Temporary Everythings


Well, what do you think? It's was my first. I was 18 and I picked it off the wall of a tattoo parlor in Hampton Beach. It's two characters supposedly, life and be present....a Carpe diem a of sorts--I don't know, that's what the artist said, and that's what others have told me. I can't read Chinese. It might as well be Korean.
In my more radical days, when everyone had half their head shaved and we'd all walk around in shorts patched with dental floss,  I would tell anybody who asked that  it was Kanji for "cultural appropriation."  They would laugh indulgently at the imprudence of youth and go back to their kale and quinoa burritos. It seems to me now that our our towers were much more ivory than we imagined because regular people don't know what cultural appropriation is and Kanji isn't even a form of Chinese.
Flippancy  has long been my way of saying I don't walk to talk about it.And I don't either. I was so impetuous I nearly got the character for rain written on my body.
It's tribal, so whatever.
For awhile I  felt guilty because I wasted a great tattoo location for a language I don't speak from a culture with whom my familiarity extends only as far as the understanding that their New Year is different than my own.  And for a long time this was a sufficiently humorous punishment. But I'm too busy mispronouncing every French word I know to think too long on it, these days. 

Yet even here in France I've remained in pretty fair contact with the United States. Obama or one of his minions sent me an email ever three or four days up until his second inauguration. Apparently they need a lot of help or money, or maybe just something for the interns to do--so they send me emails. It isn't the life I would have chosen for them, but it's the cards they were dealt
I've been dealt a new hand myself- DHL delivered a package yesterday with a letter from Obama and he wanted to talk about Kennedy's legacy and commitment and, the Peace Corps. It was signed with the fattest permanent market possible or had been photocopied to the point where his signature no longer resembles the original. Very exciting stuff.
Yes, mis amigos, we've finally got our destination and it's finally time to tell you that we expect to be moving to China to teach English at a University. We'll not know where exactly or when exactly until they feel like telling us. We've got visas and vaccinations to attend to, miles to go before we sleep and a whole lot of promises to keep.  I think we could not have done better in terms of comfort and as some of you may recall I planned to live in China at some point in my life anyway. I'm excited for a fresh chance at adventure.  Best of all, we will be trained in Mandarin--so I may learn what my tattoo says after all.  


Anything could still go wrong and knock us out of the running--it's been quite a process. But that's life for you. Carpe Diem, indeed.

Hair Troubles

Most of you probably know by now that I get bored with my hairstyles/color real fast.
It's been everything from short & black to long and blonde.
Bangs, no bangs, swoopy bangs..
.. you name it.. it's probably been on my head at some point or another.
 
Seriously..
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME?
I want it short.
WAIT NO! I want it really really long.
I want it brown.
Nope. It needs to be red.
or do I want it really blonde?
 
I blame Pinterest.
 
Every time I log in I'm bombarded with pictures of beautiful hair of all sorts!
 
 
 
 
Maybe I'll do BLUE OMBRE next time! 
Just kidding mom.

Am I the only one with conflicting feelings from Pinterest!?
 


5 Things You Should NEVER do...

Yesterday when I was driving to work I heard a segment on the radio..
5 things a woman should never do in front of her husband
This was written by a woman who has been married for 10 years & she writes for Cafemom (which is a pretty sweet website.)
 You can find it HERE!
 
[These are ranked in order from things you shouldn't do, to things you REALLY REALLY shouldn't do..]
 
5. Clip your toenails
I am guilty of this. It was pedicure time ya'll..
 
4. Remove hair (..of any kind..)
This includes tweezing, shaving, waxing..
 
3. Pick your nose
I agree with this, because it's sick..
 
2. Pop a zit
Totally guilty of this. I love to pick...
(the 10x magnifying mirror is the best invention since sliced bread.)
 
1. Go #2 in front of your spouse.
REALLY PEOPLE?!?
 
 
#5, 4 & 2 I'm completely guilty of.
If I were to make my OWN list of things you should never do in front of your spouse, you BET all of these would be included, PLUS some..
 
Like farting or flossing.
Those would most definitely be added. Photobucket
 
 
Are YOU guilty of any of these?
What would be added to your list?

This is a bunch of stuff

So I was walking through the Place de la Republic the other night realizing that the perfect time to be out and about in Paris is that sweet spot  between 21h and 23:30 on a quite soggy night because  the sidewalks aren't smoky and over crowded and the drunks aren't yet too curious. 
Naturally, I was singing. I have discovered a lot of great bands over the last year and even though my breaths support isn't what it once was, I still like to belt me out a good tune. All this would be fine if I hadn't been listening to debate highlights songified--the whole time wondering how freakish and patriotic I must look to anyone in earshot and bilingue.
As you may know, we've been in a holding pattern here in Paris for quite some time. It's been my plan since before high school to do the Peace Corps and maybe I meant to do it sooner but it really seems like it's going to happen now. Can't say for sure when, as yet, but before the end of this year I expect to be in another country. 
In a letter we received last night from our recruiter, I was assured there are no posts open in French-speaking countries. Which is a bummer because they currently have open programs in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Cameroon. They also have feet on the ground in Morocco and Madagascar, but their flash map says they don't train their volunteers in French in these countries. 
Check it out for yourself, it's a pretty solid history of where the Peace Corps has been in the world.
I'll be the first to admit that my thirst for adventure was what interested Erin the child in the Corps but Erin the taller really does like to help people. I say this to explain that my concept--or if I'm being honest--fantasy of how service in the Peace Corps would go has evolved just as I have... 
If this is you:

We should be friends. 
/digression

I've kind of always had my heart set on Africa. The best short fiction in the New Yorker always came out of Africa, said Erin the Child. People are starving in Africa, said Erin's mom, Eat your dinner. Let's deny them access to contraception and education, said the Bush administration. I take a shower after having sex with someone I suspect of having HIV,  remarked the current President of South Africa.   Erin the taller said, I can teach and now I know a nominal amount of French, let me serve. But the letter said we are being considered for all the open programs in the world. So we could be in Columbia or Turkmenistan, as it suits them.
As much as I'm quietly worried about the atrophying of my French, I'm also feeling liberated from my expectations. I can learn almost any language they need me to in two years time. I've proved that to myself here. Moreover, I'm traveling with a rational, map and money-savvy man who will stick by my side and help me sail to our next port. Most of all, I shouldn't worry too much about a future I can't predict or change--I know these things, but I  don't live this truth. 

It snowed last weekend; almost all day, on Sunday. What a wonderful gift to the children of Paris, on an afternoon like Sunday. No school. More than half the shops in town closed your parents have to spend time with you. Many of the streets closed to cars, couldn't have hoped for a better excuse to make wintertime memories.  You should have seen them in Le Parc des Buttes Chaumont.


We slid on our heels a while others used cardboard, truckless skateboards, or sleds, or skis. We walked all the way home and had hot chocolate en route. Had an even better cup of it last night, as a matter of fact. You could say that things have been pretty cozy, lately. We've been reusing tea bags and burning candles. Sweaters, slippers and wool socks whenever we're up. Lots of reading in bed. I love it. There is even a machine raclette sitting on our kitchen table. We'll see what comes of it.
My only sure thing is Sunday's March for Equality. That's right, I'm determined not to be too hungover to stand up for my French LGBT brothers and sisters and their right as tax paying citizens to marry and raise children legally. There was a protest against it two weeks ago but as Biden would say, "Their ideas are old, and their ideas are bad." And I would quote him, because debates are better as musicals.
See you on the other-side of eventually. 

Fact Link-Up

I always love reading informative posts about other bloggers.
[In a totally creepy I want to get to know you way.] 
 
 I love filling them out as well, which is why I'm linking up to the lovely Whitney's blog over at I Wore Yoga Pants to Work!



 FACT:
I absolutely hate showering.
ehh, let me rephrase. I absolutely hate washing my hair.
It takes WAY too long to half air-dry, half blow dry, then straighten..
& don't even think I can get away with not flat-ironing my hair.

My bangs look like ruffled bird feathers if I don't.
It's not pretty.
If I was bald, I'd love showering to wash my hair.
Dry shampoo, baby powder & baseball hats are my bff's.

FACT:
One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone jumps in a convo and gives their two cents.
Like..... I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to you..??
Mostly this happens when I'm at work & unfortunately it's not socially acceptable to punch someone in the work place.

FACT:
I love buying new clothes.
But I don't like to wear them right away. I let them sit in my closet for days, weeks even months sometimes before I will take them out to wear them.
I like to keep the new-factor to last as long as possible.

FACT:
One time I ran into Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale at the mall in SLC.
I literally turned into one of those crazed fans that screams and yells.
They both ran.
Not a proud moment.


FACT:
Spencer and I go through weird watching-TV-series phases.
So far we've watched all of The Walking Dead, My Name is Earl, Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights, Parks and Rec, Prison Break, season 1-2 of Modern Family...
..I'm sure I'm missing a few..
what can I say, we like our shows.

FACT:
I don't like anything cold on my teeth.
ouuuucccchhhh!
cold air, cold water, ice, Popsicles, ice cream...
If you are one of those people that can bite your ice cream, you make me cringe!

FACT:
I get hangry really bad.
(Angry from being so hungry..)
 
FACT:
Fact is.. I hate this saying.
 ...Well CLEARLY I'm not a dog...
But if rewarding myself with a donut after an hour of body combat is wrong, then baby I don't want to be right!


What are some of YOUR facts?
Don't forget to link up to Whitney's blog, HERE!


XOXO



Ain't nobody got time for that!

So many annoying things come along with the absolutely freezing cold weather here.
Inversion, icicles, the fact that I'm just straight up cold ALL THE TIME....
 
But my least favorite thing about the cold is frost on my FREAKING windshield!
SERIOUSLY. It's zero degrees outside, the last thing I want to do is scrape ice off my car!
 
I saw this pin on Pinterest today & laughed out loud.
This was me this morning. ...and every other morning it's cold outside..

 
AMEN.

 


The Need to Nurture

THE NEED TO NURTURE...
I'm talkin' the need to feed when hungry, calm when crying, comfort when sad...
And no, I'm not talking about husbands...
 
Aren't we all born with SOME SORT of need to nurture? Don't we all have SOME motherly attributes?
[No mother, I'm not pregnant..]
 
This, ladies and gentlemen is why I wanted a bunny. I can feed him, love on him, give him treats, play with him.. & yet I still don't have to change diapers, listen to him whine & I can lock him in a cage when I want to leave.
Which apparently is socially unacceptable to do with children.. ??
 
...................................................................................................
Any of my family members would tell you that if I laid out all of my Christmas presents and asked a complete stranger to guess what age group my gifts were for.. they would probably say a 5 year old. A few of my Christmas gifts this year consisted of a cupcake pillow, a photographer Barbie, pink gel pens & a toy bunny.
 
This isn't your typical stuffed toy bunny people, it makes real bunny noises and can hop in a full circle. I brought it home with shiny new batteries & had no idea what was about to happen...
 
Winston absolutely fell in love!
He takes care of it, guards it when I walk by & I've caught Winston grooming the toy's ears multiple times.
It's ADORABLE.
 
 My own little fuzzy baby stepped it up to make sure this toy was taken care of
HAHA

I guess I'm not the only one with the need to nurture!

 

So What & Oh Well

As of lately, I've come to realize these are quickly becoming my new phrases....

 
SO WHAT
If I catch myself talking out loud to other cars?
I yelled "THANK YOU!" to the nice car that let me in a huge line of cars this morning.

Could he hear me? Absolutely not.
Is this something I used to laugh at my mom for doing?
....It sure is....
....OH WELL.....
(& sorry mom!)
.............................................
 A few nights ago after an intense workout at the gym I got home and started putting some clothes away. I moved a pile of laundry and there it was.. on the floor just staring at me. One lightly padded boob insert that is SUPPOSED to go in my gym top.
"Where was the other one?" you might ask...?
Safely nestled in my shirt.
I went to the gym as uni-boob.
SO WHAT!
Sadly enough that wouldn't be the first time I have been referred to as uni-boob.
.....OH WELL....
...............................................
How can it be possible that no matter HOW MANY bobby pins I buy over and over they all seem to disappear? Most of the time when things disappear I can safely assume Winston ate it. And when I say "things disappear" I'm referring to his poo.
I don't get it.
Bobby pin thief?
Down the drain?
Elf canes?
This will always be a life mystery.
.....OH WELL....

..............................................................
Last night I went to the Temple with a cute new couple in the ward. I'm in the locker room and quietly go to put my WHITE temple clothes on... and BOOM!
There I am, staring at my fluorescent purple bra. A fluorescent purple bra that WON'T quite cut it underneath a white lace shirt.
Just. my. luck.
I don't even want to tell you what I had to do. 
All I know, is that I never want to feel like a 12 year old fat boy ever again in public.
....OH WELL....

.............................................................
Last night AFTER the Temple we went to a ward member's house for some serious goodies.
I may or may not have told a little white lie about one of the desserts.
SO WHAT!
Then it came back to bite me in the butt. I was sent home with an ENTIRE plate of this certain dessert. uuuuggghhh....
The sweet hostess kept handing me plates and plates of treats to take home.
As we FINALLY leave, making like bandits, it happened.
I could see the whole thing in slow motion.
The plate of mushy dessert goes STRAIGHT TO THE FLOOR.
Face down I might add.
Did Karma cut me?
Why yes, yes it did.
......OH WELL....
Needless to say, we had a few REALLY good laughs about it in the car.
Good times.
...............................................................



WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR SO WHAT & OH WELL MOMENTS?

Happy Friday!
XOXO

 
 


The Benefits of..

...LEMON WATER
 
I'm going to do a few more posts about "The Benefits of...."
I've been trying out some new things & I'm excited to post about them!
 ..............................................
When I was little I often had sleepovers at my Pink Gma's house. I was either making houses out of cardboard boxes & markers, playing with my mini Tupperware set, running in the turtle sprinkler while trying not to drink "Weber water" OR I was selling something in her driveway..
 
One time I decided I was going to sell Pink Gma's secret drink potion. Which isn't much of a secret at all... 
LEMON WATER.
Just plain old ice water with lemon juice in it.
I am proud to say it was my most successful stand my childhood ever saw.
I made a whopping $40.00
Yes, $40.00 for Lemon Water.
Either it was really good, or people passing by pitied me.
Either way, I got $40.00.
 
I recently found THIS ARTICLE online about 5 major benefits of drinking Lemon Water. INCLUDING keeping your skin healthy and glowing! (My favorite reason) 

I haven't had any soda for almost 2 years now. This is a huge accomplishment considering I grew up drinking Diet Coke from baby bottles. I feel like so many drinks have empty calories so I've been trying to drink a lot more water. Adding a little lemon makes it 1,000 times easier for me to drink water!

When life gives you lemons, make lemon water!
[& have awesome skin!!]

Ballet Blast!

Lately I've been ALL ABOUT trying new workouts!
But this one has TOPPED the charts!

Last night I went to the Ballet Blast @ Groove The Academy in North Salt Lake.
I went with Kiki, my cousin Noelle & one of her friends!
The beautiful Brianne Johnson taught this class.. she's also the co-host of Good Things Utah on ABC 4 & The Daily Dish on CW30!
(You can find her facebook page HERE! Go "like" it!)
 
Ballet Blast was a perfect combo of a great core, leg, butt, arm & cardio workout all thrown together with some killer Ballet moves. This was the best full body workout I've had in a while!  I can honestly say I've NEVER sweat at the gym like I did last night.
 
All of you dancers out there will know ballet is not ballet without great posture.
Doing all of these moves with perfect posture really added to the intensity!
Brianne was totally upbeat the whole time & was awesome to go around the room to help people as the class went along.
She is darling!
 
Ballet Blast is every Tuesday at 8:00 pm at Groove The Academy
First time is FREE, after that class is $10.00
They are selling a 4 time pass for $30.00

I think the awesome thing about this class is it's perfect for all fitness levels
I loved every minute of it!
If you try it once you will BE HOOKED!
 

 


Bye Bye Christmas Tree

I've been avoiding taking our Christmas tree down considering it's the third week of January now...
I guess I've been hoping that I'd walk in the front door to find it magically boxed itself up and stored itself away in our freezing outside storage closet.
No such luck.
 
This past weekend I finally got around to taking all the ornaments down. I still took my sweet time in attempts to avoid the inevitable.
I boxed up all of the holiday decorations & wanted to Kim Kardashian Ugly Cry as a piece of my soul went into storage along with the pretty garlands and glass ornaments.
I was even so sad to put my Justin Beiber Christmas CD away I made SURE it was pressed up against the clear box so it would be the first thing I saw next year when it was time to decorate again.


 Even though I'm so bummed the Holidays are over, I'm so excited for upcoming events!
Valentine's day first of all...

See ya next year Christmas Tree! 

Video Montageeeeeeee




Whelp, I was looking through my camera and found a lot of shaky footage of family and friends from my trip back to the States and thought I'd share a smile with you. Obviously I didn't have my camera handy every time someone said something funny or a moment was made, but I nevertheless think this is a decent record of what went on and where.
After experimentally posting it directly in blogger because youtube (no capital for you!) decided that the third party content I used as a soundscape counts as property infringement, I've opened an account with vimeo and there hasn't been trouble yet.
When you consider that less than 100 people are likely to see this video and that some of them may be moved to buy the music, it becomes obvious why both youtube and that record label need to slow their roll. But since they want to set their ringtone to scorched earth, I will gladly light my blow torch.
And so, in the spirt of "sticking it where you still can,"  I've provided a link to download that song and many others for free:

01 - Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
02 - Twin Shadow - Five Seconds
03 - Screaming Females - Rotten Apple
04 - FIDLAR - Cheap Beer
05 - Wavves - Hippies Is Punks
06 - Dum Dum Girls - Season in Hell
07 - DIIV - Doused
08 - Lotus Plaza - Monoliths
09 - Gypsy & the Cat - Bloom
10 - Tame Impala - Elephant
11 - Thee Oh Sees - Flood’s New Light
12 - The Babies - Alligator
13 - Divine Fits - Baby Get Worse
14 - Cat Power - Ruin
15 - Haim - Forever
16 - Roosevelt - Sea
17 - Blood Diamonds - Phone Sex [ft. Grimes]
18 - Elite Gymnastics - Andreja 4-Ever
19 - Still Corners - Fireflies
20 - Chromatics - Cherry
21 - The xx - Chained
22 - Sky Ferreira - Everything Is Embarrassing [Demo]

DOWNLOAD FULL ZIP

Happy Trails. 

Friday Letters

 DEAR OBGYN:
Going to you once a year is once too many if you ask me!
You are scary, your hands are cold & you make me sweat like a fat kid in a candy shop.
 
 
DEAR BLOG FRIENDS:
My little ginger Natalie, aka Fatalie moved to Hawaii for schoolio.
Now that she's moved from Salt Lake City (infamous for minivans with family stickers on the back window) to palm trees & ocean breeze, you can follow her adventures HERE
You won't regret it, she's  super cute AND funny.
 
DEAR DJANGO:
(The D is silent.)
YOU. WERE. AWESOME.
I would highly recommend it if you can stomach watching a Quentin Tarantino movie for 3 hours.

DEAR (attempted) PHONE THEIF:
You found my phone, SHUT IT OFF & I couldn't call OR track my phone.  


A complete stranger had my phone containing over 70 videos & 4,795 photos that seriously mean so much to me.
4,795 photos.. you read that correctly..
I'm happy to have my phone back THANKS TO MY MOM who went back and demanded hand it over.
CLEARLY I would have lost some real photo gems..


 
DEAR GYM:
I'm coming to you more often but you are still not quite on my friends list.
I can thank my sweet husband though for the glutamine pills in my stocking- and I can still barely move.

 
DEAR UTAH:
I have such a love/hate relationship with you. I love you until it snows like it did last night. My car was completely snowed in with NO chances of getting out. Thank you brother for the ride to work, and thank you bosses for understanding why I was an hour and a half late!



DEAR FOLLOWERS:
Last month my facebook started acting all crazy and wouldn't let me share any blog posts. Then my instagram stopped working- anytime someone tagged me in a post it wouldn't show up & I realized most of my captions never showed up either. I realized it was my blog link- so I had to change it.
It you try to use the old link it will tell you it's no longer there- I DIDN'T ERASE MY BLOG :)

The new address is: thegordongoodlife.blogspot.com

I had to add "the" - and my instagram is now working as well as my blog posts on facebook.
I have NO IDEA why it was doing this- if any of you know, PLEASE, enlighten me!


 
Happy Friday I hope everyone is warm and safe!


 

The Screaming Sheep

This morning I ran across this video that my sister posted to my mom's facebook page.
 
If you don't find this hysterical there is something seriously wrong with you.

 
 
 
 

Queen of the eyesores

Annnnnnnnd we're back from blogging hiatus. I would apologize for my absence, but that's bad for morale, so instead I'll solemnly swear I've been up to no good.

The last three weeks have found me on the State side of the moon forgetting everything I knew about French and remembering little American tricks like eggnog and cheddar cheese.
We spent the first few days of our trip with Sebastien's parents in Columbus, Ohio--I tried the strangest ice creams there: Banana and bacon, rosemary, olive oil and chocolate chip, raspberry and goat cheese and marshmallow and yams. We also met up with a friend from university and caught up on the who-and-the-what.

Next stop was Saint Louis to rendezvous with all of the Torrini Clan--ie Sebastien's extended family on his mother's side. It's cool because a lot of his cousins are right around our age and they've asking interesting questions, dating cool people and have maintained good taste in music.

From the Lou we caught a flight to Boston and met up with another college friend- whom my best friend from High school coincidentally learned about on Goodreads. If you like Zombie books, you should check her out too.
After that I spent more time than I should have at Chez ma mere. My mother for her part doesn't really like me, stoutly refuses to offer me validation but is at least willing to miss me sincerely whenever I leave--so that's something, I suppose.
Seb and I rang in the New Year with my younger sister and my best friends along the shore of Oyster Pond watching the fireworks from water's edge. While it certainly lacked the splendor of the 14th of July in Paris, we were most definitely entertained.
It's always fun being on the Cape, looking over my old bookshelfs and boxes now relegated to the cellar. I can see me and remember what was feeling that first read through whenever I touch the spine of an old book. Just on a lark I reread the Great Gatsby and decided by page six that this text is utterly wasted on High school Students:
 "Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven-a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax."

If your not impressed, you will be if only you reread the book for yourself. And why not? It will fit so cleverly into your pocket.
Atanyrate, I shared this notion of wastefulness and teenagers with my former English teacher, whom I had the good fortune to encounter at my younger brother's basketball game and was pleased to find that she whole heartedly agreed. It very much made me feel like I was in a secret club...
Having wrapped things up on Cape Cod about as well as could be hoped, Sebastien and I have been back in Boston for a day or two trying to squeeze in all the last minute visits and shopping trips we can. They don't, for instance, sell dryer sheets in France...dafuq?
On to cultural notes:
Sweatpants...they're a thing in Boston.
You can honestly pay a lot of money for a pair of sweats in the US. This would never, ever, I repeat ever happen in Europe.
Heading to the corner store for some milk?
Get on some real pants.
Seriously Boston, Jake gets it--why don't you?
I'm not trying to be uppity or put on airs--it's the T not the metro. I may speak a second language but haven't forgotten my roots. It's just that  uggs and a juicy suit have never been my thing. And I would never date a guy in ecco complex anything. I'm not a judgy face--I don't even like Downton Abbey.

Other cultural notes:
American Pickles are better.  But if tiny and warty is your thing, I'm not going to stop you.
Trader Joes is an asset to cultural diffusion. Did you know that you can buy raclette cheese there now?And the samples lady called  Crayfish langoustine.... Ok playa, time to pump those breaks. Cos that shit cray.
American beers are way better than French ones. Belgium you're still cool. Seriously though, Europe--Stop scoffing and start checking out these breweries: Magic Hat, Flying dog, Red Hook,  Blue Moon. Honestly, these are just my steady eddies, a bunch of new regional beers have sprung up that I haven't even had the time to try. Much like how the States can't be summarized by San Francisco and New York City--American beer isn't just Budweiser. But sometimes it is, because I get nostalgic for running from the cops and drinking in the woods. Plus bud light is 7 dollars a pitcher--and that's after happy hour.

I feel like I'm leaving a lot of stuff out and that this is also getting kind of long so for further clues as to how I spent my time you can head over to my new instagram feed.  Add me if you like me.

In closing, I just want to make clear that I'm so glad I we made this trip. I saw a lot of the people I love--not all, but a lot of them. Sebastien and I came up against constraints and annoyances  and still managed to make the best of it. If you haven't heard me say it in awhile, he's so much better than I deserve.
We head back to France tomorrow.
It's weird to know that I still feel more relaxed in States that I've never lived in than a country that I've called home for two years. And yet, I'm going back expecting to feel relieved when French is the background noise I hear between songs....Attention à la marche en descendant du train.. 
I will.
I always do.
Even when it's just the T and there ain't no gap to speak of.

Annoyed

I've been MIA this week on the blog.
Blogger is being really stupid & won't let me upload any pictures.
Posts just aren't the same without them!
 
I noticed another blogger friend having the same issue..
Has anyone else had this problem & found a solution??
 
HELP!
 


.SHE.

 
If any of you ladies haven't read or seen the book "She"
I HIGHLY suggest you buy it.
Complete Gem Status!
 
This short book is so inspiring and one of my treasures.


[I think this description I found online says it all.....]


"There are many ways to describe the wonderful women in our life: mother, daughter, sister or wife. Student, teacher, customer or friend. Celebrate them all with this beautiful and inspiring gift book. Here is an unforgettable testimony to the strength, beauty, wisdom and tenderness of the female spirit. Let her know how much she means to you. Write a note on the inside flyleaf and give her the gift of She. Let her know she's someone special. She is."
 
I found the book on sale at Barnes and Noble. If you don't buy it for anyone else, buy it for yourself. You won't regret it!
Buy it from Barnes and Noble HERE
 
XOXO
HAPPY WEEKEND!


Happy New Year!

2012...
Looking back on 2012 and seeing everything I accomplished, I'm so happy with all that has happened.. 2012 was such a fun year with lots of major events!
From getting married, snorkeling for the first time in Puerto Rico, visiting Seattle, opened my Etsy shop, went from Blonde to Brunette, certified for eyelash extensions, spent time with family, moved into a new apartment, my blog turned 1, and my sis moved for college..
 
I can't wait to find out what adventures 2013 will bring!
 
Just like every other new year, we set our resolutions.
I'm excited to work on those & possibly post some progress along the way!
 
It's gonna be a good year!