Annie Hall

Annie Hall by BrynnBear featuring a wool shawl

new rules

Listen to your body.

Listen to your feelings.

Trust yourself.

Accept yourself.

Love yourself.

Enjoy life.

things I like

things i like by BrynnBear on Polyvore.com

this is why I love my best friend

About a week ago, at an ultimate low, I sent my best friend a long-winded and very blubbery email of despair. Unhappy with a lot of things and ultimately feeling a lack of direction, I poured my heart out asking for help. She sent me back the MOST SUPPORTIVE note back. She's so kind to me and has seen me through so much over the years. It's funny that she apologized for not getting back to me sooner when really, I received her reply at the best possible time.

Here is just a snippet of what she wrote me back:

"I just had a thought... maybe the life of adventure as a general category of lifestyle can itself become sort of repetitive... Maybe that's total bogus, but I mean maybe you can reach a point where the generalized experience of newness is old. I dunno. Tangent.

But I do love you and respect you and whatever you do and wherever you go, YOU make it better. That's not your job, but it's a byproduct of who you are. So you definitely don't have to worry about trying to be meaningful or have purpose, because that's intrinsic to Brynn. What you do have to worry about is yourself, not in the sense of pity, but like you are now: planning and knowing that you're worth enough to be intentional with how you spend your life. And all I know is it's going to come in small doses until you find yourself in a puddle of happiness and contentment after you've been through the rough stuff."

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How much better is THAT than "oh yeah, you'll figure it out." Or, "don't worry, it will be okay." ? Right? This is why she has been my best friend for so many years. Everyone needs someone like her in their life. She knows me well enough to not be cheesy about advice-giving and well enough to cut to the chase and give it to me how it is. There was more to the message, but it's a little personal. But seriously -- how great is that:

"You're worth enough

to be intentional

with how you spend your life."

and such is the paradox of living

"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive." -Jack London

Fashion Bad Ass #2 /// Tank. Girl.

If you've never heard of Tank Girl, please stop reading and go subscribe to Netflix so that you can experience her. Perhaps go online and order the comic book as well. Then, come back and continue reading.

Jerks, you kept reading, didn't you? That's okay, I would too. Tank Girl is a comic book originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. The comic strip was initially set in a post-apocalyptic Australia. Tank Girl drives and lives in a tank and dates a mutant kangaroo. Yeah, I know. She, in my eyes, is basically a bad ass version of Pipi Longstockings. She's an outlaw with a multi-million dollar bounty on her head, and "She is prone to random acts of violence, hair dyeing, flatulence, nose-picking, vomiting, spitting, and more than occasional drunkenness," according to Wikipedia. Couldn't have said it better myself. Tank Girl kicks ass in a sassy spunky way and is completely care free.

The movie is okay, at best, but it's easier to get a hold of than the comics.

Okay, yeah, she doesn't conduct herself in a way that makes for a good role model, but I'd have to say she's for sure my number one fashion influence. Ummm, I also have a Tank Girl tattoo. I said it. Oh, and I was her for halloween. The best place to go shopping if you want to look like Tank is definitely an Army-Navy surplus store. You're going to need some hair dye too because In both the movie and the comics she has a different hair color in each scene.

This is my tattoo, but it has a little color:

Here's my best attempt at re-creating Tank Girl's style for you:

READY, GOOOOOO!

Lasagna is for Lovers

I love to cook, but I never use recipes. I'm going to attempt to write some out and post one at least once a week. I hope someone is actually daring enough to try them!YOU WILL NEED:

1 pkg shredded cheese (I like mozzarella, but it's your call)

2 cans of tomato paste

1 box lasagna pasta

1 container of cottage cheese (I think it's a 12 oz container?)

4 eggs

a little mile (a few cups will do - I never really measure)

Green olives

Mushrooms

Artichoke hearts

Pesto

Shallots

Spices as preferred

Ground beef or a meat substitute is optional. I like to put meat in one half for Nic and leave the other side meatless and I try to mark which side is which with a toothpick. That's why it looks kind of two-toned in that photograph.

- Pre-heat oven to 350.

- Boil water, cook pasta.

- In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk and cottage cheese. Whisk.

- Chop olives, mushrooms and cooked artichoke hearts and shallots as finely as possible.

- In another bowl, combine tomato paste, vegetables and pesto.

- Mix in spices as you wish. I use onion powder, Italian seasoning, rosemary, thyme and basil.

- Layer in the casserole dish the egg-milk-cottage cheese mixture, the pasta and the sauce mixture. I save the cheese for last, but if you want to you can put the cheese in the middle too. Eyeball it. You know what you like.

- Bake it for 45 minutes or until golden around the edges. Enjoy!