My Favorite Online Shops

Happy Hump Day! I've surprised myself with how well I've been doing with this Blogtember challenge. I really didn't think I would actually write every day yet here I am back for more! Today's topic: share links to your favorite online shops preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop. No way would I miss a shopping post. Here are some of the home decor shops I'm loving lately:

Society6: This website kinda has it all - art prints, iPhone cases, apparell, and my favorite, pillows! I just ordered some fun, colorful throw pillows for my living room, and I'm kind of obsessed. They are super cute and really inexpensive. Plus they offer free shipping on orders over $50. Amazing right?

February Lane: I ordered a print from Feby a few months ago for my kitchen, and I absolutely love it. I've linked the one I purchased below, but she has many other great digitial prints to choose from. She even has a color chart so you can customize the background color on the prints to fit your taste.

Z Gallerie: No home decorating blog post of mine would be complete without Z Gallerie. I have a serious obsession with this store. It's all so shiny and sparkly. :) Below are some of the things I have my eye on right now.

The Land of Nod: I want way too many rugs from this website. They are all adorable!

I could probably go on forever, but for the sake of time I'll stop here. I have a to-do list stretching to the moon and back that I need to complete this evening so I should probably get to it. I know several of you have requested more house pictures via Instagram (follow me!!), but I'm a perfectionist and until I get a room just the way I want it, I don't want to share it. The living room is almost complete (just need some curtains and a few things on the walls) so I should be sharing that room on here in the next month or so. Until then you'll just have to use your imaginations! :)

The Moment My Life Took a Turn

Today's topic is describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn. Now that I'm in my late-twenties (ewww so weird/depressing to say that) my life has taken several turns. Obviously, it took a turn when I graduated from high school and went off to college, moved to Ohio, started my first "real" job, moved back to Kansas, and started another job. Honestly though, the turn that has made me the happiest and the one I'm going to share with you all today didn't happen until this year.

The last nine(ish) months have been full of change. I started this here little blog. A relationship ended. I bought a house. I got a promotion at work. Boys have come and gone. My social calendar is busier than ever, and for the first time (post graduation), I can say that I am really, truly happy with my life.

The exact moment my life took a turn for the better was the morning of March 23rd. After living alone with my cat for almost two years, I packed up my apartment (with the help of my parents and professional movers obviously. No way I was carrying all my crap down three flights of stairs by myself) and moved into my first house. Despite a horrible snow storm (in late March I might add which is just ridiculous), my good friend Mal (who makes up one third of the Chicken Tindahs) joined me on our first night in the new house. Cat lady no longer! :) That night as we sat in the kitchen drinking champagne, chit chatting, and unpacking boxes, I remember an overwhelming sense of happiness washing over me. This is exactly where I was supposed to be.

A few weeks later Maggie moved in, thus completing our trifecta. My beloved Tindahs and I have had so much fun the last 5 months exploring the city and having all sorts of crazy adventures. It is so amazing to have them back here in Kansas. I seriously don't know what I would do without them. Kansas City finally feels like home.

I Love Rules

Call me a dork, but I love taking personality tests. I find them so fascinating. It's slightly scary how accurate they can be. I had to take one for work a few years ago, and it was spot on. It appears this one is no different. According to the Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test my personality type is ESTJ which means:

Extravert (11%)     Sensing (38%)     Thinking (75%)     Judging (78%)

• I have a slight preference of Extraversion over Introversion
• I have a moderate preference of Sensing over Intuition
• I have a distinctive preference of Thinking over Feeling
• I have a strong preference of Judging over Perceiving

According to this, I thrive on order and continuity, and I love rules and traditions. Sounds about right. Breaking rules gives me a serious case of anxiety.

Some of the strengths associated with this personality type are:

• Generally enthusiastic, upbeat and friendly
• Stable and dependable
• Put forth a lot of effort to fulfill their duties and obligations
• Responsible about taking care of day-to-day practical concerns around the house
• Usually good (albeit conservative) with money
• Not personally threatened by conflict or criticism
• Interested in resolving conflict, rather than ignoring it
• Take their commitments very seriously and seek lifelong relationships
• Able to administer discipline when necessary

...and here are some of the weaknesses (not that I have any of these because I'm perfect obviously) :)

• Tendency to believe that they are always right
• Tendency to need to always be in charge
• Impatient with inefficiency and sloppiness
• Not naturally in tune with what others are feeling
• Not naturally good at expressing their feelings and emotions
• May inadvertently hurt others with insensitive language
• Tendency to be materialistic and status-conscious
• Generally uncomfortable with change, and moving into new territories

I don't think 100% of these things are true about myself, but a good chunk of them seem to be accurate. I like to think I'm pretty in tune with how other people are feeling, but let me take the chance to apologize if I've ever inadvertently hurt your feelings, or bossed you around since I'm always right hah! Also, if you want to date me then maybe you should read this first. What's your personality type? Do you think your results are an accurate depiction of your personality?

"The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle"

Today's Blogtember topic is a toughie - a story about a time you were very afraid. I'm sure I could tell you all 179 stories involving snakes (whether they be real or plastic - yes I'm also scared of plastic snakes), but I feel like I've kinda exhausted that topic. I'm sure I've talked about that irrational fear in at least 7 other posts so I've thought long and hard to come up with a more interesting story to share. This one is also fairly irrational, but it scared the living daylights out of me when I was younger.

Let me preface this story by telling you when I was younger we did not have cable at my house which means no Disney Channel and no Nickelodeon. I was strictly a Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street kinda girl so when I went to sleepovers at my friends' houses I thought watching Nickelodeon was the coolest thing ever.

I will never forget the first (and last time) I watched an episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark." I was at my friend Stephanie's house, and we spent a good majority of the evening crafting animals out of Model Magic and Floam. Do you remember MM and Floam? Oh my gosh. That stuff entertained me for hours. I probably ruined countless packages of markers trying to dye Model Magic the perfect shade of grey to make cats. This was one of my favorite past times as a child, but I've digressed. Stephanie had the genius idea to take a break to watch her new favorite show, "Are You Afraid of the Dark". The episode we watched was about a little boy who rode his bike into some sort of river and drowned. He then came back as a ghost. This particular episode happens to be #6 on this list of  The 20 Scariest Episodes of "Are You Afraid of the Dark" so obviously I was terrified. Of course I had to appear cool and couldn't let me friend know how much of a scaredy cat I was being so I watched the entire episode. Here it is if you want to terrify yourself and have nightmares for months (because I'm sure it is just as scary now haha):

I swear I saw that little boy's ghost for months. Sleeping in my own bed was out of the question. Most terrifying show for children ever. I'll stick with Mr. Roger's where it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood thank you very much.