Self Portrait Saturday

For those of you that don't know, I'm absolutely obsessed with The Wonder Forest, a sweet blog by the lovely and super talented Dana. She's got everything from DIY crafts to blog advice to hair and makeup tutorials. Jill of all trades!

Anyway, she's just restarted her Self Portrait Saturdays project - one to help gals feel more comfortable in front of the camera and comfortable in their own skin... gorgeous. I was a little nervous, mostly because I hate 99% of the pictures of myself that exist, but I figure what better way to get over myself than with an army of beautiful women beside me.

Aaaaand, Dana has partnered with two more gorgeous girls with gorgeous blogs: much love, illy and manzanita to make the magic this week.

With that, I give you, my first Self Portrait Saturday submission... on Sunday. ;)

I took both of these on my iPhone - shocker. B had the Nikon, so I had to be creative on my own. 

The first is in the Japanese peonies in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and the second is me self shooting in the lens of B's aviators.

So head on over, girls. Link up and share your beauty with the internet at large. Don't be afraid. You've got this.

new york beauty

First of all, every single morning, as I walk to the train in Brooklyn, I see this:

pachyderm?

and I think that it's an elephant.

this too...

dumbo?

EVERY MORNING without fail, I think, "Shit. That's an elephant."
I guess somewhere in my sleepy brain I know that it is, in fact, not really an elephant, but it does surprise me every. single. day.
I think that means I need more sleep, and that people in my neighborhood have too many motorcyles laying around.

anyway, the point of this post....

I have a really excellent little gig on Tuesday nights that starts at 7pm. This means that I have an hour to walk 20 blocks from work to the east 60's. Clearly not a difficult walk, and through a generally 'untraveled by me' part of town. So, last evening, I took my time strolling up Madison Ave, listening to Jason Mraz, and really looking around me. And then, I started snapping pictures. It was beautiful.

view up madison ave

"by appointment to the queen of hearts"
LOVE IT.

Nothing says perfect day like staring in the Cartier Bridal windows.

All the upscale shops close by 6pm, so it's basically tourist free - just people leaving work on the streets once you get passed 59th St. The walk is quiet and serene, and makes me really love New York - even for just a few minutes.

Of course, there's always this...

ha!

xoxo

maaaoooow.

I know you've all been freaking out missing it.

Or not.

Look, it makes me happy... don't burst my bubble.

On with the Monday Meows!

This weeks lols from cat vs human ... the owlet's fave.

Truly, I think the human flavor must add so much.

The key to triumph over satan?
kitties.

I play this game all the time.
I wish I could learn.
I don't.

This is most excellent!
Although I picture both of my cats trying to kill us in our sleep...
not just one.

Also, I wish to own this. My birthday is on November 24th. I probably can't wait until then. I will accept gifts for any major bank holiday. Additionally, most religious holidays. Also for no reason. Whatever works.

love springs [eternal]

I'm sipping red wine left over from dinner, watching hockey in the dark while B cuddles down with the dogs in bed, and I'm ready to share something life changing from last weekend...

Lets talk about spa, baby.

As I mentioned in my last post, I got to hang out with my dearest old friend EE to celebrate the anniversary of her birth. For the record, so glad that you were born [before me], EE.

Thanks to her awesome wife, LB, we were sent to Bedford Springs to do girly things like get facials, massages, and eat our weight in awesome food. Check, Check, and Check! That joint is gorgeous.

all of these were taken in the bug with the top down!

And that's just the outside. Would you like to go in? Yes? Thought so.

vanity in our bathroom.
it pleased the 10 year old girls inside of us.

our room!

full length mirror!
hello inner 10 year old, why don't you go twirl!

caught you EE!

the beds look like they want to hold you
and do they ever.

Even the freaking hallways are gorgeous:

en route to the spa.
it's like a greek temple.
I would live there.

I loved this wallpaper so much that I commented on how much I loved it...
every time we walked passed.

Food? Gorgeous.

Breakfast in bed? Don't mind if I do!

even after 20 years of friendship, we're still as cute as we were in 6th grade.
EE is as beautiful as ever!
Please bear in mind that I hadn't had a lot of sleep in the days prior to this mirror snap.
Thanks.

It was so amazing to settle back into a routine together. Putting on makeup in the bathroom mirror together, sharing secrets without a second thought, and finding out that - even though life has separated us by several hundred miles, and time has aged our hearts and minds, deep down we're still the same girls that shared secrets in our childhood bedrooms, and we are just as similar as ever.

Through all the talking and sharing, I realized that while so much has changed in our lives, circumstances, and zip codes - I still recognized my oldest soul friend. And I will always love her.

That realization, and this sign, were the very best part of the weekend.

Love you EE.

xoxo

you can always come back home.

This is the house that I grew up in. My family hasn't lived in it for over a decade, but, in some small way, it will always be home. I had the chance to go home last weekend to surprise my oldest friend, EE, for her birthday. It was wonderful to see her, and see her wife and family that I love like my own family. When asked if I wanted to do a drive by of my old house, I was excited! Of course I did!

There are a few things that have changed, of course. The huge tree that shaded the entire front yard, where I used to lay with my first love, my gorgeous dalmatian Murphy, is completely gone. The stone that I painted with our house number has vanished. The lamp post that EE banged her face off of in our junior prom pictures has been torn away. The bench that I sat on, wrapped in an afghan, and cried after my serious high school boyfriend left for college has moved from the yard (where the lamp used to be) to beside the kitchen door - too close to the house to have real privacy. The neighbors that I knew are all gone, but the bike path by the hydrant, that JY and I wore down (and then one neighbor took a chainsaw to, in the rain, in a classic "disturbia" moment) over years and years of middle school adventures, is still there, looking very much the same, despite the chainsaws best efforts.

I know that inside, there is a totally different landscape, that the pool table is probably gone, but I can only hope that the kids that live there get to experience half of the amazing experiences that I had growing up. I hope their friends are as loving and positive as mine were. I hope their parents are as willing to host every kid in the band for birthdays, graduation, and just random friday night parties. I hope they fall in love, and out of love, and in love again. I hope they find their very best forever friend. I hope they get ready for dances, especially the girls, and come down the staircase in their first pair of really high heels, praying that they don't fall in front of the cutest boy in their class. I hope they love their lives and hold tight to their friends, and remember that being unkind is a petty waste of time. I hope that they realize that there is life after high school, and don't lose hope when things get hard. I hope they dream about what being a grown up will be like while they play hide and seek in the attic, and lay on the grass in the backyard, staring up at the endless Pennsylvania sky, and realize just how lucky they really are to grow up in a small town.

And maybe, on quiet nights, they can hear the ghosts of my childhood playing silly games - like that amazing bat thing that EE and LJS used to do. Or maybe they hear the whispers from EE and me, giggling at all hours of the night, sharing secrets on whiteboards, crying over broken hearts and bad dreams.

This post really took on a life of it's own. I meant to write about my weekend with EE, but I think I'll leave it for next time, and leave you with my favorite picture of my first love that I have sitting on my mantle in my grown up nest...

Murphy with itty bitty baby Ellie.
He was so tolerant of her.
And always the most perfect dog.

xoxo