Miserable, Magical Monday

Hello, friends! Can you believe I'm actually sticking to a blogging plan and keeping up with this series? I, for one, am shocked.

I was trying to find a profile-pic-worthy photo of myself and came across this awesome shot from the wedding. Don't worry, I think is as mushy as I'll get this week.

1. I found this 10 step method to supposedly revamping your wardrobe a few weeks ago. It's a fairly detailed process. Step 1 is to do a "wardrobe detox" aka give away all of your clothes. If you know anything about me, you know that sometimes I buy clothes because I think they're pretty. And even if I don't wear the piece, I keep it...because, you know, it's pretty. Despite my predisposition to hoard my clothing because "it's what I was wearing when I got my first internship," I rocked this step. I exercised a ruthlessness I didn't know I had. I think it's because the detox allows you to have a "maybe" pile, but you have to put all of the things in that pile in a bag or box and store it away from your other clothes for 6 months. If at the end of that time, you haven't gone searching for any of those clothes, then you're supposed to donate/sell them. I'm almost a month in and haven't reached for anything yet.

2. On that note, cleaning out my closet and making it through step 6 of the clothing cleanse has left me DESPERATE to shop. I made a bunch of secret boards on Pinterest because I'm too embarrassed to overflow my friends' feeds with my favorite color combos for spring or my search for the perfect white pants and striped tee ( I KNOW! How don't I, Alex, own a striped tee shirt? I have no clue). No one needs to see my mad internet shopping, because I am such a good friend.

3. I might be alone here, but does anyone else think Miley sounds insanely similar to the chick from Fleetwood Mac? I remember listening to the radio last year in San Diego and Landslide (I didn't know the name of the song when I heard it...yes, I lived under a rock for a while) coming on. I instantly thought, "Oh my gosh! Miley has a new song! And it's kind of pretty, sort of like when she uploaded her Backyard Sessions on YouTube." The backyard sessions are worth checking out, except it will make you sad that a girl who has a decent amount of talent would rather sing some of the dumbest, most annoying songs instead of creating art. But I digress.

4. My sweet friend Sara saw these note cards at Michael's a couple of months ago and picked them up for me because they reminded me of her. Isn't that the nicest thing? Speaking of random kind acts, a couple from our church unexpectedly gave us a gift card to the movies for our 6 month wedding anniversary. It was completely out of the blue and so touching.

Her words.

5. I have to shamefully admit to you all that although I've made it about halfway through Mindy's book (yeah I'm on a FNB with her), I've stalled. I just haven't sat down and read like I know I want to. But this part when Mindy talks about the rules of Best Friendship was too great for me not to snap a photo and send it to my best friend, Barbara. Also, note my new favorite gray nail polish. Speaking of my favorites, Barbara will be back in town in a few weeks. Need I describe how effing happy that fact makes me?

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6. On Saturday, Brandon and I watched the last episodes of That 70's Show. To be completely honest, there is a large shift in the feel of the show in the last season. It feels like the writers knew how they wanted to end the show but didn't know how to get there or what to do as a lead up. Still, with my overwhelming lack of a social life outside of my apartment, I'll miss the burns, Kitty's awkward laugh and The Circle. 

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Finishing the show also has me missing the 70's. Yeah, as in the decade before the decade I was born. Maybe it's the music or maybe it's the high waisted pants. Who knows. Anyway, the next comedy Brandon and I plan to binge watch is The Office. I steered clear of it in high school because I didn't want to bandwagon along with literally everyone else I knew. But now, now I think is a good time for me to truly enjoy the show without the hype.

7. Fun news! Brandon and I signed a lease for an apartment in Davis! We move in at the very end of May and I can't wait to start packing. Mostly, I'm excited for summer in a place where there are parks and farmer's markets and coffee houses to explore and bookstores to wander through. I hope it will be like a Northern California version of the things I like to do in San Diego. Plus, we'll have a whole extra room to use as an office -- a yoga/work/music office. And, as I've said before, it's a fresh start for us decor-wise. Moving is the perfect excuse to purge and to upcycle the things with good bones. The major project I have in mind right now is to paint our dining table and chairs. It's gonna look so darn cute.

Until  next Monday,

♥ A

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Miserable, Magical Monday

You know how real bloggers have a weekly series with an alliterative title? Like Tuesday Things or Friday Favorites? Well, due to my recurring sadness over awesome weekends ending and my overall love of Taylor Swift, I'm instituting my own alliteratively-titled series about random things that, independently, would make really bad blog posts. Maybe mixing them together will make it better? DARN! Melange Monday might have been a better name.

Shall we begin?

1. Barbara came up to stay with me and Brandon a few weekends ago and it was a dream. My sister was also in town and I've gotta say, having those two in my life those couple of days had me feeling the most complete I've felt in a while. I think it's decided that we all need to live closer to each other.

2. On the subject of hosting friends at your apartment: this was me and Brandon's first time having anyone stay with us. Heck, I don't even think we've had our parents come over for dinner or coffee in the last six months. (Is that wrong? I don't know the etiquette on this stuff.) Anyway, I'd also caught spring cleaning fever the week leading up to Barbara's visit so Brandon and I made some major progress in prep cleaning for our imminent move out. The funny thing is, we spent all week cleaning out our apartment to get it clean and ready for guests and after three days of hangouts, we for sure had to re-clean the main spaces of the apartment.

3. I'm thinking of writing my own BuzzFeed-esque article titled "17 Stages of Working a Desk Job." It begins with being so excited you got hired since you spent three months without receiving so much as a rejection letter. It goes downhill from there, but I won't tell you how it ends.
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Or will I?

4. Brandon and I apartment hunted at the beginning of March. I had a blast looking at new places to live while I think he had more of a critical approach to apartment shopping. The trouble is, we went looking way too early. We thought our lease was up at the end of April and came to find out that it's actually up at the end of May. So the wonderfully HBS, tiny apartment out in the boonies with the massive kitchen that I loved is taken now. I was having a rough time adjusting to the idea of a whole extra month before getting a change of scenery and location, but before I knew it, it was Easter!

5. The month of March was incredibly busy. Eh, scratch that. The March weekends were busy. Brandon and I made little to no progress on That 70's Show because of how busy we've been each weekend. Honestly, it reminds me of being in college and having debate tournaments nearly every weekend. Except life was more enjoyable when I had books to read and assignments to complete in between the busy weekends. This month the weekdays dragged on in anticipation for the fun weekends. I'm setting an intention (look! I'm becoming a yogi!) to focus on my goals and dreams this month instead of holding myself down with the things I'd like to change in my life. Negativity breeds negativity. I've got to let it go, let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it goo -- sorry, guys. I won't bore you with yet another rendition of that (wonderful magical beautiful) song.
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OR WILL I?

6. I hadn't realized how much my little yoga sessions had affected my body until I took a four-almost-five day break. Good grief! My back was achy, my neck tight, my shoulders stiff. I know my work chair isn't helping, either, but dang! Talk about finding motivation to continue practicing yoga.

7. I have found the most delicious way to prepare tilapia ever. On Pinterest, obvi. Seriously, though. It is scrumptious. I started prepping it on Saturday for dinner before my in-laws invited me and Brandon for an impromptu steak dinner. As steak cooking newbs, we don't ever pass up the opportunity to eat steak. Especially when it's been grilled. It was totally worth saving the tilapia for a weeknight dinner because now I'll get to enjoy it while Brandon's entertaining his buddy for his birthday. That sounds so dirty. I need to clarify: Brandon is hanging out playing video games with his buddies at our apartment in celebration of a friend's birthday.

This has been the first of hopefully more Miserable, Magical Monday posts. I hope you had fun, or at least enjoyed the GIFS.

See ya,

♥ A

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