this day in history…

April 10, 1925: The Great Gatsby is published. 

100 books in 1001 days

1001 goals: join a book club, start a family book club, stop buying books in hardcover and hating them, read regularly before I go to sleep,                                  and read 100 books in 1001 days

1. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
2. History of a Voyage by Jean de Léry
3. Personal Narrative by Alexander von Humboldt
4. Women through Women’s Eyes
5. Biography of a Runaway Slave by Miguel Barnet
6. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
7. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
8. The Cloud Forest by Peter Matthiessen
9. Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
10. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
11. The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Guevara
    
12. Silence on the Mountain by Daniel Wilkinson
13. Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
14. Yanomamo: The Fierce People by Napoleon Chagnon
15. Darkness in El Dorado by Patrick Tierney
16. Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
17. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

101 in 1001

visit ten new cities

go on a road trip

make my own fabric headboard

dance all night in my first pair of Louboutins

read 100 new books & join a book club

Inspired by Mackenzie and spurred on by Lent, I have decided to start 2013 with not just one, but 101 resolutions to accomplish in 1001 days. These are goals, fantasies, hopes, and dreams – all rolled into a perfect list. In 1001 days – September 2015 – I will have graduated from college and started the transition into real life, and before then, I hope to accomplish quite a bit. So far, I have written 64 goals and plan to add as my world and life direction changes. Wish me luck!

1. come up with a list of 101 goals
2. inspire someone to write and achieve their own 101 goals
3. speak Spanish fluently
4. apply to graduate school
5. apply for a Fulbright scholarship
6. take the GRE
7. graduate college cum laude
8. write and defend a thesis
9. join a book club
10. start a family book club
11. regularly read before I go to sleep
12. stop buying fad books in hardcover, hating them, and regretting the purchase
13. read 100 new books
14. work for a company, organization, or person I admire
15. volunteer consistently for one semester
16. set up a LinkedIn account
17. discover and buy the perfect power suit
18. write 100 handwritten cards in one year
19. begin a proper address book
20. invest in personalized stationery
21. business cards?
22. stop buying Starbucks coffee
23. visit 10 new cities: 1. Chicago, January 2013 2. Santiago, March 2013
24. return to Ferrara, Italy
25. travel to Patagonia
26. take my mother to tea in London and lunch in Paris
27. live somewhere long-term I never have before
28. go on a road trip
29. find a skincare reimen that actually works
30. get a facial
31. throw a surprise party
32. host a holiday party
33. invest in 5 pieces of classic, diverse jewelry
34. dance in my first pair of Louboutins
35. personally make a fabric headboard
36. have all rings resized to actually fit
37. learn to fishtail braid
38. wear a floor-length dress to an exciting event
39. commit myself to the paleo cleanse
40. attend a Soul Cycle class
41. attend a hot yoga class
42. run a 5k
43. take a private ballet class
44. continue to grow art collection
45. learn to like seltzer
46. go to 5+ concerts
47. attend a music festival
48. ride on a Vespa
49. celebrate 21 in the United States and abroad
50. no sunburns (premature aging!)
51. swim in a new ocean
52. visit the West Coast
53. wallpaper something
54. as my mother says, “put some color” on my lips (habitually)
55. go on Kairos
56. visit the 9/11 memorial
57. write a Letter to the Editor
58. conquer a fear
59. attend a mass at St. Ignatius during Lent
60. spend a night under the stars
61. treat myself to a full-body massage
62. ride on a sailboat
63. go to brunch in Boston
64. put $10 in savings for every goal accomplished

happy new year’s eve

What a year 2012 has been! Despite a few bumps (a broken nose, a cranky teacher, the usual), 2012 has treated me so well. Tonight, I plan on celebrating the end of the year with as much joy as the year has brought me. I wish you ice in your drink, the perfect sparkly black dress, and a kiss at midnight. Here’s to 2012 and 2013 – tonight, celebrate your accomplishments and your goals and your past and your future. Cheers!

1 / 2 / kate spade advertisement

flower friday 11.30.12

Can you hear those sleigh bells ringing? I certainly can…two weeks from this moment I will have completed all of my finals and on my way home to celebrate the holiday at my family’s tree-trimming party. Prepare for some procrastination posts, as this entire weekend is dedicated to writing the 40ish pages I have put off. Eek! My spot in the library will soon be my new home if anyone wants to come save me from Bolivian risk assessments, Fair Trade, and the Inquisition.

I hope your weekend is not as Microsoft Word-document filled as mine, but instead one with white christmas lights, hot chocolate, and the holiday spirit.

ps. Christmas Angel – feel free to send me a couple pairs of cashmere socks. I’m really cold.

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I am so thankful for the comfort of a home-cooked meal, the humor and love of my parents, the sarcasm of my brother and the Italian voices of my grandparents. I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving, pie on your table, and family by your side.

flower friday! 11.02.12

Happy (official) weekend! Though I may have began my weekend celebrations onWednesday, with Halloween, I am so excited for the next few days. My parents and brother are coming to Boston for the weekend and I can’t wait to order room service, go to bed early, and enjoy their love. I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of fall leaves, winter scarves, and a good book.

via

happy halloween!

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happy birthday, caroline!

To my dearest Caroline, happy birthday.

I always thought that the first person outside of my family that I would really love would be a boyfriend, but then, tah-dah, I met you. I love you for your contagious humor, your devotion to your values and faith, your unparalleled ability to mock me, and your kick-ass accessories. I love you for inviting me to be a part of your family, for accepting me as a brunette sister, and for always texting me back at just the right time. I love you for being so incredibly Caroline. I love you for being okay with not always having a plan, for introducing me to that crab cream cheese thing, and for being my most devoted blog follower.

 I wish you a year of joy, of great outfits, of discovery and adventure and mischievousness. I wish you a 550 on your SAT II, additions to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, and a future appreciation of thank-you notes. For your next twenty years, I wish you a Sweet Caroline at every bitter moment, trips to Venice together, and Godmotherships. I can’t wait to get ready next to you at my wedding and at yours, to finally not have a long-distance relationship, and to celebrate 21 Here’s to you, here’s to us, and here’s to 20, sweet Caroline.

fall

“October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields stunned themselves in the aftermaths.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

‘Oh, Marilla,’ she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs. ‘I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. don’t they give you a thrill – several thrills?’” - Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery