journal
My crisp and clean new web site is now LIVE! Feel free to take a quick swim around and let me know what you think.
My crisp and clean new web site is now LIVE! Feel free to take a quick swim around and let me know what you think.
Come visit my new site at juniperdisco.com. I’d love to see you there!
I’m writing this from a warm armchair in Provincetown – two snuggly dogs curled up nearby, a mug of hot coffee in my hand – watching the blue jays outside my mother’s window. (Those blue jays are so pretty but, boy, are they mean.) I’ve already done several hours of work and I’m feeling pretty content. There’s a snow sky outside. I have nowhere to be today.
We’re on the precipice of our new life. The Mr. had a great first day at his new job yesterday. Stephen meets his new vet tomorrow. And we officially move at the end of next week.
I usually do an end of the year post or two listing my favorites followed by a separate “new year, new goals” post. Last year was a tangle of twists and turns and this coming year is filled with just as many changes so I only have it in me to share with you a few thoughts from where I sit today.
So 2015 … of course I have a giant list of all the things I want to do and there is a Pinterest board to go with it. There will be time enough to share all of that as we really start to build our lives here in Provincetown. For now, I’m only focused on this one theme:
Keep my eyes on my own paper.
There is so much noise out there and so many people on the interwebs to compare yourself to – people you’ve never even met who look all pretty and shiny, but could truly be awful or annoying people in real life, like an internet version of blue jays. I’m just going to work on my stuff this year. Maybe you should, too.
One of the things I’ve been working on for some time now (the idea came to me over two years ago!) is a new space with a new focus to share my thoughts. The new Juniper Disco is almost ready and, quite frankly, I’ll likely switch over before it is truly “ready.” Just like life. Rolling out a new site that coincides with the start of a new life seems right. And, again, see timing above.
I hope you’ll travel with me to my new site and I’ll let you know when and where that will be. For now, I think I’ll go outside and see if those blue jays dropped any of their feathers – I’ll keep them on my desk as a reminder for this year.
So I’ve been rather absent from this space the last few months. Let me explain. Life has gone something like this …
Put life on hold to prep for the re-opening of the museum. Plan out complicated wardrobe and transportation logistics for 16 opening events in 10 days. Curse moving to Hingham. Take Stephen to vet where he tests positive for heart worm. Freak out. Move to a Cambridge Airbnb for first half of opening events. The Mr. takes Stephen to get chest xrays and he tests positive again. Freak out. Finish out opening events. Collapse. Eat all the food the Mr. makes. Sit on the couch and stare into space. Stephen goes on antibiotics for a month. The Mr. gets awesomest job offer on the Cape. Freak out. Host the in-laws for Thanksgiving and travel to my sister’s for the holiday. Tell my bosses about the move and work out a general plan for work through June. Find a place to live on the Cape in less than a week. Finish Christmas shopping. Pack for the DR. Experience the bumpiest flight ever to Philly. Almost pee my pants. Enjoy 6 days in Punta Cana. Get a tan and forget about everything. Return home and thank my friend JR for watching my boo boo. Finish out work before winter break. Take Stephen to vet for first of three awful heart worm shots. Buy every chew toy ever made. Attempt to keep him still and cry every time I put him in his crate. Decorate for Christmas. Clean apt for guests. Finish wrapping presents. Plan out the holiday cheese board to end all cheese boards. Snuggle Stephen until his pain meds kick in. Start thinking about what to put in storage, what to give away, and what to pack. Freak out. Make a gratitude list.
Gratitude List
Happy holidays to all of you! May your own little whirlwind of a life be filled with joy, gratitude, furry faces that trust you no matter what, and really awesome pineapple drinks!
So you know how, on the Mr.’s birthday, I post photos I’ve taken of him over the course of the year from a specific angle? Well, it’s that time of year again! I have to admit I have been delinquent in capturing these moments (I blame that furry little Stephen who seems to be in every photo I take these days.) Happy Birthday, honey! Here’s to another year of adventure!
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Nantasket Beach, Hull, MA
Boston, MA (last look before we moved out)
Negril, Jamaica
Negril, Jamaica
Negril, Jamaica
Hingham Bathing Beach, Hingham, MA
Hewitt’s Cove, Hingham, MA (with Boston in the background)
Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, MA
Boston, MA
Herring Cove Beach, Provincetown, MA
Home
Provincetown, MA
Provincetown, MA
Nantasket Beach, Hull, MA
Oh, hello. Seems I haven’t been here in awhile. I guess most of you have moved on from summer and are eating all things pumpkin, jumping in leaves, and wearing sweaters. Not me. I’m in my usual post-summer full-blown tantrum mode – lots of huffing and puffing, stomping of feet, and bursting into tears. It’s taken me this long to muster up the energy to write this post about the glorious Summer of 2014. So here goes …
So perhaps you can see why I am having trouble letting go, switching into this season of shorter, crisper days. I did buy a whole bunch of pumpkin everything and I ordered a snuggly scarf. The fall candle is burning and, yeah, I like it.
But really the only thing that perked me up was a late breaking decision to go somewhere warm later this fall after all! So excuse me while I go learn the Spanish words of this song & figure out how to tie my new pareo that I bought during one of those awesome end of summer sales. We’ll talk about fall later.
Hey, kids! Just stopping by to share some photos I found of my very first Carnival Week in Ptown from 1992! Mom and N had just moved to town and opened their store where I worked for that entire summer. Gosh, I miss those carefree days.
I’ll be drenched in glitter and sparkles for the majority of the week (with a quick 48 hour return to Boston in the middle.) Looking forward to recapturing some of that carefree spirit!
After my last post, I decided I would be enjoying “summer slowly” this year. Which meant I needed to seriously re-think and edit my annual summer list. You may read this and think it’s still kinda long, still kinda ambitious, but, believe me, you should have seen the original. Besides the things we do every year (like whale-watching, the PAAM garden tour, our annual family barhopping night, etc.), lounging at the pool, snuggling with Stephen, napping, and staring into space, here are the things I’d like to enjoy as I summer slowly.
Summer Lists from Years Past:
I found this draft of a post I wrote at the end of last summer. I had forgotten just how much I packed into the summer of 2013. Not sure why I never published it, but I am finding it to be a wonderful reminder to really enjoy the long, lazy days ahead of us. Summer is just about here, my friends!
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September 2013
This weekend was spectacular … at least according to my Twitter and Instagram feeds. I did not leave the house for three days. Three straight days. While that is not my record (winter break 2010, eight days), it is a pretty hefty chunk of time. Especially when the world is telling you to get out there and enjoy the weather.
This was the first weekend in twelve weeks that I was home. For three months (25% of a year!), I packed, unpacked, packed, unpacked, packed, unpacked. I raced to the dock, to the bus terminal, to the airport. I printed out tickets, maps, and schedules. I checked weather reports and packed everything from sweaters to swimsuits. I ran around like a crazy person during the week, managing a rather challenging workload at work and squeezing in all my usually executed on Saturday errands into the remaining hours. I went a month past my normal salon appointment to color my hair. (Gah!) I exhausted myself. All in the name of Summer-is-Super-Short-So-I-Have-To-Do-ALL-The-Things.
So this weekend, while I watched World War Z and Life of Pi, caught up on all my Masterpiece Mystery! and Broadchurch recordings, and continued on my quest to view the entire Friday Night Lights series, I felt guilty. All those “it’s perfect out there!” and “better enjoy this weather now!” comments were making me twitchy. How could I not go outside and enjoy those beautiful days? Winter is coming, people! I’ll never see the sun again! The end of days is nigh!
Here’s the thing about believing that right now is your only chance ever in your entire life to experience a beautiful day, to see the sun, to travel here or there, to enjoy yourself: odds are it’s probably not true. That hurry-up-and-pack-it-all-in approach is anchored to a belief in scarcity (or that panic you feel as you face down forty and think you will never, ever have fun again when you reach it.) And it will exhaust you if you let it. I totally bought into that YOLO life philosophy for years and, yeah, I pushed myself to do some pretty awesome things, which I do not regret.
But balance and peace are what I crave. A little activity, a little rest, and no drama. New rules around here, I’m scheduling in couch time as an important weekly activity.
Hope you’ll join me in balancing your own life. First, get your hair colored. Then, hop on your couch. We’ll see where it goes from there.
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As I read my thoughts from last fall, I remembered how tired I felt when I wrote it. How much I just wanted to stop moving. Summer is time to s l o w d o w n . I’m now in the process of reviewing my summer list to make sure everything on there fits my idea of “summer slowly” and that I can make time for long evenings sitting on the lanai just staring at our neighbors doing the same, naps on the couch, walks with my Stephen at his smell everything pace, and lots of daydreaming. Give me some time to cut the fluff and get it just right before I share it with you here.
This is the reason I haven’t stopped by here in over a month …
Stephen Jameson “T-Rex” Mooney joined our family on March 31. Part dachsund, part spaniel. Master snuggler. Expert napper. Kissing bandit. Stealer of hearts – human and canine alike. We’ve been getting used to each other’s routines, quirks, and chew toy preferences. Our boy is quickly ruling our world and making everything about it awesome®. (Check out my Instagram feed since he adopted us).
We’ve been busy with other things, too:
I’m hoping now that we have our routine established (it’s Stephen’s morning nap time right now and he’s on the top of the couch behind me wrapped around my neck), I can find more time to drop in here. I still owe you my Jamaica photos and my video from last fall’s Dominican Republic trip. And I am really excited about summer – more and more boats are appearing here in Cabot Cove, seasonal places are opening, and we have confirmed that Stephen LOVES the beach! (Not sure if he can swim well, though. That T-Rex problem with his short legs and all.) In any case, Ptown, we’re ready for you!