sometime when i sleep...

...Erik texts me silly pictures of our cat so I'll see them when I wake up. I love my life.

body talk

The thing I like best about about my job is that I'm constantly learning and challenging myself. I recently interviewed a psychologist and body confidence expert on the negative images and self-talk that constantly surrounds women. For me, it's a tricky line to toe: Are the weight-loss articles that I write helpful or harmful? The content is empowering, but display copy like "so long, flabby arms!" and "bikini-ready body" is a bit hard to swallow. On a personal level, I've never been happier in my own skin. It makes me sad when people deprive themselves or nit-pick their beautiful bodies. As a reminder to myself, though, I'm going to make a conscious effort to stop saying things like "you look great, have you lost weight?" and go for "you look radiant!" instead.

little letters

Dear towers of light,
I didn't take a very good picture of you, but you're hauntingly beautiful.

Dear New York,
Earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist threats, oh my. Let's aim for a safer fall and winter!

Dear acquaintances,
Please don't underestimate the power of a thank-you, especially when I'm doing you a favor.

Dear Rise of the Apes movie,
Even though you weren't a comedy, you made me laugh. Two thumbs up.

Dear vacations,
I can't wait.

dear new york...

Happy anniversary. I can't believe that we've spent a decade together already. My goodness, was I clueless in the beginning! Remember how I didn't even know that Manhattan was an island? But your bustling energy drew me in—until those two towers came smashing down. I almost abandoned you, but I'm grateful I didn't. Over the next 10 years, I moved all over (UES, Alphabet City, Bed-Stuy and Williamsburg); fell in love and got my heart broken; achieved my career dreams; and met the man who makes me happy every single day. I've had so many adventures and memories, both good and bad, and I wouldn't change any bit of it. You've taught me so much: how to take a risk, how to get up after getting knocked down and—most importantly—how to live a life worth living.

Picture: Taken my first month in the city, more than 10 years ago! Don't I look different? (Erik says no.)

just one of those days

Ever have one of those days where you just can't seem to shift out of first gear? Yep. That's me right now. Although I went to bed at 10:30 last night, I've been feeling totally exhausted today. It doesn't help that I got a slew of last-minute assignments and revises this morning. But after doing three interviews in a row, I curled up an took an hour-long mid-afternoon nap that was just delicious. Freelancing for the win!

"is this shoot over yet?"

Yesterday I asked Erik to snap some reference images for a workout story I'm working on, and Gus insisted on being in the shoot. I've been cracking up at the pics! Look at his adorable expression in this one. Anyway, Amanda and Anthony came to pick him up today—after an epic and crazy journey home—and his excited reunion with them was so cute. Aw. As excited as I am to sleep in tomorrow (uh, major props to you parents out there!), I have to say I miss his tongue-lolling little face looking expectantly at me. If I didn't think my cat and landlord would both have nervous breakdowns, I'd probably be at the animal shelter right now.

P.S. While discussing pets, Erik told me that his dad had a pet tiger as a kid in Colombia. WHAAAAAT.

the puppy life

I've been hanging out with this cute face this weekend while his parents are out of town. This is much to my poor cat's misery—I thought she would just ignore him, but she had a meltdown of Whitney Houston proportions yesterday. Anyway, I was joking to a pal yesterday that puppy-sitting has forced me to realize what kind of mom I'm going to be: The type that gives her kid a singsong running commentary ("Ooh, let's go to the pa-aa-aark") and uses the collective we incessantly ("Are we thirsty? Do we need to poop?"). On the upside, at least I'm going to give my kid some awesome self-esteem. The drunk guy near the dog run burst in to laughter when he overheard my shower of compliments ("You were such a team player! Everyone loved you!") on our walk home.