18 hour day of OOF

Hey everyone!

So I didn't get a chance to blog at all yesterday, as my alarm clock went off at 4:45 AM (yep, you read that correctly) so I could take my bestest friend in the whole wide world (you can call her Alyssa) to LAX so she could catch a 7:30 international flight.

Ooof.

Then I headed straight to work, worked until 4, and headed out to Santa Monica to do a freelance gig until 7. Ate dinner in my car, came home, fell asleep on my bed from 9:30 to 10:30, woke up, did some chores around the house that I was supposed to do earlier, then dropped back into bed like a sack of potatoes.

And then lay awake. For over an hour. Ever have that -- your body is exhausted but your mind just won't shut up? I have that, oh, almost every night. And then when I do fall asleep I don't have very good dreams most of the time. I think it's anxiety, whether from past, present, or future events, playing itself out in my sleep. Either way -- do NOT appreciate.

Anyways, some thoughts, questions, and the best lemonade stand I've ever heard of for y'all before I sign off:

Either my brother also reads my blog or it was just plain serendipity, because my mom called and said that not only had my brother found the chair hammock I recently blogged about in her garage, but that he'd brought it over to my aunt's so I could pick it up. I'm thinking about hanging it on my balcony and lounging in it while reading and sipping lemonade.

Summer drinks. I love cool, refreshing, fruity drinks -- but I don't drink alcohol, so about 95% of these recipes I can't use and have no idea what to substitute instead of booze. Ideas, tips, or recipes, anyone? At any rate, enjoy the link -- it's 50 cool summer drinks, all of which look amazing.

Also: I love buying things intended for the kitchen and using them someplace else. I have a pots and pans rack from IKEA mounted above my bed that holds all my necklaces and pretty picture frames and cards I get in the mail, and I just found these at Sur La Table and instead of using them to identify summer drinks, I will be labeling each one in chalk (I'm thinking DREAM, LOVE, and BREATHE) and hanging them on a wall somewhere. I'll share pictures, I promise.

Finally, as I'm noticing an accidental lemonade theme here for my blog post (when life throws lemons at you for 18 hours straight, make alcoholic lemonade while buying things at Ikea?) so I leave you with this amazing virtual lemonade stand -- it's the cutest idea in the world from a kid whose heart is in the most amazing place.

Happy Tuesday, guys!



photo credit: I got it here

help me out a little...

According to the all-knowing employees of Trader Joe's (seriously, they're like Wikipeople or something) daffodil season is officially over. So the $1.29 bunches of ten daffodils that I was using to brighten my night stand are no longer. So I'm looking at my followers, some of whom are friends -- I've got at least one friend on Etsy, Elle can sew and is quite good with all things creative, Ashley cooks and triple-steps, and Krista keeps finding new ways to make ordinary photographs freakin' awesome-- and I'm asking my craftiest and thriftiest of friends, followers, fans, stalkers, and people who have nothing else to do on a Tuesday afternoon:

Where's a good place to buy (realistic-looking) fake flowers to put in an apple-green vase on my nightstand? I am fully aware of the joy that is Michaels, but any other ideas? I'm open to everything -- cutting pictures of flowers out of magazines and attaching them to pipe cleaner, actually considering an idea that came from Martha Stewart, whatever. You name it, I'll let you know what works best. Because flowers brighten anyone's day. And right now I need a little brightening in my life. :)

smile like you mean it

Hello. Nice to meet you! I'm Tracy.

I realize that I never officially introduced myself back when I began my blog, mostly because it started off as a blog I never intended anyone to find, way back in 2008 when I needed a cheap therapist (and blogging is just that, believe me), and then when I re-vamped it in 2009 to use as a vehicle for which to plug projects I was working on as a writer, actress, photographer, whatever. And I named it Res Ipsa Loquitur ("the thing speaks for itself") because I wanted my blog to speak for itself, and I wanted to avoid the whole "this is who I am as a person" blog because, let's face it, sometimes those are redundant. I mean, if you can't tell my personality from my writing, then I'm not a very good writer, am I.

Wait, don't answer that last question.

At any rate, life has me struggling to keep up this week, I'm not sleeping very well, and I've been busy throwing parties instead of giving gifts (stay tuned later this week for my epiphany on what the hell that means, even though it wasn't really my epiphany).

So here I am, feeling the writer's block, looking to reach out and touch faith (mmm, Eliza Dushku...wait, where was I?) and I dunno...SHARE. Something. Anything.

Things that make me smile like I mean it:

Ray LaMontagne's song "Meg White." Adorable. Watch a homemade music video of it here.

This place has the best red velvet cupcakes I've ever had.

Two words: deep-dish Chicago style pizza. Root beer brewed on the premises. And a pizookie (a just-out-of-the-oven, melt in your mouth cookie that's the size of an individual deep dish pizza. With ice cream melting on it.) Wait, that's more than two words, isn't it. I love this place.

Why haven't I bought this already?!

I'm just starting to watch this show, and it makes me laugh so hard I cry.

I'm celebrating the fact that I no longer watch this show, so I don't have to tear my hair out waiting for the next 8(!) months to see what happens.

My obsession with fresh mozzarella, sweet potato fries, and Cherry Garcia continues. Not all at the same time, though. Ew.

blowing bubbles + kitten = hours of free entertainment

This trailer. I am so excited to see this movie.

I am currently reading this. It's getting really, really good.

Enjoying root beer floats for dessert after dinner every night.

and a partial list of other joys: daffodils, watermelon, strawberry smoothies, chocolate sauce and raspberries, fresh green beans, butter and salt, goat cheese, snooze buttons, good running shoes, clean pillowcases, a new pad of post-its, comfy flip-flops, sunshine and shade (and just enough of both), hot milk at night before bedtime, used bookstores, sprinklers, puppies, laughter, and hot fudge sundaes.

And now you know almost everything there is to know about me. Almost.

gray days and good weekends

Don't get me wrong, gray days aren't so bad, especially when you're a resident of Southern California and the temperatures reached the 100s last Tuesday, breaking previous records set in the 1950's. It's nice to feel like spring might actually hang out for a couple more weeks before the stickiness of summer sets in again, and occasional gray days are a nice break from the blinding sunshine that Los Angelenos are used to conducting their days in. But sometimes when you're having the kind of day where the morning dreariness never really leaves, you feel a little...down.

Granted, I don't really have any good reason to feel down. A couple weeks ago I just finished a weekend of shooting behind-the-scenes and extras for Hell Froze Over, I occasionally get to share my office space with a dog that looks like a cross between a pit bull and Doby the House Elf, I have discovered the glory that is the cinnamon melts over at McDonald's, and I can only describe this past weekend as Damn Near Perfect. Yes, it needed caps.

So there is always good to be grateful for. Always. But I do like being warm. And I like my gray days to be my Saturday mornings when I can snuggle under the comforters for another half hour before getting all productive with my day.

In the meantime, I believe I promised a weekly blog that highlights some ways to enjoy life while not necessitating borrowing money for rent. Sounds easy enough. Here's today's tips:

• Are you a big online shopper like I am? Go here to find coupons for 30,000 (yup, that number is correct) online stores. Enter in a store's website in the search bar at the top, then a list of coupons for that store will pop up. Be warned that some coupons are expired or simply don't work (look at the coupon's success rate before using), but I've gotten discounts for many, many online purchases this way, and if nothing else, there's usually free shipping codes to be found for most stores. Try it out and see!

• If you haven't discovered the joy of Etsy yet, for the love of God, stop what you are doing and go visit it. No really. Tell your boss I said it's okay. Etsy is all things handmade and vintage, so you're supporting individual artists with awesome work ethics from all over the world. A lot of the things on Etsy are one of a kind, so don't waver too long on a purchase, and there's a TON of affordable stuff on there. Plus, you can search by color, location of artist, and fun categories that include "geekery" and "books and zines." Some of my favorites on Etsy right now: this, this, and this (I like the owl and giraffe one).
  

• Want that new Tom Clancy novel but can't afford to buy it? There are lots of book exchange websites out there, but here's one that strikes my fancy. (NB: I haven't used this one yet. Let me know how it goes if you use it, and you're not allowed to blame me if things go horribly awry.)

Do you guys know of any awesome websites out there that help you save money, exchange stuff, or get a good deal? Lemme know. And I hope you enjoy your day, whatever color it may be.

young, somewhat fabulous, occasionally broke

Do you ever have one of those days? When you feel like all the beautiful and nice things in the world, the things that you like so much, aren't actually meant for you, but for someone a little less...broke?

I do. And I'm not even broke, mind you. Yes, the economy sucketh whole-heartedly right now, so we're all feeling the pinch, and I'm an artist, and we all know when it comes to budget cuts and whose value gets overlooked first, it's the artists (see: impending SAG strike) that can take the brunt of it, and I'm not exactly frolicking in fields these days while I wait for my bank account to fill up again (there's also the little matter of my car breaking down about once every 4-6 weeks like Clockwork Orange).

But I love design blogs. They inspire me. Design blogs are basically photography, art, and lifestyle blogs that show you all the neat and pretty things you can buy in life. Some of those things are even useful. Like this, which I saw last week on one of my new favorite design blogs and even though I didn't know it existed twenty minutes prior, my heart yearned and ached for one and my right eye twitched a little. But while it's not outrageously expensive, it is beyond my self-inflicted allowance, and a girl's gotta stick to a budget. And practice self-control.

So I began thinking. What if there were a blog -- not necessarily just a design blog, however, because I believe in the importance of being well-rounded and blogging about different subjects to avoid being boxed in by yourself -- but a blog that focused on affordable ways to make your life better? And not just by consuming STUFF, either, because God knows we have enough STUFF. What if there were a blog that highlighted places to go, things to do and see, ways to get out in the world and meet new people, little things to buy that we can allow to make us just the tiniest bit happy, and the only rule was that any and all of that had to be under $15? Who would write such a blog?

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Even if the question was posed by myself, thus making it slightly passive aggressive, but in a positive way. Whatever.

Anyways, I've decided to add this as a feature to my blog. At least once a week, I'm going to do my best to blog about something fun, new, exciting, and most importantly, affordable, whether it's a great cafe, a hiking trail I found, or a little trinket that will brighten your day but not set your wallet on fire. And yes, in case this is the first time you're reading this blog and you didn't look at my profile picture, I am a girl. So the small little shiny's will probably be...for girls. Hey, I'll do my best to stop by Woot every now and then and throw you guys a bone too. Or a thumb drive. Whichever.

This thought process actually started because I love reading about designing, architecture, style, art, fashion (within reason -- please, for your own sake, don't ever, ever look to this blog for purse/shoe suggestions; I am a girl, but not that much) and I wanted to take the ideas I was reading about and implement them into my own life. Only I can't afford $300 skirts or $500 coffee tables. Or $37 a plate meals.

As usual, I'm doing things my way, by asking for it all. I happen to think that just because I can't afford a $500 coffee table, I don't have to give up on having good things in my life; emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually. I think each one of us in the world owes the rest of the world our happiness, and happiness shouldn't have a price tag. And under no circumstances should people ever, EVER feel like they can't afford happiness.


So look for my first affordable blog later this week. I'm excited!