Love Yourself

Most of us can admit to loving things about ourselves, but do we love our selves? The parts that make us, us? “A woman’s happiness is in throwing everything away to live for love,” says Ai Yazawa. But this living for love does not mean throwing away our dreams and desires. No, it means fully entering oneself, while ridding of any pre-conceived notions about beauty and value and worth. It means embracing our crooked noses, snorting laughter, the stretch marks, saggy boobs, tea-bag eyes and warty feet. It means accepting our humanness, but more than that. It means approaching ourselves like author Anne Lamott does: with kindness and laughter. “Age has given me what I was looking for my entire life,” she writes. “It has given me me. It has provided time and experience and failures and triumphs and time-tested friends who have helped me step into the shape that was waiting for me. I fit into me now.”We each have a shape. It may not be perfect, but it’s ours. A unique space in history to fill.

Quote of the day

"Being tender and open is beautiful.  As a woman, I feel continually shh'ed - too sensitive, too mushy, too wishy-washy.  Blah blah!  Don't let someone steal your tenderness.  Don't allow the coldness and fear of others tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart.  Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things.  Whether it's a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all.  Look around you.  All of this is for you.  Take it and have gratitude.  Give it and feel love." - Zooey Deschanel

My Childhood Love of Books Began Here...

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Refashion - - - in a New Way

This weekend is the Ward Campout.  I'm super excite for two reasons: 1) I absolutely positively can't get enough of camping and 2) it's at the Lake House.  Growing up, we did LOADS of camping, but this is going to be really the first time I've done the prepping alone.

These basic steps I know I can handle:
1 - Tin foil dinner
2 - Make bedroll
3 - Gather equipment
4 - Load car
5 - Pitch tent
6 - Start decent fire (including prepping the coals)

THIS, is the newest and most foreign step in the process - Seasoning a Dutch Oven.  I've always known and had experience with Dutch Ovens as they were an integral part in our family camping, but what I didn't realize was the amount of work it takes to get it ready.  Another something to encounter - the Dutch Oven is MY Dutch Oven.  When talking with my grandma about how I excited I was for the campout, she asked if we were doing anything with Dutch Ovens.  When I said we were, she told me there was probably one or two old Dutch Ovens out in the garage (glorified machine shop junk yard, more like).  Off I went to scour and discover.  The oven is a smaller sized one and completely coated in rust.  What normally should be black was a bright coppery-orange.  When I brought it inside, my grandma immediately set me to work on cleaning as much of the rust off as possible.  It was a brand-new, never been cooked in Dutch Oven that had been set aside and forgotten, before it could even draw the first smoky breath of fire.

2hrs of steel-wool scrubbing and the light silver color was showing up.  Next, the "Seasoning" of the oven.  Over time, Dutch Ovens build up their own protective coating from the oils released by the foods.  Because this little guy had been set aside instead of prepped for use, I got to do this step from the very beginning.

Reader's Digest version of the process
*more scrubbing, this time with a milder scrubber to remove any residue - 20min
*bake on the self-cleaning setting of the oven - 4hrs + the time it took for the oven to let me in
*allow to cool enough to handle the Dutch Oven - 1 1/2hrs
*thoroughly rub-down/coat with shortening - 5min
*bake - 50min
*allow to cool - 15min
(at this point it was super late so the rest of the steps are the next day.
*rub-down #2 - 10min
*bake - 20min
*allow to cool - 20min
*wipe off excess oil - 5min

I like to say, this little guy went from day to night.  These kinds of projects/hobbies/transformations are my favorite because I like to see the progress along the way; not wait till it's all over.

Pic #1 After the 2hr steel-wool exfoliation (you can still see loads of rust...picture that, but all over)
Pic #2 - READY TO COOK

What Makes Baseball Appealing...to ME

Well, all I can tell you is why I like to watch them.  Of course, they are way better when you are actually in the stadium.  For me, it is a slow game that with one swing of the bat everything changes.  You instantly have action.  The batter trying to get to first as fast as he can, and the fielders trying to catch the ball to get him out or catch it and throw him out at first.  Watching the pitcher interact with the catcher to try and fool the batter on what he is about to pitch, whether it be a fastball, curve, slider, change-up, etc.  Then, seeing if the batter can guess right and make contact.  Then, ever so often the batter makes solid contact and anything can happen.  It can be a home run or a fielder that can make a fantastic play and get the batter out.  Or occasionally, the fielder makes an error and the batter is safe.  A game can be turned around by one single play on the field.  Hard to explain why this game is so much fun to watch.  You really have to be there to understand.

My Lips Only Better

I've discovered tutorials!

Not Pinterest or YouTube; more personal - BLOGS.  I get excited as my feed gets peppered with step-by-steps or video stills.  That's when I know I've got something to do tonight if no one wants to play with me.

One of my favorites posted about "Your lips but better" lipstick.  I was intrigued and dared myself to try it out.  Following her post, this is my version...

Lipstick was scary and I never touched the stuff.  As long as I can remember I've only ever grabbed for chapstick, (cherry-scented, of course) and for special occasions I'd break out the sparkly stuff, which was just a clear glossy.  Lipstick was for old ladies and fashion models, and don't even ask me to wear lip-liner.  My mom wears lipstick; not me!

Now, I've seen the light!

Recently, I've put my toes in the water and experimented with colors. Even my nails and eyes begin to be dotted with small dabs of colors that I've been brave enough to try out.  Give me a blue or a pink shadow and I'll blend it all over my eyes, but hand me red lipstick and you'll find me in the next town in no time.

"Anything from a bright pink to a bold, rich red can totally change your "look" and may, in fact, be the boldest accessory".  I, myself, only use one lipstick for now.

"Other than the fun colorful shades, it's good to have a 'your lips but better' shade as well. Basically look at it as the color of your lips, but slightly bolder/more pigmented. Get it? Your lips but better? Finding this shade may require a roommate with fashion tastes/friend who's a little more daring than you/an employee at a makeup counter--but there is NO reason why you can't figure out the shade, apply it to your lips, walk out of the department store, kiss the back of your hand, and then swatch some different brands that are in your price point."

This is my story--

When it comes to makeup, I always am a "my face only better" kind of girl.  In December, some switch flicked on and I've been going for more daring looks ever since.  Last week, I walked in the Bare Minerals store to restock my basics and noticed the lipsticks.

Side-note: Whenever I go shopping, I tend to avoid all eye-contact with store employees because I don't want anyone to help me.  I'm fully capable of wandering around the store to find whatever it is I'm looking for (or not looking for)  No, I don't need you to hover while I browse the merchandise.  Don't be my shadow or I'll leave your store  

Anyways, this time I decided asking for a professional opinion might be more helpful than just doing it on my own , since I'll just go for the plainest possible.  I mean, this is a nice store of people who are trained to do makeup, not the random high-schooler pulled off the skate-park.  So when she came up to me, I gladly said "I'm looking for a lipstick".  Between the two of us, we found 3 different colors; I picked nude (naturally) and she picked a pink and a purple.  "Whoa" I said, "I don't know if I'm brave enough for those."  Still, she won out and I sat down in the makeup chair to test out the foreign objects.

In the end, I was so pleasantly surprised at the results.  I still turned down the purple one, but I was intrigued by the pink.  It was definitely a "my lips only better" lipstick.  My eyes popped more, my smile looked more dazzling, and I felt more confident (not to brag, in any way).  I was so happy with the results. 

Reader's challenge: Find your "only better" color
Me challenge: Discover cinnamon/hot/fire-engine red