April 2010

To my beautiful sister Kat, who I have had to privilege of knowing at least MY entire life. Those couple of years before that – who knows – but at least for the past 25 and a half years she has been my best friend, even when she was making me play rich girl, poor girl.

To my dog Glory – who I love and who I cannot believe is already 9 years old. She is my joy and she never fails to make me smile. Still acting just as she did when she was a pup.

by Toothpaste for Dinner

This Floral Fireflies dress from Modcloth.

This sailboat floating on incredibly blue water from Visualpanic‘s Flickr gallery. As Tina Fey would say “I want to go to there.”

Ming’s cupcakes that look so yummy.

May Day flowers and Annapolis this weekend!

The future is no place to place your better days.

[DMB]

I’ve been making a much better effort lately to unplug, reboot, disconnect – whatever you want to call it. Basically to stay off the computer (including my phone) and take some time to just be. You know to be somewhere without documenting it, Tweeting it, tagging it, etc. I’ll be honest – sometimes it feels a little odd. A bit anxiety producing. The other day I was riding my bike and the trail was so gorgeous and I thought “man I wish I had my phone so I could take a picture and put it online to share this moment”. But alas I left my phone at home. You know what though – that moment was all mine. I didn’t have to share it. I got to keep it, enjoy it, take it in without having to worry about letting anyone else see. It felt – very freeing.

I know that with my job(s) and just my lifestyle disconnecting from technology isn’t generally a possibility but it sure feels good every once in awhile.

And on that note … it’s off to my book.

Today was a really beautiful day. Breakfast was good, the pups were good, even the traffic didn’t bother me. Work was fulfilling, my presentation for BCP is coming along well, I enjoyed the sun at lunch. I got to read my book after work and take along bike ride. I smelled honeysuckles and watched the clouds float by and the sun set in the sky.I chatted with my mom and watched some tv and read a little and chatted with PB. I got to snuggle with Glory.

Today was a really good day.

Yesterday I wished my grandfather Happy 80th Birthday on his Facebook wall.

Is there really any better way to explain how Facebook has totally taken over our world than that?

It’s funny because since I have been working in social media for a year and a half now and have been on it personally since 2004, I guess it really never hit me that it is worthwhile. I mean if I measured my past six years by how many hours I spent Facebooking versus watching tv I think Facebooking would win out. It really though has been in the last year when my family members and older people have gotten on Facebook that it’s hit me that it is much bigger than I anticipated. Well that and watching my pet project, the BCP page, continue to grow and succeed.

Why am I blogging about this other than to prove what a huge nerd I am? I guess I just want it down for my own personal record that I am still, despite how much time I spend online per day, in awe of the internet. It is one of those things that I cannot believe I have gotten to witness grow throughout my lifetime into something that the majority of people, in this country at least, can now never imagine their lives without.

My uncle asked my grandpa at his birthday dinner last night what was the most memorable event in his 80 years. I said I think mine would have to be Obama winning the Presidential election. That’s the moment maybe. But I think the growth of the internet within our daily lives is the event.

I’m not sure why but I think if I had some of these Owl pillows from Pil Love on my bed I’d be even happier jumping under the covers than I already am. Maybe next time I’m in Denmark or Sweden I can pick a few up.

I’m not going to lie, this feels like an immense blog post to tackle. Which is why I have obviously been avoiding it. Mainly because I do not know where to start to talk about my sister’s wedding weekend, how to continue talking about it, or how to finish up. It seems like a mountain of incredible memories that cannot be put into words.

Seeing my big sister get married was something I had long thought about but never really knew what the day would feel like when it finally came. Sometimes when something is so monumental like that it never really hits you until the day has long come and gone. It was such a beautiful wedding, over far too quickly, and with too little time spent with everyone who came.

A few things will stay with me though:

• How gorgeous my sister looked in the gown – not only because of the beauty of it all but because of how happy she looked that the day had finally arrived.
• How neat it really is to finally realize that “wow I have a brother in law”. I don’t know why I hadn’t really thought of it before but it’s really exciting to have Mert as an official part of my family, although he’s been around for so long already. Plus now I can call someone “bro”.
• Getting to spend time with my sis the day before the wedding, just hanging out and being with one another. Despite us both being busy we really should make time to do this far more often than we do currently.
• The dancing. With little Pete and the rest of the kiddos. To the Grease mix with all the girls. With Pat to just about anything and everything.
• Giving a toast that made other people think about their sisters and think how they love them so much just as I love my sister. The nervousness was worth it. I might post it here in the coming days so I can have a record of it for myself in the future.
• Did I mention the dancing? The beautiful purple, pearl necklace we got to wear from my sister as a gift, the incredibly yummy creme brulee at the rehearsal dinner, the look on Pete’s face when he walked down the aisle, eating wedding pasta for three days in a row and playing several epic games of Liverpool Rummy?

It is so great to be part of a family that enjoys each other so much. It was the perfect weekend and I wish my sister and my new brother a lifetime of happiness together!