F: What was the last thing that made you laugh?

L: A well-timed and unexpected joke about homo erectus.

F: What is something that you found interesting lately?

L: It is inaccurate to refer to bocce as bocce ball; it should only be called bocce. I was corrected in a way that was very reminiscent of a time when I pronounced the word espresso as ex-presso. Suffice it to say, I won’t make either of these mistakes again. And so soon after declaring my love for the game…

F: Have you kept up the yoga after your 30 days?

L: Not so much but I’m still planning on it.

F: What is your favorite thing to do on a nice day?

L: Be outside by or on the water with people I love.

F: What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?

L: Work on my dance moves! I’m not saying that’s actually true but it gives me an excuse to post this video you sent me the other day. You’re the best.

Day Bed

By Lauren

August 20, 2013

Personal & Interior Style

2 Comments

A few weeks ago on a hot summer Sunday, a friend of mine came over to my apartment and we sat outside on my fire escape with beers talking about life. Among other things we talked about the layout of my apartment and how I loved the natural light in my bedroom but didn’t take good advantage of it. We talked about all the ways my apartment could be reconfigured. And then, on a whim, we just went for it. For the next several hours we switched my bedroom to my living room and vise versa.

I’ve always been someone who regularly rearranges my furniture (even in my small 400 sq. ft.) apartment. But this has been my biggest change yet. It also basically means that you enter my apartment straight into the bedroom. For years, I’ve been really hesitant to even consider this as an option but now I’m really going for it. Once I feel like things have better come together, I’ll post some pictures but for now, these are some of the images from which I’m drawing inspiration.

Images: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Bocce

By Lauren

August 15, 2013

Personal & Interior Style

4 Comments

(Image via Flickr)

Our whole family has gotten really into bocce lately. We played it a ton in California over Albert’s birthday weekend and again while were just in Cleveland. It’s the perfect summer lawn game. You can play for as long or as short as you want and it’s easy to keep swapping in new people.

When I saw this DIY painted horseshoes post on Design Love Fest, I immediately thought of making my own unique bocce set. You could incorporate so many great colors and patterns. I’m liking the antique bocce set above (via here) as inspiration.

Coast to Coast

By Lauren

August 8, 2013

Coast to Coast

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Sailboats and the Cleveland skyline on Lake Erie

F: What is your favorite breakfast food and why?

L: I love oatmeal with honey, coconut, almonds or walnuts and maybe some golden raisins. A few years ago I went to the Omega Institute for a week-long yoga retreat. The food there is all vegan and it is out of control delicious. One of the things they have is a oatmeal bar with toppings I’d never before dreamed of (i.e. coconut). I love coconut and the concept that I could eat it every day with oatmeal really changed my life in so small but true way. I think it’s my favorite because it’s filling. There are obviously many other delicious breakfast foods but I’m always hungry again so soon after I eat most of them.

F: What is a book that you have always wanted to read, but haven’t gotten around to it?

L: I’ve read the first chapter of Moby Dick about a half a dozen times. It’s clearly a sort of masterpiece but all I really know about it is that there’s a whale and a guy named Ishmael. One day I’ll commit and really get into it.

F: What do you think makes a good toast?

L: I keep thinking this says, “What do you think makes good toast?”. I think I’m still thinking about breakfast foods. Anyway, I think one of the most important things in making a good toast is that people can hear you. Aside from that, I don’t think you can go wrong if you’re heartfelt.

F: What are you most looking forward to this week?

L: Teddy and Kelley’s wedding, of course!

F: What is something unexpected that makes you happy?

L: I love when I find a penny heads-side up, wrote about it here once.

31 Days

By Lauren

August 6, 2013

Holistic Living

2 Comments

I challenged myself to 31 days of a consistent yoga practice for the month of July. I think I did pretty well but I’ll tell you upfront that a couple of days went by without even a forward bend. Nonetheless, I’m happy with myself for sticking to it and thankful to Farrell for motivating a few times when I had every intention of taking the day off. While I went to a lot of classes during the course of the month, the majority of my practice was at home. I found a bunch of great podcast classes, ranging in length from 20 minutes to an hour and a half. If you already know the basics of yoga and alignment, I think this is a great option, especially when you don’t have time (or think you don’t have time) to go to a class. Some of my go-to’s are:

Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga with Kinndli | Yoga Flo with Jennifer | Om on the Range Yoga | Lean Power Yoga | Yoga to the People

just the knowing

By Lauren

August 2, 2013

Inspired & Inspiring

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just the knowing
that some things grow fast while others go slow
says nothing to measure my speed

light years ahead
and buried below
say nothing of the speed which i go

before and after and future ahead
counter and measure the life that i know

wherein we went fast
wherein we went slow
changes nothing of the things that i know

*
image via here

Something Weird Going On Inside

By Lauren

July 31, 2013

Inspired & Inspiring

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I guess they’ve been out for awhile but I only recently heard about Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Apparently Seinfeld is a big car guy, so for each episode he selects a car that he thinks is fitting for his guest – always another comedian – and goes to pick them up for coffee.

There are a lot of little funny moments in each of the episodes but my favorite, by far, is the episode with Bob Einstein. Other than playing the surrogate father on Arrested Development, a character I’ve always found hilarious, I’m not really familiar with Einstein. Maybe that made his episode all the more funny to me. Jerry starts their day by telling Bob about the car he selected especially for him. “It’s special. It’s like you. You look normal but there’s something weird going on inside.”

My own selection of car photos from top to bottom: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Picturesque

By Lauren

July 29, 2013

Pictures

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I had a super quiet weekend in New York, mostly hanging out on my own. I did a lot of walking and biking around, some shopping, some reading in the park and some cleaning at home. I’m finding it so hard to be back in an office on Mondays this summer after spending so much time outside over the weekends. Hope you had a wonderful weekend & enjoy this week’s round of pictures!

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Mara – Traveling in Vietnam and Cambodia

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Constance – Los Angeles, CA

Awesome weekend biking to downtown and around.

An installation at the Geffen/Moca

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Ryan – Chicago, IL

At the Legends of Summer tour with Jay-Z and JT! It was rawsome.

Nervous Energy

By Lauren

July 26, 2013

Inspired & Inspiring

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(image via here)

self-exam (my body is a cage)
by Nick Flynn

Do this: take two fingers, place them on
the spot behind your ear, either

ear, the spot where your skull drops off

into that valley of muscle
& nerve—that is the muscle that holds up

the skull, that turns the dumb bone
this way & that, that nods your face up &

down when you think you
get it—press deeper, touch the little bundle of

nerves buried there, buried in
the gristle—the nerves that make you blink

when the light bewilders you, that make your tongue
slide in & out when you think you’re in

love, when you think you need a drink, touch
that spot as if you have an itch, close your eyes &

listen, please, close
your eyes—can you hear it? We think our souls live

in boxes, we think someone sits behind our eyes,
lording in his little throne, steering the fork to

the mouth, the mouth to the tit, we think
hungry children live in our bellies & run out with their

empty bowls as the food rains
down, we sometimes think we are those

hungry children, we think
we can think anything & it won’t

matter, we think we can think cut out her tongue,
& then ask her to sing.

Coast to Coast

By Lauren

July 24, 2013

Coast to Coast

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F: What is your favorite TV show and why?

L: I barely watch anything these days. I haven’t even finished watching all of last season’s Mad Men which is one of only three shows I watch religiously (the other two are GIRLS and The Bachelor/Bachelorette – don’t hate). I’m kind of thinking about starting Game of Thrones but it sounds like a lot of effort. Check in with me again in the fall or winter and I’m sure I’ll have a whole list.

F: What is on your list of summer essentials?

L: Well, let’s see: a good hat, jean shorts, sun glasses and a good travel bag for getting out of town. And ice cream.

F: What is the most “New York” thing you have done recently?

L: I’ve actually been getting out of the city a lot these days, which in itself is a pretty New York thing to do in July & August. I’ve also been riding the new citibike bike shares all over town. It’s just the best. I ride them back and forth to yoga a lot and it’s just really fun.

F: What is something new that is in your life that you can’t believe you have lived without?

L: A second fan in my apartment. I’m not really a fan of air conditioning so I don’t have one but there is always one span of time each summer that is unbearably hot in my apartment. I’ve always had a fan in my bedroom that sometimes I would move into the living room, but mostly not. Now I have a second, smaller fan for my living room and it feels good!

F: Can you believe our little brother is getting married in less than 3 weeks?

L: I know, right?! I’m so excited. It has been such a fun year leading up to their wedding and I can’t wait to get to Cleveland and celebrate with all of you!