The last few days have been restorative. Plenty of sleep, delicious meals, time spent playing with the cutest children and making memories with family, and precious moments giving thanks for the beautiful gifts this life has given me.
Yesterday I got to take a few hours to breathe in the mountain air, enjoy the gorgeous scenery and embrace life in the here and now. I spent five important summers in Colorado at Sanborn Western Camps (from age 10 to 16) and now whenever I come back for a visit, I feel right at home. I love the District for its constant movement and energy, but there is something so perfect about being able to take a walk in the woods and only hear the sound of your own footsteps.
More photos from our thanksgiving feast to come, for now a few fitting quotes and songs that have marked my trip:
As I contemplated what to write about for tonight’s post over the course of today, I kept coming back to the same thought.
For students, this is the most wonderful hectic time of the year. Don’t get me wrong, Thanksgiving is really nice and the build up to the holiday season is great — however, with finals looming and x, y and z application deadlines due, all of the hype and magic of the season starts to get pushed to the back burner.
Reaching the head of this crazy time brings me to something that’s been on my mind for a while now. A few weeks back, my roommate and dearest friend Kelsey gave a speech in our Public Speaking class about how we (as millennials, as college students, as go-getters and as DC urbanites) need to stop glorifying the idea of busy. So what exactly does this mean? See example:
Friend: Hi, how are you? I feel like I never see you anymore!
Us: Ah, yes I’ve been SO busy! Stayed up all night cramming for a test, and then I’ve got my internship and this meeting and this project and this other meeting and then a different test that I have to study for! I’ve gotta run, but it was really nice seeing you!
I am the first to admit that these types of exchanges are all too familiar in my day-to-day, especially around this time of year. I find all too often I am only half listening to a conversation, with another part of my brain distracted by the constant running to do list I have going in my head. The busy carries over onto SLB when I start off a post with an excuse about how crazy things have been. Today I even mentioned in a conversation with my mom that Thanksgiving Break feels like a bit of an inconvenience because it falls on this time of the school year.
After getting off the phone, perspective hit me like an anvil falling from a cartoon sky — WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING? Thanksgiving is an inconvenience?? When is it ever an inconvenience to be with people that love you, eat delicious home cooked meals and catch up on sleep for a few days? I realized that my mind had started to shift into busy overdrive — clouded by a packed schedule, the next deadline was all I could think about. And when that happens, you stop really seeing the good things, the little things, the things that make you smile. So to end this post, I want to share some of the little things I captured over the last few weeks that may have gotten lost amidst all my busy — serving as a reminder to myself of how important it is to find simple beauty even during the most stressful of times.
My first ever Friendsgiving party, filled with delicious food, laughter and discussion about what we’re thankful for — the best way to spend a weekend evening.
A cat shirt that continues to add a bit of personality to every outfit I pair it with.
The Pumpkin Spice cupcakes I made for my internship’s Thanksgiving potluck today — you can find the recipe here, the cinnamon cream cheese frosting was perfection!
My final book jacket for Cupcakes and Cashmere — I couldn’t be happier with the end result!
Wednesday morning I leave for Denver at the crack of dawn to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents, brother and extended family that lives there. I could not be more excited for the trip, not only because I will be spending time with the people I love most, but also because Colorado is simply one of my favorite states in the U.S. There are few other places with better air, views and natural beauty, and I am looking forward to the escape for a few days. More adventures to come and hopefully much less talk of all the busy.
I would say on the whole, I mostly have good days. Days that start and end with a smile, filled with many moments of little triumphs or tiny fits of joy and few disappointments. I am lucky, because these days far outweigh the ones where I can’t pull out myself out of a seemingly perpetual funk.
And then there are those rare, wonderful days that surpass all of your expectations — days that are not simply “good” but rather “supremely excellent”. Today was one of those days, and this movie scene kept coming to mind as the most accurate way to describe it:
To start off, last night I went to meet one of my idols, Emily Schuman from the blog Cupcakes and Cashmere. I have been following Cupcakes for about 2 and 1/2 years now and Emily has been a consistent inspiration and role model in my life. She recently came out with a book of the same name, and last night she had a signing at the South Moon Under store opening at the brand new Mosaic District. But first, let’s rewind to an epic style challenge I faced before the event: what on earth do you wear to meet your personal version of a rock star? Here’s what I came up with:
I picked this dress up at the Buffalo Exchange in Las Vegas for a cool $4.00. After about 30 minutes of trying on outfits that varied from buttoned up and sophisticated to chic and edgy, I gave up and grabbed a favorite that could best be described as me. This dress feels almost like an extension of my personality — a little goofy, bright, colorful and just the right amount of girly. If you’ve got the opportunity to meet someone you’ve always looked up to, I suggest dressing in something that makes you feel the most like yourself — there is no better way to make an immediate impression in what will most likely be a fleeting encounter.
I went to the book signing with my dear friend Cristina. She deserves a serious thank you — not too many people would willingly stand for 40 minutes outside of a store in the freezing cold with me just so I could have some company before meeting my idol. If you’re reading this Cristina, you are the greatest!
Meeting Emily was like a surreal dream. In my Intermediate Typography class I have been working on a book jacket inspired by her book, and I had the chance to give her the first draft of the project (an explanation for the photos I posted the other day). It all went by so quickly, but I am so glad I had the opportunity! After the signing, Cristina and I walked the store (which is amazing!) and naturally did a bit of shopping…
As if things could get any better, today I got the best surprise! During the event I entered a contest to receive a brand new Michael Kors watch and I won! Looking forward to sharing some photos with you guys when it arrives in the mail.
Tonight my heart is light. The nice thing about the “supremely excellent” days is that they don’t come too often, which makes them so special and memorable. I know I will look back on this day for months to come and just smile. And thanks to SLB, I will have pictures and text to accompany the memories, like a digital time capsule. To end this post, I want to thank the people who have stuck by me through all of my days, when I am at both my highest highs and lowest lows — to my roommates who keep me laughing and will eat pudding with me on our kitchen floor, to Cristina for being my person and my sanity, to my Phi Sig sisters for giving me the greatest support system, to Frager and Caroline for being consistent lights in my life, to my mom for knowing how to care for me from 1,000+ miles away, to my dad for helping make my dreams a reality, to my brother for his honesty and guidance, and to my readers for giving SLB meaning and purpose.
More adventures to come, for now I will relish this sweet some kind of wonderful.
