Wishes Wednesday: Workhorse Jewelry

 Hi, my name is Wren and I have a problem: I'm obsessed with arrows.  I understand the hipster implications of this confession, but I just don't care. 

No Resolutions Over Here...

...But I definitely have a list of things I'd like to focus on more in 2012.

I have to begin with telling you that I had a teensy-weensy existential crisis the other day, after perusing many of the beautiful blogs that I'd been neglecting over the course of the semester.  One of the blogs has been recounting the journey of this painfully hip couple in adopting their 9-year-old daughter from Africa.  Now I had just assumed that this couple was in their late twenties-early thirties.  They are a very talented design and photography team and really seem to have their shit together.  PLUS they are adopting a little girl, which means they have, like, super-ultra-shit-togetherness.  A recent post was a celebratory birthday post for the wife...who was turning 23...!  Yep, 2-3.  Not even MID-twenties and this chick is traveling over oceans to adopt her daughter!!!

Yeah, downward spiral into self doubt and deprecation ensued.  I started to notice ALL of the blogs I've been admiring are made by CHILDREN.  There is some young-successful-hipster-vitamin-gene that makes really beautiful blogs and websites and updates them daily.  These kids have careers, are married, have kid(s) of their own, pay mortgages, and post daily pictures of their abominably cute outfits.  In a sentence: I felt really behind.

After a few deep breaths and an episode of Friday Night Lights, I took a little inventory of where I am and where I'd like to be.  To be honest, I hadn't done this since I was 26...life since then just seems to be moving in fast-forward and I have been barely hanging on by my fingertips.  So, now that I'm at the start of my 30s, it's probably important that I set my sights on a few goals...at least those I can attain before the zombie apocalypse, anyway...

• Say "I love you" more often
• Be present 
• Find something important I did in every day
• Take more deep breaths
• Drink more red wine
• I guess I'd better drink more water, too
• Be involved in the process, not the product or end result
• Take more pictures
• Practice more gratitude
• Make more home-cooked meals
• Listen to more music
• Defend my free time with Shug
• Appreciate every day
• Quit comparing!

xo.

Source

Oui ou Non? Midi-Length Skirts

While I think these midi-length skirts look smashing on these rail-thin, willowy models, I wonder if these skirts would skew "frumpy librarian" on a regular gal, like me.  I looooove skirts in the summertime, since they are airy and breezy in the warmer temperatures and that chambray skirt with the button-front is a-callin' my name.  What do you think?

All skirts at Madewell.

Am I Missing Something??

These are HORRIBLE.

I honestly and truly do not get why these are growing in popularity!

Ankle-breaking.  Check.

Heavy.  Check.

Obnoxious.  Check.

I get trying to wear larger shoes to make your ankles and calves look dainty, 

but seriously?!

Tell me, please, what am I missing about these?

Messy Buns

I love this messy hair!

I was soclose to being able to pull off this look,

but then decided to cut off all the hair that wasn't grey!

I am determined to have a messy bun by fall this year.

Do you have a favorite, easy hairstyle?

Source

Coming Down from the Holidays

It always takes me a few days to get myself back together after the insanity of the holidays.  I love that time of year, but I'm also so ready for the New Year to happen and be over with, so we can all try to get back to our already overbooked routine.

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I do try to orient myself so I can start working in a direction of a goal.  I feel I need to start spending less time being surrounded by chatter, noise, and music and more time just being.  I realize one of my most favorite times of the day is when I get up earlier than Shug to write my blog post for the day.  While I truly enjoy the blogging part of my early mornings, I have discovered I love the silence, too.

When I let Ruby out into the dark morning after we've been all snuggled up in bed, the cold and the heavy quiet have the most calming and invigorating effect on me.  These opposite feelings are also coupled with a clarity I usually lose once the noise of the day gets into full swing.

Do you have a favorite time of day?  I want to try to recreate this time I enjoy so much throughout the course of my crazy days, even if it's just for a minute or two...!

Catch-up

Well, I finally got around to getting a haircut.  I haven't even had a trim since the wedding last year!  In an attempt to let my awesome grey grow out, I had to lop off about six inches!  I really was sad to part with my long hair, but, as they say, it'll grow...

So, what do you think? I was going for a more Alexa Chung look, but I'd have to lose about 500 pounds and start smoking, so it's kinda leaning into soccer mom territory...

P.S. Isn't Ruby so cute curled up on the chair...?

Grey (NOT Gray) Hair

So, I have a little secret.

I found my first grey hair when I was 16!
It was all downhill from there.
I have to color my hair religiously to "look my age."

I'm getting a little sick of it, to tell you the truth.

I also feel guilty about washing all those chemicals down the drain every 6 weeks.

Apparently grey is super chic right now.

What do you think?

Should I embrace my natural hair color or continue dying it for a few more "youthful" years?

Source. Here and here, too;).

In which I find myself rooting for blue people...

Never in a million years would I have thought the following would occur:

• I would willingly purchase tickets to a James Cameron film.
• Use an oh-so-precious Friday night to watch a 2 hour and forty-odd minute film.
• Sit through a 2 hour and forty-odd minute film about 10-foot tall blue cat people.
• Become emotionally invested in these blue cat people and cry when their FernGully gets blown up.
• Actually like one-dimensional characters and a dicey storyline.
• Get seasick at the movies.

I know there are many folks who hatehatehate James Cameron (Shug included) and rightly so. I am still one of the three people left on the planet that hasn't seen Titanic. And I was one of the three people left on the planet that hadn't seen Avatar.

The technical beauty and groundbreaking animation of this film cannot be overlooked. Seeing the world of Pandora (dumb name, agreed) felt a lot like watching Planet Earth on mergatroid steroids. Scene after scene of floating mountains, glowing spindles of trees, and fluorescent seed pods, in 3D IMAX no less, left me a little nauseated and utterly amazed. The reverence and care taken in creating this world was evident in every little detail, from the Latin names every plant was given to the premise of chemo-receptor communication (mirrored after the human brain) between all living things.

After being bludgeoned with the message to take care of our own planet (which we absolutely should), I really started to enjoy the subtext of other messages the movie had to offer...I'm sure these messages were purely accidental since Cameron is about as subtle as a nuclear bomb. Case in point: the precious ore the humans were raping Pandora of was called Unobtanium...yes, unobtainable Unobtainium. (Dumber name, agreed.)

BUT, some of the less obvious messages the movie conveyed were downright spot-on.

From a feminist perspective, the importance of a matriarchal society, deity, and leadership was awesome. The female characters in the movie are important because of their intelligence, hunting prowess, leadership skills, and groundbreaking research, not their beauty or cup size. My newly engaged friend, Supermodel, pointed out that the interface between the indigenous people of Pandora and all other living things is a very asexual connection shared my male and female inhabitants alike. The bodies of the main female characters are lithe and strong, and while under-dressed by human standards, the males wear just as few clothes.

I also really liked the examination of our connection to our bodies in a digital age. Jake Sully, a paraplegic, is lucky enough to embody an agile avatar of himself. Much of the movie is spent following Jake through a celebration of movement and tactile sensation. He cannot NOT touch plants that rebound from his grasp, he cannot wait to run and feel the dirt between his toes when he first synchs with his avatar, and he follows his indigenous guide off of treetops and branches to the forest floor. There was rarely a moment in the movie, while in his avatar, that Jake is still.

I wondered why Jake was paralyzed and how this was important to the film. We are forced to join Jake as he struggles with his wheelchair and atrophied legs. We join him in conversation about getting "fixed" in return for the secrets of the indigenous culture he's infiltrated. While in his human form, he refuses to let people touch or help him, he is an island. While many would see his paralyzed state as a bargaining chip for information, we come to find out he embodies American culture - a hooah, an answer-to-the-man drone, a sedentary creature, without personal connection or physical interaction. Only when he begins assimilating into the indigenous culture does Jake let touch and physicality occur with others while using his own faculties and heart to make life-changing decisions.

There are some MAJOR issues with the story and plot-points of this film, but you know what? I ceased to care. I let the fact that Cameron is a megalomaniac that creates one-dimensional villains, the white-man-saves-everybody plot twists, and horrible one-liners roll off my back.

Why? Because this was the most beautiful movie I have ever seen.

Sundance TwenyTen

So a few months ago, Shug and I found out about this. We have been rabid for tickets ever since. Unfortunately, we are but lowly Utahns that must purchase our Sundance tickets after all of the hoity-toities from Cali have had their pick of the festival.

We get to purchase tickets TODAY!! In t-minus 7 hours and 4 minutes....

Cross your fingers for us so we can get tickets to the opening screening!

This video was one of the first collaborations between Danny Perez, the director of ODDSAC, and Animal Collective...Judging by this, we are in for a crazy ride!

"Difficult" People

I may be an opinionated lady, but I have always tried to be a team player. Not an "ok-I-don't-care" teammate or a "no-no-no-YOU-decide" teammate, but an opinionated, (and I hope) diplomatic, and integral part of the networks in my life.

Being a teammate to other "difficult" people has proven to be much more of a challenge than my personal quest to not rock the boat. When my will wavers (usually after an extreme lack of sleep, a big ol' bowl of wheat, or finals week) I have to bribe myself to keep the devil of verbiage that wants to belch its way out of my system under control.

I think this ability to "play nice" may be getting worse in my old age! My tolerance level for rudeness, narcissism, and just lack of general awareness and concern for others had plummeted in the last few years. Maybe because I know it's NOT OK to let difficult peoples' behavior persist in the workplace, school, relationships, or family. I realize I may have been a part of the creation of these "difficult" peoples' idiosyncrasies and atrocious interpersonal tics by not addressing them at first blush! I don't think these individuals are horrible people, I just think they have horrific personalities...

I truly would appreciate some "tips and tricks," if you will, on how to deal with people that make me want to reconsider my aversion to poking others' eyes out with my thumbs.

January 31

While everyone is settling back into their old or newly resolved routines, I'm still a wreck. I am in persistent fight-or-flight mode until January 31. After making it through the marathon of ThanksgivingChristmasNewYear's, I have one more hurdle to clear before normalcy can return to my life: Shug's Birthday.

Since he's the easiest person in the world to shop for, finding a present will be a piece of cake...right?

Improve your karma or help out a desperate wife by emailing present-to-end-all-presents suggestions to igotgoldteef@gmail.com.

Kisses and my first-born will be your handsome reward.

Yes, please.

I could look ever-so-amazing schlepping my books to class.
From JMBCanada's Etsy shop.
$330...yikes.

Serves Me Right.

Remember how p.o.'d I was a week or so ago because Shug kept on buying himself stuff during the holidays? Well, after serving myself a big ol' slice of hypocrite pie, I decided to buy myself something before Christmas: a new camera.

This camera was supposed to make my dreams come true. It was miniature, cute, vintage-looking, digital, uber-portable, cute, came in a fancy-schmancy wooden box, weighed mere ounces, and it was cute. Did I mention how cute this camera was? I wanted, nay, I NEEDED this little beauty to be perfect. Why? Well, I didn't consult Shug about purchasing it...I just up and bought it myself...Without consulting the world's expert-on-damn-near-everything-camera about it!

Annnnd, let's just say that I have learned that cameras that are cute don't always take the best pictures....

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
It's being shipped back today...Shug's gloating has added the insult to cute camera injury.

Self-Care? Sounds dirty.

Guess what? Asinine paper has been written and submitted! Now what am I going to cry about?

I've had the rare privilege to watch my lack of self-care slowly being flushed down the toilet this last year. Before the wedding insanity, I'd managed to carve out a piece of time for myself each day so I could read, work out, make crafty stuff, blog, whatever. The only stipulation was that it had to be something I enjoyed and was for no one else but myself. It might sound a little selfish, but I firmly believe that if you don't take the time to care for yourself, how can you care for others when your reserves are kaput?

I'm sure you know many women who have dropped the time for self-care to fit in another page of homework, another chore completed, another task at work, or another person looked after. I always thought I'd be able to stave off the usurpation of my self-care time, but, lo and behold, it's gone...and it left me last fall.

I've noticed with the lack of my self-care time I'm crankier, exhausted, and have a really negative outlook on situations I am lucky to be in. Take, for example, my extreme distaste for some of my graduate courses...C'mon! Wah! I mean, really? Poor me has to go to graduate school and take graduate classes I don't like. Could I be any snottier? Not really. I am lucky and I am blessed. Now just to get that through my thick skull.

I realized that my usually positive personality was struggling to emerge from a carcass that hadn't taken any real self-care time in over a year.

So, this last weekend, I didn't do a page of homework. I read an amazing book (I'll post about it tomorrow!). I cooked some yummy meals for Shug and myself. I spent some much-needed time with friends. I decorated a little for the holidays. I took a nap with Ruby. I bought a treadmill and ran for miles to my favorite songs.

I feel better already.

I want to know, as the hectic craziness of the holidays approaches, what do you do for self-care?

Mushroom Cloud Layin' Mutha'effer

Only the very unlucky have had to listen to me cry and whine about a required class I've taken this semester. Not only is this an online class and I am involved in post-graduate work that is probably the most diametrically opposed subject to internet-only communication, but the instructor and I...well, we're not buddies.

We're not biffs for many, many, many reasons, but the main reason is that I go to a public university known for it's open-minded approach to politics, lifestyles and the like. Usually, my classes are sure to cover the entire spectrum of human nature, but this online class has managed to remain staunchly ignorant to about 90% of the population and the way they choose to live.

So, yeah, I've had a few aneurysms over this class this semester.

But things got a lot worse at about 9:46pm last night.

To premise: every single one of our online postings and assignments have been due at midnight over the course of the semester. And when glancing at the syllabus, I THOUGHT our behemoth of a term paper was indeed due at midnight, as well. Natch, right? BUT, the syllabus did say the words "midnight" for all of the previous assignments, as opposed to 12:00am. For some reason, the syllabus said just 12:00 for the big ol' final paper, which, preceded by all of our other assignments, I assumed was midnight, as well. This would be the kind of midnight where carriages turn back into pumpkins and I would be finished with the most abominable term paper to date.

Well, it wasn't. This mental heavyweight I have had the horrible luck of studying under had posted that our assignments were due at 12:00pm. As in: high noon. As in: not midnight. I had just posted my term paper 9 hours and 46 minutes late. I know this may sound insane, but when the big hand and the little hand are on the "12" it could be either midnight or noon...That's why we have those little letters to follow the time, just to let all the imbecile students know when they need to turn in a paper worth HALF of their grade.

If she doesn't accept this as "on time," a screed has already been scribbled to the department on HOW TO TELL TIME.

Image via Language is the People's

Anthropologie Haul

I love things that only cost $9 at Anthropologie.

I feel like Rachel Zoe plus 50 lbs.

I lova the sale rack.

K, so the boyfriend jeans were NOT $9.
But they were 50% off;).
Cost-per-wear, girls...cost-per-wear.

Rough Day

Early in the morning yesterday we took Ruby to get spayed.
I'd been trying to prepare myself for leaving her there all day.

I didn't do very well.

I was a blubbering, sniffling, puffy-eyed mess.
Ruby was just fine, the vet did an excellent job.

But now Ruby gets to rock an infernal cone collar,
oh, excuse me, an "Elizabethan Collar,"
for at least a week.

She
is
SO
miserable.

I'm tearing up again.

Oh, P.S., I promise to have that enchilada recipe up tomorrow!

Recipe of the Week: Pasta or Notpasta with a Goat Cheese Sauce

Are you busy? Tired? Run down? Are you dreaming of lazy conversations in outside cafes surrounded by a language you don't speak? What about a bonfire completely fueled by the pages of your useless and exorbitantly priced textbooks? Weird. Me, too.

So, in this haze of schoolworkteachhomeworkstressschoolworkwork, this is a comforting little dish that can be whipped up in the time it takes to boil water. Or plot an escape plan.

Pasta or Notpasta with a Goat Cheese Sauce
Serves 4 regular folks, or 2 Americans
Ingredients:
16 oz. of your favorite pasta or notpasta (i.e. gluten-free)
1 1/2 c of goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
handful of shelled pistachios
sun-dried tomatoes, packed in olive oil
extra virgin olive oil.

Get a big pot of generously salted water boiling on the stove. Once it's at a rolling boil, add all of the pasta and give it a stir to make sure none of the pasta have stuck to the bottom of your pot. Boil as per the package instructions until al dente.

Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain the rest. Put the pasta back in the pot with the reserved pasta water, the goat cheese crumbles, shredded Parmesan, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well until the cheese is all saucy and melty.

Portion into bowls and add a squidge of extra virgin olive oil, another grinding of black pepper, a spoonful of sun-dried tomatoes, a few shelled pistachios, and a sprinkling of some more Parmesan cheese.

Don't worry about the dishes, just enjoy!

Frontier House

A few days ago, I mentioned that Shug and I had been enjoying the PBS series, "Frontier House." It was so good, I thought it deserved more than just a quick mention, so here we go.

The show was filmed in 2001 and took three families to Montana to live in "Frontier Valley," a place complete with cabins and animals a la 1883. The families were not allowed to bring ANY modern comforts, including makeup, facewash, tampons, pain killers, antibiotics, toilet paper...you get the idea. Oh, and they had to live this way for 5 months! This wasn't like a camping trip where you "rough it" for a week and then get to go home and take a shower...You roughed it for a week and then you got to rough it for four months and three weeks more!

The families had to build their own cabins, learn how to care for livestock, and cook on a wood-burning stove. The gals had to wear corsets and the guys suspenders...but the corsets pretty much got tossed after the first few hours. It was interesting to see the element of competition between the families and how many families "cheated" during their stay just to get by.

The reason I loved this series so much wasn't because of it's historical accuracy or attention to detail, it was the transformation we get to see in the families...especially the kids! When questioned about what the kids had learned on this experiment, one of the little boys said that he'd "discovered imagination." How sad is that? Many of the individuals interviewed after the project were so disheartened at the excess and extravagance of 21st century life.

I really sympathized with their sadness when they had to leave the 1883. They had grown stronger as families and in their own sense of self. It was also intersting to compare the women's responses to the men's upon leaving the valley. Evey man was brought to tears when asked about their experience and if they would miss the lifestyle of an 1883 man. The women, on the other hand, were elated that they were leaving! The drudgery of "women's work" on the frontier was enough for them to yearn for modern-day life. The only exception was the two teenage girls, who refused to dress or act the "part" of an 1883 woman. They had involved themselves in "men's" work and were also brought to tears at the thought of leaving.

It made me wish for a simpler time...Yes, me, a feminist, wished for a time where the only things I needed to preoccupy myself with was caring for my animals, splitting wood, and spending time with my family...Dude, marriage has seriously messed with my brain.