Guide to Introverts

Like when you ask if we can have people over 2x a week and I want to cry in the bathtub instead. 

And why I don't invite people over after meeting them at the dog park/the next table over/a rental condo while on vacation/a neighbor's picnic.

And why I can't interact with people unless I have an end goal in mind. 

And why I pretend to fall asleep while getting my hair/nails done. 

Click to see larger image. Or see the original post here. 

The Secret to Success: More Meaningful Mornings

I just typed a lot about how to have a meaningful morning. Then I erased it. On purpose. I realized that I was wasting your time and mine with the babbling.

So if you want to read about meaningful mornings, go here.

If you want to see something pretty:

Source: Uploaded by user via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: olesiafx.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

These are a few of my favorite things.

You're welcome.

What to Resolve for NYE

Do you have a new years resolution?

I'm reading that some people are tossing them out of the window and just living 2012 like they did 2011. Fine, fine. But if you're going to change something, why not resolve to change it when you have the support of the world and their resolutions too?

Lost on what to resolve? Here are some strange/sincere/silly suggestions:

- Eat dessert. Whenever it's available.
- Do a walking tour of your hometown or some place familiar.
- Go to bed an hour earlier (or later... but do something awesome with that hour!).
- Pick a new tv series and follow it religiously.
- Immerse yourself in a new author's works and finish the lot of 'em.
- Cook "Around the World" by making a dish a week that represents another country.
- Become a "Yes man", but within reason. Not like Jim Carrey.
- Incorporate a new article of clothing into your regular attire (ponchos, scarves, argyle).
- Give up holding grudges.
- Live on less and save or donate the rest.
- Vow to do one thing that scares you a month (ski, see a movie alone, sing in public)
- If you haven't been in a while, go to the dentist!
- Give up caffeine (or don't, haha!).
- Instead of trying to lose weight, vow to mind portion sizes and keep a food journal.
-  Date wildly in 2012. Whether you have a permanent person to date or whether you are still open to suggestion. If you're shy, ask for phone numbers. If you're used to meeting people at bars, approach someone in an art museum. Walk up to the bassist after a metal show. If you're dating/married don't forget to date that person. Ask them out. Wear perfume. Turn up the charm! [Note: This is not a hint to S. I feel well dated... er, you date me well... er... you know what I mean.]

Maybe my favorite suggestion: Treat Yo Self

Drink pairing? Champagne of course!

Note: I am still not drinking until New Years. I got through the holidays only having 1 beer because I couldn't find an ibuprofen. I think it was a fair trade.

Advice: Yee-haw! Get Back On The Horse

Sometimes you're up. Sometimes you're down. I feel like there's a song here.

I've had an awesome and terrible couple of weeks.

I've also exaggerated how terrible it's been. It's been mostly great with a few slight hiccups, if I'm being honest and reasonable.

But I'm not honest and reasonable. I all sortsa crazy on a whim.

So what do you do when you've: picked 3 fights with your family in 24 hours, put your foot in your mouth, broke the website at work that they JUST entrusted to you, been late to dinner, wasted money on a cab when you should have walked, let your emails pile up, been "overserved" and therefore "dehydrated" the next morning when you have to go to work and deal with a problem, AND failed to sew the button back onto the only pants that match the sweater you NEED to wear and just say 'screw it' and go to work all sloppy-bobbie with an unbuttoned pocked flap?

 High five me. High five.

What do I do after all of this and a solid half hour of complaining and dramatizing my demise (a la phrases like "This outfit? Take a good look. This is the outfit I'll be wearing when I get fired.").

But after all that I get back on the horse. Nothing's all that bad. I still have a family that loves me (sorry guys, I know you love me even if I've tried to alienate each of you lately), a job (no, I didn't get fired), friends that are willing to say "yes" to a 3rd (or 4th?) bottle of wine, and a trip to Tucson in January to look forward to. Nothing is that bad. All will turn out fine.

So maybe the song should be Where the Blacktop Ends. Original, drugged-out, short-haired Keith Urban.

Actually, no. This is the song.

Advice to other bloggers: Stop apologizing

"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, I've been:

a) sick
b) busy
c) sick and busy working - it takes me 3x as long to post because I can't see through the allergy tears and the NyQuil makes my head womp-womp when I try to read
d) lacking motivation/creativity/personal stories to share."

All excuses are boring and telling us what keeps you away is making us wish you just went away until you had something awesome to contribute.

I've been guilty of this too.

And my rant is equally irrelevant.

I'm not apologizing.

What I am doing is giving you this - some non-boring blog-goodness to get you through Monday:

She's never boring. I'd like to be her friend. Or her live-doll.

This is interesting. I found it here first. Do you know what you are putting on YOUR skin?

Good for a nerdy laugh. And they post several times a day, so go getcha some.

Spent some time window shopping here and here this weekend. Surprisingly not all that expensive. And by window shoppin' I mean that my fingers did the walkin'.

via

And maybe this evening you can get a bunch of children together and make Gertrude Steins and have a puppy party. Always a good choice.

Happy Monday. Don't be boring.

I Put Things Here That Inspire Me. Artists I admire. Articles I don't.

I remember when I first saw Mona Lisa Smile. The costumes, the issues, the art, the lipstick! *Sigh.

The story follows a teacher and her close circle of students as they work through an academic year together - clashing and accepting and changing and accepting again.

I remember that Ms. Watson, Julia Roberts character, had a wall in her office that she pinned articles, art, photos and things to. Sorta like a literal pinterest. She said that she put things there that inspired her - either in agreement or not.

My blogs have been my own inspiration wall. Blogs have allowed anyone - even me - to be a writer and be heard. My personal blog is titled after a quote from an inspiration teacher I once had: "If you are going to write so that no one can understand you, you might as well go write yourself to death in a corner." I know he was refining my grammar and reigning in my early creative difference to make sure I had a solid foundation before I deviated to Jackson Pollock-like writing.

So the advice here? Just do. We live in a wonderful world where people can be athletes in local races, artists on sidewalks, musicians in subways, politicians in the PTA and writers in blogs. Don't accept "I can't" or "No one will notice". I'll tell you that I have about 4 readers and I am thankful for them all (Anna, Abby, Seth... Mom?).

Thank you for supporting me and let me know how I can support YOU!