Christmas time!!

Well, it's that time again! It's been a good holiday season so far!

Thanksgiving with the guys was great and we made some DELISH food! I went crazy decorating the house this year, had a work Christmas party then a Christmas party at my house, exchanged gifts with the guys and tomorrow I leave for Florida, my sunshiney home state! YAY! I'm so excited to see my family and friends and can't wait to cram in as much stuff as possible in the 6 days that I will be there, Disney World and karaoke included! lol. I think I can truly say that this has been a REALLY good year! Made lots of new friends, had new experiences, started a good job and have had about 4 different hair colors this year! HAHA!

I hope this finds everyone having an amazing holiday season and I wish everyone love and happiness thru the entire new year!

Merry Christmas!
Steff

Another year older...

So another year flew by which means I'm another year older... 26!!! Already?! Has it REALLY already been 5 years since I turned 21? Totally insane.

Other then the whole age thing (I mean seriously, nobody likes getting older after 21!), this past year has been pretty darn good. Got a job that is FINALLY good, yay for being a permanent employee finally! I've made some AMAZING friends this year from people that other friends knew to some AWESOME girls that I work with. Dated a guy for a couple months which made me realize that right now I don't need a man in my life, but I know that somewhere inside of me, I still have the ability to get a little mushy and fall for someone eventually. lol.

My birthday was great. Celebrated at the Highball again, did a little karaoke and lots of dancing to a 70s cover band. They were AWESOME! I'm SUPER excited about the holidays coming. Had a huge Thanksgiving feast at work today, and only working half a week next week! On the down side, this will be my 1st Thanksgiving that I'm not spending with my family... Sad! =( BUT, on the upside I am doing a Thanksgiving thing with the guys AND making my 1st Sweet Potato Pie! YUM! I'm excited!

Thats all I have right now! Watching Smallville and putting up the Christmas tree this weekend, so I'll post something Christmasy next month before I head to Florida for Christmas! YAY!

<3 & holidays,
Steff

Fantastic Fest 2010

So my second Fantastic Fest experience has come and gone. Even though I've only gone to two of them, I find myself nostalgic at the end of them already, like I have been going for years and years. I think I have to say that it is seriously THE best week of the year here in Austin, TX. I get to be one of the few that volunteer and meeting other volunteers, attendees, and all of the actual filmmakers is such an awesome experience. I've made new friends both years, and am looking forward to next year already!
I gotta give a special shout-out to some of the filmmakers and actors I met this year for putting up with my "stalking." My volunteer job this year was to make sure the filmmakers I was handling got into the movie and back for the Q&A on time, so I had to pretty much be with them at all times during a 2-3 hour time span. And then sometimes they'd still want to hang after their movie was over! I gotta say all of them were absolutely amazing and I hope that I made their experience as fantastic as they made mine!
So here goes my shoutouts!
The Dead: The Ford Brothers, Jonathan & Howard Ford

A Horrible Way to Die: AJ Bowen, Simon Barrett and the rest of the crew

The Violent Kind: Mitch Altieri, Phil Flores, Don Lewis and Mitch's lovely lady, Ashley

Rare Exports: Juuso Helander







Peace & creative dreams,
                                                            Steff

End of another Summer.

I guess I should finish off the summer by at least writing one entry about it! Its definitely been awhile, so I guess I have a bit to report, so we'll try not to make this a book! haha

I guess we can begin this by starting off in May. I had to get ANOTHER sensor repaired in my car that kept causing the check engine light to come on before me and Whitney could drive to FL the weekend before Memorial Day. Only one good thing came out of that repair, and it DEFINITELY wasn't spending that money! Blah! (Hi Brandon! We'll come back to that later ;) and I'm not talking about the hometown.)
So me and Whit leave that Thurs afternoon for a nonstop, 18 hours drive to FL. We were making AMAZING timing. 20 min until Brandon and yay! We're behind an 18 wheeler and the whole entire tire tread flies off and hits the front of my car! REALLY?! Yeah. Needless to say, had to get it repaired while I was down there, so instead of being excited about being able to drive my car around town, it sat in the shop the whole time. Bah! So after a good weekend of FL sun, family, & friends, we start our 18 hour trek back to TX. Again we made AWESOME timing, I drove the ENTIRE trip. Then, 30 min out of Austin, an animal runs out in front of me. SMASH is probably an understatement! It caused more damage then the tire! Yay for another repair. haha. Ohhhh I could go on and on, but now this is boring. Needless to say, the summer didn't start out too well!

On the OTHER hand. I totally met one of the coolest guys I've ever known at that first repair. And ironically, his name is Brandon, aka Hometown. lol. I got his number that first day, and we texted off and on for about a month before we went on our first official date, Toy Story 3! ha! Guess you can say we started off talking as bros, especially since I talk more like a dude most of the time anyways, and we were still in the 'getting to know each other' stage. We hung out a bit and had a few hangups, but for some reason, I kept on pursuing, which for those of you that have known me awhile, I don't usually do. We were cool before I went on vacation with the family at the beginning of August, but it was when I came back that we really kicked it up and hit it off. For a second I did my normal, I feel 'meh' about this whole dating thing, and had the after vacation 'why am I here' blues, but this time, I MADE myself get over it. And I made sure to let him know that I wanted to get over it. For the first time, the 'meh' passed, and we actually REALLY started to get to know each other.
And as sappy as this all sounds, I am SUPER excited about this conscience step I've made for the first time in my adult dating life. Instead of running as soon as I got bored, I decided to try this thing out. Of course it helps that even when we're not doing anything at all, its never boring with him. And thats how I know that he's worth getting over my 'relationship fears' and just letting go. Getting out of my own confusing mind and just letting things fall as they may. Taking a chance with a boy for the first time ever. And I am ecstatic to say that I'm enjoying every minute of it.

So in between the car issues and new guy, the rest of the summer was pretty much just working, hanging with Whit and other friends, coloring my hair Blonde and running around town. haha The summer has ended well, since it is turning fall in 3 days, and in the last good news of the season, I FINALLY got hired on permanently with the job I started in Feb, AND I start my weeklong volunteer shifts at Fantastic Fest on Thurs! YAY! Super duper excited. What a good start to the Fall season. Now if I can only get my hands on a Pumpkin Spice Latte.... mmmmm. ;)

See ya'll in the Fall!
Steff

Hello Strangers!

So I obviously haven't blogged in awhile. Got a request to do so, so here I am! The job is going good, not exactly what I want to be doing, but its money! Watching Blue Hawaii on TCM right now (LOVE this channel!), so that makes thinking about work tomorrow a LITTLE better. Elvis can cure anything. hehe ;)

So if your on FB (which is probably how you found my blog!) you would have probably seen my inner rock star shoes, aka my space boots! lol

Which leads me tooooo. A girl lead rock band. YES. Thats what I said. =D My friend Ashley is moving back here to Austin in June & I asked her if she was interested in starting one with me! We both write songs, I'm gonna get back into playing the keyboard & she can get down on the Bass & Guitar. There are TONS of people here that we could find to play any additional instruments: lead guitar, drums, etc. So I am SO STOKED for her to get here so we can start! I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but didn't really know how to start, but SXSW was such a HUGE inspiration that I couldn't put it off any longer! So I will definitely keep you guys up to date on everything that has to do with that! Ash, if your reading this, I can't wait to START!! We're gonna ROCK this town!

So I've also made some good friends here. My coworker Whitney is AWESOME. Shes also from Tampa, so we naturally have stuff in common on top of our a bit zany, outgoing personalities. haha. Sam RULES, though I don't get to see her as much as I'd like! (We need to change that girl!) Rae is FANTASTIC (get it Rae?) =D though again I don't get to see her as much as I'd like either! She's the cool chick I can talk movies with, which you guys know I love to do! haha. Last but not least, Trish. (who is in the above pic, right before she left for FL) She is moving back to FL with her bf Bill as we speak, which makes me super sad, but I know they'll do great there, & we'll def keep in touch. MISS YOU ALREADY CHICA!! <3

I also recently took a trip home to FL. Flew in & surprised the fam the day before Easter & spent a week there with them which was nice & alot less stressful than the last time I was there at Christmas & we were practically running around the whole time! lol. Amazing weather the whole week & enjoyed the sunny outdoors at Silver Srings, Lowry Park Zoo, & of course, THE BEACH! =D Also, hit up OC & Otooles for some karaoke w/ the friends, of course! Good times! Miss & love you guys!! <3 <3

One last comment for today. Went & saw The Goonies last night at a theater close to us. IT WAS SO AWESOME seeing it on the big screen! The film was still on 35mm, grainy & all! Like sitting watching it right in 1985 when it came out! Love love love.
Also, if theres anything any of you would like me to write about on here, please comment below or comment me on FB! I'm all up for suggestions! I'll try to write more for you guys on here! Work has just taken away my normal daytime blogging schedule, so I'll try to do it at night or on Sunday when I'm watching some awesome TCM movie. HA! Or just send me a question to my Formspring account (link to the right!) & I'll answer your questions!
Have an awesome week!

Love & rockstars,
Steff

workity work work

Sooooooooooooooo I started a new job last Friday after being jobless for over a year. Woohoo! Can't say that I wanted to be in a call center atmosphere again, but its very small & the people in the office (well, most of them, haha) are freaking AWESOME. Interviewed with a temp agency then 4 days later I had a job! Its assigned for about 2 months w/ the possibility to extend AND its M-F so that TOTALLY rocks my world. (LOL, work inside joke, for realz. See! Its fun already!)

I pass the IRS building that the guy crashed into w/ his plane every day to and from work. Its really a miracle that only one person besides the pilot died & only a few were injured. The cops have the road blocked every day & the church next door looks like its been closed for the last week. Such a shame that people think they need to take such extreme measures to "prove" a point. Sad.

On another note, IT SNOWED ON TUESDAY! At home, it was just sprinkling little ice crystals. I went into work a little later on Tues so its all I heard hitting my window for a couple hours as I lay in my warm bed. When I left for work, my car was covered in ice! Its was pretty crazy! Thennn, as I was driving to work, the farther North I went, the ice turned into snowflakes! At 1pm! It was crazy! I've never driven in snow, or lived anywhere that it actually snowed as my fellow Floridians know. At 1st I hated it, I HATE the cold, & I didn't want to drive in it. But it was actually pretty cool. It was ALL over the place at work! So pretty!

On top of all the pics in this post, all I have to end this little life update with is.... I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SUMMER! I want warmth & pools & bikinis & a tan!!

<3 & lots of sunny sun sun,
Steff

Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day. Sure, I wore a themed shirt, pink converse, & awesome red, heart-shaped sunglasses. I picked up a little box of candy for the guys. I went to see the movie by the same name (which I loved btw!). I love the colors: reds & pinks & whites. I love the candy: all different colors & in heart shapes & the idea of love all over the place.

But, why do we have to be reminded to love one day a year? Sure, its an excuse for us ladies to dress up & get all pretty for the men (if we have one), & go to a nice restaurant & get nice gifts & chocolate that we don't need & flowers that will die in a few days anyways. The corporate holiday. The stores miss Christmas already so they have to do SOMETHING to make tons of money again, don't they? As much as we might say we hate Valentine's day, we always get roped into it don't we? Even if its just buying a little box of chocolates for your friends.

You know, all I did for Valentines Day this year was hang out with four dudes. We went & played a couple games of laser tag, then went to see Percy Jackson, then went to a bookstore & browsed around. Completely lowkey & fun! AND we stayed away from the absolutely chaotic restaurants that I'm sure were bombarded with couples & flowers & engagements. Which also reminds me. I hope whoever my future husband is that he does NOT ask me to marry him on Valentine's Day. I think I will say NO! So cliche!!! Blah!

On another note, this year I thought I'd be smart with a little something I'd send to my family since I wasn't there this year. From 1-800-Flowers I sent them a little rosebush that came with a cute little teddy bear. Of course, it backfired when my mom got the poor plant that was supposed to SURVIVE more than 7 days on Friday, & the two little buds on it were broken. =( She called the company & they were supposed to redeliver on Sat, which of course hadn't even happened by yesterday. So I called them & got a refund. At least my family got to keep the little bear!

So the moral of this story, love everyday, not just on the "Love holiday" or else love will not survive past the initial delivery. lol.

<3 to all everyday,
Steff

P.S. Dear Necco Sweethearts company. Please bring the old flavors back! They aren't the same without the white pepperminty ones! kthxbye!

Reminiscing

There really is NOTHING like listening to a record. Just the sound & smell (yes, they have a certain smell) of a record instantly brings me back to my childhood.
I had a record player like the posted picture when I was a kid & I remembered the exact look of it & finally found the same exact one on eBay that I've been looking for since I found out about eBay & since my mom sold mine at a garage sale years ago (yes, I forgive you Mommy! lol). I was sooo excited when I received it in the mail & as soon as I turned it on I remembered the exact feel of the power arrow/volume & the feel of the placement of the needle. I use to listen to old Disney 45s on it. I especially remember The Jungle Book record. =)

I also remember my dad getting my mom a HUGE record player/radio/double cassette stereo for Christmas in the 80s. That thing was probably bigger than I was at the time! I remember listening to the Sound of Music soundtrack record along w/ moms old Partridge Family, Johnny Cash, Heart, Elvis & whatever other records she had on it. I think having record players in the house along w/ my dad always listening to oldies when we would ride in his truck fueled my love for oldies music. Probably along w/ my chorus teachers in school always picking one or multiple oldies songs to sing for our school concerts. lol.

I bet you're wondering now that I have a record player again after probably 15 years, what kind of records I've bought for it... Well, reading the above paragragh, I'm sure you've probably figured that out. We have AWESOME used bookstores here in Austin, that also sell movies, CDs and, you got it, records. Right now, I'm listening to a live Elvis record that came out in '77 probably right after he died. Sooooo good. Reallllly makes me wish that I could have attended one of his concerts. On top of that, I have a Neil Diamond live, Pat Benetar, Jan & Dean live, & a Dick Clark compilation record of great 60s hits. I got them all for super cheap & can't wait to extend my collection.

So piece of advice to whatever readers I have. Buy a record player! They sell them w/ CD slots, a radio, & sometimes even a cassette slot & they look old fashioned but sound great! If I hadn't found my awesome Rainbow Brite player, I would have eventually invested in one of those. I know they sell them at Target & Bed, Bath, & Beyond for sure! & if you've never really liked (which isn't really possible!) or never really listened to oldies music (I consider late 40s, 50s, 60s, & SOME 70s, oldies, thats the GOOOD stuff) I HIGHLY recommend getting some old records. It really lets you experience the era and, for a moment, makes you feel like you're there. Even if it all came out before you were even born. (I'm an 80s baby!) =)
OR at least buy some oldies CDs! Theres TONS of compilations out there!

Love & shared milkshakes,
Steff

Lifetime Grammy dream.

Ok, so I'm watching the Grammy Red Carpet right now & am once again, as I do year after year, dreaming that I were there as a nominee or really, just there period.

So I have posted my red carpet "fierce" pose that someday I'll hopefully get to flash for the cams. LOL

I remember yearssss ago that I always wanted to make it to the Grammy's by the 50th anniversary. Well, this year is the 52nd anniversary so clearly I missed my deadline lol, so maybe I'll dream now for the.... hmm, 55th? lol I'll only be 28, thats not too bad, right?

Soooo, this posting is short & sweet. Didn't really have much to say tonight I guess! Kay, so I'm gonna go back to watching the Grammy's & my cute sleeping kitty cat. Chau!

Steff

Age ain't nothin' but a number.

 

I gotta say, I think my family has some good genes. Both of my parents are a few years over 50 & they look GREAT! Dad is still mostly dark haired & definitely young faced, & even though Mom is almost all silver, she has the best hairstyle & still has a beautiful young face as well. So I decided to post some old to new pics. From left to right, I am 14, 18, 21, & now 25.

I gotta admit, sometimes I think about getting older & it kinda freaks me out. Right now, I'm finally living on my own in another state, but, I don't have a job (hopefully soon! *fingers crossed*), am waiting on that big 'career break', I'm not even near having any sort of romantic relationship, & of course nowhere near being a mother. I never really talk about wanting a boyfriend, but when I do it's mainly 'pshh, I don't care about guys right now' or 'eh, I'm completely content on my own. No drama!'. Though the above statements are mostly true, I have to admit that I sometimes do feel the biological clock ticking. Not in a 'Ah, my bones hurt & I can't get out of bed' kind of way, but I guess bc I always thought I'd be married & have at least one kid by the time I turned 30. As weird as it sounds, I kinda take some comfort in seeing alot of Hollywood women becoming 1st time moms in their mid to late 30's (even though I still don't want that to be me).

Right now, I honestly can't say that I see my future as a wife & mother at all. That's how out of reach it feels. I do think about it almost every day, & though I'd never say it out loud, alot of times I really wish I had someone to share my life with right now, even though theres not much going on in it right now. haha.

It probably sounds stupid, but looking at the above photos, & as embarrassing as a couple of them are, I am content with my age progression. In 11 years, I grew into my youth, & out of it, & am now a young adult that I feel is finally out of her 'awkward' stage. It took me awhile to be almost 100% comfortable w/ myself (on the outside that is), even though I still have insecurities. What's even better is I don't think I've aged much in the last 4 years, probably in part to having not much stress & no long term relationship of any kind! lol

As you can tell though, I've almost always had the same type of hairstyle, not very varied at all. I had "nightmare bangs" for a long time, as you can see from the 1st pic, & finally grew them out senior year (2nd pic). Those bangs & part of my insecurity was how much I hated my hair. I could never do anything w/ it. Cutting my bangs in Nov (last pic) for the 1st time in 7 years was really scary, & hard bc I remembered how they used to be. But I wanted to do something 'daring', something different, that took me out of my comfort zone, & I have to say I'm really glad I did it. As outgoing as I am, sometimes, of course depending on what it is, I have a really hard time getting out of my comfort zone. Another insecurity, I always want to do everything right, but how are you gonna experience something unless you do something "uncomfortable" right? (like moving to Texas, scary! but I don't regret it. =D)

So, in the end, I'm glad I still look young, glad I still am young, glad I'm "daring" & I am content and willing to be single until God brings me the right man to spend my life with. Now I just have to have patience & hope that if that man comes along when I'm 35, that I still look exactly the same as I do now!! LOL!

Love & youthfulness,

Steff

Confessions of a Single Girl...In Austin, TX.

So my friend said the other day that I should start a blog about my experience being single & the crazy things guys say to get your attention. Well, since I don't go out much, I definitely don't have enough material for a whole blog. But I told her if something happened, I'd write a blog posting about it. Here you go!

The only thing is, I have no story about any "witty" things some guy might have come up w/ to talk to me. Instead, even if I DID want to date, I will tell you how seemingly IMPOSSIBLE it would be to even find a guy here in Austin. Honestly, all the guys here are either gay, or taken. I'm not even kidding. I have absolutely no problem w/ gays, don't get me wrong, but it's probably a good thing that I really don't want to date bc there are no options! Then the guys that MAY be straight are wallflowers, the guys that would stand in a row against the walls at prom not having enough guts to talk to a girl they may want to dance with. haha

I guess it didn't help last night that I looked like an amazon, w/ 4 inch heels that made me about 6'2. hahah. And I guess it doesn't help that even though I do look around for good looking guys, that I probably give off the impression that I don't care about getting w/ any of them, so they don't try. I guess what throws me off is that guys in Tampa would have NO problem w/ me being a foot taller, showing zero interest, acting like a b*tch & turning my back on them when they try to hit on me. HAH.

You know what? Now that I think about it, God bless Austin. I don't have to deal with jerkwads every time I go out. lol YAY! <3

wow. End of the most random blog ever.
Steff

Just a little about me...

For the one person that follows me (THX ALLIE!) & whoever stumbles across my bloggity-blog, here are some things that you may or may not know about me. =)

I loveeee me some music: oldies (especially fond of Elvis, Neil Diamond & some good ole' Motown), pop (yes, you saw that clearly), danceable hip-hop, some rock, & stuff thats just fun to sing. Oh how I miss the chorus days & 4-5 part choir harmonies. Those were the days. There really is nothing like singing w/ others, awesome melodies, tight harmonies, & belting out your strongest notes.

On another note, I feel that finally, at 25 years old, I'm finally expanding my wardrobe past just jeans, graphic tees & flip-flops. While these are still my love, I got some soft, pretty v-necks & scoop necks for christmas. Found some really cheap shirts recently that are so pretty & flowy, & now proudly own 3 pairs of boots, one of which I wore to the mall today (note: will only wear when I'm NOT pacing the mall, ouch!) w/ a pair of skinny jeans, said soft v-neck & a cute black cardigan. I felt cute!

Which leads me to the above, super glittery booties. OMG I wish I were a pop star! I could totally rock these & nobody would think anything of it! lol
Which leads me back too... writing songs. I wrote a few back in high school, & a couple every now and then, they'd run around in my head until I wrote them down, but this was never really a common occurance.
Well last week, I wrote two, in two days! Woot! Usually my songs are emotion inspired, I'm not an emotional person, I really only cry when I get mad (unless I move out of state, I boohooed like a baby the morning I left!), so most of my emotion goes to my songs. The 1st was one of those. I've been wanting to try to write a poppy kinda song for awhile, but didn't really know how to write a brainless song (you know, no emotion to speak of lol). Well, I finally wrote one! A tune kept rolling around inside my head w/ a catchy pop chorus, & I couldn't sleep till I wrote it down, so I got up & the whole song came out! I must say, I feel kinda stupid for writing a pop song, again, bc it feels kinda pointless, but its supposed to be fun right? & thats kinda whats selling these days.

Now, I gotta find a buyer, or a record company that will sign ME to sing them... lol.

Hey! A girl can dream! <3

ttfn ta ta for now!
Steff

Finally!

I guess it's finally time to start blogging again. I had a Xanga back in '05, but I haven't used that thing in YEARSS. I always have these random things that pop up in my head everyday, or things that I do, see, or try (Soy Milk! YUMMY!) that I want to share sometimes, whether people care or not. haha. Guess you wouldn't read my blog if you didn't care, right? Right. =D

So, I finally decided to start this thing when I looked in the mirror after I got out of the shower & was farely pleased with what I saw. Clear skin, nicely shaped eyebrows (if I do say so!) & overall, I don't see a kid in the mirror anymore. At 25, I'm finally past the everyday horrible, self-conscience breakouts I use to have, & have finally tamed the crazy caterpillars of eyebrows I use to have. THANK GOD!

So, I thought I'd share some of my current (& seems to be working!) skincare regime with you! Mainly you fellow ladies, of course!
Before bathing, I use a sugar scrub on my arms & back (since they tend to get more dry then other bodyparts in cold weather & a house heater!).
After bathing (& washing my face), I use Philosophys Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash on my face & neck, which is amazing, smooths your skin so well especially, again, in the cold weather. After that I use just a plain Walmart brand acne cleanser that seems to work really well.
I know it may sound like overkill, but I've been doing this for about a month now & have noticed a HUGE change! I go out in public without any makeup on all the time now! (not that I really wore much anyways, but it covered any flaws I saw.)

So there you go! My 1st blog along with my little skincare tips. Now, off to pour a glass of Vanilla Soy Milk <3<3<3 & read a book.

Night!
Steff