I told Terrence about the entry and how depressing I found it, but I didn’t disclose to him what it was about. I think some small part of me is still afraid to share that with him. All of our issues from that year have since been resolved, but some of that resentment lingers around and comes out occasionally in moments of anger.

After I was done shedding tears for the girl that wrote that post I became overwhelmed with joy. The rough patch that I once thought would end my relationship was over. Somehow our love has proved to be stronger than all the obstacles that have been thrown at us over the last seven years.

I’m proud of the couple we’ve held onto and the people we’ve grown up to be. I can’t wait to marry this boy and continue to grow with him forever.

Inspired by recipes found on A Beautiful Mess, these are our last two food experiments.

Our first dessert was the frozen hot chocolate, I messed it up a bit. Since the girls are behind on the show I made this one on my own, I was impatient and didn’t let the chocolate cool long enough, I also should have crushed the ice first. Man, I made the BIGGEST mess. Next time we also have to be sure to have straws, it was kind of hard to drink. I do want to try this one again, it was close but I think I can do much better.

Last night we tried the mini banana split. This one worked out perfectly, not as pretty as the originals, but delicious. We improvised a bit and added sprinkles, because really, whats a sundae without sprinkles.

I love our new tradition, mostly because it’s so damn tasty.

I’ve been sick all week. What started as a sore throat has now developed into a sinus infection and cough. It’s like every morning my immune system spins the dial and comes up with a new way to torture me. I finished my antibiotics and feel no closer to done with this disease. When I went to the doctor on Friday and he seemed confused about what exactly was wrong with me, he couldn’t decide between a viral or bacterial infection, so he gave me a Z pack and 48 hours of bed rest. I was hoping to be better by now, but only feel worse. I’m sure working nearly 10 hours a day can’t be helping. Ugh.

I can’t help but think back to being sick as a child and having the time to get better. I would be out for as much as two weeks sometimes. I miss childhood.

(Photo taken with Instagram)

This week while Terrence was at CTIA in New Orleans, Penny was more needy than ever. This usually happens when he goes away. For those of you that don’t already know, Terrence works from home and Penny is very attached to him. So when he’s gone and I work all day, she gets lonely. She either shows this by being overly needy or overly depressed. The day I took this photo was definitely the latter.

This particular day Penny stayed in bed from the time I went to bed around 5am (I don’t sleep well when Terrence is away), and didn’t get up until I scooped her at 2:30ish that afternoon. This is not normal Penelope Pussycat behavior, I thought she was defective. She didn’t like me very much for disturbing her, but I made up for it by letting her sit outside with me. She loves the back steps.

Tonight Terrence returns, we’re both oh so excited. Well, Penny doesn’t know she’s excited yet, but she is… trust me.

(Photo taken with Instagram)

Their isn’t anything particularly stunning about this outfit as far as I’m concerned, I just had fun wearing it. I felt like going to a playground and jumping off swings. It may have been the combination of bright pink and stripes that just made me feel like a child. I took plenty of unusable photos twirling around and running up to the camera.

I also put some effort into my hair today, which made me feel extra pretty, despite it being a bit messy. The point is I tried. I said months ago that I would experiment with different styles as my hair grew out and I failed.

Terrence is still gone, and the vacancy of this apartment gets me wired. I tend to get a little silly when I’m home alone. I blast music and dance about, I sing out loud and eat frosting out of the jar. I have to eat a vegetable soon or I may spin out of control.

Outfit details: Dress/Modcloth, Leggings/Target, Cardigan/H&M, Shoes/Chelsea Crew, Specs/Selima Optique, Necklace/Chicwish

My hair is constantly getting trapped in my clothes, it’s at an annoying place. Recently, I felt like my hair had begun getting dryer from the almost full year of consecutive straightening. Desperate for a solution, I stood in the hair aisle at CVS for ages examining all the different shampoos and treatments. I settled on Salon Grafix, I began using their Conditioning Cleanser and Intensive Hair Repair Masque. The more I used it the less dependent I was on hair products like pomades or gels. Since using it, I’ve even been able to straighten my hair without using the flat iron, just the dryer on medium heat. I’ve had frizzy gross hair most of my life, I’m a little impressed to say the least.

This whole hair cropping experience, although somewhat jarring, has been a good time all in all. I only have one more of these posts left, I’ll check in occasionally afterwards, but my hair is close to being at my goal length.

****
Part One.
Part Two.
Part Three.
Part Four.
Part Six.
Part Seven & Eight.
Part Nine.
Part Ten.

Terrence has been listening to this song non-stop for weeks now. It’s nice to see him excited about music, he’s been getting old and boring like me. In his case, once he stopped buying cd’s music died a little. This is a boy whose cd collection is nearly as impressive as my record collection… well… almost. But since Spotify was born I noticed the spark coming back, it’s awesome. I love a home to be filled with loud music. Terrence and I both grew up in loud musical households, and I’d like to keep the tradition. Maybe one day if Terrence allows me to have babies we’ll pass the tradition down. In the mean time, it’s nice to randomly dance in the kitchen with my love.

<3<3<3

Japandroids, The House That Heaven Built

P.S. While sifting through some old photos on my computer I stumbled across this clip of Riley getting her groove on from last January. She's adorable.

Riley’s soundtrack to her life, Year 3 in progress…
October | Intro
November | Take Care
December | Montreal
January | I Belong In Your Arms
February | Oblivion

So after years, possibly a lifetime of looking, I finally found a beer I can enjoy. Allagash‘s Old HLT. It’s named for the stainless steel hot liquor tank in which it was aged, it sat for two years, with 2,000 pounds of Michigan cherries. It was a bittersweet occasion when Terrence passed me the pint to have a taste. It was delicious, the tart of the cherries completely overshadowed the whole hops and barley taste that usually turns me off. Unfortunately this brew was limited edition and once I crack open this second growler that Terrence bought, it’ll be gone from my life for good.

Of course I would finally, after countless beer tastings, brewery tours and brew pub dwellings, find a beer I can tolerate and have it be over as fast as it was poured.

Last August we visited the Allagash brewery while we were up in Maine, it was easily one of my favorite breweries we’ve toured so far. Terrence plans on going back this summer with his parents, I’m going to have him beg for a do-over. I would do it myself but can’t get off work for the entire family vacation, damn job. If I never find a suitable beer for my pallet again I’ll make sure to put the blame entirely on my job, just another reason to hate them.

Sigh, good ol’ HLT. I’m going to savor that growler and save it for a special occasion. Maybe our engagement party BBQ.

Terrence left for New Orleans on business early this morning and won’t be back for a week. His job is making sure I fully understand what life is like without him, as they’ve robbed him from me several weeks this year and only want to take him more. Bastards. While he’s gone I like to fill my days as best as I can, so I grabbed my girlfriend Amanda to occupy me. We decided for no reason at all that we were gonna do ¡Cinco de Mayo! up right this year. So we dressed up, Amanda donned her Día de los Muertos jewelry, and I shoved on as many colors as I could make sense of into one outfit. We also planned to have a Mexican movie marathon (¡Three Amigos!, Selena and Desperado) and eat tacos.

While we were out in public acquiring our food and other assorted goodies I felt peoples stares. I wish I could say it was because they thought I looked good… but I’m sure they just thought I was bananas. People around here don’t really dress outside the box. It’s ok though, Amanda was on my side.

I also enjoy putting outfits together that I know Terrence wouldn’t approve of when he’s not around to judge me. He’s very traditional with his clothes and hates excessive use of colors. But as long as you dress with confidence you can pull anything off.

Outfit details: Shirt + Leggings/H&M, Dress + Bow/Anthropologie, Shoes/Spring, Purse/Modcloth, Specs/Warby Parker, Accessories/Gifts from Terrence

P.S. Panda and I never even made it through the first movie, we ended up jamming to music and talking about boys all night. Maybe next year.

I’ve been in a battle with music lately, I’m having a bit of a hard time relating to it the way I did before. Last night Terrence and I had a discussion about my detachment, he says its because I care less and am less invested. I feel like I’m trying harder than ever to be invested in it. I guess that’s the problem, it just doesn’t come natural anymore. This song is a good time though, I may not be amazed by it, I’m not listening to it on repeat or anything… but it certainly has earned its place as my favorite track from the month of February.

 
Grimes’ Oblivion

P.S. I’m a bit behind on these so I’ll be overloading you guy in the coming days with music posts. Sorry.

Riley’s soundtrack to her life, Year 3 in progress…
October | Intro
November | Take Care
December | Montreal
January | I Belong In Your Arms