REAL life, unedited.

a great reminder for today.

guys, i read this today and i LOVED it.  it's on instagram's envy effect.  oh wait, here's yet another link to it.  because.  it.  kicks.  ass.

if you aren't going to read it, here's a little summation.  it's about the snippets of lives that we see on the internet.  and about what we edit out of our status updates, what's just out of the corner of that square crop on your photo.  it's incomplete.  they are moments that are highs, which is why we want to share them.

but what about all the other moments?  the photo may be of the great outfit you picked out today, but what about the days you don't get out of your sweatpants?  niequst [the author] also points out the happy couples that don't share their fighting, or the great meal you made but not the mess to be cleaned up. 

again, these are the moments to be shared.  no one wants to see your dirty dishes.  no one wants to see you in sweatpants [i mean this mostly to myself, as a reminder].  the things you want to share with other people - and strangers in some cases - are the highlights of your life, of the things you do.

but the result?  it's that everyone lives perfect lives without those tense, awkward, heartbroken moments.  that spouses don't fight, that chicken doesn't get burnt, that you don't have bad hair days.  it's just not realistic.  and part of the point of increased networking is to be there for one another, is it not?  to share in times of joy and triumph, but also help one another when things aren't going their way. 

there are days that this social-media-filter really effects me.  days when i would get a negative pregnancy test yet again, and hop online to see four more girls who went to my high school were pregnant.  days when i would feel so fat, being unable to get my skinny jeans to make me look skinny thanks to my fat bulge, but would see a girlfriend in a bikini with her perfect flat belly.  days when i would be feeling a little lazy, just lounging around with the tv, and would see a facebook friend out in front of the coliseum.  it makes you feel bad.  people have topped documenting their struggles, and the result is facebook news feeds and pinterest home pages and instagram shares filled with just successes.  and if you are down, it's easy to be knocked further down looking at what everyone else has and you don't.

i know i am guilty sometimes.  i look at it as sharing my high points, the things people will be interested in.  and fights i may have with pi, well, those are personal.  but i try to branch out, too.  i recently started sharing about our infertility issues, i blogged about the outrageous stress of going back to school while working and volunteering.  and i want to continue to blog about the challenges i face, as well as the high points i have.  i don't think i'm as bad as some [helloooo, i instagramed a pic of my busted-up knee last week], but i could make some improvements too.  i want to be real with everyone.  i want them to know the highlights as well as, sometimes, the low points.  

i'm making some changes to my blog, and one of the changes i want to make is to be more forthcoming.  to share with you all a bit more of me [yes, there IS more], and to be real.  to share my struggles so i can connect with people and help participate in a community; one in which we share our high highs, but our low lows as well.

post something REAL today.  put it out there, on some social media platform you use.  step out from behind the veil of perceived perfection.  it doesn't have to be a secret, just something real - piles of laundry, or the pizza you ordered in for dinner because you didn't cook a martha-stewart-style meal.  it will be refreshing, i promise.

here's my SOMETHING REAL today:
my blood results from last week reveal that i am still pregnant, according to my hcg levels.  pretty disappointing.  should all be done by now, but it isn't.   so i have to go get by blood taken yet again at the end of the week.  and let me be a little bit more real by telling you that i don't do well with needles in my veins.  i've puked half of the times my blood has been taken since this pregnancy disaster began.  so i don't know where this leaves us or what will happen after i get my blood results at the end of the week, but it's disappointing.  and i wasn't going to share it because... i don't really know.  i just wasn't.





til next time...

wedding purchase #1

so the date for mom's wedding has been moved again... october 11th.  with no baby on the way, june just seemed a little to fast for us to move everything along.  so now we are aiming for october.  i've shared a few ideas and inspirations for the wedding so far - but i am so excited that i finally received our first purchase! i figured i'd share a few of my favorite purchases for the wedding because there is so much STUFF out there and it can be hard to weed out what looks great from what truly is just what you wanted.

thanks to simple and pretty, i got the loveliest return address stamp.  it's got style, it's easy to use, and the best part is that it can continue to be used after the invites are sent out [not to mention it was a fraction of the cost of calligraphy or having the envelopes pre-addressed!].  homegirl has her own blog and her etsy shop is adorable.  i promise you'll find multiple stamps you just have to have.  i know i did.  

added bonus - i don't know about you, but there is a very specific satisfaction i get when i buy things i first saw on pinterest.  i totally love it. 

simple yet elegant packaging

i blurred out the address, because, well, you know...

check her out and happy shopping!

til next time...

a new favorite read.

a few things you may not know about me.

• i love to read and am a total bookworm.
• i am very fascinated by russian culture and love reading about or watching movies that have to do with russia or russians.
• my favorite books are all told from the perspective of kids.

so imagine how happy i was to receive this book for my birthday from my awesome sister in law.

it's vaclav & lena by haley tanner, and it's amazing.  it's the story of two childhood best friends who both emigrated from russia and settled in brighton beach, brooklyn.  they are separated when they are ten, and they never forget one another.  it's a heartwarming tale so far - i'm about halfway through - and i'm totally addicted to the characters [especially the little boy - vaclav]. 

i've shared some of my favorite reads and types of books before, and just had to add this one to the list.  it's not over yet, but i have a feeling i'm going to love it.

on a separate note, i want to say a big fat HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best mother in law a gal could ask for!  this woman knows how to laugh, love and show her strong side more than just about any other woman i know.  what an inspiration and an absolute joy to be around she is.  happy birthday mom!

a beautiful woman with a contagious laugh.

i get to spend the rest of my day running my brother to pre-op appointments and food shopping... so til next time!

memories of istanbul.

over the weekend, PI and i decide to re-live our honeymoon a little bit. 

when we went on our honeymoon, we had the most amazing time.  now i am sure everyone has an amazing time on your honeymoon [how could you not?!], and ours was no exception.  i thought our honeymoon perfectly suited us.  we didn't pick a traditional honeymoon spot like jamaica or hawaii, but instead wanted someplace where we could see some history, take in a new culture, but also relax... you know, have a real experience.  so we decided to go to istanbul.

and it was just right for us.  not only did we get to see places like the blue mosque and the hagia sofia, but we were able enjoy the water on the bosphorous and the border between europe and asia. 

but, just like many honeymooners, we were tired.  all the planning and traveling that we had to deal with for the wedding [especially we had left brooklyn a week before the wedding to see the plans through in denver, then on to turkey from there] had left us just wanting to relaaaaax.  so, we would generally sight-see during the morning, then after stopping for some lunch, would find a cafe and sit for the rest of the afternoon.  we'd order a nargile water pipe, get out a deck of cards, and sip some mint tea. we would smoke, talk, laugh and just be together all afternoon.  and we still talk about how amazing those times were, while we sat around and dreamed about what our married life would be like.

enjoying the sunshine and comfy pillows

view up from our fave hangout

view to istiklal caddesi, one of istanbul's busiest avenues

so, tired of being snowed in our loft out here, we decided to venture out for some turkish style fun.  we woke to more snow on saturday morning, but by the afternoon we were heading over to allston to an authentic hookah lounge, habibi.  not sure if any of my readers are actually looking for an authentic hookah experience in boston, but if you are, this is it.  we spent the afternoon enjoying rose and lemon mint hookah, sipping mint tea, and remembering how amazing our honeymoon was five years ago, and plotting our next trip. 

the hookah - and mint tea - was amazing!

yesterday i cracked open my new book - the glass of time - and completely devoured it.  i am already halfway through it after more snow yesterday encouraged us to hole up with tea, blankets and our books.  pretty lovely weekend if you ask me.

pi is off to la tomorrow for work, so i'll be hanging out here solo.  i'll probably finish that book by tomorrow.

enjoy your monday off!

xoxo