riot time bound.
[Fun fact: that bridge is the bridge from One Tree Hill, yes this one, in Willmington, NC. I took that picpic on a roller derby trip last summer!]
Listen on Spotify here!
homesick heart.
Lately I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed. My spring moxie goals have been harder to attain than I originally anticipated. The one little word I chose to focus on for spring is balance. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve become more aware of it or if I’m trying to do too much, but I feel the most unbalanced I have since moving back to Pittsburgh.
These things are making me homesick for Harrisonburg. I’m not necessarily homesick for the town; however, I crave Jack Brown’s, Mr. J’s, and Kline’s weekly. This will be the first summer in 5 years that I haven’t spent in the friendly city. There’s something especially charming about Harrisonburg in the summer time. I miss the people I’ve shared my time with and they’re all spread out in Virginia. Not knowing when I’ll get to see everyone that I miss is adding to my balance struggle.
I made a playlist of songs that remind me of people and my time in Virginia. You can check it out on spotify here.
Virginia really is for lovers and my heart miss y’all.
xoxo.
my first opening day.
Last week I experienced my first Pirates’ opening day! My morning started with a bunch of texts and then a phone call from my dear pal, Hannah, about our timeline for the day.
We met at Messi Manor, ate breakfast sandwiches, packed up the cooler with beers and meats, piled on warm layers and then we were ready to make the journey to Gold Lot 1 for tailgating fun.
I think it’s best to recap my first opening day by the important things that I learned:
- Every other opening day ever has been sunny and at least 60 degrees
- 2013 it snowed
- Boys think a hoodie is a jacket and appropriate outerwear for snowy weather
- Ramping is strictly forbidden
- Three people are best to guard you while you’re peeing behind the van, but one is sufficient
- Creeper vans are where the girls (and Bruce) hang out
- Costco cashiers make $21 an hour
- PBR drinkers have an immediate bond and will even give you their last PBR
- Opening day with your besties is a great life decision, even in the snow
my breakup and rebound.
When we first met I had no idea what to expect. Would you like me? Was I cool enough for you? Was I what you were looking for?
Our relationship started out pretty casually. I had no idea what was in store for me over the next two years. You were so open and inviting. You were always encouraging me and pushing me to be better. At this point in my life I don’t think I had ever been as dedicated to something as I was to you.
In the first year of our relationship it was full of new and exciting things. Weekend trips to places I’d never been, a fancy party or two, and continuing to learn more about each other.
Around the one year mark something happened. I thought I had proven myself to you, but apparently I wasn’t good enough. At that moment my heart broke. However, I wouldn’t let this hold me back.
Something happened within me when you rejected me. I was able to overcome a fear I had been holding on to. Your rejection allowed me to improve more than I had before. You noticed too. You started to regret your decision.
You changed your mind and you wanted to make it official. I couldn’t have been more thrilled, nervous, excited, terrified, or ready for this moment. It had been over a year in the making and I finally got what I wanted.
Things were really good for awhile. Like, really good. I felt like we hit a stride and were coming together in ways we hadn’t been able to before.
Then something happened. I was overcommitting myself. Drama was escalating and I had to do something about it. Not only in this relationship, but in my life. I started to hate my job and living in Harrisonburg. I needed to get out.
I realized that my priorities had changed. I needed to focus on getting a new job and getting out of the area. I knew you weren’t going to help me reach any of these life goals I had. I struggled because I didn’t want to break up with you. You had been through so much with me. There were so many wonderful memories together. I grew up a lot and learned so much about myself through you. These conflicting feelings multiplied all my stress until I reached my breaking point. I had no idea I could become that angry and I broke things off in a way I didn’t plan to.
I think this happened for a reason though. I needed to reach that completely overwhelmed feeling to make the changes that I did. I know the way I handled the situation could have been better, but it was the only way I could manage at that time.
After the break up I was still in Harrisonburg. A tiny town where I knew no other serious relationship was possible, so I just needed to wait until I relocated. We broke up in August and by November I was back in Pittsburgh. By early January I was ready to try things again with someone new. I thought I was ready to handle another serious commitment. I was going to learn from my mistakes from our relationship and go into this new one with better expectations. I was going to make sure I didn’t jump into it too fast or over commit myself. I needed to make sure I was still working on myself outside of this new relationship.
Things started out casually and it was easier than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep up since I was now in a big city and not in tiny small town Virginia. This new relationship lasted for about a month. I realized I was just trying to prove that I still had it, which I did.
My relationship with you was something that I needed at that time in my life. I no longer need it, but I appreciate it for all it taught me. I will definitely remember it for my entire life.
This is my break up story with the Rocktown Rollers and my rebound with the Steel City Derby Demons.
inbox zero.
I have had this big dream of reaching inbox zero for awhile now. I am going to call it a big dream instead of what it really was, a lingering thunderstorm cloud looming over my head, because I have finally turned this big dream into my reality!!! If there is any time in my life that calls for a little Taylor Swift surprised face it is this moment.
That, my friends, is what inbox zero looks like. For some people this is an easy and constant state of being. For me, this was a major struggle. I had over 4,400 emails chilling in my inbox. The task to organize my gmail just seemed too gigantic to do anything about it. I just ignored the problem daily and convinced myself that one day I would reach inbox zero. How I thought I was going to reach this solution by ignoring the growing number of Groupon promotions and Pinterest notifications that were accumulating by the minute I have no idea.
On August 1, 2012 I sent myself an email with the subject of “Inbox Zero” and a link to this article. I discovered this email unopened during my 2+ hour marathon of inbox clean out. Over seven months ago I at least thought about trying to get to inbox zero enough to email myself and never read it. Way to go, Jessica!
Here are some things I forgot about and new perspectives I discovered on my journey to inbox zero.
- The Rocktown Rollers dominated my inbox. So many emails with board meeting recaps, line-ups for bouts, inspirational quotes, league drama and bullshit. I totally forgot how much that team dominated my life through practice, events, and my inbox.
- The different phases of relationships. One of the reasons I couldn’t just delete all my emails and start fresh is because I am a memory whore. I’m sentimental and years of emails with people couldn’t just be deleted. I sorted my sentimental emails into different folders to enjoy when I’m feeling nostalgic. It’s strange to look back at the beginnings of a new friendship or the middle of a romantic relationship you’re no longer in.
- I was applying for jobs for over a year before I finally quit. The way I felt at the end of my time in Harrisonburg was building for over a year. No wonder my emotions were so intense.
- I email myself and then never read the articles. If that isn’t evident by my “inbox zero” example above I have a dozen other emails to articles and tutorials with subjects like “Reflect on this!” or “Make this!”
So what do I do now that I have this fresh new inbox? I’m going to start out on a journey to 52 weeks of inbox zero. That’s right, a whole year of inbox zero. I feel like 365 days of inbox zero is too difficult because vacations and other things happen. Each week having an empty inbox is totally manageable. I still have some unsubscribing and filtering and labeling to do to get my gmail totally 100% organized, but I feel solid about the progress I have made at this point.
connect the dots: whale noises to house bunny.
While taking a gander at my twitter feed I ended up making some ridiculous connections for myself. I am almost 100% positive no one else would make the same connections, but I am also almost 100% positive that you make similarly ridiculous connections on the regular.
It all started when I saw and clicked on the following link:
Top 10 Humans To Imagine Making Really Loud Whale Noises tcat.tc/VH9aBs #archives
— Thought Catalog (@ThoughtCatalog) March 7, 2013
I don’t know how you can live with out knowing who the top 10 humans to imagine making whale noises are. Number 8 on the list is Andrew Bujalski. I had no idea who he was, so it was difficult to imagine him making whale noises.
However, as I read the description of Mr. Bujalski, I discovered he starred in the movie “Hannah Takes the Stairs”, which immediately caught my attention. “Hannah takes the stairs and I usually take the elevator” are lyrics from my #2 most played song in my iTunes library, “Hannah” by Freelance Whales.
I then wondered if and how the two were related.
My next move was IMBD for details on the movie. I was intrigued by the plot summary and thought maybe I should look into watching this movie. IMDB did not produce the results I was looking for in relation to the Freelance Whales song.
I did a quick Google search for “freelance whales hannah based on movie hannah takes the stairs”. What can I say, I am a whiz with the Google. It led me to the Wikipedia page for the movie. Sure enough, under the “In pop culture” section : The movie is referenced in the song “Hannah” by Freelance Whales
You would think I found my answer and this would be the end of my Hannah Takes the Stairs journey, but nope, there’s more.
The movie poster on the Wikipedia page was different than on IMBD which triggered my memory and I realized I had already seen this movie. Well, I attempted to watch it. During maymester in between my senior year and my super senior year of college, my friend and I tried to watch it, but we couldn’t get into it. I am not cool enough for mumblecore indie flicks. After about 20 minutes of Hannah Takes the Stairs, we both decided to turn it off and watch The House Bunny instead.
These are the little gems my brain discovers while casually catching up on social media. I also feel like it is an accurate portrayal of the movies I usually watch.
craving contingency
Favorites…
Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen | This song is my 2013 anthem. If my life was this episode of GIRLS I would be dancing to this song. The scene would also most likely happen in my car because that is where I rock out to it the hardest.
Daughter – Youth | I love the way this song builds, I love the percussion, I love the lyrics of the entire song.
The Lighthouse and the Whaler – Pioneers | This song is so fun and peppy! Kind of obsessed with them at the moment.
Listen on Spotify here!
seasonal moxie: spring edition
So, I know Spring doesn’t technically start until March 20th, but for my own organizational purposes it is easier for me to go by full months and not the official seasonal calendar. Also, who doesn’t want to pretend it’s spring sooner than it really is? Winter can GTFO of my life any day now and I would be totally a-ok with that!
I feel pretty solid with how my Winter Moxie went. If you missed it you can check out my recap here. Winter was definitely a lot of changes and getting used to the new schedule with my job and living back at home. I am prepared and ready to take on the spring now!
In no particular order:
- Work out 3x a week
- Blog 3x a week
- Get my living space current – things that reflect who I am right now, including my closet
- Redesign my portfolio site & order business cards
- Send more real mail
- More skype dates with far away friends
- Weekly reflecting & planning
For winter, my one little word I chose to focus on was selfish. I still dig this perspective and will continue to have it in the back of my mind with decision making at this point in my life. It has definitely helped to combat my people pleasing nature a bit! So now moving forward with my word for spring:
Balance is another area that I believe it’s easy to struggle with if you aren’t actively trying to maintain it. The balance between going out and staying in, healthy foods vs treats, and getting enough sleep will make a big difference with balance being the focus. A more specific area I want to find balance between is doing things on online vs doing things offline. It is too easy to get wrapped up in technology and I want to make sure that computer screens and my iphone aren’t dominating such a big percentage of my life. I have already set up my moxie goals to focus on balance. I’m excited to see how balance is going to affect my thought process and decision making for the spring!
Warmer weather, I am patiently anticipating your arrival.
seasonal moxie: winter edition – recap
Here’s a recap of how I did on my winter goals!
In no particular order:
- Organize old photos, nostalgic childhood/high school stuff: I accomplished a lot of this. I scanned all my old photos, but there is still some more stuff to sort through. Please enjoy this vintage Jess Lonett gem I discovered in the process:
- Digital overhaul (back up photos, unsubscribe from irrelevant emails, etc): I did some of this. I really need to tackle organizing my email, but it’s terrifying. However, I did get my 100% out of control desktop clutter fixed. See before and after:
- Drink more water, at least 2 Nalgene bottles a day, and no soda until my water minimum has been met: UGH! I did so good with this one in December. Then I started working at a restaurant and it threw off my water drinking and enabled drinking soda more. I am still in the process of making this better, but this goal definitely has made me more aware of what I’m drinking which is improvement.
- Run or walk a mile a day or even this from Thanksgiving until New Years. (at least every other day will be a win, but everyday would be the best!) {Inspiration here} : I ran 11 miles between Thanksgiving and New Years. This is definitely not a daily mile or even every other day, but it is more miles than I have ever ran in that short of a time, so I give myself a C+ for effort.
- No fast food: I’ve done really well on this one! I’ve only had a Big Mac once and I was kind of hungover, so desperate times call for desperate measures. I also had tots at Sonic a few times. This has definitely made me evaluate what I’m eating more and it is definitely an improvement over how frequently I would get fast food in Harrisonburg.
- Cancel Netflix & no TV shows or movies before 8pm: I canceled my Netflix and I’ve only watched TV before 8pm 2 or 3 times. I feel really good about these restrictions. You can read about cancelling my Netflix account here.
- Own an infinity scarf. If anyone would like to make me one I wouldn’t say no and I would probably love you forever, or at least until the weather warms up: I got an infinity scarf for Christmas and wear it on the reg. I LOVE IT!
I feel good about what I accomplished in the past 3 months and look forward to continue with the habits I started to form. I’m also excited for what the next three months has to offer!
happy valentine’s day y’all!!!
Today has been a pretty solid valentine’s day so far. I went to breakfast at Pamela’s with the mom and little bro, gave myself a red and pink glitter and heart filled mani, and impulse purchased tickets to see fun. + tegan and sara this summer! I was catching up on some blogs when I got to Leigh-Ann’s Valentine’s Day post and I totally had to join in on the pink ink love filled note!
In addition to writing all these things I love I’ve been listening to a spunky mix about love!
I know there are some Valentine’s Day haters out there, so you, as well as those who dig hearts and glitter, should check out this organization that is using today to fight violence against women.