Whiskey On A Sunday

Hi lovlies! I'm currently in Waterloo Iowas for a wedding with my love Will. I'm currently at a bar called Jamesons and well the party has started. I miss you and can't wait to catch up with everyone on Sunday. If I don't....well at least you know where my final resting place is. May god have mercy on my liver.


Cheer!

Marisa

P.S. Yes I totally wrote this on my BlackBerry.

Got A Jet Pack With Your Name On It

Hey everyone, I'm back. It's been a crazy couple of days as it always is when I decide to take some time off. Needless to say I had to work late tonight and will be going in tomorrow despite having originally taken the whole day off. It's alright I suppose, duty calls and since I rarely have to work late I don't mind when I have to. Moving on to the blog title, I am soooooooooooooo feeling the need to get out of Des Moines. I don't know what it is but I just need to be on the move. Maybe it's just a funk that I'm in as my friend suggested or maybe, dare I say it, I'm ready for a new place to call home. I'm no where near being capable of moving at least not until Poverty Experiment 2011 comes to an end. Then I might actually have the funds to move somewhere.

Where would I move to? Well my top 3 cities are :

1.) Seattle

(Do want to climb that mountain)

2.) Denver

(Do want to climb those mountains too)

3.) Milwaukee

(That sailboat looking thing is the art center. I went there when I was there. )

I haven't actually been to Seattle yet, but oddly enough their weather appeals to me. Denver I fell in love with in the brief time I was out there for work last year and can't wait to actually get to have some fun there in 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!. Milwaukee, again fell in love with the city for the brief amount of time I was out there for a wedding last year. It's a midwest city and actually a lot closer to home than where I am right now, so it wouldn't be much of an adventure but I could definitely see myself living there.

I hate to come off sounding like one of those teens who thinks their life will be 100 times better if they move to (insert big city here). My life is great, thats not really my issue. I think it all goes back to my fear of "settling down". There's so much I want to see and experience that moving seems like the natural thing to do. I love my friends and my job, even just thinking about moving breaks my heart, but at the end of the day it's my life to live and I know that some miles won't destroy our friendships.

Who knows, I could just be talking out of my ass right now. Next week I could be all I LOVE DES MOINES I"LL NEVER LEAVE!!!!!!!!! Remember that drawing about the cart before the horse? Yeah I do that a lot. Be thankful you don't have my brain. It works all sorts of backwards. Maybe after my Colorado vacation I'll be refreshed and even miss Des Moines while I'm there. Yeah please read this awesome jumble of nonesense with a grain of salt. Did I mention I've been working a lot? Thanks for reading lovelies! Anyone else relate to this or am I just on crack?

Cheers!

Marisa

*all images via google

Thankful Tuesday

Wow I can't believe I'm already doing my second Thankful Tuesday. Well I guess I can't believe I remembered to do my second Thankful Tuesday. Sometimes I swear I have adult ADD. So here you go 5 things I'm thankful for this week.

1.) My health. Sometimes it takes something bad happening to someone close to you to make you really appreciate your good health. It shouldn't be that way.

2.) My car. I have had that thing since I was 18 years old and it's never given me one serious problem. (Knock on wood) And since I'm currently a poor person I'm super thankful for that!

3.) Sunday Brunch with the roomie and friends. Seriously, what better way to start your week than cocktails good food and plenty of weekend gossip catch up?

4.) Clif Bars. A silly one, but really this is like a food group for me. Like the big one at the bottom of the food pyramid. Without them, I would be lost. 

5.) The Royal Wedding!!!!!! Sorry I had to throw that in. I've been waiting and waiting for months! You better believe my ass will be up at 2:30am to prepare and my nails will be done with my No More Waity, Katie Butter London polish!

What are you thankful for this week?

Cheers!

Marisa

p.s. If you haven't tried Clif Bars yet DO IT!!!!!!!!! It will change your life.

Poverty Expirment 2011

I'm back. Still not 100% due to the crappiest nights sleep, but thats why they invented coffee, red bull and diet coke. Anyways about the title. My friend and I have decided that it's about that time to maybe be an adult and pay off our debts. This came about not long after I read an article about what living at poverty actually meant. The income for a family of 4 living at poverty is $22,350. I can barely afford myself, one person, and I make more than that! I cannot imagine trying to provide for a family on that income or imagine what it would be like to grow up living in poverty. Don't get me wrong this is not an attempt to make you feel bad for having money or spending it however you like. I work hard for every dollar I make, I'm not about to apologize for it. The stats are just what made me open my eyes that I have been wasting my money so foolishly. If a family can somehow get by on less than what I make a year there is no way I should be where I am with my finances.

(via)

I don't ever see myself buying a home because as previously stated I enjoy nothing about home ownership, but I will eventually need a new car. I'd like to start throwing more money into my 401K, and I'd like to create a nice savings so that I won't have to rely on credit cards in the event of something unforeseen. This will probably have some impact on my many random travels and shenanigans, but I'm hoping not much. I'll just have to get creative and who knows where my creativity will lead me. Oh and random, I found out today that my mom and her bf now have a house in Florida. So it's like I became a rich girl....who is actually not rich at all and poor with student loan debts and fashion related debts. However, this means I get to spend my bday not in snowy Iowa but in sunny Florida so woooooo!!!!!!!!!!

(via)

Pretty sure thats what the house looks like. I have that whole section on the left. If you're lucky, you'll get an invite to come party with me ;)

Cheers!

Marisa

Irresponsible activties > Responsible activies

At least that was the case today. I woke up this morning with the greatest of intentions. Gonna work out, and go grocery shopping, clean and maybe bust out my GMAT books again. You know....responsible adult things that we're expected to do. Instead I went to brunch with my ladies, drank, came home and drank some more, made cupcakes somewhere in the middle and passed out only to wake up at about 7:50pm. Failure of a day you say? Maybe...or a day of awesomeness. In fact this whole weekend has been pretty great. It did include a few of these

(Yes that is a PBR. I really need to get a new camera.)

Anyways, I'm out. I've got nothing today due to irresponsible activities. I promise to be better tomorrow. 

Cheers,

Marisa

It's Always You and Your Big Dreams...

Sorry folks no fashion today. Actual thoughts and semi-respectable writing. Who am I kidding, this is going to be a big mess of my thoughts but let's be fancy and call it "stream of consciousness" writing okay? 

So remember back in the day...like 2 months ago, when I wrote about the epic battle of head vs. heart? And I was all ohhh woe is me this is an OMG crisis! Do you go for the hot guy with the credentials or the hot guy perhaps without the credentials but (ahem) makes up for it elsewhere? Sometimes I put the cart before the horse because while I was sitting here bemoaning my internal struggle between hot guys the question I hadn't even answered for myself is....do I even want a boyfriend? Again, cart before horse. I know. I drew you a picture to illustrate

That brings us to here. Once again I'm in a debate with myself. I know that I've said I don't want to settle down, but I think I've unfairly associated "boyfriend" with "settling down". I somehow have it in my head that a boyfriend = loss of freedom, painting things, never making friends again, no more adventure, darning socks on a Friday night. Do not ask where my brain comes up with these things. Please see above picture for insight into how my brain works. 

While I'm not 100% sure that I do want a boyfriend, I will admit there are times that I feel alone. That I wish there was that one person that just gets me, that I can do fun things with, or do nothing with. That I can watch tv shows on Netflix with...and by that I mean they can watch them and I'll do something else but just pop in periodically and ask that they fill me in on everything. So then I can tell people that I watch popular television without testing my ability to sit down for extended periods of time. 

The other part of me says I'm not ready for a boyfriend just yet. Part of it being not ready for monogamy and not ready to take someone elses life into consideration when planning trips or career moves or anything of that nature. If I decide I want to go to grad school and I want to go in Oregon, I want to be able to just go and not worry about leaving someone or figuring out how they're going to come too. Just not ready for that yet. 

And after all that fancy stream of consciousness writing I think I've realized that when the time is right, I'll probably find a boyfriend and I probably shouldn't be worrying about whether or not I even want one. It's not an equation you can magically work out, or even something that will happen when your life seems to be in order. Although having things in order is probably a good start.

 

Thanks for reading lovelies! Please still be my friend.

Cheers!

Marisa

So Little To Do, So Much Time

Strike that. Reverse it. First off wow! Hello to all the new readers...or old readers who've said hello recently. So nice to meet you! I love your comments, they make me smile :) 

So I'm starting to feel the pressure of my upcoming travels and race. Mostly the race. In June I will be running the Dam to Dam.

 

I'm excited and nervous. It's the farthest race I've ever done, and I know that there is no way to predict how your body will preform on the day of a race no matter how hard you've trained. Still, after working sooooo hard it's difficult to not be disappointed if things don't go as well as expected. I suppose I will just keep training hard and hope for the best!

Although I will admit the training comes at a great time as sigh....we're approaching swimsuit season again. I got a new one even though I wear a swimsuit about 3 times a summer. I don't tan (Skin cancer/wrinkles...no thanks) and well, I hate hot and don't like sweating. That said, I do loooove the retro swimsuits that are insanely popular right now. 

(Shan Spring/Summer 2011 via )

(Kenneth Cole Swimdress via google )

(Betsey Johnson via google)

What swimsuit trends are you loving this year?  

Cheers!

Marisa

Thankful Tuesday

Newness!!!! In keeping with the theme of happiness being the purpose in life, I've decided to start a weekly post of things I'm thankful for. I don't do it often enough. I admit, I am human and prefer when things revolve around me. I need to start being less self centered and more selfless. So here we go, first Thankful Tuesday where I will list 5 things that I'm thankful for this week.

1.) My friends. To the bestie for always being my wingman, putting up with my obsession with the British monarchy and Kate Middleton, and for not judging me when I buy another new cocktail dress. Even when she knows I have 8 others in my closet. To Will for being my friend to the end and for all the countless shennanigans we've had (and will have!).  And to Zoli for hosting me out in Colorado. My first real vacation in yeeaarrssss. I can't tell you how excited I am :)

2.) The ability to purchase good nutritious food. This is something most of us probably take for granted. And I'm not even talking about the starving children around the world. (Which is NO joke btw) I'm talking about the people next door or down the street. With the economy the way it is right now so many people struggle to just put food on the table for their family that they don't have the luxury of worrying about organic, or gluten free or vegan. I am so thankful that I have an awesome job that allows me to keep food in my fridge and my body healthy.

3.) My roommate. She offered me a place to live when I needed one most. I'll always be thankful for that.

4.) My iPod. Silly I know, but music is my world, without it I'm totally lost. I started piano lessons when i was 5, so I haven't really known a world without it. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Finale moved me to tears the first time I played it when i was about 10 or 11 and still to this day does. I run faster when I hear Shakira singing in Spanish and fall asleep to the sound of a banjo. I'm thankful for so many different genres of music and my parents encouragement of a 5 year old who said she wanted to play piano.

5.) This here blog. Never ever ever thought I could be a blogger, but here I am! With people actually reading the inane ramblings from my semi-put together life. It's nice to have a way to open up and honestly it keeps sane sometimes. So tip of my hat to you for continually stopping by! I appreciate it and love meeting new people. So say hello!

There you have it. My first Thankful Tuesday. Thanks for being part of it!

P.S. Kelly over at The Pretty Bee is having a fabulous giveaway! Stop by and check it out!

Cheers!

Marisa

William, Kate and I

Today friends, it's finally here. The Lifetime movie of William and my love (he can't take her away from me) Kate Middleton. The bestie and I have a date with lots of snacks, klennex, because we probably will cry. 

She's so British and gorgeous....*swooon*

In other news, I'm going to a wedding next weekend with my Will and I found a dress that I feel is perfect for a spring wedding. What do you think?

Please disregard my mess, and I think I'm in love with this picture because it looks like I have cleavage. Score! ( I don't actually. Sad face). Anyways, thoughts comments concerns? Let me know....God love ya. ;)

Also I don't post a bunch of pictures of myself really. So here you go, Hi! I'm Marisa!

Have a good week kiddos!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Marisa

The Purpose Of Our Lives Is To Be Happy.

Hello friends! I'm back and better than ever. I was soooooo productive this weekend and took care of so many things that were stressing me out, I feel 100lbs lighter! I got my room all organized closet cleaned out and boy let me tell you does it feel good. It made me remember why I fell in love with minimalism; to not feel defined by my possessions but rather to define my life by my actions and relationships with all the great people in my life.

Saturday I headed to Ames to celebrate my friends quarter century bday with some of our favorite movies (Easy A, Clueless, Mean Girls...) and sooooooo much food. 

I'd tell you what we had...but you'd probably never believe that we could eat it all. Lets just say cake and ice cream were only a small portion of the celebratory foods. I couldn't bring myself to eat a thing until about noon today. I was that full from Saturday night. None the less, it was a most excellent time and I look forward to the next quarter century :)

How was everyone elses weekend? Hopefully full of fun and food! Haha. We're at less than 5 weeks till vacation and less than two until my weekend of bad decisions and debauchery with my Will. Oohhh the fun times that are ahead!

Cheers!

Marisa

Title quote: His Holiness, The Dalai Lama 

I needed to find sanctuary in a place where I can gather my thoughts and regain my strengths...

Lately I've been feeling super stressed, pissed off and out of control. I've been pretty busy lately, and at the same time pretty lazy lately. I haven't devoted much time to organization and de-cluttering. Which I'm guessing is the root cause of it. I'm not super OCD but nothing gives me more anxiety than clutter...except maybe traveling. Maybe it's a tie. Anyways, I was doing sooooo well with maintaing a somewhat minimalistic lifestyle and felt at peace and in perfect balance. I think things went awry during my birthday. I was like wooo!!!!!! Party and I can buy things for me because IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! Somehow it all snowballed until here I am surrounded by too much stuff that is making me freak the freak out. ( Shout out to Victoria Justice!!!) So, tonight, tomorrow and Sunday are going to be devoted to de-cluttering and finding that inner peace again. And if I don't, hey it's the weekend and I have vodka.

(someday my bedroom will be this chic. Then maybe we can have a sleepover.)

( and we can sit and have a cup of coffee and enjoy my fantastic view)

(then I'll kick you out so I can work on my fabulous blog at my fabulous desk.)

Any other de-clutter motivation you can send my way I'd appreciate. I'm always looking for ways to improve and streamline.

Minimalist Cheers!

Marisa

Boulder, CO

So I've been getting my research on about the city of Boulder Colorado. I've never been, but heard it was pretty cool. Upon my searching I discovered this little shop.

( Tee & Cakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Doctor cupcakes? How cute is that?)

Tee and Cakes is a locally owned Boulder bakery, custom cake and wedding cake shop. They also sell scones, donuts, cinnamon rolls, cookies, mini pies, brownies annnnndddd coffee. So basically this place is my heaven and as far as I'm concerned the owners are Jesus. I cannot wait. Seriously I've read their website like a zillion times. ( I linked it above. I suggest you do the same.) Also I may or may not be on the hunt for a pretty "tee" party dress. Just don't tell my friend. He's still not too keen on a tea party. 

Another cool place I found was a vintage store called Goldmine Vintage. 

(via)

(via)

I've never been any good at the vintage/thrifting shopping but this place looks sooooo cool that I'm feeling pretty good about it. I mean I have to find at least one thing right? If not I'll just head back to Tee and Cakes and drown my sorrows in more cupcakes. 

And with that I'll leave you with some parting facts about Boulder. Like, did you know that it's sister city is Lhasa, Tibet? Home to the Dalai Lama? Well it is and has been since 1987 which I think is pretty awesome. Also they have a really sweet theatre called the International Film Series. They are a local arthouse series that showcase a wide range of eclectic films from many different genres. If you know me and movies, you know this is right up my alley. 

I hope everyone learned something today!

Cheers!

Marisa

A Nice Little Weekend

Holy awesome weather in Des Moines! Saturday and Sunday we say 80 degrees and sunshine. Sorry for being away, but I couldn't pass that up. Friday night was a friends bday partayyyy. Which I paid for on Saturday...and I had to work. Suck. But! Saturday morning I got to enjoy a lovely brunch with the roomie and friends where we recapped the night and discussed who was winning! and...who was not winning. Pretty sure I ended up being the winner. I did not cry and my guy was hot. Score! Saturday evening I got to see an old college friend who was in town and we grabbed dinner on a patio and enjoyed a nice refreshing beer in the (did I mention?) beautiful warm sunny weather. Please don't think less of me for admitting this but....I totally crashed after dinner. Which was 9:30. I know. I'm old balls, I just can't party like I used to. Ah well, I got plenty of sleep and then had an old person Sunday. It involved, a mid morning run, grocery shopping, cleaning and laundry and then a movie. Which may or may not have been The Young Victoria...again. I have a problem.

But really who wouldn't want to watch their love story? They're both so pretty. 

One last thing that made my Sunday super awesome. I finally found it.

Yeah I ate the whole thing. What of it?

Only 5.5 weeks left till vacation!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Marisa

My Worst Fear

I had a dream last night that prompted me to realize what my worst fear is. My worst fear is everyone settling down and me being left behind. At this point in my life I cannot fathom myself settling down (again). Where weekends are spent doing home improvement things and there is painting involved. Not that I'm looking down on that sort of life at all. I'm just saying it's not for me. I've tried it and well, it did not make me happy like I thought it would. (Disclaimer: my unhappiness has was not in anyway due to the person I was with. He was a wonderful boyfriend.) I just felt like that was the direction I was supposed to take with my life. Graduate, house, be a grown up, do grown up things. I loved D more than anything and I tried, we tried really, but in the end we wanted different things. Obviously considering the direction our lives have taken since breaking up; There are wedding bells in his future and mine includes any plane, train or automobile that goes any and everywhere taking me on my next adventure. However, that does not mean I don't want to find "the one". I do, but my one will be on the same path as me. Wanting the same adventures as me. Honestly I can't wait to find him, but I'm not going to sit around waiting for that day to come obviously. Too much to do and see, too much life to live. I'll run into him eventually. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not till my 30's. Maybe it'll be in Des Moines or at base camp when I'm on my first Everest Expedition. I'm in no rush, I still thoroughly enjoy my own company. After all, I am the coolest person I know :)

Please don't think I'm a weirdo palm reader, psychic, crystal therapy person. I don't really get into dream interpretation. But this one was well, weird enough for me to do a recap when I woke up and it was obvious the theme was unhappiness and  abandonment. It also had some comical moments so I'll share.

I can't remember how it started but the first thing I remember is driving to a mountain in Colorado that we were going to climb. Oddly enough the drive looked exactly like the drive from Des Moines to Ames. Whatever. On the way there we got hit with a massive blizzard and had to turn around. I was completely devastated since I've been working soooo hard for it. So we turn around and head back to....some town I guess where I run into D and apparently we're back together. Which did NOT make me happy in fact quite the opposite. Trapped, defeated, unhappy. (Again NOT because of him by any means. He's just the symbol for my prior unhappiness with the direction my life was going) Then we went into like a German beer hall where I see my Colorado friend with some girl who is apparently his new girlfriend and now I couldn't go stay with him. (I know makes no sense since I was supposed to already be there because we got caught in the blizzard. Don't question my dreams) Anyways this whole dream just left me all sorts of sad, unhappy and abandoned. What was the comical part you ask? The besties twin brother was in it too....wearing lederhosen.

 (via)

Well now you know what my dreams are like. Hope you never end up in them.


Have a happy Friday kiddos!


Prost! (German Cheers),

Marisa

Miscellaneous

When you go to the grocery store for just some random odds and ends do you ever wonder what the cashier is thinking? I do. It's one of my favorite past times. Take today for example. Today I needed some cat food, razors (for shaving) and while in line I thought a diet Mountain Dew sounded tasty. Here's what I would think if I were the cashier: She's buying the Mountain Dew to mix with vodka to numb herself before she slits her wrists but not before feeding her cats one last meal. Because really, cat food and razors? How sad is that? Try it next time you're running errands. It's fun!

Also I've had an epiphany. A fourteener is actually a big mountain. Like you're climbing up into clouds. 14,000ft is the altitude people sky dive from. I've been passing it off as nbd, but really I need to take it seriously as it is dangerous and people do die on those mountains. Also the lack of oxygen. Acute altitude sickness is no joke and even at that height HAPE and HACE are a real possibility. As most who know me know that I when plan something I pllaannnn something. So I will be reading and studying until I know every one of the 54 fourteeners inside and out and all there is to know for a successful summit. 

I am currently obsessed (and I mean obsessed) with The Young Victoria and all things Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. I find their love story so endearing and real, it is now my mission to find my very own Prince Albert. :)

Alright that's all the miscellaneous stuff that I have. I shall leave you with this fact: I RAN 8.4 MILES TONIGHT!!!!!!!!! Thats the farthest I've ever run. Ever. Dam to Dam is going down!

Cheers,

Marisa

Des Moines Art Center

Today was unusually nice in Des Moines. 80 degrees! I spent the whole morning being hungover after too much celebrating of my good friend Mike's birthday the night before. Well worth it though. Once I finally felt better I forced myself to head out because for all I know it could snow again tomorrow. So I went to one of my favorite places in Des Moines, the Art Center

I really enjoy art museums. For some reason I find them to be one of the most peaceful places. I just bring my ipod along and I'm off in my own little world. Thanks to Principal Financial Group admission is always free and thus it's my favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon. These are some of my favorites

(Matisse Dame a le robe blanche)

(Francis Bacon's Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X)

This one creeps me out and at the same time I never pass it up.

Also a treat, currently the art center has an Anselm Reyle exhibit. Which I loooovveeed. 

(Anselm Reyles Untitled 2009)

(Anselm Reyel Untitled 2010)

I admit. I'm no art critic. I don't know the deeper meaning behind it all, but I do know that Reyle's use of bright neons, different textures and light really appealed to me. 

After the art center I ventured to the adjoining Rose Garden where somehow 2.5 hours went by and I finished my second mountain disaster book. 

This book actually scared me. Will not be attempting K2 ever.

I would've taken pictures at the Rose Garden but well...there are no roses and it still is brown and drab and depressing looking. However it has benches and it was so nice outside (80 degrees...did I mention that?) so it was the perfect place to finish my book about people dying on a frigid dangerous mountain...

How was everyone elses weekend? I hope absolutely fabulous! Ughh not ready to start another week but only 7 more weeks till vacation!

Cheers

Marisa

*all photos via google images