Happiness Archives - Page 49 of 70

Influence

January 22, 2010/1 Comment/in Blond, Fun, Happiness /by Megan

A few weeks ago my adorable friend Abbie asked me to do her a favor. She wanted me to make her a few CDs of my favorite music. Now, I’m not sure if you heard me “squeeeeee”-ing from wherever you may be, but trust, the pitch could’ve broken a glass. Now my dear, lovely Abbie and I have very, very different taste. She’s conservative, I’m liberal. She loves (LOVES) her K-State Wildcats, I’m a Jayhawk through and through. She thinks that jumpsuits are appropriate to wear out and about, I think they would make it very difficult to go to the bathroom. Et cetera. But one place where were differ more than most is in our music taste.

In short, I’m kind of a snob. I like indie rock, indie rap, indie hip hop….do you see a trend. I am the definition of an a-hole hipster when it comes to music (although, most of my friends who like the same type of music know WAY more than I do and make me feel like I’m listening to Nickelback or something), and Abbie? Well, Abbie’s more mainstream. Now, we do cross paths here and there. Let me demonstrate with a simple Venn Diagram:

So, well, you can see my dilemna. But now. NOW! Miss Abbie now has, in her possession, TWO CDs filled with nothing but indie rock. And one CD of songs from Glee. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, at this very moment, Abbie may be listening to The XX, and her mind may be completely blown.

Or….she just switched back to some song by a band that rhymes the word love with the word….love. I choose to believe the former, for my own personal sanity.

See, I told you I’m a snob.

I Love Lucy

January 18, 2010/3 Comments/in Blond, Happiness, Lucy /by Megan

Remember when I used to write monthly letters to my little Lulu? I stopped doing that when she turned two, due the worry for her privacy, the lack of time to keep up, et cetera, et cetera. But just last night Trent and I were talking, and I started to worry that some of the greatest Lucy moments are slipping by, and if I don’t get them down in writing, I might forget completely! So here, in no particular order, are a few things about Lulu that make me smile on a daily basis.

– Every morning she tells me I’m her best friend
– If she sees Trent and I hugging, she run over, yell “Family hug!” and squeeze in between us
– She likes to be in charge of feeding the dog and is constantly telling Molly how wonderful she is
– She uses words like “cool” “awesome” and “bummer”
– When she accidentally wacks me in the head with a book or arm or something she automatically starts going “sorry, sorry, sorry” and kisses wherever the injury is
– She only likes to wear dresses that twirl when she spins
– She hates tights/pants/anything on her legs
– She tells me I look pretty when I’m dressed up for work, and then asks if she can borrow my clothes when she gets bigger
– She can work my iPhone better than I can
– When we’re at home she’s either in her jammies or a princess dress up dress, never normal clothes
– When she gets in trouble or gets denied something she says “I’m sad about that” and storms off to her room
– She lies to strangers and tells them she has older brothers and sisters
– She likes showers, not baths
– Her current favorite album is the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack
– Her current favorite book is The Lorax by Dr. Suess
– She’ll yell at strangers for littering (see: Her favorite book)
– She’s a master at stalling, she’ll always ask to stay up for “12 more minutes”
– She likes to lay nose-to-nose in her bed before she’ll fall asleep
– She hates getting up in the morning, and will cover her head with her pillow and hide when I come in to wake her
– Her favorite game is “hiding,” but she will always tell you where she’ll be hiding before she goes there, as in “I’m gonna go hide under the couch, then you come find me”
– She does not like broccoli

I know it’s totally cliche, but I adore Lulu. She is my favorite person in the world. Ever. She’s inching closer and closer to the age when she’ll be totally embarrassed by everything I do (am, say, act), but for now, she still thinks I’m the best person she knows. And honestly, there’s not really anything better than that.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

January 14, 2010/0 Comments/in Family, Happiness, Photos /by Megan

Looking at photos from this year’s holiday bonanza and I find myself saying, “How in the world did I get so very, very lucky?”

No clue. But I’ll take it.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

The Beginning of the End

January 12, 2010/1 Comment/in Happiness, Photos /by Megan

We’re a mere 16 days away from the end of NYC + KC, and both Theresa and I are probably as surprised as you are that we’ve kept this up a whole year! We’ve relaxed our uploading practices a bit so we’re usually about two weeks behind (that’s why if you go to the site, the most recent photo is for Day 327, even though we’re technically on Day 343). This has helped us immensely in keeping the project going, and I don’t think it takes anything away from the final product. In fact, without this leeway, we probably would have quit months ago!

Here are some of my favorite combinations from the last round of uploads:

The last one gets me the most because it was taken on Christmas, and there were so many options of photos to use (I think I took a total of 648 photos on Christmas day alone), but we both chose what we’d baked.

I’m going to miss my daily view’s into Theresa’s life. It’s become a ritual, seeing what’s she’s posted, where she’s been. The past year, for me, has been a relatively calm one. In the years prior, there was always so much chaos (2004 – graduated, moved to Italy, 2005 – got pregnant, got married, 2006 – Had Lucy, quit job, 2007 – Trent quit job, started business, I started new job, Lu in daycare, 2008 – started another new job, moved to the suburbs, bought our first house), but 2009 was so (wonderfully) quiet. Whereas for my NYC cohort, this year had quite a bit of change. She graduated from college, spent the summer job hunting in Brooklyn, husband had a job change, took on two jobs before she finally found the perfect fit. It was great fun watching the two different rhythms of life, of cities, weave together to tell a story. I’m not sure what the story is. Maybe it’s about how lives can be different, but similar. Possibly it’s one of how observing another person’s day can enrich your own.

Or maybe it’s much simpler than that. It could just be the story of a friendship that’s lasted over 18 years and has spanned thousands of miles. Of two very, very different people, that have a very special connection.

Or maybe it’s a lesson of when Megan gets too excited about a project, she’ll go on about it for ages. Yeah, that could be it.

Confessions on Life, Death and God

January 11, 2010/0 Comments/in Happiness, World /by Megan

This year for Christmas, along with the required romantic comedy in my stocking, Trent got me two lovely gifts. In packages, wrapped up tight, were two Postsecret books. I’ve been following Postsecret for ages, but had never gotten around to purchasing any of the several bound compilations of secrets that creator Frank Warren had put together. I read through the first one, again, amazed and intrigued by the secrets all these strangers put out in to the universe. It truly is a remarkable project, one that always knocks me down flat, even after all these years.

The other book was the newest Postsecret compilation, called “Confessions on Life, Death and God.” This one struck me even more, as secrets that were as light and airy as could be were mixed in with deep, dark confessions about faith, religion and spirituality. The one that struck me the most? One that simply stated:

“I am a Christian who no longer believes in God, but I will never become an atheist because I hate how they think they are smarter than those who believe.”

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I have another long term web-crush on the site Crush + Lovely, a team that puts together the video series “50 People, One Question.” They teamed up with Postsecret to create the video below, based on the book mentioned above. I think watching it will be a wonderful start to your week. A very happy Monday to you.

My Secret: Someday, I hope to be brave enough to share my secret with someone. Anyone.

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