Bad Day?

This needed to be shared...

Looking Good There, Sunshine!

Two words: Body image.

These 9 letters are discussed quite often. The other day I was pinning away and came across this gem:

It really hit home. It got me thinking about how I talk to my body. I realized the first thing I do in the morning, is look in the mirror and critique every little thing,

"Stomach, why can't you be just a little flatter?"

"Butt, can't you be just a bit firmer?"

"Skin, I was outside for 2 hours yesterday, why aren't you more tan?"

"Boobs, why couldn't you have stopped growing 2 cup sizes ago?"

"Double chin, must you show up in every picture?"

And I realized; I sound like a crazy person.

Bodies are amazing things! I'm so fortunate to have one that works just the way I want it to. I think bodies are a gift. Is there anything else we'll physically have with us throughout our entire life? Not really. So why aren't we nicer to our soul's vessel?

I am suuuuper guilty of not being happy with mine... I used to go in spurts of hardly eating anything, to eating too much, to eating the right amount. Back and forth, back and forth. No matter what, I wasn't satisfied. Even after doing 'The Cleanse', not eating food for 10 days, and getting down to 100 pounds, I still wasn't happy with the way I looked. Scary, right?

But I figured out why this was the case: I compare myself to other girls; girls I know, girls I don't, girls on magazines, girls on facebook, and the list goes on... I feel kind of ridiculous admitting that... It's quite silly. I'm never going to have Miley's legs or Scarlett's curves, but I will have my legs, and my curves :) I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm never going to look like anyone else, because I'm me.

I'm a pretty active person, I workout 5 times a week, and I'm really into knowing what's in my food. I could work out harder and eat better, but I don't want the gym to consume me. & I want to eat ice cream. So, my body won't be 'perfect' & that's okay :)

I took a class about a year ago. We read a book called What to Say When you Talk to Yourself. I loved it. The author talked about how what we say to ourselves really has an impact on us. In short, you become what you think. If you tell yourself you're fat, lazy, and ugly, you will feel fat, lazy, and ugly. But if you tell yourself you're awesome, you look great, and you're brilliant. You'll feel awesome, great, and brilliant. It's so simple. I've tried it. And it's soooooo true. The more I tell myself I look amazing, the more amazing I feel. I somehow forgot about that, but I'm getting back on track. So here is how I talk to myself now,

"Check out that butt."

"Cute feet."

"Lookin good there, stomach!"   

"Legs, thanks for taking me places."

"Skin, you're great, no matter what shade of white you are." ;)

Here's to living a life with more positivity and no comparisons.

Cheerio.

Taylor

Sooooooo, My bff Kim and I went to Taylor Swift's concert... It. was. incredible. I can't even describe to you how much I looooooved it. So prepare yourselves for a lot of ''I loved it''s, smiley faces, and borderline craziness of this love I have for her.

I was so glad that Kim and I got to go together. She's the greatest and got us both tickets! Whatever would I do without her? Not go to the Taylor Swift concert, that's what! There's no one else I would have rather been with that night. We danced, we sang, we screamed, we laughed, ah :) After months and months of waiting, Taylor was finally here. I seriously had a smile on my face the entire concert. I couldn't help it.

Ed Sheeran opened for her. We were in the shirt line for an hour...

  (totally worth it, new favorite shirt :)) so we only saw the last couple songs of his. Pretty sure he's my new celeb crush. How cool is he playing for 14,000 people with his messy hair, Nike shirt, and tennis shoes? So cool. Know those people who are better live than on the radio or cd? He's one of the few. He's captivating.

Taylor's parents walked onto the floor between Ed's performance and hers. Everyone was cheering for them. How cute, right? What artist's parents are famous and embraced because of their child's work? During the shows, her parents go through the crowd and find the most enthusiastic fans to go meet Taylor after the show, at the 'T party'. So cute :)

 Then Taylor came out singing State of Grace (one of my faves off of Red :)) and my life was complete.

This is how cool Taylor is... After her first song, she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Taylor" (such a doll!) Then she thanked everyone for coming; all who had seen her before, and all who were there for the first time. She said she was blown away by Salt Lake City, because we were the only show to sell out during the pre-sale. Crazy huh? The show sold out before it was technically on sale.

 

 She mentioned a couple times how she was able to see everyone in the room, even the people in the upper bowl, on the very top row. This may not seem like a big deal, but knowing first hand how it feels to be literally 3 rows from the very top the past 2 times I've seen her, I thought it was sweet she acknowledged those fans. Aaaand....

See that little screen on the right? That's facing the seats at the very tip top, so those friends can have a good view of the show. That Taylor thinks of everything :)

The thing about Taylor's concerts is, they are more than concerts. They're a production; lights, videos, fireworks, confetti, dancing- of all kinds, drumming, props, musicians, costume changes, and stage transformations are all synchronized to a song. And it's perfection how they do it.

'Holy Ground' is one of those songs you have to dance to. It's probably impossible to not be happy when you hear it. Cause darling, it was good never looking down. And right there where we stood was holy ground... Aren't there places in time you look back on and think that? Where everything felt so perfect, and you felt so full of life, so free? It's such a brilliant description. I have so many memories I can think about and say, 'Yep, that was holy ground.' :)

I think 'The Lucky One' was one of my favorite performances. It hasn't been one of my favorite songs, but her concert gave Kim and I a new perspective about it. Everyone thinks Taylor is so lucky. Everyone sees her as a glamorous, wealthy, famous, successful, gorgeous girl. In the video that played before the song, she was basically saying how people were cheering for her to make it, then once she made it, they were waiting for her to slip up; to fail. By the end of the song we felt like Taylor was saying we are the lucky ones. We aren't watched every second. Our lives aren't under a magnifying glass. Although she's so grateful for the life she has, I'd imagine it has the potential to be an incredibly lonely place. What we see as lucky, isn't always happiness.

Before 'Mean', she talked about being young and wanting so baldy to grow up. Because when you grow up, people are suppose to be nice. Kids wouldn't make fun of you anymore, no one would say or do hurtful things. But turns out, people can still be mean, and it can be worse than it was when you were a kid (I'd imagine even more so by being in the spotlight, like she is). One quote I love of hers is:

 

I love that Taylor is a nice girl. There's so much expectation in Hollywood for young gals to shake their 'good girl' image. I love that Taylor is proud of hers. She said in an interview, "Before I make a decision, I stop and think about the 10-year-old girl I saw last night at my concert in the front row. I think about her mom. I think about how they bought my CD, thinking that I'm a good role model. Then I think about how they would feel if I did something to let them down. I can't imagine a greater pain than letting one of those mothers down. I honestly can't."

Before she performed '22', a video played. It flashed a number, starting with 1, then showed a clip of her at that age, singing, all the way til 22. I loved that it showed her progression and hard work. I love stories like hers; a person finding something they're incredibly passionate about, working their heart out at it, and becoming something sensational. She's been singing since she could talk. She's been writing songs and poetry since she was a kid. She discovered what she loved, and did everything she could to not settle for something else. She even turned down a record deal at age 13? I believe, because they weren't going to let her sing her songs. Inspiring.

During the middle of the concert, she slowed it down a little bit, playing a couple songs acoustically. She said she likes that part of the show to be spontaneous. For that night, she picked to play 'Our Song'. She was on twitter that night, and a couple who would be at the concert tweeted and asked her to play it, because it's their song. So she did. I love that she's all about her fans. She understands that without them, she wouldn't have the life she has now. She does little things like that, that make all the difference. Side note, she wrote 'Our Song' for her ninth grade talent show. No big deal.

Loved this part of the show :)

'All Too Well'. Oh my goodness. This was the best part of the show. bbbbeeeesssssttttt. I was so happy she played this for us. It's my all-time favorite song of hers, ever ever ever. She sat down at the piano and started talking about how she tried to forget certain things, but she couldn't. So she decided to embrace those things, because they happened. So she told the whole story of them, in 'All Too Well.'

Towards the end of the song she sang, After plaid shirt days and nights when you  made me your own, now you mail back my things and I walk home alone.....

 Then she paused. The crowed screamed, and applauded. I couldn't. There this girl was, bearing her soul, in front of thousands of people. It was so pure and raw and brave. I had to soak it all in. I couldn't cheer. I couldn't interrupt that moment.

 

.... but you keep my old scarf from that very first week, cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me, you can't get rid of it, cause you remember it all too well. There we are again when I loved you so, back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known, it was rare I was there, I remember it all too well.... And I almost cried. She gave me serious chills. There was something about that performance... I've been listening to this song at least 3 times a day since it came out last October. I relate to it so much. To see her there, in the same room as me, telling me this story made it so real. It's easy to look at celebrities and forget that they're human, if that makes sense. But Taylor is a real girl. Those things really happened to her, she really felt that way. It made the song mean that much more to me.

'Sparks Fly' took me back to her concert two years ago. I went with my good friend Chris who is on a mission now. It was neat to be reminded of the fun we had that night, and nights after watching her tour dvd  (yep, we're that obsessed...). Even though I haven't seen him in over a year, no matter where we go in life, I love having little triggers like that to remind me of such good, good times.

'I Knew You Were Trouble' was awesome. I loved how it began. The violinist played a solo to start. She was so cool. A lot of the band members had solos, which I loved. I love that Taylor realizes there is a team of people helping her to put on an incredible show, and recognizes the talent of her band.

 The screen that says 'RED' changed throughout the show. At the end, it read 'Thank you :)'. Classy. The concert felt like 5 minutes. I didn't want it to be over. I'm so grateful I got to go and be apart of the music that has helped me through so much. Taylor never lets me down. June 1st, 2013 is on my top 'best nights ever' list.

Thank you Taylor, thank you :)

Life.

My brain has felt a bit like a jumbled mess the past couple weeks. I've been thinking about a lot; moments, change, speaking up, and regrets to name a few. Sometimes, I can't get out what I'm thinking into words and onto the screen in front of me. So here is my best effort :)

Moments & Change:

So many sweet little memories keep popping in my head, mostly of those who have drifted out of my life. I think those memories come back more frequently than those of who are in my life now, because I miss them. I miss hanging out with my little sister all the time, just because we could. I miss going to my good friend's and my favorite restaurant, staying there for hours, and eating garlic bread and fries. I miss laughing at literally, the dumbest things with a gal who I once was so close with... 

We're given 80+ years to be on this earth, to share our lives with people we love. No matter what happens, everyone you love to some degree or another, has a piece of your life, a piece of you. Those sweet memories will always be perfect to me, regardless of how my relationships with those people have turned out now. The reason those people and I are no longer close is because they changed, and I changed. Maybe at the time, who we were needed each other, and who we are now, doesn't.

 

They say the only thing constant in life is change. I surely believe that. Although we grow, change, and become, we can always keep those sweet little pieces of time with us. So I do :) and I squeeze every bit of joy out of those moments I have now; like craft night with Kim and making the greatest videos with heliumbooth. Playing Mario Party on the N64 with Brys (we are that cool :)). Spending hours at Zupa's talking with Dal. Laughing so hard on the phone with Ash. And singing songs with Owen as we walk to the park.

Speaking up and Regrets: 

The bff and I have been good friends for the past two years or so. We knew each other in high school, but were barely acquaintances. Turns out, we both wanted to be friends with each other, but thought the other was too cool for us.... Goodness. We could have had this friendship for so much longer, all one of us had to do was say, 'Hey, we should hang out.'

There are other people I wish I would have been friends with, and guys I wish I would have had the guts to talk to. So I've been trying to not let history repeat itself. I have regrets. I don't know how people don't. There are plenty of things I've done, said, or more often, not said, that I wish I could change. But I learn from those experiences and improve myself, which is key. 

So now, if there's someone I want to be friends with, I reach out to them. If there's a guy I want to go out with, I very, and I mean very nervously, tell them. It hasn't always turned out well, I'd say more not than often, but that's okay :) better to try than wonder 'what if...'. 

I'm determined to never ask myself, 'what if..' again. So when....

I'm blown away by someone's brilliance, I tell them.

I think someone looks amazing, I let them know.

Something good happens for someone, I tell them how happy I am for them.

A person lifts my spirits, I thank them.

Someone inspires me, I let them know how they impacted me.
I love someone, I not only tell them, but I show them.

Have a lovely weekend :)

Out of the Zone

Lately I've been trying to get out of my comfort zone. I've been trying to be braver; saying how I feel regardless of the possibility of uncomfortable confrontation. I've been trying new things; anything from food to longboarding. I've been trying to talk with and get to know people I don't know, or know very little about. This may not seem like a big deal, these things may seem so simple, and so easy to some of you. Let me explain...

I like keeping to myself. I have no problem sitting alone. I like sticking to routine. I'm not the best with spur-of-the-moment things. I'm not anti-social, but I wouldn't call myself a social butterfly...

For example: I don't like talking on the phone. I almost cried when I started working at age 14, because talking on the phone and in store with customers was 50% of my job. I was scared. It took me a long time to be comfortable with that type of interaction... Now I enjoy it. I like when customers come in, and although I only help them for a minute or two, I like making small talk. I like knowing a tiny bit of their story; whether they've been painting their house all day, with the proof on their hands, or they're getting ready for 'Survivor' night, or going to the park to enjoy the beautiful day. I love hearing about it.

I think my contentment of keeping to myself was a combination of shyness, insecurity, and most of all comfort.

I'm definitely not as shy as I once was. I'm over that.

Insecurity? Over that, too. I'm awesome.

Comfort... That is the kicker. It's so easy for me to stay in my comfort zone. It's easy to live in my own world and keep to myself. But guess what? Eventually, it gets old. There's no progression, no adventure, and no excitement in that.

This year I've been trying to get out of my zone, have more of a YOLO attitude (yes, I'm that cool), and say, 'yeah, why not?' instead of 'nope, definitely not'.

At the beginning of the year, my friends invited me and the bff to go country dancing. We were so hesitant. So hesitant that we said we would go, but we would definitely be in the corner the whole time, talking amongst ourselves. We went, danced, and had to our surprise, so much fun. It was definitely out of our zones, but we tried, and we conquered :)

Style wise, I've been trying to branch out. I've spruced it up a bit, wearing things that I loved, but thought were too weird. No more of that; a bit of weirdness it is :) The funny thing is, each time I've worn something 'weird' with confidence, I get compliments up the ying yang.

I've struggled a lot with saying how I feel, and telling people what I'm thinking. This year I've spoken up a lot more than I have in the past. I tell people when I disagree with them, and explain why, instead of just going with the flow. I won't sugar coat the truth when someone asks for it. I'll tell people how wonderful I think they are. I'll tell people if they hurt me. It's been hard for me to be direct with people, but I've learned I need to either say what's going on in my heart and brain, or regret holding my thoughts inside.

Financially, I'm not a big spender. I splurge every now and then, but I watch my pennies. I get anxiety when I spend a lot. So you can see how buying a new car almost made me sick. I couldn't sleep or eat for days, while in the process of buying it. I've never been in debt and the idea of being in debt for the next five years made me crazy. Even writing this I can feel myself getting anxious about it. But I did it! I feel grown up and more confident through making that decision. So glad I did it.

My calling at church has really made me get to know people. I've been in my ward for over 2 years and I probably only knew 1/3 of people's names, not to mention anything about them. Kind of sad. Kind of pathetic. For the past few months I've really tried to get to know people and learn their stories. There are so many lovelies I am fortunate to know. When I stop by someone's home to say hi or visit, I'm always so glad I did. On a couple occasions I've felt heartbroken leaving their homes. After they share a heavy part of their story with me, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for them sooner. I'm so disappointed in myself that I could have been their friend and helped them, instead of staying comfortable, and keeping to myself.

At the end of the day, we all want to be loved. We all want a friend. We all want someone we can call when we're confused, relieved, broken, or ecstatic. I have so many of those 'someones' that I want to be as many people's 'someone' as I can. 

Here's to ending my comfort zone.
So far, so good.

I am new. I am free.

'No Poo'

It seems my hair has always been fragile, limp, prone to greasiness, and full of flyaways and split ends. I've tried so many different shampoos, conditioners, deep conditioning treatments, mouses, and so on. All of that = no progress, at least not for very long. About 9 months ago, I went and got my hair cut at Fantastic Sams, and (of course) the hair dresser suggested I try a fancy salon brand of shampoo & conditioner. I thought, why not? might as well. So I bought it, tried it, and for a while my hair was gorgeous. However, after a few months, it got a lot greasier, a lot faster. I found myself using twice as much shampoo as I was using when I started. I was bugged.

Then one magical day, I was pinning away, and I found a link titled 'How to Wash Your Hair No Poo Style'. It sounded really weird. I had to at least find out what it meant. What it meant was a miracle! I tried it, and haven't used shampoo or conditioner in my hair for almost 4 weeks now, and my hair has NEVER looked or felt better!

Turns out, shampoo strips your hair of all the oils it and your scalp produce. But guess what? Those natural oils are good for your hair, it needs them. Since you've stripped your hair of everything with the shampoo, you have to replace them with the chemicals in conditioner... Sounds kind of pointless, right? Kind of like some genius invented shampoo and conditioner to trick us into buying things we don't even need, but think we do? I think so...

Anyway, because you strip your hair of the natural oils, your hair, in reaction, produces more at a faster rate. The No Poo Method, is a way to set your hair back to a normal rate of oil production. Resulting in healthier, stronger, less greasy hair. True Story.

At the link above, you can read a much more detailed insight to the No Poo Method. I think my experience with it was the exception... It is suppose to take between 2 weeks & 2 months to get your hair back in balance. Mine took about 3 days...

What you'll need:

-Clarifying shampoo
-Baking soda
-Spray bottle. I just bought this little guy for less than a dollar.
-Vinegar (use apple cider vinegar for drier hair, it's what I used.)

To start:
-In the shower, use the clarifying shampoo. It gets rid of anything that's in your hair; product buildup, waxes, hairspray, gels, all that jazz. (I bought mine from a hair dresser a long time ago. I swim a lot, and use it after each swim to get the chlorine out of my hair.) You can find it at any store. I know Suave makes it.

-After rinsing out (really well) the clarifying shampoo, it's time for the baking soda. (I keep mine in a small tupperware in the shower.) Scoop about 2 tablespoon of the baking soda into your hands, try to get the majority of it onto your fingers. Then work it onto your scalp and massage it all around your head. (It'll feel pretty weird at first.) Only put the baking soda on your scalp, NOT the rest of your hair. Let it sit for a minute or so then rinse it out. (You may need to flip your hair over to rinse the hair on the lower back of your head.)

-In the spray bottle, you'll want a 2 Tablespoons vinegar to 1 cup water ratio. Shake it up! Then, spray it through only on the length of your hair, NOT the scalp. (It will stink, maybe I'm just a wimp/ I have a sensitive nose, but I had to turn my head the opposite way of where I was spraying.) Let it sit for a minute, then rinse away.

*Use a comb to detangle your hair. Start with the ends, then work your way up. Your hair will probably feel like straw for the first few days. Mine felt like it for a couple days, and was really staticy for about 4 days. But don't worry, it will get better!

*Your hair will smell like vinegar while it is wet. When it's dry, you'd never know the vinegar was there.

Repeat the process everyday. Your hair will feel greasier from anywhere between 2 weeks- 2 months (Again, I think I was the exception. I didn't experience this and am not sure why...) Once it's back to normal, you can see how it does with just water. Yep, no baking soda or vinegar; just. water. Cool huh? (I haven't been able to pull that off yet, my hair looks greasy when I've tried. So I'm giving it more time.)

Pros of No Poo:
-My hair is soooo much less greasy! Before, if I went a day without washing it, it looked like it was wet- literally. One day I hadn't washed it yet and my bro asked me if it was wet. Nope, it was just greasy. Gross.
-I can wash my hair every other day and it looks just fine :)
-My hair has never been shiner!
-My flyaways have gone down. Hello smooth hair :)
-It rarely tangles.
-It's so much softer!
-It has as much volume as my thin hair can have :)
-I'll never have to buy any products ever again...

Say goodbye to all this nonsense!

Happy hair washing! :)

June 1st 2013

I was going to save this post for June 1st, the day my bff and I will be seeing her in real life, but I'm too excited to wait! So here's to exactly one month and counting!

 
Although our worlds are completely different, I think Taylor and I are quite similar;

We're just months apart in age. If we went to school together, we would have been in the same grade. 

We're white... but sometimes we like to pretend we could be gangster if we wanted.

Writing is an outlet for both of us; she writes music, I write in my journal and this blog. 

We're both good at getting our hearts broken, whether the guy does it, or we do it to ourselves, it happens. We learn from those experiences, and we get better at the whole 'love' thing.

You might think Taylor is just another singer, and that's okay. But to me, she's more. Because when....

 When you're 17, and you're with the first guy you really like and you make all these plans together. Then out of the blue he decides to ignore you for a week, leaving you in the dark to wonder what is happening between you two, instead of simply ending it.

She's felt that way too, and explains it in Last Kiss.

Your first 'love' of over a year, basically cheats on you, but worse (yes, there is worse) with your very, very best friend.

She gives you You're Not Sorry.

When you break it off with one of the best guys you've dated, and there's no real reason the two of you couldn't make it work. You can't explain it, it's just something in your soul telling you no. So you just cry with them and muster, 'I'm sorry...' And it's the worst feeling in the world.

She knows just what you felt, even though you yourself can't explain it, she can, in Breathe.

 You go out with a guy one time, and the energy between the two of you feels like a dream... and you build it up in your head of what the two of you could be (because as hard as I try to be a mature adult, sometimes I just can't help myself and get carried away... I think that's another thing Taylor and I have in common). Then within a matter of weeks it come crashing to a stop, having so much left unsaid.

 She gives you Red.

When it's been months and you still find your mind wandering to them, and you remember every stupid detail of your relationship; what you said that made them laugh, what they wore on your first date, pointless things in your conversations, like what they did last Christmas, but most of all, how you felt with them.

She explains it perfectly. And I mean perfectly in All Too Well.

Taylor is more than just a singer; more than just a song writer. She's more than just a performer or a celebrity. She's real. When I listen to her, even when I'm so upset, I feel better, because a girl out there knows e.x.a.c.t.l.y how I feel. And for some reason, that lifts my spirits, and gives me hope. If she's experienced these though things (which seemed like the end of the world at the time) and came out better than ever, I can too.

Thanks Taylor. See you soon :)