Busy Bee!

This morning I read this great article on being busy. Sometimes when I have nothing to do, I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Especially when I'm at work. Tim Kreider offers an interesting view of catching a break.

Speaking of a break and relaxing, I love this scene from HBO's Girls.

Sometimes you just need to dance on your own. Or with a friend :)

Tata!

Photo by: John Fraissinet

Zsa Zsa Zoom: Weekly WrapUp

The story behind this photo absolutely blows my mind. Zsa Zsa Gabor held a party for herself and 10 eligible bachelors and danced with each guest twice. Oh, the life of a 1950s socialite. Just "because"! From 1937-present, she has gone through 9 husbands!! Nine!!

More about the image here. 

Wasn't she just such a beauty?

List of New York Summer Movies

Big Sur getaway

Soap that looks like icing. Makes me hungry...

Wishing I lived out on the West Coast, just for these!

Been saving up for this dress to wear to a fancy party, or maybe even the 1920's Jazz Festival??

Hope everyone has had a good weekend! I've been enjoying a few days away from the city with my family, enjoying fireworks and pool parties and good food! Going to see the movie Brave tonight, should be entertaining. The movies is always such a fun experience to take you away from the real world for a couple hours. 

Ta ta!

So Fresh!

Hot weather has arrived in the South. And it's not joking around. I returned to Auburn, Alabama with my apartments air conditioning broken. Open windows and fans have been our solution until today when it got fixed! In the meantime though, I tried out some refreshing fruit water. I'm already so bad at drinking enough of it, but sprucing it up with my favorite fruit makes it so tasty (and pretty looking too!) Today I tried out some blueberry and lemon water. I figure I'll switch it up each week.

Check out this site for a neat blackberry sage water drink.

I'm looking forward to finding some more fun summer ideas to try out in the kitchen. Any suggestions?

Happy Little Thankfuls

The end of semesters always fly by. Thanksgiving has come and gone. My belly was full of mom's best of the best. But my(!) how quickly we go from expressing our gratitude for the wonderful things in our life to putting focus on what we want. Thanksgiving to Christmas in such a quick flash. I found myself composing an annual christmas list to present to my parents the same night we carved the turkey and heard, once again, of our Pilgrim past. However, I'm thinking I need to keep up some of this Thanksgiving "spirit" alongside my Christmas "spirit" to keep my eye on the true holiday meaning.

Random Happy Thankfuls

a wonderful new home in Connecticut, where I hope my parents will happy retire someday

staying at home, cozy in bed on black friday, avoiding the crazies

supportive and understanding friends, who despite my flaws, are always there for me

puppies, because, what doesn't make you smile more than puppies. let's get real.

finishing a trying and tiresome semester, feeling accomplished

having my family fully support my college and life choices and have my back 

cozy, fluffy, white comforters and spending full afternoons blissful snuggled up

the possibility and excitement that the future holds

lazy, gray sundays on the couch with warm wool socks and good company

a loving and forgiving God who I owe this all to

adventures. even if they only sometimes remain in my head

and

cookie logs.

It's amazing how quickly we get wrapped up in the silly, stressful ways of life and forget to take the time to sit down, take a breath, and really think about all of the gifts we are given in our life daily. This semester has been an unbelievably selfish time for myself and this break was exactly what I needed to get my head back on and my heart in the right place. Hopefully I can keep up with some more "thankfuls" as I continue onto my next stage of life. The scariest one. The one with the most unknowns. And I couldn't be more scared excited.

One Day List.

We have to force ourselves to create these scenes. We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off, we have to blow up the inner-tubes and head to the river. We have to write the poem and deliver it in person. We have to pull the car off the road and hike to the top of th hill. We have to put on our suits, we have to dance at weddings. We have to make altars.

–Don Miller, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years"

This weekend was a tiny little spark in my summer. An eventful few days full of celebration, both of marriage and birth and ideas. Donald Miller has a book discussing his struggle of turning his novel into a film. He explains how telling a story is so very different than acting out a story. I've really been sucked into this idea of living your life as a story and as a character, rather than going through the motions of everyday life with either small purpose or discontentment. It's a difficult challenge though, and sometimes I feel silly comparing my life to a movie script. In fact, I'm too embarrassed to actually go so far as to compare my own dull life to a movie- I tend to swat away those thoughts before they develop too deep. Either way, it's a book I'd like to read again... about every 5 pages or so, I have a corner folded down for a section I've found interesting or want to explore more in depth. He touched on so many various points, that it's clearly hard for me to put into my own cohesive thoughts.

One thing I do know is that both this weekend and this novel have got me thinking. And desiring action. In both big and small ways. A new person in my life and I discussed how we both have things we want to eventually do.... not just in the typical "bucket list" sense, but more so on a small scale, as well as perhaps a larger scale. Even right down to the bad habit of keeping numerous tabs open in our browsers because eventually we want to come back and try that new recipe or purchase that awesome print once it goes on sale or read that article. Or even...write a blog entry. 


At dinner tonight, there were many trips taken down memory lane and Melissa's oldest sister Rachel had an old photo album of when their family took a two week road trip across the United States. She also had her journal that she had handwritten (in cursive!) Her preteen self had started out documenting every minute of their drive away from their house out into the big world. "6:10 enter the tunnel"...."6:12 come out from tunnel"...."6:13 drove by field" She had even made a second copy after the trip was done just to have everything in order. As the trip continued, her entries got more spaced out and had more stories to be jotted down. I admire her young selfs persistence with her journal though. Ever since I was young, I always start a diary or journal or blog and would hardly ever keep up with it. Last summer, when I began to find all of these inspirational blogs, I was back at being convinced I would start my own. Even if it were only to keep track of things I find interesting at the time and websites I like, artists I admire, food I want to cook. However, unlike Rachel, I tend to give up after the first day. Laziness consumes me and convinces my once eager self that blogging will take too long or how refreshing Twitter and Facebook is so much more convenient.  If you will, starting a blog basically has been one of those "one day I'll get to it" things. I actually have quite a long list of "one days" that are constantly changing and being added and subtracted. 

I've just gotten to the point though, that I'm realizing not to just let these interests slip away and fade out any longer. If I want to do something, do it! Stop just thinking about it and do it. Nike says it best, right? And have they failed me yet? Nope. So, why not? So here is my first small step to doing something off of my little list. Start a blog (that's doesn't resemble a whiney teenage livejournal from my youth).....check. Who knows if I'll actually keep up with this. Or what it will become. I acknowledge the need for a consistent space where I can let my inspiration poor into, not only for myself but maybe, mayyyybeee one day for others as well. You know, once I actually find my style and tiptoe into the design world. Or hey, even if I ever start my own little company one day. It'll be good to have a place to show and pour a little of myself into.

One thing's for sure, this girl right here is not gonna be down for writing super long entries like this always. Short, sweet, and beautiful. That's what I want this to be about. Maybe an occasional rant or two of my thoughts. Or perhaps a jumble of them thrown together, similar to this one.

But this, this is just my explanation and reminder to myself that I have things I want to do and I need to suck it up and get out there. Get off the couch so to speak. And I did do that, this very weekend, and I loved it quite a bit.