Showing posts with label season favorites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label season favorites. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2024

a wish for summer






hello, blog. I haven't written to you in quite some time. days have been moving by so swiftly this year. like God placed his thumb on the pages of my book and flipped through enough to stir a breeze. I think this is a good thing, though. I don't want to miss out on days of my life, but I remember feeling like I was living life in fast-motion as a child. and I was happy as a child. so that must mean something good. 

summer is here. it is here and it is warm, and bright, and it has brought wild summer rains. yesterday there was a booming thunderstorm that caused the power at my love's house to go out for a moment. we were watching a movie, and had candles lit all throughout his house. perhaps it's strange but I love it when the power goes out. in a moment, there is stillness, and dim, and it feels as if I have permission to just be. it came back on fairly quickly and I popped a bag of pop corn before we got back to our film. but I enjoyed it.

I am on summer break from college. and I am so absolutely glad I did take a break. stress weighs on me heavily. I try to manage it, with baths, and books, and God. but it remains one of my greatest foes. so, I am enjoying my free time and my peace of mind in these days. I know the fall semester will come sooner than I think. but my wish for summer is that I will be rejuvenated by these wild days, and will step into autumn stronger, and bolder than before.

my summer favorites

1. drawing in my sketchbook. I've doodled mermaids, vidia the fast flying fairy, and made a list of ten magical things I want to do. 

2. princesses. I have rewatched tangled, cinderella (2015), beauty and the beast (2017), and mirror mirror several times this summer. I want to ride a wild steed, torn glittering gown, on my way to reach my dreams.  I want to dance under starlight, glass slippers ringing, and tie my hair into braids and buns that fall like water. 

3. whipped cream on coffee. lattes at home with whipped almond cream have become my morning ritual.

4. sleepy lotion. this has been my favorite scent and product from lush since 2010. it's like being swathed in lavender petals in a milk and honey bath sprinkled with brown sugar.

5. sun bathing. my sister and I laid out on our deck in swimsuits, letting the sun soak into our skin. I felt instantly happier and more at peace. we didn't play any music, just listened to the grass weave in and out of itself as the warm breeze ran through. 

- from Nie

p.s. I have been posting on my tumblr when I don't have the creativity to write long text posts. here it is if you'd like to visit. 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

a wish for winter

 

listen

today is the first truly cold day where I live. I dug my scarf and gloves out of the closet, but I won't be using them today. I am sick and have lost my voice. It is hard to slow down, and to really rest, but it is also nice. nice to just sit and think in the safety and warmth of my home. 

my thoughts today are on winter. winter, to me, is powerful and intimidating. it is difficult to love. with flurries and icicles, bright rays of sun, bitter air. every year, I try to embrace what is beautiful about it. try to taste a little bite in the hopes that in a few years, I might like the flavor of wintertime.

lately, all I want to do is spend time with my family and my love. it doesn't matter what we do. it could simply be reading in the same room. I just want to be in their presence. I wish the world would slow down, release its grip on me, so that I could better enjoy the small moments of my life. but it feels as though everything is whirling around me and it is all controlled by others. my job makes me sick and too tired to do much of anything. that doesn't seem right. 

so, if I had one wish for this winter, it would be that I might find more time to sit with those I love. and more time to do the things I love. and that I could enjoy this year's winter just a little bit more than the last (if I really try).

my early winter favorites

1. jelly + butter toast with sourdough bread. best snack ever.

2. this oversized plaid pullover lined with faux fleece. it is much warmer than my coat and is oversized because my little sister who owned it before is much taller than me.

3. puzzles. my love and I are working on a puzzle right now. it is very relaxing and actually quite difficult. 

4. ren: the girl with the mark + kin fables trilogy

5. fresh linen scents. after I wash my clothes I just want to wrap them all around me and breathe the scents in. 

- from Nie

Sunday, March 27, 2022

springtime season favorites

"wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, at the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, when he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, and when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” - The Chronicles of Narnia 

first, a very late and very warm welcome to nicole the latest member of the fellowship & whose profile picture I mistook for a gnome. thank you for reading nicole! 

at long long long long very long last, it's beginning to resemble spring where I live. sunny rainstorms, warm breezes, and lots of birdsong. it is so wonderful to feel the sun on my skin again. not that the sun ceases to exist in winter, it's just I do. already I have gathered a list of favorites for this new season and I'd like to share them. what are your springtime favorites?

period piece everything

so far my sister and I have re-watched Emma (2009), Pride & Prejudice (2005), and The Count of Monte Cristo. Watched for the first time, My Mother and Other Strangers (side note: that was for sure the mildest yet spiciest love affair I've ever witnessed), and Around the World in 80 Days which I adored. I cannot get enough of adventure stories. I really must read more Jules Verne. Oh, and then there's Sanditon. but I completely and utterly  h a t e d  Sanditon. we watched maybe six episodes in a row trying to like it but I just couldn't 
I didn't care about that corrupt dreary sea town where people DRINK the water naked men swim in. charlotte had all of the tact of a 12 year old girl. that old lady with the money was nearly as annoying as Lady Catherine DeBourgh, and there was a shocking lack of warmth, romance, humor, and satin (ha). Jane Austen? nope. Andrew Davies trying to be Dickens? yeah. I could go on and on about it. perhaps someday I will but for now all I'll say is ummmm incest? 




matcha & udon soup

not at the same time. I like my matcha in the morning and my noodles at night. and my udon was not as fancy as all that. it was microwaved. but it was heavenly. I fell ill recently, which is a big deal for me as I almost never get actually truly sick. I had a fever, a sore throat, and a headache. it was terrifying. all I wanted to eat was udon miso soup. and the newfound matcha love comes from giving up drugs coffee and trying to find healthier alternatives. I used to drink apple cinnamon tea or simple green tea but matcha is much more decadent and I really enjoy it. it also has antioxidants and less caffeine. 






budgeting

this is my budget calendar, washi tape, and stickers. I am working on more budgeting posts at the moment but it is a slow process and I find everything abnormally hard to explain. budgeting has brought me peace of mind I didn't think I could have and also a huge amount of confidence. 








yoga journal & ayurveda

my grandmother used to get yoga journal for me. I would try to follow the advanced poses without prior experience or stretching and injure myself. it was a lot of fun. I bought this one for the article on chakras, however. I want to learn everything there is to know about chakras, and ayurveda, and how the mind and the body and the spirit are intertwined. 








pop up butterfly stickers

not much to say about these except they make my laptop look positively mAGiCaL. 










star stable

this game is just too fun. its reminds me of old video games I would play like Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess.
















trigger protection mantra

by Jhene Aiko. she uses crystal bowls and the lyrics are a mantra for calm and safety. it is stunning & I have been listening to it non stop. 
















microsoft to do

I've been struggling to be an organized person with something that maybe sort of resembles a routine for years. it's against my nature to be so structured and to do this at this time and that after another thing etc. but I saw that my laptop comes with microsoft's to do list and digital calendar and thought, why not try digitally organizing my life? it. is. wonderful. I don't have to worry about rewriting a list each day, or not being able to check the next task because I do not have my planner with me. I don't have to fuss about how hideous my handwriting is or with setting timers for each item because I am incredibly forgetful. I never thought I would prefer electronic planning to the old fashioned way but I have been converted. 








wearing no makeup 

I am not against makeup. I wear it. but there is nothing like the feeling of being entirely makeup free. I feel so powerful and wild and so utterly me. plus I can rub my face and scratch my skin and cry or laugh or sweat and it doesn't matter. 











wearing whatever I want

for anyone interested, I dress a little something like this. minus the cigarette. pretend it's a french fry. so I've felt some pressure over the years to try and recreate my style, or brand it to something easily defined, or simply dress like other girls. lately though, I miss my own style and the unique way I express myself. I'm still working on expressing it fully and fearlessly but it has made some progress and if one day I wear my beau's old button down with a turtleneck under it and these jeans that don't fit me and another day I pull my fuzzy socks over my pant legs and have a nice blouse on, oh well. c'est moi. 








what's in my bag videos

like this one. I want a bag but when I try to shop for one I hate them all. does this happen to anyone else? I think I'm having an identity crisis. either way I like to watch what others pack in their bags for inspiration on what to bring in my work bag. when I finally buy one.  


- from Nie

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

winter season favorites

 every season brings a new perspective. new habits. new challenges. new animals, bugs, and plants. these are my winter season favorites so far. what are yours? 





tea tree + peppermint aromatherapy lotion


this stuff is like a perfume. the bottle is so pretty and the scent lasts all day. I feel very fancy when I put it on, like lady Mary Crawley getting ready for the Christmas ball. 









lavender & honey lip butter

the only lip balm that has ever actually moisturized my lips. the lavender is a bonus, a love lavender.  






sunscreen stick

I've been meaning to use sunscreen daily for a while. by a while I mean years. but they are all sticky and they smell like public pools. this little product, however, smells like bananas and adds and extra layer of moisture to my face. I've been using it every day. 







coconut pineapple zoa

this drink gives me life. vitamin packed. zero sugar. I really shouldn't love it like I do. 






snowboarding (in my mind)

how can I crave to do something I've never done? I'm not sure but lately I have wanted to snowboard so badly. I have only been on a skateboard a few times and have barely done anything in the snow besides cry and shiver. but something tells me I would love sliding down crystal hills. I imagine it would feel akin to flying though I've never done that either. 








crown lake

Is this a drama filled poorly produced web series for preteens? yes. do I love it and find every episode fascinating? also yes. I have such an admiration for creative young series like Free Rein or Saddle Club back in the day. 









caruso

this song is so haunting and heavy yet beautiful. I wish I could sing like Lara.