Monday Links to Love

* This is why it is great to touch people’s lives: Miss Twyford’s Mother’s Day card

* An inspiring TED talk that reminds you why it’s important not to waste your twenties

* I feel like I was just talking about creating my summer reading so thanks, Buzzfeed, for a list of books to read in my twenties

* A list of the top ten fashion blogger weddings which is great inspiration for unique weddings if you’re planning one of your own

* The art of being more by doing less

* What tv teacher do you love?

* It is the graduation season: the 20 best commencement speeches that will change your life, even now

Right Now, I am…

Reading…Once Upon a List by Robin Gold. In an effort to get myself back on the reading wagon, I bought this and Silver Linings Playbook. I have been horribly neglecting books lately in favor of blogs and teaching books. There’s nothing wrong with reading these but I need some actual honest-to-goodness reading like I’m always telling my students to do. With the summer rolling closer, reading will (hopefully) worm its way back into my life and I think this “chick lit” book is the perfect way to do it. 

Listening…to the wind in the leaves. The greenery is back in Jersey! I love seeing everything bloom and I love seeing green out my living room window. It’s our first Spring and Summer in our apartment and I love the way the little group of trees outside our window have become a mini forest.

Watching…the series finale of The Office. I’ve been off and on about the show throughout the years but there’s no denying this is a great comedy. Reading Kate of scathingly brilliant’s post about attending the Wrap Party in Scranton got me all psyched for tonight’s whole production. Nick and I will be kicking back and watching the whole thing from the look back to the final episode. 

Deciding…to get more sleep! Lately I’ve been trying to go to bed a little bit earlier so I can diminish these dark circles under my eyes and get some more pep in my step. This will be part of implementing some more “healthy” living tricks into my every day. I’m also deciding to have some fun with my students finally since state testing is over! I’m not sure how they did but they told me they did their best. The only thing I’m sad about with tests being over is taking down my awesome hallway display.

Planning…my outfits for this weekend which is my brother’s graduation from college! Four years have gone by so quickly and I can’t wait to see my brother get his diploma this weekend. His school does a whole mess of things from a mass to an awards ceremony to the actual graduation ceremony so multiple outfits are needed of course. I opted out of buying something new in favor of digging through my large dress collection. Seriously it takes up nearly half of our walk-in closet. 

Hoping…for the next week or so to go by really quickly because I get an extra long Memorial Day weekend. Due to the schedule being messed up because of Hurricane Sandy in the fall, my district over-compensated for snow days and since we didn’t get any snow, we have a few extra days lying around. That means I get off Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off. This also means I’m hoping that the weather stays warm because all I’m thinking is beach, beach, beach!

Monday Links to Love

image found via Pinterest but if you know who it should be attributed to, let me know!

I love this Monday Links, they are all just so good! I’m finally catching up with stuff here in blog land so be ready for more and better posts soon (though I may have just cursed myself…) Happy Monday!

* Great tips for improving your focus which is something everyone can use with all those e-mails, social media sites, texts and everything else that fights its way into our daily focus

* Teachers and anyone who works with children, you will appreciate this: Oprah teaches kindergarten

* I’m so thankful for this doily display DIY from Melisa at Pie n’ the Sky. I want to hang them in my bedroom for a real dreamy look

* The thing I love the most about Meredith’s blog One Sheepish Girl is her tutorials for both challenging and easy yarn projects. I have been meaning to try my hand once again at crocheting and I think these granny square coasters might be just what I need

* Fifteen journal ideas for women via Huffington Post

* A smores party? Sounds perfect!

* Philly in Spring is just about perfect and I would love to take an architectural walk around the city

Happy Mother’s Day!

I don’t usually get a chance to honor all the holidays that happen here on my blog but Mother’s Day is one I did not want to miss this year. This year is my first year in my own place. I lived with my mom for three years after school as I saved money, went back to school, and started my career as a teacher. As much as I love having my own place and being a “grown up”, I miss seeing my mom every day.

She is my best friend and my mom. She really listens to me and gives me the best advice, serious or shopping-wise. She gives me unending support in all I do and makes me laugh. We’ve  had so many amazing adventures together and I’m grateful for everything, from time to clothing, that she’s given me. I know that I’d be lost without her.

So thank you, Mom, for being the best mom out there. I hope some day when I have children of my own that I can be half as good of a mom as you. And to all the other moms out there and in my life, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

 

Slow Blogging…My Way

You may not have noticed the couple of missed posts here recently or would think it’s odd for me to say that it’s been quiet around here. The thing is I have only missed two posts since I started full time teaching again three weeks ago and I’ve been pumping out a lot of stuff. But that’s just it: it’s just stuff or filler. As I have been getting back in the swing of having a “real” job and a busy one at that, I’ve been thinking more about where blogging fits into my life.

I originally started my blog almost 4 years ago as a kind of advice blog thing-y…actually I had no clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish. I figured I’d start typing and it would work itself out as I go. The process has been pretty much what I thought it would be with a learning curve and some dud posts and some great posts along the way. I’ve evolved a lot since my very first post talking about my love for a particular part of Philly. I have been all over the place with my focus as these years of blogging have gone by. I’ve been trying to figure out how to fit in a blogging life with real life.

Having had a job, gone through grad school, and now having a career (however unknown my future may be), I feel like I am more settled and can cast a more discerning eye on this blog. It’s been quite a hodge podge of things and that has made it hard to keep up with on top of work and to think of what I’m going to write. I can be quite honest and say that I have tried to be too much and tried to be too much like other bloggers who focus on branding and brand-building.

The thing I’ve come to realize about this blog is that it’s just about me and that’s okay. I like to photograph my outfits and write about the fun things I do over the weekend and profile restaurants I think are fun and delicious. I give advice to my friends in real life but that is not my main focus. I like to shop but I am not made of money so my outfits are always going to be “remixes” and I am not going to be able to jot out a post about the best new online shopping places. As I continue blogging, the things that I’ve been trying to make happen because they’re popular in the “blogosphere” will probably disappear. I am even contemplating taking down posts from the past that I am not proud of as part of spring cleaning my corner of the internet. I want to show me here on buttons and blossoms, exactly in the way I see me.

This is what I call in my head “slow blogging.” I will slow down and just be me. I will just write for me. I’ll focus on me. This doesn’t mean I’m going to be lazy about posting. In fact, I hope that my renewed focus on “me” instead of on “blogging” will mean that I’ll actually be good at blogging and post more with better things to say.

I have talked many times on here about how things are going to change, blah, blah, blah. But this time it’s not really a change that’s coming but just more, just different, just better. So thanks for reading and get ready for more!

Monday Links to Love

* Thinking I’ve got to try Pennsylvania 6, a new restaurant in midtown Philly, and check out its post-Prohibition decor

* A really beautiful explanation for why one girl answered “Yes.”

* What would William Shakespeare look like if he lived today?

* There are some surprisingly easy things you can do to make yourself proud in a year

 

Monday Links to Love

* A nice review of the new online journaling site Oh Life by Kaelah of Little Chief Honeybee, maybe I’ll give it a try

* Philly friends: Philly Beer Week is almost here!

* It always feels like there’s no time to make a good lunch but I need it to avoid that 2pm slump. LC provides some quick and delicious looking working girl lunch ideas so I don’t have to worry any more!

* This may be a bridal shower but I think this looks like the perfect party for any girl friends, getting married or not

* And this quirky Las Vegas wedding makes me smile every time

Monday Links to Love

* The love and silliness of this girl and her cat make my heart smile

* This fancy friendship bracelet DIY will take you back to sixth grade…in a fashion-forward way

* I need to hop aboard the smoothie train and this blueberries and cream smoothie sounds like the perfect place to start

* So this biodegradable confetti is supposed to be for a wedding but I might make it and sprinkle it in my wake

* And because even in the face of destruction and terror, our world is super awesome

Monday Links to Love

* At the beginning of May last year, Nick and I took a fabulous trip down to Savannah, GA and the surrounding area and I can’t wait to go back soon! When we do go back, I am going to try to visit some of these places in Style Me Pretty’s Savannah City Guide.

* A great post about fighting for your most important friendships…something that can feel hard to do

* Keep it classy (and budget friendly!) with 10 wines under $20

* This has got to be the best idea I’ve seen for goal setting and keeping: write to change from Yes and Yes

* Get “in the zone” faster by setting up simple rituals. I think this is going to be a must for me as I transition back to full time work!

* Dessert trucks? Yes, please!

* Don’t miss any beautiful spring days because you’re sick, eat these health boosting foods so you can be out there playing!

Right Now I am…

Reading…lots of new-to-me blogs and I absolutely love my discoveries. There are a lot of “big” bloggers out there who have thousands and thousands of followers and book deals and big brand sponsorships and they do a great job being full time bloggers. But there’s something to be said about the bloggers in the middle and the smaller bloggers. I find that I connect better to them and I learn something new and discover more about the world through their unique perspective. Some of my recent finds are: Betsey Transatlantically, we took the road less traveled, Hang on, Honey, The Tiny Heart, and The Aslan’s Auspicious Albany Adventure. Great job ladies!

Listening…to the new She & Him single. I can’t wait to see them this summer!

Watching…Parks and Rec tonight. Thanks to Nick I can also watch it in my spare time since he got seasons 1 and 2 for Christmas. We watched season 1 pretty quickly but life got busy and there are still a few discs left from season 2. I love Leslie Knoppe and Ron Swanson and pretty much the whole department. It’s the perfect show to brighten any day.

Making…new recipes for dinner. I’ve kind of been in a cooking rut lately, relying too much on easy and reliable meals. But I’m getting back into the swing of things, finding new recipes and trying things out, with stellar results. Cooking delicious food makes me happy.

Deciding…which DSLR camera to buy! After years of wanting a manual camera, it is finally time to take the plunge. I know having a DSLR is a big blogger thing but I’ve wanted this camera long before blogging was a part of my life. I took photography in high school and fell in love with everything about it, even though my classes focused on dark room development with only one touching on Photoshop. My school let us borrow cameras all year long if we were taking the class and I brought it everywhere and I captured fantastic photos from trips to Seattle and Portland and France. I can’t to get back to practicing with a manual setting camera. I love my old point-and-shoot but I’m ready to step it up.

Planning…my May blogging calendar. Since I start full time teaching again in a little less than two weeks (!!!), I’m trying to get organized so things like my blog don’t get forgotten in the shuffle. I might not have a lot of free time for blogging but I know that a set schedule with post ideas will help me out a lot.

Hoping…the warm weather stays for good. This week I changed my closet over from fall/winter to spring/summer and it’s like going on a shopping spree. Look at all those beautiful clothes in such bright colors! I just want to get dressed in them so weather better cooperate.