out with the old...

 {via jeff rogers}

i returned to nyc earlier this week after a 10-day trip down south (south carolina for christmas and georgia for new year's) feeling renewed and ready to take on whatever 2012 brings my way. don't get me wrong, many wonderful things happened in 2011, but last year also had some low (maybe even super low) points.  to re-cap, here are my "highs, lows and uh-ohs" for yesteryear in no particular order:

highs
1) birth of my nephew jack
2) traveling cross-country/the world for work
3) a budding romance
4) an assortment of nyc visitors (jason/tj, ethan/john, sara and jean)
5) delightful musical endeavors (the dodos, beirut and dent may)
6) loved ones united in matrimony (cathryn/palmer, catherine/chad)

lows
1) my sweet friends katherine and victoria moved out of nyc
2) heartbreak twice over
3) moving from greenpoint (my beloved brooklyn hood) to a different neighborhood that shall remain nameless, and...
4) dealing with less than stellar/shady brokers 
5) getting into a scuffle with management over no heat last winter

uh-ohs
1) identity theft
2) uninvited guests showing up at our door at the wee hours of the morning
3) my sorta new suitcase losing a wheel mid travel season

so clearly the ups trumped the downs last year (phew!), which is always a plus. stay tuned for my list of resolutions for the new year...

hurry up and wait

we had one of the biggest weather teases a couple weeks ago here in nyc (with a high of 70 degrees) that everyone's been fixated on ever since. new yorkers had smiles stretched across their faces, and people just seemed... nicer. then it went back down to the 40's, and we've been crying on the inside ever since.

here's a new mixtape that's been pulling me out of this winter slump, though, prepping me for the glorious spring ahead. happy listening!

mixtape #6

1. "houseboat babies" - reptar
2. "canopy" - painted palms*
3. "coronado" - deerhunter
4. "40 day dream" - edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros
5. "weekend" - smith westerns*
6. "black night (magik version)" - the dodos*
7. "seafarer" - tennis
8. "still sound" - toro y moi
9. "lahaha" - shugo tokumaru
10. "tryst with mephistopheles" - owen pallett
11. "commotion" - the hundred in the hands
12. "bury us alive" - strfkr
13. "machu picchu" - the strokes


*note: the dodos' new album (no color) and the smith westerns' album (dye it blonde) are way cheap on amazon right now and way worth it. and painted palms' ep (canopy) is free to download. free! treat yourself. spring would approve.