The Five

“Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.”  ~Arthur Miller

From Twitter this morning:

@Chookooloonks: 5 best decisions of my adult life so far: go to law school, move to London, marry @marzjennings, adopt Alex, quit law. What are your 5 best?

My response:

1. Moving to Washington
2. Leaving Washington
3. Dating whoever the hell I want
4. Starting No Pasa Nada
5. Living alone

Some of these decisions just happened by accident, living alone for example, others required pro/con lists, hand-wringing with a dollop of anxiety but when it comes down to it, hindsight always presents perfection. Decisions that were difficult turned out to be the best ever. The things I have done in my adult life – all of them and however short my adult life has been – have lead to one good thing after another. Even with those bad days where it seems like I have done everything wrong, they’re just little bumps reminding me to move forward. I can hardly remember the bad when thinking of what I did right. It’s true that every little thing will be alright. Inevitably. Eventually.

So now I ask you, what are the five best decisions of your adult life?

Schmutizie’s response is here: http://www.schmutzie.com/weblog/2011/9/28/the-five-best-decisions-of-my-life.html

Posted in That's Life | 9 Comments

These Three

“While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.”
~Angela Schwindt

I was never really into having children before I met Amy. I liked them enough but I didn’t have that now constant “YOU SHOULD HAVE A BABY” voice in my head as I do now*. Then, inevitably, I suppose, a love and adoration developed for Noah. And subsequently over the years for Ezra and now Ike. I make time to see them whenever I’m in Washington. I curse my way to their home because of traffic and then I am there. They are there. Just like that everything is perfection and legos and wooden apple pies that I should blow on because IT’S HOT! I find myself surrounded by love and hugs and a cuddly baby boy. They are sweet and charming and unfortunately you don’t get to see all of it from online. Amy can weave a story so you get them in pieces but oh, how much you miss from real life. Because how they are is perfection ten-fold. I will consider myself beyond lucky and perfectly blessed to end up with just one child who is exactly like them. Oh how I hope and pray.

*A story for another time. Promise.

Posted in Fotografias, On Happiness, The District Of Columbia | 3 Comments

Courtesy of Missoni Day

“But I had one last-ditch strategy: I approached the lady whose cart was the fullest and very, very urgently asked her if she would be willing — maybe, please? — to sacrifice two of the several black and white Famiglia Wavy hand towels that I could see right there on top of her cart full of stuff. She looked at me as if I had requested a kidney…” – DG Strong Salon.com

I get it: You either really enjoyed Missoni Day  – as that is all it turned out to be – at Target or you wanted to burn down the closest store and all of the chevrony/Cosby-esque goodness. I, personally, was quite taken by the frenzy and how the frenzy barely reached the edges of Upstate New York. When I mentioned to a colleague that I would be taking an early lunch because it’s Missoni Day! She was all “what’s a Missoni?” and then I wept for humanity. It reminds me of an aquaintance who was set on getting some luxury item while in we were in Vegas. We ended up wandering around the shops at the Bellagio for a bit and happened upon Hermes.

“OOH!” she exclaimed, “A her-mees (yes, that’s exactly how she mispronounced it)! We must stop in!” And then I died a little on the inside. Though I can’t afford a perfectly plush silk scarf at least I can pronounce that shit.

But I digress: Missoni Day. I got to the Target across the street from my office and the place was empty save for the normal moms with babes. I shrugged and perused the collection. I knew it was a sign from God when the display shoes of the ballet flats were a size 11. So I purchased those.

Cute, right?

I also bought a set of nesting bowls that are going to look phenomenal on the wood table I just purchased for my kitchen. They’re also going to be perfect as it is almost apple picking time. Can you imagine that big bowl full of red delicious apples? I cannot wait.

There were also a pair of socks and a long open cardigan that I thought would be perfectly cozy but turned out to accentuate the size of my ass. So, that went back.

In the end was it fun? Yes. It gave a sense of thrill to an otherwise boring Tuesday and given that a normal run to Target involves Neutrogena and maybe new athletic socks if I’m lucky, it was a bit of excitement. Was it worth the absolute hysteria and frenzy and OHMYGOD I WILL SHANK YOU IF MY TOUCH MY FABULOUS INFINITY SCARF? Uh, no.

Semi-related: Here my friend Holly reenacts Missoni Day 2011. She’s a funny one.

Posted in I like this | 4 Comments

Warby Parker

“Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective…” – Warby Parker: Our Story

I’ve been asked a number of times where I got my frames:

Warby Parkers

The glasses are courtesy of Warby Parker. A socially conscious eyeglass company similar to Toms shoes: You buy a pair and they provide a pair of glasses to someone in need. That is what initially attracted me to the company as a bleeding-heart liberal who likes to do good in hopes of giving others a chance. I chose the Roosevelt style. Picked because they were ordered during the great Debt Ceiling debate during which congress seriously contemplated drastic changes to entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Warby Parker has a great try-on program where you can choose five styles and test them out for five days. I was hemming and hawing and settled on the Roosevelt because it seemed like a sign: Congress trying to dismantle Social Security while state governments tried to get rid of collective bargaining under the guise of budget cuts. Since FDR helped make Social Security and the Wagner Act happen I figured that I should go ahead and get his namesake frames.

And WOW I am a total dork but whatever. I have cute glasses.

Twitter is convinced that I look hot in these glasses and I’m totally gonna get laid. Fingers crossed, y’all.

Posted in I like this | 3 Comments

Forever and Ever

“Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life’s undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room.” ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

A few weeks ago I found myself going back and forth with my friend Allison as to how wonderful life in Salt Lake City would be for me. The only caveat she said is that she was unsure of the (strict) drinking laws in the city and perhaps I should find a non-Mormon to assist in that regard. So I added Salt Lake to the list of “Hey…I could live here”.

Most people daydream about a relaxing vacation, I daydream of a place in this vast country of ours where I could put down some roots. It’s a list that grows each day depending on my mood. My therapist recently noted how wistfully I speak of DC and that she doesn’t hear that same tone when it comes to Albany and I had to remind her that a) This is Albany for Christ’s sake and b) I wouldn’t live in DC unless of course I won the lottery or made it big as a Democratic Consultant. I will get into the Albany v. DC thing at a later date but the point is that as of right now DC is not on that list. Several friends of mine and perspective job sites just collectively sobbed. I love DC with a fierceness but my gut tells me that it most likely isn’t in the cards.

Denver is there. Along with Boulder. I regularly contemplate Austin but recently reneged on that possibility because I don’t hate snow. That statement will come back to bite me in the ass some day – probably on a very frigid day in January where I find my nipples permanently erect and frostbite on my toes – but no, it doesn’t bother me in the way it should and could.

I see myself in a capital city since the only thing I’m really qualified to do is work in politics. Though some might say that I’m barely qualified for that. I could live on Martha’s Vineyard full time. That creeps in when I find myself alone walking up Circuit Avenue without the July and August hustle and bustle. But then I find myself stumped worrying that I haven’t been to enough places, seen enough, absorbed enough to make a “Forever” decision.

Perhaps I’ll marry someone who enjoys a life on the road. I’ll telecommute and home-school and spend summers in Montana. Who knows. The good thing is that the older I get the easier I find that I am able to go with it…absorb the ‘whatever happens, happens’ mentality. I just want to be near water, mountains, I want a yard.

Or perhaps I’ll just spin the globe and wherever my finger lands that is where I, too, shall land. Yes. That will work just fine.

This same topic was discussed on Curvy Girls Guide today and I wanted to bring it over here. Where do you live? Do you see yourself living there forever? If money were no object where would you call home?

Posted in Just asking, That's Life | 12 Comments