internet gems. part five.

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happy friday, ya'll! fun weekend plans? i've got a lot of random things going on this weekend including, but not limited to, cleaning out my closet and donating things to goodwill. all i DO is win.

i have been rounding up some web links for you guys. enjoy!

love the dreamy pictures in this post. tall, sheer socks are something i don't think i could pull off, but i think they're really cool. what is not cool? forehead braids. just say no.

felt succulents. succulents are really hard to kill. they are great, sturdy plants. leave it to me to be someone who has killed three succulents under her care. this craft was created with people like me in mind.

the story of my stuff.

this cute blogger owns her own bookshop. one of her regular features is called spoken in the shop where she documents bits of conversation that she overhears from customers. a hoot.

show up, people. just show up.

how to pose like a fashion blogger. tips for greatness.

DIY mini pallets. almost free crafts are the way to go.

goat cheese and strawberry popovers. you had me at goat cheese. and then again at strawberries. and a third time at popovers.

happy fridaying! stay cool.

think about it

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these words ring so true. what words/quotes have you been dwelling on lately?

the best weekend

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here i am posting about last weekend when it's almost time for this weekend. i can't keep up! this past weekend hit the spot. like really and truly. it was just so wonderful. when you cram family, friends, birthday gifts, and bacon wrapped dates into the span of four days, only good things can happen.

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on thursday, my birthday evening, i invited my family over for dinner. i was inspired to host a dinner after reading bread and wine, and my birthday seemed as good a time as any. for pre-dinner snack i made bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese. THESE. these were everything. i think we could have dined on these alone all night and been happy. i served white chix chili for main meal and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries drizzled with dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. hey, tastebuds. you've never had it so good.

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on friday evening, my two best college girlfriends, sarah and chelsea, came into town. sarah is married with two sweet kids, and it had been over two years since she had visited me in raleigh/durham. it was surreal that we were all three hanging out together in my apartment. i kept grabbing them both and pulling them in for group hugs. they tolerated it. we spent the majority of the evening eating food, drinking wine, and gabbing like schoolgirls. i also introduced them to the hilarity that is impractical jokers. we laughed until our bellies hurt.

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the rest of the weekend was filled with coffee and pastries at guglhupf, shopping, wine and snacks by the pool, nana taco for birthday party dinner, fullsteam brewery with great friends for celebratory birthday beers, and beasley's chicken and honey for sunday morning brunch. after my besties left, i went for a run to fend off the inevitable wave of sadness that was to soon wash over me. and also to burn off the thousands upon thousands of calories we consumed over the course of three days.

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basically, all i want to do is rewind time and go back to last friday so we can do it all over again. thank you to everyone who made my birthday weekend so special! (you guys are definitely on the list.)

year 29

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today i turn 29. breathe in. breathe out. 

"what they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. and when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t. you open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday, only it’s today. and you don’t feel eleven at all. you feel like you’re still ten. and you are — underneath the year that makes you eleven. 

like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten. or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama’s lap because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five. and maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay. that’s what i tell mama when she’s sad and needs to cry. maybe she’s feeling three.

because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. that’s how being eleven years old is". - sandra cisneros


i like this thought process very much. i'm 29 now, but i'm still all of the other ages, too. i'm a giddy and awkward age 13 when i play MASH with my girlfriends, and we put our celebrity crushes on the list. i'm five when i throw a temper tantrum like a small child who is past their nap. 22 when i'm channeling my inner taylor swift. and a mature age 29 when i see that ice cream is buy two get three free, and i walk on by. 

this past year has been one of my best yet. the Lord gave me so many new opportunities, some were wonderful and easy and fun, some were extremely challenging. each experience added a new layer, a new depth to my life. i am so grateful. i'm looking forward to seeing how this year plays out with all of its ups and downs and twists and turns. bring it on, year 29. 

on another note, i have some very exciting news to share with you today. i am participating in my very first giveaway! a couple of months ago, the sweet and lovely jenna from dearest love and i connected over some blog comment exchanges. i think the conversation started when she mentioned she was considering starting an etsy shop on one of her blog posts. i left a comment about my experience selling and encouraged her to do it. she sent me an email with some further questions and didn't hesitate to ask me if i'd like to do a giveaway with her with one of my etsy jewelry pieces. um, YESSSSSSS. i am so excited to be featured on her wonderful blog. i have really enjoyed getting to know jenna through our emails and from reading her fun posts. she lives in atlanta with her husband and teaches 2nd grade. i love reading about her daily life and her adventures in the big ATL. (she recently posted a recipe for blueberry biscuits that looks ridiculously good.) please head over to her blog and show her (and i) some love! you can find out all the details about the giveaway there. thank you, jenna for reaching out with this exciting and fun opportunity! 

one more thing. i am seriously grateful for you, my readers. i am a just a little blog in the sea of many, but i truly enjoy this little corner of the internet world, and i am so happy to have each of you by my side. thank you for reading. thank you for commenting. you guys are the best. 

happy birthday to me, indeed! and a happy march 6th to you. 

tag, you're it

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the lovely emma kate from the hippie memoirs tagged me to participate in a fun post this week. i have a list of questions to answer in hopes that you guys will get to know me a little bit more. this reminds me of those really long email chains that used to go around when i was in high school with the bazillion questions from "do you prefer hugs or kisses?" to "what was the last thing you ate?" those things were so insanely fun. this is like the grown up version of that. 

1. what's your motto?

i don't know if i really have a life motto, but last year my mantra was "be brave". i think that has followed me into this year as i am continuing to try new things and be a yes woman (the good kind. not the pushover kind.)

2. what's the first memory you remember having? 

i remember riding in a little front seat of my mom's bike as she would peddle us all over town. i think we were living in holland at the time. i remember being scared out of my mind going down hills. it was basically like front seat on a roller coaster. 

3. is there a word you seem to say a lot?

hahahaha. 

4. if you could live anywhere, where would you choose?

the west coast. my first choice is always california, but i think living in washington or oregon would be amazing. my motivation for moving is always the same-the miserable, sticky, smothering season that is summer in the south. the humidity, it takes over your brain. you start thinking crazy thoughts. thoughts about marrying giant icicles and getting adopted by polar bear families. it's not safe here in the summertime. 

5. what's your favorite indulgence? 

brownies and ice cream with toppings. 

6. what's a song you have repeatedly stuck in your head?

good grief. every day is a new song. today: drunk in luuuuuuuuv. 

7. think of something soft. what first comes to mind? 

my pink, fuzzy bathrobe. thing is a garish eyesore, but it is beyond comfortable. 

8. when you were a kid, who did you look up to and why?  

my parents. still do. they are all such wonderful, loving, supportive people. their patience with me and my siblings is beyond normal limits. i love them all so much. 

9. if you could communicate with any animal, which would you choose?  

cats. and i would sing them taylor swift's lyrics "why you gotta be so mean?"

10.  what do you like to do on rainy days?  

i love to hunker down at my craft table and crank out the goods. i brew coffee and get some music going. this is my zone. if my roommate is home, there is a good chance we will end up on the couch at some point playing with each others hair and talking about boys. 

11. what do you hope to achieve this year? 

continue saying "yes" to new opportunities, focus on my etsy shop, take art/craft classes, eat chipotle burrito bowls. 

thanks, emma kate! this was fun. i have decided to tag emma jane and laura to play along. tag, you're it! 

march mix

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hey, kids! our interet was fixed just in the nick of time for a fresh new monthly mix. march is my birthday month, so my "theme" is basically just songs i like. not so much a theme as it is an eclectic mix of random tunes. but i think that might just work out in everyone's favor!

sunday afternoon started the beginning of my birthday celebrating as i shared caramel lattes and a thick slice of chocolate cake with my dad at one of my favorite coffee shops. it was such a sweet time of catching up with him. he's a pretty cool guy with lots of wisdom to share so we always have good talks. and he also gave me his old surfboard and a bunch of really great camping gear. um, YES. i'm already planning beach trips and mountain weekends. oh, do i know how to surf you ask? that would be a big fat no. do i want to learn? yes, and now i'm basically 90% there. the hardest part is obtaining a board, right? thank you, dad!

march mix

you are enough : sleeping at last

wake up : the arcade fire

the run and go : twenty one pilots

put a light on : generationals

southern sun : boy & bear

stay alive : jose gonzalez

hey pretty girl : kip moore

ghost : sir sly

crystallized : young the giant

bright whites : kishi bashi

celebrate nothing : phantogram

just and just as : penny and sparrow

good : dave barnes

i hope this gets to you : the daylights (feat. sleigh bells)

psychasthenia : william fitzsimmons

dead in your head : bleached

(look for the music player along the side bar)


happy listening and happy march!

back in the game

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the magical internet guy came to my house today and with the wave of his wizarding wand, ALA-KAZAAM, my internet was fixed. i love him.

i have had a rather nice bloggy break. there were a few moments of frustration, but overall it was nice to have a quiet apartment without the buzzing of the internet. instead of browsing pinterest before bed, i read books. instead of checking my email with my morning coffee, i spent time writing in my prayer journal. instead of watching hulu after work, i crafted.

but before i lead you guys on any further into thinking i am super virtuous, i did miss the world wide web. that's why i have been simultaneously downloading music and watching parks and rec for the past hour. how sweet it is.

oh, and just FYI. we switched to frontier as our internet provider because time warner cable is the absolute worst in the whole world. and that is putting it very, very nicely.