May 31, 2012

Things I Love Thursday... 31 Pearls of Wisdom

Greetings all,

As of the 29th of May, I am officially 31 years young. I have found that a lot of my peers, whether they have a spouse and/or kids or not all seem to feel old. There's only 2 words to describe how I feel about being old at the age of 31... Plain and simple. 

1) Fuck
2) that

 I feel more alive and young now than I did when I was 21. I see being in my 30's as a true and awesome blessing. Being a teenager is all about being awkward, because you are finding out who you want to be. Your 20's are for making smart & not so smart decisions and living with the fallout on the road to becoming who you will ultimately will be. However your 30's are for being comfortable in your own skin and liking who you are, because with the living you've done up to this point, you have a sure opinion about what you like, what you don't like, & the things you absolutely won't put up with. I think your 30's are the start of the coast of life.. 40 is where you really get a good stride though, and are able to look back on the things that hopefully you are proud of.

I felt that it was appropriate for the 31st of May, that I share 31 things with you that I'm sure of..

31) Family is important. I find myself appreciating my parents more now than I ever have and I know their love has no bounds.  

30) Revenge is not for you to handle. Whatever you put out into this world good or bad, will always return to you. Let whatever higher power you believe in deal with people who bring negativity to your life and always.. and I mean always try to be your best possible self.

29) It's okay and important to be an individual and be different. Although sometimes it's a very lonely road, at some point, you will find your tribe and connect with other 'weirdos' that are just like you. I've been an odd bird all my life, and I've come to realize we have more fun than people who just follow the crowd, because we are free to actually be ourselves. 

28) Never stop learning and growing. There's a big world to explore that has great people, rich cultures, and lots of love to share. Don't limit yourself by living in a box.

27) You are never really alone. As human beings, we are all connected in some form or fashion. There IS someone else that knows what your going through. 

26) If you like yourself... others will too. Be your own biggest fan.  Nuff said.

25) You must forgive. Forgiving doesn't mean that you are forgetting how someone has wronged you. Forgiveness means that you accept the past for what it is and understand that you can't change it. Holding a grudge only hurts you.... The person who did you wrong as moved on and so should you.

24) Women: Just because you can fit into it...... doesn't mean you should wear it. And I'm dead serious.
Men: Despite what you think. It is very important that you put lotion on your feet if your gonna run around in sandals all day. No one likes to see crust flaking off your foot.

23) When your feeling low, it's best to be kind to yourself.

22) Self preservation is a must. Just because you don't feel like listening to your friends rant on and on and on and on and on again about the same 'problem' you've talked about for the past month, doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you a smart person. Be a good friend, but get off the damn phone already and take care of yourself first.

21) Doing something nice for yourself isn't selfish. It just falls under self preservation.

20) Trust your gut. It won't lead you in the wrong direction.

19) Advice...... When giving: only give if it is asked. No one likes a pushy advice giver, especially if they're saying 'I told you so'. When receiving: make sure the person your asking doesn't have a history of blowing everything out of proportion. Just because they went through something similar.... doesn't mean that you will be scarred for life like they apparently were.

18) Choose your battles wisely. Without a doubt stand up for yourself. However, everything doesn't have to be an argument and you don't always have to have the last word. Is it really that important??

17) Depression and sadness is a fickle and tricky thing to tango with. People will only climb out of that hole when they are ready to heal themselves.

16) Living by yourself is a glorious and magical wonder.

15) Journaling is the absolute best thing ever to get your feelings out of your head before it explodes.

14) Although I enjoy the occasional application of lipstick and eyeshadow, I think that society has put us in a trickbag to make us think that we need to wear a full on face of makeup at all times. You are beautiful as you are!! Your flaws make you uniquely you.

13) When it comes to relationships... if you're not happy, get out of it. Period.

12) When people hate on you and don't like you for no apparent reason at all, they are afraid of you. They can't define you into a nice neat little box. Pay them no mind and do you all day long!

11) Sometimes when people are nice to you, it's simply just that. Them being nice. Enjoy it.

10) Reading books isn't for nerds. They can take you to far away places you've never dreamed of and expose you to things you wouldn't have otherwise had any knowledge about.

9) Don't apologize for who you are. Everyone isn't gonna like you. 

8) You are most definitely only as old as you feel.

7) Religion: everyone has their own beliefs or non-beliefs. Respect others and let them be.

6) As you get older, true friends are hard to come by. If you are fortunate enough to have best friends, let them know you appreciate them.

5) There is always a plan. You are where you are supposed to be.

4) No matter how hard and scary it may be, try to let your inner light shine. Don't be afraid to take a risk and be great.

3) You learn much more than you expect when you just stay quiet and listen instead of talking so much.

2) At some point in your life, you have to stop caring about what other people think about you. Who cares if Sally down the street thinks you dress like a clown and Shawn at the office says your too quiet. You know the truth about you and you're pretty damn awesome!

1) I promise it really is okay to turn up the music really loud in the car while you're driving and sing at the top your lungs and chair dance at the same time, while people are looking at you. They secretly want to do the same thing... They're just too embarrassed. JUST DO IT!   

So there you have it folks. Pearls and words of wisdom from yours truly. What do you know for sure?

*//Peace\\*

A. Sparkle 







May 25, 2012

The Strawberry Festival!

Greetings All!!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend..... It kinda helps that my birthday(!!!!!!!) is on Tuesday and it will turn this into a four day weekend for me.. Shout out to all the Geminis, especially the May babies! :) So I thought I'd show you the adventure I had last weekend visiting family. 

(Just call me Sofia) Picture it if you will..........
It was a hot sticky weekend in the Spring/Summer of 2012, and it was time to head to the Strawberry Festival yet again. I haven't been since I was a mere babe of five years young, who was excited at the time to ride the rides and see her Granddaddy in the parade. It all starts way off deep in the country..



And ends up in a small town, full of planted fields, friendly people, and an exciting buzz in the air that seems to be everywhere you go. First stop is Granddaddies house for a little yard sale action!




Now let's walk..... yes I said walk uptown for rides, carnival food, shopping, and most exciting of all... the Parade!












Now it's time for the parade!!! It had a little bit of everything...













(I had to sneak and take this picture of the little boy sitting in the window of the bank watching the parade behind me. lol)

So that's it! Rides, JROTC, cowboys, fire engines, marching band, tractors, Shriner's, supposedly important people riding atop fancy cars, royal courts, baseball teams, & clowns. There's actually a LOT more pictures than this, because I got a little trigger happy, but I felt like these were the best. Hope you enjoyed my small town adventure at the yard sale and the Strawberry Festival. Time to get ready for work now!

*Peace*

A. Sparkle



May 17, 2012

Things I Love Thursday.. the Food Experiment.

Greetingssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!

I know it's been a while since last we talked, but you know like the title says.... Life Happens! At least I made it back in time for Things I Love Thursday right?? Yep. I must tell you that one of the things I love to do is hunker down and read Joy the Baker's blog! Oh by the way.. she has an awesome cookbook out too, so go support her and buy it here! Anyhoo... Being that I love to experiment in the kitchen, (although I don't do it as much as I would like...) I really reeeeeeally, wanted to make something new and creative that I hadn't tried before. So where did I turn to? Joy, of course! I found this scrumdiddaleeumcious recipe I knew I had to try or I would perish!!!! 

Well maybe not perish.... but something similar to it.

So I ran off to Whole Foods to get my supplies. Everyone knows that the best place to shop for pretty foods and feel faux-rich is at Whole Foods. It's so neat and clean and organized in there, that you have no choice but to feel immediately uplifted. Of course because you feel uplifted, you don't mind paying ten dollars for lettuce or six dollars for a pack of hotdogs... You tell yourself  it's okay, because it's organic.... It's healthy to the max... and it's worth it dammit it! It's all apart of the faux-rich experience.. You just scoff at the prices as if they are chump change....

That is until you get to the register and see the total damage of your faux-rich experience. I digress though......

So here it is..

The Experiment!!!








The only thing I forgot to snag a picture of was the honey... However its sticky goodness is all up in through this dish. Oh wait... I forgot to picture the butter too... I think I ran out of cute containers to put stuff in. Oh well... You get the idea though... 

I don't think I've ever actually eaten a hazelnut outside of the flavoring in let's say... coffee or Nutella, but! I have discovered that I now love hazelnuts themselves aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I triple love polenta!! It's like a way better creamier version of grits. I believe that grits and polenta could be twins, it's just that polenta is the cuter one. (Stop lying to yourself if you don't think that in the case of twins, one always looks better than the other one) 

So ta-da!!!! Now go find you a Joy the Baker recipe and impress yourself by your cooking skills. 

The End.

//peace\\

A. Sparkle 

May 13, 2012

It's a Triple T!

Greetings friends and Happy Mothers Day,

I'm not gonna lie to you.... I want to show off my new necklace today. It took forever to finish, but I feel like it was worth it. I've come to the realization that a lot of people have never seen a necklace totally made of yarn. All my necklaces are though. I think necklaces made from yarn only, are very unique and whimsical. Me having long hair, it's also great that I don't have to worry about my hair getting gnawed off by a chain or clasp when it inevitability gets caught. It's like being on an all yarn diet, and who doesn't love that?


Afraid that it's itchy? It's not. In fact it's soft and oddly comforting. Really light weight too!



I'm not sure why, but one day I was just bopping around doing whatever, when a picture of this tic-tac-toe necklace popped up in my brain. I wasn't trying to think of new ideas.. I was just doing something random like unloading the dishwasher and then BING! in it came and I was like, 'OH! Yeah that would be a really cute idea.' So a necklace was born, and it's name is Triple T! This might turn into a new line of products.. I guess you'll just have to check back to see new updates. :)

Anyway, the reason why this particular necklace took so long to make is, because I had to keep redoing stuff, which by the way....... I really................REALLY hate!! However.. you live.. you learn.. and then you just make the damn thing already and cry tears of joy while you rest you wrists after it's finished. So that is the story of Triple T. Ta-Da!

~Peace~

A. Sparkle


May 10, 2012

Things I Love Thursday... Farmers Market style!

Hello all!

I don't know about you, but right about now I'm living for the weekend!! Yes, I'm singing the song in my head. 



Coming off of vacation, I am SO ready for another day off . I also miss the bed that I slept in at Courtyard Marriott. I got THE best sleep in that bed. I think that might be one of the top reasons vacation is so enjoyable. Real not rolling over a million times in the middle of the night because my mattress is lame, I've passed out from exhaustion from a six hr trip because I was already tired before the ride, it's so dark in here that I can't see my toes wiggle, face down-palms up kind of sleep! I can dig it...

Anyhoo, if you've been a reader for some time now, then you know that I Luh-ove the Farmer's Market. There is an open air one that occurs weekly around the way from me. I've never really bothered to go until today, (probably because I can be lazy like that and it's always super crowded), but it was nice being out there seeing the smiling facing, smelling the wonderful foods, seeing a grown man of 6'4 in a giant Georgia peach costume, and being run over by a sticky child smeared in some sort of brown stuff. I'm gonna choose to believe that it wasn't something of a fecal matter.



 Do you see Mr. giant Georgia peach on the left there? 


Mr Cutie Salsa, was getting his study on while working on the job. It's funny the information you learn about people when you ask one question. I found out what he was studying and what lead him to do so. Nothing sexier than a smart man and the salsa verde was super yummy too! What made you smile today?

I'm running off to bed now kiddies. Until the next time..

Peace!

A. Sparkle



May 6, 2012

*Funkytown Bound* a Memphis 10 Weekend.

Greeting Peoples!

I've done quite a bit a traveling this weekend and it started Thursday evening, when I drove from the ATL to Nashville. I've driven from Atlanta to Nashville so much, I could probably do it in my sleep! I'm so good at it now, that I take on Mont Eagle Mountain at 70 mph, which is a vast improvement from not be able to tell whether I was going up or down the mountain and sticking to the very slow 55 mph. 

Friday morning was a leisurely drive to big Memphis, Tennessee where I hung out with my friend, rode around town, and met up with people me and The Rent's knew. Me and the dear old Dad rode around reminiscing about different places we used to go and went and saw the 'attractions'. I felt like a tourist in the town I grew up in with all the pictures I took! lol. 





We also toured the old neighborhood, my old schools, saw the mighty Mississippi river, went to Amro Music and bought some clarinet reeds, drove into Mississippi and looked around and even went to West Memphis, Arkansas.



Had lots of fun with my long time friend Courtney!! I still can't believe I've known you for 14 years buddy?!?! That's half of my life dude... Brace yourself people.. For the 1st time ever... after 4 yrs I'm actually posting pictures of myself on my own blog! *gasp*

Courtney is smizzing!

Then I decided to do the psycho smize.....

Beauty shot... :)

Yummy Foods..


Played some video games, cooked and had some nachos, watched Major Payne, and there was lots of laughter.. You can't beat that with a stick!!

Ended the trip in Memphis with a trip to Shelby Farms. I have so many wonderful memories here from just chilling in nature, trips taken here with school, learning to kayak with the Girl Scouts, riding horses, walking the trails, to even learning how to drive.






So yeah, it was a fairly busy weekend and now it's time to nom on some cube steak! Did you do anything interesting over the weekend?

~Peace~

A. Sparkle

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