Friday, December 31, 2010

Little Lady Desktop Wallpaper

It's almost time to ring in the New Year! I wanted to update my desktop wallpaper on my computer and thought I'd share my image in case you'd like to use it, too. Apologies if the little lady is really little. Still figuring things out.


It's hard to believe we're bidding farewell to 2010. I have had incredible ups and difficult downs, but I am thankful for every single moment. As someone once said, you must be happy for those moments. Those moments are your life.

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

"We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential." ~Ellen Goodman

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” ~T.S. Eliot

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." ~Oprah Winfrey

I look forward to every single moment I am given in 2011.

May you all have a wonderful and safe New Year celebration.

until next time,

g

Monday, December 27, 2010

How to Survive a Blizzard in NYC

Santa gave me a nifty little instructional book titled, "The Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide for New York City". The book includes chapters like "How to Sneak Past a Doorman After Eviction", "How to Free Yourself from a Dog Walker's Leash Tangle", "How to Survive a Rat Bite", "How to Survive a Sample Sale", "How to Escape a Swarm of Pigeons" and even "How to Swim Across the East River".

What it doesn't include? How to survive a blizzard.

Thankfully, Little Lady survived last night's mayhem and is here to tell you her story.

Last night, I journeyed on a north-bound train from Virginia. It was such a pleasant little excursion. My seat partner left after a couple of stops so I had two seats to myself for the majority of the trip. With a bag full of food from my favorite college-town restaurant (Bodo's, for all you Wahoos), I lounged and listened to music as I watched the pretty snow. All was peaceful on my personal Polar Express.

I talked to friends who ran into trouble on the roads and in airports, but I remained optimistic and certain that I had avoided all weather-related problems. I was going to get back on time in an easy-breezy fashion with no problems whatsoever.

And then Mother Nature declared, "YEAH RIGHT."

After the conductor helped me unload my four bags, I found my way to an escalator to take me to ground-level at Penn Station. To give you an idea - I had one enormous suitcase, that I had to stand on in order for it to zip, that had everything inside from shoes to sweaters to a heavy vintage house phone. (Yes, I now have a "house" line and it makes me oddly excited despite the fact that my number is nearly identical to that of a sex hotline.) I also had a large duffle that was coming apart at the seams. Oh and I had a large leather bag full of books, sketchbooks, magazines and a computer. Oh and then I had my purse. A black hole of 50 million heavy things I am never able to find.

So there I was.

                   escalator.
              the
          up
Going

I thought to myself, "My apartment's just a quick little ride away and then I'll be home!"

As I got outside, the snow was falling sideways (let me rephrase, shooting sideways) into my eyes and my tiny hands were turning purple from the cold. My long hair wrapped around my head and stuck to different places on my face so I couldn't see. At one point, a nice British fellow helped me carry my bags to the street so I could be closer to the (sliding) cars with hopes of getting a cab. I'd see one, grab all my bags and hobble to it. Nearly 20 cabs shooed me away. I started to chase another one down and lost my footing, toppling backwards - my bags falling on top of me.

I went back inside Penn Station to thaw out for a second and call home.
"You don't understand", I said. "I don't know how I'm going to get to my apartment!"

I thought about trying to get my bags down to a subway, but in hindsight I'm certainly glad I didn't as people were stranded all night in subway cars without any heat.

Then I saw my only hope. My chariot. My...white party stretch limo.

I discussed my plan with a friendly stranger and the two of us convinced the driver to take us to our destinations. To my apartment? $50. To downtown where he needed to go? $150. Desperate? You bet. Flashing colored lights lined the ceiling of the limo; snow covered ever single window and I felt as if we had boarded a spaceship. We inched down 7th Avenue and began to slide uncontrollably.

And then we got stuck in a ditch.

After help from the other passenger, we got back on the road. We continued to head south.

And then we smacked into a car.

Our determined driver didn't stop, however. Well, until he got to the end of my street since he refused to turn down the snowy block.

So there I was. Back outside. With all 4 bags. By myself.

I managed to get halfway home, but the snow was up to my knees. The wind whipped down the street and I fell sideways into a ditch, tearing my pants and scraping my leg. At this point, I was frozen solid, bleeding, down a bag-strap, and my suitcase handle wouldn't budge. I was going to lie there and freeze to death. I'd always be known as the girl who couldn't carry her bags home.

And then I entered full survivor-mode.

I saw three friendly guys walking down the street and I yelled for help.

"HEY GUYS. HIIIII. EXCUSE ME. I NEED HELP!"

They helped me up and kindly got me settled on top of my stoop with all my luggage.

I made it, I thought. I finally made it.

I took a big sigh of relief, unlocked my door (after the guys had left) and turned around to watch all four bags roll down the snowy steps and bury in the snow. I wanted to scream. So I did.

Sidenote: I forgot to mention the fact that I had not gone to the bathroom since I left Virginia as I have a thing about public bathrooms. Ahem.

After heaving my bags one by one up my stoop and inside and then heaving them one by one up to my apartment, I collapsed in my kitchen.

I quickly discovered I had no hot water.

Ya know, right before my power went out.

I honestly wish I had had a video of my trek home, even though my mother is convinced she saw me in one on the Today Show this morning.

I feel like I fought in a war.

Little Lady vs. Blizzard.

I am still disheveled, face is entirely chapped and my kitchen floor is covered in snow residue...

...but I survived!

my street this morning


So how do you survive a blizzard in NYC? You cry, you ask a lot of people for help, you yell, you laugh deliriously, and you remind yourself it's all one crazy adventure.

until next time,


g

Friday, December 24, 2010

Santa's Coming!

Click here to hear the big announcement!

My niece got a letter in the mail from Santa a couple days ago.
As she said, "it's PROOF!"

Little Lady believes. Do you?

until next time,

g

Friday, December 17, 2010

100th Post: Neimann's Dough & My Fairy

I had to share this fun article from The NY Times by the artist, Christoph Niemann.
It's called, "Let It Dough!"























:)

You can find the article here.

And here is the artist's website.

Also, I decided to do a little illustration for my Christmas cards. 

I thought I'd share.

Meet my fairy!

 © 2010 vlh

In honor of my 100th post, I'm asking any readers out there to please follow my blog (if you aren't already) by simply clicking the "follow" button on the right-hand sidebar.
(the section above "The Daily Puppy")

Thank you so much for reading!

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!

until next time,

g

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Hallelujah!

How do I feel about Christmas? Click here.

Credit to my sister-in-law, Suzie, for sharing this. :)

until next time,

g

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Invisible Moments: Funny Cats

A smile for your Wednesday.



























all pictures from here

 until next time,

g
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...