there was a day that was warm enough (despite the rain) to bring back the love of my life at starbucks – an ICED quad caramel macchiato. (skim milk and the addition of a little cinnamon syrup? HEAVEN.)
and i did some shopping. old navy and anthropologie, because OF COURSE i shop at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. that clutch, for the record – $9. both necklaces for $18. marigold and white striped cardigan? $18. yes, i bargain shop so you don’t have to.
i spent part of last night and some of this morning painting my kitchen walls with chalkboard paint. i’ve been patting myself on the back ever since. that wall? awesome. picking up some chalk pens this week (markers? whatever you want to call them) because i refuse to have dusty walls/floors. yes, i’m crazy. I got a duplicate of the lightswitch plate in my room for the kitchen – looks kind of great with the dark walls. i guess now that the paint is done, i can embrace my black and white love and recover the kitchen stools. fabric shopping will happen next weekend, i think.
the superbowl is on and the only time i looked at the tv? when i heard betty white. i guess i’m just not that into it this year. speaking of my tv, it’s new and itty bitty. a 19in flat screen that my tax refund bought. thanks, government (who also paid sallie mae, some bills, and sephora). it’s super cute and takes up so much less room on my bureau. this means i have more room for decor up there, right? right.
coming soon, the finished kitchen, my living room art (cheap frames! paper source paper!), and how much i love boys who play the drums.
I’ve been a totally lazy blogger. Trust me, this isn’t going to change tonight. Just two things:
1. listen to this guy because i think he’s great and i got the pleasure of working with him last night.
2. tell me what word to do with this…
Gorgeous, right? I obviously got the R mug a couple of weeks back. Now, what word to do? Hmmmm. I’m thinking of other items for the mugs too, since I am not so good with living things (flowers, men, etc). Bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils? You know that’s going in one. But words. Ready? GO.
i have so much to say, so much is going on here in my apartment. i’m stressed. i’m exhausted. but there’s something else going on. there is a telethon for haiti on tv. there is an amazing #loveharder campaign going on in the post before this one. there are some of you loves, retweeting my need for a roommate. (really, there has to be someone looking for a home in brookline!)
walking to the train yesterday, with the sun shining, the cold air in my face, i felt alive. i felt lucky. i felt love. i can’t imagine losing that. i can’t imagine being drunk for days straight like my roommate – not leaving the house, not feeling anything. we’re here, we have each other. that means so much.
“The quandry: We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless… if only there was something we could DO for them.
The answer: Ummmm. Did you forget that WE ARE THE INTERNET?!?!!??! And also, Yes We Can!!!
The result: Brandy and your Hot Awesome Dude… this one’s for you. Love, The Internet.”
Our Plea
Our friend Brandy is a brilliant writer, a wonderful teacher, and a generous friend. And she is in love with a man who has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
We are raising money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund in his name. For the price of a cinnamon dolce latte, half-caf, hold the whip, you can be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.
Every dollar brings us a dollar closer to a cure. And every donation brings a sliver of hope to a girl who needs all the hope she can get.
Love Harder, Emrlds
What You Can Do
Give. Be part of a worldwide effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide. Every dollar helps.
Pass it on. Forward this story to five people. Share this blog post. Become our fan on Facebook.
Love harder.Life is short, love is unbending, and no one knows what could happen next. Tell someone you love them today.
Where Your Money Goes
The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.
By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.
The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.
The MMRF’s Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genomein its entirety.
A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.
With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.
I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach, and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds.
Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog– as personal as the dude that I adore. But I need your help. And it involves my dude.
He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job.
He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school– dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred.
He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.
I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making– but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you.
This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next.
Thank you for reading this, and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.
while watching HGTV, obv. i think it was “sell this house” although i could be wrong. they were in dc and a lovely couple (of muscular men) were fixing up their home before they sold it. it was a BEAUTIFUL row house and i was in love, so i said so.
me: one day, i’ll have a nice place like that. once i find mr. rich, obviously.
mom: you don’t want a place like that – there is no yard.
me: i don’t need a yard! just a nice patio. it’ll be lovely.
mom: no, no, no. where will the kids play if you don’t have a yard?
me: at the neighbors’ house…where their parents live.
seriously, anthropologie has stolen me from my sanity and won’t let me come back. that back corner where all the sales hide? there’s a good chance i’ve spent more time there this week than in starbucks. (if you know me, you know this means A LOT.) hell, i’ve made plans for next weekend surrounding a trip to anthro (good chance this trip sends me directly to an intervention, thanks to julie). really? it’s dramatic. let’s start from the beginning.
it started innocently. that light-switch plate? i’d been giving it the eye for weeks and finally bit the bullet when it went under it’s $12 price tag ($8! score!). the bag bottom right? holds my second (and currently missing) pair of reading glasses that were marked $19, down from $28. I paid $4. obviously having two pairs was necessary, one at home, one at work. now there is one at work and one missing, but whatever. the mug? it was $6 and so very necessary for my newly painted desk. then there was the facecloths. $1.95 each and gorgeous. totally remind me of my grandma’s quilt when i was a kid so there wasn’t a chance of me leaving them behind.
deep breath. there is more.
oil and vinegar decanters? yes, please! (this is the part where i note i’ve never and probably will not have a need for these, ever.) but hi, GORGEOUS. they’re currently on top of my counter looking pretty with a candle. and $7 down from $28? why the heck not? then i looked up and found some gorgeous bathroom stuff, a canister, tumbler, and soap dish. not really needed, but at huge reductions. i went back to the office and stared at the pictures.
perfection, right? well, i obviously called and had the items held while i debated. seriously, there were phone calls, emails and gchats about these bad boys. it was a big decision (you know, at $7.95 a piece). I finally sucked it up and went back to the store. paying zero attention to what the girl was wrapping, i actually got a different canister – but one that still matches. (the reverse side of the tumbler and soap dish are the same print.)
yes, those stacky things are totally inverted, but whatever. the piece was still pretty and i decided to rock it anyway. i actually ended up switching them around a bit and used the stackers with the top of the canister and left that open. really, the moral of this story is that I LOVE ANTHROPOLOGIE. it’s a sickness, really. but the bargains that i got in the past two weeks are kind of incredible. all the bathroom stuff? $32. amazing and my bathroom looks like a whole new world.
ok, i think i’m done with my obsession for now. well, until next weekend. lessons learned? my old green wine bottles are amazing vases, i need a new camera, bathroom photos are tricky, and i shop too much.
i haven’t posted since the dante meetup. oh, dante. I LOVE YOU THE MOST. seriously, you had truffle in your honey? (yup, i said it.) amazing drinks, bartenders, COMPANY. seriously, any second i begin to doubt things – my life, myself, my friends, i get over it. why? because i’ve got an amazing circle of bloggy love right here in boston. and that? that’s pretty amazing. last week, i even got a double amount of love because the We are not Martha party was saturday at rattlesnake. ahhh-ma-ZING. i should preface that rattlesnake and i were not in love when i was in my younger twenties (ugh, did i just say that?) but there’s been some big changes there, including the addition of Brian Poe as the chef. let me tell ya, he made lots of yummy for the party and i was in a happy, happy place. also, more bloggers and i headed out last night where we had fried pickles. um, hi? yum. seriously though, a new circle of support and friendship (although i still love and adore my main circles) is kind of amazing. i’m a lucky girl.
lots of other drama is going on with roommates and whatnot so let’s act like i talked about it, ok? ok.
things that are exciting? tomorrow is thursday. there’s a whole lot of grey’s anatomy happening and then it’s practically the weekend. three, glorious days. icannotwaitomgsoexcited. the real world is also stressful with the spitting and the crying.
but really, if you know anyone looking for a room in boston, TELL ME. and tell spring to hurry the heck up, ok? xoxo
Ok, so I keep forgetting to upload pictures of the totes I made for Christmas. Oops. And really, the iPhone quality here is terrible, and I promise to take new pictures soon. Really, I will. Thanks to Ashley for her amazing idea that saved my Christmas! (Really, every woman in the family got them and LOVED them.) They came filled with Dunkin coffee, movies, and popcorn. Pretty cute, right?
As I did more, the quality got better. The stencils I used were kind of difficult, but I’m still proud of my non-crafty self rocking this one out! Now I need to make one for myself.
i’m trying to make the kickass mother of all playlists on my iphone (aka my boyfriend) and i need suggestions. tunes, bands, etc. moral of this? i need you, lovers! give me what you’re listening to. go ahead, you can do it. better yet, make me a mix tape (er, cd) and come to dante on thursday night. 6ish. the blogger/twitter meetup that wasn’t supposed to be a meetup is happening. of course.
really, you mention it on twitter and that shit blows up like, well, something inappropriate. i’m not sending out a big email this time because i’ve been on vacation and the chance that my brain/body/soul will come back from my couch anytime soon? unlikely. i spent two full days watching this guy…
you understand that you don’t matter when that’s happening, right? right. regardless, if you’re reading this you are invited. as long as you tell me you’re coming! you creeper, non-commenters are not allowed. oh, again with the selfish. sorry. ok, must pretend i want to go to work at some point today. maybe after UPS delivers my box of Sephora happiness. (thanks, gift card!) xoxo
