Can we have both?

This past weekend I spent down South at Watercolor Resort in Florida. This area is my absolute favorite place on Earth and always has been. I am immediately blissful upon arriving and always in constant awe. I've been here many many times in my lifetime. I grew up only a half hours drive from Seaside (the original quintessential town) and my family would take day trips frequently. But I still get giddy when visiting. 

Back in New York last night Chris and I plop down in bed after dinner and I ramble on and on about how lovely the weekend was and how amazing the house we stayed in was and how magical it all felt and how homesick I am now. I talk about wanting a beach cottage there one day (this had been a dream of mine FOREVER and a conversation we have frequently). He responds frankly and not in a mean way with, "You always want what you can't have." 

But that's not it at all. 

I took the train back to CT very early this morning in order to let our poor pup out of her crate before it hit the 13th hour mark. I had coffee and read my book during the commute thinking about how different life is out here, but how I also love it. I take Dixie for a quick walk before work and notice all the new buds on the trees!! Spring has sprung ;) I say hello to all my neighbors and their dogs also taking a walk on this lovely morning. Once back, I dress for work and glance out the window to high-tide and a glassy reflective water. I love it here. I do. But I miss home. 

It's not that I want what I can't have. It's that I want it all. (I don't know what's worse.) 

I want my children to grow up here for the culture and the diversity and the amazing public school system and the train and the City and in our beautiful and idyllic neighborhood. For the opportunities they will have, for the smart, open-minded, interesting and important people they will meet. For feeling challenged!

But I want them to also grow up in the South for the sweet, kind, and outgoing people. For their accents. For the hugs. For the slower pace. For the sun and humidity. For the beach. The REAL beach. Where the water is warm and the sand is sugary white. I want them to be close to their Southern grandparents Sue Sue and Pop and grow up playing with their redheaded Southern accented cousins Avery and McCarver. I want them to wear smocked monogrammed dresses and bubbles and HUGE bows in their hair. I want them to run around Seaside and Watercolor barefoot with salty skin and snowcones in their hands. 

I want them to be Yankee/Southern hybrid children. 

And I want to be bi-coastal. I don't want to just visit. I want to live near the Gulf and the Atlantic. Chris wants this too, I know it. He tells me we can work towards it and save for it. I just have to be patient. (I have a really hard time with patience. I'm working on it though....) 

In the meantime, we have booked another trip down to Watercolor for my 30th birthday and our first anniversary. I am counting down the days.....

Sweet Silence

It's 8:00AM and I'm curled up in our big red chair in my sunroom, with my laptop, and the view of high tide. Dixie is curled up at my feet, being such a good and chill dog ;) Oh! We got a puppy, from Alabama. Will post about her SOON! 

I'm not feeling so hot this AM, so decided to work from home till lunch. Oh! I now work full time at Serendipity magazine! I am an Ad Sales Executive and this morning I landed my first meeting!! Maybe I should work from home more often ;)

There is just such a sweet silence this morning out here in the burbs. The construction crew has arrived at the house down the street and their hammers and staple guns are out! The moms and kids are jumping into their cars to head to school - they usually walk - but it's 16 degrees out this morning. And Dixie is now chewing on a stick she brought in last night. 

I should try and get some work done before she needs a walk! 

Goals. NOT Resolutions.

I had 9 measly goals set for the month of December. Of those 9, I accomplished 3. Pathetic. 

Now, I could blame it on the dog. Seriously, she's still a puppy and a serious time-suck. It's kind of like having a 2 year old. You have to watch every move they make. They put EVERYTHING in their mouths. They teethe. They eat a lot. They are not quite potty-trained, but learning. It's exhausting. 

But if I'm honest with myself, it's not really (ALL) the dog's fault. I am just SUCH a procrastinator. 

So. These are my goals for 2012. And let's be honest who really stays true to resolutions anyway? Maybe if I put them out there, I'll at least feel more obligated to check them off the list! 

• Finish writing Thank You Notes by end of January (this was a December goal....).
• Learn French by September 1st, using the Rosetta Stone Chris gave me for my birthday 2 years ago. 
  
• Write a REAL Business Plan by April 3oth. Or else I am not to speak of this dream any longer. It's a waste of time. 
  
• Establish a routine for me and the dog by mid-February. 
• Establish an exercise routine, and get my husband on board too. 
• Organize the basement and set up a little laundry room (also on December's list...) 
• Organize the garage...and figure out what to do with it. 
• Hook up my new insanely expensive printer that's been sitting in the box since July. 
• Have a photography show at Arcadia by June. 
• Find a church I like. 
• Make two headboards. 
• Change my last name. 
• Hang blinds/curtains all over house.
• Take up yoga....again. 
• Oh, and commit to writing on this blog that I created ;) 

Happy New Year!!