Monday, September 26, 2011

monday + taking a blog break this week.


my wonderful grandmother passed away early saturday morning, so i'm going to be taking the next several days off to prepare to head back up to my parents' house tomorrow and be with my family for the rest of the week. regular readers of my blog might recognize the picture above; it's from grandma's college yearbook and i love it more than almost anything (if you click to enlarge you may be able to read the text, which is fantastic). she was 95 years old -- she would have been 96 on nov. 1 -- and she had an amazing, full life, but i'm still going to miss her terribly and it's very hard to imagine her not being here.

talk to you all soon.

xoxo

Friday, September 23, 2011

what are you doing this weekend?



happy friday, friends! and happy first day of fall! (if you can't tell by number of times i've written "i'm excited for autumn" over the past couple of weeks, i'm thrilled that my favorite season is finally, officially here.)

what are your plans for this weekend? i'm actually heading north to give a certain someone a walking tour of my hometown tonight (complete with, i hope, ice cream) and then spending saturday locating the yum yum cupcake truck (and possibly seeing a movie and doing a little shopping) with my mom. it should be a good weekend, especially if i can get back to sarasota early enough on sunday to spend the day getting organized for next week.

so i'll see you back here on monday -- until then, tell me: what are your plans for the weekend?

this photo, by the snail and the cyclops, makes me feel something i can't quite explain. so lovely and moody, no?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

how i'd wear it: gray silk dress.





work outfit

when i first saw this gray dress on the j.crew factory site, i leaned back in my chair and thought, "well, that is a 'megan' dress if ever there was one." it basically incorporates all of my favorite things: the color gray, lovely material, pretty detailing and a flowy-but-still-somewhat-structured (thanks to the waistband) shape.and best of all? i could totally wear it to work. i've got awhile until it's boots-and-tights weather, but until then, i'd totally pair the dress with some nude loafer-heels and some delicate jewelry.

p.s. i can see the reason why putting together "imaginary outfits" (stephanie's are some of my favorite) is such a popular thing with bloggers -- this was so much fun, and i'm going to try to do a couple a month from now on.

Monday, September 19, 2011

the weekend + committing to...


it was one of those weekends that felt mercifully long, and one that was filled with time on the couch, time outside, time with people i care about, and a lot of time in my bed. there was pizza, root beer from a bottle(!), movies, snuggling, a walk, and some great thrift-store finds, including an in-perfect-condition classic trench coat, a great wrap sweater, a vintage coach satchel (also in perfect condition) and some seriously cute boots that are going to look perfect with a pair of skinny jeans tucked into them. i'm trying to evolve my look a bit this fall (a little more on this below; a lot more in upcoming posts) and i feel like i've taken a baby step in the right direction.

so with that being said, herewith the week's commitments (and be warned, they are heavy on the vanity):

+ let my hair down. literally. i am a lazy, lazy girl in the mornings, and all too often i resort to the "jump-out-of-the-shower-and-slick-back-my-wet-hair" look. it's not particularly attractive. so i'm learning to embrace my hair's natural wave, thanks to some help from paul mitchell's ginger-scented sea spray and am going to try to, you know, look more like a girl from now on.

+ wear colored lipstick or lipgloss or lipstain of some kind every day. i'm finding that a good lip can really work wonders in pulling together an outfit, so yes: i will be embracing that theory. (also: give myself a pedicure. i'm thinking essie's "lollipop" (a great red) will do the trick.)

+ work on the going-to-sleep-earlier/getting-up-earlier thing. this is a consistent problem for me, and i'm starting to think it's just lack of actual motivation on my part. here's to this being the week i change that. (p.s. this month's whole living has a great article on sleep if you have a chance to pick it up; it's actually what inspired this re-commitment.)

+ think about and write down my autumn goals (autumn commitments?!) for you all. they've been swirling in my head; it's time to put pen to paper (or, um, fingers to keyboard).

+ spend.time.outside. it's officially pretty evening weather again, and i think some salty gulf air after work will be delightful.

and you? what are your commitments for the next week?

photo by .natasha.

Friday, September 16, 2011

what are you doing this weekend?


happy friday, everyone!

i don't know if it's the transitioning of the season or the addition of work projects, but this week kind of flew by. not that i'm complaining; while i do feel like i could do another day's worth of work, i'm so looking forward to the weekend, which i'm hoping will include a sunset beach picnic, a trip to the ringling museum, a whole lot of sweet, sweet sleep and, at some point, some homemade pancakes.

and autumn is coming. i can feel it. it's coming slowly, but it's there. there's something different in the air this week; when i wake up in the mornings or go out at night, the temperature is cooler and summer's ever-present humidity wanes. fall -- especially those late-october and november mornings when i have to slip on a sweater and inhale the chilly air as i walk to my car -- never fails to make me feel alive, like i'm at my most fully developed as a person, and i can't wait to immerse myself in the season.

are you in full fall mode where you are? and what are your plans for the weekend? tell me, and i'll see you back here on monday!

photo by pink scarf

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

loving: whitney deal dresses.


the older i get (and i know that, at 28, that seems like a strange way to start a sentence), the less enamored i am with the elaborate, fancy weddings that captured my attention--and held it for hours--when i was younger. don't get me wrong: clicking through photo galleries of gorgeous weddings (or, hello, going to them) is one of my favorite things to do and probably always will be. but personally, i've gone from wanting a huge wedding and reception to wanting something more akin to a garden party in a beautiful, intimate location (savannah square, anyone?) with just my closest family and friends. 

that's why i am in love with everything about these wedding and bridesmaids' dresses by whitney deal, right down to the styling. they'd be a perfect fit for the type of wedding i just described -- pretty and white, but also simple and fun. in fact, i think if i were to describe my future wedding, that last sentence would be exactly how i'd do it.

photos by whitney deal

Monday, September 12, 2011

the weekend + committing to...



the weekend that was was pretty perfect: filled with a mix of reflection and, yes, tears watching 9/11 memorial services on sunday morning, but also with friends and laughter. i spent saturday afternoon swimming, shopping (hello, 80 percent off sale), spending time with friends, cleaning and baking. and then sunday -- post-watching the news -- there was jimmy john's, almost famous (one of my top five favorite movies ever), drinks by the bay and a sunset walk in beautiful, almost fall-like weather (see photo above). september in sarasota: i think i like you.

as far as the week goes, well, i'm exhausted today, but i've already had a great phone conversation about a potential new work project, i've got a couple of fun upcoming events on my schedule, and i'm feeling great about life in general right now.

so, with that being said, in the spirit of perpetuating the feel-good, here are five commitments for the upcoming week:

+ embrace the laughter (not that this is an issue for me; i laugh a lot.) but this weekend i was reminded of how good it makes me feel.
+ finish my book.
+ hit the gym at least three times, one of them for spin.
+ eat clean. (i ate an inordinate amount of french fries last week for a work project -- seriously -- so this is important. also helpful is the fact that i have no desire to ever have a fry again.)
+ catch a sunset either at the beach or atop the bridge, now that the weather in the evenings is finally getting nice.

and you? what are your goals for the week? tell me, and i'll see you back here tomorrow!

p.s. just because:



 

photo by me

Sunday, September 11, 2011

ownership.

i've been thinking a lot about the concept of ownership lately. but not in the material sense.

the ownership i'm thinking about is made up of the things that we give and take from others without even knowing it. the way we pass on significant moments and feelings to someone else in the hopes that the other person will respond with one of those fundamental "i'm human" emotions: empathy.

there's sharing, yes -- the thing that we do when we're sitting with our friends at a coffee shop and firing off the details of our days. but then there's yearning for someone else to be vested in what you're going through, to have them be an active part of it.

and it seems like it always stems from a place of wanting to be less alone. i want to give you my anger, my sadness, my frustration because i want you to feel it -- own it -- too.

i think we've all done this, haven't we? i know i have, often, and at times very purposefully.

but i'm also the kind of person who wants to be able to feel what others are going through. i always have been.

the loss of lee roy selmon brought this into focus the other day. i'm not a football fan, not really, but i've been to lee roy's restaurants -- there are two locally -- for media events numerous times, and met the man himself on multiple occasions. and if you've been reading the news stories about him lately, you'll see not one nasty word has been written about him. not one. the man was a legend as much for his prowess on the field as for his kindness to others. to me personally, he came across very much as a father figure. and because he was so warm and giving, i wanted him to be part of my life -- something of mine. so i made him that, even though i was basically a stranger to him. and when he died, the sadness i felt, and feel -- along with millions of other people -- was real thanks to that sense of ownership i'd created.

and then there's the anniversary of september 11. today.

i've been debating whether i wanted to write anything about it, because what do i have to say that others haven't already, and much more eloquently than i? but there's that sense of ownership again -- that wanting to be a part of it, horrific and shocking as it was. i work with someone who was with president bush -- in sarasota -- when the president found out that the towers had been hit, and i've been quizzing my coworker about it for the past week under the guise of journalism, but really because i wanted an excuse to feel more closely connected to what others are going through.

what does that say about my personality? i'm not really sure i want to know. but again, it goes back to that need to own a piece of a significant experience so we can feel like we're not alone. and on days like today, in situations like this -- when there's a strange quiet in the air, when such abundant sunshine feels a little mean, when we're remembering how much we lost, collectively and individually -- i have to say, i'm ok with that.

Friday, September 9, 2011

what are you doing this weekend?


i have a feeling this weekend is going to be an emotional one for a lot of people. there's a lot of remembering going on right now, a lot of reopening of old wounds, a lot of reflection. the majority of it is 9/11-related, of course, but i know that, for a lot of people, other things are swirling, too.

as for me, i'm planning on a quiet weekend: a haircut today (my once-angled bob is now just uneven, and needs to be fixed) followed by a night at home; some cleaning and exercise tomorrow; and quality time with people i care about mixed in throughout the entire few days.  that's what i keep coming back to this week: people i care about. i don't know about you, but i'm going to be hugging them extra-tight this weekend.

i'll see you back here on monday -- until then, tell me: what are your plans for the weekend?

photo by cordellia, via jane's impeccable eye

Thursday, September 8, 2011

pretty words.


"even now, all possible feelings do not yet exist. there are still those that lie beyond our capacity and imagination. from time to time, when a piece of music no one has ever written, or a painting no one has ever painted, or something else impossible to predict, fathom, or yet describe takes place, a new feeling enters the world. and then, for the millionth time in the history of feeling, the heart surges, and absorbs the impact." --nicole krauss, the history of love 

photo by chase

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

bike chic.


i love this photograph -- the black and white, the bicycle, the model (her shoes!). but i love even more that it was taken by longtime friend of my family and super-talented photographer damian sandone. see more of his work here.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

falling.





fall uniform

i've said before -- ad nauseum -- that we floridians don't begin feeling relief from summer-warm temperatures until at least the end of october (but really november, if i'm being honest). (it's also not uncommon for us to have an 80-degree christmas.) that said, i can't stop daydreaming about fall clothes, and this outfit is one that i would wear in a heartbeat. i've got plenty of striped shirts and dark-denim jeans, but i have, for some reason, fallen head over heels for those wedges, in both the pictured animal print and this "whisky" color. i also own exactly zero blazers (i know), so i'm adding one of them to my fall shopping list, as well, and i wouldn't turn up my nose at the bag and the belt i've included here, either.

you hurry up and get here, fall.

p.s. i hope you all had excellent labor day weekends.

Friday, September 2, 2011

what are you doing this weekend?



happy friday, friends! i don't know about you, but i am so glad it's a three-day weekend (well, for those of us in the states, at least). the past week has been really good, but sometimes there comes a point when you just need a little extra time off to relax, take some deep breaths and slow down. my job is so driven by instantaneous, moment-to-moment events that i'm always grateful for the excuse to pause. (and in going through my google reader, i noticed that jane also touched on this today.) 

so this weekend i'll reread a favorite book, sleep and -- best of all -- spend time with friends. time in the sun, by the pool, is on the agenda, as is a fun dinner out and possibly a trip to see my parents (although i'm still debating staying here and soaking up all the sarasota-ness i can). whatever happens, though, i know it will be fun.

how about you? what are your plans? tell me, and i'll see you back here on monday tuesday.

photo by beth retro. gosh, i love yellow.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

happy september.


even though we're still a month away from the first day of autumn and it's a balmy (read: hot) 88 degrees outside, i feel like this day -- and labor day weekend in general -- always signal the beginning of a new season, one that makes me think of sweaters and bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils.*

i have a lot i want to talk about -- thoughts about fall, goals for autumn, life in general -- but until i can get all my thoughts out, i'll leave you with this beautiful photo. (that light...)

*thoughts of autumn always make me want to watch you've got mail, and that line is one of my favorites in the movie.

image by chase