Sunday, July 17, 2011

the birthday wish list (part II)

For those of you not married to musicians, the title of this post is a reference to an annoyingly named Beastie Boys album. I could write a whole post about annoying band/album names. For one thing, anyone who did not go to college but names their band after great American literature should be banned. It's like moving to NYC and a month later saying you're from there. 


The other day I got on here and discovered I have 30 blog followers! Thirty! That is crazy. I don't know how that happened during my months of silence, but I'm determined to not let this blog die, though it will have to morph a bit. For those of you wondering what the heck I'm doing writing a blog post after several months of silence, let me recap:


Six months ago, I got a new job, broke my arm, and got another new job while applying for a REAL job half way across the country. In March, we came to Memphis, TN, for my interview, and seven short and insane weeks later MOVED there! It's been the most insane year of my life (I've now had five jobs this year, a record even for me), but so amazing and incredible. Which brings me to why I did decide to blog today: in three days it's my birthday!!!! What else could pull you out of a non-blogging rut better than a narcissistic birthday wish list post? To prepare for this, I reread my wish list from last year...




(I'll wait while you review)




(has your jaw dropped?) That's right- I got my number one wish- a new job where I can wear Jemma Mays- esque clothing!!! Of course, the job is the main gift: I am now a part of the Memphis Teacher Residency, and will be teaching high school English this year!!!! How unbelievable and amazing is God? I never thought in a million years this would actually be my life and now here I am! Totally crazy and amazing. Wow.


Next up was a cat, and while we are not there yet, we did go look last week. Meet Jack: 



Isn't he just adorable? Or, as a true Southerner would say, "precious." He is waiting for us over at the Humane Society at Shelby Farms and if he is still there in about a year when we move out of our itty bitty apartment and I have more than a stipend to live on, he will come home with us! (If he is adopted in the meantime, even better. We will find another kitty.)

I was perusing a website today and thought, "I could make a whole birthday wish list of charitable causes." 


So here is my birthday wish list of things that help others and are totally awesome items for me:


My friend Crystal is also about to celebrate her birthday. We share a birthday- July 20th- but two years apart. She is about to turn 30 this year, which is amazing. What is more amazing is that for the last 7 months, she has been battling breast cancer. She is a wife and a mom to two adorable little girls, and has endured an alarming regimen of chemo, meds, a mastectomy, and now radiation. She is so brave and it is really inspiring to read her blog and be reminded of what is truly important in life. There is a fundraiser to help cancer patients pay their medical bills through buying fabulous apparel.



This would be so comfy for a jog after I come home and change out of my awesome teacher clothes. To find something cool for yourself, go here. Make sure to make your money go toward "crystal hoffman." Thanks so much!

Next up, TOMS. My first pair was the basic black flats and I loved them. But now I want to jazz it up and also add to my teacher wardrobe. I want these babies:


Sassy and sophisticated, like a socially-conscious librarian. 

How about jewelry? 31Bits is just daring me to spend my entire salary on their chunky bracelets and their braided fabric necklaces. I'm also loving that their most recent photo shoot was done in Palm Springs. I guess whenever I get homesick, I can wait for jcrew or anthro to do their spring/summer photo shoot near my mountains. For now, I'll take these, thank you.



I want all four of this last one. great color combo.

Last on my list is this scarf from World Vision


It's handmade by women in Thailand. Wouldn't it be great with a dress or tank top in the summer? I love how it looks like guaze and the white is so clean and simple. 

This list does not include giving to charitable causes I like, or gifts that are not going to help anyone but me. That could be a pretty long list, but Spencer did just take me to see u2 and Florence + the machine in Nashville, so my official birthday celebration will be dinner with some friends at a hip little bistro downtown called SOB (that stands for South of Beale, in case you were wondering). 

To wrap this up, thanks for not giving up on my blog, and I hope I can keep up the posting in some fun new ways as I transition into my new career. So far, twenty eight is looking pretty good. 

~tara noelle

2 comments:

  1. first of all, for the clothing company for crystal, you stated "here" and it wasn't a hot link. must fix that.
    second, i think you are supposed to have a child named jack. perhaps it is supposed to be a cat? hmm?

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  2. You could get a second cat and name it Diane. They would rule the street, I think.

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