jamie ann

Hi You,

Sometimes I wonder if we already know each other. Are we friends or maybe we just have exchanged the occasional pleasantry? Or maybe you’re someone completely new and I have yet to meet you. Someone who will storm into my life and throw me completely off my game in the best possible way. Whichever it is, I think I’m finally ready for it. I wasn’t for a really long time but I think I could be now.

I just want to let you know now that I’m cold all the time. 1) because I’m usually just cold and 2) because I really just like having an excuse to cuddle up close to you so I hope we fit together well. You know, me in the nook of your arm. Sometimes people just fit like pieces of a puzzle. Also, I kind of suck at the whole sleep thing so I hope you won’t mind a late night phone call every now and then. Hearing your voice might be that little extra push I need to help finally drift off. Just don’t laugh at me when I hit that super dreamy, slightly drunk phase right before falling asleep.

Okay, FINE. You can laugh, just make sure you fill me in on the silly things I say in the morning.

Please don’t get mad when you go to pull out one of your white vneck tees and find a few missing. It’s probably because I’ve been slowly stealing them. There’s nothing better than a men’s vneck shirt especially since it probably smells of you too. And hey, more than likely it makes my boobs look great so it’s a win-win situation here. Don’t complain.

It would be fantastic if you thought lazy days filled with chocolate chip pancakes and books in bed are as sexy as I do because I think that would be perfect. And here’s a tip: one of my favorite things in the world is having my hair played with. Twisting and twirling my long strands between your fingers long enough might even put me to sleep. Just no pulling.

While it’s true that I do have excellent music taste, some of that does include cheesy, pop music so I hope you’re ready. This also includes being down for random dance parties to Lady Gaga and French electro because life just wouldn’t be complete without those. Or rock shows. I definitely need more rock shows in my life.

And I really hope my dog loves you because I think that’s the true test of a good man. If you pass the pup test, we might just be okay.

Chances are likely that one day I’ll just exclaim PENGUINS! out of the blue and hopefully you’ll be down for dropping everything to just go hang out and see some little, fat boys waddling around at the aquarium. Spontaneity? I like it. And I’m crossing my fingers you like to travel. There are too many places I haven’t been, things I haven’t seen and adventures I haven’t had. It would be nice to share some of them with you.

I’m not even going to lie, there will probably be days you walk into the kitchen to find a mess and me pretending to be The Pioneer Woman whipping up something amazing. I’m probably trying to impress you but I hope if it sucks, you just tell me so we can throw it out and order in.

I’ll always keep the fridge stocked with your favorite beer. And I won’t mind when you choose the boys over me because it’s likely I’ll totally choose the girls over you at times too. I’ll try to be interested in your favorite sports and other things and I’ll ask questions in hopes to learn about it but not so much that I’m annoying. I hope you will like baseball too and we’ll go to ball games. But please don’t be a Cubs fan because clearly, that just won’t work.

And sometimes we won’t even have to talk. I’ll be in my own world typing away on my laptop and you will be in yours doing whatever it is that you do. Occasionally they will intersect when one of us steals a kiss in passing while going to grab a cup of tea or pick up a book off the shelf so I really hope we’re okay just being.

But most of all I hope we make each other laugh. From the hushed giggles to the roaring, tear inducing laughs. I hope we’re not afraid to be silly. And sometimes even flat out ridiculous.

I’m going to stop now. I don’t want to give it all away because really, learning all of the little things about each other is going to be the best part.

Until then,

Jamie

I walked into the salon just as they were flipping the sign from closed to open. Was welcomed with an “oh hey girl!” as I put up my coat and sat down to hype myself up for the scissors that were about to give me a heart attack as the girls opened up shop. It’s really no news to anyone who knows me how anxious I get about getting my hair cut. Hell, if you tell me you’re going to chop off your hair, I get nervous for you. It’s actually really silly.

But I really do have complete faith in my current stylist and she barely has to ask me what I want done anymore. She GETS long hair. When girls with long hair say they want a “trim”, she knows it means DON’T YOU DARE TAKE OFF ANYMORE THAN YOU HAVE TO. She takes as little off as possible and doesn’t laugh when I say that it’s just getting long again. She completely understands.

After a little shampoo, conditioner and some small talk, she had cleaned my layers up nice, trimmed my bangs, gave me a killer blowout and smoothed out a few pieces of hair with a flat iron. When she pulled off that little cape thing and turned me to face the mirror, I let out an audible sigh of content. She laughed and said, “feels good doesn’t it?”

I’m absolutely convinced there is no better therapy than a good trip to a salon. There is nothing they can’t solve.

Break up? Haircut. Job stressing you out? Color. Big date? Blowout. World peace? HAIRCUTS FOR EVERYONE WITH BONUS MANI/PEDIS!

(You can give me my Nobel now)

Anyway, now that I got my hair cut finally, I can share photos of my gorgeous new headband. Pretty, right?

My friend Tia, of Icing on the Hair fame, made me a special custom headband because she loves me a lot. It’s called the Jamie Lovely and I do believe she might be making them for her Etsy shop in the future. It has a two purple felt rosettes and two black sheerish chiffon (I think?) ones and a couple of tiny rhinestones on either side. It’s adorable and I’m in love.

(I even changed into my pajamas but I’m still wearing it)

So yeah. I have something named after me now and I’m pretty sure that makes me even more awesome than I already am.

And it gives me another reason to obsess over my hair.

(like I really need one!)

(too long bangs. what. up.)

• plaid shirts (picture!)
• the fantastic books I’ve read lately: Rules for Saying Goodbye, I Am Not Myself These Days and This Is Not Chick Lit to name a few
• cleaning out my closet and rediscovering my love for all my old Nike Dunks and Air Maxes
• Kiehl’s lip balm. I was gifted this when I was flown out to Vegas to attend the Swagg party and it is AMAZING.
• Blow Pops
• my new OPI polish: Metro Chic (picture!)
• Amy’s Kitchen frozen dinners. Pesto tortellini and mac and cheese are my faves when I’m too lazy too cook which needless to say is A LOT.
• my hair finally getting long again (picture!)
• DiorShow Iconic. BEST MASCARA EVER.
• music flashbacks: ska, 90s r&b and pop. Holler.

Your turn.

Go.

On Friday when everyone was watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony and twitter was all like OMG YAY TEAM! LOOK AT THEIR OUTFITS! I was rolling my eyes and wanting to be like LOOK OVER THERE! UNICORNS! TEQUILA! DISTRACTIONS! because I just don’t care about the Olympics and wanted shift the conversation to something awesome instead. I mean, it’s not even the summer games and everyone knows those are the good ones.

Maybe it’s just because everything involves snow and ice and I’m completely over winter. I have enough snow and ice outside of my house, I don’t want to watch people play in it. Like they enjoy it or something. That’s just not right.

But I bet some of the snowboarder dudes are hot. Isn’t it like a rule that if you’re a dude who snowboards, you’re hot?

(Same with skateboarders, boys who play guitar and boys who write well. Type? Hi, I have one.)

(Okay, might as well throw in boys with nice tattoos and great hair while I’m at it.)

Confession number two: Despite all my winter hate, I’ve always wanted to learn how to snowboard. And not just because of hot dudes.

I’m kind of uncoordinated though so I’d probably hurt myself and fall a lot. I mean, I’m not expecting to do crazy tricks and jumps. And I’d probably spend a lot more time on my ass than I would being upright on the board but it could be fun, right? If I don’t break my ankle or die because I tumbled down a hill or something.

Okay so I just made a goal to travel somewhere amazing by my birthday next year. Another goal will be learn/attempt to snowboard. Maybe not this winter but for sure next winter.

For the tl;dr crowd: Not interested in the Winter Olympics. Snowboarders are probably hot. I like creative and sporty boys. I want to learn to snowboard but not just because of hot dudes. Will fall a lot while attempting snowboarding. New goal: learn to snowboard and hope I don’t die.

There are too many places I’ve never been.

Growing up my family vacations consisted of fake camping, “vacations” and one hellish road trip to Utah with my uncle and his family all trapped in one van and it took almost a week driving from here to Salt Lake City because because they had to stop in every state and eat at EVERY SINGLE Cracker Barrel we passed.

As a result, I’m not very well traveled. I’ve seen a few states sprinkled around the country and of course, the surrounding states but that’s about it. I’ve hit Orlando, Las Vegas, a bit of San Francisco and spent less than a day in New York.

I’ve never been out of the country. This is one of the things that haunts me because there is so much out there and I’ve seen absolutely none of it. I’ve always had big dreams of being a seasoned traveler. A passport full of stamps from different countries and stories to go along with each. Always on the cusp of the next trip. That’s what I thought I would be like right now.

But I’m not.

I suppose it’s because I haven’t done things a traditional way. I never took a year off after high school or taken a semester abroad. No spring breaking in Cancun. I haven’t done the 9-5 thing or finished college in one straight shot.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I tend to do things a little backwards.

But now?

Now it’s time to play catch up. To see the places I’ve never been. To start thinking about my first trip outside of the states. Should it be Peru? Maybe Guatemala? Rome or Paris? Spain! Or how about Costa Rica? London! Or maybe Ireland?

I’m making a promise to myself, that either for Christmas this year or my birthday next year, I’ll send myself somewhere amazing and break in a passport finally. I need a little adventure in my life.

Because really, what am I waiting for?

Every year come November, I start dreading the winter. When February hits, I wonder why in the world am I still living in Chicago. That’s where I am at right now. I’m dreaming of California. Even by late March birthday? Still a chance for snow. Come May, we should be all clear. Then summer hits and I fall in love with my city all over and decide I never want to leave. Until winter hits again.

Repeat. Year. After. Year.

Right now I’m in full on hibernation mode.

I hate leaving the house unless I absolutely have to because it’s way too cold to want to do anything. I’d much rather sit at home in comfy clothes watching Mad Men and wondering how exactly do I make an old fashioned. I have all the necessities for Project Waiting for Spring: a fridge full of wine. A puppy. A shelf full of books and tv shows on dvd. Gchat open for talks with friends. If I had a boy too, someone would probably have to physically drag me kick and screaming from here. I definitely wouldn’t emerge until late spring.

It takes a hell of a lot to get me out these days. Saturday it was lunch at DMK Burger Bar with some of my favorite Chicago girls and it was totally worth it. This coming weekend I have a movie! Valentine’s Day movie on Valentine’s Day weekend.Basically, I go out maybe once every two weeks, if that. I promise you’ll see more of me out and about when it gets nicer out.

Maybe I’m boring, lazy or lame but until you’ve been through a Chicago/Midwest winter, you have no idea. It sucks. A lot.

AND.

Rumor has it, we’re suppose to get hit with 10 inches of snow all in 24 hours.

So now you know where to find me.

Let’s cuddle.

I’m still successful at keeping my bad habit at bay. No nail biting for this girl! Only pretty polished nails here. But I think I may have picked up another bad habit along the way though.

Hi, my name is Jamie and I’m a nail polish addict.

I’ve been changing polish at least once a week, if not more. I have to hit the beauty aisle at every store I’m in to see if there is any polish I need to add to my collection. I’m running out of polish remover at an alarming rate. (You would think I’d be better at neatly painting my own nails though).

Yesterday at Sephora I bought three new colors. Sephora by OPI has the BEST colors and even BETTER names. I mean I can’t turn down a silvery grey that is also called The Queen of Everything. It was practically MADE FOR ME with that name. Or the pretty burgundy chocolately color, Caffeine Fix. Or glittery black called Never Enough Shoes. Because really, a girl can’t have enough shoes. PREACH, OPI.

Before I knew it, I was walking out the door after spending near $30 on nail polish alone.

(Let’s not do the math when you add in my new foundation, eyeliner or the Diorshow Iconic mascara I got which is AMAZING)

(All were incredibly necessary purchases so GET OFF ME)

But a nail polish habit is better than like a crack habit so that’s good, right? Unless they make crack flavored nail polish that is really pretty and has a great name because then I’d be fucked.

Being pretty and girly is expensive, dude.

P.S. Stay tuned for the post where I finally learn how to put on eyeliner unless my sister kills me first because I keep freaking out that I’m going to stab myself in the eye and she really DOES stab me in the eye to prove a point.