beautiful blogger award
so i have this friend, emily… she’s so friggin cute that i want to just smooch her through my computer screen each time i see her pop up on my blog. her blog, last train to pooksville, is a daily read for me. i admire her photography. i think her baby, poppy, is more precious than words can convey. and i love how emily gushes about how IN LOVE she is with her husband, david. she’s rad and she graced me with this award last week.
yeah… a week ago. and i’m just getting around to it now because i haven’t really known what to do with it.
i don’t do well with awards. even if they are of the blogging kind. but alas, i will accept with much gratitude and pay it forward because there are awesome bloggers out there who i consider to be quite beautiful.
here are the rules that i must adhere to as a recipient of said award…
1. thank the person who nominated me for this award… check.
2. copy the award & place it on my blog… check.
3. link to the person who nominated me for this award… check.
4. share 7 interesting things about myself
5. nominate 7 other beautiful bloggers
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ah crap, 7 “interesting” things about myself…
* i have to make the bed. like, me. I HAVE to do it. no one else can. if my husband attempts, which he does when i have been out of town, i redo it. that may be the one thing that i am OCD about. not sure where it came from exactly… my dad makes the bed sometimes for my mom and she doesn’t redo it behind his back… i dunno. but I HAVE TO DO IT. (i really don’t think my husband minds.)
* i eat CONSTANTLY and all throughout the day. i am beyond being a snackaholic. i’m simply a foodaholic. if i don’t eat every 2 or so hours, i get uber cranky, fantasize about stabbing certain people and get really whiny. i love food. all of the foods. every food on the face of the planet. i will eat it all… especially nutella.
* crikey, this is only #3… uh… when i was in middle school, i had a poem published in my teacher’s anthology she was composing on student poetry. the poem i wrote was about my grandfather, who had passed away the day we moved to chicago (where i spent my middle school years), and on the day that this teacher told me that she chose my poem to publish, i promised myself that i would have my own book published by the time i was 30 years old. as it turns out, i will turn 29 in may and have slightly altered my original promise to be a published author with my book on the shelves by the time i am 35.
* i love tattoos. those of you who are familiar with my blog, my story, and the decision i have made to celebrate my once violated body know that i truly appreciate the art of tattooing and how incredible it is to permanently mark one’s body symbolically. and yes, it is addictive and i want more… constantly.
* my husband is sitting next to me now, telling me that i should make it known that i was a competitive dancer in middle school and my first year of high school. *head to desk* yup… there are pictures to prove it. none of course that i will post here, but yeah… i was a pom pom girl. the uniform was hot and i rocked it. plus, i got to wear the super cool cheerleader shoes that had the pop-out colored stars so you could represent your team colors appropriately. yeah, you’re jealous! those of you who know me now, if you didn’t know that tidbit about me already, i imagine you are laughing your ass off. enjoy.
* i know the words to nearly every single song that was recorded in the 1980′s. seriously, i do. while i may not take pride in the fact that i was once a competitive dancer, i will so own THIS FACT WITH PRIDE. my ultimate fave is heart… my go-to band… and of course “alone” being my favorite karaoke song that i will never EVER sing karaoke too out of fear of passing out on stage. aside from heart, madonna, prince, cindy lauper, billy ocean and of course, tiffany, i love me some elton john… “tiny dancer” is my all time favorite song, and i want it to be played at my funeral one day while people sway back and forth singing “hold me closer tiny daaaancer… count the headlights on the hiiiiiighwaaaay…”
* my “dream house” must include a library. i don’t care if there’s a white picket fence, a veranda or wrap-around porch of any sort (though that would be nice), it must have a library. as much as i adore writing, i love reading just as much, if not more. when i’m not sharing a book with a friend, trading books with friends, i am buying books that i don’t even have time to read simply because i know that ONE DAY i will get around to reading it. i have saved every book that i have read since high school and there are so many boxes in our attic that contain my books, anthologies, etc. that our moving crew HATED me by the time they got all of my boxes up to the 3rd story of our apartment. i like books. i want a library.
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so, now i get to pass this on to other beautiful bloggers… (insert evil laugh here.)
1. becky, of life out of focus constantly reminds me to focus on the beauty of my family. she is also one helluva hilarious friend to have on twitter. not a day goes by where i don’t find myself laughing out loud with this gorgeous woman.
2. firemom, of stop, drop and blog is a fantastic woman whose first name i do not even know, but she never ceases to make me laugh and offer excellent motherly advice when needed. she’s honest, true to not only her family, but to herself as a woman. definitely someone i admire.
3. kelly, of kelly without a net is a lovely mother to 3 children, her latest love only 6 weeks old. she is actually residing in annapolis, where i currently am, and though we converse nearly daily on twitter, we have yet to meet in person. she loves to knit and i LOVE that about her because i don’t have that kind of eye-hand coordination. make me mittens please?
4. mariah, of manic mariah, the original hot mama, married to tent camper of hotdads.com, this beautiful woman has numerous kids, numerous animals, and loves all unconditionally. she is one who i wish i corresponded with a little more regularly just incase the day should come where i find myself in their neck of the woods, because i know she would welcome me with open arms… and a dog to care for.
5. melissa, of pigtailpals is doing good things in this world and truly works to make a difference EVERY SINGLE DAY. she never ceases to amaze me with the size of her heart and how much love she puts into every project she takes on. this woman is a phenom.
6. holly, of artist, mother, teacher is a blogger, photographer, mother, teacher and artist in more ways than one who i am still just getting to know. but with every email or tweet that i receive from this incredibly strong woman, i find myself overwhelmed. she faces challenges with truth, acknowledges her pain, and is willing to make herself vulnerable… and she does it all with such grace.
7. jenn, of princess prose is my rock. i have “known” this fascinating woman for a while now, and i continue to glean wisdom from her. she is my stability in the blogosphere. and in the same way that heart’s “alone” is my go-to song… jenn is my go-to blogger. she is a true friend who knows me so well that i smile when she calls me out on my shit. now THAT is love.
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and……. i’m…….. spent. *phew* ok, enjoy your valentine’s wknd and don’t forget to wear a condom.
forget valentine’s day. riddle me this: am i getting bloggy screwed?
is it valentine’s day or valentines day? apostrophe? no apostrophe?
whatever. it doesn’t matter.
ok, so a wee bit ago, i posted some rants about how i was doing and why i was in much need of mass amounts of coffee. it was in that post that i mentioned what i referred to as a “potentially STABLE freelancing gig as a blogger.”
so here’s the thing… without going into too much detail about the gig, i’m finding that 2 weeks into it, i think i’m getting bloggy screwed.
i’m not a big name blogger. i haven’t been doing this for a while. i mean, all you have to do is read my “about” page in order to realize that i have no clue what i’m doing with this here blog of mine.
oh yeah, and i’m not canadian. apparently the vast majority of fantastic and legit bloggers are all up there with the olympic flame.
ok, back to the screwing… i was under the impression (enter nic’s naivete) that this was a paid gig. i had been asked to go on board with a site as a weekly blogger and discuss my experience with anxiety and what it’s like to live with anxiety on a day to day basis. i was stoked.
working towards my own stability with my anxiety is a journey in itself, but to be able to help others at the same time would be entirely rad.
now, i find myself a bit skeptical. “the powers that be” have all of my info, my bio, pic, even an introductory blog post. however, it was after i “established” myself on their site that i received an email saying “this is a voluntary position.”
WHUUUUUUUUUUUUT?!?!?!
the email was very professional, apologetic even for giving me the wrong impression, and THEN laid out the details of what exactly they are looking for from me.
so here’s the thing… if i go ahead and continue “working” VOLUNTARILY for this site and posting for them, i get a lot of traffic, it drives traffic from there to here, SEO jibber jabber, etc, etc… if i peace out of this gig, no harm, no foul. right? i mean, i was the one deceived, right?
or was i? is this just how social media works in terms of getting what they want from you? i dunno. you tell me.
meanwhile, as i ponder about whether or not i’m bending over and taking it up the rear from this website, i receive yet another email from “the powers that be” that says something along the lines of more details with regards to my posts, bla bla bla, SEO bullshit, traffic, la la la… and then…
” Once you get a few posts up and show that you intend on sticking around, we’ll add you to our (insert name of website) list here: (insert my pic, bio, and information i have already submitted to them here).”
again, WHUUUUUUUUUUUT!?!?!?
so let me get this straight… i have to “get a few posts up and show that i intend on sticking around” in order to gain any sort of recognition on the website… and this is an unpaid gig?
don’t misunderstand me, i’m not about blogging for the money, SEO crap, etc. in fact i just recently opened up space on my blog to run ads. there is a reason why the ad section of my blog is titled “pocket change” people. i’m not here for the benjamins.
veteran bloggers, i ask you, what’s the deal? am i getting bloggy screwed? cuz i have a deadline coming up and i’m unsure as to whether or not i’m going to meet it or peace out.
help a blogger out. i’ll give you candy hearts of love…
i had plans dammit
snowpocalypse, i had plans… good plans. plans that i had been looking forward to and had coordinated and fine-tuned long ago. plans for this weekend. these plans included visits to friends. dear friends. magoo’s godparents and their beautiful twins… plans that included myself and one of my nearest and dearest friends helping to pack up our beloved jewel (pun intended) and sending her on her way with the love of her life… plans of documenting their love story which surpasses any love story that has graced my ears.
i had plans.
mother nature… you fucked with the wrong woman. and so i will wait, patiently, for your apology.
in the meantime, i give you this…
wishful thinking, and sunglasses.
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gettin’ pretty wack-a-doo
*WARNING* this it a nonstop stream of consciousness post… it will most likely make no sense to any of you unless you are currently a resident of the maryland/dc area.
i’ve heard of cabin fever before. i think there are a few movies out there about it. i dunno, i’m too lazy to even google it with the exception of the wikipedia definition. regardless, i’m on the brink of madness. like beyond medicinal help madness.
if i take one more picture of snow, snow banks, igloos, snow on branches, my kid discovering mass amounts of snow, or my car that was buried underneath the snow, i’m going to vomit all over the snow until the snow is no longer even recognizable as being snow… just my vomit.
i lived in chicago. twice. once when i was too small to really remember it, and then again when i was in middle school and absolutely awesome listening to green day (before they went all broadway) and wearing my flannel shirts and thinking it was the end of the world when kurt cobain died.
no, the end of the world is now. here. in maryland. and our 6 ft under consists of freezing cold snow with a sheet of ice over it because it went down to 6 degrees last night and we can feel the wind blow through the windows of our cheap ass gov’t base housing apartment.
and whatever to you canadian blogging friends of mine who are sitting there, in your homes, reading this with your mug of coffee and baileys, ready to take on another day of isolation and insanity covered in down coats, scarves, mittens, toboggans, or toques (i think that’s what you call them.)
go ahead, laugh at me. i’m well aware that i’m being a whiny little bitch about this, but dammit it’s my blog and i’ll post what i want to. and if you give me too much shit about complaining, i will throw a snow ball at you that cuts your face because it’s been frozen for the last 4 days and basically only now consists of ice.
IN. YOUR. FACE.
i’m sick of this snow. i just want to know when it will end. instead of knowing when it will end, i know when the next fucking storm is coming… today. this afternoon. and into tomorrow… 16-20 inches, in addition to the 30 + that currently resides on my car.
the sky is ugly. grey. unforgiving. filling to the brim with precipitation that will shortly freeze and then unleash its fury on us once again.
so yeah, i’m losing it. entirely. there are only a certain amount of hiding spaces in this apartment and i have spent time in each of them. i have hidden in the closet in an attempt to escape my family. (i love you guys, but we’ve spent enough time cooped up together.) and i’ve spent too long in the bathroom, hoping that paul and jackson just think i’m taking a dump when in reality i’m taking an extra 10 minutes to gain some composure, finish reading a book, or trying to not claw my eyes out.
i’ve even gone up to the attic. the storage space that is the 4th floor of our building. i went up there to get a book for paul the other night. ha!!! i knew exactly where the book was… with all of my other text books, old anthologies, college and grad school materials that i think to myself “someday i may need that.” yet i spent 25 minutes up in the storage space looking at all that was there… maternity clothes, jackson’s toys that he has outgrown, patio furniture that we obviously have no use for here. and i took my sweet ass time before rejoining my family with my wack-a-doo-ness.
and then there are the rest of the occupants of our apartment building that we have to deal with. and their children who are basically on summer vacation but in winter because they get so many goddamn snow days. and they are home and loud and dragging their sleds, saucers, and snow gear up and down and up and down and up and down the stairwell. and then there’s the one kid… THE ONE KID who is a total dipshit smart and funny and throws his frozen, wet snow boots up two flights in the stairwell, run upstairs to retrieve them, and then throw them back down to the bottom floor. he does this repeatedly.
perhaps that is how he is coping with cabin fever. it’s pretty damn annoying though. he needs another outlet. one that doesn’t disturb my child from napping. because when my child does not nap, it makes these crappy days that much more craptastic.
i like mother nature. truly, i do. jackson is an earth day birthday baby, born on april 22nd, and i am a taurus, earthy and whatnot.
but mother nature is being a bitch. an angry and evil bitch. and i kinda wanna punch her in the vag.
our wknd in photos and snow
let the record show that i am SO VERY OVER this snow. that being said… here are some shots i took from the weekend.
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Have a Sip
