This Week + Weekend Plans

I think I come up with tons of weird/random ideas, then slowly stop the follow through on them. It's getting a little hard to keep up on my post-it notes and scribbled sketches. But I can't stop! (won't stop!) Soooo, anyone know a good notebook brand/maker that can organize all this clutter?

This week. It's been an up and down one, but that's to be expected I think. Bad news for the hubs, his career of choice disqualified him. He was in the running for a government gig, but after 8 months they got him outta the running. End of race. Sorry no trophy for you. It's been hard since then, but that's life. Can't have happy without sad.

On the flip side, went to a wedding this weekend and had a blast! A family wedding, and it was old Hollywood glam. Sooo beautiful! I didn't snap any pics, unfortunately. My phone died long before the ceremony started, but some relatives took photos and we got this one emailed to us:

Awwww. Haha!

This long 3-day weekend, I'm going to enjoy it. I recently found this blog and am now all for the capsule closet! I even downloaded and printed out her free wardrobe planner to get started because I am that nerd type that likes to fill out paperwork before starting a project. I have been on the fence about trying this out for a while now, like a year. I'm glad Caroline breaks it all down in easy steps, and also doesn't take any prisoners when she says empty your closet. Alright already, I'll take everything out! It's going to be fun, and I could use a closet revamp or whatever that's called.

I'm also going to wash my poor little car because I finally got a call about parts being available to fix it! Yay!! I've been on the recall list since day one and I can't believe they finally shipped replacements to this tiny little beach town! That means bye bye hashtag: #deathtrapsaturn, I'm sure GM will be glad that's outta their lives. (They really hated that one). But I need to clean this sucker, it's very embarassing. I feel like I'm in high school again with sand all on the inside and dirt covering the windows. I used to live on property so a clean car never had a chance once you got up that dirt driveway.

Might surf, might write, definitely will drink wine. The Simpsons are on FXX for like 2 straight weeks. 24 hours, it's awesome.

Tonight is the usual date night sake bombs and sushi! TGIThursday peeps.

xo HM

Story 17 // The Ones Who Pet

My cat decided to post a diary entry. She's the best, check her out HERE.


Day 143

It takes forever straightening my fur, but it's worth it obviously.

Well my vacation is officially over. I was picked up from my summer condo yesterday, after spending three amazing days in the desert. The accommodations were nice, large space, plenty of room to spread out my things. The best part about the place was the private patio in the back. I was outside for what felt like hours! All the dirt I could dream of to roll around in...it was heaven.

When the Petters picked me up I was very reluctant to leave. The box they had me in was not what I had requested. It's very tight in there, plus cardboard dries out my whiskers. Not to complain, I just have standards. But then I was told we would be having margaritas, to which I promptly got in that small box and was whisked away to happy hour. 

So refreshing after a long day of travel!

I was so tired from the trip that I had to take a four hour nap. That couch is way too comfy. 

Then when I woke up I double checked that all the rooms smelled the same. Some doors were closed so I had to ask to get those opened. Sometimes my Petters don't hear me right away, or just look at me funny like I'm speaking another language. I have to repeat myself allll the time, so frustrating. I guess that's what you get when you have young Petters though. 

The rooms were in order, more or less, but pretty soon these huge bags on wheels came into the bedroom, and they took up my valuable bed space. I immediately climbed inside to investigate. Turns out the Petters have to take tons of clothes with them when they travel, since they don't have any fur. Talk about a pain. I would hate to have to pack all that for every trip I took. 

I watched the sunset as my Petter's watched the box of light and sound. It was so beautiful, I love summer nights. 

Then I asked to play with my favorite toy in the whole wide world, my string on a pole. I tell you this is the most fun I have ever had in my 8 months of life! I could chase that thing around for hours...

Well, I'm off to get a massage and fall asleep in my large bed that I share with my Petters. I love those two so much, I might even cuddle. 

Good night

-Marzee 

Story 16 // Astronaut

This is an memory-story combo, fyi. 

Hi, my name is Hannah and I'm an astronaut.  

photo source here

Some of my childhood memories are of being on timeouts during school. I don't know why I remember this, but I must of been on timeout a lot to keep it as a memory all these years. Timeout usually meant getting stuck in an unused classroom, being told the vague instruction to "think about what I've done", and being bored out of my mind. There was this big floor length mirror in the room, along with old toys no one wanted to play with any more, broken and worn out. So I would lay on my stomach in front of this mirror, close enough to see each freckle on my face. And I would look into it, into my face, and try to think about the day I was created. Not how I was created, this was way before I knew about "the birds and the bees", but more like who I was before being born. 

Does that make sense? Maybe I'm crazy, but I just had to know how I was made to look like this, exactly like this. Why did I have these features? Why was my face this shape, hair this color, etc? How does hair hold color, and why do people have all different shades? Why was I born in this town and not another? Why did I have these exact parents and not different ones? Did they have a purpose for me, or did I have a purpose for them? Why was I born in this exact era/decade/time? Why did my eyes have pupils, could I see things before I was born, and why couldn't I remember them now...? It literally kept me busy for the entire timeout. These timeouts must not have been too long, but to me it felt like I had been in front of that mirror for hours, asking these same questions about the universe and beyond. I thought if I asked them long enough, stared into my face hard enough, I would get my answers. 

Then, a little while later, in grade school, I remember learning all about space and the planets. There it was again, my burning questions about existence. But this time I thought maybe the answers were out there, if I could only venture into space myself to look for them. I would turn over every moon rock. I would travel all the way to Pluto (it's still a planet to me!) and stand on the highest rock on it's surface, peering over the top, on my tip toes, to see into space past it. I would squint into the blackness, shine my flashlight into the abyss, and wave my arms to flag the answers over to me. I was determined to find out about existence and the universe. 

So, I decided to become an astronaut. 

I would plan space missions while on the playground, usually resulting in unique but inconclusive findings. My mission logs were kept in a diary, double locked for confidential reasons. I started to get paranoid. I feared the government would one day raid my room and confiscate all my research. Someone was hiding these answers, I thought. Someone knows this already, I need to find them. They would answer them all for me, every last one. They would get it. 

Over the years, my aspirations to become an astronaut faded, as our childhood careers usually do. I would read science fiction books about space, but I lost the momentum to pursue my questions. But every once in a while I'll come across an article about space that will reignite my questions, and I'll once again feel that childlike excitement I had for space. I'll look up at the moon at night, on my patio holding my cat, and think about them. Maybe they are looking back at me, floating around Earth, just waiting for the right moment to drop down. Some nights I think I can sense them. 

I'll find those answers one day, I just know it. 

Getting What You Want Using Twitter

I'll admit it: I'm a huge hot head. I speak my mind on a regular basis, and if I upset someone in the process I really don't care. I love to argue points and share my opinion on hot button topics. It's not only that, if I see an injustice I'll gladly tell anyone and everyone where I stand on the issue. It's not a bad trait, but it's not necessarily a great one either. I've made enemies, pissed off people, upset friends, etc, so I know it's something that I should maybe fine tune. Maybe. I'm working on it (slowly).

But in the case of Twitter, it pays to be a hot head. Literally. I've gotten countless credits to my accounts I have with companies. It's the best resource for us hot heads to get our point across. And companies really, really hate when you start a negative hashtag (like #deathtrapsaturn, I'll explain later).

It all started one bright and sunny morning when I got a late charge on my cell phone bill. Now, before you ask, yes I had double checked I paid the bill, and I had paid it with plenty of time to spare too. The issue was that the tax had changed a little bit from last month's bill, increasing my total a few cents. So, naturally, a computer processing my payment saw I was slightly short, and penalized me. I was kinda upset, so I tweeted my mood. I said something like "a late fee for being short a few cents?! WTF"--you know, a typical hot headed comment. The company immediately replied back, and within an hour they had removed the late fee and credited my account $25--all because of a mean comment on Twitter. Now, I didn't expect to get a credit, but I decided to roll with it.

A month or so later, a company I ordered makeup samples from lost my order in transit. So, I took to the great and powerful Twitter to complain. But this time, I was a little nicer (read: I toned down my curse words). And bam! Got another order placed same day, plus a credit to my account.

Why are companies doing this you might ask? Couldn't they just ignore their "haters" and work on positive PR? Yes, and some companies do. But what I've found is that more and more companies are hiring people to be solely in charge of their Twitter image. They can help more people at a faster rate than going through email complaints. It's genius I tell ya!

Some companies aren't great yet at this whole Twitter thing, just a heads up. Take GM for instance. When my car was recalled, I found out that parts weren't available in my town. The closest shop with replacement parts was 2 hours away. And I was told not to drive that far. Soooo how was that going to work? Naturally, I complained via Twitter, and GM replied back in a kind of a generic, "direct message us any issues you are having" sort of nonsense. They really didn't see that I was without a safe vehicle until they got those parts shipped out to my isolated beach town. So I started the hashtag #deathtrapsaturn and they kinda got upset. Like private messaged me asking me to stop using that hashtag upset. But guess what? They are sending parts out! I don't know when, but I keep getting updates from them. So I'm on their radar at least. You win some, you compromise on some.

So I say to you, if you have an issue or complaint for a company, use Twitter first. Sure, they might ignore you, but I bet most will try to help you out. Fair warning, you do need to be aggressive. None of this "sorry to bug you" or "I think my order is damaged"--say it like you mean it. Get some courage and write a tweet that has a spine (and a good hashtag too). And see what happens. You might get more than you're asking for.

The Bad and the Good

The Bad

Found out my article never got published. Boo :( But at least I got paid for it! But, if I'm being honest, it would of been really cool to have an article published in this local magazine for SLO. Kinda bummed about it. Especially because it was kinda really easy to write. Oh well, I'll take the cash!

The Good

We found another happy hour! Yay! Phew, right? We are getting $2 12oz beers downtown at the restaurant that used to be Shins but isn't, and I can't remember it's new name now. Not quite the deal of a $4 40oz but hey, it's at a sushi place so that makes up for it.

Happy weekend!

xo HM

Story 15 // Waves

She listened to the waves lapping on the bottom of her board. It felt really good to be back in the water. It had been far too long of a separation, but she was back now, and enjoying the setting sun as she waited for the next set of waves to come in. This sunset surf was the best idea she's had in a while. The wind had died down around four in the afternoon, so she grabbed her beach stuff and booked it to the pier.

The air was a nice medium temperature. A little bit of heat lingered but was quickly turning into a crisper evening. She wished she had more days like this. The summer was slipping away it felt like. Wasn't it June like yesterday?

A slow rolling wave signaled the new set. She turned her board around and looked behind her. The wave was lazily strolling along, not rushing towards the coast at all. She began to paddle, deep pulls up to her arm pit and back again. She was gaining speed quickly. The wave rolled under her fins and lifted her up, then she turned to the right as she popped up. The whooshing sound of water filled her ears as her board hovered over the water. It was a perfect set, and she couldn't think of anywhere else she would want to be than right here in this moment.

As she got closer to the shore, a weird ripple caught her eye. It was coming from the wave she was gliding on, so she turned her head slightly to the right to see what it was.

A fin sliced through the water, and as the dark object turned, it opened it's jaw.

SHARK

AHHHHHH!!! She screamed, but no sound came out. She felt like the wind was knocked out of her.

What do I do?! She thought about bailing off her board, but no way could she out swim that animal. She was headed in a diagonal line to the coast, but it would still take a while to get there. Could she balance that long? How was this happening?? This is way too close to the shore!

Then the shark dove, deep, into the blue below. Slowly the ripples began to fade, then nothing. She looked down the wave's side, expecting to see this animal dart up at her. But, nothing.

She reached the shore and frantically grabbed her board. She picked it up over her head and ran through the ankle deep waters to the safety of the sand. Throwing herself down onto her towel, she unleashed herself and took in air as if she had just ran a marathon. That was way to close again! She looked down at her calf, where the white scar dotted her skin. The teeth marks were perfectly spaced. She rubbed it as if to try to erase the evidence.

That shark must have known that she was already marked. A survivor of last summer, she had the bite marks to prove it. This shark just wanted to let her know that it still ruled the ocean. As if she needed reminding.

Cable out

Sooo I'm still working on this week's story. Sorry, been a little uninspired this week. But it's started, just need to flesh it out and all that jazz. 

So, for now, do you want to hear about how our cable went out? 

Maybe? A little bit kinda? 

Well, our internet went out. All of a sudden, Charter decided to up and quit on us. And it's not like I'm not paying them good money for bon bons and caviar and whatever else cable indulges in. 

So the hubs tried to get everything up and running. Cords all over, it was like a tech-y dream up in here. He worked on it till midnight, and finally we got some basic channels and a weak internet connection. 

Now I know how this sounds. It's only tv and internet. Can't you live without it? 

TV yes. 

Internet--hell no. Sorry, some things aren't easy to be without. And I grew up in a time of cassette tapes and VCRs so I know life does go on but still. I need me some internet. 

So, we had a solid two day cleanse. Well, sorta, with the basic channels and weak internet and all. 

Then the cable guys got here and found the problem to be, drum roll please...

Our cable lines were mislabeled and our neighbors ended their service. So charter turned it off, not realizing it was ours. And then gave me a credit of $11. I know I'm rolling in the dough! 

Stupid right? 

That's what I thought. 

The end (to a terribly boring story) 

Instagram Art For Sale

Hey, are you interested in some of these photos here?

Specifically, these photos:

Really? Then check out my Society 6 shop and go buy yourself one or two! You can also access it through that banner on the right of my blog, above my About Me. 

(And let me know if you like a picture on my Instagram that's not in my Society 6 shop--I'll make it available ASAP).

Thanks! 

xo Han

The Bad and the Good

Well, the bad news is: our beloved mexican restaurant with the best happy hour in the land is closed. FOREVER. Sooo no more $4 40oz. Now it's a search for the next best Thursday happy hour that will never live up to our unrealistic standards. We had sake bombs instead last night. Tough times, I tell ya.

The good news: the hubs made homemade bruschetta for the whole entire office. That's right, garlic breath for everyone! He is a genius with tomatoes, and just about every other ingredient as well.

So that's my week in a nutshell. This weekend is going to be full missing my two BFFs in LA. They are probably up to some fun shenanigans right now. Super jealous! Damn you universe!

Until next time.

PS Hang in there Mom! ❤️

xo Han