by. the. way.

when i first looked at my house back in 2012 when i was house shopping i knew that 100% the kitchen was a complete re-do needing to happen. it is a super cramped 10x11 foot space that was being terribly utilized when it came to arrangement of cabinets. see below: oooh, sexy almond laminate -- and check out that linoleum!  wasted wall space  i saw a kitchen on a favorite decor site and was inspired! i decided to start planning my imaginary kitchen renovation. that was 18 months ago... i had a plan, a design, a budget, and two voluntary workers (read: mom and dad). i knew i would need a professional plaster guy to fix the ceiling in three rooms due to the water damage from a leaky roof issue (let's not get into that drama here, this is a positive space) and an electrician to bring the kitchen up to code and get me needed outlets for the magic i was planning. other than that, it would be all me (and my parents).  let the gutting begin!! August 2nd it began --...

I find that the most unexpected conversations that I find myself in end up being the most though-provoking… or at least result in some sort of self-reflection. A week ago a male doctor was giving me a hard time (jokingly) by about being single and being “too tough” for most guys. I laughed and brushed it off; I kept typing my progress note as I realized a female physician was looking at me over the computer screen. I stopped typing. “Make sure he gets it,” she said. “Gets it?” “Yea. You know, that he gets ‘you’ and the fact that you don’t need him. Make sure he is actually ok with it. Most of them aren’t, even if they say they are. Figure that out early and save yourself the heartache,” she said. She went on to explain that her husband said he was fine with it. He recognized she didn’t “need” him in the traditional male-female dynamic. Playing a larger role as nurturer with the children was ok with him and he loved her independence. She said that those exact topics...

An amazing thing happened this weekend! My amazing brother proposed to his girlfriend and she said “yes”! Oddly enough, I learned that some people still exist in the 19 th century. Rather than simply congratulating my brother on the exciting, wonderful step he and Lauren are taking in life, they decided it would be an appropriate time and platform to let me know that my relationship status is unsatisfactory for them. Good to know.   The funny this is that I thought it was 2014. A time where women are highly educated, independent creatures whose successes are measured by the people they are and what they do for others rather than the “Bs”: boyfriends, breeding, and betrothal. Luckily for us, we exist in a time where we aren’t married off to the local farmer for two sheep and a cow. And yet, some people still seem to think that regardless of your education, job status, and philanthropy, a woman’s success (read: happiness) in life depends on being paired off with another hum...

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...