Category: go out with me

Just Me . . . Having the Best Birthday Ever!!!

Q'Zion5 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, a special day was right around the corner that I wanted to share with you guys. And that special day was (drumroll, please) my birthday! I know that I say this every year, but me and Goodmommy had such a blast, and I still can’t hush up about how hyped I am.

Even though birthdays come back every year, they’re a really big deal. It’s not just a day about you, but also a celebration of the beautiful and wonderful gift of life that God has blessed us with. Life has it’s ups and downs for everyone, but the fact that we are still breathing is a blessing within itself. In reality, every day is worth celebrating.

Sending time with Goodmommy is always a blast, and I want to share how we spent our special day with all of you, as well! Okay, enough of the chatter, now! My 2022 birthday post is a go!

Our first stop was probably one of my favorites out of the whole day; and it was only just beginning! We decided to stop at Claire’s to do something that we’ve been talking about for years–getting my second ear piercing! And considering that Claire’s has been known for piercing ears for decades—or 40 years, to be exact—we thought it would be a great place to get the job done.

I actually got my first ear piercing when I was a few months old, so I obviously don’t remember anything from that experience–though Goodmommy’s retelling of my baby-self’s reaction always makes me giggle. As a result, I never knew how it felt to get your ear’s pierced before my birthday, so I was naturally a little nervous. But considering that I handle shots so well, I knew that this was going to be a walk in the park.

Despite our original plan to get the silver cross, we decided to get a stainless-steel star after the reccomendation to get a smaller earring. And I immediately fell in love with the results–it’s small, sweet, and simple. I can’t thank Goodmommy enough for getting me my second piercing! In fact, I loved it so much that I may even get another one, in a few years.

My reaction to the first piercing; it burned for about a minute, but I only felt a little pinch, as expected.
The finished product! I couldn’t be more obsessed! 🙂
Me cleaning my ears for the first time. I was a little confused about the steps at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty simple.

Before we left our house, Goodmommy shared with me that she was contemplating taking me to a surprise destination for my birthday celebration, and I was over the moon to find out that it was Barnes and Nobles–my favorite bookstore.

If you’re a frequent visitor of my blog, you already know how I feel about books. And what I really appreciate about Barnes & Nobles is they’re variety–not only with the genres of their books, but with the types of items that they sell, too! As soon as I saw on a sign that the Young Readers’ section was upstairs, we took a ride on the escalator and searched around the entire second floor.

After a few minutes of searching, I finally found the section in question, and I couldn’t have been more excited by the shelves of novels that stood before me. I really love how this section in particular had literature that varied from pictures books to upper-middle grade, which makes it appropriate for a large range of ages.

We ended up purchasing three awesome novels–one of which was a graphic novel–for about ten bucks each. Another one of them was on my TBR (or to be read) list for this year, so I was super grateful for the opportunity to finally read it! Oh, and don’t worry, y’all; I’ll be posting all the book reviews for each one soon. ;))

So, I’m a firm believer that birthday’s don’t have to break the bank. But a simple piece of cake is always nice. And that’s why our next stop was no other than The Cheesecake Factory. Now, in case I’ve never mentioned this on my blog, cheesecake is one of my absolute favorite desserts, and we hadn’t had a slice for like, two years. So as anyone would assume, I was greatly anticipating eating a slice.

Me and Goodmommy are on a health journey, so it was a little shocking–to say the least–to see the amount of calories in a slice of each cheesecake. Seriously though, one slice is like half of the calories for the day! And although all of the options looked absolutely delicious, we both decided to stick with the classics–a slice of Cheesecake Factory’s original cheesecake.

After we saw the fact that it was a full house inside the restaurant, we decided to eat our delicious treats in the car. But I didn’t mind, at all; we had a close up view of the entire food court section of the mall!

To all of the cheesecake fans who don’t think they’d like the plain original, I’ve got to press the fact that The Cheesecake Factory knows what they’re doing. The piece of cheesecake had the perfect amount of sweetness, and the soft texture of the cream cheese melted in your mouth with the perfect serving of sour cream to eat with every bite. What can I say? If you’re looking for a tasteful—and delicious—dessert with fewer calories, the Classic is probably the way to go, in my opinion.

While that sweet surprise was absolutely delicious, we wanted to work off some of those calories. So we ended up making our last stop at Celebration Station, which is this amusement park full of rides (go-karts, water karts, roller coasters, etc.) and an arcade.

After entering the building, we decided to buy a couple hundred coins and explore the arcade. It was actually my first time ever visiting this place, so when I looked it up and saw the booming reviews, I was really anticipating exploring. And trust me, it didn’t disappoint!

What I find so captivating about arcades are all the bright lights. As someone who’s naturally attracted to colors, I got excited by seeing the games. There were so many games to play. And I have to admit that most of them are super addicting!

Me playing a creative game that tests your reflexes. I had a lot of fun with it!
This is a piano game where I had to press as many correct keys as possible in 40 (ish) seconds. I loved it!
Here’s just a cute pic that Goodmommy took when we first arrived.

One of the first games that I played was a massive claw machine that was full of large bags of 5,000 tickets. I tried it about three times, and I got a good grip on all three tries. But as always, the grabber didn’t seem like it was strong enough. Boy, I would’ve really loved those tickets; just imagine the prices I could’ve won.

After about a half hour of exploring, we decided to check out the additional games located upstairs, and Goodmommy’s eyes lit up when she spotted two huge pool tables. She’s told me several times how she used to play pool years ago, but I never had the opportunity to play pool with her. That is, until my birthday.

At first, I was struggling with getting a good grip on the pool stick, but eventually I got the swing of it, and I was able to hit the balls. Practice makes improvement!

But honestly, seeing how happy it made Goodmommy to play a game of pool with me is what really made it all worthwhile. Just look at her!

Finally, here’s a quick selfie of me to get a closer look at my outfit. Goodmommy did such an awesome job on my hair, didn’t she? She really made me feel special on my special day, and I am forever grateful to her for that.

I have to admit that this birthday was genuinely the best that I’ve ever had. Sure, I say that every time my b-day arrives, but my 2022 celebration is going to be hard to beat. I thank God for letting me and my Goodmommy having such a blast! I hope we get to make many, many more blessed birthday memories together, for many, many, many, many, many more years to come!

What are some of your favorite that you’ve done on your birthday? I would love to read your responses down below in the comments.

Have a beautiful and blessed day, y’all! God bless you all, and I will see you all next time!

Thank you, Lord, for another happy and blessed birthday! In Jesus’ name, Amen. ♡

Just some summer photography … – Go Out With Me #6 ♡

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Hey, everybody! This is Q’Zion and welcome back to my blog! ♡

Today me and Goodmommy had our monthly girl’s day out, and on our short journey I took a lot of photos to sharpen my skills. Because I was so satisfied with how they all came out, I decided that I would dedicate this post to some of my most recent summer photography.

Each of the photographs in this post were taken by me and therefore belong to me. They cannot be redistributed or republished on any source except my blog. Thanks!

Without further ado, let’s get started. ♡

My lovely grandmother was gracious enough to take this photo of me–since I had already taken one of her, and I wanted you guys to see my outfit, too lol. I also got my monthly milkshake from Steak n’ Shake. The only difference is that it was strawberry this time. As always, it was the perfect way to cool off from the heat of summer.

Me and Goodmommy were both fairly tired this morning, just because we woke up so early. Though either way, Goodmommy looks absolutely fabulous, as always. I really think everything about this shot was perfect; thank God that I was able to snap at just the right moment.

When we were walking outside a building to complete one of our errands, I was met with this gorgeous wall art, which is actually pretty popular in the city that we visited today. I’d seen this particular art several times before, but today I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity and show it to you all. I don’t know who painted this masterpiece, but whoever they are, they have a great eye for design.

We eventually went to Michael’s to get some extra supplies for our T-shirt business–which you can check out on Etsy HERE–and some more rubber bands to support my Rainbow Loom hobby. While we were looking around, I happened to stumble upon this colorful exploration-themed isle. The bright colors gave me such a summer-like vibe, so I knew it would be the perfect photo to add to my personal collection.

Aside from the usually angle at which I photograph my milkshakes, Goodmommy recommended that I take a shot of the inside, considering that the staff made it perfectly, today. It ended up looking really aesthetic, so I’m really happy with how this one came out.

I had a lot of fun this afternoon spending quality time with my Goodmommy while taking these gorgeous photos, and I’m even happier that I get to show you all my work. Summer is one of my favorite times to practice my photography skills, due to the perfect natural light and blossomed nature.

Each of these photos are a part of my 2022 summer story, and each memory that I make with the ones I love is a blessing from my Heavenly Father. For that, I am forever grateful.

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everybody! See you later! ♡

Craft supplies and a sweet surprise | Go Out With Me #5

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What’s up, everybody! I hope you all are having a happy day or night!

Today, Goodmommy told me that she had to go out of the house to do some basic errands. Since I needed some more rubber bands–which I use on my Wonder Loom to create bracelets, necklaces, rings and other tiny creations–and I hadn’t been out of the house for a while, today would be the perfect opportunity for me to do so.

We had such an amazing time having our routinely Girl’s Day Out, and as always, I documented the whole day to share with you all in another episode of my Go Out With Me series. Let’s begin, shall we?

After a short visit to our local convenience store, we made a brief stop to Micheals, my favorite store to buy all things arts and crafts.

The best part about every visit to this artsy playground in particular is that there is color EVERYWHERE. As a person who loves bright and bold colors, I’m always searching through the aisles to see what’s new on the shelves. Everything is so exciting to look at that it almost makes me want to buy half of the store.

This is a really cool section full of beads for those who are into making their own jewelry. I was mesmerized by all the colors LOL.
Creatology is my favorite brand of craft kits, so I was super pleased to see that there were a lot of new painting and sculpting kits available. I may have to try some of them out, in the future. 😉

After a bit more band hunting, I finally found the Rainbow Loom aisle. And I was met with a color explosion . . . literally.

I actually started looming bracelets in Preschool. Then I stopped for a bit and made more advanced projects from 3rd-5th grade. After that, another break. And now I’m starting again. It’s kind of one of those phases that seems to come and go periodically.

However, considering that summer break is still far from over, resuming my looming hobby will surely help to spend some time.

These are just a few shots that I took inside to add some aesthetic value. I especially like the one with all the markers.

Little did I know that Goodmommy had a sweet surprise in store for me; a snack from Panera Bread, which was conveniently just across from the strip mall in which Micheals was located.

The smell once we stepped inside was so fresh and airy, matching perfectly with the bakery atmosphere. At the front desk was a huge display of baked cookies, cupcakes, and other pastries. Next time we go, I’ll be sure to take a picture to give you guys a quick overview of their menu.

We ended up ordering a strawberry flower-shaped sugar cookie for me. I’ve loved them ever since I was a little girl, and they have been my usual whenever we go to Panera Bread.

Goodmommy ordered a cinnamon bun—which kind of surprised me, since she had never ordered it before—before she let me pick our seats, we prayed, and starting chowing down on our desserts, which happened to be my first meal of the day. Although that’s very rare for me, I wasn’t going to complain when I had my favorite cookie waiting to be eaten!

Eventually, my Goodmommy asked me if I wanted to try her large dessert. Although I agreed, I didn’t expect much of it taste wise, considering that my cookie had already satisfied my taste buds. But as soon as I took a bite . . . Panera Bread cinnamon buns easily became my favorites!

The cinnamon buns ended up being so shockingly good that we each had to get our own to bring home! Getting dessert like this is especially rare for us, as we only do it one to two times a year. However, we know that as long as you do so in moderation, eating a dessert every now and again doesn’t hurt.

As a quick review of all my purchases, I ended up getting a Rainbow Loom band Jumbo Bucket—filled with 8,000 rubber bands total—a 600 pack of white bands, and a pink hook with a metal tip to replace the plastic ones that I’d used for years.

Overall, the quality of everything was great—which makes sense, because Rainbow Loom is the best brand to buy items like this—and I got started on another project as soon as we got home and fed my betta fish, Peace.

The Jumbo Bucket of Rainbow Loom bands came with 8 colors of 1,000 each, one of them being a hybrid of pink and purple. You surely get your money’s worth!
My new looming hook came with a mini-loom which I can use to make small bracelets. An extra bonus, if you ask me.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering what happened to our cinnamon rolls, they were gone within minutes after eating lunch.

P.S. You better watch out Cinnabon, because you’ve got some serious competition.

As any day with my Heavenly Father and Goodmommy , we had such an amazing time today, and I thank God that we were able to spend it as a family.

LET’S CHAT~Do you like desserts? If so, which one is your favorite?

Thank you so much for joining me today, and I will see y’all next time; peace in! ✨❤️✨

A day at the bookstore + book haul | Go Out With Me #4

Q'Zion1 Comment

Hey, everybody! Happy wonderful Wednesday! ♡

You guys probably already know that I’ve been wanting to go to a bookstore for the LONGEST of time. However, on most days Goodmommy had to work, I was too tired, or we just felt like staying at home (since we’re major homebodies lol.)

But since Goodmommy didn’t have to work today and we were already out of the house so that I could complete my last end of the year test, Goodmommy figured that it would be the perfect day to stop by–and I completely agreed.

As soon as we stepped inside, I was absolutely in awe…it felt like I was in a book paradise. What I really like about Barnes and Nobles is their variety in the selections. They have all genres that vary from classic Fiction to Romance, Sci-Fi, Manga, Autobiographies, Graphic Novels and more! Seriously though, you name a genre, I’m 98.5% sure that they’ve got it!

I really loved how much they had to accommodate all types of readers, regardless of their preferred genre or age. At some point, it can be hard to choose the actual book that you want with so many choices. But hey, I’m not complaining.

What made me even more excited is that they had so much more inventory than just books. There were also a wide collection of board games and jigsaw puzzles. Since I absolutely adore solving puzzles, I was extremely tempted to get one for myself. But I held off from it…for today, at least.

Pretty close by was this section called “Book Annex” which seemed to be a lot of notebooks, journals, or “daily devotion” books about prayer, sermons, or self care. Me and Goodmommy both really liked this section, and I ended up purchasing one for each of us, since I was able to afford it with my gift card. I’ll show you which two those were at the end.

And get this, they even had a buttload of art supplies, from pencils, to pens–both for calligraphy and basic notetaking–to paints. As an artist, seeing all the beautiful supplies on the shelves got me really excited.

Eventually we went into the “Young Readers Section” just to see what they had in that decent-sized section of the bookstore. I was pleasantly surprised to be met with many of the books that had a substantial part in shaping my love for reading, including Junie B. Jones, Amelia Bedelia, Magic Treehouse, Nancy Clancy, etc. Overall, I got a lot of elementary school nostalgia.

Although I really enjoyed seeing some of my favorite childhood characters, I eventually went into the more age-appropriate section of chapter books and graphic novels. Overall, I found so many great reads–some of which I already have in my collection.

I honestly think that there were so many great books that I didn’t look at today, but this was an absolutely stellar–and very well anticipated–trip to Barnes and Nobles, and I am so thankful to God, and to Goodmommy, for allowing us to look around and have some fun together. Hopefully we’ll be able to come again once or twice throughout summer break.

Oh, and you know that I had to take a picture of my outfit, one we got home. Selfies are always mandatory.

Okay, so I obviously didn’t want to leave you guys hanging. It’s time to show you what I actually bought. Considering that it’s been a little while since I added some more literature to my large collection, I am extremely blessed to be able to purchase these for me and my Goodmommy to enjoy. Let’s get into the haul!

I don’t know if I ever gave you all an update, but I read Little Women in December, and I absolutely loved it! Therefore, as soon as I saw the names Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy on the cover of this graphic novel, I knew that I had to have it. I really appreciated the added diversity. It’s basically a modernized version of the original novel, and so far it looks really awesome!
You guys know that I’m a huge lover of MG (middle grade) fantasy novels. The beautiful art on this cover (and the description) both looked really promising. Right after I checked the online reviews–which were filled with positive feedback–I decided to give this chapter book a try. And I’m super glad I did. From the short excerpt I read, it seems like such a fun adventure that I can’t wait to dive into! Get ready for some upcoming book reviews.
I’m a very huge fan of writing, both digitally and on paper. So, I ended up choosing this simple purple journal with this minimalistic–but super cute–cover art. I did say that I wanted to begin journaling, this summer, so I’m quite sure this will help me check that off of my bucket list.
Finally, here is the journal that I got for Goodmommy. And I’m super glad that I was able to, since not only does she do so much for me, but this book has her name all over it! Each two pages have different sections for notetaking during church sermons. It has a section to list the speaker, the main points of the teaching, your takeaways, a prayer, and what you are grateful for, with several Bible verses sprinkled in between. If there was more than one of these at the bookstore, I may have gotten one for myself. But, I know that this one was meant for Goodmommy.

As you can tell by this post, me and Goodmommy had such an awesome time, today. I’m super excited to make many more everlasting memories with my family over the next couple months; I know that much fun is up ahead. I truly am very blessed.

Have a beautiful and blessed day everybody! See you next time! ♡

This is the Life | Go Out With Me #3

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✨What’s up, y’all? I hope you are having a FANTASTIC day! ✨

Earlier this afternoon me and Goodmommy had a wonderful day out for errands, and just a little bit of shopping, too. Considering that we had such an amazing time, I want to share what we did, and what we got, with you all. So let’s get started!

The selfies that I take with Goodmommy are always some of my favorites. Having mother and daughter bonding time is always a blessing from God. Although we don’t go out super often, we always make the most of the time that we get to spend together. But honestly, we have lots of fun together with laughter, love, and peace no matter where we are! Thank you, Jesus!

Has anyone decorated their home for Easter, yet? It’s honestly hard to believe that Easter Sunday is next week. But time flies by when you’re having fun, and I definitely am. What I love about Easter decorations is that they’re so colorful. Pastel is one of my favorite color schemes, so Easter is the perfect time to make our homes a little brighter!

I saw a gorgeous body of water, so of course I had to take advantage of the scenery with a quick picture. I thank God for letting me get such a good shot! Nature is so beautiful, isn’t it?

What can I say? I love to take selfies! And you know I’m very creative. :))

Before we went home, we decided to stop at one of our favorite stores–Five Below. Ever since this store opened up, I’ve been OBSESSED! Literally everything in the store is $5 or less, which is incredibly affordable. And on top of that, the inventory is pretty long-lasting, too. Since we were on the right side of town already, it was the perfect opportunity to take a look around.

One of my favorite purchases was this “accessories organizer box.” I tend to have a lot of chargers, cables, and electronics in general, so having a box like this one to keep everything organized and in its designated place is a huge help: especially when we decide to go on a short vacation.

Since I decided to get a new organizer, Goodmommy asked if she could have my old one, and I was happy to agree. I had already customized the box with Sharpies. But you can probably tell that its been a while since I’ve done some touch-ups LOL. However, we thought of the idea for me to paint the box and make it custom made especially for Goodmommy. She already told me the design that she wants, so I’m excited to see how it looks in the end. Stay tuned to see for yourselves!

As I stated in my painting a ceramic decor series, I have been mixing my paints (particularly my acrylic paints) lately. However, I mostly do so on a paper plate, and while it has worked just fine up until now, it can get a little messy when the paints decide that they want to touch each other LOL. Hopefully, these 3 paint pallets will help solve that small problem. 🎨


And along with this set are these two plastic knives, which will be super useful if I ever want to go for a more abstract or textured look in any future projects.

Although I don’t really buy many “toys” at this stage of my life, I have always enjoyed miniature items that I can squeeze in my hands. For whatever reason, I find them so relaxing and fun to play with. Plus this gummy bear is super cute–and super squishy, too! It even stands up on its own if you put it on top of a flat surface.

And the last part of my purchase are these skin tone crayons. As soon as I saw these, I knew I just had get some of them: it’s so hard to find crayons that help me to draw people or characters’ skin without having to make it look like a strange shade of orange or way too pale. I’m quite sure the same goes for a majority of artists.

I had a ball writing this post for you guys–no different than any other day LOL. These go out with me posts are super rewarding: I get to make posts about one of my favorite things to do, which is to spend time with Goodmommy.

✨ Thanks for joining my corner of the Internet today, folks! God bless you all and I’ll see you next time! ✨

Selfies, milkshakes, and birds…lots of birds | Go Out With Me #2

Q'Zion3 Comments

What’s up, y’all? How is everybody doing today…Fantabulous? I’m so glad to hear that!

So, yesterday me and Goodmommy went out to complete some more errands, so I decided to make these ‘Go Out with Me’ posts a series since they’re a lot of fun. Anyway, I happened to see a lot of birds while we were out of the house, and I’m curious to find out exactly how many. In fact, I think I’m going to do a bird count throughout the entire post to see the exact number.

Get ready for some cute new selfies, milkshakes and plenty of bird photos sprinkled in between. Starting…right now. ♡

Bird Count: 1

So the first bird friend that caught my eye (on one of our first couple stops, in fact) was this one. It honestly surprised me that it was on top of bushes. I didn’t understand why until I saw it almost fall on it’s face to catch a lizard as a snack lol. I eventually Google searched a ‘white bird with a yellow head’ and figured out that this species is called the cattle egret. Cool, right? And the bird even looked at me to say ‘bye’ as we pulled out of the parking lot.

You guys already know that I had to take a few cute new selfies, so I might as well show a couple of them. I love my my nameplate is perfectly centered in these photos. It’s almost like my statement piece, and I try to show it in all of my selfies. My efforts definitely payed off!
And I’ve got to admit, these earrings are sparkling bright, today. I LOVE my diamonds and my hearts.

Bird Count: 10

On our next stop, I saw an entire flock of birds, which I count to be nine. At this point, I was a little surprised at how many feathered-friends I was seeing. Little did I know that I was in store of many more. Seriously though, this isn’t even half of the bird count.

Next up, my Goodmommy was super sweet to drive by Steak n’ Shake to get a milkshake. It has been YEARS since I’ve gotten any flavorexcept the classic strawberry, but today I was in the mood for something different. I ended up ordering chocolate, instead. This was one of those things that tasted super good just because I hadn’t had it in so long.

Bird Count: 32

This is where the number starts doubling…or in this case, tripling. When we went to a couple of grocery stores as our final stops, we saw this huge flock of birds on the roof of a clothing store.

Plus, I also saw a portrait of two birds in a building, as well as a black bird, which was what I believe to be a Common Grackle (which appears black, but has an almost iridescent blue and purple head and body), therefore, that adds obvious to the bird count.

FINAL Bird Count: 35

As you can see, we had a whole lot of fun yesterday. And we saw a lot of birds, too. I absolutely love animals, so I am thankful that God placed them in my path for me and Goodmommy to see and learn about. Birds are super beautiful to look at.

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you all next time! ✨