Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. - Alan Keightley

hello, dear friends. 

apologies for the delayed update. i’ve had a few blog topics rumbling around in my brain over the past 3 weeks. 

i had every intention of blogging before our short trip home to OK. 

and then after we returned. 

and then after we returned from vacation. 

but alas, it’s 25 days later & i’m just now getting around to it. 

geez. 

because i’m rotten. and so far behind, i’m going to tackle a few short tidbits. then i’ll feel ‘caught up’ and can wipe the topic slate clean. i'm giving myself a 20 minute limit to do this. otherwise, i'll get distracted & it will be 3 more days. 

i'm a mess. love me. 

let’s start with a few fun tidbits: 

• # of concerts since the last update: 2

• latest album purchase: Kings of Leon- Come Around Sundown 

• today’s weather forecast: Partly Cloudy. high 63. hello, autumn!! 

• what i’m listening to as i type: Iron and Wine, Live on NPR November 2005

in early October, D and I made our first trip back to Oklahoma in 5 months. the total length of the trip was 44 hours, but we somehow managed to squeeze some love & life into every possible minute.  i was overwhelmed by the effort people made to see us. it was much appreciated!! thank you all. 

sandwiched in between lunches & hugs & drinks was a wedding for my sweet friend, amy. what a blessing to see love bloom in the lives of your dearest friends! i finally got to meet miss barritt lord, courtney's newest bundle of snuggles. 

october 11 was National Coming Out day. D and i coincidentally celebrated the day at a jennifer knapp show. if you don't know jennifer's story here you go:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/jenniferknapp-apr10.html

my adoration for this woman began in 1997 when i was a freshman in college. i spent many, many hours drowning in her lyrics. she exposed a transparency in christianity that i never knew existed.  despite sounding cliche, jennifer's lyrics genuinely spoke to me. they still do 13 years later. i think it is safe to say jennifer and i evolved into people no one imagined we would become. 

picture it. (because this picture does not do the experience justice.) me at a jennifer knapp show celebrating her coming out with my most genuine appreciation and admiration for her bravery. me drinking a beer or three. listening to her talk about jesus. sitting with my boyfriend that i live with despite being unmarried. (gasp!) 

we've come a long way, baby. 

suffice to say, i'm more at peace with my spirituality and with myself  than i have ever been. as one dear friend told me once, I'm good with God. 

time's up!! 

i'm letting 'er rip! 

xoxo

J

What you are comes to you.

What you are comes to you. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

there are outfits in my closet that i endearingly label with a two-drink  minimum; meaning the courage to wear them comes only after at least two adult beverages. it's how i felt about rockin' my fedora for the first time or wearing my flashy cowgirl boots with a short skirt. there are just some things that take more courage than i am able to muster alone.

this blog is a four-drink, 8 month endeavor. 

so here goes nothing...

my. own. blog. 

music. 

my D. 

life. 

yoga.

friends. 

chicago.

fashion.

books.

food. 

and probably more on friends. 

and definitely more music. 

i've procrastinated for so long because i was terribly afraid i'd have nothing to say that would be of interest to even my dearest friends. so my resolution is to do this for me and only me; to exercise my creative brain, to document my transition into this new chapter of my life, to commemorate the travels, concerts & life lessons that will unfold. 

i know very little about how this blog thing works. i don't have a fancy camera for breathtaking photos. i don't have cute kids to tell funny stories about. heck, i'm really not even that funny.

but i promise i'll be honest. and transparent. and real. and if you happen to like it, then bonus! 

i'll be sitting here in my fedora, sipping whiskey & thinking of the next entry...