Important ‘things’ (Part One)

May 5, 2012 / Sloan / 4 Comments

What do you treasure most in your life? What, when changed, throws off you’re entire mood, being, life? My brother claims that after he eats gluten he feels instantly depressed, his mood is lowered and strange and therefore stops feeling like himself. So, for the most part he tries his best to not eat it. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid those triggers.

My brother and I just got back from a trip to New York City. If you remember my post about Brenner passing away, we went for him. His family and band mates put on an amazing concert to celebrate what an amazing person he was and will be remembered for. The evening was incredible, pictures of Brenner hung on the walls, friends, family, music lovers all showed up—all I kept thinking about was how much he would have loved that night, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking this—that was the point.

Me, Kim and Kallie at the event

After the show, the next day I spent the day with an old friend, (Brenner’s sister Kallie) and their Mother, Kim. Kallie and I used to makes lists of why we should have been sisters, things we wanted to do by the time we were 25 (a little late!) and Kim referred to me as her “other daughter.” The day was amazing. We reminisced, made new memories and spent the day together.

Kallie and I Canal Street AWESOME new sunnies

From Sunday evening on my trip continued to move forward in weird ways. Little triggers, events and things happened to make my eyes wander to my mind attempt to wrap itself around the idea of heading back to a tiny mountain town. This trip seemed to be based on relationships I had built in the past. Important ones, ones that you can’t recreate how or when or why they were created. My freshman year of college was intense and Kimberlee was my savor in a friendship and with a car so we could get the hell off campus!

Monday she came into the city and we fell immediately back into our chattiness, talking about life, catching up on where she is in her college education, how I’ve backtracked into working retail and still don’t know what I’m doing with my life. We hopped our way around three of four amazing Beer Bars, drinking IPAs and sampling the summer brews. Kim was telling me about her great job at a beer back, and her knowledge of wines and brewing. Needless to say by 8pm I was ready to be taken home. Hugs and kisses, she left me for the Long Island Railroad with promises to meet up and stay in touch. One long, kinda drunk train ride and I was back in my Brooklyn home.

One beer deep with Kim!

How long do you go with out seeing important people in your life? Hopefully you’re able to keep them close at hand so when you need them, or they need you, you can call them up and meet for coffee (or a glass of wine.) For me, Alecita and I hadn’t seen each other in eight years. Yep, eight years! We created a fast friendship. One of those friendships that is made in a matter of days but will last a life time. However, Switzerland and the United States are far away, so a quick coffee before work is not an option.

In 2004 both of us were scared, insecure 16 year-olds in a new country, Chile. We met and instantly bonded over the Chileans getting us too drunk, being overweight and being nervous for what the net 6 months have in store for us. After leaving for our host families in different parts of the country we kept in touch and visited a couple times but both Alecita and I went through intense changes. As we moved home, she took a husband with her. Back to Switzerland and through the years her marriage fell apart and it’s still happening, the process of her being ‘free’ from a bad situation is far from over.

So meeting in New York City after 8 years was amazing. We walked, we talked, we conversed like no time had passed, stumbling over her English sometimes only added to the fun of having an old friend back for a short time. We met up for two days, being less like tourists and more like New Yorkers in love with our city, walking and noticing the little things that may happen everyday but finding the beauty in the small details.

Alecita y Yo

We sat in a park to say our good byes, observing people as they passed us, but not caring when people noticed our loud laughs and hidden tears of having to say goodbye. Chau mi amor. Te quiero mucho mucho mucho! And she left, headed to Soho, and me on a bench awaiting another old friend to have to say goodbye to.

Washington Square Park

This city makes me feel strange, makes my mind wander, makes me re-think everything.

This post is getting long so it shall continue later…

Nothing is better than progression.

April 23, 2012 / Sloan / 2 Comments

I am suffocated and lost when I have not the bright feeling of progression.
Margaret Fuller

Last week I led the Ladies Group Run that leaves from my store; it was my first time leading it and the girls that came along were a perfect balance of what I needed. One girl was super chatty and kinda fast, (me? not so much, I’m a good listener and slow running partner,) the other was quiet and a bit slower than me. So it was basically a Sloan sandwich up the trails of decent conversation about what we do, why we run, what we were hungry for for dinner…etc.

One of the girls had never run for more than 30 minutes. The group runs are typically an hour and I, some how, after fitting her for shoes that afternoon, convinced her to come back that evening for the run. As we climbed the final climb, taking those little steps that seem so inefficient but are necessary to make it to the top, I called the new girl out. I told her now that she’s done this run she knows she can do it, there for she can’t give up the next time she tries. (And I made her promise to try again soon.)

This girl could see herself progress, which is really one of the best feeling ever. We can only accomplish progression by ourselves, it’s you that pushed yourself to finish and so you only have yourself to thank! (How cool is that?!) She was so stoked and proud of herself, I could see her smiling at what she had just accomplished.

At the end of the run we all exchanged e-mail addresses, promised to get another run in soon. Sometimes seeing someone else push themselves is just enough motivation to jump back on the band wagon of pushing yourself. I love absorbing motivation from other people and using it for my own benefit—I feel myself progressing and it’s amazing.

I do NOT dance

April 22, 2012 / Sloan / 2 Comments

I don’t dance. Wait. Let me rephrase this; I don’t dance sober. If you knew me through college you would know a little number that I do after vodka has been introduced into the evening—it may, or may not be called The Sloanie Dance. I may, or may not, have forced my friends to circle up and go through a seminar on how to Sloanie Dance. Again, I am neither confirming nor denying this.

But in my normal every day life, I do not dance. Can’t hold a rhythm to save my life. I am the equivalent of that tall skinny white guy that bops his head, and looks around to try and mimic what everyone else is doing while longing to be somewhere else. I know, I know Why the eff is she talking about NOT dancing? Well, today after my run I was undressing for the shower and got down to my sports bra. While taking it off I found it’s much easier to shimmy and sorta shake it off my body.

Not really dancing but funny enough to make me bust out laughing at myself when I realized what I did just to get undressed. It was probably the least sexiest thing ever, but still, pretty funny. It’s weird the things we do in our everyday life that no one else knows about—until now.

What do you do in private that makes you laugh at yourself?

Though no longer this crazy skinny…The Sloanie Dance is still the same.