thoughts

A lot's been going on and sometimes my brain can't keep up. I've gone through a split up several weeks ago, moved on, and I've started some great things since. Big shout out to my girl Jess for being such an awesome friend through all that!

I haven't had much motivation to write much of anything, and when I did I was snowed in away from my laptop. The area had a nice little blizzard come through last week and buried us in almost three feet of snow.

However, I've had some thoughts going on that didn't completely warrant an entire post for each, so I figured I'd get them out here.

• I've been listening to the British Invasion station on Pandora almost non-stop lately. It's such a great mix of upbeat and sorrowful songs. I've really fallen in love (again) with The Hollies and The Zombies. I guess the 60s are my music era? Haha.
• Being appreciated is a wonderful thing - and it's even better when you realize that's what you've been missing.
• Netflix has removed Doctor Who, and I'm so upset. I kept Doctor Who on loop all the time. I'd listen to it as background noise when I was getting ready, blogging, and more. Ugh. BBC, are the rumors true? Are you creating a streaming site? Yes, please.
• I've found that cooking dinner causes me a great amount of stress. Food in general causes me a great amount of stress, simply because I've grown so picky about what I eat. How does one stop being a picky eater? Help meeeee

I think I just need more yoga in my life. Warrior pose for daaaaays.

life lately - holidays and movies

Happy holidays! I was super busy over Christmas, so I didn't have much time to blog. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I had a wonderful day! Lots of family, gift giving and receiving, and food.

We went to our first Christmas Day movie the evening of the 25th. We saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens! I'm going to be honest, I was just going to wait until the end of it's theatre showing to see it. I assumed it was going to be packed, but we lucked out with an 9:20pm showing and the theatre had plenty of room.

And no spoilers here! It was a great movie. If you're even remotely a Star Wars fan, go see it.

I'm not one of those people who takes numerous dramatic pictures of what they got for Christmas, but look at this sweatshirt my dad got me!!!!

I love it! You can pick one up at Animal Hearted. (Sign up for their email list and get free shipping!)

The holiday isn't quite over yet for me, as on the 31st I'm heading out to Tennessee with my brother to have our Christmas with Mumma. So excited!

Any exciting end-of-season plans?

a day downtown

(boots, jeans)

I guess technically I spend every day downtown as I work there, but today was my day off so I got to peruse some of the shops. I don't normally get to do that since the shop's hours normally coincide with almost every else's, so it was a nice little treat!

Initially, I was heading down to drop off some clothing at the Re Run Shoppe, and afterwards I decided to get a little Christmas shopping in. So I visited Ladyburg (which just recently moved across the street!) and Irish Eyes, along with a couple antique shops, and my favorite, Riverby Books.

There's three floors of used books. My favorite.

I picked up a couple books there that caught my eye; The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women by Harriet Rubin, and The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett.

This photo also includes My Dog Skip by Willie Morris that I picked up at Manarc (along with a lovely teapot for my grandmother for Christmas). I haven't seen the movie, either. Yeah, I'm way behind. And definitely go check out Manarc if you're a local - proceeds go to local veterans!

I stopped by Whittingham to look at their window (again) because it's so well done. The mice are so cute. They're worshiping the cheese!

And how great is this unicorn mount?!?! It's just subtle enough for a gallery wall, I think.

I ended the day by picking up some Earth Balance mac and cheese at Kickshaw's since I can't seem to find it anywhere (and didn't know they carried it!), and then I headed back home before my math final (which I passed!). I'm glad I had some time to get out downtown, but now I'm ready for bed. How do you spend your day off?

i'm so crafty i make kidney stones

So Wednesday I was awoken at the ungodly hour of 7:45 am with a terrible pain in my side. I wish that was code for "the dog was kicking me" or something. I thought I had to pee, but little did I know, my body was deciding to pass it's creation into the real world: a kidney stone.

I immediately text my registered nurse mother who's in Tennessee, who told me to go to the doctor. I thought GREAT, my first kidney infection, this is wonderful. At that point in time, I thought I'd just go to the urgent care, get an antibiotic and a painkiller, and go home and sleep it off. OH NO. By the time I got ready to go, I could barely walk. I hobbled to the car and knew I needed the ER.

We get there and for what felt like hours (and in reality probably only ten minutes), I awaited an IV for morphine. Which worked for about .5 seconds. I'm basically screaming and flailing around on the bed, so he goes to get the nurse (or maybe he was looking for a window to jump out of, I don't know) and they finally get me some pain management that works. After that dose, I'm high as a kite and sleepy. My mother said they gave me a moderate dose, but I hardly ever take medicine and it hit me hard. They send me for a CT scan, I'm extremely thirsty, my dad and his girlfriend get there, it comes back I've got a kidney stone that's already passed, I'm allowed ginger ale, I'm given orders for no caffeine (noooooooo), and I'm sent on my way with prescriptions.

Totally typical day off. *insert side eye emoji* But I lived, I'm totally fine now, and I now know what a kidney stone feels like. Huge thanks to my mom for the medical advice, Jayy for taking me to the ER and making me as comfortable as possible, my dad and his girlfriend for coming up to make sure I was okay, and to the people who created painkillers. Oh, and ps, I peed out the kidney stone in the bathroom at Ruby Tuesday. I really wanted a salad and mashed potatoes. The stone was about half the size of a fat grain of rice.

currently - 4/9

|| reading
Well, I'm in the middle of a couple books right now. I'm about to add The Dead Zone to that list, too.

|| drinking
Water - from mason jars. I've gotten on a kick about always having a lid on what I'm drinking because I spill things so easily - these things work wonders.

|| watching
Harry Potter and Doctor Who...I keep them on loop. Not even kidding.

|| eating
Not much lately - I've been trying to get my calorie count up with protein shakes. Stress and anxiety is killing me.

|| listening to
Guys, I bought a Taylor Swift cd. I know. I never thought I'd buy one, ever, but Style is my jam.

|| looking forward to
The weekend! I'm taking my NRA handgun class on Saturday for my concealed weapon permit.

a day in the life

Today was one of those perfect, relaxing days. I slept in, we had breakfast. I made some new items for the shop and while those were drying I started a new book, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I know, I know, I'm about ten years late on that one.

I didn't worry about the dog hair on the bed, the toy fluff ripped playfully from the toys that littered the floor, nor did I worry that I really needed to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I just sat in bed and read and didn't worry about a damn thing. The boys took naps around my feet and we listened to the wind beat on the house. It only took me five hours to finish the book, so now I've got Harry Potter in the DVD player and I'm writing up some blog posts for this week. While I've been so lazy today, I feel really productive.

Some days that's all you need.

guest post: mia @ the chronicles of chaos - how to unwind

Today I'm happily welcoming fellow Virginia blogger Mia from The Chronicles of Chaos to the blog! She has a fantastic guest post on unwinding for everyone. Take it away, Mia!

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Hi everyone! I'm Mia from The Chronicles of Chaos. I'm a self-proclaimed nerd extraordinaire and blog about books, writing, and life in general. Katelyn was kind enough to let me invade her blog today, so thank you, Katelyn! :)

I want to talk to you today about unwinding. Goodness, these days it seems like we're always moving at the speed of light, doesn't it? The hustle and bustle of every day with work, significant others, pets, blogs, trying to eat clean and work out - I'm exhausted just thinking about it all! With our busy lives, sometimes we lose sight of how important it is to slow down and take care of ourselves and recharge. Without further ado, here are 5 Ways to Unwind.

Read a book.

OK, so I already told you I was a book nerd, so this shouldn't come as a big surprise. Sitting down to read a book, even if it's during your lunch break or before you go to bed, can help you relax. So pick up that book that's been on your shelf for months and dig in. If you need any recommendations, I bet I could help you out!

Take a bath.

I don't know about you, but there's nothing more relaxing than a nice soak in a warm bubble bath. Or maybe you're more a bath oil or bath bomb person - whatever floats your boat. Maybe light some scented candles. Drink a glass of wine, even. And just sit and let your aches and pains and stresses melt away.

Listen to music.

One of my favorite ways to unwind is to listen to some mellow, laidback music and relax. I like to lie in bed and close my eyes and sing along. Something about comforting music just makes me feel right at home.

Enjoy nature. 

Go to the park and find a bench and just take in some fresh air. Look at the birds and squirrels. People watch. Or take a leisurely walk around your neighborhood. Even just sitting outside in your backyard can be relaxing.

Take a nap.

I realize this sounds overly simplistic, but really - sometimes the best way to unwind is to take a nap. A power nap, a long nap, whatever. Your body needs to recharge every once in a while. And when you wake up, you'll feel so much better!

Anyway, I hope you utilize one of these methods of relaxation and feel refreshed! If you have some tips to share, leave a comment below! And thanks again to Katelyn for letting me "borrow" her blog for a bit. :) Feel free to come visit me anytime! Ciao!

-Mia

a fresh start

    I recently started fresh with this blog, lucky bandit. I deleted every post and changed things up a bit as far as the design goes. I've had this blog for seven years, and it's changed numerous times. Names, layouts, designs. It had gotten so I was posting just to post, and quickly throwing together harebrained content that no one really cared about. Oh, look, I threw together a Google search of random things. Wow, cool. So I had strayed from what I had originally intended this blog to be; a journal of my life.

    Of course if a blog is public, you're writing for the general public. I have another reason that I have this blog - my mother. She and my stepfather moved to Tennessee, six hours away, last year. We talk on the phone all the time, of course, text frequently, and she follows me on every social media site I have an account on. Blogging, however, is different than following someone's tweets or Facebook statuses. I want her to be able to take a look into my life here in Virginia. Then she can see pictures of our dogs, what recipes I'm attempting to cook, and what projects I'm working on.

    What I'm trying to say is that I think I'm finally in a place where I can buckle down and become a "blogger". I can invest time into lucky bandit and produce content. I have some other ideas in the works, including a second blog, but this is becoming my main ongoing project for now. I've got ideas and projects and so much going on in my head. It's time I write it all down here instead of making endless notes in the hundreds of steno pads I have strewn through our home.

    So with that being said, welcome back! Sit, stay, have a cup of tea. There will be more photos, more posts, and just more in general coming soon. I hope you enjoy!