looking forward to

• watching love actually (finally)
• rereading letters
• cleaning house...organization=clear mind
• a rest day 
• breakfast out
• lighting candles
• listening to new music
• making mix cds

thursday quote

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.”

—	Audrey Hepburn

tunesday: vinyl

so santa brought me an awesome record player for christmas.  i've been playing some of my parent's old vinyl goodness like fleetwood mac and earth wind and fire.  i think a copy of the black keys "el camino" album would be rather lovely as well as florence + the machine "ceremonials".  i love the warm sound and the soothing spinning of the needle.

i'm off to my first pilates class...happy tuesday!

monday quote

“It’s much easier to not know things sometimes. Things change and friends leave and life doesn’t stop for anybody. I wanted to laugh. Or maybe get mad. Or maybe shrug at how strange everybody was, especially me. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things. I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to be who I really am. And I’m going to figure out what that is. And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn’t do or what they didn’t know. I don’t know. I guess there could always be someone to blame. It’s just different. Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Because it’s okay to feel things. I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite. I feel infinite.”

—	Stephen Chbosky

merry christmas

wishing you a very merry little christmas.



confession no.1

i like writing quotes and segments from classic novels into my journals just so i can experience what it is like to write seamless thoughts of exceptional prose.

12.23.11

the days have been filled with wrapping gifts and listening to christmas music.  i spent a few hours in a coffee shop last night catching up with a friend.  it's funny how our lives have changed since high school and how things have come together really nicely for once.  it seems as though all those awkward years of growing up were worth it because now all the things that we found important then, that were once make shift senses of self, are fully pieced together.

it's funny how no matter how much time and effort you put into someone or spend with them, they will not change on your doing.  people only change on their own terms.  fact of life.  you will never be able to change people out of their old ways.  they seek comfort in the familiar and the safe...you have to expect that otherwise you're filled with a blinding sense of false hope.  the only person you can change without fail is yourself.  you choose the bounds with which to push yourself and assemble the finish line ahead...and once you cross that line, you make another one even further down the road.  you're the only person that can see it and achieve it.  the line you set for other people leaves them wandering aimlessly.  not really sure where i'm going with this.  mindless mind dumping is all i suppose.

happy friday and warm wishes...two days til christmas!

thursday quote

"When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story’s voice makes everything its own.”

—	John Berger

tis the season

...to move on from the past and love once again.
...to give fully and truly.
...for warm cups of coffee and hot cocoa.
...for handmade letters and piles of snail mail.
...to sing with abandon to the songs that were engrained in our heads as children.
...for wrapping paper, bow and string.
...to spend the day in pjs.
...for home cooked meals and nights by the fire.

GPOYW

new thermal tees from free people :) thanks mom
chopping my hair off on friday.
loving the free people store displays.  you should join in this month to the 2012 store displays.  write a love letter and mail it in...more info here.  i have some thoughts mulling around of all the things i love.  happy wednesday!

tunesday: pile of new cds

• ceremonials- florence + the machine
• a balloon called moaning- the joy formidable
• fever to tell- yeah yeah yeahs
• actor- st vincent
• mylo xyloto- coldplay
• show your bones- yeah yeah yeahs
• little miss sunshine soundtrack
• lisbon- the walkmen
• baby darling doll face honey- band of skulls
• rebel sweetheart- the wallflowers
• love songs- otis redding
• good news for the people who love bad news- modest mouse

monday quote

“There comes a time in your life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good. After all life is too short to be anything but happy.”

—

Karl Marx

christmas break list

• read sylvia plath
• stock up the etsy shop
• workout tons
• eat healthy
• drink lots of water
• clean out the old
• make mix cds
• write letters
• sit in coffee shops

i love my team.

Side note

I find in the times I need to study the most my mind is consumed by the deepest and most thought provoking questions and realizations. Thus a new list on my phone: things to mind dump about later. Also, guiltily listening to Jbiebs holiday pandora, but shhhhhh don't tell anyone. One more final to go. LET'S DO THIS THANG.

thursday quote

“The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

—

Van Gogh

tunesday

go do yourself a favor and listen to the indie holiday station on pandora.
bright eyes, the killers, aztec camera, she & him, coldplay and EVEN jimmy fallon,

tis the season.  happy tuesday my lovely readers :)

monday quote

“And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

—	Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

in my head

cars zoom by and i stand there unsure and afraid.  will you be happy or will you be angry, upset and hurt to see me? will your eyes fill with tears and will you sweep me up in a warm embrace or will you turn away coldly and look straight through me?  you turn around the street corner and the unfamiliar sights and sounds fade into an extremely loud silence as i become innately aware of the thousands of thoughts physically flowing through my mind.  memories rush back and we lock eyes.

"and in that moment, i swear we were infinite" if only for a second.

yes this happened at my school last night

so proud to be a hoosier.

no. 7 take a spinning class

check.

i took a few of my team mates to a small spinning studio in town on friday night...it was called happy hour spinning and boy was it one of the best sweat sessions i've ever had!
not only was it challenging, but it was also extremely relaxing like a cleanse, just sweating out all of the negativity and stress from the week.  at one point our instructor had all the lights off with a soothing, repetitive song on and she told us to close our eyes and picture our favorite scenery in our minds.  a view of driving along the west coast on the 101 popped in my mind almost immediately and with no hesitation.  the burning sensation washed out of my legs and i focused on each and every single breath in and out of my lungs.  the slight wind from the fans turned into warm, california air surrounding me with an ocean breeze and for a short time my mind was completely solaced.

crossing off the list.

warming up the house

• crepe paper streamers
• strands of giant colored bulbs
• santa hats
• wrapped presents beneath the charlie brown christmas tree
• classic christmas pandora
• candy canes and hersheys kisses
• gingerbread houses

thursday quote

“We are dying from over thinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It’s a death trap.”

—	Anthony Hopkins

dear craft store

dear big box craft store to remain unnamed,

thank you for luring me in with an amazing sale price on such a pretty plate to put our christmas cookies on for the team christmas party, but failing to state on the sign "for decorative use only."  so i guess, in actuality, thank you for putting the small disclaimer on the bottom of the plate which i noticed upon washing the dish of the remaining cookie crumbs and smears of vanilla icing...POST consumption.

with love,
semi-concerned cookie consumer and provider

tunesday: young the giant

another swoon worthy indie band
noteworthy tracks: 

• my body
• cough syrup
• apartment
• your side

have a listen.

monday quote

"quiet people have the loudest minds."

-stephen hawking

saturday night

• glitter, glue and pine cones
• corn chowder soup
• gingerbread trailers (collapsed roofs killed the whole house aspect)
• classic christmas music
• good company
• baked christmas cookies
• frosting and candy induced tummy aches
• early to bed
• glow of candle lights
• dollar store adventures

currently

listening to: florence + the machine pandora (switched to indie holiday pandora: steps towards christmas spirit)
sipping:  a bottomless cup of coffee
wearing:  my big comfy free people sweater and feather earrings
thankful for:  my study buddy/team mate/friend and my whim of productivity
doing:  my final english paper
wanting:  christmas spirit
thinking about:  making soup for dinner
missing:  my parents
wishing:  for the right words of advice to give

 happy saturday!

dear december

dear december,
i would like to start off by noting your quick return...in a good way.  it seems as though the rush of summer and fall has reached a climax and is falling into a sense of acceptance.  the story lines have played out and the wonder is lost.  some stories have come to a close and others have reopened and are only beginning.  some stories faded into the background and the once minor characters have become more prominent.  those are the characters you want to keep around...even when they are paid little attention they stick around cause the best is yet to come and the journey is all the fun.

thank you for holiday cups at starbucks and cozy scarves and sweaters.  thank you for christmas music and a season that makes people spend time with the people they love.  thank you for twinkling lights and togetherness.  thank you for reflection of the year that has passed and anticipation for the next.

classes are winding down with finals and an end is in sight.  your month seems to slow time...seeking long hours in the comfort of coffee shops and cuddled up on couches with friends and family...a fire and a warm drink.

thank you for this beautiful time of year.

with love,
sentimental college student seeking bits and pieces of the simple things before growing up became reality (that sounds so emo, but i really need to be myself)

p.s. let's show more love in this month and let the people i care about the most know that i truly do

“Human life is but a series of footnotes to a vast obscure unfinished masterpiece”

—	Vladimir Nabokov