Flickr /  shhh, it's a  secret

As I write this, I'm sitting in the corner of a coffee shop I've never been to, waiting for a woman I've never met to walk through the door. Because I'm a chronic worry wart, I've arrived early (twenty minutes, just in case she is ten minutes early), so that I can order my coffee and settle in before she arrives.

This is the first time I've reached out to someone online and made plans to meet them in person. I feel as though I'm meeting a potential mate that I've sourced through a dating website. Actually, the process of making new friends at my age is kind of like the beginning stages of dating. At least for me it is.

What's running through my mind is: what if I bore her? What if we find we have nothing in common and the conversation suffers? What do I really even know about her beyond the few things I could decipher from her instagram feed? She has a son, like me. She enjoys knitting, like I do. She lives in Las Vegas and is a health coach. These four things are all that I know about her, and so as I sip on my too-hot, too-strong coffee, my nerves kick into overdrive and I find myself sweating through the navy blue, v-neck tee I chose for the occasion.

Meeting new people in your early thirties is so different than when you're younger. The stakes are higher now. You don't want to waste your time with someone who doesn't share any common interests, or who isn't looking for the same level of commitment as you are.

There I go again sounding like I'm looking to date this woman.

Let me expand.

I am thirty years old, married with an almost two year old son. When I moved to Las Vegas in January of 2011, I left behind a small group of amazing girlfriends. At this point in my life, I'm looking for people who want to form a real friendship, individuals whom I can relate to, respect, look up to, and find inspiration from. Is this a tall order? Yes and no.

In retrospect, I don't think it's too much to ask for. The real issue I'm finding is that women my age aren't necessarily looking to form a Great New Friendship. They already have a group of friends who fill this role and many others. So when I do meet someone new, I'm often relegated to the Casual Friend category. You know what I mean: the friend of a friend who you only see when a big group of girls get together. The friend whose number you somehow have in your contacts, but you never really text her. You don't think of her that often because you're busy, or you have other friends with whom you spend a lot of your time.

I'm looking for a Real Friendship, capitals necessary. And so, when the woman I've been waiting for walks through the coffee shop door, I realize just how high my hopes are. I also silently acknowledge that she has no idea just how much hope I am projecting on to this meeting. I make a mental note to chill the hell out.

As I already have my coffee, she heads over to the counter and orders a hot chocolate, and I realize that I like her already. Any thirty-one year old woman who can order a hot chocolate with a straight face is the kind of person I want to spend my time with.

She sits down in the red arm chair across from me and smiles. I think we're both a little nervous, but that could just be me projecting. I ask her how her day has been so far.

What transpires is that over the next hour and a half we talk about our lives, our kids, our jobs, hopes and dreams. With every minute that passes, I feel a little more comfortable and I open up more.

That she is the first one to say: we should do this again soon, fills me with hope. For the first time, I think: maybe she is in the same situation as I am: craving new friendships but having a hard time finding them. Perhaps she, like me, is also looking for something Real.

I suppose that at this point I can only hope, and only time will tell.

I'm oh so excited to announce that I'm looking to put together a small, select group of truly awesome hybrid + pocket page scrapbookers! If this is you (or someone you know), click on over here for more information and to apply!

1. I've been doing a great job of not working on my Project Life album until the weekends. Up until the beginning of this year I was printing photos and recording notes all through out the week, which often resulted in too many reprints and rewrites at the end of the week when I just wasn't happy with the outcome. These days, I'm being more patient, and waiting until I have all of my photos from the week together, before printing. It has been making all the difference.

2. Mamahood is hard, but I've found that it really helps to get over the idea of balance.

3. I spent January really delving into how I feel about my life and what I can knowingly and easily do to change the not so great things. I'm taking what I've learned and moving forward with intention. Remember my one little word for the year, grow? Well I'm making good on my goals and intentions this year, friends.

I can't believe that we're already in our second week of February. Is it just me, or is this year going by so quickly already? The weather has been so mild here in Las Vegas, for which I'm very grateful as most of my friends and family back home in Ontario are freezing their bums off.

There is so much that I love about this weeks' spread: the big 12x12 paint photo, the square corners and the overall simplicity to the pages. I just know that this is a look I will come back to again and again moving forward.

You finish the last of the three loads of built-up laundry only to find yourself back in the laundry room the very next day, and that corner of the living room that you cleaned up especially for you, so that you could have one single space in your house that you can sit in and not feel like a failure, is filled with toys once again.

Now that we're over a month into the new year I feel as though I'm settling into some new routines and I'm feeling oh-so-productive.


As always, I love seeing what you do with my collections. If you post on instagram, be sure to use the hashtag #bigcityquietdesigns so that I can see your lovely creations!

Wow, did January every fly by in a flurry of activity! I've got two spreads to share with you this week so that I can get a little closer to catching up!