One small step for man, one giant leap for my bank account

Today, I resisted. Today, I am proud. Tomorrow, I will go through this process all over again.

I'm going to take a moment and talk about something personal right now...something I know, at least, more than half of you can relate to. It's called shopping. Now, as harmless as it may sound, this word haunts me everyday. Some people may laugh, so go ahead...but I'll just have you know that I'm not laughing on the other end. I'm holding my head high.

Today, I almost bought this pair of lovely Kelsie Dagger boots:

Yeah, they may be ugly to you, but to me, all I know is I wanted them. Why? I dunno. I liked the color. I liked that they only had a 3/4" heel. I liked the scrunchy style and the studs on the side. I, also, liked the deal they offered...only $89. I, also, felt pressured that I only had approximately 10 minutes to decide whether or not to buy them. And I, ALSO, was bored.

Seriously, this is the kind of stuff I go through when I'm shopping. I had to get up and walk away from my computer, and hope they would sell out before I managed to run back. (Sidenote: they didn't)

My point is: unnecessary shopping. I tend to do this WAY too much. I buy things just because I want them, not because I need them or because they could be an essential part of my life/wardrobe. And even if I had all the money in the world, would this habit still be acceptable to me? I sure hope not, but I doubt I'll find that out any time soon.

As much as I love fashion I just as equally hate it. Unfortunately, for me, I work in fashion, so this love/hate relationship comes up a lot. I've come to love making statements, following trends, making people look and feel great. I've, also, come to hate what superficial people this industry creates. Are clothing and accessories really all that trivial? Do you really need these things to feel good about yourself or feel important? Hell no! So why do we do it? Why do we all fall victim to this incompetent crime?

Whatever the reason, I'm standing my ground. This seems to be my year...the year in which I am practicing healthy habits and working on making myself a better person. I may falter a bit here and there, but you have my word that I am, in fact, trying.

Austin, you have my crazy heart (Part 1)

Dear Austin,

You’ve made me a very happy, girl. Thank you.

Love always,

Jiscilla

A few years back, I got the chance to basically spend a day in Austin. Unfortunately, all I got to see was a big parking lot (pretty much what most of warped tour is...different cities, different parking lots, lots of great & not so great music). As Austin being in my top 5 for cities I’ve wanted to (really) visit, I was slightly disappointed of my stunted time there. Alas! I came back!

One of my dearest, best friends, Christy had moved out there a couple years back, and having missed her so, it was the perfect opportunity for me to take a trip out west.

I got in on Thursday (1/28/10) night. Christy picked me up from the airport and we went straight to Whole Foods. We were like kids in a candy store but without all the unhealthy junk (it's hard to maintain self-control in that place). She recently became pescatarian and was interested to try a recipe I had mentioned earlier, the Black Bean & Tomato Quinoa, so we bought all the ingredients necessary and whipped up dinner shortly after we arrived home. While eating our tasty homemade dinner, Christy attempted to get me into Friday Night Lights (does anybody else watch this show besides my friends?) and put the pilot of the show in the DVD player. I was surprisingly tired from my trip and not-so-surprisingly fell asleep halfway through. I don't get what the fuss is about this show, but I can't seem to get myself into it (sorry, my curbies, better luck next time...also, am I the only one that does not find Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch hott?).

Anyways, the next day, Christy had to work, and I enjoyed sleeping in. I probably laid in bed ‘till noon watching my newest favorite show on Hulu (I’m prepared for the jokes you've got planned for me): it's from ABC Family, and it's called Make It or Break It. If you don't know, the show is about four elite gymnasts and their crazy lives. I guess it's nothing out of the normal soap-opera style drama with some added tumbling passes, but I like it, so sue me. Luckily, I had internet for a few hours and got to watch about 4 episodes, but after watching all that exercising, it started to make me feel guilty. Soooo, I got up and decided to go for a walk. I walked down the street and turned in to a little place called Café Medici that Christy had recommended. All I wanted to do was sip on some tea and open the new book I started reading a few days before. However, after I got my tea, I realized the place was extremely crowded with not one seat available. I was a little bummed. It was so cold out (yeah, Texas was freezing), but I left with warm tea in hand and decided to go "site-seeing" instead. I can't say I found much, but I like exploring places I've never been, so it was enjoyable.

After her workday, Christy took me to Wahoo’s for dinner. It is a cool place with a skate/surf vibe and they're known for their fish tacos (obvs I kept it vegan, but if you ever go there, I suggest the onion rings...soooo good!). PS...I hear there are tons of these places on the west coast.

After Wahoo's we went to a bar on the other side of town called Black Sheep Lodge where I met Christy’s friend Christine (loved her) and indulged in hilarious conversation. I found it funny how all people were all seated at this bar besides the handful playing games off to the side. Sidenote: some dude asked if one of us would like to join him in a game of pool as he hustle his opponets. Though, he seemed genuine (?), we turned him down.

Anyways, the next day, Christy had a full day planned, and as she’s planning to adopt a dog, I was more than enthusiatic to help her with the process. We started out first thing in the morning. Her hopes weren't set high, though. She was sure the puppies she found on petfinder.com earlier in the week were most likely adopted by this point, but we decided to pay the no-kill shelter they resided in a visit, anyway. The shelter is called The Humane Society of Williamson County, and it is in Leander, TX about 30 minutes from Christy's apartment. It was amazing! This place had everything, and I'm not just talking about the tons and tons of dogs and cats from all ages and breeds. They had amazing volunteers, great places for these animals to get care, training, and exercise...it literally blew me away. It made me so happy to know a place like this existed. It actually struck a cord in my heart, deeply. We went in inquiring about the puppies, but, of course, they had been adopted already. We got to meet the mother of pups, though. She was so sweet, and as badly as I wanted Christy to take her home, she was still quite sickly from the puppy mill she was rescued from 2 weeks before. She needed a lot of care. It hurt my heart so bad to know people can treat animals the way they do...or even just abandon them! I fell in love with the cats there, too. There were so many, and they had such a nice home for being in a shelter (“Kitty Condo’s” as they called them). One even had a gynormous castle homemade for them to climb. It was so cute. Again, this place is a sanctuary. It may have changed my life.