Happy Halloween..As brought to you by Pinterest

In a Pinterest perfect world this is what my Halloween would look like today..

via Babble

ML and I would be dressed up like Mary Poppins and Bert.

Or maybe the least believable Amy and Rory.

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We would be noshing on some of these treats.

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And possibly having a scary cocktail or two..

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But instead, I think we will spend our night handing out candy to the little ghouls and goblins, watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, and then go to bed.

What do you have in store for you Halloween?

WCW – Emma Watson

I feel like I have grown up with Emma Watson, as I’m sure many people my age do.  Yes, the Harry Potter series has always held a special place in my heart, and Hermione may be the fictional girl I always wanted to be.  But it is Emma Watson’s new position, that makes her this week’s WC.

As a UNWomen Ambassador, she is taking the issue of gender inequality head on.  The HeForShe campaign is unique in it’s approach to equality, a “solidarity movement” as they describe it.  In Emma’s speech to the United Nations, she notes that while she has been afforded unique opportunities in her life, she has still be the victim of misogyny.  When I heard this line, it made me think about my life, and the moments where I was made to feel lesser.  I feel like recently the discussion of feminism has been a hot topic, with people like Emma, particularly of the same age, leading the discussion.  This is a global issue too, not just one for the Western 20somethings to blog about.  (myself obviously included) That is why I think the HeForShe campaign has the right idea, its not about the sexes, its about humanity fighting for their own rights.

Watch Emma’s speech at the UN, and share your own thoughts and feelings.

I hate money…but please give me some

I bet that got your attention.

ML and I are fantastic people, but we are terrible with money. This is concerning for me on various levels, including the fact that he is an accountant. Oh well.

We have decided that we would like to buy a house in the near future, though living as one big happy family with my mother has been thrilling. If I look at my Facebook feed, it seems like every week there is another happy face holding a set of house keys to their brand new house. I would be lying if I said it didn’t send pangs of jealousy from my heart to my head every time. How do people do it? I look at my situation, clearly the one I know best, and I am at a loss for how my peers are homeowners. I make an above average salary (woohoo!), I have your basic payments (rent, car, selling my first born child to school loans, cell phone), plus I buy the necessities like food and gas. And at the end of the day, I’m left with a little bit to put into savings.

 

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Please other millenials, tell me your secret to saving $25k+ in no time to buy a house?

….And don’t even get me started on what a wedding costs…Good thing I’m not engaged..I guess

Oh thats right, I have a blog

Hi Friends,

As I was very rudely told a few days ago, it is anti-feminist to apologize for things you have no control over. While I don’t necessarily agree with that statement, I will not give you a long sob story about where I have been. Maybe a few pictures, but no sob stories.

I like having my own little corner of the world that lets me vent and make pretty collages. Sometimes I do feel silly about the whole thing, afraid of what people might think. But my interwebs friends, this place is not for them. It is for those who want to share in the many pictures of Charlie, my ramblings about working in the world of nonprofits, and splitting my time between the two places I love most in the world.

Not much has changed in my world, really nothing at all. But stick with me people, things are bound to get exciting one of these days.

What I love this week.

Charlie..of course.
The Canton area of Baltimore.
Foam rolling
Air conditioning
Lotion plus tissues

Why it’s important that millennialist give.

It is no secret that I work in the world of nonprofits. I fundraise for a living for an organization that I am very proud to be a apart of. A topic that has come up over and over again throughout the few months I have been in my job is the next generation.

If you won one of those crazy jackpots what would you do with the money? Many would say buy a home and cars, travel the world, do outlandish things they could only ever dream about. If you asked me that same question I would answer similarly, but one of my dreams I would fulfill would to creat my own foundation to help those in need. The millennial generation has had everything they could ever ask for at their fingertips with the internet, and have found phenomenal ways to use social media for the betterment of mankind. But unfortunately liking a photo is not enough.

If you look at some of the world’s richest people they are giving away their wealth left and right, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are just two examples. And while they are phenomenal examples, they are of a certain age and generation. Millennialist are not as apt to giving as their parents and grandparents have been. This is a generation who is happy with instant gratification, myself very much included. This mentality is great for those organization and movements out there who thrive off of volunteer manpower. But every organization that makes a difference also needs a way to keep their lights on, and volunteerism does not pay the bills.

The purpose of this post is not to say millennialist aren’t philanthropically inclined, or that money is the answer to the issues at hand. This is to say that everyone should devote themselves to a cause, defy the “selfish millennial” stereotype. But also know that by ingesting time AND money you are not just helping others but investing in your future as well

Picture Dump

Since I was gone for so long, I figured the best way to recount those missed occasions was through pictures, rather than words.

I bought a car 🙂

AC graduated!

Congratulations Grads!

 

Our little family

 

My favorite people

 

Ate my first crabs of the season!

YUM!

and finally…another picture of ML with the Charlie bug

 

a long time coming

I haven’t been here in a while, which is clearly evident.  I could make up a million excuses for why, but the honest truth is that I didn’t want to write here.

I will admit that I have been very fortunate in life that while I have been thrown a number of curve balls, all too many things have come very easily to me.  So when I started blogging “for me” I was immediately disappointed that I wasn’t the talk of the blogosphere and twitterverse.  So I just gave up.

But as I was talk to AC over the past few days, giving her unwarranted advice about how to put yourself out there and find a job, I remembered why I wanted to put myself out here.  I am not remarkable by any means, but I hope that I am relatable to some.  I have been told from highly educated professionals that I need to express myself, and this blog is far cheaper than therapy.

So here I am, back again.

Selfish

It has been a month since I shared my thoughts with my little corner of the internet.  I have no significant reason for having fallen off the face of the blog, other than I found other things to fill my time.  I’ve been working, reading, vacationing, celebrating holidays, making expensive purchases, and spending time with my family.  None of these things scream the acts of a self-consumed, self-absorbed person, yet I have this feeling that I have spent the better part of a month only thinking about myself.

This feeling came to a point this morning when I was so excited to see that my favorite blogger had posted after an extended absence. Her post was not what I had been hoping for.  Rather than a page of apologies for being MIA it was her sign off, that she could no longer continue to share her life with the world because her mother a succumbed to an illness none of her readers knew about.  I immediately felt heartbroken for both her and myself.  While I do not know this writer, I have read her words nearly daily for the better part of 3 years.  I have shared in her ups and downs through her words, watched her fall in love, and take great leaps of faith.  I have even previously written about her in this space as a role model for myself.  I know the feeling of losing a parent too soon, and I share in that agony.  But my selfishness boiled over when I realized that I felt pangs of sadness because I would no longer get to be a fly on the wall of her life.  I’m not sure what that says about me, but it was a very real feeling.

Oddly enough, selfishness is something that I have actively tried to work against throughout my life.  I have always personally felt that selfishness was one of the absolute worst traits a person could possess.  I am struggling with this overwhelming sense that I have become a person I would not be friends with.

The First Monthaverasary

Few things irk me more than couples who celebrate each month they have been together.  That is fine when you are in middle school and the ultimate longevity of your “relationship” is dictated by the 9 months of the school year.  Then, and only then, is it even remotely appropriate to write on the Facebook “Happy 3 months babe! Love you 4eva!”

We have all done it, but let us move on in life to bigger and better things.

This month-iversary is to celebrate the first official month with the furriest love in my life, the little lady Charlie.

It has only been 30 days, and we have already had our ups and downs, but she has snuggled her way into my heart.

shy Charlie

Charlie in mid-March with a Christmas stocking

Charlie taking her St. Paddy’s day nap

She may have nearly ripped ML’s eyelid off playing a game of “Where’s Daddy?”…

She may have thrown a baseball at my head while I was sleeping…

She may bark at nothing every morning at 4:45 am…

She may eat every flip flop in the house…

But she is all mine, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.