i spy...

all the men in new york wear glasses. it's just an observation. okay, maybe not all, but it seems like it. i most certainly had to get to the bottom of this notion.

...and sure enough, along came warby parker. a genius of a company if i ever did see one! i think i may have been a tad bit late to the party, but take a look at their virtual try on feature and get a load of their traveling store - a field trip of sorts traveling the country and soaking in the local culture of each city. i'm obsessed. 

even though i don't need glasses, i felt the need to buy into this concept, literally, and support their business and innovative spirit. their combination of photography, creativity, personal touch, and giving back is unmatched. a win in my book! thanks, warby. i think this is the first of many pairs, even for this current 20/20-er. xoxo.

ps. gotta love a selfie... felt slightly uncomfortable taking it! how do you feel about selfies? about as embarrassed as me?

look up.

i'm starting a little series called what i love most about new york in which i'll feature something i love most about this city. gratitude journal a la new york edition. so, volume one. here goes...

new york's buildings amaze me. all you have to do is look up to see what i mean. from the ground level they seem rather similar, and then all it takes is a tilt of the head to notice how seemingly unique they are from one another. a brick one here... a stone one there... all fitting together like a perfect puzzle, or a horizontal version of tetris. i love the arches that usually border the top row of windows and the intricacies in the molding. some twist and turn based on the block, and some embody the strictest of lines.

all i know is i have these masterpieces surrounding me and i am grateful to see them tracing the clear blue sky. so, remember, always look up. you never know what you might find.

ode.

the long and the short of it all is i haven't been writing. i don't know where to start, and yet i don't know where to end. i can blame it on work and new york and exhaustion and oh-so-many things, but the truth is, i've been hiding. coasting. settling.

well, it's no way to live. one does not thrive with a quiet voice and a dim light.

it is me myself and only i who has to own and create space to be me. to shine. i am lost without the written word. the reflection. the creativity. the content. i feel absent and disconnected. and that is not sustainable.

all i know is that this space is important. it is a platform. one that deserves someone to stand tall and proud atop it's beautiful mountain of words. so it is here, a place where i will speak.

*photo from the one and only max.

on the street.

you guys.

have you seen bill cunningham new york yet? it's an oldie at this point, as it came out in 2010, but oh it's such a goodie.

bill is the dearest man you've ever met, a true artist following his passion for fashion on the streets of new york for nearly five decades now. five decades! 

his life is simple and sweet. every day he gets dressed in his blue french worker's jacket, hops on his bike, and snaps photos of real, everyday outfits on the street {um, hello, he's the original sartorialist}. he captures themes, trends, anything he deems interesting, reporting it all over here at the new york times in a weekly sunday spread {guess who's their newest subscriber!?}. he also {begrudgingly} does a voice recorded weekly round up here. what a treat!

you'll laugh out loud, you'll cry, and you'll be inspired by the message he most certainly is imprinting on the world.

it is as true today as it ever was, he who seeks beauty will find it.

it's now on my new york bucket list to see him riding around the streets of new york on his bicycle with that camera swung around his neck. let's hope i'm wearing something decent that day.

and to think lately i've been doing google searches for summer 2013 fashion trends. i just need to check in with my new friend bill, the humble fashion prophet capturing it for us in real-time. thank you, bill, the world needs more people like you.

*photo via. 

ode de mama.

a little note on mother's day.
___

every time i move into a new apartment you buy me a new tea kettle. it's the dearest thing. i don't know what it is, but somehow you get me all set up, decide to boil some hot water, and find that the whistle is broken. god forbid i burn the house down.

in fifth grade i was afraid to go to school because i thought you were going to die while i was there. remember that? {oh, kids, where do they come up with this stuff?}. i hated going away to sleepovers because i couldn't bare not sleeping down the hall from you. i believe they call that separation anxiety at it's very finest, a textbook case if you will.

now, ironically enough, i'm three thousand miles away from you, and oh how i miss you so. 

somehow, i think the distance saved us, ya know? you know me better than anyone else in the world, and this new chapter is helping us to get each other for once and for all. i've truly lost track of where we veered off course and frankly, it doesn't matter because we're finding our way back again. no matter where i go or what i do, i need you more than any other person on the planet. do you know that? despite any negative exchanges between us, it all comes down to one thing. love. you love me more than anything, this i know for sure. somehow i know that every single ounce of energy you've ever given me - positive or negative - is because you created me and you care about me more than i know how to care for another human being. someday i'll learn.

you are passionate and talented. more talented than you could ever possibly know. can you make me a promise? create more. make those topiary trees you were always so good at. redecorate a room or two. get a dog to cuddle with. turn on billy joel and dance in the family room - glass of wine in hand. share your goodness with the world, you have so much to offer. you are one of those unique people who is gorgeous both inside and out.

happy mother's day. thank you for giving me life. and thank you for being one of my biggest fans. motherhood sometimes feels like a one-way street, huh? a give give give while the other takes takes takes. well, i vow to start driving down this newly created two-way street. fresh black pavement, yellow dividers, and all.

let's start now.

hi, mom. how was your day?

i love you.
geans
___

to all the moms out there, i wish you a day of recognition and goodness.

*photo taken on irving street, nyc. easter 2013.

secrets and confessions.

can i tell you a secret?

why, yes, of course. it's what i seem to do best here, share secrets.

two of the things i absolutely want to do now that i live in new york {wow, that statement seems surreal}: write and dance.

actually, the secret really is that it just might subconsciously be part of the reason i moved to new york in the first place. to pursue writing and dancing and for my life to come full circle. while these are two hobbies one can pursue anywhere, somehow they feel very real in this city of possibility.

i had a best in town this weekend, and as i sat across the table from her discussing our own happenings in our very different phases of life, it dawned on me that the most spectacular part of mine at the moment is that i have no idea how it will turn out. and something about that fact excited me, and made me want to sit back and be a spectator as the adventure unfolds. life is an adventure if we make it one, now isn't it?

i currently have several tabs open in my browser, all of which are derived from google searches and my two secrets: grad programs for writing, editing, publishing, & journalism and best jazz dance class in nyc. 

oh and one other thing, i had three - count it, three - dreams about being in love this week. just sayin'.

and also, i really want a dog.

*photos on my be free pin board here & here.