inventing words

this collection of words is not the result of  a New Year’s resolution…I promise. For quite some time I have quietly pondered coming back here…But sometimes it is hard to find a reason to come back when you never had a solid reason for leaving. 

but I am back…spiraling into control.

hope the holidays found you happy and well…

marc and kate.

hello…

I am back from my unexcused absence to share this photo with you that I have found quite a fascination in. 

not sure why…I keep staring at it and  loving it. It’s just a shot of Marc and Kate backstage at the Louis Vuitton SS12 show…so beautiful and calming to me. 

Have a great week, loves!

The Fish is an Animal That Swims in the Water

That was the slow spoken answer Jeanette Walls received from a unbelieving waitress in West Virginia. Jeanette had graduated from Barnard, become a successful journalist, and decided it was time to pay her hometown a visit. A visit that would tell the “townsfolk” that she was now a sophisticated New Yorker. She chose to dine at an establishment that she was always too intimidated to step into in her previous life, but now she was going to walk in on confidence and designer shoes. The “establishment” was only a coffee shop…she sat herself at a booth and was handed a simple menu advertising their fish special. This was a good time to display her airs and sense of style,or so she thought.

Jeanette recounts her question of, “Excuse me…what is your fish?” to the waitress, demonstrating with a low, airy voice suggesting that she expected no less than “wild sea bass, with a caramelized crust”. She was quickly brought back to earth with the reply… “The Fish, is an animal…that swims in the water”. She told this story and many others from her book, The Glass Castle at Ball State University with joy; realizing to the audience that she was “lucky enough to have a crappy childhood” and  have the gift of her dreams, and goodness of life to encourage and share with others. 

The words Jeanette had for hundreds of listeners were beautiful and marked with her honest reflection…When asked how she even started such a project, she answered with something her mother told her… “Just tell the truth.”

I felt very privileged to listen to the lecture of such an accomplished writer who saw herself as nothing more than a “journalist with a weird childhood”, her thoughts on life and it’s cruelty and goodness were calming and brought perspective…like that of her overly-positive mother, who once told her, “Things usually work out in the end”. When Jeanette asked, “But what if they don’t?” Her mother just replied with…

“That just means you haven’t reached the end yet.”

extreme appearances

The old wooden floors and loud, semi-provocative art hanging on the walls of The Earth House Cafe drew my soul in. There was much to see and sense, but along with this new place came feelings of old-home familiarity. I met Erin, the barista behind the wide bar…she was interesting and wore a bright red sweatshirt with sparkling applique  shapes that made a jack-0-lantern face. She said it was a “Christmas-Halloween shirt!”, handmade by herself…obviously an artist who appreciates experiment. 

Erin Drew is an artist out of Indianapolis…her bright/eye catching style draws the viewer in, but interestingly enough her messages often contradict their flashy colors…Capturing a reflection of modern culture. 

For more of her fantastic art visit her flckr account. I’ll let you in a little secret- she has a whole lot of other cool pieces of various  media. Check out my personal favorite!

The Englishman

blogging is a wonderful excuse to not do homework and surf around the web for “good content” instead. This philosophy makes me feel better…since it’s philosophy homework that I am currently neglecting. 

check out the good content I found…

I am not much of a soaps and lotions girl…but these are so creative and interesting. I especially love her paintbox line for men…

My favorite is “The Englishman”

– “A wickedly proper gentleman’s blend of glossy black leather, Earl Grey tea & peaty tobacco. Emphasis on wicked…”

with a description like that who wouldn’t want The Englishman in their shower?

#Behindthetimes of #NYFW #canwemakeoutofstyletrendy?

Whats going on in the fashion world? because I have no idea…what season are we on? Probably like Summer 2089, I am waaay behind the times.

I have an ADD interest in fashion…I get momentarily hooked on the latest ad campaigns and the “who’s taking over Dior ” rumors. But except for my usual scan of  The Sartorialist’s postings, I have been way out of the fashion and couture loop.

Oh well…Leave it to Marc to lure me back in with his intriguing ads that I always fall in love with….

 *thank you Avance Mag as the source of my fashion enlightenment and lovely Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 11 ad photos photos

the kettle is on

autumn has shyly introduced itself to 2011 in indiana…and i am ever welcoming. this is my favorite season…i used to say happily, “i want everything important to happen in the fall!”. I love coming home and putting the kettle on…it’s tea season. 

but here is my little secret about fall…it makes me incredibly homesick. 

i miss the cold, grey shoreline…the harvest time….the cold…my family….

Fall Colors: black, gold, olive

I realize that I should probably start notifying my readers when I leave. sorry…I just tend to disappear. School started up, so I have been busy getting acclimated to my new schedule which now includes class and homework. Also, I currently do not have internet at my new home…so that makes writing in the night hours a bit hard. Oh yeah….and I moved.

Lately I have been thinking about Autumn, and fall colors. These are  my favorite for the season…What are yours?

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social giving: jonathan’s card experiment

A couple posts ago I shared about For a Friend and their mission to create a place for people to give thoughtful and useful gifts to international workers and missionaries. Today I saw posts going around on twitter about this guy, Jonathan. He created a quite fascinating social experiment through a gift card at Starbucks.

Sadly humanity answered our hopeful questions of “are we good?” by “misusing the card”, according to Starbucks who shut the project down Friday, August 12th. I spent some time reading through a few articles about this experiment and the heart behind it…here were a few good ones.

Mashable

Herald Sun

 Coffee Business Strategies 

So, what do you think of all this? How do you approach giving?

 

 

3 reasons to eat “kid” food

sounds like I am not the only one evaluating fears these days…seriously though, there is a lot to think about! 

One of my current fears is not being able to maintain physical health this fall when school starts again and I have class and studying to add on top of my work schedule. I have this habit of easily slipping into a non meal-eating mode…basically I’ll go all day not eating much, and when I get super hungry I just cram down whatever is around and ready…which is most often some form of carbs. Not my favorite…But what do you do when you don’t have a whole lot of time to cook!? It’s not like I have the hours, or energy for that matter, to simmer tomatoes into a traditional Italian sauce or marinade and grill steak. 

My new consideration- Kid food. Seriously…I think I can eat healthy variations of kid themed meals…a friend was recently sharing how much her kids loved “pizzadias” despite the cute name, they can be pretty nutritious…Sprouted tortilla shell, raw cheese, tomato sauce, pre-cooked meat…five minutes in the fry-pan…done. 

What other ideas are out there? I don’t exactly crave chicken nuggets and PBJ with out the crust, but when life gets crazy you need to brain storm. How do you deal with eating healthy on a busy, changing schedule?

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