He was wrong, and it was a good thing.

(photo via)

Today, while enjoying my lunch, I was jabbering with a co-worker. He lovingly discussed his years in France with his pregnant wife. He spent two years there as he pursued his degree, aching to return to his friends who lived there. Upon arriving home in Mexico city, he reflected on his life leading up to that point, as though he already reached his peak in life. "As I stood on the stairs leading down to the tarmac, I thought, my best years are behind me," he said... 

"I was wrong. The best was yet to come."

Ahh, that made my Wednesday! I hope we can all embrace the possibility that there is no such thing as a "peak" in life, and that we have endless opportunities available to pursue the peaks at any stage of the game  :) 

The Tourist Lane

I literally burst out laughing after reading this blog post.

Improv Everywhere (if you haven't ever visited this site, YOU MUST DO SO IMMEDIATELY!) thought it would be a cool and exciting project. It was a huge hit! Really, this one photo hardly does justice to the comedy of this project. Please, please, please read! :)

Adulthood bites...

(photo via nonsensegrandcentral.com)

I've been having a hard time finding my groove. So, I graduated, moved home, and got a job. I'm up early in the morning, going to sleep early at night, and enjoying my evenings in. What happened to me? Sure I've taken the oh-so necessary outings with my pals to keep myself young and fresh, but it's rather unfortunate... That adulthood has slowly creeped upon me. I'm not sure how to navigate. Surely I'll find my  niche, where exactly I fit in. (I actually just finished this book, "20 Something Manifesto." Great idea. Unfortunately I didn't get much out of it... I felt the author was just coming up with unique ways to say... "It's life. Deal with it." I mean really... Give me something tangible.) I feel good about the possibility that things will come around, but I'm in a lull.

My Return to Phoenix...

(photo via fffound.com)

Has been really lovely. I know I've been MIA - lots of stories to share. (Not gonna lie, it made my heart tinker when I started hearing from you, inquiries of my whereabouts!) Plus, Cue is gonna get a re-vamp. It's time for a change... Since New York City isn't my venue anymore. (Sigh.)

I miss it, as expected. I miss my independence. My own apartment. My own walk to work. My own Starbucks across the street. I made the right choice migrating west. But, I still miss it. 

"Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person..." - Rossi

Plenty more to come. 

Remember Alf?

(photo via latenightwithjimmyfallon.com) 

Walking by my local DVD store a few days ago, I saw an "ALF" box set in the window. It took all my might not to race home and NetFlix the entire series. I forgot how smitten I was with that show as a kid. Dedicated viewer, right here!

Apparently Jimmy Fallon had a discussion on old-school puppetry on his show awhile back... Bummer I missed it! (Nerd alert!) 

Mary Poppins!

(photo via wunderbloc.com)

AmyJane and I saw Mary Poppins on Broadway last week. Two major thumbs up for student rush tickets!! It was sort of a Sunday afternoon impulse, but it worked out so splendidly! The show was down-right magical. It reminded me how smitten I am with being a child at heart. At the end of the show, I thought to myself, "I could reallyyyy go for a Mary Poppins carpet bag!" A few days later, I stumbled across this little photograph online. My inner fashionista is screaminggg!

My Tattoo

As promised, I'm sharing my tattoo story.

In the summer of 2007, I spent some time in Costa Rica on a community development project. I stayed with a small host family and worked on a variety of tasks - helped develop an addition to the community center, painted the local citrus packing plant, and taught English to the village children.

I danced with enthusiastic ticos, ate such wonderful food, sang every Bob Marley song ever written, and laughed harder than I ever imagined.

It was a wonderful experience and I met the most lovely and genuine people during my stay there. At the end of the project, I was given the opportunity to partake in some "adventure touring." We did snorkeling, white-water rafting, waterfall rappelling, all of it. I won't lie, I wasn't crazy about the rappelling. We were hundreds of feet in the air, looking down into this canyon below. I was one of the first to strap up and head towards the side of the cliff, reminding myself that I only live once, and now was the time to do this. And then, I panicked. I turned around to my friends (about 30 of us) and muttered something incoherent, probably that I couldn't do it... And before I knew it, all of my friends were singing in unison...

"Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing... Gonna be all right..." 

It was one of those life moments when everything comes together so sweetly, one of those moments you have to embrace head-on... Because you don't know when you'll have it again... The sun was shining, exotic birds were flying by, the waterfall was pounding crystal clear water, and I was surrounded by 30 great friends singing such divine words of encouragement - people with whom I had just shared a month of bonding, life-challenging, and soul-searching activities in another country.

So, a year later, I had those very words inked on my ankle...

Indeed, it was pretty painful... 

But my lovely lady friends treated me to ice cream at the beach right after... 

So, good story? I know tattoos can be kind of goofy or intense, but I think mine tells a story, perhaps why I love it so much!

EXTREME HOPSCOTCH!

While galavanting along the promenade with my pal Kristen during our lunch break last week, we stumbled across this...

Ooh, just a little game of EXTREME HOPSCOTCH! Do you remember playing Hop Scotch as a kid? It wasn't really that popular when I was in elementary school, but I definitely dominated a few games of tether ball and four square in my day. What was your favorite playground game?

Dork Yearbook

(photo via dorkyearbook.com)

Please visit dorkyearbook.com. I found a link for it on swiss-miss.com while perusing earlier today. So funny! It's a collection of photos taken during the "awkward phase" of childhood. They appear to be slacking on their postings, but those that are available are so hilarious. Surely I could add a few from the Lauren & Melanie album for this collection.

A lot of the photos posted are from the 80's. Can you imagine 20-25 years from now what will be considered dorky from our generation??

Hello, Vacation!

(photo via azcentral.com)

Hello, Phoenix. Hello, 75 and sunny. Hello, late mornings. Hello, freshly brewed coffee (courtesy Mama & Papa Meyer). Hello, Mom & Dad. Hello, Sister. Hello, Brother. Hello, Baby Kate! ;) Hello, dear friends!  Hello, Mill Ave. Hello, Arizona State. Hello, Sedona. Hello, dancing! Hello, shopping. Hello, manicures and pedicures. Ahhh, hello flip flops...

New York, I'll see you in a month!

Dear Lady Friends...

(photo via ffffound.com)

I've been feeling a little homesick, missing myself a little bit of honey from my girlfriends back home.

So, here is my dedication to my gal pals in Phoenix/Tucson/Flagstaff/SoCal/NoCal/Denver/Washington D.C./NYC/etc...

I have been blessed to be surrounded by a wicked group of fine lady friends. I met several of them in elementary school, junior high, high school... Several of them I met in college and several more in graduate school. I seem to share something special with each one of them, but there is one constant variable among them.

They push me to be a better person.

For me, it's absolutely imperative I surround myself with those who are changing the world in their own way - engaging their environments and teaching those around them what it means to wear her shoes, but carrying with those lessons an element of sheer enlightenment - to walk away from a learning experience with them and see things more clearly. I've learned something from each one of them and I'm confident I'll continue to do so.

Dear lady friends, thank you for impacting my life in one of those most wonderful ways possible. I'm a better person because of the relationships we share.

Christmas Lights, Take 2

I've been so consumed by all the jib jab happening with school and work the past few weeks, I've hardly had the opportunity to trulyyyy appreciate the goodness of the season. For me, one of the big things I really enjoy is the decorations. Christmas lights have this enormous power over me - as they should. They shoot me back to my childhood when my mom used to drive me and my friends around the sparkly neighborhoods in Phoenix to see the holiday come alive in people's homes. Now, I'm oh-so smitten with the decor here in the city. It's marvelous. If you take a swing down 56th street between 9th and 8th Avenues, you're surrounded by a bridge of trees hung with the sweetness of the holiday. Happy Wednesday! :)

I've checked out!

Ahh, my body is here. In New York City. At work. But, my mind is in Phoenix. At my parents house. With my friends and family. I leave tonight for the Valley and I couldn't be more psyched about it. I have plenty of things to keep me busy on the plane, but I certainly intend on taking a quick cat nap... Somewhere around Missouri...

Although I've been listening to Christmas music for weeks now, I've been told by some chums that apparently - it's just too early. Whatever. As I walking to work this morning, I was greeted by a sidewalk full of Christmas trees. Ahh, the aroma filled my soul and it was absolutely wonderful. I think it's officially time to endorse a jolly state of mind.

Happy Holidays!

Greeting Cards

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I'm smitten with greeting cards. They're so under-rated. Receiving snail mail is like an explosion of sunshine in the mailbox. Even sending them is a wicked good time. There's all this excitement between dropping it in your mailbox and wondering when your card will land in your dear old pal's mailbox.

Ahh, I love greeting cards.

And these, well these are cute and spicy all wrapped into one... And look, there's even a space to write a little love note...

Color Me Fall!

The beautiful fall colors are officially emerging. So, Rachel and I took the opportunity to peruse through the park this past week and embrace the season.

Annnnnd, we may have allowed our inner children to come out and play... We swung on the swings for awhile...

Warm Thoughts

(photo via flickr.com)

It's become quite important for me to remind those I love how much I love them. Living in New York, I'm quite distant from a lot of the people with whom I share close relationships. Mama Meyer is able to visit pretty frequently - and I'm oh-so blessed with this; however, I struggle not seeing my Sister, my Dad, my niece, my close friends on a regular basis. For awhile, I had to remind myself to tell those I love how much I love them. Now, I make a point to end every phone call (OK, almost every-ish) with an "I love you," or an "I miss you," or even an "I think of you often." I've been told it's amazing and quite lovely to hear - that even though they're note *here,* they're actually *here.*

Reasons to Get Excited - Volume 2

I think I've watched the trailer a dozen times because I'm totally smitten with the song that is played - "Wake up," by Arcade Fire. (Download. Immediately!)

I looooved this book growing up. I've decided it's is timeless; I think the message spans across generations. And, I've decided I'm buying it for my niece this Christmas - no questions about it.

Anyhoo, we're going to see the movie at the IMAX on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it. It's gonna launch me back to Ms. Morgan's Kindergarten class - when she used to read to us after our afternoon snack. Ahhh, I can feel my eyes swelling... At the end of the year, we each got to pick a book from her collection to keep. I picked this one. It's buried in my room back in Phoenix - but it's definitely time to unearth it from its resting place.