I covered a story yesterday about TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie’s announcement to expand to more than just shoes. I can’t believe I had never known about TOMS shoes’ One for One model; for every shoe sold, one is donated to a child in need. Imagine what the world could accomplish if this was every business’s model.
I wanna get these canvas classics for my summer bike rides.
Due to the overwhelming responses 
, I’m back again!
So it was actually nice to take an ENTIRE month off from blogging. I got to focus on a few other things and didn’t worry about whether my life was being documented on this site. I didn’t really want to stop blogging but I wasn’t sure, if I kept posting, what I wanted to write about anymore. I have some of my work links on here but then I have some posts about my personal life as well…And I just wasn’t feeling the mix.
So I’ve decided to keep this blog as my personal blog, for friends, family, and internet voyeurs . I feel like writing about the going ons in my life over the past years has really helped me figure things out (especially with your input) and it’s been fun to look back on old posts and see how I’ve grown and changed.
With that said, February has been a really exciting month and I can’t wait to start posting some updates. I’ve also started another blog, one with less commentary on my life, just about things that I like (so simple right?). So check it out when you have a moment, let me know what you think, and follow me if you’d like. Your input is much appreciated.
New Blog! It’s called Mi Piace which means “I like” in Italian. I had been saying how I wanted to keep my new blog simple and I started to think about the way kids talk (“I like ice cream. I like sunshine. I like my best friend.” etc etc). I thought I’d do the same by just posting things that I like. I hope you’d like it too!
(Gosh, this is a record amount of smiley faces I’ve used in one post! Taking time off really does make you happier).
Last night Bionics and I went to see Joshua Ferris, author of Then We Came to The End, read from his new book, The Unnamed. I asked Bionics to go with me since she was the one who introduced me to his first book. Since we had some time to kill before the reading started, we decided to grab a few drinks beforehand. You know how the rest goes.
We ended up downing our drinks and running over to The Strand, arriving 5 minutes late. We managed to get seats in the last row where you can just about make out what he says if you leaned slightly forward and turned your ear toward the podium. About 10 minutes into the reading I texted Bionic, who was sitting right next to me.
“Are you finding him really boring or am I just drunk?”
Bionics chuckled and texted back.
“Oh thank god. I thought I was the only one to think he was boring.”
Perhaps because of the alcohol, we could not concentrate on his voice. The floor boards of the book store creaked so loudly when customers walked about the store, which was so distracting. Then a car alarm was going off outside on the street. Then a baby started crying.
“Creak, creak, creak. Meep, meep, meep. Wah, wah, wah. Creak, meep, wah!” was all we could hear above Ferris’s monotone voice.
Bionics and I continued to rudely text back and forth like (drunken) teenagers at an assembly. “Clack, clack, clack.”
I heard Ferris read a line where the characters drove past a Waffle House and realized I hadn’t eaten dinner.
“Mmmmm waffle house,” I texted.
This caused both our bodies to shake uncontrollably as we were trying to silence our giggles. We were such rude, drunk, teenagers.
I hope karma doesn’t get me when it’s my turn to have a reading on my book tour. Haha.
(We did purchase his new book though so that should balance the cosmics).
I saw this book, Mentor by Tom Grimes, on the Discover Great New Writers list at Barnes & Noble and admit I picked it up because of its cover. (I’m so easy). In his book, Grimes tells the story of the life of a writer and his relationship with his teacher. While reading this book, I felt like Grimes was writing out my thoughts when he describes his aspirations as a writer, the self-doubt, and the disappointments. But more than that, his relationship with his professor, his mentor, really touched me. It made me think of the people who have unknowingly influenced and guided me, mainly my former English professor. I had lost touch with her a few years back, but after reading this book I decided to email her. After I hit send I continued to refresh my inbox to see if she’d emailed back, nervous that she wouldn’t, or worse, wouldn’t remember me.
A few hours later I received a reply and it made my day. I will be forever grateful to her for stepping into my life when I had very little guidance and encouraging me to pursue writing. We’re planning on meeting for lunch soon and I’m so excited to pick her brain and ask for her opinion on my latest work. (Hopefully there would be fewer red marks and question marks than when she graded my papers years ago).
Isn’t it amazing how one little encounter with someone can change your life or make such a difference? Who knows, maybe you’ve affected someone and one day you’ll receive an email from someone who’s always been grateful to you all these years.
I was so looking forward to escaping from the city this weekend (sometimes you just need a break) that I pushed and pummeled everyone in my path, on my way to Penn Station. I am slightly ashamed of the obscenities that I yelled but I was a girl on a mission; catching the train on time and transporting myself to the shore.
I met my girlfriends for a low key BBQ Saturday night. I had been in need of girl time for so long and it was comforting to see their beautiful faces. But to be honest, when I got back to my friend’s apartment at the end of the night, I felt more depressed than ever and just wanted to cry. We had spent a majority of the night talking about boyfriends, husbands, mortgages, and job promotions. I thought to myself, “This is not helping at all!” I was looking for an escape and only found myself being reminded of how far behind I am in life. I thought of the scene from Julie & Julia where Julie met her girlfriend’s for lunch and everyone was just going on and on about how busy they were and Julie felt like she couldn’t relate at all. I sat there listening to them over Cream Pie Martinis (mmm) feeling like the loser of the bunch.
We woke up early on Sunday morning and it was the most gorgeous day of the year I think. We spent the day at the beach with an extended group of friends. I even went in the water (!) which I never do until at least August. It was painfully cold freezing yet it felt so refreshing. Around 3, when we had enough sun (and my back was seared), we headed over to Ocean Place hotel to meet a friend who was celebrating his 50th birthday. The setting was so absolutely fantastic, palm trees, lounge chairs, reggae band, and tiki bar. We felt like we had escaped to a resort on an island. We sucked down some refreshing pina coladas and sat in the sun, listening to music. My mood was lifting already.
Early in the evening we got showered up and headed to Sallie T’s for a seafood/sushi dinner. While the food was skeptical (read: the. fucking. worst) I still had a great time with my girls. We had gotten the talks of real life that I’m not included in out of the way the night before. Now we were ready to hang out, make fun of each other, and have a good time. We drank pitchers of sangria at the Tiki Bar until they kicked us out, literally by removing all of the chairs and boarding up the bar.
Monday morning, we picked up some wraps and spent the day on the beach again. I didn’t get much sleep the night before so I was mostly in and out of sleep on my beach towel. We got pizzas for dinner and finished out the night drinking wine and watching It’s Complicated (so cute! LOVE John Krasinski).
I took a train early this morning, rejuvenated and ready to get back to the big bad city. I realized, with my girlfriends, that we’re all quite different and we’ve taken very different paths in our lives, and there will be times where we can’t relate to one another, but even still, we’re always there for each other. After spending a weekend with them, basking in their love and support, I always leave feeling like there’s nothing I can’t accomplish. My former boss used to tell me to “keep your eyes on your own paper,” meaning don’t worry about what other people are doing and just worry about yourself. I’m just the slow kid trying to graduate from the special needs class.