else have an absurd amount of treat days at work, or is it just a Payless thing?!? And I wonder why I can't lose any weight...

so hard to say no to a donut....

6:15 Left work on time today (yay!), and even beat one of my roommates home so I decided to catch up on New Girl and The Mindy Project since I didn't get a chance to watch them last night.

7:45 The plan was to go for a 5-6 mile run with one of my roommates. Of course we ended up talking ourselves out of it, and instead went joy riding in my other roommate's sweet rental car. We did get out and take a short little walk in Loose Park so I'm counting that as my workout for the day. Rest days are essential right? That's what I'm telling myself.

9:30 Time for some meaningful conversations with the roomies about our lives, work, being in our late 20's, boys...obviously. Really deep stuff ;)

10:26 Bedtime! Gotta be up at the crack of dawn for a work out since I ate crap all day and seriously slacked in the workout department. Good night world!

10 things that make me really happy

Today's Topic: ten things that make you really happy.

Cats...specifically my amazing, perfect, adorable cat Evie.

Thunderstorms. Is it weird that I like rainy days better than sunny days?

Long dinners with friends and/or family.

Mexican food and margaritas. Actually...food in general.

Board games. Monopoly is probably my favorite, but I don't discriminate.

Christmas time, and of course Christmas music. Why couldn't it be Christmas every dayyyyyyyy?? The time period from Halloween until NYE is by far THE best time of year. 

Screw summer and the heat.

A new outfit.

Hair appointments. Nothing makes you feel better than a fresh cut and color.

Long car rides alone with the music turned up singing at the top of my lungs. Good thing I have an hour commute to work everyday. Hopefully none of my co-workers have seen me jamming out on the highway.

Trashy Bravo TV shows. I seriously can't get enough. Don't judge me. I haven't found one that I don't like. What does everyone think of Lydia? I'm still undecided.

I would add KU basketball to this list, but sometimes they make me really, really sad...like when they lost to Michigan in the tournament this year. Yes. I'm still heartbroken. At least there is a glimmer of hope for next year. Welcome to Kansas Andrew Wiggins!

Playing Catch Up

I got a little behind on the Blog Every Day in May Challenge this weekend because I am just so popular and have such an engaging social calendar I had absolutely zero time to sit down at the computer. I kid, I kid. I was actually decently busy, but I'm sure I could have squeezed in a post here and there if I had tried a little harder. Anyways, lucky you! I'm cramming three days of topics into one post so let's delve right in!

Friday's Topic: Most embarrassing moment(s). Spill.

Hmmm where to even begin on this one? I could tell you about the time that I dropped my tray in the cafeteria freshman year at cheerleading camp, or the time I wiped out in the hallway in front of all the senior boys, or more recently when I fell down the stairs at work (in a skirt) shattering a plastic water cup, spilling coffee all over myself and only stopping when I log rolled into the back of one of my male co-workers legs. There was also the time I was chit chatting with a friend at work and ran head on into a metal shoe rack. Lets just say there was a lot of blood but even more mortification. I would say 99.9% of my embarrassing moments revolve around my klutziness...so much so that I'm pretty sure all my friends, family, and co-workers have just come to expect it. I'm constantly covered in scrapes and bruises from running into something or tripping and falling over something or other. At least I provide some comic relief! I mean, everyone likes a good wipeout right?!?

Saturday's Topic: Sell yourself in 10 words or less.

Positive. Compassionate. Silly. Dependable. Nerdy.

Perfectionist. Classy. Reserved. Determined. Adaptable.

Today's Topic: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time in your life...)

Can I be this carefree again? Pretty please...

I miss being young...not early twenties young, but pre-puberty childhood young. I miss my innocence. I miss the days before I cared about boys, before I had to worry about mortgage payments, real jobs, and my metabolism. Life was so much easier as a child. I had my parents to look out for me and shelter me from all the monstrosities in the world. My biggest concern was whether or not I would get Seamore the Seal in my Teenie Beanies Happy Meal from McDonald's, or if I would be able to find a matching scrunchie to go with my new hot pink waffle shirt at Limited Too. Those were the days. Can't I just be 11 again?? I don't want to be a "grown up" anymore!

A Moment in Your Day

Welp. I missed a day. I knew it would happen eventually. Here is my catch up post from yesterday. We will see if I actually get to today's topic...

Yesterday's topic: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or a photo and words).

You all know I'm obsessed with taking pictures and Instagram so of course I'm going to go with a photo for this one, but since I'm at work a little bit early this morning I'll throw in some words too.

Happy Hour at the Jayhawker with the best co-workers ever...like EVER

Sylas and Maddies after Happy Hour. Yum Yum Yum!

Last night I went to Happy Hour with most of the Accessories analysts and distribution planners at Payless since my co-worker and I will be switching teams and moving into the footwear world starting next week. I'm excited for the new opportunity, but it definitely feels like the end of an era since Accessories has been my home for the last two and a half years. It was a bittersweet day, but I'm probably just being overly dramatic. In actuality, I'm only moving maybe 50 feet away from my old desk so it isn't like I'm never going to see them again. Anyways, I better actually get to work, but just wanted to say that I seriously have THE best co-workers ever, and Payless pretty much rocks my face off. Have a great day everyone! TGIF!

A Piece of Advice

Today's topic: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Do not under any circumstances eat your weight in pita chips then proceed to wash it down with two cupcakes at a bridal shower and attempt to run for an hour outside in the heat a few hours later (yes that was an extreme run-on sentence, but I'm too tired to care). Just don't do it. That is all.

I realize this is a sorry excuse for a blog post, but this is about all I can muster tonight.

The Thing(s) I'm Most Afraid Of

Today's topic: The Thing(s) You're Most Afraid Of

Well obviously no post that discusses my fears would be complete without touching on my intense fear of snakes. I know I've probably mentioned this in at least three other blog posts, but I just really cannot stress enough how scared I am of those slithery little creatures...not just real live snakes either. I won't go near a plastic snake, and if a picture of one pops up on my Instagram feed you better believe I'm chucking my phone across the room (and probably unfollowing whoever posted it. Don't take it personally). I'm shivering just thinking about it! Since everyone (and by everyone I mean all 7 of you that read my blog on a daily basis) is well aware of this particular fear I thought I would touch on a few more (some rational and some completely irrational):

• chipping my teeth - maybe this is slightly irrational, but then again, based on how clumsy I am there is a good chance that this could eventually happen. Every single time I'm going up any sort of stairs a vivid image of tripping and knocking out my teeth out flashes through my mind. Doesn't matter if it is two little steps or three flights of concrete stairs like the ones at my old apartment. Terrifying.
• making mistakes and failing - this is probably the perfectionist in me, but I'm scared of doing anything where there is a chance to make mistakes and fail. Even though I've been out of school for 5 years I still have nightmares about being mistakenly enrolled in a class and failing because I never even attended. Clearly this fear is an issue since making mistakes and learning from them is an essential part of growing as a person, in your career, etc. Good thing I'm always perfect and succeed 100% of the time. Kidding...sort of...time to be a little bit more of a risk taker.
• being alone - I'm not talking about being home alone at night. I lived by myself for 3 years after college and absolutely loved every minute. What I'm talking about is never finding "the one" and being alone forever (with 9 cats). Irrational? Maybe, but I'm sure not getting any younger!
• wooden Popsicle sticks - ewwww! The thought of touching the wood gives me goosebumps. Whenever I eat Popsicles I have to wrap the plastic wrapper around the stick so I make sure my hand doesn't touch the wood. Why can't they just make them plastic already??
• talking on the phone - every since I can remember I've always hated talking on the phone. I used to beg my mom and dad to order pizza on Friday nights back in elementary/middle school, and they would always refuse unless I called and ordered it myself. Guess who never had pizza for dinner on a Friday night? This girl. I'm 100% guilty of screening my calls 98% of the time unless I'm fully prepared for the impending conversation. Thank goodness for caller id, cell phones, and text messaging. When I do have to make a phone call I rehearse the conversation over and over in my head at least three times and cross my fingers I will get their voicemail. I'm psycho. I know. 
• being late - so much so that I'm almost always 15 minutes early to wherever I'm going. If I'm not in the parking lot at work by 7:55 I start to have severe anxiety (even though I'm salaried and I'm pretty sure no one would even notice if I was 10 minutes late). Usually I end up killing time in a parking lot nearby if I'm going to a party or event so I'm not embarrassingly early.

I could probably keep going, but I'm sure you all think I'm completely neurotic now so I'll stop while I maybe have a little bit of dignity left. Does anyone else have any weird irrational fears like me? Please humor me and say yes.

What I Do

Today's topic is if you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question "what do you do?"

Hmmmm what a loaded question! I thought these topics were supposed to make blogging easier...not harder hah! I feel like as a 20-something so much of your identity is defined by your profession. Within minutes (maybe even seconds) of meeting someone new at a bar or a party or a friend's house or wherever really, the so what do you do question always arises. This is great if you have a job you love and you want to brag about it, but not-so-hot if you're in a dead end job feeling undervalued and underpaid. I've been on both sides of this fence, and the first side is an oh-so-much happier place to be in.

Can you imagine how surprised someone would be though if you answered this question with something other than how you pay the bills?!? So here is what I would say to really knock someone's socks off and totally blow their mind. I wake up each day and try to be the best person I can be. I try to be kind to everyone...so kind in fact that no one would ever believe if anyone said anything bad about me. Sometimes this can be difficult. I like to gossip as much as the next gal (did you see what Nicole Richie wore to the Met Gala tonight?? Yikes!) so this is obviously a work in process, but hey at least I'm trying.

Another thing I do or I guess really don't do is take out a bad day on innocent parties. Maybe I only slept 4 hours, got my heel caught in a giant pothole in my sidewalk, fell flat on my face, spilled coffee everywhere and cut both my knees and palms only to get stopped at every red light in the entire city of Mission before making it to the highway (obviously all of these things have happened because I'm a total klutz), but I choose to leave all that misfortune in the car. No need to make my friends, family, and co-workers miserable just because I'm having a lousy morning.

Obviously these aren't the only things I do. These are just the things I've been working on lately, and with that I need to put myself to bed so I don't have another one of those mornings tomorrow. We survived another Monday! Goodnight all!

A Blogger I Adore

Well technically she is more than just a blogger friend. She is my friend in real life too, but I wouldn't even have a blog if it wasn't for her so it is time to profess my love for Ashley over at The Domestic Wannabe.

Sorry Ashley, borrowed this picture from your blog :)

My blog wouldn't be nearly as pretty without her stellar graphic design skills, and her mini blogging lesson she gave me when I was first starting out. Definitely think I could use a few more, but I get by :)

Not only does Ashley have mad design skills like I just mentioned, but she is an amazing mother to two adorable little girls, Ryann and Elsie. If I ever find someone that can put up with me longer than a few months and if I decide to retire my cat lady status, I can only hope to be half as great a mom as Ashley is.

In addition to her parenting skills, I also look up to Ashley for her dedication to living a healthy lifestyle. She completely transformed her life a few years ago. I think I could learn a thing or two from her! She wholeheartedly believes that a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing, and I completely agree. Eating healthy 70% of the time is better than nothing because some days you just really need a cookie.

After the Hospital Hill 10K last summer

Ashley also is a hard core runner, and I always look forward to any races that we can run together. Did I mention that she ran a half marathon at 22 weeks pregnant? Rock star status. So for those reasons (and many more) I salute Ashley, and if you aren't currently reading her blog you really should be. That's all! Happy Cinqo de Mayo y'all!

Blog Every Day in May

I often struggle with good ideas for blog posts so I was very intrigued when Meaghan at Savoring the Sweet Stuff decided to participate in Story of My Life's Blog Every Day in May Challenge. Seeing as it is already May 4th AND I'm going to be training for a new job, I'm thinking it might be a little too ambitious to say I'm going to blog every day. I'm thinking 2-4 times a week is probably a little more achievable.

You can see a full list of Jenni's topics in the link above or see the link at the bottom of this post. Today's topic is A Favorite Quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it. 

Let me just say that it is incredibly hard to choose only one quote. There are so many great ones that seem to apply at different points in my life, but lately this one really seems to hit home.

I used to be really bad about finding a million and one reasons why I shouldn't do something, but lately I've been changing my tune. Happy Hour on a Monday night? Why not?!? Spending quality time with my roomies after work instead of going to the gym? Skipping one work out won't kill me. Powering through my extreme exhaustion to go out with friends on Friday night? Done and done. Life is way too short to make excuses. I'm done saying no (within reason). It's time to seize the day!

Right Now

How is it already May?!? I swear this year is flying by so fast! Here are some of the things I've been into right now:

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*obsessing over *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My sister's new kitten, appropriately named Benjamin Button. He is so cute...yet so creepy at the same time!

Look at that fat little tummy! Dying!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*working on *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Learning to love gardening and yard work. So far not so good. Saturday I had big plans to pull up the gross plastic edging around my front gardens and replace it with rock, rake leaves, weed, and transplant some things. I'm not kidding, within 2 minutes of being outside my dad spotted a snake, and of course I completely freaked out. I literally sprinted to the sidewalk, and en route almost stepped on the stupid thing. My dad then proceeded to pick up the snake and toss it towards me. So not cool. His punishment? Him and my mom basically had to do all the yard work themselves while I supervised from the front steps because I was way too terrified to step foot in the grass. Also, I was contemplating buying a mower and cutting the grass myself, but after my roommate spotted the stupid snake again this week I've changed my tune. Lawn mowing service hired. Best $30 I could spend, and totally worth it if I can avoid anymore snake encounters this spring/summer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*thinking about*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Re-evaluating my personal life. Seriously. I've got issues. I know I've said over and over I don't want to have a boyfriend right now. I need this time to be single since I jump from one relationship right into the next. The truth? I miss it. I miss the companionship. I miss staying in and cooking dinner, drinking wine, and cuddling on the couch. I miss sharing my day with someone. I miss fun comfortable dates, and not awkward first dates with forced conversations. Being single is exhausting. Does he like me? Does he not? What do you think he meant by that text? I haven't heard from him in three days...what does that mean?!? Do I even like him, or do I just like the attention??? The game playing and over-analyzing is enough to drive a girl insane.

Yes being self-sufficient and independent is great and all, but it's also nice to have a counterpart. I had a breakdown Sunday afternoon when I was trying to put together my new patio furniture. I seriously spent 45 minutes trying to get one screw into the leg of the love seat, and I lost it. I sat there on my deck, crying and feeling sorry for myself. I'm neverrrrr going to meet anyone. I'm going to die alone. Cat lady for life. Was I being overly dramatic? Maybe. Was it because it was that time of the month? Possibly. Either way it was pathetic. I need a man in my life stat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*excited for *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The weather to warm up and stay warm! We had a sneak peak into summer weather Sunday and Monday, and it was so fantastic. My roomies and I had some people over Sunday afternoon to enjoy the patio furniture (post breakdown), and I anticipate hosting many more get-togethers this summer. Now I just need to buy a grill. On it...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*can't live without*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My Nebraska Furniture Mart card. 2 years no interest? Done and done. Time to get that grill!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*on repeat*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I can't get enough of Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen thanks to the New Girl episode this week. It is so catchy although the video is slightly creepy...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*devouring *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I've been trying to be better about my eating habits this week since summer is literally right around the corner (at least I hope so...it is currently snowing. WTF Kansas?!?). So far so good. However I feel like this weekend is going to put my self control to the test with Cinqo de Mayo celebrations. You know how I feel about Mexican food and margaritas!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*thankful for*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A weekend without any plans! No Bachelorette parties. No weddings. No family obligations. Just a nice relaxing weekend at home thank goodness!