welcome to elaney!

Costa Rica = too. fun. for. words.  More picturas to come…

Posted by elaney intern:  Reader Isa

Along the lines of my previous post, I recalled that I was not alone in my frustration with how quickly time passes.  Here are a few famous people/bands that agree with me, and God’s response to all of us.

Time you ain’t no friend of mine. - Hootie and the Blowfish

I’m in a hurry and don’t know why. - Alabama

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day – William Shakespeare

Be still and know that I am God. – God, Psalm 46:10

Here’s my question.  Let’s say God did grant my request, and allowed for an additional 6 hours to our day!  What would you do with your extra time?  Sleep, read, exercise, work, clean, catch up on The Bachelorette that’s waiting so patiently for you on DVR?

Posted by elaney intern: Reader Isa

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth. – Bonnie Friedman

I’m not sure if I heard this for the first time on TV or on the inside of a Dove chocolate candy wrapper, but it really stuck with me.  I’m always in a hurry!  In a hurry to get to work, in a hurry to finish my work, in a hurry to get home to my baby, then in a hurry to get my baby to sleep so I can hang out with my husband!  I’ve asked God numerous times why he didn’t put at least 30 hours in a day!  Why only 24!?

How much enjoyment do I miss out on just by rushing through my day!?  No more!  I think we all owe it to ourselves in this crazy fast paced society to slow down and chill out!  Truth be told, our responsibilities make it so that we can’t always slow down, but we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get so stressed!  I think our dear Elaney does a beautiful job of living out this principle!  She’s got about a million things going on, but she still took the time to go galavanting around God’s green earth!  You go girl!

What about you?  Do you need to slow down?  Speed up, maybe?  Stop driving so fast?  Enjoy the journey a bit more?

Posted by elaney intern: Reader JLAL

This summer, elaney is sending her favorite intern to Europe to get a head start on fall fashion. For 6.5 weeks, I will be flouncing around to different cities checking out the latest European couture. Chanel, YSL, Dior, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vutton, the list goes on…but I have to look the part while traveling light! Readers, I need your help!

I’m having a bit of a packing identity crisis… Do I go college cool meet a euro backpacker and have a steamy fling in a disco tech club? ORRRR do i live the SATC Paris dream and flit around between ritzy bars looking for the Parisian gent to take me back to his summer chateau on the Cote d’Azur for a drink??

Here’s what I’ve got so far. This sporty spice needs a little more posh and a little less prep in her Patagonia satchel to blend in. What other essentials am I missing?

1. The LBD, obvi…but packable! This is from Title Nine

2. Also from Title Nine, the practical bikini…

3. The Tom Ford shades…

4. And of course the summer scarf from JMac.

5. Can’t leave behind my Bernardos…

6. Some comfortable, but semi-hot jeans…

Posted by elaney intern: Reader Mo.

As someone named Mollie, I often hear the phrase, “Oh, I have a dog named Molly/Mollie!!”  Great, thanks for sharing.  My friends Maggie, Gracie, Lucy, and Ginger have probably heard this before as well.  So as I am 6 weeks out from having a dog of my own, I am nervous as to what to name her.  I grew up in a house where my attorney father made us all name our dogs after supreme court justices (my husband shot down Ruthie for Ruth Bader Ginsberg…) Reader ct suggested a cool character from a movie or novel – her dog is named Idgie (Fried Green Tomatoes, anyone??)  So elaney readers, gimme your suggestions on cool dog names!!  No Maggies and Mollys allowed!

Posted by elaney intern: Reader Mo

Sometimes as an elaney intern, you cannot help but feel a bit underappreciated (need I remind anyone this is our first opportunity to post in over 2 years?!)  There are days when we love our boss, and days when we wish she would just back off a bit.  As elaney interns, we thought no one would understand where we are coming from and then reality television provided America with a glimpse into what life is like for us.  “Kell on Earth” on Bravo appeared this spring and introduced us (post “Hills” and “City” introductions of course) to an amazing woman named Kelly Cutrone.  Kelly is the hardnosed, no nonsense, tells it like it is, inspiring and extremely successful boss that we all find it impossible not to love.  She uses tough love to inspire young women (and men, hello Andrew Serrano) to push themselves and achieve their dreams.  Kinda like elaney pushes us interns.  Makes us all appreciate what we have a bit more around here.  There is nothing quite like an extremely successful woman (New Yorker at that, clad in black designer clothing) that wants to impart her knowledge and inspire those around her.

So let us close with a quote from Kelly’s wonderfully delightful book, “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside and Other Things your Mother Never Told You:”

…”Take the years when you are young, say between the ages of fifteen and thirty five, and go balls out on intuition and follow your dreams.  Dreams won’t always take you on a straight path to destiny, but they are usually related to what your soul wants for you.  They’ll force you to ask the hard questions, they’ll kick your bootie, and most importantly they’ll turn you on.”

As elaney would say “here is to dreams!”

What do you think?  Do you wish you had a boss like Kelly or are you like Stefanie Voorhees and flee at the first sign of confrontation?

Posted by elaney intern: Reader CT

As a fourth grade teacher with less than one week of school left, this intern has summer on the brain, big time.

It seems that every summer has its own song. You know, that one song that when it comes on the radio  years later, you cringe as you are taken right back to that summer when it was played endlessly on the radio.

Here’s just a sampling of some real summer winners from the 90’s:

Remember “Mambo Number Five”?  (that’s right, summer of ’99).  Or Bone Thugs n’ Harmony’s “Crossroads” (‘96).  How about “Fly” by Sugar Ray?…ugh, can’t even think about it.

So what will we say years later was the song of 2010?  Hopefully “Hey Soul Sister” has run its course, or this intern will take her eyeballs out.  What songs really take you back?

Bonus points if you know who this is: