Happy Valentine’s Day to you! Whether you’re in love with someone or just in love with yourself (highly recommended), today is a day of showing appreciation. Send a sweet email to a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. Send flowers to your mom. If you go out to lunch, bring back a snack for someone you work with. There are so many ways to show you care – that’s probably why I adore this holiday so much! Let’s have a little blog date so that I can share with you a few exciting things that are going on in my neck of the woods, as well as some awesome discoveries I’ve made. I would love it if you’d comment and share as well!
On the way back from Alex’s wedding, I finished the most incredible book: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. I’m gonna have to write a whole post about Daring Greatly and the intellectual prowess that is Brene Brown. I’ve talked about Brene once before in this post. Let’s put it this way: I seriously highlighted and dogeared every other page (pretty much) and consider this book the manual to my life. Amazing, mind-bending, eye-opening ways to think about life. I eat that shit up.
I am so proud of my compliment bouquet DIY! Most of the time when I brainstorm a project I turn to the interwebz + Pinterest for inspiration, but I had no such luck when trying to find a similar DIY. So, I did what any crafty girl does. I created what I wanted from scratch. You know how some people can cook/bake from scratch? Yeah. I am not so great at that. But a craft project? I can do that all day.
Pink TOMS. My new pink cordones need no explanation. They ship tomorrow! (Looks like the style I just ordered isn’t available anymore!)
I am learning French. One of my goals for 2013 was to start learning a new language. I thought about it a lot, and have chosen to give French a try. I bought a book last week to start familiarizing myself with verb tenses, etc., and hope to eventually get Rosetta Stone. I just love the French way of life, and think it would be so cool to go to Paris in the future and be able to speak/read a little bit.
Simplifying + Dreaming. Lately I feel like I’ve had a lot of breakthroughs mentally, emotionally, and creatively. Sometimes I feel like my life is such a mess and that there’s no way to keep it all organized. While that is somewhat true, I’ve been focusing more on my accomplishments (no matter how small) and trying to not compare myself to others. I remind myself that my life is my own, and I get to choose how I want/need to live it. Some days I have to remind myself of this a lot, but that’s okay. It’s sinking in. You can expect a few more changes here on the blog, but I’m really excited to continue pruning my work and this outlet. It’ll be great!
Knitting, among other things. Look at my finished cowl neck scarf! I finished it a couple weeks ago. My mom got me some knitting supplies for Christmas and I finally pulled them out and re-taught myself. I’m not sure if I love knitting or not, but finishing my scarf was an awesome feeling. I’m going to try to knit more often, and already have my second project planned. Stay tuned!
My new favorite necklace from Shelton + New opportunities! So, the other day Shelton said that a package would be coming for him but that as soon as it came I was not to look at where/who it came from. Read: this package contained my Valentine’s Day gift. (Perk/Downfall of working from home.) I obliged, because I love surprises! When it came on Monday, I did not look and set it on the counter. Monday was an especially exciting day, because Shelton accepted a job offer with an awesome student housing company called American Campus Communities. They are pretty much the Walmart of college apartments and have properties all over the United States. He’ll be working at a complex here in Greenville and it’s a great opportunity for him and, ultimately, us. Since they have locations every where, being with ACC is technically our ticket, well, anywhere. Him wanting to leave his current job and searching for a new position has been a stressful process that I didn’t really want to share here. But – it all worked out and that’s what matters. He came home with a 18-year-old bottle of Chivas Regal (fancy) and said, “Tonight, we drink like Hugh Hefner: in our robes.” I thought it was so cute, so I put on my robe and settled on the couch to enjoy my very delicious scotch-whiskey blend. Shelton opened his compliment bouquet and we relaxed to catch up on some DVR. After a while, he asked for a glass of water. Me, being ultimately lazy, thought oooooooookay, I will get up and get you water. When I reached over to set down my whiskey glass, I felt something in my r0be pocket. Kind of hard? My first thought was why is Shelton’s wallet in my pocket? No lie. “What is this?” I asked, feeling the shape through my robe. Shelton is incredible at playing things off. Remember by birthday? “I don’t know…” he kept saying. I was laughing and smiling, thinking, damn, he got me uh-gain. But then I pulled out the box and all laughing stopped. I gasped. Because the box was a tell-tale blue.
The whole moment shifted. I was speechless – what was in the box almost didn’t matter, because, wow. Tiffany’s. The ultimate. I unwrapped it to find the most perfect little heart-shaped locket, and very tiny on the front, two letters engraved: “SS.” This is the part where I cried. It was just so sweet, so touching, so us.
I haven’t taken it off since. The end.
~
What a great week it has been. February is halfway over and I am feeling a lot of love and support lately from many different directions. I am motivated to keep working towards my goals and am doing my best to not dwell on any shortcomings. I enjoy moments of clarity like this like you wouldn’t believe.
What have you discovered lately? What breakthroughs have you made in your life?
Remember to share your joys – it makes your happiness multiply.
-Sarah