monthly roundup: october

Dear Me and The Internet,

 Today is November 1st and that means several things. A. I have been home from "school" for just over a month, B. Winter (and the rest of the holiday season) is well on it's way and Starbucks has now released their red cups, and C. My month long celebration of Halloween has come to an end. *cries*

October has treated me very well and I am quite sad to see it go; but none the less, I am grateful for the time we had together and the good tidings it has brought me (a new job, the tangle teaser, a puppy, Taylor Swift's new album?!?!!). That is, of course, aside from the fact that I tore some ligaments in my foot at the beginning of the month and have been in a walking boot since... But I have been very busy and in very high spirits so let's take a look at all the neat things I've been up to with this fAnCy photo essay:

lily allen:

My month started out with a bang seeing a huge idol of mine with two of my dearest friends, Lily Allen at one of my most favorite concert venues, The Paramount. 

Check out her song "Hard out Here" if you don't know anything about her. She is amazing and fights the patriarchy one catchy tune at a time.

 hometown reunion:

 

And somehow (by the grace of God? the stars aligning?) so many of my friends came home from college at the same time to make for one mAgIcAl weekend. 'Twas a nice reminder to be grateful for the lovely, lovely people in my life.

malaga pumpkin patch:

The same weekend as above, we braved the mud and cold to find the perfect pumpkins at the nicest, mom & pop run pumpkin patch just a few miles outside of town. They have teepee's made of corn stalks and pumpkins and gourds of every color, shape, and size. Here you can see the boot in all its glory and the pastel pumpkin I picked out.

lena dunham:

On the theme of influential women, I attended Lena Dunham's book tour this month. What can I say? Seeing and hearing her speak was a transformative experience in and of itself. She made me laugh, made me cry, but most importantly she made me think. The world needs more people like her. Read her book and watch her show and you will understand. 

click here to buy not that kind of girl

smallwoods harvest:

Like the Malaga pumpkin patch,  going to Smallwoods is another must-do if you're in the Wenatchee valley, at any season. They offer about a million things to do, but we opted for the "corn maze" and their petting zoo. There I was spat on by a llama (alpaca?) which was an experience I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I've also discovered iPhone lenses! Where have these been all my life*?!

*the four years i've owned an iphone

pumpkin carving contest:

Perhaps most importantly this month: I won third place at pumpkin carving contest. Can I put that on my resume? Not sure how or why but I won $11 because of it.

pictured: me not wearing the boot!!

not pictured: us pooping our pants in fear at the haunted theatre afterwards

sephora: 

I've also been hired for the holiday season at our Sephora (SiJCP to be more specific), which SO exciting! And so far has been really fun and my coworkers are all kind and exceptional people.  Above is my take on some 60s mod hair and makeup done for one of our Halloween dress up days. 

 note to self: cut creases and twiggy lashes are hard.

halloween:

And finally, Halloween. I went as triangle-crying, beret-wearing, vogue-ing mime. Parlez-vous sign language? Me neither. I celebrated with a night in with some of my best friends and excessively decorating our house. If you've read this far - thank you - and let me know in the comments what you dressed as and how you celebrate Halloween. :-)

thx!!!!!

I never even could of dreamed to have the response I've had from my blog post yesterday.  I'm kind of overwhelmed but so, so grateful to have the support of so many of my friends and family.  I'm even more grateful that some of you have felt comfortable enough with me to reach out and tell your own story. Amazing.  This further validates my decision in my eyes and gives me the courage to explore my options and go forward without any remorse. Especially with a nasty cold and a sprained ankle, this is just the cheering up I needed. I hope you all will stick around for more light hearted, feature-y posts because that's what I originally intended for this blog. Whatever I do come up with though, I promise to report honestly and if something comes up that I think needs talking about that isn't fashion or beauty related, I will talk about! Thank you again.

With love,
Mary Rowles

First Post and Trouble in Paradise

After years of reading other peoples blogs, months of considering having my own, weeks of weighing the pros and cons between domain names and templates, and days of writing and rewriting this post -  I am here. Hellloooo world! Or more realistically, hellloooo mom!

First and foremost, I want to use this blog to share with others the products, places, and people that I hold near and dear to my heart, tidbits of random knowledge I have, hone my writing skills, and most importantly to verbalize my thoughts and dreams in order to keep me focused.

But for right, I need to talk a little bit about my current situation since I seem to be asked by the hour about my well being and what it is I'm doing with my life. Which is all well and good, but I could kill a few birds with one stone by addressing everything here. Let's clear a few things up.

1. I am doing quite well. This may not have been the case over the last month or so, but I know that is behind me now.

2. Even though it has been my plan to attend WWU this fall since last spring, I've decided (however last minute) to indefinitely postpone it.

3. This is no way means I do not value my education or my future. Its quite the opposite actually. Because I do value my education and my future so much, I know that I have to set myself up for success and starting college and leaving home so soon, and with out the mental preparedness was not doing that for me.

My only regret is not being honest with myself sooner and saving myself and my family the drama and emotional and physical exhaustion. I'm forever grateful to my friends and my family who take me seriously and support my decision. I really wanted to write about this so maybe other people going through something similar would realize how important it is to be true to yourself and advocate for yourself because life is too short to be miserable if you have the liberty to change things. Follow your gut feeling because sometimes logic can only get you so far.  You aren't doing yourself a favor by doing what you think is the right if your heart isn't in it. Reflection is important. Having people in your life who ask you "Is this really what you want?" is important. Taking care of yourself IS important. And I always find comfort in the fact that nothing is permanent. You don't have to stay anywhere you don't want to be. You can quit your job or shave your head or postpone going to college, and guess what? It will all be okay in the end. Life goes on but it's your choice if you stay
stuck.

                    With love,
                                   Mary Rowles