Monthly Read: March

I read Room by Emma Donoghue this past week and I cannot recommend it enough.

I finished it in about two days and whenever I picked it up, I could not put it back down. It was mesmerizing.

The book is told from the perspective of a five year old boy, Jack,  who has spent his entire life living in one room with his young mother. As you continue to read on, you learn not only why Jack has lived his entire existence in this room but how something that seems to be so tragic can be so meaningful. Vague, I know, but read the book and you will see what I mean. 

This book was compelling to me as a I have spent this entire semester studying children and childhood development. I also have always had an interest in feral children and their development, which is why this book may have also piqued my interest a bit. 

Books like these are amazing because I cannot imagine how hard it must be to write a book from the perspective of a five year old boy who knows only one sole human in the world and has never been outside this one room. And yet, Donoghue accomplishes this flawlessly and you slowly immerse yourself within the dynamic between Jack, his mother and this room that is his sole existence. And while the thought of being contained in a room for one's whole life seems unbearable, when told through Jack's voice, this room becomes your home as well. 

I was so impressed with her writing style and seriously, please go out and read this book. I inhale books, but I know once this book is picked up, you won't be able to put it down.

Has anyone else read this? Thoughts?

Vanity Envy

I have this awkward corner in my bedroom. Nothing really fits there and there is randomly a shelf about a foot from the ceiling which makes it too high to really put anything because it's hard to reach up there. I have been trying to decorate it, throwing some candles up there with other random knicknacks in a pathetic attempt to be artsy. I would take a picture but it's become the temporary safe haven to all things we don't want Moose to chew because it's one of the only places high/safe enough. 

But I have always wanted a vanity. And since I have embarked on my couponing journey and have signed up for Ipsy boxes, I have a lot of make up and products just sitting randomly throughout my apartment because my bathroom is just too small to house all these random things.

So, I decided to buy a very inexpensive corner desk from Walmart and have it shipped to store for free. From there, I want to work on saving up for a nice upholstered chair and a make-up mirror. Since we are going to be in this apartment for at least one more year, I figured I might as well invest and really make this apartment my oasis. 

So here is my dream vanity set-up:

I love the damask print and I am loving this fabric. The chair is a bit of a splurge from Overstock.com so  I will definitely be scouring HomeGoods and yardsales in an effort to find something as cute but more economical. 

I love the flat, modern look of the make-up mirror. I definitely need something similar because I have a weird obsession at staring at my pores. 

The thing I am most looking forward to, however, is finally finding a permanent home for all my jewelry. I used to wear different earrings and necklaces everyday but now they are all tangled and thrown in a box and I just can't be bothered. I would love a set up where I can see everything and access it with ease. 

Do any of you guys have vanities? What are your must-haves for your personal space?

Sick Shopping

This week I have been sick. 

Like nasty sick. Like hold up in bed watching Netflix and pathetically asking my boyfriend to make me tea sick. 

This kind of sick is dangerous for me, though. It means I spend a lot of time laying in bed... and online shopping. 

Some of my more recent purchases:

1. Glasses (this were a necessity- Moose ate mine.. again)

2. A hair donut. Because why not?

3. Boots that finally went on sale at Target

4. A cute dress

5. And a juicer to make sure I get lots of veggies in me and NEVER get sick again!

You see, getting sick isn't just hazardous for my health... it's also hazardous for my wallet!

Hag Sameach!

I grew up being the 'token' Jewish girl. 

No, seriously. Everyone says that, but I really did. Here, let me out-token you. 

I grew up in Foxboro. Yeah, where those Patriots are. The only Jewish kid there (I think there was one other family, so that was nice). My brother and I ended up leaving the public schools after some incidents of swastikas popping up on his locker and him getting beaten up a bit. 

Then we moved over to a charter school. Mmm, slightly better. But just slightly. Still some swastikas, still some assholes deciding to 'Heil Hitler' when we walked around. Kid stuff.

Then there was the time I had my Bat Mitzvah and the synagogue was defaced with half a dozen more spray-painted swastikas. And of course, they did it on a Friday so there was nothing we could do about it (Jews are not permitted to 'work' on Friday and work can entail a whooooole long list of things. For some, turning on a light switch is work. For me, dragging myself out of bed is work but there is really no Rabbi I can get to work with me for banning that on Saturday mornings). 

Anyways, I ended up switching to an all girls Catholic school for high school. 

Talk about being a token. 

But it was great. Because for once in my life, I didn't have people yelling at me on the playground about how I had killed Jesus (true story). Instead, I just had people asking me why I had killed Jesus. Big difference. 

But truthfully, it was a big difference. There was less hate, and most of the 'dumb'/mildly offensive questions and comments came from a place of ignorance rather than a place of hostility and hatred. Which really does make a difference. 

But don't get me wrong. Being a token has it's perks. Like for instance, getting holidays off of work and school. 

Like today starts the Jewish holiday of Passover (if you want to learn more about this holiday, I suggest renting the Prince of Egypt. It is about 58% historically accurate, but the songs are great so it's a win-win for me). And because I am getting my MSW, everyone at my school is super P.C. (politically correct) Which is great because finally, for the first time in gosh... sixteen years of schooling, I get my holiday off- no hassle AND no questions asked. 

Like, no "Well you are going to need to make up this work and do some extra homework assignments". And no explaining to the headmistress (yes, I went to school at Hogwarts) that my strange sounding holiday was real and I wasn't trying to just get the day off. 

It's a breath of fresh air. Truly.

So with that I leave my fellow tokens and minority Jews, with a "Hag Sameach" and have any easy fast. 

!בשנה הבאה בירושלים

Guilty Pleasures

I have many guilty pleasures. And they are especially guilty because I have no willpower or self-control. 

No really... like none. 

I don't indulge, I overdose. 

Luckily I am deathly afraid of needles, otherwise I am totally sure I would have been a heroin addict. Easily. 

So what are my guilty pleasures?

Milk chocolate mainly. Add in some peanut butter? Oh hell yes. I could eat chocolate every day. Morning or night. Or both. I love it, I crave it and am currently trying to wean myself off it. Trying. 

I looooooove Mexican food. Authentic Mexican food. I love cerviche (pictured left), I love tacos with beef tongue, I love carnitas. The American gringa in me also of course loves the fake Mexican food, too. I salivate just at the thought of it. And luckily for me, I eat Mexican at least once a week- either at the boyfriend's restaurant or another one down the way which has ammmmmazing tacos.

It makes no sense. It's weird. It confuses and annoys the hell out of family and friends alike. But for some odd reason, I enjoy sitting and watching HSN or QVC for hours on end. I never order anything, I never really want or need anything they're selling. I just watch with rapt attention. Like I'm fascinated by it. It's weird, whatever, but my hands start shaking when I haven't watched for a couple of days.

Naps! I love naps! There is Moose right here enjoying his in my car (isn't he sooo cute!?!?) I love scheduling naps in my planner. I look forward to them. I plan for them. I pre-text anyone who may be looking for me and warn them I will be embarking on a nap and I am NOT to be disturbed. I love naps. So much. 

There you have it- my guilty pleasures. Not very salacious or even very original, but they are  addictions guilty pleasures all the same. Now what about you? What are some of your guilty pleasures?

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Things I am looking forward to...

My weekends suck. And are basically non-existent. 

Fridays I work an overnight shift from 6pm to 7am. From 7:30am to about 12:00pm, I come home and crash. Then I drop off the boyfriend at work, come home and shower and am off to work my Saturday 2pm to 9pm shift. Then I come home and sleep and work a Sunday shift. And then somehow it's Monday. 

So you definitely won't be coming here to read all those fun "Weekend Updates" that the other cool girls do. I literally do not remember the last time I stepped into a bar. Unless we are counting my boyfriend's which I don't because I literally just go there to eat free food and watch cable TV. 

But my life is about to change! For almost 1 year I have worked every.single. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Starting in April, however, I will be a (semi) free woman! 

I will cease working Saturdays!

I will get to sleep more than 3 hours! I will get to enjoy sunlight! And yard sales! And fresh air! And I will get to go to the dog park and chase balls with my puppy. 

I wonder if this is how they felt when the Berlin Wall came down? It's practically the same, right?

Other things I am looking forward to include:

• NASW (Nat'l Association of Social Worker's) LEAD Day on Monday!
• Handing in my damn paper on Tuesday
• ....And skipping Tuesday's night class to fulfill my Jewish obligations of eating a piece of Matzah and sleeping for 17 hours
• Presenting my damn project on Wednesday (talk about freedom- once I am done with that, 100% of my grade is determined and I can flake for the rest of the semester)
• My day off on Thursday which always includes tacos!

And that's it for now, but it's enough for me!

What things are you guys looking forward to this week?

Negative Nancy

I am the first person to call someone out for being a Negative Nancy. I know, I'm that girl. 

But today I just can't help but have my own Negative Nancy day. It was a frustrating day. A day that ended with me calling my Mommy on my way home from school sobbing while stuffing french fries in my mouth. 

Dramatic? Most definitely. 

Basically one of the two classes I need to take this summer is completely full. As in all six sections are full with minimum waiting lists of 8 people. I am currently number 8 for the 6-9:30pm class. My original plan was to enroll in the 9:00-12:30am class with the super awesome amazing professor but that section has a wait list of 18. I knew my chances weren't good. 

I desperately sent emails to all the professors pathetically pleading my case. I threw in everything I got. I work full-time. It takes me 2.5 hours to get to campus and back every day. I am really smart and promise to bring snacks to every class. 

Five minutes after sending my pathetic emails I got an email from my advisor recommending that I stop emailing professors. 

Hint taken.

Apparently they are opening one additional section for 17 students. There are currently 40+ students on waitlists for the other sections. 

The odds are most definitely not in my favor. 

So what can I do? I decided to refrain from emailing my professor while in my emotional state so I wouldn't freak out. Which left my only other option: cry pathetically while consuming french fries on my drive home. Don't you love drivers like me on the road? I'm like a walking Allstate commercial. 

But when all else fails in life, there is nothing more soothing than the voice of a Mama telling you to calm the hell down. Life will go on. Suck it up. Try to contain your road rage. No, that bump on your scalp is not cancer. 

So yes, life will go on. I will get over the reality that my fall semester may entail me taking three courses instead of two, working overnights and weekends while also having clinical three times a week. And yes, this may require me to drive 2.5 hours several times a week. And yes, this may mean that I have to listen to 20450 more hours of NPR asking me for $50 in exchange for a tote bag. 

But there are worse things in life... 

Like bumps on your head that may turn into cancer, despite what your nurse-mother says.

I Wanna Be a Blogstar

While it has been fun/mind-numbing to decorate my little spot here on the web, I do have to admit that staying up til 2am will probably not be the best decision come tomorrow. But hey, there's a Law & Order episode on right now and I can't just leave mid-episode. That's just rude. 

Tomorrow I get to head up nice and early to my campus. I was going to try to sneak in some gym time in the morning but seeing as how it's already 2am and I just got an email from my advisor asking to meet for tomorrow... gym will most likely not happen. 

It makes me almost regret that muffin I inhaled as lunch/dinner on my way to campus today. Almost. I'll do a sit-up tomorrow so that should cancel out most of those calories anyways. 

School has been keeping me very busy these past couple of weeks. Tomorrow I finally get to hand in a huge project (worth 100% of my grade because that totally makes sense) and then the following week I will present it along with other members of my group. And after that? We are literally done for the entire semester. 

And I have another big paper to hand in on Tuesday. So come the 27th, I will be passing out with either a glass of beer or a candy bar. Or both. Because one beer literally makes me drunk enough to fall down a staircase (yes that happened). Oh where, oh where did my college days go? I used to split a bottle of Jose with a friend and stay up til 5am and be ready to do it again the next night. These days just the smell of alcohol makes me decide to call it a night. 

I swear I used to be cool. And go to parties and clubs. And wear dresses and short skirts. These days I live in yoga pants and sports bras. And I barely even go to the gym. I have no need for that many sports bras but they're just so damn comfortable. And luckily I have a job where wearing yoga pants for working is pretty much dressing up. It truly is a dream job. 

Well now my episode is over and I really have no more excuses to be staying up this late. Good night blog world and I can't wait to meet all the new bloggers who I will be sure to stalk and comment on if I can't make myself fall asleep!