Oh Wait, How Did We Get Here?

It's already into 2017 and I am still accidentally writing 2016 on everything. This new year is a time for clean ups and clean slates. I recently tidied up my own office space (again) and its looking much more eclectic and cozy:

I put effort into cleaning it so that I will actually write.

*******RECORD SCRATCH*******

I started writing this damn post on January 19th. It is February 7th and I am finally dragging myself back to it. I had so many aspirations to write blogs/chapters/mini books whilst on vacation during the first month and I honestly did zero of those things. I had great times relaxing and seeing my friends and family and it was an excellent vacation, BUT I keep beating myself up for not writing. I've talked to peers and looked up how to be a better writer and bookmarked the best tips for myself and dang it I'm gonna use them starting now!

*Write everyday for at least an hour. Y'all may not see all of the fruits of that on here but surely some of my writings will be the posts on here.

*Start making "To-Done" lists. I've seen this used by so many people lately and I like that you're low-key congratulating yourself at the end of the day to say, hey I did this! Instead of Oh..I have to do that?! 

*Read more. I spend a lot of my time on the internet and though it is obviously beneficial in certain aspects of my life, I miss just relaxing with a good book and giving my mind some exercise. 

Here's to 2017!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Retail Rants

Yes two blogs in one day! They aren't related so they get separate posts. I now give you a new segment on this little corner I have carved out on the internet: RETAIL RANTS. I have been in the mall world for nearly 12 years and whew lawd has it been a time. I have more stories about humans and their disgusting ways than you will ever fathom and all true, even if they sound far-fetched...trust me I wish some were! So for the introduction to this ongoing series I will prepare you and my brethren in sales for the holiday season.

It is almost Halloween and I could not be more excited. However in the retail world this means that the ramp-up to the holiday spending season has begun. Pumpkins share space on shelves with reindeer and pilgrims. Everything is overwhelming, everything is super colorful (but like only in various shades of red, gold, silver, black & green), everything is somehow covered in glitter, it's a lot. I feel bad for Thanksgiving honestly, it's a big friends & family holiday on it's own but it's completely overshadowed by both Halloween and Christmas in the stores. Christmas is already in full force and it is only October 19th....settle down Santa. Like when you think about it Easter has it the best: After Easter has passed the next major decorating holiday is the Fourth of July, which is two to three months away, you don't get gifts and your main concern is where you are going to light off all your fireworks. The long lull of summer gives way afterwards and everyone just chills out until October 1st when, in seasonally appropriate climates, Autumn has arrived and literally I'm pretty sure everyone loses their damn minds. I already know that I will actually be off on Thanksgiving because A) I work for a nice company and B) This is how flipping early we need to start preparing for Black Friday. Now, like yesterday, I'm 85% sure our schedule is mocked up somewhere in the office because this is how important retail has made shopping and the holidays. I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, I really love how cozy the nights are around the bonfire with my friends and how everyone's families get together and come to town, it's wonderful. Working during this time is a shenanigan show of complete unpredictability.  The people I have met/helped over the years have run the gamut from sweet as pie to the actual devil spawn. You never know exactly what you will get, I had my very first customer one Black Friday afternoon yell at me for the pricing that was out of my control. She was SO mad about the fact that we had advertised certain pricing for the early birds and then didn't carry that over to the people strolling in at 3pm....Ma'am I didn't choose this. I've also had an amazing customer that I helped find all their Office Christmas party gifts (he was the CEO) in one swoop.

My main rant for today is a focus of pure human decency. I understand that the holiday season is stressful, I understand that so many people are pressed for time, I understand that money is tight in most cases. I GET IT, I'M WITH YOU. So in turn....very simply....Please don't treat sales people like shit. Honestly. We all have families and friends that we want to be with, that we are also shopping for when we are able and when we are on the clock we are there to help you 100%. I have zero control over any of my companies signs/promotions/pricing/item allotments. I do not make any decisions about what they put out into the world. I just work there. I can help you in only the perimeters of which are set forth by a team of people who work very far from where you and I stand. Please try and remember this when you cop an attitude with a cashier because the price that rang up was the price on the item and not whatever you assumed it might be. Ask us a million questions, that is what I am there for! I can provide so much information, I can get you any size, I can offer opinions on what to wear to the event and if this matches these shoes you have. I love doing that! I will personal shop for you all day. At the end of the day we are all humans just trying to get through this weird and wild world, the easiest thing to do is Just Be Kind.

The rants will continue through this crazy 2K16 holiday jam we are about to dive into...so stay tuned for all the storytimes!

Keep on, Keepin' on,

M.

In Celebration of Friendship

In my life I have and have had good friends, great friends, best friends, acquaintances, bad friends, ghost friends and toxic friends. All these people made a mark on my life in some way, at some point and shaped me to the woman you know/read about on this blog.

I have found that in troubled times and wonderful times you never expect all the outpouring of love and support you will recieve.

And because it has been a difficult couple months and now because we are on the upswing of our lives, I just want to say thanks.

Thanks to our friends who we love and love us back. I'm happy we are in each other's lives.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Good Morning World!!

Aww yes! Day one of get up early and I was out of bed at 545AM making my coffee. I set my alarm for 5 on the dot and while my mind felt awake enough, my body said noooo, just 15 more minutesssss....3 times hahaha

But here I sit coffee in hand, typing the earliest blog, so far. Here's to an even earlier one tomorrow!

We'll see how I feel around noon though. I'll be having a coffee date with myself for sure!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Life Changes!

Better late than never for an overhaul of sorts. October was a VERY trying month which trickled into November. Now that the bad times are over and the upswing has begun, we have decided to clense out the clutter/fog/mess of our lives and get ourselves healthy and happy and ready to take on the next years with a new found vigor. To start on our journey we have set our alarms to become early birds. What a crazy idea we have. We are super night owls and I know that being a morning person will take some getting used to but I really look forward to not rushing in the morning and getting the most from my day.

This little blog will be getting some action with my early rising! I'll have coffee and writing time which will definitely get my mind going for the day ahead.

Maybe now I'll be able to go get groceries leisurely  if I need before work. Maybe I can start my exercise routine. Maybe I can pack my lunches!

I CAN.

I am really quite excited to start getting up with the sun, giving it a little hello to the day and become more productive and living to the fullest.

See you at sunrise!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

November Thoughts

It has been a pretty tough month over here. As much as from the outside it may seem nice and sunshiny, it's been quite a struggle. We planned way too much for two people for Halloween and the party, went way over our heads and subsequently ended up too stressed and too tired to even enjoy ourselves. On top of blowing money on a party, my man had serious truck problems that threw a sizable wrench in his life. So here we are miserable and still having to try and put on a good face. It's really hard. When your body and mind separate and won't go back together it is the absolute worst thing in the world.

Cut to Halloween, which was actually pretty fun and we ended up going downtown with our friends.

The next day was a meltdown of uncertainty and fear. When you need a huge piece of your business is disabled and things are seeming to fall apart it becomes very damaging to your psyche and thus your body. Your brain can make you more ill than any virus or bacteria, it's insane.

Cut to the next day and things began the upswing of all upswings.

This year has been the hardest of all my years. It's had the lowest of lows and highest of highs and to be perfectly honest it's really worn me out. A lot of change has come about, mostly for good, but still it's been exhausting. I am for once very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and also 2016. It's time for a new year clense in this little family unit I have and make our lives richer than before.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Life Update and Decorating Begins

Hello! So I shall start this blog off with the best news of 2015:

MY DAD GOT HIS CANCER SCREEN BACK AND IT IS CLEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never been more happy in my life. My Dad is my rock and I was having freak outs all the time over his illness. But now we can breathe easy! Tonight I am having dinner over at my parents to celebrate. Mom is making spaghetti squash with meatballs and I'll be drinking beers by the pool with my Dad. I can't wait!

We have begun to decorate. Honestly we are prepared for Halloween year round, but I shall at least show you our fireplace mantle, as it is bad ass:

And in our bar room we have this dapper friend:

Things are coming together outside, but still in the no photo stage. All will be revealed in due time.

I had to brush out my wigs for this month, and yes I have a very large number of them because A) I like options and B) I was able to get them for cheap :)

This is maybe a third of the collection :) And yes I will most likely wear all of them depending on parties and events this month. 

SO READY TO GET MY SPOOK ON!!!!

Keep on, keepin on,

M.

Great and Wonderful Days!

So I submitted a piece to the website, HelloGiggles. THEY ACCEPTED IT!!! YAYAYAYAY!!! I was pushed towards what I want to do, did it and things are happening!!! Really going full force now and signing up for writing courses locally to expand my mind and tweak my skills. I am becoming happier every day and I think that it's really paying off karmacally(SP??).

In other news I am piecing together items to form my voodoo witch queen head-dress extravaganza. I am not sure why I have such a dramatic flare when inevitablly I know that I will hate and eventually remove this piece by my drunkeness at around 2am. But if I come out this year with some cool photos in our backyard swamp, I suppose it will be worth it. Beauty (swamp fashion!) is pain.

Using this little guy as the centerpiece starting on my forehead:

These friends as some sort of decoration on the costume. Currently they are playing Sia and swinging from our chandelier.

This is my wig. Not using those flowers, but wanted to give her a ~look~ (Feeling those Lana Del Rey VIBES)

All in all I am excited with life. I shall more than likely update on the head-dress construction. Look out for it soon!

Keep on, keepin on,

M.

Morning Thoughts

Trying to write and also running around to keep a skunk from going under the couch.
Trying to write and not yet having coffee because you ran out of creamer and now you aren't sure if you want just black coffee.
Trying to write when outside there are lawncare people and they are SO LOUD.
Trying to write and it's dreary out but not raining so you aren't sure if you could justify more sleeping before work.

Trying to write and just writing a mini blog about trying but in turn, at least writng SOMETHING.

Keep on, keepin on,

M.

PS: I entered a local writing contest with a short story and once it is over I shall post it in here :)

Ooooo something to look forward to!!

Judy Blume!

     Happy Sunday! Today is the day for sleeping in (if possible) and then languidly going to hang with friends/family or run errands. So this early afternoon as I sat out on my porch enjoying my second cup of coffee and having my Sunday convo with my folks, my mom told me easily one of the most exciting things to be upcoming in a long while.

 Ahem:

JUDY BLUME IS COMING TO DOWNTOWN ST PETE FOR THE FESTIVAL OF READING AND SHE IS GOING TO HAVE A BOOK SIGNING FOR HER NEW BOOK BUT ALSO SHE WILL SIGN ONE OF HER OLDER BOOKS! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

    Ok, to start at the beginning, my mom was always big on reading to me and made up different voices for characters and would have me read aloud to her before I stated kindergarten. So my whole childhood was a wonderful world of imagination and far off places and great people that whenever I got lonely, would be waiting for me right in the chapter I'd left off at the night before. My two favorite authors during elementary school were Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. After I started middle school, Judy stayed to give me advice on puberty and friendship. Then I moved on to high school and Judy was still in my corner, never to far to advise. As a grown up I still continue to re-read her adult novel Summer Sisters . I am also currently reading her new adult novel In The Unlikely Event , which takes place in the 40s/50s up to present day. Because of this new novel, she is going on promotional tours around the US and Canada again and today mom told me this wonderful news. Down the street from my house (basically) I will be able to listen to one of my favorite people ever speak about her stories and THEN tell her hello and how awesome I think she is whilst she signs one of my favorite books. I haven't finished In The Unlikely Event yet so I haven't put it in my list, but it is very good so far.

    Also I wrote a question to Judy Blume and she answered it on Buzzfeed and I fangirled ALOT.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/pieces-of-advice-judy-blume-has-for-young-writers-readers#.yqnqdlJk13

    Keep on , keepin on!

         M.

Ready For Fall!

Hello Internet Friends!!!!
   I have missed this. I am ready to take this blog and really do it a great service. I'm also really ready for Florida to be on the autumnal trend. Let's hear it for sweaters and boots for real y'all. But back to the blog, I really do like writing when I get down on it. I need to stop making silly promises to the ether and make serious promises to myself. What good is having a creative outlet if you never use it? It just makes more brain clutter, not to be confused with brain matter, haha you need that! Ahhhhh anyway....I'm going to write. That's it, that's all. I'm going to just get out there and do it or else I'll always kick my own ass on what might have been.

New to this blog at least, I want to start giving you a visual into my little ramble world, so thus now I shall add photos of said skunk or adventures or cool things my man and I create.

Speaking of my man, he and I are starting to plan and build for our annual Halloween shin-dig which is in the third year of life. It is the most fun I have all year. I love planning a costume, I love decorating, I love making party food and drinks and I LOVE having a blast with my friends.

Here is a taste of the first year:

And then last year(Where we really went all out):

What does this year hold? I'll tell you that the theme is a VooDoo Bayou after our fantastic trip to New Orleans this January. I think I've settled on being a swamp witch, but who knows? I tend to be indecisive when it comes to costumes! Trust that this adventure will be well documented this go-round. Til then....

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Night Blogs

I feel that when I don't keep up with this blog, I'm doing a disservice to my soul. Like I want to be a writer. I want to put out the next great American novel. I have no clue what it will be about and I'm pretty sure I won't know until that idea hits me a 3AM on an idle Tuesday.

I will be 30 in less than 6 months and right now, today, as I type this, that is the 2nd most terrifying thought in my brain. The 1st one is for another night.

How do you know when it all starts falling into place? Do you ever know? Or do you just tell yourself that lie of complacency that you've been taught. This is halfway where I thought I'd be 5 years ago. I'd like to be fullway where I thought I'd be a year ago, but I'm just better sometimes at coasting through than actually making hard, uncomfortable choices and leaping off that cliff.

Here's to August being the month I really write full force and change my life!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Sunday Morning

Hello and welcome to February everyone :)

Update from the last blog: My NOLA report will be live on www.lifebetweenweekends.com Feb 9th! YAY! I am very excited and very grateful and very happy.

In other news, I've kicked around the idea for a few years to start a little business and see if anything happens. So thus I give you Renate Rose Jewelry! I have a shop coming soon to Etsy and of course will keep this blog up to date on all details and pages to see and whatnot.

Ok, shameless self promos over.

This has been a strange and frustrating 2015 so far. Yes New Orleans was amazing. Yes I am excited for new ventures and randomly wonderful opportunities. But despite all that it has already been a hell of a struggle in the back burner personal side of things. Outside everything seems pretty smooth and together but inside certain things are just ripping apart my good nature. I've always been good at squashing things and no letting the bad show, which at some points have made me feel like I have robot parts. Can't let those rust so you can't cry over every little thing.

When you're little you are told that you have the whole world in front of you and you can do anything. When you grow up that stops and suddenly you're painted into a corner and given all these roadblocks that prevent you from just going for it. I think it's time that those walls get steamrolled right down. Live your life at any age still believing that you can do anything. Don't them anyone make it hard. Don't let yourself make it hard. I've spent too long getting painted and now I've come to the conclusion that maybe it was always me holding the brush.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

DAY TEN

WEEKEND BEFORE NOLA

Awwwwwwwwww YEA I'm excited. Monday morning we leave for New Orleans. I have never been and have made a list of all sorts of places to check out. Can we pack everything into 4 days? We're sure as hell going to try! My man, my best friend and his best friend are road tripping up and passing through Mobile, Gulfport and Biloxi as well. I am ready for southern countryside and adventures.

Won't be blogging during the trip but will be returning with a megablog of all the shenanigans!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

DAY ONE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2015. What will this year hold? Who knows! That's the best part, to live by adventure. In 12 days I'll be starting my 29th year on a fun vacation with my man and my best girlfriend to New Orleans. I can not be more excited to start my year of travel around the US in such an excellent city.

Last night was New Year's Eve and we spent it with our dear friends a bit further north in Florida than our home. We were surrounded by acres of land and woods, had a huge bonfire, too many drinks and shot fireworks off at midnight. It was a great way to see one year off and ring in the newest.

This day is for relaxing, so I'm ending here. First of my year goals has started and I don't plan on ending til 12/31/15 :)

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

December Ramble

People always tell me to write what I know and how I feel...and I'm not sure that my jagged thoughts would make a fine blog. I want to write as my livelihood and that is my goal in 2015. I think this whole blog has been about goals and wishes and promises. UGH. I want to do like 8 million things and I get a strike of fear and then I'm like NOPE.

It sucks.

I could write about my days in retail. I could write about my skunk. I could write about me. What does anyone want to hear about???

Who knows. Maybe I'll figure it out in the next month

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

When did November Get Here??

It's November and finally we get a break in the heat! Current temp outside is a breezy 54 degrees!

This has been one of the best Halloween months on record. Between Haunted Hike, our 2nd Annual Halloween party and all our gatherings with friends have been really fun and wonderful. We are already planning out our props and costumes for next year, I'm pretty excited.

On the front burner is Thanksgiving. Why yes folks, there is in fact a holiday between Halloween and Christmas :) We are having a "Friendsgiving" this year and with all the traditional food, I always like to slip in a new recipe. Haven't found the right one, but I'm pinteresting for sure.

On the other front burner is how I can organize my space! We moved here in May and I have A LOT of things still waiting to be unpacked. This could just be an eye opener on what I could purge right out of my life seeing as how I haven't used/looked at these items in 5 months...BUT I know myself and that self is saying oh you know one day I'll need this. Spoiler: I won't.

But that's what's on deck for my Sunday.

Glad I woke up early and gave myself the challenge of writing to you, the internet. Being slightly proud :)

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

I'm the worst

Yea IDK y'all. I have the attention span of a gnat some days and on top of that this week has been crazypants.

I work and I have my party coming on Saturday. Last Saturday's hike was so much fun and wouldn't you know, didn't take a damn picture! TOO much fun I suppose.

Trust me though, there will be a couple albums dedicated to the party.

In other news, I feel that my writer's block is an extension of all this stress and whatnot. I want to write a short story and start a novel but my mind is bent on all the party things I still have left to do! So for now you fair readers get a diary. I hope it's exciting :)

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Day 2!

Sitting waiting for my pizza to finish cooking and anticipating the upcoming episode of AHS Freakshow.

Great end to a Wednesday!

Watching shows on extravagant haunts and collecting ideas for our current party and ones in the future. This party is seriously exciting me, my friends are 100% going to freak out.

I effin love Halloween time.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

HELLO!

Hello fair readers!

Many apologies for my lack of bloggin' :(

It has been rather stressful around here and I sort of forget that I could de-stress by writing. I make a pledge to you (and me!) though, I shall be keeping up on this little journal very very soon! My man and I have found a wonderful place to live and will be moving in May 1st if not sooner. It's a lovely old house in St. Pete full of 1920's charm :) I feel it will be quite an excellent change in all facets of our life.

So, watch this space!
Keep on, keepin' on!

M.