older women: fashion icons

Advanced Style: Age and Beautyfrom Ari Cohen on Nowness.com.

i think this video is incredibly awesome. not just because i adore iris apfel but also because my very own mother sent it to me with the words "i want to be like this!" written beneath it. mom, you've always had great style and certainly always pushed me to break fashion molds and strike out on my own. we could all take a tip from these women. fashion is supposed to be fun!

Photographer (and blog writer behind this video) Ari Seth Cohen said this: "I not only want to show that older women are vital and creative, but also to show people [they need not be] afraid of aging—and personal style is a great way to showcase this."

yes! thankfully, i too have women in my life who demonstrate the exuberance, wisdom, and freedom that come with age - at 40, 50, 60, 70 or beyond. more oft than not, i find myself more inspired by images of my Nana in the '50's with her short pixie cut or my mom sporting a cinched boatneck sheath and gorgeous bangles in the '80's than i am by the trends shouting from store windows.

what do you think? where you get your fashion inspiration?

on my way home from the lake

thankful for cold, cold Green Bay water to fling myself into on sunny 80 degree days
thankful for amazing Wagon Trail brownies (absolutely delicious every. single. year.)
thankful for cute texts from a husband who misses me but also loves me enough to let me go on vacation without him
thankful for a flight cancellation that led to a 5 hour car trip with my dad and great conversation about jobs, our family, and what matters most
thankful for lost luggage that allowed me a mini shopping spree on the airline's tab (hello, new jeans!)
thankful for early morning coffee in the quiet
thankful for our deck which gets just the right amount of sunlight and gives me the feeling i'm in my own treehouse in the woods
thankful for sweet time with my sisters who seem to be funnier and more fashionable every year
thankful for whatever law forbids chain restaurants or shopping malls from popping up in Door County
thankful for walks with my mom
thankful for my nana and gampy who birthed this wonderful, large family and gifted me 24 years of summers at my favorite place on earth

thought for today

we must accept that this creative pulse within us is God's creative pulse itself

- joseph chilton pearce

how i've missed this

y'all, how my heart has missed this! i realized quickly once i had to step away from blogging that i am actually quite passionate about blogging. i love writing. i love beautiful images. i love recording life's little nuances and happenings. i love the blogging community. i am inspired here.

so. goodness. lots to catch you up on!

1. ArtQuiver closed. sad day.
2. received beautiful painting from ArtQuiver closing. happy day.
3. got a new job at an events planning firm. woo woo!
4. became briefly overwhelmed by new job, new schedule, and soon-to-be new life. boo hoo!
5. got back on the horse and decided to woman-up to the big bad world.
6. our venue accidentally double booked our wedding. (yes, yes less than a month before the big day)
7. crisis ensued. flexed my muscles, waited patiently (sorta) and...
8. got the venue! wedding back on!
9. .... oops forgot i was supposed to be training for a half marathon.
10. had bachelorette party and had way too much fun. perhaps some photos will make it to this here blog.
11. ran ten miles (i'm still alive!). threw up in front lawn... (i'm still alive!)

so i'm headed to philly this weekend with my two best friends to run the half marathon (they're hoping to make great times. i'm hoping to finish! but hey, i'll be proud of that accomplishment). anyone have any rockin' things to do while we're there?

next up, wedding details to fill you in on! so close, loves!

my sister, m, and i saw sanders in concert a couple of months ago. i love this song. if you have the chance to see him live ever, i highly recommend it. it wasn't just music; it was an experience.

change

hello dearies! so i've been quite absent from the blogosphere over these past few weeks. i do apologize. a lot has changed in this month of march, and i've had to take some time off the blog to process, breathe deeply, and prepare for what is next.

change can be a terrifying thing. i dreaded it with almost debilitating fear when i was young (yes, i was one of 'those' children), leading to months of melodramatic tears when my family moved during elementary school. it seems laughable now, but i remember how real the despair felt back then. gradually, i learned to cope, then tolerate, and now, finally, to relish in change. perhaps it is a normal part of maturing or perhaps it's part of growing up in a world where change is instantaneous and the need for more, for growth, for excitement saturates every minute of our lives if we allow it. i am trying to find the balance these days - to be satisfied in who God has made me, to be present in my own life, to pause. but also to yearn, to grow, to bring flourishing where there was none, to see broken places and to fix them.

spring, being the very essence of change, seemed a fitting time for my life to embrace some newness. so, without any effort on my part, i was flung from a daily routine i knew well and into something unknown. the start-up i was working for announced its closing, and i began to look for the next adventure!

through a crazy, providential series of events, within a week i found myself interviewing with a fabulous, successful company in an industry i have come to love for a job in which i saw myself being challenged and creatively inspired. and then i got the job. i could hardly wrap my head around it! m and i needed to process, celebrate God's provision, and dream up what life might hold next. oh, and finish planning our wedding in the midst of it!

i'm embracing this change and the big one that will come in june, for i truly believe that it's in those places of uncertainty and challenge that we grow - grow in our capacity to love, to create, to provide new thoughts, new actions, and new words to a world in constant need. small changes are just part of this larger story, right?

i'm not certain what this new career choice will mean for this little blog, so i appreciate you all reading, inspiring, and encouraging me throughout the way! it's been so sweet to connect and reconnect with many of you. i'll let you know more details once i've begun this new chapter. i am excited for what comes next!

completing life goals

no, i have not become an official spokesperson for nike. i am just using the above quotation as motivation for completing one of my life goals: running a race.

friends, i am not a runner. i played sports competitively in high school but after that even the fancy uva treadmills and extremely high population of runners and all-around svelte i-look-like-i-must-run types could not get me into the gym more than a couple times a week.

but, as i am told, there is no time like the present to change. and change i must. when i evaluated my goals for the 2011 year, i included 'run a race... any race' in the long list. honestly, i had not put much thought into actually putting effort into accomplishing said goal until two dear friends (and bridesmaids!) approached me with the hungry glint of persuasion in their eyes.

and, thus, a few weeks later and a few runs in, i am signed up to run the Philadelphia half-marathon. that is not a typo. 13.1 miles for this non-runner will be happening in a few short months. and, for once in my running career, i am motivated! i'm excited. i'm committed. i mean business. i even have a running plan!

so, here is where you come in! i'd really love any and all advice from you runners out there. how do i stay motivated? any great jams i should be listening to while i jog? i've heard that books on tape are a great way to pass the time (especially since i will be running for over TWO hours. when i did the math on that one, i nearly bailed.) any good recommendations?

would love to hear from you!

some love

happy valentine's day! here's to hoping your day, whether romantic or not, is a bit brighter. it's 65 and sunny in charlottesville, and that fact alone is enough to make me feel loved.

have you written any valentines? as much as i love receiving them, i think i love writing them even more. this year, i bought some cards from rifle paper co. and last night i set to work writing small notes of love and gratitude to some key people in my life: sisters, mom, soon to be mom-in-law, co-worker, friend, and of course m. it's good to remember how blessed i am.

have any fun v-day plans?

pretty books + sweet friends

(sparkles and pretending)

i'm getting married on the 11th of june. i have the most amazing friends and sisters (and, therefore, bridesmaids). so, on the 11th of every month, i receive a sweet surprise in the mail: a small gift and a very thoughtful note from one of the women i most love in the world. if you are one of those women, take note: i love you! whichever one of you came up with this grand scheme to make me feel like the luckiest bride: you've done it. i am the luckiest bride.

they know me too well. so far, there has been somewhat of a trend: books. and not just any books but the newly covered, gorgeously gorgeous penguin classics. just look at them. i love them. i can't wait to read pride & prejudice recovered. or the odyssey (or at least parts of it...) recovered. or a christmas carol recovered. they are going to look so pretty on my bookshelf (once i get a bookshelf that is).

of course, what means more to me than the gifts are the notes. handwritten notes are the best, y'all. and, typed notes are a close second - especially if your bridesmaid is in Africa or Italy currently. whenever i get them, they totally make my day. even if it's just a simple hello.

if you're feeling writerly today, i implore you: do it. write a note. they're the best.

dance. dance. dance.

i can't get over these photos taken of me and m at a friend's wedding. can you tell how much we like to dance? truth be told, one of the things that most attracted me to him was his ability to bust a move on the dancefloor (one of our first dates ever was a salsa lesson - so fun!).

and though we often have very different music taste (me: indie and sometimes girly; him: rap, country, and beach music), we'll dance to just about anything. and we do so (obviously) with quite a bit of abandon. m grew up shagging (a Carolina dance set to beach music), and his parents actually fell in love while on the dancefloor (i know, cute). it's in his blood, and i'm so thankful. dancing always makes life a bit more fun, wouldn't you say?

when we sat down to plan our wedding, m and i discussed what mattered most to us. and both of us agreed that dancing was one of the top priorities. come june, my dancin' shoes are on!

if any of you are planning a wedding, i'd love to hear what you decided would be your priority! flowers? food? do tell.

some wednesday photo inspired thoughts

these photos have been sitting in my inspiration pile for ages. as i was looking through some of my favorites, i noticed a trend. i love the messy bun.


i've spotted this quote several times over the last week (really - it was someone's bumper sticker, it was on a poster in a coffee shop bathroom, it was used as a sign off in an email, and now i found it on pinterest!), so i thought i should pay attention. it's very true, isn't it?


my coffee. his coffee. ready for this to be real and for our home to be with each other. less than 5 months, bloggies!

bone-deep honesty

natalie posted about this article in the curator on friday, and i thought it was too good to not repost.

do any of you journal? i remember getting my first diary as a birthday present when i was seven. it was one of the first presents i received that made me feel very grown up. it was a precious moments (remember those?) diary with a cartoon little girl on the cover. i cherished that little book. i remember feeling so important, like i must have significant things to say if someone had thought to give me an actual book in which to write them down. looking back on what i wrote is pretty comical, but i'm thankful for it nonetheless. it instilled in me a great love of writing and a practice of processing my thoughts externally - something i've learned that i need in order to understand what i am actually doing in my life and what i think of what i am doing. that may sound pretty egocentric, but i think the practice of understanding and evaluating my life actually allows for me to be more focused on others.

i love lindsay's quest to write in her journal fearlessly, to allow herself to be the imperfect version of herself on paper and to enjoy the freedom of writing. in her article, lindsay quotes luci shaw, and i think her remark is right on.

"Though we are often moving too fast to notice it, there is in each of us a profound need to be still, to be alone, to reflect, to meditate, to contemplate, to wait, to reach a kind of bone-deep honesty with our own souls.”

bone-deep honesty. i'm letting that one sit with me a while.

taking a moment

hello dears, i'm so sorry i've been quite m.i.a. and inconsistent lately. the past week or so has, quite frankly, been full of wedding planning and decision-making, and my energy has been exhausted by it. i am beyond excited to marry m, and i feel incredibly blessed by the generosity of our families in the wedding planning process. there are so many fun, good things to look forward to (not least of all, actually being married !!!).

sometimes, though, i must admit that wedding planning can rear its ugly head and cause me to become a stressed, unfocused crazy person. if you've witnessed this, i do apologize. i think a lot of the anxiety that i allow to creep in comes from my tendency to lean on perfectionism as my defining state. and, big news - i'm just not perfect. my wedding will not be perfect. and my wedding planning will not be perfect.

i won't be able to make my perfected, shiny original vision for the wedding come to life in every single way (for instance, i originally envisioned everyone sitting at one long barn table together... but hello! we are expecting 250 people. one table? not happening.)

also, m and i disagree. this has been perhaps one of the most surprising things about planning a wedding for me (i'm not sure why, as m and i tend to have different tastes and make decisions in different ways). it's not always easy.

so this week, full of decision making and to-do's, has been messy. and yet, it has been wonderful.

it's been wonderful because i finally allowed my perfectionism to die. and i received the best gifts - grace and love. my parents graciously told me i would never be perfect but i was still beautiful and very capable of making good decisions. m affirmed that it was ok we disagree, that it did not mean we were less excited to marry each other, and that the wedding is about so much more than our decor and desserts. it's about celebrating God's provision in our lives and for bringing glory to His goodness by committing our lives to each other.

i've been thinking about that a lot this week - how profound it is that when i'm wrinkly, gray, and weathered by life's difficulties, i will still be committed to the promise i made when i was 23. i will still be committed to m, in his mess and in mine. at the end of the day, no matter what happens at my job or how miserable my day is, i'll be coming home to m, my best friend. the wedding will be amazing. i'm so excited. but marriage will be life-changing. my life for his. laying down my desires (even my perfectionism), in order to love m. i've hardly a clue what that means in real life besides what i've experienced through Christ's love for me, but i am anticipating a life of adventure and fierce, fierce love.

ps - i love the above picture, taken at our surprise engagement party. such joy.

i'm back!

whew! can you believe the holidays are over? i hope yours were restful and cheery. i had the best time at home, having a slow week full of family, some wedding planning, and my first bridal shower! now that i'm back, it seems i've hit the ground running and all that r&r has fallen by the wayside.

does this happen to you? it's like all week i got plenty of sleep, worked out every day, ate delicious meals, read a lot, lounged, wondering just how in the world i would fill up all the hours in the day. and then bam! vacation is over, and i'm wondering just how in the world i'll have time to work, eat, plan a wedding, work out so i fit into my wedding dress, and maybe sleep. and why, oh why did i not get more done during vacation? but that is what vacation is for, i guess. a reprieve from the constant roar of accomplishment.

so here are the very few non-accomplishments i checked off my list while i was gone:

1. painted my nails the most glittery gold (see above photo). it chipped off after 4 days, leaving my fingers in a sorry state of post-christmas hoopla. but i still enjoyed looking at them, like the sweetly sad feeling you get when you see all the wrapping paper balled up in the trash around noon on christmas.

2. listened to a new friend talk about the life he left in mexico, his love of painting, and how he once won a singing contest in front of 300 strangers. this might have been the most meaningful conversation i had all christmas season, and it happened when i volunteered with my church at an event for the homeless.

3. watched old home videos. oh my goodness. i haven't laughed that hard in a long time. my parents were strenuously committed to documenting all of their young daughters' lives on camera, and the result is pure entertainment. as the oldest, i exhausted myself in front of the camera, coming up with anything, anything to bring the attention back to myself (as my sisters would say, oh how things have changed). hilarious.

4. made these no-bake cookies (my grandma was famous for them around our house).

5. saw this movie. i highly recommend it. colin firth is amazing, and this story warms my heart.

6. read a lot of this book. a must read. it's changing the way i think. more thoughts on it to come.

would love to hear how your holidays were!

home for the holidays

merry christmas, all! my sister and i are heading out today for chicago to see my family. i really can hardly wait - my nana and gampy are already at the house, my youngest sister is home from college, my mom has White Christmas ready to be watched, and my dad has promised fresh homemade cinnamon rolls (he makes the best ones!). they have lots of snow on the ground and i can't wait to go sledding (never too old, right?)!

i'm looking forward to watching modern family (we're obsessed) curled up in my parents' bed with my sisters and some quiet time of reflection and prayer in our reading room (my favorite room in the house). my aunts are also throwing me my first bridal shower while i'm home!

i always get pretty emotional during christmas. thinking about the love of God embodied in a child. being overwhelmed by how much i love and cherish my family. and, this year, missing m. it seems unnatural to part with my best friend for my favorite time of year, but i know we have every christmas from this time forward together. thank God for that.



i'll be posting randomly over the next week or so, so please say hi if you're also on the blogosphere! wishing you all a merry, merry christmas!

kris kringle

christmas. i love it. a time for family gatherings and cuddles by warm fires. mistletoe, holly, and the singing of carols. baking dozens of cookies from recipes you never touch the rest of the year and subsequently overeating. i even love the crowds of people on the hunt for the perfect gift. i love all the salvation army volunteers ringing their bells and the general sense of generosity and good will that people extend to one another. i love that even the dmv (where i spent one morning this week) decked their halls with evergreen. i love that the teller smiled broadly and wished me a merry christmas even after i took almost 10 minutes to find my ID in my overstuffed wallet.

& yet, even with the twinkle of lights and jolly dispositions, it's still somehow easy to forget that christmas is just so merry because of the birth of Christ.

i'm thankful that my parents were always keenly aware of the ever-encroaching commercialism of christmas and so brought my sisters and i up knowing that the birth of Jesus and the fulfillment of God's promise were the reasons we celebrated. i knew that come christmas morning i would get to open presents exactly because they represented the gifts brought by the magi. so, i think, i was given a pretty theologically grounded view of christmas.

m and i were talking about christmas traditions last week. we grew up with many similar experiences and were growing giddy just thinking about how we would one day get to watch our kids experience christmas (ok, maybe it was just me with the giddiness).

that is, until we got to santa claus. i grew up believing in santa. m did not.

we argued. i pouted. he made valid points. i made silly points. he made a sensible argument. i made a sad pouty face.

i like all the imagination and feeling of possibility that come with santa and the flying reindeer but i see m's point that you can still experience the wonder and excitement of christmas by focusing on Christ himself. and though i didn't grow up thinking my parents had lied to me, i could imagine a child being scarred by the realization that what his parents said was true (that santa is real) was actually false. maybe that's taking it a bit far, but as i enter my marriage, i've had a new desire to examine my choices, assumptions and expectations.

did all of you grow up with santa? do you expect to raise your kids the same way?

m just sent me this article that gives a great perspective on santa. i love it. you should read it. this is the kind of tension i believe in - celebrating the imaginative while still keeping christmas sacred.

and the article sheds light on santa claus himself - the real guy! he truly was what is (mostly) embodied in the jolly, rosy-cheeked claus we see today. an orphan himself, claus, in his adulthood, spent his time helping children in need.

ok, santa. i think i'm ok with you.

happy weekend!

happy weekend! this weekend, i'm officially kicking off christmas. i'll be going to the AQ christmas party this evening followed by a christmas concert that m bought us tickets for! tomorrow i hope to make christmas cookies (maybe i'll try these) with some dear friends and then head to a gift exchange party. in the midst of the hubbub, i hope to make this wreath (out of book pages!).

do you have any fun holiday plans?

here are a few fun links from around the web:

just discovered this stress-free, down-to-earth site for all you brides-to-be. her guest post here is great reading.

hilarious gift guide for an ornery little brother.

loving sequins this season.

obsessed with this song. and check out this cute baby dancing to it.

cutest pregnant woman ever. complete with red lipstick.

wouldn't you love an indoor swing?

goosebumps

it's beginning to feel a lot like winter around here! the news is saying it will be cold like this at least through next week, so i think we can safely say autumn has left us. have you broken out your scarves and mittens yet?

the cold puts me in the mood for lounging by the fire, reading a good novel, and watching the twinkle of christmas lights. if only we had a working fireplace in our old charlottesville home. maybe i'll convince m that our place next year needs one.

missing friends

last night, i did something i normally don't like to do. i ate mexican food. i know, i know - mexican is the best thing ever. but... i'm sorry. i fail to see the appeal. beans, rice, cheese, ground beef, maybe some salsa. and then, and maybe i'm alone in this one, after a few hours your stomach begins to throw a tantrum like a child on the floor of the candy aisle. not my fave. but last night, i ate mexican.

i ate mexican because of friendship.

one of my very best friends, beth, was in town for a single night from africa, and she loves mexican. so to charlottesville's continental divide we went. and it was so good. not the food. but the friendship.

beth is one of those rare people whose convictions infuse her life with a consuming passion. she is inspiring to be around because she lives exactly according to what she believes to be true. which is why she gave up everything to seek a life of service in zambia. beth is part of a team called Special Hope. their mission is to address and alleviate the inequities which orphans with disabilities face. in africa (and often in most parts of the world), these children have no voice and are often forgotten, mistreated, and misunderstood. beth is going to change that.

i miss my friend dearly. i will probably never get to call her up for an impromptu coffee date or bike over to her house to watch gilmore girls on repeat. she won't be standing next to me as i say 'i do' or when the rest of the bridesmaids and i celebrate on the dancefloor. and the normal things that sustain friendships - hugs, laughs, shared prayers - may be rare occurrences as an ocean will separate us for the foreseeable future. but i am so thankful to call a woman like her friend at all. and to know that she is exactly where she needs to be. that's worth a thousand mexican meals.

if you are not familiar with Special Hope, please check out their website and consider supporting their cause!

today i am thankful...

it's been one of those weeks. i've been pretty grumpy and haven't felt like my normal, chipper self. for seemingly no reason at all. i realized yesterday as i was verbalizing my bad mood to anyone who would listen (sorry, innocent friends!) that my discontentment stems almost altogether from my lack of gratitude. funny how i seem to always get the order of things wrong. we want the blessing first so that we may be grateful next, instead of being grateful first and therefore having a greater awareness of the blessings we already claim as our own.

today i am thankful.

thankful for...

babies. i love babies. the above baby is my sweet cousin, Bennett (adorable name, yes?). babies are cute. they do hilarious things. they make simple, everyday things (eating, talking, having the hiccups, walking) hilarious. and in Charlottesville, i am blessed to be surrounded by babies. all. the. time. Charlottesville is a breeding grounds for young marrieds. so though i probably won't have a baby of my own for many years, i'm able to get my fill of chirpy, chubby little ones each day.



sisters. what can i say? my sisters are the most amazing women i've ever met. i've never laughed harder than i have with them. they are beautiful, unique, and incredibly generous with their love.


letters. receiving and writing them (above picture was taken during one of my letter writing kicks earlier this year). my girlfriends from college and i all write letters (okay, emails) to each other every week so we can keep up with the days' happenings. and with two of them in africa and one in italy, i cherish those small moments of reconnecting.

conquistadorable & nice knickers. at the risk of sounding superficial, i am thankful for this new opi nail color and benefit lipstick. i used both this week and felt instantly chic. there is something wonderful to be said about feeling girly and beautiful.

i'm incredibly blessed, wouldn't you say?

random acts of culture

you must watch this video. it will enrich your monday - perhaps even your week, promise.

the Knight Foundation is an organization which seeks to benefit others through the support of artistic endeavors in local communities. i love, love, love this idea. and not just because i work for an art gallery start-up. i believe in the arts. creativity and artistic expression, more than anything else, transcend the finite in human experience. to listen to Mozart is, in a sense, to have known him. to read an intelligent piece of literature is to embody the story of another. to see a Monet is to feel emotion, and not just any emotion but that emotion that is wholly yours while simultaneously belonging to a million others who have beheld the same painting. the arts bring people together. they show us what it is to be human, to be part of a collective, a breathing, feeling, seeking amoeba of individual thought.

this video brought me to tears. over 600 individual voices joined in song, celebrating truth. i wish i had been there to witness the glory!