goodbye august

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i don't have a lot of words + photos today

i do have coffee beans and chanel perfume and lit books out the ass

but words + photos...not so much

so, tonight = naan bread, netflix, and lots and lots of reading

and maybe a screwdriver in a pittsburgh penguins plastic tumbler

and some coldplay on the record player

what are you doing on your last day of august?

-A

something in the water

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this morning i had an early lunch with a friend and his family.
he's moving to new york today.
it was fun + tasty + overall awesome
but also emotional because he's wanted this for as long as i've known him
and now it's really happening.
even though i am so happy + excited for him,
i'm not 100% sure when we're going to see each other again.
which is a little sad.
i'm here living my dream + he's (on a bus headed) there living his.
it's like there's something in the water.
if i hadn't forgotten my camera, i would've had pictures of pieces of avocado,
my favorite french fries in pittsburgh,
and bittersweet hugs.
instead i have some snapshots of what i listened to this morning.
(which you can find here)

now i'm going to organize my throng of lit + history books,
watch old episodes of ER i've seen dozens of times,
and celebrate the fact that we are only 37 days away from the first puck drop
of the penguins' 11-12 season.
(a.k.a. 37 days until my life feels normal again)

what are you up to this evening?

- A

swell

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cory + topanga just got back together (for me this = the 398361052nd time)

GG is sleeping in the center of my bed as though it's hers
the tea is steeping and there's a mango and cream bar wrapper on the coffee table
and i survived the first day of classes
it's like the last piece of the moving-to-pittsburgh puzzle has fallen into place
and it feels really swell
so does watching one of my favorite movies
and having blooming white roses
and pink lady apples
and a cat so dark + slinky she melts into the bedspread
and a lucky ring in my favorite little dish
and a window by my desk that lets in the last monday sunset of the month

how was your day?

- A

p.s. thanks so so so much for all the good luck messages. it meant a lot!

tomorrow

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classes start tomorrow.
i'm listening to cold war kids, drinking tea, and trying not to vomit.
okay, i'm not that nervous.
i'm not, like, seventh-grade-piano-recital-nervous
where i was seriously concerned i would pee my pants in front of the baby grand
and have to shout "but i'm not due for months!" to cover up my embarrassment,
running off the stage as quickly as my platform heels would allow me.
nope.
i'm a normal level of nervous that automatically comes with learning a new campus
in the center of a new, big city
i'm also still in the process of figuring out.
sigh
deep breaths
and GG snuggles
and day old overpriced spinach + grilled chicken pizza
and the reminder that i have a pretty rad support system
as quantified by my refrigerator.

i think i can, i think i can, i think i can...

- A

p.s. hope everyone affected by hurricane irene is safe as houses. scary weather = the worst.

flowers in the window

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my mom got in yesterday morning.

we walked to starbucks after an early dinner.

we talked about fashion, psychology, and graduate school.

i found my new favorite combination of flowers: white roses + alstroemerias.

when we came home i took photos of the light on my clothes in the closet

and my favorite ring in the bathroom mirror

and listened to elbow + annie lennox.

i watched friends with my brother through the wonders of skype.

(that's right, i put the DVD on and set my laptop in front of the screen)

this morning it's gray outside and we had a simple, lazy breakfast.

i realized that my life will not be complete until i play this game with my friends.

the weather channel is on and mama put the flowers in the window.

hello, weekend.

- A

on the ceiling

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i've been in pittsburgh less than two weeks.

in some ways it feels like two years, or at least two full moons.

in other ways it feels like two cups of coffee, or chapters of a good book.

it hasn't been easy.

it's been exciting + exceptional + really, really exhausting, but it hasn't been easy.

i miss my family, my friends, my cats, the color of the ceiling in my childhood bedroom.

i miss the familiarity of ohio, the comfortableness, the ease.

i'm not used to "new": new city, new space, new crown molding on the ceiling.

it's thrilling + amazing + gratifying,

but during this transition i've been needing to find comfort in the little things,

like raspberry & vanilla cream bars from trader joe's

and the pink faces on my shower curtain

and the words on my favorite rug

and the light coming through the front windows (plus topanga, obviously)

and the way glen hansard's face glows in the evening

and the billy collins tickets that just arrived in my rusty little mailbox

so far, so good.

- A

night + morning

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last night the sky was very blue. 

i listened to fiona apple + lit my favorite lavender candle + did the dishes. 

this morning there was a thunderstorm. 

i made a pot of kusmi earl grey and GG laid on the coffee table.

the wind keeps blowing the curtain in front of the TV.

i have such a girl crush on alex kingston.

- A