Petite billet doux (little love notes)

Dear Africa,

I wish I could come visit. Why do you have to be so dangerous?


Dear allergies,

I'm grateful for what I've been gifted in life, but allergic to the yellow fever vaccine... Really?


Dear San Diego,

I finally feel like myself again. I have you to thank for that.


Dear Little Italy,

I like your little neighborhood. I mean, MY little neighborhood.


Dear new job,

I like that I made my own hours, my bosses appreciate me, my salary is perfect, that I basically have the run of the town, and my accounts love me already. Plus, being able to walk to work is a HUGE bonus.


Dear Mama,

I miss hanging out with you and talking forever into the night. I am so grateful that I was able to spend 4 weeks with you. I wish you were here to see my new place, but I know that when you come visit, you'll absolutely love it!


Dear Dad,

I miss you. I'm sorry that my move wasn't planned better. There's no time like the present and there's no point in waiting it out. I'm happy here, but I miss you a whole awful lot.


Dear little sister,

Sorry I couldn't explain it better or wait any longer. I hope that one day you'll understand the why's and how's of it all... And in the meantime, just know that I miss my best friend and really wish I could drive across the bridge to see you right now.


Dear Allisen,

I miss hanging out and wish, now more than ever, that I'd spent more time coming to visit. I hope you'll visit me soon.(and maybe stay?)

Dear Michelle,

I am so glad that we've come back into eachothers lives. I forgot how much I missed you and I'm so grateful to you for needing me as much as I need you right now.



Dear blog friends,

I don't have Internet yet, but I promise to update more and catch up on what I've missed as soon as I do.


xx Carrie



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

so much to say!

first, let me start by saying a happy {belated} birthday to Alex over at The Sugar Tree.

I hope it was a wonderful day for you!

Ok - Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnndddd..

I made it back to New York last night!

I did have to sit in the Atlanta airport for an extra hour because the original plane we were boarding had some mechanical issues.  Which I don't really understand why people get so worked up and angry when there are delays like that... I mean, do you really want to take a plane that has mechanical problems??

And then when I saw Jackie at the airport, I hugged her for a good five minutes.

After claiming my bags,

which by the way,

went from this...

to this...

yeah, I know...

amazing, right?

it's my mad packing skills.

yeah, no.

I don't have any of those.

As much as I was able to get into the bag

(it even has a zipper to expand the lid)

I did have to leave some stuff there for the next visit.

So, after picking up my bag,

got home and gave Dad a big hug, too.

Then - had to return my {overdue} library books...

oops.

And picked up hoagies.

mmmmmm..

I missed those.

And theeennnnnn...

braved the snowstorm with my buddy, Sean for a few beers.

oh, New York, how I've missed you!

Pieces of Me... February 2010

I like...
... laughing so hard it hurts.

... my super-spontaneous-self.

... Corrine Bailey-Rae's newest album.

... emailing with Desi & Krissa nearly every day.

I don't like...
... that I feel like I have so much to do, and none of it is getting done.

... that I had to cancel coffee with a friend who needs someone to talk to.

... people that just don't get it and make the same mistakes time & again.

I want you to know...
... that my program fee due date is February 20th and if you would like to donate, blog about it, or ask a friend to donate, I'll be forever indebted.

 

I've planned...
... and been disappointed.

... to make fancy cupcakes for Jackie's birthday soiree. (so excited)

... to be my own valentine this year and am so excited for my gift.

I want to say to someone special... (two someone's)

... you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.  keep your chin up and know that my door is always open.

"What lies behind us & what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."

... you made me smile & laugh for hours.  I loved every minute.

while I breathe, I hope

Okay.. So just an update on my progress for Africa -

I've had a few setbacks, but still breathing (and according to math logic & my favorite mantra, that means I still have hope).

I've had to push out my departure date for Tanzania from February 19th to March 19th.  I wasn't and am not happy about it, but over the holiday (where I had oh-so-much fun with these girls (Jac & Kateigh), I misplaced my wallet.  Oh yes, I did.  And not in a great place apparently.

I misplaced it (my mom always told me that I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached) and now am missing some of my plastic.  Superb, right?  Yeah.  Freakin Great.  Well, I did manage to call and cancel the cards before too much was taken, but the specific card that was taken I was using for my airline ticket... with all of my airline miles.  So now, I must wait.  I must wait for a new account number to be issued, the new card to be sent, and activated and all of my points to be transferred.

All that being said, I contacted my program manager at CCS and we moved the dates - I'm still doing the full 12 weeks so I'll be back in June instead of May.. which doesn't really matter at this point.

I've been really slack on commenting the last couple of weeks with the holidays and this last fiasco, but I'm catching up, I promise!

 

proud big sister.. for good reason.

Ok, So I must once again tell you about my little sister.

I know I've said this before, but as you'll see, there is a definate need for you all to know how wonderful she is... 

read Jackie's Interview here.

My dear sweet little sister,

I am so grateful that you are in my life because you are an amazingly talented and caring young woman.   Thank you so much for the un-ending support and pure excitement that you have for me as I start continue on my own little journey through life.  I am so proud to call you my sister. I consider myself lucky to know you and to be a part of your life.  You are inspiration for my hopes & dreams, and you keep me grounded when I start to float a bit too high.  Thank you again for being there for me when I need you most, when I don't need you at all, and especially when I need to smile.

I love you so much.

Carrie xx

new beginnings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My dear readers, 

This is a personal note to my dear Meg & Mike.  I'm happy to share the joy & love of their special day with all of you.  I've included some of my favorite photos from the day.  Photos were taken by a friend & colleague of Jackie's, John Ciombor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My dear sweet cousin, Meg, married her best friend, Mike, on Friday December 18th, 2009.  I can tell you with my whole heart that these two souls were meant for one another.  Looking at them and being able to share in the excitement and joy of their day was amazing.  The ceremony was beautiful, just as we all knew that it would be.  The reception was divine, just as any event involving family is bound to be. 

For Meg & Mike, one of my best friends, and one of my newest friends... 

I wish you a lifetime of happiness and love.  For now, forever, and for always.

with love,

Carrie xx

Reminiscing.....

"Where there is love, there is life."

~Gandhi


Just to finish out the last day of my dear Meg being single.


A few photos of Meg, Jac & I...



Surrounded my family....



Just the three of us girls...



And at Brigantine one summer..



At a cousins birthday partyyyy..



Christmas Day...



Seafood Fest.

More to come tomorrow after the wedding!

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Alright, so here's me in a few photos.  They are in no particular order...

My favorite corner in my room.. Pictures of my family & friends. Books galore:

Demitasse cups with teeny little shoes & french words on them.

I also have a thing for pretty glass containers.

And a strange love for hatboxes, huge mirrors & tiffany lamps.

Original artwork by Your's Truly...

charcoal sketching

turpentine wash

I love getting post from anyone, but I always keep cards from my besties.  The one on the left is from JacPfef, my lovely little sister and the one on the right is from my bestie, Allisen.

So with those little photos into my own little life, I'm tagging you seven to show us all 7 things in your life/home/space that show who you are or what you are all about:

Jennifer, Christie, Banu, Anna, Jamie, JacPfef, Kate

the road to hell was paved with good intentions

Or so I've been told.

You can have the best intentions in the world, but if you don't keep your eyes on the bigger picture, you will probably find yourself saying to your besties, "where are we going?  And why are we in this handbasket??" 

I've mostly lived my short young life as it came to me.  I've appreciated the people & situations that have graced my life as they were and had never thought that I should have any sort of expectations.  Who am I to think that I should choose what I do, where I go, and with whom I am friendly with.   I've felt lost for a long time.  I didn't even know it.  It wasn't until I started writing, reading, painting again that I really felt it.  It's sort of been an emotional battle for me the last few months that I've been working through all of this.  And I am not an emotional person.  I am not the girl that cries... except, recently I have been.  My dear friends that have been going through this with me, sometimes just by leaving me alone (thanks for your patience, PS), I cannot and do not know if I will ever be able to thank you enough.  Well, how much I've been missing out on.  It all started that day that my dear Lisa kindly reminded me who I was and pushed me back on track.

I am important.  I have worth.  And it's my life.

My first new intention is to not forget those words.  To repeat them to myself daily if need be.  Until they have become permanently ingrained in my mind.

I'm going to start with some daily intentions.  I'll work my way up from there.  Please feel free to offer advice.  I may not take it... but advice given, is always heard and appreciated.  Also, Jac has been so kind as to redecorate my banner and I'm working on updating my site.  So I guess that my first list of intentions will be as such:

Thursday (not necessarily in this order):

1 - update page with some more fun stuff

2 - Kreativ Blogger Award posting (thanks again Jac, and now Kate too)

3 - put up & decorate the Christmas tree (my last one here at home)

4 - read my new book - "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel" ( ♥ her)

last night in town {again?}

I've been running around like mad all day trying to finalize some things before going away this week.

Had the second fitting for my bridesmaid dress (eee!); recycled (because I'm doing my part); shopped for stuffs to make chili (a la Michelle - saweeeettt recipe, PS); bought enough stamps for christmas cards (in case I ever get around to sending them out); bought a couple of cards to send out (because mail always brings a smile to their faces); made chili; paid my bills & did laundry.

Yes, I am amazing.

I've been on google reader to catch up on all my blog-lovin and I've been inspired to make some more lists... actually - Kaileen Elise is a blogger that I stumbled across this morning while catching up and I am completely inspired by her "intentions" lists.  Much nicer way of saying 'honey-do' or 'to-do.'  I hope she doesn't mind that I'll be using that word for my upcoming list of intentions for December and then 2010.

Tomorrow, JacPfef & I are going to visit the fam in South Jersey then to Philly.

Meggamack is getting married in eleven days!

It's going to be fab and I'm super-sonic excited.

So in honor of Meg's pending nuptuals, the younger version of our family (read: 21-26 year olds) are heading to Philly for a Tuesday night on the town.  It will be interesting... to say the least.  The group is made up of the following, in age order: Dave, Meg, Joe, Jac, Kyle, myself & Chad... wow.  Meg is the first of us to get married and I'll be sure to post about the festivities, but for now... you'll just be getting the leadings up to the big big day...

enjoy!

PS - Also, JacPfef has tagged me with the Kreativ Blogger Award.  Thanks so much for the honor... I'll post on this soon.

Goodbye New York

#6 - get to JFK

- Recap -
List of things to do this week:

1 - visit family
2 - visit the Tanzanian embassy for my visa's
3 - photo shoot with Jac
4 - spend time with good friends
5 - pack for cali
6 - figure out how to take a train to JFK

#5 - How do you take the train to JFK? No idea. I thought that grown-ups knew how to do these things, you know, get to the airport on your own... yeah, no. As it turns out, if you're really a grown up, you can just ask one of your good friends to drive you. It doesn't matter that it's a drive through NYC and a long one at that... they have to... because it's what friends do. In my case, because I have a sister (well, only one in the area), I ask her to take me and she is mandated by the sisterly code of conduct to agree. And be happy about it.

As Katie pointed out at Jac's dinner party, sister's really are amazing. They are basically second or third hands when you need something and they will always be there. Whether it's an ice cube for your glass of wine, eggs for the brownie mix, or an hour & a half drive to the airport... she's always going to be right there.

So how do you take the train to JFK? I don't know. Jackie drove.

#4 - spend time with good friends

- Recap -
List of things to do this week:

1 - visit family
2 - visit the Tanzanian embassy for my visa's
3 - photo shoot with Jac
4 - spend time with good friends
5 - pack for cali
6 - figure out how to take a train to JFK

#4 - Spent loads of time this week with amazing people. I've basically just gotten a good dose of awesome over the last week. Obviously, the family time is included in this.

Jac & I went up to Albany to visit Allisen for a mid-week dinner. She'll be back Friday night for our family dinner before I leave for California. And by family dinner, I do of course mean that it's a celebration for Jackie's housewarming/Allisen's birthday/Carrie goes to California.

In addition to that, spent lots of time with Jac&Kate. No, it's not a typo, they are not sold separately. It's a package deal when you get one, you get both. And I love it. For this reason especially... Only good things happen in Wal*Mart at midnight...








More to come as I finish up my list....

#1 - visit family

Ok - so let's recap...
List of things to do this week:

1 - visit family
2 - visit the Tanzanian embassy for my visa's
3 - photo shoot with Jac
4 - spend time with good friends
5 - pack for cali
6 - figure out how to take a train to JFK

1 - I've spent tons of quality (and quantity) family time this week. Spent the weekend in New Jersey celebrating Meg's 21st birthday & bachelorette party and then headed out to Philadelphia where I took these awesome photos of my fabulous family, super sights, and crazy croc shoes.



























































More to come as I finish up my list....