It's Your Life

A couple entries ago, I mentioned that I would creating a personal manifesto in order to help me decide what content I want to feature on my new website (TheStyleGeek.com). FYI on the site- My friend Justin is actively working on putting it together for me. The biggest hurdle is as soon as I choose the most appropriately girly theme...

Anyways- back to the personal manifesto. I'm still in the "vision mapping" process. This is where you take a stack of magazines and cut out images that "speak" to you. I went through half of my magazine stack last night and so far, I've "talked" with 19 different images, including Tory Burch with an Indian man, the editors of Vogue in the front row of a runway show during Fashion Week, a few cute and cuddly animals and two pictures of Rachel Bilson, my personal style icon. (Have I mentioned that I "heart" Rachel?)

Tonight, I revisited the pictures I had cut out yesterday and was at a loss to figure out how to turn some of these images into possible website content, much less how they connect to the core of who I am as a person. That's the thing. For me, my website is more than just a place for people to keep up on the latest fashion trends or technology gadgets. (Get it? STYLE GEEK??) It's a statement about my character and what I value. So far, it seems that my life revolves around clothing and while that's one component of me, it's not necessarily what I want to be known for. (I can hear people talking about me now: "She's not very...but she sure does have cute clothes!" Umm.. no thanks!)

I've been listening to a lot of great Christian music lately (I have a love/hate relationship with the genre. It's either awesome or super cheesy.) and one of my current favorite songs is called "It's Your Life" by Francesca Battistelli. She sings: "It's your life. What you gonna do? The world is watching you. Everyday, the choices you make say who you are and what your heart beats for. It's an open door. It's your life."

I'd encourage all of you over the next few days to join me in being mindful of the choices you make and what they say about who we are and what's important to us. Who or what are our hearts beating for today?

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

*Photo Courtesy of Gwen Bell

This Is What I Look Like When I Wake Up Late...

Unfortunately, waking up late also means I didn't get to post an entry this morning. Check back later today, and as always, thanks for reading!

New Blog Series: Letters To My Former Self

First of all, I have to say that I'm super excited about my newest follower, Jess Crew. Jess and I were friends in high school and lost touch afterward, but have reconnected and formed a unique bond through the magic of Facebook. The internet has an interestingly wonderful way of bringing people together. I'm thrilled to have Jess reading these posts and look forward to her thoughtful insights!

Second, I wanted to introduce a new series of entries that I will be posting on here every Sunday (starting next week). The series is called "Letters To My Former Self" because it's based on my old journal entries. (In case you didn't know, I've kept one since I was in second grade.) In the posts, I'll re-write an excerpt from an old entry and give myself advice--sort of a "what I would have done then, if I'd only known what I know now" thing. Hopefully that makes sense. I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Thanks to my friend Valery for the awesome idea!

Two more things before I go:

1.) I broke down and bought a Blackberry this weekend. I'm now virtually connected in literally every way imaginable. I'm sure I'll be posting tips and tricks I discover on here from time to time, but for now, fellow Blackberry users, take a look at Laptop Magazine's Top 10 Blackberry Apps. I'm rapidly becoming an UberTwitterer myself...

2.) Not sure if you've seen the cover of the November issue of Lucky but Rachel Bilson (my personal style icon) is wearing a boiled wool military jacket by Gary Graham. Her jacket rings up at $845, but you can find a similar knock off at Forever 21 for only $24.80.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Today is my mom's birthday. Words can't express how much I wish that I lived close enough to celebrate with her, but the reality of our lives right now is that we are more than a few time zones apart. Therefore, I will do the best that I can to celebrate her life and all that she means to me in this entry--though words really can't express that either.

When I was growing up, my mom had a mug with a picture of a woman with curlers in her hair, laying prostrate on a couch. Beside the woman was a vacuum and a cluttered floor. The caption on the mug read "Sometimes the handles of reality seem a little slippery to Helen." As a kid, I failed to understand why mom loved--and even seemed to identify--with that mug. Now that I'm married, I'm beginning to comprehend half of the mug's meaning to my mother. (The other half will come when I have children, I think.)

As women, we often (willingly or unwillingly) sacrifice ourselves at the altar of our families. My was (and still is) the perfect example of someone who freely gave of herself, her time, her money and even the shirt off her back (which I often stole from her closet when she wasn't looking) so that my dad, brother and I could live a comfortable existance.

Growing up, there weren't too many nights when a made-from-scratch dinner wasn't on the table between 5-6 p.m. (Sometimes I'm lucky if take-out from the local Chinese food joint makes it onto a TV tray by 8 p.m.) I can't recall the laundry ever piling up in our house. (As I type, I'm staring at an overflowing hamper.) And I don't remember hearing her complain even once when purchasing new "back-to-school" outfits for me meant that she would be wearing the same wardrobe for the third year in a row. (To this day, mom marvels at what a shop-a-holic I am.)

If you asked her, she'd deny all of this and say that she's "far from perfect." (I can literally hear those words coming out of her mouth right now.) Interestingly enough, she'd also tell you that one of her biggest regrets is not having any direction (a.k.a.- a "thing") in life. (Sound familiar?) But that's not how I see it. Her "thing" is our family and she excels at putting us first.

So, today on her XX birthday (number erased to protect the innocent), I celebrate her and her selflessness.

Mom, I love you. I couldn't have asked for a better example of what it means to be a Godly wife and mother. If I turn out to be half the woman you are, then I'll count my life as a true success. Consider this post a virtual hug from me (and The Far Side) to you.

Love,
Your Jennysue

I Wanna Dance With Somebody!

Have I mentioned that Dancing with the Stars is my FAVORITE SHOW EVER!!??!!?? I've never watched a show that brings me so much joy. Seriously. Sometimes my toes literally start to wiggle when I'm watching the couples dance. I'm a little over halfway through tonight's performances; and I have to say that even if I found Aaron Carter's assertion that he and partner Karina Smirnoff will win the competition more than a bit presumptuous, their dance this evening was amazing.

Husband and I went dancing this weekend. Just the two of us, out for a night on the town. I like to delude myself into thinking that I'm a good dancer, but I'm really not. In fact, as I was cutting the proverbial rug on Saturday night, I kept having these out-of-body experiences and thinking "What are these people watching me dance, saying about me?" I'm sure that I don't want to know, but honestly, I couldn't care less.

I said all of this to say that whether I'm watching it on TV or doing it myself, dancing makes me happy. What is it that makes you happy? Whatever it is: Find it, watch it, do it. Now.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

P.S.- Mya and Donny Osmond were absolutely divine (Yes. I said divine.) as well!!!!!

New Music From Old Faves

Short post today. Husband and I threw an impromptu BBQ this evening, and I'm exhausted.

Through the magic of Twitter I found John Mayer's new single as well as a new (partial) song from Dave Barnes. (Yes, I'm doing some tweeting these days. And yes, I realize it's virtually--pun intended--pointless.)

I'm far from a music critic, but Mayer's new song sounds a lot like some of the tracks from his Continuum album, namely Heart of Life. The difference is that the new track, entitled Who Says, is all about "getting stoned"--something Mayer's been an advocate of for quite a while and I myself find to be his most morally repugnant trait. Still, I like the song (mainly because I love him) and I'm giddy with anticipation of his new album being released on November 17.

As for Dave Barnes new song, it's also very similar to his old stuff. However, I started listening to Dave in 2006 and have had his first CD (from 2006) playing continuously in my car stereo for the past month. Songs like "Until You" and "Crazyboutya" never get old! Very glad to hear he's back in the studio again. (If you've never heard of Dave, I highly suggest you check out him and his music: www.davebarnes.com. You can listen to songs from his most recent album on his website.)

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Friday Favor

I'm sure you guys have an incredibly busy weekend planned, but if you get a free minute, do me a favor and visit the GAP Casting Call website to vote for my little buddy Ashton P. to win the Baby GAP modeling contest. Believe it or not, Ashton is actually even cuter than that picture (if it gets any cuter than those baby blues and that popped collar).

In case you can't tell from the picture, Ashton's parents are incredibly talented photographers. I would recommend their work to anyone and everyone who appreciates the value of "capturing life" as it happens.

Thanks in advance for voting!

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

A Case of the Montuesdays

As predicted, this whole three-day weekend has completely thrown me off-schedule. Therefore, I'm blaming everything I've done or haven't done today on the fact that I keep thinking today is Monday. I'm calling this a case of the Montuesdays.

For instance, I didn't get out of bed until 7:00 this morning. I have to leave for work at 7:25, so I showered, threw my hair in a ponytail and didn't put on any makeup. Nevermind the fact that I (secretly)hate drying my hair and getting ready in the morning. I'm blaming Montuesday.

For breakfast, I ate a hard-boiled egg and drank some coffee. Lunch consisted of cottage cheese, carrots and tuna from a can, and around 3:00 I tried to convince myself that the artificial sweetener in my Diet Coke counted as my afternoon snack. I'm now starving and not looking forward to the chicken and vegetables I'm making for dinner. This has nothing to do with the fact that I've been eating like a pig since the honeymoon and had to end my love affair with sugar and carbs last night after I weighed in at two pounds over my acceptable limit. Nope. My sucky new diet is entirely Montuesday's fault.

Finally, since I was in Santa Cruz and couldn't make my Sunday afternoon grocery run, there is no food in our house. Therefore, I had to go to the market at lunch to get food for Husband and I to eat this week. This, of course, thwarted my lunchtime workout which is not helping take care of those extra l-bs. Not to mention that I am now in a crappy mood because I didn't get my afternoon dose of endorphins, which means I'm gonna have to fight extra hard not to breakdown when I see the bathroom "scunge" referenced in my previous post. Once again, I'm holding Montuesday personally responsible for all of this.

I'm ending this post to start cooking (my bland dinner) and cleaning (the "scunge" I'm pretending not to notice), which I'm not too thrilled about. Why? Because it's Montuesday. Feel free to leave your own Montuesday mournings below.

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Organizationally Challenged

Ah, home sweet home! Husband and I are back from Santa Cruz, trying to suck the last moments of relaxation from the weekend. He's playing video games and I'm blogging. (Sidenote: Does anyone else fail to see the point in video games? Particularly racing games. How many times can you turn left without getting dizzy?) As much as I love going out of town, I hate what it does to my routine. Weekend getaways mean starting the work week off behind on laundry, cleaning and other housekeeping items. I'm already feeling guilty about making this blog entry when I should be doing a number of other things.

Typically, this lack of organization results in a mid-week breakdown on my part. One minute I'm felicitously happy, the next minute I see some sort of "scunge" on the bathroom sink and become absolutely hysterical about my inability to keep the house clean. (Please tell me that at least one of you can identify with this.) This week, however, I'm going to try my hardest to spare Husband (who usually takes the brunt of my hysteria) from my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde persona. I mean, he's never had a meltdown over dirty dishes, so why should I?

I won't lie to you. This means a pretty drastic mental shift on my part. Sadly, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure that I can recall going an entire week since we've been married without feeling the slightest bit inadequate over some chore I failed to accomplish. (It's ok if you can't identify with me on that one. That's a good thing!) Therefore, I am going to issue myself a personal challenge this week; Relax, let it go and stop stressing. (I should probably carry that advice over into other areas of my life as well, but it's best to start small.)

Right now there's suitcases and various other things that need to be unpacked, and I should probably plan our meals for the next six days--but I'm not going to. Instead I'm to go downstairs and see if I can pry Husband from his "race". We've only got an hour till our self imposed 10 p.m. bedtime and I intend to enjoy it!

Until Tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

Vino and Amigos

One of the things that I strive for in this blog is honesty. Regardless of whatever else you might say about my writing, at the very least, I would like for you to say that I am always honest with you. So, in the vein of honesty, I will tell you that I am cutting this entry off before I even start it due to the fact that I have just enjoyed a lovely dinner with friends and am now at home enjoying a bottle of Ficklin Vineyards 1991 Vintage Port. (Sidenote: The Ficklins are personal friends of Husband's, so we'd encourage you to check out their wine selection.) There's a time for work, and a time for play. The key is to know when it's time to stop the former and start the latter. On that note, I will say...

Until tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

I Don't Know Where Georgia Is...

For one of the projects I am working on at work, I have been tasked with grouping countries together according to their proximity to one another. As I sat at my desk entering country after country into Google Maps, I was struck by how poor my knowledge of world geography is. In my defense, I have never taken a geography class. Neither my high school nor college curriculum required it. However, I don't think this is an excuse for not knowing that Egypt is in Africa-- not Asia-- or that Japan is smaller than China. (Alright, maybe I should have said that my geography skills are EXTREMELY poor.)

As if I haven't already embarrassed myself enough with the disclosures above, I thought I'd give you another laugh at my expense. This incident is also related to world geography and occurred a few years ago when I was working as a magazine editor...

I was editing an article for the travel and leisure section, when I came across this sentence: "Our cruise ship disembarked in South Georgia for a tour of an abandoned whaling station, where we saw young elephant seals, King penguins and timid Pintail ducks." I read the sentence a few times to make sure I was understanding it correctly before deciding that I had, in fact, come across a major typo. I mean, everyone knows you can't take a cruise ship to the state of Georgia, much less see penguins running around down there, right?? (DUH!)

So, I did what any good editor would do. I waltzed into my boss's office and proudly announced that I had found the typo to end all typos. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Boss, I was reading Jim's article, and he says that he took a cruise to South Georgia. I suppose he must have been thinking about Georgia (the state) when he was writing and accidentally put it in the article. Do you want me to call and ask him where he really took a cruise to?"

Boss (with very quizzical look on his face): "Jennifer, I think he meant South Georgia."

Me: "No Boss, look at the sentence. He says that he took a cruise to South Georgia. You can't take a cruise to the state of Georgia, much less see penguins running around down there!!" (DUH!)

Boss: "Jennifer, he means the islands of South Georgia...by Antarctica..."

Me (Feeling very stupid and not wanting to make things any worse than they already are): "Oh, ok. Thanks, Boss."

I promptly exited the office of my superior (who I'm sure was feeling all the more superior after that foible), retreated to my cubicle and typed "South Georgia (country)" into Wikipedia. And there it was...South Georgia..."a British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean." (Incidentally, Georgia is also a country that borders Russia and the Black Sea. I wonder if you can take a cruise there too...)

If you've ever found yourself in a similarly humiliating situation, you know that there's really no way to recover from an incident like that. The only thing you can hope to do is say something reasonably intelligent the next time you are around the person you embarrassed yourself in front of. However, my point in telling you that story is this: The sooner you learn what you don't know, the better; and if you can learn to laugh at yourself for what you don't know, well, that's better yet.

Until tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

The Rhythm of Life

Husband and I had a lovely day today. It was "Friends and Family Day" at the place he works for. For the sake of privacy, exact places of employment will not be revealed in this blog. I will tell you, however, that Husband is a mechanical engineer. So, "Friends and Family Day" was more like "Try to Educate Your Right-Brained Wife on What it is You Do in Your Left-Brained Job Day." Fortunately for Husband, I love to learn new things, and I found the event, which culminated in him taking me to a conference room, drawing a diagram on the white board and quizzing me on what I had learned, highly enjoyable. Additionally, I will now be able to carry on a somewhat intelligent conversation with Husband when he comes home from work.

After my engineering lesson, Husband and I drove the beautiful coastline that we live on, stopping by the pier to "catch" our dinner for the evening (a.k.a visit the local fish market). The pier was buzzing with people fresh off the adjoining beach, and there was a group of sea lions sleeping en masse on one of the pillars upholding the pier. The sun was shining. Birds were chirping. You get the picture.

There are certain times in life when everything comes together in almost rhythmic motion. Today was one of those times. I don't know what tomorrow holds. I could wake up tomorrow and find a lump in my breast. Husband could walk in to work Monday morning and be told that his department is being eliminated. I'm not anticipating any of this happening, but then again, who am I to say it won't? My point is this: Every moment we walk this earth is a gift. Every one of those moments that we get to spend with someone we love is precious. Those times of "rhythmic motion" are to be recognized, appreciated and savored. Live, laugh and love as often as possible.

Until tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

My Chick Flick

You don't know this yet, but I love celebrities and I love fashion. So, it goes without saying that my dream is to one day be a fashionable celebrity who plays the (stylish) female lead in every other chick flick produced for the rest of the 21st Century. (I'm willing to share the spotlight with Jennifer Aniston--my other favorite Jenn.) As I found myself nearing the age of 25 (senior citizen status in Hollywood) and living and working in North Carolina (about as far from Los Angeles as you can get without leaving the country)I began to let go of my "quest" for stardom (Can you call it a quest if you aren't actively working towards it?) and realize that my happily ever after was up to me.

So, I moved to California after falling in love with a guy I'd spent a total of a week and a half with. (The fact that he lived in California was merely coincidental and had nothing to do with "the quest," I swear.) Ironically, it is only now--a year and a half later-- that I realize how much my recent past has paralleled a chick flick.

However, now that I'm married (That's right. I sealed the deal, just like any leading lady would.) I still find myself longing for fame but not necessarily of the leading actress kind. I now live close enough to Los Angeles to make day trips to the city. I've seen the people (including the celebrities) who frequent the shops on Robertson and Rodeo. People who starve themselves to be thin, work their entire lives to accumulate stuff they can't take to the grave, and have meaningless relationships that last about as long as their pedicures. If that's what comes along with stardom, then I'm not sure it's for me.

I'm about to end this entry because my husband and I are going to heat up leftovers and start season two of Arrested Development. My life is far from glamorous, and I have no idea how I will ever achieve "celebrity status," but I can tell you this: The best chick flicks are the ones you write yourself, and there's no excuse for not pursuing your happily ever after. I'm looking forward to sharing "my movie" with you in this blog and to hearing your stories as well.

Til' tomorrow,
Jennifer Lynn

P.S- While I truly believe the statement about "writing your own chick flick," I promise to end future blog entries with a little less "cheese" (and make less parenthetical statements).