Inside Kimmy's Mind » 2017 » April

Archive for April, 2017

Meeting His Parents

I was so nervous, but I finally had the chance to meet Matt’s parents a couple weekends ago. Matt, calm as usual, kept telling me I had nothing to worry about. And he was right, I had nothing to worry about. They all made me feel very welcomed.

I went with Matt to pick up his parents from the airport.( First time near an airport) That’s right, I’ve never been on a plan. Hopefully, I’ll change that this year. Anyway, we waited for them and then they came and greeted me with open arms. We had dinner at Star Pizza and just talked and laughed. They were so great and reminded me of my parents. His dad would make some jokes, again, reminding me of my own dad. Then we ended the night with some ice cream ( I had Cream Soda- and I’ve been craving it ever since).

The next morning, I drove to Matt’s place where the four of us walked to Biscuit Junkie for breakfast. I had avocado on poached eggs and biscuits. It was pretty yummy. And from there we headed off to Galveston to meet up with more of his family. I met his uncle and cousins, and his grandparents. Again, I was welcomed with open arms and was treated as part of the family. It was lovely. His uncle rented a house on the water and it was gorgeous. I haven’t been to Galveston in years so I was quite surprised. I was reminded that Moody Gardens is in Galveston and now it’s definitely on my list of things to do this year. I think the last time I visited was during a school field trip back in the 8th grade…if I remember correctly. Disney World is still a huge thing I would like to do this year, I’m told before Christmas is the best time to go, and Matt just so happens to be from Florida so a visit there and a visit to his parents would be lovely. I’m just so happy that meeting them went well. It’s interesting to meet the people responsible for the person I love. He resembles both parents, having more of his mother’s features with a dash of his father’s and his added mannerisms. But Matt is much more mellow than his father. But Matt is pretty much more mellow than anyone really.  I haven’t had a chance to meet his younger brother yet, but hopefully I’ll be able to do so soon.

When we finally go to the beach house, we talked and colored with his cousins, then ate some burgers and just enjoyed the view on the water. We played some ping pong, and watched a movie, and then his father wanted to take photos of the sunset. We said our goodbyes and made plans to have dinner the next night. I also offered them museum tickets since they were coming into Houston for the day. We had dinner at Goode Company’s BBQ, and then I suggested we walk around Rice Village so his cousins could do some shopping while his parent’s joined us at Half Price. We later all met up at this crepe shop and had coffee and dessert. It was a great evening and I’m so glad that he introduced me to them. I look forward to spending time with them again.

I hope you are having a great week, and I hope your weekend is filled with fun. If you’re worrying about something, my advice to you is, worry not. Don’t over worry and just do your best in whatever it is. You’re probably like me and worrying for no reason. Just smile, eat some yummy food and blog on. <3

Thanks for reading.

Concert Skirt and Sore Feet

Quite a few lovely things have happened in the past week/weekend. And I’m just so grateful to be where I am in life.

Last Wednesday, my sister Kat and I got to see Tennis in concert at the White Oak House Music Hall. I LOVE this band and I didn’t even notice when their tour was announced or that Houston was on the tour list to begin with. But I thankfully I found out just in time to order tickets. It was a sold out show so I’m glad I was impulsive. Normally, I don’t really do any research on the opening act, so I didn’t pay much attention but I was pleasantly surprised. The Greeting Committee had such a great energy and you could really tell they loved making music. I liked their sound and they were so approachable even nice enough to sign the CD I bought and let me take a photo with them. (Minus one member)

Concerts aren’t something I normally attend, but Kat and I have made some very slow improvements in that area. For more rowdy bands, I prefer standing in the back but for smaller venues and slower rock bands I don’t mind, and Kat and I got spots upfront this time. I think all of the concerts I’ve attended in the past year or so she has accompanied me. Thank goodness because she makes it much more fun. Thanks Kat for coming with me!!! With her new work schedule, planning things like this is somewhat impossible. But luckily, she was able to come with me. I had a lot fun and I hope to see both bands again some day.

Do you like going to concerts, if so, do you enjoy getting a spot upfront or do you prefer standing in the back? I’d love to hear about your concert going experiences. 🙂

Thanks for reading

Bullet Journaling…Sort of

I’ve been using this pocket size Moleskine for some daily planning and reflecting. I’ve actually liked using it as a daily journal and it has inspired me to also begin daily journaling in my Travelers Notebook as well.

I usually use it for work during the work week however, I may try to use it as an organizational tool once I finish using the pocket notebook. I’ve already purchased a medium size Moleskine and a larger one for specifically for work projects. Now, the world of Bullet Journals is vast and a bit overwhelming, however I’ve really enjoyed watching how others setup theirs. I’m not sure if I can follow the true Bullet Journaling way but I’m figuring out a good mix. I really hope this will just be a way I can also practice my handwriting. I don’t like it very much and I would like to improve, perhaps even tackle some calligraphy or lettering.

There’s so much to consider when starting a bullet journal, for instance the notebook you use. Obviously you can use any notebook you like, that’s the point. It’s supposed to be a way to easily organize your daily tasks and it’s much more fun when you get to personalize the notebook you are using. I decided on Moleskine. One because I already had one, and decided to keep on using it. I now have the same blueish teal color in the pocket, Medium and large notebooks. The large one is for work, the pocket is my personal one and then when I’m done with that one I will switch over to the medium size notebook. I’m ready for that! I decided to stick with the soft cover Moleskines. But the medium size one is dotted, which I prefer rather than ruled.

Pens I use…

I have just purchased some Tombow markers in pastel so I’m looking forward to learning some lettering techniques. I don’t know how good I’ll be at lettering but I want to practice it. Once I switch over I’ll share the way I want to start using it. For my work one, I’m using it to keep track of my projects and meeting notes. I want this to be a way for me to work on my penmanship in general. I hate my messy chicken scratch handwriting. Hopefully, I can train myself to be less sloppy.

Do you like keeping a handwritten journal or is blogging much more your speed? And if you’ve tried out Bullet Journaling, what sort of spreads do you enjoy?

Thanks for reading!

 

~Monthly Moments: March~

I’m starting this new thing where I film moments during the month and then just piece it together in a montage style vlog. I did not film enough during the month of March but I decided to make one with the shots I did take. It’s really short but I think it’s nice and a great way to look back on the month. I’ve started off strong in April so far, here’s hoping I can keep up with and make the videos the way I imagine them.

Thanks for reading and watching

~Blogging for Books~ Portrait Revolution

Portrait Revolution by Julia L. Kay

My favorite thing about art books, aside from making interesting reading material/making a drab coffee table all pretty, is the inspiration they ignite. Even though  I’m not actually an artist in the traditional sense of the word, I enjoy art and dabbling in it. And  I love the way this book showcases different styles and mediums. Making it easy to get inspired by all styles, yet also figuring out the style you might personally prefer.

For me it was definitely the watercolor medium. I love the way watercolor translate to paper and seeing the different techniques. Like with all art, there are so many you can try. It’s also interesting to see how, within each style, lines translate to form a full portrait. Or how the capture each person’s face.

I was excited for this book, but ultimately, I feel it might have been wasted on me. I didn’t test out any of the techniques myself,  so I can’t really speak of the tips and tricks this book goes over, but it did make me want to create in general.  The perfect inspiration for any artist, so this book made a great gift for my artist brother. He’s always in need of inspiration so I’m hoping this book was able to motivate him. Still, even though I didn’t keep it for very long, I still enjoyed being inspired by it and feeling my creative juices flowing.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

~Anime Matsuri 2017~ Rogue and Gambit

My fringe extension was so hard to keep on my head. I kept laughing and messing with it and the wind wasn’t much help either. I might op for an actual Rogue wig next time, who knows? This was supposed to be casual though.

I normally have a fringe, it wasn’t really behaving. It kept getting in the way of the extension and making it slip. But it’s probably because I didn’t put it on properly. I still had a lot of fun walking around with Matt and we actually got recognized by several people. Two people even asked to take our photo. I wish I had given them my email so I would have had more photos of Matt and me in our outfits. I only have two. -.- Luckily, a friend came up to say hi and I asked him if he could take a photo of us. (Thanks Anthony!)

One of my favorite things though was when I caught eyes from other X-Men cosplayers. They would nod and smile, making me feel as though we were really connected or something. Nice feeling. I didn’t take photos of any other cosplayers. -.- I should have and I don’t know why I didn’t. I was too busy worrying about my fringe. *I know...self absorbed* But I still had a lot of fun. Matt makes things even more wonderful. <3

Hope you all had a great weekend! I also met Matt’s family this weekend so I’ll post about that later this week. Just know…his family is absolutely wonderful.

Thanks for reading.

Update: Rogue and Gambit

And it continues! Anime Matsuri is THIS weekend! I’m nervous and excited and ready to put the finishing touches on my casual cosplay. 

I finally got my gloves! I also have no idea how to do my hair, the white hair extensions I bought aren’t exactly the best quality and I have no idea how to curl synthetic hair without using heat. I’m trying not to stress too much about it though. It’s my interpretation of the character in a casual way so I shouldn’t worry too much, however I did purchased a fringe piece.  I just want to make sure the hair doesn’t look odd, I definitely don’t want to look like a skunk. I didn’t want to get an actual Rogue wig…maybe next time I will. If we take photos though, I might go in and change the hair color for fun…just to see. Aside from those factors, I still have to do my shirt embellishments and then I’m ready!

… continue reading this entry.

~Challenge~ 30 Days of Yoga Update: Day 12

Here we are at Day 12.

I skipped yesterday for a game night at my friend’s, but I did go Sunday…after skipping a few days before that. >.< I’ve been feeling tired. But today I’m going to do my best to go, it’s at 7:30 tonight, but it has my favorite instructor so I want to make an effort here. I just enjoy how she does the class and she’s been the most friendly out of all the instructors. On Sunday I had the first male instructed class. I didn’t like the way he did it though. I felt awkward and I felt like he was disappointed in you when you didn’t do the stretches as long as he did.

He also would come up behind you and fix your poses, which is helpful but he does it without warning and it’s sort of painful. He forces you into a pose rather than working and forgiving your body for not being able to maintain or even do it to begin with. I wasn’t a fan. Tonight’s class is at 7:30…I hate going to that late of a class but the instructor makes it worth it.

I can do it! Thanks for all your support and kind words,  I hope you’re doing well and will update you again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Favorites: Take a Moment

   Take a moment and breathe.

I’ve always considered myself a happy person, happy with the little things and grateful for the huge things. For this entry, I just wanted breathe in everything that has made me happy. Shows, movies, people… the little things and whatnot. With our hectic day to day life stuff, sometimes we forget how great those things are. Life changes all the time and I don’t want to take anything for granted.

… continue reading this entry.