I find "Your Day" Lame

So...I had this posted then got some negative feedback from a few people saying I was arrogant and hurtful. So I took it down. "I don't see what is hurtful. People are just upset that they have no capability of thinking outside the norm." It was refreshing to hear that from my sister. I don't think I'm either one of those things. Then I got down on myself for doing exactly what I don't like about a lot of people, conforming and editing myself. I decided to repost it. I think I'm just honest and critical of people who don't think outside of the box and live their lives according to what's traditionally acceptable in society. All I'm saying is, you don't have to agree with me. If you don't like what I write, don't read it!

Here I go...

Okay so apparently it’s wedding season? Magazines and my newsfeed are filled with wedding pictures, and I have to say I’m not in the least bit impressed with what’s going on. Where’s the originality? All I see are white shiny satin dresses, embellished with beads, embroidery, lace, ribbon, and sequins. YAK! Uhhhh What?! Why!? Some of you are probably reading this and thinking “what a bitch!” or “she’s not talking about my wedding pictures…is she?” well I’ll save you from your curiosity, and yes I probably am. I’m already iffy about weddings in general, and If and when I get married I’d like to think that it will be a pretty organic and laid back celebration of my relationship with my significant other.

Mirror lined walls, chandeliers with an abundance of crystal, gold leafed sconces, an overflow of manicured imported flowers, “would you like the meat, fish, or chicken?,” floor to ceiling windows..it’s just all so absurd! It’s all the same. Why would you spend so much money on such tacky and impersonal elements? Don’t you think your special day should be an exact representation of who you are and what you’re about? Don’t tell me that cheesy production you call a wedding, is who you are. I know you're better than that.

Honestly, I think I would consider a wedding at a Nascar racing track more interesting and respectable than a banquet hall. Atleast it would reflect your interest and be a complete representation of who you guys are.

My dad remarried last year, and there wasn’t one thing about his wedding that did not represent who he and my stepmom are. My dad work’s for Hostess cupcakes and is a “true” New Yorker, and everything about his wedding had Nove and Patten written all over it. The night before the wedding friends and family helped build their wedding cake out of Hostess cakes, which was later featured in Food Network Magazine! The ceremony took place on a water taxi that went up the Hudson river, around the Statue of Liberty and docked at the Brooklyn Bridge. We all celebrated at a small Italian restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge (my dad’s favorite New York landmark.) You know?! It was personal, intimate, and different.

I’d just like to, for once, see a wedding celebration that reflects the real beauty of what these people are trying to celebrate. I'm not completely hating on your day, I'm sure you were completely happy, but i think most of you could have done a better job celebrating. What's the point of a wedding party? A bright white wedding dress? Matching bridesmaid dresses? An overpriced bland wedding cake? I think the meaning and purpose of a wedding has been lost and completely compromised thanks to the billion dollar wedding industry. Hay, if you're into gaudy glitzy shit, that's fine, that's your thing, but at least make it original and not such a massly produced cookie cutter event. Why be an Enterman's cookie when you can you can be made from scratch and love? I think people have forgotten the point of a wedding, and that its not about image and showing off what you can, and in most cases can't, afford! It's about celebrating and sharing your happiness with the people you love. It’s just so typical, or American, that people go for the bigger is better route.

Jam on it!

Blackberries, blueberries and raspberries . Heck yes!

I went berry picking last week, on a beautiful cloudy Thursday, with my 2 sisters and brother. The drive was about an hour and a half and I was pilot of the journey. Looking into the rear view mirror and seeing the unenthused faces of my dear sisters, I was totally amped, as we drove into the grey horizon. I knew it was going to be a killer sibling fun day!

We arrived at Patty’s Berries and Bunches, which by the way was (not so) coincidently featured in Time Out New York after we went, and the lack of crowd was perfect for our photo shoot! Obviously the only reason my siblings and I hang out, is to take pictures of each other and post them on Facebook . This is always a guarantee to make our “friends” think we’re fun, cool and green with envy. I’m sure of it!

We got our baskets and skipped hand in hand down the rows of bountiful blackberry bushes, as if we were setting off onto the yellow brick road. We even took a nap in a field of poppies zinnias! Five minutes in we all felt the effects of the acidic berries turning our stomachs and staining our lips. I mean, it was completely necessary to test a berry from each bush! We couldn’t risk collecting bad berries and tainting our jam. Four baskets of blackberries, and we didn’t have enough. We decided we needed blueberries. We only got two baskets and divided into teams. Faith and Keith lost. Blah Blah Blah we picked more berries it was fun. We ended up with 10 quarts of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.

We learned a lot about berry picking:

1. The berry’s you can’t reach are the sweetest and most valuable…they’re also guarded by bee’s.
2. Establish your boundaries and berry etiquette.
a.If I saw my sister or brother picking from a bush where there were prize winning berries, I'd let them steal the glory and flaunt their findings…there are plenty of berries to find. I’m only saying this because there was a father and son, stepping all up in personal space and admiring our findings….uhhhh he he heeellloooooooo! You don’t mooch off of other people’s findings.
3. The softer the berry the sweeter the taste!

We went to Love Lane Kitchen on Love Lane in Mattituck after. We weren’t hungry but we knew should eat , because it was lunch time. Flash, Flash, munch, munch, pose..hayyyy we had a great day of taking pictures!

On our speedy drive home we passed the overrated and overcrowded east bound traffic to the Hamptons. I’ll say this…If you want a vacation, why would you sit in a shitload of traffic to be with everyone you want a vacation from? Anyway, thank you materialistic-egotistical-wasteful-weekenders for shifting to the shit end of the Island; your vacation is my vacation!

Berries washed, sugar measured, jars sanitized, bickering, dirty looks, dancing and constant stirring check, check and check! Surviving a crowded kitchen and a few minor burns, we ended with 18 jars of delicious jam, and you’re most likely not getting one!

Pins and Needles

Faith and I are going to join creative forces and start embroidering cool stuff you wish you thought of. Don't you worry, you'll soon be able to purchase our masterpieces! So,in preparation for this totally awesome and exciting venture, I decided to start using my precious hard earned cash-money, on the embroidering essentials. First step, I decided to get lost in the most amazing black hole of resources and inspirational eye candy: Barnes & Noble’s Craft book aisle. As I sat down on the floor with a pile of books I couldn’t afford, I felt myself flooding with creative plans and ideas!

So I got a book, or three! After spending hours of reading up on embroidering techniques, obviously the next step was getting the supplies. Failing to find my old collection of floss, that I once used to brand my friend’s wrists, announcing our friendship, I decided to head to a local store specializing in needlepoint. GASP! What the hell was I thinking?! “I’ll be right with you” said the sales (bitch), while I stared at a beautiful palette of floss on the wall. An ENTIRE wall! A few minutes passed by, when she finally decided to grudgingly help me, “what can I (not) help you with today?” As she stared me up and down, I told her I was interested in embroidery and wanted to know what I can do to get started. “This is a needlepoint store, I can’t help you!” Oh yea? As I stare into a wall of needles and floss, “Oh, okay, do you know where I could go to get stuff for embroidery?” It looked as if she was holding back vomit, and as she rolled her eyes in disgust “yea, there’s a store like that a few towns over.” So I got the information and drove 20 minutes to what I thought would be an embroidery Mecca. FALSE! “Oh we don’t carry any of that stuff here!” Once again walls of floss. “This is a cross stitching store, not embroidery!” Piss off! As a sales person in a knitting store, I was extremely confused as to why no one wanted to help me, especially, when they clearly needed the business and had the stuff I needed. I left the store extremely annoyed that these crafty bitches were so rude, and uninviting to newcomers into the needle crafting world. Their loss, not mine! However, if one of them happen to walk in my store, asking about crocheting, it’s a promise that I will not help those hookers!

Eventually I ended up at Joann Fabric’s and found what I needed. Hoops, fabrics, needles and floss. I’m all set, and heading to Faith’s in a bit to get started.

High-Tea

It's been 2 weeks since I've had a cup of coffee! Oh Wait only one week..sheesh! I definitely feel more hydrated from drinking tea, and regular...if you know what I'm sayin'! I don’t really crave the jittery high of coffee anymore, I mean not really, but yea. I’ve definitely, however, gotten into the whole tea thing. Okay so here’s something I feel a little silly about. Loose teas! I haven’t ventured off to buying loose teas yet , but I want to! When I pass the fully packed bags of organic herb, I get a little intimidated, because I don’t know what to do with it. Do I roll it? Do I weigh it into small serving sized baggies? I mean I know you use a tea ball and let it steep for a few minutes..but something makes me chicken out every time I stand too long in front of the dried flowers. When I finally get it, I feel like I’m going to end up frantically packing my high grade herb into my tea ball, before my roommates see what I’m up to. (Similar to the time when I was crushing aspirin to put in my home made bug repellent concoction, and was scared someone was going to see me with a mound of white powder on the kitchen counter!) I’ll probably go as far as hiding my stash, so that no one grubs my chamomile buds from me, just because!

Speaking of tea...I'm in absolute Kombucha withdrawal. I need it! I want it! I miss it!

Yarn Pusher

Oh hey! Guess who landed herself a j-o-b?! Yep it’s true! Just when I started to lose hope in settling for a nine to five, on the grind job, I got offered a position at the cutest knitting store! So, not only do I get to hustle beautiful yarns to the coolest grammys around, but I also get an employee discount and get to knit on the clock. I’m so happy I didn’t settle on any of the job offers that were being thrown at me from left and right! Seriously, it got a little overwhelming! Anyway, this is my dream, to be surrounded by shelves of colorful yarn and fellow knitters. Maybe I'll make some friends?

Sunday I attended my first knitting circle/class ever! I am currently knitting a Fair Isle hat that shortly turned out to be not so fair. When class was over I was so excited to show Mick my first try at a complicated pattern! “What’s this?” Oh yea? Of course Mick points out two , not so, obvious spots, where I dropped a stitch or two, that happened to be connected to my limp heart. Uverajmnbibmklnjbhopelm!!! Being a perfectionist, out came the needle and the heart wrenching unraveling, of my first un-masterpiece! Luckily I was motivated enough to reknit!

Berry Busy

All I have to say is don’t interview me if it’s not in your budget..right? I know it’s hard times..but my time is valuable too! Breaking dates with daydreams to go on an interview, is extremely detrimental to my lifestyle and well being! Okay, so I may have "hit the wall" and may temporarily give up on on the search, on settling for a 9 to 5 j-o-b. It's been six months and the whole selling myself to land a job during interviews, is starting to make me feel like a washed up hooker. I'm not totally giving up on the search, but right now I want to focus on what makes me happy.

So I’m doing what I love, knitting and quilting and I’m going to work on my own Etsy page. Obviously this won’t bring home the bacon, I know that, but I expect to make some lunch money (hopefully!) I also plan on mastering at least two songs a week on my ukulele.

Anyway, it’s berry season. Raspberries, blueberries, currants, blackberries…I want them all. Did I mention I jam out too? I can! (hehe get it?) So maybe I should take a drive to a farm and pick my own berries and do some canning.

For now my project of the day is working on Sara’s rainbow brightish leg warmers! Then it’s on to making some stuffed animals, quilts, pillows, afghans, clothes, and accessories, you know all the necessary things in life!

Snooze fan

Anyone else set their alarm 30 minutes before they absolutely need to be up? I love to snooze. SNOOOOOZE! However, I absolutely dread hearing the sound of my alarm. Any alarm for that matter! I don’t think it's possible to pleasantly wake up to an alarm. Beeping is irritating. The radio or nature sounds, creep up in the background and influence a plot transition, of my dream. Which, always, causes extreme confusion and let downs, because I soon discover, I’m not actually trekking in the rainforest or drinking a beer at a concert. A knock on the door or a nudge makes me want to spit fire at whoever thinks they’re doing me a favor! Do you wake up feeling refreshed and happy? If so, you’re a liar I don’t believe it! Apparently I’ve never been a morning person. So in efforts of wanting to be little miss sunshine in the morning, I’m ending my relationship with coffee and switching to tea. (I just spent 2 minutes, debating whether or not I should publicly announce that..shucks.) I'm doing this because the moment I wake up , I look forward to that unnatural jolt, and I'm thinking maybe if I ended my love affair with those 4 cups of happiness a day, I will sleep better and in return wake up sans bitchiness! No? We'll see! Ugh, as I sip my jasmine green tea, I’m fighting the urge to go into the kitchen and just have “one more” cup of coffee before I really end our relationship. How do you wake up?


On a refreshing note, yesterday I started the day bright an early with a splash, well at least Mick did! Mick and I went kayaking. The second we got into the water, Mick was almost positive his 6’4 body was too big for his kayak. He readjusted himself to try and get his legs comfortable, splash! He rolled underwater, and I tried so hard not to lose control of my bladder. After paddling to shore, and Mick pulling his kayak along, we switched kayaks, and all was well! It was a beautiful day of paddling and swimming. Oh! We also waved and greeted strangers! I have to admit, I was a little nervous to take this big step in greeting a stranger, but I gave in an gave a few waves reflecting excitement and a happy toned "hey!" It made me feel tingly on my nose and made me feel like a better person. Okay I wont get too carried away , but it felt good to be friendly with strangers, in New York! Why doesn't this happen on land? Then I realized, if you’re on the water, whether it be on a boat, kayak or canoe, you’re probably doing something you enjoy. Then I got to thinking, you’re most likely to let down that jerk face guard, that often makes you resemble some sort of version of an unapproachable tool, when you’re enjoying yourself! Thats it! Maybe if people learned to enjoy themselves more, we wouldn’t hate each other as much! So yea it was a nice Sunday funday.

I'm such a hater

It's 8:45am on a Saturday and I'm bursting at the seams with a buttload of things to say.

As I was standing in Starbucks and spending some of my last pennies on my overpriced latte, I got a little down. womp womp wah. I did! Why don't we have any fair trade/local/organic coffee spots? Then I went on to thinking, why doesn't Long Island have anything cool? The majority of people here are all about money ,image, and live the most ridiculous lifestyles. We also happen to have the highest rate of cancer in the country! So wouldn't you think people would want to be proactive and make a change in their lifestyles? We are, I'm sure of it, like any other middle-class suburb in the country. It's so lame. CVS, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, mediocre pizzerias, bars (full of locals and former highschool classmates that you don't care to run into), Supermarkets blah blah blah you can finish the rest for me.

I lived in the Berkshires for almost 2 years, they know whats up. Between Northampton and the Pittsfield stretch (about an hour and a half of driving) i'd say 90% of the businesses are locally owned and locally supported. Grocery stores, general stores (which i dont get why they don't exist here), cafes, banks, restaurants, breweries, farmstands,boutique gift shops, galleries etc.. all carrying local products. Community. I don't think there is such thing as a tight knit community in Nassau County. No one says "hey" as they pass you, and if you were to say "hey" to a complete stranger he/she would look at you like you had some serious issues. I mean I don't really care to say "hey" to anyone here, but it would be nice!


If there are cool places that I haven't discovered on Long Island tell meh! Or, at least tell me about some cool stores/restaurants/cafes in other towns/states that i'd dig, so I can be inspired to write about other places I plan on running away to!

I'm not saying for everyone to be earthy crunchy vegan hippies. I just think a few changes in our dull society thats overflowing with bullshit, would make this place somewhat cool and worth the high taxes :)

Art store

Remember the original Pearl Paint? With the aisles of markers, brushes, pencils, and PAINT. It had the basement with artist tools, accessories and other necessary items. Well where is my art store?! The past two locations of Pearl sucked big time... I dont want my art store divided in half! Art supplies on the right, stamps and sand art on the left. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE craft supplies, but if I want beads and lanyard I'll turn to Michaels.

Long Island step it up...bring back a legit art store. Utrecht your cool but you lack variety.

Intro

Ah-right..I've been home for six months and I'm already looking for my great escape. Returning to the nest was not what I had in mind, but it is what it is. My roommates (parents) are getting to me and not displaying proper roomie etiquette (i.e not knocking on my door, asking me questions about my day, doing my laundry without asking, and trying to be my friend). Im a social person but, but being forced to isolate myself from the majority of the degenerates around here.

Anyway, I like to knit, quilt, eat, write thank you cards, daydream and complain. I love gardening, organic living, crafty stuff...basically everything you're not into, I dig.

todays idea for an escape:

So I'm thinking I want to pay that fee for WWOOF and live on this farm in Oregon, live in a yurt and sell veggies