decisions, decisions

i am in a pickle.

here's the situation: company A, that i think most of us know and love, would like to start selling my posters. (insert wild applause here). but... people won't know they are buying them from me anymore.  they would think they are buying them straight from company A. which might be a good thing. when customers find out i am a homeless college student i don't think it instills a lot of confidence.

so... do i sellout?

i love designing prints. i love that people actually buy them from me. i love that most clients tell me about their cat, and their weekend, and end up ordering more than once and say things like "hey girly!" when they email me.

but... it could be a really great business opportunity with a growing company too.

someone tell me what to do. i've been eating all afternoon and still can't make a decision. and the salt water taffy is almost gone (sorry ang!).

one of the reasons why my jeans are gettin real tight.

photos pilfered from ang.


we've found quite a few things we like about new york, but i think the one that holds the most sway in my little j. crew lovin heart is coco helado. it's most like an italian ice, and soooooo creamy. and it's only $1. plus, it's served with a kleenex! what more could you ever need? and those sneaky cart people park themselves at the entrance and exit of the closest subway station which means i have to try and resist it at least twice a day. my saving grace is that you have to pay cash, which i never have, since mike's official title in our relationship is "cash handler". he's self-appointed, as i'm sure you could guess.

walkin' on sunshine

this past week has been full of good things. reading my scriptures on the subway every day. getting the chance to email jenny back and forth for 45 minutes and talking about change, doubts, and testimony. (maybe i cried a little bit. at work.) walking by the test kitchen at the exact moment they wheeled out a very fat, delicious chocolate cake and "testing" a large piece. 

getting an email saying that since friday's temperature was going to be over 100 degrees everyone should take the day off and go to the beach. eating an ice cream bar for lunch and sitting on the pier reading pride and prejudice. getting to do some really beautiful wedding announcements. my family being awesome enough to handle the shipping/assembly aspects of both businesses while we've been here. coco helado for $1! mike. mike is always a good thing.

we've been better at prioritizing the important things this week and it has made such a difference in our day to day. i feel like skipping down the streets with rainbows trailing behind me. life's so much better when you choose to be happy.

catch me if you can

tuesday night. neil simon theater. catch me if you can. it was pretty funny and the music was catchy. the guy who plays agent hanratty "is money" (from mike). if you've seen the movie, it is essentially the same plot line, and without my glasses the main character looks and sounds just like leo. ang and i felt a little spoiled after sitting on the front row for memphis - it felt soooooooo far away sitting in the balcony - but it was definitely still worth it. and you can't beat student rush tickets for $28. my id card is worth it's weight in gold out here!

after the show we grabbed dinner at empanada mama. they are awesome and open 24 hours. next time i am definitely hitting up their dessert menu.

tim! the premiere is in 6 days. mark it on your calendar, folks.

adventures in marthaland

background: i usually leave for work at 9 and get in at 9:45. i also sit next to the creative director's assistant, paulie. she has a pretty insane job. think devil wears prada.

last friday paulie asked me to cover for her on monday morning since she would be at a doctor's appointment. she told me to be there at 8:45. no problem! cue monday morning. i woke up around 5:30 to work on posters/invitations. i went into the bathroom at 8:30 to get ready and started mentally going through what my deadlines would be for that day... and all of the sudden i looked in the mirror and dropped my brush. oh my gosh. i completely spaced the fact that i was supposed to be there in fifteen minutes. i ran to the subway station, rode downtown, and power walked/jogged the four avenues until i got to the building. it has been insanely hot and humid, and by the time i got there (thirty minutes late) i looked gross and was panicking. i rushed through the double doors after getting off the elevator and luckily looked up in time to stop myself from crashing my sweaty face right into martha. she said hello. i said hi. and then i squealed to myself once i was positive she was out of earshot.

she looks amazing in person. that woman has found the fountain of youth. she's 70!

new story.

on tuesday paulie suddenly stood up and said "come with me. now". i started to ask why, but she said "just come!" so i got up and jogged to catch up with her. and the strangest thing happened. first, we were walking with just a few people. within thirty seconds, tons of people were streaming out of their rows, all headed toward the reception area, and walking faster and faster the more people they saw. and then i saw the reason. on the receptionist's desk was a bucket filled with mini zucchini's from martha's garden. all of the sudden, looking at all those people, i needed that zucchini. we fought for a place in line and managed to get some of the last ones. i felt like holding it high above my head and doing a victory lap around all the other people that read the email fifteen seconds too late. ha! i got a martha zucchini! it kind of feels like winning the lottery.

see? baby zucchini. i'm keeping it forever. she brings in eggs a lot too. but i have yet to figure out a way to get those home on the subway.

beach day + hp7 numero dos

we went to the beach again last saturday. the first time we headed out i braced myself for a gross and grungy beach filled with trash and body odor and maybe even rats scurrying across the sand. not sure why my mind heard beach and automatically thought subway. sometimes having an overactive imagination pays off. my expectations are usually so wacky that i'm always excited about the reality.

after a relaxing afternoon full of salt water taffy, sleeping, and swimming we headed back to partake of harry potter's magical mania. it was a bittersweet feeling watching the concluding piece. i love that our generation grew up with harry, ron, and hermione. and i love that j.k. rowling made millions of kids fall in love with reading and she should also be applauded for writing a series that gets better with each book, not worse. although, as much i love the movies, that epilogue was pitiful and hilarious. books will always be better. we finished the night with dinner at land, which finally satisfied my thai food cravings. it was a successful saturday!

date night

on thursday night mike met me in chelsea after work and we wandered over to the west village to find some food. we finally settled on pinto, a little thai place that looked good. we are on a constant quest to find something that beats thai drift. we've tried so many places, and some of them are close rivals but nothing has bested it yet. this place was pretty delicious, but it was more fusion food. i had the lamb massaman and mike had... i don't remember but the sauce was scrumptious.

afterwards we meandered through the streets and talked and people watched until my second stomach (the dessert one) began desperately craving sugar.
mmmmm... triple chocolate mousse.

we decided that we need to spend more time together. we're canceling our netflix account (1. because mike is irate they are almost doubling the price and 2. because we need to get out more and stay in less). i had a new idea for a project that he is going to help me out with. mike is the perfect sounding board for the millions of things i feel like i need an opinion on. it must be exhausting listening to me talk all the time. maybe i should go on a speech diet. hmmm....

we interrupt this blogging absence...

for some exciting news. my little brother jeff received his mission call tonight. we got to be with the familia via facetime (yay steve jobs! uniting families!) as he opened his call to the budapest, hungary mission. jeff is the golden child in our family. everybody loves jeff. and you know why? because if you text him and say that you can't remember how to turn the tv on even if he just showed you how two days ago you will hear him get up from his chair on the second floor and come bounding down the stairs to turn it on for you - again. and he will even give you one of his cookies. he's that kind of person. and here's the best part about the day he's reporting to the mtc...

(last march at jess's wedding, just a few days before jenny left on her mission)

on october 18th everyone gets to be reunited for a whole 24 hours! let the fiesta planning begin. there are no definite plans yet, but i think it will be a laser tag/ihop/arcade gaming affair. (and if anyone knows anything about hungary, do share. but only if it will not make my mother worry anymore than she already is).