And I Helped.

Today my parents made a million freezer meals (okay... 20 something... still a lot) and I helped a little.
Anyway, now my hands smell like garlic and it's really gross.
Good thing I have smelly lotions I can put on so they don't gross me out all night.

Also, I feel like I should put this here because I felt beautiful yesterday (not a first, but not always something I feel) and decided to document it.

I think it's really important for everyone to feel beautiful once in a while. I know I have my days where I show up to work at 6 am and then around 9 I finally look at myself in a mirror and think "I seriously looked like that for 3 hours and didn't do anything about it?" But there are plenty of days where I come home from work and realize that I don't even need that second shower because my hair looked just fine and my makeup was still good and all I need is a change of clothes and I'm good.

I know for a fact that no one sees as many flaws in oneself as they do (sense?). I could tell you plenty of things in this picture that I'm not a hundred percent happy with, but I could also name plenty more that I'm in love with.

Cons:
I have zits
My hair needs a trim
I should smile better
I own too many grey sweaters
etc.

Pros:
I have pretty eyes
I like how my hair curls
I have a cute face
I like my cheeks
I look good in grey sweaters
I can pull off almost any color of lipstick
etc.

See? I know that Even behind all the things I hate, there's a thing I love. I just need to look past the zits and hair problems sometimes and be glad that I have all the things I like.

This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. Originally I was just going to post my selfie and tell you about my garlic hands... Hmm. Maybe someone needed to hear this.
love, Ellen

Day 26: Quirky

I had an assignment in a creative writing class I took in college to list 10 of our quirks and I went way above and beyond.... whoops.

I'll just post my assignment from that. It'd just be easier.

• I organize organize organize. The only problem is I love re-organizing more  which doesn't make much sense... 
• I have hypothetical conversations too often. 
• I have a post-it note collection and it's one of my favorite things to remember things with (if that makes any sense).
• I'm bad at story-telling. I've had too many people tell me "Are you done?" at the end of 
• I have an eyeglasses collection. 5 pairs is much too much for someone whose prescription is hardly strong. 
• I drink a lot of milk. I could probably drink a gallon a day without trying. 
• I like having my hair be short. I like having it like 2 or 3 inches long the most. But I also like doing things with long hair and wearing hats... It's really complicated.
• I like reading but I'm incredibly slow at it. 
• I love old things. Old music is my favorite, I love antiques and antique prints, and I married older than me! (by 9 years)
• I like doing art. I'm an amateur painter and I like sculpting. I'm actually pretty good at making jewelry and I'm working on my drawing skills.
• I'm afraid of boys. I've never had a blood brother (I have brothers-in-law now) and I've only dated one other guy besides my husband. When boys try to flirt with me, I bring Sean up early in the conversation because they weird me out. 
• I like making lists. To-do lists, packing lists, etc. 
• I'm horrible at planning parties. I'll bring cupcakes but don't make me plan it. 
• I'm bad at cooking. I can do it but I'm not great. Also, washing dishes is gross but I'll do it if I don't have to cook. 
• I love animals. I've had a cat for my entire life (3 different ones until I moved out). I have a kitty now named Erma Gerd and a ball python named Reggie. When my husband and I have a house we'll get a little dog for me and a big dog for him and we'll still have Erma and Reggie. 
• I accidentally love watching horrible television. Toddlers and Tiaras is great and so is My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Ew but great.

Okay. I'll be on my way now. 

love, Ellen

Day 19: Name

There are a couple places my mom said she got my name from. First, I have a great aunt named Ellen and, as far as I've been told, she was a firecracker. She wrote poetry occasionally and I have one of her pieces in my special box full of nice letters and memories from my life.

The other reason I was named Ellen was just because my mom liked it. Which is a very understandable reason because I plan on naming my kids based mostly on how much I like the name and then partly because someone else awesome has the name or not because whatever, you know? A name is a name and we should learn how to define it for ourselves and not let someone else define it for us.

My blog name, Bottled Pop and Picnics, comes mostly from when Sean and I were dating. One of the things we liked to do most was to go to various grocery or novelty stores and buy a couple bottles of soda to try and then we'd keep the caps and Sean would make magnets with them. We'd also go on picnics a few times. When we were engaged, we gathered all the kinds of soda and used the bottles as centerpieces of our tables:

Also, our 2nd Valentine's together was mostly watching a movie and having a floor-picnic with sushi and glass bottled soda. Hooray!

Okay, I've got to go clean the house before Sean gets home.
love, Ellen

May 24: 3 Worst

my 3 worst traits:

1: Dislikes exercising. A lot of mornings, especially lately, I think to myself "I should go for a run or lift my 5 lb. weights for a bit," and then I sit there on my computer and continue to brows the millions of ridiculous pictures and posts.

2: Occasionally a couple minutes late. I lose track of time easily but I try to never be too late.
Fashionably late. Isn't that what it's called?

3: Often lazy. I should go do the dishes right now but instead I've been watching television for the past 3 or 4 hours putting it off. I will, don't you worry about it, but after I finish this blog.

okay, as I was saying.
love, Ellen

May 17: Selfie

I think this is my favorite picture of myself. It was the night before July 4th when Sean and I were waiting for a fireworks show. Sean instagrammed this and wrote "I love this girl!" and then 4 days later, after me turning 19 and him buying a car, we were engaged. A crazy week! Also I love how good my teeth look and how absolutely happy I am. It really shows off how happy Sean makes me, I think.

love, Ellen

May 11: Advertised

1: No one can buy me, Sean already has me.
2: That girl who thinks she's cool and might actually be.

I thought I should share two. I mean, I could go forever with words describing me but then I figured I should make them sentences.

Have a Happy Saturday, all!
love, Ellen

May 6: what I do.

+ I wife.
+ I clean.
+ I paint.
+ I sculpt.
+ I write.
+ I read.
+ I edit.
+ I create.
+ I play.
+ I sleep.