What I've Been Reading: August 2014

This is beautiful, and made me cry. So much truth here. What I Talk About When I Talk About Depression. Enough parallels to my own life and struggle with depression to really resonate with me - perhaps one day I will be able to write about my own experiences.

"I was tired. And I was sad. And angry, and desperate. But I was not only these things; they were not the sum total of my being. I was also passionate and funny and driven and I had fortitude, and all of these things remain true. I am passionate, funny, and driven, with fortitude. And I am sad."

Paul Ford discusses How To Be Polite:

"People silently struggle from all kinds of terrible things. They suffer from depression, ambition, substance abuse, and pretension. They suffer from family tragedy, Ivy-League educations, and self-loathing. They suffer from failing marriages, physical pain, and publishing. The good thing about politeness is that you can treat these people exactly the same."

Did you catch the series of posts from Sarah Von Bargen of Yes and Yes on How to Be a Grown Ass Woman? She covers Professional Life, House and Home, Money and Finances, and Health and Personal Care. Lots of good tips and reminders. Love it!

Last December, the New York Times put out an interactive regional dialect quiz. It's really fun and interesting!

I first heard about The What I Be Project through a Huffington Post article back in January. According to the Ganesh Photography facebook page, the artist is preparing to release a book soon.

Fascinating: laser mapping uncovered a "Lost Agropolis" in New England

KatyRose at ModlyChic muses on the beauty of going without

"Instead of focusing on the things, which are meaningless in themselves, perhaps this is the time to be focusing on those around us."

And when am I'm actually able to read these things? When our pup is sleeping, of course...

What I've Been Reading: Sleep

I've been fascinated lately with all things sleep-related - all the good things that happen when we get enough, and the bad things that happen when we don't. 

Here's some of what I've been reading lately, sleep edition:

From Time: Lack of Sleep Linked With Depression, Weight Gain and Even Death

WebMD on The Healing Power of Sleep

And from Health.com, the 11 Surprising Health Benefits of Sleep - although this is in a highly annoying slideshow format

And, from the most reliable source on the internet *cough* Buzzfeed

Also, there's an article in the August issue of Real Simple that kind of started this whole fascination, but I can't find it online, unfortunately!

How much sleep do you usually get? Does this make you want to get more?

Happy Thursday!

Work has been hectic lately; too much to do and not enough time to do it all. I focus, get as much done as I can each week, and when the weekend comes, I check out. I need that break for my mental well-being, and know that if I don't disconnect, both my work and my sanity will suffer. So I don't feel guilty about not checking emails or working over the weekend. That is my time. And I'm looking forward to it; I need a recharge.

I'm thankful that it's Thursday. It's my favorite day of the work week (I work M-F); the weekend is so close, just one more day! But yet there's still time enough to get things done before the end of the week. 

What is your favorite day? Why? If you don't work Monday through Friday, what day is your Thursday? The dog wants to know. See?

Pin It/Do It: Ticket Stub Memory Box

Months ago, I pinned a great idea to my Craft and DIY Projects board - a shadow box for storing and displaying ticket stubs. I'm happy to report that I finally got my act together and made one!

This is my take on the ticket stub memory box:

Here was my (p)inspiration:

I decided to go with two tickets instead of just one, because my intention with this project was to create a place for B and I to store mementos from things that we've done together or have special meaning for us as a couple, including:

• lift tickets from a recent ski trip
• my first commuter rail pass from when we moved in together
• movie ticket stubs from dates

I'm hoping that we'll continue to add to it, and be more mindful of saving these little mementos now that we have somewhere to keep them that doesn't create clutter.
I'm having an issue with everything just falling to the bottom behind one another, instead of standing up and being seen, so I may end up tweaking this down the line somehow. Any suggestions?
Do you save ticket stubs or receipts from special moments? If so, how do you store them? Tucked away in a memory box? In a scrapbook? Something like this?

What I Wore: Week of February 25

Monday
dress: Tahari; necklace: handmade


Tuesday
skirt and scarf: thrifted; tee and cardigan: gap; belt: mom's closet


Wednesday
sweater and pants: old navy; shoes: nine west


Thursday
skirt: talbot's; tee and cardigan: old navy; shoes: nine we

love. hope. equality. family. joy. peace.

Holidays recap

Now that the holidays are over, and the new year is underway, I'm able to relax a bit (without feeling guilty about doing so).I'm relieved that the holidays are over - it was a really exhausting stretch this year.  B's busiest time of year is always between Thanksgiving and the New Year (hello, retail!), so to make it through the month with our sanity in tact, we usually just stick to the system that works for us. And by system I really just mean that I pick up some of the slack for a while. In turn, she has to go along with whatever crazy plans and projects I come up with. I muster up enough holiday spirit for the both of us and eventually infect her with my enthusiasm. It's worked out pretty well for us the last few years. This year, though, not so much.

Problem this year was that I too was crazy busy at work during the same time, rolling out a project I've been working on for two years (!).  Needless to say, we were both exhausted, and the normal holiday things just didn't happen.  I was tired and stressed out, and just couldn't get into the spirit. I felt bad that the apartment was a mess, wasn't decorated, and didn't feel festive at all. I put in a valiant last-ditch effort and had a few successes. I think the wrapping turned out really nice, and I fully decorated the mantle and hung our stockings.

By the 23rd, I'd made progress, but it still didn't feel like Christmas without a tree, so I went out and got one while B was at work. I'd planned to just get a little table-top one and call it good, but the smallest tree I could find was about 5'. So what did I do? I bought it anyway. A la Dr. Seuss, I somehow found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two - I shoved it in the back of the Jeep, drove it home, managed to get it up the back stairs, into the house, into the tree stand, and strung up with lights before she got out of work. How that happened, I still don't quite understand. It was pretty and twinkle-y, albeit bare. We never got around to decorating it, except for the 2012 ornament I bought this year.

I didn't get to everything I wanted to, and it wasn't perfect, but you know what? It didn't matter. We spent Christmas morning together, at home, in our pajamas, and just enjoyed the moment and each other's company. Oh, and napped. We all did a lot of napping.

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