Fun Finds Friday #128

• This credenza would look awesome in our front room.
• I'm coming around to embracing jumpsuits, and this one gets me all heart eyes emoji-like.
• Looking into new planners for next year and this one piqued my curiosity.
• You really need to see this dress close up to fully appreciate it...

Also....

• I've fallen into this trap many times!
• I'm an INTJ; here's why you need one in your life.
• ...But it's also why people think I'm a robot sometimes.
• Um, hello, can I please live here?! Bold patterns and minimalist like woah.
• This is pretty amazing.
• I love Brandon Boyd, and his words really spoke to me.

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Oh, baby

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Last Tuesday, Shawn and I became aunt & uncle to our first ever nephew, Avery Vladimir Lau. (What a big name for such a small human!) Not only is it our first nephew, but it's his mom's first grandchild too... so I guess it's a pretty big deal! His brother lives a few hours away from us, so we probably won't meet the little dude until Thanksgiving, but to be perfectly frank, I am a-ok with that. Newborns are weird! They look like little aliens and, as my friend Amy so eloquently put it, "all they do is sleep, eat, piss, and poop". (To which I responded, "well, that's all we really do in essence too, we just added all the other stuff in for shits and giggles." I mean, really. Think about it.) I am not what you would call a baby person. Luckily for me, neither is Shawn!

I've probably alluded to it on the blog before, but I have never really had any desire to be a mother- there are no ticking clocks or maternal instincts in this body! In fact, the thought of carrying something inside me for nine months and then having to raise it for 18+ years is downright yucky gross repulsive uncomfortable scary << all of the above. I don't believe all that "Oh but having kids will change your life!" BS that new parents spout to make themselves feel better about the fact that kids have taken over their lives. (No disrespect to my parents, who raised three strong and amazing children!) But while I have no desire to nurse anything other than a hangover (and even that's iffy), I've always said that I look forward to being an aunt. And that day has finally come! I always thought it would be one of my siblings first, but that's because I never accounted for there being, well, other siblings in the picture. (You know, sibling-in-laws. Side note: who the heck ever thought the term in-laws was worth keeping around?!) Now that I have a nephew, I'm actually kind of excited! It's like holding someone else's ice cream cone for them while they tie their shoe, and you can steal a few licks but give it back once it starts to melt. (Did I really just compare having a nephew to holding someone's ice cream cone? I did.) I mean, I'm not saying I'll be volunteering to babysit or anything... but it's kinda cool imagining the type of aunt and uncle we'll be. (Probably the kind that say "don't tell your parents we let you do this!!!")

Anyways, all of that to say that I rounded up a few congratulatory little-human cards for you, in case you know anyone who is expecting. You can really go in all kinds of directions with baby cards, depending on what your stance is on kids. I bought this one in a pinch, but I'm kinda upset because there are so many other fun ones out there! Another one I contemplated just had text across the front that read "Congratulations on your little tax deduction." Yep. Tell them how you really feel!

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Current State of Mind

I'm sure you've noticed I haven't been posting very often the past few months. Pretty much ever since we moved. I wanted to attribute it to not having the office set up, and dealing with all the stuff we had to deal with the past few months, but the truth is, between all the big life changes, I'm struggling with the concept of this blog. I haven't been happy with the content for a long time now. We love the cats, and I know you all love the cats, but I never intended for the blog to be 95% cat posts...

I've been feeling... inauthentic as of late. Like, there are so many things I have/want to say but I don't know the right way to say them and I don't know if this is the space for all those thoughts. Then I feel silly because this is my space and I can say whatever the heck I want to, right??? And isn't that why you all keep coming back here? (Hey, if you keep coming back here only for cat photos, I completely understand and no judgement there!) But I feel as though I've lost my voice here. And I hate that! If I can't be myself on my own blog, then what the heck am I doing here?!

I was recently talking with one of my new colleagues about how, in the food industry, the people we work with quickly become our family. We spend so much time together that it's easy to get to know one another on a more personal level. But even knowing each other personally isn't the same as knowing each other intimately. I was reflecting upon how the majority of conversations I have with other people, even a lot of people close to me, are very much on the surface. As a society we're reluctant to get intimate with many people. For good reasons, of course! I don't need everyone on the street to know my business. And I'm not one to hesitate when it comes to speaking my mind, but I would love to be able to speak more freely. To make deeper connections with people. And I want this space to be a reflection of that. I'd like to be able to speak my mind, and tell you guys more of what's going on in my life, in my brain. There's no shame in any of that!

Lately I've been wondering if I even want to keep blogging. I love this community! But I often feel as though I don't have much to say. Or that I can't find the words for the things I do want to say. I used to be so much more eloquent - I don't know what happened. We get older, and we lose that teenage angst, and the words just don't come as freely anymore. That's something I've been meaning to work on... and the best way to work on that is to write more, right? Even writing this post is stressing me out because I feel like there's so much I wanted to say, but it's just not coming out the way I want it to. My words don't reflect me. But they do! The things we say and do are the biggest things people have to judge us by, right? So why is it so hard to be authentic when we're writing? Some of my favorite bloggers are the ones whose posts read like conversations. I'm actually jealous of that! I don't feel like myself on here sometimes. I feel too.... edited sometimes.

I have always tried to be true to myself and to reflect that self onto others. But I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately - I don't feel like you guys are getting a taste of the real me here anymore. And I intend to change that. No more scratching the surface- I want to get deep with you! (Well that sounds sexual, doesn't it?) Let's get real. I'd like to give you more than just cat photos and wish lists. I want this to be a space for conversations. (Even if they're just one-sided.) I want this to be a space for thoughts and feelings. (Even I'm much more thought, than feeling.) I want this to be an authentic space. I want to claim this space as my own again.

Let this post serve as the beginning of a shift back to authenticity. I would be delighted if you would join me on this journey!

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Netflix: What We're Watching

Shawn and I don't have the attention span for movies, so we watch a lot of tv shows instead. That's not to say we don't binge-watch shows... (we watched all of Stranger Things in one afternoon!!) but it's easier to pause between episodes and do something else than it is to commit to a nearly 2-hour chunk of watching time. Here are a few of the things we've been watching lately!

Star Trek: The Next Generation- I never watched Star Trek growing up, but Shawn has been putting this on a lot lately; we're halfway through season 3 and I'm diggin' it. I love that some of the episodes have a Twilight Zone feel to them. I also like all the cameos from popular 90's actors!

The Great British Baking Show- If you like British accents and baking shows, then you need to watch this. It's a baking competition, but the contestants are so nice to each other compared to American competition shows! It's also fun to learn about different British baked goods.

Stranger Things- It seems like everyone and their mother is talking about this show. And with good reason! Like I mentioned earlier, we flew through all eight episodes in one afternoon. It has a very Twin Peaks feel to it. I really hope they make a second season!

La Promesa- My mom told me about this show almost a year ago, it just took me a while to start watching it. It's in Spanish, and it's about sex trafficking. Definitely not one of those shows you can just put on as background noise; you have to invest some time to watch a few episodes, and the subtitles are subpar, but it's entertaining and has really good cliffhangers.

Hell on Wheels- Shawn started watching this without me, but I got really into it after catching a few episodes. I'm not usually into historical stuff, but this is an interesting look at the building of America's railroad system. Plus, Anson Mount with that beard is pretty dreamy...

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt- My friend Amy told me to start watching this; it's about a girl who was held underground for fifteen years and then gets freedom and moves to NYC with the mind of a fifteen year old. I wasn't super into at first because it's so ridiculous, but I couldn't pull myself away from it. I'm glad I stuck with it though because each episode is better than the last. So many cameos in this too!

Good Eats- What do I need to say about this other than Alton Brown is amazing? I was so happy when Netflix acquired Good Eats!

Law and Order: SVU- I always told myself I would never be one of those people that watches SVU at will... "Oh, there's nothing else on tv right now so I guess I'll watch SVU"; then Shawn started playing it on Netflix and, well, it's a time-sucker. That drama pulls you right on in.

Chopped- Another Food Network classic. We put this on whenever we don't know what else to put on. It's my favorite of the Food Network competition shows. If you have Food Network, try to watch for Chopped: After Hours - those are the best!


It's funny, when I'm home by myself, I rarely turn on the tv. I prefer to spend my time in front of the computer. Shawn is the opposite - he pretty much has the tv on all the time when he's home... whether he's watching sports, Netflix, or playing video games, the tv screen rarely gets a rest unless we're out and about. When I do sit down to watch something though, I binge-watch. With tv, it's all or nothing if I'm involved! Have you been watching anything good lately?

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Magic Gardens

Back in July, my sister, brother, and I spent a day walking/eating/drinking around Philadelphia. I love showing people around Philadelphia; it's such an underrated city! Everyone on the upper east coast is all about New York City, but I personally find Philadelphia to be so much more interesting. Aside from all the history, there's art everywhere you look, coffee shops on every block, and restaurants of every sort! Plus, the big appeal for me is that it's so incredibly walkable. Sure, you can't see everything there is to see in one day (or one weekend), but you can see so much of the city just by walking from one end to the other. So that's pretty much what we did! We almost got heat stroke because I thought it would be a great idea to walk along the boardwalk on a 95+ degree day in full sun... oops! Note to self, don't drink whiskey and then walk outside in full sun.

One of the places we spent a little time at was Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. I had walked past this place a few times before but had never actually gone in. It's a non-profit gallery space on South Street, and it's the largest work created by artist Isaiah Zagar. There's an outdoor labyrinth and some indoor galleries as well. Everything is made from recycled objects - tiles, bottles, plates, bike wheels, found objects... it's really just a giant mosaic garden! He also has a few mosaic murals along South Street.

We had a lot of fun walking through it, and since we went during the week, it wasn't overly crowded. I took a bunch of photos but I'm not happy with the way most of them turned out. It was just too sunny that day, and I only had my phone on me. Regardless, I thought it'd be neat to give you guys a glimpse of Philadelphia's Magic Gardens!











If you're ever in Philly, you should check it out!

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