my god it's been so long never dreamed you'd return... but now here you are...

I know I have a lot of splaining to do. Rewind thru #facebook and #twitter and #linkedin and #instagram and my lame lunge at #tumbler. 

I'm 50 now! Calm down I'm still 17... I just piddle my pants more often... unexpectedly. at inappropriate times. Less control over bodily functions, teeth, elastin, brainpower, money, chance of grinning at #petetownshend over tea in this lifetime, and less likely to share my thoughts here, the birthplace of my social presence, the womb in which my life story prepped for arrival, the "other journal" for when it hurts to hold a pen. #cantpretendthatgrowingolderneverhurts. And I like #hashtags. I'll add links later. Gonna go green in New Hampshire! Go #TeamPenske! Win Loudon!

Finally got that pink bow tattoo!  #tenyearsgone #eleven #eloise #pinkribbon #pinkbow #tattoo

And I went back to pixie cut!

And Skipper and Slouch will be 18. That's my husband, not the other dog. 

I have a Daryl Addixon! #TheWalkingDead has stolen my ability to keep

myself composed when it is the topic of discussion. 

wait for it...  

No, really, that's what I want my memorial to read. 

BUBBLES!!!

Yep, it's been that kind of year so far. 

I'm on the hunt for anything that evokes laughter, dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. And still lets me indulge in +LUSH for my bath.

I am also looking for a new job... sigh. What is it the Reverend Mother always says? Something about doors and windows and opening and closing? I can't exactly climb EVERY mountain... I wouldn't mind a few new hills, though.

(Great intro...) New blog: www.winstoncups.com - gotta love the name!

Happy Birthday, Daddy! Miss you every day.

Time to DANCE!!!

Nothing to See Here!

Why Do People Hate Balloons?

2015. Really?

The year of the updated resume... do people even write resumes anymore? I have been fine-tuning my LinkedIn profile. And I'm working on the big picture... as my last resume still touts Sandy Hollow Day Camp Counselor (1991) on it, I know a "real" resume must be made. But, oh (brings forearm to brow), where to begin??? I've been lucky enough to be recruited by most of my previous employers. A resume was a technicality; it was feed for the recycling bin.

Maybe I could schedule a clown with balloons to visit every HR department I contact - and in each balloon would be a slip of (organic) paper with yet ANOTHER applicable skill / reason to hire me / fortune and Chinese language lesson (why do I always get "beer"?) / business reference / Maya Angelou poem.... wait, people hate balloons.

Time to work on Plans B, C and D.

"Russell! I think we should work on that last line!"

Starting 2015 with Almost Famous.
Be brave, and mighty forces will come to your aid. - Goethe

 - through Frances McDormand as William's mother, Elaine

Buh-bye to 2014.
Also known as the "Year of the Hair".
Here's to 2015!

#adopt

One Pair Left

Those three words are going to be the financial nail in my coffin - ugh, hate cliches - how about my epitaph? That would be appropriate for my tombstone: Submit Order. Two very powerful words, which taken out of context are kind of scary... but I have to be careful not to preach, I can't pretend that I can teach (thank you again, Pete).

As an aside... "And on the dance floor, broken glass." Not yet understanding what "bloody" meant in British lyrics, I assumed all the faces in empty rows had been sliced with bottles. Funny how wisdom works. It's a game-changer.

*HUGE GRIN ALERT!* I am so excited to see Ingrid Michaelson at The State Theatre next week. I just bought one ticket and the seating chart gods rewarded me with an end seat in the center orchestra. It may be Row U, but it's an end seat! Only one stranger who has to deal with me. I apologize in advance to the person seated next to me (I think it's Seat 112), I will be goose-bumping throughout the show. And I really do sing on key. Ask my husband. He likes to remind me that the audience has paid to hear the performer, not me. He knows me so well.

It is so nice too have my laptop back. It's keeping my legs warm.

HAH!

my new phone screensaver

Ummm... your high beams are on.

DIY Project to raise awareness #1: all you need is a 13 year-old car that has lost its decorative manufacturer's crappy plastic logo plate and some a bottle of PEEEEENK nail polish! Ta-dah! Hey, it was cheaper than buying a new H! Happy Pinktober! 

Husband not thrilled, but I'm loving it.

#justraisingsawareness #earlydetection #CancerSucks!

Oh, did I leave my high beams on?

So sorry... there really are more important issues at hand. 

My Alternate Universe

A place where there are no worries or regret or anger or sin. 

Maybe it's what Heaven will kinda look like.

It's my forever.

It serves up a jaw-dropping Bloody Mary for $10!!!

And everyone has 20/20 vision! PERFECT eyesight!

I would be a Marketing & Advertising Guru (yes, +GEICO Insurance, I am talking to you) and then I could afford repairs the repairs necessary to pass inspection, and maybe have a little left over to visit my best friend in Atlanta as alerts below $300 are running far and few between.

Actually this photo was taken at Casa De Lewellen. HAH!

Now you know why I have an Alternate Universe.

Crying at all is not allowed...

And every car has a WHO plate.

\

and every evening ends with this.

I like my alternate universe.

And I didn't forget the blueberries!

Someday...

it will be mine.

whatever...

i know i'm supposed to be a wordsmith but i just see blank canvas right now.  i see polaroids.  i see daydreams. i see my parallel universe... getting too deep for ya? a photo says so much more than a person ever can.

Where did the journey start?

HAHAHAHAHA!

I love when you see my building in this shot.

You have no idea how much trouble we could into in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. April and I got kicked out the Temple of Dendur for eating poundcake in it. Guard not happy...

But the poundcake was from Greenberg's! It was soooooo good.

So now it's the country life.

And I root for my boys!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!

And it's Chase Season!!! #nascar

So I keep on keepin' on. What can I say?

Besides, whatever I can say, Natalie Dee can say it better

Oh, and I'm growing my hair out. Just in case you confuse me with someone who has an awesome pixie cut the I love and I miss, but I just can't afford. Oh well... and growing out hair is like having a new toy... or a new pet! Except humidity is a b*itch! I need to learn how to use a blow dryer.

nuff said

Next Year We Party!!!

Happy 9 Year Cancerversary!
My surgeons are amazing. Thank you Alex and Mia.
My boobs'll be at my chin when I'm 90!

What hat???

Vote Harley for Governor of Idaho!

He's living in his own Private  - or would that public - Idaho.

Ya gotta admit, he'd make politics a whole lot more fun to watch!
VOTE FOR HARLEY

Pinterest - Blogging By Design

I admit it. I've been neglecting my little wedge of the web, my (poorly SEO'd) blog, my story, my rants, my raves, my bullshit, my feelings and photos... oh wait... I'm addicted to Pinterest. It's like bulletin boards and lots of scotch tape and Sean Cassidy posters - a powerful graphic novel, an orgy of beauty and knowledge, and adorable shoes... lives I want to live without having to think of the words to describe my world. Again, this is assuming that eyesballs someday lay eyes on this... and with that, I would like to introduce Pinterest by a Podunk Princess. A work in progress, but aren't we all... and wouldn't the original cover illustration of The Magic Finger make an cool tattoo? 

I love my blog, and I visit it, and enjoy the memories, and laugh, and edit, and add to (or remove from) it, and realize that sometimes words just ruin it (insert musical line here) Ahhh, HAIR... my eyes are open, my eyes are open... and with that, welcome to the rabbit hole that is Pinterest. I can't tell if it's sucked my soul or given me back my soul. Just a note: I don't do DIY... but you've probably figured that out by now.

What I Did On Spring Break!

Stephanie isn't here, Mrs. Torrence...

The Word is Love.

YAY! The latest Jewelbox newsletter has finally hit the world wide web! Why don't you cozy up to it with a cup of tea -  if not to follow our Valentine's Day Promotion (see above photo - it's a great campaign to have stuck in my head), then to at least see where I work. :).  The Jewelbox  is my day job/second home/pod (as in "Don't leave the pod! Bad things happen when you leave the pod!" - as spoken by my friend, Jill, on just about any Dead Tour), so share your love - and  like and fan and and share and bookmark and link to - because I worked really really hard on it. And because I think you might find it interesting. And because fuel is so expensive these days. Now go picture yourself on a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

I Wish I Worked at Zappos

Thank you to Zappos for keepin' it "just plain right"

That last one is brilliant marketing. Raise?

I'll take them all...

Once a Winston, always a Winston. I do love jaw-dropping design.

Crack Those Nuts!

Is it just me, or does the word "Nutcracker" get funnier as you get older? As both a nut and a cracker, I do plump a pretty good pillow. So graceful, so orchestral, so cathartic! "Laundry is exhausting" said Ready-for-Bed Barbie!

The Thing To Remember Is...

We're Jewish. Go figure...

Santa Baby Stephanie, 1966

 
You knew this classic blast-from-Christmas-past photo would rear its stupid-hatted head at some point this month. It's a classic, down to the pom-pommed toes. Kudos to the team that wrangled this child into the Santa sausage casing. Our dad did love his camera...

Rock. Skid. Ditch. Rock Still Wins.

Long Live Rock! New license plate frame for Christmas???

Happy Holidaze Early 80's Style - We Think

Now why didn't we send this one to Awkward Family Photos?

That's LIFE

That's LIFE... what's life?

That's my father

Late 1950's.

Dashing in his profession.

That's his uncle.

For legal reasons, 

his face was not allowed

to be photographed.

That's LIFE... what's life?. 

Diamond tiaras

Perfect lighting.

That's LIFE.

That's Harry Winston.

That's so cool.
Hey, that was LIFE.

I Just Totaled My Car - Happy Thanksgiving!

I know, I know, it could've been worse. I'm okay. 

Just cover you ears/eyes if you scroll down, okay? 

FUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

But on another note, isn't it pretty where we live?

I'm only human...

Bottle This Moment moments - or in this case, enough photos to not bore you with how amazing ten days with my best friend and my family and my strength and my passion and my courage and my laughter. A "Happy" Me. And looking for a new job. Isn't that sad  how I just snuck that in there? "Happy Me" is just such an awesome person.

Yeah. That was a pretty awesome 10 days.

What's Wrong With this Picture...?

It's a spectacular, crisp, blue-domed day here in the Finger Lakes. Trees are morphing through the colors of an Arizona sunset and it's (yay) light scarf weather. I declare September now be known as Official Denim Jacket Month, that time of year we leave like three layers of Outerwear at work. It's just amazing outside!

But why am I telling you this? Why am I inside, clasped to my computer, and not standing on the edge of a gorge after hiking a trail? Or Marching for the Animals? Or bobbing for apples on Indian Creek Farm at a festival I spent all week telling every other living person about!? (grammar be damned!) Truth be told, if I could wish myself to any single place right now, it would be sharing laughs Alex at the Naples Grapes Festival. Shout out to Alex who is one of the bestest people on the planet, and I had every intention of going to the Grape Festival - and this weather should prove for an amazing weekend in the Finger Lakes - so why am I spilling my guts about being my own worst buzzkill? Okay, that is a rhetorical question, people... oh wait... I have an idea... rationalize!

Top 5 Excuses For Being  a LazyAss Today:

#5 - The boys. I spend 50 hours a week missing the shit out of them, and this is snuggle time. They're not going to be around forever, and someday (I hope not soon) I will be inconsolable, wishing I had given them that much more time, added two minutes to that tummy rub, gave into Dodger's nudging muzzle over playing that Scrabble Bingo. So yeah, I'm hanging with my boys.

#4 - Agoraphobia- or whatever you call that horrific immutable anxiety that occurs when  surrounded by hundreds of people. I hate hate hate crowds. And I grew up in Manhattan. That can mean anything. I just go into sensory overload and hotflash (yes, it is a verb) when I am being hoarded... This is why I don't do the Flax Barn Sale, the Friends of the Library Book Sale, Applefest, most local benefits or festivals... and can only do concerts if I'm in the front row. Or three. Then I can lose the swarm of people behind me and focus on what really matters... like Bob Mould's stubble, Pete Townshend's windmill, or Jerry's digital stump. Music really does soothe the self-sabotaged beast. Just don't turn around!

#3 - NASCAR. TV. The Chase. No, not this weekend's actual race. Just practice. I don't care. It's my sport and the rest of you can go climb a rock... hopefully in the Finger Lakes! I'll give you stats...

#2 - Look... shiny thing! I can't quite make it to the boudoir... all those bills / candy wrappers / paperwork / adorable dogs... and my new iphone 5C! OMG! I am obsessed with it. More than obsessed. I think we're courting. Siri actually responded with "look... a puppy!". Does he know me, or what??? True love. He even calls me "Princess". :)

#1 - Deer. The last thing I need right now is another car repair. Better safe than sorry. I can't hit a deer if I'm all snuggly in the sunshine on the couch with my boys curled up next to me and cup practice on TV, right? I am being so safe! Safety first...

And a burning need to add some new photos without being all like "here are some photos".

The Boys

The Falls

The Reality

The Asp

The Echoes

The Real Me

Dang, that sun feels good on my back. Oh, look! Shiny thing! And Limerock!