High Five for Friday: February 12

TGIF! Apparently, TV put the sparkle into my week, haha. (Clearly, I didn't do much this week!)

• The same like five songs always seem to pop up on my phone, so when "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk came on as I was driving, I was very pleasantly surprised! ...and I immediately thought of this amazing scene/dance routine from Castle!

Castle 7x19 "Habeas Corpse" Esposito Ryan Dance Interrogation Room Castle Beckett Watching "Habeas Corpse" - When Richie "The Pitbull" Falco, a larger-than-life personal-injury attorney is found dead, Beckett and Castle investigate the many clients and competitors who had motive to kill him.

• My friend Kristin actually alerted me to this HEADLINE NEWS a week or two ago, but I really started missing GoT last weekend, hence doing some random GoT-related googling. And finding this article, which has the greatest title ever. I'm not a huge Jon Snow/Kit Harington fan, but by virtue of him dating my favorite character from the show, and how romantic it is for them to be together IRL, I'll be supportive ;) (You might recall that B and I went to my cousin's Halloween wedding as Jon Snow and Ygritte!)

Plus, while waiting for the bus last weekend, somebody drove by blasting some song about "these hoes ain't loyal" and the lightbulb totally lit!!

Duhhhhhh!

• B and I had a lovely weekend of chilling. I usually get really anxious being away from home on the weekend, AND doing nothing, but neither bothered me this time! We watched some more Gilmore Girls and Supernatural, and I got quizzed on the US Presidents HAHA! (I used to be able to name them all in order... including the forgotten ones of the 19th century! I remember bragging about this to my high school US History teacher and him deadpanning, "You would remember them" LOL!)

My dad LOVES California, so we had to pause and capture this to send to him. His response was something like, "My man!" LOL

• Speaking of Supernatural, my dad saw part of an episode with me and remarked that Jensen Ackles looked familiar. All I knew was that he was on some soap at the same time that my beloved Lucky and Liz were chilling in a boxcar on General Hospital (<3 <3), so I looked him up on iMDB and discovered that he was in an episode of Sweet Valley High!!!! One of my favorite shows circa fifth grade!! This obviously required immediate investigation, and thank you fine people of YouTube for posting every awkward guest spot by every actor ever. I really could not stand Jensen when B first introduced me to Supernatural, but him being on SVH gets him A LOT of points with me, haha!

And then throw in Jared Padalecki's struggles with anxiety and depression, and dammit, now I want to watch more Supernatural! B's plan to get me into it has worked!

• Ah Lucky and Liz! Such a formative couple in my young life! They were so darn cute and devoted and not teenagery, which was perfect for me being 12 going on 80 at the time! They were stalking blackmailers and rapists! Having an apartment (above a motorcycle shop, natch) at, like, 17! Running errands for the mob, er, coffee importers! Exchanging vows in a church in a blizzard! Livin.the.dream! (Soaps are so ridiculous and I love it.) So their adorableness is a fitting end to this pre-Valentine's Day H54F! :D (And Valentine's Day was such a huge part of their story too--Lucky stood Liz up for the Valentine's dance at school, and then she was raped, and they started to become friends, and then started dating, and then had the whole cry-your-eyes-out exchanging vows in a church on Valentine's Day thing the next year, ah! I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying!!)

Yes, they are dancing to NSYNC. NSYNC! #dying And I love that this clip is as wibbly-wobbly as the VHS tapes I used to watch!
 

Have a great weekend!! (I'm so excited to be able to sleep in, anyone else?!)

High five for Friday: February 5

I'm starting to feel more like my usual wacky, can't-sit-still self, hooray! :) Here's what put the sparkle in my week (aside from the warmer weather!):

• Since I wasn't ready to be emotionally destroyed by Grey's again, B and I turned to Gilmore Girls last weekend instead. I was still sort of meh about GG, but the scene with Rory and Dean in the junkyard as John Lennon's "Oh My Love" is playing might have me converted. It's just so darn cute (well, until it goes off the rails), and I don't even like Rory or Dean! (I pretty much was Rory in high school, and Dean is usually a snooze. So much so that when Christopher showed up on his motorcycle, I got all excited because I thought it was Jess. LOL DANG.)

Oh, and Rory kitten-sat in one of the episodes, which certainly didn't hurt! :)

• I'm not great at doing monthly "challenges," as I get overwhelmed just thinking about doing/documenting X for a whole month, BUT! I've been joining in on Kara's February #RockYourHandwriting challenge, and it's been really fun! I expected it to be interesting because I'm a handwriting nerd, but it's been a nice creative outlet too because the prompts are so broad. Here are my responses to the first three days' assignments ("Your Name," "Before," and "5 Facts about Me")!

What an odd assortment of characters, haha! George and Zoey would be saving all the people that Ygritte shoots with her arrows nbd.

• So ever since my great success last year at find an amazing pair of Citizens of Humanity skinnies at Buffalo Exchange, I've been on the hunt for other high-end jeans second-hand. WELL, last weekend, I found two pairs at Plato's Closet for around $30 total!!!! Both are dark-wash skinnies, one from Madewell and one from Paige Denim, which would each retail for over $100. *insert screaming emoji here* They're soft and substantial and comfy and perfect. Thrifting ftw! (Bonus that I had a 20% off coupon AND got $6 for trading in a pair of boots I never wear!)

• My dad was in the city visiting a friend on Wednesday, so I met up with him after EMDR... and got to play with his friend's three cats!! Including this adorable tabby, who I never see because she always hides when company is over! She even let me pet her! ...although her cat brother tried to horn in on the petting and she slapped him! Cat drama! I was like, "Whoa, I can pet everyone, nobody panic!" lol #allyourcatsarebelongtome

HIIIIII new best friend <3 <3

• Lastly, this song came on as I was on the subway after EMDR, and it reminded me why I'm seeing three therapists and reading self-help books and going to yoga and doing all of the things that can sometimes feel like a pain in the ass... ultimately, I want to get better, and not live dictated by my anxiety, depression, and avoidance of things that scare me. OHHH that! *lightbulb lights* ;)

PS- If you haven't seen the cutest video of Emily over at Ember Grey dancing to some awesome 90s-2000s jams, check it out because it totally brightened my Monday! :)

That's a wrap! Have a great weekend, lovelies! xo

February goals

Well, I'm glad February is here because January was such a weird/emotional month for me! Let's try 2016 again, shall we? ;)

1.  Self-explanatory. #adulting
2. I've kept a gratitude log on and off (mostly off) for the past few years, but I want to try to get back into it this month, as way to combat depression. Thank you Ashley for the suggestion! :) 
3. Putting shopping money into a separate account and also trying to be more mindful of my shopping in general.
4. I really noticed last month how much I do things for no other reason than obsessive/perfectionistic/anxious feelings. So I'm going to pay more attention to them and try to avoid just mindlessly following them this month.
5. Recent posts by Mattie and Xin reminded me that I need to get back on track with paying more on my student loans. Unless I want to pay them for years and years and years. *insert screaming emoji here*

Now, considering how unmotivated I was in January, my goals should have been a disaster, right? WRONG!!

1. Transfer my shopping budget money to its own checking account: CHECK! I didn't do it all month, but I did transfer some shopping money to its own account, and as I said in my Budget post, it really changed my perspective on impulse spending.
2. Check bank account daily: ALMOST CHECK! Ok maybe not daily, but I did check it way more than I normally would have!
3. Look into affiliate links for the blog: CHECK! I was so overwhelmed thinking about this... annnnd setting it up with ShopStyle literally took 5 minutes. And I've already made 30 cents! #VIP #drinksonme
4. Take clothes to consignment shops: CHECK! And literally at the last minute too, haha. My usual consignment shop of choice was running a special where you make 50% on consignments in January, so I got my act together and went last Saturday (1/30). Better late than never!!
5. Get up early on work days and do a little something fun: SORT OF CHECK! Again, like the bank account one, I did this a lot but not all the time.

What are you guys hoping to get done or try this month?

Linking up with Nicole over at Writes Like a Girl!

High Five for Friday: January 29

This has been such a strange week. I started out snowed in and semi-sick, and the rest of the week just flew by! Here's what put the sparkle into it:

• Pops was out on Monday night, and when the cat's away, the mice will binge-watch Grey's and do Korean masks, apparently! ;D I tried a Korean lip mask for the first time. I don't know that my lips are any less dry, but at least the mask smelled deliciously of peach!

So beautiful.

• FREAKING. GREY'S. I just finished season 8, and and I'm going to need additional therapy to deal with my feelings. (I made Pops watch the season 8 finale with me for moral support, and now he's traumatized too whoops.) On a happier note, I think I've found my new Andie McPhee (one of my most beloved TV characters ever) in April Kepner. She is an obsessive, emotionally-unstable nut, and I love it. <3 One minute, she's crying out of the blue (been there, sister) and the next she's getting into a bar fight (haven't been there, sister).

"I AM A SOLDIER!"

• Last weekend (pre-blizzard), I was briefly reunited with my gf!!! <3 <3

How precious is she?! Just hop into my bag, Sasha, no one will ever know! :D

Her owner, my friend Deena, had brought me back gifts from Disney! The Chip mug is so cute!! And Sasha got a present too: the paper it was wrapped in :)

• This cute illustration has been really helpful to me as I slog through this latest period of depression and (ugh) feelings. Btw if you want to know more about how I'm dealing with my current bout of depression, I wrote about it here!

• And lastly, I give you a #flashbackFriday to blizzards past! (Back when I actually enjoyed the snow... and wore all pink WAY before Elle Woods!) :)

Sadly, you can't see my furry, bejeweled pink snow boots, which also went spectacularly with my Catholic school uniform!

Have a great weekend, fellow sparklers! xoxo

January 2016 budget

I didn't feel like I bought a lot in January, but I sure did, looking at it all now! Some of these purchases did happen in the last days of December, though, so maybe that's why it feels so long ago. I didn't pay for all of my buys (thanks to my family making it rain Target gift cards at Christmas haha!), but still--I feel kind of guilty. I don't usually feel bad about shopping unless I'm way over budget, so I wonder what's going on... Maybe recognizing that I really don't need all of the things that I bought is growth. In any case, here are my post-December-budget-post purchases! (Say that 5x fast!)

*This is my first post using affiliate links, so I just wanted to be clear that I get a few pennies if you click on any of the Shopstyle links below!*

1. Merona Striped Double Zip Around Wallet (Target): $17 - gift card = $0
2. MIA Jania boots (Nordstrom Rack): $69 on sale for $35 + gift card = $0
3. Bobbi Brown Corrector (Macy's): $0 ($25 gift card!)
4. Alex + Ani Braided Leather Wrap Bracelet (Nordstrom Rack): $38 on sale for $19 + gift card = $0
5. Benefit Gimme Brow (Ulta): $24 (Trying to cover up the holes in my brows like a classy lady!)

Not pictured:

1. Sterling silver studs (Macy's): $30 on sale for $15
2. Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer (Macy's): $25
3. Brilliant Love Heart Lip Care 3-Step System (Wishtrend): $17 but I paid $27, since I didn't want to spend $69 for free shipping. So I'm counting the shipping in my budget.
4. 4 Zoya Pixie Dusts (Godiva, Stevie, Arlo, and Tomoko): $15 (Zoya's yearly just-pay-for-shipping promotion!)
5. Citizens of Humanity jeans (Poshmark): $24 with shipping (the pants themselves were $21)
6. Joico Moisture Recovery Treatment Balm (Amazon): $12
7. Lava Bead Bracelet (spa): $18 (You put essential oils on the lava bead, and it's sort of like a wearable aromatherapy diffuser!)
8. Zoya Remove + (Ulta): $10 (I ran out a few months ago and couldn't live without it any longer!)
9. Mossimo Jeggings (Target): $30 - 25% off = $22 - gift card = $0 I actually got a nice light grey/green color that I don't see online :(
10. Mossimo Long-Sleeved Cardigan (Target) : $20 on sale for $14 - 20% off Cartwheel = $11 - gift card = $0

TOTAL: $170 RIGHT AT BUDGET wheeeee!

Favorite purchase: The studs aren't exciting (just tiny silver ones with cubic zirconia), but I've worn them every day since buying them, and they don't bother my sensitive ears so HOLLA.

Least Favorite Purchase: I guess the Alex + Ani bracelet, just because it gets caught in my coats and long-sleeved tops, which is a bummer considering how pretty it is. On the plus side, it shouldn't be annoying to wear once it's warmer! And in the meantime, I'm getting some pink in my bracelet stack with my new lava bead bracelet! :)

I should also note that I dabbled a little in transferring shopping money to a separate account this month, and oh boy was that a wake-up call! $40 felt like so much when I had to set it aside ahead of time, and not just blow it impulsively. Definitely something to keep in mind going forward.

Linking up with Fran's Budgeting Bloggers!