That one time I thought I was a model…and liked it

now that i have become a pretty big deal in the blogging world…

i thought it high time i step it up a notch and get some "serious" pictures taken

you know…the professional…i've made it kind

bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

man. i needed a good laugh

i crack myself up sometimes

(hi mom…my one fan)

anywho. i'm not sure if any of you remember me mentioning a few weeks back that while my friend Lu and her hubby were in town visiting…her and i decided to do a little tangled about town photo shoot. 

after weeks of snail mail and missed drop offs…the pictures have arrived. 

you know when people say "oh don't take my picture…i'm not photogenic!" well honey. that excuse won't work here. Lindsey Lu is one heck of a photographer and even made me take a step back and say "dang…i look good!" 

(you would never know we were out all night exploring the world of carmine's italian and getting to know their extensive wine list…the magic of an excellent photographer)

so with that said. i thought i would share our little "model for a day" adventure about town…

...tangled style. 

and if you wanna be like me and let Lindsey Lu make you look good

go here now and book a session

i mean come on…everyone is doing it. 

happy weekend…

get out there and enjoy some holiday magic

xo

T

Be careful whose advice you buy

i've been thinking…

so lately i have had the pleasure of getting "advice" you know…the kind of advice that people for some reason just kind of shout at you. "my feet are killing me today." - me"omg tanyel. take care of your feet while you are young. trust me!!" - older wiser person
"geesh, i can't wait to go home and sleep until i can't sleep anymore.: - me" ENJOY IT. once you pop out a kid. you might as well kiss all sleep goodbye"- friend w/kid
usually i just smile and nod and go with the flow but man…the last few "advice" tid bits i have had the pleasure of receiving. i know nothing about. kids. houses. toxins. granola. sex after marriage.
it's almost like…advice is more of a DON'T WALK HERE sign.  
i mean i guess that is what advice is for. being told/warned ahead of time so you don't make the same mistake. but i ask myself…"self. would this person be the same person without those crazy experiences and tid bits of knowledge?" i think not. 
isn't it funny how when we've gone through something that has taught us a lesson or has changed our lives completely…we feel the need to share it with the world. even though if you really think about it…the world never asked. 
now don't get me wrong. i love everyone in my life. but there are times that i just want to shout back…"okay okay…i hear you. i promise when i have kids; i won't buy plastic sandwich bags with BPA!" (whatever the heck that is. i'm pretty sure that if my grandma were still with us; she would say…."when i was young…we ate dirt! There's BPA for ya.") 

with that being said and with all of this advicei got to thinking about one of my favorite songs / speeches / whatever you want to call itwritten by Mary Schmich / spoken by: Baz Luhrmann 

for now…i'm sticking to this as my go-to life advice






Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) 

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be itThe long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientistsWhereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliableThan my own meandering experience, I will dispense this advice now
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, never mindYou will not understand the power and beauty of your youthUntil they've faded but trust me, in 20 years, you'll look backAt photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp nowHow much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked You are not as fat as you imagine
Don't worry about the future or worry that know that worryingIs as affective as trying to solve an algebra equationBy chewing bubble gumThe real troubles in your life are apt to be thingsThat never crossed your worried mindThe kind that blindsides you at 4 p.m. on some idle TuesdayDo one thing every day that scares you
Sing
Don't be reckless with other people's heartsDon't put up with people who are reckless with yours
Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousySometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behindThe race is long and in the end, it's only with yourselfRemember compliments you receiveForget the insults, if you succeed in doing this, tell me howKeep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements
Stretch
The most interesting peopleI know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their livesSome of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don'tGet plenty of calcium, be kind to your kneesYou'll miss them when they're gone
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won'tMaybe you'll have children, maybe you won'tMaybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the 'Funky Chicken'On your 75th wedding anniversaryWhatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too muchOr berate yourself eitherYour choices are half chance, so are everybody else's
Enjoy your body, use it every way you canDon't be afraid of it or what other people think of itIt's the greatest instrument you'll ever own, 
Dance
Even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living roomRead the directions even if you don't follow themDo not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good Be nice to your siblings, they're your best link to your pastAnd the people most likely to stick with you in the future
Understand that friends come and goBut a precious few, who should hold on
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyleFor as the older you get, the more you need the peopleYou knew when you were youngLive in New York City once but leave before it makes you hardLive in northern California once but leave before it makes you soft
Travel
Accept certain inalienable truthsPrices will rise, politicians will philander, you, too, will get oldAnd when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were youngPrices were reasonable, politicians were nobleAnd children respected their elders
Respect your elders
Don't expect anyone else to support youMaybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouseBut you never know when either one might run out
Don't mess too much with your hairOr by the time you're 40 it will look 85
Be careful whose advice you buy but be patient with those who supply itAdvice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the pastFrom the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly partsAnd recycling it for more than it's worth
But trust me on the sunscreen




happy hump day…i ADVISE…you have a good one

I Believe in Magic

I'm a sucker for a good sappy holiday moment. 

can you hear Michael Buble singing it's beginning to look a lot like christmas as you read this?

i can't even begin to tell you how much i love this time of the year. 

i'm not sure what it is but don't you feel like there is just magic in the air? 

(yes i know… i sound a little crazy but who cares. hello santa!!!) 

so this is my first chicago christmas and it's playing out pretty well. 

as we all know; there is always something to do here in chicago. this past week i got invited to join a group of friends to visit the the Kindl Market 

(and no. i didn't spell it wrong…that's how they spell it)

i'm in love. 

this place is literally like a little pop up christmas village in the middle of concrete chicago. 

the moment i walked in i noticed that a lot of people were carrying around little stocking boot mugs. 

i didn't care what was in it but i had to have one. 

to my delight…

IT WAS WINE!!! 

warm wine…but still wine.

so put on your cute winter boots, bundle up with your latest winter accessories

 and get to the kindl market now. 

it's open until 12/24

highly recommended by yours truly

you can't tell me these aren't the cutest things you have ever seen

I Don't Know Karate but...

time for a little vent

as we all know…i'm clearly swimming, stumbling and wading around in the dating pool. well let me be the first one to tell you…IT'S ROUGH WATERS OUT THERE!!! you know…the kind of waters that make you think Tom Hanks and Wilson could float by at any moment.

  so i have been waiting to bring this up…due to the fact that i didn't want to jinx my chances. 

I'M ONLINE DATING! eck. 

why did i think it would jinx my chances? 

well i'm not exactly sure. 

it's kind of like…when you meet a new guy and you start to get serious but you decide not to bring him home quite yet to meet your parents..due to the fear of them saying things like, "what are your intentions? do you have a 401k? you do know she's expensive!?"

or it could just be the fact that i'm a hopeless romantic and i secretly think it would be cool to say…"hey everyone. this is my boyfriend. we met online. and he's not a killer. (yet) 

a friend once said to me, 

" you are on an interesting spiritual journey laced casually with cynicism and unfailing hope. Your cynicism I get, but the hope confuses me." 

yep that sums me up in a nutshell. 

like a sucker i let one of my friends talk me into joining an online dating site. what is it about non-single friends? i know that deep down inside they want the best for me but they always like to give advice on things they know good and well they would never do. 

For Example

- "you just need to walk up to him and ask him out!" (oh really. is it that easy?)

-. "don't get married too early. you have plenty of time!" (how much time? do you have a chart of some sort that i could reference? oh you don't. why? oh yea…YOU GOT  MARRIED AT 23!!!!)

- "if you stop thinking about it…it will happen!" (how in the world can i stop thinking about it? every time you see me you ask. "so…meet any great guys lately?)

- "you need to see if your "coupled" friends know any single guys!" (umm you are one of my "coupled" friends. do you know any?)

i digress.

so yea. i decided to sign up for the 6 month guarantee plan. now that i look back...what is the guarantee exactly? do you guarantee that my my date won't actually ask me if my boobs are real? (oh yea. that has happened to me before) do you guarantee that my date won't be someone who complains about how dark it is in the restaurant? do you guarantee that he won't actually say out loud "whew. this place is expensive!" (yep. that happened too. same guy) oh wait. i know. you guarantee that my profile will be viewed 1648 times but only the looney tunes have the balls to actually reach out and make the first move. 

(come on guys...if you can't man up online...where can you?)

so my 6 months is one week from being complete and i have come to a conclusion...

ONLINE DATING ISN'T FOR ME!!!! 

nope. not even a little bit.

here i am paying for a service that has brought me nothing but another reason to go and buy more wine. (after the bad dates of course)

the crazy thing about all of this is that even after the past 6 months…i'm still hopeful. 

dang you Nora Ephron!!!! 

so bring on the cabernet and the winter hibernation. 

and finally…

this is best summed up by the wise wise Mindy Kaling.

"I'm the kind of person who would rather get my hopes up really high and watch them get dashed to pieces than wisely keep my expectations at bay and hope they are exceeded.

This quality has made me a needy and theatrical friend, but has given me a spectacularly dramatic emotional life." 

- Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

here's to the last  week…

xo,

T

 

Friday's Letters

dear trader joe's, thanks for seriously making this week end on an even higher note. wine sale! dear bus driver on the 9:17am route. could you please take a chill pill and stop breaking so hard. do you know how hard it is to even try looking cute on the bus? no one is cute when they are holding on for dear life and jerking around like a spastic freak.  dear christmas, i'm going to need you to step off a bit. i have a lot more to do before you visit and with all your hovering..it's becoming more and more difficult. dear goddess and grocer, thanks for being the reason i have a date tonight. if it goes well…i'm so going to step up my game and buy a more expensive bottle of wine on my next visit. dear chicago, i really couldn't be more excited about all you have to offer this holiday season. you look so pretty with all your decorations!!! 

dear channing tatum, just in case you are wondering...your sexiest man alive issue will be on my coffee table for about a year. thought i should say thanks. dear God, thanks for making channing tatum.  

dear 6pm.com, thanks for luring me into your trap with your sultry discounts. i love my new snow boots. bring it on snow!

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!!

Happy Friday!

xo,

T

 

The Tangled List - Hibernation

hello hibernation

this is the first year that i'm not heading into my deep winter blues hibernation. before moving to chicago... i have to admit...i was somewhat of a sad sap during the winter months. i'm talking full on sadness. i used to think it was just the dreary weather and the fact that it got dark before i left work.

well not anymore.
 

i am quickly discovering...when you are happy in your life...you don't get the winter blues.  

(or maybe that's just me. don't quote me or anything...i'm no doctor.)

so long winter blues.

don't get me wrong. i'm still heading into that hibernation mode...it just won't be a sad one. 

nope. this one is going to be a good. the kind where you just get all sorts of projects done. movies watched. blankets knit. online favs shopped. city christmas picture explorations. 

all the good stuff.

lately part of my hibernation has been me becoming really obsessed with the whole concept of "my favorite things". i think it has something to do with me really missing the Oprah Winfrey Show this time of the year. 

this obsession has directly resulted in me spending hours online "window" shopping.

i can't stop.

i'm not even buying anything. i just sit in front of the computer and literally "browse."  

oh the madness!!! 

since this blog is clearly about me...haha

i have decided to share some of the things i'm over the moon about and actually might not just stare at.

enjoy. 

  

t-shirt / fab.com

too aggressive?

Indiana Necklace / Muz Design Etsy

 gotta represent

Handy Dandy Hand Strap

what happened? band-aids /do i need these? no. do i want these? yes

Avocado Cuber

i figure it's necessary to have. i mean i just figured out i like avocados.

 

kind of obsessed with her right now. / officially on the must read list

whisky stones

okay...so i don't drink whiskey but...i still wouldn't mind having these. they are so much classier than the fake fruit ones that i have. hello adult ice cubes.

Pivot Power Mini

Last but not least...if this doesn't say comfy hibernation i don't know what does...

This entire outfit

and there you have it.

more to come i'm sure.

xo, 

T