the wish list.

Here's a small wishlist for this holiday season, which happens to include a few big things like time with friends and family, a fun trip, and my birthday!

 

fantastic print from here.I'd love a large print of this for my office!

I've been wanting this hat for too long. It shows a lot of self-restraint on my part that I haven't bought it yet!

I actually really want a mousepad. I know how silly this sounds, especially for those of you who know that my sole computer is a laptop, but at work I've been using a desktop and the mousepad they gave me was a super freebie and is in pretty awful shape. Maybe something like this would be nice?

 

I'd also really love this book, or any of the books on my Amazon wishlist. I've haphazardly been adding to the list throughout the whole year; usually a few books at a time and then nothing for months. But! Just Kids by Patti Smith was the first book to be put on the list and is still a want. 

I really, really want the movie "You've Got Mail." Really.

And last but not least, I'd love to make janaetime.com a domain name!

It's pretty random, but that's it! What's on your list this year?

Song Saturday!

I'm bringing back a song I loved a few years ago for today's Song Saturday! I added it to a mix I listen to at work and have been loving it every day. :) Hope you do too!

Do you have all of your Christmas shopping done? I'm much more behind this year than ever but I'm slowly starting to catch up! I hope you are too!

books!

 Like many of you, I've been a busy lady these last few weeks. I'm getting in the groove of working full-time and all that entails. I've been trying to stay warm in our very cold middle of the US that has been getting lots of snow dumped on it. The mayor was literally quoted as saying that we had over a million cement trucks worth of snow dumped on our city over this past weekend. Needless to say, there was a lot of time spent shoveling out and staying in.

I will be sharing a little wish list this week and hopefully a few other things. Please bear with me! Until then, think about how fantastic this little used bookstore is. I cannot remember the name of it, but it was in Washington D.C. and is overrun with books. Books are in the corners, in the closets, all along the stairs so much that it's difficult to get to the second level (yes there are levels!) and, my personal favorite, books for sale that live in the bathroom. What a fantastic place. The owner is a crabby old man who writes signs so you can try to find authors. He could tell you where any book you wanted was...even if it was incredibly misplaced, out of alphabetical order, and just stacked somewhere random. If you know the name of this bookstore, please remind me of it in the comments. Until then, I'm going to be dreaming of going back here and actually taking it all in and I'm sure purchasing many books!

*Please excuse the very raw photos. And have a happy day!

Secrets of Inspiring Women

 

I recently came across this website and specifically, this series of photos of inspiring, everyday women and I strongly recommend it! Seriously, click on the link. There are beautiful, heart wrenching stories, fun quotes and incredible pictures awaiting you. It may just be the inspiration you need today.

 

"I may be just another girl chasing challenge and chance in the big city, but my life is important. And I am living it that way."


All photos from Pictory.

snow snow snow!

Hi there friends. Like my "I just dug my car out of the snow for the 3rd time today" hair? Because it's probably here to stay. Our nice little city in the Midwest is getting hit really hard today into tomorrow and this is literally the only time I wish that I didn't have a car in the city. I'm always behind on snow emergencies and what side of the road it is okay to park on, and where did we put that shovel again? and can we just find some salt, please, because I need to make it to ___(insert destination here)___ and fast! (To which my roommates or whoever happens to be around me at that time says, "Janae, there is absolutely no way you can make it to ___(insert destination here)___ in only ____(insert time I used to be able to get to destination when there wasn't a layer of ice and a foot of snow on the ground)____ .")

Alas, this is my life as of this moment, though. After I accepted my job, one of the first things that hit me was that I wouldn't be able to move out of this area for at least a year, most likely for many more! Don't get me wrong, I love the area, I adore the people, and I have so much fun getting lost on these streets that everyday ends up being a new adventure. However, on a day like today, when all you really want is to be able to go outside of the house, get in the car, and drive to ___(insert destination here) (and include ice cream and hot chocolate and friends and laughs at said destination, please)___without spending 20 minutes scraping snow and ice, well, it's a trying moment.

I think the worst part is that this is my 22nd winter and it still never ceases to amaze me. I was born during a blizzard, for goodness sakes! Honestly, the sheen the snow gives everything and its ability to wash away any ugliness and replace it with an iridescent white glistening layer is incredible. It has the feeling of the holidays. It feels like things can happen. It feels like home.

Now if only it could have that feeling AND clear roads, I'd be in heaven.

UPDATE: Saturday morning.

My entire neighborhood was having a little 'shoveling out time!' party at 8am today and dang it, I love a good party so I joined in. At least now I can cross off "go to the gym" on my to-do list. Also, this is what I look like after I wake up in the morning, scared my car got towed (it didn't!), and then proceed to shovel it and lots of sidewalks because neighbors, even ones you don't know, deserve clear sidewalks, right?!

Wintertime.

Today was the first day in quite a few that I didn't have to completely scrape ice and snow off of my car early in the morning, just to make it to work. I'm very thankful for that. I've also gotten busier at work, getting more and more things to do and relearning how to prioritize and manage my time. At one point on Monday, I sat back and thought "Wow, it feels good to be busy." I think I'm finally getting back in the groove of things that makes me, me, and it feels good. I also took a Zumba class tonight, and was laughing and having a fantastic time. It's so nice to work out in a way that makes you excited to go back the next day. This week it has become a bit of a tradition for my roommate and I to watch a movie each night. Tonight's is Love Actually (his choice!) and I'm a happy lady, snuggled up under a blanket on the couch. December is going to bring big things, I can feel it.