andrea joyce

I love literalism

2010-10-15T15:39:00.000-04:00

I love me a good dose of literalism. Especially when it comes to bookends. Thanks ModCloth for the amazing find. Swoon.

Swiss designer love

2010-10-15T15:16:00.002-04:00

Swiss designer Juri Zaech has won my heart...

via Gizmodo

Anniversary as seen by twitter

2010-07-08T13:50:00.000-04:00

08:05 Happy anniversary @equal_shot!!! I love you!
10:56 To the wine tour we go!
11:45 On our way to wine country! twitpic.com/23hvph
13:05 Marjim manor! twitpic.com/23igxp
13:14 To the next winery! twitpic.com/23ijaq
13:18 This is a winery?! twitpic.com/23ik9h
13:20 Oh THERE'S the sign! twitpic.com/23ikrz
14:21 This one looks like a winery and tastes phenomenal!! Catawba ice wine!!! twitpic.com/23j0l4
15:52 Sun... Bright... twitpic.com/23jnfv
16:03 Posh wine tasting. twitpic.com/23jq1s
16:09 Waiting our turn, rawr. twitpic.com/23jrjy
20:56 I am currently taking over our blog to talk about a weddin... ht.ly/183CBC /via @GwynethPaige

Our first beach trip

2010-07-05T13:55:00.000-04:00

Maddy and I went with Maddy’s BFF Georgi and her mommy Heather to Verona Beach to enjoy all that is summer. It was a blissful trip full of yummy snacks, a healthy lunch and a whole lot of attempts as swimming. Bliss.

Is anyone still out there?

2010-06-03T14:01:00.000-04:00

Does anyone still read this thing? I do. Sometimes.

I have been a horrible blogger and a horrible blog friend as of late and I know that. I looked it up. My last entry of any substance was 28 January. Before that, who knows? I do blog everyday for Gwyneth Paige. Seeing as I have know idea where I left off, or if anyone out there is listening, let's just break it down for as much as I can remember until my hands cramp from typing it all.

The Home Front

Maddox is by far the tallest toddler EVER. Maxing out at 97%, he met a 3.5 yr old the other day and was still an inch taller then him. He spoke better too. Maddox's speech is incredible lately. He uses "well" and "whom" properly. A lot of the "baby" words are leaving and being replaced by the proper words. This makes me sad. I miss "faffles" instead of "waffles." Yet I am still so proud of him. He makes me beam.
Maddox was bit by a spider last week and just like his dad, has extremely adverse reactions to insect bites. Swelling, bruising and hives. Mad was bit six times over his legs arms and back. The bite on his knee swelled so extreme that it looked like he had two knee caps. It's been a week today and finally all the swelling has gone down but they still itch him.
Maddy has also been playing wonderfully by himself. Imagining everything he can imagine. That boxes are trains, broccoli is a tree, that he is a helicopter. It's bliss.
He can reach the pedals on his tricycle now but can't get the hang of pedaling. He loves to go for wagon rides and play on the swings. Sometimes the slides make him nervous but once he goes down he is unstoppable.
He also broke my heart the other day. We took him to the playground maybe three weekends ago and there he met a little girl named Roslyn. She was almost four years old. She went up to him and said you're my friend and took his hand. He was smitten. They found a caterpillar and Ros named him Fuzzy. Maddox came over to me to tell me Roslyn was his friend and they have a caterpillar. I asked him to be gentle and wonderfully he was. After they played for a little while longer, Roslyn's daddy had to take her home to nap. Maddox was heartbroken. He cried "But she's my friend!" That is when I realized that my little has no friends. Not a one. Sure, he has his cousin Connor. Sure he had little buddies at the YMCA's Gym Class (which we resigned from due to the summer busyness). And yeah, his babysitter brings him over to her friends house who has a son six month older than him, but it's infrequent. Maddox doesn't have friends because we don't have friends with children and I am beginning to feel like the worst mom in history because of it. How do you make other parent friends when you have your own friends you barely see and you are introverted home bodies who love to go to the park and what not but on their own schedule? Poor Maddox. This is a problem I am still in the process of solving.
Bruce. What the hell kind of name is Bruce for a dog? No kind if you ask me. Bruce came to us as a puppy to sit for three days over the memorial day weekend. Come to find out, Bruce is not wanted and neglected at his current residence. Well this is just not acceptable so we are now fostering Bruce until we find him a good home. He is an Akita German Shepherd and perfect. Almost 5 months old and already 35#s. He'll be huge. To be honest, check back with me in 3 weeks. I bet he is still here and his name is Milo or Jake instead of Bruce. ;)

The Work Front

One month, three days ago I was hired on full time at Gwyneth Paige as their Creative Director (my title from before) as well as being handed the title of Marketing/PR Director. Super fancy. In turn my amazing hubs and FIL build me an office in a weekend for under $200 and it's perfect. I feel like a rockstar working from home. It's blissful in every way. I wish I could find the time to do more me stuff (i.e. Laundry, updating my personal blogs, etc) but I haven't quite figured it all out yet. I work about 35 hours a week and it's amazing. I also quit my job in the best way possible.
My old job was hell. They hated me, but I never knew why. I know I gave them about 10% of my brain functions but I always did my work... went I felt like it. Nothing was late, but things were done on the "Andrea doesn't give a shit" schedule of time, not their. Nemesis, the evil bitch whose whole purpose was to make my life hell there continued to do so. She was toxic. So when Jodi hired me at noon a Wednesday I accepted and went back to work. There I sat. For two hours just DYING knowing that I could walk out at any moment and have it not matter. That inspired me. This is my chance. To quit the way I wanted to quit. I didn't owe them a damn thing. They were shits to me the whole time. I cleaned my cube, my desk and answered all emails. Put in pending orders. Erased my voice message for my phone. Put up my out of office permanently message. Took all the pictures of the walls and brought them to my car (it took two trips) and over those 45 minutes no one noticed. Finally I took my keys to the office off my key ring as well as my badge, set them nicely in front of my keyboard and wrote an email to the head of HR. The email read Subject: Manifest Destiny -- Body: I resign. Blissfully, Andrea. I hit send and I left. Not a word spoken from or to anyone. I smiled the entire drive home. About an hour later HR must have read the email or noticed I was gone, called my house, left a message that I didn't return (I thought the email was self explanatory) and I haven't regretted it since.

Okay, that is all I can brain dump right now. Back soon.

If you are out there, wanna drop me a comment and see if there is any reason other than my record to update this thing?

xoxo

My best made me cry

2010-02-19T14:08:00.001-05:00

I just logged on to my gReader. I have eyes full of big fat tears. Big fat happy tears. I saw a post called "why Andrea is amazing" written by one of my bestest best friends. There is a link at the bottom, but I am so blown away I thought I would cut, paste and blockquote.

once upon a time i had a very good friend with a bad habit of finding girls to love who hated me. seeing this pattern emerge and endure was hard for me, but i knew i was lucky to have found my happiness and wasn't about to deny him his, even if ultimately i feared it would draw away his friendship and he would be lost to me. im so noble. actually i was a huge baby about it.

and then, one day, he surprised me.
i was throwing a huge last party for my brother before he left for army basic training. all of our friends caravaned to my house for a night of revelry. it was this night i met andrea. i recall bits and pieces of the night, but mostly its a blur. i remember thinking she was lovely, with piercings and tats and technicolor hair, rocking her perfect bikini bod in my dining room (where the hot tub was). i also thought what a shame it was that this vibrant girl was going to hate me, cause she was so cool.

and then, she didn't.

in fact, we connected. we had so much in common... it was like opening the door and being betsies at first sight. i felt like all of my time in cny i had spent 25 minutes away from another version of me and i must actually be quite awesome, cause she was.

and when my now hubby called up her now hubby to share the news of our engagement... so were they

and when we were dealing with the delights of our wedding planning, so were they.

and we celebrated each others weddings and they marched on and we waited, afraid of the next few steps.

andrea struggled through losses, and heartaches, and betrayals that i cannot fathom throughout this period. im sure any of those would have cowed me. not andrea. andrea has one stunning attribute that i have long lacked.

andrea has a perfect paper heart. cotton paper i believe. stacked deeper than the world. nothing so cold and impersonal as gold for andrea. her heart burns with love, passion, and friendship, and lights the way. andreas heart guides her, and her family, and not just a few others. her heart is strengthened from its troubles, and yet not locked away behind glass as mine would be were it not already a shiny small black thing i wear around my finger. her heart is strong enough for all of that and yet like the cotton paper its made from we all leave our marks on it. some shallow, some deep, some indelibly inked. and in her heart she holds these marks and knows they make her ever more perfect and beautiful.

she plays her own tunes, and finds her own fun, and loves her own loves,
and in being her very own engine inspires me most of all that i can too.

andrea reminds me that despite how i view the world,
there are strange treats around every corner

she shows me that being strong is beautiful,
but that softness isn't the same as weakness.

because even in our differences
we're even more the same.

thedailybroke.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-andrea-is-amazing.html

I love you SO much Jenny Lenny!!!

A call for help. Just a simple email will do.

2010-02-08T15:07:00.005-05:00

I am not the type of person to ask for help. Maybe I should be, but my pride always gets in the way. Also I hate bugging people with "help me with this cause that you don't care about!” However, this is different.

A really brief overview that may not do much justice to the story but I'll try. In preschool I had a best friend. Who can say they had a best friend in preschool? I mean a person at the tender age of four that would play with you, hug you, love you just because they were a kind soul.

A person who would become your first kiss at 6 years old, even though it was gross. A person who when you are being horribly picked on in the 7th grade (because, like most children, you were outright awkward) stood up for you risking his popular reputation to call out the asshole for being so. A person who never forgot your birthday and no matter how many years has passed, always check to see if you were okay. A person that when you were 23 years old and you father passed away drove all over your hometown, just to find you, to remind you that they love you, to take you out for a beer. All just because they are a good person.

A person, that when they opened his wallet after he was killed by a hit-and-run driver, found that it had your father's prayer card in it. That person to me was my childhood best friend Jerry Masterpol.

If you could just read below about the Masterpol Tragedy and if you could find it in your heart to write an email to castnewyork@gmail.com I could not thank you enough.

Written by Jerry & Jeff's Aunt Debbie:

I wanted to ask a favor of anyone who might have known my sister or her family or even if you did not know her and just want to help support them.

The producers of the hit show “Extreme Home Makeover” are looking for nominations of a deserving Central New York family to be on the show. Nominations may be submitted by the family or by a member of their community.

To nominate someone you can either send an e-mail to castnewyork@gmail.com or go to the Extreme Home Makeover website. Entries must be submitted no later than February 1, 2010.

Each nomination must include the names and ***ages*** of every member of the household along with a description of the *** major challenges within the home *** (see below)

Ages now: Jerry Masterpol, Sr. – 58, Linda Masterpol – 57, Jeffrey Masterpol – 28, Lindsey Masterpol – 25, Joey Masterpol – 22 and Mandy Holst - 27 (Jeff’s fiancee)

Anyone submitting a nomination should be sure to explain why the nominated family deserves, heroic and/or a great role model for their community. All nominations must include a contact phone number (your phone number).

Masterpol Tragedy (January 2006)

Jerry Masterpol and his younger brother, Jeffrey, were trying to help the victim of a hit-and-run accident outside a Mattydale, NY bar on Jan. 21, 2006, when the driver returned for a second time and ran them down. Jerry died from his injuries the next day. Jeffrey was paralyzed and is a quadriplegic today. Their heroic act of saving someone cost them their lives. The family’s lives have not been the same since.

Their house to this day is still not handicap accessible. This summer (Four years later) they finally were allocated some money which helped to have a handicap deck and ramp put on the side of their house so Jeffrey can finally sit outside and enjoy the sun. Before they only had a narrow ramp with a very small porch. Last year, some neighbors helped my brother-in-law remove the tub so that Jeffrey could get a handicap shower installed. There are so many more things that Jeffrey really needs.

He is now 28 years old. He wants to be more independent. He cannot fit through all the doorways. He basically stays in his small bedroom sorting out baseball and basketball cards (a new hobby of his). It is great therapy for his hands, but does get boring. He does watch a lot of T.V. too!

As for my sister, Jeff’s mom Linda, she is going all the time, between taking care of Jeffrey, you wouldn’t believe all the paperwork and phone calls she has to make and all the headaches you have to go through to get something done that seems so easy. She has also become a big advocate for organ donation. You see my nephew Jerry’s wishes were to donate his organs. She did this and in doing this has met some wonderful people who received his organs. This is something my sister said: “Nothing will take the pain away, but just knowing what a great thing my son has done is a comfort to me.” She said: “It’s a comfort to know another family is not suffering like us.” My sister is so strong and she has so much faith. I really do not know how she does it.

She will go and talk at colleges, schools, hospitals, walk in parades, etc. just to get the word out about how important organ donation really is. Right now there is a real shortage for organ donation, so we need to let others know. John, the heart recipient and his wife are wonderful people and have become an extended part of my sister’s family now.

Gosh, I know I wrote a book. But for those of you that are still with me, I just wanted to tell you how I feel my sister’s family is contributing to the community and that I believe that my nephews are true heroes. More than anything, I would love to see them get a house that would be handicap friendly for Jeffrey with his own space and a sink and cupboards that he could reach. I want him to feel independent and to try to do more things for himself, but still have his family so close when he needs them.

His biggest wish would be an enclosed in ground pool. This is the one thing that he loves to do. It makes him feel free and normal. He can actually kind of be upright. He only gets to be at therapy in water once a week for ½ hour. However, in the last year he has been unable to attend due to sore on his feet caused by his prolonged time in his chair.

Thank you so much for writing something if you decide to, if not, thanks for reading this anyway. If you do write something, please read the beginning so you know what to include.

Thanks again,

Deb Braun

-----

Please, find it in your heart to write just a short email. You can read news articles about the Masterpol family here if you so choose:

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/pain_of_losing_son_wont_end_bu.html

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-141556553.html

http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2009/07/crisis_with_a_cure.html

http://www.deadlyroads.com/archives2006jan.shtml

xoxo,

Andrea

Vaccines

2010-01-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Confession: Prior to yesterday Maddox has not been vaxed since he was 6 months old.

I freaked out and had no IDEA what I believed about vaccinating, glaxo smith, cow fetus blood, thermisol---I was lost. Since then I did what I always do when I don't understand something; researched the ever living shit out of it.

When he was born I turned down Hep B… I mean, what 22 hour old baby needs a Hep B shot? We also turned down vitamin K for his eyes.

Then at his 4 month appointment I didn’t say much and they vaxed him. Same at 6 months but after his 6 month shots, he spiked a fever and didn’t sleep more than a hour at a time each night for 4 days. It. Was. Hell.

I went into panic mode. Skipped his appointments. (Confession: I am an ostrich when it comes to confrontation with something I am either a) scared to fail at or b) feel that I do not know enough about it to make a valid argument for my view-point or c) have no stance to take what-so-ever)

Hell, my son never went to his 1 yr well baby visit. I am a terrible mother. Moving along. My doctor, who is a family practitioner and whom delivered me, yeah he’s been my doctor for 28 years, he called me personally. Told me how I missed Maddox’s 2 yr well baby and he was behind on vaxes. I told him to make the appointment but I need to talk about vaxing. He said no prob.

Yesterday was Maddox’s 2 yr well baby. He is 2 years 4 and ¾ months old. He is 37” tall and weight 34 lbs. He is the 92nd percentile for both weight and height. Perfectly proportionate.

He was late on HiB, DTaP, PCV, Varicella and MMR.

After our Dr told us that I told him I really didn’t want to do varicella unless he didn’t contract chicken pox by age 10. That I didn’t want MMR till school and even then I wanted them separated. Also, no PCV…

His exact response: “I’m your advisor, not Maddox’s parent. You’re the boss!” <3 <3

Then he told me he didn’t need the HiB and the PCV because after 2 they are no longer serious infections. Yay! He also said he would much prefer Maddox to get varicella on his own because that is a permenant vax, unlike the temp vax he'll give him. The only problem is you can't FIND anyone who has chicken pox anymore. :/

We went ahead with the DTaP and scheduled Maddox for his M, M and R shots at age 4.

I love my doctor. And son. And husband.

This.

2010-01-25T14:16:00.002-05:00

Losing it!

2010-01-19T14:15:00.000-05:00

I am losing weight!

Start: 147.8
Current: 143.6

That's 4 fucking punds!!!! Sure, not a lot to those who have lost more, but it's progress! I've been counting my calories for just over three weeks now. I don't feel starved. It was eye opening to see HOW much I was putting in my body. No wonder I have gained so much.

Persepective: I graduated highschool 5'6", 98#s and was gaunt. College: 120#s, 5'7" happy. Before Maddox: 133#s just feeling a bit big. Top weight with Maddox 158#s. Two month post partum: 128#s... Two years post partum 148#s.

Goal? 125#s

Back, if only for a moment.

2010-01-15T14:17:00.005-05:00

Alright blog. You win. Yet, I'm probably only posting because Ama and Steph did. But, that's okay.

I apologize for my abrupt disappearance. The days have been frugal with their time. There isn't even enough time now to tell you everything that has been going on. Still, It's nice to have at least one journal locked. I've gone "public" and more discreet since becoming a more "public" figure. I'm sort of a big deal. Okay, not really. But good things have been happening. Let's break it down.

Work - BurnsBrothers

I still hate this job. I was hired to do marketing and I'm an admin as best. They are old, stuck in their ways, xenophobic and just all around morons. But it pays the bills and allows me to keep doing what I love on the side in hopes in turns into something better.

Work - Gwyneth Paige {Couture Letterpress}

This has been taking ALL of my time. Every moment that is not given to Maddox or Ren is given to Gwyneth Paige. Andrea has had no time.
While this proves to be a very lucrative business it isn't yet, hense BurnsBrothers.
On the plus side, I have polished my blogging skills: www.gwynthpaige.blogspot.com and really enjoy doing it over on blogger for GP.
I going to be designing all the paper ephemera for ArtPrize! Think Sundance Film Festival for Artists.
We are furiously getting ready for the National Stationery Show in NYC. My plane tickets are booked, so is my hotel. The most horrible part? Being away from my boys for 6 days.

Work - Style Me Pretty

Abby Larson, the owner of Style Me Pretty, asked me to be a weekly wedding expert guest blogger. If you aren’t familiar with Style Me Pretty, google “wedding blog” and she is the number one ranked google blog. She gets 180,000 hits DAILY. Every time I blog, I get to promote Gwyneth Paige. This is huge people. Just huge. Not only is it an honor, but it’s a gold mine.
If any one you know of unique weddings that are dying to be publized, LET ME KNOW

Home - Adam

My Ren. Hubs and I are amazing. He's perfect. There isn't much else to say about him. We just hit 6 years of dating on Monday. That rocked.

Home - Maddox

Oh Moo. He’s so wonderful. He is right in the middle of being two. I don’t believe in terrible twos. I believe in the “I’m going to assert my independence and test every rule you have ever given me over and over again” twos. He’s smart as a whip and learns more every day. He can count to 17, he knows his age and his name and all his colors and shapes. (Even rhombus!!)

We are still battling with sleeping through the night. Most nights he’s okay. Some nights he is up once. Others two or three times. We are so used to it now, its okay.

He started a “gym” class for babies 18 months to 3 years old at our local YMCA. It’s parent/child once a week and it has been really good for him. It is immersing him in sharing, kindness and group play. This is not to say he doesn’t push, grab, scream or cry but it gets better each class. He is the only Maddox in his class. That makes me happy.

There is this little Russian girl named Taisia in his class. I want to kidnap her she is so damn cute. She is tough as nails and Maddox’s match. They are fun to watch interact and it is so god damn cute when they say each other’s names.

Maddox is obsessed with reading right now. He loves playing with “potato” (with play-doh), he LOVES to bounce. One of our favorite excursions is to go to the local bouncy place and let Maddox run wild. I love him so much and I cannot wait until I make enough at Gwyneth Paige that I can stay home with him. One year baby. One year.

Home - Life

We've got one million projects, or at least I do, swimming around in my head. We cleared out a room for my home office and we are laying flooring in a few weeks. This spring we are putting up beadboard in the dining room and repainting the downstairs hall. I want to sheet rock the garage and paint the floor. Make it a bit more functional. We are redoing our walkway and putting in new entry stairs and I am finally going to paint over that disgusting mulberry front door we have.

Me -- oh, me.

Do I get a category? Maybe. I'm finally eating right. I've lost 5#s in two and a half weeks just from chaning my diet. Just wait until I add exercise.

I haven't given myself much of anything else. I need to give so much elsewhere. I haven't has my hair dyed since August (nor have a been to the salon). I don't rember the last time I bought myself anything new (but I did get some awesome new stuff for Christmas).

I still love to bake. I love following Deanna's baking blog. I made homemade pasta and sauce last weekend with Adam. It rocked.

See, there isn't much to say about me. That can't be good.

Friends -- do I have those?

Kidding. Well maybe. Because of the sheer business of my life, I haven't had time for me, let alone others. Thank god for Rachel. She keeps me sane. She probably doesn't even realize how much just her sitting on our couch, working on lesson plans means to me. Even if we aren't interacting. Just being in her company is comforting. I adore her.

I wish I had time for more but I just don't. This has already taken way more than I thought it would.

It's nice to be back. If only for a moment.

Friday 5

2010-01-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm inconsistent. I'll get back into the swing of blogging for myself. Just all my effort has been devoted to Gwyneth Paige and I've left little time to even get in a daily shower, let alone blog.

I digress. The Friday Five: Last Resorts

What’s something you wear only when you’re just about out of clean clothes?

Anything that has gotten a little too tight to be comfortable and my super soft jeans that are full of holes but still soooooo comfy!

Who’s someone you hang out with only if nobody else is available?

This is such a better question for a decade or so ago when I was in high school and I hung out with people I didn't care for out of kindness. Nowadays the people I spend time with I truly enjoy being around them. There is no one I can think of that I could put here.

What’s something you eat only when the budget is really, really tight?

Ramen. Thank goodness I haven't eaten it since Joel and I dated oh 8 years ago.

Who’s someone you call for help only if you absolutely must?

Depends on the need. Financial? My FIL. Emotional? My mom.

What’s something you’ll watch on television only because it’s slightly better than watching nothing?

Anything reality TV