Plano may be plain...

...but today, I am grateful for just that: Plano. I know it may seem silly, but I feel like all too often we are complaining about this darn heat, or how bad the traffic was on 121, or how boring suburbia can be. Because of this, I thought it completely necessary to give a shout-out to good old P-town. I was walking along a trail 2 nights ago and I realized just how blessed I am to even be able to go outside and stroll, completely carefree. There are so many people in this world (in this very country) that do not have that luxury due to crime, gangs, poverty and even war. I'm sure they would give anything to live in a boring old town like Plano. So, from now on, even though it might not be the prettiest place to live, or the most interesting, or the most cultural, I am going to try to be grateful for Plano.

Summer love

No, don't be ridiculous, I'm not referring to a new boyfriend or any sort of romantic relationship. However, I am in love...with the summer. I'm sure I sound like a broken record to anyone who knows me, but I love everything about the summer and it actually makes me emotionally upset to even think about the winter - true story. I suppose it's no coicidence that I find myself living in the equivalent of the Sahara desert (otherwise known as Texas), but I am truly mystified that I ever survived the harsh, arctic conditions of New York City. Granted, my time there was fairly brief, but I will never forget the occasions where I just stood on the street crying because I was so physically cold. Yes, I am laughing out loud at myself as I'm writing this. I'm quite pathetic, so for now, let's focus on the positive: what I love about summer.

• I love getting to wear flip-flops everyday
• I love throwing on shorts and a tank top vs. layers upon layers of coats and other superfluous articles of clothing
• I love walking outside barefoot, especially in the grass
• I love barbeques outside
• I love hanging out at the pool with a frosty beverage
• I love frosty beverages
• I love sitting on the patio for dinner
• I love sitting on the patio, period
• I love that with the summer, comes a casual laid-back attitude, not felt once fall hits and everyone's back in school and planning for the holidays
• I love going to the lake
• I love drinking ice cold lemonade (it only seems appropriate during the summer)
• I love the smell of people grilling in their backyard
• I love getting my drinks at Starbucks iced, instead of hot
• I love that the summer makes people want to linger outside after dinner instead of hurrying to their car
• I love the way the sun feels on my skin after I've been inside an icy building
• I LOVE SUMMER!

I could go on and on, but I will spare you (yes you, the ones that love winter and wish Texas had 4 real seasons). Just know, that the 1st time the temperatures dip below 70, I will most likely be shedding a tear...mourning the last days of summer...

Kori and I enjoying the pool

Enjoying some time at the Hula Hut on Lake Travis

Haylee on the 4th of July

Grateful - Friday edition

Today I am exceedingly grateful for my job. I'm a manager at a bakery, and I couldn't be happier. It's a fun environment, low-stress, and I love the girls I work with! I spend my days icing cupcakes, stocking the pastry case, helping customers, working parties in the community room and overall, just helping people satisfy their sweet tooth.

I'm fully aware that I did not attend NYU to work in a bakery, but I have finally realized that the only person I need to please (in terms of my career), is myself. It has been a 4-year process, but I can finally say that I've come to peace with my place in life.

So here's to you and finding a job that you can honestly say you like! I truly hope each one of you finds it...

Grateful.

At the risk of sounding cliche, I am exceedingly grateful for this country. As the holiday weekend came to a close, I found myself more and more contemplative. I cannot even imagine the life I would be forced to live had I been born in Sudan, Taiwan, Budapest, Cuba, Iran, Palestine...the list goes on. What did I do to deserve such great abudance and why do I still find a myriad of things to chronically complain about? It truly is a shame that I have been given so much and yet appreciate so little. I got to spend the weekend celebrating our country's independence with my family, in the comfort of an air-conditioned home, eating enough food for a small country, watching an entirely superfluous fireworks show that probably cost more than the net worth of all the developing countries...I am spoiled. I am so spoiled and I'm just now beginning to realize the breadth and depth of my spoiled state. Sure, by Plano terms, I am anything but spoiled...but throw Plano terms out the window! This concentrated community of hyper-wealthy, over-priviledged, under-stimulated blue-bloods is anything but reflective of the life led by the majority of humans on this planet.

It all comes back to perspective. Sure, my little Honda Civic (who happens to bear the name
Andi) might not be anything compared to my neighbor's Porsche, but I have a car! So many people in this world cannot say that. I may not have True Religion jeans or Christian Louboutin heels, but I have so much clothing that I actually have to make a decision as to what to wear in the morning. My God - how many girls around the world would kill for such a predicament! How quickly most of us lose perspective when we are driving in our cars and miss a light, or we hear the alarm go off in the morning and immediately loathe the idea of going to work, or see our friend's new big-screen TV and immediately feel inferior...or worse...begin to resent them for it.

For all two of my readers, I encourage you to not only attempt to find this perspective, but to constantly remind yourself of it. I am so grateful that I live in this country, and I don't ever want to take it for granted. It is truly a blessing that not one of us deserves because we did nothing to earn it.