Women need real moments.

"Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away."

- Barbara De Angelis

...

I've always known this.

And in addition to knowing it and embracing it, I am infinitely fortunate to have met a man who not only understands this need of mine, but also encourages it and reminds me of it when my life gets a little hectic and I forget about taking care of myself before I take care of others.

The "big" plan, on a napkin.

Those doodles? That napkin? Andrew Mason's "business plan" for his first collective action website, The Point, which then later lead to superstar start-up Groupon. 

Amazing, isn't it? 

Yet another reminder to myself (and others) that everything big, once started somewhere very small.

Moving in a different direction.

I received some disappointing news recently about a job I had applied to nearly two months ago.

It was a process that took much longer than both sides anticipated (punctuated by my being out of the country for two weeks, I'm sure) as we went through several interviews and conversations. In the end, the Senior Vice-President sent me a letter, with two complimentary tickets to the organization's (amazing) museum, with no formal offer for me to accept.

Maybe this last act served to soften up the blow, but I highly appreciated the generosity. I honestly never knew a rejection letter could sound so gracious -- which made it mildly more sad that I will not be joining the department. Everyone was genuinely nice and personable, and it was probably one, if not the, most enjoyable "interviews" I have ever had. We all shared quite a few laughs, and the same sense of dry, sarcastic humor. My could-have-been boss and I talked about various topics like fashion, travel, and books, and he even emailed me an incredibly flattering note regarding my accomplishments and abilities the day after we met.

But, to be completely frank, the disappointment was incredibly shortlived. Because the words that stayed with me the longest -- long after I had heard and read them and folded the letter and its contents away -- were "moving in a different direction". Because it was in that rejection that a realization also came to light; that even though I greatly admired the organization and its mission, the bulk of the position itself did not align with my strengths and interests. And so, to be completely frank once again, I am mostly just more relieved that I can now move on.

Because that's what it all it comes down to, no? We keep on moving, moving, moving in a new direction. Everything happens for a reason.

Traveling Thursdays: Always look forward.

This photo was taken in San Jose del Cabo last June, while Manfriend and I waited for the public bus going into downtown Cabo San Lucas. It was my first time visiting Mexico, and I absolutely loved it. We came back with so many pictures and memories - including getting your ear licked by a lizard (Manfriend), literally flying off an ATV and landing head first onto the sand (me), and getting full-body, hour-long massages right on the beach (both of us). Looking back on all of our most wonderful trips together, makes me look forward to upcoming ones, even more .

Because that's the key to beating the blues: Always have something to look forward to, whether it is an easy commute home after a long day at work, a sunny weekend roadtrip to the beach, or a fancy multi-city Europe trip abroad.

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.

"Creative Types: Embrace Chaos" | Malcolm Gladwell

Recorded December 16, 2010
Interviewed by Max Miller
Directed by Jonathan Fowler
Produced by Elizabeth Rodd

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Question: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Malcolm Gladwell: This I think is true, not just of writers, but of anyone who is in a creative space, that you have to reverse the normal human tendency, which is to edit. So a lot of... and occasionally this is, I think, a source of a great deal of frustration that exists between people in creative and non-creative universes, which is that creative people I think are trying to... their lives and their brains, their brains are messy. Their imaginations are messy. Why, because they don’t want to throw anything out. Why don’t they want to throw anything out? Because they believe on some level that there is always something of interest or value in whatever they encounter. They know enough about how mysterious and serendipitous and unpredictable the creative process is that they realize that it’s dangerous to kind of make too hasty a judgment about the value of anything that they come across.

People in non-creative universes have exactly the opposite relationship to information—or to experiences is a better way of putting it. They’ll see something and they’ll say "Is it relevant to what I'm doing?" And if it’s not they should push it aside and focus on what they’re kind of task is. If you're at Proctor & Gamble and you’re the head of Ivory soap you’re job is to sell more soap and if you get distracted by some interesting, but ultimately marginal subsidiary issue you won’t sell as much soap. And that is an extreme example, but that's a world that demands focus. If you’re a surgeon and you’re operating you cannot let your imagination wander about some idiosyncrasy of the operation. You have to kind of zero in. So I think that is a kind of... That embracing of messiness and understanding its contribution to the creative process is something that writers and creative types, artists, whatever have got to cultivate, have to learn to be comfortable with. Because it goes against a lot of our kind of instincts and training as kind of educated people.

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Hear more ideas, and the full interview, here.

There's family, and then there's even more family.

I am getting ready to send this Christmas picture of my family to Manfriend's parents (the penguin was temporarily replacing our baby puppy Sparky), and I am starting to miss all of them tremendously.

My mommy, my daddy. His mom, his dad. My brothers, my dog. His sister, and her darling kids. I can't wait for them to all meet someday soon. Sometime this upcoming year, perhaps? I'm only writing this because the people over at Mervis Diamond Importers curiously sent me an intriguing little card in the mail today...

Um. What? Apparently, someone knows something I obviously don't know. I am slightly peeved that they've ingrained the reality of a proposal so much deeper into my head and heart now, because you totally know this is going to be the very first thought that will cross my mind when I wake up each and every single morning from now on.

...

No, but seriously. Why. Why would they do that to me?! Le sigh. In other news, I should probably make "keeping my nails pretty and lady-like" a number one priority in the next few months. Wouldn't want him to slip it on a grubby-looking finger now, would we?

Tax Day Freebies! (Or nearly freebies.)

I filed my taxes yesterday without any major glitches, thanks to my brother, the future accountant and finance guru, and Turbo Tax!

I, however, now know where I inherited (or learned?) my procrastinating tendencies from...

Good luck, Daddy, and to the rest of you who are still hunched over crunching numbers as we speak.

For the rest of us, we can enjoy our day with Tax Day Freebies (or almost freebies) from big name chains. Thanks for the break, y'all!

· P.F. Chang's customers will get 15 percent off dine-in or take-out food purchases. The discount does not apply, however, to Happy Hour items or alcoholic beverages.

· McDonald's is offering a "Buy one, get one more for just 1 cent" on its Quarter Pounder with cheese and Big Mac sandwiches.

· McCormick & Schmick's is cutting the prices of its usual $15 to $20 entrees to $10.40. To round out your meal, you can order tax-themed drinks, such as a pint of Samuel Adams Deduction Draft.

· Cinnabon has temporarily rechristened its miniature cupcakes Tax Day Bites and will be handing out the snacks from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at its 700 outlets.

· T.G.I. Friday's will give customers $5 Bonus Bites gift cards for food and beverage purchases of $15 to $25 and $10 cards for those who spend more than $25.

· Starbucks is giving away free brewed coffee all day April 15 to patrons who bring in their own travel mugs.

· Dairy Queen will hand out free samples of its new Mini Blizzards from their Blizzardmobile from noon to 1 p.m. outside the main IRS office in Washington, D.C.

· IHOP is commemorating the child tax credit by offering free meals for kids 12 years old and younger with each adult meal purchased from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day throughout April.