Valentine’s Day : Lovelinks

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The thing I love about stories is how long I carry them with me after I first hear it. I come from a family of story tellers. Each memory is told and retold until it becomes part of the fabric of our very lives. Stories, I think, help us cope with life on many levels. It’s why we love books, film, television, art – they reflect life at it’s most intense, it’s most poignant. The truth behind each one is an underpinning that holds our lives together, weaves them into something bigger than just ourselves.
And isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about? Stories remind us that truth is real, love is real, humanity is good. A good love story will keep your heart afloat when life overwhelms you.
So here is a list of lovelinks to inspire you and remind you : Hallmark didn’t invent love, but they did give us one more excuse to celebrate it.
Leigh’s blog series : This is How We Met.
Wondering what to say to a broken heart today? Take these sweet suggestions.
Girls : Swoon over the return of the nice guy.

Never waste a rubbish relationship.

“Because what is love? It’s friendship — deep, long-lasting, intimate connection with someone who knows you better than anyone.” The best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Okay, let’s be honest : Valentine’s Day does have some strange origins that have nothing to do with candy hearts or greeting cards.
“Love poetry is the only type of poetry that can be put into practical use” — which is to say, it supposedly results in ‘spirit becoming flesh; words becoming deeds; the two of you hopping into bed.'” – Celebrate the practicality of poetry and put it to good use with a few of these :
“My love has two lives, in order to love you…” Just found this beautiful love poem from Pablo Neruda, and the sentiment of it sort of reminds me of this song that I can’t stop listening to.
A funnier kind of love poem : “You had me at no duh.”
And remember this sweet love letter? Write someone a love note today.
And in case you missed these : my husband, a Zeppelin shirt, and a good date idea.
Xoxo, B.

book·ish : DIY Valentine from Samantha Shorey

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Lavish a little linguistic love with this DIY valentine.
Source : my bookish twin Samantha Shorey.

book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective

 
1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.
2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.
3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.
4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.

Guest Post | This Is How We Met

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Happy Friday! I have only one lovelink for you today, and I’ll be honest : it’s my own. I contributed a post for Leigh Kramer’s blog series about how my husband Matt and I started dating six years ago today! We’ve been married since August 2009, but on February 10, 2006, I told Matt I’d be his girlfriend. Cute, no?
So head on over and check it out, leave a comment and get to know Leigh’s blog. She’s a lovely writer and sweet gal. I really appreciate the opportunity she is giving to other bloggers to share their love stories.
A special Valentine’s Day edition of my usual “Inspired By” series will be up next Tuesday. Have a good weekend, loves.

My 30 Before 30 List

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In keeping with my unintended valentine’s theme this week, let me pass on to you the best date idea I’ve come up with in a long time. I mentioned last week that I was going to share my 30 Before 30 List, and here it is. But a kind of amazing thing happened in the midst of pulling this together; I realized that it wasn’t just about me.
It started when I was writing this post a few weeks ago. I was thinking about what 2012 will hold for me, all the firsts I have to survive without mom. And then I thought about mom, all the things she survived just to be with us as long as possible. And then I thought about me, all the things I want to live long enough to do. I’m only 24. And it’s only February. A lot can happen in ten months. And a lot can happen in the five years, eight months and 23 days before I turn 30. If I’m blessed to make it that far, and maybe even another 5, 10, 20 or 30 years or more, I want to capitalize on that “privilege denied to many” of growing older. So it started as this short little list of things I wanted to make sure I accomplish this year, and then the list grew longer and the goals more grandiose. Maybe I can’t accomplish all these things in 2012, but in the next five years, I sure hope so.
In my excitement, I told my husband, Matt, about it.
“What’s on the list?” He asked.
“Lots of things,” I replied, and I started listing them off as they came to mind.
“I should make a 30 Before 30 list, too, I think,” he mused.
And it sparked an idea : we agreed to finish our 30 Before 30 lists and then read them aloud to each other. So Friday night after he came home from work, we sat on the couch and drank Blue Moon’s Winter Abbey Ale (my favorite!) and ate pizza and read our lists too each other. Surprisingly enough, about half of our lists were the same. The other half were largely related to our personal career success. It was romantic and relaxing and fun, and perhaps most surprising of all is that it didn’t prompt arguments about money or time or responsibility. It was just dreaming, much the way we did when we first dated. Whether you’re married or not, making a list of goals is a great way to gauge whether you are on the same page with each other in a positive way.

So here’s my list, arranged by category and definitely not in chronological order.

F A M I L Y

1. Get a dog.
2. See hubby go on tour with his band!
3. Start a family.

P R O F E S S I O N A L

4. Earn a graduate degree in creative writing/publishing.
5. Become a full-time freelance writer.
6. Curate an art exhibit for local artists.
7. Contribute a story to This American Life.
8. Become a regular writer for a renowned magazine, newspaper or NPR.
9. Write and publish a mother/daughter memoir.
10. Write and publish a book of poetry.

P E R S O N A L 

11. Buy a Mac desktop complete with Adobe Creative Suite.
12. Buy new living room furniture.
13. Buy a new bed (mattress and frame)
14. Take a French cooking class.
15. Host a four-course dinner party.
16. Donate blood once per year (at least)
17. Run a half or full marathon.
18. Read all of Jane Austen
19. Take a yoga class.
22. Make a scrapbook/photo album of my semester abroad.

T R A V E L

20. Visit hubby and band while they are on tour.
21. Go on a European vacation with hubby.
22. Return to Salzburg, visit the Monchsberg.
23. Go on vacation with my Dad, my brothers, and hubby.
(Yellowstone, Maine, or Alaska, maybe? You pick, Dad!)
24. Visit :
– New York City
– Washington D.C.
– California wine country

F I N A N C I A L

25. Get health insurance for my husband, me and our growing family.
26. Establish life insurance.
27. Get better at saving money.
28. Bring down school loan debt by 50% (I feel like this is lofty, but nothing is impossible, right?)
29. Establish college fund for our kids.
30. Buy a house.

Do you have a list for what you want to do in the next five, ten or twenty years, or before you reach a certain age? What’s the top priority?

book·ish : Good Spelling is Sexy

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Just a friendly reminder for all you lovers out there : don’t forget to spellcheck your valentines.

book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective
1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.
2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.
3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.
4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.