10 a.m.

My Sunday morning began with cuddles, large mugs of coffee and a plate full of crêpes.  How about yours?  Today's photo mission was a photograph of my "10 a.m."  Here is my best capture:

Lazy mornings in Hoboken, filled with love, giggles, and delicious homemade treats (probably more than I need!) are always among my most treasured times... but they are becoming, especially lately, more and more bittersweet.  I just about fall apart every Sunday evening when it is time for either Doug or me to make the long trek back "home" and leave the other one behind.  When did I get so needy?  I have everything I could possibly need at the moment - someone who loves me, a great job that I enjoy, food on my plate and a roof over my head... but for some reason, I feel so unsatisfied every time one of us has to leave.  I have such an overwhelming appetite for all of the good things (and oh! they are so good) that the everyday things feel so dull and drab... stifling almost, an inconvenience.  Oh well... who isn't surprised?  The restlessness inside me has become so predictable I feel like you know what I am going to say even before I start typing :)  Get ready for another bustling week of routine activity.
Sunday, until we meet again...

glimpses.

problems with easy solutions.

Just wanted to take a minute to wish you a happy, healthy 2012.  I don't know about you, but 2011 was so good to me.  I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family, my rewarding job, and my amazing, loving boyfriend.  I am the luckiest girl in the world!!

This year, I am not making a list of resolutions, other than that I am going to try to be a better "me."  Instead of focusing on what I am not, or what I don't have, or what I wish could be different, I am attempting to embrace exactly the person that I am, and to be the very best version of whoever that girl is.  I have found someone who loves me for exactly who and what I am, and I am starting to think that maybe I should, too.

Be happy with who you are, because you only get one life to live and you might as well not waste the hours with regret over things that won't ever be.

bring on the snow.

Today is a cold sort of day.  My toes are curled underneath the frayed fabric of my once-pink, now-gray socks, desperately hunting for some imaginary source of heat on which to cling.  My fingers trace the skyline of Boston, delicately printed on the ceramic of my now lukewarm mug of coffee, the frosty air having defeated it within minutes of brewing.  It is snowing outside, the first of the year, reminding me how quickly October has danced by.  Winter is approaching, along with its shorter days, blustery winds, and bitter chills.  I listen as friends curse the early arrival of this wintry weather, who groan at the impending snow-shoveling and extra minutes of car-defrosting.  Even as my cheeks and the tip of my nose start to take on a rosy hue, even as my teeth begin to chatter and my breath starts to show itself in front of my face, I cannot help but laugh a little to myself... for this winter is met with a new source of warmth, a warmth that cannot be stolen by polar temperatures, that cannot escape through worn boots or drafty windows.  This warmth comes from within, it fuels my heart and soul with an energy, a fire, that no rainy day can extinguish.  Ladies and gentlemen, I am in love.  I am so happy... just thought you should know.  So, take your best shot, Jack Frost, I am ready for you.

glimpses.

happy birthday to me.

So, once again the earth makes its way round the sun and we end up at the 8th of July, quite possibly the most important day of the year: my birthday!  Yes, loyal readers, today I am twenty-six years old.  I have to say that I am not quite sure how I feel about being twenty-six... it does not have the same pleasant ring as twenty-five and might just be a bit too close for comfort to twenty-seven, which marks (gasp!) official entrance into my "late twenties."  Whatever the reason, it hasn't quite sunk in yet.  We shall see how it goes.

This year, I was lucky enough to have my lovely friend Carolina share the special occasion with me.  We had a nice day walking around Hoboken and I cooked up a scrumptious dinner for my family, finished with strawberry shortcakes.  Yum!!  It was a very nice day, ending with a few drinks and a few new friends.  Maybe twenty-six won't be so bad :)