I Support The Sign I’m Holding!

My mentality nowadays is to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. Which is why I made my way today (with tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of others) into the city for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity”.

The crowd was so intense that I actually contracted claustrophobia at one point while trying to cross the National Mall to catch a peek of the stage.

Since I was never able to get close enough to actually see the stage, the event turned into more of an opportunity to people watch...and to take pictures of as many clever rally signs as possible. Some of the signs made me laugh out loud, some made me wince, but all were unique and witty! My top ten are listed below for your enjoyment – which is your favorite?

1. I Can See My Backyard From My House


2. I Hate Crowds


3. I Support The Sign I’m Holding


4. Don’t Teabag Me Bro


5. I Have S#!t To Do But I’m Here *Go Sanity*


6. The Only Thing We Have To Fear Are Bears And Terrorists – Lets Hope They Don’t Join Forces


7. WWJD (Who Wants Jelly Donuts?)


8. I’m PRO-GNOME And I Vote!


9. FART: Floridians Against Rational Thought


10. I Have A Pre-Existing Condition In My Pants!

No Seriously, Thank God It’s Friday!

Yup, that pretty much sums up how I feel at the moment.

Have a fabulous, fun, productive and (of course) relaxing weekend!

Animal Videos Cure All

I feel a little bit down tonight and I think it’s because I’ve been giving myself a hard time for not accomplishing as much as I’ve wanted to lately. I’ve been posting more but I’ve also been procrastinating a bit on some important tasks on my to do list.

Fortunately, there are always cute animal videos to make me feel better when I need it the most! This one I just saw on a taped Ellen DeGeneres Show and it is friggin’ adorable.

Sigh, how can you not love animals?

Petition for Cats in the Workplace

Aside from my cats' sweet faces, there’s very little that motivates me on a Monday morning.

Yet I can’t help but smile when they greet me and I love that they are always in a good mood no matter the day of the week. Perhaps it’s because they can sleep whenever they want and aren’ton anybody’s schedule but their own.

Sigggh…what a life!

Wylie in the dresser drawer

Sami in the upside-down kitty pod

Finding Inspiration in a People Mover

My foray downtown on Saturday would not have been complete without a quick stopover at the National Gallery of Art.

And a stop at the NGA would not be complete without a visit to the gift shop…both of them.

But my favorite part of the visit turned out to be the people mover that connected the east and west galleries. Not to be outdone by the famous artwork hanging on the museum walls, the concourse tunnel itself had been turned into its own art piece – a LED light tunnel by American artist Leo Villareal entitled “Multiverse”.

The creativity behind the light sculpture was awe-inspiring and I couldn’t wait to share the experience with you!

“Multiverse” Light Tunnel

Ceiling detail

Side detail

Don’t Over Think Lunch

After sleeping in late this morning, an idea popped in my head to go into the city for lunch.

I quickly discarded the spontaneous thought though since I already had plans in my head of things I needed to do around the house. But then I started to hedge over the idea because it sounded like fun and something we don’t usually do.

So, I embraced the spontaneity with my boyfriend and we headed downtown to the Lincoln Waffle Shop – a place I found a few months back when my dear friends came to visit from Chicago and a place I’ve wanted to return to ever since…and now I have!

I’m so glad I acted on what I wanted to do – the food was delicious and the walk around town afterwards was just what I needed!

Photo Album: Nashville Part Two

Yes, there is more! I can be sort of obsessive when it comes to documenting my trips and adventures…but I am always grateful later for the photographic memories. Enjoy!

Centennial Park
(I loved the willow tree hanging over the water)

Naked People Statue
(I still have no idea what this was about!)

Urban Dare Adventure Race
(basically a photo scavenger hunt a la Amazing Race)

Urban Dare Adventure Race
(more emphasis should have been placed on race – I’m still sore!)

Benefit Motorcycle Ride
(the sudden motorcade caught us off guard in the middle of the race)

Union Station
(the train station is no longer in use but it's still beautiful)

Nashville International Airport
(getting ready to fly home and still taking pictures!)

Photo Album: Nashville Part One

To commemorate my first day back to work - and the STRONG desire to still be on vacation - I thought I’d share a few of my favorite photos from my weekend in Nashville!

Koda
(recently adopted 9 week old lab/blue heeler puppy)

Koda…again
(trust me when I say I have a ton of pictures of this sweet puppy!)

Hatch Show Print
(legendary letterpress printing company founded in 1879 & topic of future post!)

Bridgestone Arena
(aka Smashville)

Nashville Predators vs Washington Capitals
(Caps won 3-2 in overtime!)

Broadway at night
(I loved all the colored lights)

Neon Signs
(I’m obsessed with photographing funky, neon signs!)

I Thought the Customer was Always Right?

I’ve always found it ironic that most customer service experiences end with frustration. I mean the whole point of customer service is to aid the customer when problems arise…so why the general apathy from the person on the other end of the phone when you’re asking for help??

And the frustration only increases when the problem exists because of a mistake on the vendor’s end and they refuse to acknowledge or apologize for the time-suck that they have caused.

But even though I had such an occurrence today, I now try to find the silver lining and turn the frustration (annoyance, irritation, etc.) into an educational opportunity. I make a mental note of the experience and tuck it away for future reference when I will find myself handling the customer service for my own business.

And I can promise without a doubt that no customer of mine will ever leave frustrated. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s common sense that you treat your customers with respect…they are the ones paying your bills after all!

Petition for Cats in the Workplace

I love everything about my cats…right down to their paws!

In fact, Wylie’s huge ‘bunny’ feet are what earned him the nickname “Big Mitts”.

Last week I was able to capture this feature in two of my favorite photos ever and I couldn’t wait to share them with you!

Looking at the pictures while I was away over the weekend put a smile on my face…and I hope they brighten your Monday.

Wylie “Big Mitts”

Sami “Cupcakes”

Home Sweet Home!

I just walked in the door from my whirlwind trip to Nashville and am ecstatic to be home with my little family.

The trip was awesome and I fell in love with Nashville and my friend’s new puppy Koda (pictures forthcoming!) but it feels awesome to be back home.

I especially can’t wait to climb in bed and stay there for awhile…preferably for at least twelve hours. And kudos to me for taking Monday and Tuesday off to vegetate! I highly recommend taking a day or two off after a trip to decompress. It always does me a world of good and I would be worthless to my co-workers in this condition anyways!

Quote of the Day

(© 2006 Graphique de France – wall calendar)

“Life was meant to be lived.” - Felix the Cat

Okay I’m sold! Felix is one smart cat and I’m going to heed his advice by grabbing life by the horns and getting the heck outta dodge! To Nashville, TN to be precise.

Sound familiar?

Well it should, it’s on my goals list for the year! One of my good friends moved down there a few years ago and I’ve been planning to visit ever since. Perhaps planning isn’t the right word since that would make it seem as if I had done more than just think about it.

But I’ve been meaning to go for the last three years and with the year winding down, I knew I needed to make it happen fast!

So I booked myself a ticket on Southwest (a cheap one thanks to a gift certificate I was saving for the occasion) and I’m heading down today for the weekend! I’m looking forward to seeing a new city, catching up with my friend and, of course, taking some time off from work.

And it’s also momentous because I never travel by myself anymore. The last time I did so was back in college when I flew to visit my boyfriend. So it feels good to be doing this on my own and I look forward to sharing some pictures from the ‘Music Capital of the USA”!

A Miracle in Chile

Tonight I watched live coverage of the first Chilean miners to be rescued after being trapped underground for 69 days.

The joy and exuberance of the men, their rescuers, family and country was incredible to witness.

It is truly amazing what perseverance, collaboration and faith can accomplish.

A true miracle!

Petition for Cats in the Workplace

I don’t know about you, but I’m an animal lover – and a big one at that.

Animals are loving and loyal; they don’t hold grudges or talk back and I find everything about them inspiring. And my two cats are no exception.

Adopting each of them was a big undertaking for me but they have become the loves of my life. And every Monday morning I wish that I could bring them with me to the office.

I mean, how can you have a bad day when looking at these faces?

Wylie “Big Mitts” – age 3 ½
(in his favorite perch by the windowsill)

Sami “Cupcakes” – age 1 ½
(caught red-handed on the counter)

Pumpkin Picking in 80 Degrees

Friends

Pumpkins

And a bulldog puppy named Watson

That about sums up my Saturday - a great afternoon in the country!

Oh and it was over 80 degrees in the sun. It felt a little strange to be sweating while picking out pumpkins but I wasn’t complaining. It was simply nice to be outdoors and taking advantage of a beautiful ‘fall’ day.

I hope your weekend was just as lovely!

My Happy Place: Horseback

On any given day when the sun is shining and there’s a nice breeze in the air, I wish I were horseback.

Yes, I was that cliché little girl who was obsessed with horses. I read horse books by the dozens, collected toy horses and took riding lessons.

Even though the lessons eventually stopped, I never outgrew my passion for horses and I still dream of the day when I'll have my own horse to ride whenever I feel like it.

Committing to the schedule and cost of taking riding lessons again isn’t feasible right now but I do treat myself at least once a year to getting back on the horse for a trail ride with the family. Last year my sister and I had the ride of our lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico but this year we kept it local at one of our favorite trail ride establishments in the Blue Ridge Mountains – the Marriott Ranch in Hume, VA.

The staff is super friendly and the cost for a ninety-minute trail ride can’t be beat! Plus you get to leave the city for some time out in the country. It always amazes me how quiet it is out there…I miss that.

But for ninety minutes this past Saturday, I soaked up the quiet, the sun, the smell of horses and the gorgeous landscape. It was pure bliss and I got to check off another item on my goals list.

It was the perfect escape from these past few hectic months and I could have stayed out there all day!

What happy place do you picture when you’re feeling worn out and stressed? How often do you get there in real life?

A Day Off for Sanity's Sake

September 30th was the ‘hard deadline’ for my three-month long project at work and I’d been looking forward to that day pretty much since the project started.

It meant that the long, draining days would be behind me and I could start to regain some normalcy in my life and get back to more important things – like Live Love Life Now™.

It also meant that I could finally take a day off!

I almost didn’t take today off though because things at work are far from being completely done. But I realized that they are at a stage where everything isn’t an emergency and I’m not so egotistical to think that things couldn’t be managed for a day without me.

I’ve also come to realize how important personal days are to my mental health. It’d been a challenging summer at work and I’ve been waiting for the chance to take a day to recover and reward myself for a job well done.

So I put in my vacation request and spent this morning sleeping in. And it felt lovely! It’s officially fall outside (i.e. gloomy, windy, cold) and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than in my pajamas at home with my cats.

Hmm…if I had more sense I’d probably rewrite that last sentence to make myself sound a little less like a crazy, cat lady. But in reality I’m sometimes borderline crazy, cat lady and I love it.

And I love three-day weekends!

The Moral? Don’t forget to make yourself a priority once in awhile and know when you need a break. When’s the last time you took a random day off from work just because??

Piece O’ Cake

My internal (formerly dormant) designer has been awoken and I think I could easily become addicted to this.

Turns out I didn’t need as much technical assistance as I thought to get the new header in place. All I really needed was to know somebody was there to help me in case I caused irreparable damage to my blog.

But I needn’t have been so concerned because I had the new header up in no time and was soon on to altering the background image, fonts and colors.

Now I’m thinking of playing with the gadgets feature next and was curious which ones are your favorites to use?

But that’s for another day because for now I think I’m going to call it a night. I’m ecstatic with my progress and deserve a break…with popcorn.

But before I sign off, how about a walk down memory lane?

January 1, 2010 – July 24, 2010

July 25, 2010 – October 2, 2010

Would You Believe My Cat Ate My Homework??

Oh the shame…

It’s been two days since my declaration about posting a new header and re-committing to my blog.

And I’ve got zip to show for it. Sigh.

I was feeling so guilty over this that I almost didn’t want to show my face today and post anything at all. But then the guilt over not posting anything for the last two days won out over the guilt of not having posted the new header.

Welcome to my crazy little world of procrastination, self-doubt and guilt!

But in all sincerity, I’m blaming the delay on the fact that I’ve needed some technical assistance that hasn’t been available. But things are looking up as I have begged my sister (aka html guru) for help this weekend.

Thank goodness for free help! Er, I mean family.