It's Time to Re-Evaluate

It's kind of a rough night tonight in the land of TFran.  So as I've mentioned before, I am currently taking online classes.  I'm very over them and kind of hate them... and of late, it has been really showing in my grades.  I have no idea what I want to do with my life, what I want to major in, or where I want to transfer to.  I'm also trying to balance my job and my annoying mother.

Taking online classes means I'm living at home.  This poses a big problem and kind of cuts into when I study.  You see, I can't really have my own study time because if I'm not hanging out with my mom in the evenings, she tends to get offended and makes me feel guilty.  If I try to study downstairs, she has the TV on.  She doesn't even watch it!  She's always on her computer!  What am I supposed to do?  I went to DePauw for a year.  I am so used to being able to go off and study whenever I feel like studying... not always have to entertain someone first.

I also HATE online classes.  I hate that I don't have any interaction with anyone.  There is no one to keep me accountable.  I know.  I should be able to do that on my own... but I can't.  My mentality?  They have no idea who I am so it doesn't matter if I turn in this paper.  No guilt factor.  Classes being online also means there are unlimited distractions.  Again... this is something that I should be able to handle myself but... I have a very short attention span.  I can't help it.

I feel like I'm wasting my time and am becoming a failure, which is something that hurts more than anything.  I have already been practically forced out of swimming which always used to be my sanity foundation.  I feel like I have no sense of normalcy left.  I used to be proud of what I was able to accomplish both physically and academically.  I was a 4.0 student a couple of semesters ago.  What in the world happened?!  I am so frustrated and disappointed in myself.  Something has to change, but I have no idea what.  I don't know what to do and I feel so lost.  Excuse me while I go cry a little bit.

Why Does This Happen To Me?

Alright... Ask anyone who knows me and they would tell you that I have absolutely no problem being single and am not looking to be in a relationship any time soon.  Unfortunately, guys that I know happen to have different ideas.  Case in point: A dude I work with.  Now maybe I'm misreading this... and I seriously hope that I am, but I'm almost starting to feel smothered by him.  Let me explain.  Ok... So I try to be nice to people that I come in contact with.  Sadly, guys seem to read into this deeper than I ever intend.  So I was nice to this dude.... just like I am everyone else.  We get along.  Fast-forward to recently.  He has been texting me and tweeting me constantly and just generally making me feel... well.... smothered.  I said something on twitter the other day about needing coffee... and he was going to make me some and bring it to me.  He always wants to watch movies 'with me'... as in... not physically with me but at the same time.  Am I misinterpreting this?  How in the world do I let him know that it is strictly a friendship?

Anyway... I know that I haven't posted in a while, and I really have nothing interesting to post about.  I worked the midnight launch of Battlefield 3 and since I was only going to be at work for a few hours, I didn't really feel like putting too much effort into my hair.  This is what happened:

Sorry for the 10,000 pictures.... I couldn't get a good quality one for the life of me (that's what I get for using my iPhone).  You get the idea.  I used nothing but bobby pins.  Easy.

But yeah... Other than work, all I've really been doing is working on homework and my personal trainer certification.  And going to the gym occasionally.  Can't complain.  I'm hoping to get up to Canada to see a friend of mine from DePauw... whom I haven't seen in almost 3 years now.  Way too long.

Oh!  And someone came in to work a week or so ago and told me I look like Taylor Swift.  Can someone please explain this to me because I'm still trying to figure out how that even remotely works.

I DID go shopping recently to pick up a few things that i needed clothing-wise (good jeans are hard to find!). I'll post a 'haul' tomorrow.  Outlet malls are full of fantastic deals.  : )

Blame Chuck

Oh wow.  I feel as if time has slipped away from me yet again.  I blame Chuck.  Ok... I don't really know anyone named Chuck.  I'm talking about the TV show.  You see... I kind of love that show and I have seasons 1-3 (season 4 comes out soon!!!) and I've been kind of sucked into watching them like crazy.  It also means I have been procrastinating on my homework (among other things).

I also went out and got me a shiny new job.  I know.  Be impressed.  Actually it isn't all that impressive, but I do get access to almost any video game imaginable.  That's kind of cool, right?  Actually it will be crazy handy for Christmas shopping.  My sister's boyfriend is a bit of a gamer, so that'll make that easy to take care of and be done with.  Yay easy shopping!  My first day was Monday and I kind of felt dumb.  Like seriously.  My poor manager was probably wondering why he even hired me.  Hopefully I'll get the hang of all of it soon.

My last job was working in a competitive swim shop.  I knew what we sold like the back of my hand since I am a swimmer.  Video games?  Not so much.  I have a LOT of learning to do... and I have to figure out the computer.  That's going to be fun, too.  Actually the computer part shouldn't be that bad.  The first day it was kind of overwhelming, but doing working with it enough, it should get easier.

And I gotta let everyone know before I end this short blog:
LIGHTS' new album dropped yesterday.  It's called Siberia and I swear it is one of the best records of the year.  It has been a long time in coming, but wow was it worth the wait.  You guys should check it out.  She sings electro-rock/pop kind of stuff, so it's kind of different than the norm.  It's cool though, I promise.

Ok... well that's about it.  It's been kind of boring around here lately, but when something exciting happens I'll let ya know.  Until then.... BYE!!!!

Social Networking

So Facebook just got a 'face-lift'.  More like the Heidi Montag plastic surgery debacle.  So now I'm wondering when Google+ will take off.  I don't know if you still need an invite to use it, but here's a link to an invite just in case:

Click Me!

I just don't understand why Facebook feels the need to constantly keep changing things.... and most of the time it isn't for the better.  I do still use it simply because that is where most of my friends are social media wise but... I dunno.  It's kind of annoying.  And yes I know the whole argument of "It's free, you don't have to keep using it" thing... but when that is one of your main ways of keeping touch with friends... well it makes it a little hard to cut the ties.

I'm actually a big fan of twitter.  I feel like I can post whatever I want and not have to worry about annoying anyone because if they don't want to see it, then they don't have to follow me.  If anyone feels like following me and checking out my generally random tweets, my twitter is @TarynF.  You are in no way obligated to follow me.... I promise.  It's not like there is a thing I could do about it.

And off topic..... I am dreading October.  I'm slightly bitter about the whole 'Chuck' being cancelled thing.

Another off topic... I got a 91% on my art history test this past week.  I was ecstatic because I thought I did absolutely horrible.  I was going to be happy if I managed to get a B.  

But anyway... I gotta get back to studying.  Whoo!  Goodnight!

You Bought What?!

Target has a Missoni collection.  Well, maybe I should say 'had'.  It came out this week and pretty much everything is already sold out.

I have been really looking for a comfy cardigan for this fall and came across one at Target... and it happened to be a Missoni cardigan.  I'll admit... I wasn't aware of how big of a deal it was.  So, I tried it on, loved it, and bought it.  It happens to be this one:

Upon bringing it home I discovered that it was actually a men's sweater... which was weird because it was in the women's section.  That's right.  I unknowingly bought a men's sweater for myself today.  But you know what?  I don't care.  At all.  I love the sweater and how it fits... which is all that truly matters when buying clothes.  Actually, on occasion, men's clothing fits me better than women's.

Now I don't make a habit of shopping in the men's department.  I can probably count on one hand how many clothes I have that are actually men's and almost all of them are sweatpants.  But you see... I was cursed with long arms and legs and so I'll shop men's sweatpants for the length (love Nike). Having 'long' arms, I also find that many women's jackets and sweaters happen to not fit the way they should, so when I tried on said cardigan today I was thrilled to find that the sleeves were plenty long.  Now I know why... but I swear you won't hear a complaint from me.

'Boyfriend' cardigans are kind of in right now anyway, right?

New Stuff

Hey all.  I just got back from Florida yesterday.  I was there for almost 2 weeks!  I am very glad to be home, and judging from yesterday, my dog is happy that I'm home as well.

While I was gone, Too Faced Cosmetics had a little sale.  Since Too Faced is pretty much my favorite brand, I ordered a few things.

Lockdown Eye-Shadow (Jailbait):

This color is a very light pink creme shadow that has their shadow insurance in it.  If you are looking for a fantastic eye-shadow primer, I highly recommend Too Faced Shadow Insurance.  I have never come across a better primer-- my eye-shadow always stays put ALL day.  But yeah, since this includes that primer, I was excited to try it.  It was $3.  This is actually the color I'm wearing today.  I must say, it's gorgeous and I love the idea that I can just put this on and go and not have to worry about it wearing off.

Baked Eye-Shadows:
Moon Beam:

Sorry about all the pictures of this one.  It was kind of hard to capture what this color really looks like.  If you can tell at all, it is a dark, almost hunter green, with a light green shimmer in it.  It's really pretty.  I wasn't sure about ordering this one since I have their eye-shadow duo in Lucky Charms (which has a similar shade of green), but when I compared the swatches, Moon Beam is actually darker:

Lucky Charms is on the top and Moon Beam is on the bottom.


Mocha Meteor:

Again, this color reminded me of the darker shade from the Totally Toasted eye-shadow duo that I have.  These are actually pretty close:

Totally Toasted may have a little bit more red (closer to bronze than brown) than Mocha Meteor?  I don't know.  Mocha Meteor is more brown than Totally Toasted.

The baked eye-shadows were $3 a piece as well.

Here are all of the swatches in one shot:

From left to right: Jailbait, Lucky Charms (top) Moon Beam (bottom), Mocha Meteor, Totally Toasted

Ulta was also having a sale on the Too Faced Shadow Insurance.  I already have some, but it was $9 at Ulta when it is regularly $18, so I picked up another one.

Whew... I think that about covers it.  I'm sorry about lighting of the swatches and whatnot... it isn't usually what I do.

An update from the past couple weeks

Hey everyone... Sorry for the absence.  I've been quite busy these past few weeks with traveling and getting caught up on homework.  I'm actually still not home, but I've got internet access, so I figured I would get on here and chat for a bit.

Since the last time I was on here, my sister celebrated her birthday.  I surprised her with a "cake".  Let me back up.  A month or so ago we had gone to Disney World for a couple of days.  While we were there, my sister saw these giant rice-krispie "cakes" in the shape of Mickey and Minnie and mentioned that she wanted one of those for her birthday.  Since she isn't a big cake person, I decided that I would dust off my artistic skills and try to replicate one for her.  Now mind you, I had no mold or anything... I was just going off of a picture.  I think it turned out pretty well:
Original that we had seen:













The one I made (from a different angle as the original):











It's obviously not exact (nor is it as big... I didn't need it to feed 50 people).... but I got as close as I could by  molding it by hand.

As I mentioned, I've also been traveling a bit.  Last weekend my mom and I came down to Florida to see my dad (he's doing the whole commuting for work thing).  I happen to still be in Florida.  There is a good reason for that.  You see... Yesterday, I went to Disney's Character Look-A-Like auditions.  You never know what they are casting for (nor do they ever tell you), so I figured I would go just for the fun of it.  I never want to look back and think "gosh I wish I had gone and done that"... so I went for it.  It was fun and a little bit interesting.  Basically they line you up and stare at you.  Ha ha.  Yeah... A little awkward.

Not sure when I'll head home yet.  I have a dog that I'm missing and a test due next week.  That's the good thing about online classes-- you get the freedom to do this kind of thing.  But yeah... I figured instead of letting this collect dust, I let you all know what I've been up to.  I hope you all have had a fabulous week and enjoy your weekend!

Favorite Fall Item #2

Good morning!

Wow... School has officially started... I just got my books last night.  Eek!  Hopefully this semester turns out to be a good one.

So since I was talking about one of the things that I like wearing during the summer/fall transition yesterday, I thought I would follow up with one more.  You know.... keep the trend going.  I was actually going to post about both of them yesterday, but I figured that that would be one crazy long blog post and people would get bored with it.  So here we go.

My #2 favorite thing to throw on in the awkward in-between-seasons period (and, well, just in the fall in general) is tights.  No, I'm not talking about hose or anything like that.  I mean really cool opaque, colored, patterned, or textured tights.  I know you've seen them around before.  They aren't really that new of thing, but they can really add to an outfit (and make it a little warmer).  I actually wore some green ones the other day (it was a little warm out, but they were new and I just couldn't wait) that kind of made me feel like Peter Pan.  Which is fine with me.  I like Peter Pan.  I paired them with black boots, a grey dress, and a lace top.  That sounds a little weird.  Let me show you a picture:

See the white thing on my forearm?  Yep.  My forearm tried to get friendly with the iron.  The iron retaliated.  But I digress.... 

What I also love about tights?  You can find them crazy cheap depending on where and when you buy them.  For example- the tights in the picture are Vera Wang tights from Kohl's.  They had originally been $12 (which really isn't all that outlandish... I just personally wouldn't pay that much).  I happened to have really good timing and got them for.... wait for it.... $1.20.  I ended up getting four pairs that day (the green ones pictured, solid plum colored ones, solid light grey, and floral lacy).

Ok... I'm going to admit it.  I think of all the tights that I own, all of them except for one or two pair are Vera Wang.  But in my defense, I always get them on sale.  I swear I haven't paid more than 3 or 4 dollars for any one pair.  And they are crazy soft and comfy AND fit well.  The other tights I have are from Target.  They have good ones too in case you were wondering.  I might have to head over there and see if I can find any on sale.  I haven't looked for tights at Target yet this season.

You can't really go wrong with tights.  Colored ones add a bit of fun to an outfit and patterned ones can add a pop of interest to an otherwise plain (or boring... whichever you prefer) outfit.  And they keep you warm.  Bonus!  You just have to keep a look out for good ones at a good price.  And I'm pretty sure they are easier to find than good blazers.

Oh... And here is how this blog will go, since I haven't posted consistently in the past.  I will do my best to write up a new post every day during the week, but I probably won't post anything during the weekend unless it is something that I just can't wait to talk about.  It's not that I'm being lazy... I just spend the weekend with my family or catching up on various things.  Deal?  Alright... Well then I'll talk to you guys next week!  Have a great weekend!  

I love....

Ok... Before I actually begin this post, here are some quick words of advice.  You'll want to know these.  Trust me.
1. If your hand (or forearm) feels like giving the iron a high-five... restrain it.  It'll just end up getting burned.  (Ha ha... get it?  Get it???  Ok... Moving on...)

2. When dropping an egg (on accident), instinctively trying to catch it between your hip and whatever you are standing next to at the time doesn't work out so well.  I repeat.  It doesn't work out.  For you or the egg.  Save yourself the mess.

Whew.  I'm glad we got that out of the way.  Now let's talk about something that I love right now.  Blazers.

Yes.  That's right.  I love blazers.  Especially for fall... And since fall is almost upon us... I figured this would be a fantastic time to talk about them.  Now I am well aware that there are some very expensive blazers out there.  Not to worry!  Affordable ones are quite easy to find.  Let me show you one of my favorites:

This blazer actually comes from HSN (I got it from the HSN Outlet in Tampa at the beginning of summer).  I don't like paying a lot for my clothes no matter how badly I want something, and this was no exception.  This particular blazer was priced at $100 the first time I saw it.  Actually it might have been like $99.somethingorother.  Nuance.  You better believe that I was not going to pay that much money for a blazer.  So I sadly left it that day.  Fastforward a few weeks.  I could not stop thinking about this blazer... and it was driving me nuts, so we went back to the outlet.  They only had one left.  And it was my size.  And it was on sale.  For $30.  Yeah... That sounded like a better price to me.  And now it is one of my favorite things to throw on over something.  Mostly with skinny jeans.

"But Taryn!", you say, "What if I don't have $30 for a blazer???".  Well then I would tell you... I have another solution!  Learn to love thrift stores.  I'm serious.  A couple of weeks ago I acquired a fantastic Oscar de la Renta blazer... for like $4.  Yup.  You read that right.  $4.  Thrift stores are fantastic little places to find affordable pieces.  Yes, it takes a little longer to go through the racks, but my goodness sometimes it is so worth it.  Especially for jackets or blazers.  Talk about exciting shopping.  You never know what you're going to find!

Blazers are handy dandy little things to have.  If you don't own one, well what are you waiting for!  They can go over everything- dresses, t-shirts, that summer top you just don't want to put away yet.  They can be dressed up or down.  And they are perfect for that not-very-hot-but-not-cold-enough-to-warrant-a-heavier-jacket kind of weather.  AND!  (Time for the bonus)-- A well made and tailored one can take inches off of your frame.  Yay for flattery!

So go!  Find that perfect blazer!
Happy Hunting!  

It's All About The Journey

As if I needed another blog to try to keep track of, this is my newest. This is mostly about fitness and/or music.

It's All About The Journey:

'via Blog this'

A New Beginning

It's that time of year again. The start of a new school year. For some reason, I always have this nostalgic feeling right around the time high school is starting (even though I'm no longer in high school). I have no idea why, really. I just love the feel of getting those shiny new school supplies (even though they aren't quite as fun once you have to start using them), the receipt of a new class schedule, seeing friends again...

This is also the time of year when my friends start moving back to their respective colleges. This is the part that always bums me out like no other. You see, for the past year (well, year and half counting this semester) I have been taking online classes. Why? Well, let's just say my family thought that we would be moving (once it was Atlanta, recently is was Tampa) and so I figured if I took online classes, I could just pick up and leave and then transfer to a college in whatever city we were living in at the time. Well unfortunately that hasn't happened, and once again I am stuck because now instead of moving to Tampa, there is a possibility that we may be staying right where we are. I know. I just need to pick somewhere to go and suck it up. But for me, it isn't quite that easy. As the summer is coming to an end, however, I am becoming increasingly impatient about attending an actual college again. Have any of you ever seen the movie Tangled? You know... The one about Rapunzel? Well, while I can't say that I have long blonde hair and that people can climb it, I can say that I'm starting to know how she felt being stuck in that tower all her life with no friends and nowhere to go.

Taking online classes isn't all bad, I suppose. It's just that for me, this is the loneliest thing I could imagine doing. I mean, all of my friends have already left town. I'm home alone all day. I don't really go anywhere during the day because I'm usually doing homework. Alright... I'm starting to sound like I'm just feeling sorry for myself. Which I kind of am. But this happened last year, too.

Maybe another reason that this year is particularly depressing for me is that this is what would have been my senior year. Yeah. Bummer.

But as with anything... there is always a silver lining. Once I figure out what that is, I'll let ya know. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.

But right now I have a little bit of studying to do (and locating a lost textbook. Yeah... I might need that). There will be a new blog post in the next day or two. Since I haven't written here in a while I will just say as a reminder: I never know what I'm going to talk about on here. I might talk about movies, or books, or clothes, or makeup, or I might even ramble like this post. It just depends. It's like a fun surprise that blows out confetti and glitter when you open it (I'll just have to figure out how to get confetti and glitter to blow out of your computer monitor without damaging it first). So stay tuned. Until then-- Signing off!

Wow... It's been a while. Well I don't have anything to really write about at the moment seeing as I only have a few minutes to be on here... so I'm going to post a couple of videos instead. Enjoy!

Follow @TarynF

Weight Loss

Ok, so I normally wouldn't post anything like this, but I'm going to anyway.

Before I start this, I must also state that I am NOT a certified dietitian or trainer. This is just what worked for me.

So I'm a swimmer so you would think I would know how to eat and take care of myself, right? Yeah, I thought so too. Until my freshman year of college. Ya know the dreaded freshman 15? Yeah... try freshman 20. My whole mindset was that since I was swimming off all of these calories, then that meant I could eat all the junk I wanted. Boy did I learn a hard lesson. Toward the end of my freshman year I was starting to notice that my pants didn't fit as well as they had at the beginning of the year, but I didn't think that much of it. I guess I didn't realize just how much weight I had gained (or I was in denial... I don't quite remember). After my freshman year I went on vacation with one of my very good friends from high school to South Carolina. Only after seeing the pictures from that trip did I realize just how out of hand my eating habits were becoming.

As an example of how I ate during my freshman year: I would eat a 'decent' lunch/dinner (although I can't actually quite say how good those meals actually were for anyone) but then I would go get a piece of cake or other sweet that they were offering that day. Oh, that and these cookies that a guy swimmer's mom made. I kid you not, they were literally as big as my head. Now, I'm all for eating things in moderation every once in a while... but this was becoming a daily habit. Not only would I eat desserts and sweets daily, but I also tended to snack while studying (which was quite often) and carelessly drink sodas and high calorie drinks that I should have been monitoring.

So anyway, after seeing the pictures from the South Carolina trip, I was a bit embarrassed and unhappy with how I looked. I've been a swimmer for a long time which meant I've generally been in very good shape. Seeing how I looked really got to me, so I decided that I was tired of how I felt and looked and did something about it. At the time, I wasn't a member of any kind of gym (although exercising is important, so don't leave it out!)- my weight loss at that point was all from eating habits.

So I actually didn't do anything all that drastic (well, I guess that depends on your definition of drastic). I cut out almost all sweets (candy, cake, cookies... that kind of thing... and notice I said almost all-- moderation is key), I started drinking only water, if I had to have fast food I would order grilled chicken (if available) with no mayo (if it was a sandwich), and I started to eat more salmon and fish (which I love). I also tried not to eat past 7:00 PM if it was possible. I only loosely count calories. I'm not obsessive about it, but I do think it's helpful to make sure that you aren't going overboard with calorie intake. It's good for me to at least know an approximation of how much I've eaten. I was also watching portion sizes. Like I said, I'm not a big calorie counter. I just try to make sure my body is getting what it needs: some carbs, protein, and some healthy fats.

It took about 7 months for me to lose those 20 pounds. I do belong to a gym now, and I can proudly say that I have kept the weight off (although I've had my moments).

So basically there is no magic trick to getting in shape. Eating well and exercising is so important! Even if you don't belong to a gym or whatever there are other ways to get some exercise in. You don't need fancy equipment. Get creative and do something you enjoy.

I just wanted to share that in case it helps anyone. If anyone that reads this has any questions for me, I will be more than happy to answer any of them. Again... this wasn't to tell anyone what they should be doing-- it was only what helped me. I'm not certified in anything or anything like that, so please don't make the assumption that I am.