What a difference a year makes...they say time heals all...

I've been going back and forth on posting this for a few weeks, so here goes nothing.

And just like that, it's been over a year since I've last posted. The past year (give or take) has been such a whirl wind...SO MUCH has happened. I've had some really high highs, but definitely some very low lows. 

So, let's rewind and start with my 30th birthday. It was SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN! I wanted to do it up big for the big 3-0. Since New Orleans is one of my fave places, I thought it would be the perfect place to spend my birthday with my friends. It was a blast, and even a few of my friends flew in from Michigan! The next weekend, my Auntie Pat took me, Nicky, and Mumsie to Orlando! We had a blast experiencing Universal Studios (my first Halloween Horror Nights), as well as Disney World! The most amazing thing was after they gave me a birthday button at Universal, me and the other ladies got the VIP treatment! I got so many "happy birthday" wishes from everyone! We got placed in the fast pass line for just about every ride, so we were able to make more than the most out of our time...even being able to go on our favorite rides more than once! It was great being able to spend a milestone birthday with so many close friends and family!

Right before my birthday, I started a new route in my old division at work. It was great being closer to home, as well as having buyers that I got along with (with the exception of the one). As difficult as it was to spend hours upon hours putting up displays and working crazy back stock until the wee hours of the morning during the holidays, I grew as a person and started to better figure out what I wanted in a career. 

Houston hosted the Super Bowl this year in February, so of course I had to take part in the local events! There was an awesome set up in Discovery Green, and the overall weekend was deemed a great success!

Ok, so here's the tough part. A few weeks before Halloween last year, I started dating someone I had kind of been acquaintances with for a while. With all of the hurt and deceit I have been through in past relationships, it was refreshing to be with someone I just meshed with so well (from the outside we looked like COMPLETE polar opposites, but after getting to know each other, it turned out we actually had a lot in common)...where things just were so natural and I was finally on the same page as the person I was with. Or so I thought...while I fell pretty damn hard for him, he apparently did not so much for me as I had thought. I know, I know, it's been over a half year since we broke up (and from what I've heard, he's moved on with someone else), but, even after all of the time spent overanalyzing things, replaying the last couple weeks of our relationship in my head over and over again, receiving some misinformation, and talking to friends about what could have been done differently, it's the best feeling to just write my feelings out. Honestly, it's still a struggle for me because I never got the closure I needed and deserved. I have no regrets about telling him I fell in love with him, but I'm not going to lie, I do have some regrets about cutting off contact with him. Maybe it would have helped me get into a better spot, maybe it would have been worse. But hey, I guess I'll never know. I should have written this a lot sooner...and I do feel like I've lifted a weight off my chest. And to my ex: I highly doubt you will ever read this, but if you do - I don't hold any ill will towards you, and will always care for you. Me removing you from social media was not maliciously intended..it was something I had to do for myself to work on moving past this. Even if we never speak to or see each other again, I still gravely miss my best friend and will always cherish our time together. You deserve nothing but happiness, as do I.

On top of other not so positive things going on in my life, I found out I got screwed over by a loan company I was working with to pay off some debt I owed. Let me rephrase. MAJORLY SCREWED. Like, my plans to become a fully functional adult had been completely blown up and presented to me in one huge ugly platter. It is like they say...you never think something like that would happen to you, but then it does. You just sit there wondering how such horrible things happen to you after you think you've done everything to make sure you have dotted all your I's and crossed all of your T's. I really needed a serious pick me up at this point.

Now that I have those things off my chest, let's move on to happier things. I got hired into a new division in my company back in February, but for whatever reasons, my old division wouldn't let me start until April. After some set backs with my old division, I finally felt like I could breathe. It was such a good change for me..not as much stress, an amazing boss and management team, and just an overall better environment. I represent two suppliers whose products I actually finally enjoy being around, so if you're in the North Houston area, basically everywhere between 249 and West Lake Houston, from the Beltway up to 2920 (with a few accounts above that), please make sure you are getting your drink on with Diageo products (Crown Royal, Captain Morgan, Smirnoff, Ketel One, Tanqueray, the list goes on!) and Moet Hennessy products! I'm looking forward to see what the future holds!

My bae Marcella and I!

In May, I took a long needed vacation with my friend Mary Eileen to Los Angeles! We had a blast! It was so neat to see all these places I've seen on TV since I was very little, and soak up the craziness and brightness that is La La Land. We saw the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Dolby, and many other famous landmarks! My favorites were Universal Studios, WB Studios, and DISNEYLAND! We just had the best time, and even got to attend a big Hollywood premiere for the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie! It was amazing to see Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp right there in person! I was also happy we got to connect with our friend, Teri, who was living in Hermosa Beach! It was cool for three Michigan girls to hang out and catch up on the other side of the country! I just LOVED La La Land!

I'll be there for you...

Brunching at The Ivy

Urban Lights at LACMA

Walking the beach in Santa Monica

Santa Monica beach

Santa Monica

Disney's California Adventure

California Screamin'

Original Disneyland entrance

Try the grey stuff, it's delicious 

it's a small world

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Pirates of the Caribbean

Orlando Bloom was truly this close!

Johnny Depp!

Summer was pretty much just finding my footing in my new position at work, with lots of Texas heat. 

At the end of August, I unfortunately got to experience my first hurricane, and boy was it a doozy. In matter of fact, the biggest hurricane Texas has ever had, and one of the worst in history. Most of my friends and family were lucky enough to not have suffered any huge losses, thank goodness. It's been pretty difficult with work though, since losing about a quarter of my accounts due to flooding. It's so sad to see people I've become pretty close to struggling to get back on their feet. Everyone has been in good spirits, and keeping strong. 

Just the beginning 

This wasn't even the deepest part by us!

Minnie assessing the flooding

My friend Jasna and I took a mini weekend in New Orleans post flood, and we had a very good time. Very whirlwind, but good! It was fun going back with the first friend I had been to NOLA with. especially since she couldn't make my 30th birthday bash last year!

Mary Eileen and I took a pretty impromptu trip to Orlando back in October, visiting Disney World and Universal Studios. It was a short trip, but a good trip filled with Halloween fun!

Cinderella's Castle

Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights

And now I find myself back in autumn. Another birthday. Weather transitioning. I've started dating again, and am getting to be in a pretty good place with the pending holiday season. I'm still more than ready to say adios to this utter dumpster fire of a year, with high hopes for 2018. 

I wanted to make sure I added in the fact that the Houston Astros are MLB World Champions! Yes, they won the World Series! I had the best time with Morgan and Courtney at Minute Maid taking in the celebratory atmosphere with all the other fans!

With Morgan and Courtney

I've missed blogging a lot, and really do want to start turning this back into a regular thing. I've always been a writer at heart and it's where my true passion lies. Thank you so much for all of your support, and I hope everyone has had a good 2017!

Stay Tuned!

- L

My how time marches on...

Damn. A little over two months since I've posted anything. I wanted to post to make sure everyone knows I'm still alive and what not.

I guess there's been a lot happening in my life lately...got laid off, got new job (start date delayed due to some changes, therefore putting me at the 16th of December), best friend visiting, ongoing personal life business, the list goes on. I lead such an exhilarating life.

I've been toying around with the idea of adding a new angle to the blog (just as a little side edition), but we shall see if it materializes.

Again, I'm going to try be better at posting and what not, but I'm not keeping any promises ;)

I leave you all with a quote:

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness.”

Thanks for reading!

Coverage of my Dallas trip!

I was finally able to make my way back up to Dallas to visit my friend Kristi, after what seemed like forever.

I was really excited for this trip, since we were only there for a hot second to attend the Cotton Bowl last time. I LOVE how much there is to do there. There are endless brunch places, bars, shopping areas, and well landscaped parks. The best part is that almost everything is walk able... at worst you can take the free trolley or even hire a cheap Uber ride.

It was actually Kristi's birthday the weekend I visited, so we were extra excited and ready to party! For my first night's dinner (and Kristi's birthday dinner), we went to an excellent Mexican restaurant named Gloria's. The drinks were unique (I had a spicy pineapple margarita), food was the bomb, and the free bean dip is to die for!

Spicy pineapple margarita (and a few concoctions the bartender made up that we tried)

Enchiladas Gloria (you can see the bean dip by the chips!)

After dinner, we headed out to the bar, and ended up at British Beverage Company. They had a band playing (which I normally DON'T like in a bar setting since they're usually annoying), which was actually really good! I got to try a Dallas-based wheat beer, which was quite good, and danced my bum off. It also turned out to be the night of my favorite outfit of the whole trip...head to toe in blush pink!

My all blush outfit

Kristi and I out for her birthday!

We started out my second day in Dallas with brunch at Taco Diner, which is right across the street from Kristi's place. It was really good, complete with fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Brunch at Taco Diner

After brunch, we went to a pool party at one of the many nice apartment complexes in the city. It was really nice to just sit and soak up the sun while wading in the water.

Pool day!

For the evening, we attended a Dallas Mavericks event at the zoo. It was the first time I had been to any zoo in forever, and we had a lot of fun! Mavericks owner (and Shark Tank "shark") Mark Cuban even attended. We tried to find him and take a picture, but couldn't keep up with him (I think we may have seen him from afar in a golf cart?). :( 

Flamingos

Ocelots

We ended up eating dinner at the zoo, and made our way back to Uptown for the night out. After walking around to check out a few places, we decided to try out So & So's. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the company and drinks.

So & So's

For my final day in Dallas, we went to brunch at the most popular brunch spot in the city, Breadwinners. I absolutely ADORED the place! The food was awesome, the atmosphere was so cozy, and you can't beat having the ability to grab a pre-brunch mimosa at the connecting bar, The Quarter, while you wait for your table to be ready. 

The Quarter

Brunch-ready outfit

Croque madame

We then walked around and shopped for a bit before I headed back to Houston. Another successful trip in the books!

Dealey Plaza where JFK was shot

Peace out, Dallas

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

It's almost my favorite time of the year!

AUTUMN!!!!!!

Why? Because I LOVE fall clothes collections/colors, FOOTBALL is back, cider mill visits are abounding (I guess not so much here in Texas), Halloween is right around the corner, and cooler weather is on the way!

I'm absolutely loving what they're doing with the fall lines this year...it's an eclectic mixture of bohemian and western design. At least in Texas, they have incorporated a lot of blush pink in with the rich autumn palette, creating some of my favorite looks like this:

My new favorite outfit for the summer to autumn transition

It's still going to be pretty hot down here for another couple of months, so I'm sad I don't get to wear my boots as of yet :( Maybe it will finally be cool enough in December?

Joie boots

Also, let me just say how excited I am for football this year...especially SPARTAN football!! With Coach Dantonio constantly doing work...you know...only recruiting some really awesome players and getting the team to big time Bowl games...no big deal, it's a great time to be a Spartan fan! I'm looking forward to the upcoming season, and would love to attend another Bowl game (hopefully they won't give me a heart attack/make me feel like my stomach is going to fall out of my butt out of nervousness this time around!).

Cotton Bowl 2015

One of the things I miss most about Michigan is hanging out with my friends at the cider mill (for those unfamiliar, a cider mill is a sort of "apple factory" where they produce the most fantastic apple cider and make freshly baked donuts/caramel apples). You can walk nature trails while eating donuts and drinking cider, or even bring your pet to enjoy the area. I've heard through the grapevine that Austin has a cider mill, but have yet to find it. This may be the year I will finally track down the place...

Franklin Cider Mill - Bloomfield Hills

One of my favorite "holidays" has always been Halloween. I love the atmosphere and dressing up as something different from day to day life. I have a bad habit of leaving my costume decision until the last minute, and of course I get stuck either making something makeshift at home, or whatever is left at the costume shop. I was Elsa from Frozen last year (which turned out the best out of any of my costumes and was a big hit!), but this year I have no clue what I want to do. I need to be deciding soon though!

I could go on and on about my love for autumn, but I will stop myself here. I'm hoping to make a big announcement here shortly in a couple of days, so stay tuned!