Girl From That French Painting

Last night I had dinner with my friend Kristin Santose.  We decided to meet at my favorite local place, Dilly Deli.  If you come visit me in Cinci I will most likely choose to take you there, well because that's my place and I always pick it.

As I bundled up and walked in down to the square in the chilly air, I was excited to catch up, enjoy some good food (not on my diet), and listen to the live music.  I arrived, got a table and listened to the band play some old Louis Armstrong songs.  Once Kristin arrived I immediately began talking non stop (because apparently when I live alone I take every opportunity to actually talk with someone and can't stop once I get started). As we were chatting (ok I was chatting) and sipping on our wine, the band was on break and the singer/trumpet player stopped at our table to give me what I thought at the time was the sweetest compliment I've ever received. He said that he saw me and thought how I was just like the girl in the french painting. How it was this beautiful girl at the bar with a similar haircut. He thought it was by Manet and he just had to tell me.

So I was floored and felt so good. I mean who wouldn't want to have this compliment? That is until we googled the painting and then I kind of felt insulted? haha  Here it is for your viewing pleasure...my twin?






Similarities I will admit to:






Hair color




Bangs




Can be found near bottles of champagne










Things I hope to not be true:




Looking extremely sad/ pissed




Not very pretty




Wearing a bird? on her chest?

Hidden Signs

There are times when if feels as if the world sends you signs, and you ignore them, so it sends you a few more, and you still aren't a believer, so then it hits you over the head with a club until you come to the realization that "hey, maybe someone is trying to tell me something!"

I have been mulling over pursuing a goal that I've always wanted to try and have felt a little silly for even considering.  Sometimes I feel so sure that there is no way I could even attempt the goal, let alone make it, that I don't even like sharing my little secret with others.  Partly due to fear of judgement, partly due to fear of doubt, but mostly due to fear of having to also share if I don't achieve the goal.  I somehow think keeping it to myself will make it a little more feasible if I don't have the stress of other people knowing.

So when you have the little secret with yourself, and other people (who don't know about secret said goal) keep feeding you little comments and signs to push you towards that goal, it's just down right freaky! And Exciting.  I've had them sprinkled here and there for the past month or two, but I've had three "signs" (each of a different sort and source) in the last week.  Do you think someone is trying to hit me over the head with a club?  I'm tempted to listen...but still a wee bit intimidated by the idea.  

I just realized that this post is kind of mean, because I just wrote about a secret that I can't tell. Sorry!

Feliz MLK Day!

So I know that you don't traditionally celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day with margaritas, but I just had too.  No only does MLK Margaritas sound like a great idea, I had a sign this morning....

I started my day off like any typical Monday with a 7:00am yoga session. After I came back from the gym, I was determined to make the most of my first MLK day off in years. I had a large list to accomplish such as making chili, catching up on some of the homework that I can't ever seem to get to, and some laundry to top off the day. Up to this point, it seems like a pretty boring celebration of the man who had a dream, but this is where the story gets better.

As I was going down to the basement to use the laundry machines, I see a box sitting on the folding table with a little pink post it on it. On this post it where the magical words "4 Margarita Glasses.  Take if you want" signed apartment B6.  Oh you can bet your pretty little fanny that I scooped up those glasses before anyone else had a chance to come down and find the treasure.  I was margarita glass-less and I was not about to pass up such a great find! So you can imagine my excitement when I inspected the glasses and they are actually glass and not dollar store plastic and are really elegant.  Because contrary to belief you can be classy while drinking tequila (well for the first glass anyways).  And that's when it hit me, I HAD to make a margarita for MLK Jr.  I think it is how he would have wanted his day to be celebrated.

Since I'm trying to be a good girl and count my calories (and also because I don't happen to have margarita mix on hand) I whipped up a healthy homemade concoction. I must say it is way better than the store bought version.  I just used lime juice, lemon juice, club soda, and a little tequila (and don't ask me why I happen to have a bottle of this on hand).

My new cocktail shaker, which I recently won on NYE, helped me out.  His name is Benny. Isn't he cute and dapper with his little bow-tie?

I hope you all had a great MLK day and celebrate in style like me and Benny.  Now I'm off to drink my margarita while trying to do some of that aforemention homework. (If tequila doesn't help make this more bearable, then I don't know what will!)

The Dance Floor is My Stage

As the great Britney Spears said "There are two types of people in the world. The ones that entertain and the ones that observe. Well baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kind of girl".  While I'm not normally one to crave the spotlight, there is something about dance that all the sudden makes me a little braver, a little more bold, a little more spotlight kind of girl.

After graduating and saying goodbye to my dance team, I felt let down. It was hard to not have dance practices to look forward to and performances for that adrenaline rush. I slowly got used to it and frankly I think life got a little more dull.  While I'm not back on a dance team, I am finding ways to get my dance kicks.

On Saturdays I take an Alter Ego dance class. A Ben Gal cheerleader teaches us choreography from a different popular performance artist.  I live for these classes. It is a good test for my memory as we try to learn the choreography and be able to run it a couple of times full out before our hour class is up.  It's good cardio, and great food for my soul.  This week we did Britney's "Slave for You".  It was one of the fastest routines we have learned, but the most fun.  I probably looked like a fool as I was going full out with a big grin on my face.  There might not have been an audience (probably a good thing since I was getting sweaty ewww) but it felt good to release into dance mode.

As a bonus to the weekend, I just finished a two hour rehearsal for an upcoming performance.  It's just a small showcase at Bella Forza (the awesome fitness center and studio I work at).  I'm in a routine with 6 girls and I'm getting giddy at the idea of performing. Along with the giddiness is of course nerves, but I don't even care. I'm just so thrilled to have a few minutes performing. Of course if you know me, I'm obsessing and constantly thinking of tiny details such as hair style, outfit choice,  lipstick color etc, but I can't help it. I'm a dance high!

Now if I could only put as much concentration on my school work instead of choreography...

Domesticated Rachel

Does anyone else ever think of how Barbie got to have a different career every week? Not only did she claim the title, she also got a new outfit to match and all the accessories one would need. Sometimes when I'm in a different mood or going through a phase, I think of myself as "Working Out Rachel" or "Good Student Rachel". Oh, I'm the only one that does that? eerrr awkward. Ok moving on...

Anyways, so over the past couple of weeks I've been "Unmotivated and Lazy Rachel" (complete with a cluttered desk, untouched homework, and a lacking selection of food to eat). This weekend, however, I had a little shove to get back on track because my Dad (shout out to Dale!), Step-Mother and Sister came down for a visit and to do some manual labor. (Hey, you gotta earn your keep around here! But it's ok I rewarded them with bread pudding w/ a vanilla sauce)

Since I knew I would actually have people in my apartment I got super productive. I cleaned, I organized, I baked, and I did that ever growing pile of laundry.  I don't get company very often so I enjoyed the push to organize my life again. Plus I don't want my family to think (or realize) that I can be a slob.

Even though the fam was just here for the day, my motivation to get on back track continues.  After waking up and getting a quick workout in, I did some homework.  This was monumental people. And I didn't just stop there! Oh no, today I was "Domesticated Rachel".  I baked a pumpkin pie for a friend's birthday, prepared a roast for the crock pot tomorrow (it's the domestication that keeps on giving!), and I even practiced knitting a little bit since Patty showed me how to start yesterday. Phew! Domesticated Rachel had a good day, I think she deserves a glass of vino. (Children 21 years and up.)

Happy New Year!

New Years has come and gone and now my winter break from school officially comes to an end (womp womp).  I don't know what happened to my euphoric high when I wrote my last post, but I'm struggling to keep up my level of motivation.  Taking a couple days off to eat drink and be merry appears to have been a mistake. I need to get back on track by eating better, working out more, and keeping up on school work. It just seems so tempting to stay in my sweats drinking coffee in my apartment...(sigh).  So here's hoping that when I wake up in the morning I've got the positive attitude back and the motivation to conquer the day. (Might need to make two cups of coffee eh?)

I hope that your New Years started off with a bang and that you are already well on your way to a productive year. And if you are getting a slow start like me, welp, it's ok we still have 362 days to catch up.

Mama's Got a Brand New Name

...and by Mama I mean my blog.  After living in Cincinnati for 6 months, I felt it was finally time to update my blog by christening it with a new name to fit the location.  In the last 6 months, my blog is not the only one to get a face lift.  I have been taking some time to myself (ahem, not writing...) and really working on improving myself inside and out.

Since moving back to Ohio I have honestly felt a world of difference in my attitude.  I'm not saying Arizona was a bad place, please don't get me wrong.  I loved the sunshine, the friends and family I was blessed to spend 4 years with, and all the amazing adventures I had there.  However, there was just something that wasn't "me".  I think it was like trying to pull off an outfit that was really cool but didn't fit quite right and was the complete opposite style you usually wear.  It was great trying that outfit on for awhile, but when you come home you just want to throw on your favorite pair of jeans and that's what I've done.

I'm proud to say that I've made changes for the better. Because I like lists, here are the things I like about the new me:

1. I workout. (Do you want to read that again?) Yes, that's right. I said it. I WORK OUT. And no, not just sometimes, but pretty much every day and sometimes two or three times a day.
2. I enjoy working out. (I had to take a big breath there, my old self just died a little).  I push myself every day in my workouts to lift more weights, do more reps, pick my knees up higher and I enjoy it because I know that hard work and determination will get me to my goal. I also just feel a heck of a lot better with all those endorphins people are always talking about. Guess that wasn't just some myth. Weird.
3. Due to numbers 1 and 2, I have a slimmer figure and smaller pants size. Let me just tell you, I am so freaking happy to see my hard work pay off! 
4. I am a happy and positive person again.  Being away from the drama and stress of my old job has let me be a smiling and cheery person again with a positive outlook on life. Sometimes when I am driving around singing along to music and smiling, I just think "Dang it feels good to be happy!"
5. Although I have some frustrations with my program, I'm so happy to be pursuing a masters in something that I really believe in.  I know it is going to be a challenging career, but at least at the end of the day I can remind myself that I am helping out in the world of teenage woes that we all know can be dramatic and painful at times.
6. Sometimes, I leave the house without makeup. I know, it's a huge accomplishment for the girl that had to have thick eyeliner, mascara, and foundation on at all time. But it's amazing how the laid back lifestyle here has transformed me into a girl that isn't scared to run to the grocery store sans makeup. And to be honest I just wear way less eyeliner in general. I'm sure the makeup industry is really missing my paychecks but they will have to find another girl to boost their economy. (Oh and p.s. I don't wear heels hardly ever...it kind of makes me sad, but people just don't wear heels when they walk across campus for some reason)
7. I'm dancing again. It is amazing how a fun dance class on a Saturday can really put a pep in my step for the rest of the week. 

So there ya have it.  There is my brag list from the last 6 months while I disappeared from the world of blogging.