Friday Fav - Thank You Moxie

Happy Friday Y'all!  I'm not sure how your week has been, but mine has flown by and I've been one busy B.  The thought of Friday seemed so far away, and I'm still a little shocked it's time for my Friday Fav, but whatever the case I'm glad it's here!

So today's Friday Fav is going to be a little bit different, and probably a lot more emotional.  Three weeks ago, I heard word on the street that the coffee shop I used to work at was closing its doors ... say what?  I know, I'm reaching for a tissue as I type.  This shop, Moxie Java, located in the heart of Boise, ID, broke the rules when it came to coffee back in the 80's.  Yes, the first Moxie Java that came to the City of Trees opened in the late 80's and served one of the best cups of brew your taste buds ever sipped.  Of course I was only a young one at this time, but fast forward to 2006 when I was a sophomore in college and in need of some pesos.  Where did I turn, the best place on Main Street.  Yup, I applied at Moxie Java, and after counting my lucky stars I received a call saying "You're hired!"

Now what's great about this story and about this place is it wasn't just another part-time job that took up part of your life and eventually got tossed to the side.  No, this was a place that brought out the best in people and brought these people together.  I eventually worked my way to some of the "prime" shifts in my mind, which included Friday and Sunday mornings.  Friday I worked with the manager and we undoubtedly had the best time of any of the employees there.  We officially started "Survey Fridays," where we would ask a different survey question every Friday.  On Sundays, I would wake up with a smile knowing the 5-hour shift ahead was going to be filled with nothing but smiles and satisfied bellies.  Every customer that came through the doors had a different (and sometimes a little too different) story, but I still loved every minute of steaming a dry cappuccino, pouring an iced chai latte on a blistering hot summer day, and knowing a request like "a venti (FYI - we didn't serve Starbucks sizes), white-chocolate mocha, with 7 shots of eXpresso (it's really pronounced espresso, with an s), double the whipped cream, 157 degrees, and don't you dare forget the extra scoop of white-chocolate powder, puh-lease" had nothing on this Barista.

Knowing that whenever I go back to Boise this little gem won't be open is tough to swallow, but I'm hopeful whatever shop, cafe, or you name it comes to say "Oh hey" to Main Street that the customers follow.  I've learned many things from this place, but the one definite lesson for today's Friday Fav is it isn't where you go in life, but what got you there.  My Moxie days were wrapped around some of my most "growing" years as a person.  It was here I imagined a life on the east coast post-graduation, challenged myself to think beyond my next midterm, and only hoped for an opportunity to work and advocate for a nonprofit. 

Thank you Moxie Java on Main for 3 amazing years.  Thank you Moxie Java customers for bringing life to this place, patient when 10 orders were ahead of you and I was on shift, and most of all for making this part of my life full of nothing but laughter, an extended family, and some generous tips! 

As the saying goes, when one door closes another door opens.  I just hope whatever comes in next still has a piece of Moxie.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Australia Day

While this post is a little late, I just wanted to say:

Dear Down Under,

Happy Australia Day!!!  There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about you and the memories you carved into my life and heart.  You brought about months of adventures and best friends.  You made me know what "homesickness" felt like, the motto that should follow your life "work hard, but play harder," and last but not least you brought about a new, more spontaneous me!  I long to re-live those months we spent together, and I only hope one day I will find my feet back on your soil.  Thank you for one of the best times of my life!

Enjoy your day, you deserve nothing but the best!

Love,

B

Baby, Baby, Baby Ohh

I'm still on kick for Bieber.  I work out to Bieber.  I wake myself up in the morning while driving to work to Bieber.  And now I have officially fallen even harder with this video (gotta click Play) courtesy of the ever-so-fabulous Sabrina at Sabrina Says.

On a cold Sunday like today, I've warmed my soul and belly up with some laughter from this video.  I would marry this boy in a heartbeat because of this video (and his dance skills, of course)! 

Hope you're having an amazing weekend! 

Friday Fav

Oh Hey Friday!  Thursdays are my favorite day of the week, but something about Friday just puts a little pep in us all and makes the whole week worth the wait!

This week has been full of work, work, eating, and more work.  We've got a lot projects, programs and events in the next few months and I'm starting to feel the pressure to get my rear in gear.  This is a good thing.

This week I've slept in a littler later and left the house without making my bed 2 days in a row.  This may sound crazy, but I have a hard time getting through the day (usually) knowing my bed isn't made.  It's pretty bad to think the day might not go on because of this, but something about having your life in order before you step out to face the day makes everything else a little more organized.  My mom instilled some pretty strict rules in our house growing up, but I'll have to say I'm a true fan of sweeping, dusting, mopping, and spritzing some cleaner because of her!  This week oddly enough didn't put a damper on my days.  Sometimes you gotta realize the world won't end because your bed isn't made.  Tomorrow, make sure to make it, but today just let it slide.

This week has also been full of video after video.  The world (and truly the world) is on this "Sh*t  ___ Says" kick and I'm loving it.  Every video seems to top the last one, and I can't stop laughing.  Last night while walking to dinner with Mike, I said these exact words, "She's super cute, it's ridic!"  Honestly, super cute and ridic, Brittanie?  Yup, that would be sh*t I say.

So with a mound of To Do lists at work, catching a few more morning zzz's, and hours upon hours spent watching these videos what have I learned this week to celebrate my Friday Fav?  I've learned life, especially this week, has been about finding your "more."  In order to be the best version of ourselves, we gotta fill our lives with more of what we love.  I've worked my brain more, I've slept in more, I've laughed more, and in the end I'm just feeling a little more me!

Have a fabulous weekend, and go get yourself some "more!"
(You can read that as s'more and be just as happy.)

                                                               Source: isleofview-facesoflove.tumblr.com via Brittanie on Pinterest

Pandora on Repeat

I'm the type of person who can listen to one song 5,000 times.  Yup, if it's a song I love then shoot it's over for anyone else trying to play me their favorite or the radio trying to introduce me to the latest and greatest.  On my days off, at night while cooking dinner, or while cleaning I like to play a little Pandora throughout my casa.  Something about music playing in the background makes me a much happier person than listening to the tv (that's another story though).

So yesterday before I hit up the gym and when I got home to make some lunch, I opened Pandora and hit "play."  It's been forever and a day since I've listened to a new station (except Mariah Carey - Holiday during Christmas), but I had this thought after singing a few songs - "I really could listen to this station for the rest of my life!"  It was one of the best feelings!  I have found an artist who has similar likable artists and it has become my go to tune.  It really is true that life is all about the small things!

What is this one jam of mine?  This favorite artist?  This Pandora station on repeat you ask? Feast your eyes on Lady Antebellum!  I simply can't get enough of this station!

Delayed - Friday Fav

It's Friday!!! (really it's Sunday now, shoot.)  Sorry I've been away from here for a few days.  I caught some cold bug last week and it decided to stick around through this week - ugh.  It actually got the best of me on Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning I spent all day in bed catching up some zzz's, The Bachelor and The Real World: San Diego.  Without a tv and cable, I'm sorta left to the online world of watching my weakness shows the day after they air, or months after.  But I suppose that's what sick days are all about :)

As I was coughing up a lung, trying to reduce the inflammation in my cheeks, attempting to keep my eyes from watering, and wishing I could sip some soup (anything tasted awful), I was in need of some care-taking type love.  As you all know, I'm 2,000+ miles away from home and don't have my Mum around to take care of me, so who was up to the task - Mike!  Yup that boy I moved here for came over armed with the get-better-essential (or my sick day favorite), Ginger Ale!  He was sweet enough to not worry about the snot on my sweatshirt, the mascara pasted all over my eyes from two days prior, and of course was still willing to hug my sicky self.

Because it's Friday (now Sunday) and on Fridays I like to recap something I learned or something I fell for over the last week ... Here is my Friday Fav (beyond my love for ginger ale) > I learned that when you're body is out of commission and your mind isn't up to the task of thinking, the best thing you can do for yourself is not worry about a single thing.  As a 26-year-old trying to get by with the pennies in my pocket and the bills by my door, this "remove yourself from thinking" mentality isn't all that easy, but I promise you it's necessary and the only thing that will get you by.

I hope you're all having a wonderful (and healthy) weekend!

                                                                        Source: Uploaded by user via Lindy on Pinterest

Ready, Set, Read

Here she is ... time to prep for another week and to say goodnight to the weekend.  This weekend I had hoped to accomplish about 50 things and only crossed off about 2.  I now have an idea of what I want to get my Mum for her upcoming Bday (woohoo), and I managed to paint my nails.  Clearly not the most productive of weekends, but being under the weather and having the most amazing weather for January it was worth being lazy.

One thing I realized this weekend though that I've let slip from my mind is my book club with my BFF Whitney, and basically reading on the side in general.  This week, I'm really going to focus on turning off my mind at night not by scrolling through Pinterest, but by turning the pages of these gems:
- Room
- The Paris Wife
- How to Love an American Man
- and last but not least, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I've attempted it three times, and the fourth will hopefully bring me past page 50)

This book club has been between Whit and I for some time now and I absolutely love it.  We gmail each other books that might be worth a go, buy the cheapest copy off of Amazon (for me at least), and read at our own speed on opposite sides of the country.  Yup, this book club isn't like any other.  We rarely discuss what we've read, we've never thrown a hissy over a book someone selected, and we don't b*tch if the other hasn't even opened it.  It's pretty great and something I hope we do until our brittle fingers can't turn the pages anymore.

So tonight, I'm pulling this book club off the back burner, going to get my last load of laundry from the dryer, cuddle up to some tea and crack open the spine of Room. 


If you have an interest in joining our club, just ask.  If you have any suggestions or recommendations, please send away.  If you have your own book club, what do you enjoy most about it?  If you aren't ready for the week, just know I'm in the same boat.

                                                                    Source: gallobythian.blogspot.com via Jordana on Pinterest

Friday Fav

It feels like it's been forever and a day since I've posted a Friday Fav, but I suppose with the mix in of the holidays and wrapping up 2011, I sorta got sidetracked.  Any who, this week has flown by and I can't believe I'm sitting on the edge of the weekend ... Woohoo!!!

If you're new to Three Bracelets or forgot about my update to my Friday Fav edition, here is what takes place: I post one picture for the week that sums up 1) something I've learned, or 2) something I've fallen for.

This Friday Fav is going off of something I've learned.  (This Friday Fav is also more of a lesson than being something of a favorite.) I woke up with a scratchy throat 3 days ago, spent yesterday trying to fight this bug, and realized today the only thing I can do besides try fighting this cold is take care of myself.  Feeling under the weather, I also caught some stomach sickness and haven't felt in the mood for much. One thing I definitely haven't been in the mood for is sweets. Trust me on this one - I'm a bit shocked myself.  But it's true, I'm craving warm chicken broth and well more of that.  So physically my body is exhausted and just wants to sleep, but it also doesn't feel like filling up on any sugar.  This week, out of my own self-control, I've learned that the pure delight found in sugar is also the burden on my belly. 

Tonight I will be sipping on some soup and watching a few movies, but forgoing my love for desserts. (I'm hoping my taste buds return next week).

So long sugar. . .

                                                          Source: homeiswheretheholmansare.blogspot.com via Brittanie on Pinterest

The Gym Newbie

Because it's a New Year and some of the most common resolutions I hear around the block pertain to the gym, working out, breaking a sweat, dropping the lbs., and feeling better about oneself (this is mine), I started talking about the whole there are too many people at the gym post-January 1st with my co-worker.  Coincidentally enough, she had the same conversation with a friend earlier, and all three of us came to same conclusion - WTF?  What made the conversation even better was the mention of newbies.  These newbies, if you will, carry some pretty interesting baggage, threads, and glares with them onto the treadmill, the designated weight zone, and of course the ever-so fun locker room.

If you're confused, hear me out - I went to the gym and a girl not only brought her ipod, her iphone, and some gizmo on her arm, but she also had the plan that reading a ginormous textbook while operating each device was somehow going to be a pretty picture.  The poor thing was tangled up, couldn't keep her book from falling, and was b*tching that she forgot her water bottle :)

Now I get the occasional I came from work and all my makeup is on look, or shoot my outfit really does match and now I look a little too coordinated over here, but in general we all kinda look the same when working out.

My co-worker had a story to contribute to this game and told me about a girl who couldn't part ways with her Coach bag and carried it with her during the entire workout ... Say what?

Purses, gadgets, and frustrations all make for a wonderful way to start off the New Year at the gym.

Getting Older Makes Me Laugh

The subject of this post seems a little rude and slightly out of the norm for my writing style, but trust me on this one - I was on the ground laughing over a story I recently heard courtesy of my rents.

So my parents are divorced and rarely talk, but when they do it's usually over something pretty important. Well what happened next was definitely that.  My Pop's email was hacked and whoever crept into his account decided to send out a "Check Out These Low Prices on Your Prescriptions" type of email to his contacts.  Well my mom is part of his contact list and received this email.  She opened thinking, "Oh what's this he is sending me?"  This of course is some sketchy discount to Viagra, birth control, pretty much anything you can think of in terms of branded prescriptions.  My mom freaked out, called my Pops and shouted these words - "Your computer has been hacked!!!"

Next thing you know, my Pops is thinking is house is being invaded, there is a fire in the kitchen, and his computer is about to blow up.  HA.  So he proceeds to unplug his computer :)  That's right, he unplugged his computer, thinking this was the solution.

I later had to hear this conversation, virtually wipe away his fears, and let him know his computer is going to be okay and that he needs to change his email password.  Pretty much that's it.  Your computer hasn't been hacked, but your email has.  It happens more often than we would like, but it's usually a fairly simple process of apologizing to your friends and family saying, "Sorry it wasn't me," and then changing your password.  Easy (kinda) peasy.

My Pops was relieved to hear his world wasn't crumbling apart and I was relieved knowing how easy it is to confuse these two.

                                                                                Source: google.com via Molly on Pinterest

P.S. My Pops was pretty upset he had to change his password - apparently he's had the same one for 10  years. I'd say it's about time.

Here is to Twenty-Twelve

To get something important out of the way - I am so excited we're into the New Year.  I told you before, New Year's Eve is one of my favorite days only because it leads to bigger and better things ahead. There is nothing like knowing it can only go up!

Okay, now onto true biz. I'm back at work while the rest of the workers seem to be enjoying one last day of vacay, and to be honest I don't even mind.  It's nice to warm up or get a little starter when getting back into the groove of things.  I read through my reader last night and went through all of the New Year resolutions posted, and thought "Yikes, I definitely couldn't fit in half the stuff ya'll manage to tackle!" With that being said, there are a few things I definitely want to add to my non-existent resolution bucket list(I like motivational quotes more than to do's for the year).

Most of these things were inspired by our love, Pinterest.
1. I dream about it.  I wish I had the skills and coordination (not to mention hip movement) to do it. I stare in awe at those who can do it. It's time 2012 and I zzzumba.
2. Find a new favorite go to dinner besides lemon chicken, or lemon salmon, paired with lemon rice.
3. Host a dinner party at my house, with my cooking skills, with lots of wine, and of course the best of company.
4. And the best for last ... Get my long awaited Golden!
5. Here is to wishing and to Twenty-Twelve.