...had a rather rough day today. Trust me when I say I am NOT going to turn this into a negative space...it's just that this story is rather funny in retrospect, and I'm all for a good laugh.

Did I mention that I work with children? 4 year olds to be exact. Yes, I know. I am very brave. But truth be known 4 year olds are fabulous little creatures. They're potty trained, and this makes them very much a higher creature than that of their 2 year old counterparts. They talk, a lot. But the upside to this is you always know what's wrong with them. They can tell you where it hurts and where they feel funny. They are every day a constant challenge to me, every class comes with it your one child who very much embodies Dennice the Menace. This year I have 3 of them. So suffice to say life is never boring for me.

We are currently studying Dinosaurs. This is a topic of GREAT excitement! Both my boys and girls alike ADORE dinosaurs. They really are fascinating beasts but that's a story for another day. This week we obtained an egg that when put in water slowly starts to crack. Eventually out from this egg emerges a dinosaur. My children have been WAY excited about this, it really is quite realistic and they've been discussing for the past two days what kind of dinosaur that it might be. They were really hoping for a T-Rex but I'm afraid they've gotten the slightly less cool Ankylosaurus.

Today I was sitting in my chair with the bowl of water the half-hatched egg was in. This was not the smartest idea that I have ever had. I was just about to lift out the egg to show them its progress when the bowl treacherously tilted and spilled water all over my lap which in turn made me look like I had peed ALL OVER myself.

I mean it got me good.

What to do? My assistant is home sick with the flu this week so I had no one to watch them. I quickly tried to get some of it out with paper towels but I quickly realized this was NOT my solution to the problem. So I went next door and showed the teacher what had happened. She of course laughed, (it's pretty funny) but at the time I was deeply embarrassed. Not only did it LOOK like I had peed all over myself, it FELT like I had peed all over myself. So NOT comfortable. I have a new level of sympathy for my children who have accidents that I've never had before. It really is not a sensation a grown person should ever have to go through.

We were so understaffed I wasn't able to go home. So I borrowed my bosses work out pants while mine dried in the dryer. Thank God we have a dryer at work otherwise I don't really know what I would have done. Aywho, that was my WHAT AM I GONNA DO? moment for the day. Here are some things to brighten both you and me up.

A Pink foyer! How can you go wrong with that? So happy!

Flowers creeping! So pretty!

Something about this just make me grin. It's such random frivolity! A lit chandelier in the middle of a truck? It's still pretty.

My Mother, who is fabulous, just started singing to me "Put on a Happy Face" You have to love a mother like that. (sang by Dick Van Dyke in the Movie version of Bye Bye Birdie)

Anywho here's to being able to laugh at yourself.

~Lauren

A New Beginning

"For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

I suppose I decided to be apart of this year's voice. I've gotten to where I read a lot of Blogs, and somewhere along the line I decided to write one too. So, an introduction is in order.

My name is Lauren. I am many things, a writer, an artist, an actor, a dreamer, and to some people I'm a comedian. I love photography, all things vintage, movies, books, fashion, and the Internet. This blog will be a culmination of both things that inspire me and things that crack me up, because in the end, we all need a little more laughter in this world.

Why the title Finding Neverland? Well First off, Peter Pan is probably one of my favorite stories...ever. I know this makes me sound like a child but in the end we all have a bit of a child inside of us and it's important to keep that alive...to find the youth and magic and imagination in life everyday. To take it and keep it and be inspired by it and live better lives. In the first Chapter of the book, JM Barrie describes Neverland as whatever a child imagined it to be. To Wendy it was someplace entirely different than to Michael or John, and yet when they went it was somehow the best of both worlds. I think adults still do that...have a place inside their head that makes them happy...or a story, or an alternate reality. There is a quote that I love that says,

"Reality is for people who lack imagination"

And so I hope to designate this space to all those things that spark the imagination, and inspire the soul and hopefully, on some days, invoke the child that is within you. It is of utmost importance to remember where you've come from and to also believe in where you are.

sincerely,

Lauren

(picture cred : erm, I don't remember them all but the laughing boy was taken by me, and the bottom one is definitely a' la' the Drifter and the Gypsy. The Glitter faced girl might be hers too. I save pictures I love and tend to forget where the come from.)