The Friday Five

I'm sorry I haven't been a very diligent blogger this week. I've been in the worst mood and I didn't want to pass it along to you (did you know that negative emotions are easier to "catch" than positive ones?). 


Since I neglected to post my usual "What I'm Loving Wednesday" entry, here's my Friday Five-- with a twist or two. 

1. What I'm Reading: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I'm really enjoying this book and have incorporated many of the author's wise discoveries about happiness into my own life. I highly recommend it. More on this book after I've read it cover to cover!

2. What I'm Listening To: "Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele. 

As much as I love the achingly talented Adele, "Someone Like You" and "Rolling In the Deep" have almost been ruined for me as both songs are constantly played on the radio. 

3.  What I'm Watching (loosely translated as What I Saw At the Movie Theater)

A group of us went to see Drive on Tuesday. In retrospect, I really enjoyed the film; it also was one of the most violent movies I've seen in awhile. Perhaps ever. So violent, my boyfriend issued an apology to all of us post-viewing for choosing it. He's been trained well.

4. What I'm Eating

I recently reviewed Triangle Char and Bar at Patch.com and will soon have posts on Eileen and Two Boroughs Larder, too. 

5. What I'm Pinning

I am a Pinterest addict! My favorite pin, which I put to good use today, is this: 

October Bucket List

My attempt at carving a pumpkin this weekend. It's supposed to be a witch stirring a cauldron...

For the past few weeks, the sky has been an ombré of slate blue, dingy white and gray clouds. Buckets of rain have thudded from the sky like fists on a table. Summer's final afternoon thunderstorm tantrums are approaching an end. The landscape is changing—the once verdant landscape is now tinged with bronze. Autumn is coming--and today it’s sunny.

I've always found the changing of the seasons both comforting and invigorating. Change, in every form, has always been welcome in my life. I'm energized by the challenge of all things new. The transition into a new season only reinforces my love of change. Though this isn't my first autumn, Halloween or year carving pumpkins, all these things are new again, which make me love them again and anew.

Lately, I've been behaving like a Paris transplant who's yet to visit the Louvre. There's so much to see, to do, to eat, to experience here in this beautiful Southern city and all I've done is work, work, work. My antidote? A bucket list. October is halfway over and I'm not going to waste the remaining two weeks. 

October Bucket List

1. Experience Boone Hall Plantation's corn maze
2. Eat a doughnut (or two) from Glazed downtown
3. Carve a pumpkin.
4. Try Two Boroughs Larder from Lunch
5. Go for a run downtown (like I used to)
6. Decide on a Halloween costume
7. Concoct a healthier version of pumpkin bread
8. Try a new recipe-- I've got my eye on this Thai Shrimp Halibut Curry
9. Get the sh*t scared out of me at Boone Hall's Fright Night
10. Find a great sushi place in Mount Pleasant 

Am I missing anything? What else should go on my bucket list for October? What about November?

The Dock Days of Summer

To say I’ve been stressed out lately is like admitting the U.S. needs a solution to the deficit. I haven’t had a chance to work out a single time this week and I haven’t meditated or gone for a run. I have turned my back on all of my normal stress-releasing activities during one of the most stressful workweeks I’ve had since I started my new job. I’ve had trouble sleeping and I’ve been weirdly short of breath—even lying in bed. I may or may not have broken down in tears twice this week.

Luckily, my boyfriend had a solution for us (he’s had a tough week, too): the dock. His family has property on a creek that flows into the Cooper River. It’s quite possibly the best place in Charleston. Friday after work we took tail-wagging Emma and headed for paradise. Walking down the long dock to the creek is like time travel. With every step the weight of the week, or perhaps the world, falls away. By the time you’ve reached the water you’re standing a whole lot taller. 

Post-work Paradise

We swam and caught up on our reading (him: Entertainment Weekly, me: The Happiness Project) in this:

My kind of recliner.

Saturday afternoon my mom and I headed to Trader Joe’s. To no one’s surprise, it was busy. I found some fantastic stuff, but I’m most excited about:

Mango Chile Fruit Floes and Raspberry, Lemon, Strawberry whole fruit popsicles!

Taking a Turn For the Serious

When I got my paycheck last Friday I toggled between my online shopping carts at Forever21 and Amazon. Books? Clothes. Clothes? Books. Books won. I ordered five books for $50 dollars from Amazon. The first four should arrive today or tomorrow. I’m excited.

Five months ago my money would have gone to Forever21. Clothes would have beat books like scissors cut paper in Rochambeau. My penchant for fashion hasn’t disappeared completely but my need for new threads has. The only clothes I’ve purchased in the past few months have been for the gym. On the horizon: new running shoes.

Two weeks ago I returned to work from lunch to hear exclaims of “Congratulations!” One of our coworkers had announced she was pregnant. I love pregnant women. I find the toothpick-swallowed-a-watermelon look adorable. I remain in awe of the capabilities of the female form and I went home at the end of the day thinking about babies.

Last Friday at a company meeting she had to excuse herself to pee every ten minutes. She confessed she was losing weight and couldn’t stand the sight of food. She was getting up three times a night already to use the bathroom. The kid wasn’t even here yet and already her sleep cycle was being interrupted. After work, I met my boyfriend at the movies. I laid my head on his shoulder happy it was just the two of us.

It’s a bizarre and oddly sobering moment when you realize the libidinous urge you had to have or accomplish something has utterly evaporated. I once desperately wanted babies with blue eyes and blond hair. I once enjoyed reading InStyle, Marie Claire, and Elle. Now I am content to read the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Week and my newly ordered books.

It seems as though things have taken a turn for the serious and I’m not really sure how I feel about it yet.