End of February Summarization

February felt like kind of an off month in a lot of ways, and I’m not really sure why. I ate healthyish, sometimes. I worked out but kind of fell off that wagon a bit towards the end of the month due to some pains in my shoulder and knee.

I read two books - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Both are being made into movies: Fault comes out in June and Gone Girl in October. I really really enjoyed both books, and I'm looking forward to seeing the movies. I read that Gone Girl's third act is completely different from the book, even though the script is written by the author.

It was a fairly light month, movie-wise. I somehow only saw 2 movies in theaters, only one of which was a new release - 3 Days to Kill. The other was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Plus 10 others on DVD and Netflix.

Next month I want to focus more on my eBay business, my creative projects, and getting rid of some junk in my apartment!

Worrying & Overthinking

I have a real problem with overthinking everything. The way I see it, I like to be prepared for any and all situations that may come my way. Unfortunately, this also means that I spend a lot of time worrying about things that will never actually happen.

I read these two articles (How To Stop Overthinking and How To Stop Worrying) on Positivity Blog and found some tips that I've been trying to incorporate into my life. 

Put things in a wider perspective. This is often hard to do in the heat of the moment, but it does cause you to realize that, though it seems like a huge deal at this second, it doesn't matter in the long run. I try to do this a lot when I'm stressed out about something. 

Realize that you can't control everything. I can't keep obsessing about everything that might happen and all the ways I might react to it. A lot of things are out of my control and I just have to learn to roll with it. Things probably won't turn out the way I expect anyway, so it becomes a waste of time to try to predict everything.

Tell yourself to stop when you know you can't think straight. Sometimes when I'm on a negative train of thought, I literally just have to tell myself to stop it and think about puppies or something else instead. Otherwise my brain is just going to keep going and going into ever-increasing negativeness.

Most of the things you worry about haven't happened. And they probably won't. So spending time worry about them is a huge waste of time and energy. Plus, you know, there's so many things to worry about that actually will happen.

Don't try to guess what someone else is thinking. When I was younger I cared SO much about what other people were thinking of me, all the time. It was paralyzing. I'm a LOT better about this now, though I definitely do succumb to it. 

What is one small step I can take right now to start improving this situation I am in? This one is challenging for me, but I feel like it could be enormously helpful. Instead of just feeling anxiety, DO something that will actually help. Even if it seems small, it's a good start.

If Websites Were People

This YouTube series, If Websites Were People, is hilarious and so incredibly on-the-nose!

• Etsy - "I find myself reading more just so I can use all of my handmade bookmarks."
• Tumblr - "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but this had to be said at this moment - dance like no one's watching."
• Fox News - "I'm not trying to write the best paper, I'm trying to write the one that will garner the most attention."
• Jezebel - "I'm sorry, is there a reason your face is making that phallic expression?"
• Gawker - "I tried a recipe from goop.com and I'm pretty sure that Gwyneth is part of the Illuminati."
• WebMD - "Hey, you should wear a hat! You'll catch malaria!"
• Groupon - "Sorry about your dead cat! You should give it a Viking funeral and then serve punch and cookies afterwards. That'll confuse and delight everyone."

I wish they had other websites, like Facebook would be like, "Hey, remember that crazy scary girl from 4th grade? She's a kindergarten teacher now!" Or Twitter would be like, "Hey, I had eggs for breakfast! I had a witty thought and need to share it with everyone right away!"

Friday Faves: Valentine's Day Edition

The perfect Valentine's Day card.

I LOVE this awesome candy heart bag from Aldo!!

I'm a sucker for locks and keys, so I love this necklace from Coach!

This Alice & Olivia heart pouch envelope is an understated alternative to red and pink hearts!

Of course, if you do like pink hearts, then these Alice & Olivia shoes are super cute (I desperately need some d'orsay flats in my life). 

Check out these tasty looking Valentine's Day cocktails!

Adventures in Downtown LA

After I was dismissed from jury duty, I decided to walk around downtown a bit. I pretty much never spend any time downtown, ever, so I didn't really know what there was to do. Luckily, they actually provided us with a little brochure of sights to see in the area. 

First off, there's the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Designed by Frank Gehry, it's home to the LA Philharmonic. They offer tours, which I'm definitely putting on my LA Bucket List.

Grand Park takes up a block or two with it's beautiful greenery, fountains, and a bunch of hot pink chairs and tables! I sat down for a while to read and watch the fountain.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is also within walking distance of the courthouse. I didn't end up going inside, but I did check out the gift shop!

I couldn't go inside, but I walked around the exterior of the Music Center and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.











I unsuccessfully tried to find Angel's Flight, a cable car dubbed "The Shortest Railway In The World." For just 50 cents, you can ride it the two whole blocks it takes you.

MOCA is also nearby, but I wasn't able to get there. Apparently, if you have a juror badge you can get in for free. 

Jury Duty in Los Angeles County! aka Super Fun Times!

I had jury duty this week, for the first time ever! I had no idea what to expect, so I turned to Google for answers and was pleased to find several bloggers talking about their experiences with jury duty. So I thought I would write up my experience, in the hopes that someone like me, frantically googling at all hours of the night to figure out what to expect the next day, might find it helpful!

To start with, definitely make sure to tell your boss that you have jury duty ahead of time, remind them the week of, and then let them know as soon as you found out if/when you have to report to court. Hopefully your boss will be as chill as mine were. Their reactions were literally, “Yay! Have fun!” like I was going to Disneyland or something.

On the day of, I gave myself an hour to get from Hollywood to Downtown, and I think it ended up being just about the perfect amount of time. It didn’t take long to get downtown, but finding the parking garage proved somewhat difficult. You park at Walt Disney Concert Hall parking garage (it's the big shiny silver crazy looking building). I went in at 2nd and Hope. Show your juror badge that you should have received in the mail to the parking attendant and they'll let you in for free.

Once you've parked, take the escalators up (and for the love of God, remember where you parked. Remember which side you’re on. Consider taking a picture to refer back to when you’re tired at the end of the day and can’t remember) and up and up to the lobby level and exit the building. The Courthouse is catty-corner to the Concert Hall, so cross the street and then cross the street again. There’s a metal detector set-up just like at the airport (no x-ray scanner though!). There’s virtually no signage to let jurors know where to go. Basically just walk a little ways until you come to the elevators/escalators on your left. Take them down 2 flights (you entered on the 4th floor) and then hang a left. You’ll see a kiosk (selling snacks and free coffee!) and then a room with a bunch of blue chairs. That’s where you go. Make sure to go to the window and turn in your form and get your badge.

And then, you wait. The chairs are actually pretty comfortable. There are bathrooms right there in the room, at the back. There are outlets in the front and to the side, if you need to charge your phone or something. There are also computers, and there’s free wi-fi, but apparently you can’t access Facebook or some email providers?? I don’t know for sure, I didn’t try it out. And the kiosk just outside of the room has all kinds of snacks, and free coffee (thank god!). Every once in a while (only twice in my case), they will announce they need jurors, and will start calling out names, and then they’ll let you know where to go.

At noon, they dismiss you for lunch, until 1:30. There are lots of options downtown, I’m sure, but I chose to go to the cafe at the courthouse, Panorama Cafe, named for it’s panoramic views of downtown. They have Mexican food, grilled food, prepackaged sandwiches and salads. There are really friendly people in blue shirts that will direct you to where each of these stations are. The cafe was pretty crowded, but I managed to find an empty table outside, and enjoyed my quesadilla while gazing out at the cityscape.

In the end, I never got called to be on a jury, which was actually a little disappointing. I was really curious to see what goes on in the process, and to see the inside of a courtroom and stuff. Maybe next year!

Other tips: bring a book, Kindle or other tablet, or something else to keep your interest while you sit for upwards of 8 hours. Bring a snack! I brought an apple, which was a poor choice. It’s so quiet in that room, and biting into that apple was SO loud. Bring a scarf or jacket, in case it’s cold, and also so that you can leave it at your seat and mark your territory when you go to the bathroom or get a snack (if you're a territorial person like I am and reluctant/nervous that you might lose your perfect seat). Do the orientation online ahead of time so you can skip the in-person one at 7:30am, and instead stroll in at 9am. Bring your phone charger in case your battery runs low, since there are outlets in the room.

So that was probably more detailed than anyone needs, but I always like to have as much information as possible when encountering a new and unfamiliar situation. I hope this helps anyone who comes across it!

Wombat!

Cute Overload posted a couple videos featuring super cute wombats yesterday, and I was so enchanted by these ridiculously cute and cuddly bear-looking things, it inspired me to do some research on them!

These are the videos!

Wombats are native to Australia, which unfortunately means I probably can't go to PetSmart and get one, or find a wombat rescue center or something. They are nocturnal, like hamsters, and herbivores, like bunnies (two of my favorite household animals!). They can reach speeds of up to 25 mph, which seems pretty fast for such little things! They are marsupials, like koalas, and have the same slow digestive systems that koalas do. Apparently, there's a national Wombat Day on October 22. I'm going to mark that in my calendar for future reference and celebration. 

There are two different kinds of wombats - Bare Nosed and Hairy Nosed. The difference mainly is that the Hairy Nosed ones are kind of weirder looking. Also, they are somewhat bigger and softer than their Bare Nosed cousins, plus they are considered endangered, whereas the Bare Noseds are not! They average around 55 pounds and 40 inches long.

So there are all my facts about wombats. I'm still upset I can't adopt one. And even if I went to Australia, I probably wouldn't see (and capture...) one because most Australians have never seen one in the wild!