Home Is Where You Live » Sabrina

Story telling at it’s best and worst.

Sabrina — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:28:17 +0000

I am in the midst of doing research to find scientific data on the psychological impact of story-telling/story-sharing for a grant that I’m writing. I came across this article that I thought was interesting, if only because it talks about how stories can be impactful in both good and bad ways. It made me think of election season….

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680581/why-storytelling-is-the-ultimate-weapon

This train is about to depart.

Sabrina — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:00:22 +0000

As my 29th birthday falls upon me, I feel a little like I’m trying to play catch up with my life. The world, the streets, the clocks, are all moving as such a frenetic pace, and I want so badly to hit the pause button and lay down on a bed of sand to catch my breath.

I have this image of a girl on a train, and she sees the next stop – the stop at which she’s supposed to step off – coming closer. Only the train isn’t slowing down. The train is, in fact, accelerating. She sticks her hand out of the window to wave to the people on the platform, attempting to signal to them that she is meant to be where they are. She is meant to stand there too. But they only look at her, confused, and unfazed, as this is not their train, and they should have been well on their way to work by now.

28 was so many things. 28 was attempting to rid myself of the icky selfishness that kept me from being a good partner. Much of it is still there – but I’m peeling away those layers slowly but surely, and there is nothing that feels better than every time I feel another layer fall to the ground. I think that after my early 20′s, where I was so desperate to add to myself in order to feel like a whole person, that life began to be more about shedding the layers that only make cloudy the person I am, the heart, the core. I couldn’t make out my own reflection for so long. And I think I’m beginning to reveal her again.

Click to hear the song of 29.

This song/performance has made my day

Sabrina — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:43:46 +0000

Freur – Doot Doot 1983

Click to watch one of the best 80′s performances you’ll ever see.

On Friendship.

Sabrina — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:00:06 +0000

The feeling of shared city blocks
and stifled breathless laughter
is enough.

Easy to forget –
easy to forget the word lonely,
the acts of silence
the flood of the spirit
in the days, in the hours.

When play
is no longer mandatory,
or a given.
When clocks accelerate
to the speed of life decisions
and no looking back.

The thing,
the only thing,
that still holds true
to the innocence of bare feet,
sugar highs and brain freeze,
field goals
and shared blankets on bleachers,
is my sweaty-palmed heart
holding yours,
laughing like villains,
hoping we don’t get caught.

-sabrina sikes thornton

Cruelty-Free Beauty #2

Sabrina — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:55:38 +0000

I featured the c. Booth brand toner in my first Cruelty-Free Beauty blog – but I really think that this brand deserves much more attention. At one of my regular late-night trips to Rite-Aid, I saw these HUGE 32 0z. body lotions by c. Booth, but couldn’t figure out which scent I wanted to try. Both the Coconut Fig and Vanilla Sugar scents smelled amazing – and at $9 a pop – I didn’t want to purchase both. But, lo and behold, they were on sale for “buy one, get another 50% off” and I jumped at the chance. These body lotions are soft, non-greasy, and lightly fragrant – not overwhelming. As someone who uses lotion religiously, I can tell you that I’ve seen my fair share of lotions that don’t keep my skin moisturized throughout the day – but this lotion is awesome. It’s the perfect consistency, and doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin. And again, I can’t speak highly enough for the little bunny symbol this brand uses to assure that they don’t test on animals.

Both the Coconut Fig and Vanilla Sugar scents are SOOOOO delicious.

In other Cruelty-Free news, I was completely charmed to see this video recently released from Cruelty-Free International – a campaign launched to attempt to end animal testing. Click below to see the surprise celebrity supporter of this campaign:

Click here to see the ad for Cruelty-Free International

To Pin… or Not To Pin…

Sabrina — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:20:32 +0000

I’m not sure how I feel about Pinterest. I get the appeal of a virtual corkboard, especially if one is planning a big event like a wedding or a fundraiser, or decorating their home and looking to collect ideas, or wanting inspiration for a wardrobe update. And I think it’s super fun to scroll through other people’s pins and ooh and ahh about what they’ve “liked” and “re-pinned” and marvel at the cute names they’ve come up with for their categories (I mean, how many ironic or pun-filled titles can people come up with in place of “recipes?”). But I feel like in order to use Pinterest, I’d have to give something else up. I already can’t handle Twitter – my brother has to basically REMIND me every so often that I have an account. I started this blog to keep up with my writing – but now that I am freelance writing and volunteering ON TOP of a full-time job (where I mostly write), it’s getting harder and harder to show this site my love as well. I can’t live without my daily dose of Huffington Post – and too many of my friends are having babies and getting married to give up looking at their pictures on Facebook.
So I feel spread a little thin on the internet. And I really don’t like spending too much time on the computer. I’d rather be looking at something that isn’t on a screen (I say this while simultaneously drinking a tall glass of hypocrisy that goes down smooth as I type this very blog).
I guess what I’m really saying is – in order for me to feel okay taking a more active interest in Pinterest (oooh, I rhymed!), I am going to need to let go of another time-wasting internet habit. And I can tell you right now that it’s NOT going to be CatalogLiving.net – because honestly, sometimes that’s the only thing that gets me through a hard day….

This blog could possibly be the poster-child for the term First World Problems.
And for that, I apologize.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Sabrina — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:39:14 +0000

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-trying-okay,27444/

our version of a family portrait

Sabrina — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:31:35 +0000

this picture describes our family dynamic pretty accurately...

West Coast Bucket List

Sabrina — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:21:49 +0000

Even though we don’t know exactly when we are leaving, John and I know that we will be moving back east relatively soon. I actually remember that when we were on our first date (which neither of us thought was an actual “date” at the time) we talked about wanting to leave Los Angeles. Not in the sense that we were stubbing cigarettes out with the heels of our cowboy boots and saying things like “Let’s get out of Dodge” with raspy voices – more like we just both felt a pull. It was the kind of conversation where you are both acting like you are just casually asking questions, showing general interest – when what you are really doing is trying to find out if the other person wants the same life as you want so that you can be married in a few years… We talked about our families and about the cost of living, and about how we couldn’t explain why the Atlantic was so much better than the Pacific.

And now that this time is upon us, I’ve started to create a “bucket list” for the West Coast. The thing that makes this hard is that while simultaneously wanting to have new adventures here before we leave, we are also trying to save as much money as possible so that when we move it won’t be stressful and unhappy. Striking that balance can be pretty hard, but we are trying to make it work. And since I have a best friend in LA and a best friend in San Fran – I’m sure we’ll be back to cross things off that we can’t cross off in the next 6 months.

A conservative list of the places we still need to see together:

*Big Bear* – Since we just went on our first ski trip in Tahoe last weekend, we could attempt more than a bunny slope the next time around….

*Big Sur* – We’ve passed through, but never taken the time to soak in the views, sun and surf in this impressive location.

*Mexico’s Pacific Coast* – We hope to make this our 1st Anniversary trip. I am currently scavenging Groupon Getaways for deals to resorts in Cabo, etc. Hopefully we’ll make it work!!!!

*Grand Canyon* – This doesn’t technically apply as a West Coast attraction. But it does seem like a great place to conveniently pass by when we are on our way across the country. So we’ll attempt to work this into the move.

Other things that were on the list that we’ve already crossed off successfully: Skiing in Tahoe, Hiking in Yosemite, exploring San Francisco together (including Alcatraz), biking and hiking on Catalina Island, eating traditional food in Solvang, gambling in Las Vegas, and drinking wine in Santa Barbara.

And you know what’s great about this? Is that I can’t wait to do and see all of these new things with John. I marvel at how much goofy, silly fun we can have together. And I marvel at how I am actually getting better at having fun and being adventurous because of his presence in my life.

How lucky I am.

The best part of waking up…

Sabrina — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:20:46 +0000

The best part of waking up….