my auntie pinky fear

i am the proud aunt of 5 nephews and 2 nieces spread among my two brothers and their wives.  (i hasten to add each brother has only one wife.)

i called big lug's home yesterday.  his 8 year old daughter answered the phone.  we had a brief conversation as i tried to learn a couple of details about her day.  she likes swimming the breast stroke on her swim team and didn't really learn anything at school that day.  after about 4 minutes she asked me if i wanted to talk to her dad, which i admitted was the reason for my phone call.  so she handed off the phone to big lug so we could talk about the meat of my request of him.

as we started to chit chat i could hear the background, "i want to talk to aunt pinkie!  i want to talk to aunt pinkie!"  soon enough big lug's 3 year old turning 25 years old youngest child got on the phone.  we chatted about the fact she was too young to play wii with her brothers so instead she sat on the couch and watched.  i asked where her mom was to be told she was at a meeting.  we ended our conversation with a quick "i love you" and then big lug and i resumed our conversation.

i'm heading to utah on thursday where 3 of my 5 nephews reside.  i asked sunshine to start showing my picture to her two youngest who are 3 years old and 13 months old so when i arrived the time it takes for them to be comfortable around me would be decreased.  (i wasn't worried about her oldest being happy to see me.  we have formed a strong aunt and nephew bond.)  sunshine texted me the following about her middle son's reaction when told that i was coming to visit.

 

i have this irrational fear that my nephews and nieces don't know who i am because i see them so irregularily, especially big lug and liver's kids.  thankfully big lug assured me at the end of our conversation yesterday that i am known and loved by all of my nephews and nieces.  i'm sure it doesn't hurt that i tend to buy them things often and send birthday and christmas money that would allow them to buy lots and lots of gumballs if they chose...

ode to a universal sizing chart

i'm generally always "in between" sizes, when shopping for mass produced clothing.  it never fails that one part of the clothing is either too big or too small.  i think this result is the main motivation why i want to learn to sew.  i'm so tired of the waist on my pants being so loose but the legs a bit snug around, as my sister-in-law sunshine calls them, my "last name thighs". 

what i want is a universal sizing chart so you always know exactly what size to pull off the racks at each and every store you shop.  because buying one size at one store and then buying the same size at an online store and the online merchandise doesn't fit is a pain in the you know where.  

come on "fashion" industry.  figure out how to have a universal sizing chart.  i mean really...for the good of humanity it is about time!

transformer fire = mommy weekend

joani was in boston for a business conference.  a transformer exploded leaving her conference hotel in darkness.  her school district paid an obscene amount for her flight so changing her return from the east coast to salt lake cost a measly $150.  joani hopped on an amtrak acela express and arrived in penn station in new york city on friday afternoon.  we got to spend the weekend together.

joani has been to new york multiple times so it was time to come up with alternate activities.  it was even better that there were a couple of things i wanted to do that she could do with me.  

first on that list was attending the 9/11 memorial.  we arrived downtown after a yummy brunch at rosa mexicano and purchasing a green st. patty's day t-shirt in times square.  got through the memorial's security and entered the memorial.  it was slightly disconcerting to be in a memorial amidst massive amounts of construction.  yet, it was peaceful and somber.  i have never stood where the towers were so that ground felt sacred.  it was a beautiful memorial.  

joani at the south tower memorial

only surviving tree from original plaza that was nursed back to health

then joani and i headed to the west side to walk along the newly developed highline park.  it was a gorgeous day and nice to allow the sun hit our faces as we walked from 14th street to 32nd street along an elevated train bridge.  then sunday came and we rested.

on monday we enjoyed a somewhat leisurely morning.  headed out to laduree to introduce joani to the goodness of parisian macaroons.  they are really, really good.  joani even called me from the airport to expound on the goodness of the pistachio macaroon.  after picking up the goodness we went to shake shack to enjoy one of the best burgers in the city in my humble opinion.

joani is excited for her first bite of her shack burger

then we gathered her belongings and headed to my office in rock center to drop the bags before going to the 67th floor of 30 rock to see the new york skyline from midtown.  it was a gorgeous afternoon and very thin crowds at the observation deck, which was an added bonus.

took joani's suitcase, back pack and purse with us on the E train to the air train to JFK.  taught joani the joy of subway patience.  we avoided the first crowded E train for the next one and were able to get a seat the entire 40 minute trip.  win-win.  dropped off joani at the air train where she exited at terminal 2/3 for her delta flight back to SLC.  i hopped back on the subway and made a stop at grand avenue in queens for a little target shopping.  i figured i was already in queens, might as well take advantage.  

very happy that a transformer lit on fire so joani could do quite a bit of boston sight seeing and then come to spend the weekend with me.  not sure if seeing me, eating a laduree macaroon, seeing the updated Footloose movie, 9/11 memorial or her brunch at rosa mexicano was her top weekend highlight though.  i'm selfishly choosing to believe it was me; but only barely.

and thank you to the weather gods for the absolutely superb weather we enjoyed while she was here! 

whitney houston welcomes me home

i was a relatively big whitney houston fan as a youth.  i mean i chose to do a music video to who song "how will i know" as a strapping 10 year old.

in her later years i just kind of felt bad that she wasn't able to continue her string of hits due to personal choices.  when i heard of her death at such a young age it shocked me but didn't shock me.  she was incredibly talented and losing the opportunity to hear what she might have shared with the world is sad.

for some reason, i found myself viewing the bodyguard on the lifetime movie network late afternoon one saturday afternoon.  the scene where her character comes on screen singing "i have nothing" literally made me stop whatever web surfing, picking up clutter or grabbing something eat or drink that i was doing.  i sat on my ottoman close to the TV and watched her sing this song.

for the last week or so i have come home from work and played "i have nothing" really loudly in my bedroom while changing out of work clothes.  i literally lipsync the words trying to embrace all of the angst, emotion and desperation she projects.  it's like whitney is welcoming me home by reminding me that i have nothing without the blessings of family and friends in my life.

where my commute time goes to die...

my laziness in the morning has necessitated taking the subway to work.  for the last month or so, almost every single ride on the downtown 6 train has encountered a very long stop at the 59th street station or a stop between the 59th street and 51st street station.  there is something about the 59th street station that causes any extra minutes i have on my morning commute to evaporate like my breath in the cold air.  i don't think it would bug me if i didn't exit the train at 51st street, which is the very next stop after 59th. 

this time sucking station is causing me to attempt, with all that i am and have, to get up a little bit earlier so that i can take the limited M1, M2 or M4 down fifth avenue instead.  enough of wasting valuable minutes of my life stuck underground at 59th and lexington.  if i'm going to be stuck somewhere i would prefer it to be above ground with the picturesque central park out the window.

this week's simple moments

1.  had my first 2012 girl scout thin mint cookies
2.  no matter how hard i try, there will always be dust bunnies in my apartment
3.  man on bus wearing truly awesome striped socks
4.  dressed almost exactly alike as receptionist.  man at qdoba even stopped us to comment on how we dressed alike that day.  awesome.
5.  opened my last bottle of bath & body work's strawberry lemonade lotion

15 minutes a day to take a photo

my time spent with my camera has been severly limited due to the dark day goal.  i miss it.  i miss photographing this great city.  i miss looking through the lens to find something worthy of capturing and keeping on my external hard drive.  i just miss being creative and taking time for looking at the beauty all around me.  that is about to change in a small way.

this awesome woman in australia, who has a blog, came up with the photo a day challenge.  each day of the month she has declared a subject to photograph.  some of the items are mundane or obscure.  others are specific but very open to interpretation.  i think it's a brilliant way to take about 15 minutes of your day to have a word or phrase in mind and figure out what it means to you and how you can represent it through a photograph.  i am having so much fun just taking at least one picture a day to keep those creative juices flowing.  you can see my #marchphotoaday pics via my twitter feed located to the left.

and thank goodness for a great camera on my iPhone.

daydreaming...take me away

for some reason, i have been daydreaming at work kinda a lot lately.  (not to worry that my work is suffering...i'm still my stellar employee self)  in those moments of daydreaming i seem to transport to a place that i fell in love with on my travels.  this week's daydreams consisted of the following favorite locales:

• saint chappelle upper room in paris, france
• tea at kensington palace's orangery restaurant in london, uk
• sandy beach north of charleston, sc
• standing in line for space mountain at disney world in orlando, fl
• a bench on the banks of the danube river in budapest, hungary
• top of the rock observation deck at dusk in rock center
• front stoop of my grandpappy's house
• room A550 and 5th floor bathroom of the hfac on byu's campus
• muir beach located about 20 miles north of san francisco, ca
• sitting at a table at cantina in prague, czech republic
• waiting in line to order amazing gelato at il granduca in florence, italy
• my bedroom at my first NY apartment on 92nd street and 2nd avenue
• bench overlooking the valley behind the chartres cathedral in chartres, france
• gas station in elko, nevada where we used to get flintstone ice cream push pops
• the delta sky club in heathrow and amsterdam airports

it has apparently been a week of pretty eclectic daydreaming locations.  these locations that pop into my head obviously had a special and often profound affect on me.  daydreaming about these places makes me want to return to each of them so i can again experience those feelings of joy, awe, reverence and wonder.  another bucket list item in the making...