How I Go

I'm in Europe right now in the countryside just outside of Rome, lounging on a sunlit balcony on a really comfy couch with lots of satin, tasseled pillows... like a beautifully lit Jose Villa photo.


I've spent the afternoon painting the surrounding landscape striped with vineyards, dotted with terracotta rooftops and humming to the gentle serenade of a mandolin - strummed by my friend Felice. Hm... No, Francesco! Yeah, cause that's fun to say. "FranCEsco!" ;)


Now, I'm taking a break to eat pasta with bowtie noodles, some sort of delicious garlicy cream sauce, and fresh ciabatta rolls... cause that's what you do in Italy.


This morning, just before the sun came up, I ran along the coast in downtown San Diego. It was 72 degrees with a fresh salty breeze at my back. My sisters (all 8 of them) Madre and I spent the rest of the morning window shopping in the Gaslamp District, eating gelato, and laughing out of pure happiness.


Tonight, a family friend is letting my family take his yacht out on the Mediterranean, just of the coast of Nice, for dinner at sunset. I'm not sure what we're having yet, but I know dessert will include cheesecake and something decadent and chocolatey.


How do I know that, you ask?
Cause that's how things work in my daydreams.


Something's gotta get me through Monday.

Photo via Jose the man Villa

I'm Thinking of Writing Scripts for Soap Operas

My goodness,

I am just too tired to even blink right now.

Like, I'm amazed that my fingers even have the energy to type this.

And it doesn't help that the more tired I get

The more melodramatic I become.

Perhaps you've noticed.

I'm thinking this could be a melodramatically long day.

Just a hunch.

We're talking eons in length!

Like, 5:30p is lightyears from this very moment

And I can't even move more than a centimeter

Without gasping for air

And getting lightheaded.

Except for my fingers, of course.

But my fingers are tired, too, I can tell.

Like, if they had respiratory system of their own,

They'd be yawning,

Like in 10 second increments.

Seriously.

And NOW,

My eyes are so dry from lack of blinking

Due to lack of energy

That they'd probably be able to soak up more eye drops

Than an entire roll of Bounty quilted paper towels could!

Just sayin'

Celebrity Confusion

These 3 Women,

If I didn't actually do this search for them on Google,

I'd think they were the same person...at first glance anyway.

Can you name who they are?

(answer at the bottom)

Yes the fact that they all have the same hair style helps...

But then you look at their

Hair color,

Eye color,

Noses,

Eye shape

Cheek bones,

Face shapes.

Pretty sure they're triplets

Or something.

Cue: Twilight Zone music.

Heartstrings of the Week: If I Played Guitar

I'd play these:

1st - Stanley Myers' "Cavatina"

This is my favorite classical guitar solo. I don't know how many classical guitar songs there are out there, but of the ones I've heard this one is my favorite :)

Isn't it pretty? It sounds like a lullaby or a good option for a modern dance number. Somebody tell me, is he playing this whole thing? I really can't tell. It sounds like two guitars to me, but no matter how much I watch his fingers I still can't figure out what he's doing...

2nd - Mason Williams' "Classical Gas"


Weird name? Yeah, sure. BUT, I have loved this song for YEARS. It's on my parent's Hit Songs of the 60's & 70's album and I've been listening to it since I was at least 11. In fact, my friends and I used it as soundtrack music for several of our childhood L.A.M.P. (Lindsay, Amy & Morgan Productions) videos. Good times!

3rd - Michael J. Fox's version of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode"


First of all, if you haven't seen "Back to the Future" you are officially missing out on life and should remedy this immediately! ;) When I was little, this was my favorite scene of the whole move. Well, this and the skateboard chase scene. And the one in the diner where George says, "You're my density...I mean, my destiny." Let's face it, the whole movie is a classic! This video isn't the greatest quality, but you get the idea! :) Enjoy!



4th - Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"


One of my all time favorite songs...minus the depressing verse about mama's murderous rampage. I sang this in choir as a performance with some of my friends in high school. It was AWESOME! Warning: this is one of the strangest music videos in existence. I had no idea how truly unusual Queen was.
Gotta love their music though, eh?

(For guitar solos, forward to 2:41 AND 4:10)

5th - August Rush's "Dueling Guitars".


Also an awesome movie! I can't watch this movie without crying. BAH! I love music...and I would not mind playing guitar with Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Pssst, apart from being molto attractivo, he's got an Irish accent! ;) But seriously, there are so many ways to play the guitar, it's like a magical instrument of awesomeness!



6th - Rodrigo y Gabriela's "Diablo Rojo"


My brother Steve has a great taste in music. He showed us some clips of this group after FHE one night. Basically every song they play is this amazing!


Go ahead and watch, you'll see what I mean:




So.
Who wants to teach me guitar?

Dream-Driven

Pens, Planners, Presidents & Portfolio

I woke up the other day with that opera from "Anne of Avonlea" stuck in my head. You know, the one that Anne sings the night before Diana gets married:

"Promise me that someday you and I will take our love togetha' to some sky-y-Y!"

That AND D&C 121:34-36.

Uh, random much? ...Now I'm really wishing I could remember what it was I dreamt about. I'm pretty sure my subconscious is trying to tell me something.

- - -

You know my jacket from Rome? The one that says "ITALIA" on it? The one that has no shape to it whatsoever? The one that I wear because I really love Italy? The one that makes me feel part Italian when I wear it? That jacket? Yeah, I wore it yesterday!

Wearing certain items of clothing makes me really happy. Like the Harry Potter t-shirt I painted for the 7.1 midnight showing? It’s probably one of my favorite shirts EVER (cause, you know, I love HP with a passion)!

So, anyway, I was helping this guy at work yesterday and he asked me if I’m Italian (having noticed The Jacket).

Booyah! I’m telling you, guys, The Jacket! It works every time! :)

"Ora se potessi parlare italiano, sarei completo."

(Translation: “Now if I could speak Italian, I’d be complete.” Thank you, Google)

- - -

A wave of tiredness just hit me like Nacho Libre hits Ramses with his flying eagle dive of awesomeness... Except being tired is not nearly as cool as that.

 - - -

I just got this sudden urge to bake something. In fact I have 6 new recipes that I reaaaally want to try! Yep, 6! Most of them PPP recipes, too! …So it's kinda bothering me that I have so much homework to do tonight. I might need to work baked goods into my design portfolio somehow. Hmmmmm…

- - -

I pretty much ate lunch at 10:19 in the AM today.

Because, well…I was hungry.

I might need to start having more than a green smoothie for breakfast...

- - -

Was President’s Day not the BEST holiday we’ve had in a while? I liked it even more than Valentine’s (not surprising)! I love having 2 Saturdays to get things done! So…um, who’s the Big Cheese over adding and/or subtracting weekdays. I’m going to propose that we turn Monday into a second Saturday. Permanently, I mean.

So I bought a planner a couple of months ago (a super cute one, I might add), cause I thought it would help me to be more productive and on top of things...but I hardly ever refer to it for a glance at my schedule or to do list. Sometimes, writing it down is good enough.

It's the same with asking Madre something like, "Remind me to record Biggest Loser”. She doesn’t have to remember, just the simple fact that I asked her to helps me remember. Is that weird? I hope my memory is that way forever. Doubtful. Highly doubtful.

I think I mostly just like to write my schedule down...

I just like writing stuff period.

Especially with Pilot G-2 07 pens!

Plus, I just like to think I have awesome handwriting (cause I do!)

- - -

I rediscovered something very valuable today. And no, it was not my long lost pair of turquoise earrings. Lame. No, I discovered that taking a time to organize yourself is the KEY to saving time in the long run.

It's true! I am so organized currently...well, at least in one aspect of my life and I am SO much happier.

Take it for what it's worth.

And have a fantabulously random evening!

Beware the Dessert Cart (not a PPP post)

Confession:

I'd MUCH rather have one GREAT option and one HORRIBLE option to choose from than a lot of good little options to decipher between.

Does that make sense?

I'm much better at seeing the difference between black and white than I am at seeing the difference between grey and charcoal and light grey and the color of concrete, etc.

See what I'm saying?

It's like, someone brings out a dessert tray with a piece of raspberry cheesecake, a hot fudge sundae brownie, a piece of funfetti cake, and some sort of decadent pie that you also happen to be in love with.

Do you base this decision off of what you're in the mood for? Biggest piece? Calories? What?

They're all equally as delicious (to me anyway)

And how long beforehand do you make this decision? Like did you go to this particular restaurant JUST for their desserts? Did you just glance at the menu as you were seated? Or did you think to yourself, "I'm so used to being SO full that I rarely even consider dessert"?

That's me. Family, school (namely graduation), calling, internship, work, personal goals (fitness & spiritual). Full! Like, I can't even remember the last time I considered getting "dessert". I've always just been too full...

So, now this feast of 18 years is about to come to an end and suddenly there's the dessert cart looming in the distance...full of so many great options and I'm thinking, "AGGGGHHHH!" cause I'm pretty sure that this is one of the hardest decisions that's ever come to the table.

No, contrary to my strange choice of examples, this isn't about food. It's about my life! Like, the determining factor of where I'll be and who I'll meet and what I'll learn, etc.

Unfortunately this isn't just one of those Girls Nights Out where I usually pawn off my lack-of-decision-making-capabilities on someone who is more opinionated when questions comes up like: "Who wants to drive?" "Where should we eat?" "What should we watch?"

Nope, this is me.

Just me.

Lindsay time.

Me, myself and I.

You can call me melodramatic or crazy or worrisome or whatever (though doing so wouldn't help me out much, because frankly, I already know these things), but my goodness, I'd like to FINALLY have a response besides,

"ErrmmmIdunno..." to the perpetual question,

"What are your plans after you graduate?"

*sigh*

Who knew freedom would be so much work? C'mon, I know that a lot of you have been in this same place recently, if not currently. Any personal stories or post-graduation-tips-for-dummies are welcome.

...annnnd scene.

PPP, Vacations & Shopping

*PPP = Pinky Promise Project for more PPP posts go HERE

Wanna know what I just did...

Ok, well let me back up real quick.

This morning I was feeling like "meh"...like, a vaccination gave me the flu and I couldn't sleep last night due to the intense chills and junk. That kind of "meh."


Yeah, not cool.

So, today rolls around and I'm thinking, "Gotta go to work. Gotta make money." So I popped an Ibuprofen and went on my way. La de da.

Work's fine. Shift ends. My next class is at 6...meaning I have 6 hours to kill.

So I went to the institute building, cause I like it there, and I pulled out the computer in an attempt to do some homework. Did a few things...inevitably started web surfing (we'll call it "browsing for design inspiration") and noticing that nearly everyone of my Facebook friends are on or just got back from cruises and/or some kind of amazingly relaxing vacation! And then I see this video about Paris (with amazing typography, I might add):

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

I know you're all thinking what I was thinking, "Wow, get me to Paris YESTERDAY!"
Yep, so my brain goes into, what we're gonna call 'Need Vacation Mode.'

So what did I do? I pouted a little bit, but let's be honest, that gets us nowhere but a deeper level of potentially more upset. So...I did what every level-headed, warm-blooded female would do under these circumstances...

I went to the mall :)

And what did I buy you ask?

I call them: The Pants.

They're the ones that I am going to hang up in my room as soon as I get home. They're my "goal-weight" jeans, that I will fit into by graduation :) Yep!

These are some other things I bought, because nothing says "fake vacation" like cute blouses and yummy perfume :)

Wanna know what else I'm doing?

I've set up a photoshoot with Jalene (aka J. Taylor Photography) in May.

It's both a graduation shoot AND an "I Made It To My Goal Weight" shoot.

Make goals and reward yourself. Rewards and goals can often be the same thing.

At the beginning of each day, while prioritizing my schedule I also plan my meals. If you plan out beforehand what you're going to eat, you don't end up throwing something dangerous together when you're starving and prone to grabbing the closest, easiest thing. It's true! Try it.

Also, this semester I've been taking Pilates. Hello, rare muscle groups!

This has been such a good thing for my poor back - not to mention abs, legs, arms, overall flexibility, etc. I highly recommend this class!

AND

Last but not least. I'm taking a MARATHON TRAINING class! This is my ultimate cardio/wellness goal. I've always wanted to be able to say, "I've run a marathon." So friends, here I go.

 Whoop whoop! This girl is on a roll...

...you know, one of those really healthy whole grain rolls sans the butter ;)

Get on the health train, friends!
It's leaving RIGHT NOW,
Not tomorrow, not next week.
Right now.


"Pile up enough tomorrows and you'll find you've collected nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays." Thank you, Harold Hill!

...

Dad just handed me the newspaper and recommended I read this article

(click image below to read)

Now, I'm trying really hard not to picture myself on a

Mormon version of The Bachelorette...

Then again, I'm the one updating my blog on a Friday night...

Thanks, Dad.

The Biggest Bestest News of All Time!

My life is about to change really awesomely drastically at like 6:30 tonight and I'm SO ecstatically thrilled! This is BIG news, people!

Ah-hem...

A certain big, white, important-looking envelope came today from a certain Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for a certain pair of the awesomest parents I know who are going to be certainly the most amazing mission presidents EVER!


In short, my parents are going on a mission!

YAY for President Dad & Sister Madre! :D

Morning Caffeine

You know that burst of adrenaline you get when, in the words of Mr. Brian Regan, your head "pops off the pillow" and you realize you should be in the car driving to work at that exact moment, NOT in bed?

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I don't drink caffeine. Adrenaline is my caffeine...

Though, I really wouldn't recommend either option.

One is an unreliable source of sustainable energy

and the other makes you an unreliable source of sustainable income...

...if you're picking up what I'm putting down.

Early to bed, early to rise...early to bed, early to rise...early to bed, early to rise...

Phew! Wish me luck. I'm still working on this!

One of the Many Uses of Big Purses

This British news item has officially made my day:

If that isn't the coolest thing you've seen all day...

then leave me a comment and tell me (say the following with British accent) what could possibly be more utterly fantastic than a sweet old British woman saving the day with nothing but a blinking handbag and a brilliant feat of selfless heroism...

Anyone?

Didn't think so.