night swimming

advice for the day: don't buy a bag of hershey special dark miniatures unless you are completely okay with eating every single one. they're SO good.

so my trip. i know you're all on the edge of your seats:
i leave thursday morning at about 4am. heading to nyc to pick up a friend from college whom i haven't seen since my wedding. 5 years ago. she's never been to new england {!!} so i'm her official guide for the weekend. thursday we're going to trek around manhattan and see some sites, maybe even the statue of liberty. i'ld love to slip the met and central park in there, but we'll see...{we have free tickets for the empire state building too}

friday we're catching a ferry from rhode island for block island {from narragansett area}. i've never been, so it'll be an experience for both of us. we might rent some mopeds or just lounge on a beach all day. then onto providence for dinner with some friends near my old high school hang-out: thayer street. it's the brown university area. we're driving to a friends near boston to crash for the night.

saturday is boston! we have a tour scheduled in the morning, then lunch, then a historic tour then quincy market...so much to see in so little time. we'll also be headed to the salem witch museum for a bit.

sunday it's onto connecticut. mystic village, seaport, some fresh lobster off the coast, then on to yale university and their art museum...busy busy. {if there's time i'm taking her to IKEA!} then monday she flies out, so we head back to nyc with a stop at greenwich on the way.

so anyway, i'm really really excited about this trip. with just the two of us it'll be so easy to just do what we want, see what we want, go where we want...and i'm looking forward to doing things i never really did when i lived there {like a duck boat tour or yale museum}. and i really like the idea of being on our own, to find our way, figure out how to get there, use the public transport systems...and get a peak at nyc again...plus, she's one of those friends that you reconnect with and it doesn't seem like time even passed. she's really looking forward to the seafood and fake rolexes.

prints for sale!

i rarely use exclamation points but this calls for one. maybe even two. i know you guys have been asking me when and where you could get my photos {which makes me feel awesome by the way} so here they are: drumroll please... tinkerwithphotos. i will also keep the link on my sidebar if you want to keep checking for updates. which there will be. so just follow the ordering instructions at the top of the site. i'll put more up after my trip this weekend! what? going on another trip? yep. i'll tell you all about it tomorrow too. it's gonna be a big one....

friday favorites: sunsets and husbands

sunset, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

sunsets. i love them. who doesn't. who says, bah, humbug, i hate sunsets? you know how people say that if you had something ALL the time you wouldn't appreciate it as much as something that occurs every once in a while. they're wrong. i could live in an eternal sunset and never get sick of it.

my husband. five years ago today we committed ourselves to each other for the rest...of...our...lives. wow. doesn't that sound so daunting? well, it's not. these past five years have passed by so fast. we've had our hard times and our fights, but we've had more love and laughter than i could have ever asked for. it's been an amazing five years and i'm looking forward to the next five. {who knows, maybe we'll even have a kid or two.} the futures so bright, i gotta wear shades. {another friday favorite: bad 80's references}

and one more since it's been a while: old men feeding pigeons.

have a good weekend everyone.

sweet summer

blueberry, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."
Celia Thaxter

a little goes a long way

this weekend was fairly productive, even with my father in town. i was proud of myself. even though i was just avoiding much larger tasks on my to do list.

i vacuumed the entire house including all the spiders that had moved in last month. cruel, i know, but they have houses outside. il'd vacuum up any intruder. cute or creepy crawly.

i found some great cheap canvas boxes at christmas tree shop so i reorganized my closet. i also tried on a bunch of stuff i haven't worn in years and realized i had about 5 pair of kakis and 2 skirts that weren't possibly going to fit me anymore. i've also got some boxes to mail out this week {including the number picking winner's box, let's hear it for procrastination, yay}

then i dropped off some dry cleaning and some donation clothes {sitting in my extra room for months now}. and i unloaded my husband's summer clothes and packed away the winter. {don't even give me a hard time about it since it's only been summer weather here for the past few weeks...}

tonight i'm going to a private party at this place to make and take some dinners that should last us a month. and there's no mess to clean up afterwards. and i don't have to cook to serve a fabulous dinner at home. {hurray}

palos verdes and me

palos verdes and me, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

another shot from california. look at how amazingly beautiful it is out there. if we end up living there i will be spending the weekends here. i might even take up surfing. {notice my sweet hollywood glamour shades}

1 out of 10

women suffer from low self-esteem. i tend to think that's a pretty generous assumption based on personal experience. nearly all of my friends suffer from the disease. i say disease because it's something you catch from people around you, magazines, billboards, or your own inner negativity. but there's a cure. it's in your head. in my head.

80 percent of women are unhappy with their bodies. yep, 80% of us. how disturbing is that number? the number one cure is to start thinking positive about your curves or your dimples or your frizzy hair. (like instead of focusing on my extremely small breasts i'll celebrate my flat stomach, yay, etc.)The second is to take care of yourself. Buy those 50 dollar jeans that make your butt look so good. make healthy eating choices and then splurge on dessert at the end of the week. get up and go, to the gym (making friends with the regular desk person seems to force me to be accountable, even if they don't pressure me about not being around). no excuses. if you want to feel good about yourself you have to take the time for yourself. even if that means just sitting somewhere in a quiet place and reading.

i read all of this in an article while i was on the eliptical machine this morning. second day of taking care of myself, again. i'm really excited about it too. i feel so much better when i take the time to make healthy meals and snacks and workout, and i'm more productive with everything else in my life. i think it's the energy i get from knowing i'm working positive things in my life, mind and body. so i guess i'm just trying to convince all of you that you are what you think. and i think a lot of you sacrifice all day long for others without realizing you're just as important. so take some time for you today and dwell on your good qualities. you know you have them. i know you have them. you just have to show everyone else that you have them.

there once was a man with a little too much time on his hands

I'm finally over it. my cold. who gets colds in the summer? apparently me. my body gets pissy when i fluctuate between temperature zones. so i slept through much of this weekend. which is exactly what i needed.

this week is back on track week. back to the gym, back to eating healthy, back to making meals and getting into all my business paperwork that i've been dreading. also have to call the investment counselor so i can start saving for retirement which is weird to think about since it's about 40 years away. but i do need to get my website set up, along with business cards printed and then there's the task of actually getting business.

oh and i need to buy a lounge chair for the deck this week. which i'm not sure when i'll get to use.

lucky me

me_jen_sushi.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

if anyone has that friend, that one friend that they can count on for anything, call at 3 in the morning, understand what the other is thinking from a simple look or gesture, and generally find comfort in, than lucky you. jen is mine. we connect. we laugh. we shop. we sometimes even fight. we've been through boyfriends, breakups, bad jobs, the eighties, training bras and ben and jerrys. we share everything from friends to clothes to dreams to dinner. i couldn't imagine her not in my life.

that said, i miss her. already.

rose colored glasses

rose colored, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

this was taken this weekend at this cool little rose garden we found near the university downtown. we never go down there but we were showing some friends around and i forced justin to pull into the park so i could get some shots. beautiful roses in every size and color.

hopefully the posters will be arriving within the next couple of days. they shipped on monday which is amazing since i ordered them sunday night. they better not be crap!

i'm wearing my 220 dollar skirt today that i scored in a boutique in venice beach for ten bucks! my best find of the week by far. the other was a five dollar skull bag for a friend.

i've just claimed a domain name for my business: www.thearthousedesigns.com
check it out. it's still under construction, but if you know anyone looking for stellar graphic design, let me know.

run down and thinking of leaving

"Blog Schitzophrenia = The condition of having two highly diversified blogs. One is meant for friends and family and contains no controversial or incriminating material. The other, usually secret, is used for ranting, raving, swearing, and confessing."

this would so be me if i actually started that other blog i've always dreamed about. thanks for the link marybeth.