ok. i have become completely obsessed with the idea of getting a row boat.
it won't go away. so that's what im going to focus on now. its STILL A BOAT!
just a different kind to start with, and i'll work my way up :)

i can tell im always going to be a boat person now. sigh.
why do i have such expensive hobbies?!

i can't wait to go places like this and have times like these.... 
what should i name my first boat?! :)

dear eventual life partner,
long ago i started a list of places i want to take you.
places we can adventure together. places where we will be deliriously happy.
i can't wait to hide in your arms and experience the world with you.
find me soon... so we have as much time together as possible.
i don't want to wait... not another day. <3

since i've been making my Summer, Fall and Winter check lists,
i haven't really been thinking about resolutions much. im actively moving toward big goals ALL the time.

so i thought for this year, i'd just resolve to some little things that others might not deem important,
but cross my mind as things i should be doing ALL. the. time.

- write letters to my pen pals EVERY week
- write thank you cards
- see bug at LEAST every 3 months, and when possible, see her EVERY month.
- lose as much weight as i can this year
- find balance between being a hard ass and being a push over
- don't expect... anything. be ok when i get absolutely nothing in return.
- move to LA
- practice
- keep moving forward.
- be good to myself.

2011 was extremely strange for me. i kind of wish i could just erase this year completely sometimes,
but with it would go amazing times with my dogs, my favorite 2 visits with bug EVER, new best friends,
incredible gigs, a pirate ship make out, more time with my best friend and auntie june than i've had in the last 5 years, great dates, great kisses, great laughs, great food and drink and talks, my business, hope, change, growth, 
a million other things, and the realization that its possible to actually function without the one thing you love most... 
i also finally figured out what that one thing is...

life can be cruel.
but it'll be just as amazing to make up for it.

take the good with the bad. keep floating. keep breathing.
smile when it hurts most, and encourage those you can't imagine losing to move on without you.
let go.
and let it all in.

you'll be fine.
we all will.

Welcome to my new project for 2012, Of The Day. (click the red, and follow the links. just send your stuff in,
you don't need to ask or audition, or anything. just follow the links, provide the necessary info, and check to see when your blog goes up!)

its kind of like Project 365, but its not necessarily a photo blog.
it will be a daily blog, brought to you by myself and endless contributors.
pictures, videos, projects, diy, stories, songs, designs, opinions, discussions, news... everything.
every single day, something new from someone new.

the only rules are: you can only post once a week, and no inappropriate content.
like: excessive cursing or inappropriate pictures, or anything like that. a little of both goes a long long way.
its going to be a place where a bunch of different people share what they're passionate about :)

im hoping to get at least 14 regular contributors.
and i'd love YOU on this list! differences in politics, religion, language, location, all that kind of stuff.
or just share something that makes you happy. or a song that rips your heart out.
or a picture you took that you're particularly proud of.
or a story you wrote that you can't wait to share, but kind of have no one to share it with.

share it here!
please contact me in the form below if you'd like to become a regular contributor to Of The Day 2012.
or even if you have an idea for just ONE post. i promise you- once you do one post- you'll want to do more :)
and 1 thing every 14 days isn't unmanageable at all. 

so start stretching your creative bones, and let's make something cool this year :)
Of The Day 2012. 

bring it on.

(an example list of topics you could possibly cover)
- owning your own business
- travel
- love and relationships
- politics
- finances
- pop culture (i will be a regular contributor under "pop culture rants" ;))
- your culture
- different languages
- food/cooking/recipes
- movies/music/concerts
- life in general
- d.i.y.
- children
- advice
- being a working actor
- being a working dancer
- art
- short stories
- photography
- interior design
- advice to women from a man's point of view
- advice to men from a woman's point of view
- anything regarding a sub-culture you're involved in
- self help
- psychology

etc!! <3

hey hey :) guess what? i had cookies for breakfast yesterday. lots of them.
its been a really hard week. my dad is in the hospital, and its bad :(
so little tiny things here and there (like eating an assortment of cookies for breakfast) are needed for smiles sake.

for Christmas, i got this really great gift box of pretty, fancy cookies.
you know the box i'm talking about. the gold one with layers upon layers of the same delectable delights (you heard me)...
you know the cookie box that's happening over here. 

i hadn't even opened it because the holidays have been so crazy.
so yesterday, in the interest of getting to the hospital in a hurry,
i decided to not take 30 mins to make myself waffles, but just grab some cookies and coffee (courtesy of my
new B-70 keurig! yeay!) and make a date with myself out of it.

it was the best 5 minutes i'd had all week, up to that point.
i highly recommend cookies for breakfast. <3

(and before you ask- NO. i didn't finish all of them. i ate about 4 and had to put the rest back. oof.)

dear eventual life partner,
long ago i started a list of places i want to take you.
places we can adventure together. places where we will be deliriously happy.
i can't wait to hide in your arms and experience the world with you.
find me soon... so we have as much time together as possible.
i don't want to wait... not another day. <3

L’histoire des salons de thé parisiens est intimement liée à l’histoire de la famille Ladurée.

Tout a commencé en 1862, lorsque Louis Ernest Ladurée, homme du sud-ouest, crée une boulangerie à Paris au 16 rue Royale. A cette époque, la Madeleine est un quartier d’affaires en plein développement où les plus grands artisans du luxe français sont déjà installés.

En 1871, alors que le baron Haussmann donne un nouveau visage à Paris, un incendie permet la transformation de la boulangerie en pâtisserie.

La décoration de la pâtisserie est confiée à Jules Chéret - célèbre peintre affichiste de la fin du siècle.

Il s’inspire des techniques picturales utilisées pour les plafonds de la Chapelle Sixtine et de l’Opéra Garnier. En les intégrant à son œuvre, il donne profondeur et relief aux plafonds, qu’il orne d’anges joufflus et en particulier « l’ange Pâtissier » qui inspirera plus tard toute la charte graphique de la maison.

Louis-Ernest Ladurée, a miller, was a prolific writer and produced works in almost every literary form including plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws and harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma and the French institutions of his day. He founded the bakery on the Rue Royale, Paris in 1862. During the Paris Commune uprising of 1871 the bakery was burnt down. A pastry shop was built at the same location and Jules Chéret was entrusted with the interior decoration. The chubby cherubsdressed as pastry cooks, painted by him on the ceiling, form the company's emblem. The interior of the premises were painted in the same celadon colour as the façade. Ladurée's rise to fame came in 1930 when his grandson, Pierre Desfontaines, had the original idea of the double-decker, sticking two macaron shells together with a creamy ganache as filling. Queen Catherine de' Medici had brought the macaron to France from Italy in the 16th century, and the recipe for the biscuit had hardly varied over the years, but the amounts of the ingredients used and the appearance of the end product were up to the individual bakers.

Desfontaines also opened a tearoom at the pastry shop. In those days ladies were not admitted to cafés, which were the exclusive domain of men. This was a big success with ladies, who enjoyed meeting in the freedom of the tearoom rather than their homes.

PresentIn 1993 the Groupe Holder took over the firm Ladurée. The Holder family also owns the PAUL bakery chain in France. Following the takeover, the company began an expansion drive, setting up pastry shops and tea rooms on the Champs-Élysées and in Le Printemps Haussmann in 1997, followed by Ladurée Bonaparte in 2002. The International development of Ladurée started in 2005 with London. Ladurée stores are now also present in Monaco, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Lebanon, Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Kuwait, Ireland, and the USA.

Ladurée made the pastries for the film Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola; its famous macarons can be seen in a scene between Marie Antoinette and Ambassador Mercy. They can also be seen in The CW's hit teen drama Gossip Girl as Blair Waldorf's favorite pastries.

In 2012 Ladurée will also release a collection of makeup inspired by the colors of their macaroons.

i couldnt have said it better myself...

may your days be as merry and bright as she makes mine.
its that time again, kids. Merry Christmas <3
i hope you're with EXACTLY who you want to be with...
celebrating EXACTLY what you want to be celebrating.
life is too short. make everything you do count. especially these days.

be happy <3
xoxoxo

the next time i fall in love...
i will take my time.

i won't be hurried, rushed or frantic. 
and i won't let you be either.
there will be no drama.
no push and pull.
no games.
no wondering.
no soap opera. 

it will be calm. 
and quiet. 
and peaceful. 

we will say what we feel when we feel it,
and we will treat each other with the utmost respect at every moment, always.

make no mistake about it...
i will sweep you off your feet if you let me...
but i will put you back solidly on the ground.
i have no intention of ever living in the clouds again.
and i have no intention of jumping with my eyes closed...

we'll take our time because we'll realize we have plenty of it. 
and we'll realize that everything is just as it should be. 
and that everything we need, we already have in ourselves.

we will compliment each other. not complete each other.
for i am already whole without you, and you are whole without me.
we will ADD to each others lives. make it better. happier. blissful.
things will make sense that haven't made sense in a long time.

the next time i fall in love...
i will take my time.

i am starting this list on my birthday, november 26, 2011.
in a month or so, i will finish it and post it.

in the past month i have noticed: 
- i say "dude" as a coping mechanism ALL. THE. TIME.
- i don't like it at all when people make fun of my fear of sharks or spiders. they are like, almost literally the only things im afraid of. im not mocking you, wtf are you mocking me?
-  i am TOTALLY. ADDICTED. to twilight. totally. totally and completely in every way possible. 
- that i don't exercise my dogs enough now that its cold. that will change.
- that i have officially declared sleeping at last as my "favorite band" more than 100 times.
- i am addicted to waffles.
- i am addicted to working again.
- i LIVE the song "turning pages" by sleeping at last EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. i hear it. absolutely live it.
- i have changed my falling asleep playlist from american dad and sunny in philadelphia to the colbert report.
- i want to talk to marilyn at least once a day if not 500 times.
- i have gained back all the weight i lost. my body just can't decide what's happening right now.
- i. LOVE. being. bald. i've never felt so free, or so comfortable with myself.
- i lost my lust for collecting vintage suitcases this year. that was replaced with collecting sheets & blankets.
- i dream about taylor lautner being my boyfriend at least 5 nights out of the week.
- that in the last few months my want for a boat has shifted to a lesser priority. i want an rv first. THEN a boat, and im set. i may reschedule the boat purchase for 2013 and move the 2013 rv plan up to 2012. plus, i just want to get out of here and be on the road for awhile... NOW...
- i'm ok.
- i enjoy admitting when im wrong and being shown a brand new perspective that is superior to what mine was.
- giving sarah and beki voice lessons and seeing them leave more open and happy is one of the greatest joys in my life right now. 
- i instantly size up absolutely EVERYONE i meet, never forgetting for a split second that 1 in absolutely every 10 people is a socio/psychopath.
- i have come to think of gender as an illusion.
- "turning pages" is my new "between the lines".
- i feel an introverted stage setting in again.
- i love sewing.
- all roads lead to you. 
- slow and steady wins the race.