Wednesday Mid Day

Sorry, ya'll, that this is so late! My mind has been trying to wrap itself around the utter destruction in my state, and it's overwhelming my senses and emotions. Today, however, I am finally feeling a creative streak! 
I'm kind of been ADDICTED to these chips lately: 

Kettle Chips (the best crunch) in Honey Dijon

Amazing Surfer-Girl Gear:

Dude, I've never been surfing in my life and I'd be ALL OVER these even just for regular water activities. LOVE the genius. Found here.

A Song I'm Loving Lately: 

Right Hand Rings

I'm so excited that I've finally found a way that I ENJOY wearing my right-hand ring finger ring! It's a lovely little watermelon tourmaline stone that my best friend gave me when I graduated with my Master's. My last project on campus was to make this simple sterling setting for it completely myself in the jewelry studio. I call it my "You Gotta Be" ring. You know that song? "You gotta be bold, you gotta be strong, you gotta be wiser..." well, that song is MY song (and my mom's). They don't play it on the radio very often, so we almost always hear it when we feel like we need to hear it, and it is such a good feel-good get-back-up song. 

If you haven't heard it, here it is, in all of it's 90s glory:

But I digress. Anyway, my ring. I just never felt comfortable wearing it on it's own. It would twist around, and just felt---out of place, since I don't wear any other rings on my right hand on a daily basis. And I've had a little "bubble ring" for a few years, but it always sort of hurt my thumb (where I usually wear it), and it never crossed my mind to wear it anywhere else. 

found here

Then I saw this lovely picture from Joanna Goddard on some other blog (sorry, totally forgot where), and it just clicked into place for me. I love wearing these two together. Just love it! 

My "You Gotta Be" handmade ring and my "bubble ring" from a local craft fair...I prefer the bubble ring underneath the tourmaline {also note to self: shine up my sterling pieces, they are looking grubby}

Also on the subject of rings, I was in a jewelry store last weekend, and the lady told me I had nice, slender and long fingers. I looked at her like she was crazy. This is actually the second time someone has told me that, but I highly disagree, and have always thought my fingers were fat. So I'm pretty sure jewelers just tell you that so you buy their rings and think your fingers are slender and pretty. 

And also on the subject of rings, I'm totally wanting this little one now. 

Favorite Ever

This is my favorite outfit I've EVER blogged, in the past 3 or so years of documenting my outfits. It feels SO me, so completely me. And I die over these colors, and the textures. Doesn't it just scream "luxe"?! Best part: the most expensive thing in this outfit was my vintage purse, which rang in at $12 (and could use a good shining up, sheesh, Natalie)

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Thrifted

Earrings: Thrifted

Blouse: MaxAzria, TJ Maxx 

Necklace: Store in FL

Handbag: Vintage; auction

Belt: Thrifted

Skirt: BCBG, thrifted

Heels: Charlotte Russe

CV and Works

A curriculum vitae (CV) is pretty standard in my line of work. It's a resume, essentially, for the more academic sort of world. And last night I was mulling over a conversation with my boyfriend, and for some reason, the CV popped into my head.

A CV lists your accomplishments, right? It lists every honor, award, cool thing, charitable thing, and impressive thing you've ever done, at least professionally.

And I thought to myself, Is that how I'm living with God? Working on my CV constantly, hoping that I can list every award, honor, cool or charitable or impressive thing I've ever done, and, at the end, show it to God and see if it gets me into heaven? It is so tempting to live that way, isn't it? That's how the world works.

What really got me is that if truth be known, I bet a lot of people's CV are "fudged", you know? Oh, that sounds impressive, let me put it on there, even though it really wasn't. Let's see, I volunteered for 5 minutes, but they won't know the difference when I put it there. I was supposed to be at that conference all week, but I was only there one day--who is going to know? sorta stuff. Do I do that with God? There, God, I gave my $5 to the youth group camping trip, are ya happy? sorta stuff.

Remember:

"You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves to men." ~1 Corin. 7:23

"Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." ~Romans 3:27, 28

Because, while yes, works are a part of the outpouring of our hearts and faith, we are not justified by works. And when we try to show God our CV, he shakes his head. It makes him sad, you see, because when we decide we need works, we are putting ourselves under the law, thereby NEGATING THE EFFECTS OF THE CROSS.

I've had this thought before, and discussed it a few times, but I felt I needed to write it down in light of my new CV illustration from last night, lol. I mean, can you imagine? We are shunning the cross when we try to work out our faith with works.

But don't forget I mentioned that works are the outpouring of faith and justification. Works are the outpouring of our hearts when our hearts get and match up with the heart of God. 

Lord, show me Your heart. 

From the Inside Out

Woke up with this beautiful song on my heart....and I just had to share.



"The art of losing myself in bringing You praise..."

Have a beautiful day, my dears!

Studs and Stripes

I love this outfit. It feels SO cozy to wear leggings and a jersey dress with a stretchy sweater, yet the look is somehow pulled together. This was perfect for a chilly day. When the sun came out, I just ditched the sweater and added some big old black sunnies. 

Style Secrets

Silver stud earrings: F21

Necklace: Gift 

Dress: Local boutique
Black cami: Gap

Sweater: Guess (tag sale steal)

Belt: Thrifted

Leggings: Tag sale

Purse: Longchamp (tag sale)

Sandals: Thrifted

Monday Mid Day

This week's Monday Mid Day is a good one! Ready?

Gorgeous outfit (now I'm totally drooling over colored pants, as if I wasn't already): 

A new favorite blogger

Drooling over Business Cards: 

WILL be picking some of these out :-)

One of the MOST BEAUTIFUL bouquets I have ever received: 

Gah! Isn't it stunning? Love it. And the cute vase it's in, the blueberry jam, the dishtowel, the platter, and the napkins (on the left). What a SPECIAL gift from my boyfriend's mother. So, so sweet.

And I Gotta Admit I'm in the Mood for a Catchy Love Song This Monday:

Young and Dumb and In Love from Mat Kearney's new album

Shop Your Closet

Or Target, you know, but Target and my closet are practically one and the same. {but these are actually in my closet}

Anywhoo---take a look at these gorgeous suede babies...

J.Crew, $228

Gorg, right? Wear with everything sort of shoe. Welp, I happened to pick some up at Target this spring that are almost identical.

Mine, Target clearance, $8

{Target currently has a version for $30 that is even more similar to the J.Crew version because it doesn't have the side-stitching. View it here. And check out the low version I'm wanting in purple for fall)

I absolutely love mine and wear them all the time, and didn't even know J. Crew had a version until my bestie pointed it out. These have definitely already earned a favorite spot in my shoe rotation. I've worn them on the blog here {Royalty and a Commoner} and here {Don't Stop Till You Get Enough}, two of my favorite outfits in recent months. And they look high-end, too? Extra score.

Pretty sure I saved myself $220 by buying the Target version. {boyfriend, did you read that?}

Coffee Casual

This is what I'm wearing today, and this is what I'm drinking today. Mmmmm...perfect Saturday. Love it!  Did some yard sale-ing earlier, changed, and am not drinking iced coffee. The iced coffee recipe is the Pioneer Woman's and it is to. die. for. {also, my shirt looks weird in a funny place because I had to edit out my alma mater & pertinent info that shouldn't be on my blog!}

Style Secrets

Earrings: F21

Tee: Alma Mater

Scarf: Gift :-)

Jeans: Target

Shoes: Nike

Monday Mid Day

* Flavors of ice cream eaten so far this summer: at least a dozen, including sweet chai latter, watermelon sorbet, blood orange sorbet, muddy road, Late Night Snack (B&Js), pistachio, maple, coffee, mocha fudge, and, of course, vanilla.

* This needs to be mine. It's my color, and it has my name written all over it. Oh, you can't see that? It must be in my head.

* Using the last of my favorite tissues (tear). Yes, I took a picture of my tissue before I used it.

*And finally, these awesome magnets my boyfriend let me have! He got these for free when he bought the "commemorative champagne glasses" for our anniversary. How fun are they?!?! Love them!! Thanks, Le Creuset!

Rejection

Grab some chocolate, girl. But the GOOD stuff, none of that drug-store junk, cause we're gonna need it to read below. I have LOVED Vosges Haut Chocolate since my friend in high school (high school...so long ago...I'm getting old) told me it was her aunt who ran the amazing chocolate shop in Chicago. Unfortunately, I've fallen out of touch with that friend (facebook, you've failed me and my chocolate-loving ways). Anyway, on my recent trip to Colorado, I flew through Chicago, and was thrilled to find the most gorgeous little Vosges store in my terminal. Of course I bought a few treats. Now....read on....

Lately my life seems to be a bit of a lesson in rejection. Well, maybe not my life in general, but my work-life has been a lesson in rejection. Suddenly, I've become a cold-caller. {shudder} If you've ever had to cold-call, you know what I mean. The "we're not interested, hang up" is the norm. They won't even let you say your name. It's rather discouraging. Or you do get to talk to someone, and they let you say your whole schpiel (made up how to spell that word), and then say the "we're not interested." Harsh blow.

And in other ways in my life, too, I'm sticking my neck out. You know the old saying, "A turtle only makes progress by sticking it's neck out"? Well, they don't say that sometimes when you stick your neck out, you move at a turtle's pace. Yeah, yeah, I know, the turtle wins the race, but watching the rabbits run in circles around you is dizzying in the meantime.


So how to handle rejection?


* Take a deep breath. No, seriously: like, right now, take a deep breath. Feels better already, doesn't it?

* Then, tell yourself this: God has a purpose and a plan for me. And those are perfect purposes and perfect plans. He will get me where He wants me, and He doesn't reject me.


* Don't give up. Get right back on the horse. I psyche myself out when making cold-calls between the calls, so as soon as I hang up the phone, I pick it up again and keep on going. But if you need to step away for a bit, that's fine too. Go for a walk or enjoy a sunset.

*Set realistic, small goals for your next steps, then up the ante. Five calls in the next half hour. Or, write three new cover letters today. Or, send out four more poems to editors this week. Or, better yet, make your realistic, small goal this: do not give in to fear for the next hour. Until lunch time. Today. Tomorrow. This week.

* Remember that now is not forever. It may feel like this is the worst thing ever. Well, you know what? Yes, cold-calling sucks. Rejection sucks. Especially when it isn't warranted or isn't coming from something you initiated (been there). But what is happening to you now is not going to last forever. Remember how I said earlier that life changes? Life is fluid. Things come and go. This will end, or dissipate, or lead you on to much better things.

* You are not determined by what other people think of you. You are not your boss' opinion. You are not your students' opinion. You are not that fancy-blogger's opinion. You are not what others label you, unless you let yourself be that person.

* There are many ways to be happy. Okay, so maybe a door of happiness closed. I'm really, really sorry to hear that. But there are so many different versions of happy, as a dear best friend taught me.

* Be thankful and Praise God. There is so much left to be thankful for, I promise. Take a cricitally-grateful eye to your life. Isn't that an oxymoron? Probably. But you know what I mean--scrutinize your life and find every little thing you can be grateful for--even if it's (as I read somewhere) that you are horribly ill, but hey, guess what, your elbows don't hurt. Nor does your earlobe. The skies are always blue above the clouds (don't check my science on that one, I kinda made it up).

And if you are truly being unfairly rejected? Sleep on it. Don't react out of fear, anger, or hurt. Write your response on paper, and let it sit for awhile. Take out any emotional phrasing. State your case and let it speak for itself. Pray and trust God.

You want to know a secret? Sometimes God closes doors. These new-fangled spiritualist types want to tell you that you can have ANYTHING and that God wants to give you EVERYTHING. I've been hearing a lot about that lately, it seems. Well, I'm not so sure about that. Our God gives and takes away. But never outside of that perfect plan and will. Yes, there is evil in this world, and it will affect you. But God still has your back.

Pattern Mixing or Seizure Inducing?

To be determined whether this is successful pattern mixing, or a seizure-inducing outfit. Either way, the colors match, so points for that, right? 

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Thrifted, CK

Necklaces: Random store + Vintage glass beads

Dress: American Eagle

Cardi: Target

Flower: H&M forever ago

Sandals: Target

Priority Shift

{beautiful, beautiful flowers from my boyfriend, that we picked out at the farmer's market}

Life is a fluid thing. A fluid, almost-always-out-of-reach, grass-is-always-green-somewhere-else thing.

Normal changes too often for my liking, sometimes. For a home-body, safety-zone girl like me, that's a bitter truth to swallow. I find beauty in the routine. What's funny is...I wasn't always that way. I used to be the first one to jump in the pool, the first one to try the new thing. I've just gotten into a routine of routine. 

So when my routine changes and my priorities shift, it feels....strange and uncomfortable. You know, it's like, when you've been sitting for too long and you stand up too fast and everything spins and is blurry for a bit, and there's this strange weight pushing you back down again? And the new normal feels like giving something up. I hate giving things up. 

In high school my routine was simple: homework, ballet, and baking. That was it. In college, homework, chapel, and trips to the dollar store or the waffle house or home to do laundry. Now, it's work, and being alone most of the time. I've grown accustomed to the time alone. I'm never lonely, as I have plenty of ideas and thoughts and projects to keep me busy. (But the not speaking until I get to work thing, now that's a strange one) Even on a more daily basis, some weeks I'm in a routine of an ice cream on the way home from work, or an iced coffee on the way to work. And these have all been good for a time. But would I want to go back to high school routine? Nah. Ice cream every single day? Nah.

My boss' boss said the other day to me (well, us, as a collective): Your time and energy demands are about to change. And that stuck with me the past few weeks. A new routine is coming my way. And there will be that strange chair-getting-up phenomenon. And I will still rebel against change (even good change) in my stubbornness, and will bemoan the loss of my current (super-totally-comfy/lazy) routine. 

But when whatever-this-change-is is established at the new routine...well, I think I'll be quite happy. Quite happy, indeed.

NEW Shop!

Grab your coffee and a cinnamon roll, because I have a brand-new exciting feature for my blog: Pink Sophie, or PS, my new online thrift boutique. It's a well-edited collection of my favorite finds for YOU! It is just in the first stage of design, so this is my 'soft-launch', but I wanted to share with you first!

Click HERE to shop now! The shop is live and working :-)

Have a lovely day, lovelies! I'm happy and I haven't even had my tea/coffee yet!

Monday Mid Day

Monday Mid-Day Pick-Me-Ups Comin' Right Up!!

Music:
Listen to Beirut's new album streaming FREE on NPR! Click here. I've had it on repeat all morning.

Quick Lunch:

Eggs with local cheddar, tomatoes from the garden, and gluten-free French bread. Yum!

Where I'd Rather Be This Monday:

found here

And another beautiful image: 

Cecil Beaton and Dorian Leigh in Vogue, June 1948, found here and here

Music?

So my super super sweet boyfriend gave me an iTunes gift card so I can pick out some new music!! WOO-HOO! I'm excited!

Considering Audrey Assad's album, which has been speaking to my heart lately, but I am totally open to suggestions. Gosh, those songs are just too beautiful. I listen to them on repeat, over and over at night, as I think over the big things in life. 

What should I get with this lovely gift?

Pretty Things

 {I love the '70s, goddess elements of this dress!}

(Newspaper Nails = my new favoritist trick EVER. plus, the texture/color totally coordinates with the shoes)

{these really aren't this small for my feet...for some reason my feet are scootched forward}

Pretty things because I wore this lovely green vintage dress for a wonderful evening with my boyfriend to celebrate an anniversary. He pampered me royally. Hence the "pretty little things" title. Lots of pretty little things! He's the best, I tell ya :-D

In fact, here---have a glass of champagne and lemonade...we are celebrating, after all, and we can't finish it on our own.

Style Secrets

Earrings: F21

Sunnies: ?

Dress: Vintage

Belt: Thrifted

Shoes: Thrifted

Monday Mid Day

Happy Monday Mid-Day! Ready for a pick-me-up? Here we go:


Drinking: Twinings Cold-Brewed Ice Tea

I love Twinings Lady Grey cold-brew iced tea. It is so yummy and you brew it directly in cold water! I often make a glass or two in the afternoon. Well--today, it's barely after noon and I'm on my third cup! I'd love to try the other flavors. Have you tried any?

Snacking on: Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

These are so yummy! They were perfect picnic fare yesterday, with cheese, grapes, champagne, lemonade, and chocolate. Mmmmm!!!

Listening to: LeCrae, "Background":

I've been digging this song on my walks lately! It's both upbeat and heartfelt, and good God lyrics, too! Love it! It's so catchy, yesterday I had it blasting on repeat for at least three plays~  (Shout out--Yo, his rhymes remind me of  D-Stehl, my good friend, who writes awesome God raps and rhymes!)

Have a great one, loves!