shopping and boys

• i wonder if every vintage-clothing shopper has the same duffle-bag-under-the-bed of ill-fitted blouses, sack dresses and billowy wonder-frocks from the 70s that we all promised ourselves we'd get tailored. annie and i went to one of the best vintage stores in burlington and i tried on the most fabulous yellow gown that was straight out of the brady bunch costume closet. when they were performing! or is that just in the 90s movie? anyway, marcia would have worn it. that's how stunning it was. and even though the zipper was broken and it was too large, it was perfection and i am so glad i didn't get it. i've been down that road too many times.
• for my trip to vermont, i traded in my proper jacket for my mother's floor length coat/sleeping bag. and now, either looking slightly homeless or fabulous (depending on my mindset), i have been staying cozy all around the city. yesterday morning as i got on the bus, i decided to sit in between two other people when i realized that my coat takes up an insane amount of room. i apologized to the woman next to me and we talked about how wonderful it is to have a coat like mine. and then her friend got on the bus at the next stop and they talked the rest of the way about being kind and the importance of not getting too angry at others when they don't behave as they should/as you'd like. they were talking so sweetly and i really felt lucky to be able to listen to their conversation. a little guidance, perhaps? anyway, when the woman next to me left, she wished me a very happy new year and for a good day and she was just so pleasant that it is now my message to you to treat others the way you want to be treated! okay? yes.
• on a whim, i picked up a scratch lottery ticket with my bottle of water from the bodega below beatrice's apartment on monday night. and then i won twenty dollars!
• what would you do if you suddenly won a million-billion?
• redistribute.
• i can't remember when the last time i made a new year's resolution was. i (sort of) make resolutions on my birthday, but never for a new calendar year. but then! i was walking down the street last night and came across a workshop poster that read "RESOLUTION: START WRITING." and it's true, i really do need to. aside from this blog and my job at the magazine, i also keep a diary and work on a few other writing projects that i feel i've more/less neglected in the past few weeks. i partially blame this on the weather since most of my weekends in warmer temps are spent in frolicking in gardens and being incredibly inspired to create. but really, i just need to buck up.
• here it is. january. our lease is up and i'm back apartment searching. and it's lovely and peculiar to read entries like this or this and especially this. i am very thankful that i've kept this blog for so long, tracking my life in manhattan. ever-evolving.
• and i really think i will keep the promise to myself that i will START WRITING more than i have been. on charmly and otherwise. because it would be really nice to see in the future what i was like when i was a kid.