life lately

Reading...
The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I'm really enjoying both Pollan's writing style and the info in the book in general.  It's pretty crazy how much stuff goes on in the food industry that we as consumers just don't even have to think about.  We just hop in our car, go to the grocery store and buy food that looks good. So much goes on behind the scenes, it's kind of mind blowing.  I like reading about that kind of stuff though, so informative.

Watching...
The Walking Dead. We hadn't been keeping up with this season, so we're just now getting back into it. It's so interesting watching it having read (most of) the graphic novels.  Last season was painfully slow moving, but this season they've really kicked it into gear and I really like where they're going. They're keeping it close enough to the storyline of the books, but with just enough different that even those who've read the books are on their toes.  I think I'm like 100% stressed out the entire time I'm watching an episode though.

Wishing...
I had more time to do stuff!  I want to fix up the bike I thrifted, make our new dining table (which will be sort of similar to the coffee table I'm working on - pix below), make our living room shelving system, paint the house, do photography projects, blog, make e-courses, and more.  I'm so inspired right now but there's just not enough time to do everything!  I'll have to embrace being patient and only take on one or two projects at a time. So hard!

Proud of..
Climbing my first V4 this week!  Probably means nothing to most of you, but I'm super excited about it. When we stopped climbing for a bit back in July I was getting V3s pretty consistently but could only start a couple V4s and wasn't really close to finishing any.  I was worried that after taking a few months off (unintentionally) I'd be back to square 1, struggling with V1s, but I've been making great progress and got another V4 tonight, and am working on another.  I think doing Insanity is definitely helping in the strength department.  One of my 26 before 27 goals is to climb a V5 so it feels pretty good to get one step closer!

Excited about...
Getting my new camera in the mail!  I finally took the plunge to get a full frame camera and got the Canon 6D.  It doesn't have the feature that I use to take my outfit photos (self timer that takes continuous pictures), so I probably will continue using my T2i for daily outfit posts, but I'm looking forward to learning about this new world of Full Frame!  I did a lot of research trying to figure out whether to go with the 5D Mark III, 5D Mark II or the 6D, and I think I'll be happy with the capabilities of the 6D, the wider angle of view, and also with saving the $1000 not buying the Mark III.  Once I've used it for a while I'll let you guys know how I like it!

Impatiently awaiting...
A break in the wind/rain.  I really want to paint our house, but this rain isn't really letting up so we can actually do it!  We've decided on the color, now it's just a matter of watching the weather report for a couple days break in the rain so we can slap it on the siding!  The woes of trying to paint a house in Tacoma in the middle of the rainy season.

painting the kitchen // poker night at our place // couldn't resist this bike at goodwill 

tasty brew down at the Wingman taproom // new scarf + pink lips 

amazing breakfast at Marrow // climbed my first V4 at the gym this week

WIP coffee table inspired by Ariele Alasko // coffee table detail

made a hook for under our chalkboard thing // new favorite shirt from The Great PNW!

The internetz:

 I'm sure you've all seen this by now, but it makes me die laughing every time.

 This one too.

 I could watch Corgi videos all day long.

 This is so beautiful.

  I really enjoyed reading this post.  So encouraging.

 A peek at the engagement session I did a few weeks ago.

 Oh the flashbacks to when I was a barista.  This is too good.

partner with me!

Holy moly.  February is almost done, what a sneaky month.  I've still got some ad spaces left for March if you're interested in partnering with me and this here blog.  Check out my partnership page to find out more info on advertising rates, blog stats and more.  If you have any questions, aren't sure if your shop/blog would be a good fit, or just want to chat go ahead and email me!

miscellany

I always know that something is a good buy when I want to put it on before I leave the store (or even check out).  This scarf was one of those things.  I have quite a few scarves and I don't have a very artful way of displaying/storing them yet.  Scarves are always so pretty, it seems like a shame to have them stuffed in a drawer.  Do you guys have a good way of storing scarves?  I know I've seen some cool things on pinterest and blogs before, but I can't think of anything that would work good in our closet space.  Any ideas?  I've never been a big accessory girl so accessory storage/display hasn't been an issue until the past couple years.  
On a totally unrelated note, on Sunday morning(ish) we went out to brunch with some friends at Dirty Oscars Annex here in town, and the Sunday before that we went to brunch with some of Dan's coworkers at Marrow... and now I'm thinking every Sunday needs to be a brunch with friends day.  A ton of restaurants nearby do brunch on the weekends and it's so delicious.  But maybe even just special brunch at home would be fun.  Maybe reading Sara's blog has been subconsciously influencing me because she always does weekend brunch posts, and they always make my mouth water.  

top/courtesy of tailor & stylist :: hat/courtesy of yiskah knits :: scarf/thrifted jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven shoes/courtesy of blowfish shoes :: jacket/courtesy of tulle

style yourself giveaway ends soon!

Hey folks!  Just wanted to pop in and post a little reminder that the Style Yourself giveaway ends on the 28th, so if you want to enter the giveaway make sure to sign up for Style Yourself before then!  I'm giving away 9 different prizes to 9 lucky winners, including:

• $100 gift card to Lulu's
• $75 gift card to Emerging Thoughts
• $25 gift card to ModCloth
• Your choice of shoe from Blowfish Shoes
• Any shoe from Minnetonka
• $50 gift card to Ruche
• $20 gift card to Radiant Cosmetics
• $50 gift card to Spotted Moth
• $50 gift card to Lace Affair

You also get access to a discount code for 20% off any of my other e-courses when you sign up!  If you don't have the time to focus on the e-course just yet, don't worry, you'll have access to it for up to a year and I'm working on making all my e-courses into downloadable PDF's so eventually you'll be able to download it and access it forever!  So while you'll have access to the e-course itself forever, you'll only be able to enter the giveaway in the next couple days.  Want to learn more about the e-course? Click here to find out more about what the e-course entails.  If you have any questions, go ahead and email me!

E-course giveaway will be open until 2/28 at 11:59 pm and can be accessed to enter on the front page of the e-course. all sales on e-courses are final and non-refundable. This giveaway is a work at your own pace giveaway and can be started at any time and worked through as fast or slow as you like. The e-course will be accessible for at least 1 year after you've signed up. You will be emailed your username and password to access the e-course within 24 hours of purchase.

honesty and openness in an online world

The other day I was thinking about how I want my mom to start a blog, and as I thought about it, I wanted to tell her, "Don't water yourself down!  I want to read your blog with all your amazing insights and thoughts!"  But I realized that really, that's harder than it sounds.  I try to do that here on my blog, and it doesn't always happen.  Sometimes I don't have anything to say, so I end up saying something inconsequential about what I'm wearing or the weather.  And I think it's okay to not say anything profound if you don't have anything profound to say.  I don't have deep thoughts every second of my day, and some days when I'm blogging I sit in front of my computer for a long-ass time trying to squeeze something interesting out of my brain to accompany my photos.

But sometimes there are things I think about, and want to share on the blog, but it's the internet.  And the internet can be a scary place, people.  For one, it's everyone.  Everyone is on the internet.  Not just your friends.  Not just people who agree with you.  Not just nice, courteous people.  Not just people who would ignore you if they disagree with you.  Not just people who would discuss controversial things in an open and nice manner.  Everyone.... the kindest person you'll ever meet, serial killers, your mom, trolls, people from high school, your boss, racists, people from other cultures, people from other faiths, your ex-husband, people who hate you and have never met you, people who love you and have never met you, americans, germans, russians, who knows maybe even space aliens are tuning into Reddit.  That's a lot of people, and an almost infinite amount of different perspectives, opinions, and backgrounds.  The fact is, you can't appeal to all of them.  But, at least for me, my initial reaction is to want to.  I want to appeal to as many people as possible, mostly out of my desire to not offend anyone or put anyone off, or (horror-of-horrors) have someone dislike me.

In real, non-internet life (you know, where you're meeting people in person...) you have so much more control over someone's impression of you.  You have charisma, body language, tone of voice, words.  You can tell how someone is reacting to you.  You can tell if they misunderstood something you said by if their body language or facial cues are telling you they didn't get it, or are having the opposite reaction you expected.  At that moment you can ask if they understood, or clarify what you said to try and clear up any misunderstanding.  Online, you get none of that.  We aren't creatures built for communication over the internet.  We're built for person-to-person physical interaction.  But here we are in this modern age, where most of our communication is in the form of email, facebook, text message, or some other text-based interaction.


Blogs, at least personal blogs, come into a weird place within this whole issue of impersonal communication.  We try to be honest and open, to share our humanity and our lives.  We understand that there is great power in creating those connections with other human beings.  To show that we aren't alone in the things we're going through.  Every time I've ever written a more personal blog post, the amount of comments along the lines of, "I'm going/went through the same thing" always amazes me.  Even I think that I'm alone in what I'm going through sometimes, and connecting with blog readers through comments can be extremely reassuring and comforting.  But while there's that positive aspect, there's also a tremendous fear associated with writing more open, honest, and personal posts.  It's vulnerable.  And vulnerability, plus the accessibility of the internet to everyone... that's kind of scary.  Usually when you are vulnerable, you get to choose who you are being vulnerable around.  You choose that list of people very carefully, because when you're vulnerable, you're much more susceptible to being hurt.  You choose those people carefully because you know they'll respect your vulnerability.

So the catch-22 of the internet and personal blogging?  How do you open up and allow those connections to be made with people, when you can't control who you're being vulnerable with?  Well, you can't.  Because it's the internet.  You just can't.  You have to choose to be vulnerable with everyone.  You have to expect that not everyone will respect your vulnerability.  Some people will misunderstand you.  Some people will flat out disagree with you.  Some people will be rude.  But most people will appreciate your vulnerability and connect with it.  The hard part is accepting the people who don't respect your vulnerability.  Sometimes it means growing a bit of a thick skin, because you can't take every hurtful, rude, insensitive comment to heart.

I want to create a space here on this little web-real-estate where those human connections are made.  I want to share life experiences and allow vulnerability to create those links to one another.  It's not always easy, but I feel like it's important.