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okaywowcool · 6 years

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hey guys! back again for another monthly favorites post, this time for july! read below the cut to hear some of my favorite clothing pieces, new shops, trends, and makeup and skincare items that i’ve used in this past month!

you can also check out this link to read through my past faves!

CURRENT FAVE PERSONAL PIECES

Plus Size Grid Print Overall Mini Dress - $24.90, available in 0X - 3XL

Not too long ago I picked up a few pieces from F21 (mostly out of a Strong fear that they would be going out of stock in the near future, lol) and this was one of them. The zipper feels sturdy with the metal they used (I was worried, since this runs slightly bodycon on a non-padded, average curvy body (if you’ve not read about how plus-sized models are commonly padded out to get the “ideal” shape or “ideal” fat distribution, check out this article here by Refinery29.) and the zipper is the functional closure of the dress. The dress has zero stretch, so I was a little concerned about something flimsy that I felt like would break eventually, but so far so good. I’ve worn it with a super cute beatnik type get up out to lunch and errands with my girlfriend (black turtleneck sweater, beret, and chunky black sandals) and felt super cute, but still a little self conscious just since the more bodycon silhouette is something I’m still not super confident in wearing, which is something I’m trying to get better about. So a big recommend! I’m a size 22/24 and got a size 3XL and thought that was perfect, not too tight, but still hugging my curves in a cute way.

Plus Size Grid Print Tie-front Shirt - $19.90, available in 0X - 3XL

I have a serious problem finding button ups that are cute on me...I have a fairly large bust but smaller shoulders and it’s hard to find something plus-sized that isn’t either totally oversized and weird looking on me fit wise, or so tight there’s massive gapping between the buttons at the biggest part of my bust. But this button up really works for me. I’m not sure if it’s the slightly relaxed cut or the fact that it’s a crop, but it’s absolutely perfect...it’s rare you buy something online and it fits exactly the same on you as it does on the model, but this did and I was so impressed! This is definitely going to be a new staple in my wardrobe, as soon as it’s not too hot to commit to long sleeves.

I ordered a few more things that I haven’t had much of a chance to style/wear yet, but everything worked this go round which is pretty rare...this was very much me that day:

Surgeon General’s Dress - $35, available in XS - 5XL

I’ve been wearing a lot of my own stuff here lately, mainly because it’s so easy to throw on and and still be bold enough for it to feel like a Look, while totally keeping me cool. This dress’s print looks super bold from a distance, but y’all would be surprised to see how long it takes people in an office setting to actually find out what the print is of, since it’s so blown up it can read as abstract. The fabrication is also really good at keeping you out of the hot hot hot hell zone, and is super cute with a breezy sheer cardigan thrown on over it!

FAVE NEW SHOPS

Avocado Bag, $40

I want to own pretty much everything in this entire store since I found out it existed just a few weeks ago, and if I didn’t have some self restraint I would have preordered at least 3 bags from here so far. Miju Miju is a cute shop full of bags that were originally intended for use as cute, unique ita bags, but they’re also totally cute to use to display your pin collection, or even just leave plain with the empty clear window showing the cute pop of lining color. The fact that they’re convertible from a crossbody purse to a backpack also makes them a literal dream for me, since that’s pretty much the only kind of bag I like to carry. They also have a discount code running right now for the preorder, you can use BOW7 to get $7 off one of these bad boys! I know I want the avocado, egg, and pink coffin ones all sooooo bad.

Pastel Rainbow Shooting Star Necklace - $60

Petey Hana is an etsy shop with a lot of super cute hand painted jewelry, perfect for all kinds of kawaii fashion styles and also just bold statement pieces. I’m so in love with the obviously hand made look, especially with ceramic and polymer clay jewelry, because it just feels like there’s extra love put into it. Combine that with all the bright colors and I’m just in love with this whole shop!

Strawberry Milk Cocktail Knit Sweater - $31

I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize that the Ester Loves You collab “Ester loves Chuu” was referring to a shop’s name and not just the cute Japanese kissing sound effect....but it took me until doing that cute request for rabbit purses recently for me to figure out that Chuu was indeed, a store. This shop is adorable and has lots of unique styles in it for super affordable prices. I can’t fit into any of it myself really BUT it’s still been a big inspiration to look at their photography and see how they’re styling their pieces!

Walk the Line Striped Dress - $78, available in US size 10 - 30

I wanted to use this cute image from Fat Girl Flow, since it was Corissa’s IG where I first saw this shop as well AND because it’s so helpful to see products on non-models. Soncy is a really cute really incredible shop. Y’all know I’m not the biggest fan of the whole Fashion Nova curve look, it just never has felt very “me,” even though it’s a staple for many other plus-sized bloggers/influencers. Soncy feels like Fashion Nova’s classy older sister who has her own very successful etsy business selling fancy leather goods--which is not at all a bad vibe...one part hippie, one part mature, and one part sexy. Still a similar style, but there’s not as much emphasis on the whole Kylie Jenner booty body-con everywhere look, and things just look higher quality...they’re more expensive, but everything in the shop is available in sizes 10 - 30 and everything is miraculously under $100, which is just awesome.

FAVE JULY SILHOUETTES

Pier Pursuits Cropped Jumpsuit - $64.99, available in XXS - 4XL

Right now, one of the silhouettes I’m obsessed with is super wide leg jumpsuits. This one was really the first one that sparked the intense love for me, the proportions are so unique and perfect and I love that these jumpsuits are starting to show more traditional dress like necklines...this one from ASOS curve does a similar thing which I really adore.

Front Twist Flutter Sleeve Tee - $9, 0X - 3XL

Twist front crop tees (even the ones that are just from twisting a not in a normal tee!) are just such a look for me right now. There’s something very nostalgic about them, almost like how when tying jackets around the waist was coming back as a styling choice when 90s nostalgia started going strong, that makes me just super happy and it’s a natural type of ruching that is really attractive without looking kind of dated and old. It just looks good on everyone, truly.

PRINTS & COLORS

Fluted Sleeve Mini Dress in Ditsy Floral - $51 // Infusion Cut Out Bralette in Vintage Floral - $52 // Ditsy Floral Ruffle Jumpsuit - $40

There’s something so nice and vintage feeling about a ditsy floral print, and I’ve been wanting to create some of my own patterns that mimic this feel for a while but still haven’t quite gotten around to it. It’s just such a nice subtle way to wear florals, a print that I tend to be really picky about since they can go ugly fairly easily or run the risk of looking dated or matronly depending (and I mean dated like...2008 versus a nice vintage feel) but ditsy florals just always look so cute and nice, too subtle to ever really be offensive and easy to transition from season to season.

Daisy Street Cami with Peplum - $24 // True Stripes A-Line Skirt - $38 // Miss Selfridge Pinafore Dress - $56

i’m also just really feeling chambray this month, especially with a subtle white pinstripe. aside from chambray just feeling really lovely to the touch (bc i’m all about those textures y’all) it’s such a lovely soft approach to denim that feels so airy and perfect for summer.

MAKEUP/SKINCARE

LIPHOP Ombre Lip Balm - $2.59

I bought this little lip balm for real cheap off of aliexpress a while ago, in quite a few shades since it was so cheap. I’ve found that the darker shades are by far my favorite, though they don’t look quite as dark on me as they do in the photos. It’s very similar to just putting on a little chapstick--these just add a natural little pop of color for a fresh bitten look to the center of your lips while hydrating them overall. I like that it gives that popsicle stain look without the matte feel of some similar products, like Glossier’s Generation G and Colourpop’s Blotted Lip, or the actual commitment of doing a proper ombre lip look.

Bliss Makeup Melt Jelly Cleanser - $12

This one is actually not one I’ve gotten to try yet (it’s sitting in my cart to be purchased as soon as my current cleanser runs out) but I wanted to include it on this list anyway because I’ve been wanting to try it for a while now. It’s supposed to be a really good dupe for Glossier’s Milky Jelly Cleanser, but has a smaller price tag ($12, vs Glossier’s $18) as well as coming with more product (6.4oz vs Glossier’s 6oz). Last winter I was looking for a good cleanser that wouldn’t dry me out quite as much as my current one does. I’m currently using Tony Moly’s Peach Foam Cleanser, which I think is really lovely in a lot of ways--the foaming is fun, the smell is amazing, and it does really make you feel clean, but it dries my skin out sooooo much right now, even in the summer where I have a little more oil. It claimed to be moisturizing and gentle but I guess my skin is still just too wimpy to take it, and I’ve been looking for a change. This dupe is also rose scented, which I’m super excited about--I’ll be sure to tell you all how it is!

so that’s it for july! look forward to seeing some of my highlights for august next month and feel free to let me know if there are any other categories you’d like me to add each month! <3

#plus size fashion #plus size blogger #psblogger #july favorites #monthly favorites #fashion #july #kawaii #pastel #long post

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thethespacecoyote · 7 years

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“Don’t Wish Me a Merry Christmas”

She and Jack almost never got presents for each other around Christmas, and if they did they were usually given with little if any mention of the holiday. Jack usually forgot to wrap his, and Nisha often just tossed it into a bag left over from past gifts. But when Rhys used Jack’s credit card and bought a tree that almost touched the top of the penthouse and proceeded to spend two hours decorating it with Angel, she knew that anything half-assed wouldn’t fly. And as much as Rhys’ Christmas shit annoyed her, she didn’t want to see the kid disappointed. It was like watching an abused kitty commercial. Nisha had a tough skin but even she wasn’t that cold-hearted.

So it was for Rhys’ sake—cute little festive parasite that he was—that she was braving the pinstriped den of horror itself. The mall, one week before Christmas Eve.

First day of Requestmas done! For the lovely @dauverney who had an idea about Nisha hating Christmas, but reluctantly braving it to go and buy some gifts for her boys :) Just some modern AU fluff with Rhackisha and some bonus Angel too.

Nisha hated Christmas.

Most people were surprised when they heard that. She got a lot of “but everyone likes Christmas!” or “Jeez, what did Christmas ever do to you?” from astonished wannabe well-wishers. Lately she’d taken to telling people her dog died the morning of, or if they were especially annoying she’d upgrade the death from a car accident to a drunken Santa on a rampage. Tragedy tended to make people back off and feel embarrassed they’d ever asked.

So Yeah. Christmas. Nisha. Mixed about as well as hot chocolate and motor oil.

Though the deluge of holiday crap pissed her off, up until lately she’d been able to ignore it pretty good through years of practice. Avoid malls and promenades. Order most things online. Stick to the single classic rock radio station in her truck that had yet to betray her strict no-Christmas music ban.

But due to some recent changes she was about ready to bit the head off the next festive fanatic that entered her crosshairs.

Like most things that annoyed her, it all started with Jack. He used to dislike Christmas right alongside her. A regular Scrooge she could commiserate with, who would groan and roll his eyes whenever one of the thousands of holiday standards infected even quasi-neutral zones like liquor stores or the DMV. They spent nights others might waste going caroling or decorating cookies instead drinking beer and having rough, secular sex. Their apartment stayed its sleek color palette of black and white and yellow without a trace of red or green infected its modern chic.

That was, until Rhys had popped into their lives.

Nisha had never been opposed to adding another partner to their duo. A third person had occasionally crossed into their relationship over the years, but usually Jack tired of them within a couple of weeks or the slight edge to the couple’s relationship put them off (and on occasion, sent them running for the door). The option had always been there, but no one had exactly fit the bill, up until a little middle manager in Jack’s company had caught the CEO’s wandering eye. It’d been around Valentines’ Day. Jack had called it fortuitous. Nisha thought he just wanted an extra present. But couple choice flirtations and a handful of dates with Nisha tagging along to make the nature of the relationship blatantly obvious to the dumbstruck young man had soon caught him hook, line and sinker. By June, he’d moved in with them.

Nisha didn’t hate Rhys. Not at all, really. It’d taken some getting used to, the fact that her boyfriend having a boyfriend meant she now had to deal with two, but she liked him. He was slender enough but thick in all the places Nisha liked, and though he was sweet he could give sass right back when Jack was being a little brat about something stupid.

But when Nisha had woken up on the first of November to find that the Halloween decor had been replaced by garlands and holly as the smell of vanilla-peppermint candles filled the air—she’d known there’d be trouble.

Rhys wasn’t nearly as crazy about Christmas as some of the people Nisha had run into had been, but it was still enough to put her off just a little bit. The month had barely started and he’d already bought matching sweaters for the three of them and even Angel, and had roped Jack into doing such cloyingly festive shit as decorating ornaments, ice skating, and making a gingerbread house. Now thoroughly brainwashed, Jack had even bought Rhys tickets to the frikkin’ ballet so they could sit on their butts for two hours and watch people dance to the same music blared on every single commercial that she had to endure. Mercifully, Angel had had a swim meet that evening, so Nisha had been able to dodge that bullet, though Rhys had ended up humming the melodies in the shower the next morning and even Jack had mumbled along to the tune as he’d made his coffee.

They were so mushy with each other that it was small wonder to Nisha that they didn’t melt. They nuzzled their noses together over peppermint hot chocolate bobbing with snowflake marshmallows, blushing like kids on a cold winter’s day. It was like a fucking Hallmark card and Nisha’s head was practically spinning off her neck at Jack’s sudden holiday whiplash.

So it was for Rhys’ sake—cute little festive parasite that he was—that she was braving the pinstriped den of horror itself. The mall, one week before Christmas Eve.

Jack’s wealth afforded them a nice place to live in a bougie neighborhood full of fancy boutiques, speciality foods, and high-priced knick-knacks, all of which were on full display in the shopping mall nearly the size of a small airport. Thanks to the acres of parking, she managed to find a space to squeeze her maroonn truck in without scraping the paint of the Mercedes Benz on her left.

The sight of so many cars circling the mall like sharks made her queasy. The wreaths hanging from every streetlamp seemed like signs screaming “Turn Back Now!” But the sound of the other car door opening sealed Nisha’s face as Angel popped out, bundled in an oversized cargo jacket with colorful reusable shopping bags already slung over her shoulder.

“You ready?” She piped up as she grabbed Nisha’s hand. The sheriff worried her lip before remembering she’d agreed to let Angel put some lipstick on her before they’d left. She cringed for a moment, then nodded.

“God. All right. Suppose we’re already here.”

Nisha only felt more dread as they walked towards the entrance to the mall, navigating the cars still fishing for a spot. There were already way too many people for her comfort level, most of them either yakking or screeching way too loud or looking like they might snap and kill someone if they didn’t get the latest game system for their warbling crotch spawn. She felt tense, hand Angel was holding jerking almost instinctively to where she usually kept her gun clipped as they entered through the sliding doors into the mall proper.

Naturally, the crowds inside were even worse.

“Oh god damn it, look at this shit,” Nisha groaned as she was hit with not only the sight of hundreds more stressed, obnoxious shoppers, but also an audible wall in the form of some sugar-pop cover of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” A song which, honestly? Kind of felt like an omen at this point.

“Ugh. Fuck me.”

“Dad would be mad if he knew you were swearing in front of me…” Angel said with a giggle.

“Yeah, well Jack can go suck eggs,” Nisha hissed, shaking her head. “It’s all because of him that I gotta do this anyway.”

“Hey c’mon, it’ll be nice. Rhys has been really cool to me this year and I really want to get him something special…” Angel smiled, and damn if the kid didn’t make Nisha melt a little bit. It was kind of why she’d brought her along, anyway. Would probably stop the sheriff from going completely fucking bonkers with the sheer Christmas overload she’d have to endure.

The mall’s main atrium was dominated by the biggest Christmas tree Nisha had ever seen—so big it had to be fake, plastic needles simply perfumed with pine scent—surrounded by boxed presents nearly half the height of the average adult and certainly bigger than most the kids squealing and trundling about. Twinkling lines of crystal and LED draped the trees branches, every inch fat with bight red ornaments bigger than Nisha’s head. Garish signs wished her a Happy Holidays while also advertising expensive Santa photo packages. She was just happy Angel was too old and Jack too cynical to fall for that kind of nonsense.

“So, uh…” The sheriff scratched her head, looking about. “Where do we go?”

Nisha hadn’t heard of half of these boutiques. Most of the clothing outside of her uniform was either old stuff or had been bought by Jack, and while he occasionally spoiled her with a fancy dress or jacket for date nights, typically he just gave her his credit card and told her to get whatever she wanted. Her wardrobe consisted mostly of pants and tops and accessories that, while nice, weren’t as pointlessly expensive as some of this stuff. She already had the status, the symbols were a little superfluous.

But Rhys got a kick out of having access to this fancy stuff he’d never been able to have before. Nisha remembered he almost cried when Jack gifted him a Rolex for his birthday. Kid had been little more than an ordinary Hyperion programmer when Jack had plucked him for his personal harem, and he still got a little starry-eyed in a way Nisha no longer did whenever Jack decided to shower him in designer gifts.

So she ended up following Angel’s more fashion-savvy lead, making sure not to lose the teen in the crowds as they squeezed their way into the mall’s least-busy Hugo Boss. Angel had brought along her own allowance, so Nisha let her buy a couple of pairs of socks for Rhys, which ended up rolled all nicely and packed in a little red box with a bow on top. Her own credit card picked up a navy cashmere scarf and a slim pair of leather gloves that’d look good on the kid’s long fingers.

Angel offered to carry the gives in her patterned cloth bag as they trundled off in the direction of the Crate & Barrel Nisha was sure you could land a plane in.

Jack had been bitching about a stand mixer ever since Rhys had confessed his favorite pie was lemon meringue over Thanksgiving dinner, so Nisha picked out the fancier model in the shiny red chrome and put it on hold so she wouldn’t have to lug the damn thing around all afternoon. The price tag had made her briefly reconsider—taking into account the likelihood that Jack would only use it once—but she pushed that out of her mind. As annoyed as the whole Christmas charade made her feel, there was a prickle of enjoyment deep inside at the idea of buying something she knew Jack had talked about. It made her feel a little sly as she added a maplewood rolling pin and a springform pie dish to her lover’s present haul.

They took a break from the crowds to sit on one of the many benches ringing one of the mall’s many decorative water features. Nisha slipped Angel a ten dollar bill and told her to get a waffle cone from one of the fancy ice cream kiosks. While she was gone Nisha darted away, coming back to sit in the same place with a nondescript little black bag next to her by the time Angel returned.

“What’s that?” Angel asked, pointing it out as she licked at the veritable mountain of strawberry-chamomile ice cream overloading the poor cone.

“Adult stuff. You wouldn’t wanna know.”

“I’m not so sure about that…”

“Kid it’s probably gonna go up Rhys’ butt, you definitely don’t wanna know.”

“Eww.” Angel pulled a face, trying to distract herself with the ice cream as Nisha perused the presents they’d already bought.

“Feels like…I dunno. Feels like there should be something more here.” Nisha hummed, bobbing her leg. “Christ. This is like a freaky kind of rush. No wonder all these people are subjecting themselves to this.” She gestured vaguely at the crowds milling about.

“Any ideas, kid?”

Angel crunched into her waffle cone, chewing thoughtfully.

“Well,” she spoke from behind her hand, “how ‘bout we check out one of those fancy jewelry stores?”

Nisha hadn’t set foot in one of these places since she’d been little and dragged along by her mother. They’d always seemed a little too clean for her tastes, like a doctor’s office almost, with its pure white carpeting and sleek shiny cases and uniformed security.

She pursed her lips, wrapping her arms around herself as she took a cautious step towards the jewelry laid delicately out in the long glass displays. Angel bustled towards the earrings, leaving Nisha alone to browse something her boys might like. She had already started to dismiss the idea of getting them jewelry the moment she’d walked into the store, but to her surprise something almost immediately caught her eye.

Right smack dab in the middle of the main case were were two pretty rings paired next to each other that practically took Nisha’s breath away. Silver, embedded with fine strands of diamond and that broke around the metal like sap bleeding from a tree. She wasn’t exactly a huge fan of jewelry, but damn.

She put her hands on the top of the glass, peering up close. The rings’ stones twinkled like the enticing little bastards they were. Fuck. Those would look damn good on her boyfriends’ fingers.

“Oooh, those are soooo cool!” Angel awed as she bobbed over from the earrings case, pointed at the pair of rings. Nisha nodded in agreement.

“No kidding. You think your dad and Rhysie would like ‘em?”

“Oh yeah. Rhys likes blue, and dad likes blue ‘cause Rhys likes blue.”

Angel tapped her hand.

“You should get one for yourself, too.”

Nisha snorted.

“C’mon, Ang. I’m buying stuff for the guys, not for me. Doesn’t buying yourself a Christmas present kind of defeat the whole purpose? Besides,” Nisha held out her hand, “silver doesn’t really look good on me. Gold, platinum, maybe, but silver? Nah.”

She bought the two rings before she could second-guess the purchase, watching as the jeweler lovingly placed them in a pair of delicate heart-shaped boxes. The little knowing smile on her red lips annoyed Nisha slightly as she took the gift bag from her hand, Angel quickly thanking their clerk as the sheriff tramped out of the store and back out into the hustle and bustle.

When they returned home, Jack and Rhys were already there filling the house with the smell of baking cookies. Rhys giggle and shut his eyes when Angel shouted at them to look the other way, and when Jack didn’t do the same he covered his face with a palm dusted in flower. Nisha gathered the presents from Angel, letting her gossip with her father and Rhys about the mall as she went to go hide them in the furthers corner of their closet, underneath the suits in the way back that Jack never bothered to wear.

Cookie decorating seemed lame but as Nisha stripped down and sat on the couch in her boxers and a loose tank top, she still needled Jack to save her one before they ruined them all with frosting and sprinkles.

Christmas morning came quicker than Nisha had expected.

She and Jack had been in a dead sleep, her arm flung across his chest, when Rhys had bustled into their bedroom with small tray balancing three cups of coffee. Nisha had been irritable for a moment as she shook sleep from her eyes, but perked up at the sight and smell of coffee prepared just the way she liked it.

With enough caffeine now in his system Jack was able to trundle out of bed and whip together some apple cinnamon pancakes that drew Angel out of her bed and into the living room where piles of gifts now lay underneath their massive tree. The thing was decked head to do with enough ornaments to sink a small ship, and wrapped with so many lights that they reflected against the pure white walls like a stained glass window. Rhys welcomed Angel with a tight hug and a mug of mint tea to go along with the pancakes as they all took a seat on the couches and began to divvy up the gifts.

Each had a stocking to go along with their haul, ostensibly stuffed with gifts from “Santa” marked with handwriting that was obviously Jack’s—if the ham-fisted wrapping job didn’t already give that away. But they all played along, tongue in cheek as they thanked the man in red for giving them their favorite candies and little stocking-stuffers. Nisha was grateful for the kitschy trinkets, as it gave her and Rhys and Angel something to do as Jack tackled the pile of gifts given to him by servile stockholders and executives.

“Harris really thinks she can impress me with a frikkin’ Spiralizer? Do I look like a guy who makes his pasta out of zucchini? Instead of frikkin flour like a normal human?” Jack snorted as he tossed aside one box in favor of a more expensive-looking one. “Garcia’s got me, though. Cheese knives! Heck yes. We’re gonna have so many fancy cheese parties now, kiddo.”

“Are we?” Rhys looked up from where he was sniffing a tiny peppermint candle taken his stocking. Jack nodded yes and patted his shoulder.

“Dad, can we move onto the real presents now?” Angel moaned from the other end of the couch, the little LED lights she’d gotten from her stocking draped artfully about her shoulders. Jack relented with a sigh, setting his stack of employee gifts on the floor as he welcomed the ones they’d gotten for each other. Rhys insisted they let the youngest go first, much to Jack’s indignation. The bit of peppermint bark Rhys shoved in his mouth quieted him pretty quick.

Angel went just a starry-eyed as Nisha thought she would when she opened the huge, cutely packaged makeup palette she’d grabbed for her.

“So you weren’t getting something for Rhys!” She grinned knowingly. Rhys raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Nisha snickered as she nudged Rhys with her elbow. “Go on, open yours.”

“Paisley!” Rhys exclaimed as soon as he lifted the scarf from the unwrapped box. “How did you guys know?”

“She’s seen your boxers, pumpkin,” Jack winked. Rhys’ face glowed with blush as he busied himself opening up the socks, gushing as he thanked Angel with a gentle hug.

Jack went apeshit over his stand mixer, immediately crowing about how he could finally make a delicate enough meringue worthy of Rhys’ palate. Nisha smiled into her coffee, feeling a touch of happiness inside her at the look on her boys’ faces. And they hadn’t even gotten to the crown jewels of her gifts.

Rhys of course, almost cried when he opened the ring boxes, covering his mouth with his hand as he looked at Nisha in shock. But weirdly enough, Jack had a small smirk on his face as he glanced down at his. He looked up at Angel, nodding in the direction of the tree.

“Princess. Why don’t you go ahead and grab that last gift?”

Nisha peered over, slightly confused to see Angel procuring a small box wrapped in shiny purple paper she hadn’t noticed before. She raised her eyebrows up at Jack and the teary Rhys, who was busy wiping his nose on his candy striped sleeve.

“Go on, Nish, open it up.” Jack encouraged as he took a sip from his coffee, watching his girlfriend over the rim. Jack’s smarmy, knowing look was usually kind of annoying, but right now it was kind of making her….excited to see what was in this little box.

She pulled the wrapping paper off with eager fingers, popping open the tiny velvet box to see a copy of the same ring she’d bought for her boyfriends. Except instead of silver, it was cast in rose gold and set with rows of amber stones and deep, purple tourmaline.

“Holy shit, you didn’t, how…how did you…?”

Jack jerked a thumb over to where Angel was wiggling on the couch, just barely able to contain her beaming smile.

“This one practically dragged us to the mall to buy it for you at the eleventh hour. Took a bit of ‘convincing’ on my part to get it commissioned at the last second in colors you’d like a little more. Though for the record, babe, you look great in silver.”

“Oh, you little sneak,” Nisha wagged her finger at Angel, who merely giggled and tucked her legs up into her oversized sweater. Rhys shyly scooted up close to Nisha on the couch, hand cautiously closing around hers as he rested the other on the ring box.

“Um…may I?” Rhys flustered.

“Such a gentleman.” She winked at him and wiggled her digits. “Knock yourself out, sweetie.”

Rhys gratefully slid the ring onto her finger, his own twinkling in the myriad lights glowing on the Christmas tree.

“You know I’m probably gonna never wear this, right?” She turned to Jack, still letting Rhys hold onto her as she took her other boyfriend’s hand in hers.

Jack shrugged.

“We still wanted to get it for ya. Angel didn’t want you feeling left out.” Jack set his mug down on the table, leaning in to peck Nisha on the lips.

“I know all the Christmas crap isn’t really your thing, but we still wanted ya to know how we feel,” Jack confessed, scratching his belly underneath the fuzzy sweater Rhys had bought.

The sheriff’s face softened as she chuckled. Rhys practically purred as he snuggled up close to her, resting his cheek against her shoulder. Keeping her warm on both sides.

“I gotta…fuck…”

“Language, Nish.”

“Oh shut up, I was gonna say I’m starting to warm up to this whole Christmas thing. Maybe…”

She glanced from Jack and Angel to Rhys, the very kid who’d infected her whole life with festive cheer who was cuddling up to her with all the meek sincerity of a kitten. It was hard to feel much malice towards the holiday she otherwise resented when everyone was being so sweet to her.

Ugh. At this rate, she’d be tame by the time next Christmas rolled around.

But, she thought—as she watched Rhys fumble on his socks to the tune of Jack’s laughter and Angel’s flattery and smelled the scents of pine and apple and peppermint mingling together as they all sat close and shared the warmth of the family—maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing.

#long post #fanfic #spacetext #fluff #12 Days of Requestmas #rhackisha #dauverney #tftbl

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beautyindisguise00 · 4 years

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WHAT’S THE BIGGEST SURPRISE YOU’VE EVER HAD?

Friday night October 16 2020 @5:50pm

1. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Wisconsin

2. WHERE DO YOU LIVE AND FOR HOW LONG? i’ve been in wisconsin my whole life of 24 years. lived in my hometown all the way til i moved to college. after i finished college i decided to stay in the town i went to college in for work purposes

3. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE? the different options around town of where to shop, eat, and other fun things to do

4. WHAT DID YOU LOVE THE MOST ABOUT THE TOWN YOU GREW UP IN? the lake. i love the fact that the lake was only a 5 minute drive and i was able to go there whenever i wanted. but also, the memories of the town.

5. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? not anymore

6. WHAT WAS YOUR 1ST PET’S NAME? thumperlina for my big fat brown bunny

7. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? fall

8. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE? i watch a lot of movies so i dont really have a favorite

9. FAVORITE MOVIE IN THE PAST 5 YEARS? avengers infinity war. avengars endgame, crazy rich asians, knives out, and maleficent 1 and 2

10. WHAT’S A MOVIE THAT YOU LAUGHED THE HARDEST DURING? ouf, i dont remember

11. WHAT’S A MOVIE YOU CRIED THE HARDEST DURING? avengars, crazy rich, and also while you were sleeping but that’s a drama

12. WHAT’S THE BEST-ANIMATED MOVIE EVER CREATED? the good dinosaur

13. FAVORITE TV SHOW? my two all-time favorites are one tree hill and the office

14. FAVORITE TV SHOW THAT IS CURRENTLY ON? chicago pd and fire

15. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT? olive garden?

16. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? chicken alfredo, really good sushi, fried rice, curry

17. LEAST FAVORITE FOOD? any seafood --> shrimp, oysters, clams

18. WHAT TOPPINGS DO YOU GET ON YOUR PIZZA? pineapple and ham. hahaha yes, im that kind of person

19. FAVORITE BEVERAGE? coffee, strawberry lemondae

20. FAVORITE DESSERT? cheesecake or red velvet cake

21. IS THERE A DESSERT YOU DON’T LIKE? pumpkin pie

22. CAKE OR PIE? cake!

23. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? mackinaw island fudge, mint chocolate chip, strawberry cheesecake

24. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CONDIMENT? honey mustard

25. WHAT DO YOU GET FOR BRUNCH? crepes with nutella and strawberries

26. IT’S 4 AM ON A SATURDAY NIGHT, WHAT DO YOU EAT? fried noodles with two poached eggs

27. WHAT ONE THING DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR FRIDGE AT ANY GIVEN TIME? eggs

28. WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE EVER EATEN? duck and this one indian thing i dont remember

29. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BAND? one direction and tenth avenue north

30. FAVORITE SOLO ARTIST? liam payne, harry styles, niall horan, louis tomlinson, zayn malik. hahaha and ed sheeran, halsey,

31. FAVORITE NONLIVING MUSICIAN? --

32. FAVORITE LYRICS? “and if the whole world was watching, i’d still dance with you” “baby im falling. head over heels. looking for ways to let you know just how i feel”

33. FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME? theres no way i could choose

34. FAVORITE ALBUM? again ^^

35. WHAT’S THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? currently singing like to the “while you were sleeping” ost right now “it’s you” by henry

36. IF YOUR LIFE WERE A SONG WHAT WOULD THE TITLE BE? beauty in disguise

37. WHAT SONG WOULD YOU PROBABLY BE CAUGHT DANCING ALONE TO? any of my current favorites right now

38. IF YOU COULD SING A DUET WITH SOMEBODY WHO WOULD IT BE? halsey. that would be so cool

39. IF YOU COULD MASTER ONE INSTRUMENT WHAT WOULD IT BE? guitar

40. WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO KARAOKE SONG? ugh, i hate karaoke

41. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING OR THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? probably back when i was rereading one of the “to all the boys i’ve loved” trilogy

42. WHAT’S A BOOK THAT YOU PLAN ON READING? prayer by tim keller. i just ordered it online and it should be coming in on monday

43. WHAT’S A BOOK THAT YOU READ BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE WAS READING IT? twilight series. haha

44. WHAT’S A BOOK THAT YOU READ IN SCHOOL THAT POSITIVELY SHAPED YOU? mhmm...i dont remember. not that it posititive shaped me but the great gatsby was really interesting. also, when i was student teaching, i read number the stars with my kids and it was a great historical fiction book to read

45. WHAT’S A BOOK IN SCHOOL THAT YOU HATED? i didnt hate it, but there was this one book we read in ap lit and as a project, my friends made the movie version of it

46. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? to all the boys trilogies

47. WHAT’S A BOOK YOU WISH YOU HAD WRITTEN? ^^

48. DARK CHOCOLATE OR MILK CHOCOLATE? i like both but if i had to choose, then dark

49. UNDERWATER OR OUTER SPACE? underwater like in a submarine or something were i knew i was safe

50. DOGS OR CATS? dogs for sure

51. KITTENS OR PUPPIES? ohh, puppies of course

52. DOLPHINS OR KOALAS? dolphins! i really wanted to swim with dolphins when i was in florida but it didnt work out in our schedule

53. BIRD WATCHING OR WHALE WATCHING? whale watching

54. WHAT IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL? i dont really know. probably a sea otter. haha theyre so chill and they stick around with their peeps

55. TO BE OR NOT TO BE? aint that the question to be answered

56. IPHONE OR ANDROID? iphone

57. TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM? insta

58. VINE OR SNAPCHAT? snap. i never had a vine but i remember watching a few vines. well i guess tik tok is the new vine now

59. WHO SHOULD EVERYONE BE FOLLOWING RIGHT NOW? Jesus. haha kidding not kidding

60. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE APP? WEBSITE? probably youtube

61. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? psych

62. WHAT WAS YOUR BEST SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? psych and math

63. WHAT WAS YOUR WORST SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? ap lit

64. WHAT SUBJECT WOULD YOU TEACH IN SCHOOL? psych or a lower level math class

65. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU KNEW IN HIGH SCHOOL? enjoy what you love doing as much as you can

66. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF AT 13? girl, be confident. you are beautiful. you are smart. and you are enough. dont worry about what others think and dont worry about the future because i got you.

67. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 5′0

68. WHO IS YOUR FASHION ICON? eh, no one really

69. WHAT’S YOU FAVORITE FASHION TREND? well since right now is fall, i really like long cardigan with cute booties

70. WHAT ARE 3 THINGS YOU ALWAYS HAVE IN YOUR BAG (BESIDES PHONE AND WALLET)? phone charger, hand sanitizer, and a mask. haha oh covid days

71. WHAT IS A CURRENT TREND YOU HOPE DOESN’T EXIST IN 100 HUNDRED YEARS? masks

72. WHAT’S YOUR MUST HAVE FASHION ACCESSORY? eyebrows done? haha my clothing fashion is pretty simple so i dont really have accessories but maybe a watch i guess

73. HEELS OR FLATS? depends. on a day to day then flats but for special occasions then heels

74. DIAMONDS OR PEARLS? eh, i guess i like both

75. BLOW-DRY OR AIR-DRY? usually air dry unless i need to be ready asap

76. WHAT COLOR DRESS DID YOU WEAR TO PROM? i didnt really attend my high school dances. my first and last hs dance was homecoming and that was only because i was on the homecoming court. i wore a red strapless dress

77. FAVORITE COCKTAIL? sex on the beach, mimosas, strawberry daiquiris, margaritas

78. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY ORDER AT STARBUCKS? white chocolate mocha. either hot or iced depending on the weather

79. COFFEE OR TEA? coffee. i tried to drink more tea but i always resort back to coffee. haha

80. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE? i usually make my coffee at home. i just put in a mocha or caramel kcup then add in creamer. some days i’ll add in half and half or some chocolate/caramel syrup

81. WHO IS A PERSON YOU WANT TO HAVE COFFEE WITH? megan markle. odd but why not

82. WHAT HISTORICAL FIGURE DO YOU WANT TO HAVE COFFEE WITH? general vang pao

83. IF YOU COULD LIVE IN ANY HISTORICAL DECADE, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHERE? probably the 90s

84. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COUNTRY TO VISIT? havent left mine yet. haha

85. WHAT’S THE LAST COUNTRY YOU VISITED? my own. haha

86. WHAT’S A COUNTRY YOU WISH TO VISIT? somewhere in the east. maybe like france or italy or korea or taiwan

87. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE STATE TO VISIT? florida

88. WHAT’S THE LAST STATE YOU VISITED? michigan

89. WHAT’S A STATE YOU WISH TO VISIT? colorado, new york, california

90. WHAT’S THE BEST VACATION SPOT? bora bora! ouuu someday for me i hope!

91. WHERE DOES ONE GO ON A PERFECT ROAD TRIP? honestly, anywhere. just gather your friends, pack up, stock up, and drive

92. FAVORITE CITY? right now, probably orlando

93. PILATES OR YOGA? i like both but if i had to choose then yoga

94. JOGGING OR SWIMMING? swimming!

95. FAVORITE WAY TO WORKOUT? ugh, at home

96. LEAST FAVORITE WAY TO WORKOUT? at the gym lifting weight. i always feel so awkward

97. BEST WAY TO DECOMPRESS? shower, then dinner and movie in bed with a glass of wine

98. WHAT’S THE BEST FIRST DATE IDEA? dinner and a drive to a fun spot

99. WHAT’S LOVE? genuine love towards someone regardless of their flaws, always

100. MAJOR TURN ON? neck kisses, vlines, touching

101. MAJOR TURN OFF? bad hygiene, rudeness, cockiness

102. WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING A GUY HAS DONE OR SAID TO TRY AND IMPRESS YOU? stalk my facebook and screen shot my old posts and send them to me OR ignoring my non-subtle hints that i have a boyfriend and do not want to hangout alone to “netflix and chill”

103. WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT SOMEONE WHEN YOU MEET THEM? their smile and personality and how they made me feel

104. DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? nah

105. BEST GIFT YOU EVER RECEIVED? im not really a big gift person but my mom gave me a micheal kors winter jacket

106. LAST GIFT YOU GAVE A FRIEND? i bought some baby shower gifts to my boyfriend’s brother and sister-in-law’s baby, baby Grace :)

107. BEST GIFT TO GET FOR SOMEONE? like a generic gift? probably wine or a watch depending on the occasion

108. WHAT’S THE BIGGEST SURPRISE YOU’VE EVER HAD? my boyfriend coming to visit me last christmas because i was so stress out and i thought we were suppose to meet up around christmas but he had his own plans that i was not aware of which then made me even more stress when i found out his plans but overall it was a very nice surprise and definitely helped me destress afterwards

109. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? white

110. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? probably brown

111. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF FLOWER? i dont think i have one

112. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE COMEDIAN? dont have one either

113. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE ACTION STAR? chris evans, tom holland

114. BEST SUPERHERO CREATED? captain america

115. IF YOU HAD ONE SUPERPOWER WHAT WOULD IT BE? to teleport

116. WHAT’S YOUR KRYPTONITE? too much snow. haha

117. BIGGEST PHOBIA? deep waters and heights

118. FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE? dont have one

119. FAVORITE DISNEY CHARACTER? ^^

120. FAVORITE HOLIDAY? christmas

121. WHAT’S YOUR BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUME? a dead bride. haha

122. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PLOT-TWIST? whenever my favorite characters in a tv show gets killed off

123. IF YOU COULD DO A FLASH-MOB WHERE WOULD IT BE? new york, like how cliche and iconic that would be

124. WHAT’S THE COOLEST THING IN YOUR BEDROOM? my pineapple lamp

125. IF YOU GOT A TATTOO WHERE WOULD IT BE? probably on my side or somewhere on my arm

126. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CURSE WORD? shiiiiiiiiiit

127. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOARD GAME? exploding kittens not really a board game but close enough

#beautyindisguise00 #gettoknowme #q&a #survey #questionnaire

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ineffablywriting · 7 years

Text

Passive Aggressive

Part: one

Jasmine was used to all the Aladdin jokes and the flashes of cameras. She was used to all the rumours and the ill concealed jealousy that floated around online.

She was used to a lot of things that came with One Direction. Well, that came with dating Harry Styles of One Direction.

But there were a few things she wasn’t used to. Like drinking orange juice with juicy bits, and waking up to a bed without Harry beside her.

A one shot where Harry’s a bit of an asshole and all Jasmine really wants is for him to show her his world.

Jazz didn’t know when it began, or how it got so bad with Harry. It felt like just yesterday they had been cuddled under the covers watching a crappy movie that she had chosen and the next he was treating her like last week’s leftovers.

She thought that maybe if she knew what had caused it, she’d understand; that it wouldn’t bother her so much. But she didn’t know and he wasn’t willing to speak to her about it, so she was left guessing - which, she thought, was probably not a good idea.

But she can’t help it. She’d always been one to think and think until she’s overthinking.

She didn’t think it could have been about work since he usually spoke to her about it when things got super stressful...or maybe she was wrong, she’s not too sure anymore. He hadn’t really been speaking to her much lately, which was part of the problem.

She tried to ignore it the way he seemed to be ignoring her, by going about her day like nothing had changed. But she’d barely made it through the morning when she’d tried it. Her own life was threaded so seamlessly with Harry’s that she found it difficult to separate herself from him.

Plus, Harry hadn’t even seemed to notice.

That morning Jazz had woken up the same as she had for the past few weeks, bed empty beside her and the sheets cold. Usually Harry would never leave the room without waking her up first, but slowly that had changed and Jazz had been forced to get used to the missing warmth beside her. She’d pulled an extra blanket - which was usually reserved for winter - out of the closet last week to account for the sudden drop in temperatures she experienced in the mornings when Harry left her to wake on her own.

She let out a sigh as she made her way out of bed and into the bathroom to rinse her mouth and wash her face before dragging her feet back into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she mumbled to Harry. He responded with nothing more than a grunt, not looking up from the bowl of cereal he had in front of him.

Jazz frowned, trying to hide the disappointment from her face. He hadn’t made her a proper breakfast in weeks and she was starting to miss the warm pancakes covered in a badly drawn picture made from maple syrup and the scrambled eggs that tasted like no other.

She buttered up some toast before pulling open the fridge to look for her usual glass of orange juice only to be met with an empty slot.

“We don’t have any orange juice without the juicy bits,” she said out loud to no one in particular.

“They weren’t in stock,” Harry replied, but she knew that wasn’t true because the small store they bought their juice from, on the corner of their street, always restocked on Tuesday’s, and that day was Wednesday.

But all Jazz did was nod and say “oh” before pouring herself a glass of orange juice with juicy bits even though she hated it.

She was ready to try and start some form of conversation with him when she sat down, but the moment she pulled out her seat, Harry grabbed his plate, dumped it in the sink and left the room without so much as a word. It was barely a minute later that she heard the door to their flat close behind him.

Jazz let out a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding before she picked up the dry bread and munched on it, not really having any appetite for it.

“I need you to come to a party with me tonight,” Harry told Jazz as he walked into their bedroom, a tuxedo in his arms.

“A party?” She echoed back at him, a smile on her face as her excitement grew.

“Yeah,” he nodded, slipping his shirt off. “For the album launch,” he explained. “I'd ask someone else,” he shrugged, “but management thinks it's a good idea to bring my girlfriend. Thinks it'll draw more publicity.”

“Oh,” she slumped her shoulders, the momentary hope that things were going to go back to normal sucked out of her with each new word Harry spoke. “What time is it?”

“We need to be there at eight,�� he turned to look at her, his eyes running over her critically. It made her skin crawl, which was not something she was used to feeling when Harry looked at her. “Wear your red dress, we don’t have time to go shopping for anything new.”

Jazz didn’t argue with him, just nodded her head in agreement and shuffled into the bathroom to take a quick shower. It was already half three in the afternoon and she had to make sure she was perfect for Harry tonight.

By the time it was time for them to leave, there was a car already waiting for them outside. Harry sat in the passenger seat instead of in the back with her like he normally would have, causing another little crack to form in Jazz’s already fragile heart.

He didn’t speak to her the entire drive over.

She wrapped her arms around herself as they made their way into the function. Harry had instructed the driver to park around the back so that they could sneak in without any paparazzi flashing lights in their faces, as they tried to snap as many shots of the couple as they could.

Harry immediately made his way over to the bar and ordered himself a shot of alcohol without even asking her if she’d like anything. Jazz snuggled up beside him, ready to order herself some water when a bottle was placed in front of her.

She glanced up at Harry, grinning brightly when he quirked a small smile in her direction. She felt a bubble of hope blossom in her chest that maybe things weren’t as bad as they sometimes seemed.

“So,” she began. “Is there anything specific that we need to do?” she asked him.

“Nope,” Harry downed his drink. “Just need to walk around and thank everyone for all their hard work, have a couple of drinks, listen to a few speeches and look pretty,” he rattled off. Jazz let out a slight laugh. “So same routine as always,” she stated.

“Pretty much,” Harry shrugged. “Come on, we need to find the other boys. You can sit with Louis’ girlfriend while we do the rounds,” he offered her his arm before leading her through the small clusters of people Jazz didn’t recognise but whom all seemed to recognise her boyfriend.

Harry stopped a couple of times to say hello to some people he didn’t bother introducing her to (she didn’t mind, she’d never be able to remember their names anyway) before they finally made it over to the rest of his bandmates.

“Harry! Jasmine!” Louis welcomed them with genuine joy. “We haven’t seen you around for awhile, Jazz,” he frowned at her. “Too busy going on magical carpet rides through your kingdom?” he grinned.

“You’ve made that joke so many time it’s no longer funny, Louis,” Zayn rolled his eyes, shooting Jazz and Harry a welcoming smile.

“As long as it amuses me, that’s all that matters,” Louis shrugged.

“Where’s Lily?” Harry cut in, looking around for his girlfriend.

“She’s not feeling too great,” Louis’ expression dimmed a little. “I told her to stay at home and not over exert herself.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jazz piped up, sliding into a seat at a tabled marked with the band’s name. “You guys go mingle. I’ll be here,” she waved them off, smiling comfortingly at Harry.

“Are you sure?” Zayn asked her. “You could come with us, right Harry?”

Jazz didn’t give Harry a chance to respond, too scared of what it might be. “Don’t be silly,” she waved him off. “You know I’m terrible with names. It’ll go quicker without me there,” she shooed them all away.

The boys all shared a look with Harry who just shrugged at them and turned back to Jazz. “Try not to go anywhere,” he told her. “We’ll be right back, it should only take about half an hour.”

Half an hour turned into just over an hour and Jazz had grown a little restless. All the of the boys, except Harry, had returned back to their seats and before she’d had the chance to question them on where he was, the speeches had started and she’d been forced to sit through them all in polite silence. But now they were done and Harry still wasn’t back.

With each minute that ticked by, Jazz grew more and more restless until eventually she excused herself from the table.

“If Harry comes by tell him I’ve just popped to the loo,” she told Zayn, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Hm, oh sure,” he grinned at her, waving her off. “I’ll save you your seat.”

“Thanks,” she told him gratefully, dodging her way through people until she spotted the bathroom sign. She periodically scanned the room as she went in case she spotted Harry, but his head of curly hair seemed to be set on evading her tonight.

She sighed, placing her klutch beside the sink and glancing at herself in the mirror to fix her hair and touch up her lipstick, before she had to return to her seat. The hope that had blossomed earlier was slowly dwindling and she was starting to accept that maybe this was the new Harry - the new normal.

Pulling out her phone to check the time as she walked back to her seat, Jazz found herself accidentally walking into someone. “Oh, sorry,” she apologised before trying to scurry away only to have her way blocked off. “Um, excuse me,” she said.

“In a hurry?” the guy asked, smiling down at her in a way which she assumed was meant to be friendly, but really made her want to get further away from him.

“Jasmine!”

Spinning around, Jazz spotted Harry heading towards her with a drink in his hand and his mouth in a thin line, looking quite angry. But she was too relieved to see him to really care.

“Where have you been?” he demanded, grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her away from the guy. “Excuse me and my girlfriend,” he sneered, pulling her through the crowd and back to their table. “I thought I told you not to go anywhere.”

“I had to use the loo,” she explained. “I told Zayn to let you know.”

“And you couldn’t have waited until I got back?”

“You said you’d be gone for half an hour,” she argued. “I waited for over an hour and you didn’t come back.”

“I was promoting my album, thanking everyone who helped work on it. You know, doing my job,” he scowled at her.

Jazz felt herself shrink a little under his gaze, but didn’t back down. “The others managed to come back and sit down.”

“That’s because they’ve been here since seven,” he said coldly. “Just stay here and don’t move, ok? I’ve got a few more people to talk to and I’ll be back.” he told her, pulling out her seat.

She didn’t have a chance to reply before he was rushing off again.

“He’s not going to come back for a while, is he?” she asked Zayn, who was watching her sympathetically.

“No,” he told her. “Probably not.”

“I didn’t think so,” she mumbled, reaching across the table for the jug of water and pouring herself a glass. It was all pretty quiet after that, save for a few people coming up to say hello and offer their congratulations. But never, not once, did she manage to spot Harry again.

“Hey, Jazz? I’m going to head home now,” Zayn told her about half an hour later. “I’ve got an early morning flight to catch tomorrow.”

“Oh, do you think you can drop me off at home too?” she asked him. “I don’t think Harry plans on leaving anytime soon and I’ve got work at seven.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “He seemed pretty upset when he came over earlier and you weren’t here.”

Jazz shrugged. “We can look for him on the way out,” she said, already pulling her things together and standing up beside Zayn. “I really just need to go home now, I think.”

“Yeah, of course. If we can’t find him just shoot him a text letting him know where you are,” he offered her his arm as they weaved through tables, making sure to keep an eye out for Harry.

Just as Jazz had suspected though, he was nowhere to be seen and she ended up texting him that Zayn was taking her home as she got into his car.

They were half way back to her flat and her mood had improved significantly with each story Zayn told her about himself and the boys when they were in the studio recording various songs, when her phone began to ring.

“It’s Harry,” she said glumly, her expression dropping as she answered. “Hello?”

“Where did you disappear to?” he demanded, without so much as a greeting.

“I wasn’t feeling well so I thought I’d go home.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I tried looking for you, but I couldn’t find you,” she tried explaining. “I texted yo-”

“Do you know how much of a bloody fool I looked when Louis had to tell me that you’d gone home with Zayn?” he cut her off, completely ignoring her explanation.

“He was leaving so I asked him for a ride,” she tried again.

“You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry,” she barely got the words out before he hung up without so much as a goodbye.

“He’ll come round,” Zayn told her gently, glancing at her from behind the wheel as they stopped at a red light.

“I hope so,” she muttered. “He wasn’t always like this, you know?”

“I know,” Zayn nodded. “The boys and I have also noticed he’s become more of a, well, to put it bluntly, a twat.”

“Did he ever tell you about the night we met?” she asked him.

“Not really,” he shook his head. “Whenever we asked, he said that it was just between the two of you. Louis always assumed the worst and that you’d woken up in bed together… but the way Harry spoke about it, I wasn’t too sure.”

“Yeah, Louis was well off,” she laughed a little sadly. “I asked him not to tell anyone how we met. I just, I didn’t want to seem like I couldn’t handle myself,” she told him.

“How so?”

“We met at a party that was really similar to this one,” she began. “At the time, I was one of the designers - well, I was interning with one of the designers - for the music video for Story of My Life and there was a party after the album went to number one and we were invited. I was asked to dance by some guy. He was drunk and really handsy so I walked away from him and decided to go home. I didn’t really know anyone there and it was getting late. But the guy followed me and cornered me in an empty hall in the building and tried to force himself on me.”

Jazz noted the way Zayn’s knuckles seemed to whiten at her story, though he never interrupted her. That was something she really liked about Zayn - he knew how to listen.

“Harry showed up and pulled him off me,” she continued, trying to appease him. “He knocked the guy out and left him in the hallway as he helped me outside and offered me a ride. I was really shaken at the time and I think I kept mumbling about how I shouldn’t have danced with him or something because once we got into the car, Harry asked me what I meant.”

“What did you mean?” Zayn asked when Jazz didn’t immediately continue her story, too lost in her own thoughts.

“He was drunk and I should have known better… at least that was what I kept saying at the time. I kept telling myself that I shouldn’t have danced with him no matter how much I wanted to dance. I shouldn’t have danced with him.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” Zayn pointed out.

“I know that,” she agreed. “But I blamed myself because if I blamed myself then I could control it next time. That was my logic at the time. Anyway, Harry didn’t take me to my flat like I’d thought. I was too shaken to really tell him where to go anyway, so he took me back to his place. And once we were inside he left me in the lounge room, and disappeared for a few minutes. I had absolutely no idea what to do so I kind of just stood there like a numpty in the middle of the room, waiting for him to come back. He chuckled a little when he returned and saw me standing exactly where he’d left me.”

She fiddled with the necklace around her neck before continuing. “He’d taken off his tie and he was unbuttoning his shirt a little when he walked over to these speakers he had attached to his computer. He turned them both on and started playing a song before walking over towards me and asking me to dance with him. I don’t know how long we spent dancing in his tiny living room, but with each song I found myself relaxing a little more. Eventually Harry pulled away and when I looked up he was smiling all softly and you could just barely see his dimples and I swear, Zayn, I fell in love with him on the spot.”

“I’m pretty sure he felt the same way,” Zayn replied. “He came into the studio the next day for a meeting and he looked absolutely starstruck.”

“Huh,” she smiled. “No one ever told me that.”

“Yeah, bro code and all that,” he shrugged. “What happened after the dancing?” he asked, turning the car engine off as Jazz realised they were finally home.

“I asked him why he asked me to dance.”

“And what did he say?”

“That I’d told him I liked to dance and that I should never regret doing something that makes me happy,” she smiled as she reminisced. “He didn’t want me to associate it with a bad memory, so he tried to make it a little better. And he did. He always made things better, except recently something's changed and I don't know what it is so I can't fix it,” she told him miserably.

“I know it seems like a lot,” Zayn began a little hesitantly. “But don't give up on him.”

“I don't plan on it,” Jazz reassured him. “I don't plan on ever giving up on him.”

She made her way up to their flat after that and changed into one of Harry’s shirts before settling into bed. She tried to stay up and wait for him, but eventually her eyes drifted shut into a fitful dream.

When she woke up, Harry still wasn't home and doubt began to creep up on Jazz. Doubt about how much longer she could keep her faith, doubt that even though she hadn't given up on him, maybe Harry had given up on her.

#harry #Harry Styles #harry styles story #Harry fic #harry styles one shot #harry imagine #harry styles imagine #harry styles angst #harry angst #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fiction #this has been a long time coming #sorry for the long wait #let me know what you think

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benjamingarden · 7 years

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This Month On The Farm: February 2018 - BIG Changes To Our Life, Wake Up Calls & Thoughts of Gardening

super easy chicken dumpling soup - perfect for cold winter days

If you’re just tuning in, this is a brand new ongoing series in which I document each month of our lives in our transition to a simple, homemade life on a modern homestead. We ditched town and moved to the country in 2008 and we blog about both our successful and not-so-successful ventures in homesteading, switching to natural products, and embracing a whole foods lifestyle. Check out the entire series here. February 2018 It's been a loooonnnnnggggg winter this year. Perhaps it feels this way every year and I just forget. The snow just keeps coming, in fact, we've got another snowstorm coming tonight. It's absolutely beautiful, but my goodness we are tired of shoveling and snow blowing. It warmed up at one point this month and we had nothing but mud all around us. Oliver thought for sure we were trying to punish him by making him go to the bathroom outside. In the mud. Five times a day. Poor guy. Ch-ch-ch-changes Hey, I have some GREAT news - I am now working on the farm full-time with J. Yup, we made the jump! We've gone back and forth (and back and forth, and back again) for the last two years wondering if it's time. Well, it finally was. I guess you never really know for sure, and I realized that you're never really "ready" - something always comes up. We had thought about getting a couple of big projects on the farm completed this year before making the dive, but have put those on hold. We have worked on reducing our spending over the past year and a half in order to save 10-12 months worth of total living expenses (just in case), and have no debt other than our mortgage, so, we just did it. I truly enjoyed my career with this last company that I worked for. Yes, there were some jerks (there always are). Yes, there was a lot of stress and a whole lot of hours spent working. But I made a conscious effort to learn. Learn from others, learn from my own mistakes, learn whatever I could about people, business, and myself. The majority of people at that company were awesome and I made some great friends. I will definitely miss them, but I am thrilled to start a new chapter. I realized, within the first 3 days of working from home, how very much exhausted I really was. We were a bit out of sorts for that first half of a week. We had a home show the entire weekend so we prepped for that. But because we hadn't worked out exactly what this would look like, well, we weren't sure what each of us should be working on and how to best make it all work. Over the weekend, in between helping customers, we created a schedule to go out through May. We both do best working by a schedule so this was the perfect solution. In fact, we scheduled our first full week to not "work" at all, but instead, spring cleaning our home including purging and re-organizing. We thought this would be the PERFECT way to transition and it truly seems to have been spot on. It's scary, for sure, but we are incredibly happy and grateful to be able to put all of our time and effort, together, into the business. I will be able to spend more time on the blog and website which I love, and we hope to have time to do fun things once in a while. Something we've had no time to do for years.....

Emerson & Oliver

bratty pants Jack

The Dogs + Jack My goodness the dogs are so happy about me being home. If I could get Oliver to understand that I don't need to get up at 5 a.m. anymore, that would be helpful. He is such a good boy, barking non-stop at the bottom of the stairs, letting me know that I'm late. Except I'm not. Not anymore. It took a bit to get him into the 5 a.m. schedule so I guess it will take a bit to get him to understand he can sleep just a wee bit longer. They split their time between supervising me and supervising J since we are typically working out of different parts of the house. It certainly wears them out, but they are enjoying the extra attention. Jack attacked Oliver mid-month. "Attacked" may be a bit harsh, although if you saw Oliver afterward (he is a tad bit dramatic....) you would use that word. It happened one morning before I had made my way down the stairs. I could hear Oliver barking (it was 5:15 a.m. and, of course, he was concerned that I was late). Then I could hear him barking from one of the rooms, not from the bottom of the stairs. When I stumbled downstairs he was trapped in the living room. Jack was pacing back and forth, looking like the badass he believes he is. Oliver was afraid to cross Jack's imaginary line. I pushed Jack out of the way and called for Oliver. He stood there, shaking, left eye closed. I called him again. And again. After about the fourth time he came running at full speed. His eye was goopy and red. I believe Jack got him right in the eye because every time Jack was even in the vicinity, Ollie would jump and look petrified. This made Jack very happy. Because he's a brat who permanently wears naughty pants. (Oliver's eye was better within 24 hours so all was well in the household.)

The Coop Girls They are doing great! Laying eggs like they should, they are not, however, happy about the ongoing snow. We will not be adding new girls this year. We've got a nice group and don't want to disrupt it by introducing more to the flock, so we will work with what we've got. The netting on their uncovered outdoor coop has been ruined by the snow so we'll need to replace that in another month or two. We net it to keep the wild birds out - no need in spreading diseases. We were also considering raising chickens for meat this year (I can't believe it's been 2 years since we last raised them!), but I think with everything else we've got going on, including figuring out what the "new us" looks like, we'll hold until next year. If you are considering doing this on your own homestead, I can tell you that the hardest thing in all of this is finding someone to process. Someone that you trust (so you get your birds back and not random ones - this happened to us the last time we raised them).

The Business This is our slow season (February - April) so we are working toward getting some products made in order to build a small backstock. We are hoping to participate in 2 farmer's markets this year plus craft shows, so we will definitely need product! We've been planning on adding essential oils to our product line, that should be coming soon. I'm trying to catch up on everything else before we move forward with putting them on the online store. We are also working on potentially adding a few new products. That should be determined in the next few weeks! We participated in a home show two weekends ago which is always a great show for us. This year was no exception and we are incredibly grateful for that. We get to see folks we don't necessarily get to see at our market, even though they are in the same town, so it was great exposure for us.

dreaming of vine-ripened tomatoes....

The Garden Nope, it's not time to plant the garden yet. I honestly couldn't even tell you where it is right now, but it is time to start planning it. This year we've decided to join a certified organic CSA for our veggies and instead grow more herbs that we use in our products as well as for personal use. We'll plant a few veggies, but not even close to what we've planted in the past. We've finally had to realize that there just isn't enough time in a day to do it all.

Odds and Ends If you've been following the "change your life in 2018" series, I am really finding this helpful. I started this to challenge myself - chunking down a large goal of making some personal changes, into 12 bite-sized bits allowing me to focus on one at a time as well as time to make each a habit. The first month's challenge of "let it go" is one I continue to work on as things come up and feel like it's becoming easier and easier as time goes by. February's challenge of figuring out what you want to do helped me outline what the next chapter looks like and this month's challenge of setting and chunking down goals is what I'm using to plan this year and the next few years.

This Month On The Farm: February 2018 - BIG Changes To Our Life, Wake Up Calls & Thoughts of Gardening was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

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benjamingarden · 7 years

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This Month On The Farm: January 2018

January 2018 I switched from the weekly (or bi-weekly.....or bi-monthly......or when I could remember) "weekend" posts to a more formal compilation of our homesteading goodness, all pulled together for you once a month. For us, like many of you, January was mostly about the weather. From the extreme (EXTREME I tell you) cold snaps that lasted weeks, to the snow and the ice. Since I very much enjoy snow (not driving in it, rather, sitting at home with the pellet stove humming enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee while I watch it) this was a positive for January. For me. The animals, however, do not hold snow in such a high regard.

Coop Girls Well, we receive 3-6 eggs per day. That sounds great until I remind you that we have 27 chickens..... Mind you, some of them are older, but the majority should be producing and that's just not happening. We don't use lighting to force them to produce throughout winter but they usually do ok. Like more than 3 eggs a day ok. Apparently not this year. The cold certainly causes some stress and we had single digit and negative numbers for a few weeks. When it's that cold we just don't let them go out and that very much stresses them out. They need to get away from each other (although they still tend to cluster while free ranging) and have some space. Instead, they were stuck inside with the flat panel heaters keeping the coop just into double digits. (Too much heat can make them sick so we heat it just enough that there's no risk of frostbite) Interestingly, the newer girls are not much for veggies. All of our flocks over the years have been ecstatic at the sight of greens. These girls, well, not so much. They look and go "meh...anything else?" They do enjoy carbs - oatmeal, pancakes, rice, bread, pasta, and the like but are not so excited about the taste of greens, squash and beans. And they prefer their carbs with a little sauce - milk, yogurt, broth.....whatever we've got that can be added. Not too picky, are they?

Dogs + Jack The boys are doing well. Ollie is on to a new food. This seems to be an annual thing with him. I'm not sure why. We are now on to Fresh Pet. He seems to love it, although I'm not thrilled with how much space it takes up in the fridge. We'll see if we can convert him back to the dehydrated food from Honest Kitchen. Although J was right when he said - what's the difference? They're both ridiculously expensive. Oh well. Oh, hey, they turned 8 this month!! No longer "babies" although to me, they always will be. And Jack is, well, Jack. He's the same pain in the buns as he's been. We love him, don't get me wrong, but the guy is something else, as you know. Our newest ritual, it's been going on for about 3 months, is that he "picks me up" when it's time to go to bed. Here's how it works: he's upstairs sleeping in our walk-in closet (his little cat tent is in there). About 9:45 he strolls downstairs, howling and crying - letting me know he's on his way. He strolls into the living room, and hollers, until I get up to brush my teeth. Once I'm in the bathroom, he insists on getting on the sink and smelling my toothpaste......while I brush, he brushes his entire body against me. Over and over. Once I'm done he is at my feet, again, brushing against me over and over until I head toward the stairs. He gets so excited when we head up the stairs together and then he goes back in the closet and I go to bed. I have no idea why in the world this seems to make him happy, but it does. That's our Jack!

Business The rush of the holidays are over and the great news is that our online sales are remaining steady. Typically, there's a dip in sales post holiday, but not this year. Woot to that! The farmer's market has slowed down, for the most part, but we still have some pretty good days. We decided to pay for a double booth this year, like we do for summer, and it has made a world of difference! It's so much nicer for our customers to shop and it's so much nicer for us! I like to wrap soap while I'm there and it gives me the space to do so. We started a new thing for 2018 where we are making one limited edition soap scent per month for the year. I'm excited about that - we've found some of our best selling scents with limited editions. We will also be adding a couple of products to the line-up as well as taking some away. Our soap is by-and-far our most popular product so the more popular it becomes, the more time we've got to spend making it, which means we don't have time to make all of the other products. As I've shared in the past, we are bound and determined to keep this a smaller company of just the two of us, but also keep it running successful. This is what we continue to strive for. Around The Farm We are excited for spring when we can begin moving outbuildings around in order to renovate the new manufacturing space. Unfortunately, not much we can do in the dead of winter. So, no projects have been completed this month. I'm hoping for a few loose ends to be tied up next month (bathroom floor replaced, bathroom cabinet replaced, office light installed, etc.). We are replacing our stove.....again. The oven just won't keep the temperature and they continue to replace parts but it does not fix it. So, when your cookies get burnt-crispy on the outside and are raw in the middle, well, you know it's time to buy a new one. I hate that we have to do this with big projects coming in the spring, but that's how things seem to go, isn't it? But the new one has double ovens so I'm a bit ecstatic about that. Simple things that make me happy..... And I was one of the unfortunate ones to be stricken with the flu. It was bound to happen, I suppose, with all of the people I come into contact with everyday. I'm still dealing with the upper respiratory after effects, but I'm getting there. So far, knock on wood, J has not come down with it. And that, my friends, is January in a nutshell!!

How about you?

I would love to hear how your first month of the year has gone.

**********

Want More? If you're looking for more Cobble Hill Farm we'd love for you to connect with us on Instagram and Facebook!

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This Month On The Farm: January 2018 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

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benjamingarden · 7 years

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This Month On The Farm: January 2018

How about you?

I would love to hear how your first month of the year has gone.

**********

Want More? If you're looking for more Cobble Hill Farm we'd love for you to connect with us on Instagram and Facebook!

**********

And if you want to make sure you don’t miss a post here, sign-up for our handy dandy email list in the box below.

Sign up to get exclusive content, including our posts in your inbox, oh, and tons of chicken love. Just enter your email address in the box below and hit "subscribe".

This Month On The Farm: January 2018 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

0 notes