Friday, May 31, 2013

May Playlist

It's the last day of May and I just remembered, I never did a playlist for this month!

First up, I have to give some local love here. 


This is Meg. She's the lead singer for Ministry of Love, a local Vegas band. I can't say that she's a close friend of mine but we do run in the same friend circles and we've had a few passing conversations. Regardless of being acquaintances, she's such an amazing person. She's a great singer, she's only 28,  she's super cool, and did I mention that she survived cancer? 

Meg found out she had thyroid cancer last year, right when MoL was really starting to make a dent in the music scene. There was a chance that she could not only die but never sing again if she had the tumors removed. I remember seeing her updates on Facebook while in the hospital and I swear on my life, she was so damn positive about it. I don't think I could have been half as strong as she was if that had been me. Luckily the surgery was successful and Meg has been cancer free since December 19th. Our local magazine, the Las Vegas Weekly, just did a huge article on her and her story and you should really check it out.

>>May '13 Playlist<<

+ "A Promise for Forever" Ministry of Love
+ "Young & Beautiful" Lana Del Ray
+"The Girl" City and Colour
+ "The Sound of Silence" Simon & Garfunkel 
(in tribute to the new Arrested Development)
+"Hey Now" Martin Solveig & The Cataracs
+ "Everything Has Changed" Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran
+"Pompeii" Bastille
This is currently a free download on iTunes!

Enjoy and get ready for some sweet summer tunes!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Giving Sammydress a second chance.

*This review is entirely based on my own purchasing experiences. I was NOT compensated in any way.


Some of you might already be familiar with the online shopping store that is Sammydress. You can find thousands of clothing from this store pinned on Pinterest or Wanelo because not only are the clothes cute, they are soooo cheap. I bought a shirt from them over a year ago and was highly disappointed. Not only did it have a weird smell but it looked nothing like what I ordered. I vowed to never shop there again.

Then I recently came across a new review for Sammydress who had a positive experience. I looked at the website again, they added a new feature where people who have purchased a product can review it (although I have a feeling that they delete the bad reviews..). I decided to give them another shot. I bought two items, a shirt and a maxi dress.

First, the shirt. This is what I ordered, in green.


This is what I received.


First off... it's blue. Not green. I actually didn't mind the color since it was still pretty but still... Not what I ordered. What I can't get past is those damn sleeves. What the heck is going on with those? It's pretty badly made and super unflattering. Those seams... I mean seriously. Basically someone sewed those sleeves on top of a tank top instead of it all being one piece... That looks nothing like what I ordered. So the first item was a total bust.

The second purchase, a purple maxi dress. This is what I ordered.


This is the dress I received.


I put this dress on and instantly loved it. I love the fabric, silky and smooth which I prefer over cotton maxis. It looked exactly like what I ordered. Unfortunately the moment I tried it on, the halter strap broke! I was so upset that the only clothing that I liked I couldn't even wear! Then I enlisted the help of my grandmother who fixed it with a much stronger thread, so the dress was redeemed.


I seriously love this dress, it's my new favorite. I wore it out to my friends house and everyone (I mean everyone) said I looked like Daenerys from Game of Thrones and called me Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons for the rest of the night. To say that I'm thrilled with this would be an understatement. The purple color is so pretty and flattering. This dress is really forgiving and slimming. The bottom could probably be hemmed, it is pretty long but I'm also very petite. 

Looking for my dragons...



So to review, the shirt was badly made and didn't look like what I ordered nor was it the right color. The dress was amazing but needed some fixing up due to poor sewing.

All in all, Samydress can be a great experience. I paid $21 for both items and that included shipping. You have to be extremely careful on what you buy though. Make sure you read the reviews by people who have purchased the item you're interested in. Remember that most of their clothing comes only in "free size" which usually means small or medium. Be selective and just keep a realistic expectation on what you're buying.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tulsa Travels & Wonderlust

Today has been... trying.

Bad News: My back up drive is corrupted, it doesn't work at all and when I took it to Best buy they quoted me from $300-$1,000 to get all my files extracted as it has to be sent to a specialist and literally be rebuilt piece by piece I guess. All of my old pictures and 95% of all my photography work is on it so  it's no surprise that I've been in tears today. However, fingers crossed, one of my grandpa's techy friends might be able to do it or I'm going to try other options.. I refuse to give up hope just yet.

Good News: I did book my 5 hour sea kayaking adventure with killer whales in the San Juan Islands today for my birthday! Since I wanted to see Kris as well, we decided that in August I would fly to Seattle, spend some time in San Juan to celebrate my birthday, and then drive down to Oregon to stay with Kris for a week before coming back home. I'm still looking at flights and hotels but at least the fun stuff is booked!

 I can't wait to see orcas wild and free up close in the ocean! 

Today I'm going to put my daydreaming of oceans aside and share my visit to Tulsa OK with you guys! For my new readers who may not know, my parents and little brother moved to Tulsa my senior year of high school when my dad got a good job opportunity. Recently, my dad has been diagnosed with cancer so my grandmother and aunt have been visiting more to help my Mom out around the house and I went down a few weeks ago to see them.


My dad's parents use to live there too but then they moved to Ely NV when my grandmother got very sick and eventually passed. My parents moved into their place which is absolutely amazing. It's a wonderful big house with ten acres of beautiful green land and a huge pond, surrounded by dense forest. In my past visits to Tulsa, nothing ever came close to this. I never knew Oklahoma could be so... green! I totally fell in love with the place. 

As a lover of wildlife and not having much abundance of it here in Vegas, it was so cool to see an owl swoop over head at dusk and hear coyotes howling a mere few feet away from us in the darkness at night. We even saw a coyote crossing the road, they are pretty huge! My mom says they get deer a lot and although they have never seen raccoons or foxes, they find their tracks around the pond. My mom even had an armadillo in the yard once! Speaking of the pond, unfortunately you can't sit at the waters edge (like I wished) as it is occupied by quite a few large water moccasins which are very deadly.


I saw at least three of them swim back and forth across the pond, it was super creepy and that's coming from someone who likes snakes!




I inherited my passion for horses from my mom who bought horses the moment she could. It's much easier (and less expensive) having horses there then it is in Vegas so she jumped on the opportunity to finally have some. Her horses live in the barn behind the pond and have a huge rolling pasture (with a smaller pond) that they are let loose on during the summer. 


This is Stealth, the first horse my mom got. He's incredibly handsome and high spirited. I have a thing for black horses so I can't help but favor him just a little.


Dakota is a sweet boy and the horse I was riding while I was up there. The horses hadn't been ridden since October due to snow and bad weather so I got to be the lucky person to be first on Dakota's back. Just as my mother was telling Nana that she would put anyone on Dakota and feel safe about it, I had Dakota cantering but he wouldn't stop. He went flying towards the fence and then started bucking. I'm proud to say I managed to stay on for two bucks in my mother's huge western saddle before flying off and landing on my back. Quite an experience. Apparently he had some long overdue energy he needed to get out of his system even though I had already worked him in the round pen before I got on! My Mom told me when I got thrown off, Nana got a little pale and said "I need another drink" before heading back to the house for another glass of wine. Priceless.


My mom also has two new dogs since the ones I've known growing up have passed on.


Bella is a very old but sweet Westie that had a rough life. My mom got her from a rescue group and the poor thing walks as slow as a turtle. It's funny though because every once and awhile she will get this spark of energy and dash around the house or the yard before returning to her turtle ways. 


Gunnar is my absolute favorite and was my best friend up there. He's not even a year yet and is very much a puppy. He followed me everywhere and slept with me every night. Apparently he's been looking for me since I left which breaks my heart since I love that little dude. I did threaten to take him back on the plane home with me a dozen times but I guess it's just another good reason to visit again soon.


Coyote tracks!



It rained every day that I was there but always let up so I could get some riding in.



Nana helped herself to plenty of fresh strawberries from my mother's garden.




Yes, my parents even have ducks and chickens. My mom raised all of them by hand when they were babies and they all have names (which I can't remember). Surprisingly, the chickens are much friendlier then the ducks. They would let me pet them and eat frozen peas out of my hand while the ducks just quacked at me and waddled away. 






So that's my little home away from home. One day, I hope to live in a place just as wonderful as my parents house... Just not in Oklahoma. Tornados scare me to death.

Where have you been lately?
Got any travel plans?

Monday, May 27, 2013

An unmemorable Memorial Day.

This was not exactly how I expected my Memorial Day to go. I've noticed that as my friends and I get older, we don't do as much as we use to. The summer of 2010 was the best of my life despite the fact that it lead to the end of my engagement/wedding because we did something every single day. BBQ's and pool parties, there was always something going on. Today, being lonely without my significant other, I desperately hit up my friends because someone MUST be bbqing somewhere... It's Memorial Day after all! However, it seems everyone is just being lazy with their boyfriends/husbands/girlfriends/wives. 

That's nice for them, sucks for me. I didn't really realize till today that I don't have many single friends these days. Singles tend to be more up for anything and while I'm not single... It would be nice to have more friends available for these lonely moments when I'm wishing that I could just be lazy with Kris. Instead, I swam and got my tan on by myself. I ordered a pizza... for myself. I think I'm going a little stir-crazy spending all this time alone. Granted, I did hang out with some people Saturday night but I'm going on long stretches of days without my friends and I'm not the kind of person that can be a hermit forever.

So, dear blog friends, I see your bbq posts today and I'm jealous! I wish I could party with you guys!

If only I could at least be doing this today...





I actually miss my parent's place. I miss Gunnar and my mom's horses, Dakota (above) and Stealth. Even though it is awkward being an english rider on a western horse... At least I could do what I loved every day... Ride. I'm overdue for a lesson at the barn since I've been back.

I only have a week left for myself before 2 months of summer school start, only 4 more classes to go before graduation once it's done! I have tons of books to catch up on, including the ones I need to read for my book club, but it's so hard to read when it's so warm and sunny outside! I need sangria and conversation people!

Even though mine isn't going as planned, I hope you all enjoy your holiday. My Veteran grandpa and my dearly departed cousin, who was in the Marines, are absolutely in my thoughts today.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

June Sponsors!

I'm slowly surfacing out of this fog I've been in and I'm hoping I'll come out of it completely soon instead of sinking back under. I'm hoping to get some of my spark back!


With that being said, I do have some things planned and I'm happy to say that Mocha Fox is growing every day! June is looking to be a great time to sponsor! Of course the lovely big ad spot is reserved but you can always reserve it for the following month! I'm still offering ad swaps as well, reserved for the Fox Cub ads.

For more info about sponsoring Mocha Fox, check out my Sponsor Info.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Kason's 3 Month Session

With everything that's been going on here, I totally spaced that I never shared my 3 month session from a few weeks ago! They turned out so wonderful and I thought maybe sharing with you guys might help me get out inspired again and perhaps lead to an end to this stupid funk I'm in.






You can see more from this session here.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

One of those days...

Do you ever get in one of those funky moods where you just kind of lose interest in everything? Currently, that's where I am. The long-distance between Kris and I is taking it's toll. There is a possibility he might stay in Oregon and not move back which means a decision needs to be made and I can honestly say I'm not good with distance. It's the reason my last relationship fell apart at the end. I have no desire to work out, no inspiration for photography, no desire to do anything really but read and watch tv. You easily get wrapped up in movies and books in that way where once it's finished, you find yourself longing for it to be real and continue. I've been very nostalgic actually... Found myself rereading and rewatching Harry Potter... I remember when the book first came out in the States. Before it was such a big hit and became the phenomena it is today.


My Harry Potter books are the most loved and reread out of all the stories in my bookshelf, to the point where I've had to replace them because they were falling apart. I remember the first time I read the first book and finished it... Then immediately started reading it again. I was 11 when I first read it, the same age as The Boy Who Lived Himself, and already had a strong love affair and desire for all things English. It was tenfold once I found Harry Potter. I was starting to entire a difficult period of life at that time and would often sit on the roof of my house and think while looking out into the distance of the mountains... Wishing that England was behind them and my own amazing destiny was soon to come. Just like everyone else, I dreamed of the day my letter to Hogwarts would come.


I get into these moods where I recall those memories and feelings and it all comes back to me just as strongly as it did then. I get into that funk where I doubt what I'm doing and where I'm going and then I get disappointed and upset that certain paths aren't... available to me. It gets harder and happens more frequently as I get older, 27 is just around the corner for me and it's pretty terrifying to not be exactly where you thought you would be at a certain age. I suppose also, although I care deeply for Kris, I sometimes keep wondering when my charming, dark and handsome, British man is coming for me. Yes ladies, that is my version of a knight in shining armor. I can't help myself.

I guess I'm writing all this out here because I don't know where else to express this melancholy that surrounds me at present or how to shake it off. However, I hope it passes quickly and I can figure out what I need to do.


Lastly, my family in Tulsa is so far unscathed in the Oklahoma tornadoes (thank god I escaped one of my worst nightmares just before it happened) but my prayers are with them that they will continue to escape them and all those that have been effected by them. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

That time I partied with the Weasley Twins.


I use to work for one of the nightclubs on the Strip as a reservationist. I really loved my job and unfortunately I had to walk away from it when they switched ownership. However I did have some awesome perks at the time like eating at Sugar Factory with a 50% discount and of course getting comped tables at the club. Now I'm not a club girl, but I felt I should go at least once since I did work for the place. When I saw the Weasley twins from Harry Potter would be hosting, I was all in.

My best friend and I had a fantastic night but the highlight would absolutely be meeting the twins in the flesh and hanging out with them. Oliver (or Ollie as he asked me to call him) and James were incredibly nice and friendly despite all the attention and demand placed on them. I had a really nice conversation with Ollie about my desire to go to England and how jealous I was of his english accent. I'll be totally honest, I played it incredibly cool like I talked to celebrities all the time and it wasn't a big deal but on the inside... I was totally fangirling and super nervous! Unfortunately I didn't get to talk with James much but he was the one we were able to take a picture with right before we left. Being a huge Harry Potter fan, it was an awesome experience.   

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {May 19}

Three
My mom has three ducks that she raised by hand. She had more but as they are all male, it wasn't working out so she gave them to a friend.

Hand(s)
I'm reusing this shot because it's perfect for this prompt.

Fence
Fence of my parent's backyard overlooking their Tulsa property.

Cuddly

My parent's dogs, Bella & Gunnar. Gunnar was my buddy out in Tulsa, he followed me everywhere!

Sign
I've got nothing for this.