my tips for a new blogger

 

I really don’t feel qualified to give any advice about blogging. I talked a bit about it in this post a few months ago, but I’m really not in this blog game full force. I don’t make any money from it and don’t feel any need to move in that direction. I still use WordPress.com rather than .org.

My advice if you want to start a blog? Make sure you like doing it. I’ve always told myself that I will continue writing this blog as long as I enjoy doing it. The minute it becomes a chore–I’m done. It’s that simple.

Also, fully understand why you want to start a blog. I started mine and am still blogging because I wanted an online scrapbook for myself of things that “make daily life better.” I try to work every post from that angle.

Please let me know if you start a blog. I’d love to subscribe and maybe work together! Stay tuned for details on the November 30 for 30 Blogging Challenge I have planned. It’s going to be fun!

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my favorite things about the holidays

So this is not hard at all. I love the holidays and have some definite most favorite things about them. Let’s do this.

Gløgg

We had a version of this every year when I was a kid without the red wine that we called “hot punch.” When we lived in Norway and I discovered that people love it there too only they add copious amounts of red wine, I about had a heart attack. It’s heaven….like drinking potpourri. I don’t make mine like most of the online recipes, but this seems to be a good one. I plan to post my recipe in November.

Harry Belafonte // To Wish You A Merry Christmas

In my family, it is NOT Christmas without this album. Everyone got their copy upon turning 18. Like, an actual CD with a booklet. It’s that serious.

Caramel making…not that I actually make them…

My Mom’s side of the family have been making these homemade caramels for generations. They are much coveted around town. Mom has to make several batches each year and those who receive them squirrel them away. Various aunts and cousins all make them and a few years back, my brother started making them. Well, of course I’m supposed to make them. However, they take almost three hours…of CONSTANT STIRRING. It’s crazy. I will say since iPads and Netflix came along, things have been easier. Each person who makes caramels has their own Sandy Softball. The official family mascot of caramel making

It’s ridiculous and wonderful. When my grandmother died in 2005, there was an extra Sandy. Last year she was given to Andrew who has proudly taken up the torch of caramel making for me!

These. Boxes and boxes of them.

Barbra Streisand’s version of Jingle Bells. Two minutes of spastic goodness.

There is so much more. There are only a few things about the holidays that I dislike.

I can’t believe October is almost over. It flew by and this challenge has been so fun. I’m thinking about making my own for November. Thirty posts for thirty days in celebration of my thirtieth birthday on the 22nd. Who’s game!? Let’s do it!

 

 

favorite workout (yoga) songs

Where do I even start?

This is both the easiest and most difficult post of the month. I could go on for an entire month on just this topic alone. Because I no longer “work out,” this has to be a yoga music playlist showcase.

First, there a few songs that have held up over time as the best to yoga to ever, in my opinion.

The Lime Tree // Trevor Hall

Intro // The XX

Colors // Amos Lee

Making yoga playlists is fun, but tough. The possibilities are endless, yet you feel stumped at the same time.

In honor of this post, I’ve made most of my Spotify playlists public. You can find 36 and counting 60 minute class playlists here. 

top places I’d like to travel

This photo was taken my junior year of college a few months before leaving for my study abroad.

Picking places I’d like to travel is not at all hard. There are only a handful of places I would not like to go. While I loved loved loved it, Europe is pretty much taken care of at this point.

So here’s my top three as of right now:

I would love to go to the Ashtanga Institute in Mysore, India. Not sure it will ever happen, but I would jump at the chance. I love this map from UK based illustrator Holly Wales. She’s great!

Funnily enough, the next two destinations are right here in the US. I would love to see the many unbelievable national parks in Utah.

 

And like I said a few posts back, I would love to see California.

San Francisco, Big Sur, the Redwoods. All on my list.

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thankful thursday: poses 41/52

I’m thankful for Tiffany Cruikshank + Yogaglo for getting me into this crazy pose. A variation of Grasshopper. There are many interpretations of this pose…baby Grasshopper, full Grasshopper, or the odd variation above.

This class on Yogaglo and this class will get you there. If you’re not on Yogaglo and you’d like to try this pose, I suggest the following articles and tutorials. It is a massive twist and insane hip opener, but also requires a decent amount of strength. That troubling and puzzling thing in yoga when a pose becomes doubly hard because it takes a ton of flexibility AND strength. Also, it’s one of those really rare poses that is actually much harder to get into than be in.

Full Grasshopper

Baby Grasshopper

I’m thankful for the internet and its resources! Without it, crazy poses like this would not be possible!

link love

 This GIF.…always and forever

I made a bunch of this soup to freeze yesterday. Pretty delicious. I cut back on the honey though…1/3 cup!? A little insane.

I love celebrities reading mean tweets. This one in particular because Bob Balaban. Just Bob Balaban.

I can’t wait to read this to kids at school….it’s going to get crazy!

 Because it never gets old.

Not that I’ll ever go to the trouble to make these and we’re already in fall weather, pumpkin baking, roasted vegetable mode, but dang these look good.

This Valentino Resort 2015 collection is crazy. Beautiful.

I’m in love with all the crazy wallpaper in our bathrooms and I can’t help but look at Kim + Scott’s guest room and think, “GIMME!”

Loving this cover, heard it at last weekend’s wedding.

Uhhhhhhh….is this supposed to be a big deal?

That’s all I have for today…I have to head out soon, I’m FINALLY getting my hair cut today!

**stay tuned for more about the painting featured above. It’s part of a big project I’ve been working on for too long.

 

what’s on my playlist

As I’ve shared before, each season I keep a playlist on Spotify full of what I’m listening to at the moment. Everything I remotely like even just a little bit gets added to this list. It’s big and all over the place. Here’s Fall 2014:

Within that playlist, there is always a five or six song rotation that changes every three to five days. Here’s what’s on that list now:

Hozier // Sedated

Nothing but Thieves // Graveyard Whistling

Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen // When You Open Your Eyes

Walk the Moon // Shut Up and Dance 

Trevor Hall // Green Mountain State

And unfortunately I’m really digging the new Taylor Swift song that was released today. Dang…

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favorite childhood memories

Yeah that’s me. And one of my favorite dolls, Jessica (I’m pretty sure I named her that in rebellion. Having a weird name as a kid can be rough). Call me superficial and materialistic, but at the top of this list? DOLLS. Specifically, American Girl Dolls. Jessica was not an American Girl Doll, but she was amazing.

For three years, I received a new American Girl doll for Christmas–Samantha, Molly, then Addy. The amount of obsession revolving around these dolls and their various accessories was sick. I still love them. I make sure to be uber diligent about ordering the latest books for the library and love to gab with the girls at school about their dolls.

It’s a sickness. Needless to say I about died when Project Runway had an American Girl Doll challenge this season.

Of course I have other great childhood memories. I’ll be honest, I feel a little silly writing this post because I have so many things I could write about here it’s insane. My childhood was pretty much perfect, in my opinion. I will never take that for granted. Some more highlights include:

• First family trip to NYC when I was about seven years old. We got to see Miss Saigon and The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and go backstage at the latter. (A family friend was a makeup artist). Also, FAO Schwartz. OMG.
• Musicals in general. We were a family obsessed. Before the age of 12, I had seen The Phantom of the Opera twice, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables three times, Cats twice, The Secret Garden, My Fair Lady, & Jesus Christ Superstar among others.
• Dance class—tights, ballet shoes, leotards, and doing a jazz routine to “I’m the King of New York” from Newsies.
• Hawley-Cooke Booksellers. Louisville natives, you feel me on this.
  
  
• Having the Original Hipster for a dad
  
  
  
• Eating Nerds with my grandmother in a party dress….and that tricycle/bulldozer of my brother’s, which was stolen off the sidewalk. DANG. Yeah, don’t mind the reflection my hands and phone. I snapped a photo of this framed photo in our hallway.
  
  Like I said, I could go on and on. That’s what I’ve got for now. I wish I had more old photos on my computer, but I’m seriously too lazy to scan them.

weekend highlights

This was weekend was fast and furious!

Loved a surprise visit from Kayla and Graham on Friday. That baby is down right ridiculously cute and cuddly.

We got up and into the car super early Saturday and drove up to Michigan for a wedding of dear friends. We met them while living in Edinburgh–he’s Scottish, she’s from Michigan and they’re back in the States for good now! Such a fun day and evening. Kilts! Long, hilarious speeches delivered with amazing Scottish accents! And some of the best dance moves I’ve ever witnessed by a cousin of Leslie’s I will never forget.

Unfortunately we had to get up early the next morning and drive back, but we had BJ Novak and friends to entertain us. We also listened to an hour of predicting the future which sparked lively debates and an in-depth discussion of what it will be like to get into a self-driving car for the first time. Terrifying.

Everything comes full circle when Kayla texted me the most adorable photo of Graham Cracker and Kyle dog ever. It’s my favorite photo right now

So now it’s pouring rain…forecast looks like that’s how it’s going to be again for my second week off. Not sorry to say that I’m perfectly happy with that. I have not one, but two 500+ page books going that are both crazy page turners. The only hard part will be deciding which one to read when.

 

 

10 things most people do not know…

Ok. 10 things that “most people” do not know. Hmmmmm….

I think that defining “most people” is key here. Because a variety of people read this blog, I’m going to narrow this down by calling it “10 Things About Me yet to be shared on this blog.” Make sense?

1. I work at an elementary school but I never went to elementary school.

I was home-schooled until the eighth grade. Trust me, you were basically a freak if you didn’t go to school in the 80s/90s. Especially if you were home-schooled for none religious reasons like we were. The hipster culture of “un-schooling” was slight at best, my parents were ahead of the game! It was the best thing ever. I know it might sound nuts since I now work at a public school, but I have no doubt that I’ll do the same with my kids one day (if we’re able to financially, logistically, yadda, yadda, yadda).

2. I played the piano for 12+ years

No that’s not me….haha. This is a photo of my mom as a teenager. Mom has been teaching piano for 40+ years, so naturally we played our entire childhood. I’m pretty sure we learned to read music before books.

3. I have never eaten a hamburger from a fast food restaurant or tried any illegal substance of any kind.

They’re basically the same thing right?! Just kidding. Don’t get me wrong, I ate mountains of chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches as a kid, I just never wanted the hamburger. Then as I got older, I just kept not ordering one because I had to keep it going and not break my streak. As for right now, I love a good burger, but still can’t order one from a fast food restaurant because of this.

On the other thing, I’m not sure how I got through four years of life in Asheville, North Carolina without smoking marijuana, but I did. I have no moral objection, it just never appealed to me as something fun and…..it is illegal. However, as it gets closer to legalization (which I’m all for btw), I have no desire to ever have this experience.

 4. My family dog was one of the oldest dogs in the world.

Yeah that’s me in overalls. Whatever. More importantly is that we got our terrier mix, Hannah, when I was eight years old and my parents had to put her to sleep just two years ago. She wasn’t a puppy when we got her, the vet guessed she was about two years old. Sooooo that means the youngest she could have been was 22. 22 YEARS OLD! A dog?!? During the last few months of her life, we found a list of the oldest dogs in the world, ranging from 29 – 20 years. So there you have it.

5. Andrew and I were high school sweethearts

Awwwww. I just wish you could see my puka shell necklace and Hollister tee better. Andrew and I kind of hated each other for the first three years of high school, then started dating our senior year. This photo was taken as the final bell rang at 3:10pm on our last day of school.

6. I’ve never seen an episode of Friends.

7. I haven’t gone a day without coffee since high school

Not sure what would happen if I stopped drinking it…

8. I’ve never been to California….or anywhere farther west than Kansas.

Andrew and I hope to take a trip to San Francisco, drive down to LA through Big Sur maybe in the next year or so. We’ll see though. I know I’ll get there one day!

9. I’ve watched every season of Survivor. Am I proud? Kind of. Am I ashamed? Kind of.

10. I can type over 85 words per minute. 

And there you have it!