Not So Far Away

June 18th

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (Brooklyn), there was a picnic. Since then I've been doing exactly what I said I would. I've been getting out and away from my computer whenever I can, taking in this summer for whatever it needs to be, restoring old friendships, and securing new ones. 

It's strange looking through these pictures and suddenly realizing how much has happened since they were taken. The summer was practically just getting started. I was beginning to like my city again, which meant spending a lot of time exploring and ending up at places I hadn't been before. Which of course led to meeting new people and plenty of new experiences.

Before the summer started I made a point to try and get myself all sorts of put together, in a cute little package with a big ribbon on top. Over the last couple of months it would seem that I've lost interest in that. I've been acting in the moment so often that it became easy to stop worrying about the future. I wanted to be more hands on and in control of my life. I now find myself doing almost the exact opposite of that.

In the past few months I had some unforgettable first time New York City moments. I got swept up and did things I never thought I would do. I don't regret any of it, I can't. I was there and I made those decisions too, and for a lot of reasons I'm glad things happened the way they did. I'm learning from them. One choice, one moment, can't possibly define everything about me. I happen to be a nice little collection of things. 

 

It's interesting to realize how different I thought of things just a few months ago. I certainly never would have predicted or planned everything thats happened. Being able to accept things as they are is clearly something I have to learn to be better at.

Selima Optique Sunglasses, Tank from H&M, Shorts from Madewell, Dolce Vita Sandals from Piperlime

Wooden Bangles & Necklace borrowed from Melissa, Taurus Pendant Necklace from Julie Nolan Jewelry

For now I'm content with living in these moments, however right or wrong they end up being. It's easy, it's dramatic, and you learn quickly. Summer doesn't really lend itself to deep, life shattering thinking anyway. That's what the fall is for.

Photos by Veronika

By the way, I love Veronika's camera, or lens, or whatever it is that's doing amazing things here. Many thanks to Veronika for snapping a few for me after the blogger picnic. Oh, and HELLO AGAIN. 

At Home

Vacation was great. Its been more than a week since I've been back. It seems like it was so long ago now. If you've been hanging out here for a while, it's fairly obvious I tend to over think, over analyze, and obsess about certain things in my life. Being away for those two weeks gave me a great opportunity to slow my mind down.

Before I went, I thought that while I was out there I was going to sit down and try to figure out a lot about my life. What ended up happening was much different than that. I almost entirely shut off. I coasted. Everything was alright, and each day just floated by. Wake up, make breakfast, relax outside with the pup, walks and naps at the beach, afternoon drives, easy dinners, and winding down at home. With the exception of the weekends when friends came to visit, that's pretty much how my entire time away went.

Apparently that was what I needed more than anything else. When I'm in the city I can feel my mind racing. What's next, what am I doing, why am I doing this, and on and on. But going away gave me the opportunity to be my best self. To go back to being the girl I truly enjoy being. Taking things as they come, not over thinking, being happy where I am, and enjoying my life in the small moments. 

Hat from JCrew, Selima Optique Sunglasses, Madewell Dress
Victoria's Secret Bikini, Wooden Bangle borrowed

I felt relaxed, at ease, and like there was nowhere else I possibly wanted to be. I grew up with lazy summer days spent at the beach. It's such a huge part of who I am, and has remained a way to remind myself of the girl I always want to be. If you put me at the beach I'll feel more at home than anywhere else and you'll get to see the most genuine me that I've experienced yet. No makeup, no outfits, no fuss, a lot of smiles, time spent with people I care about, and easy living. I absolutely love being there.

Photos by Melissa

Thanks for being so understanding of my more laid back summer schedule. I contributed a Guest Post for the lovely Jessie of The Concrete Catwalk last week while she was away enjoying her own beach vacation. I hope you all are making the most of your summer. It's going far too fast for me!

A Breather

These pictures are from Memorial Day Weekend. It goes without saying that I am more than a little behind on posting. For the past couple of weeks I've been a one-post-a-week kind of girl. I was a little caught up living my tangible life. That's the one where I get together with friends for mid-week laughs, take myself on romantic dates, and go for long afternoon runs with Lua. And I got to do all that without pressuring myself to rush back to my apartment to get a post or two done before my eyes would start to close for the night. It ended up that I took an unintentional breather from blogging. 

I've written about similar issues with finding a balance between blogging and real life before. I bounced back from those breaks with a fresh take on how to approach this whole blogging business. Maybe this is just the breather I needed to kick myself into gear again. Blogging has become so important this past year and has opened up endless opportunities for me. In some ways, I feel like I'm being unfair to my blogging persona by taking such a step back. It's amazing to be even a small part of this vast community. I absolutely love the people I have met, and am so grateful that I've been able to use this space as a way to make some incredible new friends. I almost feel I'm being selfish in my relationship with this blog. It seems that I want to reap all the benefits, without putting in all the hard work. 

I honestly don't know how some of you do it. Full time jobs, full time blogs, some full time parents, all while balancing a seemingly active social schedule that keeps you healthy and happy. I was putting a lot of work into my blog, until I realized that I was putting more work into my blog then into some of my face-to-face relationships. And with the addition of gorgeous weather I really began to feel the itch to be outside my apartment after work, instead of cooped up, spending even more time sitting by a computer screen. 

I have a few options. I can continue to blog in a less than predictable way, constantly feeling guilty than I'm not providing enough inspiring, new, or thought provoking content. I can go back to the days where I came home from work to immediately sit down at the computer and work on the blog way past my bedtime. Or I can dive head first into this blogging world, start accepting sponsors, offering giveaway upon giveaway, spend all my time outside of work shopping for new clothes, networking with companies, and scouting outfit photo locations. Now, that doesn't necessarily sound terrible at all, but it does seem like more occupied time I'd have to take away from the time that I like to leave unscheduled in my life. 

My problem with going down the road of sponsors, is that I think it would change my blog tremendously. Right now, it's all me. I get to post whenever I want, write about the topics I want to, and say pretty much anything, all this over sharing included. If I start having to be a voice that represents different companies, that will unavoidably change. Personally, I would feel a responsibility to keep a certain level of professionalism on the blog. I'm just not sure I'm ready to be held accountable to anyone besides myself for this space. I share a lot here (probably too much). I'm not sure a clothing, jewelry, vintage, handbag, etc. company cares that I share my deepest darkest feeling with their target audience. Yet, I'm still being contacted. What am I missing here. What should I be doing here? 

AG Top, Brandy & Melville Skirt, Espadrilles from DSW
Friendship Bracelets from Madewell, Coral Bracelet Gift, Pendant from Clyde's Rebirth

I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on all of this. I know it's hard for everyone to juggle all the things they have going on. I'm not giving myself an excuse, or saying that I'm more busy than anyone else, I'm just asking for advice. I know that most of the people who read my blog are also incredibly busy, want-to-do-everything-but-just-don't-have-the-time people too. Maybe you have some inside advice you wouldn't mind lending me. Or any advice on partnering with companies and how it's changed your blogging experience for the better or the worse. I'm all ears. 

Photos by Melissa

Thank you again for sticking around while the posting has been so spotty here. I'm going to try to do my best to get back up to speed and start sharing and interacting with you all more because that's what this is really supposed to be all about right? 

Two of Us

Hi! I'm guest posting for Emily over at The Daily Fashionista today. She asked us to write posts inspired by a favorite song, or our favorite music. Of course I chose a Beatles song as my inspiration and shared a little love for Lua. Thank you so much to Emily for being the sweet stylish lady that she is and for asking me to contribute today!

Sunglasses from Sucre, Hat borrowed from my Mom
Dress from Pavement, Dolce Vita Sandals

You can head over to Emily's blog to see the full post, some different photos, and read a bit about my buddy - buddy relationship with Lua.

Guest Post : Morgan and Lua

Photos by Melissa

The Beatles -  Two of Us

I figured it was only fair to share some Beatles love. After all, they did inspire the post. 

Belittle Me

Someone was rude to me this week. So rude that I couldn't sleep, that I obsessed over the why's and how come's for the entire day following it. It made me think of high school a bit. When it was the thing to do for your guy friends to lead into a conversation with a snide remark about how you looked or what you were wearing. Except this wasn't high school and this wasn't a teenager. It was an adult.

Being around people like that makes me act like someone I hate. It's not that I want to go through life wearing bubble wrap. I can take my fair share of abuse, insults, and hurtful comments. I'm usually able to come back with something to either let them know that I can handle it, or I walk away from the situation all together. 

  

I've talked about how I'm trying to be nicer and cut down on the sarcasm, especially when it comes to meeting new people, but that night I had to be someone that I didn't like at all. I had to be extremely rude and I hated it. I tried for a long time to keep the plastered smile on until I hit my breaking point. Even though I tried to remove myself from the situation several times by turning my back, walking away, and not directing any conversation towards this person, it didn't work. Trying to joke and smirk my way through it didn't work out in my favor either. They continued to find their way over to me for the single purpose of being cruel. At one point I was even shoved across the room. 

  

People say that living in a city gives you a certain edge that people who don't live here might not necessarily have. I think that just living around other people gives you an edge. Everyone comes at life with a different perspective, from a different angle, and with a different outlook. Not everyone is going to be nice, although it would be great if they all were I also realize this isn't a fantasy world. I certainly learned my lesson this week. 

Living in a bigger city you're exposed to more people, so it's more likely that you will bump into someone who isn't the most pleasant to be around. A part of me thinks that these particular type of people use being in the middle of a huge city as an excuse for their rudeness. It's not ok to be disrespectful to one person simply because there is a larger volume of people here. When I leave my apartment I never intend on being a stranger's target to dump their frustrations on.

Live and learn I guess. I should have removed myself from the situation far sooner than I did. And by that I mean, I should have left all together. This person didn't deserve to have control over my night, but I let him. Up until that point I was having fun, laughing, and enjoying a night out with friends. What I did realize is that there's a distinct difference between someone who is sarcastic with good intentions and a person who uses their voice to belittle others. 

Sunglasses from Sucre, Madewell Jeans, Jeffrey Campbell Sandals
Vintage Ring from my Grandma, Vintage Earrings from Spitalfields Market
Sheer Polka Dot Tunic Borrowed from Jupe Boutique

I am very aware that there are a large group of people will be always be crass, rude, ignorant, offensive, etc. I can't change that, but a big part of me does want to understand it. I realize that's almost asking for the impossible too. So the next logical answer is to accept it. Seems to be a common theme for me these days. See the problem, acknowledge it, accept it, move on. So, moving on...

On a completely different and much more positive note, last week Terra put up her Style My Closet feature! While I was in Pittsburgh we made plans to stop by Jupe Boutique so I could be Terra's style challenge for the month. She picked out this sheer polka dot top for us to style. Of course I went with a simple top and pants sort of look, while Terra put me back in my pink skirt for a ladylike vibe. You can check out more photos and read about Terra's take on the looks in her post, Jupe Boutique's Style My Closet. 

Sunglasses from Sucre, Skirt from Anthropologie, Ring from Anthropologie
Vintage Clutch from Tree & Kimball Market, Custom Harness from Clyde's Rebirth
Photos by Terra

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! I spent some quality time in the park relaxing with Lua yesterday. Tonight I'm looking forward to meeting up with the always lovely Sarah who's in town with her husband for the weekend. Have a good one and be nice to a stranger!