love.

 I have to say that one of the proudest moments of my birthday this year (I'm a July 24 baby) was that July 24, 2011 was the day that the same-sex marriage equality law went into effect in New York City. I'm not sure why I didn't post anything on it until now - I certainly held a sort of internal pride that I shared a birthday with such a significant date - but when I saw this picture over on VogueandCoffee it made my heart swell up a little bit and I had to rectify my error of omission.

To Phyllis Siegel (76) and Connie Kopelov (84), who were the very first same-sex couple to get married in New York City - and to all the other couples who surely did the same on that momentous July 24 date, and who will continue to do so for the days, weeks, months and years ahead - Congratulations! I am so incredibly happy for each and every one of you to finally receive the same treatment that hetero couples have received for generations. And please know that we'll keep fighting - the rest of the country will eventually have to grow up and respect as well. Nothing worth fighting for happens immediately.

oy

 {Image via}

This has been one of those days that started off frazzled and hasn't stopped since. Add that to the fact that I ate my (very heavy) lunch at about 11 am and you have my current state, a bit disgruntled, overly full, wanting to go back to sleep, and needing to get a lot of work done. Thank god tomorrow is Friday!

blustery

 {Image via}

One of my dearest friends with whom I grew up back in California and I always used to quote Winnie the Pooh on extremely windy days as we walked to school together. "Oh what a blustery day! It must be Windsday again!" we would say to each other, and chuckle. So you can imagine just how sort of perfect it was that on today's walk to work, on a Wednesday, it was deliciously windy and breezy, cool, strong air pressing against me. What a delightful respite from the intense heat we've had of late, and are slated to have again tomorrow. I'll take a little break whenever possible, and I can very surely say that I appreciated those little gusts of wind every single block I walked.

Toosday

 {Image via}

I just have to tell you how much my grandmother tickles me pink. She sent me a birthday card and then called me to verify it's receipt and to gauge whether I had liked it, because she was just thrilled with what she had sent. The card? On the front it's a black and white picture of a girl with red heels on, and the statement (something similar to), "Kick Up Your Heels on Your Birthday!" On the inside it reads, "Just make sure to wear underwear". I loved it. And my grandma just loved it too. I swear, how lucky am I to come from such stock? Thanks for the birthday wishes Grandma - should you see this post, at least -  you can't know how much I love that card, and how much I cherish you. Thank you for always making me smile, especially for days on end now, every time I think of you.

28

 {Image via}

Well lovely readers, I am now a 28-year-old. I feel very much the same as I did being 27 [which is a blessing because between 25, 26 and turning 27 there were a lot of drunken bemoanings of my ever-increasing ages, as my darling roommate-of-the-time could attest], except I do rather feel a sense of promise with this new age. I can't really put my finger on why, but for some reason, 28 feels like it will hold some good stuff. Time will tell, I suppose, and really - as long as you make it to yet another birthday, it's probably been a pretty good run, eh? I hope everyone's weekends were wonderful, I myself rang in a new year of being fabulous by spending a solid Saturday at the beach and then lunching and reminiscing with an old friend who flew into town. Lovely times, all said. Just lovely. And now, back to it! Monday it is then.

Hot

 {Image via}

It is so hot today. With humidity it's at 110 degrees Fahrenheit. When I got out of bed this morning, at 6:45 am, it was 85 degrees already. Talk about a heatwave. I would literally sell my left arm for a pool right now. Til Monday kids...

New 'do....again!

 Ah yes, the fickleness continues. As you may know, I got extensions put in almost a month ago exactly - my hair was growing out from the shortest cut I've ever had and I was disdainful of the process. I am impatient and the thought of having to wait even more agonizing weeks before my hair would have some semblance of length - after months of being just as patient as can be, mind you - I simply could not take it anymore. I took the plunge, got the weave, and actually felt intense relief for the first couple weeks. My hair was long, I didn't have to stare at an awkward bowl-cut in the mirror every morning, and the change of look really lifted my spirits. However, I am not a girl who does her hair, and my stylist chose to give me wavy extensions as my natural hair is not quite so pin straight as the straight-option hair extensions. Thus I was completely unable to wear my hair in any 'do other than a half-n-half or a pony tail - the textures of my hair versus the fake hair were just too different. And so, last night, I had had enough with the annoyance of extensions that were growing out and were going to cost another small fortune to be re-located further up along my scalp, and I took things into my own hands. Armed with pliers and a lot of patience, I removed all my extensions myself. And now? I'm back! Back to being able to brush my hair (impossible before because the extensions were A.) in the way and B.) could have feasibly ripped out should I have brushed hard enough), back to being able to scrub hard at my scalp in the shower (impossible before because, again, there were nodules all over), back to being able to run my fingers through my hair, toss it around, not being afraid that I'll get a knot around an extension ring. Yep, I'm 100% content with both decisions - I'd always wanted extensions and do not at all regret getting them, I'm relieved that I finally know that permanent extensions aren't for me, that next time perhaps I'll try clip-ons if anything (after all, still fickle!). And today I'm 100% content that I have my own short, fine hair back. It's longer than it was - significantly so, actually - and I don't hate who I see in the mirror, so I'm winning all around. I plan on going in to get some highlights or color done today - it's a bit mousy-brown for the middle of summer. I'll be sure to post new piccys when phase 2 is complete! In the meantime, happy Thursday!

Chores

 {Image via}

This is one of those Wednesdays that took forever to arrive and which has very little inspiration to lend. I have a slew of chores I kept putting off this past weekend and it really and truly is just time to get them over and done with. As I didn't end up going to the gym yesterday and nor will I today. So much for my resolution to kick off the week right, I made it Monday and apparently I'll have given up as I'll have to make it to the laundromat before they close today, right? Add to the laundry the unenviable task of hanging up the damp clothes all around my already-small studio - I try to conserve energy by hanging my laundry to dry, except for huge items like sheets or towels, I do have to be somewhat rational - and you have a truly riveting Wednesday night. Still, I'm one of those people upon whom chores gnaw until they are completed so I think it will feel like a relief to finally have the laundry done, some other items hung up around my apartment, and the place in order come Friday once all the laundry has dried and can be put away. It's the little things, right? Oh, and this picture is about nothing in particular except that I am obviously feeling a bit guilty for skipping the gym yesterday (and feeling preemptive-ly guilty for skipping it today) after so many months of absolutely not going. How will I ever hope to be anything close to this bendy if I do not start getting my body back into some shape that is not "round"? I kid, I kid, but I really do want to get healthier and more fit. I suppose Thursday is as good a day as any to look towards! In the meantime, Happy Wednesday!

A little bit o' chic...

 {All images via}

The past two days, I have come into work positively glistening due to the humid, heavy air I must battle on my walking commute to work. I thus arrive disheveled, tired, and sweaty. Not the best impression to make at work, although very much clean-up-able (and, thankfully, everyone seems to understand as we're all in the same boat). However, given my own inability to remain pulled together for any length of time, I am always drawn to the perpetual chic dress and look of various real life women, and the slew of magazine model women who always make looking good so effortless. Here are some photos that I just thought were wonderful.

Wonderful

 {Image via}

I am not a music connoisseur. I love music, and I know what I like, but I am no Wise Bean. I am not good at discovering new bands before they get big, I very much rely on the radio for my music updates, and I am a Top 40 junkie, to top it all off. I like catchy tunes that make me sing along, the kinds that make me dance around a little. I do, of course, have appreciation for acoustic music, folk sounds, and the like, but these make it onto the radio as well. One particular group which I, miraculously, did not learn about on the radio [presumably because they've been around for so long] but instead via a blog - the fantastic Rockstar Diaries, specifically - is The Weepies. When I first heard them, their sound screamed "summer" to me, and I am happy to report to you that now that summer season is upon us, the music accurately represents. The Weepies make my commute to work that much peppy-er. I hope you all have similarly upbeat starts to your Mondays!

weekending!

 {image via}

Another weekend is upon us! How lucky are we, to have another sunny Friday to enjoy? Why yes, I am in a chipper mood, thank you. It's really incredible what some good sleep can do for your mood, as I've stated before. I don't have much going on this weekend - some house cleaning, hopefully some time in the sun, and I should be a very content girl. I hope you all have fabulous plans for the weekend, or lovely lay-low endeavors. Both are awesome in my book! And this piccy is really just because I thought it looked so sweet, so European, so wintery, and so chic. Not very summery, but it still rather put a smile on my face.

wackiness ensues

 {Image via}

Some co-workers and I went to see "Horrible Bosses" last night, and I'm happy to report to you that it was actually pretty funny. An unsurprising story-line, yes, but the trio of Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and - my personal favorite - Charlie Day truly made this movie worth the ticket price. Granted, I see movies only because Charlie Day is in them (Hello, "Going the Distance"...) but this flick was pretty chuckle-worthy. Coupling the laughs with the coworkers I'm lucky enough to get to see everyday made for a very enjoyable night out, even though we all agreed that we truly do have pretty great bosses. Why don't you do the same? It's highly recommended for a fun night out!

Solitude

{Image via}

I don't know if it is this same way for anyone beyond myself, but oftentimes when I'm with people, even just another person, everything seems fine and dandy, fun and exciting, but when I return home, and am alone to reflect, things don't feel quite so fitting, they don't sit together quite so snugly. Which is not to say that I did not have a great time with whatever group of friends or whatever single friend, but simply that there are so many other things to consider. I guess this is precisely why I struggle with living in the moment. I ought to take those fun moments, keep them as they are, and not fret about the fact that they might not be there again next week, or next year, or in some vague future time. I tell you, these are the times when I need solitude with space - an empty beach to walk along or a quiet desert afternoon to reflect in as those around me nap or play quiet games of cards. I guess life can't hurtle forward happily all the time, there have to be moments for reflection. It's just a little hard to reflect - even while still trying to remain in the moment - in a city as constantly moving as Manhattan. Yet, even saying that, I don't feel ready to leave. Perhaps this is the conundrum of city living?

Feast of Giglio

 {Image via}

A friend of mine lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which - I'm finding - is probably the most authentically Italian neighborhood in all of New York City. She herself is first generation Italian and she speaks and understands it fluently, from what I can tell. The kids of this neighborhood have all grown up together, know each others girlfriends, boyfriends, fathers, mothers, grandparents, children, siblings, they are all like a huge family, which is something that I just find completely mesmerizing and fantastic. One event that goes on every summer in Williamsburg - and which I've now read about from such reliable sources as Time Out, and so forth - is the Feast of Giglio. When I called it that, of course, I got a chuckle, a look and a statement that, "I guess that's how you would say it, if that's what we called it...." Regardless, I went to the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel feast last night, watched the booth workers chatting with revelers with whom they had grown up, watched my friend hugging and kissing carnival-attendees young and old, swapping gossip with the shirt vendors, and living in what seems to me to be to be a perfectly enviable world.

I also tried a zeppole -  appalling everyone when I mentioned that I had yet to eat one before. Given the fact that I am, myself, part Italian (well, Sicilian - sorry Grandma!) I do feel a bit of shame on that one, myself. Next year I'd like to come for the actual procession where they carry the statue of Giglio around the carnival and men apparently dance the tower through the streets while the band plays the Giglio Song as well as other Italian folk songs. Take my word for it, even without having seen the procession, this festival is definitely worth a trip to Brooklyn. There's carnival rides for the kids, games galore (I am now the proud owner of 4 goldfish! R.I.P Goldfish #5, who did not survive the first night...), a beer garden, and the most amazing food - sausage and peppers, fried oreos, funnel cake, all the standards and then some. Also? A zeppole is one decadence in which you simply must indulge!

 {All other images via}

Seven-Eleven

 {Image via}

I am feeling wonderfully, completely, and calm-ingly in-the-moment this Monday morning. If I may say, that may just be the best way to feel, ever, in life. Content in the now. It's so rare to find it, I like to savor it and try to hang onto it as long as possible on the rare occasions that I recognize I'm in such a state.

However, a much more important announcement for today is that today is my Dad's birthday! YAY DAD! This is truly the first time, except for when I studied abroad in college, that I have not been able to celebrate my parents' birthdays with them, which seems rather sad although I know a lot of kids my age who have been in this boat for years yet. Still - if you're reading this Dad - I hope you have an incredible day! I'll be calling you later, so you can hear my incredible voice warbling the birthday song to you. I know, highlight of the year. You're welcome. Truly though, I love you, and Happy Birthday!

ahhhh....yet again we've made it

 {Image via}

There really is nothing better than a weekend stretching ahead of you with no real plans. I'm doing dinner with some friends tonight - we're having Thai which I'm extraordinarily excited about as I've realized just how long it's been since I've eaten Thai - and have no obligations for the rest of the weekend except to phone my congratulations to a dear, dear friend whose first baby shower is this weekend back in California. Yes, it's a shame I won't be there - this is the first of my close group of girlfriends to become a parent - but at the same time, I'm looking forward to just being able to take on whatever spontaneous activities may get offered up right here in New York. Yes, I do need to go grocery shopping, and I should probably do laundry, but the thought of doing chores is just too dull and so I rather think that I may push them aside to do during the week, if I'm being totally honest. I hope your weekends are looking equally relaxing, and that they all prove to be precisely that! Oh, and that piccy is just because I am in love with all things 50's and that picture of the breathtaking Jessica Stam just tickled me pink.

Wow!

 {Image via}

I'm rather ambivalent when it comes to pop sensation Miley Cyrus (which is sort of neither here nor there, as I've made no secret of my fan status for Britney Spears) but I am very impressed if she did indeed tweet this sentiment herself. Here's hoping California soon follows in New York's footsteps, and may little Caylee Anthony rest in peace, in spite of the insanity surrounding her death.

water wasters

 {Image via}

New York shop owners, please stop hosing down the sidewalks in front of your stores. I know Manhattan is a sticky, gritty place. I know that when I walk around in shorts and sandals I come home with a layer of dirt and grime on my skin. I know these to be facts of life in this city, and I've not yet been here a year. Please just sweep. You are not getting rid of the gum stuck to the sidewalk, you are not sanitizing the urine on the sidewalk, or the dog mess. You are simply pushing it into the gutter which pushes it into the sewers which pushes it into our oceans. And right along with it you are pushing all the garbage that New Yorkers are in too much of a hurry to throw into an actual trash can. Or, which, admittedly, blow right out of their hands, purses, bags as the wind tunnels of Manhattan whip hot sticky hair around our heads. Use a broom, shop owners. And put the trash you sweep up into a trash can. They are located all throughout the streets. New Yorkers, you please do the same. Hold it for an extra two steps and then toss that straw wrapper into the trash can. This is our smoggy, dirty, gritty environment, but can't we try to take pride in it and keep it clean? In a less wasteful way? Plenty of big cities do a much better job at it than we seem to be doing - London is deliciously clean, their metro system boggles the mind with its cleanliness, it's streets are comparatively litter-free. New York can take pride in being tough, in being a make-it-or-break-it city, without having to be the dirty urban metropolis. Take a baby step, make sure your trash hits a garbage bin. It may even help the shop owners not need to hose everything down every morning.

{Image via}

Tuesdays feeling like Mondays...

 {Image via}

Monday-based three-day weekends are a mixed bag for me. The older I get, the most I sort of wish I spent all of them on some sort of trip, because going back to work on a Tuesday that feels like a Monday is a rather horrible experience. The week always ends up feeling longer than the four days it actually is, and generally speaking the last half of the Monday "day off" is spent reminding yourself that you have to return to work the next day. I prefer my three-day weekends to begin with a Friday off from work, then the day off can truly be used for fun and skulduggery  rather than as a day of rest from the two days you had previous of fun and skulduggery. Still, that being said I had a lovely Fourth of July weekend. I experienced my first East Coast beach for a few hours on Saturday which was everything I'd hoped for and more. I wish it was easier to get to, but so it goes. Even better, perhaps, I got to discover a local outdoor pool at a park right by my house, which will be perfect for lying out on sunny weekends! Literally 4 blocks away from me, and free, this little pool has a handful of deck chairs which, should I arrive right at the 11:00 am opening time, I should be lucky enough to snag one and then my morning can be spent leisurely drowning out the screams of children in a pool, as I work on my tan. Because I am tired of being pasty, you have no idea. It's killing me. If I can't have a beach on-hand, I can at least have a pool with space for sunning, so you better believe I'm gonna start making use of it! It's already July, time to get this started!

Relaxation

 {Image via}

It really is incredible how a little venting session clears my mindset so tangibly. I do, of course, apologize that all three of you loyal readers had to endure said rant, but it was what I was feeling at the time and I felt so trapped by my dissatisfaction that I had to get it out somehow. Rather than go to the gym, bake something, or drink heavily, I chose to get it out of my chest right then and there, and write. Regardless, today I am feeling much better, much more hopeful for my future here in the Big Apple, and much more able to cope without a desert, perhaps mostly being as it is that there are beaches one can get to from this island-home. And Happy July 1 to all of you! To my stateside readers, Happy Fourth of July weekend! May all your barbecues, boat excursions, beach trips, and generally fun times be both safe and enjoyable. And may everyone else kick off this first weekend of July with fun and relaxing times to boot.