Quotes.
Feels like the world has exploded with them.
All of a sudden, they’re coming at us from everywhere.
Wtf.
Thing is, we still love ‘em. Maybe it’s the precise wording. Maybe it’s our longing for meaning. Maybe it’s because we both had/have grandmothers who instilled in us a love of language. Maybe we like it when someone else describes how we’re feeling in the most beautiful way. Or maybe it’s just the bite-sized nuggets of inspiration and emotion and motivation.
A: did u see Hoda’s book* quote today?
A: i mean, u probably already know it
A: since you’re a quote bragger
A: and a quote hanger upper
A: but here it is just in case
A: smiling does not necessarily mean you’re happy. sometimes it just means you’re strong.
L: ooh, i love that one
L: and i’ve never heard it before
A: it’s her december 29th quote
A: check it out
A: and her interpretation
A: about it being sheer will
A: is just perfect
L: love it even more now
L: u ever realize that we like different quotes that have the same message over and over?
A: totally
A: i feel like i go thru phases
A: some days i tend to like the heavy ones
A: and some days the sparkly ones
L: i tend to like the good ones
A: hahahaha
L: and lately
L: i’m liking the witty, sarcastic ones
L: and the uplifting ones
L: and maybe the sparkly ones too
A: and there are so many good gratitude ones this time of year
A: they inspired me
A: to do something
A: but i don’t want to tell u
A: bc i’m pretty sure you’re going to barf all over it
L: nah
L: u gotta tell me now
L: and i won’t barf all over it
L: promise
A: fine
A: I started a gratitude journal
L: barf
A: you’re so f-ing predictable
A: and i guess this means u don’t want to know what’s in my journal?
L: right
L: kidding
L: ok ok
L: of course i do
L: tell me everything
L: and maybe
L: i wish i had a journal too
A: well, maybe
A: the lady doth protest too much
L: well, maybe
L: she doth
L: but since i don’t have one
L: maybe you can tell me what’s in yours
A: nah
A: ok maybe
A: ok fine
A: i’ll share day one with u
A: cue the drumroll
A: i’m grateful for chad and shishito peppers
L: um, what?
L: did u just put your husband in the same sentence as shishito peppers?
L: does he know this?
L: and at the risk of taking chad’s side over yours
L: doesn’t there have to be a difference between things you like and things you’re grateful for???
A: um
A: shishito peppers are amazing
Back to quotes.
Feels trite to say it out loud, but they move us.
There’s just something incredibly powerful about a few well-curated words.
So, we decided to kick off the new decade by sharing some of our favorites with you. While writing our first draft of this post, we originally included some commentary beneath each quote, but then this happened.
A: I think today’s post is almost ready to go
A: but there’s just one thing
L: gulp
A: it’s the 10 quotes
A: at the end
L: r u going to say something about the commentary?
A: yes!
A: i am
A: at the eleventh hour
A: and u know how i hate making changes at the eleventh hour
A: but feels like we’re trying too hard to be like Hoda, right?
A: and even though i wish we were Hoda
A: we’re not
L: so let’s not force it
L: because who do we think we are?
A: right
A: i mean
A: i love the way her book has a quote and then a little blurb after
A: for every day of the year
A: but maybe we just stick to the quotes we love
L: bc we’re just a mathlete & prom queen?
A: right
A: bc we’re just that
L: done
Here’s our evolving Top 10-ish, for today (and yes, creating this list required some intense negotiation). Laura’s been collecting quotes for as long as she can remember (her grandmother left her two handwritten editions and she may have a magnetic wall in her kitchen dedicated to hanging her favorites) and Angie’s been forcing them down her kids’ throats since group texts were invented.
1. Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
We love this one and since we tend to like the same messages over and over, here are some of our other similarly-themed faves.
You are entirely up to you.
There is just no getting around that turning bad things into good things is up to you.
2. If you are going through hell, keep going.
3. The woman on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.
4. If it’s out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too.
Funny thing is, we seem to need the same reminders/mantras over and over yet also like to hear them in new and different ways. For example, control the controllables used to speak to Laura, but she prefers this version now. So maybe we’re just going to keep shifting from Winston Churchill to Maya Angelou to yung pueblo and then probably back again.
5. If we all threw our problems up in the air, we would probably pick our own.
6. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
7. Dear auto correct, I never meant ‘ducking.’
And then this one:
Dear math, grow up and solve your own problems.
And maybe this one:
Dear naps, I’m sorry I was a jerk to you in kindergarten.
And just one more and then we promise we’ll move on (even though this category is so damn fun):
Girl, unless he wears a diaper, you can’t change him.
8. Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown, without telling the world it was crooked.
9. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
10. When people show you who they are, believe them.
11. One of the most common misconceptions in life is that what we did yesterday has to somehow dictate what we can do or be today.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year - next round of the roaring ‘20s, here we come!
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*ICYMI Hoda Kotb recently published a book filled with quotes called I Really Needed This Today. And we’re kinda obsessed with it. And by kinda we mean completely and totally.
#quotes #grandmothers #ireallyneededthistoday #top10ish #winstonchurchill #ralphwaldoemerson #mayaangelou