No one thought Charles and Eliza Murphy would last. When they met, Charles was already done with his masters degree, working on his doctorate in American Literature and Eliza was a fresh faced first year student, fresh at rutgers from outside of pittsburgh. she'd been on campus all of four days when they met- she was walking into the lecture hall to take the class he was the ta for. he tells this story with a smile in his eyes- that he always knew that eliza would be in his life forever. they were married by the time eliza was a senior, she was pregnant with lottie when she crossed the stage in may.

charlotte renee was born on a cold winter's day. while eliza was hoping for a christmas baby - lottie had other plans. eliza was at home, wrapping charles' chistmas gift - a watch, with their daughter's name engraved on the back - when her water broke. the running joke in the family then became that lottie couldn't miss the party. she was born at 3:27 pm, kicking and screaming her way into the world... in the front seat of her charles' car.

it was an auspicious beginning.

life for the murphy family was quiet for the first few years. lottie learned to read early- the benefit of having a literature professor and a high school english teacher for parents, apparently. when she had just turned five her sister beatrice diane- beedee, affectionately- was born. lottie and beedee were inseperable. lottie was like the little momma, she took care of little bee.

when lottie was 17, her father was granted a 2 year sabbatical. he was working on what he'd hoped to do the entirety of his life: go to london and research. he'd be there teaching one class a semester while he researched language patterns and how they repeated themselves in world literatures. it was in london that she finished high school (her A forms). and where she fell in love.

ater graduation, lottie came back to the states: nyu had been her dream, and with the support of her friends and family, it's where she ended up. with the boy she loved. the two of them against new york city... until things like life and school and LIFE got in the way. they parted ways, not on horrible terms but with hurt feelings. neither of them had the energy or the sense to fight to make it work. lottie didn't let it stop her. she had bigger fish to fry, school to finish, the world to conquer.

or so she thought. but like most things, it doesn't always shake out the way you think it will. she stayed in new york, but she ended up working at a coffee shop. while she was at the cafe, she went to library school - loving the idea of teaching, without really being a teacher. plus it was everything she loved: books, books and more books.

now at 33, she's finding her footing. maybe. she's working on it at least. she found a place for herself in -. its been a little bumpy, but she's doing it her way.

regardless, lottie is working on happy.