Cosmetics

Cosmetics and magic.  Guess I never really thought about putting the two together.  I mean I know some people today and more often in the past painted designs on their bodies for things like protection.  Henna is still a very common form of make-up, where varying designs are painted on the hands, and feet for all kinds of different reasons.  I have read that many in the pagan community will bathe, dress, and do their make-up in a  very specific way depending on the spell/ritual they will be doing.  I haven't ever done this but it makes sense and is definitely something that has peaked my interest.

I have mentioned before that right now I am currently reading this book called The Magical Household by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington.  A lot of what I am going to write about today is based from what I read from their book.  So for those who don't want to have the book's content spoiled I would read no further!  This is just a bit of what I took from the book.

'Cosmetics were originally magical in nature.  Make-up, a part of magical rites, was deemed necessary for the protection of the body.' (S.C. & D.H.)

Maybe I really should be more aware of how I do my make-up in the morning when I know I will be 'practicing'.  In truth I usually don't do my make-up at all if I am aware I will be doing something significant.  I guess I have this romance of an all natural idea. Cunningham and Harrington go on to talk about how cosmetics were used to heal the sick, preventing evil from entering the body, warding off dangers...  When I picture this I see bodies painted with many symbols each with their own meaning and purpose.  Really though just your average everyday make-up can have significance as well.  Cunningham and Harrington mention a little on how the Egyptians would oval outline their eyes with kohl, both men and women, so that the evil eye could not pass.

I am not sure about anyone else but I had to look up exactly what the evil eye was since I had only ever heard about it in the newer Sleepy Hallow movie.  What I read, which wasn't too much so don't quote me on this, gave me the jist that it is when someone sort of has ill intent almost like a hex.  It can bring injury or misfortune to the person whom it is directed at.  So I guess its not all that complicated.

Moving along though, the Egyptians also used colors of importance.  Painting their upper eyelids blue and lower lids green was thought to strengthen their physic ability as well as protection.  Lipstick was used to keep evil from entering as well.  While make-up is now more directed towards beauty cosmetic magic is still around, more so in certain parts of the world that others but its not gone completely.  Egyptians are not the only ones who recognized the importance of color.  It is commonly known throughout the magical community that colors are of great importance.

Continuing to read I realized that just about every act of getting ready for the day is its own ritual, can have its own purpose if we are just aware of it.  Eye shadows, lipsticks, perfumes, colognes, oils, all of this can have a purpose in magic.  Hair was discussed a bit more in depth.  'Combing and brushing the hair is another daily activity loaded with magical overtones.' (S.C. & D.H.) I had never heard before that some thought that cutting ones hair is considered superstitious and believed to decrease power.  I know in the past the Japanese (samurai if I am remembering right) used to never cut there hair unless defeated in battle.  It was a sign of insult and disrespect if another cut their hair knot. Anyways, Cunningham and Harrington do say that cutting your hair won't really decrease your ability to preform effective magic seeing as how the entire body is a manifestation of power not just your hair.

All through their book I can't help but smile at little things like when they talk about braiding hair.  They said it was once a common practice designed to foil negativity.  That the knots or intertwingings spoiled baneful spells and also guarded the head.  I braid my hair almost every single night.  Not with the intention of protecting myself from negativity but to ward off the evil horrors of bed head in the morning.  All you curly haired girls out there know what I am talking about right?!  

Ok so since the post is turning out to be much longer than I first anticipated I will just talk about two more things mentioned in the book that I thought were interesting.  'If you wish  to remain passionate, don't brush your hair after dark.  This is a sure-fire way to lose your desire for sex.' -  (S.C. & D.H.)  Ok.... well.... so maybe I really only have one more thing to talk about.  You know I had a string of thoughts that I thought I would put to words because of this but now... I think it is better that I keep those thoughts to myself.  *wink*

And lastly '...an old Persian spell instructs us to stand in the dark before a mirror, combing or brushing the hair without thinking, speaking or otherwise moving.  Ghosts should appear in the glass.' - (S.C. & D.H.)  I couldn't help but wonder if this is where many of the ghost stories/games we hear as children started.  Bloody Mary, and the Candy Man, ect.  I as a child was always much too terrified to participate in these games and often was stricken with paralyzing fear when around those who did play the game.  It often led to me wide eyed, and heart going a hundred miles and hour, standing outside the bathroom door with the light on listening as my friends repeated the various names.  Then later on I alone was awake late at night convinced that the only reason no ghost appeared for them was because the spirit knew that I really believed in them and was definitely more afraid than the rest of my friends and was waiting to come and get me instead of them.  Too this day there isn't a soul on this earth who could convince me to play one of these 'games'.  

You know I have always had a weird..... nevermind I had this long paragraph written out about mirrors but I will save that for another day maybe wait until letter M week rolls around, since this post is supposed to be about Cosmetics.  Anyways I think next week I am going to maybe stick with the whole cosmetic topic but this time maybe try and throw in a  little bit of personal experience, some different sources other than Cunningham and Harrington's book.  I feel like this post is a bit dry but I am happy with it I hope that you all enjoyed it.  I will try to work on writing about things a bit more interesting with the following weeks.  I have to admit that I am still a little bit at a loss of how to approach this whole thing.  We will see where it all ends up though.  =)  Very excited to see what other people came up with for the this week!  

Spreading the giggles!

I don't have anything to write about today but I wanted to share this image with all of you.  I know some may not find it as amusing as I do but it sent me into such a fit of giggles I had to share.  Goodnight luvs!

Music Monday WOTE

So there hasn't been too much going on lately.  Last night I decided to participate in the Pagan Blogger Challenge.  This is something that is a bit new for me as I haven't ever joined in on challenges.  I thought that it would be fun though seeing as my reading list for the year is mostly metaphysically based.  I thought that the challenge might just be a bit more encouragement to read the books that I have as well as share the information I gain from them.  Also it is a great way to read other peoples practices and opinions, meet some like minded people and of course great discussions to be had.  I discovered it through a few of the different blogs that I follow and finally decided to check it out and glad that I am able to join in still pretty early on in the challenge.  For those of you who may be interested there is a button to the host blog on the top of my right side bar.

Right now I am currently reading The Magical Household by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington.  While I find much of what is discussed interesting, this book despite being only about 168 pages worth of reading material, I am having a hard time getting through it.  Usually I can sit and power through a book of this size in hardly any time at all and then I can go back and note down whatever caught my interest.  This book though I find mentally draining and noticed I often have to set it down and take breaks.  I started reading it last night and about 30 minutes in decided to finish it today.  Well I picked it up again around 10 A.M.  and well so far I am not even half way through even though nearly 4 and half hours have gone by.

I was also hoping that I would find something interesting to be able to write about for this weeks Pagan Blog Challenge which is the letter C 'due' this Friday.  I know!  It shouldn't be difficult at all I mean all I have to do is find something that starts with the letter C that is relatively 'magick' related and write about it.  So far I have ZELCH though.  I have read about Dutch hex signs (sechs), the importance of doorways, and a whole lot on the element Fire and fireplaces.  Nothing that starts with the letter C though.  I am thinking I might just have to pick something and do a bit of research on and run with it.  I was hoping to stumble upon something in my book that is maybe new or a refresher and be inspired to write about it but I guess we shall see.  I still have 4 days to go so who knows what will happen between now and then.

Moving right along though.

This weeks music choice is from one of my favorite bands Walk Off The Earth a.k.a. WOTE.  I am sure I have posted some of their stuff before but two of their band members Sarah and Gianni just uploaded a new video to youtube.  It is a cover but I still really like it so I figured I would share it with you guys.  Plus I really enjoy when they make music vids with the 'clones'.  

Well I hope that you all enjoyed the video.  Hoping you all are having a great start to your week.  I am off to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner.  Making yummy chicken tacos for dinner.  We had them just a few days ago but I convinced my boyfriend to actually let me fry my own taco shells for the first time since we started dating instead of buying the already hard shells in the box or baking them.  He hates corn tortillas and for some reason had it in his head he wouldn't like them the way I said I could make them but turns out he loves them and has kept saying since that we should have tacos again.  Lol silly boys.  So we are having them again.

Oh one more thing has anyone ever heard of Bountiful Baskets?  I know its not a super popular thing but I have been looking at their site and its a bit confusing and I haven't decided whether or not it would be worth a try yet.  If anyone has any experience with them I would love to hear your opinion.

So for real this time I have off!  Have a great rest of the day everyone.

Squeamish

Well I have finally started to watch the show American Horror Story.  I am a bit of a chicken, always have been.  So I can't stand to watch anything scary when I am alone.  Get myself too worked up and paranoid lol.  My boyfriend has completely different taste in shows/movies than I do so I can't count on him to be my TV buddy.  So despite a first failed attempt to watch the show I tried again and found that I actually really like it.  The first season was great.  Yes I have already finished it, have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment.  So today after doing some shopping and picking up my lunch I came home to start the second season.  I discovered I am a bit squeamish.  This second season is a bit gory and while eating my sandwich I was slowly losing my appetite.  

So needless to say I decided to watch something else.  Started watching Charmed from the first episode.  I know a lot of people think the show is a bit corny and cliche but it has been a favorite of mine since I was little.  Going back to American Horror Story for a minute though.  This second season is definitely throwing me for a loop.  

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

So I mean Aliens?  Really?  Sort of weird if you ask me and with what little I have seen of the season I am not seeing the connection to the Asylum.  The show still holds that air of suspense and drama enough to have my attention held tight.  I have to admit the idea of a corrupt Catholic based sanitarium for the mentally unstable definitely sounds like the kind of story I would be interested in.  So I suppose that we will see what happens.

End of spoiler


Does anyone else like Fig Newtons?  I happen to love them and have been thinking it would be cool to make some of my own.

I found two different recipes I thought sounded good.  One for plain homemade Fig Newtons and another for Orange Cardamom Fig Newtons.  Both look super yummy.  Soon as I get a little extra money I will have to give this a try.  I think I am in a cooking mood thanks to Piper.  She was always one of my favorite characters in the first few seasons of Charmed and I love that she is a chef.  I would also kill for the Halliwell kitchen or well the Halliwell Manor in general.  It is only second to the Owens house as far as my dream house list goes. Ha ha.

Accomplishment?

Remember when I said that one of the things I was going to work on was living in the moment and an example I used was not being a crazy person who gets nervous and anxious over things like driving with other people in the car?

Well my boyfriend asked me to drive today in his car for the first time since then.  I didn't even put up a fight I simply said sure like I wasn't internally screaming 'Nooooooo this is wrong!'.  So we go and all goes well until we are, oh I don't know maybe a mile from home.  No nothing horrible happened.  Just little things that grated across my already strung out nerves.  Probably the worst thing being that when I had to open the door to reach and punch in our gate code I accidentally hit the box with the car door.

Ugh!!!!  Whhhhhhhyyyyyy?

My boyfriend didn't say anything really but any form of self motivation I had been chanting in my head to make this driving experience seem like it was going great was shattered into a hundred little pieces.  I felt like an instant dufus, and my stress level jumped up to a high, still trying to get myself to relax.  When I get upset or nervous my neck and shoulders tense up and tend to stay that way for quite some time.  Luckily there is no scratch or dent and I am trying not to obsess over it but well... I think I should make myself some tea.

Anyways I am trying to see this as a triumph instead of focusing on the negative.  I don't want to revert after all.  So next time I am asked to drive I will bite my tongue, hop on the broom and just go with it. Lol!

=)

Have a very good night everyone and I hope that you all wake feeling refreshed and ready to tackle any challenge you may be faced with tomorrow.

I love surprises!

So guess what happened today?!

I got a text around 9 from my Mom asking if I was awake.  I was seeing as I had just gotten to 'work' the family I have been working for asked if I could help them out today and Saturday woot woot!  Also informed me that they are going to have me help out as much as they possibly can and hope that Chris (the Dad/Husband) finds a job soon so they can offer me full time once again.  =)  We had already talked about this before but now it looks a bit more hopeful.

Anyways I got this text and replied that yes I was explaining I was at work.  My mom then replied that they were in town and that my little sister was with them.  She wanted to surprise her and I.  So we ended up meeting at a Greek restaurant I took the girls with me.  We sat and visited for a while and then we worked it out so that my sister could spend the day with me.  WOOHOO!  We had fun visiting wish it could have been longer but they had to hurry back to New Mexico since she has school tomorrow.  I am just glad that I was able to see her.

I considered simply taking her home with me and just telling my Mom and her boyfriend that, that was that.  She could just stay with me.  I am not too sure how well that would have gone down though.  

So other than that I noticed something pretty cool today in my employers laundry room.  Why I never took more notice to this before I haven't the slightest idea.  I have been in and out of that room a few dozen times and never paid attention but I thought this was a super cool idea.

 Now I am sure that this idea might be old news to some of you but it is the first time I have ever seen it.  Simple jars with their lids glued to the bottom the of the shelf.  You can then store whatever you want in them, in their case various nails and screws and save yourself some tool drawer space.  I see a craft room with jars full of buttons, needles, ribbons and string.  All in pretty clear jars so you can see exactly what you are looking for.

Hope all of you are having a fantastic week.  Gunna go ahead and wrap this up and catch up on some of the blogs that I follow.

Music Monday

"Once upon a time there was a grey witch who lived in a cave on a hill by the sea.  She had a grey pointed hat and a grey robe and a grey furry cat who liked to catch mice.

The grey witch had a big grey book of spells which she liked to mix up and cook in her cauldron."

                                              --Diana Mitchell

I won my very first giveaway so a special shout out to Amy over at A Bookish Girl.  Thank you!  I haven't read all of the little short stories yet but so far it is cute and amusing.  Makes me wish that I had my kid sister here to share it with.  If you haven't visited A Bookish Girl yet I do recommend it.  Great book reviews and so far I have found a few pretty good reads thanks to Amy.

Funny little story though when I got my package as I have been expecting it I was so excited and knew immediately what it was that I decided to open it in the car.  Seems like a harmless act as I was parked but well....

I managed to open it wrong.  Honest truth I have never gotten a package filled with this... stuff before.  It has always been bubble wrap.  Needless to say the front of my shirt was covered in what looks like lint and finely shredded paper.  So I put the package aside and decided it would be better to wait until I got home to open it the rest of the way.  

When I did get home I tore it even further open on the counter and tried to gently dig through the stuffing with a fork all the while wondering why someone would put this stuff in around the book surely they must have realized what a horrible mess it would make.  I eventually did realized 'oh there is a center layer of package paper on the inside' where the book is.  I had torn into the outer layer of the package and not realized it.  Oops!

Other than that today has been a very mellow day.  Now that I am not working I need to stop ignoring my alarm.  I don't want to get into a habit of sleeping the day away.  Bit hard to motivate yourself to get up when you really don't have all that much to do other than job hunt which, well if I could I would avoid all together.  I think I am going to try planting some indoor herbs again.  I tried a little over a year ago and was quite successful but then when things with the family started to go down hill I stopped tending them like I should have and they suffered for it.  I just have to convince my boy friend that it is a good idea.

Probably the one thing that him and I disagree on is plants.  I love plants and if I could I would have them in every room of the house.  He on the other hand firmly believes that they attract creepy crawlies which I can't really say is completely untrue.  We will see I suppose.

Anyways I decided that if I post on a Monday I will make it a Music Monday post as well like I used to.  Unlike before though I won't get on to post just that like I tried to do before.  It was a bit taxing and I am not sure why since there is plenty of music out there to find something to choose from.  But if I happen to write on a Monday I will include some music to share. =)  I hope the week has started off on a positive note for all over you.

So as some of you know I am a Disney fan so I had to pick one of my new found favorite songs from the recently released Pixar, Frozen.  If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.  It is a definite welcomed break from the usual guy saves the girl, Princess marries the guy theme we have all become a bit used to seeing in Disney Princess movies.

For my lady followers if you have a sister you are close to.  If possible make a sister's day out trip for this movie you won't regret it.

So there are two versions of this song the one that is in the movie and another by Demi Lovato.  I personally like the version in the movie but that is just me.  For those of you who haven't seen the movie yet both videos show a bit of the movie.  Not enough I think to really give all the much away but I just thought I would give a warning.







-Nadine

Last Day

Today was my last official day working with the family that I nanny nannied for.  I have to admit I am pretty bummed out.  They have asked if I can still help occasionally which I am more than happy to do.  Still on the hunt for another job though and I can only hope that it won't collide with still helping their family out every so often.  I am thinking while I have this time off though other than the job hunt I will use it to do some deep house cleaning which won't really be hard seeing as our house doesn't really have to much in it but I am going to also use the free time for some me time.  

I have to admit since I have met my boyfriend my spiritual side has sort of taken a back seat.  We do not share the same beliefs which is not a big deal.  He is open to my way of life as I am to his, but it is still a little nerve racking to be so open about the things I practice.  Some might think that is a bit silly but my beliefs have always been hidden in the shadows so to speak.  For those who know me and my family know that my Mothers ex-husband was a bit of a.... spiritual hunter?  He was always on the search for something to... I don't even really know.  But lets just say we were dragged to many different churches, and practiced in a few different religions until finally settling in the LDS church which to me felt more like a cage than anything.  NOT to disrespect anyone but I am sure anyone who has been forced into something they don't believe in would feel the same.

Anyways so being open with my beliefs has always been a bit nerve racking having kept it to myself for so long.  I don't really have anyone close to me who has similar beliefs, other than my Mother who now lives in a different state. lol  So my 'practice' has always been sort of a solo party.  Very personal and to be open with it to my boyfriend leaves me feeling exposed.  Despite the fact that he has no opinion of it I still fear the idea of judgement coming from someone who's opinion I value over most.

Oh and as a side note just in case anyone has ever wondered why I refer to my beliefs and what not as 'my practice'  its because I don't really know where I fall.  I wouldn't really consider myself a wiccan, maybe neopagan I don't really know...  I am comfortable using the term witch and often refer to myself as such but again that particular title can fall under quite a few different labels.  So I will simply stick to calling it my 'practice' unless I find something that fits who I am which would be an accomplishment as I feel like I am ever changing.

On another completely different note.  I have discovered the reason I couldn't sleep for like three nights straight.  At first I thought it might be the approach of the full moon but that made little sense for me.  I was up paranoid and terrified that someone would break into the house and every noise had me convinced that someone was doing just that.  I would sit up in bed staring at the bedroom door in our dark room with only the little light coming from between the blinds to help me see thinking if someone was in the house I would see their shadow in the doorway soon enough to do something as they would think I am sleeping.  I wouldn't sleep until completely exhausted I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer only the be woken up by my alarm just a few short hours later.  

Well I can say without doubt that this is completely the fault of my boyfriend.  Lol! See he can't sleep at night unless Scrubs is playing on the TV.  He owns all the seasons and in the year that we have been together I am confident I have seen each season at least 4 times.  I didn't fully understand why he did this until just the other day.  See I had always fallen asleep to well... the dark, a nightlight at best maybe some very very quiet music in the background that I was sure to wake and turn off at some point.  So this habit definitely took some getting used to for sure even with the timer set to turn off the TV and I made sure to give him a bit of a hard time about it.  Well I convinced him we should watch a different show at least if we couldn't leave the TV off all together.  I realize now that is when I stopped sleeping. 

I have been conditioned to not be able to sleep unless Scrubs is playing the background!  Now I realize a bit more what my boyfriend goes through when I push to have the TV turned off.  Just like I did for three nights he hears every noise and is paranoid just like me.  While I now suffer this... condition due to a habit that developed over the last year he has a better excuse.  Its a bit crazy to think he has been doing this for 5 years and makes me wonder if I will be old and wrinkly with Scrubs on the TV as I go to sleep.  Needless to say I will no longer complain or give him a hard time.  I have definitely been grateful since my realization.  Two WHOLE nights of sleep thanks to Scrubs.

Books of Shadows

So this is just something that has been on my mind for a while.  For years I have thought about creating a BOS but well despite the fact that I invested in a very pretty book I can't fill its pages.  Oh and yes I do know that most literally MAKE their own book for this exact project but I really don't have the desire to do that and I really do love the book I found.  I almost dread the idea of ruining this beautiful book with my horrible hand writing and permanently leaving the stain of ink with something I might wish to remove later.  I have had this book now for 3+ years and have filled... 1 1/2 pages.  I guess I am just stumped what I should really put in it.  Reading other blogs I have seen that many use their BOS almost like a journal and while I think this is a fantastic idea I also wish to fill mine with more than the everyday rambling I mean that is what I created the blog for after all.  

Despite 'the practice' being a part of the females in my family's life going generations back no one ever kept a BOS to my knowledge.  Just little notes and letters stashed here and there kept in family photo albums, cook books and well journals.  I can't really say that I would really call what I would create a BOS anyways.  

Bleh I dunno my thoughts are so jumbled on the subject I don't know how to get it all into words so that someone else might understand what I am trying to say. lol

I did see another person talk about how they had many books that some may consider something like a BOS but she had them for all sorts of things.  One for cooking methods and recipes that centered around magik, one for magik in her household, another for rituals, and then one that was used for her thoughts like a journal.  This idea is quite appealing but I am not sure I would want to invest in finding even more books and then run into the situation where I can't fill them.  Plus I don't know if anyone else out there is a fan of actually keeping a journal but for the really nice ones man they sure do get expensive.  

Well that is really all that is going on with me right now.  Just a thought I felt like sending out into the universe.  Sorry that it is a bit of an odd one.  Hope that you all are having a wonderful week.  Will try and post again soon.  Goodnight!

Sad day...

I have been trying to motivate myself to come up with a fun post for everyone.  Something more on the arts and craft side of things.  I really do love to share my little home projects with everyone whether it be cooking, drawing, or crafting.  I haven't really been all that motivated to do any of these things though.  I did draw for a while on Sunday but then I just started to clean house which I sometimes find is an easy way for me to relax and let go of some of my troubling thoughts.  This relaxation was short lived though.  For the last week I have been burdened with the fact that I once again have to find a new job.

This time it is particularly hard since I genuinely like my job.  I would even go so far as to say I love it.  I love being a nanny I love working with kids and I really like the family that I am working for.  Unfortunately do to personal financial hardships for the family they will no longer be able to afford to keep a nanny.  So now I have to find a job... again.  I am hoping to find another nanny position but I have to admit just the idea of having to go through the application process of this on various websites again is draining my energy already.

The websites I used before care.com, sittercity.com while are amazing tools to have at your fingertips are also riddled with scammers.  Malicious links trying to infect your computer, to people who will actually attempt to scam you out of money, and of course the REAL scary ones that want to meet but give you the heeby-geebs just from reading their messages.  Then there is the interview process which is another hardship on its own.  Just getting to the interview stage is hard enough but then meeting with these different families and knowing that they are going to hire upon not only experience but your personality as well in the hopes that you will fit well with there family.  I have always been nervous at interviews sure but when I started trying to find a job as a nanny I had that sudden realization that the majority of their decision experience aside will be on how they think of me as a person, if I am fit to care for their children.  For some reason this just made it that much more nerve racking for me.

So this is my last week with the family I work for now and I am sad to have to leave them.  Nerves are on end with trying to find a new job.  Hopefully I will find something soon.  I have already had a few families reply to me.  So we shall see.  I would really like to not have to get another job in retail.  Bleh!

I hope that all of you are having a nice week so far.  Time for me to hit the pillows.  Good night and pleasant dreams.

-Nadine

Why am I up?

I just now looked down at the clock and noticed that it is 1:30 in the morning and I have to work tomorrow so this will likely be a really short post.

First things first have I mentioned how awesome my boyfriend is?  Lol I know... a bit childish but he constantly makes me smile and despite being together nearly a year he still does little things just to make me happy.  Like notice I am struggling to hand whip some heavy cream, so he takes over for me without being asked.  Made myself a nice cup of home made hot cocoa and had to have whipped cream to go with it. =)

And just now he started to pester me about an artist that I have been a little obsessed with lately just so he could find a song to put on that he knows I like and I know he doesn't like.  I can't help it her music despite being a bit crude at times mellows me out and puts me in a happy place.  I love her style in singing and her style in general.  And I love that she seems real to me despite being drop dead gorgeous in all her videos she is acting with people who... well look like real people.  I wouldn't doubt I could pass one of them on the street and not take notice because they are beautifully average.

Oh I am talking about Lana Del Rey by the way.  Thanks to a friend and facebook I discovered her music recently and have been a little addicted.  Especially to her song Ride which is currently playing.

This video is 10 minutes long because it is half song half short film sort of but I love it.  If you want I also recommend listening to Blue Jeans, Dark Paradise, and Young and Beautiful.  All some of my favorites.

 

Well anyways I guess the only other thing I wanted to write about is that I have decided that one thing I am going to do with this new year is try to be more informed.  Now I know some people make a point to avoid things like the news and politics.  Lately though I feel like I am disconnected with things that are going on.  I have no political views and honest truth I haven't the slightest idea what are some of the major discussions/issues that are going on today.  So while I have never really been the type to watch the news everyday and keep up with things like politics I think I am going to make a point to try to be more informed.

Also as fellow blogger Aine over at The Deepest Well said I think I will make more of an effort to live in the moment.  When I had first thought about this it was more in a sense of taking more risk.  Not in the do something crazy sort of way but just pushing myself to get out of my box and do something I might ordinarily shy away from sort of way.  When I read Aine's latest post about her own decision to 'live in the moment'  I thought that described my own mind set a bit better than 'risk taking'.   So thank you Aine.

I just think that I have been missing out on certain opportunities big and small because I am too shy, nervous,  self conscious.   When it comes to fear of rejection or judgement I am the first to take the easy way out.  I'd rather suffer zero embarrassment and discomfort by avoiding a situation all together and regretting it later than take the risk of doing something out of the ordinary and maybe experiencing something amazing.  I do this ALL THE TIME.  With big life decisions, to personal relationship decisions, and small hardly significant decisions.  All because I am too chicken that I might fail, disappoint, or get embarrassed.

I think the worst part is I make myself so internally worked up over things that it makes me doubt things that I know I am perfectly capable of.  Stupid silly things!  Like for example driving.  Now I will admit I am a bit of a nervous driver, other drivers scare the living ba-jesus out of me.  But the fact is I drive on a daily basis all the time just like most adults.  So its not a big deal right?  Wrong because when anyone gets in the car with me I suddenly become ridiculously paranoid that they are judging me while I am driving and then I reason in my head that they are a better driver than I am so they should be the one driving.  This has led to a handful of times where my boyfriend has literally had to force me to drive.  In the end always resulting in me feeling like a total tard for making such a big deal out of it in the first place.

Then there are other things like... well on a much bigger scale getting my G.E.D.  As some of you may know I was home schooled from the 7th grade up and never graduated and have yet to get my G.E.D.  Why?  Absolutely no reason other than I am terrified that I will fail which is a little ridiculous considering I did go to college for a year having scored into average college level classes so there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to pass and get my G.E.D. Specially when they say that most 7th graders could pass the tests.

So here are my things for the new year:

Read my stack of metaphysical books all the way through...
Be more informed...
Live in the moment.
Get my G.E.D.

.....stop being a scaredy cat....

Well this has turned into a much longer post than I thought it would.  I hope that all of you have a really good night.  I seriously need to get to bed now.  =)

-Nadine  

Hair and Ink...

Well I have tats on the brain.  I have been itching to get my next tattoo but I am still undecided on exactly what I want I have hundreds of ideas running through my head.  One thing that I have always thought would be a ton of fun would be to get a pin up witch.  Honest truth though unless I found an amazing artist I would be terrified to get a pin up girl.  I have a very specific style in my head when I think of pin up and I would want it to be just right.  I found a few fun pictures just looking for inspiration.

This picture is about the closest thing I could find to the style that I would want. Not the biggest fan of the actual outfit of the witch but I do love the background and pose.

I love how simple this tattoo is.  It is small enough that it wouldn't be too hard to hide when doing things like job interviewing or just needing to keep an air of professionalism.

I really like this design and always wanted an om symbol.  I think that when I get it I will either create a design like this one or have the om be the center of a mandala design.

This one I just thought was really cool.  Not to mention the shading in this particular tattoo is really nice.  I love the moth and I think that if I ever decided to get another butterfly it would be something like this.  I am really drawn to the realistic look of this tattoo and that it is also not your typical 'oh look its a pretty colorful butterfly.'

Anyways so as you can see I have a bunch of tattoo plans.  So far I only have one but I have always been drawn to tattoos, even when I was a little girl.

Other than tattoos I have also been considering dying my hair again.  I used to dye my hair different shades of reds and purples all the time.  For about two years now though I have been letting my hair grow out and have finally gotten back to its natural brown.  I am bored again so I have been considering going burgundy.  I still don't know if I will though.  Dying is a lot of upkeep and I don't like how the last time I dyed my hair it got fried and the ends were destroyed.  But we shall see.  Here are a few pics of the color I think I will go with.

I think this first one might be my favorite showing exactly what color I would want.

Well anyways that is what is going on here.  I hope that you all had a nice weekend.

-Nadine

New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Sorry I know a few days late but I hope this new year has started off great for all of you.

Well I spent all day yesterday again making more cookies.  This time with friends though.  A friend of mine found a recipe to make home made Samoas.  I used to love these I think they are now call Caramel Delights if you buy them from girl scouts.  I am gunna stick with Samoas though. =P

Anyways all of us when we saw this recipe on pinterest thought 'Oh yeah!  That sounds like a ton of fun lets get together and make some!'.  So we did.  I have to say though these cookies are a GIANT pain in the butt to make.  I am not sure why but the dough for the actual cookie is much like when you make sugar cookies.  But it is eggless.  Which isn't a big deal but it is super sticky so rolling it out is no fun.  You have to chill it of course but it gets super soft again SUPER fast so you have to work fast when rolling and cutting.  Oh! and then cutting these puppies out!  It says to use a doughnut cutter.  Well us being who we are thought 'ha we don't need that we will improvise'.  Well we did starting with a cup and a small metal measuring cup of sorts.  We soon discovered that these were way to big.  For a normal cookie maybe not but samoas as we later remembered are actually pretty small in size.  So after a few trail cuts using various caps from different spices we finally found the perfect two.  The center hole cap cutter I could literally fit on my finger tip like a hat.

I have to say the smaller around the better.  Like I mentioned we started with a cup to cut out these cookies and getting them onto the cookie sheet that size was a huge pain with how thin you are supposed to roll them out.  They just fell right apart.  So it might seem like the cap from one of your spices looks too small but it isn't they came out the perfect size.

So after we got all of our cookies cut and baked you have to paint all of them with melted caramel.  Then you put a coconut, caramel mix on top.  Sounds easy but you would be wrong in thinking that.  It is a big pain the butt.  Even more so if you are a perfectionist and actually are going to attempt to make them look like real Samoas and have it lay perfectly on the cookie.  We obviously gave up and started to just spoon the coconut on top.  Then for some odd reason after you put the coconut on top you are supposed to dip the bottoms in the chocolate.  Honestly I would recommend doing that step first as the coconut continued to fall in the chocolate and made a mess.  For the finishing touch you drizzle more chocolate on top.

Boom!  We have legit girl scout cookies!  Well I mean you will after you let them dry which takes literally forever unless you stick them in the freezer.

Despite the fact that making two batches of this type of cookie took all day and was extremely tedious.  Oh man are they good.  Even the boyfriend who doesn't like sweets likes these cookies.  He may not admit it but the fact that every time he walks by the plate of them he just happens to grab one counts for something.

We had a ton of fun spending the day together enjoying some girl time.

Well again I hope that all of you are off to a great start this year.  Best of wishes being sent out too you all.

-Nadine