Inside Kimmy's Mind

Hello lovelies! I thought I’d share some things that have me smiling. I still have a collective book haul that I need to make, so look forward to that too.

• Breakfast: I love breakfast foods. However, I don’t usually eat breakfast in the mornings. I guess I’ve always tricked myself into believing that I wasn’t hungry. But Matt is very much a breakfast person not to mention a coffee person. We’ve been indulging a bit too much but I’ve really enjoyed it. But this past weekend he made me breakfast in bed…. I was still half asleep when he presented it to me, but it was one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen. Scrambled eggs and toast with jam! Swoon! He’s so great!
• Final Fantasy Explorers: Matt and  I both just recently bought this game at Gamestop. I’m so glad we did, because it’s a lot of fun playing games together.
• Kanken Backpack: I bought this backpack a month ago for my weekend trip to Austin back in January. I now must have it in every color!!! Or at least in mint, yellow, and grey….for now. I have it in bright green! This backpack holds so much and just makes me so happy. It’s the perfect backpack. Seriously…perfect.
• Pokémon pin: Target Cartwheel is wonderful. I ended up getting a perk for a free, book, movie or toy..ect. I decided to buy this $16 pack of Pokemon cards just so I can get the extra MegaVenusaur enamel pin. And I got it FREE! Bulbasaur is my favorite pokemon so I needed this.

• Watercolor notebook: I’ll mention this more in a separate blog post. I’ve been wanting to get back into watercoloring. I was never really good at it, it was just something I enjoyed doing. I like having hobbies.
• Casual Cosplay: I’m really excited for this! Matt and I plan on going to Anime Matsuri this year and we’re going to dress up as Gambit and Rogue! These two are my favorite Marvel couple/X-Men. I’m not sure if I can pull off a really good Rogue, which is why I say casual. I’ve never really cosplayed before so I don’t want this to be something I stress over. The con is in April, so I want to get started on this ASAP. Casual, meaning we are just going to try to get key elements of the characters. For Gambit, I’m thinking Matt can get away with a trench coat, black pants, a purple button up, black gloves, and a deck of cards. Perhaps even his staff? For Rogue, I want to make sure to keep her signature yellow and green color scheme. Definitely want to find a brown jacket, yellow gloves, and her streak of white hair. I may even look for some green skinny jeans and some yellow chucks. I also want to get an X-Men belt buckle! I’m still figuring things out. If you have any tips on cosplaying, I’m all ears!
• Music: Elisa from MilkBox mentioned Passion Pit in one of her check in posts. I haven’t been able to get Where the Sky Hangs out of my head for weeks. Oh Wonder’s- Drive and Live Wire has also gotten themselves stuck. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing them in concert. I love duos!

What are you loving at the moment? I’d love to hear about it. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

This may shock/bore you, if you are not interested in stationery, planners, or paper items in general. A new craft store opened up in Houston last summer. Needless to say, my sisters and I went a little crazy.

The planner craze is still going strong and  I’m obsessed. I love to see how it is constantly changing. I’m going to share the things I bought from that lovely shop and then I’d like to talk about some items I’d like to purchase this year to add to my planner/stationery obsession.

First up:

• Webster’s Pages Traveler’s Notebook and A5 Planner in Mint!

I love minty items. I can’t seem to get enough of them, I made the video above a while back but it still gives you an idea about how they look. There are pros and cons to everything but for the most part I love these items and will do an updated flipthrough soon so if you’re interested in seeing that, let me know.

Now on to the items I’d like to purchase

• Typecast Typewriter in Mint!

Michael’s has this typewriter by typecast and I’m sooooo tempted to buy one. I know, it might seem like a waste of money to you but to a stationery addict like me! I’d love owning one. I scrapbook as well as make cards and this would come in handy. My printer and I don’t always see eye to eye. It’s something I’m still considering so nothing has been decided yet. I’m still browsing the web and watching reviews on Youtube. It is 200 bucks, quite a bit to spend. Moving on…

• Portable Photo Printer

I’ve been wanting a small photo printer to print out my photos. I know, probably something else that could be considered a waste of money. But I’ve been wanting one. I keep looking at different brands, there’s the LG, HP, Polaroid, something Zip? So many different kinds and I can’t seem to pick one I want to save up for. I’ve been wanting to have hardcopies of photos and again, my printer doesn’t always work the way I want it to. I figured a portable printer might work out better. Any thoughts?

• New Digital Camera

This would be the most expensive. I don’t need it to be sooo fancy, since I’m still learning about photography, but I’d like to invest in a good camera and continue learning. Plus, I’d like to up my vlogging game with some new gear. This is also something I have no clue what kind I’d like. I’ve been researching but nothing concrete yet. If you have any tips or suggestions, I’m all ears. I don’t have a budget yet on the camera, I figured once I picked out the camera I wanted then I’d know what my aim is and then just start saving for it.

• New laptop

Like the camera, I would like to up my gear…including the laptop I would use to edit the video. I don’t need it to be topnotch, but I would like it to handle a bit of gaming and then my amateur editing skills. My current laptop is an HP and it can’t handle certain programs. I would love for it to be a mint color! I’ve always wanted a green or mint computer/laptop. That might be asking for too much, but it’s just something I’d like.

The smaller items I get fairly often but when it comes to the larger products, I tend to really put some thought into it before just going out and buying it. Do you usually weigh your options before buying a larger item, or do you just go for it? I’d love to hear your stories.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

  

I love receiving/writing letters! As a child, I always wanted to have more people to send letters to.

The term pen pal was introduced to me in the 2nd grade, my class was practicing letter writing and we had been assigned a pen pal from a neighboring school. Sadly, I have no memories of my pen pal nor can I remember the gender or school my pen pal was/from. I can only recall the day my teacher told us that we would be paired up. I remember writing out my first letter to them, but again, no memory of what was actually said.

As I grew up, I still found joy in the idea of writing out a letter or sending a package to a friend. I exchanged letters with friends, whom I’d met at school from time to time but nothing that actually remained constant. It wasn’t until my first semesters at university did my best friend and I start exchanging a notebook where we would keep our letters in. She had moved to another state, me to another city and we wanted to keep in touch. Life got in the way but we kept it up for while and I was pretty proud of us. She and I still send each other mail from time to time and that always puts a smile on my face. And then this year for Christmas, the wonderful Whimsical Joy sent my sister and I a Christmas card with two crochet bookmarks. I just had to respond with my own handmade item so I wrote her a letter and made her a knitted mug cozy.

And when Matt and I first started to date, he went out of town several times during those beginning months and he would send me a post card from each place he visited. Such a thoughtful souvenir to receive from him. Also, a friend from college and I have agreed to write each other letters from time to time. He lives in Galveston, so we aren’t very far away from each other but he’s currently going to Med school and we’ve decided to stay in touch in anyway we can. Don’t know how he does it, but he’s always been a very positive guy and I’m glad to be reconnecting with him now.

I’m excited and hope to maintain a consistent back and forth of letter writing. It’s nice, getting a letter from a good friend. I plan on upping my card game. He’s in for a surprise.

That’s fall for now. Thanks for reading. ♥

 

Valentine’s Day: a day deemed the most important day to show your significant other that you love them.

False.

This shouldn’t be the only day you show your loved ones that you love them. This also shouldn’t only be a day for couples, it’s a day for everyone to show their love. My mother surprised me with a card, she was like a ninja and hid it in my room the last time she came to visit me. I’ve been saying this a lot, but love comes in so many different forms so why shouldn’t this day, along with every other day, be a day you show love?

Yes, I am in a relationship, but I don’t usually make a huge deal in doing the typical couple-Valentiney-things. I spent a lovely evening with the boyfriend, we ate dinner, dessert- he made me a strawberry cake- and watched Avatar. I loved it. I love him. He makes every day special because loving someone isn’t something that can be expressed once in awhile. It’s not something that is only shown in order to make a pretty instagram photo. It’s something that isn’t always seen but you feel it. I feel loved every time Matt looks my way, when my siblings tease me about something, when my mother answers the phone when I call, or when my dad saves the day when there’s a storm brewing. I am indeed lucky. And I bet, if you took the time to see all that is around you, you’ll feel the love too.

So please, treat this day like any other day, don’t let the candies and flowers make you feel as though you don’t matter. Relationships are great, but loving yourself is just as great. I hope you spent this day with loved ones, and I hope you spoiled yourself because you deserve it.

That was my 2 cents on this Hallmark Holiday.

Thanks for reading.

♥

The moments before I fall asleep I snuggle against your back, wrapping my arm around you and I can easily fall asleep with you beside me.

The moments before I’m fully awake, I can feel you kiss my cheek. I can feel you touch my hand.  My vision blurred, streaks of light peeking in through the blinds while purrs and high pitched meows beckon us to wake up.  I can feel myself wanting to say good morning yet I want to linger in your arms just a bit longer before I wake up. 

♥

 

Several bloggers (Hey Georgie) have been writing letters to their past selves. It’s nice, because you have gone through the hardships that, that you has yet to experience. Has yet to learn from and has yet to grow from those experiences. But I would like to address a letter to the future me. The me that is experiencing the things I will one day experience. I’ve used the site Futureme.org and it’s exciting when I get a letter from past me so I’ll do it here, today,  right now. For Future Me to read.

Dear Future Me

2.6.17

I hope you are still very much happy with where you are in life. You have never been happier, even though you enjoyed school, you are so glad to be done with it now. You worked hard and I hope you continue to do so. If you’re no longer working at the museum, I hope you’re somewhere fun and that you enjoy it. I hope you’ve managed to move into a 2 bedroom apartment by now. If not, no worries, your time will come. I hope Vera loves hanging out with her cool tia, and loves for you to read all the books you’ve acquired for her during her first year. She’s growing up so fast it truly is amazing. She’s picking up things quickly and already has three teeth! Even though, at this moment in time, you have soooo many things to be happy about, know that if some of those things have changed in YOUR time, that’s ok. My only hope is that you maintain your strength and don’t lose yourself.  Until then…

I’m ready to keep on growing, and I look forward to seeing where I end up. That’s all for now.

Thanks for stopping by.✎

As a Christmas gift, Matt gave me a weekend trip to Austin. I was so excited for this trip, 1. Because I was going with Matt <3 and 2. I haven’t had the opportunity to travel much so packing for a trip and going on said trip had me all excited.

I might have taken things a bit far when it came to packing for this trip, but in my mind, I didn’t want to forget something that I might need. I had plan on filming things so I could create a travel vlog, however, my camera remained in it’s case the entire trip. -.- I was sick for the majority of the trip, Matt had caught a cold the week before last so I knew I’d also catch whatever it was he had. Saturday was the worse, and I know what you’re thinking…“Kim! Why didn’t you just reschedule?!” I didn’t want to! I was looking forward to it, and I had already cleared it with work. Had I been seriously ill, then yes I would have rescheduled. But I was fine! I was feeling much better by Sunday, but I didn’t let the blah cold prevent me from having fun during the weekend. Matt was so attentive and just all around amazing. He even let me go to Modcloth to try on clothes, it was a fit store so you try on the clothes and then they order and ship it to your house. I wish it were an actual department store but it was still lovely to visit. I may not have any video to show but here is a collection of photos, which is just as good.

I wish I had taken more photos while on this trip but sometimes I just wanted to enjoy the moment.  It was a wonderful trip and we’re already wanting to figure out where we will go for our next trip. I’m also hoping not to be sick whenever we do go on another trip. To Matt: This trip was wonderful, I enjoyed every moment of it and can’t wait to travel with you to other places. ?

The travel spark has been ignited and I’m looking forward to taking more trips this year. Perhaps even board an airplane? 🙂 Do you over pack for trips or have you figured out a happy medium? And do you have any fun trips planned this year?

Thanks for reading!

It took me a while to finally finish editing this video but here it is! I sort of took a break from buying books during those months and wasn’t reading as much either. But hopefully, I’ll return to reading more books, I didn’t reach my goal of 50+ books in 2016 so now I’ll try again in 2017…haven’t gotten off to a great start but no sense in giving up. 😀

Here are the books I mentioned in the video:

• Bitter Sweet Love – Michael Faudet
• The Universe of Us – Lang Leav
• Fresh Romance
• Gabi,  a Girl in Pieces – Isabel Quintero
• Beauty and The Beast and Other Classic Fairy Tales
• Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, Illustrated Edition – T. S. Eliot
• Crimson Bound – Rosamond Hodge
• The Sandman Collected Covers – Dave McKean
• Jane, the Fox and Me – Fanny Britt

Going to try to get back on a vlogging schedule and try to read more. I have a Book Outlet Haul coming up and I can’t wait! What books have you been reading lately?

Thanks for reading

This past weekend was wonderful.

For the three day weekend, I spent it over at Matt’s. Now, this isn’t the first time but I’m typically a homebody and enjoy being lazy, watching movies,  or knitting…you get it. But my weekends with him are always just so wonderful. So here’s a breakdown on our weekend:

• Friday: We went to a pre release for the new Magic cards at Asgard Games, ran into some friends there and I played one round. I’m not really that great at the game, but it’s fun.
• Saturday: We hung out with Matt’s friends for a bit, and enjoyed some yummy food and dessert. We also started watching the Netflix Original: A Series of Unfortunate Events. Loved the books, so I was looking forward to reading the books.
• Sunday: We woke up early, but didn’t really do anything until mid day. (Matt was also starting to get sick…which surprise surprise, I now have what he had/has)He was feeling up for getting out of the apartment so we decided to go to The Mad Potter to do some painting. He painted a mug and I painted a soup bowl. I forgot to take any before photos though. Very unlike me. Sadly, we have to wait until next week to pick up our master pieces because we won’t be here on Friday. I’m excited to see how they turn out. I might have put too much pressure on it, but luckily Matt was there to remind me that this was for fun. And it was a lot fun, when I suggested we go paint mugs, I didn’t think he would actually go with it.  Not because he wouldn’t want to, but because it was just so spur of the moment. And because of that we sort of ran out of time but I’m excited to see how they came out. Matt painted a mug, splitting it down the middle, one side with his white kitty Eve and the other side with his black kitty Marco. It’s pretty adorable. and I painted a mint bowl with white orchids. After that we went to Barnes and Noble where we picked up two new Magic decks and a copy of Stardust by  Neil Gaiman. We ended our night out with dinner at Sushi Choo Choo.
• Monday: Matt woke up feeling really bad, so I went and got him some medicine and cooked him some eggs. We spent the day watching movies and didn’t leave the apartment at all. We had our lunch and dinner delivered to us via Ubereats. Amazing! I’ve never used Uber before, but using it to bring food? So convenient and totally helps me maintain my hermit like behavior. The night ended with some reading and cuddles.

Such a great weekend, I hope my cold doesn’t last too long though. We have another wonderful weekend planned and I don’t want my boogers to ruin that. We have a trip planned, more on that next time. 🙂 How was your weekend?

? Thanks for reading ?

 

While in school my concentration was in Creative Writing, and I struggled with characters, and creating different voices for each character. But I still enjoyed writing each of the different stories I came up with. Story Genius by Lisa Cron stuck out to me because of its catchy cover but also because of its subject matter. It never occurred to me to continue writing stories after college, I haven’t made any effort to write creatively but this book brought back a lot of those college semesters.

What I liked about the book was the voice of the narrator. Very funny and it was almost as if I was discussing literature with a peer. Another thing was the humor, especially when it brought up Fifty Shades of Grey. (If you like this series, take no offense, you are entitled to like any book you like. And hey, if this series made more people read, then right now!) It poked fun at it for sure and explained how ‘beautiful writing’ isn’t enough to get readers interested. It’s the story itself, how does it capture your audience? In the case of this, it had readers wanting more…

The next thing I liked about this book was its helpful prompts…or exercises. The ‘What to Do’ sections. I thought it was an interesting way to sprinkle those in every once in awhile and not beat with it over and over again.  If you are the type of writer that struggles with finishing or developing your story, I suggest giving this a try. If anything, it might just help you think out the parts of your story that you haven’t really put much thought into in the first place. It also made for an interesting read.

Happy reading!

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