Vewy Pinteresting

So this is my second of a few "back to the future"  posts as I would like to call them. Posts, I write now, which will be scheduled to be published while I'm off gallivanting in the ocean on vacation and forgetting that the internet exists. I'll come back from vacay, read the posts and be appalled at the spelling errors because it was so late when I originally wrote it, but also happy at the same time because my blog will *hopefully* still be going.

Now, like I said, I'll have forgotten about the internet existing.
But I can guarantee that there will probably be a few minutes where I get inspired to look something up or want to remember a specific dress that I saw and realize that I can't get on Pinterest. It will be sad and stressful, but something tells me that the beach and I will get through it together.

Let's just all come clean here for a second.
If you don't have Pinterest you think it is STUPID.
If you do have Pinterest you are addicted and think the people without it are stupid.
(And if you don't think that? Then you're doing it wrong.)

So to honor the fact that our brains are being taken over by the internet one social network and craft idea at a time, I decided to dedicate a post to pinterest.  Kind of like "How Pinteresting Wednesday" (a wonderful link up) but not on Wednesday or linked up.

Below I  have shared a few of my recent finds from pinterest.
Some are just photos, some are funny, some are inspirational, some like to online stores, some are resources, and some link to blogs with tutorials.

via

Date night in a jar Ideas via

Up!  iPhone themed cover

Warm Spinach Artichoke Dip via

Seems to be pretty easy candle upcycle. Especially good for the candle hoarders out there...via

Alright, that's all I'm posting because I'm getting tired. But if you find me on pinterest from the button above, thhose are only a few out of the 92783429834729384 that I have pined. Find me and follow!


So, do you have Pinterest? Do you love it? What type of boards to you keep? Have you done anything that you've found on Pinterest like a dinner or craft? Do you have a favorite pin that you found recently and think you'd like to share with me?

Don't forget to find the button at the top right hand corner of the page and follow me on Pinterest if you like what you see. And while you're at it, you might as well follow me on Twitter too!

Summertime

When you see this post, (hopefully if Blogger posts this when I want it to) I will be in Mexico tanning and frolicking in the warm ocean.

As I sit here, typing in my warm bed in not so tropical Maine anticipating my vacation, I'm imagining myself to be doing something like this when this post makes its way up.

Not that I imagine myself dropping 50 pounds and owning a black bikini but you get my drift.

But let's be real, I'm sure that when this post goes up I'll be looking a little more like this:

via

Not that I am going to be turning into a man either, but the whole sunburn thing will mostly be me. Oh and I need to draw in a drink into their hands. Much more accurate.

So either way, thinking about this vacation has put me even further into summer mode. I'm not just talking I want to go to Mexico again type stuff, but more the every day enjoyment of summer in Maine.

In honor of my new summer mindset, here are a few photos that  of last summer that I'll be staring at immediately when I get back from Mexico to remind me of what is to come. These ones in particular are just a few from my vacation with my family.

Don't worry, there are like 700 more where these came from just on this trip to continue teasing you with until summer.

Oh, and I'm sure right now in Mexico I'm obnoxiously in someone's face with a camera or taking an overdone and mediocre sunset photo. So plenty to go around here!

Le sigh, summer all year I say!

Fur Baby Friday

It's about time I linked up with Mrs. Monologues and her Fur Baby Friday.

So we dropped Bruin off at my parents this afternoon for our vacation.

He likes to whine and pretend that he'll miss us, but after about 5 minutes of pretending he's a five year old girl he realizes he won't actually miss us at all because he's in love with my parent's dog Molly.

Some people think she's beautiful, some people thinks she looks like she's from the dump.

I waver back and forth depending on what eye I'm looking out of at her.

Either way, they just run around, and frolick, and play Doggie Fight Club, and chase the cat together.

I snapped a photo of them together this Easter sleeping on each others beds.

They would tell you more about Doggie Fight Club, but they're not allowed to talk about it.

Stay Fab.

ADIOS

So while packing for my impending vacation, we discovered that I am about as good with space management as I am with my time management.


Like I said here, we leave Friday afternoon to catch a flight in the weeee hours of the morning on Saturday. This was our luggage Wednesday night at 9 PM

 Fast forward to 11 PM on Thursday night when we finish packing and then discover that we are 30 pounds over the weight limit.
Gulp.
So instead of sharing baggage we are each getting our own piece of checked luggage. Because I'm apparently a diva now that needs space for things?
Either way, we're about finished, I probably forgot something important like underwear or my right foot but I'll be in Mexico so I'm over it.

Don't worry, what I lack in the planning and organization department, I make up in sheer geekery and ability to read fluffy books and trashy magazines.

Tada!

Because my flight will not go on until I know whether Charles and William's horrible teeth will be passed forth into future generations of Fairy tale politicians.

I realize I have quite the eclectic book collection.
And some of you may be thinking, why does this girl have so many books? She's going on VACATION.
Well friends:
1. I'm a geek.
2. The bar doesn't open until 10 AM so I've got a couple of hours a day to let Chelsea Handler make me laugh so hard I pee my swimsuit a little with her one-night stands and general debauchery.

I told my students I was bringing 6 books. They looked at me like I had two heads.
And then they swiftly changed the conversation to ask me if I was going where all of those Mexican Drug Cartels were killing people.
I couldn't quite figure out if they were worried for my safety or wanted to start a conversation in class about beheadings.
Ohhhhhhhh my little adolescents. 

By the way, if you ever want to experience true stress, pure exhaustion , or the phenomenon of time slowing down,then head on over to your local middle school a couple of days before April Break.
 I think my latest speech to my students was about how I was probably as, if not more excited for my vacation as they were but I wasn't walking around ruining every body elses day so they shouldn't either. ( I think that's when we started to talk about gangs in Tiajuana?)

I digress.

So the bags are packed, I'm ready for school tomorrow, and hubby is in bed.
I decided after my last post that I'd set myself up with a couple of short posts that I'd prepare before so you all don't forget me. And because I think it's a pretty cool idea and want to see if it ACTUALLY works.

Until then, I guess this is Adios. If you're out and about traveling or in Mexico I'll be the girl speaking spanglish, sunburnt, and with Margarita salt on my lips.
It's not pretty but someone's gotta do it.

Stay fabulous.

Upcoming Vacation Adventures and Guest Blogging?

First off, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback that I've been getting on my last post about suggestions for blog changes/titles. I've had some really nice feedback over both comments and email. I'm not quite settled but I might be ready to limit it down to a few different options and then look for some more feedback before making anymore changes. I also have other ideas for what I want my blog to LOOK like. Be looking for some more posts in the near future on that.

ALSO, the adorable Autumn over at "Mrs." in the Making gave me an award. I'm going to wait to address that in another post because I need to get to this next thing before the next couple of days rush up and past me. In the mean time, check out Autumns wonderful blog and all of the other award winners. There are some fun ones in there!

Now, there have been a lot of things going on for me recently. This caused me to take a brief hiatus from blogging which I have been slowly doing more of. Now there have been lots of things that I've wanted to tell you, but I've gotten to about 3. Which is fine, because this is my blog and not yours.

One of the most exciting pieces of information that I've been meaning to share with everyone is this little trip I'm going on for April break. This trip?

OH I'M JUST GOING ON VACATION TO

MEXICO!!!!!!

Image Via

Cue whatever sterotypical mexican party song that probably just popped into your head. 

You know, like the song that plays in the background of that commercial where the little kid invents the flat bottomed taco and they lift them up in the air and trumpets come in. Anyone? No? Just me, Okay.

 

I know, I'm unbelievable lucky. I know, I can't believe I've been keeping this secret from you either. 

And when I say I'm going to Mexico on April break, I mean I'm leaving on a plane 3 days from now because that's when I am on April break. 

Are you hyperventilating yet out of excitement/nervousness/pure evil jealousy yet? Don't worry, we'll be okay. Because, you know, I'm going on vacation. 

Now if you're a stalker or my dad you are either excited or super mad at me because I just stated that I'm going on vacation on the internet, which can lead to bad things like break-ins. Don't worry Dad, there's someone watching my house. I like all of my cheap stuff that I pretend is expensive and don't want it stolen. And plus, Linus is spoiled and I couldn't possibly leave this one all by himself now could I?

Shhh he doesn't know the dog isn't staying home with him yet.

Sorry vandals, my cat has a live in baby sitter(that is a human, not my dog) so you can't steal him or the most expensive thing in my house. Which by the way I think is my crock-pot. 

Anyway, back to the important stuff. Yeah, I'm going on vacation to Mexico in three days and I'm just about dying from excitement. 

Image Via

How does a girl whose most expensive household item is a slow-cooker? Because the hubby's wonderful parents are taking us. 

That's right. I'm vacationing with the In-Laws. His parents and his brothers. For some of you vacationing with your husband's family might sound horrible. But it does not for me because they are pretty awesome people.

We're heading to a resort that is all inclusive. We've got only a couple of things planned like a day trip that Dave and I are planning, but other than that there is nothing planned. WHICH IS PERFECT. 

Lounging on the beach, at the pool, on the balcony. Doing nothing is exactly the prescription this crazy person needs.

It will also be nice to have a different change in scenery for photography. Despite the fact that I haven't shared much of it, I've been taking photos but the scenery seems to be the same. It will be pretty awesome to be somewhere else other than the normal places in Maine. 

Now I've been preparing for this trip for a while. I've been slowly getting new swimsuits and accumulating new outfits. I've grown up on the ocean my entire life, but I'm the type of girl that wears an old bathing suit that doesn't match and a t-shirt and athletic shorts above it. I'm not there to give a fashion show I want to get a nice tan and cool off. 

But I realized quickly as I got going into planning that now I'm a big girl going on a big girl vacation. So I've purchased some tankinis that match and a few coverups. I also have some pretty cute dinner outfits if I may say so myself! If I'm feeling good about what I'm wearing and I'm not looking like a lobster I might snap a few pictures for a little fashion blog post.

I've also been stocking up on books for the beach and the plane. As of right now I have 5. That's right, read it and weep fellow geeks, I've purchased 5 books for my upcoming vacation. I tried to do a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Again, if I'm loving any of them a bunch then I'll hop on here and do a review. 

So since this is the first time I've been on a vacation like this since my senior year in highschool as well as on a plane, and the first time I've been to Mexico I clearly am getting all nervous about what I might be forgetting or important travel tips that all of you vacation savvy people have up your sleeves. 

Here are a few questions for you my readers:

1. Have you been to an all inclusive resort lately? Is there anything you wish you'd known? Anything you wish you'd taken advantage of while you were gone?

2. The last time you went on a plane was there something that you were like  "Man, I totally wish I'd brought this" or "Man thank god I brought this!"

3. What are some absolute must-haves for your carry-ons?

4. Do you think it would be worthwhile to have some scheduled blog post while I'm gone?

5. Any words of advice or wisdom before I set off for a week of vacation with 5 other people, or jetsetting in general?

6. Do you think it's too late for me to arrange a guest blogger for sometime next week? How does that even work? I've played with the idea of asking someone to do a guest post for me while I'm gone on vacation or whatever but I clearly never got around to posting or researching the issue. Now that I'm 3-4 days out I am thinking ahead to my blog and going hey, that's a long time for it to be left high and dry without any intention. 

For me, I would only be comfortable with a guest post from someone who reads my blog on a  regular basis and comments, and whose blog I'm familiar with. It would be cool to have a guest post on a funny/scary/memorable vacation moment. Even if it's not for this vacation, how does it even work and is there anyone out there that would want to jump in and do one? (This last question is probably best answered by email unless it's a general comment on guest posting.)

Thanks ahead of time for the advice on the questions above. The closer to vacation I get, the more excited I get, but I also get nervous as well. I'm so worried I'm missing some big piece of information or I'm going to do some facepalm on missing some pretty obvious thing in my purse at the airport. Your input is appreciated, as always. 

And don't forget to weigh in on your opinion on my hopeful upcoming blog changes. 

Stay fabulous!

Help Me With Blog Changes PAHLEASE!

When I started my blog I had very little direction. I had no idea where I was going, what I would write about,  This in turn made it hard for me to come up with a blog name.

Now, I was a blog reader before I was a blog writer. There were two types of blogs that I read:

1. Blogs that I liked to read, mainly because they made me pee my pants while LOL'ing.
This included blogs like Hyperbole and a Half, Books of Adam, and Barefoot Foodie.
So pretty much blogs that were funny, smart, down to earth, witty, and at their very core real.

2. Blogs that I thought I should like to read because everyone else was.
I'm not going to list blogs here, but you know the kind. You might even write one.
You know, blogs written by girls with beautiful and shiny hair, glaringly white teeth, adorable new outfits, the ability to create and execute a recipe perfectly,  the time and the means to go on girls weekends twice a month, boyfriends that are Ben Affeleck look-alikes, workout routines and bodies that rival Jillian Micheals, and just an overall sunshiny life and therefore blog.

NOW DON'T GET ME WRONG.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ANY OF THE BLOGS THAT FIT UNDERNEATH THE SECOND CATEGORY. I want to make that clear before those of you who do fit underneath that category get pissed and break your cute manicures because you're furiously typing an insult in my comment section. ( And I'm serious, your manicures ARE cute. I am in fact jealous of them and not trying to be sarcastic. I would have one if I had the financial means, and if I didn't run the chance of breaking them every five seconds in my classroom as I wave my hands around and accidentally whack my whiteboard, face, coworkers, students, etc)

I still read and subscribe to blogs like these. Underneath all of the flowers and cute miniature-dog jewelery there is often substance that I enjoy. Also, I like hearing about perfect recipes, the newest make-up brand, your toy-dog's new sweater, and your favorite new brand of Skinny Girl Margarita. Your blog gives me hope that someday I too will have my act together and find some time to brush my hair before schlepping off to school

THE POINT IS, I'm not one of those girls. 

I'm actually a little more like this:

And I've found that my writing is not like blog category two, no matter how much I tried to make it that way at the beginning. While not as sharp and hilarious as the ones in category one, I find myself identifying with the blogs in category one a little more. I'm real, I can't get it right, and I'm here to be honest about it.And I mean I make myself giggle sometimes, and these people make me giggle all of the time.

Maybe my blog doesn't need to fit in a category. It is what it is. But the point of this post is that when I developed my blog title and "image" I thought that I wanted to fit in category 2, and that's what I was going for for a little while. I mean, I stopped pretty quickly when I realized I'd never be that blog, but there are little bits and pieces of it left over.
I'm ready to shed these bits and pieces and change my blog a little.
 
Here's where I need your help.
I want to change my blog name and image.
 I want to keep certain elements of the title. Certain words so I don't really loose my blogging identity. And because I like three of the words.

Fabulous 

Happy(iness)

Awkward

I know, they're all really different.  But hey, I'm really different.
I have a few different basic ideas that I want you all to weigh in on and give me advice on. I hate making permanent decisions. 

I mean, give me 30 teenagers in a room asking me questions at a time and I will answer all of them. Most definitive person in the world. Take me out of my classroom? I can't make a decision for my life. But that's why I have followers right? To make decisions for me. So here are a few ideas that I have for titles trying to incoporate those three words, or at least a couple of them.

Fabulously Awkward and Awkwardly Happy

Awkwardly Fabulous and Happily Awkward

Happily Awkward And Fabulously Happy

Or maybe only one half of one of those?

And a few that are a little different than the ones above:

Happily Living Life's Awkward Moments

Awkwardness is Fabulous

Happiness and Awkardness

(And am I going too far with the awkward thing? Is it getting awkward that I keep on saying awkward? If you think so then maybe you don't know me so well. I make social situations weird.)

And one that doesn't have anything to do with my current blog title but could be appropriate:

But Why Can't I Bring My Dog?

Because, you know, I bring up my dog a lot on my blog. And I often don't understand why I can't bring him places. Everyone should love and accept my dog. Like my workplace, and the mall, and public beaches. Don't get me started.

ANYWAY
Those are just some ideas that I have for right now.
I think it's really important to have a blog title that fits what the content is and also pulls the reader in. I know that I'm not the only one that decides whether I'm going to read a blog strictly based on their title. So I want one that fits who I am, what I write about, and get people to read all at the same time.

If you hate all of them and have the perfect one PLEASE SHARE. If you like part of or a combination of a a bunch of them then put it together the let me know. I want your feedback!

Also, I want to change my look a little. It's a little crowded on my sidebar so I'm going to declutter and change some things up. I also want to change the look of my header. As some of my regulars may have noticed I changed it from the photo of clouds and cursive writing to the current one with polka dots.

I just want to make it clear that the header that is currently up there took me 10 minutes. I want to go for a cleaner look on the blog, so I picked a font that was cute but cleaner than the other one, and then since that looked too plain and I can't do too much else on the computer I took the paintbrush and made polka dots. Because that's how I do.

So if you have any suggestions for my overall look, my banner, fonts, etc. PLEASE ALSO TELL ME WHAT TO DO. Photos versus no photos? Patterns on the sidebar or no patterns?

If you're not familiar with my blog, look around, read some posts. I especially like think these few are anecdotal posts that you might get a feeling of my blog from:
- I Am Liz Lemon
-My Favorite Mountains Have Water Sources at the Top
Super Proffesional Engagement Shoot With Ugly People
That Time I Broke Into A House
Bruin In Hats

Please BOSS ME AROUND. I want tons of comments, even if you're insulting me for only coming up with stupid names then please do so.

If you're uncomfortable  leaving a comment or want to start a private conversation about my name, layout, etc. then go ahead and give me feedback by email: myfabulouspursuitofhappiness@gmail.com

Thanks for the help ahead of time, maybe I'll get around to making changes before my BIG VACATION IN A WEEK!

Leibawah? Award

Despite my messy ever-changing layout (that I will be addressing in my next post) as well as my lack of savvy in "making friends on the blogosphere" I somehow have caught the attention of Jessica over at Dream More long enough to win an award! Thanks girl! Check her out, I'm definitely a follower!

Now I googled this award and couldn't find where it came from but apparently "Liebster" means favorite or dearest? I don't know, nein sprek-en the German.
Either way it's meant for blogs that you enjoy that have 200 followers or less. Let's go over the rules:

1. Choose five up and coming blogs to give the Liebster award to. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog.

4. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know they've recevied the award.
5. Share five random facts about yourself!

So the five blogs that fit the criteria and I find just nifty are:

1. Jamie @ The CP

2. Melissa  @ Je'taime & Co. 

3. Jenna @ That's What She Said

4. Autumn @  "Mrs" in the Making

5. Amanda @ Just An Average Girl 

You should check all of them out. Because you know I had to go through and pick only FIVE wonderful blogs with under 200 followers. It was tough to choose just 5 but I did it!
 
Now for the five random facts about myself:

1. I hate to do  the dishes. If you ask me it is literally the worst chore around the house. I would much rather clean the bathroom.

2. We thought Bruin was going to be around 60-70 lbs. He is officially 35 full grown. Don't worry, we still love him.

3. If I was told I couldn't be a teacher  I don't know what else I would do, I have no back-up plan or other career paths that I would be at all interested in. I think I would just walk the streets correcting people's grammar and asking them to look me in the eye because that's just respectful. 

4. My favorite color is pink, which I used to hate as a kid.

5. My biggest fears are house fires and death. 

Alright, now that I've done all of that, I'm going to ask you to PLEASE come back for my next post. I'm making some changes but I'm indecisive and confused and NEED YOUR HELP! 

So please stop by for the next one! 
Edit: I got my next post up and really want your help, here is the link. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK!
Help ME With Blog Changes PAHLEASE!