as you can see ... i have a new look (as promised months back when i was in the middle of my graduate studies and making promises i knew i couldn't keep within an appropriate time frame).

but i felt that turning 26 was grounds for setting my new year up right with a spiffy website in order to inform the world of my continued quarter life crisis ... in style. i'm beginning to develop an appreciation for packaging and the delivery of messages and i thought that, perhaps, this would be a good start to making potentially depressing material more tolerable :)

this is where the modern day handyman comes in.

since i was leaving for india (to which i am currently en-route) the day after my birthday and the blessed holiday of sir valentine (ugh), vince and i decided to keep things low key and make no plans so as not to become unnecessarily stressed. we were talking about some things for his latest film and i directed him to a friend's website so he could see her latest work. (did i mention miss ruthi auda is spectacularly brilliant with her obnoxiously creative mind?) anywho. as we were looking at her blog, we both desired a bit more creativity in our day. this is where handyman boyfriend says, "hey! when are we going to set up a website for you?" to which i responded, "right now!! oh that would be so fun!"

so. on my 26th birthday, my modern day handyman fixed me up a lovely website and walked me through the process i needed to make minor repairs and he wasn't around. he navigated his way around the information super highway with ease and made something simply divine with his manly hands ;)

as i watched him make me something to keep my 'artwork' safe and beautiful, i couldn't help but think that this kind of handyman sure beats the plumber with the hairy butt crack who used to fix the drip under my sink. and it certainly beats the repair man who would fix the weather strip on the front door of my new apartment. none of those guys made me smile when i watched them work and they certainly didn't keep me from over-analyzing the fatality of another year in which i would feel compelled to do more than the year prior.

all this to say. my 26th birthday began with a solemn, "poor me, i'm-closer-to-30-than-i-am-to-20-and-i-haven't-done-anything-with-my-life" attitude and ended with a hopeful sigh of relief that even if this year ends up being a complete and utter failure, i'll at least look good while i'm documenting it. right?

here's to a new year ... and to a new generation of men who help women like me fix all the essential house ware items that keep us organized and feeling more sane.