5 New Year's Resolutions That I Promise Aren't Lame

Happy New Year!  Hopefully ya'll spent New Year's with friends and family!

Normally I don't do New Year's Resolutions, and if I do they are almost always super easy like say smuggling a hot dog into a movie screening.

Yes that was really a resolution of mine for 2012!  Then I lied to my mom, when she called me and said my resolution was to get in shape, which is what I always say and never, ever do.

This time around I thought I would pick five doable yet legitimate resolutions.  

1.  Go out to a nice restaurant and eat an amazing meal once every three months.

Around the middle of year in 2014, I started cooking more meals at home, which helped me to lose some weight and helped me to stay relatively healthy during the cold/flu season.  I still plan on doing this but during the weekend, I had a habit of going out to eat at fast food places like Sonic.  I probably spent more money going to Sonic and Fuzzy's than treating myself to a nice dinner once every three months.  Plus, I feel that living so close to Dallas and Fort Worth, both of which have great restaurants, is kind of pointless unless I experience from time to time the good places that both have to offer.

2.  Do not believe the hype for music festivals and only go back to the ones I've had great time at.

I'm notorious for believing all the music festival hype and buying tickets to a three day festival, only to just go on Saturday, spend all day in lines and/or stand in the freezing rain to watch a band waay past their prime.  By this time, I know which festivals I had fun at last year, so I'll only be going to those this year.  I'll be saving time and money.

3.  Be relentlessly and unapologetically, yourself.

Look, some time during this year and any other year, life will throw us curve-balls.  Bad news, funerals, disappointments, injuries, etc.  To deal with any of these things while trying to be a skinnier, prettier, happier version of yourself is just too hard.  Be who you are and you will shelter any coming storms, I promise.

4.  Wear bright colors to work.

Right around November of 2014, I started to tone down the colors in my wardrobe and started wearing more button downs in neutral colors.  No real reason for it.  I was just out shopping with my mom and we found some ladylike and work appropriate blouses to wear under sweaters instead of my old standbys of cotton t-shirts,  I got bought myself some new sweaters at the same time, all in neutrals.  I thought I looked good buy my co-workers noticed immediately and not in a good way.  They missed the bright pop of color that is usually my signature, and now I miss it too.  I'm not skinny, I'm a big girl and I hate fading into the background.  2015 will be the year of color!

5.  Keep reading like a beast and write more!

Since getting my library card back in May to check out Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover, which I highly recommend since I was able to work off my consumer debt by year's end (which is probably my best accomplishment all year), I have kept returning to the library twice a month to check out two novels each time and read through them like an absolute beast.  I'm back to my old high school reading speed, which was usually insanely fast.  I love it and I don't plan on quitting in 2015.  Reading helps me to figure out my own strengths as a writer, so now I just need to write more, which is what absolutely every writer says.

What about you?  What goals or aspirations have you come up with for the New Year?

Read more

6 Easy Tips for Surviving Your Next Outdoor Music Festival

Because you don’t want to be this guy.

Source: Flickr

My first time attending a three day outdoor music festival I went alone, slept in my car, and almost had a run in with the police.

Let me back up a bit.

Once I had freshly graduated college, I moved to Austin to work as Production Assistant.  That did not work out as planned but I did get introduced to the outdoor festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival. 

The first two times I went, I went for one day only.

My first year to brave (and afford) all three days, I had moved back to Dallas (where the jobs are).

Thus I packed up some supplies and drove south to Austin.  My plans to stay at uncles’ house overnight were quickly dashed as well as my backup plan to crash on the floor of my cousin’s apartment.

No matter – I would just sleep in my car.  The way drug dealers, the homeless, and/or truckers sometimes do.

You don't know discomfort until you've slept in your car.

I survived on just a few hours a sleep per night, absolutely certain someone would alert the cops to my presence or the fear that I would pass out due to a lack of oxygen. 

Sealed windows still let air in right? Maybe I should roll down the window an inch?

A noisy party Saturday night at my old co-workers apartment, lead to the cops knocking on the front door.  Which wasn’t a big deal, except we had several underage drinkers and a few pot smokers perched on the balcony.  Everyone froze until the cops left.  Crisis averted.

Since those crazy days of my youth, I have learned some useful tips for the average outdoor music festival goer.   Some a mixture of common sense, and other methods more tried and true. 

I now present – 6 Easy Tips for Surviving Your Next Outdoor Music Festival!

YAAS! Let's Do This!

Tip #1 – Don’t Bring Your New Sandals

Look ladies, I know there are several cute sandal options out there.  You may be totally tempted to wear them brand spanking new to the music fest and wow everyone with your on point fashion sense.

Don’t.

Those girls that do?  They are plastering themselves with Band-Aids by end of Day One.  Most times the distance between parking and the festival gates are usually a few miles away.  You’ll be soooo excited to get there in a hurry, your new sandals will already be rubbing raw spots on your feet.

You can bring the sandals with you in a backpack to throw on once you enter the festival but towards the end of the night, you’ll either be covered in mud, or dirt or spilled beer.  Your cute sandals deserve better.

Tip # 2 – Come Prepared

Plan on bringing a poncho, a bandana and some hand sanitizer.  Each work wonders.  The porta potties will inevitably of supplies to wash your hand with. 

Also depending on the weather, which can vary wildly in Texas, you may be faced with drenching rains or hot dry heat that can turn the festival grounds into the post-apocalyptic setting of the Mad Max/ Road Warrior movies.

Trash bags work as ponchos too.....mmmyes, that's me!

Tip # 3 - Locate the Free Drinking Water Stations

Most festivals provide free drinking water stations, in which you can fill up at no charge.  At first, most people typically pass right on by but by Day Three, there is line of festival goers waiting up to 50 minutes and totally missing the whole Tune-Yards set just to get some dang water that doesn’t cost $7 a bottle.

Locate the stations early and strategically swoop in at opportune times to ensure you have an adequate water supply.

Tip # 4 – Locate Some Shade

Standing in the sun, watching Matt and Kim tear it up, is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  Standing in the sun after 4 hours straight is literally torture.  Regardless of which band is currently playing.  Make sure you find some shade and take a rest.  Even if you can’t see the band, you can still hear them and in your chillaxed pose can actually enjoy the music for what it’s worth.

This year I didn’t actually see the band Kongos perform, but I heard them live while stitting under a tent providing shade and man, they were just as awesome!

Tip # 5 – Avoid Running From Stage to Stage

My sister loves to do this but I do not recommend it.  Most music festivals purposely book two massively popular acts at the same time on stages on the opposite ends of the fairgrounds or park.  Most first timers moan in agony that they can’t watch both acts at the same time but that’s done on purpose so that the crowds are evenly spaced around the stages.  You wouldn’t want everyone crowding around each other at one end of the park while the other end is completely empty. 

Running from stage to stage in theory allows you to see both, but you are most likely going to miss the band’s performance of your favorite track or their awesome cover of a well-known classic.  You will miss the best parts, is what I have experienced chasing after my sister.

Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear and 2 Chainz play at the same time? Tha fu#k?

Tip # 6 – Stash Snacks in Your Car

Stash snacks in your car for after the festival.  You’ll either be running low on cash monies or you may be looking forward to grab a bite to eat someplace nearby.  Problem is, most of the festival attendees will have the same idea and you will find yourself in a bit of a gridlock on the way out.  Not to mention wait times at the closest restaurants, diners, or pancake houses still open nearby.  

You will most likely be hangry and/or thirsty, walking back to the parking lot so why not stash a little something in your car to tide you over?  I recommended trail mix or dried fruit. 

Any tips ya'll have to share?

Read more