Life: Sewn from Snippets

So here's the thing: in crafting this post, I had millions of details to share. Daily tidbits that form paragraphs in my head, that evoke words and descriptions and flow from my fingers like smooth water. But, I couldn't piece it all together with life. Real life. My life. All the things that happen, that I do...How do I get it to fit into a neat little expository post.

So I come to you with bits and pieces. Maybe not the best story, maybe not the most fluid. It's sewn together from thoughts and snippets I've scribbled over the past few weeks on my notes app - typed while tucked away between commuters on the train, while standing at the market waiting to buy some silly mix of groceries: pickles and summer squash, and from the seat of a cafe swatting flies and sipping green juice between life's things. I wasn't able to get it together until now because, well, I've been too busy living. And, I guess, that's not such a bad thing.

Right now, we're smack dab in the sluggish days of summer. More than that, we're holed up in the middle of a heat wave that would catch Dante off guard. Where everyone is in a perpetual state of drip-dry. Dewy bodies are perched atop brightly colored toes. Damp skin. Hair piled high. Hands blotting brows. Thick air. Country music in my ears - the only sound that seems to fit the long, meandering days. And the night hours are a welcome break where the heat is more like a cozy blanket than a smothering pillow.

Of course, though energy is low, life doesn't slow for this onslaught of stifling heat. I feel like you can tell how bananas a person's life is by the number of tabs open on her desktop. Right now...I have 22. 22 TABS!
Hands down. That sh*t is bananas.

Sometimes I wonder what life is like with a real job. A less random existence. An office. Spreadsheets. Structure. Clock in. clock out. It's usually at times like these when I spend my days hopping from one mindset to the next, living in a constant state of forced ADD. But let's be honest, that's just not “me.”

...So, my bestie's wedding came and went. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. While I did, of course, get my sweat on twirling under the arms of handsome boys like a good Maid of Honor should (gotta give the distant cousins something to talk about), I think the best part of a wedding isn't when you're in the middle of the madness fist pumping or chicken dancing. The best part is when you get to steal away and stand in a forgotten corner of the room and just take it all in. Stand back and wonder how it's possible that so much love fits in such a small space. The weekend was spent hanging out with my long-time friend, drinking too much, eating too much and celebrating two amazing people. I honestly don't know that I've ever been so happy for another person in my entire life.

After four days away, I was happy to get back to the grind upon arrival in BK. But something was weird. I had that feeling like just before a storm when everything is a bit off. When the air is eerie and smells funny. There's a salty bite in the wind. Like at any moment the storm will arrive and Toto will go flying past the bedroom window... Something was brewing...

I was booked on a commercial for a flea and tick medication the day after I came back. I have to say, I've had better co-stars than those three dogs and that cat (I mean, I have had worse too... :-/ ). By the end of the day, I was thoroughly covered in slobber and pet hair, and properly tick protected for the foreseeable future.

It wasn't long after the shoot that that immanent, brewing storm I had felt in my bones arrived. Toto appeared in the form of a phone call from my Father. I got word that my Grandmother had taken a fall and was in the ER. Within the hour, my cousin and I were on our way in a borrowed car to venture to the depths of a land time forgot. A place known to the world as: New Jersey. Following an elaborate string of family group texts discussing my Oma's condition, my dad decided to fly up for the week.

I shuttled back and forth, New Jersey Transit style, between states. My main job was to keep everyone light, and find the funny in all of the mess. Like, when my Dad had endured a 12+ hour travel marathon from Atlanta, spent the day at the hospital and after a long, thorough search we sat down at a little Italian spot. My Dad was pretty wound up and had just been telling me in the car how he wanted a Godforsaken glass of wine when the server slowly dropped the bomb that they were BYOB. I honestly thought my Dad may cry. He looked like someone had just bare-hand-murdered his new puppy. I, on the other hand... instantly started laughing. Just uncontrollable belly laughter. People were staring... It was just too perfect. Life just has a funny way of fucking you. Somehow, a simple glass of red turns into a statement.

In other happier news, Rachel and I had a pretty major week in TWP land. We officially released our efforts into the world!! (and you can see our company here: TheWellnessProjectNYC.com. Ah!) We've had some important meetings and signed on some partners. And, we're currently looking for our first two companies to implement our pilot program. Things are moving! For the time being, I keep tour guiding, too. On one last week, I spent the hours biting my tongue and swallowing my pride as I accepted pretentious jabs from an older, very well off woman. I tried to kill her with kindness as she spoke to me like a wayward orphan, and tried not to vomit as she droned on about whisking away to Nantucket and Paris and London, where they would “inevitably buy out Harrods.” She lived in a complete bubble of the Upper East, totally unaware of the other half (or really 9/10ths). It always amazes me the vast sample of the world I'm exposed to. I am really lucky to encounter so many varied characters in my motley life, even the terrible ones.

I think that's all for now. Piecemeal? Maybe. Honest? Yup. Now to get back to living...and sweating.

I wish you dreams of frozen kale smoothies and cucumber water. ...or ice cream and cold as shit diet coke. Whatever. Just stay cool, my friends. It's an obstacle course in a convection oven of big city proportions out there.