"I'll stand behind this one: A man's first suit should be navy."

I stumbled upon a really wicked website recently, all thanks to a friend's post on the old Facebook. It's called The Midwestyle and I really think you ought to check it out. The font page article today was about suits. Those of you who know me well, know how much I love a good suit on a guy, especially if it is a well-fitted suit.

Dear inclement weather,

Cut it out, please. (I said please!) I really want to get to L.A. to visit Hallie because I miss her and the amount of vitamin D my body is screaming out for is astronomical. My (probably) SAD would and I would forever be in your debt.

Your truly and respectfully,
Melissa

Happy New Year everyone!

In 2010 I:
-Applied for more jobs than I ever imagined I would
-Fell down an entire flight of stairs...TWICE.
-Watched a lot of the AFI top 100 movies
-Performed in the Vagina Monologues
-Interned with the Heart of Illinois United Way
-Published the 2010 edition of Broadside as Editor-in-Chief
-Graduated from college
-Celebrated the finale of Lost
-Saw one of my best friends get married
-Spent the summer working at Target
-Was offered and accepted a job with Wiley-Blackwell
-Moved to Ames, IA
-Started living completely on my own for the first time

I don't normally make new years resolutions, but I do like to think about things to make a general game plan, so here's what I came up with:

-Eat healthier
-Exercise more and shoot for 3+ times a week, but don't beat myself up if I don't (which shouldn't be too hard considering I barely exercised after I graduated from High School)
-Read some excellent books
-Keep in touch with friends

Otherwise, I am just going to keep on keeping on. It's time for bed. I am feeling so grateful for my family and friends. I am thankful for what the past year has brought me and am really looking forward to what the year will bring me.

So sleepy.

My first two days of work have been both overwhelming and wonderful. I definitely think I'm going to like this place a lot. The people are great. The benefits are great. The amount of time off I get is great. I especially love my HR contact (she is in Indy and not in the Ames office because we're small!) which is a good feeling. Hopefully everything stays that way. I have a LOT of systems to learn, and just a lot to learn in general. Hopefully, once I get the hang of things, everything will make a lot more sense and thus me less overwhelming.

My apartment is all moved into and set up. See?


The living room!


The dining room!


The kitchen!


My bedroom!


The bathroom!


My amazing walk in closet!!

So I am all settled. Now I just need to make me some friends!

Welcome

to my new home. (Ames, IA)

I start my new job on Monday!

Here comes the sun little darling

It's absolutely beautiful outside. I wish everyday could be like today weather-wise. Just enough sun and warmth and breeze.

In other news, I have to give my very first presentation for the United Way tomorrow about the Success By 6 pre-assessment results. Eep! It's kind of nerve wracking, buuuuut I know Maggie will have my back.

I have a lot of things to do by the end of the semester, but don't really feel like doing them all that much. Oops.

45 days til graduation...holy shamoley.

Today is one of those days

when I am struck my how beautiful the world is and it wells up in my chest and I don't know whether to burst into tears of joy or hysterical laughter.

I love this.

Every Midwest basement.

"I USE ANTLERS IN ALL OF MY DEEEEEECORATING"

Found via Taylor Self, who found it elsewhere.

Seeing twenty shooting stars

isn't too shabby as far as I am concerned. Especially with the light pollution the suburbs deal with. It was also wonderful to see Kylie, as always.

Heading back to Peoria tomorrow. Here's to hoping my key is where it needs to be so I can move in. Bring on senior year.

Farewell NYC

Waterworks have begun. :(

Forgotten Chicago

Fotografia

These are mostly pictures from while I was abroad during the fall semester, but just the same, I like putting pictures on there better than Facebook, so I am sharing them with you here.

Without further ado.

Summer in NYC

Well it certainly has been awhile since I posted something that wasn't an excerpt from a book I was reading! I do like to share what I am reading (this week its The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman because I really liked The Golden Compass in my YAL class this semester) but I suppose a little somethin' somethin' wouldn't entirely be awful. I will cut to the chase.

I am spending the summer in New York City.

I somehow managed to snag an unbelievable internship with Simon and Schuster this summer! I didn't think it was possible, but like I told Sara...I was going big or going home. After one disastrous phone call with Harper Collins (in which they hung up on me almost immediately after I asked if a phone interview was possible), I thought I was pretty much set with Northwestern University Press in their acquisitions department. But then alas! S&S called, and here we are.

I leave at the end of the month and will be there through the first week of August. (!!!)

Ana was right, 2009 was bound to be better than 2008. And now almost six months into it...I think she's right!

And All Good Things Must End...

I have officially finished both working at DTI and my internship (except for the essay and forms I need to do and send in to Rick Smith at the SCC...)! It's a bittersweet period of my life at the moment. While I absolutely loved working at both places this summer, and will definitely miss the wonderful people I worked with, I am really looking forward to the next chapter of my life that will begin once I leave to go to Granada. It is going to be amazing.

Words, Wonderful Words

I just finished reading a book of short stories my friend Leah lent me, and I absolutely loved it! It is called Read This and Tell Me What It Says by A. Manette Ansay. There are so many stories that strike a chord with me, and it only makes sense considering they all are supposed to take place in the midwest, hence she was awarded the Great Lakes Book Award.

Here is an excerpt that I found especially wonderful:

The sun began rising; one bloody knuckle peeked over the horizon and the flooded fields took up the color until the land around the house burned wild fire...The south edge of the lawn is still under water, and the fields reflect the sacred underbellies of the apple trees, the harsh coin of the sun rippling between them. A few straggly rows of corn grip the high ground, but for the most part the crop is gone, the season's seed lost to the sky.

Though the language is simple, it is beautiful, and that is what I love so much about writing. The beauty that can be conveyed simply through a few simple, choice words is something that I hope to be able to embody, and help others to do when I become a book editor. Words truly are powerful, though unfortunately their power is lost on most. How sad.