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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Tag Archives: Confessions
These Are My Confessions – Volume Four
In the sea of “I’m so blessed” Facebook Updates, aspirational healthy living/organizational/design/cooking/food blogs, and food-styled Instagram photos out there, there is no shortage of fodder to make you feel like you should be doing more, dressing better, and generally being more fabulous. While I’m definitely huge proponent for trying to live your best life, I also think it’s nice to keep it real around here too! So here are some confessions for ya:
1. OOTDs In Real Life
While I think it is super fun to document Outfits of the Day on Instagram during the week
I rarely document them on the weekends because every possible waking hour I can spend in an outfit equivalent to THIS feels like a win!
Here, let me breakdown this fine fashion – American River CrossFit hoodie // Hot Pink Mossimo Tank Top // Lululemon Still Pants covered in dog hair.
2. The Kitchen — In Real Life
Last Friday I mentioned that Garrett, Buster + I were having a dance party in my kitchen. (Buster is a very accomplished ballroom dancer, didn’t you know?) An overwhelming amount of people mentioned my crazy-clean kitchen counter tops.
That, my friends, was just a coincidence. Remember, I cook A LOT. Most of the time I am fighting an uphill battle against this:
And the closest thing we have to a dishwasher is Garrett.
3. Paleo Perfection — except in the garage!
So I’ve let you walk through what’s in my pantry before:
And I’m pretty open about what my fridge looks like:
I’m just a real Paleo Angel, eh? But wait until you see the shelf in my garage of things I just can’t let go:
Rye Chips! Wheat Flour! And Cereal???? OH MY. What gives? I’m glad you asked. It’s football season, and I’ve been known to make a damn good Chex Mix. Sometimes you just gotta off-road! And the flour? Well, I guess it’s just my food-hoarding tendency. I haven’t used it in forever but something about chucking it just feels wasteful. So now it just lives in my garage not being used. Waste of SPACE, let me tell you. The rice is for the dog!
No house is perfect.
4. My Workout Clothes Smell Like FUNK
Will you still be my friend?
I’ve washed and then dried all of my workout clothes. Apparently this is problematic (especially the drying part.) Most of these are fairly new and they still kind of smell like gym floor. It is so super duper nasty and I am on the hunt for a solution that will work for my high efficiency washer (Do you have one? Weigh in!) Manda said hang drying cures the stink, so I’m trying that. If that doesn’t work, I’m getting some Sport Wash.
Regardless, um…GROSS. It really *is* time for some new duds.
5. I am an Organizational Jekyll + Hyde
(or Heckyll + Jyde if you are Teresa Guidice, but that is neither here nor there.)
Some of my bathroom cabinets are very pleasingly organized. We have talked about this before, I like me some organized drawers.
But others, just continue to be FULL O’ CRAP (neatly stacked upon other crap.)
The thing is: one only has so much time to care. And right now, I just can’t get to jazzed up about whether or not my stash of Bath & Body Works Antibacterial Hand Soaps are organized pleasingly by season.
THE HORROR.
6. My Suitcase From Colorado Is Only *Technically* Unpacked
I’m not a total heathen, I’ve taken the clothing out of the suitcase. I just, uh…haven’t actually put it away and it is all sitting on the guest bedroom bed. Whoops.
This is real life, folks!
So tell me…anything you would like to confess?
These Are My Confessions – Volume Three
1. I am drinking way too much coffee. Like, there is an amount that I drink that I freely admit is *too much* and I’m probably drinking a cup on top of that.
2. I am a little bit sad that the CrossFit Games Open is over (finished wod 12.5 this morning — more to come on that soon) but mostly just excited not to feel the anxiety about what the workout is every Wednesday night. Even though as a competitor my scores weren’t SUPER helpful to my box, I still made myself anxious thinking about it every week.
3. I am kind of in love with Fashion Star. Even though Jessica Simpson is a dummy and Nicole Richie is always someone I thought was obnoxious, it is fun television and the two of them are totally engaging.
4. I am counting the minutes until Friday. THE MINUTES. I’m not always the most productive when I’m doing this, ahem.
5. I haven’t watched ANY of the most recent season of Downton Abbey. I KNOW, right? They are all sitting on my DVR and I *want* to watch them, but it’s so many and I’m just not feeling like sitting in front of the tv lately. I should be fired from the internet. (While we’re at it I should probably also be fired for not loving Mumford & Sons or Lana del Rey. Both of them make me actually roll my eyes when I hear them. It’s an involuntary response.)
6. On the other hand I have ignored all of the following things in order to read recently: my laundry, paying bills, swiffering our awfully dusty floors, cooking dinner, and of course Garrett. IGNORED!
7. I may have eaten 2 string cheeses last night, mindlessly and standing right in front of the refrigerator. What is in those, man? Crack?
8. If you could see the amount of fingerprints on my glasses right now, you would wonder how I ever made it into adulthood.
9. I totally feed the neighbor’s cat even though Garrett always says not to. You guys IT IS SO CUTE! And I’m not feeding it tons of extra food or anything, but sometimes just maybe a little morsel of something. And yep, it keeps coming back. What can I say — food is an act of love! And I love this fluffy little orange cat.
10. I sort of feel like waiting until Hunger Games comes to Netflix. Does that make the World’s Worst Fan? Eh..it probably just makes me an old person who doesn’t like to sit in crowded theaters anymore.
Where’s my cane? Kids, get off my lawn!
🙂
*****
So what do you want to confess? You’ll feel better, I promise. I’m all ears.
On iLove, iEmbarrassment, and an iCall For Help
Things I have learned in the 2 weeks that I have had an iPhone
*If you don’t really go anywhere, you won’t be any good at FourSquare
*I really *can* refresh my inbox 24 hours a day if I want
*Refreshing said inbox is so much more awesome from under the covers of your bed
*Garrett is not a fan of email reading in bed
*A phone can actually feel like an extra appendage
*Runkeeper means I don’t have to go out and buy a Garmin anymore
*Pandora stations have some funny names
And most importantly: MY LOVE RUNS DEEP
I also learned how to turn down the volume, which was something I should have learned to do BEFORE I brought my new phone to work, but you know I’m never one to get bogged down with time lines!
You see I brought my phone to work last Friday, into my very quiet and conservative office where I sit no less than 20 feet from the Director of My Department. The area is pretty highly trafficked and it’s kind of a nice place to sit, actually. Unless you turn on Pandora and a completely vulgar and inappropriate song is playing, you haven’t hooked up your headphones, and you don’t *really* know where the volume button is. Imagine being that person who walks into the library with their phone NOT on silent and then gets called over and over by their psycho ex boyfriend. ONLY WORSE. AND WITH MORE VULGAR INNUENDO.
So my phone starts playing some loud ass rap! And it takes me a second to realize that YES! It is my phone that is shouting “ASS” over and over and over. Slowly I have the realization that everyone else also knows that it is my phone. Sure I could have covered the speaker. I could have plugged in the headphones that were sitting on my desk. I could have HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON ON PANDORA. Oh, there were a million things I could have done! But you see when an awful song is playing at top volume and everyone realizes it’s coming from YOUR phone, and people start standing up to stare, and others start acting shocked at the lyrics coming out of your phone, and the DIRECTOR OF YOUR DEPARTMENT comes out of his office where he is meeting with the DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS to find out what all this ruckus is about — well, let’s just say you don’t always do the logical thing. The logical thing isn’t what pops right into your mind. You know?
So yeah, that was embarrassing. And for your listening pleasure (and because I think it really lends to the fuchsia inducing portion of this story) I’m going to link to the song (COMPLETE WITH LYRICS, OMG THE LYRICS) that was blasting out of my phone FOR OVER TWO MINUTES (do you know how long that is in embarrassment minutes?) in front of my entire office. It played and played and played until I finally ran over to the youngest person sitting in my row, threw my phone in his lap and said “MAKE IT STOP!”
And thank god he did.
And then I died of embarrassment. Which is cool because the whole situation made me feel about 80 years old, so at least I lived a long life.
Let me tell you, internet: I have learned my lesson on the volume thing. But I’m still a little slow on everything else. I have downloaded maybe 5 apps and I’m sure there is a world out there waiting for me to explore it! (What do you use for your feed readers?) Bethany was already kind enough to email a list of her favorite apps (LOVE HER!), but I’m sure that all of you have something to contribute, yes?
Care to share what apps make your heart sing? Please just not top-volume-dropping-F-bombs-for-two-whole-minutes-in-front-of-my-entire-office singing, mmmkay? Maybe apps that make your heart sing a nice lullaby or something, eh?
These Are My Confessions – Volume Two
It’s mid-week, I’m feeling a little feisty, so how about a round of some confessions. I hope I have now gotten that terrible Usher song in your head. You’re welcome. So I’ve got a few to get off my chest — how about you tell me some of yours so I don’t feel so bad? It will be fun, I promise!
Confession #1 – We have a gorgeous shower in our master bathroom. GORGEOUS. It’s one of my favorite parts of our house. It’s spacious and lovely and full of some of my favorite things And we haven’t used it regularly in, oh almost 12 months. I mean could you die? Why on earth would you do that, Holly? Well, mostly because we are lazy and because keeping that glass clean is a downright chore with all the squeege-ing and drying and treating with waterproof substances and stuff and it adds almost 10 minutes on to your shower in the morning. When Garrett went back to working at Peet’s and his wake-up call started coming between 4 and 5am, he started showering in the guest room to save time in the morning. And then I got jealous and threw my shampoo in there. And now? We just use the guest bathroom. THE GUEST BATHROOM!
Can you believe that?
God, that’s embarrassing. I’m hoping the act of telling you will force me to quit acting like a dummy. A lazy dummy.
Confession #2 – You all, I am feeling super conflicted! When I get married I am not sure I want to change my last name. Now this is probably a post in itself, but the truth is as Garrett and I talk more about wedding planning and timing and babies, etc I get more panicky about the impending possibility of changing my last name. I am the only Woodcock still standing of my close extended family and I am proud of that name. Yes, it’s kind of a tragic last name that I couldn’t wait to get rid of when I was 12, but now that I am 32 I have had plenty of time to adjust. And I do like it. And I am attached to it. And it does make me feel connected to my dad who is no longer around. And all of those other feminist arguments that go along with keeping your last name. (Why doesn’t Garrett want to be a Woodcock? Come on, it’s a waaaaay better name for a boy, you know!)
But we talk about it often and Garrett REALLY wants me to change my last name — and you all Garrett does not want for much. He is the most supportive and loving partner (obvs, or I wouldn’t even be considering marrying the guy) and he so rarely does anything besides go with the flow, and he has told me on a number of occasions that it is important to him that our children and our family share the same last name. And his last name is not a bad name. It’s a lovely name actually (Franklin) would go just fine with my first name, and in theory I like the idea of the family we create together all having the same name, but WHY OH WHY does it mean I have to give up my name? Sob.
Ay yay yay — how did you make that decision?
Confession # 3 – Just to lighten things up a bit — I’m listening to Ke$ha on purpose you guys. Who am I?
Confession # 4 – I miss the internet when people blogged because they liked to write. Now it is all about niches and advertising and HOW CAN YOUR WEBSITE BE GROWING IF YOU ARE NOT GIVING YOUR READERS WHAT THEY WANT? Well what about what I want? I maintain this site. I spend time here putting my proverbial pen to paper as an exercise for myself. As a hobby. As something I do for fun. Why does that have to make me feel like a slacker? Why do I have to categorize my interests into a niche? Why do I have to be more one dimensional so that “my target audience can get what it needs”? I feel irked by this. I love stumbling upon a great personal blog where the author is a lovely writer and talks about LOTS of different things. Those are my FAVORITE reads actually. When did this become uncool?
So what do you want to confess? You’ll feel better, I swear. I’m all ears…
These Are My Confession – Volume One
1. My favorite hangover breakfast is a McDonald’s McGriddle with Sausage, a hashbrown, and a Large Diet Coke.
2. I own at least one cd by all the following artists: Michael Bolton, Kenny G, Yanni, and Wilson Phillips.
3. Sometimes when I clean my house, I do run throughs of my old dance routines from when I was like 9 (yes! I can still remember some. Especially the one to “Chantilly Lace.”) Wow…that sentence was kind of a punctuation mindf*ck, that I am too lazy to correct.
4. In the bathroom at work yesterday I noticed a hole in the forearm of my sweater (boo!). So I promptly went back to my desk and STAPLED it closed.
5. I have, on more than one occasion, eaten canned frosting for dinner
6. I know the words to more than 5 Too $hort songs
7. I’m secretly planning a new iPod playlist that is comprised completely of songs by ex-boy-band stars pursuing a solo career. I’m doing this solely so I can download Jordan Knight’s “Give it to You.”
8. I worked at Peet’s Coffee for more than 6 years preaching quality and snobbery, yet I drank a Starbucks latte yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that.
9. This morning I sang along while the radio blared Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”. Right as I was rolling in to the parking garage, they played “You Give Love a Bad Name” and for a moment, I felt like all the planets were aligned
10. I want the new Britney Spears album
