music

Moving in Slow Motion

The last two days have made me feel like I was moving in slow motion in the best way. Classes were cancelled today and yesterday thanks to Hurricane Sandy, which meant 10+ hours of sleep per night, catching up on work and enjoying the Hurricane-induced confinement. It’s so rare for my roommates and I to all sit under the same roof together for extended periods of time, what with our various internships, organizations and commitments during the week. Yesterday we baked, indulged in bad TV, watched the crazy wind and rain whip around from our balcony and had some nice, slow moments of simply enjoying each other’s company. This morning post-Sandy was cold, grey and drizzly — perfect weather for a walk to a favorite local restaurant for burgers and hot cocoa from Starbucks. The unforeseen craziness of the past few days have thrown me off a bit — I am looking forward to sinking back into my routine with school and SLB, feeling much more well-rested and on top of my life than before. For those in the mood to make the most of this lazy day, here’s my advice: turn off your electronics for an hour, light a candle that smells like the holidays, put on a pair of warm wooly socks, and listen to this playlist. There’s nothing quite like a staycation to bring you back to balance.

To everyone who was in places hit much harder by the hurricane, my heart and thoughts go out to you. I feel lucky to have been somewhere that experienced minimal damage, but I know other areas weren’t as well off. Stay strong and stay warm.

Songs to Pass the Time

More details from this weekend coming at you guys tomorrow in my Weekend Recap. For tonight, I want to share a little love in the form of some musical tunes I enjoyed today. My roommate Kelsey and I sat on the couch pinning and alternating picking songs from our iTunes libraries — the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. They’re pretty well known, but have remained two consistent favorites. Enjoy!

Come On, Get Happy

I knew today was going to be a challenge. The feeling crept up on me some time around 1 AM, as I worked to finish a design project, zapped of all energy and inspiration. I woke up this morning and not much had changed — I was run down and because of this, everything felt slightly off center. I am usually pretty good at remaining positive; on the day-to-day I like to think that I know how to keep myself happy and forward thinking. Days like this are challenging because they require a bit of extra effort. You are faced with a choice: you can surrender to your shitty day and crawl back under the covers or you can make the definitive decision to snap out of the blue, look up at the sun and remember that it’s a great day to be alive. I chose the latter (because let’s be honest, life’s too damn short) and here are the things I did today to get happy:

Baked a large plate of chocolate chip cookies for my internship potluck:

Listened to these songs on repeat:

Searched Pinterest for words of motivation and inspiration:

Source: flickr.com via samantha on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Went for a run:

And finally, wrote about everything on this here blog. It’s amazing how taking an hour a day to just sit and share my ideas has truly helped my frame of mind over the past couple of months. I can easily say this has been my toughest semester, both academically and otherwise, and I don’t think I’d be so grounded if I didn’t have this daily outlet to look forward to. I am really lucky and grateful for all of the support I have received from my friends, family and the readers I have yet to meet. My journey with SLB thus far has been so insightful and I can’t wait to keep growing with it.

In the spirit of throwback Thursday, I want to end this post with a few old photos that never fail to make me smile.

More lessons to learn, more adventures to come, more beautiful things to see and do along the way.