This may come as a huge surprise from someone who loves cats, but I really want a dog. Puppy fever is coming on strong lately. I live in a house with two dogs and I like having them around. I have never owned a dog, but I have owned plenty of cats. I think animals provide a soothing sensation to a home and bring much-needed happiness and warmth. I scoped out some dog breeds that I’m interested in because what else is a better way to procrastinate than doing homework.
The boyfriend loves pugs so I may end up being a pug mom eventually. I’m not too picky about dog breeds, but I would love to be able to take my dog on long walks. I can’t wait to own pets!!
A couple weeks ago when I was still in Winona for finals week, I went thrifting. Additionally, my old apartment buildings put on a program called Dumpster Diversion. College students could donate various items including clothes, baking items, non-perishable food, etc. Of course, I looked through the clothes because it’s free clothes why not? In that same week, I also browsed at the new Goodwill that opened. I was there honestly for probably three hours though it didn’t feel that long at the time. I had to spend the time going through shoes, clothes, pots & pans, old DVDs, and various trinkets. I wanted to share my amazing finds and I ended up spending 6 bucks… score!
Basic T-Shirts
Let’s get the most boring one out of the way first. . . T-Shirts. Caribou Coffee where I work only allows me plain colored shirts which I didn’t have enough of. I bought both of these shirts at goodwill for only $6. They look great and don’t look too worn which is one concern that I have with thrifting. The shirt on the right is also a dry-fit shirt which means it also is great for working out. That’s perfect since my gym is right next to where I work so I’m all ready to work out after my shift ends.
Express Beaded Shirt
I absolutely love this shirt! I found it in dumpster diversion which was free. This beading reminds me of a cascading leaf which I think is super pretty. It’s really flattering too, but it’s also really see-through. I’m not too worried though because it will be perfect with a colorful cardigan to layer over when fall arrives.
And finally.. my absolute favorite thing about this haul is…
HULK SWEATER
Someone was trying to get rid of this?! I want to thank the person who got rid of this so I could start wearing it. I also got this through dumpster diversion so again free things. I love that it’s the cover of a comic book instead of just the hulk on a sweatshirt. It’s incredibly detailed and in really good condition. This is a size small so it fits a little tight but not uncomfortable tight. I wore it a couple days ago and it’s one of my favorite things in my closet. It could be paired with short shorts and a necklace in the summer or with black skinny jeans and black riding boots in the winter. It’s so versatile and I know I can wear this a million different ways.
Thrifting is something I really enjoy because fashion doesn’t have to be super expensive. Plus I like spending my money on other things every once in a while so it’s nice to get clothes that aren’t going to break my bank.
Yesterday I found out that my oldest kitty Jasmine has a tumor in her left lung. At this point, I don’t know what was going to happen, but as my mom called me in tears I voted to put her down. Jasmine was turning 17 this year so she lived a very long and joyful life. It still makes me sad as I won’t be able to be home for another week and a half. So when I go home the basement will feel empty as if something will always be missing.
The exact moment I became a cat lady.
Jasmine has been in my life since I was 5. My dad was a cat person, but my mom.. not so much. However, my dad thought a cat would fit our lifestyle a bit more since my dad and mom both worked and me and my brother were in school. We went to the humane society and fell in love with Jasmine and her sister. Though her sister was adopted before we could adopt her. My mom thought of Jasmine after Aladdin which was my brother’s favorite Disney movie. The name stuck.
Jasmine was timid and would hide in the basement. She eventually warmed up to us, but it took a while. Late at night my dad would get home from work and go down to our basement where Jasmine would leap into his lap and fall asleep. It didn’t take long for Jasmine to become his cat. I remember both me and my brother brought Jasmine to our class for show and tell. I carried Jasmine on our old red deck and held her like a sac of potatoes as my family calls it. My dad yelled at me because Jasmine could have escaped. I used to carry string and dangle it in front of Jasmine and she would bite it and chase me around the house. Jasmine loves lounging on our porch and rolling around on our linoleum with cat nip.
After my dad passed, Jasmine was different. Her late-at-night buddy wasn’t around. After getting the Xbox though, I was downstairs every day at least. I would sit in the recliner and call Jasmine’s name and she would run from the office to hop into my lap. She wouldn’t face me because she was so focused on the TV. I joked that she was my gaming cat.
As unfortunate as this is, I’m glad that I grew up with cats. Cats aren’t the mean creatures that everyone says they are. They’re compassionate, lazy, and loving animals that deserve attention. I will forever be a cat lady and that’s because of this amazing soul that came into my life and brought me so much happiness. I will miss you and love you forever Jasmine.
Today’s prompt is all about our favorite places to buy geek items. I love trying to incorporate geek clothing into my lifestyle and I have random action figures around my room. I love being a geek and expressing what I love on a daily basis. So here are my favorite places to buy geeky clothing and/or items.
Hot Topic
I love Hot Topic. I can find really comfy t-shirts that have cool designs. I bought my Daredevil t-shirt there last year after the Netflix show premiered and it’s my favorite. They sell different kinds of designers including Welovefine and HerUniverse which are both my favorites of mine. It allows me to find these items in a store versus ordering online which is very mixed for me. I also bought my Tardis dress from Hot Topic when I found out I was going to the console room.
My Tardis Dress is a favorite in my closet.
River Quest Games
It’s so important to find a local store that you absolutely love. This store is what I love about being a geek. The owner is a good friend of mine and he’s the nicest person I have met in this area. He is constantly trying to create a safe environment for geeks and I appreciate that. There is a wide selection of board games which is what I’m there for. I actually just got a t-shirt from here after interviewing him for an article I’m writing. I love it. It’s great to support a local business
Her Universe
This is similar to Hot Topic since Hot Topic does sell Her Universe. I love Ashley’s devotion to inspiring young girls to like whatever they want. I was once nominated for her Fangirl of the Day and I was so proud. Plus they are planning some activewear sometime soon and I couldn’t be more excited. Death Star workout pants would be so comfy.
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble has become much more geek trendy lately. In the summer they usually have weekly themes that highlight fandoms. They did a week on comics, manga, and Wizard of Oz. I actually just ordered some comic books a couple days ago from here and I can’t wait to post the haul online. I always have to restrict my shopping when I go here, but it’s so worth it.
Design By Humans
I discovered this site by accident, but I love it. It’s a really cool t-shirt and tank top design but designed by artists. So you end up buying support from an artist instead of a site. I think this idea is super cool. I actually found this by reading a fashion blog called Geek Pinata. She advertised the batman and superman shirts she found. I checked out the site and found this cool Bioshock tank top. I had to really resist not purchasing it, but the artwork is really intriguing. I’m not artistic whatsoever, but I love supporting someone else’s talent.
I read a post on a blog that I follow who did this prompt. I sent the questions to the boyfriend who filled them out. I read his responses and a lot of them are really spot on. So here is what the boyfriend said about me:
What is something your girlfriend always says to you: That she loves me.
What makes her happy? The tiny things like random compliments and showing her that I care about her a lot.
What makes her sad? When she thinks about her dad or something prompts a memory she has.
How does your girlfriend make you laugh? By doing random things and just being her weird goofy self.
What was your girlfriend like as a child? Mariah was always into books at a young age. She would sit and just flip through random pages of books and pretend to read them even though she couldn’t read. She also was a chubby baby! (This is very accurate).
How old is your girlfriend 21
How tall is your girlfriend 5 foot 8 inches (lies.. lol I’m 5 ft 6 inches).
What is her favorite thing to do? Read books and drink coffee
What does she do when you’re not around? Read, study and catch up with tv shows, relax
If your girlfriend becomes famous, what will it be for? For being an actress in the next Harry Potter movie
What is your girlfriend not very good at? She’s not good at call of duty. (He doesn’t know that I have never played Call of Duty with him).
What does your girlfriend do for a job? She works on campus.
What is your girlfriend’s favorite food? Cheesy potatoes.
What makes you proud of her? I’m proud of her for a lot of reasons. If I had to pick one thing, I would say I’m proud of her for being so dedicated to everything she does. She never does anything halfway and she sees everything all the way through. But the list could go on for what I’m proud of her for.
If your girlfriend were a character, who would she be? Hermione.
What do you and your girlfriend do together? Watch TV, play video games, play board games, get coffee, do homework
How are you and your girlfriend the same? We both like weight lifting, cats, coffee, video games, comics, and the same TV shows
How are you and your girlfriend different? I am more introverted and I consider her a lot more extroverted. (I’m actually very surprised by this answer. I have always considered myself introverted).
How do you know she loves you? Because she tells me multiple times a day, that she is always there for me, she knows how to make me smile and we have never had a boring time together.
What does your girlfriend like the most about you? I think she likes the most about me is my caring personality and my dedication to my school work and future.
What is her favorite place to go Her favorite place to go would be any good book store or coffee shop.
This is one of my favorite pictures of him.
Then I filled them out about him. If you would like to know more about the boyfriend I keep referring to.. here you go:
1. What is something your boyfriend always says to you?
I love you. 😛
2. What makes him happy?
Pugs, coffee, and pre-workout.
3. What makes him sad?
He doesn’t have a pug yet.
4. How does your boyfriend make you laugh?
He always posts random cat videos on my wall because he knows how much I love them. He also posts pug videos and pictures which I’m slowly warming up to.
5. What was your boyfriend like as a child?
He participated a lot in parkour which is where you jump off of stuff. He also was considered “the jock” of his friend group and he likes to play his Xbox. He grew up with cats and his parents are the sweetest people I have ever met.
6. How old is your boyfriend?
21.
7. How tall is your boyfriend?
He is the one that is 5 ft 8 inches. I’m not 5 ft 8 inches.
8. What is his favorite thing to do?
Taking his pre-workout and going to do chest or arm and shoulder day.
9. What does he do when you’re not around?
Working out at snap fitness, watches his TV shows, comes up with new names for his pug, and plays Star Wars Battlefront.
10. If your boyfriend was famous, what would it be for?
I could see the boyfriend saving someone’s life and being on the local news for it.
11. What is your boyfriend not very good at?
He’s pretty clumsy and math is not his strongest subject.
12. What does your boyfriend do for a job?
He works the front desk at Snap Fitness and he works for our campus security.
13. What is your boyfriend’s favorite food?
If it’s edible, he will eat it.
14. What makes you proud of him?
He’s very successful and motivated.
15. If your boyfriend was a character, who would he be?
I don’t know why, but I immediately thought of Snoopy. Snoopy is so lovable and really dorky and that describes the boyfriend.
16. What do you and your boyfriend do together?
We play the LEGO video games together, it’s our annual date night. We also go get coffee together or when in doubt, watch something on Netflix and cuddle.
17. How are you and your boyfriend the same?
I think we are very positive people. He’s generally a very happy person. We are also very determined and we love our cats and video games.
18. How are you and your boyfriend different?
I’m actually surprised by his answer because I would definitely see him as the more outgoing one of us two. I think I’m definitely a lot more energetic than he is though. He’s pretty relaxed.
19. How do you know he loves you?
He tells me he loves me!
20. What does your boyfriend like about you?
Hmm.. I don’t know. I think he likes how caring I can be. I think he likes that I’m 100% myself all the time. I’m a weird, geeky, bizarre person but I never put up a front with that. Also, I make really good homemade waffles so that’s a plus.
Spring Break has started and I for one am not going anywhere. No sunny beachside vacation for me, just getting plenty of sleep and reading. Not traveling doesn’t bother me because I love Minnesota. Minnesota is a beautiful place to live with really cool areas and awesome people. I love my college town (Winona, MN) a lot and I also love the cities. Here are some of the many reasons why I love Minnesota.
Minnesota is a beautiful state
I study Exercise Science and I like exercising outdoors. There are so many bike trails, lakes to walk, and forests to explore. If the weather is nice, I’d rather be outdoors than work out at the gym.
Minneapolis & The Geek Community
Since I have accepted myself as a full geek, I have really gotten involved with the community here. I love writing for Twin Cities Geeks in my free time, but I also love the conventions found in this state. There are so many I haven’t been to that I hope to attend once I graduate from school.
Console Room 2015
Minnesota Summers
Our winters can be brutal. My lips get chapped and my hands feel like sandpaper. Once spring and summer arrive, this is such a great place to be. Minnesota summers are absolutely worth the harsh winters.
If you need a place to visit, come check out Minnesota because it’s truly a great place to be.
I ended up changing mine to 5 because I wanted to talk more about each reason and I didn’t want this post to be too lengthy. My blog’s ultimate goal is to love yourself for who you are and to be proud of the person you have become.
Here are 5 reasons why I love being a geek.
Enjoying and Trying New Things
There are so many new TV shows, movies, books, graphic novels, and board games to try. I love trying something new and really enjoy it. The most recent example is my newfound love of board games. I have Pandemic in my car right now along with Red Dragon Inn 2. Board games are a nice way to spend a Friday night or any night in general.
Conventions
Conventions are such a fun event for the geek community. Ever since going to CONvergence in 2013, I have loved going to conventions. I have never felt more in my element and I have met a lot of really cool people from these cons. I’m not sure if I will go to Console Room 2016, but CONvergence is definitely on my list. I missed out last year, but I will be back this year.. *hopefully,*
This is the Twin Cities Ghostbusters Car
Geek Fashion
I love expressing my Fandoms through my clothing choices. I have my Batman pants that I will love forever. Including my Agents of Shield glow-in-the-dark tank top and my Daredevil shirt. Those are my most notable clothing items but there is so much more in my closet. I get the most compliments whenever I wear something especially geeky. It’s pretty great.
Being Myself
There have always been times when I wasn’t comfortable being myself. I was scared of what everyone else was going to think. Then there came a time early on in my college life when I really stopped caring. People will judge me, but I will always try to be myself.
Being a part of the community!
Ever since I started blogging for Twin Cities Geeks, I have felt more involved in the geek community. I love it! I love the Twin Cities and to know there is a special group of people who are just as geeky as I am, really brings me happiness. I love writing for the page, but I also find out about cool events going on in the Cities. It’s really a fantastic place to be a geek.
Today I’m going to make a Valentine’s Day/Romance-themed post revolving around my Love Language. I was introduced to this quiz yesterday by my boyfriend’s roommate who insisted that my boyfriend take it. I’m pretty confident that I took this quiz before because it seemed very familiar. Basically, the premise behind this quiz is to figure out how you understand your partner’s expressions of love. I would say the results are pretty accurate, so let’s talk about them.
The way this quiz is scored is 1-12. 12 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
9. Quality Time
This is so accurate! Both me and my boyfriend are super busy! I work a job and take 14 credits of schoolwork while my boyfriend works two jobs on top of other responsibilities. Carving time is pretty difficult during the week, but sometimes we just take a half-hour to spend time together. Quality time together is definitely a way love can be expressed.
7. Acts of Service
Acts of Service is having your partner go above and beyond. My boyfriend brought me coffee at work when I had a tough day which was so sweet!
7 Words of Affirmation.
Giving someone compliments is a great way to show your love for someone. I try and send texts to my boyfriend throughout the day. I love receiving words of affirmation too because it can help me get through a tough time.
5 Physical Touch
I enjoy receiving hugs every once in a while, but me and my boyfriend don’t really do PDA. I think that for some PDA makes people really uncomfortable and when I hang out with friends and my boyfriend, I want to make my friends feel included. This isn’t something huge in my relationship.
2. Receiving Gifts
This isn’t really how I express my love for my boyfriend and vice versa. I just have plenty of “stuff” already and I don’t need more. There are things I keep that have a special meaning to me, but I don’t need a gift to know that this person cares. I also really don’t give gifts that often because I would rather spend money on concert tickets or an experience that we can do together.
So what’s your love language? Here’s the quiz link to figure it out: Love Languages Quiz
Winter Break is going to start sometime next week and I could really use the time off. School has gotten so stressful now since finals are next week. Part of my stress comes from group projects and I hate how my grade is dependent on other people. End of rant, but I cannot tell you how I can’t wait for a break.
Winter Break is around a month long and I know that I may get very bored. That’s why I came up with a list of books to read, shows to watch and gaming to be done so I can have a relaxing winter break minus the boredom. So here is my Winter Break Pop Culture To-Do List
See Star Wars!! I’m really excited about the movie especially because I was really young when the prequels came out so I couldn’t really join in on the excitement. I plan on buying tickets soon.
Catch up on all my TV shows (looking at The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl).
Jessica Jones! Also included: Agents of Shield, Scandal, Young Justice, and Agent Carter. I have a lot of work to do.
Gaming! I have Bullet Storm, Fallout 3, and Assassins Creed 2 that I can play. I’m also going to sell some 360 games to be redeemed for another game that I will actually play. Also, DS includes Kingdom Hearts, Animal Crossing, and more.
Go on a comic book store run. There are so many cool comic book stores in the Twin Cities area that I want to check out.
Design a new Magic the Gathering deck.
Organize! I have way too much stuff in my house and I’m planning on getting rid of a bunch of toys, CDs, and stuff that just adds clutter to my bedroom
Hopefully, this will keep me busy and not too bored over break. I’m also going to keep working out to maintain my muscle mass. With that being said, I want winter break to be here ASAP.
Thanksgiving is an important holiday in my household. It’s a time to catch up and relax while enjoying the classic Thanksgiving comfort food. I love seeing family members that I don’t get to see since I’m in Winona.
I just want to make a classic Thanksgiving post that lets me describe what I’m thankful for.
Let’s start with my mom and my brother.
I’m thankful for my mom because she has always supported me in everything I partake in. She’s the first I call about good news and the bad. Her excitement about the littlest things really adds cuteness to my life. She’s a huge reason why I want to stay in the Minnesota area because I can’t even imagine being really far from my family.
My brother is also someone I’m thankful for. My brother has ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and because of that, he doesn’t understand certain social cues. I love my brother for who he is. He has helped me understand others who are diagnosed with ASD and he’s such an intelligent and nerdy person. Without these two individuals in my life, I feel like I would be lost.
Now my awesome friends
My friends mean so much to me. I’m thankful I have people I can text to hang out or get coffee. I have met so many wonderful people in college yet I’m still really good friends with people from high school. It’s amazing how good friends can add so much to your standard life. My friends are goofy, passionate, and overall lovable. I’m thankful to have these people in my life.
Books!!
My love for books starts in my childhood. From daily trips to the library and annual trips to the bookstore, books are a huge childhood memory for me. I recently reconnected with reading this year and I love purchasing and reading different series. This picture is my absolute favorite and I can easily spend an entire day reading a great book. With the approach of winter, I will catch up on my books before the end of the year.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Here’s to a wonderful rest of the year and many more to come.
Bizarre Brunette 