FAIL

So I finally invited all my friends to view my blog, only to completely stop posting. Massive fail on my part. Busy, busy with interviews & audition, but plenty to update on soon enough! Thank you for the patience.

Amy xx

A Lucky Dood.

A few weeks ago, I had the utmost pleasure of eating my lunch outside. If you are not from New England, you cannot possibly understand what it’s like to have that first hot, summery day in April when the temperature finally hits 80 degrees and the sun is on your face, after what feels like the longest winter you’ve ever lived through. It’s generally followed by a plunge back into the 40’s and 5+ days of rain, but we take what we can get here.

Since the weather was so beautiful, (and let’s face it, I look like a Cullen,) I figured I’d take advantage of the gorgeous day and lunch outside to catch some rays. I grabbed a sub, found a vacant park bench, and stretched my legs out in front of me. Just then, I heard this thud/drip sound, and looked down to discover a bird had pooped mere inches from my left ankle. This immediately reminded me of my younger sister, who has been pooped on by more birds than I can keep track of. As the adage goes, it’s good luck, but she always thought that was something our family invented to make her feel better. I had a funny thought, then. If the poop didn’t land on me, am I unlucky? Because I must admit, after seeing such a near miss... I felt very fortunate indeed.

A Good Fit

I grew up dancing. My mother {thankfully} started me in a dance class when I was 2, and I didn't stop until college. For me, dance was always an outlet - the exercise part was just a bonus. I danced competitively in high school, practicing ballet, jazz, tap, lyric, modern, and anything else I could try. When I got to college, however, the program at my school was student-run, and mostly consisted of girls who danced for a year when they were 5 and consider themselves dancers. There were a handful of girls like myself who had danced our whole lives, and then there was... everyone else. I joined the dance team for a few semesters, but realized I wasn't getting out what I was putting into it, and my time would be better spent working and making money. Looking at my masses of credit card debt from working at the mall, I was probably better off dancing. But hey, live and learn.

Anyway, since then, I've really been coasting on the residual benefits of having danced my entire life. I'm blessed with a fantastic metabolism, but I know that one day I'm going to wake up and realize I NEED to exercise. Only problem is, I'm very lazy and CANNOT cannot run. I can dance for 7 hours straight, but can't run 7 minutes. I've had a gym membership, which mostly collected dust. I think they have my face on their protein milk cartons. The only types of exercise I don't mind are yoga {because I LOVE stretching and it requires minimal effort} and pilates {laying on a mat? My ideal workout.} In an attempt to motivate myself while being honest with myself {I will never actually go to a gym} I bought myself a pair of Fitflops. If you haven't heard of these shoes, I definitely encourage you to look into them. They're a little cheesy for my taste, but this was the girliest style they had. I know Reebok and other companies have sneakers, but I'm a girly girl to a fault, and just wouldn't wear them.

Now, do they work? I've only had them about a week, so it's probably too soon to tell. But I will say this: I've walked over 8 miles so far this week {thank you MapMyWalk} which is far more than I would have otherwise. {The sunny weather & warm temps in Boston have MUCH to do with that.} Just today, I was meeting some friends downtown, so I threw some heels in my bag, slid into my flops, and did a quick-change right before heading into our venue. So for a girl like me, even if they don't make an enormous difference, the motivation to be out & about walking is more than worth the $60 price tag. No sweating required. :)

xx

Amy

Also

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to my guy, MB Y

and... umm...

Happy Birthday to my ex :/

{it was NOT on purpose, I SWEAR!}

Tax Blues

Tax Day. April 15th. Or, if you're lucky enough to live in Massachusetts and were affected by the floods, May 11th. I usually do my own taxes via online software, but this past year mine were a little complicated, so I sought the advice of a professional.

My friend NC had recommended a guy who always did her boyfriend's taxes, and had done hers this year. I took her advice, emailed him, and promptly set up an appointment. He immediately appreciate my sense of humor, so I immediately appreciated him.

{I'm a Leo, I could live on compliments and water alone.}

His office is in the same town where NC lives, so she invited me over for dinner after my appointment. I brought all my necessary paperwork and we got right to it. Taxguy was super nice, and we chit chatted while he typed in my information. Now, I find it pretty easy to chat with people, and in my experience, what seems like a normal interaction with someone for me usually turns out being a lot more meaningful for them. Not to say that I don't care, because I do! I love interacting with people and meeting new ones, it excites me and fills me up! However, the other person sometimes seems to think there's a deeper meaning behind my openness, or that we have this strong uncommon bond.

Fast forward to 2.5hrs later. NC is texting me to see where I am & what's taking so long, and Taxguy is alternately showing me live blues performances on YouTube and serenading me with his guitar. I wish I could tell you how I got here. Maybe he took my enthusiasm for live music a little too literally? Maybe he's burnt out from working tax season and he just needs someone to hang out with? He was SO nice, but all I could think of is:

a} I'm STARVING and want to drink wine with NC now.

b} How do I gracefully exit this situation?

I shuffled my folders and papers and kept adjusting in my chair to send some subtle social signals that I needed to go. When NC texted me I finally saw my chance to escape. Taxguy and I wrapped up and went our separate ways. I felt bad interrupting him, and he was being perfectly nice, but I just needed to get out! Is there a better way of exiting a situation THAT awkward while still keeping everyone's feelings intact?

FriEND-ings

The end of a friendship... Is there anything worse? Looking back on my shortish life, there are more friendships than I'd like to mention that haven't lasted the test of time. Sometimes by my will, sometimes by the will of others, and sometimes the by the will of the others' significant other (lame.)

I think that what makes a friend break-up so painful, is that there is rarely one cause. In a typical relationship, there is usually a point of clarity where you realize it's not meant to be. Maybe someone cheated, maybe the spark is gone, maybe your boyfriend really WAS gay, and you should have listened to your friends about it, but he was so SWEET and the sex was great and.... I digress. With a friendship, however, there isn't usually one event. It's more likely a slow, sad realization that the relationship has changed, and as painful as it is to shut the other person out and move on, you finally see that they haven't been the friend they used to be.

And sometimes you have that one friend, who although the friendship is a shadow of its former self, and you can't even trust the other person anymore, they're still somehow irreplaceable. You hold on, get hurt, and live for those precious few moments when they make you laugh. Everyone around you asks why you don't just walk away, but they don't understand how you cling to the good times in hopes of a return to your glory days.

There is nothing worse than ending a friendship, and it's an extremely difficult decision to make, but I find that if you look into your heart, you almost always know the right answer.

She Gets It From Her Mama...

...Giving my unsolicited opinion, that is. I still cringe every time I do it, but I can't deny this habit I picked up from my mom. Although does an involuntary, knee-jerk reaction count as a habit? I suppose in ways that is the very definition..

So I decided, what better way to spread my advice to masses of people who don't want to hear it? A blog! {I'm kidding of course, my intentions are pure!} Here is how it started: I'm in my 20's, so I had a computer in kindergarten, AOL in eighth grade, etc. I wasn't one of those angst-y teens who had a livejournal, but I was certainly intrigued {read: horrified} by those who did. Myspace and Facebook hit while I was in college, so I'm used to publicly posting my life {to approved friends only, of course!} but I'm still figuring out the whole Twitter thing {Does anyone really have THAT much to say?}

I really hadn't been a huge blog follower, until a year of unemployment forced me to explore every possible option for wasting time. It started with Lookbook, which while I don't have the balls to create my own account, I can spend hours scrolling through different styles and outfits for inspiration. That lead me to a few favorite blogs, and eventually I was following a handful pretty religiously. A friend of mine started her own blog and I was totally inspired, but panicked as to what I could possibly write about. I urged another girlfriend who always has strange things happen to her to start her own blog, and I realized how much I really wanted to start one myself. Geek that I am, I actually wrote up a few entries {coming soon} incase I experienced writers' block after entry 1. I completely overlooked the fact that it's MY blog, and if I don't post every single day it's okay. But who would I be if I weren't stressing ALL the small stuff? :)

I hope to:

~ use this blog as a creative outlet & to share thoughts

~inspire others with outfits, suggestions on recipes, products, etc.

~become an overnight blog-celeb and never set foot in an office again {kidding!}

~make someone smile with a post

~learn, grow, reflect, evolve

xx