Life's Five: Entry 17

Live. I lost a good friend late last week to pulmonary fibrosis (pulmonaryfibrosis.org). Too young to go, too sick to stay, I'll miss you, Stu. You were a good man, good doctor, and a good father. I enjoyed knowing you. So glad I got one last chance to talk to you before you left us. You will be missed. (People aren't around forever. If somebody's been on your mind lately, call them, email them, stop by, or send that note.)

Laugh. One sermon I think this Mom will never forget: "Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust." He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter (who was listening!) leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?"

Learn. I like to think I'm just a little creative. It's fun to make something out of nothing, isn't it? Whether it's taglines, lyrics, clay, or paint...true creativity occurs when what's inside of you is simply turned inside out. I am amazed at this video. It started with the composer looking at a photograph in a way no one else had before. Do you need to look at things in a fresh, new way? I know I do at times. Super duper really very much extra medium wish I'd thought of this first: Birds on Wires  

Like. Great blog for mommies in NYC. I'm gonna need you, Mommy Poppins! 

Love. Could you live off the grid if you had to? Modern Day Cave Dweller

Life's Five: Entry 16

Live. We found an apartment!

Laugh. A converted industrial loft, it is virtually soundproof so we can laugh as loud as we want to. I'm envisioning lots of belly laughs...the ones you can't control.

Learn. There are awesome people in our building, including little girlfriends for Isabelle. 

Like. It's steps from three of our favorite parks, great restaurants, and Isabelle's new preschool.

Love. We love the space. We love the building. We love the neighborhood. We love that the search is over.  And I love that I can start functioning again. I am in need of a shower. Exercise wouldn't hurt either. But more importantly, my fun Hunter rainboots arrive today. (I admit these boots have nothing to do with this blog post, but fun new boots don't require an introduction.)

Moving + Loft + Preschool sorted + Hunter Rainboots =
Big Happy Butterflies

This is the living room area of our loft. The huge windows make me giddy.

My new rainboots are being delivered today...ahhh. (Ooh. I think FedEx is at the door now!)

Be good. Be blessed. And please...write it down.

Life's Five: Entry 15

Live. "Our life is frittered away by detail...simplicity simplicity, simplicity."

~ Henry Thoreau

Laugh. "Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis. 

~ Jack Handey, "Deep Thoughts" (Saturday Night Live)

Learn. "There is no oil without squeezing the olives; no wine without pressing the grapes; no fragrance without crushing the flower. So when you are pressed, God is just bringing out the best in you." 

~ Author Unknown

Like. "Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them.” 

~ Norman Vincent Peale

Love. "It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship."

 ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Life's Five: Entry 14

Totally excited to find this article today about the "I Love Cass" campaign. I knew I had won a prize but didn't know it was for "Most Creative." Stoked about that. I did an MBA at Cass Business School in London, England. Fab experience. Highly recommended. 

Here's the little article with a link to the video of the entries. 

Life's Five: Entry 13

Live. Waking up before the sun. Listening to a morning rain that sounds like a Hawaiian waterfall. Feeling the rush of words race from my fingertips. Thinking how nice it would be to have a cup of hot tea in my hands...


Laugh. Still in bed, all warm and cozy with my little girl who sleepily shuffled into my room at 5AM, I hear the snap of a mousetrap downstairs in our old farmhouse kitchen. In the stillness after the snap, the mousetrap lurches across the hardwood floor...then pauses. Lurches...then pauses. Then it finally scrapes to a halt. And this is the explanation for why I have no hot tea in my hands.


Learn. I love photography, photoshop, photojojo, photo shoots, etc. Today I downloaded the ShakeItPhoto app, which adds a Polaroid look to your iPhone pics. I love the vintage feel and can almost smell that Polaroid smell. For only 99 cents, this app will add a nostalgic touch to your current library photos or new ones. The scoop on this app came from my friend Kristen, of Essential Imagery, (only the best child photographer on the planet!) 

Check out my first iPhone Polaroid:

I love driving in NYC where the official bumper sticker should read:

"No One Will Judge You For Honking Here."

Like. Last night I got "Boo'ed". I have never heard of being "Boo'ed" but some little friends brought a bag of goodies by my house that was filled with candies; cookies with orange, sprinkly icing; stickers; a blinking pumpkin necklace; and a can of silly string, which was tested by me for ummm...safety reasons. One can never be too safe, especially near Halloween. Also inside the bag was a little white ghost, which I am supposed to hang on my door to let my neighbors know I have been "boo'ed". My brief, according to a poem inside, is now to find three other houses that haven't been "boo'ed" and do the same to them. When husband came home and checked out our "Boo Bag" he said, "This is a pyramid scheme." Then he promptly reached for the cookies. 


I like the idea of reaching out to three people. It probably won't be a Halloween tradition for me, but the pyramid (multi-level marketing) concept of giving is a great way to build community. Connect with people and show them you care. And by asking them to do the same for someone else, they will have to find a little time in an otherwise busy schedule--or find a little courage inside their cowardly lion--and make a new friend. Pretty soon, it'll be friends all around. Who could BOO that?!


Love. The big news around the house this week was the release of my sweet little EP, "Bite Of The Sky" on iTunes! Seriously, folks, I'm just a girl. But now I'm a girl with a downloadable CD on iTunes. I'd LOVE it if you'd check it out, grab a copy and maybe...even tell three of your friends???


Be good. Be blessed. And please...write it down.

Life's Five: Entry 12

My EP is now 

available on iTunes!

Life's Five: Entry 11

My Bermuda Trip, October 2009

Live.

(Spa pedicure. All-over-cure.)

Laugh.

(Chicken Litter. Kitten Leader.)

Learn.

(The Unfinished Church. Many meanings.)

Like.

(10 second timer. Infinite view.)

Love.

(Little footprints. Lasting impression.)