finders keepers. losers SUCK.

oh yea! also. i forgot.
i'm going to be at lost & found cafe tonight, for 'finders keepers' - a pop up shop hosted by blim.
there's going to be some boozy booze, a dj, some good treats (check out this piece about last month's event to get a sneak peak!)... and me! i'll be there too! come hang with me, dance awkwardly (it's the only way i know how to dance), and get some goodies! i'll have lots of jewelry for sale that isn't posted on the online shop... so get it while you can, and be one of those ultra cool people who has something that no one even KNEW about, let alone got to see on the online store.
and, the first person who comes tonight and tells me what movie the quote in the blog post title is from, i will give you a special treat! plus, we should be friends, because if you know this, we are kindred spirits. hint: it's not a sports movie (shocking, i know).
hope to see you there!

things i'm in love with fridays

this week, i've spent a lot of time on my computer... not that i wanted to, with the sun GLARING at me through all of our windows, begging me to come play. but it was necessary, and long past due. so i spent time catching up on things i hadn't done, read, looked at in forever. so today, i'm BURSTING with things to share.
and, because i'm feeling particularly emotional this week, i'll share some things that gave me the get-up-and-go (yea, i'm going to use that term. judge me. i don't care), to jump out of bed this week. get working out. get my back into better shape (guys, i work out ALL THE TIME NOW). and just plain be happier.

did you guys watch 'the office' finale? dreamy. go watch it. and if you don't watch the office, go watch ALL of the seasons, and then the finale. it was great. sad. but great. they did a perfect feature before the finale of all the casts reflections on the series, and some moments that they loved - as actors, and as part of the family they had been put into. i was a baby. a sobbing, crying baby. probably needed the release.
nevertheless, my most favourite thing - the moment that stood out to me the most was andy, reflecting on his time with the rest of his colleagues....
"i wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days, before you've actually left them... someone should write a song about that." (image via)
let's all try to remember we're in it. or, never leave.

a very good friend of mine just sent this to me, knowing that i'm struggling with self doubt over some of the decisions that have crossed my path lately. not only did it make me tear up, it was worth the listen for a boost - a spark in the eyes, a reminder to do what you are passionate about.
honestly. listen to this. it's entirely worth 8 minutes of your time. 
my favourite excerpt from the essay: "we begin by worrying we aren't good enough, smart enough or talented enough to get what we want. then we voluntarily begin to live in this paralyzing mental framework, rather than confront our own role in this self-fulfilling paralysis. just the possibility of failing turns into something self-fulfilling. we begin to believe that these personal restrictions are in fact, the fixed limitations of the world. we go on to live our lives, all the while wondering what we can change and how we can change it, and we calculate and re-calculate when we will be ready to do the things we really want to do. and we dream. if only. if only. 
but every once in a while - often when we least expect it - we encounter someone more courageous, someone who chose to strive for that which (to us) seemed unrealistically unattainable, even elusive. and we marvel. we swoon. we gape. often, we are in awe. i think we look at these people as lucky, when in fact, luck has nothing to do with it. it is really about the strength of their imagination; it is about how they constructed the possibilities for their life. in short, unlike me, they didn't determine what was impossible, before it was possible"

and finally, this song. but only finally because my friday post can't be longer than the sum of all my posts this week combined.... that just makes me look like a terrible blogger. 
"two feet standing on a principle. two hands digging in each others wounds. cold smoke seeping out of colder throats. darkness falling, leaves nowhere to move. it's spiraling down. biting words like a world howling. hate is spitting out of each others mouths. but we're still sleeping like we're lovers"
happy friday - enjoy the weekend!

when life gives you lemonade (skip the lemons altogether)

sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. you take an hour to get up because of pain, you don't feel like you're sweating as much when you work out, your tea doesn't taste as great as it usually does, and the people cleaning the halls in your building (or WHATEVER they're doing out there) are crazy noisy, and so sleeping past 7:45am is not something that's possible. you get rejection emails - or no emails at all - and you get word after word of negativity and 'not interested'. and, when job hunting, that's the opposite of awesome.
part of it is, hey, i've been procrastinating. i haven't worked hard enough or long enough, or enough in general, to get things done when i should. i have waited too long to make phone calls, and then it's too late in the day because of the time change. all in all, i could chalk a lot of a bad days up to my own mis-steps and laziness. 
but then, something happens - the uiverse remembers that it's been kicking your ass for so long that mayyyyybe you deserve a bit of a break for, oh, half a day - and those days can turn around quickly. within a few hours yesterday, good things happened, to remind me that sometimes, the world wants to start giving you cookies instead of chickpeas (spoiler alert: i made chickpea cookies). i met with the lovely sarah of much & little, and am pleased to announce that re:claim will now be carried in her beautiful store of curated goodies. 
i received an email saying i won free passes to get see fast & furious 6 (don't judge me). i received another email indicating i'm 1 step closer to a dream job (finger's crossed). and then, a lovely and generous (and very handy) friend of mine offered up his workshop, and ultimately his own time and skills, to help me build my jewelry show display from the ground up. and guys - it looks AWESOME. 
sometimes, the world just hands you lemonade, instead of throwing full on lemons at you (lemons HURT). thanks world. let's cuddle later.