mini tour

we've been living in this house for almost a year now. we still have unopened boxes in the garage, a few new furniture pieces to acquire for the bedroom and office, and some major landscaping will be starting soon. they say there is always something that needs to be done around the house, and we're finding that phrase to ring very true for us. and that's totally okay. the two rooms that feel the most complete are the kitchen and the living room. it's where we spend most of our time in the house. i knew from the day we moved in that my first move-in priority was getting the living room set up. though it's been a mostly settled room since our first few weeks, things have shifted a bit here and there and evolved. this is kind of just where it's at right now with our record collection, some of my favorite books and plays, and a little taste of our photo booth shots over the years.

and of course i couldn't resist posting a dining room table shot with one of my favorite flowers (ranunculus and irish bells) and some shots of my beloved animals.

mornings

must always begin with coffee, quiet time, and these two knuckleheads. i could really get used to these three day weekends, although i know i shouldn't count on them. as soon as business picks up at work i'll have to say goodbye to sleeping in a little on fridays. but in the meantime i'm going to enjoy every minute. today i have plans to check some errands and to-do's off of my list, finish my current read, and maybe even start on an art project i've been bouncing around in my head.

hi there.

it's been a while.

for the last few weeks i have thought about what i could say to explain it, but there's nothing better than the truth.

some months back i started to become pretty disappointed and disillusioned by the whole blogging thing. i was finding myself being caught up in this weird subculture without even trying to. i didn't like a lot of what i witnessed and i didn't want to become something or someone i am not. so i subconsciously backed off from publishing anything even though i did have a lot on my mind and a lot going on in my life.

it pretty much just boils down to the fact that my stomach would turn thinking about the crazy things some bloggers do to become famous and it kind of made me sad, and even a little bit angry. i didn't want to feel like i had to compete in this strange world of bloggers or try to come up with some kind of schtick to become "blog famous" - all of which i did not want. when i started my blog, that was never the goal. it's still not the goal. of course it would be nice to have more followers, but it's not the end all-be all.

i will admit that with putting myself and my life out there and getting positive response from others, "likes" on my instagram photos, and getting more followers can give one a sense of validation and boost one's self-esteem... but my value does not come from what the outside world thinks of me and i don't ever want it to. don't get me wrong, i love that i have met some really great people through blogging and i've made awesome connections. i value anyone who reads and follows my blog and any other social media i am connected to. and it's funny because i really don't know why there are even a few people out there interested in my boring, but happy little life, but i appreciate anyone who is (with good intentions).

even so i was still totally put off by a lot of things i was noticing and i think that i just didn't want to be a part of it. i kept telling myself that i was too busy to blog, which is partly true. i'm working a lot more now than i was the last time i was here, and our home renovations really did take up a lot of time and energy (more on that later, hopefully). when i get home from work all i want to do is sit on the couch and watch Chopped or Project Runway or read a book.

but in the past few weeks i started to go back to my favorite blogs and i noticed that some of them were blogging again, or continuing to, and i asked myself why they were my favorites. what is it about these particular blogs that inspire me and give me hope for this blog world?

here's what i came up with: they are all genuine and authentic people who don't try to hide behind an image or push their dogma or get on their soapbox. they just exist, document the good and the bad and are honest about it all without making a big fuss over it. there is a simplicity to their blogs that is very appealing and elegant and truthful.

i love those blogs because they are beautiful. and inspiring. and encouraging.

i just want to be my most authentic self. that doesn't mean i have to spill my guts and air my dirty laundry out for you all, but it also doesn't mean that i need to try to fabricate and project a false image of myself. one that always has it all perfectly put together. there's nothing more transparent, to me, than someone who pretends that their life is perfect. i just don't want to become like that. and i want my blog to be a small part of who i am, not all of who i am. my self-worth isn't measured in comments and "likes" and page views.

so, having said all of that, i am going to let myself continue to be inspired by my favorite blogs and try to keep mine simple and truthful. and i'm going to try to blog more often, i really am. but if i don't it probably means that i'm just living my life and enjoying it. i just hope that i can find the time to share it with you. thanks for sticking with me.

xoxo,
andrea


my favorite blogs // katie's pencil box | mooreaseal | flowerchild dwelling | eat sleep cuddle | wild haven knits

what i wore.

...on Halloween.

dress | anthropologie

blazer | urban outfitters

starstruck ring | stella & dot

wedges | target

witch hat | target

what did you dress up as?

drought (and a fresh new look)

{image source}

it may seem as though i have fallen off the face of the earth.

or that i don't care.

or that i have given up.

or that i'm just too busy to put in the time and effort it takes to keep a blog running.

and read other blogs.

i'm going to be completely honest here.

for a while i didn't care.

i did give up (almost).

i have been extremely busy.

i haven't read any blogs. at all.

i passed up opportunities to be featured on some really great blogs.

i passed up many opportunities to write what's going on in my head and in my heart.

i literally avoided even looking at my computer.

for the past couple of months i have been busy rehearsing for the play i associate directed at VUSC and supporting the cast and crew by seeing as many performances as i could.

i have been so busy that i only just began my Christmas shopping (two down, i don't even want to think about how many more to go).

i haven't even thought about sending out Christmas cards.

i only recently decorated my house for the holidays.

i have been doing well at WW, as far as i know.

i have spent all of my free time with David (the hubs), Bogart (the kitteh) and with Lisbeth Salander (those books are crazy good).

and some time with the Bard (Shakespeare, that is).

i have been working on some monologues, doing as much as i can in a short period of time and too little hours in the day to prepare for grad school applications/auditions.

i have been thinking a lot about the play that i am going to start writing this year with the help of one of my favorite college professors, Warren "Sir" Doody (the "Sir" is an inside joke, sorry to be so elitist).

i have been asked by my mentor, head of the theatre department at VUSC, and founder of American Coast Theater Co., Sue Berkompas, to play the lead in one of ACTC's summer 2012 plays, which just so happens to be written by Sir Doody himself (i'm a lucky gal these days).

all of that to say, i've been busy. 

i've put he calls me wifey on the back burner.

i got lazy.

i hope you all can understand.

but being busy wasn't the only thing keeping me away.

i've written drafts of the reason(s) why, but never had the nerve to hit publish.

maybe this season i will.

but not today.

so to hopefully kick start my blogging again, i have refurbished the place. 

i've spruced it up a bit to help me get back into the swing of things, to cease this drought.

i needed a fresh start.

i needed a new look.

i hope you like the new look of this space.

it's not all about me

you may have noticed that i haven't been around lately.

i don't exactly know what happened. i got swamped with the play i am currently associate directing, i've been spending a lot of time either being lazy and watching Friday Night Lights with David, or obsessing over my diet (surprise, surprise), thinking a lot about what the next few months holds for me and how absolutely terrified i'm trying to avoid becoming because of it & generally i have just been so unmotivated to blog.

there is one reason in particular that i won't discuss now. i started to write about it, but then it turned into a post that i felt deserves it's own time and attention.

another reason why i haven't blogged in a while is that i'm just lazy. i've been at a loss for things to talk about or post, so i just haven't.

i fully realize that not posting on a regular basis is death to a blog, which is why i'm sitting here right now, taking the time to just get back on it, hoping i haven't lost you (and yes, i mean you, the person taking the time out of his or her day to read this, to which i am so thankful). if you read my blog, you deserve better than this.

so i just wanted to fill you in on a little something interesting that happened to me today.

i woke up at 7am to begin my day, but before i crawled out of bed i scooped Bogart up into my arms to cuddle for 5 minutes... 2 and a half hours later i woke up frantically. i had fallen back asleep and the plans for my day immediately shifted. since i decided to start this semi-paleo diet this week, i couldn't eat my breakfast until i went to the grocery store for some eggs and i knew i'd be getting really hungry quickly.

after getting myself up, teeth brushed, hair... who am i kidding? clothes changed, shoes on, list composed and out the door to the nearest store (i wanted to go to Whole Foods, but had to settle for the local Albertson's down the street due to my impromptu morning nap), i spent the next hour filling my cart with fruits and veggies, proteins and healthy fats (no sugar, low carbs).

i strolled on over to the checkout, unloaded my cart and was up next when i realized that i had left my wallet at home. this never happens to me. never. i am always triple checking to make sure i've got everything before i leave the house. today i had to change my credit card on amazon so as to purchase a play that i am hoping contains my second monologue for my grad school auditions early next year... but that's a whole other story.

thankfully the man at the checkout was totally okay with me filling my cart back up and leaving it there so i could run home to retrieve my forgotten wallet. extremely irritated, i left the store, raced home and back. as i ran towards the sliding doors of the entrance, a homeless man (who was not there before i frantically left the store earlier) asked me for some change. running by him i shouted, "i might have some change on my way out." after waiting in line again, checking out and paying, i gathered about a buck fifty in change to hand off to the man waiting outside. 

immediately as i walked out through the sliding doors and handed the man his money he marveled at my full cart of groceries and said, "wow, that was fast! how did you get all of those and in line so quickly?"

i explained to him the situation while laughing at my stupidity, then as i went to leave he thanked me profusely and added quite a few "God bless you"s and "have a good day"s, to which i repeated back at him. as i unloaded my cart into my trunk and exited the parking lot i thought about what the man might do with the $1.50 in change i gave him. i resigned to thinking that even if the guy got some more cash and spent it on booze or anything else that might hurt more than help him, i should just let it go because the point isn't for me to worry about what he might spend it on, but to give out of compassion & sincerity and hope for the best. then after that thought passed an irritated one quickly took it's place as i got stopped at the long left hand turn lane light. i was annoyed. my day was kinda shot. sitting at this long line wasn't helping.

a few minutes into the line i looked up and saw the same man i had given a buck fifty to cross the street in front of me with a smile on his face and a can of nuts in his hand, popping them into his mouth and strolling along like it was a great day.

seeing that immediately made me thankful that i accidentally slept in, that i left my wallet at home, that i had to drive all the way home and back, that i had to wait in line all over again. if i hadn't then i wouldn't have seen that my measly change made a difference in this man's day. 

it's not about me. i almost didn't even post this because i'm honestly not trying to say, "oh look at me! i'm a great person! i gave some change to a hungry homeless man! i'm so awesome!!"

NO.

it's not like i bought this man an entire meal and told him how to find the nearest rescue mission, all i gave him was some change. i don't deserve some kind of award or star on my crown. it didn't change his life.

the reason i decided to share this is because i am so thankful that God has blessed me with so much more than i deserve. i am so thankful that he showed me that something so irritating to me can be turned into something that blesses someone else while blessing me at the same time. we never know why things happen the way they do and i may not have even seen the result of my tiny contribution and therefore not realized that God used what i viewed as a crappy beginning of my day to bless someone else. but i am thankful that He allowed me to see that. i am thankful that it's not all about me. if it were all about me, life would really blow.

most people would chalk this up to good luck or co-incidence, but i believe God used me in a tiny way, and i'm so glad He did.

we can't take the heat

Dear Southern California,

It's September, why am I SO HOT?!?! I wake up every morning feeling like I'm going to suffocate and doing my Shred seriously blows. I feel so nauseous from the heat and the sweat and the jump squats and push ups and lunges and "full on Rocky style sit ups". 

I don't know how my little Bogart handles it with all of that fur of his. He is obviously as miserable as I am.

Please cool down, it's nearly Autumn for heaven's sake.

Sincerely,

Andrea & Bogart

"It's so hot! I need to roll around on the mattress!"

"Maybe a bath will cool me off..."

"Who am I kidding? I'm losing my mind!"

"Maybe another bath will help...

... or not."

"I'll just lay here as still as possib-

wait, what was that?!"

around the house

Just a few photos I snapped around the house yesterday.

Hope you all have a lovely Friday <3