so it seems like mint is the color of the season. (well, one of them.) and look at me finally being on trend at the right time for once! i wore this to brian’s b-day lunch/dinner on may 5th. we went to a cute restaurant by the beach. (has the best fish tacos ever!) unfortunately for me it was ridiculously hot. (like 90 degrees! and, no, i’m not exaggerating.) sweat doesn’t exactly make the outfit, but fortunately, it’s cotton and comfy. and i could take my shoes off under the table.

what i’m wearing

this one is super easy: top, skirt, shoes & necklace: j.crew factory

bag: fossil outlet

sunglasses: target

happy friday!

{via etsy by Kimberly Chorney; and, indeed, i do!}

every thursday i share a few of my favorite posts. you’ll find everything from writing to decor to food to fashion. enjoy!

holly from decor8 is teaching “blogging your way 2.0” this june. i took her first class and really enjoyed it. unfortunately, i might be too busy in june, but i’m hoping she’ll teach this one again. i need to take it!

fun journal prompts and pretty journals along with great layout tips from a very talented web designer.

a super cute outfit. i’m a big fan of keira’s a pretty penny blog. (great name, huh!) i love her style and honest and fun approach to blogging.

food photography is just so darn inspiring.

i love peeking into other people’s offices and learning how they work. this website is a must-read! (warning: you won’t be able to tear yourself away.)

a beautiful and powerful commencement speech by one of my favorite people.

another fascinating and can’t-tear-yourself-away site: Industry of One “is a periodical on the wears of work created by Adam Patrick Jones and Rachel Brown. Here and now again they will explore the style trappings of various industries + professions and document the relationship between one’s line of work + walk of life.”

a whimsical magazine.

an elegant & feminine office.

i’ll be turning the big 3-0 this july (yikes!), and i’m asking my family for a road bike. but i might change my mind because of these cute cruisers.

quote of the week:

“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”
- Thomas Babington Macaulay

what’s inspiring you this week?

{via etsy by Kimberly Chorney}

about a month ago, susannah penned a great post about finding our “creative joy.” she writes:

When Jen, Marianne and I started talking about doing a retreat together, we knew we wanted JOY infused through everything: through the days, the workshops, through our connections with participants and each other, through it all. We wanted to create a space where JOY could be found. The further we dug, the more it became apparent that this JOY comes from our creativity. So obvious, really. It comes from writing, and photographing, and singing, and moving our bodies, and breathing through silence. It’s found in paint and pencil, in ink and the keyboard. It lives in the books we make and the ones we read. It can be stitched and knitted and moulded and cooked.

Creative joy seems to show up easiest when we let ourselves get lost in play. When we drop our expectations and let ourselves experiment and explore. I watch my nephew do this when he’s enjoying how water pours and sand crumbles and Play Doh squishes. I feel it too when I’m someplace new with my camera in my hands. When I forget about how I got there and just sink into what I SEE.

i’m actually going to that retreat in june. and while i’m honestly pretty nervous, i’m also very excited. i can’t wait to meet susannah (along with the other awesome teachers and students). i’ve taken all of susannah’s e-courses and spent many hours perusing her blog, pouring over every heartfelt and beautifully crafted sentence.

as the retreat date gets closer and closer, i’ve been thinking more and more about my own creative joy. so here’s where i find it:

• while writing something i feel incredibly passionate about
• writing this blog
• while composing poetry, because i truly feel like i’m playing. i forgot how much i used to love writing poetry when i was younger. poetry is great because anything goes. it’s both fun and freeing.
• looking at photographs (and hopefully someday taking them. i’m still so insecure about my camera skills, or really the lack thereof, and i just don’t practice enough at all.)
• reading a great book or blog
• getting great books in the mail (just today a package from amazon arrived at my parents’ house, and i’ve been antsy all day. thankfully, i’ll get the books from my mom tomorrow. yay! i used to be the same way in elementary school when the scholastic book packages would arrive. anyone remember those?)
• while exercising. i love that exhilarating, i’m-alive-and-strong feeling (especially since i never thought i was.)
• riding my bike. being outside is joyful.
• eating oranges or dark chocolate or ice cream (specifically, one chocolate scoop with rainbow sprinkles). yep, that’s right.
• being with loved ones and laughing my ass off.
• seeing new places that remind me how big (and small) our world is.

where do you find your creative joy?

p.s. check out my post on the gift of creativity at ashley’s beautiful blog, nourishing the soul. i love her work!

i’m in the process of having this website redesigned. and i’m super excited!

i loovveee design, and i want a website that truly reflects my style and creates the perfect web home. that’s why you can find me on many evenings sitting on the couch scouring the web for stunning sites.

these are some of the beautiful sites i’ve bookmarked so far. i hope they inspire you, too!

  {amy merrick}

{august empress}

{rebekka seale}

{lisa congdon}

{la tartine gourmande}

{susannah conway}

{design love fest}

{biscuits & such}

{simply grove}

{not without salt}

{kenzie poo}

what are your favorite websites?

{via etsy by myan soffia}

sometimes writing is a late start

a messy room

a headache

an unsatisfying nap

racing thoughts that bang into each other

and then drop to the floor.

sometimes writing is doing anything but.

browsing blogs and random websites

checking email

again and again and again

and then one more time.

sometimes writing is tension in your shoulders

and a grimace on your face.

sometimes writing is worse than washing dishes

scrubbing the bathroom or paying the bills.

but other times it’s the first deep breath

you’ll take after a slew of shallow ones.

thank you for being the first person i want to call with good (or bad) news.

thank you for being the best shopping buddy.

thank you for your patience and never-ending support.

thank you for waiting many minutes until i twirl (and twirl) around in a potential outfit in the fitting room to see if i should get it.

thank you for calming me down when life really sucks.

thank you for being beyond brave to bring me to this country.

thank you for giving me a sweet childhood.

for finding the fine line between being my mom and my best friend.

for letting me be me. always.

and for telling me that i’m enough and great as i am.

happy mother’s day to all the moms out there!

like every writer, i’m obsessed with writing instruments and tools. lately, i’ve been on the hunt for a vintage typewriter.

unfortunately, they’re not as inexpensive as i’d prefer. but a girl can dream!

here are four typewriters i’d love to have from one of my favorite websites, etsy.com.

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

do you know of a great place to get affordable typewriters? any particular models i should focus on?

so this is my not-so-great attempt at the “sock bun.” (here’s a helpful tutorial.) like i said many posts ago, i’m late to every trend. but at least i’ve finally gotten here. i may try to recreate this bun again, so it’s a bit fluffier.

i wore this outfit to a casual dinner date with brian last week. i’ve already worn these pants many, many times. they brighten up any outfit!

what i’m wearing:

top, cardigan & earrings (you can’t tell but they’re little starfish!): j.crew factory

pants: tj maxx

shoes: target

purse: fendi from ebay (years ago)

happy friday!

{via etsy by Tina Tarnoff}

every thursday i share a few of my favorite posts. you’ll find everything from writing to decor to food to fashion. enjoy!

a beautiful kitchen makeover for just $300!

“let’s get real.” i can really relate to this one!

things i’m afraid to tell you.

where’s your favorite spot to read? any of these would be great with me!

an interesting and inspiring podcast with designer genevieve gorder, who i’ve always admired.

the manhattan bridge.

crucial questions to ask yourself. right now.

a great how-to on curbing impulse buys. yep, i’m taking notes.

how do you feel about these russian writers? (the only thing i can read in russian, sadly, is pushin’s poetry. and by read, i mean very, very slowly trip over letters until i finally sound out a word.)

i’d love to drink one of these right now.

quote of the week:

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

~ Albert Einstein

what’s inspiring you this week?

every month i’m usually reading many mental health books, so my to-read stack is pretty heavy. and i just keep buying more and more. sometimes i feel bad about that. but it’s okay because my dream is to eventually have a little nook in my home for a library. and, really, what’s a library without any unread books?

so here’s what’s on my list (well, at least half of it):

 man walks into a room by nicole krauss

let the great world spin by colum mccann

saved by a poem by kim rosen

osip mandelstam: 50 poems, translated by bernard meares

what’s on your list? have you read any of the above? what did you think?