High Five for Friday: April 22

If you read my Confessions post, you know that things have been pretty wacky around here lately! But here are some things that put the sparkle into my week:

• The weather was absolutely gorgeous last Saturday, so B and I took a stroll up to Fishtown, which isn't too far from his apartment.There's an ice cream place there (Little Baby's--the same one we went to in West Philly) where you can buy a scoop in advance for another person, and B had bought me a scoop awhile ago, so Saturday was the perfect day to collect! Buuut I didn't get just a scoop... more like an ice cream cookie sandwich... :) I got chocolate salt malt ice cream with mint chocolate cookies, and it was ah-mazing.

Yeah, this got demolished!

• On our walk back to B's apartment, I spotted these stunning tulips in a little park and totally made a beeline for them. I still can't get over how gorgeous they are! I love tulips in general, but these ones with variegated colors are just stunning!

How about "Stop and freak out over the tulips?" because I did do that!

• Wednesday was a two-neighborhood-cat day! (The best kind of day, in my opinion, haha!) First up, we have Tuxedo Cat (or simply "Tuxado," ala Franck in Father of the Bride), who still prefers to gaze at me from a safe distance. After taking this shot, I stepped on a twig, and Tuxedo Cat bolted. Our relationship needs some work.

Why won't you love me, Tuxedo Cat?!

And then, later that day, who did I find rolling around our neighbor's yard but Calico Pinky!! The cats whose real names we don't know get christened with some descriptive nickname (ala Tuxado/Tuxedo Cat), so Pops shortened "Calico Pink Collar" to "Calico Pinky." He's the main one who sees her--in fact, she was just hanging out in our plants last week, much to Pops' chagrin--so you can imagine my glee at happening upon such a rare cat in my neighborhood Neko Atsume! Calico Pinky was way more excited to see me than Tuxedo Cat had been: she came right over and kept walking in circles around me, rubbing up on me and meowing. I WAS LEGIT TRAPPED IN A CIRCLE OF CUTENESS. When Pops found me, I was sprawled out on the sidewalk, squealing incoherently with Calico Pinky laying up against me. Oh happy day!!

I can't even with her little white face!

Besties <3 THIS COULD BE YOU TOO, TUXEDO CAT!

• My retainer saga continued this week, as I picked up retainer #2, the one that had to be re-made. This appointment was at a different office, so I had to see the actual orthodontist who had treated me back when I had braces, and he seriously did.not.care that I hadn't worn my retainers for years. Fear of telling him that I hadn't followed the rules was partially what kept me from making an appointment sooner, and yet he was totally chill. Ugh, stupid fear and shame, you ruin everything!! ANYWAY, this orthodontist reiterated that my teeth really haven't shifted much (which I'm still in shock over!) and that they could go back to their super-straight post-braces state if I wear both retainers all the time for 6-8 weeks. 6-8 weeks?!? I thought we'd be talking six months to a year or something! So despite the lisp and general Farmer Ted-ness (ugh), I'm going to see if I can tough it out for 6-8 weeks. I had a walking boot for that long and it was nbd, so it's worth a shot. My initial goal with the retainers was just to stop my teeth from getting worse, so the potential of fixing the damage I'd already done is like hitting the jackpot!

By the way... I've gotten some logistical questions about my whole retainer situation, so I wanted to answer them here, in the hopes of helping anyone else who might be losing sleep over the state of their teeth! 

1. My new retainer cost $150. Which is WAY more reasonable than I thought it would be! If you call your doctor's office, they can probably give you an idea of how much a retainer would cost (that's where I started out).
2. I was also freaked out about how much the appointment itself would cost (since I don't have dental insurance), but at my orthodontist at least, retainer check appointments are FREE! So I paid $0 at my appointment last week, and $150 at my appointment this week (to cover the new retainer cost). THAT'S IT. *confetti horn emoji*
3. If you still have your retainers, and they would be wearable if they only fit, bring them with you to your appointment. If you have a Hawley retainer (the typical metal and plastic kind), your orthodontist might be able to adjust it FOR FREE so that it fits the current state of your teeth. That's what happened with my bottom retainer. (My old top retainer was an Essix retainer, which is sort of Invisalign-esque and has no flexibility to be re-shaped, hence why I had to get a new one.)

Bottom line: Don't let fear of the cost stop you from seeking treatment if you're concerned about your teeth. Things might not be as bad as you think! (I was certainly blown away!!)

I promptly sent this picture to my bffl with a bunch of baby emojis, because, accurate. I already get carded at R-rated movies, this is not going to help!!

• I test drove a car this week! Eeeee! I'm truly 16 years old, looking at cars and going to the orthodontist, ha! I typically drive my dad's 2012 Civic, and it just feels enormous compared to the Civics of my childhood (namely our white 2001 Civic with the black door handles that made it so easy to spot <3). So Pops' "car guy" introduced me to the Honda Fit, and I totally loved it! It is the perfect size and has fantastic visibility! AND it has a rear windshield wiper, which Pops, me, my bffl, and her mom were all psyched about, haha. Now I just need to do some serious number crunching and see if I can actually afford it...

• Finally, here is a sign that is currently positioned outside our office complex and cracks me up every day:

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! xo

Confessions

I've been debating doing a post like this for while, because they're always so fun and entertaining when Mattie does them! And there's no shortage of things to confess because my life has been super ridiculous lately!

• So I mentioned last Friday that I had to go to the orthodontist... for the first time in 11 or 12 years. I'm pretty sure I was a senior in high school the last time I was there. This time around, I was a trendsetter on SO many levels: I was the only patient in the waiting room not accompanied by a parent or guardian, perhaps the only patient of legal driving age, and definitely the only patient not skipping first period for my appointment. #winning #stillgetcardedtho

• I'm a terrible liar. And, when I feel guilty about something, I'm all flustered April Kepner about it. So I sang like a canary about not wearing my retainers. And when the doctor casually asked, "So what brought you in today?" my response was a panicked, "FEAR!!" #butactually

• Oh, and when you've last been to the orthodontist 11 or 12 years ago, the picture they have on file for you is utterly appalling and needs to be burned STAT. I don't need a reminder of how awkward I was as a brace-faced teen, thanks! #ctrl #alt #del #unfierce #sorryTyra

• In other news, Fruit Loops have been my breakfast of choice for the past week. Yeah. That's happening. I just wanted to mix up my breakfast routine but couldn't commit to a full box of anything else! (Sidenote: Why don't they make those awesome variety packs with all the little boxes of cereal for adult-y cereals?! That's exactly what I needed!) My super health nut dad did not want to be seen with this box in his basket, but alas. #juicecleanse

My contributions to our shopping cart. #adulting

• I'm terrified of bugs in general, but especially bees, wasps, basically anything that buzzes and stings. I seriously take off running whenever I hear that droney buzz... even if it's just a lawn mower in the distance #realtalk. Well, at work this week, we've had TWO hornets in our office! (Or maybe they're wasps... it's not like I'm getting all up on them with a magnifying glass or anything!) And in both cases, of course it was me who found them. Clearly, I'm not going to be the one to corral them, so I had to enlist my co-workers for help. The co-workers in question are Russian and have a hard enough time understanding me as it is, but now that I'm 15 years old and have a retainer that gives me a lisp, you can imagine how well things went! "Thereth a bee or thomthing buzthing in there, can you guyth help me?!" UGH SO EMBARRASSING. But thankfully, one of the guys was able to capture our new "bee friend," and set it free. GOOD GRIEF. #buzzkill #almostliterally #FarmerTed

This is pretty much how I've felt all week.

How is your week going? I hope it's hornet (or wasp) and embarrassment-free! :)

High Five for Friday: April 15

Oh boy, what a week! Here's what put the sparkle into it:

• Once I heard that there was going to be a parade in Philly for the Villanova basketball team last Friday, I was super torn about going. (Big crowds are not my favorite--surprise!) But the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the situation finally won me over (along with my regret over not going to the Phillies parade in '08!). We couldn't see or hear very well at the parade and subsequent rally, but at least we were there! (Oh yeah, I made Pops be my parade wing-man!) It's times like this when I really appreciate that my job is super flexible and lets me work from home on short notice so that I can do cool, spur-of-the-moment things. :)

At the end of the rally, Jay Wright had everyone throw streamers and confetti after the winning basket was shown on the big screens. I'm sure the clean-up crew was thrilled.

• Monday got off to a super Monday start. At stop #2 on my morning commute (the el), I saw the ticker at the station say something about "shuttle buses" and "delays up to one hour." Uh, ain't nobody got time for that, especially when you have a seven-minute window to make your next Septa connection, so I just went back home to get a ride. Sigh. BUT THEN! My day improved 1000% on my walk home when I spotted this dapper guy in his Monday tuxedo:

Who are you?! And why is our neighborhood a cat's paradise?!

He sat like that, still as a statue, as a guy passed with his dog, but when I went to my house (next door), I heard "MEOW! MEOW!" and noticed someone following me through the bushes!! I tried to approach him at that point, but he went all ABORT ABORT on the friendliness and dove back into the bushes. And then, a street sweeper came down our little street, which was all the poor cat could take--he fled that vacuum-esque truck at warp speed. Oh well, at least I got to spend a few minutes of National Pet Day with someone's pet!

• This week was Disney Week on DWTS, which made me realize just how random my taste in Disney music is. Don't get me wrong, I love "Part of Your World" and "Friend Like Me" as much as the next earhat-wearing person, but I was lobbying hard for some "So This Is Love" and "Once Upon a Dream."  (Fun fact: my text tone is the "ahhhh ahhhh" from the middle of "Once Upon a Dream"!) Thankfully, Ginger and Val gave me a pleasant surprise by dancing to "Belle" instead of "Beauty and the Beast." There goes the baker with his tray like alwaaaays, the same old bread and rolls to sellllll...

Ginger Zee and Valentin Chmerkovskiy dance the Foxtrot to "Belle" from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack on Dancing with the Stars' Season 22 Disney Night! Subscribe: http://goo.gl/T7bg3N Watch Dancing with the Stars Mondays at 8|7c on ABC!

• So, confession time: I had braces in high school and was so so good about the rubber bands, and the not chewing gum, and everything. And then I got to college and stopped wearing my retainers, like a typical dumb college kid. Surprise, my teeth shifted! And by the time I could see the shifting, my old retainers didn't fit anymore. Thus began several years of me fretting about the state of my teeth but not actually doing anything about it because I was so ashamed that I hadn't followed the rules. But this week, I actually started to lose sleep over the whole thing (no lie), so I finally made an appointment at the orthodontist. On Thursday, I went and found out that, yes, my teeth have shifted, but that it's totally fixable by wearing my retainers all the time for awhile and then just (consistently) at night. THANK THE LORD. So I now I'm a 29 year old with a retainer and a lisp (ugh!), but at least I didn't totally undo two years of braces (and waste a lot of my parents' money!). AND no one at the office was judgy at all! The orthodontist actually commended me for being proactive! Ha! I guess they've seen worse cases than me!

My fashionable new accessory. They were able to bend my existing bottom retainer to fit the current state of my teeth, but my top one needs to be totally redone, so I'll pick that up next week. Cue the money-flying-away emoji.

• Lastly, here's a jazzy tune to brighten up your Friday workday! It's been stuck in my head all week (and possibly B's too now, whoops), and it's just so delightful! I first heard it in Supernatural and was psyched to learn that it's by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass! (This Guy's in Love with You is so good.) You're welcome. :)

Uploaded by TrixxyKatt on 2013-09-16.

Cheers to the weekend! Hope it's a good one! xo

How to deal when the "worst-case scenario" comes true

So I've had this post in my draft folder forever. Because the incident I'm about to retell is SO FREAKING EMBARRASSING. I can (sort of) laugh about it now, but there are not enough monkey-covering-his-eyes or blushing-face emojis for how I felt at the time. The only thing that got me to hit "Publish" on this post is that the embarrassing disaster to follow taught me a good lesson that might be helpful to other anxious people.

Let's roll it back to Monday, March Something, 2015. It started out like any other day: I was on the bus by 6:30 AM, headed to work, and feeling kind of nauseous. Nauseous is basically my resting state, so I didn't think much of it. Once I got to the el, though, I was feeling sicker, so I slumped in my seat and tried to distract myself by watching (I remember this vividly) a YouTube video of Stana Katic (yes, Beckett from Castle, lol!) on Jimmy Kimmel. 

Several stops into my trip, I began to fear that I actually might get sick. Should I go home? Ugh, but I had done that before--called out of work because I felt sick but then turned out to be fine. Nausea is common for me. Sick days are not. So on this day, soldiering on won out, as it usually does for me.

But there was a flaw in this plan: the illusion of control. Oh. THAT. When you ignore your body and try to control it, it often does not end well...

And that's how I wound up puking on the door of the el between the 46th and 40th Street stations in a train packed with commuters, one of whom was standing right next to me at the time, looking appropriately horrified. I don't think I threw up too much, but any throw up is too much in an enclosed public (!!) space like the el, right? UGH.

Here is how retelling this moment went:

Friend: "You threw up at the station?"

Me: "No, on the train."

Friend: "On the train."

Me: "Yes. Specifically, on the door."

Friend #2: "OMG what did you do?!"

Me: "I FLED like an idiot! What else was I supposed to do?!"

Yes, I sprinted off the train at the next stop because what else can you do when you're that a-hole who just went full Exorcist (while, A, completely sober, and B, older than five years old) on a train full of people? Had the situation been reversed, sure, I would have felt bad for the poor soul puking on the el... but I definitely would have felt bad for myself too for having to commute under those conditions!

If you had presented this scenario to me as a hypothetical ("Let's say you threw up on an el full of people on your way to work one morning, what would you do?!"), I would have probably frozen in horror and hyperventilated. But having come face-to-face with it, I can tell you what we do in these nightmarish worst-case scenarios:

WE FIGURE IT OUT! WE DO SOMETHING!

Once at the station (and no longer gagging), I took a few seconds to mentally beat myself up for being ~that person~ on the el, but you can only freak out for so long. Eventually, you have to do SOMETHING. So I pulled myself together at the station, called out of work, and began my trek back home.

Anxiety wants us to be hyper-vigilant and always fretting the worst. "Oh, I better not do X because then Y might happen..." (That is pretty much my current struggle with buying a car, btw.) But there is really nothing to worry about because we are strong and resilient and figure out what to do when these bad or unexpected things happen. 

Personally, I get totally flustered and paralyzed when presented with possible scenarios and worries. But in the heat of the moment, I can figure out solutions. We usually do. We get through these unpleasant situations, even if anxiety taunts us that we can't and won't. My el debacle is a great reminder of that, and one that I think of often (while cringing, of course). It's also an excellent reminder that we need to listen to our bodies and sometimes give them a freaking break! Had I gotten off just one stop sooner, I could have puked in a very ladylike manner in a trash can at the station. Both of these lessons are ones that I need to remind myself of on pretty much a daily basis. 

AND! If we can handle nightmarish, but relatively minor, stuff, then we are more prepared than we think we are to handle the big, super-terrifying stuff too. xo

A fine motto, haha!

High Five for Friday: April 8

Hooray, we made it to Friday! Here's what put the sparkle into this week of April Madness:

• VILLANOVA!!!! I was legit hyperventilating in the final minutes of that game, like omg. I've never watched an NCAA Championship game and think I saw the mic drop of games as my first! I'm still in shock that this school I actually attended is the NATIONAL champion. Crazy. Nova's run bought back such fond memories of the friends I made while I was there, and playing quizzo with them (Team Gingerlicious ftw), and hanging out back when we had no set schedule aside from class. Those were the days... siiiiigh.

V for Villanova, V for victory... (annnd those are the only words I know!)

In related news, it dawned on me that I was finishing up my MA thesis during the current senior b-ball players' freshmen year (fall 2012). So I could have passed these guys on campus! I could have been in the gym at the same time as them! (Yeah, I used to go to the gym--those days are long gone!) I could have been sitting next to Ryan Arcidiacono at the computers in Falvey while cursing ProQuest and their stupid margin requirements! WE COULD HAVE BEEN BFFS! (Especially if he wanted to hear about teenage outsiders as portrayed in different literary genres, which, who doesn't?!)

I have like three items of Villanova swag, so they've been in heavy rotation LOL.

• My mom's birthday was Saturday, so a bunch of us got together to celebrate... wherein B and I noticed there was a COLDSTONE in the same shopping center as the place we had dinner! WHAT?! Coldstone is still around?! We let everyone else have their (lame) restaurant desserts and totally made a beeline for Coldstone after dinner! 

Peanut Butter Cup Perfection is 100% my go-to. I pretty much lived on it when I got my wisdom teeth out. 

• Continuing on the birthday train, my pal Timmi's b-day is two days after my mom's. So here's a little throwback collage in honor of the girl I've been friends with for almost 15 years (!!). (In fact, we got Coldstone together when I got my wisdom teeth out, haha!) In that time, she's gone from homeroom buddy to one of my best friends, and I so admire her creativity and spirit of adventure. Since she lives in Chicago, I couldn't celebrate with her in person, so this tribute will have to do! :)

Father-Daughter Dance '03, Senior Prom After Party (note my prom hair!), Flower Creepin' up in NYC, and Not Freezing in Chicago (for once)!

• I realized over the weekend that I started exposure last year on April 1. (I remember being like "Starting this on April Fools' Day sounds about right LOL!") Back then, I felt like I was going to faint just driving around my neighborhood alone. Fast-forward a year, and I'm driving all over. Just this weekend, I drove to my friend Kristin's, drove HER car around the block (it's new and in my price range, so it's one I could potentially get, much like the cozy coupe!), drove to CVS and the post office, and THEN, the piece de resistance: drove on 476 and I-95 AT NIGHT. And on the way back (a route I've only driven once), I was alone! (I had taken B home, so he was with me for the first leg of the journey.) I can barely believe that the same person who was terrified of driving basically her whole life is WILLINGLY driving on HIGHWAYS and going 70 and changing lanes and kind of ENJOYING IT--like a real driver!! This totally felt impossible just a year ago and now, it's weird, but it's becoming the new normal. Change is always possible. <3

• Speaking of transportation... in addition to my many modes of Septa, I also boarded the soul train this week! I've been listening to a lot of Philly soul--maybe spurred by the Nova game? The Sound of Philadelphia, the Delfonics, and Harold Melvin and Blue Notes... so good. "Bad Luck" was probably not the best choice going into Monday's game, but it's so catchy, how could I resist?! Throw in some Staple Singers and the Main Ingredient, and it's been a very funky week around here!

Dj Cole's Disco Classics. Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes - Bad Luck. This Is Also A Verry Rare Video Performance Video. Thank You Soul Train For This Rare Classic. Enjoy.

I hope you guys have an equally groovy weekend (Soul Train line dance optional!)! :) xo