Here Lies the Most Sporadic Blogger

It felt fitting to post these photos from our trip to Lewes a few weeks back, since we aren't even a week into October and all of my feeds are full of spooky fun.  Who am I kidding, though?  I'm always up for posting lovely old graveyards and there isn't really anything particularly spooky about this one at all.  I'm having such a hard time getting back into the habit of regularly posting, but maybe October will be my month!

Bookworm - Comic Edition

It's really funny that I've only recently become obsessed with comics, because Donnie has been reading them for as long as I've known him and I remember really enjoying Archie when I was a kid and even sometimes reading my grandpa's copies of Richie Rich and Donald Duck comics.  I think I was stuck on the misconception that they are all about superheroes, even though I know they're aren't. I think what got me was regular trips to a local bookstore that also carries comics.  There were so many interesting covers with great artwork and I started picking up a few here and there.  Before you know it, I was sucked in.  Comics are one of the things that I found myself really clinging to when my anxiety was at its worst too.  They helped provide me with a temporary escape from my over-thinking brain with their great stories and illustrations and there is such a fun sense of excitement knowing the next issue is coming out.  Here are just a few of my current favorites.  Clicking the covers will take you to their Amazon listings or you can ask me to borrow my copies!

Every comic shop I've been to recently has had at least one employee who recommended Paper Girls.  I've heard it described as War of the Worlds meets The Goonies and I've seen an article comparing it to the super popular Stranger Things.  The series is about a group of paper delivery girls in the 1980s who end up discovering something pretty crazy on the day after Halloween.  I leave it up to you to find out the rest!

Lumberjanes is definitely what started my obsession.  Friendship, craftiness, girl power, summer camp, mysteries - it's got all the great things!  I seriously cannot say enough good things about this series and my gigantic Lumberjanes messenger bag is proof of my fondness.  There are a ton of issues, so I recommend buying the digests that combine several issues.  Then again, there are some seriously amazing covers, so you may want to buy some of the single issues too.

I'm not super into Batman or traditional superheroes, but I think this may have been one of the series that sucked me in with the cover art.  Olive and Maps are the characters on the cover above and students at Gotham Academy, a school started by Bruce Wayne.  This is another girl power kind of series, in case you aren't noticing a theme, and the scenes where they're exploring the school kind of remind me of Harry Potter.  If you are a Batman fan, quite a few familiar faces show up in this series.

Because Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy weren't awesome enough series on their own, they combined forces for a six part series that I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear about.  I think we are up to issue four and it's great to see my favorite characters interacting with each other.

I just finished up the first volume of Plutona and I'm curious to see where the story goes.  It starts off with a group of kids finding a dead superhero in the woods by their school and is really good at giving each kid a distinct personality and story.

Seashells by the Seashore

On The Boardwalk

We recently took the boys on a surprise weekend trip to the beach and as much as they enjoyed it, I think I may have enjoyed it the most.  I love visiting the place where I spent so much of my childhood and getting to experience with my own children.  Much of the area has changed in recent times, though, and it's so busy and built up.  I still manage to get really nostalgic during visits and I think what helps with those warm fuzzy memories are seeing things that have managed to resist the change and growth.  The boardwalk at Rehoboth has a lot of examples of that and I wanted to share a few.  I wish I had taken more photos there, but we only visited for an evening.

How adorable is the logo for Sharkey's?!   

 I think the Dolle's sign is one of the most recognizable icons of Rehoboth.  That place has been there since the 1920s!

 These are the windows at Dolle's.  The old fonts are so great!

So Louie's really holds such a special place in my teenage heart.  There was a summer where my friend Allison and I would take the bus to the boardwalk every night, my skateboard in tow and both of wearing ridiculously baggy jeans.  We ate pizza here each one of those nights and then we'd hang around and meet cute skater boys.  I think we may have been around fourteen.  I'm sure we weren't nearly as cool as we thought we were, but it was such a fun time and seeing that this place looks exactly the same reminds me of such fond memories.

Hello Again, Monday!

If I keep up this lazy Monday only posting, this will turn into a music blog!  It really is so difficult to get back into the swing of things, after taking so many breaks.  I'm going to try to do better this week.  Have I talked about my love of Ted Leo?  I think I first heard about him on one of the music blogs I used to regularly read.  I had a long list of music blogs bookmarked that I would check daily for new songs to download and an itunes library of thousands of songs, but Ted Leo was one of my favorites.   We all know how I like to ramble on about music or anything I love really, but I'll just shut up and leave you with a good song to start your week!

Music for a Happy Monday

I have once again neglected this poor blog, but I haven't stopped thinking of ideas for posts or planning things I want to talk about.  It's hard to get back into the habit of something once you've spent so much time away from it and I'm finding it tough to make time for all the things I want to be doing, so this blog seems to be the first thing that gets set aside.  I've spent the last month or so really working hard at feeling like myself again and it's working.  I think it's been just over a month since I've felt that uncomfortable tightness in my chest and ache in my stomach that come along with the anxiety I had really started to get used to feeling.  I have some slight signs here and there, but overall, I feel better and that is really such an amazing feeling.  I'm slowing doing things I enjoy once more, even if it's just for small amounts of time.  I feel like I have some serious catching up to do around here, but this is a good start!  Happy Monday, all!

Musical Monday

This is a band I've been meaning to listen to more often, so I'm posting this partially as a reminder.  I really enjoy songs that at first listen sound upbeat and simple, but really are so much more and full of emotion.  I think that says something about my personality, upbeat and simple on the surface but always so damn emotional.  Even if you aren't really paying close attention to the lyrics of The Front Bottoms' songs, I think they're pretty enjoyable.  I imagine this is one of those bands that just puts on the most memorable live show, but I haven't gotten to find out yet!

Later this week, Donnie and I are seeing another band full of upbeat yet emotionally complex songs, Motion City Soundtrack.  They're one of my absolute favorites and I'm trying to forget that this is probably the last time I will get to see them live.  Here's one of my favorites from them for you to imagine me dancing crazily to while singing obnoxiously loud!

Benny's Birthday Adventure - Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium

Here are lots of cute animals and two cute little humans to make up for yesterday's wordy post.  Enjoy!

Blah Blah Anxiety

I felt like maybe I should explain my extended absence from my blog, not because I owe anyone an explanation really, but because I bet there's at least one person reading who can relate and because we still don't talk about mental health as much as we should.  There are still so many of us who feel ashamed asking for help or weak for taking medication.  I am neither ashamed nor weak.  I am strong and brave and I know I can't always do everything completely on my own.

I've spent the last few months in a pretty bad spot.  Daily stomach aches, lots of tears, an ever racing heart and shaky hands, coming home and heading straight up to my bedroom, ignoring many of the things I love and that help me stay sane.  There were also daily self pep talks, the deepest of breaths, long walks to unwind, and, finally, on my birthday, I went to see my doctor.  I spent the morning of my birthday crying to the doctor.  I was pissed off and frustrated.  I have managed my anxiety and depression so well in the past and I had been doing everything I could to try to shake it off.  It just wasn't enough, though, and so I asked for some help again.

The diagnosis on the printout from the visit said "adjustment disorder".  I guess that's pretty accurate, because I have had one hell of a hard time adjusting to the change in jobs.  It's ridiculously silly.  I know that.  I love this job, I love my coworkers, I think I do a pretty good job.  I have absolutely no regrets in making the change.  But that's the thing with anxiety and depression - you can know all of those things and still question every tiny action and fear the worse in every situation.

Here I am, though, a few months, lots of hard work, and a small daily dose of Prozac later.  I am finally starting to feel like myself again.  It's a process and some days I still feel the familiar sense of dread creeping up for no real reason, but it's getting easier.  I know this is something I need to continue working at and, wow, typing this post feels absolutely therapeutic.  If you've made it through this novella, thank you for reading.  I'll be back tomorrow with something less wordy and eventually I want to share some things that have helped me out these past few months.  It feels good to be back!

Lititz Birthday Adventure

I'm sure I should do some kind of post to properly catch up and maybe even explain my absence, but for now, I think I'll just share some mostly photo posts.  A lot has happened since I've last posted, including my 36th birthday and it was a really good one.  I had lovely tea with friends, a party at home with the boys, and a rainy day in one of my favorite little towns, Lititz, PA, with Donnie.  It's such a picturesque town and even the dreariness of the day couldn't dampen its beauty!  We've only visited Lititz a few times and we've always just stuck to the main streets and store fronts, but this time we ventured off those streets a bit and found a little paved path that ran along a creek.  We got to see a water snake, loads of ducks and ducklings, and a shy little kitty who was not up for posing for a photo.

(I Was) Gone, Daddy, Gone

After a long hiatus, I'm back!  I've been trying to get back to my blog for a long time, because I've missed it and I've missed sharing with you all.  Hopefully some of you have stuck with me through the silence.  Happy Monday, lovelies!

Flair

If Office Space took place today, Jennifer Aniston's character would have so many choices when it came to jazzing up her work uniform.  Enamel pins are seriously the biggest thing right now and I'm not complaining, because the variety is awesome and they're kind of like tiny affordable pieces of art. There are so many amazing pins out right now that it was really hard to narrow down my wishlist, but I somehow managed.

1/2/3/4/5/6

If you click a source, make sure you check out the other pins (and merchandise) these great shops have to offer too.  Now go get yourself some flair!

A Whole Lot of Walking To Do

One of the things I really love about my new job is that I get to go on court runs almost daily, getting me out of my office chair and up moving out in the fresh air.  I've been trying to walk on my lunch hour too, because our office is really centrally located and I love admiring the old architecture and imagining the town in all its former glory.  Let's not forget that good for my physical and mental health, too!  Back to that old architecture, though.  The town really is fully of lovely old buildings and I've been trying to snap some photos when I'm out walking.  Here are some of my favorites-

This my view walking back from Circuit Court.  I love the brick sidewalks and arched windows on the side of the building.

I shared this photo on my Instagram awhile ago.  This grand old building used to house a dinner theater where my grandma took me to see my aunt act in shows.  There's still a theater across the street and a school for the performing arts, so I think this small section of town is considered the theater district.  The street here is glittery, but it doesn't show in the photo.

There's a great cemetery behind this gorgeous church, but I haven't gotten to explore that just yet!  I think it's actually where the town's founder and namesake is buried.

Before you actually get to the square of town, there are the most grand old houses proudly standing on the hill.  I think a lot of them are apartments and offices now, but a few are still private homes.  I can't even imagine how amazing the interiors must look!

These last few photos were all taken on the same street and are especially close to my heart, because I used to live on this street.  This house is my favorite, partially because of the great statues along the front.

 Nearly all of the houses on this block of the street are lovely brick Victorian homes.  Again, I think most are now apartment buildings.  One used to be a bed and breakfast when I lived there.

This is the building where I used to live, the first apartment Donnie and I shared.  We were up on the top floor in a one bedroom apartment with hardwood floors, two great balconies, and even a separate dining room.  This is where he proposed to me, where we got our first dogs together, and where we rested after working extra hard to save for the place we now call home.  So many memories!

Relax & Unwind

Hey there, sweet readers.  I really need to get my blogging act together, because it's an important part of my self care and I'm still feeling that anxiety I mentioned last week.  I have had my anxiety in check for quite some time, so it's extra shitty not being in control right now and not being able to pinpoint what's causing it.  True story, I had an anxiety attack while watching Jessica Jones last week. A fictional television show that I typically enjoy triggered something in my brain that just turned me into an utter mess.  Another day, I felt the familiar tightness in my chest upon receiving a text message from a friend.  It wasn't even a negative message or someone I would dread hearing from.  It's all completely irrational and irritating as hell.  It's the worst when I'm alone with my racing thoughts, but as mentioned in that previous post, music helps to calm me down. I didn't make the playlist below, but it's perfect for listening to in the evening when I'm trying to sort of shut my brain off or at least slow it down and unwind from the busy day.  Everyone needs this sort of playlist sometimes.  

As for this anxiety nonsense, I'm really feeling over it.  I've spent a bit of time having myself a pity party, but now I'm ready to get to work on a plan to kick it's ass right out of here.  Part of that plan definitely involves music, keeping up with this blog, a whole regimen of self care, and, once I've been added to Donnie's insurance, getting myself to the doctor.  If you've made it through my rambling on about my mental state, you probably could really use this relaxing playlist.  Enjoy and remember to take care of yourself!

Easter Hopped Right By!

Did this year's early Easter throw anyone else off?  It was here and gone and we just barely managed to dye eggs and put together baskets.  The decorations for my favorite holiday never even made it out of the attic and I totally flaked on making a basket for Donnie.  The Easter Bunny did remember to come visit the boys, though, and they had their usual egg hunt at my grandparent's house, so that's really all that matters.  Next year, though, I vow to be better prepared!

Daft Punk Is Playing At My House

I've been a big stupid mess of anxiety lately and music helps me to calm down and sort of turn off my brain for awhile.  Upbeat pop and dance music seems to especially help and I've been revisiting a lot of songs and bands I haven't listened to in ages.  Daft Punk is one of those bands and their videos are just as amazing as their songs.  This video is one of their older ones, but it's my favorite!

Airplanes, Outer Space, and Cherry Blossoms

For this year's birthday adventure, Oscar chose to visit the Air & Space Museum in D.C.  I always love visiting our capital, but was especially excited to go when the cherry blossoms were blooming. The city was unbelievably busy and we had to wait in line at the museum, but we managed to never feel too crowded and really had a great day.  This isn't my favorite museum in D.C., but it wasn't my birthday adventure and I did really enjoy getting to see some uniforms and memorabilia from the golden age of air travel.  This post is a bit photo heavy and I would have taken so many more photos, but I forgot to grab my actual camera!