HEARTC♡RE

Guys, it's my birthday week! I officially turned 32 on Monday. I did kick off my birthday at noon this past Friday since I had a half day PTO. I had a margarita for lunch down in Jonesboro, then ran a couple errands (which included getting my emissions test done for my tag) and then I met with Reyna and family and had ANOTHER margarita at Monterrey's - yum!! 


We also had book club yesterday and friends surprised me with a cake and gifts. 

PREFACE: oh my god - in my entire writing history, I have not seen a BETA features notification on this site. Is the Blogger department of Google seeing substack's rise and want to compete against it?? Please say it so, I want the blogspot to live on!!

THIS LIBRA NEEDS TO GO TO THERAPY

Anyways, the amount of self-regulating that I have had to do in 2026 is unmatched to previous years. I can't say I have a mental illness, I also can't say I don't have a mental illness. 

Maybe I am just hormonal, I think that's what it is - and it makes me feel crazy. I have moments where I feel like I must be pregnant because I am so out of control... and even when I have moments where I know I - biologically - cannot be pregnant, I take a pregnancy test because with my luck I'm either the next virgin birth or a sperm from last year clung onto my labia and finally made its way in. 

Regardless, I need to go to therapy but I rather spend my money on marga-therapy (margarita therapy) right now. The last time I checked in with a counseling group, it was going to be $135 a session. I really did not want to start with (a well referred) therapist when I knew it was not going to be financially sustainable for me. I guess once a month therapy is better than no therapy? .. Okay, what I will do is look for a more affordable therapist in the next couple weeks and hopefully get something on the schedule. I am long overdue for professional help. 

In other news! My birthday is one week from now - excited about turning 32!! Stressed about how to spend my weekend, because I haven't gathered my thoughts on HOW EXACTLY I want to spend it but there's an outline. I just need to confirm said outline. 

THE NAILS HAVE HILLS

What I do know, is that I am going to be serving my nail tech, DN, with a lawsuit this week. She went on maternity leave, and I did not listen to her on booking with the salon owner Tony, and I did a walk in and was BOTCHED. I honestly can't even say, and I am sorry I ever did say, that I am chill because I was having an internal meltdown (SELF REGULATING though) as the nail tech was working, I can't remember exactly what DN does but it was definitely not what this lady was doing. Wrong techniques, wrong products, wrong angles, wrong wrong wrong. And you know I am not gonna say anything and pretend I am happy - they actually weren't THAT bad (at least on my left hand), but the cherry on top was toooo much clear coat so I have small hills at the tip of my right side nails. I believe I will be going tomorrow and just ask to have it smoothed out.... or should I go somewhere else and get a completely different set? The lady did just try the best she could. And she said so.

Even my fingers dried shriveled up through the process.

SHE'S KYLIE JENNER (WITH COUPONS)

Speaking of BOTCHED ... I got my first lip filler last week!! I have been thinking about it for the longest, but when Karen mentioned her and her cousin were chatting about it too - I was like LETS DO IT. I was able to take the plunge because I had an upcoming Botox appointment and did a mini consult with my injector. Then there was a Juvederm filler $75 BOGO gift card, then I have $20 in ALLE points, then I did a surprise ALLE scan and got $50 off!!! and my family (jokingly but not jokingly) was requested to all provide $50 each for my birthday lip donation. All aligned for me to say YES TO THE LIPS. 

So I look in the mirror and I am like OMG LOVE!! Then I am like OMG WTF DID I DO!! Rinse and repeat!! I have a week or two left until all the filler settles and I can see my permanent (1 year or so) results. I think I will do a separate post on my lips - more to come!! Oh also, they are not botched... or at least I don't think so. I just get thoughts that I am botched, but it's because I have anxiety. . or maybe they're just normal thoughts you go through as your swelling goes down!

DUCK DUCK GO

As I was writing this post, I realized it was a very DUCK themed weekend. Which reminded me of all the drinks that I have had, which are in turn causing me to gain weight. It's been a very heavy caloric month. Note: I also need to go to therapy for my intense and all consuming fixation on my weight and eating habits. I truly don't think I will ever know freedom. I hope I can look back at this post one day and know I beat the psychosis, but the future is bleak. I truly believe my food noise and whatever else that carries is an illness/addiction for the rest of my life - and if so, I HAVE accepted that, I just need to figure out how to cope and live with it. Back to DUCKS though... have you ever had a soft serve margarita?? I've had 3 the month of September and they were GLORIOUS each time. Highly recommend. I also got a little bouquet of flowers at like 12AM at a local Mexican bar. The kind where a lady comes and is selling them to... couples she spots (*eyes emoji*). I told my company - NO NO BOUQUETS THIS TIME - and when the lady approached us... and I saw the glowing duck... I said "I'll have this one". Geniuses! Did you know... it also comes with a snack pack?? Oh my god - GLORIOUS x2. I swore I took a photo, but I could not find it. The little zip lock bag packed tightly around the stems came with Queso Ruffles, a nut mix, mini twix, mini snickers, starbursts, and x2 mints. I am grateful for all the new experiences September has brought me. Maybe more on that later.. maybe. 

The duck gods treated me well this weekend.

Until next time... (I promise I will look for a therapist, but note I am also hyped on caffeine).

 

Yesterday was my 22nd Birthday!! I really really felt the love!! From private messages to my Facebook wall, I felt so thankful that everyone took the time to wish me happy birthday. So for that, thank you! Especially my boyfriend for making me feel special from halfway across the world for both the little details and the gifts (that I had trouble being patient for) 💝.

I had two celebrations, one with my girl friends and the other with my family.

The girls and I went out on Saturday the 1st. Last month I was like "what should I do for my birthday??" Then a couple weeks passed and honestly it wasn't until the day before that I actually remembered I had to plan something 😅.

I decided that I wanted to try an ice cream shop in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, so based my restaurant choice walking distance from the shop. I decided to go for the "Southern food with a Louisiana inspired flair" restaurant down the street called Serpas.

We had a good experience (though the waitress was a little dry) and walking in I immediately loved the style. It had a very cosmopolitan air to it and because it was formerly a warehouse the ceilings were high and it was beautiful. The menu has a lengthy wine list, but I went for a simple cocktail. The menu wasn't as my style as I had imagined, even though I had looked it up before. I tried to go for something involving shrimp and gumbo but they were out  of gumbo (what? I know) so I went for the jumbo scallops. It was supposed to come with soba noodles which I was excited for, but it came with mashed potatoes instead.  Two of the girls got the empanadas which I think were pretty good, another got the cheese plate, and we had beignets as dessert. I do think my dish could have been better, and for my first time having beignets they weren't as to die for as Kim Kardashian made them out to be.
After trading my heels for sandals, we walked towards Queen of Cream. Yesenia and I were walking in front, with Yuri and Virginia behind, and we saw this huge rat cross right in front of us. I have goosebumps right now, but I was like 😱. We had our (made from scratch) ice cream, sat outside and enjoyed a cool night before heading home. Thanks girls! I wasn't expecting gifts and they were all so perfect.

It was my mom's birthday right towards the end of August. I thought it would be a good idea to have a sort of mom's day out as celebration. I decided to include a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens since we had talked about going for the longest. I made sure to go over the plans with my mom the night before and she was like finally!! Since, again, she's been trying to go for forever.

We decided to go early in the morning to avoid both the crowd and the sun. The gardens are adjacent to Piedmont Park so it was quite an easy find. We found our parking, put our caps on and made our way to the ticket booth.

photo is as we were leaving

As a gift, and because it was a good deal 😜, I got my parents the year membership. Because it is close to fall, maybe the plants were not all in full bloom and it would be nice to return in Spring or Summer, or even just to enjoy a day out with the flowers and plants.

The garden is separated into quite a few sections, we first entered through the more woodland side, that was. . ..  well woodland/forest-y. You could say it was more natural and unattended bit still maintained. Lucky for us, there has been blown glass art installations throughout the garden. As you can see in the promotion picture above, it is by artist Chihuly. The woodland area was fun, but a little bare. I blame the fall season.



At one part though there was one absolutely beautiful installation! The woman is there year round,  and only the glass is temporary. We really enjoyed reading about the projects.

We then moved on to the edible garden where they plant and grow fruits and veggies.




After that came the Orchid Center. WOW. I absolutely loved it. My mom is a big fan of orchids and we've always had them at home, and do you ever notice how your parents taste will rub off on you? Anyways, it was absolutely amazing. Orchid is a flower family and there are so many kinds! The center was also full of Spanish Moss which is absolutely one of my favorite plants since I was little. I will try out my green thumb, bring the Spanish Moss to Muscat and force it to grow there. Maybe in Salalah during monsoon season.... if that's even close to the appropriate season. OMG what if it became an invasive species and I am become solely responsible for Oman's ecological demise. . . . . anywho. . . look at these beauties.

















After the Orchid center we entered glasshouse exhibits that showcased plants and flowers from both tropical, desert, and high elevation climates. When I entered the first house which was the high elevation, I was blown away! Just how accurate the feeling was and the tropical sounds that accompanied it.










And of course there was more throughout the gardens, but you can see it all for yourself 😊.













melissa