Good things, small things, all things.

Winter 2013 Manifesto: Knit All The Things, & try to keep warm.

Lately I’ve been torn between going out and doing good things or staying in and blogging about them. Not sorry!

This very moment tho I feel so good I think you could tell just from looking at my, like, aura, or whatever, & that’s a moment worth documenting. Here are some good things for a cozy evening, as I think about them:

Fast & Loose:

• The end of the Band Girlfriend era has meant that I have started researching & consuming music in a way that I hadn’t done in a long time – as a curious listener, as a fan, even, as a researcher. It’s overwhelming & I am loving it. What are you listening to? Tell me in the comments.
• Looks like rdio.com is free for Canadians for a bit & I was thrilled to discover that includes so many favourites from You’ve Changed Records. I am jammin’ out really hard to Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills‘ killer 2010 record, “All of Your Raw Materials.” Come befriend me on this new service & we can figure out how it all works together.

Kale Bouquet = True Self-Love

• Drinking coffee with coconut milk. Using my mornings off to cook delicious soups to eat for lunch. Cleaning out the fridge. Planning meals. Nothing says self-care like trudging home thru the snow with a bag full of colourful vegetables.
• One particular sweet grin. One particular beautiful brain. One dashing new friend with a lovely demeanour. Laughing a lot.
• Making chips out of beets with my friend Sasha & getting covered in pink dye. Pink hands, pink mouth.
• Chatting with my mom and dad on the phone & realizing all the small, quirky reasons that my weird family sort of belongs together; gets each other; loves each other.

I know I have posted this photo before but who could blame me? We both look like cute little babies here.

• Today is my main gal Gretchen Fawn’s fourth birthday! She is such a human being now… the kind of determined, tough, generous, bossy human being that you can’t help but love & be proud of. She is a credit to her momma whose maternal drive & talent always awes me. I have been thinking a lot about the beginnings of my friendship with Desiree & how it has evolved & I’m so glad that we get to share all these important milestones & small moments together. We were such babies when we met! And then Des had a baby! And now that baby isn’t even a baby anymore. Life just astonishes me.
• I did all my laundry and all my clothes, sheets, towels are clean. Nothing better.
• Roommate & I have been doing some nesting & some joking around & it’s been so nice. We are talking about a dedicated closet for shoes & a massive femme makeup station in the living room. Photos if those things happen, I promise.

Staying in & reading bloggerface

• Stayin’ in and reading books. Unbeatable. The best.
• My apartment is never too cold & I can’t say enough about how that is amazing.
• Tonight is yarn party night aka Knitting Social night aka I gotta get my butt over there!

Have been reflecting on this single lady shout out / manifesto I wrote last July.

Here’s my big truth: I am a little bit sad that my single lady lifestyle is coming to a close.

It has been wonderful to have total control over my time and resources. I decide if I am going out or staying home. I decide what’s for dinner & when it is served. I can immerse myself in my interests with an intense focus. I can stay up very late & get up very early without disturbing anyone. Single ladies got it going on, basically. In fact, I kinda think that the single lady lifestyle should inspire more people.

I still think that single ladies got it going on. I have been enjoying being a single lady. I feel like I am living up to my potential, in accordance with my values. I feel happy & comfortable with myself. I feel complete in any way that a person might hope to. I feel challenged & also competent. I feel like… having the opportunity to imbue all of my relationships with as much care, love, support, importance as I might have invested in a romantic partnership… is one of the biggest opportunities of my life thus far. Does that sound grandiose & a little bit dramatic? Because that’s how it feels, too, & it’s lovely.

I am just appreciating the shit out of y’all right now.

xo,

Iris