I Know What I'm Going To Do

So I had a really bad day today. It sucks that I didn't have a good day... but because of my day, I came up with the best idea ever!

There I was, sitting on my couch with my computer on my lap thinking "what am I going to write as a facebook status?" I was cold and sad and all I could think of was this:

"I could use a Ron Weasley sweater right now" and I wasn't kidding I was super serious. When I look at that Maroon sweater and the messy "R" patched in the middle, all I can think of is comfort. I mean who needs a man to hold you tight at night when you have one of those puppies? So I looked it up online to see if I could buy one and someone wants $95 for some knock-off version that they made. Sorry, unless Vierra Wang knitted it herself, I wouldn't pay that much money for something I can make. And that's when it hit me. This big "light bulb" moment, my heart started to race a little faster in the excitement of my amazing epiphany... I WILL MAKE ONE!

I think this was knitted, and I crochet so it wont look like this but it will still be awesome!

Next time I get paid I am running straight to Jo-Ann's and purchasing the yarn I will need for this amazing project. Mind you, I've never made a sweater before.. but if I'm just going to wear it around the house when I'm feeling blue, who cares if it turns out good or not, right?

Right.

That's where I am at right now. It's past midnight and I have to be up early so I can ring up everyone's groceries tomorrow (ugh). But this project... oh this project is going to be AWESOME!!! Tomorrow I'll give you an update on how I'm keeping up with things on my list. I'm not sure if Toronto is going to work or not but we'll see.

Good Night Readers!!!!

(I'm so excited!!!)

-Patti Cakes

Burger Shop and Rain

I just want to apologize for not posting yesterday, I do own my own computer but my computer is the only one with The Sims 3 and all the expansion packs ever on it. It also has Burger Shop 2 and that's what my sister was playing yesterday and I guess I just didn't want to make her get off. I know that seems strange but Tiffanie and I have a special sister/best friend relationship... and Burger Shop 2 is the best game ever. Seriously, if you haven't played it played it, play it now.

Click here if you want to play! :) WARNING: You may and will get addicted.


So on a different note:

This summer (just like all the other summers since this magnificent creation came out) I am rereading the Harry Potter series. Yeah that's right, I'm a Harry Potter fan. Here's the thing though, this year I really wanted to read the series in Spanish, that would mean that I overachieved the item on my bucket list ( # 11 to be exact) and it would be nice to cross something off my list again. I wanted to get it on my nook but lovely pottermore wont let me buy the books in Spanish or get the UK versions and it really pisses me off. I would go on Amazon and buy the real books and have them shipped here but it would cost like$50 in shipping and handling. Maybe I'll just buy them when I go to London someday. (and I will get there someday)

Speaking on traveling! I might have the opportunity to go to Canada. I know it's weird that I've never been because I live in Vermont and at one time lived a whole 5 minutes walking distance from the border but I have never made it to the other side. It should be fun.

Well that's all I can think of for today. I think i just might buy a seed tomorrow and see if I can grow it. It's going to rain in Vermont today.

Peace out readers.

-Patti Cakes

Just In Case

I just realized that I didn't put it into my last blog, but I meant to... anyway I meant to let y'all know that I'm only going to blog Monday- Thursday .. unless something amazing happens on the weekend that I must must share, because I'm a busy girl during the weekend and eventually I'm going to write something special about what it means to be a cashier at a grocery store, but not until that job is over. I don't need to get fired if I say something wrong ya know?

But I have an ice cream sundae calling my name and maybe some dance time to get down.

Have a fun and safe weekend!

<3 Patti Cakes

Not So Tourist Day

Well today is the fourth day in a row that I've stuck with this which makes this the longest I've ever stuck with a blog ever! YAY!!! *do the cabbage patch* yeah!

Now with the celebrating out of the way I'm going to jump right into what I did today. I took one of the items on my list and tweaked it a bit. So the task for today was as follows:

Turn a regular trip that you've taken a hundred times and make it exciting by pretending you're a tourist on a road trip.

 So naturally as a tourist a took pictures of the whole day. I'll tell you what, you notice a lot more about your surroundings when you pretend that you're new to something. It was crazy. I took pictures of things I didn't think I would. I was double fun though after I got to my destination (my grandparents house) because my cousin Tara (who I haven't seen for two years because she has been in California) was there!!! Her boyfriend John played my guitar for us and we all danced and had a really great time. I'm just going to let my pictures speak for me. I definitely recommend doing this. It makes for an exciting and fantastic day, no matter what comes your way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'm even going to do this again with a different destination just to make sure it's still a good outcome. Seriously though, live your life like today is your last. Ever since I started this journey I have been so happy, the happiest I've been in a long time.

A quick note: I'm 20 pages away from finishing A Million Suns By Beth Revis and when I do finish it tonight I'll make sure I tell y'all how it is.

That's all for tonight.
Beautiful lives are made up by one day at a time. <3

This is Patti Cakes signing off,

-Patti Cakes

You know this is my twitter: @datspatticakes

 

It's Just Today

Hey guys, so I'm taking a break today on the list because I have a lot to get done around the house and phone calls to make. I guess part of what I'm doing is to reach one of the goals on my list still though. I'm calling the admissions office of a very amazing college that I would like to attend, and I also have to call the college that I'm currently enrolled into and let them know I wont be able to attend their college because I can't pay $16,000 out of pocket. (this economy sucks)

I can tell you though that I just found the most amazing book series ever! I'm an extremely picky reader because to me the plot doesn't matter at all, it's how the writer describes what's happening that makes all the difference. So this is the book:

Across the Universe By: Beth Revis

It's a trilogy and I know at first glance of the cover you might think that it's a sappy teenage love story... that couldn't be farther from the truth. It's filled with things that I've learned about in college, not only is Beth Revis an intelligent writer but she also has an amazing way of painting the scene with her words.

A Million Suns By: Beth Revis

I picked up the first book at a Border's store when they were closing and bought it without reading the inside or anything... everything at that point was $5 so I was going book crazy. I finally picked it up last summer to start reading it and immediately fell in love. I couldn't put it down, and I don't want to give it away but you'll be shocked with the ending. Trust me! I'm that girl that always guesses the ending, but this one blew me away!

Two months ago my sister, Tiffanie (AKA my best friend), asked me if I knew of a good book that she could read and I immediately lead her to Across the Universe. I think she fell in love with it more than I did.

Tiffanie and I: We're crazy Fools

Funny Story:
Last week we were at Barnes and Noble in Burlington (where I am almost everyday) and we were just walking around not sure what we were looking for. I had remembered another series I had read in high school called The Hungry City Chronicles By Philip Reeve, and searched for it on their computers. We were discussing how we really wished there was a sequel to Across the Universe (because we are apparently too stupid to look it up on the internet) when the computer lead me to a bookcase. It was the wrong bookcase because the book I was looking for wasn't there at all. Instead I found Across the Universe and next to it... oh you should have been there. It was like a spotlight was shining on the beautiful cover, a choir was singing (or maybe it was me) as I slowly lifted it from the shelf and held it in front of me like it was my long lost child, like I was a treasure hunter and it was my treasure, like I was that baboon from The Lion King and it was Simba.
Yes
It was real.
Tiffanie gasped and reached for it, (she couldn't reach it because she is significantly shorter than me) and we held it together. It was an amazing moment. Alas we were only window shopping that day and had no money at all. We thought about hiding it somewhere, but after analyzing the Barnes and Noble employees I had a feeling they would find it and put it back on it's shelf. So we put it in fate's hands and put it back next to the first book and we left Barnes and Noble empty handed and with an empty yearning.
Yesterday, we went back to that beloved bookstore and found it right where we left. We purchased it at the counter and that's where we meet up to the present time. Right as I type this I'm sitting in my living room chair next to Tiffanie reading the book at the same time. (we take turns reading it out loud... it's the same way we handled reading Harry Potter) Only I snuck in a couple of chapter last night while she was sleeping so she's catching up while I'm writing this.

I'll tell you how it was, I'll write a little book review.

That's all for today. Happy Reading everyone :)

My Twitter: @datspatticakes

Adios!
-Patti Cakes

Bucket List Item # 16 Part 1

Just to start things off, I really wish I could do that "go scuba diving" thing today... but I live in Vermont and there is some scary algae in the lake right now... and I think it would be more fun to do that in the ocean. I'm going to be in Florida in my near future anyway, so maybe I should do that one then.

So I created this "to-do" item because I make a lot of stuff. I crochet, sew, glue, staple... (haha but no I really do) and it's so rewarding when you give someone a gift for no particular reason. So the first person I decided to give one of my creations to is an amazing member of my dance family, Sally. This all started months ago when I was at the dance studio and I had brought all of my costume changes with me in a bag that I made.

It was this bag

This is the inside

My dance family was commenting on it and when I told them I made it they were like "no way!" and Sally said "could you make me one? It would have to be a backpack though because I can't wear the shoulder strap bags." I told her I would and that was that. I know a lot of the times when people have those kinds of conversations they wouldn't actually make the bag, but I'm not like that. Plus Sally totally did something that rocked my world in June that definitely sped up the process of making her bag.

You see, my dance family did the Relay For Life together and I had never done anything like that before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. When the sun was starting to set and all of the luminaries were lit, the weight of everything just kind of finally stumbled out of me. You see, my older sister Jackie died of cancer and even though I had never meet her in person I see the pain of a lost child in my mothers eyes and I dream about her all the time. It happened to be her birthday on the exact day we were at the relay and I just started to cry. Sally saw and held my hand for probably 7 laps around the track (which is almost 2 miles), even after our arms got gross and sweaty she held on and she might not know it, but that was just what I needed. No one has ever reached out like that and let me just let it all out. I'm an extremely selfless person so it's a rare moment when I let myself free my emotions and let the sympathy light shine on me for a while even though other people were in the same or similar boats. That night I finally let go and wouldn't have been able to do it if Sally never reached out. 

My UDC North dance family at Relay For Life:  this was the last hour as you can see we are tired.

From Left to right in this picture is: Sally (you know her now), Jess (my amazing dance teacher), Pete (Jess's husband), Crystal (an awesome dancer), aaannd me.

So after that I was like, "this girl is getting her bag ASAP!" I was trying to finish it before last Thursday's dance class, but these things take a lot of time. I'm also a perfectionist and didn't want to rush it and it ending up looking like crap. So after a lot of hand sewing (because my sewing machine is broken) and hours of crocheting, I finally finished it! I make my own patterns by the way, I'm too much of a rebel to follow some other person's design. Here is the final product!

The Back: The yellow part is two pockets for wallets or water bottles

The Front: It's just awesome

The Inside: I found this hand-dyed fabric that was gorgeous and double sided.

I threw the heart on there because I was going to originally stitch her initials in it but the cross-stitch I used for the bag was too hard to work with for skinny letters. I think I like the heart better though. :)

I gave it to her tonight at dance class and she liked it a lot. I'm signing off now with another successful knock at my list. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow but we'll see what I'm able to come up with.

Peace out readers!

Follow me on Twitter: @datspatticakes

And I'll give a shout out to the best dance studio in Vermont UDC North: http://www.danceupnorth.com/

-Patti Cakes

Bucket List Item #19: Room Cleansing

Hola! So the item on my Bucket List that I decided to tackle today was this:  

 Have a spotless, dustless, pristine and clean room for 12 months straight. (this means vacuuming, dusting, windexing, making my bed, everything that makes for extreme cleanliness). 

The first thing I had to do to make this work was I had to actually get my room that clean, which is a complete opposite of what it was this morning. I still have laundry to fold and a bed to make, but as far as seeing my bedroom floor again... it's actually there! I expected it to be a giant chore (which it was), but I didn't expect it to turn into a treasure-finding adventure!!

 

BEFORE!!!!

Now just so y'all know; I'm not generally a messy person. My closet broke, I was packing for college, I had a cold and so on. Yeah, I know they sound like excuses but it's my story and I'm sticking to it! So I started off by sitting in my desk chair (the very one I'm sitting in now) and just looked at it all. I breathed in the dusty air (because I hadn't been in there for a couple of months) and breathed out a sigh of surrender. I put my  "Lets Do This!" face on and stood up and attacked it, starting with my wardrobe. 


I don't know how it happened, but over the years I have come to own about 70 shirts and 10 pairs of pants... that ratio doesn't really make sense. Then again, I as a person, barely makes sense so I guess it works for me perfectly. So anyway after I had folded all of my clothes or put my clothes on hangers (because I need both a dresser and a closet for all of my shirts) I grew tired and decided it was breakfast time.

Breakfast Time

After a couple more hours of procrastination, I finally got to it again. I got really excited when I found a dime on the floor! Makin' money while taking steps to get something done on that old bucket list... it's always good when you find money though.

 

I also found that shirt I used to wear when I was a senior in High School.

Yes, this is T-shirt

I had to take another four hour "break" because I had to go to work and push those damn carts in that desert-hot sun and ocean thick humidity. After I got home though I was so determined to finish this! I took out the vacuum and dusted every shelf in my room. 

 It feels to good to sit here right now in my room and write this right now. Here is the final product:

 

AFTER

I'm excited for tomorrow's challenge. If any of my readers come up with something good let me know. I'm going to post the first 50 things on my bucket list tonight. I know "cleaning my room" isn't very original, but it was on the list and needed to be done, and besides I can't cross this off unless I keep my room in this beautiful condition for 12 months.

For now though, I'm going to relax in this space and keep on writing. Good night readers!

<3 Patti Cakes
My Twitter: @patticakes