currently.

Feeling inspired and ready to do more of what I love throughout the upcoming months.

Getting in touch with my dslr on a more regular basis.
Ticking off items on to-do list after to-do list like a boss.
Reading the Cuckoo's Calling from my paperback lust list.
Wishing away this freezing cold NY weather (more about this in my post from yesterday).
Pinning things on pinterest that I know I will actually use/do/try etc. so that my boards aren't getting clogged up with so much stuff that I forget what I pinned only a few days before.
Planning things to do with R when he's visiting for Valentine's day and the week that follows.
Absolutely loving project life and the idea of my finished album(s) at the end of this year.
Watching New Girl episode after episode and fearing catching up with the live season. Thank you, netflix, for yet another addictive series at my complete and utter disposal 24/7.
Listening to Bastille and Daughter on repeat.
Drinking water with strawberries again on the reg #delish.
Cleaning my over cluttered closet out this weekend.
Using a new beauty oil that is making my skin feel baby soft and super hydrated.
Dreaming about California.
Connecting with my one little word and trying to grow and expand in every aspect of my life.

moving to california.

This past week I was in California with my employers to be an extra set of eyes and hands to take care of Max. I've always had kind of an infatuation with California and have desperately wanted to visit my whole life. When I was asked to go on this trip I hid some of my excitement so that they didn't reconsider after witnessing my craziness, but on the inside I was exploding. That one week in California was all that I hoped it would be and more, even without being with my friends or R and being able to explore at my leisure. I'm not making any rash decisions now, especially because I love my job and I'm so broke it's ridiculous, but with the snow falling outside my window and my car dusted with a fresh layer to scrape off, it's becoming harder and harder to think of reasons why I wouldn't pack up and move tomorrow. So here's my rough pro/con list as of now.

PROS:

// it's always sunny. Like, always.

// the winter weather feels like a sunny fall day, which is my favorite type of day.

// though the summers are hot, they don't have the same type of humidity that we have on long island, which is what makes summer so completely unenjoyable here.

// palm trees. not pine trees, palm trees.

// you can see dolphins just driving by the ocean. It's insane that my first ever dolphin sighting was sitting in the back seat of a car on the way to lunch.

// taxes are lower in every way.

// the likelihood of spotting Leonardo DiCaprio and marrying him will drastically increase.

// the likelihood of spotting any of my celebrity crushes and marrying them will drastically increase.
// I can run outside all year long instead of on a treadmill, which absolutely kills my motivation.
// I thrive in terms of productivity on sunny days.
// More light = better photography than my small-windowed NY house in the winter.
// a new adventure is always fun, especially if I have R in tow (I think he'd be mad if I left him behind).
// new friends! new coffee shops! more of my favorite things in a new place! NEW!
// all of my friends and family will be a plane ride away.
// fresh inspiration for every part of my live.
// a move like this is a challenge and screams growth (grow is my one little word for the year), which is scary but more so exciting.

CONS:

// most of my friends are in new york, and if they're not, they live somewhere on the east coast.

// my parents live here, but to be honest they're ready to move right after retirement, so that could turn into a pro.

// moving is hard enough without going cross country.
// I would have to get a lot of basic things that I don't own because I live at home. I'd have to do that anywhere I move to, but it's a lot harder to move everything back if I decide to east coast it again.

// I don't know if I'll be able to get certified and find a teaching job in California by the next school year.

// to visit R's family flights become double the price and double the distance and time. But an extended stopover in NY wouldn't kill us to break up the traveling days.
// I feel NY in my bones, I've always been a New Yorker forty minutes from the greatest city in the world and it might be a little sad to give that up (even though I rarely find myself in the city).
// the Yankees will be so far away and games won't be easily accessible anymore. But hey, I can be a Yankee fan in another state and visit them when they play in California.
// the culture shock mixed with moving and trying to find a job could potentially be too much to handle all at once.Most of the cons I've listed I found I could easily put a "but...", which to me is almost a pro. There really isn't that much stopping me from this move. The biggest things would obviously not having my friends in the same neighborhood anymore and not living with my parentals, but we all have to fly the coop sometime and we all have to come to terms with not living a few houses down from each other anymore (I think we all struggle with the imminent reality of that one, but such is life I suppose). On the overall, I think I have way more pros and I feel so much more excited than scared at idea of it all. I'm very excited, stay tuned.

project life 2014 // week three.

Dated: January 13 - January 19. This is the third week of project life and I'm still really kind of obsessed with it.What I did this week: I had a full work week with Max, finally exchanged Christmas gifts with some of my girlfriends, made killer cookies (oreogasms, patent pending) for pretty little liars night with the girls, and flew out to California with Max and his parents.About this spread: This week I decided to use all of the 4x6 spots for photos, so I used photoshop to create a week card for the top left of the spread with one of the photos. I used my xyron create-a-sticker to add wood veneer letters right to the plastic sheet on the left side of the spread. I used a wrapped label on one photo that was too dark to directly journal on, similar to what I did a lot in my 2013 summer book.Thoughts, concerns + details: This spread is a little late because of the California trip that started at the end of this week. I sat down and cranked out both this spread and the one going up next week because I edited and set up all my photos for printing on the plane home from Cali.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 12 // canon t3 photos: 0 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me and the self-timer.

Materials, supplies, and tools I used: midnight core kit, seafoam core kit, design A pocket pages, less is more stamps, elise joy stamps, xyron create-a-sticker, project life grid cards, paper source blank labels (similar), studio calico wood veneer letters, we r memory keepers cards, project life corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, american crafts photo marker in black.

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here and see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

a (long) story about how I got my nannying job.

Today is officially the one year mark with my job as Max's nanny. I could not be more grateful for what this last year of my life has given to me. Max is a sweet, bright, and loveable boy who I couldn't imagine my life without now. I know that the time will come when I can no longer be his nanny (I need to do something with the large bachelor's degree gathering dust in my basement), but I just know that him and his parents will always be in my life. In terms of everything about my job, I am very lucky and boy, do I know it. Not everyone who is a nanny ends up with the perfect family, not every kid is as great or as easy of a kid as Max is, and not every person who wants to be a nanny can find a job. 

Enter sittercity.

I used sittercity through recommendation from my college house mate who used it to find the family she permanently babysat for throughout high school and on college breaks. I went on a lot of interviews in college for a part time sitting position through this website. I declined a lot of jobs, I wasn't called back on a few (which was usually a relief because I didn't absolutely love the family or the kids), and at times there were moms or dads who contacted me that either lived too far away or needed more hours than I could give. I did get one babysitting job eventually with an adorable boy who was not even a year old at the time. Though the family paid great and the kid was awesome, I usually only spent about a half hour with him before his mom put him to bed and they went out. I can't complain though. It was nice to see sittercity finally work for me and my schedule, and I got paid to do my school work.

After I graduated from school, I looked for teaching jobs but had zero success. I didn't get any interviews, I didn't even get emails back when I asked about the status of my applications. I activated my sittercity account again and began getting interviews. During this time I was working thirty hours a week at a boutique at my local mall. I'd had the job for two years and worked through all of my college breaks, but as a permanent job it just wasn't doing it for me. I worked for a very ungrateful man who was money hungry and didn't care much about the employees of his "family based business" (ironic, isn't it?) I wanted out, especially because I needed more than eight dollars an hour to live (even living with my parents rent free it was peanuts and not enough money for me to get by on).

I haven't shared this type of thing here on the blog because it isn't really the type of content I normally share. However, I do share a lot about myself and I'm always honest about what I share, so I figure this post is the best one to include this little story. After an upset at this job (one of the owner's stores had to close and he basically fired all of my friends that worked at that location), I said a few things about how disgusted and upset I was about the situation. It made me feel so disposable to these people that I dedicated so much of my time to over the last two years. I was good at my job, but treatment like that was certainly not going to keep my work ethic honest. A lesson, friends: you really can't trust too many people. It's hard for someone like me to really remind myself of this fact because I trust very easily, too easily. The things I said in my moment of anger that weekend got back to the owner of the store and to my not-so-surprise-after-the-fact-even-though-I'm-not-the-girl-who-gets-fired I was fired on the following Monday.

That brings me back to sittercity. That Monday, mere hours before I was fired from my only job at the time, I received an email from a woman who lived less than a mile away from me who needed a nanny for her son. Her description of the job sounded perfect, the hours were long but I'd have Fridays off, and the pay bracket she displayed on her profile was right where I needed it to be to more than double my weekly retail salary. I responded with a resounding yes please and the interview was set up for Friday. After I was fired, I drove home in a fit of rage that is so laughable (the reason I was angry was because I wanted to be the one to quit my job and have the last word, not because I was fired) and as soon as I walked through my front door I got a call from the woman who emailed me earlier that day. Her and her husband were in the car on the way home from work and they wanted to know more about me.

Of course the first thought I had was, "do I tell them why I'm out of breath and sounding a little "I hate the world" right now?" I did. If I could do it all over again, I'd still tell them. It was important for me to be honest and let them know what happened because I think that it shows the type of person I am. I won't stand to be wronged and I won't work in an environment that makes me feel uncomfortable, disposable, and cheap. Even though I didn't quit myself, my days were numbered and they honestly did me a favor by letting me go. By telling them all of this, I think I made it clear that I work hard no matter what, but refuse to be used anymore. I interviewed for the job that Friday and met Max - my best friend, the love of my life, the sweetest boy in the world who has filled my life with so much joy. I got the job on Sunday and started on Monday.

Though I do believe in everything happening for a reason and kind of in fate a little bit, I know that sittercity is really who I have to thank for this job. If I hadn't put my profile back up, who knows where the hell I'd be now. Max's parents found me at the exact right time. They needed me and I needed them and that's exactly how this site works. It's so simple. I wholeheartedly recommend this website to anyone looking for a babysitting or nanny job, or for any moms or dads who need an extra set of hands with their kids. I have been so very blessed to have this job for the last year, and I am so thankful to sittercity for giving me the opportunity to put myself out there in a unique way and find exactly what I needed. To them I owe some of the happiest moments of the last year, maybe even of my life.

*this is not a sponsored post. I love sittercity and all it does to help families find nannies and vice versa. I recommend this site because it is totally my own opinion that it is a wonderful way to find what you need when it comes to childcare (or special needs or pet care).

project life 2014 // week two.

Dated: January 6 - January 12. This is the second week of project life and I'm still really kind of obsessed with it.What I did this week: I went back to work this week and was so excited to see Max. I finally picked my one little word for this year so a lot of time was spent on the beginning of that album. My mom and I went to a taping of the Bethenny show, which was one of her Christmas gifts,  I finally got to exchange Christmas presents with my two best friends, and spent some time with my parents. It was a nice and busy first week back home.About this spread: I used a screenshot of a Facetime sesh between R and I from Sunday because it was funny that we both had our maroon hats and glasses on. I did a lot of journaling directly on photos, mostly because I had a lot of pictures that I wanted to say something about and not enough space for journal cards.Thoughts, concerns + details: I finished this entire spread in one sitting because I'll be away this weekend and all of next week. It wasn't too difficult, but I don't feel like I made the best use of all of the supplies I have because I was trying to get it finished before I left.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 10 // canon t3 photos: 1 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me and the self-timer.

Materials, supplies, and tools I used: midnight core kit, seafoam core kit, design A pocket pages, less is more stamps, project life corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, american crafts photo marker in black.

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here and see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

friday link love | 1.

Fridays are for web browsing because it's basically the weekend, right? Here are a few links I've visited over the last week or so:

// this video of an adorable little baby's first year of life made me sob.
// I am about to buy 6,347,201 cards off of etsy because I can't find any super cute ones anywhere else (this one + this one are my favorites for valentine's day).
// I'm not sure how I just discovered this site, but I'm obsessed.
// I joined this gym this week, and if you have one near you I recommend them. They have a movie theater! You can't evendread working out if it's in a movie theater.
// this recipe is going to be a new favorite, I can feel it in my baking equipment.
// I'll take a set of these for my iphone 4s in gold, please.
// Alx James is my favorite viner (follow him if you have vine, he's too funny), and this is in my top five faves of his videos.
// I would love to have these in my home for special occasions, or even just every day dinners.
// a parody of Lorde's Royals featuring a furry pooch.

#alessiainthemorning.

Right after the new year, I noticed that Elise Cripe was posting pictures on her instagram with the hashtag #eliselovesmornings under a few pictures of things like coffee and her backyard. I thought this idea (like many of her ideas) was so cool. I spoke to R about it, and I said that I thought it's a pretty special idea to intentionally document your morning or any other part of the day in this manner. Then a few days later Elise posted about her hashtag and spoke about this book. Once I showed R the book, I think he was definitely on board with doing something similar to document our lives apart this year (hopefully only until July, and then we'll have shared mornings! Fingers crossed).

This year I have started a number of projects (project life, one little word) and am feeling really inspired to add more creativity to my plate, though the plate's pretty full already. That's why I thought jumping on this morning photo bandwagon would be an awesome, low key project. R and I have been 3,384 miles apart from each other most days of the year for the last five years. One of the things that bothers us most is that we wake up and go to sleep at different times because of the five hour difference, so we decided that seeing each other's morning is a pretty cool thing because we don't get to spend our mornings together before we go to work like normal couples. Since we decided on it together almost two weeks ago, R has been posting pictures of his morning on his instagram with the hashtag #richinthemorning (second and last photos above) and I have been posting on my instagram with the hashtag #alessiainthemorning (first and third photos above). I made sure that neither hashtag had any pictures under it, and then we were set (though now there is a random picture under R's hashtag of a mega millions ticket from 63 weeks ago. It's not him so it's annoying it didn't show up the first time I looked at the tag, but we'll work with it). I already love looking at both of the hashtags and seeing what we have so far. R isn't much of an instagram user, so I'm really proud of how much he's committed to it already (hopefully he'll keep it up. Rich, if you're reading this, ahem).

I think about R and myself finally living together and being a normal couple at least once a day. It finally feels like this may be our year, and I'm so excited about it. I made Rich a scrapbook for our first anniversary, and since then we haven't done much documentation of ourselves as a couple. I think it will be so great to put all of these pictures together at the end of our time apart and make our own little book: 3,384 Miles Apart. This isn't the height of my creativity as I'm piggybacking off a few different concepts and ideas, but this little mini personal project really spoke to me, so I'm super excited about it.

one little word art canvas.

For one little word, it's recommended that you purchase something to remind you of your word - most commonly a piece of jewelry, or this year Ali recommended the word art she bought for her word, thrive. I love the idea of the recycled word art, but I didn't really want to spend thirty dollars on it. At the time that I saw Ali post about the word art, I hadn't even had a word picked out yet. I knew this meant that I would make something myself to hang up or put on a shelf so that I could be reminded of my word and this journey all the time. Then I went to Michael's for a couple of little things and the problem was solved for me when I noticed that all canvases were 50% off that day. I was going to simply paint the word on a canvas. I picked up some new paint brushes because my old ones were pretty kaput, and I put everything aside until I figured out the word that I was going to connect with.

I decided on a black canvas because I want to hang it over my desk where a few framed prints are going to be hung, which are all white and gold. The black would be a nice, neutral color change for the space, and the word would stand out on the dark background. I was unsure at first whether I wanted my word, grow, to be in white or gold, but after testing the two colors on a piece of newspaper, I was sold on the contrast of the white against the black canvas.

I really love the way it turned out. It's simple and big and exactly what I need it to be. I'll see it multiple times a day, and it's going to compliment the other things going on this (obnoxiously purple) wall. Having this piece of art has made me even more excited that I was before about this year and the journey that I am taking with this word in mind to focus, reflect, and meditate on.

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One Little Word is a workshop run by Ali Edwards in which participants choose one word to focus on for an entire year. Join Ali, myself, and many others on this journey by learning more and signing up for the class here, read about Ali's OLW here, and see all of my related posts for OLW 2014 here.

tunes tuesday // bastille.

I've had this album, Bad Blood, for a while now but I'm finally really starting to vibe with it. I initially loved their single 'Pompeii', which is the first song on the album. Now that it's been on the radio a bit I went back to the whole album a few weeks ago to give it another listen. I'm so glad that I did or I might have forgotten how good it actually is. It's a very similar sound to Thirty Seconds to Mars but without all of the theatrics of their songs. It's good running music, which is a plus, and it's good music to have in the background of other things. I definitely recommend this album, it's a winner.

Even though I love the whole album, 'Pompeii' was the first song I heard and it's still definitely my favorite even though it's the single. It just gets me so pumped up and makes me want to sing at the top of my lungs (which I do in the car, I must look like an idiot). Give it a listen if you haven't heard it on your local radio station and if you like it give the album a chance. The lyrics are great for every song and the music is upbeat and fun. They don't reinvent the wheel with their sound on every song - they definitely know what works for them - but they're not all so similar that it's a bad thing. 

Pompeii

Bastille

BAD BLOOD

grow.

This year I am expecting a lot from myself. I'm not really one for resolutions if I'm being honest, particularly because it always makes me feel like I'm letting myself down when I don't follow through. This year I am participating in Ali Edward's One Little Word class, which revolves around having one word to focus on during the entire year that will help you as an individual to make a difference in your life. I could not be more excited to welcome this experience into my life instead of a resolution that you and I both know I probably won't keep based on most of the human species' track records.When I started to think of a word that I could use to define my desires and goals for this year, I went back and forth with a few, but just couldn't seem to find one that made me go ah-ha! Finally, it came to me while I was lying in bed worrying about the usual things. Grow. I need to grow this year. And not in the sense that I'm short (I'm not) or immature, but in a more profound way. I want to grow this year in all aspects of life: emotionally, spiritually, physically (I don't want to actually grow physically, but work more on growing my knowledge and understanding of healthy living and fitness), creatively, and within my existing and new relationships.For me specifically, this type of growth means rebuilding my relationship with God, doing more things that spark and nurture my creativity, applying healthy changes to my lifestyle, making attainable goals and going for them one step at a time instead of all at once and fearing failure, and becoming more patient in my everyday life. This also means less worrying, less distractions, less irritability (especially when it comes to the people I love), less trying to be superwoman and getting down on myself when I realize I can't be, and less time spent dreaming and wishing about what I want - more do.

I am so excited about this coming year because of this project. What I expect from this experience is to gain a better understanding of who I am and what I need to do for myself to change the things about my life that I can control. Once I start seeing small changes in myself, I can channel it to work towards my goals and be the person I want and need to be. I am so ready for this year to be great.

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One Little Word is a workshop run by Ali Edwards in which participants choose one word to focus on for an entire year. Join Ali, myself, and many others on this journey by learning more and signing up for the class here, read about Ali's OLW here, and see all of my related posts for OLW 2014 here.

project life 2014 // week one.

Dated: January 1 - January 5. Happy 2014! It's my first week of project life ever, and I'm kind of already really obsessed with it.What I did this week: It was my second week in England with R. We rang in the new year with a puzzle and crappy champagne with our friend Ben, watched an insane amount of horrible television, and drove down to London to stay with my aunt before I flew home on Sunday. In other words, just what the doctor ordered.About this spread: I cropped a picture of R and I to 4x12 and cut it in half so that I could feature both of us in a 4x6 and journal right on the photos. I also used a 4x6 midnight edition card with a camera on it to feature mini polaroids I took.Thoughts, concerns + details: I had to really get a feel for how I want my album to be not only this week but in general. It will obviously change week to week, which is the beauty of it, but having a "plan" kind of helps me to keep from getting overwhelmed. I'm glad I lugged my canon with me all the way to England otherwise I don't think I would have had that great of a shot of me and R. Same thoughts on my polaroid camera - a hassle to carry, but way worth it.

Photo breakdown: phone photos: 5 // canon t3 photos: 5 // polaroid photos: 2. Taken by me and the self-timer.

Materials, supplies, and tools I used: midnight core kit, design A pocket pages, freckled fawn arrow clip, elise joy calendar insert, life love paper 'we are here' stamp, less is more stamps, project life corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, american crafts photo marker in black.

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here and see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

how to: get down to business & blog efficiently.

Though a large part of blogging is channeling creativity and making or doing things that are fun and exciting to blog about, the actual blogging part can be a little daunting. I love writing, and find it easy to find my voice and my words, but sometimes it's just easier to write a post in my head than to sit at my computer and do it. When this happens, (I can't be alone here) everything seems to be worded perfectly and I am sure I will remember exactly how I articulated myself, until I'm sitting in front of a blinking cursor - then I forget all of it.

Though I'm sure there are plenty of successful bloggers that do all of the following things, I'm positive that there must be a few people out there who are like me and need a little bit of help with the execution of writing a blog post, or honestly, sitting down to do any type of work.

Make sure you are mentally ready. There are deadlines and goals to meet, but when there isn't much time left to waste and you are really and truly uninspired or not into doing what you have to, you may need to take a few minutes to do something fun or creative (maybe snapping some shots of the flowers outside or doodling on a piece of paper), refocus your mind, then sit down to get it done. A lot of times for me this step requires making a huge cup of coffee and flicking through my instagram feed before settling down with my computer to work.

Organize everything you need before you begin writing. For me, this step is key. If I am posting something that  I have taken a lot of pictures for, I need to make sure that I've edited my photos (which for me is usually "smart fix" or a bit of brightening), sized them to fit my column, and decided which ones are going where in my post. Sometimes, if I'm away from my computer I'll doodle the post on a piece of paper and decide which pictures go after certain types of text, but a lot of times I do have a routine of sorts for how I organize and format posts, for example my recipes. Along with pictures being ready, make sure you have information at hand (directions, instructions, materials list, etc.) so that you do not need to conduct a search for a recipe or DIY you were following in the middle of the flow of your post. In addition to having everything organized as you sit down to work, it helps to organize posts a week in advanced or so so that you have all of the materials and information you need before you start doing something that's lined up to post about (i.e. making sure you have flour in the house before you go to the grocery store for everything else and set up your camera and workspace to bake a cake. I could be speaking from experience here.)

Edit after you get your words out. I always reread my posts and change things around after I've written one, but if I ever start reading paragraphs as soon as I've written them, I start to get a little bit crazy with myself and rearrange text order, or change words or phrases around to the point where I've forgotten what I really wanted to say or what to say next. Another thing is if you reread your work too many times, you will probably get uninterested in what you are saying, skip over reading it again at the end, and overlook a possible error. I have found it monumentally helpful to just write, write, write to my heart's content so that I'm saying what I need to say in the moment and while my thought process is chugging along, and then I can fine tune later and make sure everything is the way I want it before hitting publish. If you have a good flow going on, don't stop! Obviously we run into distracting situations or loss of creative flow, or other scheduled things get in the way, but if you can keep going, go.Make a checklist. I am a very visual person and I experience a certain euphoria every time I cross an item off a list (call me crazy, but I know I can't be alone in that). Even when I'm doing something I know how to do, sometimes I make a checklist anyway and every time I cross something off it feels like a huge accomplishment, which pushes me to cross the rest of the things off of my list. Sometimes these checklists are huge, sometimes they're tiny, but they always help me to remember what needs to get done most importantly. If spending an hour on #whatshouldwecallme isn't on the list, I'll usually stay away from it. Though I really can't make any promises.

Figure out what works best for you. Though these tips and tricks work for me specifically, they may not be what you need in order to get something like a blog post or a school paper finished. With that being said, try to jot down the things that do work for you so that you can make your own checklist of things to do in order to engrain those habits into your working routine. For me, sitting at a desk or a table works best for me in terms of how much I get done in a short amount of time. I am capable of sitting on a couch in front of the television and getting a post done, but it probably takes two to three times longer or I end up getting discouraged completely. If you're the opposite, so be it, just make sure you make a note of that so the next time you are getting ready to work you can get straight to the most conductive environment.

I'm no expert, but these are things that I discovered work for me through trial and error. It's just a fact that if I sit with some music at my desk or dining room table, I'm going to get ten times more done than if I am on my couch catching up with my DVR. I get my to do list, a giant mug of coffee, and I fly through what I need to do most of the time. It's all about finding what works for you, execution, repeat. Let me know if any of these things work for you or if I gave you an idea of something to keep you motivated and on track. I know this isn't groundbreaking stuff, but you don't always need to reinvent the wheel to do great things.

paperback lust list // 2014 edition, part one.

Not only because it's the new year and this is the time for bold intentions and resolutions, I have decided I really need to step up my reading game in 2014. It's not that I didn't read a bunch of books in 2013, I just feel like I could have read a few more with ease. In 2014 I want to try to read 25 books, some of which are already purchased on my nook or on wait list at the library. I don't want to pick all 25 now because obviously new books come around and into our radar, but I have made a list of my first ten for sure reads of this year, and plan on reporting on them here as I usually do to hold myself accountable. The Cuckoo's Calling // Where'd You Go, Bernadette // Bossypants // Mockingjay (a reread, but an essential one after that amazing second film!) // Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail // My Inappropriate Life: Some Material Not Suitable for Small Children, Nuns, or Mature Adults // Me Before You // All She Ever Wanted // The Bell Jar // Love in the Time of Cholera

Based off great back cover blurbs, recommendations, and trends, I'm hoping all of these reads will be winners and I'll be able to say great things. best get started! What are you planning on reading this year?

Other books I have read and reviewed here.

he + she: a breakdown.

My two week England vacation is over, the Christmas season has sadly passed us again, and it's a brand new year that holds the promise of possibility. I'm really excited about this upcoming year because I actually feel that there is so much room for change, bettering, and expanding in most areas of my life (more on that at the end of this week). I left R in tears (as usual), but we have a mere 38 days between now and our next visit together. If you're not quick with math, he'll be arriving here on valentines day! I don't think valentines day is that big of a deal, but we've only spent half of ours together and when we're apart I feel just as bad on the day as if I were single. I just love that when we're together I have the excuse to celebrate us wholeheartedly.

Anyway, as usual, our time spent together was short and fleeting, as is the case with most long distance relationships, so during our together time we always try to plan for the future (our next visit, events, parties). And this time, I think we might finally be getting somewhere. So here's what's going on with us as a result:

HE is going to finish out his first year of teaching until July, but in the meanwhile is applying to jobs in the US. Specifically a job in Washington DC at an English curriculum school for American kids. Private schools are his only option until he gets a green card or citizenship and has the opportunity to become certified in a US state, so one of these English schools would be a perfect solution to get his foot in the door and maybe even be a more permanent solution if he was blessed enough to get a position and love it.

SHE is definitely going to be Max's nanny until at least September. Job applications will begin soon, (cue fear, frustration, and denial) hopefully in an elementary school with great kids who are willing to learn. Where the school is located depends on his success with applications and interviews. She can't wait to have a place of her own, and this seems like the year for that, but without him, who would she live with?

HE + SHE both hope that all of this boring career talk can lead to a solid job for each of them, a new place to live no matter what state said jobs end up in, and an end to long distance for good. 

Hooray 2014! Cross your fingers for us, please :)