THE OTHERS TAKE YOU!

I am late to the wonderfully infuriating game that is A Game of Thrones, but my friend introduced me to the great literature I was missing out on. Boy, does it have me in a firm grasp. I blame him for getting me into yet another friggin' series and not sharing any deets, other than, "Just wait" or "Oh, THAT". If you follow me on Twitter, you already know the madness is slowly taking me over.

Crazy-inducing novels aside, I spent some precious time with my beloved nephew last night. Bro and SIL were going to see a bluegrass band, so my parents and I got to babysit! Blessing on top of blessing, he was wide awake for us. His big baby blues are so handsome to look into.

Sorry For Lack of Posting....

...but this chubby cheeked cutie (and school) is to blame. My nephew was born at 1:38 AM this morning. Holding this squirming little one was life-changing. Love him to pieces already.

My little June Bug. :)

I WANT A DREAM LOVER

A dream lover would come quite in handy this week. DST always makes me so sleepy for the first week until I finally adjust and can go back to my regular level of sleepiness. And considering it's cuddle weather here (drops into the 40s - 50s at night), I am very much missing a warm snuggle buddy.


But enough about that, how about some AWESOME FALL FASHION!


For some reason, I'm all about scarves. I usually hate them, but I've seen some really cute and chic options as of late. Or maybe I'm just softening up. The horror! Following are some of my picks.



From left: Forever 21, LOFT, Forever 21

I love brights or fun prints for fall. Who says you have to listen to conventional fashion advice? The scarf might be the little push that brightens your day. Why would you deny yourself that bit of playfulness? Get it, girl!


The cuffed boot is back! I looked for eons last fall, but it was SOLD OUT everywhere! So, I'm digging the cuff, and other little kitschy, girly touches on boots. My soul sister, Dorothy Parker says, "A little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika." So, there.




From left: ALDO, Forever 21, Piperlime.

I like the peep toe concept with booties. (South of) Heaven knows how hot it can get here during winter. And if we did get a cold snap, just add some scrunchie socks and you look classy. Although the OTK boots really look toasty warm. And the chains! Like for someone who loves showing off their anklet, and doesn't want the cold to cramp her style. I approve one hundred percent.


As for winter jackets, I'm really only into faux fur, blazers and bombers. How boring of me. The military shapes don't interest me, nor do the frilly, foofy trenches. Oh man, I am so going to lose my fashion blogger badge for this admission, but; I don't like trench coats. Period. They hit me weird, thanks to my crazy birthing pelvis/hips, and my torso gets lost and my legs get hit at strange places, just an overall bad scene. So I tend to stick to jackets that hit at, just above, or just below my hips. Like the following.




From the left: Piperlime, Forever 21, Piperlime.

I own the middle coat, and I frigging LOVE IT. I'll be doing an OOTD and Deconstruction post on it tomorrow. (My day off! Yay!) Hopefully I can eek out some more mileage from my winter wardrobe before the mercury gets back into the 80s. (NOT LIKELY ARI. *sadness*)


That's all, lovelies! Kisses, snuggles, and a dream lover for each of you! :)

COMPLAIN-O-TRON

I try to keep upbeat on the blog, I really do. I may make sardonic remarks or allude to my pessimistic side, but I really wish I was as upbeat and happy as I sound in most of the posts. But, since this is my realm, and seeing how my New Year's Resolution was to be more honest about my true self and emotions, I feel that I need to share with you readers. You also will notice I disabled the blog comments. Mostly because I'm just complaining, and am not looking for your pity or to bum you out.


I've battled depression for years. In high school, my fear of being thought of as anything less than the perfect child and student drove me to overachieve and hide the sense of hopelessness and fear and despair I felt every day. In college, my fear morphed into being thought of as a failure and soiled, so I hid my shortcomings, fear and rapes. Absolutely the worst thing I could've done, but at the time I felt I had no other avenue beside suicide. And I was not ready to give up entirely. Over the past few years, I have worked to regain my sense of security, and build up my other psychological shortcomings.


I've regained some of my fire and passion, but my confidence has morphed into rage. It is often ill directed, and occasionally self destructive, but I'm doing my best to better myself. My fear of abandonment, stemming from knowledge of my adoption, is something I will always struggle with, but it had been doing much better. My emotional remoteness from the people I consider to be the ones I love is another area I've struggled with. The childish fear that prevents me from expressing my love and gratitude also entices me to chase after people who may be detrimental in the long run. Thank God my close friends and family know that my teasing and caustic demeanor are my attempts at expressing that affection.


These past weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster I haven't boarded since my last breakdown. I'm terrified that my medication is no longer working, but I'm worried that these extremes are going to be a part of my new emotionally available lifestyle. I hate feeling hopeless, out of control, confused, or being told what to do or feel. But, over my analytical moments, I've realized that there is nothing I can do. I need to accept and embrace this. Let go and let God, as the 12 Steps say.


Life is changing, I don't like it, but I have to accept it.


Thank you, those of you that read this, and I promise to get back to the ridiculous fashion opinions tomorrow.

HOME (CAN I SLEEP YET?)

Holy Toledo! I'm home, exhausted, and back at work. Hurray. I'll do a decompression post once pictures start showing up (depending on the subjects) and hopefully won't embarrass too easily.



Back to blogging!






Floral Cargo Shorts


Um, WTF is this? I get some of the male fashions going around, even the reoccurance of blurred gender lines. Hell, I even kind of understand hipsters. (Okay, not really.) But floral cargo shorts? For men?



Unless there are comfort clones of me running around, women who love men's cargo shorts to run errands and mow the lawn, then I don't get these at all.



Thoughts?

TIPS FOR AIRPORT SURVIVAL

Hello darling readers! As you read this, I am getting ready to board my flight and buy as much alcohol as they are legally allowed to sell me in the air. I wanted to set something up to keep my updating progress, so I decided on Ari's Airport Survival Techniques!



Pre-Flight:
Ordering tickets blows the big one. Any traveler knows that. All those commercials and pop-ups offering AMAZING DEALS on tickets and LOWEST FARE ANYWHERE can drive a person bonkers. And hunting them out, ugh. Hate them.


The best bet for getting a good deal on tickets is to look for tickets around 1:00 AM on Wednesdays, as that's when airlines usually clear out reserved seats that customers haven't paid for. Also, avoid buying tickets 7 days or a month before the departure date, as that's when airlines usually jack the price up. Signing up for newsletters from some sites will also alert you to deals that only members are privy to. I prefer Ebates.com, but plenty of sites exist depending on your preferences.


To ease worries about GETTING to and from the airport, see if the airport offers a shuttle service. Most of them do, and the rates can be more reasonable than taxi service. If not, snag the taxi! I always worry about taxis, because I watch way too many slasher flicks.

PACKING:
I covered packing a while back, two months or so, but not with the handy rules from the TSA. With the changes in security, the best bet is to travel naked. In real life, checking a bag is much more "liquid" friendly than doing a carry-on, but you do pay a hefty price, depending on the airline. I'm lucky, since my folks usually drive up North, I can put all my makeup, toiletries, and other "non approved" stuff in a bag and send it off with them, so all I worry about is clothing.

If you don't have a similar luxury, and don't wish to check a bag, follow the 3-1-1 guideline: 3 oz of liquid, all containers in a 1 quart clear baggie with 1 baggie per passenger. You can carry more, but you need to keep them in a separate baggie and be sure to declare them to personnel at each checkpoint. And if that's too big of a hassle, once you get through the security points, you can usually buy travel-sized supplies at stores in the terminals. Toss them on your way home!

AT THE AIRPORT:
Airport terminals can really be meccas of fun, if you keep an open mind and don't limit your curiosity to the cover of the latest rag mag. There's bookstores, restaurants, bars, shops, Starbucks, and plenty of people watching. If you get bored easily (guilty) then you can always bring a novel, iPod, or other small item of entertainment for passing your downtime.

ON-BOARD HAZARDS:

• BABIES - Screaming little munchkin? Carry a small stuffed plush or bag of Cheerios in your carry on to distract the terror angel.
  


• CHILDREN - More advanced than BABIES, these hazards can play the fun game of "Kick the Seat" or "Ask a Bazillion Questions Before Landing" or "Whine and Complain". Keep gum, crayons, and cash on hand. For a kicker, tell him if he goes without kicking the seats, he'll get five bucks when you land. Interrogator gets the crayons, and whiner gets the gum.
  


• SEATMATE - Like with salesmen, telemarketers, and over-zealous admirers, you need to mount an overwhelming offensive. Assert your dominance, and don't back down no matter what. Even if you are in the wrong seat.
  


• NON-ATTENTIVE ATTENDANT - Leave them alone. They are trying to do their job and may know 1000 Ways to Kill a Man with a Blanket. Plus, they have access to booze and you don't mess with your supplier.
  


• MINDLESS TALKER - Find them and smother them. IMMEDIATELY.
  


• GUY WITH ANNOYING LAUGH - I usually encounter these individuals on late night flights when the whole cabin is trying to get some sleep. They had a little too much time between their Charlotte and Houston connector, and spent the time getting wasted. The only solution is to sneak up behind them, put pressure on the major veins and arteries in their neck for 10 seconds or until they stop laughing. It's like the Vulcan death grip.
  

Hope some of this tickled you! Wish you all were with me, and I'll see you soon!

Outfit of the Day: Wrinkle in Time Saves Nine?

I continue to bring the lame. Woohoo!


I hope everyone had a fun and safe Cinco de Mayo. I decided to carry the party through to the weekend. Tacos and sangrias last night, tequila shots and dancing with the girls tonight, margaritas and salsa tomorrow, and clubbing or bar hopping on Saturday.


Put the medics on stand-by!


For now, I'll just share one of the easiest outfits I do, without leggings. (I love leggings! They're like fashionable sweats!)



Maxi dress! Bib necklace!

WEIRD FACES. WOO.

Cute crocheted back design! And theres my dumb bandage. Oye.

Pretty necklace. I think this was one of my favorite necklaces from Forever 21.

Dress: Forever 21

Necklace: Forever 21

Shoes: groove

Simple!

BLEH

Sorry darlings. I've been having difficulties with uploading my pictures all day. I've saved the posts until tomorrow, when I can hopefully figure this out.

Wish me luck.

Where's the tech guy?

Lovelies, I've been having a bitch of a time with Blogger today. I don't know what's going on, but I can't upload photos and auto save is going nutso.

I'm going to try to fix these, and if not, curl up in the corner with a glass of wine to whine into.

Wish me luck!

Vitamin C & Vodka

I am so sorry y'all, but I am exhausted. I really wanted to do a COVET and OOTD, but alas, life does not like that plan.



1) The new girl has called in sick the last two days (which means I do her job plus my job PLUS tons of overtime) and I'm pretty sure if she calls in again tomorrow, she's going to be gone. LAME.


(UPDATE: This morning, the new girl called in and quit. More on this later.)




2) I have a friend coming down from the frozen wastes soon, so I wanted to get ahead in my schoolwork so I can get wasted with her every night and not hate myself. (That's a lie. I hate myself for every hangover, but I still tough it out at work! At least I'm reponsible.)





3) All computers have turned against me, so a simple half-hour thing requires defrags, virus scanning, rebooting, trouble-shooting, blah blah blah. Five hours later, I've got two crapular things saved, and I go into work (where the computers are also against me!) in four hours.



I used to run on three hours of sleep (a week) and a carafe of coffee in highschool. Okay? I NEVER SLEPT. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? BLAST AND TARNATION.



So, I apologise.

Ciao.