Something to remember today. Embrace it, live it, love it.

Two other little items to update you on. Today I’m over at Karlita’s blog The Purple Bow, sharing the things that most inspire me in life. Check it out. Knowing you guys, we’ll have a lot in common. Secondly, today marks my first column on the blog Young Sophisticates! Each month, I’ll be featuring a fabulous editorial or street style photo, then show you how to get the look with both splurges and budget pieces. I’d love for you to stop by and let me know what you think of the column.

Hope you’re having a lovely Tuesday!

{Image Credits: Note to Self (where else?)}

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
– Ira Glass

{Credits: Paintbrushes; Quote found via wit+delight, originally Mint}

[Also: Psst! Be sure to stop by Things That Sparkle today! I'm very excited to be guest posting for Alex and sharing my favorite items in my home...]

{Image Credits: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7}

I’ve had this pretty graphic pinned for a while and there’s just something about it I love. It’s so simple, but an amazing reminder to take things in stride.

And it’s especially appropriate since I had a pretty frenetic and at times stressful weekend, helping out with a couple work related events. I’m a bit run down as we start of this week (and admittedly, did not have much time over the weekend to put together a post for today), but when I revisited Pinterest for some inspiration, I knew the mantra of ‘flow’ was a perfect way to start my Monday. Whether you feel good, you feel tired; you feel happy, you feel sad; inspired, uninspired, it’s all good. Just go with it. Flow.

{Image Credit: Victoire de Samothrace}

Happy Monday! I had a fantastic weekend in LA, and can’t wait to share some of the things and places I discovered. But to start the week off, I wanted to share a couple passages from a book I came across while in a little shop in Venice (that I of course immediately downloaded to learn more!).

The name of the book is CLEAN: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body’s Natural Ability to Heal Itself, and lest you think I’ve gone totally hippie, hear me out for a second. The book is mainly about common ailments that we all experience and how particular foods, toxins, or habits can contribute to them. It then provides a 1 to 3 week long plan for a detox diet that is one of the more sensible ones I’ve seen (no meals of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper in sight). Anyway, there was also a short section on meditation which contained an idea that I thought was pretty powerful. On sitting down to meditate, it said:

“You may notice that the moment you sit down, you start remembering things and feel the urge to act on them. This is part of the process. When those thoughts come and try to steal your attention away from your body, simply say silently to yourself, ‘Thank you for sharing’ and direct your attention back to your body.”

Interesting. Shortly after this passage, there was another that touched on “The Art of Self-Mastery,” which was really just a fancy way to say “Stop complaining!” The author talks about meeting with a man named Hugo Cory, who “describes his work as developing integrity and character through the learning and practicing of Self-Mastery.”

“[In Self Mastery,] the simplest advice, which sounds almost superficial during casual conversation is a powerful tool for transformation. “Stop complaining,” he says, and then remains silent looking right into your eyes. As if downloading a program over a high-speed Internet connection, I saw with a jolt how any complaint is really the expression of a negative emotion or state. It gives the complainer a sense of immediate relief, even pleasure. This is perhaps the reason why it is such a common practice worldwide.”

Of course it’s difficult to not to ever be bothered by something. But what if every time your mind kept wandering to a negative place, where you’re down on yourself or your life or whatever situation you’re in at that exact moment, you simply combined these two ideas and said to your complaint, “Thank you for sharing,” then immediately moved that energy and focus somewhere else? I tried this yesterday after a somewhat stressful plane ride home, and oddly enough, found it really helped calm me down.

I hope this isn’t too new age-y for you all, but I thought this message was such a positive way to start the week!

{Image Credit 1 2 3 4}

How was your weekend?

I love this little quote. It was true for Julia Child. It can be true for anyone!

{Quote via {this is glamorous} }

So to keep things simple on this lovely mid-week evening, I thought I’d share a number of quotes I’ve been saving up from some very wise old artists. I love collecting things like this, because every now and again, when you need it most, re-visiting these ideas can be truly inspirational!

Bon soir!

Some of you might recognize the Van Gogh quote from when I posted it back in November. Since then, I’ve discovered the artist who created this print — did you know the type is made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny stars? More on that tomorrow!

{Image Credits: click through for sources}

I saw this quote a few weeks back on Pinterest and it completely resonated with me. Doesn’t it sometimes feel like we hold ourselves back — from anything and everything? I was thinking about how when I was much younger, the world seemed chock full of endless possibilities. For some reason, as we get older, I think we set boundaries for ourselves…but where’s the fun in that? Today, remind yourself that the sky is not always the limit, that anything is possible, and that you never know what’s just around the corner.

{Image Credit: In Style; Quote Credit: Pretty Stuff}

It’s true: I just quoted Bruno Mars in the post header.

And also: How is it Monday again already?

What did you all do the last two days? This weekend, I finally bought my first Christmas gift (yay!), cleaned the whole entire flat top to bottom (including a closet that previously held only junk — I was able to reclaim it as a second closet for myself. Double yay!), and even finished sending out holiday cards (triple yay! Those things had been sitting on my desk, taunting me, for weeks).

Really, I’m not too upset that Monday’s back again. This week will be filled with plenty of holiday parties, potlucks, and gift exchanges. We’re inching closer and closer to The Big Day and I, for one, am getting excited.

You know, this time of year can be filled with so much pressure, and it’s good to remind yourself of the above. And I mean both parts: that 1) you should be kind to yourself, and 2) you’re amazing. I’m the first to step up and admit that I can be extremely hard on myself (especially during the holidays, when I tend to focus so much on all the little details). But this year, I’m trying to let go a little and just relax. Strangely enough, it really helps you enjoy the season. I know. Who da thunk?

{Image Credit: Pinterest}

Source: Abundance

Happy Friday everyone! It’s the first weekend of December — I hope you spend it enjoying the fun and magic of the season. I’ll be braving the cold (and potential rain) to hit up the Alameda Antiques Faire on Sunday, and can’t wait to see what kind of vintage holiday decor I might discover. Anyone have any big plans this weekend?

Love this quote. Love the type. Love the calligraphy.

In other news, I know I promised ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers, but the week got a little crazy and then I looked up from my errands and my work and some sushi and it was Friday. So leftover ideas will be comin atcha Monday early next week (note to self: don’t make promises you can’t keep). There are some good ones.

Are you guys stoked for the weekend or WHAT?

– Joseph Addison

Hi Friends! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Mine was filled to the brim with birthday parties, errand running, laundry, and (drumroll please) working on the fluffy snowball lantern project! I’m about half way done (it took me a little over 2 hours yesterday to make 5 snowballs), but they’re looking awesome. I can’t wait to share that little DIY project with you later this week.

I’m also stoked that we’re about a week and a half away from Thanksgiving! Tomorrow, look for some holiday wine recommendations, and Thursday, lots of good ideas for what to do with the dreaded Thanksgiving leftovers. I’m running these posts this week in the hope that it’ll help you all plan ahead a bit.

Here’s to the beginning of the holiday season. It’s a great time of year, no?

That’s my mantra this week at least, as I try to balance work, my visiting family and everything else that happens during the usual work week! It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you just put your mind to it though. Why, just this morning, I’ve cleaned the house (mopped floors included!), am headed to the grocery store to gather the ingredients to make those fabulous braised short ribs for dinner, then the fam is coming over for a big breakfast (I’m baking up a frittata). After that we’re off to the Academy of Sciences and the deYoung Museum.

I’m taking the day off from work, in case you were wondering.

I’m probably not going to have much more time today to post anything, but I’ll be back at it tomorrow. À bientôt!

PS – Love this little poster? You can buy it from The Love Shop on Etsy. Check out all her stuff — she has some fantastic, fun prints!

A few things to leave you with this weekend:

+ Shop the J.Crew Factory Online store, every weekend, from Friday 12am through Sunday 12am. All the deals, no driving to the boonies.

+ Check out Swirl, Daily Candy’s new private sample sale service.

+ Treasure your two days off.

{Image Credit: Image, Oh Fashion Model; graphic by me}

“The cure for anything is saltwater–

sweat, tears, or the sea.”

–Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen

{Image Credit: cowparsley and Patterson Maker}