"Do Remember the Time...."

...when I met Michael Jackson?!!


'Cause it was AMAZING!!! By far, my favorite costume of the night. Duh.

Of course, my own costume would've been my fav, if I had only worn one. I wore red pants, though! I was a wanna be Where's Waldo/pirate. I know, lame.

Time is Tickin'

I swear, lately every day when I've looked at the clock it's often either 11:11 or 1:11, sometimes 3:33. Maybe other times, too. What does it all mean?!! I heard once that it's supposedly lucky and you make wish. If that's the case, then I've been losing out on a lot of wishes because I haven't been wishing at these times.

Anyway, I'm one midterm down, three more to go! And soon I'll be heading to the Wild West for Thanksgiving with my sweet family. I cannot believe October is nearly over. I've decided against going all out for Halloween this year. I'm not feeling much in the mood anymore and while there will be a handful of Halloween costume parties to attend, I've chosen a different route.

I bought tickets to see Devo in concert this Saturday! Yes, Devo! "Whip it! Whip it good! Into shape! Shape it up!" However, just before I posted this, I got a phone call letting me know they had to cancel due to a personal injury. That is terrible news. I am pretty bummed about it. However, the two other bands are still playing who I totally wanted to see, anyway.
Neon Trees is a band from Utah, of all places (Provo, even)! And I know the bassist Brandon Campbell (right), through a few cousins and friends of mine.

And The Drums I have yet to fully explore, but a friend of mine recommended them awhile back and I dig what I've heard so far. And better yet, the concert is now FREE! I'm getting reimbursed for my ticket purchase, but getting to go anyway. And the one and only Abby and Travis are joining me!

No, these are not our Halloween costumes. This was just a zombie dance party we went to, oh, I don't know....three years ago!!!! These two are getting hitched NEXT FRIDAY! I feel loved that they're spending their last weekend as "non-marrieds" with me. Their wedding is going to awesome and fun. I'm excited to go and am so happy for them! Hooray, for love and marriage!

It's All About the Hair

Today was the first time in years and years since I went to a salon to have my hair cut and styled by someone other than one of my three sisters who are hairstylists or by friends who are hairstylists. In fact, I'm not even sure I have EVER gone to a salon to have my hair cut by a stranger. Wow. That's just plain crazy talk, but it's true crazy talk. And what better place for me to go for my first time than Arrojo Studio! The owner of this studio is the one and only Nick Arrojowho is famous from his appearance as the hair stylist on the makeover show What Not To Wear.I love that show and I've loved watching Nick cut people's hair and make them look better. I googled his name one day to see if he had a salon here, because, hey, it's New York! If he has a salon anywhere, it would be here, right? Sure enough, I was right. The website listed stylists and their prices, and there he was, right at the top of the list (of course)! My jaw dropped at the sight of the cost for a haircut by the man himself: $500. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!! For a HAIRCUT!!!! I about died. I mean, I was expecting it to be a pretty penny, but not that pretty!! So, there went my idea to actually have him cut my hair, even though I pretended to consider it. There is just no way I could go through with that and live with myself. Weeks and months went by and a friend of mine posted on her facebook status about going to the Arrojo studio to get her hair cut! I couldn't believe it! So, I asked her about it. She did not have Nick cut her hair either, but she found out that for first timers, if you bring a friend, you get half off the cost. I was sold, right then and there. My only problem would be to find someone willing to go with me. I thought this was a hopeless cause, because who would just happen to need a hair cut and just happen to be willing to go to this particular salon to get it done. Well, I'll tell you who!! One of my new roommates, that's who. I was so happy when she said she'd join me in this adventure. So, I called, booked an appointment, and today we went. We saw the same hairstylist and her name is Carmel. She's Irish and so cool and nice. She kept complimenting me on my hair and how great she thinks it is. It was great! Ha. Anyway, of course, I didn't have her do anything drastic, but I was in great need of a hair cut. My hair was almost all one length and just boxy. The end result...!It doesn't look much different than usual, I know, but that's what happens when you have naturally curly hair. And it only cost $50! I did buy some much needed styling product, which brought my bill up, but it will go to a good cause...making my hair look amazing! Some day, some man is gonna fall in love with me and my curls. We gotta look gooood. ;)

p.s. The whole time I was at the hair studio, I was hoping to see Nick Arrojo walk by so I could see him in person! There was no sign of him, though I knew he was there, because the girl who washed my hair told me he was. And then, at the very last minute, I was sitting getting a free quick makeover and I saw him walk by! It was brief, but I saw him! I wanted to ask to meet him, but I didn't want to be one of THOSE people. A glance was enough. ha.

Procrastination, Because I Don't Know

I'm in my fancy new basement laundry room in my building, washing the load of laundry I potentially ruined with lipstick (Oxi-Clean Max Stain Remover Gel, this is your true test). I saw this sign on the wall:


Yes, yes, I am stressed with such thing. My first midterm is to describe back to my professor everything he has described to the class. I despise regurgitation assignments. Fortunately, two of my other midterms are very "hands-on" and, therefore, much more to my liking and interest. As for this first one, here's to waiting last minute and cranking out the thing under pressure. It's how I roll.

Tis' the Season!

My favorite part of Halloween is this!


I love carving pumpkins, and I didn't even use a stencil!!

I'm Learning

Today I witnessed my first "match meeting" at my internship, where the woman considering adoption meets the person(s) she is considering to become the parent(s) of her child. Yeah. I think that's the most vulnerable state of all parties involved--nothing is official, but it's moving in that direction as if it is. Well, kind of. This is the step in the process that's just one or two steps before signing papers and making the adoption complete. It's very thought-provoking to watch this whole process and see how it works "behind the scenes". My mind is constantly going, trying to observe and understand what is going on beneath the surface and how everyone is doing. I am constantly putting myself in the shoes of the other person (on both sides), and how I would feel if I were them. The problem with that is, they are NOT me. I think and react and process things totally different than how someone else may think, react, and process things. While it's important to be empathetic, I'm learning that I can't always be so, at least, not as much as I want to be. I can desire to understand and I do try and see things from their perspective, and that's a main part being a social worker. I won't always be able to relate, but lately I've noticed how I always try to by self-disclosing something that is totally unrelated or, more importantly, unnecessary, to the situation/problem at hand. Does it help the goal? If not, then don't share it. My supervisor pointed that out to me recently. I'm realizing that it's my way of trying to put myself on their level, to not be an authoritative figure, to try and make them feel comfortable, that they can trust me. But again, my supervisor is teaching me that I don't really need to do that to accomplish that comfort or trust with the clients. She said my "warmness" is conveyed without having to disclose things about myself. That statement really made me feel good about myself and more confident in my ability to do this work. It's close to the original thought I had when I decided to become a social worker, that people often find me easy to talk to and feel comfortable quickly around me.

I know I'm not always the most warm and fuzzy person. In fact, I feel like I've been quite the opposite lately. But I'm grateful to be learning a lot about myself this year and feel like I'm getting closer to understanding my role in this field. There is hope, yet. My new view tells me so.

Busy, Busy!!

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week! I had back to back visitors and MOVED at the end of it all--right about the time my midterms are happening. Ha. Good thing no assignments are due this week. That could've been bad news.

Meleah and her mom and two nieces came to the big city for a few days. They were a lively bunch! Ha.

Maybe they were just overwhelmed by it all, but her nieces were the most mellow teenage girls. We saw Jimmy Eat World the first night, and it was the very first concert for both of them.


I realized that I'm a very out-of-date Jimmy Eat World fan (aka: I'm old). And after we did Shake Shack, of course. They did a lot without me the first full day, but I got to take them to the rowboats!

And then I sent them off to the city of sin and moved into my room with a view!


I was so exhausted last night from it all, I washed AND dried my clothes in lipstick. I RARELY wear lipstick, let alone, keep it in my pocket! Ridiculous. I was too tired to even care, but it sucks real bad. Let's hope I find a "how to get lipstick stains out of clothing after they've been dried" tip on the Internet.

Where Does the Time Go?

Mid-October?! What the...? How did that happen? I'm approaching midterms in school and am wondering what I've learned. Ha. Just kidding. Of course, I've learned new things. This second year, so far, has been much better than the first year. It's just way more relaxed and interesting. Last year was like survival of the fittest! For real. At one or two or three points, I thought I wasn't going to make it...but, I did! Go, me! Anyway, before I know it, I'll be walking up to get my degree at graduation, and then it's back to the REAL world! (ya know, the kind of world where you make money and don't have to write papers). And I'm lookin' forward to it.

This week is the week of visitors for me. Naomi is has been here the past few days (below we're on a boat in Central Park!)
and Meleah and some of her family comes tomorrow. It's always great when friend's come to town. It forces me to go out and do fun stuff, though it's not always good for my wallet. I don't get crazy or anything, but it's just more than I usually spend, of course. It doesn't happen often, so it's worth it. I've only got so much time here left in NYC. May as well enjoy it, especially when friends are visiting.

We went to this flea market where I scored some J. Crew black leather boots for $50! And I took these photos of awesome old stuff



Naomi and I walked passed this adorable old Chinese man selling birds he made out of ribbon. No one seemed to be stopping to look at his birds, so I couldn't resist. Meet Jorge!
I can't get over how awesome this photo is! Thanks, Naomi!:)

And last night, I was a lot hungrier than I realized and I devoured this delicious and huge B.L.T

Yeah, that gluten and dairy free diet (oh yeah, and meat) has gone out the window this last week. A girl can only resist for so long! And none of those things did I claim I'd give up forever. I still don't eat a ton of bread or cheese/milk or meat, but I think it does affect me somewhat when I do.

Life is Hard--Truth Makes it Livable

Since I've been in New York City and in Social Work school, my eyes have been opened to a lot of HARD things. In the city alone, every single day, at least once (usually more than), I see the lost, the lonely, the homeless, the disabled, the poor. I've begun to see people and wonder about their lives--what brought them to where they are now. What was their childhood like? Do they have any loved ones in their lives? To those who ask for money, I would give a dollar and more to every person who expresses need if there weren't handfuls of them every day, and if I, myself, wasn't living on borrowed money. LOTS of borrowed money. I've thought, well, at least I've been able to apply and get approved for thousands of dollars in student loans, right? But all money I will, in fact, pay back one day. Yikes. Lets not go there--ever.

But back to my thoughts. I attribute a major part of this curiosity of people and their lives to my schooling and career path I'm on and the things I've learned in it, so far. I'm learning not to just see the surface, but to know there's much more to someone than what meets the eye. I'm three weeks, almost four, in to my internship and already I've witnessed some very HARD things. To be realistic, a lot of people's troubles stem from things that can be prevented, by their choices. I won't list them all, but generations are affected by their predecessors. Abuse (physical, sexual, verbal, substance), for one, often run in families for generations and do profoundly damaging things to people and all others connected to those people. Human life is often affected by it from the very beginning. I've learned that alcohol, more than any other drug, is the most harmful to a fetus inside a woman's womb. Women and men are often careless with their responsibilities and end up creating a life that they aren't prepared to take care of. Or there's disease that spreads because people are sharing their body with any- and everyone. There is a greater design and purpose to life than taking advantage of it or by abusing it.

I've never been more sure than I am right now in my life that the principles and doctrines I believe as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are true and correct. It makes so much sense to me why I have been taught to not put harmful substances in my body, and why I shouldn't spend much time in places where people do such things. It makes so much sense to me I should wait till I am in a committed relationship of marriage to be fully and completely intimate with someone, because, yes, it's that sacred and, yes, one of the main purposes or outcomes of sex happens to be, oh, I don't know, creating new life! I'm just convinced day in and day out that life would be a lot more livable if people treated their bodies, themselves, and each other with more respect and more virtue. It makes so much sense to me to live life in the way that I do, what I believe to be the way God intended. I'm not claiming I live this perfect life. Not at all. Would it be a whole lot easier to do whatever I wanted?? Uh, yeah. But do I feel like I'm missing out on something because I refrain? Uh, no.