"day by day 

old joy, comes back to me"

noah and the whale

noah & the whale: the bowery ballroom.

last night my roommate amanda and i headed to the lower east side to see noah & the whale.

it was...heaven. 

and now i am ever so slightly in love--those voices, the violin, live music (period), and unruly curls. 

{unruly curls most of all}.

ps: their new album is perfection. it just came out. two weeks ago, at most. go get it. 

"one day..." dream: the balcony edition

woke up early this morning. nestled close to the radiator because it's cold in new york today. sipped on my coffee. 

came across this photo and thought, that's almost precisely the whole of the life i dream of one day living.

think about it: lace curtains. fresh flowers. good food. and a table set for two. on a balcony abroad. 

photo by elseachelsea on flickr

a southern boy's closet.

my girlfriends and i have been talking of late about the type of men we're interested in.

types, really. because who can pick just one?

i saw a man getting off the subway yesterday: he was tall, lean, and had a lovely dark beard. and that was it. somedays those are the only three things i need.

other days i want a man with dark, deep-set eyes and strong hands.

and then there's the type from texas (or somewhere far south of the northeast). the type who wears pastels and button-up polos. who keeps his hair ever-so-slightly too long and combs it to the side when it need not be. these were the guys i was in love with in high school (and oh there were a few of them). it's a particular type for sure. and i understand the type--it's cultural. my roommate amanda does not, but she's from chicago.

when i visited my brother in boston a few weeks ago i snapped a photo of the innards of his closet. 1. because it made me laugh. and 2. because i knew it would come in handy at some point for some thing.

last night i pulled it out. offered it up to amanda as explanation. said, amanda, this is what a southern boy's closet looks like (keep in mind my brother spent many of his formative years in virginia).



one look at a closet like this and you know, this is a guy who'll take a girl with pearl-stud earrings over a girl with diamonds any day of the week.

it's what we know--what molds and forms us that later proves to be the thing we're attracted to. (or one type, at least).

book club: the paris wife/giveaway winner announced!

the second meeting of book club went wonderfully. the house was clean, the light was streaming, the bubbles were flowing, and there was plenty of bread and cheese (which as i sit here writing this now i'm doing everything i can to keep myself from going to the fridge for more. i'm also doing all i can to keep my eyes open--i.am.pooped). 

and then there was the company. and the discussion. 

i feel so lucky. right now. at this very moment. i met a fantastic group of new friends friday night, i went to work saturday where i'm surrounded by strong and beautiful women, and then today: moving and generous, these girls really got me thinking and talking--in fact the discussion didn't really end until 8:30 tonight when my two roommates and i decided it was probably time to wind it down. 

for those who couldn't be with us we spent a lot of time talking about the social pressures and expectations of that time period. (for those who don't know the book chronicles the marriage of earnest hemmingway and his first wife hadley. the story is told from her perspective and much of it takes place in paris). we spoke of the difference in age between earnest and hadley and how that manifested in their relationship (he was 21 to her 28).

and while others praised her strength i was particularly struck by how in her desperation to keep earnest, hadley seemed to temper so much of what made her unique and vibrant--the very things earnest was drawn to. she became a shell of herself--willingly catered to his shadow.

it really got me thinking that often the way to deal with what we fear is to head into it--not to do all we can to avoid it. we have to be willing to lose everything if we're actually going to get what we want. 

just a thought.

in other news: our giveaway winner!!  congrats to heldredg (and many thanks for the kind comment about my little blog here). 

for those who didn't win there's hope yet: you can get 10% off your Shabby Apple order by entering wilybrunette10off at the time of purchase. i'm thinking i might just get the dress myself, i love it so!

here's hoping everyone's week get's off to a great start.

on tap for me: noah and the whale tuesday night and home to texas wednesday morning.

 it's gonna be a good week, indeed.