All the jobs I've ever wanted.

Some people seem born with their calling, finding a passion for their chosen career path at a ridiculously young age.

For the rest of us, we search. Hopefully we find the thing that brings us satisfaction as individuals.
Hopefully.

I haven't found mine yet, although maybe I stumbled over it along the way and kept on going.

This is an inventory of all of the professions I ever wanted, as far back as I can remember:

Monkey doctor (that's the first I can remember, back when I wanted to change my middle name to Orangutan, because it had a better ring than Amanda)
Scientist
Veterinarian
Nurse
Talk show host
Marine biologist
Musician
Artist
Writer
Poet
Photojournalist
Radio personality
Photographer
Professor
Cook
Baker
Sex educator
Midwife
Doula
Massage therapist
Yoga instructor
Publisher
Editor
Art director
Graphic designer
Interior designer
Visual merchandiser
Art handler
Curator
Gallerist
Exhibition designer
Set designer
Stylist

I'm still trying to figure it out.

Gowanus, part 2

Gowanus

A lighter shade of brown

Today it will get dark an hour later. Spring is almost here. I can feel it!

Baked goodness

They stare out at you on the street, imploring you to come in and taste the sweet, rich doughy goodness.

I had to photograph the black & whites for you, my love.

But I didn't go in. Not this time. Not this time.

This is what I needed this morning

Rain and flowers

I love the rain. It makes everything a little more gloomy, glowing and beautiful.

I bought myself flowers today. When I originally moved into my apartment, I told myself I wanted to always have fresh flowers. That didn't last too long, but maybe it's time to revive the tradition.

I will be spending the next few days alone, just me and the baby. It's nice to bring in some sunshine during these cold days.

The good life

Today I splurged. I wasn't exactly planning to drop a chunk of change when I went out, thinking we'd just grab a nice Sunday afternoon coffee. But then I made the mistake of going into a shop I've been eyeing for a while.

And then I saw this:

I couldn't resist. I was useless against the sumptuous hand-crafted black leather bag. Gorgeous. I'm not a bag person, but this was something special. It's by BILLYKIRK (www.billykirk.com).

I love my neighborhood: the shops, the restaurants, the Sunday morning farmers' market. The old Italian immigrant neighborhood where you still hear the southern dialect spoken in the corner store, the grocery, the bakery.

But there's also the new contingency in the neighborhood: the stylish singles and couples,the ex-Manhattanites, the baby-makers. I'm in that group (but not the Manhattan part). Maybe I feel a little cliché sometimes, but I had no idea the neighborhood was going through a boom when I moved in, drawn by the quaint charm and its proximity to my job less than a mile away.

Who knew that four years later I'd be walking down Court or Smith with a baby of my own?

Today I feel so Brooklyn. Or rather, very Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill-esque. I headed out early into the brisk February morning, the cold wind biting my skin as I made my way up Smith Street to the green market to dump my week's worth of saved kitchen scraps for the compost collection. Then off to an intense hour and a half of Vinyasa yoga. Awesome.

Call it cliché, but this is the good life.

Dust

Do you ever feel like your life is under construction?

The scaffolding is up, brown paper over the windows, and no one has any idea what the end results will look like?

I kind of feel like that right now and it's exciting.

Change is in the air. And I'm not just talking about spring or Valentine's Day or the black dust that creeps in through the windows, even though they're closed.


Change is coming...


And it feels good.