If there is anything foolish that I ever do that irritates my friends to no end it is invest in the lottery.

Powerball, Megabucks, oh you fickle gods of chance. I find myself dreaming of what I’ll do when I win. Buy a cottage, fix it up. Attend school full time, move into a fancy glamourous downtown condo. Pay off my parent’s mortgage. Travel to Australia. Visit DisneyLand for three weeks. Buy that black and white striped Ralph Lauren jacket. Buy more “rich white woman” nautical themed clothes in general. Ride a zebra.

You know, important things! Important things I need! Someday! It will be all mine, and I will dive headfirst into a pool of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck did in DuckTales.

I don’t invest a lot of money in the lottery–when it comes down to it, I’d rather have my dollar bill to buy a pack of M&M’s out of a vending machine, but I faithfully put my $2 in every other week and hope and pray and dream.

Yesterday my sister and I ran to the store to check our tickets. She went first, (“Sorry, not a winner”) and then I pulled out mine.

“Please see cashier.”

My mind exploded with excitement. A million dollars? A gabillionzillion dollars? Ten dollars?! The possibilities were endless. I impatiently waited in line at the customer service desk, flinging angry thoughts at the slow pokes in line ahead of me.

I tapped my red wedge flip-flops. I twirled my hair impatiently and I am completely, one-hundred percent guilty of glaring at the wife-beater wearing, bald man who oh so desperately needed to exchange this neon-green garden hose for the neon-green garden hose that was fifteen-feet longer and SERIOUSLY YOU CANNOT TELL THAT I HAVE JUST WON THE JACKPOT GET OUT OF MY WAY I HAVE A NAUTICAL-THEMED PASHMINA AFGHAN TO PURCHASE.

I finally got to the front of the line and thrust my ticket at Hal, the customer service representative. Hal smiled, took my ticket, inserted it into his machine and handed another slip of paper back at me.

“Sorry, hon,” Hal said, as he tapped his fingers on the plexiglass table, “Lately the system’s been all skewed and been tellin’ people who aren’t winners to come see me. Looks like it just did it to you, too.”

I accepted back my ticket and the receipt declaring that I didn’t win meekly and walked away, tossing both into the nearest trash can as my hopes, dreams, and plans of diamond-encrusted toothbrushes flew away.

It was then that Hal’s words hit me, and I was filled with indignation. People who aren’t winners. People who AREN’T WINNERS? I nearly turned around and gave him a what-for. How DARE he?! I am totally a winner. In fact, I am the winningest person around. I, Brittney, am a winner.

WINNER.

WINNER.

So I fluffed my hair, stomped my foot, and pulled out another $2 to invest in my future. I am going to prove Hal wrong.

I am a winner, Hal. You just don’t understand.

Ladies, gents, the time has come to examine the things we love the most…

The things we carry around with us.

Whether you’re an amazing individual who can sustain themselves by simply carrying around a well-worn wallet, or the fashionable fox who lugs around a roller-suitcase filled with everything they might ever need, we all have baggage we keep with us in the day-to-day.

This is my purse.

As you can tell, I’m somewhere in between those two people, not being secure enough in myself to only carry a wallet, yet not needing the kitchen sink on my adventures into the real world.

What do you carry around? I stick to my wallet, my trusty iPod (it’s name is Crane), my cell phone, a manicure set, some gum and a few other essentials.

There are days though, where I find myself bogged down with papers (empty tip envelopes, old mail, gum wrappers, bus tickets) and other extraneous things (books for the bus, extra necklaces, a spare tee shirt) and I have to center myself and reorganize, and pare myself down to the bare essentials.

In an attempt to keep myself organized, I have a small zip-up pocket that goes into every purse I carry. In it I have, my tin filled with emergency aspirin, a tube of lotion, and eyedrops. That way I always have the little things that I run out of when I’m on the town.

What do you keep in your purse always? How do you keep yourself organized?

I have found that when someone is having a hard time, really it’s the little things that can help to make a day better.

That’s partly why I tend to focus on little good things in life, to focus on those, and to remember them when the TERRIFYING HUGE AWFUL NO GOOD things explode in our face and leave us smelling like singed kittens and butter.

I’m super girly, but one thing that never fails to make my day a little bit brighter is my octopus ring.

It’s small, cute, and quirky. I can’t wear it to work, so it is reserved for Little Days of Special Importance, such as meeting a new friend downtown, or going to get frozen yogurt with the girls.

Do you have any little things like this that make you happy? Please share!

Lately life has piled upon me, and time and inclinations and attention spans just haven’t been working for blogging.

I generally find topics to blog about from my conversations with lovely ladies who lament or wonder how to do something, or from a random fashion find of my own.

I like my blog for what it is, but am at a point where I need a little more input from you, my online reader, who I don’t necessarily know, or who doesn’t get a chance to say anything to me in person.

So, dear readers, here is my question post–what do you want to see more of on here? Do you need (fashion, shopping) advice on anything? I am no Daddy Likey (seriously kids, she’s amazing) but I am one of those people who can always articulate and come up with ideas, so I’m good for that.

What do you think?

SO yeah, I’ve been bad about updating, and I’m not going to lie, today was my first day off in what felt like forever, and I spent the entire day covered in cheetos in front of my television watching reruns of NCIS.

But you know, in order to make the day worthwhile, I spent my time tonight editing a video of Daisy, one of the puppies I dog-sat for this month, to share with you.

And here she is:

It was totally worth it.

I didn’t buy a purse on Sunday.

This might not mean much, but to the people who know me, this is a rather big deal. I love purses.

I have a fair amount of purses. Purses are pretty darn awesome. I have a blue one, a yellow one, a red one, a velvet one, a few black ones, a brown one, one covered in spots, one covered in Newspaper print, one covered in clocks and one covered in patches.

I always have a purse. And have bought at least 3 purses in the last three months.

But this post isn’t about purses. This post is about Sunday. On Sunday I returned home after a long week, and made a fatal comment to my Mother:

“I kind of want to go shopping.”

I’m sure you know what that means. We went shopping. Too much money spent later, I am now the proud owner of several new pieces to my wardrobe, and also some new porcelain bowls to further organize my jewelry collection.

I wasn’t looking for a purse, but you know, you wander. You look. You end up in random sections of the store, perusing rugs and wondering if you need a new hallway runner to, I don’t know, liven up your living space.

And thus, I found myself in the dress section, when all of a sudden, I was assiailed by the shimmer of a thousand sparkling lights! My eyes blinked and I shook my head at the glimmer! What is this, this shiny and shocking sight?

Why, it’s a dress.
That’s my size.
That is $10.

Do I really need to explain what happened after that?

Like most of my purchases… I have no idea when I’ll wear it. My current plan is to wear it on Halloween, along with a flashing globe necklace, and an iPod/speaker hookup blaring “Funkytown” by Lipps, Inc. (I’ll be a DISCO BALL! So clever, I am.)

So… yeah. No purses this week, like I said.

I know, I know, summer is nearly over and with summer, the lovely summer vacation! But we still all have our adventures, so this post will always be relevant. Besides, Nona of Daddy Likey is heading to Chicago and lamented to me this week that she didn’t know what to pack!

There are things in life that I have trouble doing, and packing is not one of them. I will admit up front, that I tend to be an over-packer, a trait I inherit from my loving mother, but because of this I have a reputation of Always Being Prepared, which is a pretty durn good reputation to have. And so, I give you:

Lemon Love’s go-to packing tips!

1. Take your greatest hits.

You know, that tanktop that everyone always comments on? The dress that you feel like you can conquor the world in? Take that. Always have one outfit that you feel like you can seriously kick butt in, because who knows what kind of butt-kicking is going to be necessary in your upcoming adventures?

I generally have two or three outfits I gravitate to when I’m planning a vacation, and here is a quick summary of what I like to pack:

A pair of black pants or capris
A pair of jeans
A skirt (or two)

I always pick the pair of pants or skirt by cut, and how it overall makes me look. I’m not going to deny the fact that I hate sweats and pajama pants, and if you’re looking to look posh and lovely during your vacation, what do you need these unflattering bottoms for?!

I then pick out my favourite three shirts with each bottom, and then narrow them down by deciding which shirts will combine together best. For example, would I wear red shirt with skirt AND jeans? Yes? It gets packed. Would I wear Hot pink Roxy shirt with black capris or skirt? No? It stays at home.

Always bring at least one long-sleeved shirt. (Or short sleeved, if you’re traveling in the cold months) And the same goes for pants. Even if you’re going to Bermuda, chances are that if you pack all shorts you’ll get to experience the First Epic Snowstorm that Bermuda’s ever had.

I’m also going to say, bring the dress clothes, but don’t forget the outfit you can leave behind. When you sign up for that spur-of-the-moment Spin Art class and suddenly have no idea what to wear, you’ll thank me.

Having a choice of what to wear and being able to combine your outfits (same shirt, different skirt, same pants, different shirt) gives you a chance to be versatile without packing your entire wardrobe.

And here’s an extra tip for free: If it’s an outfit you don’t normally wear at home (your blue sparkly feather boa, that dress that doesn’t quite fit right but you love it or your brazilian knee-shorts that so-and-so gave you so you’d better take it ’cause you’re visiting them…) don’t bring it! You probably won’t even wear it if you’ve packed it, and if you do, chances are you’ll wish you’d packed your favourite pair of jeans instead.

2. Pack jewelry.

Granted, I am a bit of a jewelry addict, but it adds such a nice touch of pizazz to an outfit, and just changing your jewelry can affect the entire look! Seriously! I generally stick with a few beaded necklaces and a statement piece or two, and then bring a bajillion pairs of earrings so that I have a selection to choose from.

How do you pack jewelry? I like to stick all of my earrings in an old mint tin and zip my necklaces into a little pouch, or, barring that, just toss ‘em into my purse. Whatever works for you. I generally refuse to spend more than $15 on any piece of jewelry, which means that a) I have a lot of jewelry, but b) I have enough jewelry that breaking one piece isn’t the biggest tragedy in the universe, so I can afford to be a little careless.

Don’t forget to give yourself a little variety!

3. Don’t forget your makeup!

I would generally say that when packing makeup for a trip, to stick with the basics. Take your foundation, coverup, mascara (“everyday” items, as well as a good basic eyeshadow that you can use for every occaision.)

My brushes are this amazing set I found at Target for less than $10 on clearance a few months ago. At the time it was an incredibly foolish purchase (I should have bought food instead), but I have used it so many times in lieu of getting my good brushes smushed in my makeup bag that I don’t regret it at all!

Once you’ve got the standards packed, pick one statement look. The blue eyeshadow compact, the raspberry pink eyeliner, you get what I mean. If you’re only going on a 4-5 day trip and haven’t decided if you’ll spend the entire time lounging at the pool or having dinners with local government officials, it’s a good call to have something comfortable and a little flash-flash.

4. Take more than one pair of shoes.

Your blisters will thank you for it. I generally opt for a pair of flip flops (or “flippy floppies” , as I like to call them now), a pair of cute shoes I can walk around all day in, as well as a super comfy pair of dress shoes, and maybe a second pair of comfies.

I’m house sitting this week and this is what I’ve got packed for my use:

These are certainly not my fanciest of shoes, but they’re the shoes I trust. The shoes I know I could hike down the Great Wall of China in. The shoes I can kick some serious butt in. And those are the shoes you need to pack!

So there you go! Lemon Love’s packing tips! What do you like to take along when you’re packing for your next adventure?

The subject of this post is “jingle jangle jingle” because for the last three days, and for the next seven days, I’m housesitting for dachsunds. Their tags jingle and click and one of them is always (ALWAYS) spinning around in circles, so the jingling never stops. Not even at night.

I said dachsunds. I didn’t say how many! There are six of them! Shirley Bird, Joey, Brody, Lester, Rosie and Daisy. It sounds like it would be impossible to keep track of them, but it is actually quite easy. The number one problem with keeping track of them is that they’re so small.

I also didn’t say the most important thing about them. The owners (who I work with) are very sweet, generous people who both own and foster disabled dachsunds, which I will label as the photos go.

6 dachsunds is a lot of work. A lot more work than I thought it would be, but so far it is totally awesome.

Daisy & Rosie are sisters and they like to snuggle. They are both deaf and blind. Daisy can hear a little, we know this because she runs around faster when you say her name.

Lester is the sweetest old man dog ever. He only wants to nap on his pillow, and snuggle with you at night. Lester can see just fine, but can’t hear at all. He also needs a lot of encouragement to go upstairs.

Don’t be fooled by this. Joey is the PUPPY and the INSTIGATOR and if you want him to sleep at night you have to HOLD HIM DOWN until he falls asleep. He is half-deaf and half-blind. Most of the dogs at this house are rescues from bad breeders.

A better picture of Joey, and more accurate. He’s actually the biggest of the group, it’s amazing to watch him attack everyone else who is about 3/4 his size.

This is Brody. He likes to chill out when you are doing things like putting on makeup, or sitting at the computer. He also tells fortunes in his spare time. Brody is blind and deaf.

Savannah (who I visited in Sisters, and visited who came to town this weekend) and I took Shirley Bird for a walk today and it was EPIC. I ended up carrying her part of the way home, but it was still super fun. Shirley can see, hear, dance and hold whole conversations. She is paralyzed from the waist down but scoots around the house like a maniac and is a complete tyrant. It’s totally hilarious.

The thing that totally sucks about these six dogs is that they’re not all completely housetrained. WHEE, FUN. Don’t blame the owner, two of them are fostering, and I can’t imagine it’d be easy to house-train a completely blind and deaf dog, let alone three! And then there’s the really old guy, the puppy who is stupid (in an endearing way) and the paralyzed one, so…. you take what you can get. It’s a pain, and kind of gross, but you deal. Or at least, I am.

I must admit though, being fabulous is not my top priority this week–rather, suriving without getting pooped on is.

So if there’s a bit of radio silence on my end for the next while, that’s where I am. I’m sure I’ll be posting photos to my flickr as it goes!

This summer I cannot get enough of frozen yogurt.

Mmmmm I am crazy crazy over raspberries and chocolate.

Technically this is Nona’s froyo, but still! Strawberry+fruity pebbles… why didn’t I think of that?!

I confess, I am the type of person who finds something they love… and sticks with it. It is SO GOOD, though!

Don’t you just love a good frozen treat on a hot day? I’m looking forward to more sunshine and cold, sweet treats!