Shoe Wish List

So in the last week I have done a LOT of walking around downtown Seattle. During that time I noticed there are dozens of retail shops, and I've peaked inside a few! Now since I have not started working yet it's not a good idea for me to carelessly buy every cute item I see. So what I have decided to do is snap pictures of various cute clothes/shoes that I see or try on.  Below are just a few [or half dozen...] pairs of shoes I'm come across that I absolutely LOVE but really can't afford/don't need to buy right now. Let me know which pair you like best!! And yes I'm aware the tag with my shoe size is visible in many of the pictures... I have pretty long feet *shrug*

black and white plaid flats- ROSS

brown suede flats- ROSS

pink and white plaid flats- ROSS

Cheetah print rain boots!!! - Macy's

Coral heels, its prob 3 inch heel - Macy's

Lace/ cream color heel- Macy's

sequin with flower detailed flats- ROSS

gray flats- ROSS

silver/glitter heels. After looking at them again
they look a little cheap but they were cute! - Macy's

Home Sweet Home?

So I've been in Seattle now for 5 days and I'm liking it! The weather has been perfect despite all the "It rains a lot!" warning I got before I moved. I leave the boiling Lone Star State while it was in the high 90s and came north west to high 70s- mid 80s!!! I'll take that! Me and my roommate/best friend have done some sight seeing, went to one of the nearby malls, and in true tourist fashion i HAVE been taking pics :-D

Or apartment is nice... close to downtown, and right next door to a 24hour fitness [hello hot guys]!!! The more I venture into the city and do more sight-seeing I'll be sure to post it all here. 'Til then.. later!

Pike Place Farmer's Market -- way bigger than the FMs in Los Angeles

The original Starbucks! [Seattle was the birthplace to Starbucks]

The infamous Space Needle. Soon I'll take a trip to the top of that bad boy!

Hiatus from Social Networks

So a few weeks ago I decided to take some time away from using social networks. NO twitter and NO Facebook. It dawned on me that I'm wayyyyy too connected. I hardly ever put my phone down and I probably tweet and update statuses more than I actually talk to people. And that's going to change asap!

I remember a time when I was way more social with people, called 'friends' made plan to go out etc etc.... Lately that hasn't been the case at all. My social media break actually did me some good. I still chatted with the same few friends and spent time with my fam but i honestly had more time to get inside my own head... More time to just think. I realized how insignificant those social networking sites are.... You get so wrapped up in the non-sense people are posting or what a celeb is saying/doing that you forget what really matters! And i actually found time to read some more of 50 Shades of Grey =) not too bad of a book so far [I'm on chapter 21]

Friends vs Associates

If you ask the average person I'm sure they would tell you that they have a ton of friends. But in actuality, that's a lie! Granted the average person may KNOW OF a lot of people but that wont automatically make each individual your friend. I know because I've reached that point in my adulthood where I am fully aware that I will meet people, hang out with people but those "people" are not my friends.

Friends have your best interest at heart, friends are sure to NOT exclude you from plans or deceive you about what the event plans may be. Since moving to Texas I've met many new people and reconnected with people I called friends back during middle school and early high school. Amongst doing so I've realized there are 2 people here I can truly call a friend and of those 2 they don't have the time to go out as much as I like to go out. =( Soooo it makes weekends kind of boring if  I get off work early or if I'm off all together and want to go out somewhere and literally have no one to go out with. A very sucky life for a 26 year old!

The idea of this post came to me yesterday  a few weeks ago. A "friend" had planned an outing, invited me to said outing then changed plans and didn't really update me on what the current plans were going to be. In fact when I inquired about the plans at the beginning of the week the "friend" was very nonchalant or even unsure if the original plans would stick.

Yea for like 10 minutes I was a tad bit upset that this person couldn't have just been up front but that's just how some people are from time to time. I take it as a sign of who my true friends are. Besides, I won't be in Texas too much longer so the new connections to people I've made won't matter much after a while.

Rebuilding Nail Polish Collection

photo credit

Recently I've gotten back into the groove of buying nail polish again. Mainly because I hate spending $40+ for acrylic nails that only last me a month. But I used to be so hooked on Sally Hansen polish. THEN I realized that Sinful Colors makes nice colors and are about a dollar cheaper than S.H.! I'm a super cheapskate when I can be sooooo yea, that will be the new brand that I start buying until I rebuild my collection some more.

Currently I'm in the process of making an excel spreadsheet with all the brands/colors of polish I own and I will try to make small photo log as well.

Do any of you ladies have an extensive polish collection?

Moving

Back in April I moved into my sister's house and started a new part-time job. I don't mind the living situation even though it completely different than when I lived with my brother- there is about twice as many people at my sister's house. Therefore there is little privacy.

Recently my best friend and I have been talking about moving... to Seattle. Which is a pretty long ways away from Texas and Connecticut [where she lives]. Initially I had very mixed feelings about the entire situation... I half way wanted to do it and half way didn't. For some reason I felt as if I was going to miss out on something if I moved away from the small town I'm currently living in. Yes, I'm aware how crazy that sounds but initially that's how I thought. However, after doing a few job searches and soul searching I realized that I really don't have much to loose from the transition.

I'm officially done with college and my diploma is being mailed to me as I type. Therefore there's no time like the present to branch off and give myself  the opportunity to spread my wings and grow up some more. I've always been the type of girl that was fearful of taking chances, I've always second guessed myself and at  26 its time I drop that bad habit and quick! So that's exactly what I plan on doing. I haven't really told any of my family yet, I'm going to wait until about a month before I move to do it. I want to wait until the plans are in the final prep stages before hearing criticism from family and friends. All in all I'm very excited for this new transition that I'm about to take. Its something that I truly need to do for personal growth.

Weight Loss

As some of you may remember, I was on a mission in 2011 to loose some weight during the summer. Well I definitely met and surpassed my personal goal that I set! When I first moved to Texas I got a gym membership with 24 Hour Fitness and met with one of the trainers. She thought I would be able to go from 180lbs to 140lbs. I thought she was crazy.... until I started seeing results! Ultimately I got all the way down to 135lbs Now I didn't get any personal trainer sessions added to my membership, just did the initial first free meeting/session. During last summer my eating habits changed a LOT and I did a lot more walking than I would usually also. During a short time during the summer I went on a "Vegetarian Diet"... only planned on doing it for one week; that week turned into six! Since then I have cut red meats out of my diet all together! I really only eat chicken, fish [very rarely] and turkey meat [usually ground turkey meat... its my substitute for beef].

Additional foods I cut-out/cut-down on:
* soda
* candy bars [huge shocker!!!!]
* most "junk" foods
* TV dinners
* fast food
In April of this year I moved to my sister's house and kinda feel off on my good eating habits. Mainly because she cooks so differently than the way I eat. So as a result i did gain about 10lbs within the first month or two... NO BUENO! So to help myself get back on  track with eating right I'm back on a vegetarian diet for this entire month. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for doing it but i think its the best way for me to really be more accountable of what I eat. By cutting out all types of meat I really have to think "whats a food or combination of foods that's healthy and might fill me up" You'd be surprised what a difference it makes!

One thing that irks me is when people constantly ask why I don't meat beef or any type of meat. Usually the assume I'm Muslim [which I'm not] or they think I'm crazy. Then when I tell them I just want to eat healthier the response I usually get is "but you can eat meat and still eat healthy" --__-- Personally that answer is only partially accurate. If you choose to eat beef, pork, chicken ,etc that's totally fine... but how healthy is the meat if before its cooked the animal is injected with all types of growth hormones... hormones that  you later consume? Now again that's just my own personal opinion. I wouldn't look down on anyone for what they choose to eat. Everyone is free to do as they please. I just sometimes get bothered with the responses I receive when I tell people I don't eat meat or red meat. But I guess that is just something I will have to learn to better deal with.

For further posts I do plan on posting various new meals that I make/try.