24 cats that are so single right now...

{F21: Maxi dress -worn as skirt- similar, denim jacket similar, basic tee similar, necklace similar, sunnies similar; H&M: hat similar, Ross: sandals similar}

...Hey guuuuys. I was in a mega romance funk this weekend. Maybe it was just the uterus punch that had me feeling blue, but I was just feeling kind of off. Of course, my romance funk meant that an immediate viewing of the Julia Roberts classic, "My Best Friend's Wedding" was in need. It's my go to movie when I'm in a funk. I remember it being on ABC Family one night back when I was 17 when I was in a similar funk. I remember seeing it and thinking, "Oh, I remember watching this as a little girl and not getting it at all. I should watch it again." Anyway, I watched it all the way through loving every moment, and then it got to that last scene when Julia looses the man and is just gloomily sitting at her table ALL alone...and I cried. Seriously. I just sat in my family's theater room all alone thinking to my 17 year old self in between sniffles, "That's, sniffle, sniffle, going, sniffle, to be, sniffle, sniffle, MEEEE!!" I can't even remember why my 17 year old self was so convinced that I would be forever alone. Maybe an old crush had let me down? I don't know. I don't remember, but ever since that moment "My Best Friends Wedding" has just been my go to romance funk movie.

Well, enough of that. My romance funk hast ended. I know I'm not going to be forever alone. That uterus punch just had me feeling like wallowing in non-existant issues. :)

Moving on, ever heard of Buzzfeed? Well, it's some sort of website full of hilarious little things that my sister loves reading in her spare time. Whenever she finds something especially hilarious she emails it to me. The most recent thing she sent me was this list of "24 Cats that are so Single Right Now". Check it out. It's hilarious and extremely relatable! But seriously. Check. It. Out. It is a complete requirement of reading this post!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/24-cats-that-are-so-single-right-now
...what do you guys think? Super funny right? I especially loved numbers 2, 3, 11, and 15. They're me to the extreme. Which ones were your favorites?

Much Love!

P.S. I love this maxi dress turned maxi skirt! It's one of my favorite items right now. Super cozy, and super easy to style in different ways. I can wear it as a dress like its meant to be worn or I can convert it into a maxi skirt! Amaze-balls!

Because this is all I can think of...Buahahahaha!

 {F21: dress, earrings -that you can't even really see- similar; Charlotte Russe: shoes similar}

Oh, you guys...bleh. Just bleh. Today started out perfectly fine. I woke up nice and early, was extremely productive, took my puppy out for a run, and got all dolled up for church. But then, moments before I was about to head out I started to feel a little uncomfortable and it was because dear old mother nature had come a knockin' with one of these...

I know I've already shared this picture once and I know it's probably TMI but like I said once before it's my blog and I'll be gross and share TMI if I want to. ;) As all of you ladies can probably guess the day just went all down hill from there. You see that girl smiling in the pictures above? Ha, don't be fooled by that smile because that's the smile of a sly little devil who was kind of a grouch to everyone she saw today. I got to church and I told myself I'd give it an honest shot to not be a grouch...ha! That so did not happen. I was grumpy at everyone sitting next to me, I was grumpy at everyone in the room for no particular reason, and I was grumpy at the girl sitting five rows in front of me who was being way too flirty and throwing herself all over not one but TWO guys for an entire hour. I know, I know, it's probably none of my business who this girl flirts with and throws herself all over but when it's that time of the month that she-demon inside me, that I so lovingly talked about here and very recently here, just takes over and I just turn into a judgey, nosey, she-demon freak. It kind of sucks because I ended up completely and purposely ignoring everyone I had intended to speak to and was a tad bit short with the few people that were courageous enough to approach me today. I say courageous because it takes a brave person to approach me when I have "WARNING: I am a she-demon today" stamped across my forehead. I'm awful...but I can't be alone in this right? I mean, ladies, back me up here. We all turn into grouches once a month right? Oh well, all is right with the world now, I'm home chowin' down on a slice of homemade carrot cake and I couldn't be happier. The she-demon has been sated and by tomorrow I should be back to my regular non she-demon self. For now, though, my apologies to those that had to interact with the she-demon.

Much Love!

This is what I do with Freedom!

{Ross: Chambray top similar, gladiator sandals similar; Abercrombie kids: denim shorts similar, white tank similar; F21: head wrap similar, bird necklace similar, sunglasses similar}

I've been a lazy blogger this week guys, sorry. It was finals week and it was insane! BUT, I'm done!! Yahoo! I'm free at last! I'm finally free for the summer, and this weather is just straight up ballin'! ;) To celebrate, my sisters and I are heading up to Logan for a quick concert and then I'm headin' off for a night of Latin dancing with two of my best chicas! (Scratch the concert, my sister underestimated how far Logan is and no longer wants to drive that far.) Now that's what I call a bomb way of kicking off the summer! How are you guys kicking off your summers? Oh, and to any Always Maylee readers stopping by today, welcome! I hope you guys enjoy my ramblings about my mega weird and semi boring life...and if our weirdness is compatible follow along and let's be friends!

Much Love!

P.S.
A quick word to any fellow runners. Never EVER run without socks. I forgot mine today and figured I'd be fine, boy was I wrong. I ignored the slight discomfort I was feeling on the arch of my feet but when I got home and took off my shoes I realized I had completely rubbed off a good chunk of skin on the arches of my feet. That'll probably put a damper on my dancing.

These are my Confessions...

{H&M: dress similar; F21: cardi similar; Charlotte Russe: shoes similar}

I'm sure you've all heard of Shakira right? Of course you all have. I mean, who hasn't heard of the "Hips don't Lie" belly dancing vixen? Before her hips didn't lie, though, she had a whole different sound and look. She had blue, pink, and purple in her then black as night hair and was the sickest female rocker of the 90's. She was just this killer harmonica playing bad a**. It's kind of a little known fact unless you're a Latino. Anyways, her album "Donde Estan los Ladrones", one of my top favorite albums of all time, has this song on it called "Inevitable". The beginning verses start off with odd little confessions about herself, and I totally love it. Not to mention the fact that I'm guilty of doing more than one of the things she confesses about doing. Here's the song if you want to give it a listen. It's totally awesome even if about 90% of you won't understand the lyrics, but you'll get to see an edgier looking Shakira!

Anyway, this song got me thinking about confessions. I know I mentioned before that I wanted to do a little confession type post a while back and I decided to finally do it today. I mean, I'm not going to be confessing to murder or anything...not that I've ever killed anyone. I just wanted to clarify that my confessions are just going to be light, fun, and possibly probably maybe just a little bit totally weird.

1. I have MAJOR road rage. I'm usually a pretty chill person but when it comes to driving my inner she-demon comes out to play. When I'm on the road I'm usually of the mindset that I'm the only capable driver on the road. I honk freely and liberally -I know, I know, honking is rude and obnoxious but how else am I supposed to give other divers a piece of my she-demon mind?- Oh, and did I mention that when I'm driving my mind somehow convinces itself that I'm Jason Statham from "The Transporter"? Yupp, this is basically how my mind envisions me when I drive. 
   
2. I've been mentioning this one a lot on my Facebook page lately but I seriously love salty bites of oatmeal. I like buying those instant Quaker oatmeal packets because they make easy and tasty breakfasts when I'm in a hurry. My favorite flavor is the Maple Syrup. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, to die for! Anyway, every now and then there'll be a spoonful that for some reason has a salty taste to it...and I love it! I don't know why, but it just tastes soooo good to me!
3. I don't wash my hair on daily basis...don't judge me! I mean, according to Cosmo and Glamour not washing my hair every single day is actually healthier. It helps it not get dried out and/or strip it of necessary oils and minerals and such...so yay me right? Right?? Yeah, yay me for keeping my hair healthy! Plus, sometimes second day hair just looks so much cuter than first day hair. Ya feel me ladies??
4. I talk to myself. Out loud. A lot. I know most people do, but I'm that crazy person that gets all angry and defensive about it when someone else thinks I'm talking to them. This happens to me at work a lot. I'll be rattling something off to myself and when someone asks if I was speaking to them I'll say, "Pshh, no. I wasn't talking to YOU, I was talking to MYSELF", as I walk off muttering, "Mind your own dang business."
5. Last but not least. I think I'm turning into a crier. A public crier at that too! I'm worried guys. Blehhhhhh. This Saturday I cried crazy amounts at work. One of my co-worker/friend's grandma passed away and as I gave her a hug of comfort I got to thinking about how much I could relate to how she was feeling because my own grandma is very close to passing as well and  and I just burst into tears with her. It turned into a sloppy teary hug and I'm not sure I ended up being very comforting at all. Oh, and it was my best friends last day at work. The whole day I kept telling myself I wasn't going to cry about it, and I actually wasn't feeling too teary but then...she clocked out and the water works started. I was quickly heading to full on sobbing/ugly crying -not that crying is ever attractive- but I didn't want to make her feel bad so I contained myself. Call me 'Emotional Edith'. I hate crying.  

Well, there are my confessions for you! What do you guys think, can you relate to any of 'em? Have any confessions of your own? 

Much Love! 

P.S. Sorry about the grainy quality/brightness of the outfit photos! Oh, and there's a MEGA sale going on at H&M, I went yesterday and they had a bunch of stuff! 

Happy Earth Day...not really...but kind of...

 {Rue21: peasant top similar; Target: boyfriend jeans; H&M: booties similar; Abercrombie: belt similar}

It's Earth Day! ...actually, no, it's not but at Westminster since today was the last day of classes we celebrated early. There were chalk designs on the sidewalks announcing Earth day and the activities, there were booths all over the commons area advertising ways in which we could all help in being kinder to the earth, and of course there were food and treats EVERYwhere! World Dog, a local hot dog and sausage cart, came to provide us all with free hot dogs! They even had dun, dun, dun...veggie dogs for the non-meat eating humans such as myself! We had live tunes from Sugartown Alley, pedal powered smoothies, AND a mobile greenhouse made from a bus, which is the bus I'm standing in front of in the photos above! My favorite part of the activities, though, was probably this hang line with briefs on it. They had various ones all over campus, and they were hilarious! I mean, what's funnier than random underwear hanging on trees? Nothing.

See what I mean? Their purpose was actually to encourage people to use their dryers less since they emit one ton of CO2 per year.

Oh, and remember this post from a while back in which I described my sheer and paralyzing phobia of birds? Well, as part of the Earth Day activities Westminster brought live raptors...I was freaking out at first, and on the verge of running away crying...but then...

The lady approached me so nicely and enthusiastically that I couldn't oppose to a little photo op with this terrifying beast. He was actually pretty calm and his feathers were uber soft! I actually ended up petting his feathers for almost a full minute...it was strangely soothing and it was helping me get over the fear that at any minute he was going to claw my eyes out. As I was walking away I heard another student ask the lady if he could pet the bird too, and she flat out refused because its not good to pet them...whoops! If we weren't allowed to pet him why the heck did she let me pet him for a whole bloody minute? Maybe, she could tell I was scared. They also had other raptors like these...

 

...the owl was the scariest one. My courage ended when I got to him. Of all the birds I fear owls are probably the worst. All I can say is that I had weird experience with an owl at an Old Navy and they've pretty much been at the top of my feared birds list ever since. Finally, here are a couple of pics of some of the loot I picked up!

These are my babies, I shall love and care for them dearly. I got a cilantro, spinach, tomato, and zucchini plant! How cool is that?! I've named them too. Pee Wee the zucchini plant, Tadpole the tomato plant, Lady the cilantro plant, and Porky the spinach plant.

Last but not least, a cool bug tattoo!

Much love, and happy early Earth Day!

Boston

{H&M: booties similar; Target: boyfriend jeans; F21: graphic tank similar, earings similar; Jacket: gifted similar}

It's moments like these that make us really appreciate life and all the people and things that make each of our lives special. It seems as though there have been many tragedies, such as the one in Boston, happening all over the world left and right. While each tragedy has been shocking and saddening, for me this tragedy struck a little closer to home. I'm a third generation runner. My mom is a marathoner and her dad before her was a marathoner. I've participated in many races as both a runner and a supporter of a runner. As a distance runner there is just such a deep sense of accomplishment that you get when you see that finish line just inches away from your feet, when you see that clock reflecting the time you were pushing yourself to finish at. More than all that, though, the best part is to look to the sidelines and see your loved ones jumping up and down cheering your name. I can't imagine how horrifying it must have been to have all of that taken away in mere seconds. Although there isn't much that we can do to help, other than include the victims and their families in our prayers, I think it's important to take a moment out of the 'go go go' nature of our lives to pause and remember that there are people out there who are hurting emotionally and physically. To pause and think of all of the reasons we have to be thankful for our own lives, and remember that despite these awful things the world is still a thing to marvel at and be thankful for. With that said, I don't know about you guys but I'm a wallower. When sad things happen to me personally or to others, I tend to wallow...a lot. Lets not wallow, though, because making ourselves miserable doesn't show respect for the victims, appreciation for our lives, or help in any way. When I'm feeling down, there's a phrase that never fails to cheer me up, "cheer up buttercup". I don't know why it always helps. Maybe it's because buttercup is such a cute word, or maybe it's just the combination of words that I find comforting but it always helps. To all of us I say then, "cheer up buttercup". Finally, when we all need cheering there are certain images that never fail to raise our spirits, bring a smile to our lips, make us laugh, and/or get the warm fuzzies inside!

Here they are, enjoy!

1. Puppies, because nothing makes you feel fuzzier inside than a fuzzy little monster. Plus, the one on the bottom right is just hilarious!

2. A cute baby, because nothing brings a smile to a persons lips more than a chubby, googley eyed, drooling tiny human. And, yes, I know this video is so 2011 but it's still adorable!

3. Tadpoles. Yes, I realize I'm probably the only one who finds tadpoles cute, and actually I mostly only think they're weird. That's why they're so cool, though, because they're just so freaky and awesome. Now picture what I'm about to say next in this exact voice...

...I like tadpoles.

Much love!

On Being a "Real" Woman

{Charlotte Russe: dress similar here in turquoise, shoes similar; White House Black Market: crochet cardi similar}

I was going to make this post a Sunday confessions post and just keep it real short, sweet, funny, and simple because of the massive project I have to do for my graphic design class (I have to invent my own fictional company, make a logo for it, design a sales brochure for it, and then design a small ad for it. Butt load of work right?? I've got a good amount of it done and I'm so excited for it, though!). I got to looking through these photos, though, and the first thing that caught my attention were my legs. Not at all vain, right? Ha, they didn't catch my attention in a "daayyyung, I've got a nice pair of legs" kind of way, though. They caught my attention because after all of these years they still look like chicken legs. Twiggy little things that couldn't fill in a boot if their life depended on it. Noticing them got me thinking about my older sister. She has THE perfect legs, not too thin, not too big and just the right amount of muscle. Growing up we were always -and still are- the best of friends. She was my idol. I looked up to her in so many ways. Anything she did I had to do too. Wherever she was you could count on finding me right behind her. As we got older she just turned into this bootylicious perfect hourglass shaped woman overnight. My dad would always tell her she looked like a perfect little coke bottle. Curvy on top and bottom and a tiny little waist! I was just always "la flaca" or "seca Keka". La flaca is Spanish for the skinny one and "seca" is Spanish for thin which happens to rhyme with my families nickname for me, "Keka", so I was thin Keka. I remember seeing my sister and thinking to myself, "wow, now that's what a real woman is supposed to look like! I can't wait for it to happen to me!". Of course it never did. I take after my mom's side, a line notorious for it's twiggy legged women, and my sister takes after my dad's side, a line in which the women are known for their enviable bodacious figures. At the time, I hadn't realized this so throughout my teen years I waited and waited and waited for the day to come when I would miraculously turn into this "real" woman overnight. It was only till my junior year of High School that I realized that if my magical transformation into a real woman was ever going to happen it would've already happened. Of course I was a little disappointed, but I grew to embrace it. Talking to my sister in the years since, I've realized that having that awesome figure of hers wasn't always a walk in the park for her. She went through a lot of struggles as a young girl from having developed her hourglass frame at such a young age. As we've talked about this on different occasions we've both come to realize that through those early years we both longed to look like the other. I longed for her "perfect woman body" and she longed for a break from her "perfect woman body" and for a day as "seca Keka". I guess that saying is true, "the grass is always greener on the other side". We always seem to want what we don't have. Anyway, I feel like women as a whole have been collectively pushing for all of us to embrace our bodies and I completely agree that it's something we should all strive for. I never hated my body by any means, mostly because I was raised by a mother who told me day in and day out that I was a beautiful human being and that in order to be loved I had to love myself first. My issue growing up was that I just had expectations and hopes for my body that weren't exactly realistic. Once I realized my hopes weren't ever going to come to fruition I fully embraced myself and was able to realize that the grass is greenest where I choose to water it and allow it to shine. With that said, let's all as women work towards being more loving towards ourselves and a little less critical shall we? We're all by nature a beautiful group of people so let's embrace ourselves as we are whether we're curvy, thin, tall, short, or in my case chicken legged. Our bodies are constantly changing, it's a fact of life and we need to learn to love our bodies in all of it's stages. The stages when our bodies are fitter or even the stages when our bodies are curvier. To be a "real" woman is to love yourself so that others can love you! :)

Much love!

P.S.
Thank you to all of you lovely ladies who recently followed my blog on bloglovin' you're all amazing!!