Stuff and Things: The Third One

+ We went camping glamping at a cabin last Sunday evening. In the past, I've always dragged my feet at the idea of staying a night in this particular cabin - not because I'm opposed to camping or sleeping other places than my own bed, but because we live less than five minutes away from the campground where the cabin is situated. It just always seemed like a weird idea, to go sleep on an uncomfortable wooden bunk with no electricity in a place within walking distance from our nice comfortable king sized bed and Netflix. I've always believed that if I'm going to camp, it's going to be because that's the only option. 

But it was ridiculously fun. There's a wood stove inside, a fire pit outside (which we didn't use because it was raining, whomp whomp), and it's within eyesight of the river where the salmon are currently running. They're also dying and generating an absolutely lovely smell, but that's the ciiiiircle of liiiiife. We went to the gun range on the other side of the campground and practiced shooting, we played cards, cooked sausages in the fire, made Oreo s'mores, and read by the light of our headlamps until we fell asleep. I even walked to the bathroom in the pitch black despite my bear-phobia! It helped that Isaiah stood guard with a shotgun, but still. Proud moment.

The moral of the story is: Even if it's a bit of a hassle to pack up your car and drive to a cabin within walking distance, do it. There's nothing quite like being in the woods and out of cell phone range once in a while.

+ Every day lately, right around noon, my office at work floods with the smell of gasoline and oil, presumably from the gas station next door. It's AWFUL, it gives me almost an instant headache and makes me want to vomit, and I don't know what to do about it. I don't even open my window anymore, and my office still reeks. I almost had to leave work yesterday, it was so bad.

+ Words cannot express how little I care about Brad and Angelina's apparent split. And by "how little I care" I mean I don't care at all and I don't know why anyone cares, honestly. It's Hollywood, where marriages last approximately 4.6 seconds on average and cheating is just what you do because fame and fortune means you don't actually have to have morals or standards.

+ I got a new tattoo this week! You might think I'm a little ridiculous, but I love it. Cat lady street cred, level up.

Two notes: One, it's in the healing stage right now, which is why it looks a little rough. I forgot to take a picture right after I got it done when it looked the best.

Two, do you know how hard it is to get a picture of your inner upper arm? Real hard.

+ It's the first day of fall, if you haven't been made aware by the approximately 439,826 memes circulating the internets today. In my town, it's 53 degrees, pouring rain and the wind is gusting. In other words, it looks and feels exactly the same as mid-July. This is why I can't relate to all the excitement around the "changing of the seasons." Just give me Christmas already.

Linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff and Things!

Life Lately #1

Reading: The Bassoon King by Rainn Wilson. I have to be honest, it's a little "meh" so far. I've absolutely loved reading his depiction of growing up in Seattle, but once he moves to the east coast for acting school, there's a lot of name-dropping and talking about his bohemian lifestyle/Baha'i faith, which I can't really relate to at all. I'm about halfway done and hopefully he starts talking about The Office soon, because truthfully it's the real reason I picked it up in the first place.

Watching: All the Netflix! 'Tis the season for The Walking Dead, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods and Grimm.

Listening to: The new Leagues album on Spotify. It's okay.

Wearing: All camo, all the time. I don't know what's gotten into me but in the last 3 months I've bought a camo t-shirt, a pullover, and a zip-up hoodie. I tried to find a camo jacket during our recent Anchorage trip but came up short (what are malls even good for anymore?). Instead, I settled for a plain olive green anorak-style jacket from PacSun, which is a great store to go into if you want to relive your high school years.

Short person/tall bathroom mirror problems.
Also, don't judge me for the painting - judge whoever decorated my workplace.

Smelling: Nothing, because I've had a cold for a full week now. There was a small electrical fire in the medical office upstairs this morning, and apparently everyone can smell the lingering smoke smell except for me.

Eating: A chocolate/macadamia cluster that my boss just gave me as a "stress reliever" (her words) after the fire this morning. I wasn't stressed but who am I to turn down free chocolate?

Loving: Iced coffee. It doesn't have to be July and 90 degrees outside, I'll drink the iced stuff year-round. I drink it cold more often than I drink it hot. Lately I've been wishing I could just mainline it because the days are getting darker and I'm just so. dang. tired. all. the. time.

Can I get an I.V. of this?

Hating: Razors that are too dull to use after only two weeks. With all the scientific advancements these days, can't someone invent a never-goes-dull razor? I'd pay good money for that.

Annoyed with: Companies who don't offer shipping options. Dear Forever 21: You can take the $10.90 you want to charge me to ship two $3.90 pairs of earrings and shove it up your butt.

LOL no.

Creating: New things for Etsy! My goal is to reopen my shop on October 1st with some new and revamped items.

Wanting: A new duvet cover/sheets and to redecorate our upstairs bathroom. Is this what GoFundMe accounts are for?

Laughing at: The police blotter, always and forever the police blotter. It's not quite as amusing now that Isaiah has the inside scoop to most of the stories and they're usually not as funny as you'd think, but I still get a kick out of them. Most recently, a man called to report himself for accidentally passing a school bus with its red lights flashing. Apparently he felt really bad about it.

Feeling: If I'm being honest, a little bit frustrated that since my return to blogging, I can't seem to find any good new blogs to read that aren't all about babies/kids. I love my mom-friends but when you don't have children and everyone's blogging about diapers and breastfeeding and toddler antics, you just feel really left out. There's only so much I can comment on when I literally cannot relate to a single second of someone else's parenting adventures.

Hoping: That I'll get into an autumn mood soon. I want to be excited about pumpkins and candles and scarves. I really do. My heart just isn't in it yet.

Thinking: It's time to start thinking about what to get people for Christmas. It's never too early to start thinking about that, right?

Wishing: That my full-time job(s) could just be baking and crocheting. I know there are ways to turn your hobbies into your job, but finding a way to do that while living in a ridiculously expensive island town is harder than it sounds. I waitressed all through college and I used to dream of the day I could have a desk job with my own computer and shop for office decorations instead of non-slip black shoes and polo shirts but now I'm over it.

Anticipating: Camping this weekend! We live about 5 minutes away from a campground but have never really made it a point to go stay there for a night. There's a cabin there that we've rented for Sunday/Monday and I'm going to be spending the whole time trying not think about the fact that it's right next to a river, it's salmon spawning season, and the bears are out in full force.

Stuff and Things: The Second One

The only reason I like Thursday is because it's only one day removed from Friday, which is only one day removed from the weekend. You feel me?

+ For years, I have had this issue where nail polish makes my nails split and peel for weeks after I take the polish off. Yes, I have tried a thousand different base coats, cuticle oils, nail serums...you name it, I've probably tried it or something like it. I don't get it...my nails are generally really healthy and grow pretty fast but the minute I paint them, all hell breaks loose. I've even tried using nail polish strips like these and they do the same thing. I haven't tried Jamberry yet, does anyone know if those strips are made out of real nail polish or not? I couldn't find the answer to that question on their website. Better yet, does anyone sell Jamberry that could send me a sample to try before I waste money on yet another nail polish-esque item that doesn't work for me?

+ I made this quiche for dinner last night. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. I did add mushrooms along with the roasted red peppers and broccoli, and swapped out fresh rosemary instead of chives. It was pretty simple, especially for having a homemade crust. I made it in my tart pan, which made it easy to cut and serve. They suggest an 11" pan but I only have a 9", and it was fine, I just had a little bit of egg mixture leftover that wouldn't fit. I didn't change any of the other measurements.

+ I can't decide if it's funny or irritating when a client tells me they don't owe a bill because it's "a year late", even after I've sent no less than FOUR past due statements. Sounds like a convenient excuse to me. In what world do you not owe for services you've utilized just because a year has passed? I'm going to start ignoring bills from the doctor and wait until a year has gone by and then tell them I refuse to pay because it's been a year since I was in the office. Eye roll.

+ Why does Anthropologie have to be so expensive?? Their new fall home collection is absolutely to die for, but I don't have tens of thousands of dollars just laying around to redecorate with. Looks like there may be some DIYs in my future.

+ I'm in the middle of my annual autumn slump. While everyone else in the country is rejoicing over cooler temperatures, pumpkin everything and a closet full of sweaters they haven't gotten to wear in six months, I'm over here mourning the summer we never had. I just can't get excited about flannel sheets and boots and fall scented candles yet. Give me until about mid-October, then I'll be ready. Ready to start busting out Christmas music and pinning cookie recipes, that is.

+ In case you were wondering.



Linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff & Things!

Spotify Sessions, Vol. 2: Dark and Smooth

Am I the only one who watches her favorite tv shows and movies with the SoundHound or Shazam app open, ready at a moment's notice to quickly try and figure out what song is playing?

This playlist consists of songs from The Blacklist (season 3's on Netflix now, y'all!), The Walking Dead, Hannibal, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Great Gatsby, Man Up, one or two others I can't recall, and a random song we heard in a shop in Iceland (Kaleo, Way Down We Go).

Most of them tend to be a little slower and more dark and mellow than, say, the 90's and 2000's music I posted last time. Enjoy, and if you like the Kaleo song, check out the rest of his album specifically. It's one of my current favorites!

Stuff and Things: The First One

+ Anchorage last weekend was fantastic! It was nice to just get out of town for a few days. If you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere or on an island or both (like me) you know how important it is just to get away for a break sometimes. Trip highlights: Hiking Mt. Eklutna, the Alaska State Fair, test driving potential new vehicles to replace our Jeep with 215K miles on it, and allllllll the shopping. We crammed both the hike and the fair into the first day we were there (after getting up at 3AM to catch our flight), and I'm glad we did - it was 70 degrees and partly sunny. The rest of the trip? Almost constant rain. Figures.

The view from the top of Mt. Eklutna, Anchorage

3 hours, 40 minutes // 6.27 miles // 2933 feet of elevation gain // 4100' summit

If we look tired, it's because we were.

I was unimpressed with Target, however. They were out of so many things! They only had XL/XXL in most of the clothes we liked, their shoe selection was abysmal, and every toiletry/beauty item I wanted to buy, that's the one they didn't have restocked. I don't know if this is just an Alaska thing or not, but we encounter the same problem in Sitka constantly.

+ The iPhone 7 was announced yesterday. Color me unimpressed. "Fastest yet!" "Best battery life yet!" "Best camera yet!" Um, it better be, considering it's a brand new iPhone. Also, they did get rid of the headphone jack. At least they're including a lightning port adapter in the box so those of us who live in the Stone Age can still use our regular headphones.

Also, they're releasing wireless earbuds called AirPods (ha ha ha) that will cost $159. I was following the #AppleEvent hashtag on Twitter and dying of laughter at some of the things people were Tweeting.

— neontaster (@neontaster) September 7, 2016

iPhone camera makes 100 billion calculations per second to take photos of your latte. Thank a processor today. #AppleEvent

— Mark Bao (@markbao) September 7, 2016

I would also like to know why, with all this wireless technology they're bragging about, they still couldn't figure out how to make a wireless charger. I think people would rather have that than Apple brand wireless earphones (which aren't exactly innovative, you know?).

+ I still have not gotten my Etsy shop back up and running! Our house is basically a cave and so I have to wait for just the right amount of light to take photos, otherwise everything looks like garbage. My goal is to have it reopened by October 1st. That gives me a little over three weeks to finish making some new stuff and take pictures/write descriptions of everything. I did make a new shop banner, though. Progress.

+ I have to share something. While we were in Anchorage, Isaiah and I went to Cabelas and bought a new Glock 43/9 mm compact handgun. Currently, he's carrying it as his new off-duty firearm until he orders one for himself, but then it'll be my new concealed carry weapon. The only reason I'm sharing this is because I'm a firm believer in complete and total Second Amendment rights, and I can't help but feel a sense of American pride when I look at our growing collection. It's really nice to know that we don't have to rely on anybody but ourselves to protect our home and family (and maybe others someday, who knows).

Linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff & Things!

Casual Friday: Ep. 4

+ I saw this recipe online the other day and I'd like to reiterate my feelings. You already know how I feel about things like toast, iced coffee, ice cream sandwiches, etc. became labeled as "recipes" but this is another pet peeve. That sushi "burrito" is literally just a regular sushi roll that they didn't slice up into bites. Seriously, people? This is like the Hollywood movie era of online recipes. There are no more original ideas.

+ Baker problems: Lusting over a stand mixer that you can only buy in Europe.

+ At the risk of broaching a fairly controversial story that's been in the media lately...I'll just say a quick "amen" to this article. You do you indeed, Colin. (Even if "you" are an "asshole".)

+ I got a haircut yesterday...in Sitka...And I didn't walk out feeling like I could have cut it myself and done just as good of a job! I guess that's the other bonus to having a super short haircut - it's hard to mess it up. Although I'm not thrilled with the price of a haircut in Sitka. I paid this salon almost the same price I paid the salon in Seattle to take my hair from mid-back length to the pixie cut I have now...and I only got a half-inch to an inch taken off yesterday. Where I'm from (reality) we call that a "trim" and it shouldn't cost the same as a full-on brand new hair cut and style. The price of beauty, am I right?

+ Speaking of hair, I sprayed hairspray directly into my right eye this morning. I don't know how, but it happened and trust me, don't ever do that. First, it stings like a mothertrucker and second, now my eye feels cloudy and like I have the biggest eyelash ever stuck to my eyeball. Working all day at my computer is going to be just so fun.

+ I get to go to Anchorage for the first time tomorrow! 7 years in Alaska and I've never once been to the mainland. So, Isaiah has the weekend off, it's a long/holiday weekend and we had air miles to use so we figured...why the heck not? On the list to do: the Alaska State Fair, eat at all the restaurants, go to all the stores (REI! Cabela's! The mall!), and go for at least one hike.

+ If you ever need therapy but can't afford a therapist, I highly recommend volunteering at your local animal shelter. If dogs are your thing, offer to walk dogs. If cats are your thing, offer to go in and play with the cats - especially if there are kittens that could use some human socialization. There have been TWO litters of kittens at our animal shelter lately and since it's an extension of the police department, Isaiah has keys and therefore unlimited access to the shelter any time day or night. We may or may not have been to visit the kittens at least five or six times over the last couple of weeks and we may or may not have stayed at least two hours every single time. I feel like they're ALL mine and every time one gets adopted I'm thrilled they found a home but I also feel a bit like one of my children have been kidnapped. But seriously though - therapy, I'm telling you.