Celebrating Life

1. A new blog design in the works! Expect to see it SOON!

2. Finding a fun dress in the back of the closet that I had forgotten about.

3. The response to our blog meet up was so overwhelming that we had to cap it and waitlist people. We are SO excited to start to build community locally!

4. The first blogger I met in real life is celebrating her birthday day over here! I'll get to see her again in three weeks and couldn't be happier about it.

{gorgeous on the inside and out}

5. Doing what I love, and loving what I do! I found some super cute cards this week to pop into the mail for my friends!

What I Wore:Feeling Blue

I've been feeling off. It crept up on me slowly and has lingered long that I expected.

Maybe its the bad news of death of people I knew.

Perhaps its the thunder storm that lasted all of Saturday causing me to sit inside and become restless.

Or the fact that I haven't built enough margins into my life. That I haven't learned that sometimes its okay to say no because saying no to a few things will free me up to say yes to better things later.

Maybe its the tiredness that has taken over my body full-force. The travel I did in Feburary and March was exhausting and I still find myself cat-napping from time to time to catch up on all the sleep my body lost.

It could even be the lack of free time I give myself. It seems like I'm always on the go with little time for physical or mental downtime.

Maybe its the mysterious pain in my stomach that has lingered on since the start of the year.

Perhaps its the start of butterflies over the next conference around the corner.

But rather than feel sorry for myself, I'm going to choose joy.

I'll celebrate the trips I got to take, and the friendship I make along the way.

I'll remind myself that rest is just as important as work hard.

That sometimes we all need a break.

That life is short, really short. I'll give as many hugs as I can get, say I love you and mean it, and celebrate every moment that is given to me!

xoxo,

Hello Monday

Today I'm celebrating; celebrating life.

[via}

Hello to basking in the glory that its a new week, a fresh start, a chance to keep on chasing dreams.

Hello bright little bows on my feet. A happy and bright way to start my day.

Hello to a chance to build community where I am.

Hello endless rain; you won't keep my spirits down!

Hello adorable product photoshoot; oh how my photographers always capture what I'm looking for.

Hello summer weather, which means ice cream treats.

Hello encouraging inspiration

Hello new week!

xoxo,

A Heart of Gratitude

If you asked me what has changed my life the most in the past few years, I'd probably tell you a gratitude journal. I've been journaling in different notebooks for the past few years, making a note of 3-5 things that blessed me throughout the day. Not only do I go to bed with a full heart, but I tend to wake up the next morning overwhelmed with blessings. Here are my 5 things to be happy about this week!

1. Amazingly sweet cards in the mail!

2. A milkshake break: I love spring; its really no secret. The second the weather warmed up, I was the first in line for a treat or two.

3. Enjoying 80+ degree weather and working outside: I tend to have a restless spirit, so spring helps me come alive and channel my energy.

4. Celebrating new life: my best friend is having a baby next month!

5. On the chance to connect locally! Kate and I met a few months prior to attending Blissdom, but really got the chance to connect there. Now we meet every few weeks to swap blog/business ideas and encourage one another with our goals. Last week we swapped cards {plus she gave me a gift!}, and boy did it make my heart happy! And did you see: we partnered up with her little sister, Lauren, and are hosting a blog meet up next month. We've already gotten a great response, so if you're in the area we'd love to have you!

Local Blog Meet Up

Do you like coffee?

Do you blog?

Do you live in or near Raleigh?

Come out for a night of coffee and chatting about all things blog related!

Location, TDB (probably a Starbucks or something)

e-mail us at lattesandblogging@gmail.com by April 6th if you are interested!

Include a link to your blog in your e-mail!

Hosted by Kate, Lauren, and Me!

What I Wore on Martha + Being Brave

Two weeks ago, I packed up bags up again, and ended off to the Big Apple. I got invited to attend a conference hosted by Martha Stewart Living, which was definitely a once a lifetime experience. As I started to pack my bag, I asked my friends if I should go with less pink and more black. Most of them assured me that there would be plenty of color in the city.

 Lets just say there wasn't much color anywhere to be found. I showed up in very "Carrie fashion" rocking flowers, pink, and polkas dots and got a whole lot of stares on the subway ride into the city.

Dress, sweater, coat: mini boden

bow: caroline g.

Our first day we got to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart show, which was such a neat experience. I had always been curious what it would look like on the inside and how all of would it run. We sat in a waiting room for the first hour where they had us fill out paperwork including questions we'd like to ask Martha + her guest based on a predetermined topic. My friend Brandi and I laughed a little as we scribbled down random questions not putting a whole lot of thought into it. After we submitted our questions, a producer approached me and asked if I'd be interested in asking one of my questions. Remember when I said I was going to be fearless this year? Well, I decided this was a time to live that word out. While, I'm not shy in the least, public speaking is fear of mine. The idea of standing up in front of people with all their eyes on me scares me to no end. I wanted to say no thank you so badly, and pass on it. But this is the year of fearlessness, so I said yes.

Turns out things always change in TV land, so the producer switched up my question in the last minute, and I do mean the last minute, like as in right before another producer said we are back on the air. I'm fairly positive my heart dropped down of my body and my nerves kicked into overdrive. But I survived it none the less.

I wish I could tell you the answer, but I literally do not remember a word of it.

Sweater and belt: Target

Dress: j.crew

Bow: Caroline G.

Necklace: Amy Cornwell

Introducing the iCozy!

The one thing I love about blogging is all the friends I've made along the way. It's been so neat to follow along with my friends' dreams and watch them grow them into realities. Alissa was one of the first bloggers to reach out to me with a kind email, and our friendship has grown from there. Last year, I attended Blog Sugar and Alissa graciously opened her home up to me for four days. Talk about a good friend, right? Right! This girl is the real deal, a total sweetheart, and I'm so thankful that the blogging world brought us together. Alissa has been working on a new line that I'm going to let her introduce herself!

HI!!!!!!

I'm Alissa and I blog over at Rags to Stitches.

I also have a handmade shop and I'm so excited to share with you the launch of my brand new iCozy!!

As you can imagine I've been so excited about today for the last couple of months.

Designed with your lifestyle in mind...

The iCozy has a fun and vintage feel.

Girly from top to bottom, the iCozy is newly adorned with vintage lace is still lined with multi-functional minky fabric.
4 brand new colors, each with 3 vintage lace color options.

No more digging through your purse to find all your iPad Accessories, now you can carry them all in your new iCozy.

The new design features a pocket along the back, allowing you to take your iPad charger and earbuds with you wherever you go.

Each iCozy comes padded and lined with a multipurpose minky fabric.

Need to clean your glasses? The front of your iPad has finger prints?

Clean it away with out worry of scratches with the versatile, minky lining.

Whether you're going to coffee with a friend or carpooling your kids to soccer practice, your iPad will travel in style.

Are you as in love as I am?

I really, really hope so!

This design is near and dear to my heart.

So head on over to the shop and snag your iCozy as quantities in each color are limited.

All photos taken by the lovely Katie of Katherine Elizabeth Photography

On Finding Bliss

If we sat down for a coffee date, I'd tell you this week I've been processing and processing and processing. I got back from a wonderful blogging conference, blissdom, this past Sunday. I'd share with you that even though I went into the conference with little expectations, I was blown away by the experience.

I reminded that you that flying is simply not my thing. I have unexplained fears about being 1000s of miles up in the sky. But I'd be sure to share how thankful I was that 6 of us attending the conference flew together so we all sat in two rows and laughed, giggled, and talked about blogs the whole trip. My sweet friend Kate and my sorority sister BA sat in my room and did an amazing job to keep me super distracted and entertained the whole trip.

I'd even confess to you all the silly things I worried about before I left for blissdom. It went something like this:

What if no one likes me?
What if I don't fit in?
What if I don't make the connections I hope to make?
What if everyone seems to be more important than me?
What if what I'm doing doesn't matter?

But you know what, blissdom surprised me. I felt like from the moment I walked into the door, I was overwhelmed with love. The Bliss Chicks had created a conference that was lavished in love. My mind was put at ease right away, and my heart was overcome with the out pour of love. I got to hug so many online friends in real life and make a lot of new connections. Did I mention, there was a lot of love.

I could go on for hours about what I learned in the sessions and how it gave me insight and changed my my heart about things. In fact, I'm still processing a lot of it! But first, I'd probably tell you my favorite parts of it. I was so encouraged by my three roomies: Hayley, Katy, and Kate. We had late night chats and giggles, and they offered up a lot of inspiration and love. I couldn't of asked for a better set of girls to room with! There were so many moments where I found myself sharing my hopes and dreams, and was overwhelmed with the encouragement I received back. There was a safe place for me to be 100% myself, and boy was I....pink cowgirl boots and all!

 

  

 

When I left Blissdom, I felt beyond inspired. There have been dreams that have been sitting in my heart for years now. Things I have wanted to do so badly, but I kept putting off, and off, and off. Blissdom gave me this hope, faith, and inspiration that anything is possible. I heard stories of people overcoming the odds, people switching jobs, and people chasing their dreams with all their heart. It reignited a flame in me, and made me come back and want to chase hard after my dreams. It gave me a community that has supported me to no end, and it gave me the courage and bravery to step out in faith.



xoxo,