One to Nothin'

Memorial Day Music

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Memorial Day

Memorial Day by mackensieg featuring dorothy perkins

Full disclosure, it’s 60 degrees and rainy here today, but this is how I would’ve spent my Memorial Day had it been possible. Sun, water, red, white, blue, noms and, of course, honoring all of our fallen service men and women. Oh, and some great tunes.

Enjoy your day, friends!

Air Five!

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I just skipped right over Thursday and headed straight for High Fivin’ Friday time, and I have some serious high-fiving to do. 
1. LIZ IS COMING! As in one of my best friends ever (see Cardinal post here) is coming to California to reunite with Emma and I. I can’t even contain my excitement. She’s on a plane right now and I can’t wait to tackle her.
2. Yesterday I went running (high five!) and found yet another fabulous little trail complete with babbling creek. This place is awesome. So is that song. See for yourself.

3. Last night I was busy transforming myself into Kensie Kardashian for a project I will hopefully soon get to share with you lovely people.
4. Ziggy has a new boyfriend. She ain’t a playa she just crushes a lot.
5. I finished my puzzle. And those 5 missing pieces? I found them. And I have a complete puzzle photo but it was sideways and it’s Friday, so I’m not fixing it. This may or may not be one of my proudest achievements of all time… Just saying.
Happy Friday, friends!

Why I’m actually a 10 year old

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I recently started nannying for a little girl, and as it turns out I’m just a 10 year old girl inside. Sure, I can drive, see rated R movies, vote and buy liquor, but that doesn’t mean anything (especially when I get questioned for doing all of these things on a regular basis). Here are some of the reasons why I’m actually a 10 year old in a 23 year old’s body.

1. I love Spongebob, iCarly, Big Time Rush, Victorious and pretty much any Nickelodeon show made for humans at least half my age.

2. I may do cleanses and try to “eat clean,” but at the end of the day I am really dying over mac’n’cheese, pizza, ice cream (umm remember magic shell?!) and oreos.

3. Sometimes when I choose to indulge in said snacks, I pretend that my metabolism still works like my former 10-year-old self’s did. (It doesn’t.)

4. I think bouncy balls are pretty much the funnest things ever. Yes, I said “funnest” and it’s perfectly acceptable because I’m still in elementary school.

5. I fully think boys are the most entertaining and exciting topic of conversation.

6. I just want handwritten notes always. I think I would appreciate text messages more if they were in the sender’s handwriting and had a notebook paper lined background.

7. A new nail polish color is cause for extreme happiness and I often can’t decide on just one, so I end up with awesome glittery, mismatched manicures.

8. I still feel like I’m playing dress up when I put on heels and lots of makeup.

9. I sleep with a stuffed bear named “Fluffy” who I’ve had since I was about 5.

10. I use the word “like” far too often.

11. I’m really, really good at hula hooping.

12. And Bop It. Do kids still play that..?

13. The only video games I like are ones with really bright colors and happy music.

14. I hate cleaning my room.

15. I squeal very loudly when I see puppies.

16. I think playgrounds are wonderful and swinging gives me butterflies.

17. I like carpets better than hard floors because I can tumble on them.

18. I still want to be 50 different things when I grow up.

19. I smell every single candle in the candle aisle.

20. I think dandelions are magical and I still make wishes on them.

Who let the sheep out? Bah, bah, baaaah

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Friday night Emma and I went to Melissa Fleis’s fashion show, The NWBLK, in San Francisco and it was amazing. For those unfamiliar, Melissa Fleis is a fashion designer and she was one of the finalists on Project Runway. Free wine, the most delicious mini cupcakes and high fashion made for a wonderful Friday night.
I spent Saturday with my new buddy I babysit for. We goofed around at the mall and she helped me make my sheep costume for Bay to Breakers — a HUGE 12k race slash costume party in the city. Oh, and I got my new Merrell running shoes in the mail (Thanks, Kimmy!). They are the Barefoot Run Bare Access Arc 2 and so far I love them. That photo on the bottom right is me riding the escalator at BART at 5am. Totally normal.
I met up with my fellow sheep Sunday morning around 6:30am on Sunday and we started keeping count of all the naked people we saw. The race and the costumes were epic. There was music, booze, bubbles, Mexican wrestlers (who ran inside their “ring” the entire time), a huge wolf whose mouth moved when he talked, a school of salmon who ran in the opposite direction of all the runners, tortillas thrown at us, glitter, Buddy the Elf (who ran on top of the row of porter potties) and so, so much nudity. We did not, however, see any other sheep. We “bahhed” at everyone who yelled “GO SHEEP!” or “bahhed” at us first. It was awesome. The 7 mile trek ended at the beach where we dug our toes into the sand and just reflected on how wonderful San Francisco is.
Eventually we found a bus to take us to our other friends who did more partying and less running, and we ate pizza and I devoured many a mini bottle of muscato on rooftops and parks. It was such a cool experience. Probably the most exciting day I’ve had since moving here. And I’m not even hung over today! I would definitely say this weekend was a success. I have approximately 50 more pictures that I’d like to show the world, but I guess that’s what Facebook is for. 😉
I would also like to wish a very happy birthday to my bloggy best friend, Sarah aka the Plucky Picaroon! Have a GLORIOUS day, my friend!
Linking up with Sami.

An interview with me by me..

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Why did you start blogging?
I watched this video, decided I wanted white girl dreads, found this blog after googling said desire and wrote this post to start this blogging saga. Still one of my most-viewed posts of all time. What can I say? Shakira is a robo-babe. In Latin, she would be called “babe-ia majora.”

What other girl crushes do you have?
Jenna Marbles because we could get ghost-face wasted together and do the face (oh and she’s smokin’ hot), Cameron Diaz because of this movie, Emma Stone because we could sing “Pocket Full of Sunshine” together and it would almost be like kissing Ryan Gosling and Lissie because this is the best cover in the history of covers.
But you do like dudes, right?
Yep. Ryan Reynolds, Brandon Flowers, Nick Miller (2:28) and Heath Ledger (this one) please. Oh, and Jim Halpert, obviously.

If you were an ice cream flavor, what would you be?
Pralines and di*k. Just kidding. I’d be a dairy-free, calorie-free version of Marble Slab’s strawberry ice cream with the mini tropical gummy bears mashed up inside of it and sprinkled on top of it. I could make up a metaphor for why this flavor represents my personality in some way, but I really just like it.

Wouldn’t that make the gummy bears all hard and crunchy..?
Uh, duh. That’s the whole point.
Okay, weirdo. First three songs that shuffle on your iPhone: Go.
“Jane” by Barenaked Ladies
“Drunken Lullabies” by Flogging Molly
“All Night” by Damien Marley


That’s not as embarrassing as it could have been.

I know, right?
I hear you have multiple personalities?
Yea, I thought it was just Rose, but apparently there’s an annoying reporter type too. I’m just taking after my girl Nicki (and not just in the butt).

What’s your drink of choice?
Muscato or Riesling if I’m feeling classy. Shots of fireball whiskey if Rose wants to party. Vodka soda with extra lime or Capt. Morgan and diet coke otherwise.

How much did you run this week?
Funny you should ask that! I have this chart here..
You didn’t really run that much..
I didn’t agree to this interview so you could judge me. Besides Bay to Breakers is on Sunday and it’s going to be an epic 7-mile race/costume party. Maybe I’ll run two today to make it nine. Who knows where the day might take me.
What is this VS business?
I’m kind of obsessed with Blogilates now. This adorable chick is so peppy and offers all free workout videos for every part of the bod. First I did Victoria Secret Abs, then VS arms, the towel one and the VS heels video (<--probably b="" goofiest="" the="">least
sexy thing I’ve ever done in my life. Honestly, I should’ve recorded it. It was ridiculous.)
Nobody wants to see that.
You’re probably right.

How much did you cry during The Office finale?
I still have a sinus headache..

How boring would this post be if it weren’t for .gifs?
YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU’RE TALKING TO ME.
What song are you backing your azz up to today?
This one. It reminds me of dancing in my first apartment (fondly called “The Brothel”) with three of my best friends in college. Le sigh.

Happy Friday, friends!

It always comes in spades

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Early on in the day yesterday I was feeling discouraged. Not only is it that time when my hormones turn me into the emotional enchantress of the East, but it suddenly felt like three weeks was far too long to still be “funemployed.” Despite the little victory of finally getting the cajones to do a selfie shoot on the West coast and pretending to embrace the extra downtime, I was feeling down and drowning my sorrows in chocolate. 
“I just want a joooob,” I whined over the phone after explaining that I hadn’t heard back from my interview and wah wah wah. 
Pretty soon there was a knock on the door (which always brings out the 10-year-old in me — Stranger danger! Dad’s not home, I can’t answer it!) So after enough time had passed that whoever it was probably shouldn’t be standing at the door anymore, I tiptoed over and timidly peered through the peep hole (yes, I’m serious). There was a package.
And it was for me.
I ripped it open and found an entire bag full of red and pink Starbursts (aka the only ones that matter), the new May issues of the magazines I freelance for (yay for seeing my name in print!) and a ziplock bag with a few puzzle pieces in it and a note promising more to come.
Not only was this the cutest thing ever, but I also received an email from a potential part-time job saying I should come in for an interview that evening. I went off to this meeting feeling skeptical and came home feeling spritely (an underused word in my opinion). Suddenly I felt optimistic and like things were falling into place (and this was after the sugar buzz had worn off). 
I was then informed I had more mail. I opened a sweet, encouraging card from one of my oldest and best friends. Then a mysterious small package that contained two albums from one of my favorite local Florida bands (Hours Eastly), which turns out were from my wonderful manager back at the restaurant I used to work at. Lastly I opened my tickets to see Fun. and Tegan and Sara forwarded to me by my mom.
I can’t even explain how loved, excited, tearful, encouraged and blessed all of these things made me feel. I listened to both albums while admiring my card, eating my Starbursts and maybe letting a few hot tears roll out.
It honestly couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s moments like these that make me realize how great the people in my life truly are and how wonderful life can be. It’s like the Universe knew I was letting that doubt creep into my heart and allowed my loving friends to force it right on out of there.
So thank you all so much. Those who have commented, Facebook messaged, e-mailed, called, written, texted, tweeted, instagrammed or even just followed along silently in my adventure. Your support means everything to me.

I want to know if love is wild

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Shirt: 6dollarshirts.com / Pants: Kohl’s / Scarf: street vendor / Booties: boutique in Berkeley

This is what I call embracing the (f)unemployment. I have one boss in my life and he just so happens to sing a really sexy song about being on fire. And even if I have nothing to do all day, I know I was “Born to Run” and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Run, blog, repeat.

“You can’t start a fire, you can’t start a fire without a spark 
This gun’s for hire even if we’re just dancing in the dark” 

Linking up here.

Bancakes?

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Remember how I said I’m obsessed with A Beautiful Mess blog in this post? Well those two brilliant women came out with a photo editing app, so naturally I had to buy it. Immediately. So this is me playing with a super cute app and posting my little experiments here for you to see. After all.. I‘m just a girl standing in front of a blog asking her readers to love this app. It might also be a little peek into the kinds of fatty mcfatterson photos I post on InstaGram (@mackensieg), but that’s beside the point. I think what I’m really trying to get at here is, I don’t have anything significant to write about today and making pancakes with only two ingredients totally blew my mind. I hope it blows yours too (that’s what he said..?). Oooookay, bye.

California Dreamin’

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Friday night Michelle, Emma and I met up in San Francisco to see Vermeer’s “Girl With A Pearl Earring” exhibit at the de Young Museum. It was beautiful and fun looking at all the art while hearing the eclectic accordion, guitar and violin musical accompaniment complete with ballerina. Afterward we went searching for food (as per usual). We heard really good things about this Persian restaurant called Lavash, so during our 45-minute wait, we decided to duck into a Thai wine bar. We each got a flight of wine to try, which we didn’t realize was almost equivalent of three full glasses. We got a call saying our table was ready when we still had two glasses to go. So naturally we chugged our wine and tipsily made our way across the street. All of the photos I took from dinner came out ridiculously dark, but you have to take my word for it when I say this food was absolutely amazing. It was like nothing I had ever tried before. We got Sabzi Panir (a sampler that included pita, grapes, cucumbers, feta cheese, mint and cilantro), Kashk-e Bademjan (a seasoned eggplant appetizer) and the Taste of Persia Combination (kabobs of chicken, lamb, beef and vegetables). It was so tasty. And we each had enough left over for a meal the next day. I cannot wait to bring my parents/friends/visitors here and try everything else on the menu. I highly suggest trying this place out (and be prepared for a wait since the place is tiny and very popular). Oh, and I found a vegan restaurant that sold vegan cheesecake! Be still my heart. God, I love California.
Saturday Emma and I decided to search Berkeley for some fancy duds since we’ve got some exciting events coming up. On our way we found a farmers market, tried some vegan ice cream (so good) and ate at Cafe Gratitude (aka the most adorable place ever). This place was entirely local, organic and vegan. They even had coconut, maple “bacon.” Needless to say I was beyond excited. (And for those curious, I’m definitely not vegan, I just love vegan food– especially when nuts, seeds, etc. are used instead of dairy since I’m lactose intolerant). Also, any place that names their dishes and drinks “I am thriving” and “I am dazzling” is pretty awesome in my book. I got raw pad thai and Emma got a hummus plate. They had a pizza dish that I have to come back and try. The bottom of my coffee cup even asked me to reflect on what I am grateful for. California, I am grateful for you.
Sunday Emma joined me in Pleasanton where we decided to knock out this week’s long run and we actually ended up doing 8.35 miles all together. We started out hiking very much uphill (and very much walking) at the Pleasanton Ridge and continued our journey around my neighborhood. There was a lot of walking involved, but I’m definitely feeling it today. We ended this awesome weekend by eating delicious sushi at Sushi Hanabi and seeing The Great Gatsby, both of which did not disappoint. 
Needless to say, I had an amazing weekend. Now I just need to start finding fun, cheap things to do. 😉
Linking up with Sami’s Shenanigans.
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