On Purpose

No doubt you've seen and heard about the Spade brands' new endeavour On Purpose around blogs lately. BUT if you haven't, here's a little background.

Kate Spade, Jack Spade and Kate Spade SATURDAY are all partnering with artisans in Rwanda for limited edition collections for each brand. The end goal of the collaboration is for these artisans to have the skills and knowledge to become a supplier in the global industry. The companies will then find new artisans and repeat the training.

As someone who works for a company that employs artisans, this is really interesting to me. I've talked a lot with my boss about the artisans in India who handcraft our products, what production is like, what their lives are like, how they got started and basically everything under the sun related to our artisans. It's fascinating to me how much industry is concentrated in one tiny area. We think of our first world countries being so essential to the global economy, and we're definitely important, but I think that artisans and the people who are doing the small, tedious, under-glorified jobs are the people who are really essential. For example, for the earrings my company produces and wholesales, there's someone whose specific job is to attach ear wires to the earrings. I've had to reattach ear wires a few times and let me tell you, it's hard and not wholly enjoyable. Imagine doing that day in and day out, every single day. I personally could not do it and I commend them. I also am grateful for the engravers who hand-engrave our products, without any sort of guide or template.

I think that helping these people gain the knowledge, skills and empowerment to work on a global scale is really exciting. And, going back to the Kate Spade brands, it doesn't hurt that the products are so cute either. Typically, socially-conscious products are rather hippie and "earthy" for my taste...these products are definitely part of the Kate Spade aesthetic.

Take a look...

Jack Spade "Shark Advisory" Tote

Jack Spade Sailor Knot Bracelet

Kate Spade "On Purpose" Friendship Bracelet (other adorable colors/patterns available!)

SATURDAY Fabric Bangle

SATURDAY Fabric Necklace

Kate Spade Bow Tote Bag

So totally cute and not at all cheesy. I'm kinda in love...and can't wait for more!

At Peace

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I realized the other day that I'm so very at peace with my life right now. Compared to the stress and anxiety of the past 6+ months, this is such a completely different, amazing feeling. I'm so thankful for all I have going on...

-I love my new job. While it's not what I want to do forever, it's perfect right now. I'm learning a ton about the wholesale side of the fashion/apparel/accessory industry and getting to experience some pretty cool things (apparel mart this past weekend, the possibility of traveling for work in the future). I'm settling in well and taking on responsibility and impressing my boss with how well I manage tasks, time, and learning new processes. It feels really good to not have to stress out about making a mistake and to leave work at work when I go home for the day.

-I don't really discuss relationships in this space, mostly because of my lack of them, but I've been seeing a great guy for a month-ish now. He's not perfect, which is totally okay because I'm not either, but he is patient and deals with my sometimes-craziness and takes it all in stride. He's so laid-back and easygoing that it's caused me to learn to let up a little bit on my planning and let things happen. I can text him a million different pictures of similar couches and he'll give me an opinion about each, even though he has more important things going on. Most importantly, he loves Oscar. He's escorting me to an event later in the month and possibly a wedding in April so I'll try to get some snaps of us :)

-Oscarcat is still the light of my life. He drives me crazy sometimes, but other times he looks at me with pure love in his eyes and my heart kind of bursts. #cheesybuttrue I've gotten used to him meowing at me to wake up, to his constant interest in what I'm doing, to him snuggling up with me when he's sleepy and ready for bed. I can't even imagine life without this little guy!

-I'm slowly making friends here in Atlanta. I'm also so thankful for my friends I've met through blogging, especially Kelsey because she'll be moving here to Atlanta in a few months and we can be real-life friends too! Wahoo!

-My family has been SO supportive and loving during all of this craziness and I literally could not have gotten through everything without them.

I'm so happy with everything right now, I almost feel guilty. But then I remember that it's wayyyy better to feel happy and at peace than the opposite. I've been living with so much anxiety and stress for so long that it's almost like I've forgotten how to be happy and normal...but I'm getting there.

xo

Hiatus

You may have noticed that things have been very, very quiet over here. There's a few reasons, but the main one is that I'd been growing steadily more disenchanted with the blog world and just needed to take a break.

I feel like the blog world in general has gotten out of control. Everyone is a "fashion blogger" now, everyone is finding that perfect bar cart to put in their living room, every post is sponsored by a different brand...it's just become too much.

I feel like I don't fit into any of the "traditional" blog categories. I don't post a million pictures of myself wearing the latest trends or my daily outfits. I don't post amazing, mouthwatering recipes on a daily basis. I don't post endless sentences about my fairly boring weekends. I don't post stunningly well-lit pictures of my perfectly decorated apartment. I post about each of these things a teeny bit, but in general my posts are about...whatever. Except I promise to never be one of those people who writes in excruciating detail about their very ordinary weekends and then follows it up with a million bad pictures...because I promise you, my weekends of work, Netflix and cat snuggles are already documented enough on Instagram.

I love having that freedom, and it's what I wanted when I originally started my blog, but for a while I just felt very directionless and blah. It's hard to write happy-sounding things here when I'm not particularly happy with my life outside the blog. I don't like reading those blogs where everything seems sparkly-perfect all the time and no sort of realism is touched on, but on the other hand, blogs where people address every single part of their life annoy me too. I didn't want to become either of those people...so I just stopped.

However, I feel like lately other bloggers have been feeling the same sorts of things I was and have started a mini-movement to make things more realistic...which I'm feeling better about. I've missed my little blog and connecting with people, but I also want to maintain a good blog-life-work balance too. I think I'm going to scale back posts to every few days or every other day. Quality over quantity, you know?

I don't even know if this whole post makes a lot of sense, I just have a lot of thoughts that are floating around in my head...thanks for reading if you've stuck with it this far :)

xo

Beach, Please.

I am drained. I've been on a year-plus-long "real" job search that's been totally disheartening and discouraging, I work 7 days a week at two different jobs, I haven't had a vacation in over a year...I am totally depleted of all sorts of things: enthusiasm, inspiration, happiness, motivation.

The only thing I have on my Christmas list (other than these boots, of course) is a 3 week beach trip with no phones or internet, no schedule, no work, nothing other than relaxing, soaking up sunshine and recharging. Doing things because I want to, not because I have to. Eating a normal dinner at a normal time, instead of cereal at 11:15 because I got home too late from work and put other things (like feeding the cat and washing clothes) ahead of eating. I'm tired of working on things until 2 am when I realize that I should probably get a few hours of sleep before I have to be up for another day of stuff...I want to be able to go to sleep at a decent time and not feel guilty.

Basically I want to spend 3 weeks at the beach living life like Oscar does.

all photos from this Pinterest board

Thanksgiving

dreamy Thanksgiving tablescape

apple-brined turkey...uh, yum!

Happy Thanksgiving, chickies! Today I'm thankful for having the day off to rest and relax, sleeping in late, my sweet little Oscar, the sweetest man-friend in the history of ever, my very loving and supportive family, and all of YOU!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Oscar jumped on my keyboard and kept his paw on the x button...obviously he sends y'all LOTS of kisses :) )

Have a happy day full of family, friends and lots of food! And if you celebrate Hanukkah, Happy Hanukkah as well!

Happy Weekend!

I was chatting with a friend the other day about work, and he pointed out something that's never occurred to me: I work 7 days a week, literally. If I'm not working retail, I'm at my internship and many days I do both. While I love what I do at both jobs, it can be very tiring to constantly be in "go go go" mode.

Which is why I'm so happy I have two glorious days totally free this week. I wasn't scheduled for work today or tomorrow and my internship boss is out of town for a wedding, so I have two days to pack full of fun. It was so nice to be able to sleep in this morning and enjoy my sleepy morning snuggle time with little Oscar.

A few exciting things I have planned for the next few days: popping into the Annie Griffin Warehouse Sale later this afternoon, dinner and lunch with my friend Caryl while she's in town (and getting a few bloggie surprises done too!), playing in the park with a friend and his dog on Sunday and of course, lots of sleep.

Today feels like the start of the weekend for me, and it kinda is, so have a great end of the week/weekend peeps!

So.

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I've been really hesitant to post about this, but seeing how I've chronicled basically every up and down of the past almost-year of my life, this is just another part of the story.

Remember that awesome job I moved across the country for and was super stoked about? Well, after 3 weeks of work at the company, they fired me. Flat out fired. No two weeks notice, no warnings or constructive criticism chats pre-firing. One of the owners called me into his office around 10 last Friday morning and by 11 I was home.

Chaos = The New Normal

 so serene

Y'all. My life has been completely chaotic since I've been in Atlanta. At this point, I'm so beyond ready to be settled into a normal routine, I can't even express how exciting that sounds. A boring daily routine sounds perfect.

A quick recap of what feels like a month but has really only been about a week...

Last Wednesday, my mom and I left for Atlanta. We ended up driving to Montgomery that day, crashed for the night, and drove the last few hours to Atlanta on Thursday. Once there, we toured a billion apartments (some horrifyingly bad, some overwhelmingly awesome and expensive, and one that was just perfect). The perfect apartment was available right that second, and while I deliberated, someone else snapped it up. So we spent Friday touring more apartments and ended up going back to the perfect complex and seeing what else they had available ASAP. Long story short: I got an apartment there that I'm SO excited to move into and decorate and share!

I started work on Monday and it's been totally chaotic over there as well. The company I'm working for is currently based in Athens, Georgia but they're in the process of relocating to Atlanta while also opening a second branch of the store in Atlanta as well as keeping the Athens store/company open (it's hard to explain). The ATL office/store aren't quite done yet, and the storefront won't be done for quite a while, so a pop-up location is currently being worked on. We've been working out of Starbucks and/or the Athens office for the past few days and communicating with everyone in the different locations by gChat and email. I'm still figuring out my role, they're still figuring out my role, everyone is all over the place...basically it's insanity.

However, as chaotic as all of that sounds (and is), I'm really loving this new chapter. I'm excited to finally move into my apartment and start finding furniture so I don't have to sleep on an air mattress for forever, I'm excited to nail down my responsibilities and get comfortable and situated at work. I'm definitely learning how to be flexible and open to change, since that's not one of my strong suits at all.

What have y'all been up to???

Next Stop: Atlanta!

Hello hello! As you're reading this, my sister and I are in the car, heading from Houston to Atlanta, with an overnight stop in Montgomery.

I'm so very excited to be starting this new chapter in my life, and even more excited that my sissy and I will be having some good bonding time, as well as a girls trip to Hotlanta with our mama. I'm so blessed to have this amazing opportunity, family members who love me enough to take the time to help me apartment-hunt and move in, and all of you for being so supportive and excited for me.

I can't wait to share all the new details about my life in Atlanta, but in the meantime you can see little snippets of our road trip and apartment-search adventures on Instagram!

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Monday Inspiration

"Overwhelmed" is definitely an understatement about how I feel right now. I have a wedding on Saturday, work two days this week, and somewhere in there, I have to go through all of my things and figure out what I can't possibly live without so I can pack it up in preparation for my move next week. So. Much. To. Do. And that's not even the end...

The quote above was something I pinned a while back and it really hit home for me yesterday. All of this stress and uncertainty and busyness is because of something really, really great: I'm starting a job I love and am really excited for.

I'm also taking this little quote to heart right now. Once I get through two days of work, I can concentrate on packing. Once I attend the wedding, I can focus more on enjoying my last few days with family. Once I finally get to Atlanta, I can focus on finding somewhere to live. Once I have somewhere to live, I can start looking for furniture. Baby steps.

And of course, this whole thing is a huge, scary, exciting adventure that's going to be totally worth it in the end. What adventures are you starting?

Keeping It Real

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I know the whole blog world has a rep for only showing the picture-perfect parts of day-to-day life, which is fine, but I prefer to be more realistic. My life is not all sunshine and macarons, I don't wake up with fabulous hair or dress in designer clothing every day, I rarely Instagram my meals (unless it's a dessert)...I'm a normal person who has problems, bad hair days, lazy outfit days, everything that you have. I don't want to focus on the "bad things" in life, but sometimes it's good to get a reality check from a blogger and remind yourself that they're just like you.

How I'm keeping it real:
-I sunburned my legs last weekend (or a few weeks ago, I really don't know), and now not only are they extremely dry but they're also peeling. So sexy.
-I ate graham crackers for lunch yesterday. Just graham crackers.
-I've been letting my hair air dry for a few months now, but I blow dried and straightened it the other day and I barely recognized myself. Add in the makeup I was wearing and it's like I was looking at a whole new face. Such a strange feeling.
-I stayed up until 4 am the other night watching this BBC miniseries called North & South because I couldn't go to sleep until I knew how it ended.
-I still cannot figure out how to do a sock bun. I've watched so many tutorials and looked at so many pictures and I just can't understand.

How are you keeping it real?

Life...

So. I had a whole post written, scheduled and ready to go for today because I had planned on leaving for Auburn/Charleston this morning...until I got in a car accident last night on my way home from work. I'm fine, but my car isn't, so I've canceled my trip which meant scrapping the cute little road trip post I had all done.

Lately things have been all over the place and insane. Short summary: planned this apartment-hunting trip to Charleston last weekend, had three interviews last week, ended up getting one part-time job last week and started today, got in the accident, canceled my trip, and am still waiting to hear back about the results of the other two interviews I had.

So that's what's going on with me! Lots of possibilities, nothing totally definite and concrete. I'm getting to the point where I'm just tired of waiting around for things to happen and I might just need to be totally bold and take huge risks to get where I want to be...which is so scary for a planner/calculater/not-risk-taker like me!

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Average?

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I've been reading a lot of advice about how to get ahead in your career or how to be a better blogger or how to be more more, and it's made me really stop and think about life.

I think that we're so focused on always becoming better (being the best in our industry, becoming a famous blogger, being that girl who does it all) that we're actually all forgetting to live in the now. I know I'm totally guilty of doing this, and I know I'm not the only one.

I think we need to learn to accept and love ourselves as we are.You may not be the top seller in your department, but maybe you have a side hobby/business that's doing really well or you're in a really great relationship. Or maybe you're really really happy having a good work/life balance. All of those things are great.

For myself, I would love this blog to become hugely successful, but if it doesn't ever expand beyond my core 15 or so readers, that's totally fine. I would much rather have a super-engaged, small, strong blog readership than a lot of readers who aren't engaged or communicative. I want to have a successful career (or a career in general right now...), but if I'm not ever the CEO of a company, it's totally fine too.

I have dreams, goals, ambitions, ideas of where I'd like to be in 5 years, but I'm also starting to realize that not being "the most ______" is okay. Being average is okay. Self-improvement is good, but being happy with myself as I am, flaws and all, is okay too.

What are your thoughts?

Poll: Fashion Inspiration

I've already talked a little bit about my own style here, but I was thinking about personal style today and I got to wondering: does everyone have a fashion inspiration when they get dressed in the morning?*

I don't, not really. I don't attempt to recreate outfits I saw on Pinterest or other bloggers**. I only do that if I have an out-of-the-ordinary item like printed pants and I need a little help coming up with ways to wear them. When I get dressed for an event, I go on instinct: what looks right, what looks wrong, what looks right but feels weird, etc. On a lesser scale, I do this on a daily basis as well. I have some "tried and true" outfits that I can pull out if I'm short on ideas, but I don't really have a difficult time putting outfits together.

Does this mean I have innate style? Maybe, but I think it's more just the fact that I really have multifunctional pieces in my closet or pieces that can easily work in different settings. I don't ever want to look "styled" or overdone as so many "fashion bloggers" do, at least in my opinion.

What about you? Do you borrow liberally from bloggers and Pinterest for outfits or do you go on your own instinct? Or are you somewhere in the middle? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer, I'm just really interested!

*That sounds so Carrie Bradshaw...now I can't not hear SJP's voice reading that question.
**This made me actually go back and look at my style Pinterest board...I don't buy specific items thinking "oh, now I can recreate that outfit I saw in X pin or on Y blogger!", I buy items because I like them and my board is an extension of that--it's outfits and things I like but don't necessarily wear.

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The Holy City

I've been fascinated with the city of Charleston, South Carolina for a looooong time. I dated a guy who's from Isle of Palms (up there on that handy-dandy little map) and hearing him talk about his hometown made me fall a little bit more in love with the city itself. It's so quintessentially Southern--genteel and cultured but also a little bit rough around the edges. There's so much history, culture and iconic food there.

I had an internship opportunity in Charleston offered to me back in January (see this post), and while I didn't take it, I haven't been able to get Charleston off my mind. Since my job search is not going well at all, and the internship opportunity is still available, I've pretty much made up my mind that I'll be heading down to the Holy City in the very, very near future to apartment-hunt and look around.

So. I need some help from y'all. What should I see while there? Where should I live? What's a must-do, must-see, must-eat? I have a few friends in the city I'm planning on meeting up with, and I'll be there an undetermined length of time. I'm excited! If everything pans out, this will be a totally new adventure but one that feels so right.

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all images from my friend Emily's amazing Charleston Pinterest board...definitely one of the things making me fall in love with the city!

The Last Roll

Tomorrow marks the end of an era at Auburn. It will be the last time ever that our beloved Toomer's oaks at Toomer's Corner will be rolled in celebration of an Auburn win.

I am so sad that I won't be there to join in celebrating and remembering with my fellow Tigers. I'm sad that this tradition is coming to an end, not by choice but by necessity.

In a way though, I'm also intrigued by what will come in the future. Obviously Auburn fans will always find a way to celebrate a win. We're not letting this stop us. I'm interested to see what new traditions we come up with as a family and how those traditions will evolve as the university evolves.

War Eagle.

If you're not an Auburn fan and you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this.

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Darling Magazine

 Have you heard about Darling Magazine? The above photo is their mission statement and I think it's absolutely perfect. I clicked around their website and I'm pretty sure that this magazine is exactly what I've been looking for. It's intelligent and well-written, deals with "fluffier" things like home and fashion but also tackles more intellectual topics as well. I'm interested in picking up a real, paper copy of the magazine and seeing what it's like in print vs online.

 Visually, it's exactly what I look for in design: a bit vintage, clean and not cluttered but still has personality. I'm totally smitten with the pictures alone!

Interested and want to know more? Read what makes Darling different here...I think you'll like it.

all images via Darling Magazine

Real Talk: Organ Donation

I know, not the most glamorous subject for a post, but very important. I read this post on Sheridan French's blog while just bouncing around the Internet, and while I'm uncomfortable thinking about my death, I have now signed up for organ donation. It's something that's been on my 'to-do list' for a while, and this was the post that made me just do it.

I'll admit, I am super uncomfortable thinking about organ donation, but I think the benefits for far outweigh my temporary mental discomfort with the idea right now. Through the Texas registration, you can specify which organs you want to donate and if you want them donated to research or not, if they're not able to make a living match. I assume that other states are the same way.

I know a lot of you readers are Canadian, and I don't know anything about Canada's healthcare system, but I'm sure there's a way to register for organ donation in Canada. If you're American, you can go here and read about how to register. I suggest reading all the FAQs here before registering.

(If the thought of saving a life isn't enough of a reason to sign up for donation, is a $50 Sheridan French gift card enough? Check out Sheridan's blog post for more details!)

Total transparency: I totally keep forgetting that organ donation is after death...and that's where I'm leaving that. My organs will not matter to me after I'm dead and if they can help someone in need, that's much more important.

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My Style: Defined

 I've been scrolling through Pinterest for the past week, culling images, ideas and inspiration for my upcoming blog redesign, and it's gotten me thinking about my style and how to easily define it.

I don't think my personal style can be summed up in a single word like "preppy", because sometimes I hate things that are traditionally "preppy" and love things that aren't preppy in the least, but I have a closet full of some traditional prep staples.

Words that I think describe my style include uncomplicated, streamlined, casual, refined, classic, colorful, relaxed, crisp. While I appreciate and like things that aren't necessarily all of these qualities, I find that I keep coming back to them.

I may do an all-sequinned dress, but it's probably an uncomplicated, unfussy shape and a solid color. I love bright colors but prefer to do a single color paired with neutrals rather than other brights. I love the idea of bright, bold, busy patterns but end up purchasing solids or smaller-scale patterns. I feel most comfortable and myself in jeans, a t-shirt or buttonup and sneakers. Clutter on every surface makes me anxious, I prefer limited decorations and breathing room. I love saturated wall colors but want to keep everything else neutral.

I wish there was a way to sum all of that up into a single, easily-said word or phrase, but I'm glad there isn't. My style is me, pure and simple.

What's your style? Is it easily definable or more abstract like mine? Or is yours more random and multifaceted?  

Ps: how great is Pinterest? I love that I can scroll through my own boards and pick out common threads between pins and identify recurring themes...Pinterest is a post in itself!

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"Take My Picture"

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FYI: This is a little longer than a typical post...

Have you seen this video from Garage magazine about street style and fashion bloggers? Molly brought up the topic the other day on her Toast Talk, and the whole issue has been in the back of my mind.

I think that a lot of people forget fashion is a business. Yes, a lot of what you see on the runway doesn't actually make it into mass production. But the whole point of a runway show is to show buyers what X designer is presenting for the coming season so they can make buying decisions, for magazine editors to be able to suss out what's trending next season so they can write about it, for stylists to be able to select pieces for their celebrity clientele.

I think that the hysteria surrounding street style stars can take away a lot of attention from the designers themselves. There's a ton of work and heart that goes into a collection and for a designer, a show is their shining moment to show off their creations. Of course there are a million photographers at the show itself, but having a "show" outside the tent is detracting a bit from the real show.

I do understand that bloggers have a lot of mass appeal. I get that if Leandra Medine, of Man Repeller fame for example, is wearing an article of clothing the item will most likely become a sell-out item. From a marketing standpoint, there's a ton of potential sales in the readership of a popular blog. It makes sense that brands collaborate and sponsor popular bloggers.

But is their presence really necessary at a fashion show? I don't know. I think that if all a blogger is doing at Fashion Week is going to shows in order to be photographed for a street style blog and then posts blurry runway pictures and not much commentary or criticism, then maybe their presence isn't so necessary. If they make their presence more unassuming and less about themselves, and are going to post thoughtful criticism or commentary, then maybe it makes a bit more sense. I don't really know and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer.

Obviously, I've written about fashion shows from NYFW. I wasn't there in person, and I'm sure my commentary on the clothing isn't nearly as thoughtful or meaningful as it could be, but I was posting about them because it's something that I'm interested in. If I was to attend a NYFW show, it would be in more of a work/fashion industry capacity than a blog capacity.

I do think that street fashion photography has become kind of insane and a lot of it has evolved from photographs of very well-put-together people into photographs of people in layers upon layers of designer pieces that are just outlandish.

I have a lot of thoughts about this topic, and a lot of conflicting thoughts, so I really want to hear thoughts from y'all. If you need more info, check out this, this, this and this.