Halloween Costume Reveal

This is the last day of the Blogtober14 challenge!! I had such a blast meeting new people and challenging myself to write every single day! Thanks to Helene and Taylor for setting this up!

So the final post prompt is the big Halloween costume reveal!

**Drum roll please**

I am going as Rosie The Riveter

Here is a preview of my costume from when I practiced doing the makeup and hair last weekend. 

I am particularly proud of the dirt marks on my face! I am going to fix my eyes and my hair a little bit for my actual costume. Stay tuned for more pictures of my costume after this weekend!! 

This is a bonus picture from when I ran errands half dressed in my Halloween costume. 

10 Absolutely True Facts About Me

Follows is a list of 10 absolutely true facts about me

1. Not only do I get a lot of writing done at work I also get to take a nap every day! 
2. I am from the great state of Colorado and no matter where I live or how long I am away from it, it will always be the greatest state and my home. 
   
3. I am completely obssessed with Gilmore Girls right now. 
4. Speaking of things I am obsessed with... These lollipops, which you can only find around Halloween. 
   
5. I hate doing the dishes more than any other chore in the house. 
6. I have a handful of friends who call me Limey or Limes and it's my favorite nickname. Betcha you could never guess where it came from! 
7. My happy place is a fictional place I made up. It consists of me sitting in a big comfy chair, snuggled up in blankets, reading a good book, next to fire, and I can watch the snow fall through huge picture windows! 
8. I have hiked 3 of the 53 14ers (a mountain in which the summit exceeds 14,000 ft) in Colorado. I have always wanted to hike more of them, but now I don't live in the Colorado. 

   

   Mt. Bierstadt (14,065 ft) 4 years ago

9. I went to Disneyland more as a college student than I did as a child and I hope to go again around the holidays this year. 
10. I love the city of Chicago and I plan on living here for a while! 
    

Linking up with Taylor and Helene for the 2nd to last day of Blogtober! Can't wait to show you all 

my Halloween costume tomorrow!! 

Embarrassing Moments or Funny Stories

I don't usually feel embarrassed or humiliated, I like to think of embarrassing moments as future funny stories.

Since I love talking about past performances that I have been in in the past, here is one of my "embarrassing moments." In high school the first play I was cast in was Our Town. I was Mrs. Webb, one of the mothers, and opening night of the show in one of the final scenes of the show as I walked past the stairway I caught the edge and tripped. Thankfully I was able to catch myself before falling onto my face. Even as it was happening I couldn't help but laugh!

On second thought, I am embarrassed looking back through the photos from my high school shows! So much second hand embarrassment for a past version of myself. 

Linking up with Taylor and Helene for Blogtober! 

"All Hell Will Break Loose"

I don't really believe in superstitions. The whole idea of something bad happening if I do or do not do something is hard for me to buy into.

But ritual and tradition closely parallel the idea of superstitions. And I do have one ritual, so to speak, before every performance or audition. I like to take a moment and close my eyes collect myself and actually pray. I am not a super religious person, organized religion isn't exactly my jam, since my "coming out" its hard to buy into a religion that doesn't necessarily buy into me. But all that aside, I do still believe in most of the teachings of the bible (my faith is just my own now). And I like to take a moment before performances to thank God for my talents and passions and for giving me these opportunities to share them with other people.

And just for funsies here are some photos from my college improv team:

 
 

 
 

"All hell will break loose!"



Linking up with Taylor and Helene for Blogtober day 28!!

A Letter to My Younger Self

What do you say to a younger version of yourself who managed to overcome crazy obstacles and surpass expectations? In the sappy answer of this question all you can say is thank you to your younger self for being smart and witty enough to figure life out without your help. In the less sappy answer to this question maybe all you can really do is cheer yourself on!

So here is my letter to the little munchkin in this picture:

Circa 1995 (?)
 Age: 4 (ish)

You go Girl!! 

You rock that intertube on land! You wear those roller skates without a helmet! Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't do whatever it is that you want to do! Don't ever stop wearing yellow leggings unless you decide you don't like yellow leggings! Don't defend your choices to wear pool toys outside of the pool! You don't have to answer to anybody! Wear whatever you want to wear! Say whatever it is that is on your mind! Unabashedly skate head first into all the challenges and adventures that life throws at you! On second thought, maybe put a helmet on! Don't back down on how you feel or stop being who you are! Because who you are is amazing, creative, smart, beautiful, and unique and that is all you will ever need to succeed!! 

PS You should never be too busy to enjoy a juicy slice of watermelon with good friends... remember that! 

Age: 3

Linking up with Taylor and Helene! Blogtober Day 27!

The Life and Times of Me

In the future when a film is made about my life and it is the perfect combination of comedy and heartfelt drama the casting of me would have to be perfect, obviously. So throwing age and time out the window here is how I would cast myself:

A late teen early 20's Emily would be played by:

I mean, obviously, Jennifer Lawrence! I don't care how cliche this might be, she is cute and funny, quirky and beautiful, but can also be very serious and dramatic! 

For a later in life version of myself (like mid-to-late 40's) Emily

Lauren Graham, not only is she a talented actress, but I feel like she posses the same sarcastic and dry humor that I have. The character of Lorelai Gilmore in the Gilmore Girls is essentially who I aspire to be in terms of quick witticisms and clever comebacks that so easily roll off her tongue.


This was a fun prompt for Blogtober with Taylor and Helene, make sure to check out what other people have said!

So Many Books...

Would you ask a mother who her favorite child is? No, you wouldn't, so you also wouldn't ask a book lover what her favorite book is! This is an impossible question, it's just too damn broad. My favorite classic book? My favorite Sci Fi? Fantasy? Historical? Historical Fiction? Humor? Young Adult? Dystopian?

Ok, you get the picture. Instead of narrowing it down to my favorite book. I am going to tell you the best book I have read in the past year, my least favorite book of all time, my favorite book(s) to reread, and a book that changed my life!
So here goes...

 Best book in the past year:

I read this book right after I moved to Chicago. It is all about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair juxtaposed with the story of H.H. Holmes who murdered many women in the boarding house that he built for the World's Fair. This book is non-fiction, Erik Larson uses only primary source material to tell the story, but never does it feel like a history lesson. This book combines two of my favorite things history and psychological thrillers.

My least favorite book of all time: 

I read Grapes of Wrath the summer before my junior year of college and it took me the whole three months of summer to read it. Now, I am a slow reader... but not that slow. This book made me so mad, and so bored, and so apathetic. My mom recommended it to me because its a classic and its semi-historically based. I wont let my mother live this down. I probably wouldn't have even finished the book if it wasn't for the fact that I had to do a project for school on it. I haven't read any other John Steinbeck novel and I am not sure I ever will.

My favorite book(s) to reread: 

How could I not say Harry Potter. I grew up with these books, I was one of those kids that anxiously waited for the release of the next book. I will never get too old or too familiar with these books to stop rereading them! Every time I read them I discover new things that I didn't pick up before, plus they are just a great escape! 

A book that changed my life: 

I read this book in college right after I had started really falling in love with improv. I knew that I loved Tina Fey, what I didn't know was that Second City existed. I had no idea that you could take improv classes and eventually work your way onto a touring company, and maybe even get hired to be on one of the resident stages. I always thought of improv as a hobby to do while doing something else until I read this book and I realized that I could pursue improv as a career and it could open up a lot of doors of possibility for my future. (So Mom, you have Tina Fey to thank for my pursuit of a career in comedy. When you sit around wondering why/how on Earth I came to want to do this you can just blame it on good ol' Tina Fey.)

I am currently not reading a book so I am excited to see what books everyone else is reading on the Blogtober link up with Taylor and Helene.

Sleek and Shine and Out of Control

One hair product that I can't live without? I am going to cheat a little bit and say two but they go hand in hand.

I am not a very high maintenance girl, I pretty much only wear makeup for special events and the least amount of time I can put into doing my hair, the better.

Fortunately for me I have this fun, pretty easy to handle, wavy hair and all it takes is two easy steps to get me out the door. (excluding my bangs which take an extra couple of steps)

When I get out of the shower I take the Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine leave in conditioner and put it on my fingers and run my hands through all of my hair (finger combing, if you will).

Plus, it smells delicious! 

Then I seperate my bangs and spray the rest of my hair with Ganier Fructis Curl Shaping spray gel, followed by some good old fashioned scrunching.

BONUS STEPS:
I blow dry and straighten my bangs so they don't look crazy!!

And Voila, I look like a human....kinda

To say that I couldn't live without these products would be a huge exaggeration, when I am tired and feeling particularly lazy I don't even do that. But without the help of my trusty Garnier Fructis friends my hair would always be up in a ponytail and incredibly frizzy.

Linked up with Taylor and Helene for Blogtober, go check out some of the other blogs!

The Instagram Life

Blogtober14 prompt for day 23 is favorite Instagram editing apps/ editing tools for your blog. To be honest I could use a little help in this department, I am relatively new to Instagram and am only just realizing the possibilities for making my blog look nicer and more professional.

For Instagram:
-Picstich: I use picstitch all the time to make little collages so I don't bombard Instagram with a ton of pictures I can just combine them into one post. I just love how many different configurations there are for photos.

My first collage from picstitch! 

-Hipstamatic: This one isn't an editing app it is a picture taking app. It automatically places cool effects on the photos based on your choice of camera lenses and film choice.

It makes your phone look like an old camera.  

You can choose between a bunch of different lenses, film, and even flashes. And you can buy extension pack with even more options. 

When you find a combination that you like you can save it so you always remember it. 

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from Hipstamatic:

For my blog:
This is a whole new world to me.
Picmonkey: I was just introduced to picmonkey.com and I have only begun to play around with it. My first project was my About Me section, which I don't love but now I know how to use it and I can make a better one. I am really looking forward to playing around with this website and seeing what all I can do with it.

I can't wait to see what other people are using so I can pick up some tips and tricks. Thanks to Blogtober with Taylor and Helene, I am learning so much about the blogging world!

Things that go Irk in the Night

The Blogtober prompt for today is all about your pet peeves. Here is the thing about me and pet peeves, I have them, lots of them, but I can't ever seem to remember any when asked.

Here are a couple that seem to be most present in my mind right now:

-When strangers try to talk to you at the bus stop and you are clearly not interested in speaking to them.

-Shoes that are left in the middle of a room, doorway, or hallway just begging to be tripped over in the dark (confession time: these are almost always my shoes)

-People who smack their chewing gum, if I am on the other side of the train car and I can hear you, we have a problem.

-When the gentlemen who live below me smoke in their house so the laundry room smells like cigarettes.

-The way the Walgreens employees always say "Be Well" after you are done with your purchase (you don't want to say it, you probably don't mean it, and I will most definitely will not be well after I finish eating these 5 bags of halloween candy and drinking this 6 pack of beer).

-People who judge me for my trashy TV choices, we all watch at least one trashy TV show.

-And currently the thing that irks me the most right now is when misinformed people cause hysteria (e.g. Ebola, not vaccinating your children, not getting the flu shot, etc...)

Man once you start listing them you can't stop!
To leave this post on a happier note, the weather here today was beautiful and so I took some great pictures while out for a walk.

I keep forgetting to link back to Taylor and Helene's blogs for this Blogtober challenge. Go and check out what other people are writing about!

My Dream Vacations

Who wouldn't love to travel to every place on earth that strikes their fancy? Wouldn't we all love to be able to drop everything and travel around the world experiencing places and cultures we can't experience while sitting on our couches watching Netflix.
If I had my way I would get to tour with Second City either on the cruise ships of with the touring companies and then get to see more of the world than I would otherwise get to see.

There are so many places that I would love to spend some really quality time visiting. Since I am indecisive I have narrowed it down to my top three.

1. Italy- I want to spend at least a month living in some small, cute town on the Italian countryside, taking day and weekend trips into the different cities to see the sights and of course all the museums.

Who wouldn't want to live here for a while

2. European Snowboarding Tour- I have been a snowboarder for over 10 years now and I would love to get to explore some different mountain areas in Europe. Including but of course not limited to Swizterland, Austria, France, Bulgaria, Poland, The UK, and of course the Italian Alps. All the while staying in cozy little mountain cabins with wood burning fireplaces.

If this isn't magical I don't know what is.

3. Australia/New Zealand- Have you ever seen any of the Lord of the Rings or Narnia movies? If you have you probably know they were filmed in New Zealand, and you know how ridiculously beautiful the landscapes in those movies are. I want to go and hike, kayak, rock climb, swim, etc... Because who wouldn't want to witness first hand those breathtaking sights.

AHHH, stop tempting me Google Images!! 

There are really truly so many amazing places in the world that I would love the opportunity to explore, but in a pinch these are the three at the top of my list!!

And look at this cutie pie helping me blog today!