Don't Tell Me To Smile

"C'mon now, gimme a smile! It'll brighten my day!"

Some days you're just pumping gas. And then some days you're expected to look up from your task and give a strange man a smile because he so requested and it would make his day all the better. 

This happened the other day on our way down to our food truck builders when I stopped for gas. The machine at the pump wasn't working so I had to go inside to pay and when I exited, a large SUV pulled up near my vehicle and just parked while blocking multiple spots. I went about my business, got the gas pumping and stood there facing away and feeling eyes on me. 

Men, we know when we're being ogled. We can feel your eyes burn into us, we're not oblivious. 

So, I resolved to just not look over and as I'm tightening the gas cap the bearded, middle aged man behind the wheel of the SUV slowly creeps past my line of sight with his window down and says,

"Hi, how are you?"

"Good..."

"C'mon now, gimme a smile! It'll brighten my day!"

And right before I could automatically curl my lips into a smile I had a quick realization. No, I won't smile for you. I don't have to smile for you. Why do I have to do anything for you? You're a stranger. You have absolutely no business with what I do with my face. 

Will it really brighten your day if I smile my feminine smile at you? Well, too damn bad. I guess you're due to have a rotten day, sir. 

"No thanks, I'm good," I raised my eyebrows and gave a sarcastic thumbs up as he retreated in defeat, still pleading with me to smile as he drove off. 

I am not saying that I am at all unwilling to smile. I have what is technically called BRF (or Bitchy Resting Face). It's a "problem" that has been getting more and more attention as of late thanks to classic "sufferers" like Kristen Stewart. 

I've been told for years, "When I first met you, I thought you were snobby!" or "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I'm not mad, this is just how my face looks! But there's one thing that BRF has in common with the smile-incident: men are the only ones who have told me to smile. I have never heard a woman tell a man or a man tell another man to smile.

I don't concern myself with stranger's moods and have never told someone I've never talked to in my life to smile. To be blunt, telling a woman to smile is a misogynistic act. If you want a woman to smile that badly, do something to make her smile like make a genuine (not creepy) compliment. This isn't to dissuade people from engaging with others in public, but we need to engage each other in ways that don't make the other uncomfortable. 

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And a side note: To be honest, I've grown to love my bitchy resting face! It keeps those kiosk people in the mall from talking to me because I think I scare them! It used to really bother me that my face looked unhappy in moments of non-emotion but I've learned to embrace it. I can't change it and it makes me feel kind of like a bad ass.

Happy Things

Things Are Making Me Happy Right Now:

1.) After sitting in my Netflix queue for a while I decided to dive into "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" at about 11:30 pm. Bad idea because I stayed up well past 3 am watching episodes. But, I regret nothing! That show is awesomely hilarious and I'm so sad there's only two seasons. Still, definitely worth a watch.

2.) My new cell phone case that's really floral and girly. I normally don't gravitate toward those kind of things but the color makes me happy. And, it was only a few bucks!

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3.) Our new little shop vac that we got at Walmart a while back. I hadn't used it yet but then the other day I broke it out of the box and I wanted to VACUUM ALL THE THINGS! It's been great for spring cleaning. 

It's almost the same as this one:

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4.) My lightweight Old Navy hoodies. It's been the perfect temperature to wear them and I've been in them almost constantly (and as I'm typing this).

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5.) One of my favorite shows in the world is Parks & Recreation but I only recently picked up this book (the main character, Leslie Knope, writes a book in the show). I love it... but it always makes me crave waffles! (If you don't know the show you might think that's weird.) 

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6.) And goofy little deployment/Navy things I find on Pinterest that make me laugh. 

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This one is funny because I almost really suggested that! I'm sure he'd love to spend more time on a boat after being gone for months on end.

I sent this last one to him the other day and his reply was something like, "That's exactly how it is!"

Care Package #2

I sent out Russ' care package on March 31st and he received it April 23rd! I didn't expect it to take that long. I mean, I get it because they're not always in port and can't receive mail but jeez. 

The cute little box I sent out was not received that way. He said it was heavily damaged and looked as if it had been delivered by Ace Ventura:

The box was "frankenstein-ed" back together, as he put it, and his poor little oatmeal cream pies were as thick as a sheet of paper. :( I'm sure he'll still eat them but that's just sad! 

On Friday I mailed out his next package, which... should have been his "birthday" care package but I wasn't thinking about it being time for that until May. With the time frame on receiving his packages, it will be his birthday by the time he gets this next one. Oh well, I will make him a birthday themed box next time which I plan to send in two weeks. 

Care packages are expensive though! I had no idea it was going to cost this much. A flat rate box will cost about $15 on its own for military, but double that for our adopted sailor and it's $30 each time. Not to mention the contents... I probably spend about $100 in supplies. I never imagined!

Anyway, Russ' theme for Care Package #2 was Mystery Science Theater 3000. We both love that show and I thought it would make an adorable theme without being cheesy.

The only thing I printed out was the logo of the show- other than that I painted it to look like space and painted out their little space ship, the satellite of love. I put an envelope for a letter and a couple pictures that I printed out. 

What did I pack this time:

-Werther's Original

-King Size Paydays

-Sour Punch Straws

-Oreos

-Airbourne

-Fruit Smiles Gummies

-New Headphones

-Heat & Eat Pasta

-Mentos

-Ramen Cups

-Honey Mustard & Onion pretzels

-Cliff Bars

-Chicken Noodle soup (in a heatable container)

-Chapstick 

And I think a few other things that I can't remember? I gotta start making these lists before I send them! haha

Hopefully this box will have safer travels than the last! I doubt it.

Skagit Tulip Festival!

After wishing for a decently non-rainy day (because sunny would be too much to ask for), Mom and I finally got a chance to drive up to Mt. Vernon, Washington to see what the Skagit Tulip Festival was all about. 

It goes every year from April 1-30 so we're really cutting it down to the wire to visit! There are fields and fields of tulips, daffodils, and irises but we chose to go to Tulip Town which nice because we weren't traipsing around the fields in the middle of no where. We paid $5 each and got to visit a shop or two set up inside a barn and buy some tulips. Behind the barn area there were the tulip fields along with a couple pretty garden areas set up. 

Enough talk, here's the tulips...

This garden and fountain was dedicated to our fallen veterans.

We had such a fun time! I expected the fields to be muddier than they were because it had rained the night before but except for some puddles, it wasn't too bad. But the fields were just breathtaking! I would definitely love to try and get out there every year because it's a great way to welcome Spring... though, it was a little chilly to really feel like Springtime!

Thrift Store Find: $10 Campaign Nightstand

While cruising one of my favorite thrift stores of the area, Value Village, Mom and I stumbled on an adorable treasure. An adorable $10 treasure. We don't need another nightstand but for only $10, how could we pass it up? It's cute, sturdy, cheap and has potential. 

It really wasn't a question of if we were going to buy it but more like a "who is going to buy it?"

I still love my Ikea Rast nightstands so I told Mom that she should get it. She has an Ikea Malm one now, I believe. I do like Ikea a lot but sometimes you need something with a little character. 

And this campaign nightstand has some character. She told me that I can fix it up any way I wanted to. Despite getting a few ideas off of Pinterest, I haven't decided what is best for this piece. 

I thought about painting it since the finish on the drawers is so scratchy. There were some wonderful examples around the web of pretty colors and finishes. 

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Pinned via Etsy- No Source Found

I really love the way this wood looks and I've been contemplating just leaving it unpainted and restoring the wood to its former glory. 

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It's not as if the wood of the nightstand is that amazingly beautiful that it would be shameful to paint but maybe it could be re-stained to look better? 

We'll see what I can come up with. 

Pinworthy

I've been up to my nose in business stuff and it's fun to take a break from all that sometimes. Here's a few things I'm loving right now that help to take my mind off business stuff when it seems like my mind won't stop spinning.

I love this tapestry. The colors are amazing and the desert scene is really lovely. I wish I had a place to put this!

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This great motivational poster that I'm really considering getting (maybe even finding a place on the truck for it...):

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This fabric I found on Etsy for the truck curtains...

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This cute couples Q&A book:

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I've loved this cabinet ever since it only came in two colors: red and black. Now it comes in nearly a dozen pretty colors! (I think Mom really wants the green one...)

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Friday High 5

1.) Since Russ has been on night duty we've gotten to email back and forth just about every night. It's been wonderful to get to chat so much. :)

2.) Yesterday I went to Second Use (a store with a ton of awesome salvaged furniture and fixtures) and bought two sets of cabinets that we're taking to get installed today! They're really close to matching each other and we plan to paint them white. They're oak and were only $20 each.

3.) We also got our baking racks delivered this week that I put together yesterday evening. Aren't they shiny and gorgeous?!

4.) We're in talks with a graphics company for our truck and we submitted to them a tentative design which they loved. We're getting a quote by Monday which we can find some way to afford... hopefully.

5.) The kitties were extra cute this week:

Have a great weekend!

Bag It Up

I've been having a difficult time keeping all the truck and business paperwork organized. I knew I wanted a new messenger bag to hold everything and make it easier to haul all the truck/business things with me. I've got binders, planners, notebooks, and an accordion folder that I've got to keep track of and together so I set out to find the perfect bag.

Because I accidentally have Amazon Prime (as in... I signed up for the free month trial at Christmas and then like an idiot I forgot to cancel it and it charged me $79 for the year...), I first looked there because I can get free two day shipping on tons of items. Being so close to Seattle, some things come the very next day! :D

What I had originally wanted was some grungy-looking military bag with worn canvas and leather accents that was slouchy, casual and cool. I wanted something that looked broken in and years of use just added to its charm.

There were many contenders but then I stumbled upon this bag and loved it immediately:

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It comes in a variety of colors and they are all rich and gorgeous. I had a hard time choosing which color because I liked them all. I ultimately chose the color above called 'Tide' and ordered it in the 'medium' size (I had to look at the measurements to even see what a size medium bag was). I let it sit in my cart for a few days while I thought it over and the price went from $65 to $55. Sometimes that'll happen, not usually, but I think I still would've ordered it for $65 anyway. 

Strangely, until I took this picture I hadn't noticed that the zippers and straps in the listing are black and my bag has a matching strap and zippers... ? 

Oh well, I still love this bag and I think I might like it better than the Amazon listing.

I love the polka dot lining.

There's tons of compartments to keep my wallet, checkbook, truck keys, pens, and car keys. 

So far I've only used the main part of the bag for our binders and things but the back portion has a cushioned partition for a laptop (which might be useful in the future). It's also got a velcro strap to keep it secure.

The back has another padded compartment that could be used for a tablet. 

I've already used it a couple times while we're out on truck-related errands and it's worked great. It's comfortable to wear and it allows me to have all our papers together AND my personal items so I don't have to keep track of all these binders and a purse.