..of 25 cent flowers and a new pea coat..

Happy Birthday to me !!!!! With the generous contributions of Mary and Larry, Elsie, Matt and Lonna, Carol and Abigail (whsoo that's a lot of birthday checks and JCrew gift cards!!!) ... I am pleased to announce that I am the proud owner of a new JCrew Classic Pea Coat (in Heather Charcoal)!!!! I have had the same Pea Coat since high school and I am so excited to be able to upgrade :) Thanks everybody!!!!!






On the way home tonight, I was listening to my 80s mix and admiring what I took to be a harvest moon, when I was stopped on the sidewalk by one of the little boys on my block. He and his friend were selling "flowers" for a dollar and he wondered if I would buy one. I told him that sadly I did not have any dollar bills. He asked if I had any "cents" and said maybe I could buy one of his "flowers" with some of that. I am a sucker for industrious little kids so I hauled out my wallet and found a quarter. Both little boys offered me their wares and I chose the specimen above because I was assured by the vendor that if I "put it in the dirt it will grow". Of course what these boys were actually selling were the tiny tips of various plants and flowers from their parents yards... I know I am the most horrible of suckers but I love to be suckered in by those sweet innocent faces. I mean seriously how could I possibly refuse ?!?! The bartering and transaction alone made me forget every annoying thing that happened at work today.

When my brother was little he was one of those kids. Selling the daisies he pulled up in the strawberry field when we went strawberry picking in the summer. He went door to door in our neighborhood selling "bouquets" and came back with a bounty of pocket change that our sweet neighbors most willingly handed out. I can remember thinking that he must have been so annoying going door to door like that, bothering our neighbors. Now I know that he was just a breath of fresh air at the end of their work day.

Finally I have to comment on a piece I read in Newsweek on the way home tonight. Apparently Kathy Griffin won an Emmy Award for her reality show "My Life on the D-list"... and I quote...

"in her acceptance speech she explained that while other actors might thank Jesus for such an honor she wouldn't consider it. 'Suck it, Jesus,' she exuberantly added, waving her statuette in the air, 'This award is my God, now.' "

The article goes on to explain that "outrage from Christian groups predictably followed" as various Christian leaders appeared on talk shows to complain that if she had said "Suck it Jews " or "Suck it Muhammad" no one would have been laughing. Newspapers reported that E! television would edit the speech before airing the show the next weekend, which "predictably" brought on outraged responses from liberal groups claiming censorship. Soon some atheistic youths in Hawaii jumped on board and launched a site called ..wait for it.. "suckitjesus.com" where they gathered support for Kathy Griffin's cause as networks tried to decide whether or not to air her comments. Some Christian theater in TN took out $180 K in full page ads in USA Today "decrying Griffin's remarks and pleading for a new civility". Sigh. I do my best not to be what I consider a "Hyper Christian". That means I stand on the sidelines in these situations and refuse to jump on the bandwagon unless I am super passionate about the true meat of the cause at hand and have considered the issue from all sides. I love Jesus, I am super passionate about that. But listen here folks.... Jesus loves Kathy Griffin. Think about that for a minute. The Bible promised that being a Christian would not be easy. We were never meant to be the popular crowd. What Griffin said was wrong and offensive but let's show everyone what it really means to follow Jesus.. don't play their game guys. Turn that other cheek. It's a losing battle. It always has been. It always will be. I have always felt that it is times like these that Christians have the greatest opportunity to witness by truly showing the love of Christ. Christ doesn't take out ads in USA Today. Our God is a just and merciful God. Let's rest in that knowledge and not let a smart ass comment by a spoiled Hollywood performer ruffle our spiritual feathers. I might have just ignited a firestorm of commentary but... if this is an issue that gets you riled up or you don't agree with my opinion on the matter I'd love to hear from you. Seriously.... comment away!
xoxo

Alright already!!!!!

I know I know I know.. I have been MIA for a few weeks. Sorry guys. My trip to NC was a whirlwind that only got crazier when I got back to Brooklyn. Work has been insane.. insane... insane. I have more to do than I could get done in 3 months of overtime. Sorry all you young promising lawyers out there but recruiting you guys.. really blows!!! It's just a mountain that grows and grows and never lets up or slows down. Even with 2 of us doing it full time now.. just nuts. Lunch has become a thing of the past. I try my hardest to get there as early as I can and work through lunch and pray I can leave by 6:30 or 7:00 at the earliest.. anyway.. let's see... what have I been up too lately....

I went home for my birthday as you all know. Had a great trip.. a little hectic .. but great none the less. The picture up there is of the birthday cards Stephen made for me.. yes those are real butterfly wings. The lower left black and white is a clue to what my presents were ...



This is the amazing devils food coconut cake that Stephen made for me when I got back from NC on the 12th. The first occupant of my cake cover and it tasted like heaven!!! Stephen has vowed to make me a different cake every year for my birthday.. no two alike.. so far so good :)



I spent my actual birthday morning with my best friend Ellen. I spent the night there after taking Stephen to the airport in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon.. Ellen made me another type of coconut cake.. her mothers recipe. She and David sang happy birthday that night and we had cake before we went to bed. Ellen and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and then in the morning I was awakened by Ellen and Mr. Seth and their bounty of birthday presents!!! So many presents I had to choose my favorite to represent the pile.. that's right folks, those are true vintage PanAm glasses .. amazing! Getting to spend my birthday with Ellen really made the day. It's so relaxing and nice to hang with those who know you best.

I drove home in the early afternoon to hang out with and eat dinner with my Aunt B. I haven't gotten to spend that much time with Aunt B since I don't even know when. We talked and ate dinner in and generally had a fantastic visit. Made it hard to come back to NY.



This is part of my birthday present from Stephen.. a set of pots and pans to add to our camping equipment. He also gave me a camp stove... and.... we are going camping in the Catskills in 2 weeks!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! We have always been "if it can't be cooked on/in/over the fire you don't eat it on a camping trip" kind of folks but .. I am totally down with being able to whip up coffee and warm soup on a stove. He knows me too well :)



The biggest surprise on my birthday came from my sweet daddy. A mandolin!!!!!! A black one at that... I am SO sure that if Jack White has a mandolin it's a black one so I was super thrilled by this!! For those of you who don't know, the mandolin has the same strings as violin (an instrument that I have been playing since I was 9) so though it's a different musical concept for my brain to pluck instead of bow I am still in familiar territory. I played David Shingler's when we were in Maine for awhile and fell head over heels .. I have always been a fan of mandolin players of all shapes and sizes but had never played it myself until then... when I have 2 seconds to sit down I will really learn how to play it... for now it's just this amazing present that was a total surprise sitting like a wink from my dad in the corner of the living room.. such an amazing gift.

So I was in NC for my older brother Page's 40th birthday party.. it was a great party and a good time was had by all. It was so nice to see everyone.. I got spend a lot of time with Gram and John and Mariel were home with Zin so we saw them too. I wish I could be more eloquent about how much I loved my trip home and how it made me feel and all of that but ... I tired ya'll. Really tired. I feel like all I do is run to work and run home and try to spend some time with Stephen before passing out and doing it over again. This is no way to live folks.... seriously... I am not living. Just surviving... barely. Reaching the end of my quickly fraying rope here. I just want a vacation. A real vacation where I can go away and not come back for about 5 weeks or so... just want to get away from everything and clear my head. I feel foggy. I hate that feeling.

This weekend I was in Miami for a bachelorette party for one of my work buddies. Yeah, I don't want to hear it. "if you are so tired why were you at a bachelorette party in South Beach?? Hmmmm? That's why you are so tired .. you are having to much fun!!" ...um. No. I was tired before I went and frankly feel no worse for the wear now. Not to mention when I was originally invited it sounded like a great idea.. how was I to know I would be so drained for Fall OCI ??? At any rate I had a great time ...I literally sat on the beach on Saturday and just stared out at this.....


... no reading .. no iPod.. just water.. and sky.. and the occasional topless chick. Yeah you can go topless on Miami beaches. No, I did not partake. This was my first real bachelorette destination get away like this and will most definitely be my last. I had an amazing time seriously.. but all that dancing and hanging out wears a girl out and frankly I was so homesick for Stephen I could hardly stand it. Even Malani, the bachelorette herself, said that this was her last bachelorette party she planned to attend :) She was done in too!! It was good times but at some point in your life you have really had enough of beating drunk guys away from your behind and screaming "I'm married!!!!!.. Yes..MARRIED (point to rings on left hand)!!!!!!" over the music. I passed that point long before this trip and I was brutally reminded of just how much I despise single guys that hang out in clubs this weekend. That's all I am going to say about that. The highlights of the trip were hanging out at the pool and on the beach with Malani and the rest of the girls. We had a great time visiting and enjoying ourselves and I am super excited to see everyone again at the wedding next month :)

So there you have it, Madam Ellen aka Blog Watcher Nazi ;) this is a fast forward of what I have been up to with no emotion thrown in because I have been too tired to really go into the way I feel about things. But I am glad we did this.. we will have to it again real soon :)
Seriously though... I am hanging on by a thread here people. Can't you tell??!!?!! Let's hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel soon .. working on keeping my spirits up but just mentally and physically exhausted with a capital E. Will try to update more regularly.. I know these marathon posts are a bit much.
xoxo

My hero...

This is a picture of Stephen saving my life last week...I had a horrible week.. horrible.. terrible.. I was exhausted and cranky and had to pack for Miami to leave the next morning and was really starting to wish that I had not agreed to go... he called me at work and asked me what he could do to help.. "Take care of dinner!" I said " Go to the grocery store and by a bunch of good food, don't worry about the cost I want good food and lots of it! Comfort food.. and a desert of some sort. Please..." He happily agreed and when I got him he had prepared a Mexican feast with sparkling Limeade to drink and key lime pie for desert. What an amazing man I am married to. All I had to do was put on my comfy clothes and sit down and eat all of the amazing food he bought and fixed. Stephen fixing me dinner is not a rarity around here.. I must give him credit for that since he fixes dinner more than I do sometimes (ok lately most of the time). Hearing his sweet voice at work and coming home to his smiling face handing me a plate was just the tonic I needed from a brutal work week. Gotta love that servant's heart my boy has.

Lately

Tuesday, Stephen and I woke super early to climb the tiny ladder to our roof and watch the lunar eclipse. We took a very sleepy Oliver along and made it time to see the sliver of the moon slide from view. Across the river the city was stirring to wakefulness and Lady Liberty's lamp shown clear and bright. A special early morning treat, even if I did spend my morning at work downing several triple grande lattes and a few cups of office brew.



Out of a personal necessity for some major change in my everyday, Stephen and I re-did the bedroom recently. For those of you who have had the pleasure of staying at the 3rd floor Chateau, you will surely appreciate the lovely wide walkway though the chambre. No more stubbed toes on midnight trips to the bathroom.



This weekend I was extremely self indulgent. We went to "The Garage" on Saturday and I bout these lovely Goebel birds. I am not the figurine type but... I could not pass them up. Seems to cheer whatever room they roost in. So far they have roosted in all but the salle de bain - I keep moving them around.



I was also unable to pass up the necklace and earrings above. They are from the 30s and the man who sold them to me at the garage gave me a sick deal. They are the real deal. Exquisite persimmon glass beads. They have a wonderful weight to them. Absolutely in love with this set.



This fab milk glass lamp was part of the bedroom revision. I found it at "Trailer Park" in Park Slope. Perfection at a super bargain price. Much prettier in person.



My trip to the "Trailer Park" also yielded a long sought after cake cover. Not sure of the decade for this one but I was ecstatic! My mom has an aluminum number that I have lusted after since she found it at a thrift store. These are so hard to come by. Can't wait to bake something!!



The most extravagant purchase for the bedroom was the quilt. It's from Anthropologie and I have been lusting after it for a few months. I finally decided to take the plunge. I love it. Cheers the whole place. Just enough change to get the stale feeling out of my ocular nerves.

We are still going to get some Flor squares for the walkway and possibly some for the kitchen but that can wait until it gets a bit colder.

These past weeks have seen very little in the way of good rest for this blogger. Recruiting season is in full swing at work and I feel consistently behind the 8 ball. Doesn't seem to matter how early I arrive or how late I stay, still come home feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Oh well... I did agree to join the recruiting team...I knew it would be like this. Builds strength of character, eh?

As if I haven't had enough difficult decisions of late, my big boss in LA threw me yet another curve ball at dinner the other night. We were all out to dinner (Carol, Abigail, Melissa, Korina and I) with said boss and we inquired to him about the current search for an Office Manager in our DC Office, as in "Do you have any good candidates ?" I will skip to the point of the story and tell you that he proceeded to turn to me and ask if me I wanted to move to DC. Yes, he was serious. I thanked him for the flattering offer and promised to at least mention it to Stephen. Stephen, not wanting to limit our options, told me he would be willing to consider it...and off I went. Spending the next few nights in sleepless agony, turn down an offer to pursue a position with a six figure salary or accept the chance to dive into the interview gauntlet with the DC Partners knowing that if I emerged as the successful candidate that I would have to move to yet another city where I would have to start from scratch. Such are the stupid problems I seem to encounter in life. So piddling and silly. But for someone who is trying to help her husband take over the role of bread-winner and start a family as a stay at home mother... well life is never simple. Not for anyone. Life has become a series of decisions and choices. After much prayer and consultation with loved ones I have decided to say no thank you. Sure, I may never really be able to be a stay at home mom... but I can certainly continue in that direction. I have wanted nothing more than that since I was a little girl taking my doll with me to Pizza Hut and changing her little doll diaper in the booth. I never went anywhere without a diaper bag and a doll. I think it's ok to pursue my truest deepest desire right now. Anyway..for all the discussion I engaged in on the DC matter.. I never felt a peace about it. I think it's important to know yourself and I know myself enough to know that a move to DC might do me in emotionally. What a sap right? What a weakling ... well...yes I am .. and proud of it. I am proud that I have true goals that need following and that I am strong enough not to be distracted from the life Stephen and I have worked so long and hard to attain. I am not ashamed that these goals consist of babies and workshops and a washer and dryer in my living space. I'm going to stay the course. Geez I sound like such a sappy lunatic but you have no idea how much I agonized over this decision.. trying to make sure I wasn't turning down something the Lord was trying to bless me with..if you know me you know I have been a miserable wreck all week. Such decisions have severe side effects on me. Anyway... I didn't much feel like writing ... as evidenced by my lack of posting.

Now I am enjoying the last moments of my 3 day weekend. I finished "The Time Travelers Wife" on Friday and find myself wishing I not been so greedy. Such an amazing book, I should have savored it a bit longer. I always get a little blue after a really great book. I get sort of homesick for the characters. Stephen and I finished Harry Potter a few weeks back and as it was the end of the series it was much easier to take. I was so pleased she chose to write a epilogue. I thought that added a nice note of comfortable finality.

Stephen and I will be going to NC sans Oliver on Thursday. Page is turning 40(?!?!?!?) and John and I are traveling home to be there for the party. I can't WAIT to get home! We decided to leave the pup since traveling can be hard on him and our neighbors really enjoy taking care of him - they get to have a sweet cuddly dog for the weekend .. who wouldn't love that :)

Stephen and Oliver are watching another Civil War disc, I am going to join them. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

xoxo