Wednesday, April 30, 2014

life lately.


balance is never really something i've ever had a hard time with...until now.  high school was never too hard for me, and my college major was nothing to write home about.  but grad school, my friends, necessitates a delicate balancing act.  you know when you move on to something new and you give yourself a grace period of like, 3 months, repeatedly telling others "oh, hah, i just moved here, so it's okay that i turned in my paper one day late!" and "hah, i'm transitioning, so i can give myself some leeway and go out to dinner instead of studying post-lecture." well just moved turns into 8 months later and transitioning turns into an old tub of hummus that's been sitting in the back of the fridge for a 12 solid weeks, and you realize that you're preeeeeeetty much settled. 

i'm also in the midst of this quarter-life crisis (<- dramatic) where i'm trying to decide where my priorities lie.  with school and academics, the two things that have been subconsciously prioritized in my brain?  or with people and places, the two things that really make my heart go a-flutter?  i'm finally realizing what kinds of people i want to keep in my life, yet i also want to take advantage of this ridiculously cool environment that i'm in and grow intellectually as well.  

despite a week full of worry, last weekend i managed to make time for those things i love most: (new-to-me) fried chicken and waffles, my first yankee game for a two-year anniversary, and a vegan banana creme pie.

"allow beauty to shatter you regularly.  the loveliest people are the ones who have been burnt and broken and torn at the seams, yet still send their open hearts into the world to mend with love again, and again, and again. you must allow yourself to feel your life while you're in it."
- victoria erickson

Thursday, April 24, 2014

15/52


{and another from miami: warm weather dreaming in this arctic spring}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"but it became clear very quickly that i'd underestimated how much i liked him.  not him, perhaps, but the fact that i had someone on the other end of an invisible line.  someone to update and get updates from, to inform of a comic discovery, to imagine while dancing in a lonely basement, and to return to, finally, when the music stopped. [his] death was the clearest and most horrifying example of my terrific obsession with the unattainable."
- marina keegan's the opposite of loneliness (a current obsession)

Monday, April 21, 2014

life lately.


attempting to preserve the last few weeks of the city in my mind and heart with trips to, and with, my favorites:

o1. a night at the heath, a bar that transports you back to the 1920's with a fabulous jazz band and drinks prepared by beard-toting bartenders.

o2. the epitome of a spring day in new york: 68 degrees, a crisp day in the village, sun shining on our winter-wedded skin. the joy that comes from avocado toast alongside a sweet cup of coffee and good conversation.

o3. a trip via train to northampton. i'll miss that little town of ours when J moves on to bigger (and better) things.

"but she did look back, and i love her for that, because it was so human."
- kurt vonnegut

Friday, April 18, 2014

14/52


{miami maxims}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"when you grow up as a girl, the world tells you the things that you are supposed to be: emotional, loving, beautiful, wanted.  and then when you are those things, the world tells you they are inferior: illogical, weak, vain, empty."
- stevie nicks

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

wynwood & wanderings.


aaahhhhh, miami. land of dexter, h-wan pablo, and armand aka robin williams (go see the birdcage, ps).  a quick jaunt down to the land of pasteles y guayaba while the northeast weather transitioned from cold to beautiful.... back to cold again.  i fell in love with my roommate's family, met up with some old friends, and explored the new-to-me wynwood art district, with murals and hipsters galore.  just how i like it. 

"and in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness."
- f. scott fitzgerald

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

13/52



{spring flowers! and sunshine! and some madison square park lovin'}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year.

"anyone or anything that does not bring you alive is too small for you."
- david whyte

Monday, April 7, 2014

found.



understand how priorities work.

here’s a hint: in life, you get to pick the small handful (you have very small hands, you know) of things that are important to you. then, you do whatever it takes - anything. actual ANYTHING - to make those things what you want them to be. that’s it. you get that. no more. no less. you can’t have everything, but you can have everything you can.

you don’t need to be The Best at Everything, but you need to be Good at Something. that will require work. be ready to put in the work. nothing feels better than doing things you’re good at.

except maybe finishing something you started. that feels good, too. so follow through. set goals every day. accomplish goals every day.

be kind. be so kind. remember when your mother taught you this? remember when Eliot Rosewater said so? still counts. no matter how many times you hear that it’s lame to be described as “nice,” people are going to call you nice. and you are going to like it. to you, this is one of the greatest compliments you will ever receive. mostly because, truly, it ain’t easy.


speaking of things that aren’t easy… sit up straight, smile, and get your hair out of your eyes. also? ask for help if you need it.

now, here are some easy things: read a lot. write a lot. laugh excessively. take a whole bunch of photos. feel pretty when you look pretty. acknowledge happiness and be grateful for it.

do things that are hard. do things that are easy. balance.

drink good liquor.
it’s going to make you feel like shit, so you might as well really enjoy it.

eat good food. also, eat Good Food.
and exercise. a lot. find the exercise you like and then do it until you get to the point where you almost don’t like it. remember to have good form! then stop. then take a short break. then do it again the next day (or at least the day after that).
take care of yourself. respect your body and everything around it.

go do.
pursue growth. take risks. eat the chicken face. grab adventure with both hands. cancel everything for the right opportunity. you will never regret it. but you might wonder about what could have been if you don’t take the chance.

there is a small group of people whose opinions matter to you. that group consists of the folks who will be there when you need help, whose lives are affected by yours. fuck everyone else’s opinions. 

on that note… mind your own business.
there’s no reason to compare yourself to people. life is not a competition. life is just you versus you. and there’s no sense in complaining about actual everything. if you’re not sure if this is your business, ask yourself: will this really, truly, honestly effect me? if the answer is really no, then relax. mind your own business. if the answer is yes? do something about it. 

yeah, do something about it.
stop complaining; that’s a waste of effort. do something about it.


is the problem too big? who cares. contribute. be part of something that is bigger than you are.

is the problem too small? then ignore it and consider yourself lucky. the road to inner peace is paved with insignificant shit that you selectively ignore until it falls off your back and you’re free to run - hard and fast and with good form - towards the good things.

always run hard and fast and with good form towards the good things.



*photo cred: bathroom at LES's Ngam

Saturday, April 5, 2014

life lately.


{rockwood music hall // the meatball shop}


{the bowery mural}


{a tumultuous ;) roomie scavenger hunt at the MoMa}


{doughnut plant obsessed // some lightened up hair for summer}

i have to constantly remind myself that one of my favorite things to do in the entire universe is go to a tiny concert at a tiny music venue - definitely something i picked up from my nashville college days.  a few of us ventured south to rockwood music hall on tuesday night to see johnny stimson (what a babe) play a set.  as odd as this sounds, i love watching people watch people perform.  as we hovered above the stage on the balcony sipping our drinks, we had an all-access pass to watch the audience as we pleased.  the best, by far, was watching mr. stimson's daddio himself bob his head and mouth the words to the songs his son sang on stage.  the only difference was that johnny was wearing peplum cheetah pants and silver nike high tops,  and daddio definitley wasn't. but i digress.

we then made our way to the meatball shop and i had some of the best balls of my LIFE along with a SNICKERDOODLE AND BROWN SUGAR ICE CREAM sandwich (i'm trying to train myself to eat dairy because... paris) and we sat at the table next to LEIGHTON MEESTER AND ADAM BRODY aka Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen and i giggled like a 10-year-old schoolgirl as we drank our water for 45 minutes just so my body could be in the vicinity of such gods.  and when we finally got up at 11:45 to make the trek back uptown, THEY GOT UP TOO, and then we giggled like 10-year-old schoolgirls on the corner of the street as they crossed the street arm-in-arm, wrangling up the courage to ask for a picture, and when i attempted to slyly take a picture of them from the backside, adam (first name basis, ya see) turned around AND GIGGLED AT ME and i screeched and ran in the other direction.

new york stole my heart again.

"enthusiasm moves the world." 
- arthur balfour

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