In the big wild world

Cheering each other on

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Ever feel like this?

Hang in there, baby!

This hilarious photo of someone’s cat swinging on a ribbon absolutely kills me. I mean, how funny, right? I don’t actually know whose kitty it is; it came in one of those “funny animal photos” emails that I got from my Aunt Karen, and I commend the photographer for capturing it, and the kitty for being so darn cute.

When I saw it, it just made me think: This little cat may be freaked out, but it’s also having the time of it’s life. And isn’t that exactly what dating is like? Sometimes you’re freaked out, and sometimes you’re having the time of your life.

The next time you’re feeling as ungrounded and panicked as this wee kitty, just remember that if you hang on for a minute, you’ll get on the upswing again soon and realize that, you know what? You’re having the absolute time of your life. So hang in there, baby!

Big love,

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The World Series of Love

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

I’m not much a baseball person. I was, for some reason, a fan of the 1980-ish Yankees, and spent a few yearsof my adolescence with photos of Bucky Dent, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolf, Greg Nettles, Bobby Murcer, Reggie Jackson and my sigh-inducing favorite at the time, catcher Rick Cerone, taped to my bedroom wall.

My old Yankee crush

Oh, and when my photographer father snapped the Yankees for work at Newsday, he brought me home a hat signed “Rick Cerone #10”! I cherished it for years…until I lost it. I mean, who loses that?

Annnnyway, I’ve been watching some of the Yankees v. Phillies World Series this week, and by “some of” I mean I mostly tune in to the 8th or 9th inning to see what’s up. But, of course, for the last two games, the 9th inning has been where the biggest nail-biting action comes in. And it was while the camera was panning the crowd the past few nights—showing Phillie fans last night with quivering worry brows and pursed lips, some of them nibbling on their nails with utter fear as Johnny Damon (mmmm, Johnny Damon) came up to bat with two outs—that I realized: In baseball, people love the tension of not knowing what’s going to happen. Maybe it’s time to turn some of the nail-biting you feel about not-knowing in love into that same excitement!

I know it can feel awful sometimes, the not-knowing. I remember thinking many times while I was single, I just want to know who or when it’s going to be, and then I’ll be okay. Because if you know it’s going to happen, you can relax, right? Well, guess what? You can decide it is going to happen. But as for the who and when? Like the score of the next World Series game, it’s the not knowing that makes it all so magical.

Happy, jaw-dropping endings only happen after a little nail-biting, when you can leap up in relief or surprise—the big hooplah that comes after surviving all that nervous hell. Your celebration will come, so enjoy the whole game it takes to get you there.

Big love and happy baseball,

Tags: baseball
Posted in In the big wild world, It's on TV | Comments Off on The World Series of Love

Live Flirtatiously!

Friday, October 9th, 2009

My friend Maura Kelly has been writing a fabulous blog for Marie Claire magazine called “A Year of Living Flirtatiously.” Don’t you just love that?

Life could use a little more flirting (Image by Gusto, www.gallerygusto.com)

One of my favorite recent posts was one called “6 Tips For Flirting at a Party Full of Strangers.“ In that post, she tells how she met a blogger at a party and impulsively asked him out from across the room with a big smile on her face. Her friendly “what have you got to lose” approach worked like a charm! The next day, she posted this wonderful story called “What Do You Have to Lose If You Don’t Flirt? Everything!“ And this is some of what she passed on:

“Not to sound like a maniac or anything, but every time we miss a chance to meet someone, we miss an opportunity to change our lives!

The world is full of human potential. Brimming over with it! So, while we have world enough, and time, let’s get ourselves out there!

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Tags: carpe diem, Live Flirtatiously
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Gorge Yourself On Good Things!

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

The other night, I went to one of my favorite places to eat: the Brazilian churrascaria Fogo de Chao.

Whatever your pleasure, feast on it.

I’m a meat girl in the grandest sense (I’ve ordered chicken for dessert before. Seriously.) And every now and then, I like to be able to have as much meat as I want in as many options as possible, from the pichanha to the lamb chop to the filet mignon to the pork loin, all on one big plate. I apologize to the vegetarians who find this unappealing, but the fact is, when I like something, once in a while, I want to gorge on it. And I realized that really? We should do this in life, too.

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Tags: churrascaria, gorging on life, Menu Dating
Posted in Eat your heart out!, In the big wild world, Optimisms | Comments Off on Gorge Yourself On Good Things!

The Toils: A Good Thing!

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Toils are usually seen as a pretty bad thing, being all about work and witches chants (that whole boiling and bubbling, toiling and troubling thing). Well, I’ve started to see the toils in a new light.

Roll with the rough stuff to get to the good stuff! (Image: AS)

It happened while re-painting my living room wall from a sunshine yellow to a more chill Restoration Hardware “Latte” color. I was giddy about painting for days…until my husband and I officially started the job yesterday by taping up all the edges. Ugh, the taping. What could possibly be good about taping, right? Then it hit me: The fact that I’m taping means I’m really close to the fun part!

In fact, all the super-fun things we do in life require some toils. Throwing a big party: fun! Well, after you do all your shopping and heave a dozen bags from your trunk to the kitchen counter and cook for two days. Going to an amusement park: a blast! You know, after you circle the five-acre parking lot and walk half a mile to the entrance. Having a baby: a miracle! After you survive a few months of waddling and that whole labor thing. And that bursting, goose-bump moment when you realize you really really like your date: priceless! But you only get there after you’ve been through a bunch of bummer dates and some lonely nights leading up to it. Like the cusp of brilliant moments (see: Life’s Most Underrated Moment: “The Cusp”) the toils are something to be grateful for.

The toils and troubles—however small they may be—are not the enemy. They’re the necessary gauntlet to get to something you really want. They’re a sign of great things to come. And it’s the toils that’ll make you appreciate what you get like you never would have before. So the next time you’re trudging to a date, a dinner, a meeting or a hardware store, silently thank the toils for what they really mean: You’re that much closer to the good stuff! You may even be in for fun you forgot was coming. Now that we’ve finished painting the wall, I realize there’s an even better part: peeling the tape off like Elmer’s glue from your hands. Ahhhh.

Big love,