would you rather? {no. 3}

(if you've missed past would you rathers, you can participate in them here.)

i love seeing people's answers and reasoning on these. last week most of you said you'd sing everything you say rather than  have garlic breath for the rest of your life, and i agree. i already wish life was a musical, so it would be the icing on the cake for me!

now for this week's:

have an arranged marriage (no divorces or annulments allowed), or live alone for the rest of your life (never falling in love, no dating or boyfriends/girlfriends)?

(hypothetically speaking you are single right now.)

p.s. i've decided to start accepting 'would you rather' ideas. if you have one you want posted, leave it in the comments section or e-mail me (sparrow.child{@}hotmail{.}com) and i'll circulate it in!

and

check out busy bee lauren's super awesome give away. no i'm not kididng, its super awesome.

i'll be back... and i am back...

oh hey everyone. yeah, i do still exist and stuff.
i've been working on moving across the country while trying to spend as much time as possible with those that i wont be seeing for a very long time while still working and remaining awesome.
so, i know its only been about a month since i last blogged, but in that time of being really busy and very on my own, i've done a lot of self-searching. i do it often, but always feel i need to do it again every now and then regardless of what's going on in my life.
anyway.  one of the things i've decided about myself is, that i hate my blog. i don't hate blogging. but i hate my blog. i know only a couple months ago, i changed it yet again and i feel it was a good change, but i'm still satisfied. at first, i was pretty annoyed with myself because of how often i change the title of my blog and such, but then i got over it. my blog is about my life and so, as i am always trying to make changes for the better and improve my life, i will also continue to do so with the things IN my life. that includes my blog.
now, normally, at this point, i'd shut this blog down and start a  new one (i've done it a few times before) but i'm kind of partial to my followers and i don't know how many would come with me if i moved. also, there's no point in moving when i'm cozy right here at http://www.the-italian-hippie.blogpsot.com/ AND i don't want to make things even MORE confusing than i feel they already are. so. i'm staying put. but over the next few days, i'll be developing a new blog and putting more of myself into it than ever before.
i'm feeling pretty excited about it.
i hope.
 i hope.
  i hope you are too.

see you on the other side!

p.s. seriously. thanks to everyone for bearing with me during this. you are all so wonderfully awesome. so wonderfully, epically awesome.

imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

you know what's fun? making a mock facebook account of one of your friends or family members and then adding them (the real them) as a friend.
i've done this twice this week and both times, the reaction was terrific.
can you imagine their thought process as they go through their friend requests and see themselves asking to be their friend?
priceless.

its a beautiful day in our neighborhood.

here's what we're doing today.

what about you?

{yes. these were taken today. on the 28th of january.}

*sigh*.

i'm stuck between a big decision and a brick wall.
since i'm no good at scaling walls, it looks like i'll be having to face that big decision.

a new opportunity has been presented in my life and it seems like a really good opportunity, one that i've been waiting for, for awhile. but this particular opportunity would require me to compromise a few of the values i have set for myself and i don't know that i'm willing to do that.

i know that, if you want something out of life, you have to make sacrifices. but when it comes to sacrifices, are your values, beliefs, or standards something that should go on the chopping block?

i always thought that things like time and maybe a social life were the types of sacrifices one would be required to make when asking for more out of life. not the compromising of character.

*sigh* i hate big decisions.

i take pictures of food.

my book worm counterpart. {circa: my pre-teen and early teen years.}

have you noticed my new gadget?
<--------- its over there (at the top of the page. the one that says 'i'm currently reading')
i've decided to start sharing what i'm reading, what i have read and what i'd recommend reading.
i don't know why i haven't done it earlier, because the truth is, i am an aspiring novelist and therefore an avid reader.
i read more than probably anyone i know (there was a point in time in my life when i was reading about 4-5 books a week.) and i have a deep and irrevocable love for the written word. i'm one of those types of girls that carries books around with me in my purse because any spare minute i have, i've got my nose in said book.
reading is a HUGE part of my life.

that being said, its funny to me that i haven't really said much about it [reading] until now. this blog is about me, all of me, but somehow i've failed to highlight one of the biggest parts of my life.
epic fail on my part.

anyway, the other night my brother, gregward, and i were talking books that we read now compared to books we used to read when we were in our pre-teen and early teen years and how much our tastes have changed.
at this point in my life i am a really big [middle grade] fantasy/non-fiction enthusiast. harry potter, fablehaven, that sort of thing. (which my brother thinks is funny. he told me i need to read books from a pov other than a teenager. ha!) its not that i don't enjoy other books, believe me, i can appreciate the classics and books written for adults, but fantasy is my one true book love.
but when i was younger (11-14). oi! i dabbled in just about everything from mystery/horror/suspense to drama and romance.
my favorite books/authors included:

cages

by: peg kehret

(160 pages)

plot: kit hathaway (i couldn't remember her name. i had to look it up.) is caught shop lifting and is sentenced to 20 hours of community service at the local animal shelter. the book follows her as she fulfills her hours and has to confess to everyone that she shoplifted... among other things.

i distinctly remember reading this over and over and over again when i was in 6th grade. i don't really even remember what happens, only the basic plot line (which i wrote above) and that i loved it.

(in addition to this book, i also really liked her thriller books, nightmare mountain, terror at the zoo, and danger at the fair.)

author: lois duncan

you know her. she wrote i know what you did last summer (among many other thriller books and then she churned out hotel for dogs... yeah, i don't get it either).

while i've never been one for the horror genre (in books or movies), i LOVED lois duncan books.

a few of my favorites by her were:

gallows hill and stranger with my face

number the stars

by: louis lowry

(136 pages)

plot line: its set during wwII and follows a girl named annemarie and her best friend ellen who is jewish. just as denmark's jewish community is being evacuated and taken to concentration camps, annemarie's family steps in and  aids ellen's family in escaping the nazi soilders and helps them to freedom.

when i was younger, i was obsessed with the holocaust. it was just all so interesting to me, i think that's why i loved this book so much. but i read this one quite a few times as well.

author: lurlene mcdaniel

i look back at the fact that i spent many hours devouring lurlene mcdaniels books and i just facepalm myself.

but i did. i l♥ved her books.

if you're not familiar with her, she writes books about people with terminal/chronic illnesses, missing limbs, and diseases. that sort of thing. they are all sad. they are all dramatic. and they were all i read when i was about 13-14 years old. she's written over 60 of these books and i've probably read at least 20 of them...

the outsiders

by: s.e. hinton

(192 pages)

plot: (do i really need to give a plot? basically, if you haven't read this book, you aren't american. okay maybe not, but i'm sure most of you have read it.) its about a gang of greasers who are in the wrong place at the wrong time when their enemies the "socs" come around. when ponyboy's (main character) friend johnny goes too far and kills one of the socs, he and ponyboy make a run for it. the book follows them as they hide from the cops and even attempt to take on alter identities. 

i loved this book. i loved the movie too, but i really loved the book. and then just knowing that s.e. hinton wrote this when she was 16 years old inspired me even more. i've read it multiple times and it still is on my top favorites list.

the true confessions of charlotte doyle

by: avi

(240 pages)

plot: in 1802 a 13 year-old-girl (charlotte doyle) who was brought up very much a lady is put onto a ship with miscreant sailors in attempt to meet with her father who is... somewhere. i can't remember. anyway, while on the ship, a murder happens and miss charlotte doyle gets caught in the middle of it and is deemed guilty until proven innocent.

i had to read this in 6th grade with my class. after we read it as a class, i read it alone... quite a few times.

oh how i loved this book. it was so... adventurous. danny devito has been rumored to be putting together a film of this book, but that rumor has been around since about 2007. we'll see danny. we'll see.

author: jack weyland

jack weyland is an author who writes books about lds girls who struggle with life's issues (such as eating disorders, rape, pre-marital pregnancy, and divorce) and how the lds religion helps them through their trials. his books were also very dramatic and i just laugh now at the fact that i was so obsessed with them for so long. of the 28 books he's written, i've read 19 of them some of them multiple times.

oh my life. what a funny girl i was.

that concludes my pre-teen to early teen year book list.

of course there were other books and authors i read through that stage of my life, but these ^ were my go-to books and authors. i think that has a lot to do with why i read what i do now. i wore myself out on the dramatic, romantic stuff ages ago. now i just want adventure!

what'd you read when you were younger?

{all pics found via google.}

its regrowth demolition day.

as a professional hair stylist one of my biggest pet peeves is regrowth.

especially on me.

while i notice it on others (all the time) i can't stop noticing it on me.

and i can't stand it.

well, the last time i had my hair done was late october early november (i know, i know.) and so you can only imagine the hideousness that was my roots.

no? you can't?

allow me:

yeah. it was bad.

so, i went to the beauty supply store and picked up some color and determined that today would be the day i would no longer have trashy looking roots.

{not the color line i usually use, but i'm not complaining.}

my highly trained sister (aka home taught by yours truly. really people, its not rocket science.), c, and i got to work and slapped the color on quicker than my roots knew what to do with.

process.

wash.

done.

then came the next obstacle.

the bangs. (or lack there of.)

i had been contemplating cutting them.

but then i also thought about just letting them continue to grow.

and then...

i'll probably hate them in a week, but they'll grow out quickly.

so, that's what i did today.

what'd you do?

(oh! and i updated my photogblog.)

nerd boyfriend.

does anyone watch ugly betty? (i guess i should say did anyone watch ugly betty because the show was canceled not too long ago and recently aired its last season. boo.) i, as of late, have been re-watching seasons 1 & 2 (i still need to watch 3 & 4!) and just love, love, loving the adorable henry grubstick.

he could be my nerd boyfriend any day.

tell me he's not adorable!

i love his sweaters (especially the argyle!) and ties and the semi buddy holly-esqe glasses. (and for those of you who've seen it, yes that is elder groberg from the other side of heaven.)

who'd be your nerd boyfriend?

across the universe soundtrack

*all pics found via google.

would you rather? {no. 2}

its time for another round of:

so, last week was a lot of fun!

i loved reading all your answers.

every single one of you said you'd rather have no feet than no hands.

and i agree. while i love to dance and be able to walk and such, i do so much more with my hands then i do with my feet. therefore, i'd have to go with no feet. (plus, if you're in a wheel chair and you happen to go to disneyland, you get to cut in all the lines. that's an added plus.)

so this week, i want to know,

would you rather have garlic breath for the rest of your life (you can brush as often as you want, suck on as many mints as you can stomach, and do mouthwash all day, but the garlic breath isn't going anywhere!)

or, would you rather have to sing everything you said? (and no, if you don't have a good singing voice, you can't pretend that you do. the voice you have is the voice you'd have if you had to sing everything. this is real life people... hypothetically speaking...)

readyyyy go!

heath ledger.

dear heath,

remember way, waaaaay, wayyyyyyy back in the day when people used to tell me i looked like heather graham and even though i pretended to hate it, i secretly liked it because she was dating you? 

and then the first time i saw a knight's tale (still to this day one of my favorites) and swooned over you?

remember when i loved you through brother's grimm when very few did? (one of my FAVORITE characters you've ever played). and even though i didn't see brokeback mountain i swooned over the stills?

and then batman. i love that you did that movie, but i hate it at the same time.

you peaked in that film and to this day it still creeps me out to watch it, but it is and forever will be one of my favorite movies of all time.

no matter the flick,

10 things i hate about you.

the imaginarium of dr. parnassus.

the patriot.

you were incredible.

thanks for your amazingness.

sincerely,

a forever fan.

what were your favorite heath ledger films/moments?

found it.

well, after this post {thanks for the sweet comments!}, i decided i needed to come up with my own cure-all. so i grabbed the rebel (my slr), my model-worthy sister (aka c, cc, cini bird etc.) and lola (the gps system) and jumped in the car for another friday adventure. while this one was no where near as eventful as last week's, it was exactly what i needed for today.

first stop was to find a decent place to do photos around here. we found a pretty good spot for senior pics and such but i wouldn't recommend say, bridals there or anything.

go here to view the rest of her session. {well, the ones i've edited anyway.}

and then, we went to find a fro yo place.

i'm bound and determined to find something here that can temporarily be my spoon me.

{and after drooling over these for so long, i was craving some goooood fro yo!}

that's where yogurtie comes in.

its a whimsical little fro yo place run by an asian family.

best part about it was, it was about 5 minutes away from where c and i shot.

yogurtie ftw!

{don't go to the website. its down.}

{obviously its the place to be.}

{i'm rockin the top knot! inspired by sydney and ashley.}

i've decided to rate each fro yo place on a 5 ♥ scale in comparison to spoon me who, of course, gets 5 ♥.

i take into consideration:

atmosphere (i.e. decor, staff, music, etc.)

flavor (not how many flavors they have, but the actual taste of the fro yo.)

price

variety (different flavors and toppings.)

extra zing (whatever else i feel like giving points for.)

and yogurtie gets ♥ ♥ ♥.

first off, the flavor was great. i prefer my fro yo to be a little thinner and icier than creamy (if i wanted creamy, i'd eat ice cream.) yogurtie had that perfect combo that i love, although it did melt pretty quickly. secondly, there was so much variety! they had over 10 flavors to choose from and even more toppings (but you better believe i stuck to my usual 'original flavor'). plus it was self serve so that was a plus. as for atmosphere, the decor was pretty cute, but the music they were playing was horrible and i prefer to speak to someone who actually speaks english...

they lost points for price. while they only charge $.39 per oz, that adds up quick! for two cartons of yogurt it was over $10.00. that, for me, is a little pricey.

over all, it was pretty delish and fun to try.

but its no spoon me.

all in all, a great friday night.

{oh and they got an extra point for having a random book on one of the tables about a lost beaver.}

{if you want to visit this yogurtie, its on eldorado in mckinney, tx.

look me up, we'll go together!}