The yellow house on X Street

Our house used to be yellow. It was a fantastic identifier - we would always say,

"We live on X street, between Y & Z."

"Can't find it?"

"It's a few houses down from R."

"No?"

"It's across the street from T."

"No?"

"It's the yellow house."

And without fail, that's when they would find our house.

Except it's not yellow anymore. Right now it's a mixture of white primer & an interesting shade of griege-y green. Our columns are still stripped. They tell us it will look beautiful. I have my doubts. However, as long as they paint the porch ceiling blue, it'll be fine. (And when they don't, I'll go back inside & be so glad we painted OUR ceilings blue.)

Top o' the mornin' to ya

I am not a morning person. Try as I may, it's just not my style. Which is why I find such joy in the unexpected side effect of my nutritional cleanse - BING! Without fail, each day my eyes pop open & I'm magically awake. It's so bizarre & awesome. Never mind that I can smell the bacon & French toast that my darling neighbor is cooking & that my stomach is growling uncontrollably. I'm awake & empowered. Which is a good thing since...

The contractors have been contracting & painting & renovating for some time now. Their work schedule is erratic, to put it diplomatically. Their favorite work hours seem to be Saturday at 7 in the a.m. Who does that? Again, glad I woke up rested of my own volition. They are power washing power spray painting directly outside my window right now. Not much for personal space, these fellas.

I've started the loveliest pen pal project with a new friend. Am super excited to see what might come next.

Last night I fought my personal technological demons into the wee hours of last night & was beyond thrilled when the technical service people called me back after receiving my tearful panicked messages. Thank goodness for that!! They were a huge help & I am so relieved to move onto the next step of my project.

Happy Saturday morning!!

Happy Friday!

My warmest wishes & all my fuzzy socks go out to my friends in Boston, Connecticut, New York & DC - please stay safe and warm!!

Here is New Orleans it's positively balmy outside.  In fact, on my walk to the school I had to divert from my normal path because of the plethora of gardeners that were out & about planting & readying the gardens of the stately uptown mansions.  Early spring is a fun time here & I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time this weekend outside.

While on my detour, I found what might just have become my favorite house in all of New Orleans.  Jessica & I play this game often, but she has held steady with her pick for nearly 2 years.  I've found this one & that one, but never fully committing to the house I want to live in when I grow up.  Obviously that's what will happen once I finally pick THE house, right???  Today's is a definite contender.  I'll snap a photo on my way back later.  It has a few flaws {it's on the wrong side of the street} but despite that, I was very taken with its columns & smooth stucco & drapes & gardens.  Le sigh. 

It's going to be a wonderful day.  Chip chip cheerio!

On the road again

I love to travel.  Lucky for me I travel for work a LOT.  I'm back in the saddle & on the road again after a two month break.  I was actually rather nervous beforehand, but once I woke up this morning (at 5 bells!  Eeeks!) I felt great.  I was so excited to get going!  Getting organized & packed was so good for me (I have a tendency towards the...uncontained & unorganized...I'm working on it).  Then I was on the road.  Travel time is great because I have to catch up with people - I had a fantastic conversation with mom this morning.  She is fantastic & I love hearing what she's thinking about.  I had some fantastic meetings today, which makes me happy & will give me some good things to work on in the coming weeks. 

And THEN - I'd been waiting for a WEEK for this!  I had lunch at PF Changs.  Mock if you will, but I love that place.  It was the perfect place to eat today because I'm on a new nutritional kick & they worked up a great healthy dish for me that was full of red chilis & white vineager & veggies & grilled steak.  It more than lived up to my fantasy & kept me full for hours.  Love it.

Now I'm tucked away at a charming Holiday Inn Express, my budget hotel of choice, working away.  Procrastinating by blogging.  Napping.  Working.  It feels good to get back into it again.

A manifesto

Here's the scenario: boy likes girl.  Girl likes boy.

Boy & girl start talking & laughing & having fun.

Boy & girl start to really like each other.

(As surmised by the girl) boy realizes that girl likes him a lot.  Boy starts to play games.  And starts acting a LOT like an idiot.

WTF????

I have spent a lot of time in a LOT of relationships making excuses for boyfriends who have less-than-desirable behavior.  (But I liked/loved them so much!  Can't everyone else see that?  NO, Emily, they can't.  What they can see is the incredibly low bar that you set for them and the incredible disrespect & bad behavior you accept from them.)

Anyway.  Here's the thing.  This is my New Years resolution! (along with standing up straight!)

Stop settling for less than what I deserve when it comes to the men I am dating.  Is it too much to think that someone should put forth the effort to call instead of text? Open car and building doors? Make plans in advance instead of wait until the last minute? Or simply take me & my time into consideration? 


It’s time to raise my standards and hold confident what I believe in. This starts by thinking and knowing what my standards and requirements are.  I want to be in love & I want a beautiful life together & I want to create a loving family together.  I want someone who is strong, courageous, loving, smart, kind, and who WANTS to work together to become better together.  I want someone who is a leader in our home.  I want a gentleman who will love & honor me, as I want someone that I can love & honor as well.

I want love in my life.  I want to be in love.  I want to love someone.  I believe that we are meant to love.  And I believe that I will find someone wonderful.

A world where roses bloom

A lovely visitor come a-visiting this weekend and we had a great time running around New Orleans.  Somehow only one picture was captured the entire weekend, but nonetheless, here is the proof that Commander's is a wonderful as ever, and that the jazz trio can still play a sweetly stirring version of La Vie En Rose.  Oh my, I love that song. 

Sleeping in on Saturday and {oops!  Sunday too, but don't worry, we made it to church on time}, walking around the quarter, rediscovering a deep love & affection for powdered sugar, eating every single meal out, exploring romantic-ly creepy cemetaries, dressing up, dressing down, belated Christmas gifts, and lots of good conversation.  I love wonderful weekends.