let's play I wish we weren't growing up, and make it reality

what makes me happy today list

"Your happiness should always be a little out of reach. That's what keeps us going, the pursuit of happiness."

1. digging your nose in a fluffy coat of golden retriever when you're down.
2. the sunshine after a season of rain.
3. donnie darko playing in the middle of a thursday afternoon.
4. blogging/procrastinating .
5. loud laughter ringing in your eye.
taking a big sigh of relief realizing friday is less than 24 hours away.
6. turning the music up as loud as it goes when no one's home.
7. someone telling you that you made their day.
8. being inspired beyond words.
9. natural curls that take 35% of the time to work in the morning than straightening.
10. change, for the better.

oldies and sunshine

what makes me happy today list

"Be happy in the moment. That’s enough.”

1. artist cafés.
2. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" replayed over and over again. And again, and again.
3. winter sunshine peeking its head out of the clouds and giving you a fresh, warm glow.
4. the new pepsi commercial that makes me wanna get up and dance.
5. breaking the caffeine rule and sipping coffee at 4:30 in the afternoon.
6. finding really, really incredible refreshing blogs that I just can't keep my eyes off of.
7. sunrises, even if most mornings I'm still asleep or showering when she rises.
8. homemade hot tamale applesauce and cinnamon.
9. anticipation for a new day tomorrow, and for spring to be here.
10. unexpectedly finding pennies, or dollar bills in pockets of jeans you haven't worn in years.

She said jump, I said I'm pro-life.

"I'm dedicating my life to the greater cause of ending world suffering. To push aside race and religion and help pursue the dream of so many before me that have fallen victim to corruption or the hands of those who oppose them. I see no other greater purpose in life for me than this. I hope to pursue and inspire through photography or anyway I can."

I hope today's episode of "telling a story with pictures in place of words" did your day some justice, as good/bad as it turned out to be. Sometimes I have nothing to say, sometimes the world speaks loud enough on its own and I just don't want to raise my voice to interrupt a silence beautiful enough standing on its own.

Current Sweet Obsessions

I just can't get enough of bottomless cups of coffee the second I roll outta bed. Mini wheats, only the ones with a shit ton of frosting on 'em (stop laughing) (seriously, stop it, I blame Costco and their good deals entirely for my newly-established love/problem). 90210, it's gotten so bad I'm counting down the days till new episodes come back on via mental calendar... and phone. Apple, yogurt, cashew and honey parfaits. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, I just can't help myself. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? Well I can't imagine what three does... Victoria Beckham, need I say more? She's as beautiful as her I-would-be-all-over-that-like-butter-on-a-pancake-if-I-had-the-chance very nice and good-looking hubby, and don't even get me started on her denim line [in which I can afford an inch of fabric of]. Really, VB, if you're at all interested in being best friends in another life, just shout out to your girl. I'm all ears and have a unsigned contract permitting the paparazzi/you to move to Seattle if you have to ready and waiting to print on Microsoft Word. Call me! Vintage weddings. Or flickr'ing pictures of them and drooling uncontrollably, at least. It's a good thing I don't have a boyfriend at this point in my life or he'd be in trouble and be hinted at a 15k rock and hundred-year-old lace veils on a daily basis. I know I always say I'd rather be a bridesmaid any day, but c'mon... I think that was before I laid eyes on Vera Wang's mod collection. Adding sugar-free vanilla and cinnamon to my coffee. Cinnamon, period. Dr. Oz says it's healthy for our hearts, so basically I'm saving my life on the daily. See? Addictions really are healthy in the long run. Lily Allen. And -like music. Pandora knows my middle name at work even, what the hell is happening to me? Googling to-die-for New-York-Times-acclaimed recipes and rushing to my oven and pretending like I know how to cook in the first place. Baking, cookies in particular. I repeat: I don't know whether to blame it on something in the season or if this is a normal process of growing up, but I feel out of my element. It's incredible, I love it. Dreaming about sunshine. More than usual, I mean. Which leads to detailed springbreak '10 planning and etc. Craigslist shopping, and dragging my father out to buy his princess a pretty little VW consider what's a good deal and what's not for ME to buy on my OWN so I don't get SCAMMED by some creepy sales guy.

I also like experimenting with runway-model it-looks-like-a-tornado-just-hit-it,-but-it's-cute! hair, testdriving '03 Passats, thrift shopping, photography in/with/around mirrors, listening to Jessie James, intellectual conversations over a cup of joe, politics (and screaming at and asking Obama if he's stupid? in my head), sitting down and really thinking about where I'm going in life, and sugar. I'm craving sugar like no other lately and I don't know what's up, I'm not extra emotional/imbalanced so who knows.


I'm really into this getting-up-outta-my-chair and just going these days, too. I've done the lowkey phase, and I've done the go-out-every-weekend-after-work-and-drink-until-I-have-assured-an-allday-hangover-for-the-next-day phase, and quite frankly, I'm over both. I'm just interested in life right now. In exploring, in adventures, in satisfying my curiosity, in waking up to a fresh breath of air every day, in swinging on swings and walking on the beach barefoot. I'm finally happy. Lonely, but undeniably happy. I think this is what life is ultimately about, simplicity and appreciating the little things, because that's what defines my life at the end of the day anyway. Surprises, piggyback rides, unexpected letters in the mail, exchanging smiles with strangers, daisies mistaken for flowers, getting dirt in my fingernails, getting messy, and breaking the rules, just a little, enough to say you did it. "It is about absurdity."

Make your mark today, take a deeper breath than yesterday and hold that smile for just a second longer. Pray a little stronger, search a little deeper, love a little more. Just do it. You know you wanna...