this is the new quote of my life:

“Never let go of hope. 
One day you will see that it all has finally come together. 
What you have always wished for has finally come to be. 
You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 
 'How did I get through all of that?”

just cause.

Every once in a really frequent while, I have nothing to blog about. So when this happens I resort to making lists. So here are some things that you don't know about me and my life:

1. I don't sleep with a pillow.

2. I wake up at 6am to watch Golden Girls on the Hallmark channel.

3. I sometimes eat when I'm in the shower. This surprisingly takes a lot of practice.

4. I hate frosting. I usually scrape most of it off my cupcake or cake. Ew.

5. I have a salty tooth instead of a sweet tooth.

6. My family had a little goat when I was growing up named Billy. We didn't live on a farm or anything but we did have a goat.

7. I still sleep with my stuffed animal "Puffy" that I've since I was one. Puffy ain't go anywhere anytime soon. From the looks of it, I will be buried with Puffy.

8. This:

 

bits of my weekend.

(above) This is my new hair color. This is also the second box I had to buy since the first ran out. This is also the color that stained my hands and scalp bright red. My hair is now the color of that girl's on the box. I like it. (R1 Dark Intense Auburn - Garnier)

(above) OMG. What your precious little eyes are looking at Reader is the new grocery store that is located less than three minutes from our apartment. It's called Harmons. And it's bitchin'. It is two stories and you have view like this. Not only does it have aisles and aisles of cheap groceries, but it has a bakery, a deli, a floral area, a buffet, a sushi bar, a coffee place, little shops and sitting areas above the aisles. This is pretty close to being heaven for me. I keep trying to come up with a pun involving "glorious" and "grocery" but I am coming up with nothing. Let me know if you are more successful.

Again. My heaven.

That is a cutie nectarine orange. I had close to a million this weekend. So so so delightful but so so so annoying to peel. Complain.

I didn't do much this weekend. If you really wanted to see what my weekend looked like, it would be this:

Because I watched 50+ episodes of Golden Girls. I love this show. Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur) is my hero.

This show actually (for some reason) actually makes me excited to get old.

Thanks for reliving this weekend with me!

2.

Two years ago today when I was sitting home on a Saturday while it was raining listening to the Temper Trap : Sweet Disposition, I decided to start a blog.

I am the queen of starting things and never sticking with them.

So I am pretty much shocked that two years later I am blogging.

I didn't even know how much I would love blogging.

I can't believe how much has changed with me and my life since that first post. 

I'm grateful to have this blog.

It's a great place to keep my stories, collect my thoughts and feelings, and post my photos.

I've always loved and appreciated the little things in this world but since having this blog, it has really made me appreciate those things more.

Most of all, it made me meet you, Reader. So thank you Reader, for being the reader that you are. 

I really do adore you.

Happy birthday Blog!

I love you.

I am too broke to get you a present.

what's going on in my life: part 4.

Hi. You are probably wondering why my hands are staind dark red. Well I will tell you. See: Update #1.

Update #1: I dyed my hair last night. Not my normal 'Medium Auburn.' This time I went for Dark Intense Auburn. Oh yeah. The process would have been successful if you define success as running out of dye when you still have half of your hair left. And we all know I'm not about to march to the grocery store and get some more with half of my hair applied and half still dry and not colored yet. So here I sit with two different colors on my head. Maybe I am starting a trend and I don't even know it yet. Doubtful. Anyway, somehow my hands (even though I wore gloves) are staind dark red.

Update #2: I think all the ghosts or spirits or whatever it was that was making me act like a crazy person in my own apartment are gone. Yay. Nothing scary has happened in a week. Meaning I don't have to sleep with all the lights on and calling my sisters in the middle of the night anymore.

Update #3: It is Oreos 100th birthday! Happy birthday Oreo. Thank you for making a special edition of Birthday Cake Oreos. I have already bought three containers. I'm pretty you get a cavity from eating just one though. Oh well, that is what dentists are for.

Update #4: It's the weekend. So if i look into my magic weekend crystal ball, I see: me finishing dying my hair, a trip to the library to people watch and get some books, and who knows what else. We will see.

photo of the day #128

This is a Squidcicle. This is also something I will never eat.

via

photo of the day #127

via

photo of the day #126

So pretty much, don't move and stay right where you are.

via.

pda and where not to do it.

Last night I was grocery shopping. My favorite thing to do. I am being serious.

I was pretty much done loading my cart up with pretty much everything not on my list and everything I don't need and I remembered I needed some apples. So to the produce section I went. Did you know an apple wakes you up  more in the morning than a cup of coffee? Well it does. Try it.

The produce section at Smiths is pretty tight. So as I was standing in front of the Mandarin oranges, trying to spot out the best bag that didn't have any moldy oranges in it, I suddenly felt crowded.

I turn around to see a couple in sweats pretty much cuddling right behind me. Out of all the places in the open produce section, they chose to shop/stand/cuddle/annoy every in the produce section, right by me.  I did my best to ignore it and act like I didn't want to kick both of them, but it got worse.

They started reaching AROUND ME to the same bin I was looking in. To paint a better mental image, if I turned around and faced them, we pretty much would be doing a group hug. So, I turned around, gave them my famous "um, excuse me, but no" glares and made my dramatic exit.

So to all the adorable couples out there, I don't care if you want to hug, hold hands or steal a smooch in public, but please don't do it around me, literally, and make me feel like I'm apart of it.

photo of the day #125

Once you see it, you'll know you will never sleep again.

via.

a complaint.

Hi.

I don't complain a lot. Because I am generally a happy person and find joy out of stupid things.

Also, I didn't have to work today so I really shouldn't be complaining.

 But this complaint stems from my work. And let's just say the HR lady is going to be welcomed at work tomorrow morning by a whole bundle of unpleasantness that is 'Kaleena and her bank account that didn't get a paycheck deposited on time.'

That's right.

We get paid on the 5th & 20th of every month. In a perfect world, I would get paid every other Friday. But we don't live in that world. We live in a world where only things that I don't like happen to me.

Anyway. So if the 5th or 20th lands on a weekend or holiday, we get paid the business day closest to that day. Makes sense. That means I should've gotten paid on Friday. But I didn't. I e-mailed HR using words like: annoyed, unacceptable, unprofessional, ridiculous, unhappy. I got a response back explaining it is up to my bank to get it deposited. Low and behold my bank said there were no funds waiting to be wired.

Are you &#%^&$^# kidding me??

HR then said it should be in there first thing Monday morning. A holiday. A day the banks are closed. I was doubtful.

It's Monday. Oh well what do we have there that is in my sad bank account. My NOT paycheck. Big surprise.

Still no paycheck. This makes a normal, happy, laid back, doesn't give a crap Kaleena... a very cranky, unpleasant Kaleena. And HR is going to see this first thing in the morning.

Also: Waking up, rushing around the apartment thinking you are late for work and then realizing you have the entire day off.... PRICELESS.

photo of the day #124

Meth is bad.

this is what happens on a sunday morning at my place.

Closet Rainbow!!
I decide to turn the clothes in my closet into a closet rainbow.

Oooo! Aaaawww!

 You saw it here first.

Closet Rainbow v 1.0

photo of the day #123

I guess some people get really desperate when they can't find a parking spot.

photo of the day #122

Real life Dora the Explorer has been found!

Announcement: I am bringing back Photo of the Day! To see all previous Photos of the Day, go here.

Photo of the Day is where I find funny and bizarre photos on the internet and make up my own caption.

truth.

Chamomile tea is my new hero.

It smells good.

It tastes even better.

It's good for your skin.

Stress reliever.

Makes you sleep better.

Boosts immune system.

What I have been doing to help the appearance of my skin is:

Make some chamomile tea. After the tea bag has steeped, let it cool. After it's cooled, dip a cotton round in the tea and rub your face with it. It makes your face soooo soft and it gets rid of acne.

And ain't this the truth:

i want you, i need you, i love you.

Happy Valentines Day!

Hi Reader.

Did you come here looking for some love?

Well here is a hug and a pat on the head.

I'm really impartial to Valentines Day.

I could be single, happily married, angrily married, divorced, widowed, in a wheel chair, dating, dead, on life support, whatever.

And I would still have the same opinions on Valentines Day.

You would think I would be crazy for this day since I'm such a hopeless romantic,

but I think little anniversaries and surprises are better.

Hugs & tickles.

Bye.

i feel like i'm fifteen, not twenty-two.

When I was typing my age for this title, I first put twenty-three. And then I had to sit for almost a minute and think about how old I am. In conclusion, I am twenty-two.

The reason why I feel like I'm fifteen right now is because of my face. My skin is breaking out. I thought these days were supposed to be over. It's driving me crazy and it's a vicious cycle really. I see a blemish on my face, I start touching it as if that will magically make it disappear. But touching it only makes my skin more irritated and then it gets worse. Then I find myself Googling home-made remedies for acne and then I find myself in the bathroom with my hair pinned up with honey and and carrots smeared all over my face hoping there are no bunnies or bears nearby to eat it off my face.

Ah. Just another one of my age crisis'.

IN OTHER NEWS: Later this week I am going to be hosting my very first, very own giveaway! You heard right. A big ol' giveaway. Reader, I hope you like what I have put together. When I wasn't Googling skin remedies today, I was brainstorming ideas for this giveaway.

Stay tuned.

a weekend only an introvert would love.

This weekend I was in bed by ten each night. (but this meant, I woke up at 4am - 5am).

This weekend I baked red velvet cupcakes. That means I ate more of the batter leaving little for baking into cupcakes.

This weekend I felt so tired and burnt out, all I wanted was to just stay home.

This week:

1. I am going to the city library. I was there on Saturday to get my new library card since mine somehow keeps getting stolen. I noticed it was a prime place for people watching.
2. I want to get to work at 8am instead of 9am. Just cause.
3. I want crab legs for dinner.
4. I'm going to resist getting on Facebook. It has been making me berserk every time I check it. People are idiots.

And dude. I'm no beauty blogger (in fact, I don't really know what kind of blogger I am) but this new mascara is my hero. I usually have to change to a new mascara every two or three months cause it just doesn't do the trick anymore. But this one is the best mascara I've ever used in my makeup wearing career. It is Revlon 3D Volume Mascara.

after a whole week of eating healthy, this is what my friday night looks like.

WANTED: Self control.

a method i am willing to share.

I am telling you right now, I know I am probably not the first person to have this idea. I know that I'm not the first person to think it was valuable enough information to put on a blog. But I also know I don't care, so here we go.

You know that really great, sensational feeling when you flip over your pillow when you are in bed? And suddenly your face and arm (kind of) is just overwhelmed with the coolness of the fresh side? And you just want to burrow your face into it and never leave? I'm going mmmmmmmm just thinking of it. Well, I recently discovered a way to take that to the next level.

With blankets.

Here is what you do.

Get the blanket you sleep with. Or just any blanket, I don't care. Find a wall in your house/apartment/condo/attic space/pent house/cupboard-under-the-stairs that is an "outside" wall... meaning the other side of it is the outside. In the morning, loosely roll the blanket up and lay it on the floor by the outside wall. Come bed time, hurry and get the blanket and cover yourself up in it. It's the cool pillow feeling but all over. Oooh yeaaah.

I will warn you, this cool pillow all over feeling leads to great disappointment, only because it lasts for no more than two minutes. Then you are just laying there with a room temperature blanket. But it is worth it. I do this every day. This is my life.

Obsessing over.... my new cool (literally) blanket technique.
Thinking about.... how I have to pee but I'm waiting til I'm done with this to go. Sorry, TMI.
Anticipating.... going to the library tomorrow to replace my library card. I have to get a new one since some jerk stole mine. Who steals library cards? They are FREE.
Working on.... a creative way to hang up my polaroid/Instax pictures around the apartment.
Listening to.... my neighbors upstairs repeatedly drop what I can only guess is a lawnmower.
Eating.... nothing right now. Thanks for reminding me.
Wishing.... I could stop being a procrastinator. Once and for all! I'll start working on this tomorrow...

my hair magically grew an impressive seven inches.

JUST KIDDING. 

Or as the kids these day say,

"Jk."

Those are just extensions. 

I got them from Sally's Beauty Store.

You just clip them in every day as you wish.

So if one day I want long mermaid hair, I clip them in.

If one day I want my normal shoulder length hair, I don't clip them in.

If I want to look like an idiot, I clip only a few extensions in.

Ta-da!

I am professional at getting really bored and restless with my hair. This explains my history of the famous blonde to brunette to blonde to brunette to [accidental] copper to brunette phases that start and end in tears. So if you get bored easy with your hair, I would recommend these clip in extensions. 

---

Oh and here are two things that should be hanging on my fridge right now:

an early morning math equation and song.

Me being up and awake before 6:30am my usual wake up time + every single light on in the apartment + me calling my mom and my sister Shandey and waking them up + the TV on just so it's not quiet in here = I was hearing scary, creaky, creepy noises. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. So I finally got up and gave up on the idea of me getting any sleep.

And now. The moment you've all been waiting for. A song that I made up. A song made up before 7am will surely not disappoint... actually I'm not entirely sure how true that statement is. You decide.

Ahem. Sing to the tune of "Rain, Rain, Go Away."

Ghosts, ghosts, go away.
If you never come back, well, that will be okaaay.

You're welcome.

some things that i like so much i want to print them out and frame them or something.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. -Steve Jobs

well, that explains a lot.

I have been acting more moody and crazy than usual.
At first I didn't know why.

Then tonight I noticed it's a full moon.

I always get crazy when it's a full moon.

Owwooooo! 

(That's me howling).

yesterday when i woke up i had no idea that i would end my day as a patient in the emergeny room.

Rough housing with your niece and nephews is all fun and games until Aunt Kaleena's left arm starts feeling dull and tight and abdomen starts aching and she starts panicking thinking she is going to die at the age of 22.

Here is how my adventure to the emergency room started. Obviously I am alive since I am typing this.

I tend to ramble when I tell stories, so to avoid me rambling I will tell the story in point form.

1. I was jumping around with my nephews and niece.
2. I notice a pain in my lower abdomen by my ribs and my left arm feels completely numb.
3. I lay down to rest but laying down makes the pain feel 1000% worse.
4. I start to silently panic.
5. Sister Lacey takes me to the ER.
6. I find out I have a high heart rate and high blood pressure. Duh. Obviously, I am stressing that I am seconds away from a heart attack.
7. The nurse does an EKG test for my heart.
8. Another nurse does a chest x-ray.
9. Lacey and I wait and wait and wait just to hear they don't know what is wrong but everything looks normal and healthy. (yay)
10. We go home.
11. I am woken up at 4AM with unbearable pain in my arm... STILL.
12. We go back. But Steve takes me this time.
13. They do all the same tests.
14. I hear someone throwing up hardcore in the room next to me.
15. I get my blood drawn for the first time.
16. I get an IV for the first time.
17. I am feeling nervous... but not for the first time.
18. After waiting and waiting and waiting, they say they can't find anything and I probably strained a muscle that somehow pulled a nerve.
19. We go home.
20. Get McDonalds breakfast on the way.
21. I'm still in pain... and a little convinced it's more than a muscle strain.
21. Take some medicine for the pain and fall into a heavy, deep slumber.

So, two trips to the ER, two blood tests, two EKG tests and two chest x-rays later, I am home. I am home with a healthy heart, healthy lungs and still a raging case of hypochondria. But the medicine they gave me to help the pain has caused me to stay in bed cause it makes me dizzy and awfully sleepy.

In conclusion:
1. I am alright.
2. I didn't die.
3. I had my blood taken for the first time.
4. I took two trips to the ER that apparently wasn't necessary.

adventures in grocery shopping when are trying to be kind of healthy.

Earlier this week I decided I wanted to start eating better. I don't eat that bad as of right now but there is always room to cut back on fast food. And plus, summer will be here before my thighs and bum know it; I don't want to be caught awkwardly lurking by the pool covered in my towel trying to distract everyone at the pool by yelling, "is that a dog driving a convertible over there?!?!" ...so I can hurry and get in without anyone watching.

I don't do well up against temptation. Meaning I typically cave pretty easy. Besides, self control is clearly overrated. So everyone should be proud that I resisted buying my beloved Mountain Dew. I resisted picking out a candy out of the candy aisle to snack on on the drive home like I usually do. I was buying fruits and vegetables instead of  treats. To show you how little I associate myself with vegetables, it took me four times before I spelled it correctly.

Anyway, I am off to a good start and I am proud at how well I held up against all the temptations the grocery store had to offer. For now...

Yay.

the day of many meltdowns.

Reader.

Where do I begin? I have so much to tell you but I feel like my fingers cannot type that fast.

I guess I will start with how I woke up with way too many emotions for one girl to handle. I should have woke up super flippin' duper excited since today is payday (hello paycheck, goodbye paycheck) but instead, I woke up and was served a variety plate of emotions.

I had to pay rent today-- meaning I had to stop by an ATM before work. Seems like a simple task. But I guess all ATM's in the Avenues decided to make it the opposite of simple. First, I stopped at the 7-11 on 3rd Ave and L Street since it was so close to my apartment. For some reason the ATM there would only let me take out $100.00 max. We all know my rent is much more than that. So I took out the $100.00 because it was too late to stop the transaction and decided to go to Smiths to use their ATM. I get in my car and one block away I realized I left my cell phone on top of the ATM. Rush back and find it safely sitting there still.

Lucky me.

I get to Smiths and I wander up to the ol' ATM to see a message on the screen that says, 'Hi Kaleena. I am the Smiths ATM and I decided to make your morning a bit more stressful.' Okay, it didn't really say that, but it did say, "OUT OF SERVICE."

Of course. Why wouldn't it be?

Ugh, where in the $&*%&$(* is another ATM around here?

I stopped at the gas station where I was finally able to summon the rest of my rent. I was very thankful that ATM let me take any amount me and my bank account would allow. That is now my go-to ATM.

After I dropped off rent at my apartment building, I forgot my lunch and something I was going to take with me to work so I could stop by the mall to exchange. (Keep in mind, the ATM scavenger hunt already made me 40 minutes late to work).

To top off all this madness... it was windy today. Not breezy. But moving every single hair on your head, arms, face (depending on the person...) windy.

I'm so glad all of this happened on a Friday... if it happened earlier in the week, there is a 1000% chance I would've given up on the rest of the week.

another reason to love jim morrison.

"People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that's bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they're afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them and hid them, you're letting society destory your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain."

-Jim Morrison

there are two things i really want right now........

and they are:

 It doesn't have to be those popsicles. Just any popsicle. Even otterpops!

using up my sick hours.

I don't feel good today. So I stayed home from work.

When my alarm went off today, I didn't even have to get out of bed to know I wouldn't be able to handle the day. But to be honest, every day when I wake up at 6AM it's hard for me to picture myself being anywhere else but my bed.

2 things I learned today:

1. Daytime TV sucks.
2. Don't watch Man vs Food when you are five kinds of hungry and don't have much in your pantry or fridge.

BRB. I will be at the store hoping to find things to eat that look half as delicious as the food I saw on Man vs Food.

yesterday will forever be rememebered as the day....

...that I yelled and talked to more inanimate objects that actual human beings.

I yelled at my computer at work for being stupid.

I talked to my car after I couldn't remember where I parked it.

I yelled at my cell phone for doing things that I don't even want it to do.

I lectured the dishes as I was doing them for being so hard to get sparkly clean.

I guess this means I am in the first stage of going insane.