It's a black lipstick kind of day.

I have decided that I WILL be travelling out of my comfort zone and just doing things a bit differently this time around.

Evolving is hard and it will definitely be hard for me to do as I have lived my entire life in the comfort zone, but I believe it's going to be well worth it in the end.

 

This black lipstick just might become a normal thing for me.  #blacklipstickkindofday #newyearnewme

 

 

7am musings

The worst thing about Christmas is the holiday hours that come around at work. lol There's nothing like waking up at 5am to catch the bus at 6am in order to get to work by 7am. 

So I essentially leave when it's dark out and come home when it's dark out as well. While I love the darkness, I also enjoy some light and sunshine. 

This photo is a view from the parking lot door as the sun was rising. It was absolutely beautiful. The sky above the tree line started to fill with ribbons or yellow, pink and orangish intertwined ribbons.

I may have been feeling like a grumpy pelican at the time, but that sunrise made my morning seem so much better, because I was awake to actually see it. 

The Regal Rules for Girls: How to Find Love, a Life --and Maybe Even a Lord -- in London

Well I finally finished the book. While I did enjoy it, I did find that it has a creepy stalker vibe to it. You really have to take the contents of this book with a grain of salt and the use of your own common sense is advisable. Mrs. Fine talks about her life in London and what she experienced when she moved there. Call me crazy, but I find that some of what she wrote to be a bit exaggerated just a teeny bit. No seriously it has to be exaggerated a lot. 

This book is great when it comes to the aspect of places to visit and not to visit when in London. Mrs. Fine doles out some beauty advice, books to read, places to visit, where to shop as well as dating and life advice. She gives you all the information you need to move to England, from getting a VISA and places to look for when looking at schools or places to live. I literally took notes on a lot of this stuff!

Then comes the disturbing bit.. she literally tells you how to land an English gentleman by stalking. She tells you exactly where to go to find them and what to do and not to do to attract them. She makes the English gents out to pretty much not have an ounce to romance in their entire being. She also makes it seem like they are stupid and can't navigate outside their own social circles. She says that you need to be in charge of them and guide them. She literally makes them out to be pathetic. 

The Regal Rules for Girls: How to Find Love, a Life --and Maybe Even a Lord -- in London

I did it!

I very rarely compliment myself, but I'm going to! Most time's when I get compliments I don't know how to react and I tend to get embarrassed by them. 

A few weeks ago I finished this 20k walking challenge in exactly one day and while I was at work. Considering as to how much walking I do on a daily basis, I'm really not surprised that I was able to finish it there.

I found the challenge on Facebook through Virtual Strides. Mind you the Queen is gone, but they keep the challenge up as a way to honor her legacy.  
I just got my medal yesterday! It feels weird saying this, but I'm so proud of myself!! I'm ready to do another one now! I'm planning to do one in November. There are a few that I'm looking at at the moment.

Fancy by Jessica Simpson

While at work today I found a bottle of perfume that I had been looking for for quite a while now. The perfume is one from Jessica Simpson's perfume line and is called "Fancy".

 

The perfume smells amazing and I have received quite a few compliments on the scent. It's really hard to find a perfume that goes well with my body chemistry and thankfully this one meshes well with it.

It has a fruity feminine smell to it and it's very long lasting. I applied it this afternoon around noon and it was still lingering when I got home from work at 6. 

I looked up the scent notes and found that it is a vanilla based fragrance with top notes of red berries, pears and apricots. There are middle notes of caramel, gardenia, almond and my favorite scent Jasmine! Last but not least the base notes of amber and sandalwood. 

 

Cloudwatching

  

There are many things that I love about my work, but one of the best is that I have an open sky to look at while waiting for the bus to come.  I would have no problem sitting outside and staring at the clouds for hours on end. I love them!

I love looking for various shapes from animals to objects or people. I saw an angel blowing a trumpet once while in flight. The cloud formation was clear and it was easy to see what the shape was.

Mother Nature has a way of sending us messages, we just have to be smart and observant enough to look for them. 

Covid day 5

Well it seems as though Covid isn't done with me as of yet. I was supposed to go to work tomorrow, but felt uncomfortable going without taking a test to ensure I was Covid free. 

It's weird, but I'm kind of going stir crazy being at home and stuck inside this whole time. Normally I enjoy being home, but normally I don't feel as if I've been hit by a bloody bus a few times.

My body aches are back again, but on the bright side my head isn't full of fluff like it has been feeling. It seems to be a lot clearer than it has been. I've been taking two extra strength Excedrin daily so I'm thinking that is doing the work there.

Covid Day 3

Covid is still being a spoiled brat and I seriously want to biotch slap it a few times until it makes up it's mind as to what symptoms they are going to toss around at me. I actually felt a bit better this morning when I woke up. The brat must have realized that it was slacking so....

1.) One minute I'm sweating and too hot  so I pull on a pair of shorts and the next I'm pulling on a pair of sweat pants and sweat jacket. I just can't win with this one.

2.) I have no appetite at all, but I am forcing myself to drink at least 10 full 32oz bottles of water. I will force myself to eat a granola bar here and there, but all in all I'm just not hungry at all. I bought some sugar free water flavor to help me drink more water. 

3.) The brat decided that I must always have a horrid taste in my mouth despite the fact that I brush my teeth in the am and around noon and before bed... after an hour the taste is back. I hate the sick taste that comes with being sick... it's seriously nauseating.

4.) I gave up on attempting to keep my sleep schedule because I'm just so tired. I am still getting up at 7am every morning as that's my usual time to rise on work days. I'll deal with getting it back on track after I get better. 

I think it wouldn't be so upsetting if I didn't have to deal with my mom being sick as well. She keeps calling me to go down and help her with something and I keep reminding her that I have Covid and can't be around her! She just doesn't seem to care. I spent almost $100 on meds, Lysol and wipes so we are both on Mucinex at the moment. 

Really Lisa.. really??

Last night I got an eyelash in my eye so now my left eye is all bloodshot and red from me rubbing and trying to get it out. I have my eye drops that I've been putting my eye. I've noticed that the older I get the thinner my eyelashes are. 

I woke up this am feeling pretty good a slight runny nose, and some sneezing. Had a cup of tea and went outside to grab a Amazon parcel, I bought some Polo mints from England and they're better than Lifesavers, then sent for some groceries. 

Now I'm sitting at my desk with three boxes of tissues and I'm almost finished with one of them and realized that I forgot to buy allergy meds. That was my MAIN reason for doing Instacart today! This is what happens to me every bloody time when I don't make a list! LOL

BUT all in all it's a good day, the weather is beautiful and there's children laughing and squealing on the hill above my house along with the sounds of splashing water. 

Another year lived...

 It's July 1st and there's already fireworks going off outside. They usually go off the entire month here where I live and it does get a bit frustrating when they decide to shoot them off around midnight. 

I have come to terms with the fact that the fireworks are a part of the holiday and that having them go off for so long is just a part of life and I'm dealing with it just fine, but I do have a few issues that really irk me when they are being fired off...

1. The terror that furbabies feel when they go off breaks my heart. People should not have to drug their pets to help them get through the holiday. Fireworks should be illegal and not be allowed to be fired off in neighborhoods.

2. Veterans who suffer from PTSD should be taken into consideration this time of the year. They did not choose to come back with PTSD and they fought for this country and should be protected this time of year. 

There's so much banging going on upstairs at work as the mall prepares for the annual haunted house that takes place up there every September thru October. It's kind of funny because you hear screaming most of the night as people move through it. lol

I don't know why the mall bother's to take it down, they might as well keep it up year round so that they don't have to deal with rebuilding it. Nothing else happens up there so  to me it's just a waste of time and energy.

The 1st is also my birthday I have officially turned 53. I worked all day and did nothing special, OK I bought myself a purse and ordered Chinese food for dinner. Again it's nothing special literally just another day for me.

I can't wait to do my nails!

My work always get's some amazing high quality stuff in at random times.
I've gotten some Burberry roll on perfume, Jo Malone perfume and paint brush gel perfume as well.
I'm honestly not much of a perfume gal, but I wear these all the time. It's mostly stuff in the ladies accessories area.

 Today I just bought bought Chanel "Taboo" nail polish! I can't wait to do my nails! I did one hand, Taboo is a shimmery purple color. lol

Van life dreams revisited

 

Every time I ride the RTSonDemand van to and from work I feel the urge to go straight into van life and not go into an apartment as I had been thinking about doing. 

 

It's still not a safe time to start van life here in NY with all of the attacks in the mall parking lot and the shootings so the crime rate in the US is rather high at the moment and I'm NOT looking to be a victim. 

 

I refuse to live my life in fear of what could happen to me if I lived in a van, but I don't want to put my life in danger by doing something at the wrong time. 

 

So I'll be building up my savings to use toward buying something that is fully built out and I won't have much to do except move things into the van. 

 

That's what I'll be using my Marcus account for, to save for getting a built out van. My taxes will go into the van fund and once I get enough saved up I can move into one and live my dreams of vanlife. This way I'll also have the means of transportation and can travel on the days off.

Seaweed and Cheeto's

 

What's next?

When the snow finally stopped visiting us, the weather fluctuates between chilly and warm, and I get a cold. Go figure, this literally happens to me every year when the seasons change from winter to spring and also from autumn to winter.

Now I am deal with a bout of allergies that has had me sneezing all day. I went through a box and a half of tissues as well. I'll be taking allergy meds before bed because the only ones that I currently have make me sleepy so taking them during the day isn't an option. 

I've been amusing myself by watching videos about the British Royal family, drinking Snickers coffee and getting some writing done. 

4 random blog questions I get asked.

Why do you blog? 

You know how you have so much stuff on your mind that your head literally feels overloaded? My head gets like that. If something really interests me then it will linger in my head for quite a while. It's like I have 50+ tabs open and they're all trying to get my attention at once saying "Concentrate on Me!".

What is a mind dump?

I started this blog as a mind dump. I found that by writing everything down that I was able to close some of those tabs running through my head. If I read something really cool in a magazine then it will stick with me. I've realized that instead of telling everyone in person about it that I can just post it in my blog here and share the links. 

Why are your posts short?
If I have a lot to post about something, then the posts will be long. I have spoken to a couple bloggers who told me that short and sweet is the way to go. If you post a lot of long posts then it draws people away. We shall agree to disagree on that one because I personally love reading long posts. The longer the better!

Why don't you use your own photos?
I do use a lot of Pixabay photos, but mine will be mixed in as well. I am working on learning to take good photos. I am literally my own worst enemy, so I always look at them and find fault with them. I need to stop and just post when I have taken. I'm getting there. This photo is ME by the way! 

Would you give your dog cannabis?

An acquaintance on Facebook mentioned that she gives her pup cannabis infused treats. This to me seems a bit dangerous to the pup's health. I mean she said she gives her pup straight cannabis baked into some dog treats that she bakes. 

I've never heard of giving them straight weed, but I have heard of giving them CBD oils. If your pet ingested weed and is having side effects, then it could be one of these... 

~ Vomiting 
~ Acting wonky with uncoordinated movements
~ Lethargy
~ Drooling 
~ Breathing rough
~ Rapid heart rate
~ Dilated pupils
~ Hyperactivity
~ Agitation 

A friend who gives the CBD oils to her pup actually said that the oils are different from actual weed. The oil is a compound that is actually found in Hemp, and it doesn't contain the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol aka THC. THC is a compound in weed that causes the psychoactive properties. 

CBD Oil for Dogs: What You Need to Know

So, hide the weed infused edibles and give your pets something that is safe and good for them.

Hemp Oil Dogs Cats - Anti-Anxiety, Arthritis, Seizures, Pain Relief - Hip Joint Health - 100% Organic Calming Drops - Omega 3, 6, 9 & Vitamins B, C, E

Billion Pets - Hemp Oil for Dogs and Cats - Hemp Oil Drops with Omega Fatty Acids - Hip and Joint Support and Skin Health - Anxiety and Stress - Pain

PetHonesty Senior Hemp Mobility - Hip & Joint Supplement for Senior Dogs - with Hemp Oil & Hemp Powder, Glucosamine, Collagen, MSM, Green Lipped Mussel, Improve Mobility, Reduces Discomfort (Chicken)

Happy Christmas everyone!

Today has been a very tiring day and I literally spent it alone. lol Last night was spent with my family at my brother's home. My brother Steve and his girlfriend made all of the food. He is an amazing baker. Yeap my brother has many skills. 

The Eve was spent with family laughing and playing games with a holiday movie playing in the background. 

I have always loved his Christmas trees. He puts lights on it and maybe 10 ornaments are scatters around the tree. This is his tree!

Those are my favorite kind of trees. I love all trees and their decor, but my all-time favorites are the ones that have hardly any ornaments on it. Sometimes the ornaments take over the whole tree and you can hardly see the lights. It is the lights that make a tree for me.

Christmas Day was spent by myself as it usually is and I'm 100% OK with that. Mind you my brother Pete is across the hall with his cat Vince and my mom is downstairs, but I'm still alone in my bedroom listening to music, chatting with friends online and writing blog posts. 

I ended up breaking my coffee pot, it literally shattered in my doorway on the way to the bathroom to fill it to make me some much-needed coffee. Luckily, I have a couple pour overs at my disposal, so I was able to make some coffee and not be a grouch all day. 

I hope you had an amazing Christmas filled with love, laughter and loads of hugs.

Real trees vs Fake trees.. which do you choose?

At the old house we lived in we had a real tree most of the time. According to my mom Christmas isn't Christmas without a real tree. Wrong... see she and I were at odds because I always preferred a fake tree. Less hassle and easier to clean up after taking it down!

My reasons were this... She would keep the real tree up until all of the needles fell off... ALL of them! Guess who had to clean it up?? That's right ME! So, we would bicker about whether we had a real tree or fake one. I will admit that I did win a few times. lol 

While signing the lease for the townhouse we were given some news that literally cut the tree decision out. No REAL trees are allowed to be put up. I was overjoyed and well... mum was not.
No more bickering about what tree to get. My sister gave us one of hers and it's currently sitting up in the living room. It was literally never taken down from when we first moved in. lol It's been up for two years.

I also have an awkward tree up in my bedroom that stays up year-round. At night I'll turn the lights off and watch a show on Netflix with just the tree lights glowing.