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spring has sprung.

or so it seems in minneapolis today! it's beautiful, sunny, warm, and has that smell of the first spring thaw. excellent. with all this lovely weather, i can't help but get excited for what the warm weather has in store. so, a list of things i'm digging/excited for this spring:

- listen to more k-pop (because really, it's just so fun and ridiculous; thanks JOE).
- ride my bike every day, for 30 days. a former coworker started this awesome idea; whoever you are, wherever you are, ride your bike at least once every day. for some reason i've developed a fear of riding my bike in bike-friendly minneapolis. it's time to squash that fear, right? so here we go, red and white schwinn; me, you and the city.
- read more books (good ones that aren't just George R.R. Martin, Bret Easton Ellis or Guns, Germs & Steel which is taking me forever to finish).
- help one of my best friends plan her gorgeous and undoubtedly fun wedding (inspiration?)
- bake more pies. practice makes perfect and one of these years i'll win a state fair ribbon.
- become a strategist so i actually enjoy work. not sure how to do this, but i'm compiling a list of books to read and have a tentative game-plan. the tricky part is how to jump careers??
- conduct an experiment: what will doing 6-minute abs every day do for my mid-region? we will see. (for those curious about 6-minute abs, it's quite simple and quite effective: minute 1: crunches, minute 2: legs to one side, crunch up to the ceiling, minute 3: legs to other side, crunch up to the ceiling, minute 4: legs straight up in the air, crunch up to the ceiling, minute 5: legs stretched out flat on the ground, crunch up to the ceiling, minute 6: low and slow bicycle crunches)
- i've always wanted to do a minnesota history tour. places of interest include: f. scott fitzgerald's house, the kensington rune stone, farmsteads anywhere, native american ruins, etc.
- get outside. get outside. GET OUTSIDE. i do live next to a lovely park, and do live a hot second away from a beautiful chain of lakes. just a pleasant reminder to make the most of it this spring!
- continue to listen to (what i believe) is good music. sisters, let's keep sending mixes or good songs we're hearing!
- try not to spoil mini-mac rotten when she's born (this will be SUPER TOUGH, but i'll try and refrain from molding her into a Lord of the Rings-lover and clown-hater).
- try and use the technology we have (achem IPAD FACETIME achem) to keep in touch with sisters afar so i can see their beautiful faces and hear their beautiful voices (and of course see mini mac TONS AND TONS).
- cook dinner more; as in veggies and meat. mmmmm.
- be open to meeting people but continue being ok as a bachelorette (despite pining away for the coolest, smartest, and handsomest tall, bearded computer nerd i've ever met).

lots to look forward to. and now i will daydream whilst listening to lovely andrew bird.

wise words from a wise man.

The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.

For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

choices.

Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.

Mark Twain

a house is not a home.

for valentine's day.

I do not care what car you drive. Where you live. If you know someone who knows someone who knows someone. If your clothes are this years cutting edge. If you are A list or B list or never heard of you list. If your trust fund is unlimited. I only care about the words that flutter from your mind. They are the only thing you own. The only thing I will remember you by. I will not fall in love with your bones or skin. I will not fall in love with the places you have been. I will not fall in love with anything but the words that flutter from your extraordinary mind.

Andre Jordan

this life of ours.

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

I love this poem. Every time I read it it reinvigorates my sense of curiosity and adventure. This life is so fleeting, it scares me to think about all I want to do and how I won't get to do it all thanks to work/money/timing, etc. I guess I have to look at my realistic life and do things that make me happy. I read something which has also stuck with me- to stop looking for love and instead do what you love and it will find you. Maybe that should be my philosophy for this spring; get outside, enjoy art shows and concerts and volunteer more, and do things that make me happy, and in turn maybe I'll meet someone great, or just feel better about what I'm doing with my life! Time will tell.

love.

Kinfolk: Breakfast for Two from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

kinfolk + tiger in a jar.

i stumbled upon this short film a while back and fell in love with it. since then, i've been returning to the "tiger in a jar" vimeo page to pounce on any new videos that are uploaded. some of these videos started having text on them which said "kinfolk: a guide for small gatherings." well, i immediately googled that because i'm always looking for ideas for get-togethers and ways to throw a good party. what my search led me to was a fantastic magazine- published quarterly- which looks gorgeous and is chock full of delicious ideas for throwing a party. kinfolk magazine is DEFINITELY on my list of "must-haves" for 2012. hopefully i'll glean a little inspiration and throw some unforgettable parties! afterall, i do love entertaining.

(for a special treat, i've included one of my favorite "tiger in a jar" vids. enjoy!)

honey harvest from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.