And then overhearing them discuss a couples' white elephant holiday gift exchange... That you obviously weren't included in / can't participate in because you're not part of a couple.
11.21.2015
11.08.2015
10.16.2015
10.13.2015
On Chalkboards
My yoga instructor opened our practice with a thought on chalkboards.
After you write on a chalkboard and try to erase it, it's still there. You can still see some remnants of what was written. And even after you go over it again, maybe you can't read exactly what was written, but you know something was.
Writing and erasing and writing and erasing. You aren't ever really erasing, you are just adding new layers.
Erase, and write anew. Build new layers.
After you write on a chalkboard and try to erase it, it's still there. You can still see some remnants of what was written. And even after you go over it again, maybe you can't read exactly what was written, but you know something was.
Writing and erasing and writing and erasing. You aren't ever really erasing, you are just adding new layers.
Erase, and write anew. Build new layers.
10.12.2015
10.04.2015
9.29.2015
"That Wasn't Me," Brandi Carlile
On a Roots N' Blues high and can't stop listening to Brandi Carlile. I didn't know this song before I saw her in concert a few months ago, and so glad I did. Quickly becoming one of my favorites.
She prefaced it by saying, "This is a song about who you are when you are not who you want to be."
She prefaced it by saying, "This is a song about who you are when you are not who you want to be."
9.16.2015
On Loneliness
But sometimes, you wish someone cared about what time you were getting home, or where you were going after work, or how long you'd be out.
You wish someone cared about you.
image via
9.11.2015
Am I Crazy?
Can someone from the PNW area tell me if this is crazy?
|
Day 1 |
Fly in to Portland |
|
Day 2 |
Full day in Portland |
|
Day 3 |
Drive 1 hr to Columbia River Gorge for the morning; 4 hr to Seattle for the evening |
|
Day 4 |
Full Day Seattle |
|
Day 5 |
Drive 3 hours to Rainier for the day; 3 hours back to Seattle |
|
Day 6 |
Morning in Seattle; Drive 3 hours to Vancouver for evening |
|
Day 7 |
Full day ferry trip to Vancouver Island / Victoria |
|
Day 8 |
Full day in Vancouver |
|
Day 9 |
Long drive w/ stops in Olympic Park and coast, to Astoria |
|
Day 10 |
morning in Astoria, 4 hrs to Eugene for the evening |
|
Day 11 |
Eugene / OR exploration |
|
Day 12 |
Eugene / OR exploration |
|
Day 13 |
Fly home out of Portland |
9.08.2015
On Rest
For a long time, I've been obsessed with waking up early. Every article you read about "successful people" says they they're up reading the paper, drinking coffee or working out by dawn. Even with a late start to my work day (9am), I have trouble waking up before 7:30am. And to be honest, sometimes the harder I try to start the habit of waking up early, the more I find myself dragging out of bed at 8:20am.
On weekends, I'm usually up between 6-8am. Granted, it's up for coffee and Girl Meets World and then back to bed for a nap, but still, I feel pressure to get up and seize the day. My ex-boyfriend would sleep until 11 or 12 most weekends, and I was always so mad that he was wasting our day sleeping in bed. (At least it gave me a chance to catch up on girly TV shows...?)
I'll admit that yes, getting up early on Saturdays and doing yoga and the farmers' market and being home before 11am feeling like I accomplished so much is awesome. I love that feeling. In fact, I've found myself wishing that yoga was an hour earlier so I could get even more of a jump start on my day.
But last week, my yoga teacher was talking about how she had just spent her day off sleeping in til after 11am, and never felt so good. She, like me, had always put pressure on herself to get up early. But sometimes, it is okay to sleep in.
On weekends, I'm usually up between 6-8am. Granted, it's up for coffee and Girl Meets World and then back to bed for a nap, but still, I feel pressure to get up and seize the day. My ex-boyfriend would sleep until 11 or 12 most weekends, and I was always so mad that he was wasting our day sleeping in bed. (At least it gave me a chance to catch up on girly TV shows...?)
I'll admit that yes, getting up early on Saturdays and doing yoga and the farmers' market and being home before 11am feeling like I accomplished so much is awesome. I love that feeling. In fact, I've found myself wishing that yoga was an hour earlier so I could get even more of a jump start on my day.
But last week, my yoga teacher was talking about how she had just spent her day off sleeping in til after 11am, and never felt so good. She, like me, had always put pressure on herself to get up early. But sometimes, it is okay to sleep in.
"Slow down when you need it. Rest when you need it," she said.She was talking about life, and talking about yoga too, of course. Because sometimes seizing the day means seizing it from bed.
9.03.2015
Looking Foward To {September 2015}
- A (sunny?!) weekend at the lake for Labor Day
- My favorite St. Louis weekend – Loufest – with the headliner being my favorite band – Avett Brothers
- St. Louis Design Week – particularly the morning panels at KDHX, and hopefully the tours of the Arch and the Old Cathedral. Fingers crossed work doesn't get in the way!
- Speaking of work, the culmination of a couple big projects we've been working on
- A nice, long weekend in Columbia to see Tim Gunn and my favorite festival, Roots n Blues
- More free time for yoga at Southtown
- Planning my late October trip to the Pacific Northwest (finally!)
- And likely the last bit of patio weather before fall hits
image via
9.01.2015
Choose Epic
“If you’re stuck between two choices, choose the epic one.”
- Jenny Chambers
image via kateheartscake
8.28.2015
How to Build a Meaningful Career
Do:
Don’t:
- Make a prioritized list of what a meaningful career would look like to you
- Invite four or five people to serve as a board of advisors as you explore what you want
- Experiment with different elements of a job that you’d want either in your current job, outside work, or by talking with people
Don’t:
- Focus on your next role — think about what you want from work over the long term
- Let the stage of your career hold you back — even those deep into their careers can make changes
- Neglect your finances so that when you want to make a change, you don’t feel able to
8.26.2015
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
This 80 degree August is unreal.
All I want is for someone to buy me a house in Shaw on a shady street.
Preferably one with a porch for an American flag, a mid-size, fenced-in backyard for Maverick to play (and for a future small pool to be installed), exposed brick, a pretty staircase, pocket doors, high ceilings, hardwood floors and off-street parking.
8.24.2015
On Climbing Mountains
"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself....To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top."
- Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
8.14.2015
8.09.2015
NOLA?
Already looking forward to the next few months - what, with the lake, annual softball tournament, Loufest, Roots and Blues, a epic trip to the Pacific Northwest and more - but today, my sister suggested a NOLA weekend in February.
The idea has my head spinning. It complicates my plan to do an exotic NYE (although the holiday vacation is perfectly suited for that) and a trip to Greece... But I don't care. I love NOLA, I love trip planning and I love my sister.
7.22.2015
My Car
A few weeks ago, my car broke down.
To be fair, this was a long time coming. I have been saying since Christmas that I was going to buy a new car. Each month, each oil change, each tank of gas – I swore would be my last.
But still, I wanted it to be on my time. Not when it broke down and would need to be fixed or towed to a dealership.
When all was said and done, it needed a new battery, alternator and transmission. Which was... a lot. More than the car was worth. But not more than a year of car payments on a new car would have been. So I made the decision to get it all fixed.
And have faced a lot of ridicule for it.
And a lot of reverse buyer's remorse on my own part.
As much as I didn't want a new car, once I started seriously looking and thinking it was inevitable, I kind of got excited. I know I was making a practical choice in keeping my payment-free car, but still.
Now, I should rephrase that to, "I thought I was making a practical choice...."
About a week later, my check engine light came on again. Thinking it was just a glitch – maybe something wasn't turned on correctly? – I took it in one morning for an oil change and to have the light checked. Turned out, it needed a valve replaced and it would take, so they told me at the time, about an hour and a half (and another couple hundred bucks). I opted to bring it in the next morning, as I had the day off to drive down to the lake for a family vacation.
Nine hours later, it was done. Yes, you read that right. Nine hours.
So, that was annoying. But what was more annoying was that the check engine light came back on again four days later.
I was not amused.
And then – to make matters worse, because of course – the night before I was going to take it in to be checked out again, I left my lights on at the Muny and the battery died. Well played, Danielle.
On the upside, after I jumped it the check engine light didn't come back on. So, there's that. Oh, and the license expires in August so it needs an emissions test soon.
Let's see how this goes. Keep on keepin' on, little yellow Neon.
To be fair, this was a long time coming. I have been saying since Christmas that I was going to buy a new car. Each month, each oil change, each tank of gas – I swore would be my last.
But still, I wanted it to be on my time. Not when it broke down and would need to be fixed or towed to a dealership.
When all was said and done, it needed a new battery, alternator and transmission. Which was... a lot. More than the car was worth. But not more than a year of car payments on a new car would have been. So I made the decision to get it all fixed.
And have faced a lot of ridicule for it.
And a lot of reverse buyer's remorse on my own part.
As much as I didn't want a new car, once I started seriously looking and thinking it was inevitable, I kind of got excited. I know I was making a practical choice in keeping my payment-free car, but still.
Now, I should rephrase that to, "I thought I was making a practical choice...."
About a week later, my check engine light came on again. Thinking it was just a glitch – maybe something wasn't turned on correctly? – I took it in one morning for an oil change and to have the light checked. Turned out, it needed a valve replaced and it would take, so they told me at the time, about an hour and a half (and another couple hundred bucks). I opted to bring it in the next morning, as I had the day off to drive down to the lake for a family vacation.
Nine hours later, it was done. Yes, you read that right. Nine hours.
So, that was annoying. But what was more annoying was that the check engine light came back on again four days later.
I was not amused.
And then – to make matters worse, because of course – the night before I was going to take it in to be checked out again, I left my lights on at the Muny and the battery died. Well played, Danielle.
On the upside, after I jumped it the check engine light didn't come back on. So, there's that. Oh, and the license expires in August so it needs an emissions test soon.
Let's see how this goes. Keep on keepin' on, little yellow Neon.
7.02.2015
6.28.2015
Just For The Record
Today started off with me throwing three eggs away because I couldn't get them over easy.
Then I watched almost the entire season of Bloodline on Netflix. I thought about taking Mav for a walk. Key phrase - *thought about.*
I pouted because I couldn't get the salsa jar open.
I drank 2 beers and 3 glasses of wine. By myself. Just chilling watching TV. I am not proud of this.
I huddled in my basement during a tornado warning (with said glass of wine).
I chased a moth around my house with bug spray trying to kill it. Almost threw a shoe at it but wussied out. Ended up losing the moth, so I turned other lights on and went into my bedroom with the door shut and kept the bug spray on my nightstand (for safety?).
As I sit here thinking about how I'm failing at adulthood, I realize my parents had two kids at my age. Cool.
Oh Yeah, I Went To Savannah In April
In April, I visited the lovely, albeit humid, city of Savannah for a girls' weekend with my mom, sister, sister-in-law and niece. It was much too fast, and much too rainy, but a wonderful time.
We walked for coffee, visited the playground at Forsyth Park and sauntered down the tree-lined streets with beers in hand (open containers, for the win!). We walked along the riverfront, and the (slightly terrifying) old steps. We basically had Thanksgiving dinner at Paula Deen's restaurant, except with fried chicken instead of turkey.
We stayed in an airbnb rental right outside City Market, where we lunched, drank peach sangria, listened to live music, visited Wet Willie's (three times...) and ran in the rain with our pizza-to-go from VinnieVanGoGo's.
We drove to Tybee Island and relaxed on the beach, saw the lighthouse (but didn't go in) and feasted on a seafood boil – and my first crab legs! – at The Crab Shack.
Savannah is a lovely old city, and too much to explore / eat / drink in such a short amount of time. Can't wait to get back there someday.
Now taking suggestions for Girls' Weekend 3.0. I'm thinking classic New England (Boston, Baltimore, Connecticut-ish).
We walked for coffee, visited the playground at Forsyth Park and sauntered down the tree-lined streets with beers in hand (open containers, for the win!). We walked along the riverfront, and the (slightly terrifying) old steps. We basically had Thanksgiving dinner at Paula Deen's restaurant, except with fried chicken instead of turkey.
Now taking suggestions for Girls' Weekend 3.0. I'm thinking classic New England (Boston, Baltimore, Connecticut-ish).
6.26.2015
Looking Foward To {July 2015}
- A long 4th of July weekend at Tablerock Lake
- Muny Mondays, Softball Tuesdays, Wednesdays at MOBOT and Saturdays at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market
- A wedding at The Sheldon
- My sister, brother-in-law and niece coming in town for a whole week (!!!!)
- Tallest Man on Earth at the Pageant
- Lake weekend with friends
6.22.2015
I Love Weddings (Lesley & Dave Edition)
Lesley & Dave's Same Day Edit from Millennium Productions on Vimeo.
I love weddings. Being in them, going to them, planning showers and bachelorette parties and all of it.
A few weeks ago, I got to stand by one of my oldest friends to watch her marry her high school sweetheart at The Pageant, and it was so fun, and so beautiful. It may be cliche, but #blessed.
Professional Photographer: Kurtis Hall
Photo Booth: Shutter Booth
Photo Booth: Shutter Booth
A Perfect St. Louis Saturday, Summer 2015 Edition
7:30am: Coffee and toast at home while I watch Girl Meets World.
9am: Yoga at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market, follow by shopping for tomoatoes, kale, zuchini, blueberries, Marcoot Creamery Tipsy Cheddar and Companion white bread. Chatting with friends over iced coffee and muffins, standing in the newly filled wading pool, and – because it was the 10th Anniversary market – grabbing a Geilles beer from Urban Chestnut (PS: They should come every week, IMHO).
4pm: AC and frozen blueberries while I finish bingewatching OITNB.
6pm: BBQ and beer on a friend's patio while watch lightening bugs and discuss our favorite musicals.
1pm: Lounging at the newly opened and free pool at Marquette Park.
4pm: AC and frozen blueberries while I finish bingewatching OITNB.
6pm: BBQ and beer on a friend's patio while watch lightening bugs and discuss our favorite musicals.
6.12.2015
Car Regret
I really didn't want a new car until I made the decision not to get a new car and now I want one.
Shoot.
Shoot.
6.10.2015
Get It Together, Hohmeier
Car.
House.
Passport.
Work.
Laundry.
Dog.
Filing.
Cleaning.
Banking.
Bills.
This weekend.
Fall trip.
Picture frames.
Grocery shopping.
Toilet paper.
Just your average stress list.
6.05.2015
5.10.2015
9:30pm
XL tshirt. No bra. Couch. McDonald's. DVR. Over-dry shampooed hair up in a top knot. Ceiling fan on high. Snuggled under a blanket.
Perfect solution to nursing this hangover / exhaustion.
That, or a second Sunday.
4.18.2015
2016
I'm thinking Greece, DC, Austin for SX again, North Carolina, Colorado or Wyoming and maybe a weekend in the Caribbean.
What do you think? Doable?
4.16.2015
Feelings
I know I'm a glass and a half in, but I seriously just teared up looking at pictures from my NY trip last year with my mom and sister.
So thankful that I'm just a week away from seeing them (+ sister-in-law and 1-year-old niece) in Savannah.
4.10.2015
My Boyfriendless Life
I realized recently that this is the longest I have ever gone without a boyfriend.
Maybe not always an official "boyfriend," but a guy in my life. You see, for as long as I can remember, I have been boy crazy. I remember walking into Mrs. Summers' first grade class and seeing my childhood crush for the first time. In middle school, I made (ranked) lists of all my crushes. I was in two relationships that each lasted 5+ years.
I've spent so much time obsessing over boys.
Has he called? Has he texted? Did he like that photo I posted? Is he signed on to AOL? (#throwback)
When things with my crush / boyfriend were good, my life was good. When things with my crush / boyfriend were bad (or stagnant or fizzling), I felt anxious. My life revolved around those relationships, or lack of.
But this last year or so? My life has been my own.
Sure, I've been sad sometimes. Things have been shitty sometimes. But when things are good, it is because I made them good. It's because of me. My friends. My family. My choices. My life.
And that's really refreshing. I like it.
[Related, it's "too bad" I don't have a boyfriend.]
Maybe not always an official "boyfriend," but a guy in my life. You see, for as long as I can remember, I have been boy crazy. I remember walking into Mrs. Summers' first grade class and seeing my childhood crush for the first time. In middle school, I made (ranked) lists of all my crushes. I was in two relationships that each lasted 5+ years.
I've spent so much time obsessing over boys.
Has he called? Has he texted? Did he like that photo I posted? Is he signed on to AOL? (#throwback)
When things with my crush / boyfriend were good, my life was good. When things with my crush / boyfriend were bad (or stagnant or fizzling), I felt anxious. My life revolved around those relationships, or lack of.
But this last year or so? My life has been my own.
Sure, I've been sad sometimes. Things have been shitty sometimes. But when things are good, it is because I made them good. It's because of me. My friends. My family. My choices. My life.
And that's really refreshing. I like it.
[Related, it's "too bad" I don't have a boyfriend.]
4.09.2015
Some SXSW Favorites
It's been almost a month, and I'm still trying to process everything that happened at SX. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos, completely without context:
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