abeautifulmess selfies: 23-26

day 23   ::   day 24

day 25   ::   day 26

abeautifulmess selfies: 19-22

day 19   ::   day 20

day 21   ::   day 22

building habits: update 1

about a month ago, i posted about my micro quotas and macro goals, and promised an update. i'm getting somewhere with a few, and almost nowhere with others. and then there are the ones i forgot to mention, but have been working on anyway.  so, the update goes a little like this:

quota: thirty minutes of rosetta stone per day // goal: learn spanish
progress: minus the week my guy was visiting, i have managed at least 15 minutes a day. not exactly 30 minutes, but daily use! plus, i seem to get through a lot of the units faster than the stated time, so those 15 minutes are solid learning :)
verdict: semi-met, but definitely room for improvement.

quota: two hours per weekend documenting // goal: digitalize memorabilia
progress: i haven't managed to make it to fedex-kinko's yet to start digitalizing old photos (which is a major part of the goal), but i did manage to finish the 2009 family photobook for my mom and keep my 2013 photobook up to date. i don't know if i'd consider this semi-met or not, since i really want to get those photos in digital format and haven't yet.
verdict: needs work!

quota: one hour article work per week // goal: write an article by october 2013
progress: zero.
verdict: try again?

quota: go to bed and wake 15 minutes earlier each day // goal: reasonable hours
progress: i don't even know how to gauge this. it varies daily, with a lot of days being decent on bedtime, but other days being absolutely awful. i think maybe this micro-quota needs to be revised...new version, "turn off electronics by 11pm."
verdict: try the new angle!

new quota: 3 green smoothies a week // new goal: healthier eating
progress: at least one a week, but if i can manage the reasonable hours, then more smoothies will be a lot simpler to manage.
verdict: will improve in tandem with reasonable hours, but pretty rubbish presently.

new quota: 3 workouts a week // new goal: healthy living
progress: does paddle boarding count? because if so, then i have improved on this one quite a bit in the last week or so. even managed 2 rounds of jillian and some pinterest routine my sister dragged me through. just have to keep it up now...
verdict: semi-met, but definitely room for improvement.

next update in a month!

red pencil skirt

i felt the urge to be crafty this weekend. felt it in that overwhelming, can't ignore it kind of way. do you know what i'm talking about? no? oh well. regardless, for the sake of my sanity, something had to be created! but. biiiig but. i'm also trying to be frugal about my personal spending, so i didn't want to just run out to the nearest store and buy craft supplies. that meant painting, refashioning, and furniture remodeling {ha!} were out. i even tried making some progress on an ongoing cross-stitch first, but that wasn't really doing it for me.

enter a red knit fabric. once purchased to be the skirt of a homemade maxi dress, it has been sitting under my bed for a year now. but it could still be a skirt, right? right. and since my guy has recently expressed a like for pencil skirts... i decided to go for a casual pencil skirt. very casual, thanks to my lack of skills re clean seams on knits. alas. {i meant to post a semi-tutorial, but i forgot to take enough pictures along the way... sorry. i was distracted by the doctor&rose!}. anyway, try this one from merrick's art if you're interested in making your own!

 front    ::    back

 front again, with a look at the waistband {elastic, thankyouverymuch}

zigzag hem-stitch in blue. because contrast detail is cool. 

{orrrr i didn't have red thread.}

abeautifulmess selfies: 15-18

day 15   ::   day 16

  

 

day 17   ::   day 18

abeautifulmess selfies: 11-14

day 11  ::  day 12

 

day 13  ::  day 14

abeautifulmess selfies: 7-10

day 7   ::   day 8

 

day 9    ::   day 10