My Chrismukkah shopping

I just went out and bought a majority of my Chrismukkah gifts today and it felt so good to finally be able to do that. I usually am only able to buy gifts for a few people, but this year with my new job and better pay, I couldn't help myself.

I just hope everyone enjoys their gifts :]

Happy Holidays!

Birthday/Chrismukkah list 2008

I figure I might as well put mine up now too since my birthday is coming up faster than you know.

All I honestly want...is a new phone.


Preferably an iPhone. Although I don't have an upgrade until January, a late birthday present is fine with me. Because I really dislike my phone and how I can't keep it on vibrate and ring without it making stupid chimes every time I do something and how out of control my vibrate is.

Other than that, I would totally dig gift cards to Urban Outfitters, H&M, or Forever21. Because all I reallyreally need is winter clothes. Or cash is cool too. :]

this is me updating.

so Alexander will stop asking me to,

Epic WIN.

I drove out to Buffalo Grove for the first time EVER from Elgin in pitch black darkness of the roads and I didn't get lost!

WHAT'S UP NOW, MOM! Take that for passing down your horrible sense of direction! HUZZAH!

My death wish for my tonsils.

Y'know...I'm getting really tired of feeling better...,then sleeping...then waking up and feeling like shit again. Although sleep is much needed for me right now and feels great when I am sleeping, because I sleep with my mouth open, it just makes my throat hurt again.


IOFKLSJFKLDSJFKLDJSFKLDSJLKFJKLDSJFKJ! NOT HAPPY!

I just want them out already. little bastards.

Sami vs. Tonsils

So my throat started bothering me Tuesday night but I didn't really think much of it and yesterday it started to get more annoying. I checked my tonsils in the mirror and saw my right tonsil was inflamed and had white patches all over. I took Dayquil and Airborne all day and last night I checked out my tonsils again and the left one was inflamed and the right one got bigger and almost engulfed my entire throat hole and had more white patches.

I went to Jack's ENT this morning and he told me I have a minor case of Tonsilitis. AWESOME. Third times the charm.
So now I'm on an antibiotic for 10 days and he said if I have any more throat problems within the year I should consider getting a tonsillectomy. whatajoke.

I hate my tonsils.

Epic fail.

So tonight I traveled to downtown Elgin by myself to go to a body piercing shop to get a new ring for my monroe piercing and stupid me forgot to print out reverse directions from Google Maps to get home and I ended up getting way lost and because of my pride, I tried to figure out how to get home by myself and ended up going in a circle like 5 times.

EPIC FAIL.

So the lesson learned tonight: never leave home without reverse directions if you're going somewhere you've never been to or have only been to once.

Good job, Samantha.

Feeling "at home".

Yesterday I emptied some of my boxes and have my stuff in accessible places so I feel a lot more comfortable now. I hate living out of a suitcase, and now that my stuff isn't in suitcases and most boxes...I feel a lot more at home.
So far, I am very happy living here and I'm very excited to meet up with friends without having a time constraint and I'm curious and excited to get a job (Hopefully at Urban Outfitters!).

So far, I think it is safe to say that I am confident in my choice of moving back here and I hope it only gets easier from here :]

back in the IL for almost three days

and it feels like I never left :P

Once I get acclimated, everything should be cake!

My monroe.

okwell, I'm gonna make this explanation short and sweet:
For a long time I really wanted my 'monroe' pierced, which is a piercing in the same spot Marilyn Monroe had her beauty mark just because I thought it was cute and it's just one of those things I've always wanted to do.

My parents were never going to be okay with it..but because I was open and honest about it they let me get one! So today, I went and got it done!

TADA!

I'm hilarious.

I keep saying that I'll update this thing more and I never end up doing it. haha. I haven't even been updating the livejournal that I've had for four+ years lately. I just have too many things going on (even though it seems like I don't since I'm not back at work yet or anything).

So, this is my catch-up entry to follow up my month stay with my brother, sister-in-law, and monkey nephews (Even though it's been around two weeks since I've been back): I had a great time.
I didn't get to see the friends I used to have when I lived in Buffalo Grove as much as I wanted to (I only got to spend time with one friend throughout my entire trip)...but I was okay with that because I got so much closer with my brother then I have in my entire life and I also developed a stronger relationship with my sisterinlaw and I got to spend time with my nephews that I barely get to see. Yes, there were times where I wanted to just punch my brother in the face...but no matter what went on during my stay, it was a great experience and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

And not gonna lie, when I came back...I already missed being there and being around the family I barely get to see and being able to watch my nephews learn new things and "grow up" while I was there. And while I was comfortable with the life I had before I went to Chicago as far as my friends, job, school, etc. After my month stay, I have become more and more excited and anxious to move back to Illinois and go to Columbia College.

Well, now, I have that choice! I was given the opportunity by the Chicago Maidy's to stay with them and help take care of my nephews and work towards my goal of being able to go to Columbia. And while this offer has come at a time that is very time constraining...I have a great opportunity to experience. I'm still thinking about it even though I don't have much time left before fall semester starts and when they would need me up there...but I know whatever decision I stick with will be the best for me.

Finally.

Tomorrow night I leave to stay with my brother, sister-in-law, and my two nephews for 30 days.

It's kind of surreal to think that tomorrow has come so fast, because I remember when we decided I would come up around this time last year. Time just goes by so fast.

so obviously I'll be updating this more since I'll be posting pictures and whatnot. I am SO excited!!!!

I have a bunch of things to look forward to in the next month:

-Being HOME
-Spending time with my family that I don't see enough
-Meeting my new nephew:p
-THE DARK KNIGHT! AHHH!
-Catching up with old friends
-Getting away from the humidity and annoying people that inhabit the Boca Raton area
-Not having to worry about work and school

and the list could go on forever.

I just can't wait to be back home. I really can't.

Pharyngitis.

So Monday night during my Art Appreciation class from 6:00 to usually 9:00, my throat started feeling a little scratchy, but I didn't think anything of it.

Tuesday morning I woke up and my throat was killing me. I took some DayQuil, gargled, sprayed some chloraseptic, made some tea with honey, and left for work. Almost my entire shift at work my throat was feeling way better, almost like it completely went away. When 2:30 rolled around (30 minutes left until the end of my shift), my throat started hurting me again. I finished what I needed to finish for my shift, and then left 15 minutes early.
I stopped off at CVS to buy more DayQuil and went home where I tried to take it easy but then had to leave to go back to work because I left my sketchbook, then went to my night class for American Literature. All throughout the class I wanted it to go by faster so I could go home because my throat was starting to throb. And for some reason throughout the entire class I was freezing, and I'm pretty sure I was the only one. I finally get out at around 9:15, and went home where I took NightQuil, put on flannel pants and a long sweatershirt (I was still freezing) and then went to bed.

I kept waking up in the middle of the night because my throat was hurting so bad; swallowing was so painful. So at around 5AM I woke up and decided to go the bathroom to spray some Chloraseptic on my throat. As I was putting the chloraseptic away, I started getting really dizzy and broke out into a cold sweat. I had to lean against the wall to avoid from falling. I don't even know how long I was in that position, but I'm assuming not long after I fell to the floor and remained there for a while. I don't remember how I got to the floor, but as soon as I regained consciousness, I somehow walked to my parent's bedroom on the other side of the house and sat down in their chair and my back was in extreme pain. I woke up them and told them what happened and sat in the chair for about 20 minutes until they got up and told me to lay in the bed for a while. I fell asleep and woke up at around 8am and told my mom I needed to change into different clothes because I was sweating, so she walked me by to my room where I was going to change my clothes. As I was standing in my room waiting to change my clothes, I started getting really dizzy again and felt like vomiting. As my mom was walking me towards the bathroom I blacked out again and so she brought me back to my bed.

I went to the doctor's at around 9:30 and they ran some tests and told me they would call today if I had strep. He then told me that I should go to the ER because I fainted twice. So I spent about four hours in the ER while they ran tests. They ran me on an iv and pricked me like, 3 times to get a vein and gave me some antibiotic that had steroids in it to reduce the inflammation of my throat and then gave me liquids to rehydrate me. After about four hours, missing my afternoon class (in which I had a test due and had to pick up another test), they diagnosed me with Pharyngitis, which is just a fancy word for a bacterial sore throat.

They prescribed me a pill for my throat and cough syrup (which I refuse to taste because A. When I was a child, cough syrup never went very well with me and B. I don't have a cough). So I went to bed feeling a lot better than I did earlier, but my throat still hurt.

I woke up a few times in the middle of the night last night, not neccessarily because my throat hurt but maybe just because of all the sleep I've been having. I woke up this morning at around 7:45AM and my throat feels almost 50% better.


So the moral to this story is....if a boy says that his throat is a little scratchy...don't kiss him anyway, you'll end up with Pharyngitis.





But good news, my laptop should be here by next week!

Change of plans

After 7 days of this Juice Fast...I had to stop.
Yesterday morning I woke up and was extremely lightheaded throughout the rest of the day.

I decided that weightloss isn't worth losing health over, and I never want to feel that way again. So currently, I'm on a 7 day plan to help ween me off of the Juice Fast. Which is pretty much introducing new foods to my diet day by day.

And even though I've decided to do this...from yesterday to today I've lost around 3 1/2 pounds...which leaves me at losing 10 pounds total.

The Juice Fast

For the passed five days I've been on a 30 day juice fast. Meaning, I've been only having fruit juices, vegetable juices, water, diet iced tea, herbal tea, and organic vegetable broth.

But it's definitely been a challenge so far. Sometimes just drinking water isn't enough to suffice my hunger, but eventually I forget about it.

I've lost 6 pounds in 5 days, but I'm presuming that it's water weight. After researching this juice fast on the interweb, I came across the fact that on less strict versions of this fast you are allowed one meal a day.

I wish I would have known this from the start, because I would have done that...but thats okay. --So tonight I had a salad for dinner, and I'm okay with that. My stomach on the other hand...might not be considering all I've been having for the passed two days is juice. And I've come to terms with the fact that by doing this alternative I won't lose weight as fast...but I don't think having one salad a day followed up by juice, water, vegetable broth, followed by exercise will be too much of a problem once my stomach gets used to it again.

And after 30 days I will go off of this Juice Fast and continue with a fruit&vegetable diet for two weeks before I gradually bring back other foods into my diet, proportionally of course.

I decided to also use this blog to document changes I will be experiencing on this diet, as well as photos.

My picture from Day 1 isn't the best to start with because I was wearing a flowy top, so I will start with today, Day 5:

And you can also see my new dykey haircut :]

Me vs. Morgan Freeman

Yeahyeah, I know, I haven't updated in ages. I've been working nonstop, always busy with school...never any time for anything.

BUT I bring one of my newest art projects for my Design Basics class and probably one of my favourite pieces I've ever done.



So, the assignment was to create a self portrait using texture. So I did just that.
I embroidered the outlines of my face, hair, lips, nose, used acrylic paint for the rest of the portrait as well as fabric for my headband and felt for my top.

My mum loved it so much that she framed it and hung it on a wall in the family room so that when I look out of my bedroom door I am literally staring myself in the face.

This is the view from my bedroom:


And what I find to be the funniest part is that My mum hung it on the wall next to the portrait my brother drew of Morgan Freeman his senior year of high school. Now, my brother is an extremely good artist...and I think my painting pales in comparison to his...but my mum insisted on them being right next to each other.

This is my brother's portrait of Morgan Freeman:


And this is what my family room looks like with them both in it:



PS: I can't even begin to explain how excited I'm getting to be in Chicago for an entire month. I'm overjoyed.

my red dress.

so I'm creating this dress:


but here's the problem, the fabric I'm using is stretchy lurex and it won't hold the regular stitching when i'm sewing things together.

Someone buy me a Serger machine, please?

More of my art.

I apologize for my lack-o-updates because I've just been so busy with school and work. Speaking of work, I got a promotion! I am now the Accessory Manager of Forever21 Boca Town Center! I don't get my pay raise until the 1st of March...but hey, I'm excited for my promotion anyway.

As for school, my studio classes are so tedious. I love them though.
My most recent project that I absolutely love was for my Design Basics class. We have to make a triptych depicting Order, Disorder, and Chaos.
I took the inspiration for my project from this great fake plant that sits in my Grandmum's room.''

ORDER:


DISORDER:


CHAOS:

My art.

So for as long as I can remember I've always been drawing. When I was a little girl I was convinced that I would grow up and become a famous artist. But after awhile...I stopped thinking that because I didn't think my drawings were any good. Once I hit junior high and high school, I started drawing again and without taking drawing classes...I would doodle everywhere and eventually got better.
So for my second semester in college, I decided I would take two art classes...because since they don't offer any fashion or sewing classes at a community college level...I might as well perfect my drawing skills to help better my renderings.

I am completely in love with my art classes. I take a drawing class every Monday and Wednesday and a Design Fundamentals class every Tuesday and Thursday, and only one week in and I am already excited to take more art classes in upcoming semesters.


My first project for my Design Fundamentals class was to create 6 drawings using any materials we wish, and take a certain viewpoint of a picture and recreate it.
These are 5/6 I came up with:

Coral Gables

Soo my dad has this thing where he likes to go exploring random cities. He used to do it in Chicago and now he's doing it down here. So this morning he woke me up at 9AM (Blasphemy, I know) and we went to Coral Gables.

I had to take pictures of this old theatre because well..you'll see.

First we visited the Venitian pool, which was extremely cool.

And then we went to the Blitmore Hotel

So usually the places my dad takes us to are REAL lame...but this time, I was very pleasantly surprised :]