Elton John just performed a portion of this song with Lady Gaga on tonight’s Grammys. Loved it.

I adore this song. Always have. I’ve thought it’d be beautiful wedding song. Maybe mine one day.

It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can easily hide
I don’t have much money but boy if I did
I’d buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one’s for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they’ve got me quite cross
But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song
It’s for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green or they’re blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen

Adorable cookies at a new favorite eatery of mine: S&S in Inman Square. Fulfilling brunch with the girls; I’ll definitely be back soon! And these cute cookies were inspiration for some lovey-dovey baked goods ; )

My purchases from Forever 21…do you think I prefer a certain color palette??….

weekend wrap-up

A chill weekend overall, but still quite busy and also quite productive, which makes me quite happy : )

Friday night some friends and I battled the bitter cold biting our noses and ears and indulged in margaritas and mexican cuisine…and then Crumbs cupcakes back in my cozy, warm apartment afterwards. Delicious.

Saturday, a girlfriend and I surprised one of our college roommates and we took to the Natick mall with high hopes. What a terrible shopping time of year! All of the winter stuff on sale is shitty (who wants another sweater now anyways) and spring stuff is emerging…but how can I even think about cute, frilly tanks when I can see my breath outside and when it isn’t even February!?

So we settled (though with some fabulous finds I wouldn’t consider it “settling”) for some credit card damage at Forever 21. I needed a shopping hit!

But oh my goodness, J. Crew’s early spring line…amazing. My dream wardrobe. Absolutely beautiful. Even the itsy bitsy bikinis are to die for. Hurry up sweet summertime. Or at least temperatures above 25 degrees.

Exhaustion is becoming my norm

TGIF

I can’t say it enough. I’m beyond tired; literally beyond what is considered tired. I actually feel re-energized being in a zone, coffee in hand, not really noticing what is going on around me or what I should be doing; just in the zone, staring not seeing, doing, not living.

So I should just hiberate in this painful Boston arctic that has descended upon us…but nope, as much as that sounds absolutely lovely, my 24 year old social self is embarking upon another busy weekend of sorts; calmer than some but still active to say the least.

A girlfriend is visiting, another one just got into med school, and today is Friday, I need a release and I’m in a good mood having just found out that I’ll be in Denver in April putting together a work event…so…it’s off for a Mexican dinner and margaritas with a gang of amigos.

And hoping a little marg helps put me into a good, restful slumber after.

“If you work really, really hard, and you’re kind… amazing things will happen to you.” - Conan O’Brien

(on his last show as host of the Tonight Show)

“We make progress by eliminating.” - Steve Jobs

(from the Apple case study at my work conference last week)

Sexy hotel room

My hotel room & views while staying and working in Times Square. Not too shabby, huh? I could seriously live in this room and be completely satisfied.

I've been MIA

I’m still in recovery mode. I swear. I’m not lying. I’ve had an intense 7 days:

-I took a ski lesson up north in New Hampshire. I’m so glad I did. I feel into lust with skiing and the slopes. Not that I spent a lot of time on the slopes, but still. I dominated the bunny hills and I’m proud to say that I got the feeling down by the end of my lesson. Despite some spills, I’m eager to get outside and practice more. I can just picture myself…with some cute snow apparel…

- Then it was off to NYC for work purposes…and I was “on” for 72 hours. I wanted to do well, I wanted to succeed and show my boss that I was more than competent. I wanted to be proud of myself. And I am. The whole conference went smoothly, went well, and mentally exhausted me. But despite my self-inflicted pressure, I had a blast. The more I do it, the more I feel comfortable and fall in love with event planning. And with NYC. I worked my booty off, and yet still had so much fun. Grabbing drinks at the W Hotel with 2 girlfriends, having dinner and open bar at the Harvard Club and staying in a gasp-inducing hotel room doesn’t hurt either.

- And then Friday late afternoon, I left Times Square for the Upper East Side and crashed at my friend’s apartment for the weekend. I scoped out the townhouse from the ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys’ film, had dinner in Little Italy and walked around the NYC streets and it was fantastic. ….and while it was tons of fun per usual with my visits, I still feel physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. I had so much adrenalin raging through my body for weeks up until the event, with the new job, that I’m still working to come down. And yet, I’m having difficulty. How do you get out of a funk, a funk you can’t even describe, but one where you feel anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed. And still exhausted. And when I feel like this, everything seems worse. I feel gross, fat and yet, have no time or energy to work out…which could help. Today I shoved in a half hour at the gym, and felt a bit better. I want to stick to my New Years resolution. I must. I will.

Last night gave me some relief as well. Maybe all I needed was a few simple, easy requests to be fulfilled; some yummy food (Indian cuisine!), some laughs and happy tears (‘Modern Family’ and ‘The Office’…and Jim & Pam’s love story), and to be embraced. To be touched. I breathed a bit better last night.

Weird movie, cute dress

Most adorably, delicious, cutesy, fantastical, whimsical, sweet stationary I’ve seen in a very long time. Must check out their website, since I couldn’t do it justice with these pictures!!

I’m nervous I look goth. I painted my nails “Siberian Nights” a dark, deep, rich purple..that also looks quite black in certain lights. This is not good.

zumbaaaa

Tonight I tried zumba…and it was fabulous!! Shaking my booty, twirling my arms and just jumping all around was silly, fun, and a great workout! It was definitely a great decision to sign up for the 7-class special.

Up early tomorrow for a work project and then home to prepare for the arrival of a dear friend of mine. And to paint my nails a deep shade of “Siberian Nights.”

lazy night w/ the boy…we were going to head out for some drinks w/ a friend of his from college but it got postponed til tomorrow.

instead i discovered a new tv show to become addicted to: “Blood, Sweat & Takeaways” on the Planet Green channel. I like the show, fascinating…but I must admit, I also just love the word “takeaway.” Reminds me of my time in London. And takeaways from Cafe Uno.

Can’t wait for my visitor this weekend. We’ll reminisce about London & good ole Marble Arch for hours. And laugh til our sides hurt. And only us will be in on the jokes. And it’ll be beyond wonderful.

Tonight's menu:

Tonight I acted as co-chef with a girlfriend, as we made a pretty healthy dinner for ourselves: steak with asparagus, tomatoes and brown rice.

Yummy chocolate chip cookie cupcake as dessert.

But oh god, I’m stuffed. I have twin food babies. Tomorrow I VOW to become focused on my slimming down mission.

Having the cupcakes in the apartment doesn’t exactly help…

I’m currently attempting to make Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cupcake (minus chocolate chunks, substituting chocolate chips).

Smells delicious…the chips somewhat sank to the bottom of the cupcakes…hope that’s normal/ok!?

A nice, simple recipes for cupcakes…and no need for frosting! Easy to transport too…for work tomorrow morning!

what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon  : )

what a kitchen

Meryl Streep’s kitchen in “It’s Complicated.” Simply, it’s just lovely.

The characters of my weekend...

Some holiday snapshots

Looking back

I feel the need to reflect a bit more on 2009 before really embracing 2010. Why, because 2009 was an insane year for me (but then again, isn’t every year huge for each one of us in some way or another?).

I entered 2009 with a job at a financial PR firm with the boss from hell and I detested every single day walking into that smelly, hot office. I cried. I felt sick. And as much as people thought one shouldn’t walk away from a job in this current economy, I ended up walking away and am so glad I did. Because it led me to where I am today, I’m certain of that, and I’m really liking where I am today.

I did a little work with an online company and that fell through, but once again, despite the enormous stress and anxiety it gave me at the time, without these collapses, I wouldn’t be in the fabulous place I am today. It made me step back and see how I wasn’t looking where I was going.

I was so eager/desperate to find a job, any job, that I was settling/agreeing to do anything. I thought a job would equal zero-stress & money, and when I look back now and remember what jobs I was willingly applying for, I shake my head at the waste of time and energy I put into that. I desired a reason to be in Boston, a full-time job reason. My parents weren’t kicking me out on the street, I wasn’t starving. And yet, I was desperate to prove myself that I ended up missing it all completely; waking up stressed, sick, exhausted and lost.

And when this all came crumbling down, I went home for a week and said stop it. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do anymore, I had been applying for literally anything. And I returned to Boston, the city I had fallen in love with, and worked at a little boutique. And I was ok.

I loved working with fashion and merchandising. I did some nannying for more money and began freelance writing and working with a wedding and event planner on the side, where I discovered a hidden passion I had for the field. It was a great summer.

And then as I began to apply for full-time, Monday thru Friday positions again in the fall, the stress and anxiety returned. I tried to have faith and I balanced on the edge often. And right before I thought I could fall, my faith restored itself and my patience and hard work paid off. With my eclectic mix of experiences and skills, my resume stood out in a pile and an opportunity presented itself to put these all to use…a week later I had my new job.

And that’s just in the career area of my life.

As this all went on during the tumultuous year, I was lucky enough to have some of the most amazing friends anyone could be blessed with. My girlfriends are my life and our trips are worth the scheduling and traveling effort it takes. I’m continuously amazed at how much I can lean on them and how much fun we have together. I learned what an awesome guy I have in my life, how you never know what life has in store for you since I could never have imagined everything with him, and it just keeps getting better. And my mom and dad and sister (plus my 30+ extended family members) keep my life sane, full of love, laughs, support and more. I learned so much about myself and am a completely better person and different person than I was as I entered 2009 and despite all the tears, fears, anxiety, mistakes, and more, going through this all this past year taught me more than I can explain. At the time I couldn’t believe that, but finally now, I can. And that feeling is awesome.

Yes, I can say it: what a year.

As I enter 2010, I hope to continue the learning process (hopefully with less hiccups and tears) and continue to grow. With this great new job opportunity, I strive to work hard, and see what I can do with my skills, talents and abilities. I can’t even imagine what 2010 will bring but I’m ready to embrace and challenge it.

Oh, and for a new year’s resolution: I’m going to no longer be self-conscious. I want to be self-confident in my body (goodbye beach cover-ups, hello adorable bikinis) and myself as a person and what I want and who I am.

Hopefully this will inspire me to eat better too…  ; )

Resolutions

Last year, for 2009 I made 3 resolutions:

- Swear less

- Say “yes” to more risks, opportunities, adventures

- Give more compliments

2/3 ain’t to bad, right?

I definitely said yes on more chances; I traveled all over, I got involved in more freelance jobs and in the process learned how much I love event planning. I tried skiing (first attempt-fail, but ready to try again), I tried canoeing and camping (fail again), I started to put myself out there more, I even started this blog! I credit some specific people for pushing me, inspiring me to be more adventurous and am so glad they’ve done that. One in particular continues to push me upward and onward…might just make an outdoors girl out of me one day….maybe…..

And I gave out more compliments and enjoyed doing so. You’d be surprised how a little “cute bag” comment in line at Starbucks can make someone smile and even you too. I know I enjoy being compliments, even my strangers, and a little comment here and there can spread even just a little bit more joy.

Swear less…yup failed on that. Oh shit.

2010 came in with a bang...of stress

Past 10 days round-up due to my lack in ability/time to blog:

New Years Eve: fun house party, decked out in tiaras & sequined shirt, vino in hand. With a bunch of fabulous, silly, crazy friends.

New Years day brunch at the boy’s parents: Delicious, sipped mimosa to cure hangover headache. Playing Wii for hours, as I learn to dominate Wii Golf.

Dead for the next 48 hrs. Rise from couches only to eat and shower. Consume several bagels and “District 9” and “Marly & Me.” Disturbed by one flick, tears & warm heart from the other. I want a puppy.

And then began my first full week at the new job: stress, overwhelmed, crazy busy, brain-turned-to-mush, fabulousness. I survived. And hey, the free lunches and drinks out on Thursday were a nice little boost.

And now I’ve had one of the best weekends in awhile and when described, you’ll be picturing a complete dork….

Inhaled PF Changs with some ladies Friday night, followed by the hilarious showing of “It’s Complicated” where I shoved down Dark Chocolate M&Ms, full-belly laughed, and imagined how fun growing old & partying with your hott husband can be. 50 years and up never looked so fun.

Slept for 10 hours and then embraced my quiet weekend with little plans; cleaned my apt, took down all the Christmas crap, drank lots of French Vanilla Folgers, lit my Anthropolgie candle (purchased on sale), organized my room, did my nails, got groceries for the first time in a month, read emails, read blogs, read Vogue with girl-crush Rachel McAdams, watched Lost in Translation (remembered the awesomeness that is Polaroids), vchatted with the Suz, typed up work notes and assignments for next week, and watched another episode of Mad Men.

I sit here now, more coffee in hand, load of laundry spinning away, and feel that weekends like this are so needed. As hard as I fight it, I’m an OCD organizing, to-do list fanatic. This weekend allowed me to repair and get settled and organized after the holidays and start of this new job. It allowed me to prepare for the week’s head business. I feel so unbelievably better about everything, and so much more ready to tackle work tomorrow, knowing I don’t have to come home to a mess (both in my bedroom and my mind). And I’m done feeling embarrassed by this; it’s me, and sometimes I need a day or two to re-group; because once I let myself do this, all is better.

And thank goodness I used these couple days so well…it’s just a bit scary…when’s the next time I’ll have a free weekend!?