So if you’re reading this post, it means you have not started following me at my new address (not because I have fallen off the face of the earth). Make sure you remember to update your readers. I switched to my very own domain and self hosting about a month or so ago and now can be found at http://www.ashalah.com.

See you over there!

A Sale of EPIC Proportions. Or 25% Off BUT STILL.

I have about 25 minutes before I am kicking myself out of Barnes and Nobles (and it isn’t just to hide from my new stalker, the BN Guy as he’s become known to every one of my friends.). Why? It is a gorgeous blue sky, sunny, WARM day, what I’m finding out to be the norm around here, and I must be outside in it, camera in hand.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good photo sesh but I’ve been feeling more and more creative lately and days like today are pretty damn inspiring.

So to keep this short and sweet I thought I would let you all know that I am having a SALE at my Etsy shop! 25% off all large prints, sized 16″x24″ and up, through Saturday March 6th, in honor of my brothers birthday. AND if you buy two or more, you will only have to pay shipping for ONE item!

Pretty awesome sale, considering oversized prints ALWAYS cost a lot for shipping. (I may have learned this the really hard way on my first sale. Ouch.)

Every print you see on Etsy, in my Flickr account or on my website, is available in these large sizes, even if they aren’t listed. Just request and you shall receive!

Prices are:

16″x24″: Originally $80, on Sale for $60.

20″x30″: Originally $90, on Sale for $67.50

24″x36″: Originally $160, on Sale for $120

Please check out my Etsy shop and if you are interested, just shoot me an email!

Oh and if you are still reading me on wordpress.com. WHY??? Go to my new domain and remember to update your readers.

Chicago, There’s a New Windy City: Essaouira

Do you remember how I went to Europe a few months ago? I bet you do. How could you forget? I haven’t told any stories recently but feel like I need to start telling them again, lest you feel all left out.

One of the funniest moments of the entire trip was when I was in Essaouira (essa-weerrah) in Morocco. A little backstory: this Morocco trip was kind of one of those domino moments. It would never have happened if I had not been pranked by The Messenger who I dragged out for drinks who then followed me to London and who, in turn, dragged me to Amsterdam. I was only supposed to stay in Amsterdam for two days but I fell in love with the place and decided to spend the extra money to change my flight to leave from Brussels on Sunday, instead of from London on Thursday. Seeing that hostels were pretty damn pricey in Amsterdam, I needed a cheap way to stay there. That’s when the Messenger suggested I try Couchsurfing.

I had heard of it from previous people I had met along my travels, but I had never really pursued it. It seemed like a good option, seeing how now that I had made the change to stay there, I needed to be able to actually sleep somewhere–outside of a park bench. I started emailing people and heard back from this girl, Anneke. I ended up staying with her for a few nights and had a great time. In the middle of all this, I was also babysitting The Messenger who was suffering from a really bad hit off of a special brownie. That’s another story for you, though.

One evening we were chatting about our travels and she mentions she was going to Morocco. She didn’t have anyone to go with and she was worried about traveling by herself. I asked her when she was going and when I heard it aligned with my travels in southern Spain, I mentioned that I’d love to join her. And that’s how Morocco came about.

I do want to talk about the entire Morocco trip and experience but since this is longer than I had already planned, I will just discuss this one event. It was at the tail end of our trip and it was just Anneke and I, having shed our third traveling companion, Richard. We had just been in Marrakesh where we indulged in freshly squeezed fruit juices, fruit smoothies and excellent shopping. We also had a bit of a bad experience on the last night there with the couchsurfer we were staying with but that wasn’t stopping Anneke and I from enjoying the last of our stay.

We took this ridiculously hot, local bus that took 5 hours to get us out there and we pledged NEVER to take a local bus in Morocco EVER again. (Seriously. If you go to Morocco only take the CTM buses. Air Conditioning is your best friend.) We stepped off the bus in Essaouira and were instantly met with a cold breeze. Not just a breeze but a strong wind. We quickly learned that based on it’s location on the coast, it had some pretty strong winds and was a major mecca for wind surfers. The cool air was a welcome refresher and the fact that we were staying in an AMAZING hotel, with separate beds, a sit down toilet and a hot water shower, all things that were terribly exciting at that stage in our trip.

We ate dinner at this little shack on the beach where you could pick out whatever super fresh seafood you wanted and afterwards took a walk on the extremely windy beach. We watched the wind surfers and the kite surfers playing in the waves and then started noticing these three local boys trying to learn to kite surf on the sand.

I’d seen this done at my parent’s lake house on lake michigan but it was by professionals. The guy learning clearly had no idea what he was doing. In fact, he had absolutely no control over the kite whatsoever. The wind was intense and it was just dragging him around the beach.

To help him out one of his friends grabbed him to ground him more. When that didn’t work and the two of them were being dragged around, the third guy grabbed the two of them and eventually they were sitting on the sand.

At this point we had stopped and were watching them from a distance. The kite was literally hitting the ground at all sides and we feared for our lives. We also didn’t want them to hear us laughing, which we were doing plenty of.

They’re all sitting there, just like that, and all of a sudden a gust of wind comes along and the kite TAKES OFF.

They all lose control and the two anchor guys are shed like kleenexes. It drags the poor guy who is attached to this kite face first along the beach and meanwhile, the two guys who were shed at the initial take off are running after him.

Anneke and I are on the ground laughing so hard we are CRYING. (I’m not kidding. We had to sit down.) My stomach muscles were hurting by the time we managed to control it to a slight giggle and it was by far the funniest moment of my entire trip to Europe.  We kept walking down the beach after that and passed them again, as they were putting away the kite, and couldn’t help but laugh just a little more. Hopefully they hadn’t heard us cackling at them, or at least realized just how amusing the situation was.

Essaouira was probably one of my favorite stops on this trip and one of the few places in Morocco I would actually visit again. It’s very chill, laid back and a lot less stressful than the bigger cities. If you get a chance, go to this blue, windy city on the coast and stop by the beach. Maybe you’ll see some locals losing their battle to the wind.

Comments are closed, BUT that’s because I moved blogs! You can find Ashalah here, and you can find this post here. Please update your readers!

Holding Me Accountable

As I get more settled into my new home in Boulder, and settling back into my independent lifestyle, I have noticed that I’m also settling back into old, bad habits. Habits I wanted to kick when I left NYC. These included:

• My unhealthy eating habits. These include salty foods, sugar rushes, caffiene overloads, carbs galore and eating out a lot, particularly at Mexican restaurants which feature my favorite guilty pleasure: sour cream. The weight gain since I’ve gotten here is ridiculous and I’m NOT happy about it.
• My shopaholic tendencies. I had a feeling I’d run into this problem with a blank slate apartment where I’d be tempted to decorate and outfit every space. I’m spending more money than I have coming in and it’s a problem.
• Alcohol consumption. I drank a LOT in the last year in NYC and it was one habit I knew I needed to kick and fast. Not only was I drinking a lot, but I was drinking some heavy shit, like tequila. While tequila is awesome, it’s not good as your go-to-drink after a rough Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the job.

All of these have come back full swing after arriving in Boulder and reactivating my social life. I’ve been going out for food and drinks and not ordering the most healthy stuff on the menu. The drinks thing has been nearly every night–whether it be at a bar or a bottle of wine or champagne at home. While not in mass consumption, it’s still more than I should be drinking.

As for shopping, it seems every day I pick up SOMETHING. Some things were important–a sofa, bed, sheets, food and business cards. But other things are not so important–a pair of $60 dollar ridiculously cute boots, a $5 set of plates (we already have like EIGHT in my cabinets), and Someecards postcards. And that barely covers the amount of crap I’ve purchased. I’m blowing through more money than I am making and I have to still be able to afford rent, heat, electricity, gas for my car and food for my belly on a freelancers budget, which doesn’t even make me enough for rent a month.

It’s problematic.

All these things have added up to one big bad mess for my health and for my stress levels. When I gain weight, or when I start thinking about money I STRESS OUT. And then I gain more weight because when I get stressed, I eat to feel better. Then I just feel like crap because I just gained 5 more lbs and all the weight I lost while in europe has been put back on and then I cry and then I eat some more.

It’s not just problematic, it’s a vicious cycle of crap. Which I need to put an end to NOW.

I have been kind of sad lately–not in the woe is me, depressed, angry, sad self from NYC who hated EVERYTHING, (since I infact love EVERYTHING about Boulder and my life right now. With the exception of the above.) but sad as in I miss my family and I really miss my friends. I still talk to my bests daily and my family as well, but it’s hard being so far away from all of them. The 2,000 + miles that are between me and NYC has been more and more apparent as time wears on and I get a routine settled here (that involved hours and hours spent at Barnes and Nobles). This home-sickness doesn’t hit that often which I’m lucky for, but it still sucks when it does surface. When I get sad, I tend to go to what’s comfortable which is what I know–food, shopping, alcohol. None of which solve any problems. As I think I’ve pointed out like a bajillion times in this post.

I am determined though to change my habits and get towards a new, healthier lifestyle. A new, healthier me. One that doesn’t forget where I have come from and the people who have helped shape me into the person I am now while I make new friends and new experiences. One who also doesn’t forget how a healthier Ashley is a more balanced, happier Ashley.

So, internets, I need you to hold me accountable for my actions. For cutting back on alcohol (I think I am quitting drinking for three weeks. It was jut one week but that doesn’t seem like enough.), stop eating out and eating unhealthily when I do eat out, making better food choices, stop drinking coffee and stop spending the money as if I have a steady income.

To comment on this post please go to my new site: http://www.ashalah.com or click here. Don’t forget to change your readers while I figure out how to merge the two blogs!

I’ve Moved. Again.

OHMYGOD I KNOW. How rude of me. I have moved, AGAIN. And no, I haven’t left Boulder. I have left ashalah.wordpress.com for greener pastures…as in….MY OWN DOMAIN!!!!!!!! You can find Ashalah here and you can check out my newest post on sexy men, rude men and my new homes here.

Bear with me until I figure out how to sync my feeds so that it doesn’t matter which one you have in your reader but for now, please update your readers with my new address! (And if anyone knows how to do this, yeah let me know too!)