Into the Glimmer...

Hello there! It's been a while, no? And lot has changed around the DU stomping grounds. In the past several months, I relocated to Charlotte (instead of Charleston), got a new job at a big dotcom, ran my first 5K race, started training for a marathon (and I'm throwing a half marathon in during the training process), met a bunch of new people, picked up a new hobby (stand up paddleboarding!), started mulling over my jewelry line again, and visited two cities I've always wanted to see (Asheville, N.C. and Charleston, S.C.). Also, I turned a year older. Ahem.

So in terms of my 35 Before 35 list, not only am I a year closer to 35, but I've also crossed out a few more items including: #1 (move out of PA), #5 (get a job I love in an industry I love), #19 (run a 5K) with 20, 21, and 22 to be crossed off by Thanksgiving. And #4 (finish grad school) will be done by Christmas. And a few more are lined up for the last few months of 2012 and early 2013. So, not too shabby for my first year of list conquering.

But with all of these changes in my life, I don't feel like Displaced Urbanite is the right place to continue blogging. It seems so...hopeless. And that's not how I feel anymore at all. I'm no longer struggling in an area where I feel like I don't belong and where every road leads to a dead end. I'm in a new city, with new opportunities, at the start of a new journey. And so friends, thank you for reading this blog and I hope you'll join me as I go Into the Glimmer.

35 before 35 update

Just in case you were wondering, I haven't forgotten about my 35 before 35 list. I revised it a little based on some changing goals (for example, I added things about my pet photography business and removed a lot of things about this blog), but it's still a good list!

So, without further rambling from me, here are my recent 35 before 35 accomplishments:

8. Redesign my pet photography website
Admittedly, this is still a work-in-progress, but I've got a new brand identity and an updated website. I used SquareSpace instead of Wordpress to design it, but overall, I'm pleased with the experience and how the site is shaping up. You can check it out here. I'm still working on updating the blog, though.

9. Lose that last 15 pounds
It's gone, people! Gone! But I've been getting more and more into boot camps and training, that I'm probably on my way to losing another 10 pounds, which is just fine with me!

32. Watch LOST from beginning to end again
One of the more frivolous goals on my list, but it's done! Man, I forgot how much I love that show. And since I crossed this one off early, I have enough time to watch it again before I turn 35!

I also added a few fitness goals, like run a Warrior Dash and do a Metro Dash. I'm already on my way to the Metro Dash since I start training for that this Saturday (that's 5 hours at the gym, kids, wish me luck!).

And it's not on the list, but I'm considering renaming and redesigning this blog. I have no idea what I'd rename it at this point, but I want a name that's less location specific and I just want an entirely new look (because really, I feel like this one is a little half-baked).

So there you have! A few goals accomplished and a ton more go! Have a great Thursday!

And...changes (again!)

So many crazy changes going on around here! It's been a little bit of a whirlwind these past couple months and I'll try to get a few more blog posts lined up to discuss, so your reader might get flooded with DU insanity over the next week (sorry!), but first, my favorite change!

Remember how we were moving to Charlotte? D has been there for two months or so, and I'm still in Lancaster because I haven't found a job there yet. But not finding a job there, as frustrating as that's been, is probably a good thing because...

D got a promotion and we're moving to Charleston, S.C. instead. Charleston! Even though it's not (what I consider) a big city, I am still so excited! I'm moving to the beach! The beach, people! If you've read my blog at all over the past few years, you know the beach is one of my favorite places ever.


Charleston Skyline by Carl's Captures


Rainbow Row by zoonabar

Not to mention some of the other cool things going on in Charleston, like Charleston Fashion Week, the prevalence of indie and emerging designers, its proximity to Savannah and Savannah College of Art & Design, and....the beach! I know I love California (always and forever), but I do think Charleston is going to keep me happier on the East Coast a lot longer than other cities might.

It's still up in the air when exactly I'll move there, but I'm really hoping to be there by mid-summer. D will be there ASAP.

So cheers to Charleston and my newest geographic adventure!

35 before 35: displaced no more

Photo by zzmartinj

I know I haven't talked much about my 35 before 35 list lately. I've been working on it, and to be honest, it needs a serious revamp as priorities have changed (mostly swapping out all things jewelry design for all things pet photography, and also removing anything related to this blog and its page views). I'll get around to that update soon, but first I am super ridiculously pleased to announce that I can now cross number 1 (yes number 1!) off my list. Yep, I'm moving out of PA!

Without getting too specific, an opportunity came up in Charlotte, NC for D (with promises of more opportunity in the future) and we just couldn't say no. So off to Charlotte we go!

I'm still looking for a job and hoping to land one very soon so we can get settled, and of course, I'm thrilled to be heading to a larger urban area again. And yes, I'm taking my pet photography business with me. Word on the street is that there are lots of pets in Charlotte. :-)


Photo by kanpai80


Photo by hardingphotos

happy holidays!

A few of my holiday photos with warmest holiday wishes from our family to yours:

meet meadow

Okay everyone, here she is - my newest bundle of beagle love, Meadow, otherwise known as "Thing 3."







Meadow loves Lucy (Thing 2)



Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3 all curled up together


All photos by me, taken using the Hipstamatic iPhone app.

a gigantic case of the mondays

Raise your hand if you ever felt like you needed a weekend to recover from your weekend so you can get the things done you were supposed to get done over said weekend had your weekend plans not been hijacked by the weekend plan stealing banshees?

This weekend, I intended to:

• Set up my photo studio and take What I Wore pictures
• Write this week's blog posts, or at least a few of them
• Make root vegetable pot pie for dinner on Sunday
• Relax and zone out mindlessly in front of the TV
• Run a few miles on the elliptical

Instead I:

• Ran around for most of the morning on Saturday, buying not-fun things for our new house (like mouse traps and plastic containers)
• Visited the Humane League (twice) and came home with another beagle (her name is Meadow, she is awesome and I'll introduce her to you soon)
• Went to the pet store to buy Meadow lots of presents
• Nearly set the kitchen on fire by using the oven for the first time (for that pot pie I wanted to bake), but apparently, the oven is broken

I see no resemblance between list one and list two here, do you? And that is why, you are stuck with this random post, and that pretty picture of orchids that I snapped while shopping at Lowes for mouse traps and containers.

52 weeks of downtown lancaster:: week 2

This one's a bit of a cheat since I actually took it over the holidays. But it's just so pretty, I had to share.

As I already mentioned, over the holidays D (the husband) and I saw The Sound of Music at the Fulton Theatre downtown. I snapped this with my trusty Hipstamatic app just before the show began, which is probably prohibited or something (the snapping not the Hipstamatic app), but I did it anyway. (I am such a hooligan.)

Let me also put it out there that the show was fantastic. If you're ever in Lancaster and you want a little taste of Broadway in the small city, definitely check out the Fulton. For real, they hire actors who have performed extensively on Broadway and off-Broadway. So, what was that about Amish buggies and cow tipping?

52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster is my photo project for 2011. It's meant to keep me creative and posting about a consistent topic on a weekly basis. And it's also to get the word out that there's so much more to Lancaster, Pa. than the Amish, farms and outlet shopping. View the rest of my 52 Weeks of Downtown Lancaster pictures here.

I got a husband for Christmas

So, I'm pretty sure my Christmas gift was better than your Christmas gift. Not to be a one-upper or anything, but on December 30, I married my best friend. Despite all of the chaos with wrapping up my grad school semester, starting a new job at the end of October, and buying a house and getting ready to move next weekend, this holiday season was probably one of the best I've ever had.

We kept our day simple, with a visit to the JP in the early afternoon followed by a three-hour photo session downtown and then had dinner with our family and drinks with friends. It was the perfect day for us and I'm so glad we went the simple route. Of course, I still had to have a pretty dress. We haven't gotten our professional pictures back yet, but here's a picture of us that my (very camera happy) mother snapped after dinner (you can sort of see the dress):


Excuse our tired looks. Husband just loves getting his picture taken, so after a three-hour shoot earlier that day, I was lucky he smiled for the camera at all after relaxing at dinner.

We're already onto that "in sickness" part of the vows. He seems to have caught some kind of flu bug and has been on a strict schedule of laying on the couch, eating chicken soup.