A Month of Photos: Days 9 & 10

Yesterday I was dying of a headache disease, otherwise known as a migraine, so I had to (again) put off photos.

Day nine is supposed to be a photo of someone who has gotten you through the most and I hate to sound...however I'm sure this makes me sound, but I think the person who has gotten me through the most is myself. Since I was 18 I've entirely supported myself. I've had friends and others who helped me during hard times but I haven't had anyone else to pay my bills or buy me a car or let me come home when I couldn't afford rent or who paid off my credit card. And I know that finances aren't probably what this was supposed to address but I feel that when you're able to provide for yourself financially you've achieved much more than that. I've never had someone that explained paperwork for me or helped me with my taxes or made big purchases with me. And yeah, I've paid too much for a car repair, I've not been able to go do things with friends because I couldn't afford it, and I've been nauseatingly nervous before signing paperwork with wonder over whether I was doing this correctly but I'm also thankful for all those lessons and that I feel confident and capable without relying on others. It makes me feel good to know I can take care of myself. Of course there have been times I've thought it would be nice to be able to be a bit more carefree and make some bigger mistakes knowing there's someone to bail me out if needed but also, as I leave my early twenties and enter my mid-late twenties and I see people around me with their parents still paying their bills or getting them out of tough positions they've gotten themselves into, and it makes me really happy to be doing well on my own and to not have to worry about transitioning into truly standing on my own two feet at 26, or worse, later. I feel good to be through that phase.

Day ten is supposed to be a photo of someone you see yourself marrying in the future. Which is pretty stupid so I'm not doing that. I will say that I see myself marrying someone who doesn't believe in traditional gender roles, someone who at least feigns interest in the things I'm passionate about, someone with different interests than my own, someone who will allow me to cook every night and knows the value in waiting until 10pm if needed to eat the most amazing food, someone who's willing to try new things, and someone who is okay with me having my own private place away from the one we share. Also someone who doesn't comment on what's going on in my closet because I seriously don't need someone asking why I have eight pairs of black heels.

A Month of Photos: Days 7 & 8

Yesterday I spent the whole day being supremely unproductive and it was wonderful so I didn't end up posting my photo for the day. Which means you get two (and really it's three) today!

Day seven was supposed to be a photo that shows the real you. I guess to me that means something vulnerable. I have four tattoos but the ones that have the most significance to me are the ones on my wrists. One says 'live' and the other says 'heal.' I got the one that says live during a time in my life where I felt really stagnant. I think to some tattooing the word live on your wrist would be a reminder to do big things and take risks but for me it's more about doing things that challenge me but also being sure to work towards bettering my life and creating the way I want to live. It's a reminder to not be reckless.

When I got the word heal tattooed on me I was feeling a lot of hurt from a few things going on in my life and I needed a reminder to move on and get better and to grow from those things rather than dwell in them. I wanted to remember to learn from life rather than be brought down by it.

Both are in white ink so while they're out there for everyone to see few people actually notice them and it makes me feel as if I'm carrying around a secret. In a good way.




Day eight is "a picture that makes you laugh." So here it is.



UPDATE: These are what the tattoos look like today. Literally.

A Month of Photos: Day 6, somewhere I've been

I have this habit of never taking pictures when I travel. I get so wrapped up in experiencing what I'm doing and where I am that I end up with a few last minute photos when I remembered to take some. Also I don't like to put pictures of people on my blog without making sure it's okay with them. So for that reason you get a very loose interpretation of a travel photo.



For awhile I was visiting Boston pretty regularly to see a friend. There was one trip where we met in Chicago then flew back to Boston together. In Chicago we wanted to find a toy store for something...a back of the door basketball hoop I'm pretty sure. At one place we found these amazing scooters that we really wanted but they were like $200 and also we had to go to Boston on a plane and scooters probably would have been an oversized or not allowed item.

When we got back to Boston we went to Providence, RI to see a concert and on our way saw a Toys 'R' Us so we decided to stop and see if we could make a last effort to find a basketball hoop since apparently Chicago doesn't carry them. Somehow we decided to also buy a bunch of musical instruments including a keyboard and that we would use these to busk except we don't really like that word so we just called it pan-handling. When we got back to Boston (again) and bought bongos and decided to do this thing.

There was a lot of thought that went into this. We decided typing a sign, using a guitar case but no guitar, and wearing designer jeans would be the ultimate in pan handling irony. We went to Newbury street, a high end shopping area in Boston, and camped out in front of Ralph Lauren. We stayed about two hours before being interrupted by a thunder storm and having to pack up and run.

It was by far one of the most fun things I've done while traveling or ever.

A Month of Photos: Day 5, A Favorite Memory

There was a weekend a few years ago when someone very special to me and myself spent the weekend together. It was probably one of the most lazy weekends I've had to date. We even ate in bed. It was also over the 4th of July weekend and on that day we went outside and lit sparklers, the majority of them duds, and then ended up falling asleep in the grass. He woke me up sometime in the middle of the night to go back inside and when it was really morning we both realized we were covered with bug bites. I think we also realized we should probably become functioning members of society as well. After pulling myself together and getting dressed I came upstairs and he told me there was a present for me but I had to find it. I couldn't and he refused to tell me what it was and we both had lives to get back to so he left. It wasn't until later that I found my surprise.

A Month of Photos: Day 4, A Photo of My Day

This pretty much sums up my day. There will be more on this tomorrow.