Here and There

This is where I lived, La Jolla, CA.

In a post coming soon, I'll show you where I live now.

Cheers!

From the Etsy Blog

Home Again

New place of residence: Lincoln, Nebraska
Duration of stay so far: 14 days
Accomplishments:
1) Unloaded 40 boxes of my earthly belongings and settled into my space in the basement of my parent's house (what can I say, no one could compete with the rent)
2) Helped my mother acquire a puppy for my father (name: Daisy)
3) Have worked manically since the day I got back and haven't missed any deadlines yet
4) Have been slowly making my way back into Lincoln society
5) Spent some great quailty time with a couple of friends
6) Have been honored by invitations to join three separate book clubs already, thus, I consider myself a successful fraud in establishing myself as an intellectual reader (I know many greater readers than myself who take far less pride in their literary conquests)
7) Signed up for a 5k and got some friends who have never done one to come with

What I have yet to accomplish (got all day?): Have yet to...
1) Train for said 5k race or acquire gym membership
2) Finish unpacking completely
3) Read books for said book clubs
4) Make comprehensive list of goals and aspirations for my "new season" in Lincoln
5) Secure a permanent position work wise
6) Keep in touch with my S.D. people and remind them how much they mean to me
7) Potty train said puppy

When I got back to NE, I was completely overwrought. I don't know the last time I felt so run down, but between a completely frenetic work schedule, packing and moving, emotional good byes to friends, poor eating habits, and a general lack of sleep spanning three weeks, I was pretty much a grumpy, out-of-control mess. Now, after two weeks of plentiful sleep, good home-cooked food, and (finally) being unpacked, I am prepared to take on this new season with much fervor.
Spring is almost here and I am delighted to be back home for a real, actual change in season. Rain is expected all week and I relish the clouds and the barely perceptible green peaking out from the brown, damp earth. It's going to be a very good year and I am so humbled already by how things have worked out so far.

Happy to be home again, in short.

COMING SOON: new blog look and more regular postings! Thanks for your patience!!

Want!

As I said in an earlier post, will provide more substantial updates once I'm all moved and back in the Midwest, but for now I hope you like seeing the videos/things that inspire me and make me happy!

Five Great Things Friday

So I missed last week, but that just gave me extra time to find five great things!
1) I love this idea, after having white walls for so long (which have served me well), in my next space I'm looking forwad to splashing brilliant colors on my walls and perhaps investing in some great decals like these.
2) I'm obsessed with Fiesta ware; the great colors with the retro shapes make me very happy. I want this little creamer (no sugar bowl needed...I don't take sugar with my coffee!).
3) Shifting to something more refined, I love this idea for a necklace.

















4) These shoes speak for themselves. Super cute, handmade flats.


5)I will own a typewriter someday. It's like a computer sans distractions. Envision this little cutie on a desk with fresh flowers, a cup of coffee, a dictionary/thesaurus and me writing (no cell phones or internet necessary).

Meg, Better, Best

(Serious, contemplative blog post ensues; will do something fun next week.)

Sometimes I feel like a superlative, much of the time I feel like just plain Meg. I'm built up and encouraged and told I'm amazing (thank you, by the way--I don't take your compliments lightly), but those people don't see my icky stuff. Living alone especially lends itself well to the icky stuff. Why, for example, is my bed unmade 300 days of the calendar year? Why do I sometimes knowingly go to bed without brushing my teeth (at least three times a month)? Why can't I finish my story, my piano piece, my workout goal, my bible readings, etc?

I've been told I'm too hard on myself. If that's true, why did I quit the gym? Why is my painting still unfinished? Why has the bread set out for three days instead of going back in the freezer where it will keep? Why are my letters to loved ones still unsent?

These are just the "gravy" bits too, the meat and potatoes of being an adult: bills, car stuff, work-related items, budgets, groceries, nobody tells you how much of your time that will take up. It's kind of fun...when you're caught up. The second you let one slip though, the whole kitten kaboodle goes out the window and you spend the next six months catching up.

So fix it. Seems simple, right?

I need a plan. Here goes:

1) Will go on a fast of only natural foods: primarily fruits and veggies, lean meat, limited bread, fiber-rich carbs, and some healthy recipes I can cook up and freeze over the weekend for weekday lunches.
2) Will find a minimum of two classes at the gym I'll attend regularly.
3) Will give my remote control to my friend, Blake. He'll get the biggest kick out of my insanity while keeping me accountable.
4) Read my one-year Bible daily again, catch up (I'm currently on the end of April...I've got some reading to do).
5) Sign up for a 5k and start training at Mission Bay.
6) Finish my acrylic painting: deadline is mid-July.
7) Learn and perfect only one new song on the piano.
8) Block out 20 minutes before bedtime every night to clean up my apartment, I won't have to go any longer than that, but I can't go any less.
9) Will work on my second job editing on certain nights of the week and for a set number of hours over the weekend in my home so I don't spend extra money on coffee shop nonsense costs.
10) Will get up 15 minutes earlier everyday to do morning bible reading AND take 15 minutes of my lunch breaks for reading it too (take second copy of one-year Bible to work).

Well, that should get me started. Sorry to any readers who are disappointed by my dull blog post this week; but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

CONNECTED FOR GOOD

Okay, I've got Internet. I bought it. They installed it yesterday. It's official. I can do all the Internet-y things I've been wanting to do which include Skyping with friends, playing the piano music I'm working on using YouTube so I can get rhythms and nuances right, catching up Ugly Betty on ABC.com, doing banking more regularly, looking up recipies (biggie), and editing for my freelance job (bigger biggie). HURRAH!

Who knows, maybe even the quality of my blog will improve as I won't be rushing through posts as much!

Twenty Four

What would you do with an extra 24 hours? I can't possibly imagine why anyone would be interested in my answer to this question, but here it is regardless (this is a practical list, not something like "Go back to Spain and eat paella," stuff I could do here in S.D.) :

2 I would practice the piano; I'm working on Philip Glass piece from "The Hours" and a Yann Tiersen.

2 I would give myself a manicure and pedicure (30 minutes, I already keep things up pretty well) while watching a movie rented from the library with a friend.

3 I would read in bed and fall asleep for an hour.

2 I would go grocery shopping and buy the ingredients to make another recipe out of my Magnolia cookbook (baking time not included).

2 I would lay out in the sun

2 I would go work out even though I would hate the first 15 minutes of it.

3 I would go swimming and diving for coins.

1.5 I would read in the tub and scrub up.

1 I would call a friend and catch up.

2 I would write a stack of letters to everyone and burn a new seasonal CD to enclose.

.5 I would fold all the clothes I'd thrown into my dresser haphazardly.

2 I would go shopping for a new dress.

1 I would color, draw, or paint.

disconnected

Internet disappeared, now requires a password. My little heart breaks and so does my piggy bank now...must go buy Internet.

CONNECTED

I'M SOMEHOW GETTING INTERNET IN MY APARTMENT!!! No joke, this is seriously blessing my face off, this is the first time in over a year that I've been able to sit in my home, at my cute little desk, with a cup of homemade coffee and WORK, editing for my freelance job. This can only be an act of God, thank you so much, God!!!!

Here With Me

I'm back in my little French cafe, it seems to be good for writing as I'm certainly not getting any editing done.
As I came up the walk, I noticed that the cushions they'd bought last spring had gone from bright red to a faded poppy color. I knew where all the outlets were when I went inside and the server smiled at me with familiarity as she slid cups of coffee in front of a couple sitting near. Have I really lived here long enough for this? I hardly ever use my GPS to get around anymore, and I even gave directions to a stranger the other day.

I've lived here for well over a year now, and there are some other things that have lost some of their color and some things that retain their brilliance yet. I hardly ever visit the ocean anymore. After I came home from Christmas and flew over it on the way, I didn't feel the need to; I used to feel like if I didn't visit it it might recede and disappear altogether, so strange and wonderful it was to have it at my disposal on a day-to-day basis. Formalities at work have fallen by the wayside and I am more frank with my colleagues and they are more real with me too. I feel less guilty than I used to when staying indoors during a gorgeous day, having grown up with the mentality that a day of sun was a sin to waste.

Though I am far from the honeymoon stage, I am happy here. I don't mean to stay forever, but this place is good for me. I miss my people every day, not one goes by that I don't regret not having you here. Different days for different people: when I walk into Anthropologie (I like to think of it as a clothing museum due to the exorbitant prices) Leslie is by my side finding the pieces that are just on the wrong side of style and making jokes and eating popcorn with me whenever I watch an unusual film; when I'm curled up at home with a book and candlelight, Alison is across from me on the couch, our feet in each other's laps and we end up enthralled in conversation instead of our novels; Sarah is always with me whenever I'm near the ocean and thinking of her often results in my dropping a thank you note to God for whatever is good that day; Heather is there when I wrap myself in the music she's given me, her music is home to me; Laura's laugh echoes in my ears whenever I see something rediculous or offbeat and I can easily conjure her hug when I need it; when I hear Spanish, I pretend Jessica is there to help me figure out what we just heard--sometimes we make up our own translations; Peter, you are the smell of an orange to me; Gina, you sit invisible across from me whenever I dine alone at a restaurant or go out to coffee; Tiffany's words return to me when I lose clarity and usually bring me to prayer.

This list is by no means exhaustive, these are just the people on my mind at the moment. Thank you for your unwavering support and friendship despite the miles and the duration. You all make me a better woman and I'm so blessed to know you.

A Life To-Do List

A woman at my work has a "Life To-Do List" and I couldn't BELIEVE I hadn't thought to make one yet! So here's a short (and non-personal) list of some things I must do before I take my leave of this world. NOTE: If you've done any of these things, please comment and let me know how it went, I'd love to read about your experience!
_______________________________________________

-Glide down Venice's Grand Canal in a gondola
-Visit every U.S. state (18 to go)
-Do a cartwheel
-Write and publish a play, book, or story
-Learn French (Have my "French for Dummys" CDs in the car)
-Buy an opal in Australia, then wear it to a performance at the Sydney Opera House









-Run a half marathon
-Make every recipe out of the Magnolia Bakery cookbook (albeit a little counter productive to the marathon...)
-Commission a painting
-Live in France for a spell, maybe raise my daughter there for a year or two to establish her in the language

-Read 100 books in a year (only about two a week, no prob!)
-Wear a dress designed by Sarah Knudsen
-Return to Barcelona
-Climb a mountain (a smallish, safe one, I hate heights)



-Conquer my fear of spiders (I'm on my way! Now that I live alone, my choices are to kill the spider myself or to wait for it to stealthily crawl into bed with me later! So I kill.)
-Traverse the Great Wall of China
-Work in a coffee shop
-Read the entire Bible in Spanish



-Become a wine aficionado
-Read everything ever written by C.S. Lewis
-Go blonde
-Hike Machu Picchu (before it crumbles away!)
-Try surfing, for the hilarity of seeing me try to balance on a slab of styrofoam if nothing else
-Ride a mechanical bull

-Stay in an ice hotel


-Work in a book store
-Learn Italian
-See the Taj Mahal
-Own a pair of Manolo Blahniks, Salvatore Ferragamos, or (best yet) vintage Roger Vivier





-Learn to juggle
-Practice a Chopin until it's performance-ready (working on Prelude No. 15 in D-flat Major 'Raindrop')
-Become fluent in Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator and create something beautiful
-Learn to play the guitar
-Watch a space shuttle launch onsite
-Send a message in a bottle and give it to the ocean
-Party in Rio at Carnival
-Have a bowl of shark soup
-Find the absolute perfect white T-shirt (then buy 10 of them)
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BONUS POST:
Two new firsts! First parking ticket in San Diego (I was EIGHT MINUTES LATE), and another new fruit! My first blood orange, in honor of Alison b/c last night I promised her I'd try another new fruit. I've had blood orange before as an ingredient, but never on its own as a whole fruit. It's in my lunchbag, I'll let you know how it is.

Being more pacific...

Hello from sunny San Diego! I've been in San Diego for almost a week now and will start my job tomorrow. I confess, I'm pretty nervous to go to work, my editing skills are well below par as I've had a summer and a semester away from my training in that field but I'm prepared for a real challenge (finally, since last semester proved arduous though not stimulating).
I hope this entry finds you all well and off to a great new year so far. Know that I miss you all very much.
Posted are some shots of my apartment as taken with my webcam on my mac, so you'll have to excuse the quality. I left my camera cord in NE so once retrieved, I can post some quality photographs.
Today I'm going to make my way down my lengthy to-do list, catch some sun (it is SO beautiful here, it feels like the very best pre-summer day at 68 degrees and breezy) and settle into a cozy seat at the Starbucks located about 100 yards from my doorstep and write some long overdue thank you notes to family and friends for all their support and generosity this winter season.