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Scared. and Lucky.

Two months ago, I leaped. I leaped big. Out of the college bubble and into the real world.

For the most part it’s not too different. Until it’s terrifying.

Sitting in Starbucks this morning, I began to overwhelm myself with thoughts that will get me nowhere. Thoughts of bills, insurances, health codes, taxes, how will I ever get a small business loan without a degree. You know, the average thoughts of an 18 year old.

And then a former teacher of mine came up to me and said, “Look at you, not a care in the world. You can sit here with a warm beverage listening to great music and people watch in the middle of your workday for as long as you’d like.”

He was right. It was just what I needed to hear at that moment. A reminder of how lucky I am. I get to live in a house I love, with people I love. I have a job (multiple, actually). I run a business (woohoo for being a control freak loving the whole being my own boss thing!). And I’m only 18.

I have to get myself out of the sooner is better mentality. I have to slow down and do things right.

On days like this, I take full advantage of the ocean that is so close. Today was especially helpful because I remembered that it’s been one month since Hurricane Sandy. A month ago, we didn’t know if this little bit of magic would still be here for us to enjoy. The beaches are back, and along with them came my calm. If something as big as the ocean can exist, so can I.

Thank you for reading my talking to myself. More to come on the latest of my business ventures.

Cheers!
~audrey

 

 


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Eight little things that improve my days

 

(My family and I are lucky enough to be able to walk in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as balloon handlers, this was my first year since you have to be 18 and got to walk with this good man, Charlie Brown!)

1. Starting my day with a clementine. There’s nothing better than a burst of fresh citrus to wake me up in the morning, and throughout the day as I’m about to eat that brownie/extra slice of cheese/second chocolate milk I can say to myself, “Self, you ate a clementine this morning. And it’s practically Christmas. Go for it.”

2. Listening to this song. Any time of day. Sometimes on repeat. And seeing the looks I get when I dance to it in my car.

3. Wearing red lipstick. I only picked up this habit two weeks ago, because for a long time I feared I would look like I’m trying too hard. Trying to hard at what? I now ask myself. Trying to hard to be confident and bold? No such thing. Red lipstick makes me want to smile approximately 9000 times more than the average human.

4. Similar to red lipstick, I also feared wearing heels on a regular day until about a month ago. Have you ever pushed a shopping cart in heels? Woah it makes me feel important.

5. Lighting this (super cheap and awesomely natural) candle in one room, leaving that room for about a half an hour, and then coming back to be slapped in the face with some really authentic smelling christamssy goodness. (ps. I got them at target for two bucks each).

6. Waking up to an empty sink. Yes, I’m learning that taking those extra five minutes while bleary eyed before bed to empty the nasty dishes in the sink into the dishwasher is important. Not seeing cold water mixed with food in dirty bowls in the morning is AWESOME.

7. Having a conversation with someone on the phone. With texting, it’s so easy for us to say that we’re keeping in touch with everyone we know. But in real life, it’s nice to hear someones voice on the other side of the phone. To get a sense of how they really feel about their new roommate, to have a chance to talk about the silly things like how delicious their froot loops were this morning, to feel like it’s actually them. I had never really had conversations with people on the phone (much like the rest of my generation) until all of my friends moved away for college, and having the chance to talk to them even for ten minutes on the phone makes me feel more at home (even though I am home), as I’m sure it does for them.

8. Giving the computer a break at least thirty minutes before I go to bed. And using those thirty minutes to daydream. About how wonderful my life is at this moment, about the farm I’m going to live on one day with my chickens and cows, about the babies I’m going to get to see the next day. My life is pretty cool, I like to take at least a half an hour a day to think about how cool it is so I don’t forget.

What silly little things improve your days?

Cheers!
Audrey


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Happy Friday!

1. An awesome tip for Christmas cookie-ing!

2. I’d tell you that I’m not one of those girls who just looks at gorgeous wedding photos online all the time, but I’d be lying.

3. This is probably not a want, it’s probably a need.

4. Why should you go after your dream job? Please and thank you.

5. Cozy houses smell like winter.

6. Insta-theseonlineprofilesrock-gram

7. Haha, yes Schmidt is a guilty pleasure.

8. I don’t think I’m as heartbroken as I should be.

Have a great weekend friends, cheers!

~audrey


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Do-Si-Do

Confession: I was a girl scout.

Confesstion #2: I didn’t learn how to be a good person from girl scouts.

Instead, I learned how to con people into buying cookies using puppy dog eyes and a quivering lower lip.

Turns out, it was a pretty good skill to learn since now my job in real life is to sell cookies.

I’ve heard from some that these are Do Si Do’s on crack.

Basically they’re lunch. Oats (whole grains) peanut butter (protein) butter (dairy). Well balanced, and all that jazz.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

(Homemade Do-Si-Do’s, adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

Beat together butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until delightfully smooth and creamy. To that mixture, add the baking soda, cinnamon and salt, beat until mixed in. Slowly add in flour, and when it’s just mixed in, add the oats. (At this point, the dough should be the loveliest texture you ever did see).

Preheat oven to 350. Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheets, and freeze for 15 minutes or so. Transfer those cookie dough balls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet two inches apart, and bake for 10 minutes or so, until the edges just begin to turn golden. Cool completely before filling with the most delicious filling you ever did taste.

Peanut Butter Filling

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/4 cup peanut butter

5-7 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk, but if you have heavy cream use it!!) Or more, to desired texture.

Beat together the butter, peanut butter, salt and vanilla. Add 5 cups of confectioners sugar and beat until combined. At this point, play around with the sugar and heavy cream until you reach your desired texture. I like to have a thicker filling, it feels closer to the texture of the do-si-do filling. The most important thing with a peanut butter frosting is the butter-peanut butter ratio. Too much peanut butter and you’ll have a crumbly frosting.

Fill cookies with desired amount of filling (clearly I put a lot!) and enjoy! If there are any left, store them in the fridge overnight and bring them to room temperature before serving.

Cheers!
Audrey


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Black Walls

Some choices are bold. Some would say painting a living room purple (as I have) is bold, but I’d say that’s just being interesting. But black? Black is bold. I really wish I had the guts to do it somewhere, because my oh gosh does it look crazypants awesome. Here’s some examples of how incredible it can look:

High contrast bathroom:

in a small office space, it balances out all of the other colors/textures to prevent the room from looking too overwhelming.

and my favorite, the clean look of black against rustic touches such as distressed wood and exposed lightbulbs for a unique look:

Would you ever not be scared to paint a wall black? I know you can always paint it back to whatever you want, but black feels permanent. What is the craziest color wall in your house?

xo

Audrey

ps…images sourced from here, here and here. Thanks!


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Happy Friday!

1. Hello amazing, nice to see you.

2. Hurricane and snow within two weeks? I don’t mind. It’s pretty.

3. Lipstick is for ladies.

4. Let’s all just be happy hippies.

5. Wait what? My two favorite things all mashed in one? Also, Congratulations Deb!!

6. Just, yes.

7. Step one: find a phone booth. Step two: Find a birthday person.

8. FINALLY. I can go back to being a secret evil genius again!

9. Yes, it is a splurge. No, I promise you it’s not optional.

10. Ahahahahha. Hahhaha. Haaaahhhahahhaa.

Have a beautiful weekend, friends!

xo

Audrey


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Reconnected

I think mamma nature was trying to tell us something last week with that hurricane she sent our way. She wants us to slow down. To stop being busy. To disconnect from our keyboards and reconnect with living, breathing human beings.

For the first time in months I sat on the couch, with absolutely nothing to do.

I couldn’t load the dishwasher because it wouldn’t turn on.

I couldn’t check a billion blogs because internet also miraculously runs on power.

I couldn’t vacuum the floor because apparently that requires a working outlet as well.

Instead, I had the opportunity to give my brain a workout.

I picked up a book. A real one, with pages and everything! The Stand by Stephen King. If you know me, you know that I’m a complete germaphobe and this book is not helping my situation any. I had to leave the deli line at the grocery yesterday because a man was hacking up a lung very similarly to how the disease ridden characters of the book do. But, I love it so far. Visceral, my brother calls this book.

I thinked. I thinked a lot. About how lucky I was. I live 6.6 miles from ocean and surprisingly suffered very little/no damage. Sure, it was a little cold with no power, but who doesn’t love pretending to live in the little house on the prairie every once in a while?

I maybe also ate my weight in junk food. I don’t know why I decided that a hurricane gives me permission to eat anything and everything, but after a week of candy I have never appreciated a stick of celery more.

If it’s possible to have a favorite part of a hurricane, mine was definitely the fact that it stopped everyone, even if it was just for a week or so. All of the sudden people that are too busy to call their grandmas have no obligations to do anything but call their grandmas.
Deadlines can always be pushed back, especially in a world ruled by the internet. Floors can always be cleaned tomorrow, especially if it’s too cold to walk around sockless anyway. Work will always be there. Bills will always be there.
But the fire in the fireplace? That’s there for you to sit next to right now. That dusty old guitar from the college days of ’84? That should be tickled right now. Those new neighbors that aren’t really that new since they’ve lived there for a year? This is when you can get to know them.

Don’t wait for the rain. Be here now.


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Rainy Day Blues

I don’t know if you’ve heard but there’s kinda sorta a hurricane happening on Long island right now. The Perfect Storm (which my dad still cries every time he watches), if you will. I have this thing about music when it rains. I can’t listen to just anything. It’s gotta be specified rainy day music. It tends to be slower and quieter and a lot of times sadder than my normal music, so it’s a rather abbreviated playlist.

 

Also listened to on rainy days but not pictured because I refuse to let it infiltrate my iTunes: Pearl Jam. Lots of it. The only time I can listen to it is when it rains, and when it does, I love it. Especially this beauty.

At the tippy tippy top of my rainy day playlist: One Sunday Morning by Wilco. Twelve minutes may seem crazy long and weird, but you’ll find yourself listening to it on repeat before long. It’s like blissful background music.

What do you listen to when it rains? Can you listen to the same music you always do? I’m curious to find out!!

Good luck with this hurry cane if you’re in the northeast!!

Audrey