television is my boyfriend

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Binge watching TV or Netflix is like the new coolest thing to do. Didn't you know? I've been binge watching TV shows like my life depends on it. And really, no shame about it either. This time I have at home has allowed me to do it and it's fine. No, but really I am so addicted to all these brilliant TV shows that some really brilliant people have made. I always tell Bobby that in another life I very well would have been a writer for television. I have this incredible ability to foretell the outcome of anything we are watching. Of course, Bobby doesn't think it's so great because it kind of ruins it but I've gotten to the point now that I just tell him that I know what's going to happen, very vaguely, and not really tell him details. Well, until he starts to beg me to tell him because he wants to know.

It amazes me how there are so many talented people out there writing these shows and how great they really can be. The way they draw us in and how connected we can feel with the characters. It's easy to binge watch all of them because they are really addicting. I know I'm not the only one in this boat. We all do it. Honestly, I love being able to watch episode after episode after episode for hours on end. Here's what I've been watching lately. 

Justified. This show is not something I would typically watch. It takes a lot for me to watch a crime drama not to mention one that takes place in a boring hick-ville town. Yes. I said it, I totally judged this show. I was very wrong. First of all, this coal-mining town in Eastern Kentucky has some of the craziest things happening. Ultimately the show following Marshal Rylan Givens around and let's just say he's easy on the eyes. If anything I'm watching just to bat my eyelashes at his handsome face, good teeth and tight jeans. It's good. Both Bobby and I have been binge watching with our Amazon Prime. Currently 5 season. Season 6 premieres January 20th on FX at 10pm. 

The 100.  This show surprised me many times. It's a Sci-Fi drama set in a post apocalyptic setting. It's been 97 years since the a nuclear war happened totally erasing human existence except lone survivors who have managed to make a spaceship home up in the Milky Way. Space. I know, crazy. Now that so many years have past the spaceship has deteriorated along with the incapability to house the generations of people. So with no other chose they send 100 juvenile delinquents to Earth in hopes that it's livable. Mind. Blown. Of course, what in the world do you think will happen when you put 100 juveniles together. Exactly. Nothing good. Things unravel. And the adventures of discovering a new world is exciting. There/s only two seasons. The last episode of the second season had be sobbing on the couch. 

Bob's Burgers. I know what you're thinking. What? Anita watches Bob's Burgers. Well, yes, I do. And it's not easy to admit. Totally not something I would watch. And I didn't until my little sister basically begged me to watch and kept telling me little things about the show that were funny. But I just kept thinking there was no way I would think it's actually funny but that it was just funny because she was telling me about it. See, Michelle is really good at impersonating characters. Then one day really late at night I was laying in bed and couldn't get to sleep. There I was browsing Netflix and Bob's Burgers happened to flash before my eyes. That's how it happened and it became something I watched right before bed. I kept telling myself that it helped me get to sleep but really I was just lying to myself because I actually think the show is clever and hysterical. Tina Belcher who is the oldest sibling is my favorite character and one I connect to on so many levels. In a nutshell, she's a hopeless romantic who has zero to none social skills and likes horses, zombies and staring at boy's butts. She's my spirit animal. 

United States of Tara. You can catch this one on Netflix. Another one my little sister got me hooked on. Once I found out the synopsis of the show I was like, whoa how come this hasn't been done before!? It's about Tara who struggles with dissociative identity disorder. Struggles is saying it pretty lightly though. Any sort of stress or emotional strife she transition into one of her alternate personalities. Yeah. There's T who is a vulgar 16 year old, Alice the 50s prim and proper housewife and Buck the male Vietnam vet. She has the support of her amazingly supportive husband and sometimes supportive kids. They complete a very dysfunctional family. 

Girls. Epic show. All about a group of girls in their 20s living in NYC and their experiences trying to fulfill their dream. When hearing about this show and all the buzz it got I didn't really pay much attention to it because I just thought it was one of those typical shows about girls and their lame drama filled lives like Sex in the City all over again. And I was right! It's exactly that but not lame. It's interesting and sometimes super weird. Full of sex, drugs, drama and relationships. I think it's great. 

New shows to come in the next few months:

Better Call Saul. Huge fan of Breaking Bad and if you've seen it then you know that Saul is Walker Whites slimy-safe-keeper and confidant lawyer. This new drama is based on Saul and his times before ever meeting Walker. I'm interested to learn more about Saul. Well see how it goes!

Daredevil. I'm a sucker for Marvel, whether it's shows or movies. I think it has something to do with being a mom to a little boy and having a husband like mine who equally loves super heroes. He's a big kid, no denying it. Netflix is amazing and creating a show about Daredevil. I don't know much about Daredevil but what I've read is he was blinded as a child but gifted with heightened senses. He's a lawyer by day and a mask vigilante by night. I know what you're thinking, it sounds like the same old hero type of show. It's does, but I have to give it a chance! April 10th on Netflix!

12 Monkeys. Beyond counting down the days for this show! I'm that excited and you will be too if you just go here and watch the nine minute trailer that they have blessed us with. It's staggering and even just having that nine minutes I'm sucked in and slightly regretting watching it now because I'm just antsy to see the rest of it. To sum it up, it all starts out with it being present day where a man shows up from the post-apocalyptic future trying to find the source of the plague recking havoc on his reality. My weakness is anything to do with a storyline that has the future, apocalyptic circumstances and or time-travel. 

What shows have you been loving? Anything you think I should sink my teeth in?

on who I am

I am...

... feeling nostalgic of the past couple week where I got to spend some real quality time with my little boy. I was hard for me to be away for so many hours during the time I was at school so while he was on winter break from school we did a lot of catching up. Mostly all the cuddling, movie watching, adventuring and talking we did, along with just the motherly things that mothers do really made my soul happy. Waking up in the morning to make him breakfast followed by snuggles on the couch to watch morning cartoons. It was all so very needed. Now that he's back to school I can't help but feel excited to put him on the bus in the morning and then greet him when he gets home to tell me all his stories of the day. 

... excited for the next step in my journey as a hair stylist. For months I had a certain salon in mind and unfortunately it turned out not to be the right place for me. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, only because I've really come to terms with the fact that everything happens for a reason. I'm pretty proud of myself to be able to think this way at my age and that it comes easy for me. Honestly, I just don't have time for people, places or things that want to bring me down. Nor should I. Just this week I ventured onto the other side of the water into the great city of Seattle to hand out resumes and network with salons that I see myself calling home. It went really well! It really opened up my eyes to the fact that you really have to put yourself out there in this industry. Like really put yourself out there. In reality, it's basically like I'm selling myself to these salons. I mean, it's that way in general when you are job seeking but in the hair industry it's all talk and personality. Annnnnnyway, I handed out a stack of resumes and already had an interview with a salon that I can totally see myself working at even if it's not the place I'm dreaming of exactly. But we all have to start somewhere. Like Vincent Van Gogh once said "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."

...having an extreme case of wanderlust. I've been dreaming of a trip to Portland, Oregon. It's calling to me. 

...and have been nesting like a pregnant lady since I've been home. No joke. I've mostly done everything that can possibly be done. Organized, cleaned and done all that my OCD self could. It's come to the point where I have nothing in that regard to do. Usually I have a hard time sitting down to do anything leisurely until I've done something productive. It's the way I work. Otherwise, whatever I sit down to do I can't because I have this overwhelming gilt that I should be doing that other thing. You see, it's a problem. It's all to do with me being home. The struggle is real. 

... thinking a lot about friendships lately. Lost friendship because of either distance or because of personal growth. Either way I can't help but think about where they are or who they are and that I hope they are happy. I crave for new friendships, new experiences and new traditions. 

... anxious for all things I want to do in this life. It's exhausting, and at times depressing to think about all these things I want to do. Sometime I feel like I'm an alien. Do other people get overwhelmed by the thoughts in there head or get stressed with thinking that I might not get around to doing something that I absolutely would love to do, like write and publish a novel. Well, I'm an alien of my own mind. So there's that. 

... dreaming of the day we buy our first home and all the feelings that will come along with it. 

...loving this January blog wallpaper for your computers desktop. It's great, download it! This copper pipe hanging rack found on A Beautiful Mess. I've bookmarked it for future project for our future home. Loving my free 7 day trial of Oyster Books. I downloaded the app on my phone! I am loving my new planner and blog notebook I bought at Target. Let's just say a little hurrah! to all the greatness the Target brings to our lives. Amen. 

walnut crusted cod | whole 30

I'm on my fifth day of Whole30 and it's going pretty well. I think the key to doing anything like Whole30 is meal planning and trying to mix it up. One of the reason people can't keep up with programs are because they get board of having the same thing over and over again due to  all the restrictions. What they don't know is there are tons of things you can cook up with even the smallest of ingredients. Restrictions, psshh. I laugh in the face of restrictions. You have got to be creative otherwise it just won't work. The other day we went food shopping and picked up some cod. Fish is a green light when it comes to Whole30 so I set out to be a little fun with a fish dish! Walnut Crusted Cod. It sounds fancy and looks fancy yet it was super simply.

Ingredients: 

(2) cod fillets

1 egg

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons dill 

2 cloves garlic

4 thin slices of lemon

salt & pepper to taste 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425. In a food processor, add walnuts, dill and garlic. Pulse food processor until you get a fine meal consistency. In a dish, whisk egg. Lightly salt & pepper cod fillets. Brush egg on each fillet. Sprinkle walnut mixture on top and pat to adhere it to the cod (I covered sides as well, but leave bottom of the fish free of walnut mixture). Spray an oven safe dish with non-stick spray, I used coconut oil spray from Trader Joe's. Place a few slices of thin cut lemon on bottom of dish and place cod fillets on top. Add a few slices of lemon onto the top and place in the oven. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the fish becomes opaque. After the initial baking, I turned the broiler on to medium and broiled the fish for two minutes to get the top to be crispy! Enjoy!

Quite simple. I sautéed some fresh asparagus to set the cod on top of and VIOLA, dinners done.  Elegant yet straightforward. Before I set out to make this meal I explained to Bobby what I was planning on making, figuring to ask because I had a feeling he wasn't going to be into the idea, because typically I just bread fish with panko for him. He did turn down my walnut crusted cod and so I just did the usual panko. Boy was he pouting when I was sitting there eating mine. Insert evil laugh here. See, I told you, is all I could say. 

whole30

My body has become my temple. It's been a little over year that I went through a cleanse and completely put the needs of my body before the wants of my mind. Even before coming to terms with how my body truly works I didn't eat that unhealthy. Sure, I had some bad habits like ate chips every once in a while and did drink soda but no fast food and my cooking wasn't horrible. My problem was how much I ate and the things I ate. I realized that carbs were my downfall. Once I cut that out and opened my mind to better choices that catered to my body I shed pounds easier than I have every in my life and now I'm smaller than my high school self! 

Even thought at that time all my changes were made because I was in hopes to loose weight, those changes have stuck around. The weight loss was totally amazing but at the same time the way I felt physically and mentally pretty much trumped that 30 pounds that I lost. I felt better about myself. Of course my confidence about my body image went way up. I could wear clothes that I never felt comfortable in or fit it for that matter. Not to mention, my complexion has gone from teenage dirtbag (baby) to smooth as a babies butt! I'll take it. Oh and my energy level sky rocketed. A++!

Now ever since the weight loss I've kept my diet the same. I watch the amount of carbs I eat, really choose wisely when I go shopping, meal plan, no junk food, haven't drank soda for almost two years and overall feel great. Because of the holidays I indulged in more sugars then usual and more carbs than usual, I mean, who doesn't. I told myself that I would allow myself to eat those cookies I baked and smother my face with bread rather than pass it up at the dinner table. I was okay with it but now that the new year is here I feel ready to focus back to the health of my body. 

I think I first saw the mention of the Whole30 program on my Instagram. It quickly grabbed my attention and I set out to do some research. I love that it's a program verse a "diet." I hate that word and honestly, I don't need a diet. What I need is exactly that, a program that encourages healthy chooses. What is Whole30? Basically, it's restoring your body by eating whole foods and cutting out food groups that can be having a negative effect. 

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Essentially, you can eat meat, seafood, eggs, veggies and fruits. All good things. And you can't eat grains, sugars, dairy, legumes and alcohol. While I won't have any problem with alcohol because I don't drink, I will however have a very difficult time with dairy. Cheeeeeese! You will be missed. Oh and beans. Ugh. It sucks to think about not being able to have any of those things but it's also empowering. I love a challenge. It's only 30 days and I believe that after those 30 days I will be "cleansed," which is what I'm looking for. The nice thing about Whole30 is that it's not about loosing weight. Sure, so many people that I've seen who start the program end up shedding pounds but the program itself says not to step on the scale. It's all about restoring my body to where I want it to be, feeling good and stay healthy. That's all it should ever be about.

I encourage everyone to make healthy choses and believe that there is always ways to better yourself! Have any of you done Whole30 or the Paleo diet? I'm excited for the journey and hope to share it here with you all.

Resources:
Whole30
Program Rules
Blogs I find helpful: 1. 2. 3. 

looking back | looking forward

It's good to look back and reflect on our days, weeks and years. How can we grow as people if we don't do that? It's important to stew over what we've accomplished. To be proud of ourselves for doing the things we set out to do. Doesn't matter what it is. Maybe you did that home improvement project that you've been putting off for years and finally you pushed yourself to get it done or maybe you simply got rid of soda in your diet. Whatever it is, reflect on it and feel good about it. 

We need to ponder all that we didn't do too. Things that we need to get better at or need to work on. Personally, physically or at your work place. It's all good. We all need to grow as people in all those places. I'm not perfect in any of those, and if you think you are, most likely you are lying to yourself. Sorry, this is where I would insert hashtags #sorrynotsorry #thetruthsucks! It's okay to be aware of these things, I wholeheartedly believe that it already makes you a better person when you see things you need improve on. Huge pat on your back. 

Write it down! I'm serious. It's the best thing you can do. People can think it's a waste of time but I assure you it's the first step. Have a notebook dedicated solely for scribbling down your reflections of the past year. Heck, write down reflection of your day or week if you think it will motivate you and help your soul. I do. I reflect in my own ways and sometimes I write things down (like here on my blog!) or sometimes I take time to meditate on them. Either way it's allowing me to see what needs to change. 

Change. It can be scary for many. I encourage change! I love change!! I have faith in change and what it can do to the human spirit. Be whiling to change one thing. It can be something for the better of yourself. Change something in your diet, change your style a little, change your hair (do it!), change, change, change. It's ok to change. You always hear, "don't let anyone change who you are." Truth. However, you can let yourself change who you are, you are in that driver seat, you have the power to swerve off the road. Plus, I just change things for the hell of it. Like last week, I went to the drug store because I was in need of some new mascara and instead of buying the usual black color mascara I bought dark brown. I know, I know, call me crazy. I seems so small but when I was in that isle looking at all the different mascaras for a good fifteen minutes it didn't seem like such a small change. The change was good by the way!

Enough of my motivational preaching! 

Teamwork. This year has been, to say the least, amazing! We moved to Washington last December (still can't believe we've been here for a year already) and with that being a huge accomplishment for us it's been a challenging year non-the-less. With me being in cosmetology school full-time we had to figure out how to compromise and work as a team. For the first time ever I wasn't around as much as I was before. My husband, Bobby, had to learn to be a full-time parent and work from home all at the same time. Huge kudos to him for being able to pull it off. Since we live on an island it took a ferry and two buses for me to get to and from school each day. The trip to school was a chore on it's own. Most days I loved it and had no problem. The ferry time allowed me to study, do homework or even touch up my hair & makeup if I didn't get it down at home. It was nice to have that time to wind-down on my way home. And I won't lie, sometimes I took a nice 30 minute nap, sprawled across those ferry seats. Hey! You got to do -- what you got to do. Honestly, I confess that some days if I didn't have that nap I don't think I would have been able to go home and function. By function I mean come home, be coherent and cook dinner while trying to get in as much time to connect with Sebastian & Bobby. It was hard. I think for us as a family that was a great triumph. We learned more about teamwork than we ever have. 

I did it! I set out to become a hairstylist and I did. I jump up and down every time I say-- I'm a hairstylist!! I went to Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy where I truly believe I got the best education I could possibly wish for and at the same time met good people and made memories. I graduated at the top of my school and dived right into taking my state board tests. One written test and one practical test. Passed each test with 90% + and then just the other day received my license. It's real and it happened. I worked hard for this dream. 

As I'm sitting here writing it's such a surreal feeling, where I'm at in life. It's emotional and so many other feelings as well. I think my family only really understands how much of this has been a dream to me, the biggest dream of my life so far and it's done. My heart races just thinking about it. Now, I  set forth and keep this dream alive. I feel lucky knowing that I'll be able to do what I've only dreamt about for days to come. Year 2014 really was a huge focus on me and what I wanted. It's exciting and humbling to know that I was given the opportunity but now I long for this New Year to be about the grow of my family. 

I like to look forward to my hopes for the New Year! 

Family & Home

- a house! We are currently house hunting and hope to buy our first home by this summer. 

- be involved in Sebastian education more than ever. 

- plan road trips/adventures & live in the now.  

- regular date nights with the hubby. 

- start saving for a "real" vacation-- Disneyland for Sebastian's 8th birthday. 

Health

- whole 30 program

- gain more muscle & loose more body fat 

- cut stress, meditate more 

Self

- more artwork on my body, start on my chest piece. 

- be more social, go out more, let loose! 

- take compliments.

- pamper myself and do things for "me."

Career  

- learn and grow as a hairstylist.

- push myself to be the best.

- never let fear get in my way. 

- aim for success in the first year of being a hairdresser.

Creativity

- write more of my novel.

- pick up my banjo.

- take a photography class.

- keep blogging for the love of it! 

What are your hopes for the New Year? Do you write them down? Go ahead, comment and share them with me, I'd love to hear them. 

hair trends of 2014

We are always trying to be trendy. Us girls, am I right? It's in our DNA. Looking back on the 2014, now that it's almost at an end, there are so many different hair trends that I've seen. It's nice to know hair will never be out of style! There's always something new and exciting going on. Here's everything to do with hair that has made an impact on year 2014 and will continue to make an impact going in to 2015!

Ombre. We all know what ombre is right? Ombre is a borrowed term from the French language which means shaded or shading. Normally it's darker at the roots to the mid-shaft and then gradually gets lighter from the mid-shaft to the ends of the hair. Ombre has been huge this year and when done properly it can be a very lovely look and is over-all very low maintenance. 

Fringe. There are so many different ways to wear a fringe and this year a solid fringe, like Lea Michele wears, has been really trendy. Having longer fringe and parting it down the middle turns any hairstyle into something edgy and interesting. Lastly, I've been seeing lots of deep side parts with heavy sweeping fringe, shown on Taylor Swift who I've been spotting wearing her hair these days. 

Pixe. Crop. Quiff. So many celebrities have chopped off their locks this year. If anyone can convince us to do it it's Jennifer Lawrence. She is the spokesperson for the classic pixie crop. Anne Hathaway was another who went from long to really short due to her role in Les Miserables and even though the dramatic change was because of a movie, she has grown it out to an elegant short pixie. Of course, Miley Cyrus helped with the quiff look that has been so popular this past year with an undercut and longer lengths on the top. All in all, the various pixie crop styles will always be around and mostly thanks to all the wonderful celebrities who show us that women can totally rock short hair!

Middle Part. The middle part has made a reappearance. It use to be a thing of the past and considered old school to wear your hair down the middle exposing the forehead. Not anymore, now we find ourselves struggling with growing out our fringe to achieve this look! A middle part is something that is so fashionable right now, proof is right on the runway. Even with a middle part there are lots of different ways to complete the look you are trying for. You can keep it classically modern and make a stick straight part directly in the middle. You could have the part slightly skew off center to keep it casual. If you find that you are a little uncomfortable to take the leap and put that middle part in because you might have some pesky roots showing, just make your part a big messy opposed to a clean straight part. Your roots won't be as "in your face." 

Ballerina Bun. The high, on the top of your head buns or low near your neck, either way it's an awesome "go to" hairstyle whether you are trying to dress it up or just about to go do errands. I hope this look stays for a while or at least until I grow my hair out so that I can pull this off (it might take 10 years!) or better yet it doesn't matter because I'll be doing it anyways. If you have collar bone length or longer try it out! It makes you look taller, I swear!

Bob. Lob. These are sweeping the nation, eerrrr at least sweeping my social media. I feel like everyone and their mom is getting this classic cut. You really can't go wrong with this hair cut. I know I've been talking a lot about face shape but when it comes to a lob, it's a two thumbs-up for anyone out there. Bob's will be forever vintage and will always in one form or another be around. Personally, I love a sleek blunt chin length bob, like the photo above. Bob's are fun and can potentially turn into a lob!

Plaits. Braids have been huge this year! They are everywhere. There are Instagram account specifically showing off braids. I love the look of them and as a stylist I love creating with them. There's so much that can be done with weaving hair together. Different designs and patterns. You can be fancy or simply be practical. I think it's fun seeing celebrities incorporating different braids into their looks as they walk down the carpet as the paparazzi snap photos of them. If you have long hair and don't know how to braid, well, what are you waiting for? You are lucky to have those locks, get on Pinterest and search some easy tutorials to help you learn. 

What trends have you followed this year and what do you think will follow us into the new year? Do you have any goals for your hair? Are you growing it out or are you planning a dramatic change for 2015? Me, I'm growing my pixie crop out to hopefully a sassy chin length blunt bob. I've been dreaming of it for months now and it's been tough, but I'm going to power through with the help of inspiration from all around me.

Pike Place market

There's something special about these few days between Christmas and New Years. A whole new year is about to start and we're just trying spend all the time we can with either other cherishing the days when Bobby has off so that we can head out of the house and adventure to far off places, or in this case across the bay. 

We rode a ferry over to downtown Seattle to spend the day. The aquarium was first up, where we have had a membership to and now that the end of it is nearing we thought it would be fun to check up on our aquatic friends. The trip there is usually a quick one with the aquarium not being super big but this visit it was especially fun because of all the different activities stationed around the building. Sebastian is all about participating in everything possible. Face painting, coloring, listening, conversing. He's good with it all. I love this age. It's nice to be able to sit back and enjoy watching him interact with so many different people. He makes our lives so interesting! 

We holed up inside the aquarium for a little while to wait off the quick rain shower that we got, trusting in the our weather app saying it was going to clear up and it did. We journeyed up to Pike Place Public Market. After getting over the fact that there's always so many people there (mostly wandering tourists) I really truly love everything about the market. So many things to see, eat and take photos of. So many people from all over the world and so many interesting things happening around us. Today we saw a man on the corner of the street playing his guitar as it's balancing on his chin! We gawked like crazy people and so did most around us.

Our first stop was at Mr. D's Greek Delicacies. Our tummies were rumbling and couldn't resist passing by. Bobby got a lamb gyro while I got an amazing spinach and feta spanakopita which is a savory pastry. We give it too thumbs up! We walked around a bit taking in the market. 

Le Panier was our last stop. Most the time it is. The coffee is good and the french pastries and goodies are delicious. It's almost always mobbed and we have to stand around and throw ourselves at chairs when they come available but that's just how it is down there. We sat around stuffing our faces yet again, this time Bobby and Sebastian shared the ever-loving classic chocolate croissant while I indulged in a pistachio eclair. I highly recommend it, it was seriously the most rich, creamy, tasteful dessert that I've had in a long time. 

I'm thankful for days like today. Spending time with my boys while enjoying the PNW air.