10 Days in California

Christopher and I in the hotel.

Well I can't say I've been keeping up with this blog much. It seems like life is always pushing me into complete isolation, regretfully. I've been prone to blogging throughout the years but lately there's been so much going on, mentally and physically (or lack thereof) that it's prevented me from being the productive person I am. I'll keep this as simple as humanly possible because I hate to ramble on, as it gets confusing and overwhelming.

Driving around with Chris. Best part of the trip. Well, I loved every part.

For the past 4 years I've been in a relationship with the most amazing individual I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. We've had a lot of ups and downs, as I'm sure most people experience in any endeavor they're dedicated in pursuing. I never knew myself, my strengths and my weaknesses, in such retrospect and detail as I do now. I've learned so much from every step I've taken, cause I know where I want to be in the long-run and that's with him. Every struggle helps me to become stronger and dedicated to this. More than I ever thought possible to be honest. I used to see things on such a minimal scale. Taking things for granted, letting opportunities slip through my hands, "going with the flow" just because i had no direction or set goal. Now I have everything to look forward to. I know where I want to be and every second that goes by, is one second closer to getting to that point. I can say to myself and to everyone around me that I'm honestly happy. I haven't been able to say that for some time now and for that I am thankful.

My gear.

First stop was to buy cigarettes and gas of course.

I've also had the opportunity to meet some great people this year. Mostly at my new job. They've been there for me when I hit rock bottom and I can't express how much I appreciate their support and strength when I'm at my weakest.

2013 was filled with a lot of endings for me. But with every end, there is a beginning. A chance to start again and to make things better the next time around. Most importantly it's about learning from every experience. Taking what you can from it and implementing that into your future. We are only human and we do makes mistakes, it's a part of life. But none of of would be who we are if we didn't pick ourselves up after we've fallen. The scars will heal sooner or later, I've learned that much.

Now it's 2014. I've visited California twice to see my boyfriend. This past week was the 2nd trip (the first was in October). It's funny when I think about it, I've booked each trip on special days. The first was booked on September 20th, for my birthday. This past trip I booked on Christmas. Each one a present to myself. I needed to be with him. Now I guess the 3rd time is the charm? I mean 3 is my favorite number so I'm quite excited to see what happens next. Hopefully a permanent situation for the both of us. I arrived back in Virginia last night. It's weird trying to get used to being in my own room again. It feels so unfamiliar. I feel.. homesick. Like I'm supposed to be with him and anywhere else is just a place I'm trapped in. Certain phrases probably come to mind. "Home is where the heart is" probably fits this situation perfectly. I've grown out of my surroundings apparently and grown closer to him. This year will be the most eventful, I'm certain of it. Watch.

He always opens the door for me. SO sweet. Prolly didn't think I noticed either but I did.

My favourite part of being in California. Palm Trees. Everywhere.

Constantly out chyea smoking.

Bruises. Haha...

Until next time!

New Shoes; Club Spike Goodness ♥

So my babies came in the mail today. Say hello to the Club Spike Shoe by Substitute. I bought them off Karmaloop.com but I think they only have them in limited sizes now. Anywhoo, I'm sure they're scattered all over the interweb on different sites. Upon reading the reviews on it's predecessors, I was warned that they were highly difficult to walk in and that they ran either too small or too big. The reviews were so confusing and kinda got me down before I purchased these. I was just hoping they weren't a huge disappointment. When they arrived I of course ripped em open, put on some socks and put those babies on. At first, yes, they take a bit getting used to due to the small width of the platform. Low & behold I have experience in these kinds of shoes. I purchased the Flashing Lights platforms from Irregular Choice a year ago and it took me a minute to get used to walking in those as well. I deem the Flashing Light's 10x more difficult to walk in than these, mainly because on those there's only a small portion of the shoe that touches the ground at one time. It kind of rocks freely back and forth but I've gotten used to it's design and can walk in them quite fine now. Now these FLAT platforms were very easy to get into. I've been wearing them for the past 4 hours and I don't plan on taking them off until I go to bed tonight (maybe not even then! haha). But to all those that are worried about the sizing and the difficulty level on walking in these, I suggest you get them and see for yourself. Sizing-wise, I bought a half-size bigger because they didn't have a size 7 and it turned out well. I can comfortably wear these with my semi-thick wooly winter socks and they're comfy as all hell. Do not fret when purchasing these. I would say that they run a tad bit small considering how snug these size 7.5 fit me with socks. I can deal though. Purchase made in heaven!

top: Calvin Klein, skirt: Banana Republic, stockings: thrifted, belt: thrifted, lipstick: Stargazer 109, bracelets: forever 21, headband used as necklace: marshalls

bracelet: charlotte russe

hat: Banana Republic, shoes: Nine West

ROBOthug & Her Furry Space Boots.

I was browsing random sites online and came across the title "robothug" and fell in love. I'm thinking about changing this blog name to that but we shall see! In other news, my brother's 4th birthday just passed so look out for that entry. I haven't been through the photos though as of yet but I'm sure when I do I'll only like one or two shots. I had forgotten to charge the batteries for my flash at the time and therefore was limited with the flash on my slr and gave up with waiting on it to load. Ah well. Back to today's topic. I was really inspired by a lot of things today and at 8am this morning decided to dredge up my grandma's sewing machine from the garage and work on a little project. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated, fingers are sore and many needles were broken but it was well-worth it for the end result!

Here we have this old Juicy Couture hoodie that I've worn a bit throughout the years. Originally my mom's and passed on to me and it really has been just lying around collecting dust (and fur apparently) so I figured I'd put it to good use. Make something out of it that I'd actually use often instead of just another item tossed aside, one step away from donation/selling on ebay!

Messy room! Couldn't be bothered to tidy up for a few shots. Fuckit.

As you can see it's a bit raggedy, the hoodie, itself! >.< Sorry.

Here we have the fur (yes, it's real rabbit fur.. sorry!) part of the hoodie which I pulled the lining from and was just left with the fur/skin part of it. Some parts were stitched so poorly, I'm unimpressed JC! 

 And here we have one unfinished shoe and one completed side.

With flash. Looks great either way.

I actually still have to work on the left side so I'll be posting photos of both shoes tomorrow, when I have better lighting etc. :D Hope you like what I've done so far though. My sincere apologies that I used real fur, mind you this is probably the only item I own that fits in this category >.< But otherwise I really, really love the way it's turned out. Just have to add a few minor corrections here and there. :)

OCC Lip Tars ♥

Another package I ordered came in the mail. It's from OCC (Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics) & it's probably the best purchase I've ever made. They have these lip tars that come in every color, from neutral to brights to darks and I'd honestly like to buy them all. I only bought two initially because I wasn't sure of the quality and if I would like it but I'm already hooked. I'll preach it to the world now, these are UH-MAZING. When I first put it on I realized how true to the reviews I read online they really were. They're very consistent and you don't need a lot of the product to get full lip coverage. So even though these little tubes may look tiny, they're bound to last a long while. Although I'll probably be using them constantly! Another great thing about it is that there's a minty taste to it? Not really a taste but when I put on the "Uber" shade, as soon as I breathed in through my mouth I could taste/feel a sort of minty flavor. It's oh so lovely. Be sure to check out the site for other products and lip tar shades ^_^

Packaging is so cute!  ♥

I'm wearing "Uber" in this photo.

And here's the "Katricia" lip tar ♥

Tried to get a decent photo of both colors on my skin. Katricia and Uber (left to right)