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cycat4077 · 4 years

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Lessons

Summary: You have a little heart-to-heart with a student you're tutoring. Sonny may or may not be eavesdropping. (Set Summer 2016) Pairing: Sonny x Reader Warnings: Basically just fluff! Words: 1808 AO3: here

Part 10 of the Changes verse - but it can be read as a one-shot too.

A/N: If this is your first time seeing this series, the reader is a teacher but is in between jobs. Money is tight, you and Sonny are coming out of a big fight and now the squad officially knows about yours and Sonny's relationship. This is just a little fluff filler fic to move things along :)

"The Lean Bean". It's the logo embroidered on the pocket of the uniform you're folding. It's also the place where you've been taking shifts as a way to offset some living costs. The new school year, and a dependable paycheck, is still well over a month away. Sonny had told you not to worry about finding extra work, but the idea of living together without paying for anything didn't sit right with you - especially in such an expensive city.

Reaching into the laundry basket, you pull out a pair of dryer-warmed socks and routinely fold them in two. A clunk at the front door makes you gaze over your shoulder from your spot on the couch. Finally, Sonny is home. You greet each other affectionately, Sonny placing a kiss to your forehead.

"How was your day?" you ask, grabbing another pair of socks to fold.

"Long," he replies but you can tell from his voice that there's something more. You look at him expectantly, offering a gentle smile.

"I, uh," he hesitates, moving around the couch to take a seat. "I spoke to the squad about us today."

Sonny's eyes are apologetic; the fight of a few nights ago is still fresh in your minds. You let him know it's all right by placing a hand atop his knee.

Reassured, he continues. "They're happy for me - for us – ‘n they've noticed that I'm happier too. Actually, before I left tonight Lieu pulled me aside. She said that I have more patience with the vics ‘n that I'm more tolerant when interrogating perps. Doll, I know that I couldn't do any of that if it wasn’t for you."

"That's excellent news, Sonny!" you express, flattered by the compliment as well. "You really are a great detective."

Sonny beams for a moment before his face falls. "Also, 'n I hope you're not mad, but I took the opportunity to talk to Lieu about what happened between us…about me keepin’ you a secret from ‘em."

You feel a twinge of panic in your gut at the thought of Olivia being privy to details of your relationship troubles. That initial feeling subsides however as Sonny elaborates.

"It's just...she knows what it's like ta try ‘n balance life ‘n this job, and - "

But you cut him off before he can finish his sentence. "You don't have to explain, Sonny," you empathize. "It's good to talk things out with someone who understands."

Sonny's warm hand finds yours and he interlace your fingers. "Yeah," he agrees. "She was really sympathetic about it, too. She told me it's normal to feel scared but that it is better to be honest." His mouth curves into a lopsided grin. "Typical Lieu," he shakes his head. "Oh, ‘n I kinda told her about our situation ‘n how you were outta work until the fall - Again, I shoulda asked ya before I went there, but she was really supportive of us. In fact, she gave me the numba of a mom at Noah's daycare who's lookin' for a tutor for her daughter. Apparently she's headed inta middle school ‘n is really strugglin'."

It's a lot to take in but you assure Sonny that you're not upset with him. You appreciate his honesty. Relieved, Sonny wraps you in a hug and tells you again how lucky he is to have you.

As for the tutoring. Well, it's hard to say no. The extra cash will certainly help pay some of the bills that have increased since you moved in.

-x-

Madison is a pretty guarded girl. On the brink of being a teenager, she wants nothing to do with being tutored and everything to do with all else. Her mother dropped her off in a hurry, needing to shuttle her other two children to various extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, this left little time for introductions or for inquiries regarding the areas she particularly needed help in.

You try to be as welcoming as possible, asking her questions about her school work and attempting to understand her learning needs. The girl, however, couldn't be bothered. So, instead of blindly waltzing into curriculum review, you decide to have a little heart-to-heart.

"Madison," you speak, leaning back in your chair. "Do you know why you're here; why your mom asked me to tutor you?"

The girl refuses to meet your gaze. "Well, yeah,” she crosses her arms on your kitchen table. “Mom wants me to be tutored and stuff." There’s definitely attitude behind that tone.

You swallow your annoyance and choose your words wisely. "In simple terms, yes. But I think you know that it’s not for your mom's benefit. It's for you, so that you can start the year off prepared."

"Yeah, whatever,” she rolls her eyes with a huff. “No matter what, it's never gonna be enough anyway."

"Hey!" you defend gently. "Don't say that! My attitude is that if you know in your heart that you tried your very best, that's all you can do."

Madison studies you through the bangs that hover over her green eyes. For a moment you swear you can see the words getting through, but then she shrugs. "If I get good grades, mom promised to buy me a new iPhone."

How do you put a positive spin on this? How do you connect with this girl? "That's awesome!" you encourage. "You know, in college I was failing calculus." The girl raises her dark brows in shock. Maybe we're getting somewhere. "Yeah, I felt really dumb in that class and I just didn’t understand anything when it came to tests. Needless to say, I was panicking big time when finals rolled around. So, my dad made me a deal. We lived upstate and he absolutely hated the thought of driving in New York City, but he said that if I could pull off a 90% in the course, he would drive me here to see a Broadway show."

Now Madison is listening intently, curiosity etched across her young face.

"Both he and I thought it would be impossible, but low and behold, I hunkered down," you exaggerate a look of concentration and tuck your arms close to your body, "and studied my butt off! I passed with a 93!"

The girl's mouth drops open. "What show did you see?"

You smile fondly at the memory. "None," Madison shoots you a bewildered look, "but we did end up doing other fun stuff. I still like to tease my dad about it though and I guess I should be the one taking him since I live here now."

Madison's features soften and she allows a small chuckle.

"The point is," you say, trying to refocus the girl, "that you'd be surprised what you can do when you put your mind to it!"

You offer her an encouraging smile but Madison's quickly fades as she glances away. "It's...it's just really hard," she admits. "Mom's always so busy with my brother and sister which…kinda sucks sometimes."

Your eyebrows pinch together sympathetically. What can you say to her to let her know that it’s okay? Then your mind flickers to Sonny. "I know it's gonna be hard for me to relate to you on this one since I have no siblings, but my boyfriend comes from a big family. He has three sisters and he tells me that they used to fight like cats and dogs growing up." You can see Madison nod knowingly. "But you know what? Those squabbles really don't matter now. They love each other and they'd do anything for one another." A doting smile spreads across your face, "I'm actually kind of jealous of that. And with you, I bet that you must feel a lot of pressure to look out for your brother and sister, huh?" Madison shrugs sheepishly.

"That's a lot of responsibility, but at the same time, your siblings will appreciate you for it. They may not show you or tell you - they'll still be the same pains in the butt, however once you're all grown up, they will understand how much you've been there for them along the way. Whether you realize it or not, they look up to you. So, the greatest thing you can do for them is be the best version of yourself. By trying your best and working hard, they will learn to do that too - from you." You smile warmly at her and she returns the gesture.

It's not long after that Madison begins opening up. She explains what classes she has trouble with and how she feels about learning it. The information is invaluable and you take notes to plan out future sessions.

Madison's mother arrives a few minutes late to pick her up, but the girl flashes you a friendly smile as she leaves. You hope that you've given her more self-confidence and a little motivation to put forth her best efforts.

After you close the door behind them, Sonny pops around the corner and places a hand on the small of your back. He whispers softly into your ear. "You're amazin’, sweetheart." His breath causes a shiver to trickle down your spine.

"What? Why?" you question as Sonny slips his arms around the front of your waist.

Resting his chin on your shoulder, he continues. "The way you were talkin’ to Madison earlier. You've got so much compassion ‘n understandin’."

The warmth of his words radiates throughout your body. You lean your head against his, reaching up to touch the apple pendant hanging around your neck.

"Sorry for eaves droppin' but I heard my name 'n everythin' you were sayin' was just too sweet to turn away. You're definitely in the right profession. Your students are lucky to have you."

You turn around in his arms, slipping yours around his middle. "Thank you, Sonny," you murmur before placing a soft kiss to his nose. "That means a lot."

Sonny's eyes crinkle affectionately at the corners. "N' for what it's worth, you're gonna make an amazin' mom someday too. Watchin' you with her, it was all I could think about."

Your stomach somersaults. You do want kids one day and you can't imagine having them with anyone other than Sonny. "Yeah?" you smirk. "I want that for us one day too. The way you are with children melts my heart."

Sonny's features brighten. "Ya think I'd make a good dad?"

"Absolutely!" You poke his chest gently, right overtop his heart, "you got a lotta love in here, Carisi and someday our children will be the luckiest wee munchkins in the world getting to experience the love that I receive everyday."

Overwhelmed with elation, Sonny lifts you off your feet and into a giant bear hug; a silent declaration that you make him the happiest man in the world.

---

Fun facts:

- IDK if "The Lean Bean" is a real place or not, but it's a pretty accurate description of our favorite detective ;) - The story about the reader's calculus experience is a true story! Except, I'm Canadian so the drive is a little bit further :P

I hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for reading :3

(Feedback is loved)

Part 11 here!

#sonny carisi x reader #sonny carisi #my fanfic #sonny carisi x you #law and order svu #svu fanfiction #sonnyshine of my life #The Changes verse #Changes

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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775

Do you always carry breath mints? No, I don’t find it essential considering I only get (or got, by now) a certain allowance per week and my budget is usually just right to fit in food, gas, other necessities, and maybe one or two nights of eating out. JM always brought a pack of those every day though and if I felt like I needed one, it was easy to ask him for one. On a side note, it’s so weird having to type these out in the past tense now that that part of my life is virtually over... What is the point of scented pens/pencils/erasers? I don’t think they have one. They’re just fun to have around if they’re new to you and you have a bit of extra money to buy them. Do you buy/wear band-aids with cartoon characters on them? No but we do have packs that come in different colors, which is entertaining enough for me. Are you amused by celebrity fashion flubs? Egh, not as much these days but it’ll sometimes be fun to look at what people are wearing at major events like the Oscars and Met Gala to see who hit the mark and who didn’t. What do you think your reaction would be upon entering the White House? Political feelings aside, I think I’d be as excited going there as I would be going to other tourist destinations. Bonus points if they’ve got a museum inside.

Do you buy and wear crazy looking socks? I wouldn’t call them crazy-looking, but I do like socks with wackier designs like if they’re sushi-themed or burger-themed haha. Would you run down the street wearing a tutu, fishnets, & flippers? That literally just sounds like a task that other college orgs make their applicants do as part of their application process. I’d do it if it was a dare or if something’s in it for me, but I wouldn’t on my own. Have you ever grown your own sea monkeys or dinosaurs? I don’t know what you mean. Would you want to travel into deep space? You kidding? I’ve wanted to go to space since I first read about people going to the Moon. I’d for sure do it if it was offered to me. Have you ever thrown a game controller (or the game) and broke it? Nah but pretty similar; I’ve often smacked my laptops when something goes wrong, like if the internet isn’t fast enough or if it hangs.

Did you ever own an Etch-a-Sketch? No. I think my mom did though. Do/did you ever have glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling? Nope, but my dad’s family in Tondo had these, in my cousins’ room. When we went over to visit we’d typically spend the night, so every time it was lights out the stars were my favorite thing to see cause they felt pretty magical to me. Does your house have an attic that had stuff in it when you moved in? No. We don’t have an attic but our third floor is our rooftop. What movie were you really worked up for that ended up disappointing you? Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. And this is gonna get so much flak, but The Shawshank Redemption. Does/did your school have special dress-up days? No for both schools I’ve been in. I do appreciate the fact that my current school has no dress code though. What cartoons did you watch when you were little? A lot, since kids are supposed to watch cartoons anyway lol. My favorite ones were Spongebob, Fairly OddParents, Mr. Bean, The Wild Thornberrys, Jimmy Neutron, House of Mouse, and The Emperor’s New School. Do you eat peanut shells along with the peanuts? I don’t. Have you ever gone white-water rafting? Nope. What part of a paper is hardest for you to write? Introduction. It sets the tone for your entire paper so if it isn’t good or appealing enough, it’s hard to follow through and come up with an excellent piece overall. Does your grandma wear an apron when she cooks? I never saw her wearing one, no. This is your chance to get it out! Place random rant here: Get me the fuck out of this house. How often do you need "me" time? These days I’ve had so much of it I wouldn’t even want it anymore for a while after this lol. Normally though, it’s important for me to have this at the end of the day. I’m always with a bunch of people and friends everyday in school and recharging by being alone is vital to me. Does it bother you that almost everything is done on computers now? Sometimes it can feel impersonal, like if you get invited to a debut or wedding through Facebook. But most of the time I find it convenient because everything is instant now. Have you ever gotten stuck in a revolving door? I don’t think so. There was a time I had fun going around a revolving door at the City of Dreams entrance for a few turns because I hadn’t seen one in a while hahahaha but I didn’t get stuck. Who is your favorite superhero? Not big on that whole genre. I guess I like Wonder Woman. KFC Chicken: original or extra crispy? Original please. What class in school do/did you secretly love? Idk, if I like a class I’d be vocal about it lol. What animal do you most resemble while eating? A human? Pop-Tarts vs. Toaster Strudels. Discuss: I’ve never had the second one and I really like Pop-Tarts, so the verdict here is prrrrretty obvious. Do you believe there are subliminal messages in songs? Like...Illuminati-wise? Lmao not at all, but people sure were busy trying to prove this about Beyonce and Lady Gaga back in 2009. I do think other intentional forms of subliminal messages exist, like how Hayley was actually singing the word ‘mercy’ when she sang the chorus to Simmer. Think about your first kiss. Did you have any idea what you were doing? No, she had to teach me how to move my lips and to not be scared and just go with the dance, because I was very nervous. Would you play Jumanji, if given the chance? I’ve never seen the movie, both original and remake.

Name a song lyric you heard wrong the first time and what it really said: I can’t recall an instance at the moment. Do you text/call while going to the bathroom? (Go multitasking!) I’ll bring my phone so I can scroll through Reddit or play games. Do you always make sure your cell phone is charged before going somewhere? Most of the time. I’ll still forget sometimes, though. Did you get Happy Meals just for the toys as a kid? No. They weren’t my kind of toys so I didn’t really ask my parents for Happy Meals. I asked for other toys I knew I’d have more use out of instead. Have you ever seen your parents cry? If so, how did it make you feel? My mom. She was crying because my sister did a very kiddie mistake, and I was mostly indifferent because at that point our relationship was severed, and also why the fuck would you cry over a little booboo your 8 year old daughter did? She was being dramatic that day and I had no fucking time nor pity for it. What are your thoughts on Chuck Norris? I mostly know him as a 9GAG meme but other than that I know nothing of him. Did you answer that last question with a random Chuck Norris fact? No.

What is the most annoying sound in the world? Boomers complaining and getting their uninformed opinion out in the open. Do you honestly care about calories and fat content? No. How do you feel about animal testing? Fuck outta here. Do you often shift blame towards others? No. This is what my mom did and continues to do, and like I’ve said before I’ve made it my life’s mission to not do the things she did. Do you ever feel like you're smarter than your boss? I don’t have a boss. But I definitely didn’t doubt my internship boss, she was obviously very wise and had gone through a lot to get to where she is today. Your very first best friend: Is he/she STILL your best friend? No. Do you add condiments to your ice cream, or just eat it plain? Nah dude what the hell? Have you ever witnessed a crime? I saw a car very nearly run over a group of pedestrians walking on the pedestrian lane, but the driver was able to hit the brakes before they hit them hard. What's the coolest personalized license plate you've ever seen? Not a lot of cool plates here considering we’re only allowed a maximum of three letters and three numbers. If a plate is personalized it’s usually the driver’s initials and birthday, and that is hardly interesting lol. Did you ever have a piggybank that literally ate your money? No.

#survey #surveys

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aggresivelyfriendly · 6 years

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Mistletoe-

Little Holiday one-shot! Merry Merry!

He's just Harry in Holmes chapel: it's why he goes home as often as possible. Much as he loves his life- is thankful for his life, it's always a performance. He considers his trainers and socks before the gym far to much for instance. When he's home for Christmas, his mom has declared it a fitness free zone. Which he complains about, but secretly thrills at. His mom's baking, the excuse to overindulge, and rest. Real rest. Holmes Chapel is the softest place to land.

But after a few days, maybe five, he gets a little restless and the emails he sends himself, usually a list of people to send gifts to, what food to eat, what book to read, get a little boring. Even to him.

When he was younger the list usually included what friends to see. That had a lot to do with how early he had left the nest. Most of his peers had stayed through college, and they'd be home at the holidays from uni. There was often some kind of meet up at a pub, for instance for most of the time he was in the band on the rare occasion he made it home. But the last few years, when he has actually had time to come home, real time, not snatches stolen inspite of his schedule, his friends were not there. They are in new stages of life where they are too busy and too broke to come home.

It's why he nearly drops the bun he'd decided he needed for an excuse to go to Mandeville's. Truly, he just wanted to have his cheek pinched and his bum smacked by Mary, but he had to at least make a noise about a bun. That woman had worked at the bakery as long as he could remember, possible since he was born. Her energy was contagious, he'd float all day on her approval.

It's not Mary that nearly makes him drop his bun.

He hadn't seen Keira, since he was, 20? He thinks? No, not 20, he'd been turning 20 in two months and everybody had gone out to celebrate since most would be out of town on his actual birthday, him included. Keira had been, predictably, with Tom.

Keira has always been with Tom. And Tom and Harry had always been something like mates. At least friends enough that Harry always felt guilty for just how much he loved Keira's eyes.

Her eyes. And her lips. Really Harry had loved her face. The tone of her hair was something too. She wasn't ginger, but she wasn't blonde or brunette. It was some kind of auburn he'd only seen on her. She was tall, just a bit shorter than him, maybe two inches, and she'd been so sporty in school, she'd kick around with all the boys. But she was never one of the boys to him. And she loathed watching sports or playing video games, the few times he and the boys would go to Tom's for a match she would go home, or read a book.

Harry loved when she read books, in the window seat, and the sun would hit her hair and it would look really red then, even her eyebrows would have the Burgundy tint, and he'd feel a little drunk on her wine.

He was pretty sure he hid it well. Tom had never seemed to notice, hadn't even given Harry a queer look for how long he tended to look. Harry assumed that was because Tom never payed her enough attention. He took her for granted, they'd been together so long, he felt entitled to her company.

It rubbed Harry the wrong way, never enough to do anything, say anything, because he never cheated or talked bad about her. He was just.....complacent.

Harry thought Keira was too special to be that way. But he had no say, or a smidgeon of a right. He lived on tour buses and hotel rooms, other continents and nowhere near her.

It just bugged him so much the way Tom talked about uni as a chance to be free of her. It had only been once. Harry had never forgot it.

"She's great, I mean, I love her, and she's great fun," he's leered and the laugh in response around him pissed Harry off, though Tom hadn't said anything really offensive. "But, the same girl for forever? I need at least a 3 year break. Then I'll marry her, if she's not slagged about too much while she's away."

What the fuck was that? He was planning to fuck around, but her doing it meant she'd not be worthy of his inadequate carcass anymore.

Harry thought Keira was worth ten of Tom, at least three of him. He hoped she "slagged" about enough to realize what an idiot she was signing up for. Part of him hoped he was around if she did decide to sow any oats, he'd love to be her mill.

Harry had been a little excited when she'd come to his kinda birthday party. He assumed that by then Tom had got his wish and was banging around Bournemouth. It had genuinely shocked him when Tom had tumbled in after her and wrapped a proprietary arm around her shoulder. She'd looked flushed though, happy. All night, whenever Tom was nearby she'd looked pleased.

Harry liked when she looked like that, despite the reasons.

He'd heard a rumor that they had broken up, but were newly reunited just that day.

It had been four years since then. And based on Tom's stated plans, Harry's first course of action, when he got over her presence, had been to check her left hand. He was expecting at least an engagement ring.

She was wearing a ring, but just the band he remembered on her pinky.

Her ring finger was bare.

"Harry?" Oh! He knew that face, when she was genuinely pleased, and her eyes and lips topped up at the corner and her brown eyes sparkled. "I hadn't heard you were home! I haven't seen you in ages! What's it been, like." Her eyes slanted right to think.

"It's been four years, think it was just before my twentieth." He didn't need to think about it. He thought about it a lot.

"Fuck's sake, that's right!" And she took the steps between them before he could stop thinking about how her hair looked like Bordeaux in this light, her eyes lit by the old incandescent bulbs like bourbon. the sun was behind the clouds, and the small space was homely.

She shone by comparison.

He was such a romantic fool.

He would have rolled his eyes at himself, if she wasn't wrapping her arms around his neck. She didn't have to tip toe which he liked, but her face slotted into his neck. Harry closed his arms around her and he clung. Took an unsubtle whiff. He loved the way she smelled. Not that he got to be that close often. But one day she'd been on the couch next to him reading as he'd gotten his ass kicked at fifa because he was so distracted by what she was wearing. He'd asked her. "What's your perfume?" It had slipped out before he could stop himself.

She quirked her brow at him. And he'd felt compelled to say something. "Um...I need to buy Gems something. I'm at a loss. It smells nice."

She smiled at him fondly, but like lots of people who spent time with him did. He could be a little odd, surprisingly awkward he'd been told.

"It's called Alien. Which suits you, I'd say." And she'd knocked him with her shoulder. He'd been newly 16.

Newly smitten.

He'd smelled it on her another time. They'd been playing soccer and he'd scored a goal, which was rare, it was her assist, so they'd hugged, and under her sweat, he'd smelled a layer of sweet.

Whenever he smelled it he thought of her. He wished it was more.

She still wore it now. "You still wear the same perfume." It wasn't a question.

Keira smiled and bit her lip once she got her eyes on him. "I always have, and I always remembered you complimented it. I think I kept wearing it because you said that! Even then I admired your style, though it's certainly evolved, and I worshipped Gemma! Did you know that?" She asked but didn't give him time to answer. "I figured if you thought it good enough for Her, I'd stick with it. Plus, my dad puts it in my stocking. I should be getting another bottle in a few days."

"You staying through Christmas then?" Harry wanted to see if he'd see her again.

"Yeah, got in late last night, surprised mum and dad. I told them I couldn't afford to come home, but I figured me being around was a bit of a present. So I took off days and they will be getting trinkets." She shrugged and her smile was bright. He'd always loved her wide smile. It was so big, her whole body smiled. The presence was big enough to be contagious. "How about you, how long are you round for? Should we sit?"

Harry gestured to the small table and two chairs that was older than both of them, sat his bones down when she nodded. "Um, think I'm here at least until after Christmas. Will probably go back to London for New Year." He pinched his lip. He might stay if she was. "You?"

"I think I'm here through Boxing Day. Then I need to go back to London as well. I need to work, living there's why I can't afford to come home and buy presents."

It was on his mind. He was just gonna ask. "Did you get something for Tom?"

The right side of her face quirked up and her mouth fell open in surprise. "Tom? I always forget how much you've been away..." she leaned back in her chair and sighed. "No, definitely not. I've not bought him a present since.....well the Christmas after I saw you. So years. He had this habit or getting back with me when we were home on breaks, and breaking up with me when he got back to uni." She laughed. "I suppose it's better than cheating on me. But it was a dick move. One I allowed him too many times," She shook her head to clear the subject. "Anyway, What about you? Who'd you have to buy for?"

His brow furrowed a moment. Was she asking him if he was single? That was kinda of what he was asking her, without asking her. Though she wasn't with Tom, that didn't mean she was single. He'd have to be more direct. He sucked at this shit. Prolly why Jeff set him up multiple times. If your manager and another person's were involved, you were usually safe to assume attraction. "Well, like, just the usual people, my mum and gem, her boyfriend, grans, the little cousins. My god children."

"Did you say god children? You have more than one?" Delight danced in the pink apples of her cheeks. Bite them.

"I have a few."

"They know you are a 25 year old single male, yes?" She was laughing at him.

"You wouldn't trust your child with me?" I'm not 25 yet danced through his mind.

"No, I wouldn't trust my nonexistent child to you. You are never in one place long at all!" She pointed at him.

"That's true, but I'd slow down if something happened. I think it's more honorary anyway. And I'm good with kids."

"I remember that, actually, do you remember when we did that service project and we coached the little footie team?" Her smile was wide like the sky.

Course he did, he was pretty sure that was when he went from thinking she was pretty to infatuation. Feeling jealous of Tom and not a little covetous. "Course, Yeah, you were great with the kids."

"Yeah, I baby sat a lot. But I wasn't as good as you, though thankfully I was better than you at football. We'd never have won except for me." She slapped at his forearm and it occurred to him that was the third time she'd initiated contact. The hug, and she'd squeezed his hand at some point, and now she'd slapped his forearm and then left her hand there.

"That's true." He dimpled at her. "I dunno, people just seem to pick me. Maybe cuz they know I have more than enough financially?" He shrugged it off this time, "Are you going to the Sullivan's on Christmas Eve?" She'd been to that party a time or two when they were younger. His mum and Nancy Sullivan were good friends, they always went. Well, his mum and Robin did, he'd go with her this year. He knew his mum missed his step dad most right now. Lonely holidays. He'd been trying to be home longer on big days, or make sure Gemma was.

"Um, my parents are going. I think. I hadn't decided." She cocked her head to the side and he was gone. Her cheeks were still pink. "Are you going?" She squeezed his forearm.

"I'll go if you do." He blinked, in the way Nick loved to point out. Slow, and sleepily, but it always seemed to come across, even if he got the piss taken for it.

"Yeah, Yeah. Should I hang around the punch bowl or the wine, do you think?" She bit her lip. Wow, he'd seen her look at Tom like that, once, and he'd had to leave a party. She was looking at him now. He found himself calf blinking again, and wanted to slide his arm back to get ahold of her hand with his. That may be a little blunt, like an anvil to the head.

"The mistletoe." Ahh, now her cheeks went pink too. That was fairly blunt as well, but flirty. He did flirty well, sometimes. Sometimes, he was into it and whoever wasn't, he hoped it was his baggage and not him.

Keira's cheeks and the way she bit her lip made him think she was into it. "Should I take tips for kisses then? Make up for my lost wages coming home instead of working, Yeah?"

"Well, that's one course of action," he paused and finally flipped his arm and caught her hand when he slid his palm under hers. "Or you could just try to time it for when I'm nearby, if you wanted to?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Her pupils were almost swallowing her brown iris. She's leaned in too, he could smell the tea she had in her mug, Yorkshire.

"Well, if I'm honest, I've been wanting to catch you under the mistletoe since we were 15."

"Yeah?" Her voice was so breathy it put wind in his sails.

"Definitely."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

"Harry, stop fluffing your bloody hair and get in the car, mum is gonna leave you, you daft boy." Gemma called from the doorway. He had been fapping about with his hair for ages. But he was fairly certain Keira was gonna come, and he was gonna hang out by the mistletoe with a drink to cool his heels all night if he had to.

"Just a minute!" He called.

"You said that 20 minutes ago. Mum's fed up. We are leaving. You can walk!" Oh, siblings.

"I have a car!" He shouted down the stairs. Lots of them, even one he kept at his mum's.

"I know, but if you want to ride with us, get your arse down here."

He gave his growing curls one last look. It would do. Harry knew his hair was in a kind of awkward phase, he'd seen some shrek memes about it. Hurtful. But he'd been here before. It would be good in a few months. And it was long enough to wind around fingers while he was being kissed. He loved that, he wondered if Keira would put her hands in his hair.

He wanted to put his hands in her long auburn hair. He thought they may have kissed at the bakery or on the walk home, had Mary not bustled in and dragged him in the back to fuss over him. It was what he had gone there for, and he loved it. But his focus had shifted.

His focus was on little bits of green used to excuse inhibitions.

The drive was about his nerves though. Gemma teased him. He'd accidentally mentioned Keira being home. His mum had a knowing look, but hadn't said anything.

Gemma was not the silent type.

"Do you still have a crush on her then?" She had laughed at him and he'd narrowed his eyes and not responded. That had been the afternoon after the bakery.

His mum had causally said she saw Keira's mum at the market, "Sheila said they'd be at the party." She'd touched his shoulder and handed him a grocery bag.

He knew that.

But the confirmation was nice.

He was still a bit nervous on the way over to the party.

He was nervous for the first hour or so.

She wasn't there.

Until she was. He might have smelled her first.

He'd been refilling his wine glass, well he'd been hanging around the drink table, since they arrived. It was closest to the door.

He heard Kate Sullivan greeting somebody and as he turned like the mailman was down the way with a hopes for package, he caught her smell. Harry was smiling before he laid eyes on her.

She was too.

They'd hugged hello, and she's smelled better close up. Felt lovely pressed long up his front. He had hoped she would stay by him for a long while.

"Hiya Harry!" She'd glowed at him, brighter than the cinnamon candle he'd liked almost as much as his usual brand Mrs. Sullivan had going.

"Keira!" He'd not let her out of his arms, but had given enough space to look down at her creamy cheeks. She settled and he thought they may not need mistletoe.

Then he lost track of her for ages. Her mother had dragged her away to make the rounds.

At one point he'd seen her talking to a boy from college, he was a couple years older. She was laughing. All music notes and berry lips and sour stomach for him.

He was sulking, Gemma said, "just go talk to her!" And rolled her eyes at him.

Right, he was gonna do that. He was working himself up to it.

And then, he saw her, and she was walking towards him. Where he was awkwardly off to the side, alone.

"I haven't seen any mistletoe," Keira shrugged. He loved that she was so tall. "Luckily, I brought my own." She smirked and brought her hand aloft above his head, a small spirit of green with a festive bow. She could easily reach above his head.

She tasted better than she smelled.

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waveridden · 6 years

Text

FIC: glued together moments

hello! I’m buying dessert 4 my roommate (very nice guy) who just got dumped, would one of u like to be his valentine? or his friend! That’s good 2! Thank u <3 !!! (A NeoScum college AU, vague Tech/Z, 2.1k)

AUcember || title lyric || based on a true story || read on ao3

“Tech.” Pox flicks a little crumpled-up ball of paper directly at his face. It bounces off his nose. He doesn’t even react. Pox pouts, and he doesn’t react to that either, which is even worse. “Teeeeeeech.”

“Not now,” Tech says, which is completely unfair.

“That’s completely unfair,” Pox announces. “You’re moping again!”

He sighs. “Yeah, Pox, I’m moping again. It’s almost like-”

“It’s almost like you’re no fun anymore! We should do something fun.”

Tech fixes Pox with a look. Pox can guess what this look means. It means something boring and sad like “Pox, my girlfriend dumped me three days before Valentine’s Day, and even though we were only sort of dating, it still hurts, and I’m not in the mood to try and do fun things without her.” Pox understands in theory, but in practice Tech is absolutely no fun to be around right now.

And, okay, she wants her roommate to be happy. So she needs an idea to make him happy. Like getting him a present. Or getting him food.

Pox jumps down from her bed, which is lofted so high she can barely sit upright. “I have an idea to make you happy,” she announces. “I’m going to order us dessert.”

“Dessert,” Tech repeats. He doesn’t seem excited at all about the prospect of chocolate. Pox’s heart clenches a little bit. He must really be heartbroken if he doesn’t want chocolate. “Why?”

“Because it’s Valentine’s Day, and everyone should get chocolate!” She wanders over to her desk and opens up her laptop. “There has to be somewhere that delivers dessert, for Christ’s sakes.”

“Pox,” Tech starts, but the spark of annoyance is the most life she’s heard in his voice in a couple days.

She claps her hands. “Don’t you think there should be dessert delivery? We should start that business! We’d be rich!”

“Neither of us own cars.”

“We can hire people!”

“Neither of us can bake.”

“I can bake!”

Tech sits up in bed, which is practically a miracle. He’s glaring at her, but he’s still sitting up for what might be the first time all day. “You’re not allowed to bake, we decided this.”

Pox gasps and clutches her chest as dramatically as she can. “Tech! I’m an incredible baker!”

“You lit the dorm kitchen on fire.”

“It was a mistake!”

“It’s happened three times.”

“It was an accident all three times!”

“You were trying to boil water all three times,” Tech says, like that’s his trump card, and it is, but she resents it all the same. “Besides, we don’t have to execute the idea, we just have to sell it to someone who can, and then we get money because it’s our IP.”

Pox frowns. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Why not?”

“Because I just don’t.” She goes back to her laptop and types in “cookie delivery now please,” because Google might give her better results if she says please. Sure enough, a local bakery pops up, and they do deliveries. “Ooh! I’ve got something! What do you want?”

“Pox, I can’t-”

“My treat,” she says firmly. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Tech goes quiet for a long minute. When Pox glances over, he’s staring at her with scrutiny, like he’s trying to solve a puzzle or something.

Pox coughs loudly. “Also, I’m sad that that sorority girl didn’t call me back,” she says, trying to give him an out before he has to deal with more of his feelings. He can deal with hers. It’s only fair, or something. “And I am in the mood to buy things to feel better.”

“Retail therapy,” Tech says, but he’s smiling slightly now, and Pox can relax a little bit. “I told you not to trust her.”

“But all of the other ones have been so nice,” Pox sighs, turning to her laptop. “Delta Beta Lambda, it just rolls off the tongue, it’s so lovely, isn’t it?”

Tech mouths the words to himself a couple times, whispering slightly. “No,” he says at last, and Pox can’t help but snort, hunching her shoulders as she laughs. “Greek is an ugly language.”

“But that’s just the alphabet, innit? Imagine if we had a group called… called…” Pox screws up her face, trying to imagine the ugliest combination of letters. “The NSA or something.”

“Pox, the NSA is a real thing.”

“Is it a fraternity?”

Tech shakes his head. “I think it’s a sports thing.”

“Ew.” Pox wrinkles her nose and clicks through to the menu. “Do you want cookies? Chocolate chunk? White chocolate cranberry?”

“Lala loved cranberries,” Tech sighs. Pox has to fight the urge to bury her head in her hands. She was so close, so close! But he’s already sinking back into bed.

Pox cranes her neck to try and see his face, but he’s already putting a pillow on top of his head. Damn it. “Tech?”

“Get me whatever,” he says, muffled by the pillow. “Just wake me up when it’s here.”

“Tech,” she sighs, but he rolls over instead of answering.

Pox bites her lip and looks at her computer screen. She and Tech were randomly assigned roommates, but he’s probably her best friend here at uni, one of the only people who understands what it’s like to be far away from home. She’d been so happy when he dated Lala, because it seemed like he was coming out of his shell. And now he’s back to square one.

But chocolate fixes everything. So she starts clicking on desserts at random: a pie for her, brownies for them to share, a box of cookies for him, nothing with cranberries or walnuts or anything else that could potentially remind him of Lala. A triple chocolate cake, which she will share if and only if he asks, which he won’t, so it’s really just for her. She has money squirreled away for things like this, and she thinks it’s time to splurge, so she barely spares a second to make sure that the total is less than her rainy day fund before breezing through the order.

But then there’s another field blinking up at her, one that actually makes her pause. One that she could use.

Do you want to leave a note for our bakers?

Pox chews on her lip, thinking it over. Ordinarily maybe she’d say something about how she appreciates the chocolate, or just ask them a silly question, but this is something she’s doing for Tech. She should do something nice for him, right? Something that’ll stop him from being so torn up about Lala. Maybe he needs a date! It is Valentine’s Day, after all.

She flutters her fingers on her desk and then starts typing: hello! I’m buying dessert 4 my roommate (very nice guy) who just got dumped, would one of u like to be his valentine? or his friend! That’s good 2! Thank u <3 !!!

There. That’ll help.

She spends about forty minutes fooling around on her phone, playing Candy Crush and Snapchatting all of the DBL ladies in her classes. They all ignore her, because sororities are like that. Maybe Pox should rush next year. Just to surprise them.

And then her phone rings, and she nearly drops it in excitement. “Hello!”

“Hey, uh, is this…” there’s a pause as the guy checks something. “Pox? Who just ordered maybe the most baked goods I’ve ever seen?”

“That’s me!” Pox stretches a foot up and starts tracing circles on the ceiling. “Are you in the lobby?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I just want to double check about your note.”

“What about it?”

“Are you trying to set your roommate up with me?”

She sticks her tongue out and starts drawing swirls with her toe. “Not really, you know? I just want him to meet someone new. And you’re new to him, probably. What’s your name?”

“Zenith.” He pauses. “Most of my friends call me Z.”

“Excellent! Hello, Z.” She switches feet to start slashing through the invisible spirals with her other foot. “Would you like to meet my friend Tech? He’s a little shy, but he could use more friends, and he’s a nice guy most of the time.”

“Can he… hear you?”

Pox spares a glance at Tech’s bed. He’s not moving. “I think he’s sleeping.”

“You think?”

“Well, I’m not saying anything that isn’t true. I’m just trying to get him to meet people! He doesn’t know enough people.”

Z pauses to mull that over. “Okay, sure. Well, I’m in the lobby, so whenever you want to come down-”

“Of course!” Pox rolls off her bed, landing neatly on her feet, and stretches out to jostle Tech’s bed with one foot. “We’ll be down in a second, thank you!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Z says, and hangs up. Pox beams. She’s going to have to tip him very, very well.

“Was that dessert?” Tech asks from underneath the pillow. He sounds groggy, like he really was asleep, and Pox is a little relieved.

“Yes, Tech, we have to go!” She pushes at his mattress a little harder. “I need you to come, I ordered too much to carry by myself, come on!”

Tech groans, but he rolls out of bed and rubs at one eye with the heel of his hand. “I’m not putting on shoes for this.”

“Neither am I,” Pox says cheerfully. “Let’s go, come on, I want my pies!”

“Pies, plural?”

“Pie singular, desserts plural.”

“Great,” Tech says, and yawns as he says it. Pox loves him, very much. “Let’s go.”

He’s quiet as they amble down the stairwell. Tech is at least wearing socks, which Pox forgot, so her toes are cold by the time they get to the lobby. Tech stifles another yawn as she looks around, scanning the room, and then locks eyes with the guy standing by the door. He has a stack of dessert boxes on the floor next to him that’s nearly as high as his knees.

Pox elbows Tech. “That’s him!”

Tech follows where she’s pointing and then freezes. “That’s him?”

“Look at the boxes, it has to be!”

“That’s the guy from my intro philosophy class.”

Pox frowns. He’s mentioned intro philosophy guy a couple of times. Descriptions have included mysterious, edgy, cool, and “he looks like he owns a special keyboard just for gaming and it’s kind of fucking hot.” She wouldn’t have used any of those for the guy standing by the door with a stack of pastry boxes and an undercut, looking slightly uncomfortable, but she wouldn’t have dated Lala, either, so maybe she and Tech just have different taste.

“Let’s go get our food,” she says, and fastens a hand around Tech’s arm. He makes a noise of protest, but she drags him forward resolutely. Zenith already promised that he would give Tech his number - or did he? she can’t remember, but he has to, if they’re friends already - so there’s no way for this to go wrong.

Z looks between them, slightly confused, before landing on Tech. “Intro philosophy?”

“Yeah,” Tech says, cheeks flushed. “Yeah, uh, my roommate here has a sweet tooth.”

“Hello!” Pox waves before fishing in her pocket. “We needed dessert today.”

“Yeah, I got that impression.” Z nudges the stack with his toe. He’s wearing some very cool boots. Pox likes his boots a lot. “You paid online, right?”

“Yes, I did!” She finally pulls out a twenty dollar bill, the last cash she has on her. “This is for you.”

Z takes it, looking bemused. “Thanks.”

“Holy shit,” Tech whispers. “How much dessert is this?”

“It’s enough for today.” Pox bends down and grabs the first couple of boxes off the stack. “It was good meeting you, Zenith, I’ll let you and Tech catch up.”

“He didn’t say his name,” Tech says suspiciously. “What are you-”

“Actually,” Z says, and Pox and Tech both stare at him. He’s standing as cool and casual as can be, but Pox can definitely tell that he’s nervous about something. “I wouldn’t mind that. Talking to you, I mean.”

“Oh.” Tech straightens up in surprise. “O-okay?”

Z shrugs. “Yeah, I need to talk to someone about that crazy shit Marco was saying the other day in class, you know?”

Tech laughs in surprise. “Yeah, that guy… he’s something, isn’t he?”

Pox nudges Tech as she turns around. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” she says, and heads back to the dormitory door. As she reaches it, she glances over her shoulder, fully intending to mouth something at Z, but he’s already talking animatedly to Tech. And Tech is standing a little straighter, looking more like himself than he has in days.

Pox smiles to herself as she keys herself back into the dorm. She knew that ordering dessert would be a great idea. It fixes everything.

#waveridden.fic #neoscum #neoscum fic #aucember18 #i don't even ship it it just made sense in the context yknow #shoutout to tam for helping me with the acronym joke #and also in case you missed it at the top this is loosely based on a real thing that happened to me a couple years ago

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hannahkevin40 · 4 years

Text

Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton

#wehave #beautifuldesigns #enjoylearning

(This post, Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton), was originally written and published by The Loopy Ewe. © TheLoopyEwe, 2021)

Today we have Annie Lupton, owner of Boho Chic Fiber Co in our Spotlight. She has beautiful designs, and I know you’ll enjoy learning more about her. Annie and her family live in Cape Cod, MA.

Corelle © Annie Lupton (try it in Knerd String Sport)

Loopy: Hi Annie! Thanks for being in the Spotlight today. How long have you been a knitter and who taught you to knit?

Annie: Hi Loopy! I have been a knitter since high school so about 18 years or so now. I initially learned to knit from a book and my latin teacher in high school taught me how to knit cables! I put it aside for a while and really started getting into knitting probably my last year of college in 2008/2009. I would knit as I did my laundry in the laundromat to kill time and on the T in Boston as I commuted to school at UMASS.

Boho Texture Triangle © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Loopy: Knitting is a great pastime for those types of occasions, isn’t it? And productive at the same time. What is your favorite type of item to knit?

Annie: My favorite thing to knit is definitely sweaters, I feel like the design potential is endless and they are the knit item I most like to actually wear.

Vintage Damask © Annie Lupton (try it in Sandnes Garn Peer Gynt)

Loopy: I think it’s really wonderful to be able to knit the perfect fit, style, color and shape for sweaters. You can’t get all of that when you buy in stores. What is the most challenging thing that you have knit to date? Annie: I can’t think of one specific design that was challenging to knit. A good pattern allows you to take it step by step slowly, and I am self-taught so if there is a new skill to learn I usually can figure it out. Learning a new technique can be tricky, it took me some time to get the hang of brioche but like everything else I got much better with practice.

Kerrytown © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Lore)

Loopy: Thank goodness for YouTube help videos, when we have to figure out the new techniques. When did you start designing? Annie: I started designing when I was pregnant with my son about 6 years ago. Back then I hand spun and dyed yarn that I sold at craft fairs. I had knit a couple shawls I designed to sell and people kept asking for the patterns so I wrote them up and my design career was born. I fell in love with designing and slowly my business shifted from making and selling yarn to designing!

Mindfulness © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Canopy Fingering)

Loopy: Equally, if not more challenging, for sure. Do you have a favorite pattern that you’ve designed? Annie: It’s so hard to pick a favorite design, they are all my babies! I really enjoy knitting colorwork designs like my Cacti Crop and more complicated designs like my Boheme Crop, but I tend to wear the simpler patterns more often like my Rays Crop and Puff Crop patterns. I guess crop tops are my favorites right now haha!

Cacti Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Loopy: Well the nice thing about crop tops – less knitting! What is your favorite part of your designing? And your not so favorite part: Annie: My favorite part of designing is dreaming up ideas and doing the actual knitting. I don’t really enjoy writing the patterns, grading and editing, that takes a lot of focus and energy and I like the creative part more! Thankfully I have a wonderful tech editor who helps me get my patterns ready to release.

Meara © Annie Lupton (try it in Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool)

Loopy: Tech editors are worth their weight in gold. I couldn’t do what they do. Do you do this business full-time, or on the side? And is that hard? Do you have other jobs outside of pattern designing? Annie: I design full time now. I also have 3 young kids so it can be challenging fitting in enough work time with all my mom obligations, but I do what I can. Now they are finally all school age so in theory I have more time… But then covid came and that all went out the window as they have been home much of this year for remote learning. So I make use of weekends and nights to get work done as well.

Boho Romance Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Malabrigo Arroyo)

Loopy: I’m glad you still get a bit of time to design. What a crazy year it has been. Does anyone else in your family knit? Annie: I taught my girls (7, and 9) to knit but they haven’t really taken to it yet, I hope when they are older they will want to try again and become my knitting buddies!

All Things Autumn © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade 220)

Loopy: I hope they will want to, too! Are there other hobbies that you enjoy? Annie: Besides knitting I enjoy cooking vegan food, being in nature, walking my puppy and exercising. I cycle or run most days for my sanity!

Swanky Chic © Annie Lupton (try it in Uncommon Posh Fingering)

Loopy: Fun that you have a puppy to walk with.

What would be your favorite way to spend a day off? Annie: When you work from home and you have kids there never really is a day off haha! BUT if I had a true day off I would love to go on a daytrip with my husband, get some good food and enjoy nature. There would probably be some knitting too but no pattern writing or computer work!

Rays Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Tundra)

Loopy: Knitting for the sake of enjoyment sounds like a good addition to a day off. Ok, last questions – Morning or Night person? Coffee or Tea? English or Continental? Solids or Multicolors? Annie: I am more of a morning person but I love a good night out, Coffee 100%, I prefer solid yarn solids. I actually knit kind of a combination of styles, I throw the yarn but with my left hand!

Retro Rings © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade Heritage Sock)

Loopy: Thanks again for being with us today!

Annie is offering a discount for 20% off of on of her patterns from her Ravelry Pattern Shop. The code is: loopy (and is valid 3/5-12, 2021)

Happy Weekend, all!

Sheri

By: Sheri Berger Title: Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton Sourced From: www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2021/03/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton Published Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000 source https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2021/03/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton source https://victoriamark932.blogspot.com/2021/03/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton.html

0 notes

laylaanthony40 · 4 years

Text

Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton

#wehave #beautifuldesigns #enjoylearning

(This post, Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton), was originally written and published by The Loopy Ewe. © TheLoopyEwe, 2021)

Today we have Annie Lupton, owner of Boho Chic Fiber Co in our Spotlight. She has beautiful designs, and I know you’ll enjoy learning more about her. Annie and her family live in Cape Cod, MA.

Corelle © Annie Lupton (try it in Knerd String Sport)

Loopy: Hi Annie! Thanks for being in the Spotlight today. How long have you been a knitter and who taught you to knit?

Boho Texture Triangle © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Loopy: Knitting is a great pastime for those types of occasions, isn’t it? And productive at the same time. What is your favorite type of item to knit?

Annie: My favorite thing to knit is definitely sweaters, I feel like the design potential is endless and they are the knit item I most like to actually wear.

Vintage Damask © Annie Lupton (try it in Sandnes Garn Peer Gynt)

Kerrytown © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Lore)

Mindfulness © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Canopy Fingering)

Cacti Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Meara © Annie Lupton (try it in Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool)

Boho Romance Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Malabrigo Arroyo)

All Things Autumn © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade 220)

Swanky Chic © Annie Lupton (try it in Uncommon Posh Fingering)

Loopy: Fun that you have a puppy to walk with.

Rays Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Tundra)

Retro Rings © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade Heritage Sock)

Loopy: Thanks again for being with us today!

Annie is offering a discount for 20% off of on of her patterns from her Ravelry Pattern Shop. The code is: loopy (and is valid 3/5-12, 2021)

Happy Weekend, all!

Sheri

By: Sheri Berger Title: Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton Sourced From: www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2021/03/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton Published Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000 Via https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2021/03/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton

source https://victoriamark932.weebly.com/blog/designer-spotlight-annie-lupton

0 notes

victoriamark932 · 4 years

Text

Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton

#wehave #beautifuldesigns #enjoylearning

(This post, Designer Spotlight: Annie Lupton), was originally written and published by The Loopy Ewe. © TheLoopyEwe, 2021)

Today we have Annie Lupton, owner of Boho Chic Fiber Co in our Spotlight. She has beautiful designs, and I know you’ll enjoy learning more about her. Annie and her family live in Cape Cod, MA.

Corelle © Annie Lupton (try it in Knerd String Sport)

Loopy: Hi Annie! Thanks for being in the Spotlight today. How long have you been a knitter and who taught you to knit?

Boho Texture Triangle © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Loopy: Knitting is a great pastime for those types of occasions, isn’t it? And productive at the same time. What is your favorite type of item to knit?

Annie: My favorite thing to knit is definitely sweaters, I feel like the design potential is endless and they are the knit item I most like to actually wear.

Vintage Damask © Annie Lupton (try it in Sandnes Garn Peer Gynt)

Kerrytown © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Lore)

Mindfulness © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Canopy Fingering)

Cacti Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper)

Meara © Annie Lupton (try it in Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool)

Boho Romance Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Malabrigo Arroyo)

All Things Autumn © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade 220)

Swanky Chic © Annie Lupton (try it in Uncommon Posh Fingering)

Loopy: Fun that you have a puppy to walk with.

Rays Crop © Annie Lupton (try it in Fibre Co Tundra)

Retro Rings © Annie Lupton (try it in Cascade Heritage Sock)

Loopy: Thanks again for being with us today!

Annie is offering a discount for 20% off of on of her patterns from her Ravelry Pattern Shop. The code is: loopy (and is valid 3/5-12, 2021)

Happy Weekend, all!

Sheri

0 notes

niallsexyback · 7 years

Text

See You Again - Riley’s Plan for Life

As the movie played on the television, Niall and I snacked on our popcorn as we watched. My feet in his lap as he rubbed my sock covered toes. The kids had all gone to their rooms for the evening, no longer wanting to spend time with their parents, which allowed Niall and I a nice movie night together.

Niall drank from his beer as Riley walked into the living room. He stood in front of us, nervously shuffling his feet. “Do you need something Riley?” I asked as I paused the movie.

“Are you and dad busy next Friday?”

“Is there anything on the schedule?” The schedule, the master schedule of all our lives. It was the only way we could keep track, with mine and Niall’s busy lives, on top of all the kids’ schedules. We needed it so we wouldn’t miss any events, and to keep me sane so I knew where everyone was at any time.

“No there’s nothing on it,” he answered.

“Well then we should be free. Do you have something?”

“Um yeah…at school that night there is going to be a talent show and I would like if you two would come and watch me.”

“Of course honey, we wouldn’t miss it. What are you going to do?”

He was hesitant. “I’m going to sing.” He had always had trouble when he chose to sing. Not because of his ability, he was a beautiful singer, but because of the comparison he always got. Almost every time, someone always had to mention Niall and it was really hard for Riley to live up to him. No matter how great it was, someone always compared him to Niall.

Niall spoke, “We’ll be cheering you on from the audience, wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Thanks dad. I’m going to go practice some more.” He quickly ran back up to his room. Niall relaxed back into the couch, grabbing another handful of popcorn.

I looked at Niall. “What?”

“Niall Horan I know how excited you are right now.”

“Why would you say that?”

“You have always dreamed of your kids wanting to perform like you. And this is the first time any of them are going out and performing on their own.” I continued to stare at him.

Finally he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Okay it’s great! I’ve always wanted one of my kids to love music as much as I do.”

“But just let him do it how he wants to. If he ask for help go ahead, but let him find himself on his own.”

“Yes dear.”

When Friday night came, Niall and I were seated in the third row right in the center. Niall’s knee bounced feverishly next to me. “Calm down Niall, its one song. He’ll do fine.”

“I remember the first time I ever performed in front of a large audience, I was a nervous wreck.”

“Look at you, you’re still a nervous wreck,” I joked.

“I just hope he practiced enough.”

“Niall he’s been locked in his room for the past week practicing. I’m sure he’ll do fine.”

We followed along with the program as kids showed off their various talents. From magic to jump rope. When Riley was next, neither of us could contain our excitement. When the last act was finished, they set up the stage for him. The person who had been in charge of rearranging the stage came out with two stools. Niall and I looked at each other, both confused. “Maybe there was a change in the order,” I commented.

I was wrong when Riley walked out with his guitar, followed by a girl. “Did you know it was a duet?” I asked Niall.

“No he never mentioned it.” We waited impatiently for them to begin.

The song began, both of us looked at each other. Not because we were shocked by Riley singing, but because of the song they had chosen to sing. It was a song Niall had wrote many years ago.

Once the song was finished, Niall turned to me, “Do you think I should tell them I wrote that song after spending two days in bed with you?” He asked with a smirk.

“NO!” I responded. “You should just be proud he sang one of your songs. You don’t need to tell him what it’s about. He probably doesn’t want to know that and if he did, he’d never sing another one of your songs for fear of what they are actually about. Why don’t we go find them?”

We found Riley and his partner standing backstage talking with some of the other contestants. “Oh Riley I’m so proud of you, you did so good!” I gushed before quickly running to him and pulling him into a hug.

“Mom!” He protested.

“I’m sorry honey, I’m just so happy. But why didn’t you tell us it was a duet?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“We were definitely surprised, that’s for sure.”

“It was very good Riley,” Niall added.

“Thanks dad. Are you okay that we used one of your songs?”

“I couldn’t be more proud of you. Would you like to know what’s it about?”

“Niall!” I warned.

“Oh never mind. Why don’t you introduce us to your partner?”

“Okay.” He led us towards the new girl.” “Mom, dad, this is McKayla.”

“Hi McKayla, we’re Riley’s parents,” I said introducing us.

“Of course, I’ve heard so much about you,” she mentioned, causing Riley to blush.

“How did the two of you meet and start performing together?”

“We were both in choir and we were the only two that played guitar so the teacher wanted us to perform together so here we are.”

“Well I thought it was amazing.”

“Thank you Mrs. Horan.”

“Just call me Erin sweetie, I’m not one for formality. And it makes me feel old when you call me that. Are you two planning on continuing to playing together?”

“We’ve talked about maybe playing at little things here or there around town.”

“Well if you need anywhere to practice, our house if always open.”

Over the next several weeks, McKayla was at our house more and more. To the point where I think she was spending more time at ours than her own but I couldn’t blame her. After she had told me about herself, I knew her story. When she was younger her family was in car accident that had killed her mother and older brother, leaving her with her father. To control the grief of his loss, he began to drink his pain away. Now he was the town drunk and left her to raise herself.

Despite of it all, she was such a kind girl. She had always said please and thank you and whenever we invited her to stay for supper, she was difficult to convince we were more than happy to have her.

On a couple of occasions I had even seen her helping Riley with his homework. He was never one to really care about his school work, but since meeting McKayla I noticed his grades slowly improving. I’m not sure if he was willing to study more because she was there, or if she was forcing him to study before they practiced. Whatever it was, I was happy because I no longer had to fight with him to get his homework done. But even with her good influence, we still had to punish Riley after he snuck out to party with his teammates on the soccer team, and they ending up causing some property damage.

“So McKayla, are you going to prom next weekend?” I asked one night when was over at our house while we were eating supper.

“No, we couldn’t afford a dress and even if we could everyone already has a date.” I knew she was embarrassed about her home life. They had moved several times because her dad couldn’t keep a job and didn’t pay rent so how would they afford a dress.

“We can help you, we will buy you a dress.”

“Oh I can’t possibly accept that.”

“You will, I don’t want to hear about it again. Every girl needs to go to her high school prom. We’ll go tomorrow after school and find you a dress.”

“But I still don’t have date,” she protested.

“Niall take Riley to get a tux tomorrow.”

“I thought I was grounded?” Riley asked. “I thought I couldn’t leave the house besides school for the rest of the year?”

“Yes and you still are, but I will make an exception so you can go to prom with McKayla. I know with her you won’t get into any trouble.”

“Okay.”

As we were getting ready for bed that night, Niall walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Momma you shouldn’t be meddling.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Riley, McKayla?”

“I have to because your son is too dense to realize she likes him.”

“How do you know McKayla likes Riley?”

“They only practice for like an hour when she’s over here, the rest of the time they are just hanging out. And she helps him with his homework.”

“Maybe she just wants to get away from her home life?”

“That might be part of it, but do you see how she looks at him? And you’ve had to help him with his homework, it’s not what a call a highlight to my evening.”

“What do you mean?” He really was clueless sometimes.

“It’s the same way I look at you. Even after all the stuff you do that pisses me off, I still look at you the same way because I love you. And she is looking at Riley the same way but he’s just like his father and doesn’t see it.”

“I love you too. Let’s go to bed, you can worry about Riley’s love life tomorrow.”

There were only a few weeks until the school year was over and Riley still hadn’t picked where he was going to go to college. He had been accepted into a couple of schools already but still hadn’t picked where he wanted to go.

“Riley honey have you thought about college anymore?” He was looking in the fridge for something to eat while I was cooking supper.

“Actually I have and I wanted to talk to you and dad about it.”

“Oh great! Niall come here,” I yelled to him.

“What?” He asked as he entered from the living room.

“Riley wants to talk to us about college.”

“What have you decided?” Niall asked.

“I’m not going to college.”

“What?!” I gasped.

“I know your mother and I always said we would support you no matter what, as long as you had a good reason so why aren’t you going to college?”

“You never went dad.” Riley explained.

“I don’t think I’m a good example you should follow,” Niall answered.

“No I want to play music like you.”

“Oh.”

“We want to move to London and try to make a career of playing like you did dad. Music is the thing that makes me the happiest. I would never enjoy college.”

“If that’s what you want to do than we will help you with whatever you need. If you want me to make some calls for you than I can?” Niall offered.

“No I want to do this on my own, I don’t want you to make calls because than everyone will think it’s you who got me into the industry.”

“Okay than, on your own.”

I’d been listening to their conversation but I had caught something that seemed strange. “Riley did you say we? Who is we?”

“Um McKayla and I. We learned we really like playing together and she wants to get away from here. And after listening to all dad’s stories, I wanted to have a group rather than go out on my own,” he explained.

“If that’s what you want to do than I’m all for it,” I encouraged. “Do you have a plan?”

“We were thinking once we graduate we’d move to London. From there we would start to play at local clubs and try and get our music out. We’ll each get a job so we can also make some money.”

“Do you have any idea how you’ll live?”

“Well we were wondering if we could stay in the London house? At least until we get going and have enough money to live on our own.”

“Of course you can baby. McKayla can stay in the spare room and you can have your old room. It will be good to have someone living in it again.”

“Thanks mom. I’m going to go call McKayla and tell her.” Riley hugged me before running upstairs to his room.

That night as we were getting ready for bed I stood looking out the window. “Mum your baby is going to be fine,” Niall said as he approached behind me.

“But he’s still my little boy, and now he’s going to move half way around the world.”

“Yes but he’s not going to move to a strange location. He’s spent a lot of time there and he’s going to be staying in our house.”

“I know but he’s still leaving me.”

I heard a slight chuckle behind me. “He’s not leaving you. He’s just moving. The same if he was going off to college like every other kid in the world. We can visit him whenever you like. You’re acting like his going off to war or something.” I still wasn’t happy. “And if you’d like I can have some of my friend check up on him from time to time.”

“Would you?” I quickly turned around to look at him.

“Of course babe.” His arms slide around me to pull me flush against him. “Over the last 18 years you have prepared him for this. He is going to be fine.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise, he is going to do great.”

“Thank you Niall, you always know what to say to make me feel better.”

“That’s my job as a husband and dad. Chief supporter and encourager.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Now let’s get to bed, I’m tired.”

“You’re getting old, it’s barely ten and you already going to bed.”

“I mean we could always have some fun first. I’d be game for that.”

“That’s the Niall I know.”

Finally!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to get something posted. I hope to write more again. Let me know what you think.

#one direction #one direction fanfiction #one direction fanfic #1d #Niall Horan #niall fanfction #seeyouagain

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doyoudrew · 8 years

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How To Pull A Nancy Drew

By someone who hasn’t done it yet.... but this is my life’s work.

It’s under the cut because it’s really fucking long.

Step 1A: the most important step: realize taking the traditional route isn’t making you happy.

You can’t be Nancy if you want stability or want to go on to grad/professional school or if you are excited about your new job and want to jump right into it—it won’t be good for you. I’m doing my post-grad-family-disappointment-vagabond-journey because I hate school and I’m so burnt out I haven’t gone to a full week of class at all this semester. This is the right choice for me, and I know this because I’ve been traveling while I’m in school and realize it’s when I’m happiest. If this isn’t true for you, don’t do something like not accept your grad school offer or turn down a grown-up job. What I’m saying is: don’t do anything you’re going to regret. Pulling a Nancy Drew is still kind of a commitment. It’s one you can get out of pretty easily, but you might have to wait a while to get into the next stage of your life.

The entire point of doing this is to make yourself happy. Only take trips or internships or jobs that make you happy. Don’t do it if it’s going to make you unhappy.

Step 1B: Finish your semester/year/graduate.

This is important. Don’t just drop out of school. If you can hold out until you actually graduate, do it: then you’ll have your degree for when you decide to stop being a figurative leaf in the wind, and you can use it to get a real job. Also, some of volunternships require a 4-year degree, and they are one way to start doing what Nancy does. And, if you’d prefer real office work, you have to either be in college or have recently graduated to get traditional internships.

Step 2: Get a job.

If you’re still in college, only do this if you can work while you’re in school. If you’re out, then no offense, but you should’ve been doing something already.

The job you get is going to be crappy and not pay very well, but it is going to pay, and it’s going to be one that lets you take time off easily. I’m a server. I make pretty decent money because, not to brag, but I’m pretty good at it. I don’t have a limit on how much time I’m allowed to take off and if I feel like I’m not making enough I can pick up more shifts. More importantly, I like my job and I like everyone I work with. If you hate yours or you’re bad at it, find a new job. I realize that might sound a little “trickle-down economics”… my point is: just make sure you’re working and you don’t hate it. All of this is a personal thing, so do what works best for you. When I was in high school I worked at Zaxby’s to support my travel habit. One of my close friends was a lifeguard. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you don’t want to rip your face off when you walk into work and they let you take time off to travel.

Step 3: Stop buying stuff.

If you start reading this Step 3 and thenthink, “I already don’t buy stuff, this is really condescending, I still don’t have any money” then just skip it. My feelings won’t be hurt.

“Stop buying stuff? Easier said than done” you might say. I don’t.

You have to pay your rent, or for car repairs, or for your prescriptions, or for a new pair of contacts. I get that. You have to buy food, too. That’s not “stuff”. Those are necessities.

“Stuff” is like, a thirtieth skincare product that still smells weird and still doesn’t make you look like Jennifer Aniston. “Stuff” is, for me, a millionth pair of lacy underwear to shove in the overflowing drawer. More craft supplies that I don’t use. Another freaking mug when I have so many I can’t close my cabinet. If you can figure out what Minette means by “stuff”, you can figure out what “stuff” means for you. Maybe it’s socks or razors or DVDs. Figure it out and stop buying it.

I get it, stuff is pretty, and buying it feels nice and can occasionally work to prove to yourself that you’re an adult on a day you really need convincing. But it’s a temporary high! I can’t help you combat impulse buys (I still deal with it myself. I’m writing this and thinking of the 8—yes eight—candles I bought from Family Dollar yesterday for no reason other than ~aesthetic~ when I read at night, because I’m a hypocrite and a whore) but I can help you find cheaper shit. Use discount cards, buy things when there’s a sale, go to secondhand stores for books and clothes and furniture, when you get new clothes make sure you can wear them in more than one outfit.

I realize you probably already know all of these things. Stop Buying Stuff is probably one of the harder things to master, but you can do it. Do it in your own way. Or if you can’t, read one of the millions of Pinterest articles written by blog moms about saving money. I had to stop writing this step because I started sounding like them, which I never want to do.

TL;DR: A lot of times it feels like what I’m buying is a necessity, but it isn’t. Just be aware of what you’re buying, and don’t get it if it isn’t going to change your life.

Step 4: Where you gonna live while you’re being a bum?

At this moment in time, I live by myself in a sweet-ass apartment. I only have one very quiet neighbor, I use piles of books as furniture and my bedroom consists of a mattress on the floor, one lonely dresser, and a milk-crate as a bedside table. I love living by myself. But after I graduate, when the loan that I use for my housing runs out, am I gonna be able to stay here? Maybe not.

The reasons I probably won’t be able to stay in my apartment after August, when my lease runs out: my heating bill in the winter is insane and I won’t be able to afford it. I would be paying rent on a place I’ll be away from for weeks or months. I’ll have to repay the aforementioned loan, on top of making travel arrangements. If this sounds like you, you might have to make the hard decision to leave your home sweet apartment too.

Option one: move back home. I’m lucky enough to have a good enough relationship with my family, and for my dad to have a house big enough, for me to move in with him later if I want to. It would be the cheapest option, and I know I would get along with my roommates (i.e., my dad and my dog). Living with your parents isn’t sexy, but if your life is going to look like a cycle of working nonstop for a month and then leaving the country for a few, it’s the most pragmatic. Also, Nancy Drew still lives at home, and that’s really what this is all about.

Option two is to find some roommates. Living with someone means you still have rent and utilities to pay, but it’s much cheaper than living on your own, and you know someone will be at your house while you’re off gallivanting around the world. Make sure you like your roommates: I have had terrible experience with roommates and at this given moment, there is only one person I would actually consider moving in with—and it would cut down on my living expenses.

Of course, there are other fluke options that you personally might have. If they sound good, take them. Remember, this entire thing is just guidelines, about how I’m going to pull a Nancy—if you want to do this too, do it your own way!

Also, very importantly, your living arrangements depend on what kind of traveling you’re going to do. Want to teach English in Japan? Great, but that’ll probably last six months to a year. Want to take a road trip out West? Cool, is it a two week road trip or a month-long one? Maybe you just want to live at the beach or in a state park for a week. Do it. If you want to backpack New Zealand you could do it in two weeks, but that plane ticket is going to be hella expensive, and you need to make sure your bills are covered while you’re being a world traveler.

Step 5: The best step: Start planning your trips.

This, obviously, is completely up to you. If you do want to do things exactly like Nancy does, you’ll probably take a lot of internships. For the record, the way she lives her life is completely unrealistic, because she has absolutely no experience or direction and yet they just appear for her, and I’m jealously annoyed by that.

Trips vary in length and expenses. I recommend picking one and sticking with it. I also heavily advocate doing something like, having a work-travel-work cycle—basically you just come home to work. That’s my plan, anyway. Also, don’t forget that there’s probably cool things to do near your hometown, and you can do those things while you’re there.

If you’re afraid your degree is worthless without grad school, fear not! I’m here to tell you it isn’t. I feel confident telling you that because my degree is in anthropology, the mother of all useless degrees, and yet I have never been afraid about finding a job. When I realized I didn’t want to go to med school, I honestly just typed “anthropology degree jobs” into the indeed.com search bar and a million different jobs came up. Do that with your degree and I’m sure you’ll find a bunch of things to do with it. Also, there are several entry-level jobs that just require a degree—any degree. Indeed and Monster are also decent ways to find internships, if you’re looking for them. Anyway:

Traditional Internship finders:

http://www.internshipfinder.com/

https://www.looksharp.com/s/summer-internships

http://www.internships.com/

http://www.idealist.org/ ß for nonprofit/humanitarian/volunteer-esque types of internships or real jobs. This one is actually a site I use a lot.

(if these don’t make you happy, use google)

Short, fun, pay-your-own-way Volunteer trips:

http://www.himalayanhealth.com/ (India; I did this in the summer of 2014 and loved it, it’s an awesome program and you learn a lot while you’re there working in public health camps)

http://www.habitat.org/volunteer/long-term-opportunities/international (habitat for Humanity abroad--this is not a short trip, be warned)

https://www.volunteerforever.com/article_post/2016-best-volunteer-abroad-programs-organizations-projects (to help you decide because I don’t want to read 900 articles for this one blog post)

Et Cetera:

https://www.internationalteflacademy.com/blog/bid/51364/top-5-countries-to-make-the-most-money-teaching-english-overseas (about teaching English overseas a la Shadow at the Water’s Edge; there are several programs for this so… do your research)

http://wwoof.net/ (volunteering on farms in almost every country; a family friend did this and now speaks fluent Italian. there is an incredibly strong possibility that I will go WWOOFing in the near future)

https://www.peacecorps.gov/ (can’t forget the peace corps exists)

https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps (the peace corps’ domestic sibling, if you want to volunteer but want to stay in the states)

There are plenty of other very cool programs for pretty much anywhere you want to go. Pick a place and then use your google (that’s basically how I plan my trips).

ALSO, you can take trips just to take trips. This is generally what I personally do, except for the times I took study abroad trips in college. I’m also very about traveling domestically—these are generally cheaper trips and there’s a lot of cool stuff to see in the US. If you already have a road trip buddy, hold on to them tight.

If you’re a road tripper, you should look at how to turn your car into a camper. It can be done with almost any car (except, like, a miata, obviously). I have a pathfinder and I’m going to convert it and just leave it that way so that I can go camping at the drop of a hat—but the conversions are really simple and if you just want to convert it for a trip and then put it back , you can.

Other parting thoughts:

· If you can supplement your income by doing something creative, selling stuff, doing any type of freelancing, etc: do it.

· Paying for parking is for chumps.

· You don’t need to own more than one pair of sweatpants.

· Nancy always sounds really put together, but the reality of being a travel bum is that you’re going to be a grungy person for a while. It’s fine, because the people around you are also grungy, and really all of you are just there to have a good time.

· I cannot stress how much you don’t need a closetful of clothes.

· When packing for anything, try to be able to fit it all into a carry-on size bag. Checking bags is also for chumps.

· Get and use good soft-sided luggage, like a duffle or a frame-pack. Suitcases are real cutesy but they end up taking up a lot of space and are hard to navigate with.

· As much as I just rambled about not spending money, there are some things you should splurge for. These are: good quality versatile shoes (I love Chacos, personally), good luggage, a reusable water bottle and/or travel mug that’s going to last you, a portable charger for when there are no outlets, et cetera. But if you spend money on these things, you can’t spend money on stuff, because you’ll run out of money. Ps—you can find decent luggage at a thrift store. I bought a Kelty frame pack at a flea marker for $12. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.

· If you’re a road tripper and love camping, look into getting a pass for all the state parks in your state. If you like other things, like amusement parks, look into getting a season pass (the Carowinds family of amusement parks goes all the way up the East Coast, for instance, and there’s some kind of season pass you can get that lets you into all of them).

That’s all I have for right now. I’m sorry it took so long for me to make this (and that it’s such a long post) but I’m glad I finally did it! Feel free to message me for anything, especially if you have questions. I’m not sure if this is as clear as I want it to be, but here’s to hoping.

#nancy drew #clue crew #not nancy drew #technically #about me #pulling a nancy drew #idrk how to tag this

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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1028

survey by lets-make-surveys

1 - What was the last thing you watched on TV? The last TV show I watched was Friends, but the last thing I saw on TV was the evening news, as is always our companion when having dinner.

2 - Do you have the heating or air conditioning on at the moment? I have the fan on, like always. I just turn on the aircon in the evening because I want to be comfortable after a long day and when trying to fall asleep.

3 - When was the last time you did something to help someone else? Andi was having a dilemma about an already-secure job offer for a position they don’t 100% like vs. a job they know they would enjoy a lot more but isn’t guaranteed at all. I helped weigh out the pros and cons with them, but I didn’t necessarily stick to a position as I didn’t want to dictate a choice for them.

4 - If you have a job, have you been busier or quieter since the whole COVID thing hit? I was a student, then was unemployed, then got hired throughout this COVID fiasco so far. For the first two, life had been quiet for me and I really hated feeling like having no contribution at home. My plate is definitely a lot fuller now and I’m glad I have things to do and earn for myself while doing so.

5 - Do you spend more time on your own or with others? Are you happy with that? On my own. I think it’s best for me at the moment.

6 - Do you know anyone who has been diagnosed with autism? Yes.

7 - Have you had your wisdom teeth removed? What about your tonsils or your appendix? None of these. I’ve had a tooth removed, but it wasn’t a wisdom tooth.

8 - Are you scared of needles? Very. I hate most sharp things, and I am an embarrassment whenever I’m at the hospital and need to be pricked with something.

9 - Do you dress more for comfort, fashion or practicality? I try to strike a balance between comfort and fashion, but sometimes I’ll prioritize comfort and sometimes I’ll prioritize fashion. But practicality is definitely barely in my criteria when picking outfits.

10 - When was the last time you smoked a cigarette? I think it may have been February. I only smoke with other people and I’ve never bought my own pack.

11 - Would you rather drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate or water? In the grand scheme of things, water. But right now, a hot chocolate sounds heavenly.

12 - Do you have a lot of ornaments around your house? Yes. We also have our Christmas tree already up, so that has also boosted the amount of ornaments we have.

13 - Do you own more books or DVD’s? Books. While I have a number of DVDs, I never really an avid collector of them. My dad introduced me to torrent websites at a young age so that’s how I’ve been getting movies for the longest time.

14 - How often would you say you took surveys? Throughout the quarantine I had taken surveys daily. But with me now having work and usually being too exhausted by the end of the day, I think I’ll be back to taking surveys only on weekends now like how it was when I was in school.

15 - Have you ever worn a uniform to school or work? Yes, I had to wear a uniform in my old school.

16 - Who was the first person you had a sleepover with? Are you still in touch with that person today? It would have to be either Angela or Gabie. Yes, I still talk to both.

17 - When you were growing up, did you have any friends who were almost like family to you? Katreen’s and Angela’s families were second families to me. For a time back in grade school, Katreen’s mom actually used to pick me up alongside Katreen every Friday and then I would stay at their place until around 9 PM, when my mom would get back from work and pick me up. They did such a wonderful job making me feel like family, and I hope they’re all doing well today.

18 - Could you cook an entire Christmas or Thanksgiving Dinner entirely on your own with no help from other people or recipe books? Yes but it would not be edible.

19 - Do you cook from scratch or do you rely more on ready meals or frozen food? I rely on people in my family who can actualy cook, ha.

20 - What’s your favourite type of fast food? Is it something you eat often? KFC would have to be my favorite. Those 11 herbs and spices don’t fuck around, man. It’s not the cheapest of fast food options, so I don’t get to have it a lot and it’s usually tradition for me to get KFC only when I feel like I deserve a reward for an accomplishment or after a grueling week.

21 - If you’ve been under a lockdown or stay-at-home order, what did you find the most difficult about it? Not having been able to see my friends, go out as a group, and stay out late. Also, not getting a normal college graduation and being unable to spend my last semester as a college student just being a dumb college student doing dumb college student things.

22 - Do you still buy or read any magazines? I’ll sometimes read the online versions of magazines especially if one of them comes out with a compelling article, but I don’t follow any of them religiously.

23 - As a teenager, what did you spend most of your pocket money or allowance on? I went out with friends on the weekends, so my savings mostly went to food and Uber (back when we still had Uber, and back when none of us could drive yet).

24 - Do you have much of a sweet tooth? I have my moods for sure, but I love savory a lot more.

25 - Are there any common “popular” foods that you don’t particularly like yourself? Have people ever told you you’re odd/strange for disliking that particular food? Fruits. I get judged for it all the time, but I honestly live for the reactions hahaha. To this day it’s still my go-to fact to say whenever I have to share something about myself. There’s also sinigang, but that is such a universally-loved food and is such a huge source of pride for Filipinos that I just keep it to myself because people get genuinely annoyed/offended when they hear that I don’t like sinigang LOL

26 - Likewise, are there are any commonly hated foods that you love? BALUT

27 - Would you rather eat pizza or pasta? Pizza. Easy.

28 - Do you own a lot of store loyalty cards? I just have the one for my gas station, so no.

29 - When was the last time you read a newspaper? I had to view a newspaper article for work yesterday, but I have not read a full newspaper in years.

30 - What kind of noises can you hear around you right now? There’s the fan in my room and construction outside our house.

survey by lets-make-surveys

1 - Do you have a car? How long have you had it and how much did it cost? Yeah but it’s technically not mine; my parents made the purchase and they gave it to me as a high school graduation present. They’re also the ones who take care of and pay for its maintenance, like taking it to oil changes; so literally my only contribution has been to drive it HAHAHA. I’ve been driving it since 2016 and I’m pretty sure it cost them less than a million bucks. It was probably around P800,000–900,000.

2 - Who was the last person to send you a message on Facebook? Andi was checking up on how I’ve been. I appreciated that.

3 - What did you have for breakfast this morning? I haven’t had it yet but I will probably skip it. I might make myself coffee, though.

4 - Do you have any scented candles lit at the moment? I never have any scented candles.

5 - When was the last time you left your house? When will be the next time you go out? Yesterday afternoon. There was nothing left to do for work and my superiors hadn’t been asking me to do any tasks anymore, so I went out to get myself Starbucks before my shift was actually over, haha oops. I might be going out next Tuesday to pick up my new card from the bank.

6 - Does anyone in real life follow your survey blog? If so, does it make you think twice about some of your answers? If not, are you ever paranoid that someone will find your blog and read your answers? No. My sister has been wanting to make a survey blog but she just never got around to making it because she thinks she’ll end up being inactive; but that’s about it on the irl people front. If she ever makes one, I’d prefer we didn’t follow one another as doing so would make things awkward.

7 - When was the last time someone stopped talking to you? Have you made up with that person since? Gabie doesn’t speak with me regularly anymore. We’re not on bad terms so there’s nothing to make up, but she has told me it’s out of shame that she doesn’t initiate conversations with me these days.

8 - Who was the last person you argued or bickered with? I haven’t had an argument with anyone in a while.

9 - Do you have anything planned for the rest of the day? If you’re about to go to bed, what are your plans for tomorrow? Catch up on surveys as I haven’t done them all week, anddddd figure out what to do with my embroidery kit as I’ve run out of the provided thread :(

10 - Did you have any e-mails in your inbox the last time you checked? It’s the weekend so no, I haven’t received anything new.

11 - What time did you wake up this morning? Did you have to set an alarm or did you wake up naturally? It was 7:08 AM when I had checked. I just woke up naturally.

12 - When was the last time it snowed where you live? Probably when it was still a part of Pangaea or something. We don’t get snow on this side of the world and the nearest place that does is probably like South Korea, which is not near us at all.

13 - Does it bother you if you’re wearing odd socks? Like, mismatched ones? No, I find it cute actually.

14 - Is there anything small that bothers you way more than it should? Right now. I had sent out an event invite to certain media last Thursday for work, and one of them replied only by 6 PM last night. I only saw it by 9:30 and replied, then she got back with a question by around 9:50 PM, and at that point I decided against replying because it was already nearing 10 PM and I didn’t want to be rude. I want to reply today but it’s the weekend and I don’t wanna be the jerk that brings up work on the weekend, but I also don’t want to leave her hanging because I had technically cut our conversation short.

OK I spent the next 30 minutes thinking about it and I ended up replying hahaha. It just didn’t sit well with me to blow her off for the weekend when her last message was a question for me. So I answered her for her clarification, but I just made sure to let her know there’s no pressure for her to get back to me this weekend.

15 - Would you rather read a book, watch a film or play a video game? Watch someone play a video game, tbh.

16 - Why did you last attend a doctors’ appointment? Because my fever wasn’t going away and I wanted to get rid of it so bad.

17 - Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? The person from Pizza Hut who took my order, I think? lol

18 - How many different colours have you dyed your hair over the years? is your hair your natural colour at the moment? I’ve never had it dyed, so it has always been black.

19 - Do you prefer sweet or savoury snacks? I have moods for both, but as a whole I think I’d go for savory.

20 - When was the last time you got up to use the bathroom? A couple of hours ago.

21 - Do you spend more money on shoes or clothes? I spend more often on clothes but they aren’t always necessarily expensive. I don’t buy shoes often, but when I do they’re usually quite expensive, so. I’m not sure how to answer this question, but it goes two ways for me.

22 - Are you glad that Biden won the 2020 elections? I’m glad he won but at the end of the day he’s still just the lesser evil. I won’t really know anything until I see him and his moves in office, so I’ll have to wait until then.

23 - What kind of things do you do to try and save the planet? I segregate, turn off the faucet when it isn’t being used, never turn on my bedroom light, and before Covid I’d pick up trash I’d see at the mall.

24 - Are you, or have you ever been, vegetarian or vegan? I haven’t been either but I do opt for vegan options when I see one on the menu.

25 - What was the last thing you threw in the bin/garbage? A cotton bud.

26 - How many times a week do you exercise? Do you think that’s enough or should you really be doing more? I never do. I know I should probably do so, but eh.

27 - When was the last time you had to cancel or re-arrange plans you'd made? What was the reason behind it? LOL well...I’m currently having to rearrange and revise and adjust my entire life plans because of this stupid breakup.

28 - Have you ever had to wear braces? Yes. But I’ll have to avail them again because I did a terrible job keeping my retainers on.

29 - What cut of jeans do you prefer? Mom jeans that are a little more loose than skinny jeans, but aren’t too baggy.

30 - If you’re planning to spend the day at home, do you get properly dressed or just wear pyjamas? I wear my usual getup of a t-shirt/tank top and shorts.

survey by lets-make-surveys

1 - What’s the biggest argument you’ve ever had with a family member? Did things ever go back to how they were beforehand? It was an argument with the entire family, sans my sister who stayed silently watching during the whole thing as she hates conflict. We had just flown back to Manila from a vacation and we were all just tired and impatient and hungry, my mom found a way to shift the blame on me as per usual, some words were exchanged, and my brother ended up slapping me and it was on hell on earth from there. Things weren’t ok for a whole week, but slowly life went back to normal without us ever acknowledging it because we’re dysfunctional as fuck. The one thing that never ended up changing is my dynamic with my brother, with whom I stopped speaking permanently after what he did.

2 - Have you ever experienced some kind of natural disaster? A lot; my country is a big hot spot for typhoons, so we don’t really have a choice but to go through several of them every year. Sometimes it’ll get bad enough for us to make it to international news because our government doesn’t really do anything to help out victims.

3 - If you have pets, do you feed them human food or do they just get regular pet food? If they do get human food, what’s their favourite thing to have? They both get human food. I’m not sure what Cooper’s favorite is as Nina primarily feeds him; but Kimi is most obsessed with chicken.

4 - Have you ever been in a physical fight? Who won? Just play wrestling matches with my cousin when we were kids. He always won as he was older and a lot bigger than me.

5 - What were you lighting the last time you used a lighter or matches? I don’t light stuff up on my own because I’m scared of fire, but the last time we used matches was for lighting up our emergency candles because of the power outage from last week.

6 - What’s the weather currently doing where you are? It is annoyingly humid. I had to open my windows and roll up my window blinds today, which I hate having to do because it makes neighbors able to see my room and what I’m doing here -_____- I feel like I’m giving away my privacy every time I have to have the blinds up just to have colder air in.

7 - The last time you got up from your seat, what did you go and do? Before doing this I came from bed. When I felt like doing a survey I just got up and headed to my work desk.

8 - Name five things you’ve done so far today: Received a package for something I bought online, made myself a sandwich, ate cheese-flavored corn chips, watch a half-season of Friends, and bought another embroidery kit online (I’ve been calling it ‘cross-stitch’ this whole time but apparently that is wrong, whoops). Not a very productive Saturday, but it’s honestly ok considering I’m left exhausted from the past week.

9 - What’s the mode of transport that you take or use the most? I drive myself.

10 - When was the last time you got caught in a rain or snow storm? Were you dressed for it or did you end up getting soaked? Start of the month. I was driving to take Cooper to the vet when it suddenly started raining super hard, but it was only upon arriving at the clinic that I realized there wasn’t any umbrella in the car. Had to make a quick dash from the car to the nearest shade, all the while keeping Cooper under my jacket so that he stayed dry. I was soaked as shit but he was kept dry, which was all that mattered.

11 - Did your favourite Disney film come out before or after you were born? I have two favorites: Toy Story came out three years before I was born, but Tangled came 12 years after my birth.

12 - Are you a fan of musicals? No, I never saw the appeal.

13 - What the last thing you spent money on apart from necessities? My favorite coffee from Starbucks. It’s a win-win situation for me at the moment: my mom is asking for a Starbucks planner for Christmas, which means all I need to do for her gift is to keep ordering coffees from there until I’ve collected enough stickers to be entitled to a planner, heheh.

14 - Are there any sequels to things that you prefer to the original? Ooh, I’m not the biggest fan of movies that come in multiple parts so I don’t know if I have any picks. I can name covers that I like than the original songs, though.

15 - How often do you lose the remote control? I haven’t really sat down in front of a TV to watch shows since high school, so I haven’t temporarily lost a remote control since then.

16 - When was the last time you had problems with your internet connection? Last Thursday and Friday but only because the power went out.

17 - What games do you play on your phone, if any at all? I play 1010 the most, but I’ve got tons of other games that are just sitting in my menu just in case I’m suddenly in the mood to play them.

18 - Aside from family, who was the last person you spent time with? How do you know that person? I dunno, I guess the people in my work meeting video call yesterday afternoon? It was my first meeting with that particular team as the newbie at work, so I don’t actually know all of them that well yet.

19 - Are you currently warm, cold or just right? I am hot and irritated by it.

20 - Do you prefer showers or baths? When was the last time you had either? Showers; my last one was yesterday. My last bath was...no clue. Two years ago, maybe?

21 - Do you spend a lot of money on your appearance? I used to spend a lot on clothes, yeah, at least before Covid. But right now there really has been no point in upgrading my wardrobe, so I haven’t been buying any new pieces.

22 - When was the last time you spent more than £100 on something? Was it a necessity like a bill, or a treat for yourself? I have never spent ₱6,408 in one sitting, whether it be for myself, for a necessity, or for someone else. That’s crazy and will probably take a couple more years before I see myself making transactions that huge.

23 - Would you rather swim in the sea, a lake or a pool? Seeeeeeeea. I always feel at peace in the sea, and ugh I miss it so much.

24 - Have you ever had a zoo keeper experience or anything where you’ve been able to go behind the scenes and look after/feed the animals? I wouldn’t call it a zookeeper experience, but we went to some sort of animal park in Bali that let me carry and interact with all sorts of animals.

25 - Would you ever want the responsibility of being a politician or a similar position of power? Probably not. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it.

26 - How many times a week do you go to the grocery store? My parents go at least once a week to buy groceries.

27 - When was the last time you got a takeaway coffee or drink? Last night. Being able to earn money and spend it on myself and never have to ask from my parents anymore has been one of the highlights of my year so far, aaaahhhhh

28 - Do you quote films or TV shows as you’re watching them? If I love the film and memorize a chunk of the dialogue, yes. The movie I quote the most as I watch it is most definitely Titanic.

29 - What’s something your parents do that really annoys you? My dad doesn’t really do anything that annoys me. My mom doesn’t knock.

30 - If you had to quarantine for two weeks tomorrow due to testing positive to COVID, would you be able to survive on the things you had in your house? Yes. I’ll be locked in my room but my dad will probably be bringing me food, just the way he did when I got sick last May and had to isolate myself.

#survey #surveys #multiple ones so feel free to chop it up

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conflictandscotchblog · 5 years

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Retail Therapy

I had mentioned in one of my previous posts that I was noticing similar grieving patterns after I miscarried in my second trimester compared to those I had when my mom died in 1994. One of those coping mechanisms, of all things, is retail therapy. [A reminder that I am not the shopper in the family. My husband is the shopper, that I affectionately (and secretly) call the queen or the diva. This started years ago when he used to buy me my perfume, "Happy" from Clinique, and I would find the "free gift" in HIS bathroom drawers - eye cream, wrinkle cream, what have you.] I remember when my mom died, my dad gave me his credit card and off I went to Kingsdale Shopping Center (where we all worked at Macri’s during college – I could go for a mini chef turk salad right about now!). Naturally, I had my bff Deirdre in tow.

I remember being in The Limited and Limited Express. I was buying just to buy. Again, I don’t even like to shop and yet it made me feel better. As I sit here at forty (40) years old, I can write with fair certainty that I will get in trouble now with my dad for revealing this tidbit almost two decades later. I remember Deirdre saying, “Oh, I like that shirt, sweater, etc.” or something that effect. “Throw it in the pile.” Deirdre, “No, I couldn’t do that!” “Sure you can! It is on my Dad. He will not know. Throw whatever you want in the pile.” Deirdre and I both made out like bandits that day all thanks to my Dad. In short, money – whether mine or my dad’s – after something traumatic in your life, does not seem to matter. A lot of things don’t seem to matter. People dying of cancer would love to have my problem of a miscarriage or failed adoptions. There are so many bigger issues in life. I remember my dad saying to me, “Your mom worried about money all the time. Look how all that time was wasted now.”

Maybe I learned to deal with grief by retail therapy by example? My dad, at the sake of being childish, “started it”. First, he was the one that loaded my brother and I on a plane to Las Vegas first class for a week after my mom died. Second, that trip was followed by another vacation to good ole’ Ocean City, MD. My dad grew up in Maryland and spent his summers there. My mom, dad, brother and I went every year for 1-2 weeks. Third, my dad gave me his credit card to shop. This retail therapy does not seem to be uncommon. I know of a husband and 10 year old that lost their wife/mother to breast cancer a few months ago. They have been staying in a vacation home in Malibu since she died in May. I know everyone grieves differently. Some people get angry at God (or angry in general), some people get depressed, some people drink and some people, well, shop. After this latest loss, I can say that if the economy is getting better, you may want to thank my husband and me. We apparently think we are the Rockefellers right now.

My husband went out and bought a Playstation 3 right after we miscarried. I handle all the money in the family, but I told him it was fine. We went to Las Vegas, first class, just my as dad did. We have shopped…um… quite a bit. That translates to: I came home with a bookmark and a nail file from Las Vegas (total $3.50) and my husband came home with about 1,000 t-shirts/hats (his happiness = priceless). I most certainly did want to buy the Wynn hotel bed, along with all the linens, but had to draw the line at that point. I would never get out of bed if we had the Wynn bed and, therefore, I would be unemployed. By allowing us to treat ourselves a little bit, it is allowing us to heal. I simply feel there are bigger things than money right now. As I write this, he is shopping for a new xm radio. He also went out and bought a rare kind of beer he drank when we were at a restaurant in Las Vegas. He never drinks beer, let alone buys it. I think we both are buying here and there just to buy. Right now, splurging a bit on something other than adoption agencies and medical fees feels good after almost a decade. I am also splurging a bit on others. I have done some things (quietly) for others because it makes me feel good. There are worse vices or ways of dealing with grief. This is a positive one. The economy needs us now. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. I am answering that call with something I never say, “SHOP”!

This respite will all be coming to an end shortly. We will have to decide to try again or to give up completely. We meet with “Tressel” tomorrow to discuss our options for the future. I have kind of enjoyed this mini break from the quest of parenthood. Is it sad? Sure. Is it difficult? Absolutely. But to be free from anxiety or medical tests/exams for the past month has been a very welcome relief. To end on a positive note, I do believe in signs. As I sit here and write this, I just got a call from Tressel’s office. Thinking they were just confirming our appointment, she surprised me and said he is now taking our insurance. None of this has been covered by insurance. We have a consultation tomorrow, and although I will believe it when I see it, what unusual timing. Just when we thought we were at the end of our rope, a call with a ray of hope. Maybe we can try again and not have to stand in line for cheese? Maybe any further tests will be covered by insurance, or, in the realm of shopping and retail therapy, on “sale”? However, right now, at this moment, as I take this journey day by day, that call may have just saved us, at the very least, a very large consultation fee for tomorrow and I will take it! Baby steps.

Thanks for reading and sharing. Stay tuned for the next baby step. xoxo (aka socks).

Originally Published: Monday, August 13, 2012

To Read More of KLC’s work, click here

#shopping #retai #therapy #Maryland

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tamespace · 6 years

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My Real Beef with Minimalism: I Can't Really Afford It

I few weeks ago, I watched the documentary on Netflix called Minimalism. I held off on watching it for a while because I've felt ambivalent about the minimalist lifestyle trend for a few years now.

That might be strange to people since I am a personal organizer and people embracing minimalism would make my job easier and perhaps obsolete. I'm ok with both of options, which I realize the latter is an unusual standpoint to have on one's job, but more on that later.

What bothers me about minimalism? I didn't know for a long time, though I thought about it often, turning the idea over and over in my head. Wondering why it simply never sat right with me.

I've written about lifestyle minimalism here, here and here, but in previous posts I've just dealt with it in an affable, informative way.

Then a random conspiring of posts on Twitter yesterday helped dislodge the cause of my discomfort with minimalism.

I saw this Reductress Post:

I had a blog post on Minimalism from 2013, just when Reductress was founded, going something like this:

Minimalist Lifestyle Trend

The popular Minimalists, Becker and Nicodemus, were on NPR a few years ago. I was loading the dishwasher while listening and towards the end of their talk they agreed to take listener calls. The calls were, without exception, from women asking about how to clear out the clutter in kids rooms.

The allure of capsule wardrobes, Japanese organizers and other modern notions seems irresistible in a culture that has a billion dollar storage industry. We have a real appetite for buying things and now a matching appetite for storing.

I have watched the growing movement of minimalism ( aka downsizing, down shifting, simplicity, simple living) throughout the world. In architecture, design, futuristic movies and idealized in thousands of photographs on shelter sites.

The pull, for me, is strong. I love it but I do not think it is the answer for many. In fact minimalism has a following largely in the upper percentage of earners, such that it seems only the wealthy can truly achieve it.

It is difficult to achieve because our society is set up to be grand consumers but we have also inherited a rightful guilt about throwing things away from our parents and grandparents.

Then during my writing group last Wednesday, I read a draft from my book, Tame Space, on Minimalism and the the Simple Living Movement (you'd be right to think they were the same, but they are only similar, for reasons explained in my book). One writing pal said she agreed, that living minimalist seemed to have an elite quality to it that many who struggle with paying rent could probably not appreciate. Another writing pal said they didn't think it was elitist but that it pointed to a need for an individual to find a set point for themselves, and that for some the set point was minimalist and others maximalist. I agreed with both ideas, though more strongly that it feels elitist but didn't know how to explain it in the moment.

Then I happened to stumble upon Kristin Wong's post on the movie Minimalism on Netflix and this from her site:

While I relate to minimalism on an aesthetic level (and even on a Buddhist level to some extent), something about the trend toward minimalism is unsettling. It seems problematic, at least in the current state of our economy, to push the virtue of minimalism in terms of wealth. Despite being overshadowed by more pressing headlines, income inequality hasn’t gotten any better. The average income of the top 10% of Americans is upwards of $200k and the top 1% earn over six million a year. But the vast majority–90% of people–make an average of $33,000 a year.

And there it is. $33,000 a year for the majority of people. I had a quiet aha moment. Sometimes, living with less isn't a clarion call to the good life. Sometimes, it's just less stuff because we have less money.

Can you imagine for a moment, living paycheck to paycheck for most of your life and worrying about paying for new shoes for your kid and living on a daily diet of painkillers because you can't afford to see the dentist because your car needs repairs asap - imagine that and hearing about two single guys who were making six figure salaries and walking away from it because they realized they'd rather be fiction writers and live with less stuff?

If you can't imagine, read Linda Turado's Hand to Mouth. She wrote an essay on Gawker on being poor and a defense of some of the things that poor folks find they are judged for in the media and in politics. The essay was so popular Penguin asked her to write a book. It reminded me a bit of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (Hand to Mouth by Paul Auster is also good too but labeled fiction) both should be required reading for everyone but definitely for the upper crust who would then tout minimalism less as a great achievement and more as the antidote to their particular kind of moneyed malaise.

In Linda Turado's world, I'd be pretty bitter for a moment about the Minimalist trend (can I have the houseful of nice stuff that you just gave away?) before I had to get back to worrying about how to get new shoes for my kid. Of course, I don't dislike the Minimalists, I'm happy for anyone courageous enough to walk away from financial security to find true bliss and to make a living sharing their method. I like many of their posts on simple living and letting go of things, like this and this. I reserve my bitterness for many other things life has presented. Like aging, or the current political climate, or people who don't pick up their dog's poop. Bitterness is the contrasting flavor to my sweet optimism that doing what I love - helping people - will someday pay off. Pay off enough to cover basic needs and save for retirement, of course. It currently doesn't.

I do find their repeated message of minimalism as THE answer to be grating as I struggle to live in NYC. It's expensive to live here, but I can't think of leaving, I love it here. I'm proud of my work here. My husband can make his living only here as a publicist for theater and dance. But I know financially I wouldn't cut it in NYC with two kids if something happened to my partner. He's got the health insurance benefits and a living wage.

I, too, am living the dream of pursuing meaningful work. But if I decide to live minimalist and get rid of excess to barest extreme, I may not have the old macbook that I could upgrade if my current laptop broke or was stolen. I live mostly by my work principles - don't keep what you don't use - but sometimes you have to, you want to, because you are afraid of not being able to buy another. I am afraid to be minimalist because I live largely hand to mouth.

In case it doesn't seem apparent, the seeming luxury of my career choice was driven by sheer necessity: big time gap in my resume meant I could not find work in marketing after 8 years of staying at home with the kids. Also, marketing changed immensely from 2003 to 2013. I no longer had a professional network to help onramp into the working world. Frustrated and clinically depressed, I founded Tame Space in late 2011 after realizing I needed to instantly create a business that spoke to my best skills (organizing and working with people one on one), gave me a flexible schedule to spend time with my kids and allowed me some creative outlet (this blog).

I share the gist of my personal financial situation because that's the reason I've never been able to jump on the Minimalism bandwagon. My finances are too minimalist to play fast and loose with the idea of having very little in my home. If I ever have the luxury, like some of my clients, to unload bags of designer clothes to my housekeeper and design my own minimalist apartment in Brooklyn and have loads of money socked away for retirement and the kids' college tuition, maybe I could stand to let go of everything. Or maybe not, since the feeling of scarcity is sometimes a specter that lives only in your mind and disregards how much money you actually have in your bank account.

I think of my parents and many of my clients and how the feeling of scarcity (whether it's true or not in their situation) is enough to trigger holding tendencies. I say holding because they are not hoarding and forgetting about things in the dark corners of a Collyer brothers home, but are waiting for some feared future time when they may need this extra set of shoes or the old laptop or those glass mason jars or the french yogurt maker.

I hope that one day I can feel unfettered by fear of not being able to buy something I once had and discarded. Until then, I can only see lifestyle minimalism as a delightful path to fulfilled living for the segment of the population who could easily replace anything they once thought they could live without.

In a perfect world, a person considering Minimalism might give their entire household of things to a family who had just left temporary homeless shelter and needed good quality household items and clothes. And hopefully, they'd never need to look back.

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lolsexonthebeach · 6 years

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My girlfriend wanted me to do these and also I really wanted to do these

1. Coffee or tea?

Usually coffee, but I won’t say no to green tea. Like, ever.

2. Black and white or color?

Used to be black and white but I’m starting to like colors again. Oh my god, I sound like a really cringy goth kid.

3. Drawings or paintings?

Drawings. I loved whenever my girlfriend would sketch things on our coffee dates.

4. Dresses or skirts?

Dresses. Love love love when @organiclavender wears dresses :)

5. Books or movies?

Honestly, books more recently. I haven’t seen a good movie in awhile.

6. Pepsi or Coke?

Pepsi, I drank enough coke as a child to make a 500lb McDonald’s frequenter gasp.

7. Chinese or Italian?

This is a very evil question. I guess Chinese, I feel like it’s easier to find a hole-in-the-wall place serving bomb Chinese than it is to find a decent Italian restaurant that sells something other than Spaghetti and one meatball.

8. Early bird or night owl?

Is it possible to be both? Kinda like waking up early now, but I love midnight silence.

9. Chocolate or vanilla?

That’s racist.

10. Introvert or extrovert?

I am an introvert that pretends to be extroverted so he can pet people’s cats and play their musical instruments

11. Hugs or kisses?

Kisses. Always kisses.

12. Hunting or fishing?

This is probably a typical answer, but I really don’t like the idea of murdering something helpless for fun (Even though I fucking love guns lmao). Fishing is probably not much less cruel, but it’s so relaxing, man.

13. Winter or summer?

Well, summer rhymes with bummer.

Nah. Love the cold.

14. Spring or fall?

Fall. Such a spooky season.

15. Rural or urban?

It really depends on where lol. I love getting lost in the woods, but there’s no Wi-Fi out there lmao

16. PC or Mac?

Macs are literally overpriced Linux computers that take everything good about Linux and throw it the fuck away.

17. Tan or pale?

Pale <3

18. Cake or pie?

I will eat the FUCK out of some pecan pie.

19. Ice cream or yogurt?

I’m not an annoying hipster that lies about enjoying fermented milk so iced cream for me

20. Ketchup or mustard?

Ketchup, but mustard is growing on me lately. Like, go get some spicy brown mustard from Walmart and put that shit on a sandwich with pepper jack and roast beef and tell me there’s not a God.

21. Sweet pickles or dill pickles?

Sweet pickles are the 2nd most disgusting thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. The first is my brother’s penis. What was weirder was finding out that he wasn’t really my brother.

22. Comedy or mystery?

I feel like most comedies these days are different iterations of “WEIRD SEX SCENES AND AFFAIRS AND ALSO HERE’S SOME BOOBS” so mystery

23. Boots or sandals?

Well, if Doc Marten made some flippy flops... Nah, boots.

24. Silver or gold?

Silver. Looks way classier to me for some reason.

25. Pop or Rock?

DEATH METAL

26. Dancing or singing?

I can’t do either, I’m a white boy.

27. Checkers or chess?

My girlfriend will attest to the fact that I used to literally stay awake for hours playing chess on my phone

28. Board games or video games?

I love the videa.

29. Wine or beer?

I am answering this question with a hangover. Please die.

30. Freckles or dimples?

Both will equally melt my heart.

31. Honey mustard or BBQ sauce?

I live in Texas, so BBQ sawz

32. Body weight exercises or lifting weights?

Weights. I notice better results doing shit with dumbbells and stuff than I do just doing pushups and shit.

33. Baseball or basketball?

I refer you to the answer of question 26.

34. Crossword puzzles or sudokus?

Do I look like a 40 year old wife that likes to disturb her husband’s peace in the morning

35. Facial hair or clean shaven?

I assume this is asking about on other people, but facial hair if I’m trying to go to a bar and I don’t feel like getting carded, clean shaven if I want some love from @organiclavender

36. Crushed ice or cubed ice?

Ice^3

37. Skiing or snowboarding?

Snowboarding.

38. Smile or game face?

I usually try to smile but apparently I have resting bitch face a lot

39. Bracelet or necklace?

I’ll rock both, yo.

40. Fruit or vegetables?

Both, my girlfriend has been forcing me to eat healthier and omg I’m actually starting to like things that aren’t baked in an asbestos lined oven with ingredients grown from failed cloning experiments and formaldehyde

41. Sausage or bacon?

Bausage.

42. Scrambled or fried?

This is a tough one. As long as there’s a shit ton of cheese somewhere in there, I’ll eat either.

43. Dark chocolate or white chocolate?

Darkolate.

44. Tattoos or piercings?

Have both, want more of both. I seriously miss my nose ring.

45. Antique or brand new?

Antique, but my girlfriend is scared of old things because she won’t stop watching Paranormal Survivor.

46. Dress up or dress down?

I have no idea what this means. I clearly am not the target demographic of this questionnaire.

47. Cowboys or aliens?

I was going to say both, but then I remembered it’s that kind of thinking that made Cowboys and Aliens with Daniel CRAYGE happen.

48. Cats or dogs?

I love woofers but I absolutely adore cats.

49. Pancakes or waffles?

Fucking WAFFLES.

50. Bond or Bourne?

I’ve been a Bond fan since I was old enough to be sentient

51. Sci-Fi or fantasy?

Both. Massive Sci-Fi fan but I love anything to do with fantasy things.

52. Numbers or letters?

Symbols!

53. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?

LORD OF THE POTTER

54. Fair or theme park?

I love fairs. There’s always a hint of “holy shit I might die” that just adds to the rickety experience of riding a roller coaster set up in literally a day.

55. Money or fame?

Money. I’d much rather buy people shit than sign autographs.

56. Washing dishes or doing laundry?

Neither. Shit is so lame. Hate both equally.

57. Snakes or sharks?

Sneks r cool

58. Orange juice or apple juice?

Apple Juice. I’ve been craving some since I woke up.

59. Sunrise or sunset?

Sunset.

60. Slacker or over-achiever?

I have bursts of both, which likely means I have some kind of serious mental disorder

61. Pen or pencil?

Pens. There’s a weird quality to ink that I’ve always loved.

62. Peanut butter or jelly?

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who ate straight jelly lmao

63. Grammys or Oscars?

Do I look like a bored, lonely housewife?

64. Detailed or abstract?

Both. Absolutely both.

65. Multiple choice questions or essay questions?

When I didn’t entirely hate school, I loved essay questions. Multiple choice is now my favorite.

66. Adventurous or cautious?

Literally both.

67. Saver or spender?

I’m both lol. Sometimes I won’t spend a dime and then other times I’ll buy some fucking copper silverware on amazon because “It looks cool”.

68. Glasses or contacts?

Depends on the person. I think my girlfriend looks adorable in hers, I can’t seem to have them without shattering them.

69. Laptop or desktop?

Desktop.

70. Classic or modern?

Classic.

71. Personal chef or personal fitness trainer?

I would literally kill for someone to get me off of my ass and into a gym more often.

72. Internet or cell phone?

I feel like those two are synonymous now.

73. Call or text?

If it’s my girlfriend, call. If it’s literally anyone else, text.

74. Curly hair or straight hair?

I think girls with curly hair are the absolute cutest thing ever.

75. Shower in the morning or shower in the evening?

Evening showers make me happy.

76. Spicy or mild?

I will forever shovel spicy things in my mouth until my stomach screams at me and I need to throw up on the poor waitress asking me if I’m okay.

77. Marvel or DC?

I am weirdly not into comics.

78. Paying a mortgage or paying rent?

Dude, if I could afford a house in any possible way, there’s no way in hell I would ever live in an apartment again.

79. Sky dive or bungee jump?

I really wanna sky dive. Loved bungee jumping.

80. Oreos or Chips Ahoy?

WHAT IF THEY MADE BOTH

81. Jello or pudding?

Pudding

82. Truth or dare?

You’re not even trying anymore.

83. Roller coaster or Ferris wheel?

Roller coaster!

84. Leather or denim?

I rock both yo.

85. Stripes or solids?

SOLIDS

86. Bagels or muffins?

Bagels, omfg. I’m like craving a garlic and poppy seed bagel right now. Wiff some creme chez.

87. Whole wheat or white?

My girlfriend hates me so I’m not allowed to eat white bread anymore.

88. Beads or pearls?

ANAL BEADS

89. Hardwood or carpet?

Hardwood. I finally moved into an apartment with wood floors and omg it’s so nice. Only thing that sucks is when it’s cold you mos def need socks.

90. Bright colors or neutral tones?

Neutral. I like colors too, I’m just a weird goth boy.

91. Be older than you are or younger than you are?

Older, with a job that doesn’t suck. I wanna be out of college.

92. Raisins or nuts?

Raisins are gross. I love cashews tho

93. Picnic or nice restaurant?

Nice restaurant. One of my favorite dates with my girlfriend is finding cool nice places to grab some food at :)

94. Black leather or brown leather?

Black ‘till I die.

95. Long hair or short hair?

Both. I’m not picky :)

96. “Ready, aim, fire” or “Ready, fire, aim”?

I’m imaging the second choice is what half of the dudes at the range I used to go to into Austin took.

97. Fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction. Non-Fiction is boring.

98. Smoking or non-smoking?

I’m not allowed to smoke anymore.

:’(

99. Think before you talk or talk before you think?

I definitely do both.

100. Asking questions or answering questions?

Both yo!

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halfwaythroughachardonnay · 7 years

Text

Who the heck am I?

Hello. My name is Emily. I’m a 20-year-old college student from Minnesota.

I grew up in the northern part of Minnesota, and on weekends would go to the camper in Wisconsin in the summer with my grandparents if my parents let me (sometimes I would lie and go and get grounded, but hey I got to play outside all weekend so were my parents actually mad?). The most common question I get asked about Minnesota, henceforth known as MN, is “If you live up north, what do you consider to be up north?” Great question you. To me up north would be the north shore. We have 78? State parks/state waysides total in MN. Up the north shore alone we have 12, which include Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Temperance River, and Grand Portage to name a few.

I have an Uncle who lives in a small town up the north shore called Silver Bay. My mom and I would often drive up on weekends or nice afternoons to visit and he’d take us (well mainly me, my uncle doesn’t really understand kids so my mom would tag along to make sure I didn’t get left behind) out to marinas, or down to the falls and he would teach me about like nature and the geology in MN. He really enjoys rocks. Like a lot. His basement he has turned into a small shop-type thing where he cuts, polishes, and preps rocks for sale. He goes out to Colorado and Montana to rock hunt. He got me into geodes. My mom would buy us each one for Christmas and we’d open them together.

I grew up as an only child, which caused many of my friends to believe that I was spoiled. Which contrary to all of them I don’t think I was. I believe that I had been given a fair childhood.

I didn’t grow up with cable, so I always got kind of frustrated when my teachers would assign homework that involved watching something on like the history channel or discovery. I’d have to either call my grandparents and see if I could go there, or go to a friend’s house to see the thing and then get picked back up. Most of the time I’d go to my grandparents’ house. Not only would I get to see whatever I had to watch for school my parents would let me stay over so then I was allowed to watch like the kid channels. My parents gave in around freshmen year and got cable then too.

I moved a lot growing up from an apartment to a house then back to an apartment. Before going off to college I was in an apartment and my room was honestly maybe ¾ the size of my freaking dorm (with one person, me, and my full-size bed, I could make it work). But sharing a room this size with another human bean is difficult. Don’t get me wrong, my roommate isn’t the worst, but her quirks interrupt my lifestyle.

I previously stated that I’m 20, which most people assume means I got to bed well into the morning and are lazy. I mean yes, I’m lazy to an extent. But I prefer to go to bed before midnight, and I’m not the like cleanest person. I’m somewhere between organized and messy organized. I might also be a little bit of a packrat. But I’m working on it.

I used to be the type of person who hates socks, but I honestly wear socks almost 24/7 now (currently I’m not wearing socks, and that’s only because I was working earlier and they needed a breather). I love to wear leggings and will fight because I believe that if they are made from non-see through material they can be worn as bottoms. I also love wearing skinny jeans, I mean I own bootcut jeans but I don’t use them as often. I wear a lot of hoodies, even in the summertime.

My mom, dad, step-dad, and step-mom firmly believe that my favorite color is pink, but it’s a toss-up between grey, maroon, and like army green.

I learned how to crochet on a road trip to Nebraska for a Residence Housing Association conference and I’m slowly figuring out how to do more than just scarves and blankets (I promise I am actually 20, and not 40, even though I act like it).

I decided that I am an activist, but like not one of the ones who go to big rallies. Like I get into discussions with people out and about on topics like gender, the wage gap, human rights, and I guess just mainstream media topics that are discussed throughout Washington [D.C.]. My grandpa thinks that I could be a really good politician because I actually understand what’s going on and how certain things could help the problem and I tend to be headstrong in those opinions.

An example of this would be when the car I was given when I was old enough to drive (it was not brand new, it was the car my mom had gotten when I was 5) started to be more of a money pit than a useable piece of shit, I sat down and seriously talked with my parents about getting a “newer” car. I was shot down a lot. So I asked my grandpa what I should do, and bless his soul, he said that he’d just buy me one. I refused by the way. I asked him how I should really be trying to get my parents to see from my point of view that my car would not get me through both high school and college. So I sat down at both school and home and got to work, I looked at statistics of how long cars lasted, and how my car compared to those. I ended up with a 10-page paper and a 30-minute slideshow to get my parents to see my side. My mom agreed, while my dad did not. So for about a year I look at cars with my mom because I do live in MN and having an unreliable car is like asking to have bad luck during the winter months. My car did end up dying, during my senior year of school. But luckily I had for that weekend a trial on a car because the dealership was not letting me drive my car that had no heat, no traction control, bad alignment, and passenger floorboard that had eroded away? (I honestly have no words on how that happened- I think it had gotten flooded) and my dad was not happy but I bought my first car (I named her Violet). When I went to get my stuff out of Bessie (think the paver from cars that Disney movie when Lightning McQueen has to repave the road he destroyed) and into Violet, I had to turn the car on to take out a cd, and the fucking engine started on fire, the hood flew open, hit the front windshield and then shattered it. Not only was it impressive, it was terrifying. The dealership looked at my dad like he was a moron for making me drive it. Honestly, I understand why my dad didn’t want me to get a new car, but it was frustrating because I was spending money fixing a car that got 16 miles to the gallon.

Okay, that might not have been an activist example but it does prove how dedicated I am to topics. That topic was human safety, my safety.

I went to an elementary school in the town I grew up in, then in 6th grade switched to a different district in a different town (MN has open enrollment so as long as you can get transportation to the school you can attend) which was K-12. So I had a different high school experience than someone who went to a normal high school. I had 35 people in my grade in 6th grade, we graduated with 28. I took a lot of PSEO (post-secondary enrollment option) which meant I took college courses while in high school. My junior year I had a free period for my online course, but half the time I’d work ahead at home and do other homework during that period, or I would help teachers (mainly my science teacher). However, the elementary teachers got wind of my free time and I became a freelance class sitter so they could go get copies or use the bathroom. Which was fun. Until someone decided that they didn’t like me and then it was awkward because they’d convince their classmates to insult me.

But that is some of the information about myself that I thought you all would maybe need to understand me and my ramblings a bit better.

Until next time.

Em.

#about me #em #minnesota

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