Breezeblocks

Alt-J came on to the music scene basically out of nowhere. He’s blurring all sorts of genre boundaries and I like it. This song is currently my jam.

Smooch

Sending out a big smooch to this guy.

However you choose to celebrate (or purposefully not celebrate), a happy day to you and those you love. xo

Roasted

Adam and I have finally attended our first oyster roast! I feel like we can now call ourselves true residents. A quiet plot on Bennett’s Point was the perfect place to call home for an afternoon of shucking oysters, drinking beer and watching dogs play themselves silly.

Gratitude

This morning I went to yoga and my teacher confessed that she was on day four of a juice cleanse, the byproduct being that she was “bubbling over with gratitude.” I loved this. She was giddy and giggly (that is until we were 44 chaturangas deep) and urged us to ooze gratitude throughout our practice. Rather than battle with my brain to stay on task, I found myself constantly coming back to areas in my life for which I am immensely grateful.

This little guy above is one. Last weekend I visited my lovely friend (and LYLAS) Whitney and her beautiful little family. Kai is just over one year and might possibly be one of the coolest kids I know. He is so chill and relaxed and generally at peace. He loves to people watch and dance in circles and drink his bottle of milk. I am grateful for his tiny presence in my life.

It’s easy for me to become overwhelmed by the status of my life: finishing graduate school, taking my comprehensive exam, finding a job, moving apartments. It feels like the list never ends. That doesn’t even acknowledge the relationships with people in my life that I try to nurture and grow, let alone my attempt to just be and experience and live contentedly.

I was reminded this morning to try to live a life of gratitude, not just around the holidays, but year-round, nay, life-round.

The Big Game

The NFL gives me the sads. Not solely because of the usual complaints (although what those people make for slamming each other around also gives me the sads), but because I feel really left out of the whole thing. Hailing from Kansas City, professional sports can be rather bleak. The Chiefs? Le sigh. When, oh WHEN, will they get some kind of act together? Royals? Every once in a while they give me something to hold on to, but I’m mostly there for the hotdogs and beer.

But, I really do love watching the Super Bowl. I like going to a party and cruising the snack table in between watching hilarious commercials (hey, I’ll even be happy with the disappointing ones). The actual “playing sports” part of it is good too because these dudes can, in fact, play. This Sunday will be a little different because I’m not planning on going to a party. I’ll be coming home from a weekend in Florida visiting one of my good friends and Adam will be returning from a trip to Austin. I think there’s a significant chance I might miss the first half. That’s a lot of commercials and seven-layer dip I’m forfeiting. But, with the marvels of YouTube I think I’ll be able to catch up on some of the winners. That is sadly what I’ve been up to this morning. Business Week posted a list of the Most Viral Ads of All Time and I may have had to re-watch most of them.

This one is probably my favorite, although I really love “The Dog Strikes Back” as well. “The Force” comes in as the Most Shared ad of all time, with a walloping 56,129,476 views on the Tube.

What about you? Any favorites? Who will you be cheering for this weekend?

GO SPORTS!