Don't do it....wait, nevermind.

Do you ever do something that you immediately regret right after this action is done? Yeah, that's pretty much my life in nutshell: doing things I shouldn't, but do anyway. I always end up kicking myself in the butt, having less money than I started with or crying at my computer screen. I will just never, ever learn my lesson. Well, maybe someday. Eh, probably not. But, here's to wishful thinking. 

( hello awful photo circa two summers ago! )

I really shouldn't order anything larger than a small when it comes to lattes at Dunkin. I always end up taking a few sips and going to class or heading to work and forgetting that the stupid drink I paid close to four bucks for is now all watered down from melted ice. 

I really shouldn't ever think it's ever a good idea to enter the Target dollar section without spending atleast twenty bucks on stuff that you really didn't need. But I really needed those six packs of thank you cards. 

I really shouldn't enjoy "23" by Miley Cyrus. But, get like me.

I really shouldn't eat anything four hours before eating Chinese food. Whenever I have a craving I always get so excited and think my stomach will be able to clean up the whole plate, but then I end up eating lunch and ruining my race to see the bottom of my sweet and sour chicken plate. 

I really shouldn't watch those stupid wedding viral videos that always have the tag line "get your tissues ready" because I always think that I can handle it, and I end up bawling like a baby. If you don't wanna cry (I'm lying), watch this one; it's the most recent one that had me sobbing. 

I really shouldn't procrastinate. Oh look, a squirrel....

I really shouldn't kid myself into thinking that I am actually going to make anything that is on my food board on Pinterest. Ain't nobody got time for that...unless it's a two ingredient cookie recipe, then I am all over that like white on rice. Goodbye Friday night with friends, hello oven!

I really shouldn't think that my post ideas are cute and clever, cause they really aren't. Oh, who am I kidding, I am flippin' brilliant. *insert hair flip*

I am going to try and not do anything that seems like a bad idea.

Ha, now that seems like a bad idea in itself. 

It's not even Thanksgiving yet.

We are a week shy from Thanksgiving and I have already made my list and checked it twice - and probably three or four more times after that, just to be sure I wasn't forgetting anyone. Yes, my friends, I am venturing out in the world of overly decorated stores that want me to drop major bank on gifts for people that I love. Gosh, I have to keep reminding myself of that; "You love these people, Marissa, don't cry as you hand the cashier your money, you will make your friends and family happy." Today is my day that I can set aside a substantial amount of time and go out into the malls for all the Christmas gifts I need to buy. Ouh.

I know that I am not going to have time to buy my gifts at any other point in the future because I have the last few weeks of the semester of school, then exam week and in between all that I will be working crazy, mandatory holiday hours at work, and after hell shifts like that, I won't want to be doing anything after work other than taking a bubble bath and knocking out. So, I gotta do it all at once. Kill all the birds with one stone, so to speak.

It's taken me a long time to figure out what exactly to get people. I love giving gifts, and I am usually really good at picking out an awesome gift for people, it's just this year I was getting really, really stumped. Then, insert Pinterest. I have been pinning things to my holiday board and smiling at my screen knowing that I am going to put together some pretty crafty gifts. Now, I can't share with you what they are because I have sneaky sneaky friends who read my blog (hello there, my minions). But, now that I have direction and I am so excited to go out and execute these gifts. Bang-boom! 

Here's to Christmas shopping. Bah-humbug. 

Good Vibrations.

I have been having some pretty enlightening conversations with my friends lately, and I couldn't be happier that we are now all on the same page with things. We all got to catch up and get a little more insight into each other's lives and understand each other better. Sometimes you just need to sit around with your girlfriends and cry over your chips and queso at Chili's. Yes, I did that. 

I got together with one of my friends who is away at school in Boston and we had lunch and talked about a few different things. We both are going through similar things, on different extents, but similar. We are both going throw an experience of sadness, depression and some type of loss. We got to be sad about it together and then we both talked about how we need to start to appreciate the small victories in life. Like she said, "my biggest victory is getting through the day." I thought about that and I just sat there for a moment and really let that sink in. 

We both decided that we are going to start focusing on the positive. Everyday we have talked and every morning I have sent her a different happy, spunky, upbeat song and she told me that she had deleted all the sad songs off her iPod and kept everything positive. We are both trying to keep the positive energy flowing and trying to have the right mindset and not get ourselves down about things. 

I am trying to live every day with focusing on the good things, no matter how silly or stupid they may be, such as getting a medium drink from Dunkin for 99 cents because I had a coupon, or getting a grin from a special someone. It's all about making it through the day with one small victory at a time.

Little Things.

It's a Friday, and let's face it. I have had class all week, I am currently under the influence of about zero caffeine and I have no ideas left in my brain because my English professor sucked them all out of me. Oopps, sorry, guys. 

I have been thinking about the little things that make me happy lately. Considering I have been a roller coaster of emotions lately - just ask my friends, they will nervously agree - I am taking a minute to appreciate the positives. Breathe out the bad, breathe in the coffee...I mean, the good.

1 // When your best friends know you are having a bad day and one buys you a cookie as you are angrily typing away at your computer, and the other carries your purse, laptop and backpack through the rain when you are about to have a mental break down over a paper not printing.

2 // Dunkin Donuts having their Christmas/Winter flavors out; hello red velvet iced lattes.

3 // Having your favorite contestant on The Voice make it through, and you continue to cheer for him like a proud mama, because he can actually hear you, right...?

4 // Getting a tip from a customer that you have been waiting on for years and years and he has finally realized that you give him the best service and he slips you a five dollar bill, and you automatically know it's going to pay for your coffee in the morning.

5 // Finally getting your blog to look the way you want after working diligently on it for weeks and weeks.

6 // Being recognized at work from a play that you did with a local theater company. #applause

Another little thing that makes me happy?

Linking up with Whitney for....

Glitzy Playlist: Songs I'm Diggin'.

I have been obsessed with iTunes Radio, now that I finally got my iPhone to function after that whole iOS7 nonsense; it quite literally took me a month to get my phone back to normal. Geeze, they don't make it easy. But, never the less, I got it working and I got my iTunes Radio jammin' and I can't stop. Just call me Miley.

I have been lovin' the Justin Timberlake station, because I enjoy driving around with the music varying from JT, to Usher, to Drake. Wanna know a top secret? I am a closet Drake fanatic. Moving on...I love jammin' to some good jams when I am driving around town or chilling out after a full night of baking. Gosh, I know, I am leading the wild life. Don't be jelly. 

So, I decided to share with you my new fave jams that my iTunes Radio has been sharing with me. Sharing is caring.

For all you awesomelicious people who you use Spotifiy, you can listen to my playlist in your library!

I will see you around these parts tomorrow, have a good Thursday, peeps.

I actually did something this weekend.

Hold up, wait a minute. Can we just take a moment and reflect on the fact that I actually had a moderately decent weekend and tried to document it via my iPhone. I do believe that I deserve a round of applause for said happenings.  Ah, you may be seated.

My weekend started on Thursday which was Halloween. After a totally boring shift at work I came home and hurry-scurried myself into my outfit and boom. I went out to a party with a bunch of my friends from my church and we had a fun time gettin' crazy and loud and doing the Time Warp - it was more than enjoyable.

On Saturday after work Casey and I decided that grabbing Chinese food would be a wonderful idea; oh holy yum. I am a hardcore lover of sweet and sour chicken, and a little shop talk, boy talk and funny talk always does a body good after a nine hour shift. 

Sunday I grabbed an eggnog latte - yes, it's finally time for the winter beverage menu and I couldn't be any happier, I am pretty sure I died inside when I saw the advertisement - and indulged in a red velvet donut, which is another winter favorite. Christmas can't come fast enough.

Sunday afternoon I went out to lunch with my cousin Rachel to my workplace's restaurant. I love going to visit and seeing all my friends. You may ask "Marissa, why do you go to your job when you aren't working all the time?" Well, you see, I don't have many friends and they are all my besties, so leave me alone.

Have a good Monday, y'all.

Everybody's got a dark side.

For those of you that know me, or have read my previous blogs, you know that I was a proud and in-your-face blondie. I always proclaimed that Taylor Swift and I were twinnies - I mean, we even started the bangs and straight hair kick at the same time, holla! But...something has happened.

Yes. I must confess. This proud as a peacock blondie has now turned to the dark side.

As you may have seen in previous blog posts, I am no longer my old blonde self. I am a new and improved brunette who is ready to take on the world with a new edge. But, let me tell you, it wasn't easy to part with my long, golden locks. I took great pride in my lion mane, and people knew me by my blonde hair. I had a co-worker say to me "Uh, ya know, most brown hair girls try to go blonde, not the other way around, Mariss." Needless to say I walked away from that conversation. It took lots of thought and I finally took the plunge into the shampoo sink and washed away all the hair dye and saw a new me in the mirror afterwards. I am not the person I used to be; literally and figuratively. 

With all the change going on, I have been seeing a darker side to myself, or should I say a more real side of myself. I always usually put on a happy-go-lucky front and I honestly lived up to the blonde expectation. I was perky, peppy, ditzy and all other adjectives in the list, but I felt like something was missing. I was always worried that if people saw me in anything less than a great mood they would bother me with questions. Yet, I was pushed - against my will, and as a blonde - into situations filled with questions that I didn't want to answer and through the questions and the struggle I was going through, I find a more real side to myself, that I was okay to share with the world. I am no longer afraid of the questions and the pestering; I am going to be what I am that day. Hello, my name is tired, angry, upset, happy, excited, miserable, etc... I found my darker side, my more gritty and real side, and I am becoming more and more okay with that. 

My life has been in a crazy roller coaster of change and new things that I decided that changing my hair was the drastic change I needed in order for me to accept all the other changes what were going on in my life. Finally the whirlwind is starting to calm down and life is getting slowly (really slowly), but surely, easier. I have my good days and I have my bad days, just like everyone else. Some days I feel like I am still a blondie, and other days I feel like a brooding brunette. I change on a daily basis, and I think that that's okay. Life is a day by day, minute by minute kind of thing. Life is up, down, in, out and all things in between but that's what make life...life. 

"The cheesecake wishes you a happy birthday."

Monday, we meet again. But, I am not totally dreading you because, I am not stressed to high heavens this week. So maybe I can actually sit back, relax and have a nice leisurely chat with you, maybe buy you a coffee and a donut; it's only polite.

Well, now that I addressed the Monday in the room...let's talk about our weekends, shall we? #bloggernorms

Like every other Friday and Saturday in the history of my life since I was fifteen, I didn't do anything fun because I work both those days and I come home hot, sweaty and smelling like bread. I don't have time to get all pretty and go out and do fun things. I prefer to stay at home and bake cookies and watch Undercover Boss and Shark Tank, thank you very much. And yes, that's exactly what I did do; except on Saturday night I ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch and watched David Tutera. My life is better than yours.

But Sunday was my momma's birthday, so yay! As I previously wrote about I threw her a surprise birthday party a few weeks back. But today was her actual day of birth, so with tradition in our family we went out to dinner to The Cheesecake Factory and enjoy eating. I ate so much that I won't eat again until next Wednesday. Holy cheesecake, the chicken and biscuits fill me up so hardcore. 

Photo One | Momma & I 

Photo Two | Cousin Rachel & I - Rachel came and celebrated with us.

Photo Three | Our State House lit up in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness & Purple for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness, two causes near and dear to my heart. 

I don't really have all that much else to say, because I stink at writing weekend posts because I am never all that exciting. So, go out and conquer your Monday, you fools.

Ooooh, check out the new digs around here; lookin' nice, eh?!

I'll have a mocha iced latte, with a side of happiness.

I have been having this inward struggle for happiness in my life lately, anybody know what I am talking about? Yup, I see those hands in the air - waving like they just don't care. I have been trying really, really hard to be happy through the sadness, anger and all those other icky emotions I am having on the inside. I don't want to be a grumpy, annoying person who always talks about how awful they feel and wah-wah. I don't want to be a Pity Party Polly, no thank you. I just want to be happy, and not the fake happy that you have to be when you see your old high school class mates and you have to pretend like you care. (I personally try to dodge said people, but sometimes eye contact happens and you can't avoid it, ah!) I want to be genuinely happy. 

So, today, on this Friday, I choose to be happy.

I am choosing to wake up this morning and say "hey self" - yeah, that's how I talk - "you are going to go about your day with a smile on your face and you are going to appreciate your life". I am so sick of moping through days pretending like I am happy when I really just want to watch Kardashian re-runs and eat coffee ice cream. But that's not being a productive member of society like they taught me about in middle school. . I am not going to let stupid over thinking ways, frustrating situations and careless comments affect my day. Essentially, I not going to let being a girl get in the way of my happiness! I am going to get up and conquer this day; with a little bit of espresso

Shine bright like a diamond, wildcats. 

Keep your head in the game.

Yes, I'm Troy Bolton.

My brain revolts against productivity.

I have been in a motivational slump lately. I don't want to do anything but lay around in my bed, make ice cream sundaes and watch House all day long. Who needs to get an education and work for a living? Pft, not this brown haired girl, that's got stinkin' sure! (Sidenote: yes, I am a brunette now, who'da thought, right?!) 

I digress - I just haven't been feeling like doing anything, and trying to motivate myself is the hardest thing in the world. It usually doesn't end well, and me rewarding myself usually ends up with me eating every time I read a page in my historical literature book - yeah, that's a total yawn, I know. I mean, I want to do stuff, but I don't feeeeel like it. And you can't make me!

My brain decided to wander, and think about all the other things I could be doing, instead of doing actual productive things. I call this...

I should clean out my dresser drawer full of crap, but I am going to watch an ANTM marathon instead.

I should start writing the church's Christmas play, but I am going to drive 20 minutes to go to Starbucks.

I should do my 1000 page reading in my literature book, but I am going to listen to Bangerz instead.

I should really figure out what my Italian professor is saying, but I am going to refresh my Twitter feed.

I should start my Christmas shopping, but I am going to look up Christmas cookie recipes instead. 

I should wake up early and get ready for work, but I am going to throw a baseball cap on my wet hair.

I should go out and do my errands, but I am going to pin everything on Pinterest.

I should start writing that paper that's due next week, but I'm going to spend all my money at Target.

I should really do something productive, but I am thinking of what to blog tomorrow.

Well, I hope I inspired you to do something productive, or maybe I just inspired you to take the day off from life and drive around and find yourself a frappe while listening to Miley on your way to Target. Who really knows. All I know is that I really, really, really need to go do something productive. 

Aw, rats. This post is over.

Here I go, off to do something that would make me a well-rounded citizen.

Men are the new women.

After lots of research - and by research I mean lots of conversations with my girlfriends about how idiotic men are - I have come to the pain staking conclusion that men are actually females. Now, I know what you are thinking: what is this little brunette girl talking about. Yes, I shall explain.

I know a lot of guys and I talk with them, listen in to what they say to other men, observe their behavior and I have just come to find that men are becoming more like the stereotype that they give to women. Hear me out for a few hot minutes, por favore. 

Women, we are really not that hard to understand. We don't ask for a whole lot - unless you are one of those needy Twitter Anons who tweets all these unusual expectations that women put on men. Women are extremely easy creatures. Hand us a box of macaroni and cheese, buy us an iced coffee,  maybe watch some TV with us and throw in a few compliments and boom, we are happy campers. 

But, in all seriousness: we are fairly easy people.

Men, on the other hand seem to be more needy than women; which is frightening to think about. Men are extremely complicated to understand, at least in my opinion. Let's say that you like a guy and are nice to them, talk to them, whatever - he will not want anything to do you. Nada. Nothing. Nope. You're done. But, the split second you show no interest in them, they are all over you, like, me on a Dunkin Donuts when they have 99 cent iced lattes. It's bizarre.

Men needs loads of attention. They may not seem like they need it, but they want any attention they can possibly find. God forbid you are talking to someone else and they are standing infront of you (or near you, for that matter) they will just have to butt in and greet you, or just butt into your conversation in general. Yes, hello male specimen, we know you are there, but you don't need to assert your manliness into our conversation when we didn't invite you. Hashtag no.

Men want to feel macho and in control, of anything. But, we all know that women have a motive and a drive for everything. Men may think that they are the ones in control of everything but women, really have got all the power. (insert maniacal laughter here)

But, with all that being said - men acting more needy and emotional than women is a crazy phenomenon, but it is new and fresh, and who knows, maybe men will start opening up doors and buying flowers again. Yes, they exist, I have just yet to come across one of those special breeds. 

Cheers to you, from me, a bitter single girl who sits alone at night and watches House.

Weekend Update - on a Wednesday, oh yes!

This weekend was filled with lots of loud Italians screaming, to say the least.

I was working all weekend because during Columbus Day they shut down the street in the Italian neighborhood that I work on and have a big festival/feast. All the Italian-Americans come out and eat sausage and pepper sandwiches, grab a beer and listen to whatever different band is playing at the different street corner. All hands on deck for this weekend, so everyone is working; which makes things so much fun and incredibly entertaining. 

Thankfully, I only had to work two days this weekend - booya! I worked Saturday and had a fun day with all my friends working and goofing off at every chance we could. I grabbed some grub with my girl Casey and we sat and watched our valet friend scramble parking cars on the gridlocked side streets. Oh, and listening in on their moronic conversations via walkie-talkie; our channel walkie-talkie picked up theirs and we got to here them talking to each other. Let me just tell you: men are easily amused humans.

Sunday I had the pleasure - nervous pleasure - to throw my mom a surprise birthday party. First, let me tell you how hard this was because I live with the woman. But, thanks to the help of my amazing partners in crime; my cousin Rachel, our friend Lena and my Aunty Caroline, we managed to pull this thing off! My mom was totally surprised and she ended up having a really nice time at the party. She was mad at me that I spent all my money, but she enjoyed herself for once in a long time and I was glad that I could have given her a good day to remember.

Monday was a busy day at work, and the only good thing about the day was that I was sprung a half hour early and I got walk around the actual feast with Casey and she grabbed some food and we spent some time with our favorite boys and I spent my night watching The Voice. So, that's how I spent my holiday - working.  

I'm baaaaack.

Hey. Hi. Hello. Yes, it is I, Marissa. I have raised from the bloggy grave and I am back and ready to work, work, work this out. (High School Musical 2 references, holler!) I am so excited to be back in blogland to continue my nonsensical rambles, fashion posts that nobody listens to and to talk about how I hate all my college courses and how I want coffee all the time. Ah, didn't you miss me?

Alot has changed in my life since I was last on the blogspot.com scene, and throughout time you will hear about the things that have happened, because homegirl isn't ready to unload all of that on you right now. But, I am also taking back to blogging because I feel like this will help me be able to deal with a lot of the things in my life, and will keep me focused on something - as silly as a blog is, I do become terribly focused on it. 

So, welcome to Glitz & Giggles - the new Marissa blog.