Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

I looked at the calendar today and had a sudden realization that it I totally missed my blogiversary.  Indeed, just one year ago I began this little blog.  One year ago I was a second semester senior at NYU, teaching at a magnificent quaker school in NYC.  One year ago I was 21 years old.  One year ago I was living in the city of my dreams.  One year ago I couldn't even imagine what I would be doing one year later and one year ago I would have never imagined I'd still be living at home and be at a job I actually like where I actually use my degree (what?!  Insanity).  Hell, one year ago I had a different hair color.  I'm a whole new girl.  So welcome, my dear friends, welcome to Year 2 of the Ashleigh Renaissance.  With a little luck and a whole hell of a lot of hard work, this should be my best year yet.  


With this in mind, here is a little quote from my very first post to serve as a reminder as we (that being you, dear reader, and me) move into our second year as internet friends (wow, that sounds wicked sketchy...it's not).


(from Feb, 2009)

"Perhaps I should explain what I mean when I say I'm having a "renaissance." In fact, I should start off by saying that I was going to call this blog something like Nerd Renaissance, but certain dear friends of mine (Roberto) mentioned that this might be a tad off-putting, especially if you don't know me that well. True that, Roberto. True that.

Merriam-Websters defines the word "renaissance" as:

"1a: The transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14th century in Italy, lasting into the 17th century, and marked by a humanistic revival of classical influence expressed in a flowering of the arts and literature and by the beginnings of modern science. b: The period of the Renaissance. c: the neoclassic style of architecture prevailing during the Renaissance.

2: A movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity."

And while a transitional movement is certainly one way to describe this strange period in my life, I'm going to stick with the second definition : "a period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity." I recently (as in yesterday) found myself getting excited about being an artist for the first time in a long time. I finally feel like I know what direction I want to move in as my real adult life begins."

Happy anniversary, dear friends.  To celebrate, I got you these virtual cupcakes, made by my friend Erin.  Enjoy!

Random Photo Wednesday--The Bedside Edition

My madre had surgery this afternoon to, well, do something that it would be impolite to splash all over the internets, but let's just say I had no idea that this was even a thing that it was possible for the human body to do (thanks a lot, uninformative high school health class).  She was super nervous about the whole thing and is also not the best reactor to medicine, so I opted to take one for the team and spend the night in the hospital with her for moral support, extra help and whatnot.  Thus, hospital bedside post.  I'd take a picture to prove to you I'm here, but I'm pretty sure my mother would straight up kill me if any pictures of her all drool-y and post-surgical existed, let alone existed on the internet.  However, because my week is turning out to be INSANE, I thought I'd put my Random Photo Wednesday up a few hours early, that way I a) don't forget and b) have something to do while sitting in the hospital.  So here you go, dear blogosphere.  Some more random photos that were sitting on my computer.  They come from my magical trip to Florence, Italy that NYU paid for me to go on my junior year (yes, you read that correctly, NYU actually gave money for me).  And even though the only place in Europe I've ever been is Florence (I didn't study abroad, waah waah), I feel pretty confident in saying that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  I mean...actually, I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.  Happy Wednesday!

The Duomo in Florence

Random Florentine side street.

The Ponte Vecchio (ok, I'm a liar.  This isn't the Ponte Vecchio.  The Ponte Vecchio is behind this bridge.  This is simply a bridge over the Arno River)

And The Colosseum (which, obviously, isn't in Florence, but is awesome none the less), just for good measure.

I'd do anything...

...To see Simon and Garfunkel live in New Orleans in April.  And I mean anything.  Sell a kidney, make an ass out of myself in front of a ton of people, anything (ok, well anything that isn't extortion or prostitution.  A girl has got to draw a line in the sand somewhere).  Simon and Garfunkel are the sound of my childhood.  Theirs is the music that speaks to my soul.  (Yes, it's true, I am a 65 year old woman, how did you guess?!)  My family for some reason hates my taste in music (something about it being too quiet/sleep-inducing.  It is SO not, by the way.  I just like musicians who can actually play instruments, is that so wrong?) but they simply can't complain about the beauty that is Simon and Garfunkel.  It's not allowed.


I love all of their stuff, but here's one that I am particularly enjoying right now:

Saturday Photo Adventure

With my parents and sister away for the weekend, my brother and I have been spending a lot of time together running household errands and such, which, if you've ever met my brother, you know is a little strange.  After running to the bank (and I mean that literally.  As soon as we walked in the door they locked it behind us because they were technically "closed"), we decided to take our dog for a walk and take some pictures of the gorgeous fields of sour grass near our house.  We live in the most random, eclectic part of California and here's why--my house is right in the middle of the 'burbs (waah waah), but is also right next to a bunch of almond and apple orchards and quite near to the city.  It's a SUPER random mix of places that makes for some of the most beautiful scenery in the world (in my humble opinion).  Here are some shots from our adventures.  If you like these, even more can be found on my Flickr photostream.  Enjoy!

Have a great rest of the weekend.  Do something spontaneous, it's good for the soul :)

A (Potentially) Whole New World

Thanks to the ladies (are they ladies?  Surely there must be some gentlemen working there too) over at Shabby Blogs and inspiration from The Cherry Blog, I'm trying out this gnomie new layout (lord knows I love gnomes).  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the entire thing, mostly because the background isn't black and I the way photographs look on a black background, but we shall see.  Any thoughts?  It's very...bright, right?  I'd love some outside opinions.  Speak it to me, blogosphere.

Random Photo Wednesday--Installment 3

I just got a text message from my dear friend Rachel asking, nay demanding, the 3rd installment of this silly series.  And while I just about peed my pants when I read it, I know better than to disobey Mrs. Ifft.  So, here we go.  It's almost a Random Photo Thursday post, so I'll keep this brief.  This week is all about the written word.  I love graffiti/random street art (and if you do to, I encourage you to check out The Wooster Collective.  It is most excellent), so here are a few images of street art from NYC and Florence, Italy.  My favorite thing about Italian graffiti is that, unlike American graffiti which is often quite violent and usually all about power, Italian graffiti is all about amore. Yes, that's right L-O-V-E.  One of the many reasons why I love Italy.  Enjoy!

NYC

NYC

NYC

Italia

Random Photo Wednesday- Installment 2

Wait a minute, WHAT?!  It's Wednesday? It seems like this past week has flown by.  This might have something to do with the fact that I've been working a ton and staying late in the office (which, by the way, has no windows so it is really easy to get caught up with something and not realize that it's, say, 7 PM, which definitely happened today).  Anyway, despite my adamant internal protesting that it is not in fact Wednesday already, here is the 2nd installment of Random Photo Wednesday.  Today's photos come from 3 years ago (I can't believe how long it has been!) and are some of the very first photos I ever took on my beloved camera.  Enjoy!

Sharing is Caring

What is this, you ask? Photos and it's not even Wednesday yet?  AMAZING, right?!  This stuff was just so funny I had to share it with someone.  I just finished teaching a 2 week class for several 4th grade classes in Palo Alto, and as a thank you, they made me cards.  And let me just say, they were HILARIOUS.  Here are 2 of my favorites, they aren't the most high quality photographs, but you get the picture.  Apparently, in the mind of a 4th grader, I am not only a mermaid (yeah, I know, excellent), I am always saying tongue twisters (like "irish wristwatch."  Try saying that 5 times fast right now, odds are you can't do it), AND I am a princess.  Yes, that's right.  A tongue-twister saying, MERMAID PRINCESS.  Check it out.

Plus, according to 4th graders, I am awesome, anawesome even (and I don't even know what that means). And I'm number 1.  See?

Thanks, 4th grade.  You are endlessly amusing.  

Random Photo Wednesday, installment 2 arrives tomorrow.  You'll want to put on a new pair of pants for this one.  Get Ready.

Random Photo Wednesday

I've noticed out there in the blogosphere that people are doing lots of weekly series--Treasure Find Tuesdays, something my dear friend Rachel does, for example, or the Music Monday posting here--and I got to thinking, "Why don't I do a series?"  After wracking my brains to think of something, I realized that I have 9,070 pictures in iPhoto, and yet some of them have never seen (and perhaps never will see) the light of day, or, the light of the...internet...  Anyway, I thought I'd share them here.  Most of these are going to be from a while ago, but they still make me feel like I'm contributing to the world (and blogland) artistically.  


Today's come from a trip I took at the beginning of my last year of college with my beautiful friend Marissa to her family's home on Cape Cod.  Enjoy!

Cape Cod, MA

Cape Cod, MA

Cape Cod, MA