As my heart is pierced, Oh my soul is now exposed...

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So let your heart hold fast

For this too shall pass

There's another hill ahead

They played this Fort Atlantic song at the end of How I Met Your Mother this week and it was for a happy and joyous scene, but the moment I heard it, I couldn't help thinking how appropriate it is to describe the tragedy that happened last week in Newtown. It's an amazing song, but I cried like a baby after listening to it again and all my heart hurts remembering all the faces of the children that were taken way too early. Since it's almost Christmas, go out and squeeze your loved ones, especially your babies, really close.

Hurricane Sandy

Pin It now! It's been over a week since Sandy came through the area and although things are starting to get back to normal, there's a whole lot of devastation.  There's really no other way of describing all the destruction, ruin, tears, lives lost and lives displaced.  My office (of my new job!) is now downtown (and I'll leave how dearly I miss Midtown for another time) and because of the flooding and blackout, I was out of work for over a week.  Most of my time was spent watching the endless TV coverage of the storm.  It was like a car accident - I wanted to turn it off, but couldn't stop watching.  I felt like I had to tweet and FB all the updates I saw to others who didn't have power (or a house anymore) and send through messages of how massive the lost and destruction was.  Our building luckily was spared and didn't lose power, but it was still scary and surreal Monday night when the East River surged and sent water all the way to Kent Ave.  The next morning there was an actual rainbow over Manhattan.  I don't really get Mother Nature's sense of humor.

I'm particularly sad about how the Jersey shore is no more.  It's sad to see the places where you spent your youth completely gone.  I know that they'll rebuild, but when you see the entire Seaside boardwalk gone, it's hard for me not to reminiscence about spending the weekend after junior prom there or all the times Jenn and I went out there in high school during our Friday nights.

 (A neighbor's photos of the Rockaways and Staten Island)

There was a little levity in all of this though.  SNL had a hilarious sketch showing Mr. Robotic Bloomberg and his now-famous signer, along with Christie and a Jersey equivalent.  Yeah, sometimes you gotta laugh a little bit.

Oh, and there was an election.  All I can say is Yes!

Lately

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{homemade sign for a co-worker's going away party}

{Jenga drinking game}

{ducky and matches}

{Maison Premiere, Prospect Park entrance}

{Sweetwater}

{Game of Life with the fam}

Mellow Makes For a Good Life

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In the last few weeks, I've been hearing some crazy stories and it just makes me think back to a quote I read by Anne Hathaway in last year's Harper's Bazaar about her quiet and relatively calm Hollywood relationship with Adam Schulman:

"Mellow doesn't always make for a good story, but it makes for a good life." 

Perfectly said. M, I love my good life with you.

{By the way, have you already watched Caine's Arcade?  If you want another smile on hump day, click the link.  You won't be disappointed.}

Photo: Here

Quarterly Review

Pin It now! At work, I do a lot of reviews on a quarterly basis so I figure I might as well do the same for my personal life.  Keeps me in check and I make sure I'm pushing myself.  Ok, remember I made a to-do list back in January?  I think I'm doing pretty well.

Work - It's been five months in my new role and I really love it.  It's definitely challenging and things aren't second nature yet, but I feel like I'm sinking into the role.  I'm an impatient person though and when my mind runs faster than my body or faster than the skills I can acquire, I just want to get there already.  I know, patience is a virtue... The new role has allowed me to develop new and existing relationships which was the key thing I was lacking from my old position.  I really love that I have a foot in the door and not invisible to the right people. 

Fluent in Cantonese - Not yet, but I did sign up for a class that begins in mid-April  More to come.

52 Week Project - So far so good!  I absolutely love this item on my list.  Every week I look forward to figuring out where and what to photograph.  I'm trying not to be too cliche and am trying to find things that are outside the ordinary course.  I think I might start photographing things beyond places in NYC and items that are relevant to what's happening in my life for that week (like the blood oranges).

A few other things that I'm adding...
Running.  I'm up to 2 miles and getting pass the two mile mark is definitely motivating me to keep pushing to the full 3.1 miles for the Special Olympics Lincoln Tunnel Challenge in a couple of weeks.  Unlike two years ago, I think I can actually run the entire thing!

Writing.  I'm not sure how to go about this one.  I want to write more, and something along the lines of a legal article for work or relevant Brooklyn articles for the Examiner (no, this blog doesn't count).  I'm still figuring this one out so if you have any suggestions, let me know!  On top of writing more substantively, I also want to document more of my family's story.  I'm pretty sure I may have said I wanted to do this last year and I keep putting off starting the project.  So now it's on the to-do list...

Is It Over Already?

Pin It now! i'm at heathrow (in the virgin atlantic upper class clubhouse!) on my way home to new york, and although i'm really excited to be going home, i'm feeling sad and nostalgic. the last three months have flown by. you know that feeling as you're packing at the end of the college spring semester? you're excited the year is over, but sad because you had an amazing time and wish you could hold on to those young and fun moments for just a bit longer. that's how this feels like. i had to pinch myself these past few months to make sure that this was my life. i felt like i was a world traveler and quite sophisticated. i felt like a grown-up. i know it's funny saying that when i'm already 31.

not only do i leave with such amazing memories, but this stint in london has certainly changed me. i feel more confident and assertive especially at work. i realize that i worked really hard to get where i am, that i'm not the intern or entry-level newbie and i shouldn't feel like one anymore, and best of all i'm proud of myself.

so going home on a high note is how it should be. see you on the other side.

Tim Burton...and Stories about your Parents

Pin It now! i love having random blog post titles. i feel like it'll draw you in and make you read my blog, and i'll try anything to do that.

anyway, i went to see tim burton's alice in wonderland today with susan. the movie was great. it's a bit different than the traditional story. surprisingly in burton's version, there's a love story. don't worry i won't give anything away.

tonight on tv, big fish is also on. i forget how much i love this story. i cried like a baby though. the movie made me realize that i want to make sure i know all the stories of my parents' lives. i'm really close to them, but i think i know very little about how they grew up. at least i wasn't paying too much attention when they were telling my brother and sister and i while we were growing up. the movie has inspired me to write it all down. i want to get it all down before it's too late (oh i know, that sounds terribly sad.) i'm sad too because i won't ever meet hubby's parents to hear their stories. i'm going to try to dig them out from him, his sisters and his aunts. he won't appreciate it now, but i hope he will when we have kids.