Month: February 2017

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- Melody

goals

2017 goals

Is February to late to post a goals list? Asking for a friend. Trust me, if I don’t write it down it won’t happen. Even though I’ve made goals lists before and completely ignored them, but this time is different, I swear!

If you’re alive, you’ve probably seen goals posts out the wang this year. This list started out as a birthday goal list. The idea is to make a list of x number of items to complete before your next birthday. (x=your current age. #MATH) It gets tougher the older I get and I seem to put off big goals I have out of fear. For the last few years I’ve had the same few things on my list to complete, but after my 26th birthday I’m-seriously-getting-older-and-not-younger-what-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life crisis I’m making strides to get these done. Like I talked about in one of my recent posts, I’m the most balanced I’ve ever been and arguably the most motivated. So lez do eet.

2017 Goals
  • Start retirement fund
  • Save an emergency fund
  • Save $700 cushion fund Well, I did this and then I used it for emergencies! Back to square one!
  • Get a credit card (See #27.)
  • Finish decorating my apartment and be done I did, and then I moved. So I’m starting over, lol
  • Buy a new computer Welcomed a new iMac to the fam.
  • Budget an entire year and stick to it This is literally impossible.
  • Start a band
  • Redesign blog
  • Travel to two new places
  • Develop a core group of friends (wanna be friends?) I already have a core group of friends. I just didn’t realize it.
  • Get first tattoo
  • Get a second tattoo
  • Meditate more
  • Find a part time work from home gig I LOVE working for Rover! I can literally set my own schedule and I love all of my clients.
  • Lose thirty pounds (I KNOW)
  • Don’t dip into the negative. Ever. (already screwed this one up!)
  • Love yourself more
  • Keep your house as minimal as possible Got rid of SO MUCH STUFF in the move!
  • Visit fifteen Dallas spots on your list
  • Mark off three bucket list items
  • Wear sunscreen every day for a week
  • Complete Whole 60!
  • Go camping
  • Take another friend vacation Heading to the beach in July!
  • Be bold
  • Pay off credit card every month

If I wanna be extra…

  • Buy a bike!
  • Learn to put on false eyelashes
  • Buy good tennis shoes and start running again
  • Paddle board or kayak on White Rock Lake
  • Run a 5k without walking

 

The good news is I’ve already crossed off a decent amount! The bad news is some of these are abstract and can’t necessarily be measured in a year and some may seem like easy challenges. Like going camping? Easy. Getting a second tattoo? Done. Others are tough, like completing a Whole 60 instead of a Whole30 this go round is going to be difficult, but I can do it! Starting a band? Woof. I look forward to having a benchmark for myself to look back and see how I’ve improved. Crossing something off is the most satisfying thing to me!

 

Here’s to the next 182 days!

 

xx

All My Tattoos

- Melody 6 Comments

If you know me IRL, sometimes I get an idea in my head and obsess about it for literal years before I take action. This is true in my move to Dallas (ask anyone I went to college with), buying a Honda Civic and now true of tattoos.

I think I started wanting a tattoo when I was seventeen, but thank god I didn’t get one back then because surely any idea I had back then was total hot garbage. (AHEM, LITTLE SISTER RUDY. I’M TALKING TO YOU.) Anyway, I’d been bouncing ideas off of my mom the illustrator and bugging her for months to draw me something. I told them leading up to my birthday in September that all I wanted was tattoo money. One day my mom randomly texted me and asked how much people tip for tattoos. And because I’m as dense as a fruitcake I was completely oblivious. ADOY. On my birthday, they gave me all the money I’d need for my tattoo AND AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF THE DALLAS SKYLINE IN MY MOM’S SIGNATURE STYLE. I think I died.

I already knew which tattoo artist I was using so I made an appointment for mid October. My appointment was on a Friday and I lucked out that my sister could come up from Waco and go with me! I hate going places alone and having someone there relaxed me.


Oh, did I mention I made the appointment at historic Elm Street Tattoo that just happens to be seven minutes from me? Because I did.

Josh Arseneau was my artist of choice and he did not disappoint! He was kind, patient and talented. This was obviously my first tattoo and he indulged in all the photos I wanted and snapchats and video. Good thing the shop was pretty empty that day. THANK YOU, JOSH. You rule.

All healed up. I couldn’t love it more and I’ve already commissioned my mom for several more tattoos. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take six months like the last time. >.<

A couple months later Elm Street was having an anniversary tattoo event and I decided to randomly get this awesome rose piece on my arm. This also happened to be my third date with Paden. He was a good sport and came to the shop with me and even bought me tacos after while we looked at my arm wrapped in plastic slowly turn into what looked like a pack of bloody meat.

 

One of my other favorite artists from Portland, Tyson Arndt, just happened to be doing some appointments at Elm Street that week. When he introduced himself to me I said, “I know. I love your work.” He should’ve been completely freaked out and rolled away from me on his stool, but instead he said, “Oh cool! Thank you.” And then I got another cool tattoo.

 

So THANK YOU to Josh and Tyson for putting up with me and all my videos and photos and flinching, because now I have some permanent art on my body.

 

 

Do you have any tattoos? Where’d you get them? Who are some of your favorite artists? I’ve listed some of my faves that I follow on social media!

  1. JENNIFER TROK TATTOOS
  2. WONDERLAND TATTOO IN PORTLAND
  3. TEA TATTOOS IN BROOKLYN
  4. BLACK MEDICINE TATTOO
  5. BRITE IDEA TATTOO

 

List some of your faves below because I am now tattoo obsessed. <3

 

xx

Ohhh, hai!

- Melody 3 Comments

 

Well, I thought it was about time I updated you on the last four months of my life since you’ve so clearly been missing out on them. Wait…how do I blog again? Oh, I think I remember.

 

The last we spoke I told you how to deal with living alone being an extrovert. Remember in 2015 when I was losing my mind with that breakup and depression? Yeah. 2015 was probably not a good year for me EXCEPT the fact that I moved to Dallas. Save for that, 2015 was pretty shot. 2016 got a whole lot better when I started going to therapy and finally got on some happy pills. $6? Don’t mind if I do! I gave up dating, cut out toxic relationships and painted my house. For a hot second I thought about going to grad school for my MBA, but then scrapped it when I completely forgot about doing it. I threw myself a birthday party with all of my friends, since my big 25 kinda came and went. I made a list of things I wanted to learn and jobs I wanted to do. I adopted another dog, but you already knew that. I started working with Paws in the City as their Digital Pet Profile Coordinator, which is really just a fancy title for managing the volunteer writers. Recently, they asked me to help with their massive social media so I now run their Instagram and Twitter! Remember when I said two seconds ago I wrote a list of stuff I wanted to learn? Guess what was on there? Social media. BOOM, two weeks later Amy from PITC calls me to add me to their team. What’s funny is I started following them a year before I even moved to Dallas. I loved their mission and their work in the city and wondered what it’d be like to work with them. Well, now I do and I can say it’s pretty great.

In October, I went to a meeting my friend Josh was leading a community meeting to talk about LGBTQ youth homelessness in Dallas. I went just to learn, and came away a member of the Marketing/PR team. What a wacko night that was! Four months later we’ve launched an entire organization and I now run the entire Marketing/PR team with some pretty kickass talented people. What even is my life now? Oh, by the way? We’re Outlast Youth and we exist to reduce and prevent LGBTQ youth homelessness in Dallas and its surrounding counties by 2020 and you should totally join our Thunderclap awareness campaign. Also? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ll love you forever if you do it. Seriously.

I’m so excited to dive into this thing. Six months ago I had no idea LGBTQ youth homelessness was even a *thing* you know? But now, I’m like, fighting it. I’m interviewing transgender people and former homeless youth and meeting people I’d have had no contact with ever if it weren’t for Josh and this organization. It’s exciting and so, so fun.

Also last year, I quit dating altogether for about seven months. It was the happiest and most freeing seven months of my adult life, I think. I was so sick of constantly searching for someone and then feeling like no one out there could be what I wanted. I was a washing machine. I’d date someone for a bit and they’d get on my nerves and I’d spit them out. (Do washing machines do that? Whatever. You get it.) It felt so good to delete all of those self-centered dating apps and cut out the toxicity of constantly being sexualized. I think I finally remade my account the week of Thanksgiving. I went on a few dates with a guy but it just wasn’t right. When I finally met Paden, I don’t think I could delete my accounts again fast enough. Our beginning is kind of funny, but that’s a story for another day. For now, look at this photo of us and puke at how cute we are.

 

Yep. That’s us cuddling a puppy. I mean, come on.

 

The short of it is, I haven’t been this balanced and happy in a very long time. I’m stable for probably the very first time in my ENTIRE life and I can’t believe I lived so disjointed for 25 years. It hurt, but if that pain is what I needed to get me here I can deal with that. I’m doing things I can finally put my heart into. I’m learning new stuff every day and I have a boyfriend I have no anxiety or doubts about for the first time probably ever. I’ve been fighting and hurting for a long time.

Hello, happy. I like you.

 

 

xx