Dancing queen, prancing into Spring.

It's been a long week of writing, editing, court filings, and application deadlines looming over my head -- and a series of unfortunate events last night! -- but I am so ready to show some skin, and don my dancing shoes this weekend!

Here's to hoping Mother Nature cheers up and stops crying soon. A night out with my favorite ladies, a girly sleepover, Sunday brunch, and potential Oscar-viewing; lots of laughs to be had and stories to be told, I'm sure of it.

Can. Not. Wait. Happy Friday!

Traveling Thursday: The land of the gods.

Today, I am dreaming of Greece.

Writing on Wednesdays.

I have a couple of deadlines coming up that require me to write rather extensively -- and, yet, here I am, procrastinating, writing on my blog instead, as an excuse to get the creative juices flowing. I definitely have my priorities straight, don't I?

Considering my writing group meets on Wednesdays, I only see it fit that I dedicate this day to writing. I write regularly -- for work, and for professional and entrepreneurial blogs as well -- but I have not written something personal or poignant in a while. I am tempted to blame it on lack of time, but perhaps the truth rests more between a lack of confidence in my writing abilities, and a lack of want to share.

First personal writing project: a handwritten letter to Manfriend, while he is traveling on business. He gifted me a box of love letters, written by famous names such as Beethoven and Napoleon to their amours, this past Valentine's Day. I'll consider that my inspiration to leave behind a written (physical, versus digital) legacy.

More than words.

"Even now, all possible feelings do not yet exist, there are still those that lie beyond our capacity and our imagination. From time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written or a painting no one has ever painted, or something else impossible to predict, fathom or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world. And then, for the millionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges and absorbs the impact."

- Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

I've (nicely) requested Manfriend that he serenade me at our wedding. I can't sing, though, he protested. But then I heard him quietly, almost inaudibly, hum the words to one of my favorite songs when it came on the radio a few minutes later.

Everything is nothing until someone gives it a meaning.

Let's run away. Far, far away.

Friday afternoon, and I am in a lazy, hazy mood as a result of indulging on sushi and sun during a picnic lunch with an old friend earlier. We were discussing the latest news regarding his love life, and as a result, I've had the subject of engagements, weddings, and marriage on my mind for the past hour or so.

Manfriend and I have had several conversations about the kind of wedding we'd like, and eloping together was an idea we (temporarily) played around with... alas, my parents would probably disown me for not allowing them the gift of seeing their oldest and only daughter marry. While browsing for ideas a few minutes ago, I stumbled on Once Wed, where I shamelessly sat there admiring how beautiful and outworldly the bride looked. The couple eloped in Australia, and the photos -- taken by New York-based Wrinkle in Time Photography -- look so dreamy and surreal!

... *swoon*!

In any case, I was thinking about maybe having a picnic wedding, and Manfriend really liked the suggestion. Oh, the possibilities!

To view more wedding details, click here. Hope everyone has a marvelous three-day weekend!

Stardust, wanderlust.

"The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go." - Buddhist quote.


We are one day away from Friday, and I find my mind wandering, wandering, wandering... Thinking of doing a Traveling Thursday series on my blog, moving forward. Just a record of where I've been, things I've seen, stories I've experienced, and nomadic hopes and wants for the future.

As much as I'd like to give credit to the following photos, I don't remember where I saved them from. I keep an "inspiration" folder here on my computer at work, and it comes in handy when things get unbearably stressful or I am feeling just plain ol' restless at the office.

Irritated.

I found myself in a conflicting state of mind last night.

I wasn't sure why, exactly, or even what bothered me, specifically. My feelings, what to say, what to do. I wasn't sure of anything, really.

So I restrained myself, and took a few steps back; disconnected myself from it all, freeing myself of the white noise, sincerely hoping that the foul emotions wouldn't bleed into the morning.

But no such luck. I guess it must be that time of the month again.

Black lace and a naked face.

Cold weather always puts me in a deep, dark rut. It's so hard to feel (and stay) feminine and sexy when you work in a conservative, corporate office, and the weather is so uninspiring out.

What gets me through the season, though, are the multitudes of dark opaque tights and various textured stockings that keep me feeling cheeky. I honestly think I've worn pants twice this entire winter, and I don't foresee that number going up anytime soon. Quite frankly, I try to get away with wearing the least amount of clothing possible when (and where) appropriate, but hey, maybe that's just me.

In fact, my long-term goal is to telework for the rest of my life, someday -- responding to emails, "consulting", reading, and writing while I lie out naked on the white sands of a remote island in the Republic of Fiji somewhere.

Yes, someday. In the meantime, my uniform of choice will be the stockings-and-stilettos combo, please.

***Playfully erotic photos by model-turned-photographer Ellen von Unwerth via Google Images.

Wearing white.

I attended my very first bridal expo a few weekends ago with the Best Friend, where we spent most of our time squeezing through the crowds for second (and third) cake tastings before claiming our seats for the bridal fashion show. Then we giddily oohed and aahed over the glossy photos in the brochures and magazines while we waited for the procession of wedding dresses to float down the runway at any given moment.



But, alas. We were highly disappointed as the models came out one after the other in awfully ill-fitted dresses that made the show rather painful (and comical) to watch. My recently engaged girlfriend, who had given me free tickets to the event (thanks, K!), agreed: we had such high hopes for some of the designer collections, but spent the majority of the time wrinkling our noses, snickering, totally unimpressed. I was so, so excited to get a sneak peek of the White by Vera Wang collection for David's Bridal in person (the collection hits stores on February 11th), but maybe I should have just stuck with admiring the pretty pictures instead.



And so, perhaps the most important lessons to take away from all this for my own special day, is the following: 1) see it and feel it before you buy it, and 2) I better find myself a damn good seamstress, for sure.

Screenshots via The Huffington Post.