Category Archives: rae’s thoughts

sandy, of course

I’m losing my mind.

New York, I love you, and we’re struggling. It’s a mess out there. Half the city has no lights, people are desperately trying to get back to work and back to normal, and we can’t. It’s impossible.

I have it way way way better than most. I’ve got electricity, and my health, and my cat. We’re all good. And I’m still about to lose it. Work is a mess–we’re working from home the best we can, but systems are down, employees have no power, and our building was flooded. Plus, what train would take me to the city to work? I’m so thankful I have a job where I can work from home, and that my income doesn’t depend on a three-hour commute on a crowded bus. I’m very worried for people who need to get do a doctor, or refill a prescription. I’m just about out of food, and I’m a little afraid to enter the supermarket scene.

My friends are scattered. I’ve never felt this far away from them. We used to be separated by a quick train ride through a tunnel and now it feels like oceans. Might as well be. My friends downtown are still in the dark.

And what about those who lost their homes, and their loved ones? How do you even begin to pick up the pieces?

It’s gonna be a long road, New York. But what else can we do? You can see it on people’s faces: the exasperation, the tiredness. And also the kindness. My neighborhood bar isn’t able to have their usual menu, so they ordered everyone pizza. The coffee shop is crowded with people chatting, trying to get out of their house, get their life back together. Sandy is the only topic of conversation.

The worst might be over. But I am exhausted.

still messy

Ok you guys, honestly, I think I’m still recovering from moving. How long do I get to use that as an excuse for my house being a mess?

Anyway, I’ve got an Ikea trip planned and I’m having a housewarming soon, so I am trying to get thing into shape before then. Here’s a sneak peek, please forgive the clutter.

I got a couch. And someone realllllly likes it.

And now I’m off to coffee and furniture shopping! And later I have a date with Jay Z. Happy Saturday.

 

a very mizzou weekend

Happy Labor Day weekend!

I went to Columbia over the weekend and spent time with some of the very best people in the world. Hope you has as good of a weekend as I did!

Will catch up on posting very soon as I get back into the swing of things after a crazy week last week. #fatcat is adjusting well to the new apartment. I am, too.

 

two weeks after

Moving weekend went shockingly well thanks in large part to my amazing friend Laura and her helpful moving kit. She made things super fun and kept me from freaking out too much.20120826-182706.jpgWhen we got to the new place, #fatcat found the smallest place he could squeeze himself into and stayed there for several hours. Eventually, he did come out, and now he’s doing just fine. And after it was all moved (Moore Moving did a really excellent job) I said goodbye to my old apartment. And hello to the mess at my new place.Things are a little more organized now, but I still have a lot to do. I feel good about this bookshelf table combo though!

 

Everything else is still too much of a mess to show you. But I’ll have more things together soon. I can’t believe how great moving went! HUGE thanks to Laura and my mom, who came up for a few days to help me get things together. I can’t imagine how people do this by themselves.

countdown to moving day: 11 days

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Pretty soon I’ll be leaving my apartment. Affordable and cute, it was the perfect place for my first apartment, and I’m quite certain I’ll never find another like it. It was exactly what I needed when I moved in two years ago–I’m sad to leave it. But I am excited for a new place and new opportunities.

I’ve been checking out catalogs and design books for new ideas on decorating. For the kitchen and living area, I think I am going to stick with the colors I have now. Which is, well, white with bright color accents. But I am really excited about the idea of merging modern design with different textures you might not associate with a modern look–like knitting and crocheting. I love the idea of making a lot of things for my new place myself, and taking the time to find some really fun, bold, pop culture-y decorations.

things I want to make

Follow my brainstorming on Pinterest and Instagram @raenudson. I can’t wait to get started! But I must because my knitting needles are packed away.

countdown to moving day: 13 days

I keep putting things in boxes, but so far my apartment does not look any emptier.

so many boxes

kitchen

Believe it or not, this is when I was halfway done with my kitchen. How do I have so much stuff in an apartment that’s only 300 square feet?

costs so far:

  • $12.50 on newspapers
  • $20.99 on boxes and shelf liner
  • $20 on cars to take home boxes and drop off clothes at Housing Works
  • $150 on my credit card to reserve movers

So far I’ve gotten rid of clothes and books, and I’ve gotten an alright start on packing up some boxes. With 13 days to go hopefully I’m on the right track.

I also started this box log that I’ve read a lot about. I have been numbering each box as I go along and writing what is in the box on the side of it. But I’ve also started a google doc that lists each box with the number, what’s in it, and what room it should go in. The idea is that when I move and am looking for my travel coffee mugs, I will know they are in box 5 in the kitchen, and I can go and fish them out. (True story, they really are in box 5 in the kitchen.)

Moving is a lot of work, guys. My arms are sore and I haven’t even MOVED anything yet. Time for a break?

countdown to moving day: 14 days

I’m moving. Just to another place in Brooklyn, but you guys it has three closets. THREE. And a bedroom. A BEDROOM.

I’m excited. Moving is always stressful so I handled it appropriately by crying to my mom, eating lots of oreos, and then (finally) bucking up and getting busy. (ps, thanks mom.)

But now that I’m onto the getting-busy part of the program, here’s whats going on.

I booked movers

Movers are expensive, but what are you going to do, carry your Ikea bookshelf down 4th Avenue all by your lonesome? I think not. I got a recommendation from friends, and that recommendation was worth it to me to not shop around too much for other places because I believe they are trustworthy people who do a good job. I’ll let you know how it turns out on moving day.

I got boxes

I went to Lowes, picked up some boxes, and made it one block down the street before I called a car. Eventually me and my boxes made it home and I am honestly the most excited to use my colored duct tape for color coding said boxes and using fun sharpies to write on said boxes than I am for just about any other part of this process.

duct tape

I started clearing out my stuff

I have several bags of clothing and a few boxes of books that are waiting to be brought to Salvation Army or are on the sidewalk waiting for fellow Brooklynites to pick them up off the street. This weekend I’m going to focus mostly on clearing out and packing up things I don’t use very often. On this note, the Rae’s Days shop will be on pause for one month until I am settled in my new place. Thanks for understanding.  Also if you are walking down Prospect Park Southwest and see a bunch of books, please take some, they are for you.

take one

I’ll keep you all posted on moving (duh) and if anyone has any questions about moving in New York, let me know. I need all the help I can get and would be happy to help anybody else with information or commiseration any way I can. Also if you have any moving tips, please share. Please, please, please share.

lists (incomplete)

Coolest things I’ve ever done:

  • Be at the pope’s blessing on Christmas day. Seriously, I’m not even Catholic, but I do love Christmas, and it was a giant multilingual party in St. Peter’s Square.
  • See a Barcelona/Atletico Madrid soccer game in Madrid. Sports bring us together, people, all over the world.
  • I rang a bell that Paul Revere made in an old church in New England. I stood on the top steps, grabbed the rope to ring the bell, and swung.

Lamest things I’ve ever done:

  • One time I saw a bug in my kitchen and started crying. It was a rough day, but I really have no excuse.
  • My parents had this rule where I wasn’t supposed to do flips on our trampoline and at my neighbor’s house I did some flips. I then went home and confessed in tears to my parents. Apparently I cry a lot.
  • Do you guys remember the weekend the hurricane came to New York so we all went crazy in our apartments alone? That was pretty lame. I ate so much that weekend.

Earliest memories:

  • Me and my sister getting ready for bed one night in our house in Washington State
  • My mom getting excited I was reading a page in a book. Me being confused as to why this was exciting. (It was either a Bernstein Bears book or the one about it raining meatballs. Or neither and I can’t remember.)
  • I set paper on fire once when i was little because I wanted to see if it would melt. It didn’t. We had lit candles because our electricity was out.

Things I’ve done this weekend:

  • Watch the Olympic opening ceremonies and turn into a big pile of mush because I love America and sports and people and Hey Jude
  • Watched the Newsroom and turned into another big pile of mush when Will defended his staff and they all risked their lives for journalism.
  • Stressed out about work changes and life changes and apartment changes.
  • Took a walk and called my dad who said everything was going to work out

my promise to women

I like talking about lipstick. And nail polish, and who wore what to the Oscars. I dye my hair and can tell you my top 3 shoe designers (Kirkwood, Olympia, Atwood). I have a solid network of friends to talk about Beyoncé alone.

I’m also a capable, smart, single woman who pays my own bills and works full-time and solves my own problems (with a little help from my friends, of course).

After the recent rants on the Newsroom that hated on reality TV and condemned a woman for being a gossip columnist, and the never-ending portrayals of ditzy women who have nothing in their heads but the latest sale at Bloomingdale’s, and the conversations that go in circles about women having it all, I am defending frivolity.

A woman (or a man) can be smart and like high heels. And be capable and still be sad she chipped her nail. Reading trashy magazines does not mean you can’t also read David Foster Wallace. (I’m also on Team Reading Never Makes You Stupid, even if the thing you are reading is stupid, but that’s another story.)

That I feel the need to explain this should be devastating. We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing this behavior to continue. I never want my future daughter to believe she can’t enjoy dressing up and also be a brain surgeon. I also never want her to think she’s less of a woman if she doesn’t like playing with her hair.

Women already know we are capable. We know we are smart. We shouldn’t need to prove it to everyone else–including other women–by hiding that we sometimes focus on things that aren’t as serious as our families or our jobs or if it’s possible to have a family and a job. (SPOILER: It is, if you want, but no one said it was easy.)

I’m also taking the guilty out of guilty pleasure. I don’t feel bad that I like getting my hair done. I earned the money to pay for it, so why shouldn’t I? And if I want to spend a few hours browsing celebrity gossip, what’s it to you? Is the way I spend my time and money so offensive? Or is it that I’m a woman who has time and money to spend?

I am only 25 years old and I am exhausted defending my youth and my girliness. I know I have a lot to learn, but I also know I’ve learned a lot. I know there are more important things than the color of my nails–that’s why I enjoy the simple, silly pleasure of a manicure. I know the most important thing is what’s in my head and heart and not the clothes on my body. Shouldn’t we be teaching our girls the same thing?

Women can’t seem to win. We are either not girly enough or we are shallow. We are a ditz or a bitch. We can’t be CEO and we can’t stay at home. We have too many babies or not enough, and never at the right time. No way is good enough, and trying to walk the middle line isn’t working either.

Here is my promise to you, fellow women. I promise to support you. If you have a job or you don’t, if you have babies or you don’t, if you like physics or football or hair dye, you have my support to help you reach your goals. And I promise to care about what’s in your head and not what’s on your TV.

Do you promise, too?

P.S.–After the shooting in Colorado last week, everything else seems frivolous. My heart is with all those involved, and all the rest of us, too.

awesomes

Do you ever have days where you are embarrassed about everything? I’m sure it’s not just me. But today is one of those days, and I can’t send an email or do my hair or pick out shoes or get a cup of coffee without cringing and wanting to crawl back under the covers. But I have the Fug Girls to see tonight and work to do and I’m pretty sure my shoes are actually just fine. So to get my mind back on track, here’s 3 things that are awesome about today.

1. Fug Girls. Enough said.
2. I have gotten emails about Breaking Bad from my friends at both 5 am and 7:30 am this morning
3. My favorite characters are still alive in this book I’m reading (Wolves of the Calla, for those who are interested)

Got any awesomes of your own? Let me know, I could definitely use more.