by. the. way.

i've been trying to decide what to do to celebrate my 30th birthday. i'm at a pretty amazing point in my life -- my parents and my brother, great friends, an awesome job. although i try to do small things throughout the year to be kind to others, i felt like maybe this should be a month of giving. thanks to pinterest and some googling i found other people (mostly stay at home moms) who celebrated their 30th birthdays with what they were terming "30 random acts of kindness". here's the thing -- once you sit down, make a list of things to do for others, and then execute these actions and watch people's reactions, these are no longer *random*. i also found that people were doing things that were often done out of pity or condescension (i.e. i gave a bag of toiletries that cost $5 to a homeless guy bc it was better than giving him $5 for drugs/booze -- that is verbatim what this chick said). part of altruism and philanthropy is giving without expecting anything...

about two weeks ago there was an arts market where this guy from atlanta had these really amazing carved wood pieces of art. i ended up with a really awesome owl (see below) but once i hung it on my living room wall i realized it needed some company.  i started brainstorming (read: pinterest stalking) and i came across a few ideas for mirrors surrounded by wood, which was the general idea i had to start. my initial thought was taking pallets, ripping the wood and making a basic, rustic, unfinished frame. that idea got scrapped when i saw these postings  Wood Chevron Mirror  and  Shim Mirror .  when i saw these i knew that i had to do something similar. sooooo -- i fused the ideas together. off to the home improvement store. i bought 15" long cedar shims, minwax stain in jacobean, two 2x4' pressed boards, glass/mirror cutter, paintbrushes, and gloves. i thought originally to use an old mirror on the back of one of my bedroom doors as the mirror, but my mom ar...

After a very interesting week of conversations with friends from a variety of life stages, I have decided that there is far too much emphasis on “finding” your husband/wife. I truly do not understand it. Perhaps this stems from the fact that my parents did not raise me to be someone’s wife. They raised me to be a strong, independent, loving, care woman who will hopefully have the opportunity to help others and make a difference in life. I am not looking for my husband. I am not looking for the father of my possible children. I’m looking for that guy who I can travel with, laugh with, adventure with, go to sporting events with, lay on the couch and watch movies with – jet-set, climb mountains, watch sunsets, bury our toes in sand, immerse ourselves in cafes saturated with foreign languages. My partner in crime. Everyone is in such a rush to get to the end, they aren’t enjoying the journey on the way. I do not feel getting married marks some sort of “success”,...

When I’m nervous there is no hiding it. I yawn uncontrollably (weird, yes) and my stomach feels like it has relocated itself somewhere near my epiglottis. I’m experiencing both things currently. In fact, I am so nervous, I am early (by 90 minutes) for a dinner where I am meeting a friend’s fiancé. Normally this should not warrant terror, however I have an ugly past where male friends of mine have significant others who literally hate me and forbid them from seeing me. Seriously. For some reason I put off a “hey I want your man because I can’t find my own” vibe. Super. Here are the most recent examples. Example #1: classmate in my masters program. Apparently this lad was told by his wife (after meeting me one time and not actually speaking to me) that he was, get this, FORBIDDEN, from studying with me or being near me. Not lying. I did not know this morsel of information, so when I was confronted via a private Facebook message a la Cheaters-style I was blind-sided. I came to un...

i started thinking about my new ((four months old)) change in food intake. i honestly doubted it at first. figured it would end up being one of those things ((like cutting out dairy)) that i would try and fail to notice even the slightest improvement in my health.  i was definitely wrong. two weeks of being gluten free made me realize how poorly i *had* been feeling for decades ((not being dramatic either)). since high school i remember being told that it was all *mental* and that i needed to learn how to "control my reaction to stress" and "learn how to relax". horsesh*t. two weeks led to four weeks and i realized that it wasn't stress or an inability to relax. it was my body's inability to process gluten that had pirated my health and my life.  granted, it took a lot of reading, researching, and asking of the correct questions, but i feel like i'm on the right path. the more i read the more it all makes sense. why certain restaurant visits led...

Things I learned my last month of year 28: 1.  Bars are scary places where people over 25 years old should not go unless you want to feel older than you are. However, you will feel smarter and classier than most everyone there. 2.  You deserve more. You deserve everything. 3. I’m looking for a man who wants a partner in life, not simply a wife and baby maker. 4.    5 hours of sleep are not enough if you are over the age of 25. 5.  The majority of men I come across fit into two distinct categories: 1. Aggressive, obnoxious men looking for their next conquest and who are “certain” they have exactly what you’re looking (not looking) for and 2. Malignantly shy men who are used to women throwing themselves as them and don’t know how to carry on a real adult conversation because they are rarely required to do so. 6.   Running will not kill you, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise as your calves seiz...