Wednesday.. not so wonderous

I realize, it IS Wednesday, today, but I have bad news - I was a slacker and didn't collect pictures for this week's Wednesday Wonders. I am disappointed in myself, also. Sad face.

You had to have noticed, though, that Femmena Mala has a new look! I wanted to change it with the season, and probably will change it up again in the near but slightly distant future :)

The above banner is courtesy of Amy from amyshmamey.

She SO graciously offered to make this banner for me for free a couple of days ago, and I am so happy with the way it turned out! I think it really makes the place look Autumn-y :) Thanks, Amy! <3

This week has been kind of frustrating. I really try my hardest to be upbeat here, and I rarely make space to write anything negative, simply because so many journals in the past have turned into that. However, I have been feeling really down lately, and I am not entirely sure why. I think it may have part to do with the fact that I spent all of this weekend alone in the apartment, and I thrive on being around people. I wanted to go home to spend time with my parents, Cate, and Tony, but I felt terrible leaving Guillermo alone after his surgery. 

Nick has also been having a rough time at work the past few days, and it might be rubbing of on me a little, too. Hopefully, I can get through this week and recharge over the weekend. I try hard not to let myself get down, and I haven't done too great of a job this week. 

What do you all do when you're feeling down?

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday. <3

Happy Tuesday!

First! Make sure you all catch my feature from this morning on Shawni from A Spoonful of Love here!

I am having a really great day, today! So far, I have just been at school, and I DO have class tonight, but I am still pretty chipper :) I just spent a good amount of time catching up on blogs and getting that infamous Google Reader bold number down to zero. It's one of my favorite things to be able to read excellent posts and "star" them to check out again, later! Especially when it comes to the 2398 vegan/vegetarian blogs I am subscribed to ;)

Here are just a few of the posts I have starred since I began using Google Reader. I am a huge fan of finding new recipes and trying things out, so that's mostly what they are:

I am really excited to try out the these three most recent of my starred posts: "How to make brown sugar," "Pumpkin pizza," and "zucchini and chickpea burgers!" I am lucky that Nick is so open to trying whatever I make, even if it's a bite or two. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking a lot about Sophie Kinsella and her Shopaholic series. Well, I finally finished it, and the final book was just as great as the previous five, and the end leave plenty of room for a seventh book, so I am really excited! After I finished that book, in about three days, I started on one of the other Madeline Wickham (Sophie Kinsella's pseudonym) books I own but haven't read: Sleeping Arrangements.

The book was pretty good, but not what I was expecting from SK. However, I would still recommend it :) 

Also: I am teaching The Crucible to my AA kids, as I said last week, and they are really struggling with it. However, this is the first time I have read it at all, and I am loving it. I think it's really eerie and perfect for the fall season - and it's really interesting! We are also watching the 2004 film version alongside it, to make sure that the kids are understanding what they are reading. 

Lastly - Petsmart called today to formally offer me the spot in.... their groom shop! It was between that and Pet Care, which is their umbrella term for the part of the store that deals with fish, birds, reptiles, etc. and while I would have accepted it graciously, I was really hoping for the groom shop position. This means I get to work with puppies - every day! I am SO excited, since animals would totally be my profession if I weren't teaching. Yay!! 

Hope you all have a lovely Tuesday, I am off to mail Jaelynn from Pardon My Ffrench a thank you package for sponsoring me this month! 

<3 S

Bloggin' Ladies: A Spoonful of Love

Tuesday means Bloggin' Ladies! This week's feature is Shawni - she's a terribly sweet, helpful, and caring blogger who crafts like crazy and blogs about it. Enjoy her, please :) 

Name+Age+Site/Blog

Shawni Marie, 27 years young, aspoonfuloflove.blogspot.com

What is something interesting about you? 

I have a huge heart. Too big sometimes. But I love to share it. With anyone. No matter what.

When did you begin blogging? 

Let's see... about 2 years ago on tumblr. But I have only been on blogspot for about 4 months and i have met the most AMAZING people through it.

Who is your inspiration for writing? 

People. My life. Anything I want to share with others really...

Where do you get your ideas?

I ask a lot of questions to other bloggers and see what's inspiring them. Also, I find my crafts inspiring me a lot lately and wanting to share those.

Do you have any advice that you want to share with fellow lady bloggers?

Follow your heart and be TRUE to who you are. Don't follow trends, make them follow you. If you have a heart of gold, you'll be loved in the end. By someone. By people who stuck with you. That's all that matters.

What is one thing you are looking forward to most in your future (blog or otherwise)?

Opening my Etsy shoppe. I can't wait to share my bookmarks with the world. If no one buys them,  I will just start selling them for a penny. Because I just don't care about the money, I care about giving people a little piece of my heart.

Thanks, Shawni! <3

As promised...* + Sunday Letters!

As promised, here is my little guy wearing his cone. He only wears it when we aren't with him, and I had to go to Kroger earlier to buy some ingredients to make pumpkin cranberry scones! 

He is so cute. This is what his ears looked like when he was a baby baby. <3

Here's the scones I made earlier! For my first try, they turned out really well and I am super happy with them! I also made some cinnamon butter to spread on them and before I baked them, I sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on the stop. Yum! 

Sunday Letters...*

Dear ex-boyfriends,

Thank you for showing me what a boyfriend shouldn't be. Thank you for teaching me how to remember who I am in a relationship. Thank you for teaching me confidence and resilience. Most of all, thank you for teaching me what love isn't so that when I found it, I knew the difference.

Love,

Stephanie

Puppy Love + other types of love, too

Hello! Happy Sunday!

I tried to get a decent picture of the Chihuahua son, especially in his poor little cone, but it was impossible. He's gonna have to wear it again, anyways, so I'll be sure to update later with some proper pictures!

On the same topic, he is doing SO MUCH better. He hasn't started using his leg to walk, yet, but he is using it to scratch his ears, again (which was really hard for him at first!) and he has started laying on his bad side, too! He cries every now when he is really uncomfortable, but he's getting lots of rest and and sleep. Right now, he has his head buried in a cardigan of mine on the couch, snoozing away!

In other news, I have been having ridiculous dreams lately. I think they might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had soda in 15 days (WOOP!). I had a dream a week or two ago about bubble tea, which I have never had, but looks SO delicious. So, I have taken to asking my twitter peeps 83843 questions about it and one of them was gracious enough to help me find a place in Cincinnati that sells it! I plan on going to the Tea n' Bowl on Tuesday before class at UC to get one to try for myself!

See? Don't these look delicious??? I need to try one, asap.

I have also been having dreams about coffee!! I love the warming qualities and taste of coffee, but I hate that it makes me have the jitters, so unless I have the option to get decaf, then I usually don't drink it. Which is REALLY unfortunate considering Nick got this Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks a couple weeks ago and it was omgsogood. I had a dream about the very thing, and have been fighting the urge to buy a coffee on the way to school in the mornings, because I always end up regretting it when the cup is empty and my hands are shaking! 

But seriously? I am having a hard time saying no.

Also...*

I am really excited about tonight because Nick only works until 5 and I don't have to leave for work immediately after he gets here like I did last night. I spent the entire day cooped up in this apartment while Nick was working so Guillermo wasn't alone. It was SO boring! I think I have exhausted every interesting movie choice on Netflix. 

ANYWAYS, tonight Nick and I are having another Chipotle date and we are going to watch The Book of Eli (which is our first movie from Netflix, yay!). Possibly we will then watch the new episode of Dexter, which I have been completely obsessed with this season. Basically, I am just excited to have company! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday and a great Monday! 

xoxo S

P.s. I bought a Cosmopolitan this weekend to satiate my boredom and in it I read that The Bell Jar is being turned into a movie! I cannot wait to learn more, and will definitely share once I get some more deets!