vintage!

lately, i've been getting more and more into buying/selling/loving vintage. vintage everything, but especially clothes and ESPECIALLY jewelry.

one of those things that was so cool to do when we were thirteen is now cool again. or was it always? either way, i'll never forget running around cary street in richmond with my girlfriends, popping into vintage stores and boring our fathers who'd had to drive us.

i have friends who've been getting into it, girls with etsy sites and fun things, and i've started exploring the opportunities around town...there are many. tip of the iceberg!

with that in mind, i'd love to share both my love of vintage and an opportunity for all of YOU! wouldja lookeee here:






that, mes amis, is a deal and a half.

lately...

...i've been doing really well at my job and i feel as though i'm getting recognition for it from the people who matter. this is something new and different for me. though i feel i've done as well as i could at all my jobs before this, i feel like i wasn't recognized in the way that i needed. it's a nice change of pace, and i'm forever grateful for my previous jobs and what they've taught me (including the fact that in order to do my very best work, i need positive reinforcement. which now, i'm receiving!) it's all full circle, isn't it?

...nate and i have been great. getting back to that place of romance and mututal appreciation and respect, getting back to that place where we're truly communicative with each other and things are just good. we don't celebrate valentine's day, but that's because every day is valentine's day! especially more recently, we've been doing a good job of letting each other know how much we love each other and why. he's such a wonderful man, so hard-working and smart and patient and beautiful inside and out.

...i've been watching a lot of movies. when we have days off together, nate and i have gone out to matinees and we are ready for the oscars this year! i love being able to spend the day watching a film and discussing it with him over dinner--it's something i've missed, something else that we've gotten back to, that idea of being intellectually stimulated together, of enjoying art and film and the conversations it begins and the tangents that lead from it. so much fun.

...i've been craving a vacation. a real one, not just a few days off from work every now and then, but a real one, where we go places and do things. i miss my family and my friends and zipping around a place--charlottesville, dc, columbia, wherever--and getting out and about. having drinks in a bar we don't normally frequent, having a dinner with old friends, manicures in a trailer near the korean barbecue, a road trip with a new mix cd as our soundtrack. maybe sometime in the spring?

...i've been really happy and content with my life. there are days during which i spend all my time at work, there are days during which i spend all my time at home, there are days when i miss grillo or reminisce about middle school parties in nelson county, there are days when i think of france and sean and tina and our adventures and misadventures on the dimly lit streets of angers, there are days that i spend with my love, there are days that i spend on the phone catching up with my family, but mostly, there are days when i sit and i think about just how much i'm enjoying my life. i love this house and these people with whom i've surrounded myself, and my job. i love these trees and these birds and this tiny dusting of snow on the ground. i love my neighbors and my music and my pets. i love to drive in my car, admiring the sunshine on a brisk winter day, i love getting excited for the greenness and revitalization that springtime will indubitably bring.

so lately, things are splendid. and that's my update for you. update me on your life!

a break!

this week has been a vacation, especially compared to last week and while i've wanted to use my free time to get some things done, i've really done nothing. i think i'm okay with it though. there's always next week to be productive. justified procrastination.

gosh, i thought i had more to say. i guess blogging will happen next week, too...

new year!

so it's new year's eve. twenty-eleven is right around the corner. for a while now, i've never really done anything for new year's eve. before i worked in the restaurant industry, my family and i would hang out and watch a movie and eat baked camembert and bread and drink champagne. and now, when i think new year's eve, instead of parties or dressing up and going out, i am trained to only think "busy night."

new year's eve at solstice could pay my rent in one fell swoop, one night of running around for about nine hours, popping champagne, pouring champagne, guzzling red bull, kissing my boyfriend and toasting my co-workers at midnight, then going back to work.

there's something to be said about working on holidays. customers are generally in better moods, and it is fun to be a part of making their night a success. maybe there will be a time for me to enjoy my very own new year's eve, or at the very least at a reasonable hour, maybe i'll be the one who gets to dress up and go out and someone can make my evening a success, but for now i'm pretty content to enjoy the holiday vicariously. it's what i'm accustomed to.

i've got a great feeling about 2011. and in that spirit...resolutions!

i've made some variation of the same one every year since i was probably eleven: try to be more outgoing and not be afraid to try new things and meet new people. at some point, during the past fifteen years of making this resolution, it has become less of an effort and more a part of my true personality. there are people i meet who don't believe i was ever shy or quiet. i'll continue to make it forever, since it's served me well so far. so that's number one. try new things, meet new people, don't be afraid.

number two: be easy. don't take things too seriously. work hard, play hard, have more fun. spread positivity and emanate happiness and light. be giddy and goofy and silly and play. be contagious in my optimism.

number three: write. blog. zip around town with a notebook at my side. something!

number four: appreciate those around me and let them know they're appreciated. make sure everyone i love knows for sure that i love them.

(i love YOU!)

number five: as always, something more banal. get back to being healthier. no more of this 'cookies for breakfast!' or 'chocolate souffle for dinner!' eat your veggies!!!!

so there we are. resolutions for what promises to be the best year so far. i think 2011 will treat me well. bonne annee, mes amis! and may 2011 treat you just as well as you deserve. and if you happen to hang with me, i hope my giddy, goofy, lovey self will make you happy!

springtime

i can barely contain my excitement for the spring. i can't wait to open all my windows, play my music loud, and dance around my house without even caring if the neighbors see.

whoa, une autre!

i'm not promising by any means, but perhaps a new blog post a week?

and what a week it's been and what a week this one promises to be. between the strife of nate and i and feeling like i live at work, it was a tough one. on christmas eve, i managed to work a twelve hour day on three hours of sleep.

it's all been worth it though. nate and i have leapt over a major hurdle. things that i've thought about on and off (and, mind you, mostly off) for the past three years or so all came to a head, and a surprising one for him, as i had never let on that i was ever thinking about them. and silly things, stupid things, little things. did i miss out on something by never really dating, like my sister does? would i prefer to be single? do i flirt too much?

and the answer to all of those is no. but it took a lot of honesty and patience and a little bit of yelling and lots of chain smoking for all of that to get out of our systems, but it is and it's done and it's over and the future looks bright.

in the meantime, i'm still working the balance of being a badass waitress and a badass friend. and though this week will be another tough one, i think everything will settle a bit after the new year and it'll be easier to achieve that balance. a little wine night with some girlfriends, a night on the town with co-workers, date night with nate, coffee and writing downtown. it's nice to be able to intersperse these things with working like a crazy person.

it's snowy on my back deck. just a cold, bright whiteness. a shock to everyone's system. it's melting away now, revealing life. i'm taking this metaphor too far, but you know what i mean.

next blog post: new year's resolutions! inspire me with yours.

au manque du drame, mes amis!

bien(re)venue!!!

Where do I even begin?

So much has happened since July. We're nearing the end of 2010, one of the craziest years of my whole life. So much change, so many endings and beginnings and adventures and epiphanies. So much maturing and growing and evolving. So much optimism going into 2011.

This new place, if you can still call it new, has been treating me well, better perhaps than I deserve to be treated and certainly better than I've been treated.

I have a job as a waitress in one of the most highly respected, beautiful, and brilliant restaurants in the area. I work with some of the nicest, most genuine, funniest, and most professional people in the world, I swear. I've been working there for maybe three months and I already love them. I want them to be my friends and in my life in some capacity forever.

I love this town. There's always something you can find to do and usually someone with whom to do it, whether it be a drink, a coffee, or just hanging at someone's house. It's a small town, and I love that, recognizing people and also waving to strangers. There's something to be said about having a kinship with strangers. I was in a coffee shop earlier today, just writing and observing and I found myself just in love with everyone in there, though I didn't know a single soul. It's a cold day, windy and bitter, but everyone was smiling and warm and welcoming. People are generous with their happiness here. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. And, quite luckily, I think it's contagious.

Nate and I have been though a lot this year. The fatigue of our old home, the newness of this one, the move, the lack of jobs, the loss of jobs, the gaining of employment, making new friends, trying so hard to go out and meet people but yet stay connected to one another and in doing that, we've actually become even more connected, and have, I believe, renewed our love and respect for one another. Sometimes it takes this kind of shake-up and these sorts of novel adventures to 'test' our relationship and we've passed and grown closer because of it. It's been so long, us dating, and it's nice to try to get back to the beginning every now and then, just be together, and enjoy each other and not stick to the routine ALL the time (though it needs to be said that I do love my routines...)

For the first time in forever, I feel like I'm getting back something that was lost when we lived in South Carolina, something that was missing there and that's true friendship and socializing. It's different here, people are more open and honest. When they say they'll call, they actually do. When they say they want to do something, they come up with some sort of event. For the first time since Macon, I feel the possibilities of real friendships, and ones that will last for a very long time. I cherish these people that have come into my life. Though it's hard to live up to people like Caitlin or Stephenie or Sean and though I love them with so very much of my heart, there are people here who are reminiscent of them and the friendships I'm making are reminiscent of the most important ones I've had in my 26 years.

C'est avec un plein coeur que je dis a vous, mes amis: la vie est belle. And the future holds nothing but contentment.