Goal explosion

A follow-up to my last post about planning for and thinking about the future...this is what's happening on my wall right now:

Everything makes more sense to me if I write it in crayon and tape it to the wall in front of my face. It's helping me make sense of everything and pin down how to get what I want (what, I can't just "have it all," just like that?!).

Gratitude

Gratitude, triggered by a biscuit. For some reason, while biting into one of these sweet treats tonight, all of the "ifs" swimming around in my head just stopped. All at once, I felt so thankful for everything; felt lucky to have the support of my wonderful friends and husband, the chance to start working on a project I'm excited about, AppleTV with its ability to stream classical WGBH radio from Boston and remind me of my childhood. Thanks, Le Petit Ecolier.

Appetizing image came from here.

Recent musings

"I'm trying to find me a better way
to get from the things I do to the things I should."
–Counting Crows

It's no mistake that I've been listening to the Counting Crows for about 15 years. I can always find something in their lyrics that speaks to me, no matter what I'm going through.

Unexpected wedding perk

Well, it's hard to believe, but we're one month into our marriage! Way back at the beginning of our engagement, I couldn't fathom how we were going to plan and pull off a wedding. I'd heard so many horror stories about how it becomes a full-time job ("Say what? I already have one of those!").

So we left ourselves a year and a half. That worked for us, because up until the end, we were able to work on one. thing. at. a. time. And we definitely did a lot! I'm realizing 2 important things now in the aftermath of wedding planning:

1) I can jam way more productive stuff into my days than I previously thought I could.

2) Doing all of the creative projects for the wedding felt great.

Yes, I'm loving being married to my best friend, but there's an unexpected perk: I'm experiencing a post-wedding creative high. I'm making sure that I keep devoting ample time to creative projects, now that I've realized how much I can handle at once. I've already got a list!

Image: Chris working with the homemade letterpress. Awesome creative project that unfortunately was not efficient enough to create all of our invites.

Read it and weep (for real)

Raising a Princess Single-Handedly, by Simon van Booy, in The New York Times.

This author was just selected as our next book club pick. I think I will like his stuff...

Life inspiration boards

Y'know those online collages of photos known as inspiration boards? Typically, they show ideas for decorating a room with shades of red or putting together a cool outfit or matching wedding elements. They are pretty nifty. Just came across this idea for life inspiration boards...to put in visual terms things that inspire you, things that you want to do, etc. Love it.

Genius idea via apracticalwedding via blogconqueso.

How I know I am a wimp

I like to try to combat wimpyness in myself these days. I am not one for watching reality cop shows, but I recently caught some of the new TLC show, Police Women of Broward County. And then I realized how wimpy I am.

Exhibit A, Andrea Penoyer:

She's one year older than I am, and can't be much taller than 5'4" or so. Yet she tackles criminals to the ground and takes absolutely no crap. She keeps it together under extraordinary pressure. She's the only woman in her elite unit.

Also, she is raising her 8-year old son to kick as much butt as she does and is studying for her B.A.

I don't plan to start fighting crime, but I hope that I can someday be a fraction as un-wimpy as someone like this!

6 Things

I was tagged by Jamie over at Same New Story (go! check her supercute blog header!) to list 6 things that make me happy. Here goes:

1. The coffee Chris makes for me in my Oscar mug every morning. 

2. Roger's belly.

3. This calico cow:

(It was sent to Big Bird some time ago and has hung in my cubicle ever since. Note that it has 8 legs.)

4. My "friends & family" iPod playlist. I am always blown away by how talented my loved ones are!

5. Little dogs running. 

6. Eating outdoors.

I tag: Jenn, Devan, Jim, Steve, and Erin. Go!

Ball-ell-et

Friends, I am having trouble getting back into work mode after a beautiful long weekend. I needed some Monday morning inspiration, so I watched this. It's Natalie Osipova, a Russian ballerina best known for dancing the role of Kitri in Don Quixote. She executes every move with laser-like precision, yet none of it feels mathematical. It seems like she's a world apart when she dances. She seems to float when she jumps in the first video, no? I shall try to tackle this day with a fraction of that energy and grace. Thanks, Natalie.

image via Flikr

Hands II

In Bali, women craft gazillions of these beautiful little offerings by hand each day. They also use their hands gracefully in everyday situations. Whether setting down a cup of tea or handing a customer an item, they seem to always extend their hands from the wrist and, where possible, fully extend all of their fingers. Each gesture is careful—not cautious, but full of care.

Since I've visited Bali, I've tried at points to be more conscious of the use of my hands. At work, I caught myself executing perhaps my most careless hand movement: impatiently jabbing at an elevator button with my thumb. 

There are a lot of theories about hands, about energy flowing from the palms and what have you. I don't know much about those, but here's a new hand assignment. As you move your hands today, try to take a little more time to make each movement beautiful. How does it feel?

Hands

The director of a major modeling agency said that when she first meets someone, she always notices his or her hands. I, too, am a noticer of hands. Yesterday, I told an artist at work how impressive her hands are. (Luckily, we are friends and she did not find this weird.) She has long, straight fingers with precise nails that look like they've been French manicured—only they haven't been! The modeling agent said she can tell a lot from a person's hands. I say my friend's beautiful hands imply that she is someone who can make beautiful things with her hands. Here are my hands...

If you remember our Save the Dates, you can kinda see my hand on the left and Chris's on the right. I think you can tell here that I have small hands and keep my nails short. Like, really short. With no white part showing:

There may be a hint of white in this shot, as I was on vacation and not exactly playing instruments at the time. I think my nails probably say the most, being kept obsessively short, clean, and unbitten: picky musician.

Do you think your hands say something about you? Try to notice some hands this week. Tell me what you see!

Catchy tune

Normally, my iTunes downloads don't include anything played in the background of a "Jon & Kate Plus 8" commercial on TLC. But I couldn't resit this song. It's so damn catchy and cheerful, and helps chase away the rainy-month blues.

Tuesday's child

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

What day's child are you? Sometimes when I'm feeling ornery, I recall this rhyme and try to be full of grace. Do you exhibit the traits attributed to those of your day?

Score one for history

image via NewYorkology

History wins: Ellis Island will be receiving $26 million in federal funds for the restoration of the baggage and dormitory building. I can never get enough of Ellis Island. There is some sadness in the soul of the place, but mostly I leave feeling the residual effects of the determination, bravery, and audacious optimism that passed continually through it. To think some of my own relatives came through here from Ireland, ready to carve out a new life. More restoration details here.

I am back, and Elisabeth

Hey, lovely readers! I know I've been absent, but I have not abandoned you. I was just off gallivanting around sunny Florida, acting like a 5-year-old, eating cotton candy and watching fireworks. I shall regale you with photos and tales of time-share presentations and Mickey Mouse's house soon enough, but until then, please enjoy this beautiful illustration by my talented friend Elisabeth Timpone.

Whenever I'm feeling low on creative energy, I listen to my playlist of music by friends and family. I draw a lot of inspiration from those I know, but this morning I realized one flaw in the playlist: No visuals. So I had to cure that by browsing Lis's site. She shows from time to time at Giant Robot here in NYC and has designed e-mailable valentines for Kate Spade for 2 years running. The intricate lines in her illustrations always hypnotize me; they're so full of movement and life.

Kiddles on the commute

Nothing better to brighten my gray, rainy commute than a pack of well-behaved 4-year olds in candy-colored rain gear.

Overheard:

"I went to the Museum of MODERN Art"
"Where's my nickel?"
"A...B...C...CEEEEEE...."



Supercute froggie boots available here.

Making lemonade

Let's face it, people: Times are tough. Life is doling out lemons left and right, so the only thing to do is make lemonade. Literally.

Del's Lemonade is a Rhode Island staple. My brother happens to operate one of these stores, so on my jaunt to the Ocean State this past weekend, I found out just how it's done.

You can take the lemonade on the road if you've got a couple of these babies:

Otherwise, you need to keep a tidy little shop:

And in that tidy shop, it helps if you have also just added the only hip coffeeshop in a Del's AND in the entire town:

But we're losing focus. It's truly about the lemonade:

And the ladle is key:

You need to rest it firmly in your palm and balance it evenly:

(that's Jim, the professional)

If held correctly, the ladle acts an extension of your arm...

(that's me, learning)

...allowing you to proudly serve the perfect cup of lemonade.