Prompt 9: A Picture of the Item I Last Purchased

It just so happens that I made a trip out to Target today.  This means that I purchased several things.  To determine the very last thing I purchased I suppose I must consult my receipt

Even though I distinctly remember the cashier scanning these quite early (he was deeply confused by the fact that they were called hobo bags) they are the last items listed on the receipt.  So we shall say they're the last items I bought.  So here is a picture of them.  Slightly irresponsible a purchase as they may have been, I am quite happy with them

I had initially thought to give the green and white striped one to Kara, but the more I look at it the more I like it.  Not to mention she just snapchatted me that it looks like me.  Which is a nice way we have of saying that we would never wear/carry/have whatever the other is showing us, but we appreciate that the other person likes it.  So looks like two new purses for me!  After I'm done writing this I think I'll check if I can fit my laptop into them.  If so, that will make a very awesome purchase indeed.  Always looking for ways to cart around this giant laptop...

Coming up next we have #10: A photo of my favorite place to eat...

Prompt 8: A Song to Match My Mood

Well, for better or worse, at this specific moment I am not aware of any particular mood.  On the one hand, as it is 11:30, this is good because typically at this hour if I have a mood it is more or less depressed.  On the other hand, it is difficult to pick a song to match a mood you don't have.  So here is my strategy.  I shall pull up iTunes, put my entire library on shuffle, and then keep skipping till I find something that feels right.

Apparently iTunes was really dedicated to the idea of me listening to New Model Army.  Matt, you should appreciate that Desdemona is clearly on your side about that band.

Two hits on Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom audiobooks, and, in all honesty, those felt like just exactly what I wanted to listen to.  However, the prompt very specifically states a song, so I pressed onward till I found the song where I wanted to stop and listen.  Here you go:

Just to see what happens, I shall try this again and see if the next song I stop on is of a similar mood.  Fair notice, though.  I am a blues dancer and DJ, so there's a very good chance whatever I settle on will be blues-y

Nope.

This song won through pure nostalgic value.  Don Williams = my dad.  My mom and dad would sing all these great old Don Williams songs like "Lay Down Beside Me" and "Amanda" and "I Believe In You".  One day I ran across a "Best Of" album on iTunes and had to buy it.  We'll try one more time and see where I land...

This came up almost right away.  I think that taking all three of these into account that would put me in just a solid chill mood.  Bonus points go to songs I can sing along with.

And there you have it

Click on through to read the actual prompt for today, a photo of the item I last purchased (so exciting!)

Prompt 7: My Dream Wedding

This post is a day late, but only because I really got into this prompt.  Planning a fantasy wedding when you don't have to consider constraints of money or your fiance's taste turns out to be a whole lot of fun (with just the slightest hint of bitterness because we're being honest and contrast makes everything taste better).

Perhaps this should have come first, but it wasn't till we'd both spent an unnecessary amount of time searching for the perfect dress for me that Kara asked me what the "essence" of my wedding would be.  Once I figured this out it really helped me settle some of the "but I like allllll of them!" quandaries.  Like what dress I would hypothetically wear.  So without further ado, the "essence" of my wedding: organic, dreamy evening wedding with touches of Southern Gothic.

This leads us first to the venue.  My ideal venue would be a southern plantation with a long avenue of southern oaks draped in Spanish moss, absolutely covered in twinkly glowy lights.

photo by Marc Walter

Imagine that just covered all over with glowy lights!

The tables would all be decorated with moss and flowers and vines and such.  And there would be tables because, as this is a fantasy, I can afford to put on a big dinner like we had at Ralf's wedding.  Full catered dinner for my close family and friends.  Delicious food...in fact, I'd be willing to have exactly what Ralf had, because that food was freaking delicious!  Anyway, I can't find any good pictures of what I'm imagining but imagine soft moss, candles, and windy twisty vines and woods.  And the dishes are all clear glass that catch the light and are beautiful.  This is where I would have it

Which leads to my colors.  Here is a link to look at them (ish).  It's hard to make exactly the right ones, but that's a pretty close idea.  The primary colors would be the orange and charcoal, with the blue, heather, and green as accents.  I deeply deeply long to have orange poppies involved in this, but I just don't know if they'll fit.  But I will absolutely have roses.  Because I love roses.

this is possibly the most perfect thing I could ever imagine

So we've got an evening wedding covered all over with lights, with the colors down.  As far as things go, I guess we're just missing the dress and ring.  Here you go:

I don't even want to know how expensive this dress is, but I could buy it here:
http://www.allurebridals.com/products/8901

I could buy this here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/96725424/lovely-elvin-organic-flow-band?ref=market

So, obviously the dress would need to have a sleeves of some sort.  I have some ideas, but I'm not sure exactly how I would do that.  Also, I would want the bodice to be less crusty, more embroidered.  And for the ring, I would just want to add a raw sapphire on the left in that space.  A dark blue one.

So that's that for things.  I also would say that my ideal wedding would also have a specific feeling.  My favorite thing about Ralf's wedding was the way every single person came there with the intention of staying and having fun and dancing.  It was literally a celebration.  Not like so many of the weddings I've been to here in Utah where it's more like a ritualized meet and greet where people come, eat some food, hug the bride and groom, sit for a set number of minutes, and then leave.  I want a real dinner, and I want actual dancing where all of the people dance, not just my dance friends.  I want us to party late into the night.  I want people to make new friends and talk to each other.  That is also one of the most important parts of my dream wedding.

prompt 8 is a song to match my mood...so keep your eyes peeled today for that

Prompt 6: An animal I'd love to keep as a pet

I'm just going to point out...none of these are so much "writing" prompts as they are picture prompts.  Annoying.

We're going to do this in two categories, actual reasonable pets, and fantasy pets you only get to have if you're a rajah in turn of the century India.  First, normal pets

My current dog obsession is a blue brindled French Bulldog or Boston Terrier.  Basically dogs with bat ears who look like they got their faces smashed in by a door.  Look at these guys!

Look at him!  They're so compact and squatty!

another frenchie

I literally cannot handle Frenchie puppies

Boston terriers have longer legs and are a little less powerfully built

puppy!!!

I would also like to have a cat.  I don't really have a particular type in mind exactly (Russian Blues are pretty, as are Ragdolls) it's more of a personality thing.  I'd need to meet the cat and see how we get on.  But because cats rule the internet, here are some cute pictures of various cats for you to enjoy

Russian blue

ragdoll

black cat of indeterminate species

As for unrealistic pets...well...

obviously the slow loris

pygmy elephant, equally obvious 

miniature giraffe...why are you still even questioning these....

a freaking tiger!  Really any big cat, but especially a tiger

a hedgehog!

a real, normal sized elephant.  It would not be my pet so much as my friend

a freaking river otter!!!

"'sup"
yes, an owl.  Because I am part of the Harry Potter Generation

I'm pretty sure there are many more animals I have longed to own as a pet, but that's probably enough for one post.  If you come back tomorrow you can find out what my dream wedding will look like!

*Edit*
Literally the minute I hit publish I thought of one more that needs to be included

Prompt 5: A Photo Of Myself Two Years Ago

This is, quite possibly, the best picture of me to exist in the entire world.  It was inspired by this blog post from The Bloggess.  If you don't know who the Bloggess is then I really have to question our friendship.  Well, I say inspired by, but who are we kidding.  The minute I saw this gigantic metal chicken just hanging out on the side of the road I knew I was going to have a picture with it.  It was whole minutes after that that I remembered The Bloggess and Beyonce.  There was actually a whole series of photos taken that day, featuring, in addition to myself, the wonderful Callie and Summer.  We literally drove out to Home Depot with no other goal in life but to take pictures with this vast menagerie of cast iron/aluminum (the chicken was aluminum) creatures that this man had put out for purchase.  It was the best possible use of a day.  And for good measure, here are pictures of Callie and Summer posing with some of the other, slightly more reasonably sized animals

This was Summer and the Bear's engagement shoot

Callie cradling a baby t-rex...presh!

Come back tomorrow to find out what kind of animal I wish I had for a pet.  Feel free to post guesses in the comments...

Prompt 4: A Favorite Photograph of Your Best Friend[s]

The most challenging element of this post is determining who is my best friend.  Answer: I don't really know.  But I think the two top contenders at this point in my life are Kara Baxter and Matt McDonald.

First, Kara.  Kara is definitely my oldest friend, and by oldest I mean in terms of the age of our friendship.  I'm actually friends with people much older than her.  I think my favorite thing about our friendship is the amount of crap it has been through.  But despite those rough parts we remain friends, and are, in fact, better friends now than we've ever been.  Besides my brother, the only person here in Provo who has any idea of my history and development as a human is her.  Unfortunately, we neither of us have a favorite photo of her, so instead you're going to get a small sampling carefully collected from facebook.  Do enjoy:

because this was high school

because this was the trip where we became adult friends

because running is part of who she is

because she is beautiful and has a very unique style

because obviously

because that expression is my favorite expression.  

And then Matt.  Technically Matt and I go way back to my days in Russian class.  However, since we literally never interacted there, that hardly counts.  Then for a time our relationship consisted of him running in to me when I was at dance things like booth or the Malt Shoppe where I, this random girl he barely knew, would try to coerce him into dancing with me.  This was a frightening time for him.  Then at last he moved into my ward in Campus Plaza and we became real friends.  Then, after he moved out of Campus Plaza, and then back in, he became my best friend.  I love Matt because he listens to me and because he trusts me.  Aside from those few months in Campus Plaza, the bulk of our friendship has existed online.  We talk about whatever we want or need to talk about.  We watch movies together via netflix and chat.  We share whatever we're interested in or working on with each other.  Matt tries to help me be healthier and I try to help him be more confident.  This is a picture I took of Matt during one of our many summer evenings in Campus Plaza.  He's wearing the tie I gave him and being happy and annoyed with me for insisting on taking his picture.

I miss this human

Coming up next we have prompt #5: A Photo of Myself 2 Years Ago.....(*dun dun dunnnnnn*)

Prompt 3: My Idea of the Perfect First Date...

I suppose I should link to this blog post on my tinder profile...

Let's see...what would be my perfect first date.  Aside from April 25...

Ok, so, to begin with, let's be honest, the perfect date must obviously start with the perfect guy.  A high-seas adventure in piracy can't save a night with a guy you just aren't in to.  Conversely, getting arrested by a Honduran drug cartel could be the best night of your life if you have the right partner in crime in the cell with you.  Strangely, both of those scenarios involve crime...

That being said, this is the best I can do without a specific guy in mind:

First, all major activities of the night would be disclosed in advance.  Surprises are well and good, but elephant rides and swing dances require very different clothing and I am very big on dressing for the occasion.  The only time this rule is negated is if you are Logan Huntzberger and can simply supply ballgowns  etc, in correct sizes, as needed.

Second, and this is especially important since it is the first date, the guy may strive to take me out of my comfort zone if he's big into that, but I have a comfort zone of out of comfort zone and he best not take me out of that.  Which is to say, rollercoasters: ok.  Haunted houses/horror films: not ok.  Awkward and absurd social interactions with strangers: ok.  Sports: not ok.  That last one is entirely to preserve my dignity and nothing he says or does will change my hatred of him if he tries to force me against my will.  He can deal with it.

But enough of what shouldn't be done.

Ok, I'm imagining the best night I can...and I think it begins with him picking me up and taking me over to his place where we would cook dinner together.  As this is a fantasy, we're going to make him a non-college student without roommates and with a decent, taken care of place.  Cooking together (I have no patience for sitting awkwardly whilst he cooks) will give us something to talk about to break the ice and by the time we sit down to eat we are comfortable with each other.  If we're trying something new and exciting I want it to be new and exciting to him to.  I don't want him to be doing that patronizing "let me share my world wisdom with you" thing.  If we both hate it he doesn't get embarrassed, he just laughs with me and we go get fast food or something.

After that we could go see a movie if there is anything good showing.  This is important not for the sake of the movie, but because after the movie we go get ice cream for dessert and talk about it.  And I mean really talk about it.  He never tells me that I'm over thinking things or that it's just a movie and I should just enjoy it.  Nor does he sit there with no opinions of his own, nodding dumbly while I talk.  He listens to me and he also shares his own ideas.  We have an actual conversation.

Now, since this is the perfect date, not just a pretty good date, the evening doesn't end here.  Instead, after our ice cream and conversation, we finally go blues dancing.  This gives us both the opportunity for some physical connection, but also a bit of a respite as we mingle with everyone else at the dance.  Blues is nice because I am more and differently at ease there than anywhere else.  And since I'm fantasizing, the two of us will have a really great dance connection.

After blues dancing we shall excuse ourselves and he shall take me home.  Since this is a first date by no means should he kiss me at the end of it.  But a nice, solid hug would be quite lovely.  Having hugged me, however, he then mustn't linger because I hate when I can't end a social interaction and it gets drawn out into pure awkward.

And that is that.  Somewhat uninspired, I'll admit, but it really does sound nice to me.  Really nice.  I think I nailed this prompt pretty solidly.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Prompt 4: My Favorite Photograph of My Best Friend