home sweet home...

source: amanda jean

and it is so very sweet! thank y'all for any good thoughts or wishes that were sent our way. i wish i could jump up and down and hug everyone! we will sign the lease for our new apartment tomorrow and i am so happy i can't even stand it!!!!

also, of note...at the end of july i will be organizing a long overdue garage sale. wish i could keep it all, but alas. it is time to say farewell to some of my treasures. and hello park slope!

truer words have never been spoken...

"i just can't stop loving you"...

family band...

ed and i are trying our hand at toy instruments. i'm giving the toy accordion a go, while eddie makes beautiful music on his new harmonica. i am barely making it through the first two lines of "take me out to the ball game".


source: little red fox

i may just join the clown college at coney island. i'm pretty goofy and i'm double jointed. and i wouldn't mind wearing some old sequins and silly hats while banging away at my toy accordion. and speaking in different accents, depending on my mood. ed thinks this is a fantastic idea, without a hint of sarcasm.

goodbye king of pop...

i really am heartbroken. i truly loved michael jackson and considered myself to be one of his biggest fans. i just wasn't ready for today. i always pictured that one day i would meet him and tell him all of these things...

1. i first saw the "making of thriller" when i was about 5. i know the entire documentary by heart and can quote the whole thing from start to finish. he was my first celebrity crush.

2. as a little girl i thought the female lead, ola, was so pretty that i made my parent buy me a black baby doll at an arts fair. i named her ola. i was probably 5 or 6.

3. when i was a cheerleading captain i made sure "beat it" was one of the songs used in one of our dance routines. i was quoted in the yearbook saying "cheerleaders make the best of friends. and we stole our moves from thriller." completely misquoted, but it was along those lines...

4. i made a special trip to athens, georgia twice to see "who's bad" in concert. a michael jackson tribute band from north carolina. i was pulled up on stage both times. one time i was serenaded to "lady of my life" and the other time i danced across the stage to "the way you make me feel".

5. i won a trivia contest in high school one time with the question, "who played the scarecrow in the wiz?" duh.

6. i was one of the few people who genuinely believed michael was innocent, and didn't talk ugly about him.

7. i used to wake up corrie, my college roommate up many mornings singing thriller at the top of my lungs. she has still never forgiven me for it.

8. i payed $150 for a creepy michael jackson(circa long hair, face masks, and pajamas) painting done by an artist at scad. it is terrifying and everyone has tried to convince me to get rid of it.

9. i have three michael jackson band t-shirts from when my sisters saw him in concert in the 80s. not to mention countless buttons, notebooks, keychains, biographies, and more.

10. i have the red thriller vest, fedora, and sequined glove. i have dressed as him for halloween more times than i should admit . and i did it in the most sincere fangirl way.

11. i am known to break out the thriller dance moves, with little to no encouragement. one of my favorite party tricks.

12. i will always regret that i didn't play any michael jackson at our wedding. everyone kept coming up to me in shock that he wasn't on our play list.

13. i really loved his album invincible. "you rock my world" is one of my favorite of his songs.

14. "man in the mirror" makes me cry every time.

15. "got me working day and night" helped me get through my senior thesis at scad. it was kind of my theme song for the fashion department.

16. i can name all 9 of the jackson children. rebbie, jackie, tito, jermaine, latoya, marlon,randy and janet. another favorite piece of trivia i pull out from time to time. mainly, i use it as a barometer to test people who say they are his biggest fan.


i will never forget this day. i already miss him so much. he truly was the greatest entertainer of all time. not only that...he was magic.

the secret...

very rarely do i call on folks to wish for something for me... but if anyone has any extra wishes lying around, i would be ever so grateful...

so i found a dream apartment in park slope. it has a tin ceiling and a farmhouse sink. it has high ceilings, original molding, hardwood floors, and a white slate mantle with original grill work. it has NO MICE! the current tenant has not seen one the entire time she has lived there! there is more closets and cabinets than i could dream of in a reasonably priced apartment. the landlord is a doll! and the light-filled apartment has four windows that overlook tree-lined streets. it's absolute heaven.

if you have the time or the energy, any positive thinking toward our future marital home would be much appreciated!!!

...stay tuned y'all...

oh.my.god.

i need to see this. right. now.









man i miss having long hair.

add to the menagerie...

i have fallen in love with another female artist. her name is sonja ahlers. she is a multi-media artist. she knits sweet little fuzzy bunnies and makes the most inspiring collaged sketch books. her website is called makeitawesome.com and she does. i would like to meet her one day.

shoe string series...rainy day date in 5 steps

so, this has been a gloriously rainy summer. i wonder if this is what if feels like to live in portland? i dragged my main squeeze to prospect park to break out of the stale confines of our apartment. keys to good rainy day fun...




1. find a lush, yummy park with a view of the water. and a concession stand with popcorn, candy, coffee and soft drinks. delicious snacks, less than $5.



2. spy on a family of swans preening on a patch of grass. momma, poppa, and two fuzzy cygnets (the proper term for a baby swan, as i was just informed by pete).


3. scout a good tree for climbing. low branches and thick limbs, to sit and read a good book.



4. discover a spooky carousel, isolated and with two seaters (perfect for smooching, provided no children are nearby). the easiest way to find it is to listen out for the carnival music singing on the other side of the billy goat bridge. rides are $1.50 a person.


5. partake in an evening boat ride in a precious little electric boat called the independence. too sweet for words! rides are $8 a person.

all of this would be ever so fun on a true summer day. but sometimes you have to get creative in yucky weather. when seeing a movie or going to a museum just doesn't sound like the solution.

shoe string series...

ed and i made a new pact: explore all the recession-friendly dates a married couple can have in the very expensive new york city. since we are a couple of sinks at the moment, we might as well discover all the lovely, thrifty ways to enjoy treading water...

we are up for suggestions, tips, tricks and helpful hints...and any excuse to get out of the apartment!

so here's to a new era of budget-living. remember that magazine? miss merrick sure does, and quite fondly...

rain check...

oh another rainy day in new york. my this is the coldest june i have ever experienced. not that i'm complaining, after all- i hate the heat!

today i am grateful for...

1. breakfast with the lovely kristi schiffman and cafe gitane. re-living the fun and festivities of maddy's wedding.

2. the marked down chambray shirts and a new pair of dusty rose lace-ups scored at eleven. the shirt truly was a score, i had been eyeing it for a few months with hopes of a summer sale...

3. eddie and i testing out the laundry room in our basement. so long wash & fold laundromats, hello clean sheets and unmentionables!

4. coffee at the national, my favorite coffee shop on rivington. finished reading ghosty men and made a serious dent in a thousand ways to please a husband.

5. washing a sinkful of glasses, mugs, bottles, and vases. long overdue and a quick job!

6. watching guilty pleasure television shows with eddie... real housewives of new jersey...so shameful.

*here's to rainy days...where you can be both decently productive and impossibly lazy at the same time!

reasons to move to park slope...

1. prospect park. carousels. boat tours. bird watching. BBQs. concerts in the park. sign me up!

2. willie dawgs. cutest hot dog shop i've ever seen and oh so tasty. (hot dogs are my new summer obsession).

3. tree-lined, clean streets flanked by beautiful townhouses. oh, and people actually take pride in their neighborhood!

4. families and strollers. i love me some babies.

5. a community of nice girls within such close proximity.

6. outdoor train platforms with views of the statue of liberty. and cell phone service!

7. peace and quite, a nice respite from the hustle and bustle grind of the city.

isn't she lovely...

one of my favorite girls married the man of her dreams. and i am so grateful they found each other. i will post more photos later, on i love love.

can i keep you?

today i am grateful for...

1. seeing two concerts this week. the decemberists with chelsea and lindsey on wednesday. the avett brothers with eddie and chelsea yesterday. both bands sang all night about love. and it was perfect.



source: lindsey knott

2. the ultimate concert fare- hot dogs and cheap champagne. chelsea and i have decided this will be our fuel whenever we go see live music.



source: lindsey knott

3. discovering we have a laundry room in our building. after having lived here for 8 months. fantastic.

4. finding out my sweet chelsea cook won't be moving to san francisco after all! her friends are rejoicing and we are so happy to have her stay. best news ever.



source: keri anne

remember when you were a kid...

thank you haylie bird: i love this.

the aftermath...

today i will...

1. spend too much time on the internet.

2. help friends find jobs.

3. organize my apartment (so we don't end up like the collyer brothers). seriously.

4. enjoy prosecco in pretty blue bottles. dirt cheap from trader joe's and delicious.

shoe string honeymoon...

due to this charming little recession, eddie and i decided to forgo a fancy honeymoon. we really, desperately want to move to park slope, so we are trying to save our pennies.

for a one-day honeymoon, we stayed an extra night at serenbe. in fact, we loved it so much we considered what would be the consequences if we just never came back to new york! the people were marvelously hospitable and gracious; the food was some of the best i've ever eaten; the weather was spectacular; and there were more baby animals than i could shake a fist at!

some highlights included:

sipping homemade lemonade on the wrap-around porch.exploring a tree house. devouring pulled pork sandwiched at the blue-eyed daisy. swimming in a pool. collecting remnants from the wedding that had been left behind: fabric garlands, dried flower petals, two groomsmens' seersucker jackets, and a bridesmaid's bouquet of flowers.

plucking wildflowers. jumping on trampolines. sharing the most delicious and decadent dinner at the hil. and lots and lots of smooching...

kiss the bride...

source: kelanne cadet

today(and for the rest of my life) i am grateful for...

the most magical collection of people in one place to make this day possible. i am not eloquent or clever enough to accurately depict this perfect weekend. we had the most creative, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, loving, passionate, and FUN group of souls under one sky, on a farm in georgia. once the reception ended, ed and i must have spent two hours, at least, gushing about how lucky we are and how we dearly love our friends and family.

my mother always says, "you are the company you keep". if that is even half true, then the future looks very bright. i will post many, many photos later. and re-cap my favorite moments.

for now, this was the best moment of it all.