givingup.

for the first time this year, i’ve given up something for lent. it’s not religiously necessitated, but rather financially.

(j and i calculated that after grad classes, certification costs, mentor fees, and taxes, we’re bringing in about half of our “salary”. which is certainly nothing to complain about, but is pretty tight considering i’m living in the city, paying for an lsat class, and repaying loans.)

i’ve never been a huge shopper in the first place, but i’ve always loved the experience of it. especially with mom or the girls. or c. i draw inspiration from the artfully and aesthetically perfect styling of many stores, like the palettes at anthropologie:

so can we expect the clothing and accessories wish posts to go up as i abstain? i’ll consider them my longing window shopping gazes.

posting about great style i can’t have is like tasting a piece of chocolate and then spitting it out. all taste, no calories, limited satisfaction (hah, c). but it’ll have to work for now.

luckily this doesn’t apply to ticket purchases. april is go big or go home month for experiences of the auditory persuasion. coming up:

miike snow
+hockey
+the postelles
+vampire weekend
+yeasayer
______________________
awesome

actionreaction.

this is about to get a little out of control. just as a warning.

and a pretty geometric necklace:

and some tasty choir of young believers. lovebook.

octoberthird.

so, one of the coolest things that i can say about myself is that i lived with ashley for one year of college. her wedding last fall was beautiful and inspiring… just like her. it was actually the only time i have been back to athens since college, and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. i am shamelessly stealing a few of her wedding pictures here because it makes me happy to see them. but consider this a sneak peak at the full blog post(s) she’ll eventually do on the event at the buzzy craftery. (hint hint buzzy: i wanna hear what you have to say about everything. especially the corsages and flowers.)

this lighting makes me happy on so many levels.

toofake.

fact: i’m in class right now. it’s 7:13 pm.
fact: it was a long day at work. i got there at 6:12 am.
fact: i did this yesterday.
fact: i’m doing this tomorrow.
in the great words of J: “we’re overstressed and understimulated!”
ah, teach for america.
so here is what i’m thinking about for the next five minutes instead:

the great steak of texas:

and a little hockey:

lemonade.

can i just say this video is graphically pleasing? and i don’t mean the girls, i mean the swirls.
and the colors and shapes.
and gucci reps my a. holler.
and once again: in love with the man’s glasses.
my roommates will probably get sick of this soon. probably already are.

makesmesmile.

look at this rang.

and a little dose of wonderful:

and one of my favorite corners:

goldwatch.

full-on recovery mode lsat mode.

here are some little drawings i drew on chris, my human canvas. and my first romper in fifteen years!

weekending.

is all i feel these days

thisweekend.

i celebrated mardi gras in new orleans.
in a hotel room with eleven friends.

which makes it hard to come back to work today.

whatislove?

i asked some of my seventh graders:

[a questioning agnostic]:I don’t know what love is, but i will tell you what i think it is. I think it means that you don’t fight or argue. You think about that one person all the time. You can’t get love confused, because yes, you may think about somebody 24/7. But it doesn’t mean you love them. Well just put it like this you don’t choose who you wanna love your heart does.

[a (middle school) realist]:love is when you like somebody and you want them. You want to kiss them. You want to hug them. You send notes or kiss them. But mostly what you feel for them.

[a true optimist]: Love is the most amazing thing in the world. Love is like butterflies in your stomach. You can’t choose who you would like it just comes. Is not a choice. For me Love is like the most AMASING thing in the WORLD.

[me too, sister]: I dont KNow what love is because Im to young to KNow. And love is for growN-ups only not kids. I only No what love is when it comes 2 my family because your suppose 2 love them.

[the bitter one]: Love is a waste of time in your life. After what happend to me 2 times I will never fall in love. I think love for other People is everything for them but for me is nothing.

[i think this one says it all]: For me love is Happyness. Because you express your self. You also have someone to trust. It Boring sometimes and cool sometimes. And thats what i think bout love.

it’s easy to laugh at kids when they talk about relationships (especially bitter magee up there), but really aren’t these the same things we say about love? what difference does ten (or twenty, fifty) years make? honestly, the more i hear my student’s thoughts and questions about relationships, the more i realize that we are basically going through the same things. i compare what they say with what my friends and i talk about. regardless of age, the worries and outlooks tend to be pretty similar.