I know probably most of you live in the country, and would never have it any other way. But in the last year I’ve discovered that I positively love life in an apartment in the middle of town, and I’d like to tell you why. One. I don’t have to mow a yard, because I don’t have one. Instead, I can walk a few blocks to the town park, which is much bigger than any yard I’d want to maintain,…
“So, what are we doing exactly?” I asked Lyn. “I’m really not sure myself,” she replied, as we travelled the long road to our mysterious destination. It started like this: I heard whisperings that there was a random lady who wanted to give away free facials. She was trying to do a certain number each month, and through some twisted grapevine, she had offered to do facials for Lyn and I and a friend. What a goodhearted lady, it seemed,…
I read this book in 2014, and loveloveloved it. I recommended it to loads of people, until finally I thought, maybe I should reread this and see if it’s actually as good as I remembered before I continue spreading it. So I did. And it was. Garlic and Sapphires is Ruth Reichl’s story of being the restaurant critic for the New York Times. As a reluctant foodie and an enthusiastic NYC lover myself, that in itself is enough to make…
Hugs so awkward you end up patting the recipient’s stomach. Not that I have EVER done that. Ahem. *Whistles innocently* Being the first to write in a group birthday card, and knowing that everyone else is going to read what you wrote. Public bathroom stall doors, if you’re over five feet tall. Falling asleep during prayer as an insecure adolescent visiting a new church. Having the local adolescent laughingly point out a wet spot of drool on the pew. Finding out…
Have you ever had a friend break up and felt yourself at a complete loss for words? It’s hard to know if you should mention their ex, pretend like the relationship never happened, give them space, ask questions, or what! You want to help, but without experience, you don’t know how to make it better. A couple years ago, I was in a serious relationship for the better part of a year. The breakup was a best case scenario, ending amicably and…
I’m fine, thanks for asking. I am 5′ 8″, maybe 9″. No, I don’t play volleyball. I’m from North Carolina. I work in finance. Yes, the weather is beautiful. Now that we have that out of the way, can we get down to business? I dislike meeting strangers, and I think it’s mostly because I hate making small talk. Wikipedia defines small talk as, “An informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation…” Does that…
Have you ever read Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll? It’s full of gibberish and nonsense, yet somehow it makes sense, thanks to Carroll’s brilliant and imaginative brain. He even managed to invent a couple new words through it that stuck, and we still use “chortle” and “galumphing” today. Cool or what? And at the risk of sounding childish, it’s one of my very favorite poems. Without further ado, I present to you…Jabberwocky. Read it aloud if you please; it’s twice as fun that way….
One Friday evening I left work and was headed to New York for the weekend. I like my job, but this Friday had been rough. I had talked to a particularly difficult customer whose scathing remarks had left me in tears, and I was unwinding in the car, trying to stop replaying the phone call in my head, when suddenly I got an email. I’ve followed Urban Southern for some time, since I really admire the bags they produce, and…
A couple years ago, in better days, Mocksville’s center square was graced with four massive, majestic, old trees. They were stately and beautiful, and gave the town a sort of grace unknown to other concrete metropolises. They were filled with lights during the winter, illuminating the square with Christmas magic. In summer they shaded our cars and our town festivals, and brought green relief from the asphalt heat. In short, we loved them. Then The Person In Charge gave the…
I found Anuschka Rees’ blog a while ago, and was fascinated by her fresh take on fashion. Most fashionistas like to put you into a little box and say, “You are shaped like an apple and have winter coloring, therefore you must only wear this style and this color regardless if you like it or not, because it suits you and I know best.” Anuschka takes a very different approach. She wrote a post titled “Why I don’t believe in dressing for my body…
Aging. It’s a funny thing, isn’t it. We humans try desperately to cling to the remaining vestiges of our youth in an attempt to ignore the inevitable. As I’m practically a babe in the woods still, I don’t have much experience with aging. And yet, I find it knocking on my consciousness in unexpected ways. At Youth Retreat, when I watch all the sixteen-year-olds cavort about and I just want to go to bed, suddenly I feel old. When I…