When I was in college at Mississippi State University, I majored in international business. The program was a big part of why I chose Mississippi State, as it gave me the opportunity to graduate with both a business degree (B.B.A. in International Business with a marketing emphasis) and a degree in a foreign language (B.A. in Spanish.) One of the final requirements for the program was to take a special class the semester before my internship. It was focused mostly on how to prepare for an interview, resume writing skills and the art of the thank you letter. It was tremendously helpful in providing guidance on some of those subtle things that can help make you stand out from other applicants – and ultimately get you hired. [Read more…]
finding my way back to “me”
Hi, I’m Lara, and I used to be a writer. Three Novembers, I clocked countless hours at coffee shops and bakeries across New York City – writing as a part of NaNoWriMo. I’ve completed a memoir and a novel, and have another idea I’m noodling on.
I also used to be super active with some nontraditional exercise programs – back in 2008 it was ballet but for the last seven years, you could find me swinging once a week 25 feet in the air from the flying trapeze. Yes, in the class taught by a veteran of Ringling Brothers there was little me – along with a number of folks in their professional circus arts training program. I look at clips like this and go man, was I strong! [Read more…]
road trip to yardley inn
A definite upside to living outside of the city is access to a car and the ability to easily explore outlying areas on the weekend. Even though it is wasn’t the most gorgeous of spring days, we still took advantage of the opportunity to do so this Saturday and drove the 50 miles to Yardley, Pennsylvania for a nice bite at The Yardley Inn.
comfortably still
I found this old post sitting in my drafts the other day – and it was pretty appropriate for last night and all the wake ups that came with it. Sharing now as it still rings true regardless of the age of your little one…
The pace of New York City is pretty much two speeds – on or off. When you’re fully connected into the pulse of the city, the fast pace can be energizing. It’s go, go, go – from wake up until that moment where your head meets the pillow. It’s the reason why locals can easily keep up with their tourist guests without blinking an eye, happily traipsing across boroughs and not tire.
[Read more…]
revisiting a favorite
There are some places in the city that feel like old friends. Where I find myself walking there without even thinking about addresses and where there’s not even a need to take a peek at their menu. This is definitely the case for Cafe Lalo. [Read more…]
spring forward with jord (giveaway)
It’s funny how having a son has made me think more about things a touch retro that I’ve always loved that I want him to know about too. Like how important I’ve decided the art of cursive is. I absolutely love it, and it makes me sad he may never be taught how to do it in school. Or how it pains me that he will never know the era of handwritten letters, an art that seems to have all but disappeared. With all of us so inseparable from our phones, I’ll admit I sometimes have thought this about watches – until now!
[Read more…]
anniversary celebration at the james beard house
I guess once you’re married you are supposed to let go of that original anniversary you’ve had all those years. With our originally anniversary so close to Valentine’s Day, it’s hard not to continue to celebrate. We had an added reason to do so this year since it’s our last celebration living in the city.
I’d always wanted to check out the James Beard House. A friend of ours photographs there often and I’d heard so many great things about their dinners. We ended up getting seats to attend their February 1st dinner with Tory McPhail celebrating Miss Ella of New Orleans’ Commander’s Palace. We’ve been saying a trip to eat our way through New Orleans has to happen at some point, so we figured this was New Orleans coming to us!
ttfn, manhattan
I never thought I wanted to live in a big city. Come to think of it, I never gave much thought to where I’d even want to live after college. Not that it wasn’t important, but because I never thought of just how many options. My senior year of college I was much more focused on types of jobs than cities. Anything other than Southern cities like Nashville, Birmingham and Atlanta never even crossed my mind.
My unexpected journey has been pretty amazing. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to live in Madrid, Miami, Washington DC and New York City. Not bad for a girl who never planned on leaving the south, right? I always knew though that as much as I love it, living in Manhattan wasn’t something I wanted to do once we started a family. Enter Q!
happy valentine’s day
Valentine’s Day has always been a secondary holiday for T and I. Our first date six years ago was several days after Valentine’s, so that’s always been more important to us. We even celebrated it on the early side this year, taking advantage of his mom being in town to watch little Q. More to come on that in a separate post! In fact, like last year, I again found myself spending the time around the holiday at a watch event for The Bachelor – with last night’s involving some BBQ and the show at Brother Jimmy’s.
As I feel like will be the theme throughout the course of the year, today had me thinking though about the holiday in a different light. This morning when I fed Q it was so dark I could barely make out his little face. I didn’t get to see him yesterday, with him already being asleep by the time I made my way home last night. This morning I was thinking about love – how over the course of life, we learn about so many types of love. And I thought about how happy it makes me that he will be surrounded and know much love and understand the meaning of that word on this day, and on every day.
As I was sitting on today’s delayed train, I began going through my email and I came across one from Dr. Jimmy Abraham who I was lucky enough to be a Roadrunner (Mississippi State University student recruiter) under. He has a way of sending notes that make you think about the right thing at just the right time. He shared this story he’d also shared probably 18 years ago in our class. It made me smile. I hope that some day Q has the perspective of “Little Chad” in this story. [Read more…]
time for the heels
I can’t believe I’m here. How are we already at the end of January? Back in October, I thought Q’s due date would never arrive. Similarly I think I spent most days feeling like the end of these days would never arrive as well, but it snuck up on me somehow. Days turned to weeks… weeks turned to months, and here we are. And I have to admit, I am not ready. I know some moms reach the point where they are, but I’m not sure I ever could fully be.
I’ve spent most days these past several months figuring out a balance. Some days, I’ve been greedy and kept him home and to myself. I’ve been working to introduce him to music – both a mix of our favorites and children’s songs. Sometimes that was by my playing playlists on Spotify and other times by me serenading him. I think I thought my karaoke days were over once I had a child, but I was mistaken. Little did I know I would be giving concerts day after day for an enthralled audience of one. Unlike my karaoke outings where you never knew what to expect from an audience, I almost always know how to make Q smile. Can’t complain there. We met up with my new mom group mommies for mommy and me yoga and for music class, both of which I think were as much for Q as they were for me. [Read more…]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- …
- 40
- Next Page »