Eggs of Inspiration . . .

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“Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whiskey and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested”

- Hunter S. Thompson

Flight Report - Birds of a Feather

Hi lovies!  I hope everyone's week is off to an amazing start.  The boy and I had a wonderful, family-filled weekends - just not together.  He went off to the beach with his parents and left me behind to wallow in the cloudy weather and mourn my tanless legs (kidding - they actually invited me to come along, but I didn't want to dump Jake on my mom and miss Easter with the family - that might just put me in the running for worst daughter of the year award). So in his absence, I made plans for my little brother to come up to visit me on Saturday.  I did my best to give him the full liberal, artsy, college-town, experience (he kept calling it 'hipster weekend' so I think I succeeded). 

My baby bro - Dalton.  Full disclosure: you're going to be seeing this same background in my next outfit shot since I convinced him to snap a few of me as well. 

We started it off by getting breakfast tacos at the place we always go for beer tasting.  Then we made what I promised to be a short pit stop at my favorite thrift store (it wound up taking about an hour and a half, but he was a trooper and I found some amazing pieces, including a dress I wore for Easter and hope to post pics of shortly).  Next we drove downtown and tried to go to an art gallery.  Unfortunately, it was closed because they were having a performance that night, so we wound up walking around the outdoor mall instead.  There was a big Earth Day fair going on with live music and eco-friendly vendors selling their wares.  We actually found a different gallery which focused on installation pieces, so we stopped in there for a bit before grabbing lunch at the best pizza place in town (possibly the world - but I won't go that far until I make my own pasta pilgrimage to Italy).  

After stopping by my place to change and pick up Jake, we went hiking, and worked up a serious appetite for the taco feast that ensued afterwards.  We ended the night at an improv show - one of the funniest I've seen in quite a while.   

Two of my favorite boys - looking all outdoorsy. 

Sunday, after a smoothie run, brother dearest and I caravanned back to my hometown to spend Easter with the family.  It was everything I love about going home all rolled into one trip.  We ate so much yummy food, sat on the front porch and talked, went down by the river (where Jake and Dalton went swimming - Jake for much longer and much more enthusiastically), dyed eggs, and played cards.  I even got to see my Dad and step mom before I headed back (they had been out of town, road tripping on their harley).  

Our beautiful eggs - I did most of the ones on the left side, and my mom did the right.

Ususally I get a little sad when I leave and head back home, knowing that it'll be a few weeks or even months before I see everyone again, but since I got to go back and see Caleb after he'd been gone for four days, I was more than a little excited.  I wasn't even too jealous of his tan.  

Plumage - Glitzy

As promised, here is my late, but (semi) well-lit outfit post!

Cardigan, Skirt: Victoria's Secret ("borrowed" from Mom); Shirt, Necklace: Forever 21; Knee highs: Anthro (cut from tights); Heels: Rack Room Shoes.

I wore this to grab dinner/drinks with a group of friends at our favorite local hangout.  Besides having a delicious, ever-changing, locally-grown, organic menu, this place also has free beer tasting on Wednesdays - each week a different brewery comes to show off their wares.  We're hooked.  As much as I go to this place (at least 2-3 times a week for Wednesday tasting, Saturday breakfast tacos, and Sunday brunch), it's definitely hard to always look my very best.  In fact, last weekend I came and seriously carb-loaded on their ah-mazing french toast right after a 3 mile hike.  But, sometimes it's nice to dress up - especially on Wednesday when the mid-week slump is seriously sinking in.  

That is how this outfit came to be.  Well that, and a major dose of inspiration from this post over at 'Late Afternoon".  This is generally one of those style blogs that I drool over - wishing I had the bank account, the LA weather, and the 4 mile long legs to pull off these great looks. But when I saw this particular post my thought was "I already have a skirt like that!".  Now this was an especially awesome revelation because this skirt was actually my Mom's, and was borrowed (okay, stolen) from her to wear this past New Year's Eve - and as I don't generally consider my day-to-day style to be very "glitzy", it has been shoved in my bottom drawer ever since.  So incorporating it into a semi-casual, every day (evening) outfit was a major breakthrough.  I think I'm usually pretty creative with my wardrobe, but this makes me wonder how many pieces I have mentally pigeon-holed into partial disuse.  

Any ways, this is the final product.  Even though I like her outfit (and photo quality) a little better, I'm pretty darn pleased with my recreation.

Let me know what you think!

Amanda

A-Musings: Death, Dying, and Such

I planned to do a post about ice cream.  Well it was supposed to be about my weekend and the large quantity of frozen treats I consumed (including frozen yogurt, sorbet, ice cream . . . and 2 trips to Ben & Jerry's).  For the record, I used to think I reeeeally loved ice cream, but after spending significant time with my significant other I realize that ice cream is merely a hobby of mine - something I dabble in from time to time.  It may very well be his life passion.

But I digress.  Or rather I plan to digress - making this no longer a digression (except that this discussion of what constitutes a digression is surely a digression).  Annnny how, ice cream, while certainly delicious and the star of my weekend, is not exactly what's on my mind today.

Today was sad.  My grandmother went to see a doctor regarding a lump on her breast.  I wasn't too worried since she is incredibly healthy, gets regular mammograms, and there is no history of breast cancer in our family.  Nevertheless, finding a lump where there shouldn't be a lump is always scary.  On top of that, I heard news of three separate deaths today, and even though I was not very close with any of these people, having death touch those around you is terrifying.  

I'm not exactly scared of dying.  Of course there are still so many things I want to do with my life - travel, have kids, become a certified sky diver, shave my head, eat a lot more ice cream . . . but for the most part, I've spent my 23 years here living an incredibly happy life.  What scares me beyond measure is the thought of losing someone truly dear to me.  When I think about something happening to my best friend, or my mom, or Caleb (or even my dog) I immediately become overwhelmed.  Even the thought of a loss that great stops me from functioning properly.  I honestly don't know how I would continue to breathe.  

I lost my grandfather 2 1/2 years ago.  He was almost 80 years old and had been in declining health for several years.  And though I didn't expect to lose him so soon, I had subconsciously been preparing myself for his inevitable death.  But it still hurt like hell.  There still isn't a day that goes by that I don't catch myself trying to remember things about him.  I can't hear his voice any more, or really capture his scent, but I can still feel exactly what it was like to lean down and kiss his cheek when I would tell him goodbye.  My neck strains from bending over, my chin is prickled by his beard, my hand feels the tough denim of his shirt.  It's all still right there - as is the lump that is forming in my throat, even now, years later, as I write this.     

That pain hasn't gone away, it has just incorporated itself into my life.  I have adapted to it - moved it to the edges and learned to accept it as part of my reality.  I am still the same person, I still do the same things, just sometimes I get sad when I think about the incredible man that is no longer a part of my life.  I am a big believer in the resiliency of the human spirit - we are amazing, strong creatures, hell bent on survival and prosperity.  But there is a blinding, all-consuming, heart-stopping pain that comes over me when I even think of losing some of the people in my life, and I don't think there is room in my existence for that kind of hurt.  I think that kind of suffering would latch on to every fiber of my being and eat away at my core until I was only a shell of my former self.  I have no doubt that I would carry on - I would go to work, and eventually even sleep, eat, and breathe with some kind of regularity again.  But I think I would break, and I seriously doubt my own capability to heal.  

Please allow me to apologize for what a huge downer this post has become.  Like I said, today was sad.  These are the kind of thoughts that have been running through my head all day, and it really is cathartic to get them down here.  I promise that tomorrow will be much more up-beat.  Thank you for listening.  

I love you lovies, be well.

Amanda 

Flight Report - By Indian I Clearly Meant Thai . . .

Hey lovies!

So a quick and awesome correction to my post last week: the new restaurant Caleb and I tried on Friday was actually a Thai place, not an Indian place, which is pretty sweet for two main reasons. 

 

1. As much as I like Indian food, I am more than a little afraid of it.  I'm confident in my ability to order a thai dish that will taste delicious and not melt my face off.  I lack that security when it comes to Indian cuisine.

2.  Thai iced tea is the nectar of the gods.   

The food was amazing (the tea was even better - made with cinnamon and cardamom yuuuum), and interior was intimate and artsy - I think we might've found a new favorite place.  I wanted to clarify all of this now, since it is very likely that I will be dragging him over there again soon so that I can drink myself into another thai-tea-induced coma.  We also took Jake on a 3 mile hike on Sunday though, so I wasn't completely lethargic all weekend.

My two favorite boys.

As for the rest of my week, someone randomly emailed my company and offered our staff free college baseball tickets.  Since most of the people here have kids and packed schedules (and kids with packed schedules), there weren't too many takers.  But, being the unwed, childless free spirit that I am (haha) I snagged up two tickets and Tuesday night Caleb and I went to see our college team (which is number 1 in the nation by the way - yes I'm getting the dirt off my shoulder right now) play some baseball.  I don't generally like baseball (I think I might be harboring some resentment from my t-ball/softball days when I generally struck out and had to play outfield), but the game was actually pretty cool.  Caleb played from age 5 to 16, so he taught me some of the intricacies of the game (he was a pitcher, and wildly impressed me a few weeks ago when I made him throw an apple to demonstrate his skills - yes, sometimes I ask my boyfriend to do ridiculous things like throw fruit.  He generally doesn't ask too many questions and usually goes along with it to make me happy - one of the reasons we work so well together.  How has this parenthesis/tangent gotten so long?).  Anyways, we got to sit in one of the suites with a whole bunch of big important people that neither of us knew - only one other person from my work was there.  We drank their beer, ate their food, got coupons for buy one get one for $1 Ben and Jerry's, and even though the game got rained out after the 5th inning, had a pretty great time.  Whew!

The boy (oops) looking adorable at the game.

Tonight we're headed to the first Friday's After Five of the Spring/Summer and (hopefully) stopping by to get me some thai tea!  Tomorrow Jake is headed to the vet, and I plan to do some rainy day thrifting.  

Have a great weekend all!  I have big plans to post the outfit photos I finally took - but we shall see.  

Amanda

Eggs of Inspiration . . .

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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music" 

-Nietzche

Bird Books - "Super Freakonomics" by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt

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I'm not particularly math-minded.  I mean I get it on a basic level.  I even skipped a year of it in 7th grade (which lead to me being the geeky underclassman in the advanced upperclassman classes in high school). I took and passed two semesters of college calculus.  But you're not going to find me solving equations or reading economic journals for fun.  I prefer crosswords to sudoku.  I think maybe it's because I'm a broad strokes, big picture kind of thinker, and math is all about the details.  Don't get me wrong, I know details are important, but I generally get a general sense of what I'm aiming for and fill in the details later.  It's not until I get the wrong answer that I realize I forgot to carry the one.

All of that being said,  I really, really enjoyed Dubner and Levitt's book "Superfreakonomics", a follow up to their debut novel "Freakonomics" (which was also quite good).  Even though the book is based primarily on economic data, it's focus is on how this data can be applied to everyday life in unusual ways to reveal new, and sometimes shocking conclusions.  Between their two novels they touch on a variety of cultures and topics, from professional sumo wrestling (cheaters!), to global warming (solved!), to prostitution (patriotic!).  And perhaps most importantly, they take the reader step by step in such a gentle progression, that you are left feeling like you almost came to their proposed conclusions on your own (it's a brilliant way to make a point).  

Last weekend the boy (okay I think he really really hates that I call him that, so I'm going to stop . . . now  . . . ish) Caleb and I watched the documentary based on the first novel.  If you are too busy, lazy, or illiterate to read the book, I definitely recommend the movie - otherwise, stick with the book.

Have a great weekend lovies!  My plans include a new Indian restaurant, giving Jake a flea/tick bath, and going hiking - can't wait to tell you all about it (esp the flea/tick part!).  

Amanda

Eggs of Inspiration . . .

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"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.”
- Anatole France

Plumage - Fedora Bathroom

I am totally going back on my promise or beautiful, clear, outdoor outfit shots.  This is by far the blurriest, most poorly lit photo I have yet to post.  But I really loved this outfit.  Really. Loved. It.  I mean a lime green plaid fedora and a vegan leather jacket?  How many times am I honestly going to pull out that combination. So I had to share.  

Fedora: Finch, local boutique.  Shirt & Shorts: Old Navy.  Leather Jacket: Modcloth via their Cabin Fever sale.  Tights: Anthro.  Boots: Belk.  Necklace: jewelry maker in West VA.

Also, this is the boy's bathroom.  We were having friends over, and after a few beers he decided that I looked too cute to not take outfit photos (he was digging the fedora as well).  So believe it or not, out of our sneaky, tipsy photo shoot in the bathroom, this was the best pic.

I have big plans for a redeeming photo shoot soon - so please stay tuned.

Love you lovies,

Amanda

A-Musings

There is this natural progression in a relationship - from tentative touches, and selective sharing, to feeling as though your lover's body is merely an extension of your own, and saying whatever enters into your head without hesitation.  I think the latter can be described as intimacy.   But I find it funny that I never notice the transition.  One day I'm carefully, invitingly placing my hand on my thigh, hoping that he will reach out to grab it, and then suddenly I am wrapping my entire body around his (partly to generate and steal as much warmth as possible) without a second thought.  This transformation seems almost magical, and despite the fact that I have always considered myself particularly perceptive, I sort of like the idea that it happens so subtly, so incrementally, as to occur almost without my acknowledgement.

And while we're on the subject of my own obliviousness . . .

I think I've mentioned before that the boy and I knew each other for over 8 years (and went to the same high school and college) before we ever became romantically interested in one another (or even really friends).  And as I think back over our past interactions (we were in theatre together in high school and pretty much avoided each other in college) it is kind of astounding how neutral my opinion was of him.  There was no real attraction, or spark, or any inkling that he would ever mean more to me than a passing acquaintance.  I almost want to go back and shake my past self and say "pay attention, you're going to love that boy one day!" (I say almost because this would certainly create some kind of time warp effect that would inevitably send shock waves to the present and completely destroy the awesome life I'm currently leading).  It is worthy to note though that he was the first boy I ever slow danced with. That definitely means something.  Or I'm going to say it does, because I'm annoyed at my 8+ years of indifference.  

That is all.

Amanda

Flight Report - Flying Home (for the winter?!?)

This past weekend the boy and I took a trip to our hometown to visit both of our families. And it snowed.  On the last weekend of March.  Snow.  I was not pleased.  But besides the yucky white stuff, it was so nice spending time with my mama, plus we got to go see the 30+ acres her and my step father just bought.  One of my step brothers was also in town with his gf, which was pretty cool since I hadn't seen them in over 2 1/2 years.  So since my weekend consisted entirely of family bonding, I thought this would be a nice time to do a little recap of my family tree.  Don't worry - I'm not taking you down my deep (and let's be real, probably incestuous) southern roots - this tree is comprised entirely of my immediate family: mother, father, brother, and step variations there of. 

Basically, my mother and father (who were the quintessential high school sweet hearts) started dating at age 14, got married at age 18, and spawned me and my brother shortly there after.  They stayed married for 22 years before divorcing shortly before my 16th birthday.  Enter my stepfather, with his three sons, and my stepmother, with her son and daughter, and there you have my current family tree - beautifully diagramed for you below:

Yep, that's me - blonde ponytail and pink polka dots. 

Because my parents divorced so late in my life, and I moved in with my then-boyfriend about a year later, I didn't really get to know my step siblings all that well.  Visiting with them now is really cool, but also a little strange.  Labeling someone as my "brother" (step or not) without ever having gone through all those "brotherly" traditions is pretty foreign (and I still can't really wrap my head around "sister" because I never even had one of those before).  I have never built forts, played in the woods, or wrestled with my step brothers.  I never showed the younger ones how to hit a ball or tie their shoes.  The older ones have never intimidated the guy I was seeing or told him how to "treat his little sister", and I never had embarrassing crushes on any of their friends (in fact I've only met two or three of their friends in the first place).  In a way though I'm pretty glad it was just me and my (non-step) little brother growing up.  I got to be the big sister, with only one annoying little tag-alonger to deal with.  Since it was only us, we were each other's best friends and worst enemies.  I made him play Barbie, he broke my stuff,  and together we explored basically every inch of my grandparent's land.  

Here we are this past Christmas.  Isn't he so handsome??

So I intended this post to be a brief overview of my family, in part so that I had an excuse to make a sweet stick figure diagram, and also to provide you with some source of reference when I mention my "steps".  Instead, it seems to have turned into me talking about how awesome my little brother is.  And he is awesome.  Awesome, artistic, musical, mischievously handsome, and wildly cool (if you read my previous post about how hard I've had to work for my cool points, you'll understand why I'm incredibly jealous and a little bit in awe of his natural hipness).  

But there you have it - a little insight into my family, and a big shout out to my little bro.  Happy Friday lovies,

Amanda