11 July 2014

Goodness on Relationships



If you don't know about Elephant Journal, you should go check it out - great content on "'the mindful life': Organics, Ecofashion, Buddhism, Conscious Consumerism, Education, Arts, Wellness, Adventure." - you know, all the important things in life. Elephant Journal's founder Waylon Lewis does an online show called Walk the Talk. The title suggests it might be all about Tinder, but it's really not, he just starts off there and then gets into some goodness about what good, healthy relationships are all about.

The bottom line in relationships - what I've believed for a long time - it really boils down to two people who are best friends who also happen to be mad attracted to each other who help each other see and become who are really meant to be. Equal Partner. Mirror. Best Friend. Lover. All of that.



09 June 2014

We're the Ladies



This is one of my all time favorite clips from "Girls." I can totally relate to each character like I could be some sort of an amalgam of all three of them. I know for sure I've said something very similar to Hannah's opening line.

Hannah: "I've never experienced anything like it...I have absolutely no sense of how he really feels about me because when we are together, he's so there and he's so present. And then he disappears for two weeks and doesn't answer any text messages and I feel as though I invented him."

Then the Shoshanna part of me or a friend with a Shosh-like personality will say, you know guys will go out of their way for a woman they're into. If he's not making you a priority or treating you like an option, then he's just not that into you.

Then the Jessa in me says: well, maybe I want to keep him as an option too - why can't I do that? Why does it have to be all traditional and be super serious, and relationship-y? Why can't we just enjoy the moments we are together and then enjoy other moments with other people when we're not.

Well, that Jessa part has never fully settled into my soul because truth be told, it's not really who I am. I'm a relationship lady. I usually fall pretty hard for people and then it's all that person like they're the sun, moon and stars, which makes it pretty difficult to even see (be aware of) other possibilities. Could I do it differently? I'm not sure, but if I had the opportunity to be not so super serious and just date a few people (while being super up front with everyone that that's the program, obvi), it might be an interesting personal experiment.

Maybe it's the area in which I live, but people go from a few dates to being exclusive so soon. Is it like that everywhere? Where and how do people meet all these people they're dating? In real life? Online? In bars? Right?

So ladies, if you are married already, did you date around keeping it casual with guys at any point before getting serious with your now-husbands? Or were you a relationship lady from the get go? Too personal for blog comments? Feel free to drop me a line or comment anonymously!

If you're single, are you a relationship lady or are you dating around? How does it even work? Ha!

So yeah, we're all the ladies.


16 April 2014

Take Care



Having a Drake moment today.

14 April 2014

Presented Without Comment


“you are a horse running alone
and he tries to tame you
compares you to an impossible highway
to a burning house
says you are blinding him
that he could never leave you
forget you
want anything but you
you dizzy him, you are unbearable
every woman before or after you
is doused in your name
you fill his mouth
his teeth ache with memory of taste
his body just a long shadow seeking yours
but you are always too intense
frightening in the way you want him
unashamed and sacrificial
he tells you that no man can live up to the one who
lives in your head
and you tried to change didn't you?
closed your mouth more
tried to be softer
prettier
less volatile, less awake
but even when sleeping you could feel
him travelling away from you in his dreams
so what did you want to do love
split his head open?
you can't make homes out of human beings
someone should have already told you that
and if he wants to leave
then let him leave
you are terrifying
and strange and beautiful
something not everyone knows how to love.” 

15 March 2014

XO


Things to love about this song/video:

1) The video is shot on location at Coney Island.
2) The line, "In the darkest night hour. I search through the crowd. Your face is all that I see. I give you everything. Baby love me lights out." When you're in love, you can be in a crowd of people and only see your man, like a spotlight is on him, blurring out the rest of the world. It's one of the best feelings in the world.
3) We don't have forever. Baby, daylight's wasting, you better kiss me before time is run out." We don't have forever - that pretty much sums it up. Taking advantage of every moment to express our love to those we love is so important. It doesn't even have to be the expression of romantic love,  just letting the people in your life (family and friends) know how much they mean to you is so important.

I dare you to only listen to it once. I think it might be impossible to do that, I've been listening to it on repeat since downloading it a bit ago. Goodness!

02 March 2014

February 2014 Deals

February 2014 Deals

Inspired by fashion bloggers who post monthly shopping recaps and budget recaps for the month, I've put one of my own together for February. We'll see if I can keep up on keeping track of everything and post in future months. For me, it seems like a fun way to catalog my wardrobe, and hopefully show that you can find some great pieces at a fraction of what they'd retail for. 

I've always loved finding great deals on quality fashions, so what a great idea to keep track of what you find, when and where you find it and how great the deal was. Some bloggers set a monthly shopping budget. I haven't really done that, other than listening to my inner voice saying, don't go too buck wild! I know there are some months where I won't buy anything and others like this month (my birthday month, combined with great winter sales) where I might do a little extra on the "treat yo-self" front. It should also be noted, that I'm a single professional lady without kids, so that might color how much I decide to spend on things.

So what did I find? 
Sandro black and silver crepe dress. Nordstrom Rack. Retail $320. Paid $36.
Joe's Jeans skinny coated black jeans. Nordstrom Rack. Retail $218 . Paid $52
Target faux black leather shift dress. Retail $27.99. Paid $8.38
Target black and white beanie hat. Retail $12. Paid $12.
Patagonia Better Sweater Zip Coat in Whiskey Plum. Patagonia online. Retail $179. Paid $107 *(used birthday money! - update, I ended up returning this after all!)
Patagonia Low Sky Parka in Black. Patagonia online. Retail: $249. Paid $149 

Total Retail: $1005.99 ($826.99 minus the Better Sweater return)
Total Spent: $364.38 ($257.38 minus Better Sweater)
Total Saved: 641.61 ($569.61 minus Better Sweater)

I bought the Sandro dress and the Joe's jeans at the same time. The dress is a great shift to wear over the jeans. The short dress over skinny jeans is a definite wardrobe staple of mine. 

The faux leather dress from Target - the clearance rack. Duh! It feels so much like real leather, it's uncanny. Another reason to feel good about this dress - Saint Laurent did the original for well over $2,000. and this one looks damn good for pennies on that price. I will wear this over skinny jeans and already wore it to my book club dinner last weekend.

Black and white beanie. I have gray and white beanie and mere days before finding this at Target was thinking, "I need to find a replacement for this - it's getting a bit worn out and snagged." If you're like me at all, you wear and wear your favorites until you need to retire them and hopefully find suitable replacements. 

The Patagonia jackets. I know, I bought two! They haven't arrived yet. I was drawn to the black parka first as a replacement for a jacket I've had for a long time who's lining is completely shredded. Then I loved the idea of the Better Sweater jacket. Couldn't decide by looking at them online alone, so I ordered them both (free shipping). I may end up returning one of them, or keeping them both. We shall see. (Yes, ended up returning the Better Sweater. I kept trying it on,  but it wasn't making it into my wardrobe rotation.)

28 February 2014

The Ride



Seriously, you guys. Free People has done it again with their latest video. Capturing so much in just 2:43 minutes. It's like they've been inside my brain! Ha! And that music. I mean, really!? Wow! And how much fun would shooting this have been?

26 February 2014

Dark Horse



I made a hip hop station recently on Pandora and was surprised that they included Dark Horse by Katy Perry. The fact that it features Juicy J is obviously why. I was also surprised that I liked the song so much. I've never really been a huge Katy Perry fan, I don't dislike her music, I just don't tend to listen with much attention. Anyway, I have been listening to this one a lot the last few days, so thought I'd share it with y'all.

Also upon watching the video, Katy has really NICE teeth! Ha!

What are you listening to?

24 February 2014

Notes from The Universe

Do you get daily notes from The Universe? I heard about this email list from my friend S. The notes are usually  personalized just for you, like the one below is for me, and usually they have some great nugget to meditate on for the day. Today's message was particularly great - exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks, Universe! Sign up here if you want your own!


Practice, Rachel. Study. Prepare yourself. Think. Act. Face the beasts. Pay the piper whatever dues you think you have to pay. Do the dance, walk the fire, wait in line. Plant the seeds, hoe the field, go to market. Because on the day that you become all that you now dream of becoming... Oh my gosh, there is simply no price that would seem too great.

It's going to be that good, you're going to be that happy, and it's going to be for so, so long, Rachel. Guaranteed.

Tallyho,
    The Universe

22 January 2014

When it Rains...

You know how it goes, when one thing goes wrong it seems like there's a parade of other things that follow it. Does this hold true in your world? There's something about it that's both mysterious and somewhat logical, like: okay some sh*t's gonna unravel, because that's life, so why wouldn't it unravel all at the same time? Some things that have unraveled lately include:

Washing Machine. I threw in a load of laundry on Sunday morning. Nothing out of the ordinary, until I went back to throw everything in the dryer. I reached in to pull out a handful of clothes for the dryer and to my surprise what I pulled out was still very wet. Turns out the spin cycle did not spin. Appliance tech came out this morning and told me the time has come for replacement. The transmission is dead. So I'm going washer shopping this evening.

Electric. My house was built in the 1920s. About half of the house has upgraded electrical, probably just enough to be up to code. I'm joking, but it may actually be true. In my mind the stunted electrical in the other half of the house is responsible for light bulbs that burn out ridiculously fast (always the same light fixtures) and a garage door that opens on its own sometimes. While I can usually chalk it up to the character of an old home, recent developments have me thinking it's something that needs to be addressed pronto. My go-to electrician came out and fixed up the problem wiring, so the outlets that just stopped working are now all back on line. A complete re-wire is not in the cards, thankfully!

Car. I love my car. I do! But I fear we're getting to the point in our relationship where I have to say, it's definitely you - your German engineering is getting too costly to keep fixing. I had it in to the shop earlier this week to have the heater looked at. It hadn't been heating up nearly as warm or as quickly as it should this winter. Granted, with the Polar Vortex in effect, it's been an uphill battle to warm up the car. They flushed everything out. I'm still not sure it's fixed though, but it's been about 5 degrees this week. I'm thinking it's time to start looking for another ride while I can still sell this one and get some decent cash out of it. UGH! Getting another car makes me sweat a bit too because my garage is so small. I'm fairly certain all the vehicles I'm drawn too lately are just a tad too big to fit in the garage. Expanding the garage to fit in a new car? Or having to buy a car that's small enough to fit in your garage? Really? That's what my life has come to?

Law of threes also seems to apply here. Thankfully it's all stuff that's fixable/replaceable. Have you had any law of three/when-it-rains-it-pours situations lately? Do share in the comments - hopefully it's all been stuff that's relatively easy to recover from/deal with.