Yesterday my mom and I took a bike ride on the new Shelby Farms Greenline. IT IS AWESOME. If you haven’t heard, it’s a walking/bike trail built on the site of an old, deserted rail line. It currently starts at Shelby Farms and runs about seven miles to Highland, but there are plans to extend it.
The trail takes you over the Wolf River, through Malfunction Junction (it was really weird to ride right under a bunch of highway overpasses) and into East Memphis and the High Point area. We didn’t make it to the end, though, because we were both on old, rickety bikes that weren’t anywhere close to correctly aligned. (I do have a good bike, but it’s been in repair for five months. Long story.) Whenever we both have better rides, we’ll probably come to the trail a lot. We heard people talking about smaller trails that branch out from the main one, but they’re right next to the penal farm, so I’ll stick to the populated areas, thanks. :)
Many families and pets were out enjoying the great environment and the beautiful fall weather. We saw plenty of walkers and rollerbladers in addition to bike riders (I bet the path is great for rollerblading right now, before it gets pothole-y and full of rocks). It was a refreshing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
And the winners of the Myla CD Giveaway are…
Monica and Stacy!!!
Winners were chosen via the Sequence Generator at random.org. Please e-mail me at brendamills@gmail.com and I’ll send you a download code! :)
I encourage everyone else to download the album here. Thanks for participating!
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I have two download codes to give away for the latest Myla Smith album, White/Gold!!! It’s a double album – six songs of indie pop, six songs of country, all songs of awesomeness. It’s Myla’s best work yet and I’m excited to share it with you.
Comment to enter. Contest will be closed on Friday, October 1 at noon, and winners chosen via random number generator that afternoon. I know several of our friends read this blog, so if you already have the album, please disqualify yourselves. :)
Yay!
8 Comments + Posted in: friends, giveaway, music
You don’t know what the story is about when you’re in the middle of it. You think you do, but you don’t. You make up all kinds of possible story lines: this is about growing up. Or this is about living without fear. You can guess all you want, but you don’t know. All you can do is keep walking.
There is nothing worse than the middle. At the beginning, you have a little arrogance, loads of buoyancy. The journey, whatever it is, looks beautiful and bright, and you are filled with resolve and silver strength, sure that whatever the future holds, you will face it with optimism and chutzpah. It’s like the first day of school, and you’re wearing the outfit you laid out last night, backpack full of perfectly sharpened yellow pencils.
And the end is beautiful. You are wiser, better, deeper. You know things you didn’t previously know, you’ve shed things you previously clung to. The end is revelation, resolution, a soft place to land.
But, oh, the middle. I hate the middle. The middle is the fog, the exhaustion, the loneliness, the daily battle against despair and the nagging fear that tomorrow will be just like today, only you’ll be wearier and less able to defend yourself against it. The middle is the lonely place, when you can’t find words to say how deeply empty you feel, when you try to connect but you feel like thick glass is separating you from the rest of the world, isolating and deadening everything.
– Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet
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One day at the end of last winter, when I had absolutely had it with cold and gloom, I saw a woman wearing a red peacoat in my work parking lot. The sight of that bright coat perked me up immediately, and I decided I had to have a red peacoat too. But by then, most coats were gone from stores, and I didn’t want to spend a lot anyway. I looked for one at thrifts all summer, but no luck. Now I’m keeping my eyes open as this year’s coats come in.
This weekend I was at Dillard’s and saw what appeared to be the perfect red coat from across the store. I made a beeline for it. It was a Jessica Simpson…of course. Jessica Simpson makes coats? It had a huge collar and was a little overdramatic on me, but then I was very drawn to another coat. It wasn’t red, but I tried it on too just for fun. It was a Steve Madden. Steve Madden makes coats? I had to laugh. My taste is nothing if not consistent.
In other news, I fell in love with this Lauren Moshi tee from the September issue of InStyle. It’s not my usual style, but there’s just something about it. After discovering that it costs $125 (there is no excuse for this. Seriously), I decided to get crafty. I found a three-quarter sleeve gray tissue tee on clearance at Target for $6. Then I asked my graphic designer brother if he could somehow cut out the bow graphic so I could print it onto iron-on paper. It didn’t work (and probably would have been a violation of copyright anyway). So I’m still looking for a similar large, striped bow graphic. If anyone finds one, please send it my way.
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