thursday thrills

I'm still in the process of making a fall playlist, so this one from HelloGiggles will do for now.

Itching to try some fall-inspired recipes like this pie and these cupcakes.

Getting pumped for the collection of craft supplies & home goods at A Beautiful Mess.  What can they not do?  I'm convinced they are going to take over the crafty world.  (Can I be an accomplice?)

Ever since living in London, I've gotten more into wearing makeup (probably because I was living in such a posh city and rooming with beauty queen Eva).  I still haven't convinced myself to buy anything new, but Rebecca from The Clothes Horse has a similar makeup routine to mine, so I might need to take some cues from her.

Gilmore Girls is on Netflix.  Enough said.


Happy Fall, y'all. It's time to go buy some tiny pumpkins (FINALLY!).

photo diary: portland with my ladies

Here are just a few moments of one of my favorite weeks ever.  I've known for some time that Portland is a true home to me, but it never felt quite as magical as it did when I had these two beauties by my side.  Every sight, bite (and lemme tell ya--we ate a lot of awesome food), and embarrassing joke was a million times better with them around.  It's my master plan to get them to move here, and they know it.  They'll always have a place on my bedroom floor and in my heart.  I'm a cheeseball, it's okay.

photo diary: san francisco

Okay, so the contents of this post happened nearly two months ago (wait, what?!), but after a FaceTime session with Erin, my sister, and Izzy (Erin got to hang out with my lil' sis and snuggle my dog--I'm jealous), I am missing my best friends from back home.  I was lucky enough to have a girls road trip with Erin and Rylee (and Domenico for a day) on my way to Portland.  We stopped in Berkeley for a couple of nights (to sleep and eat pizza) and spent one day in San Francisco.  We decided to hit the essentials--the pier, the penny arcade, Little Italy, Golden Gate Park, and Haight St.  It was such a beautiful time spent with two of my favorite ladies and brought so much happiness into my heart.  I really could not ask for lovelier friends--they are the special kind that are equally good at chatting over cocktails and crafting in silence to 90's pop music.  Is there a better kind of friend?  

Traveling for the first time since Europe, I experienced a lot of nostalgia and remembering little details or stories. I felt a relief wash over me.  Since getting home, I had this worry that I would forget everything that happened to me the past five months.  I quickly realized that I won't forget--those moments are a part of me now.  I almost cried when I saw the above journal, because it summed up what I was feeling so perfectly.  My suitcase heart will always leave room for more souvenirs.

life lately

Doing: Work, work, theatre, work, theatre, random solo outings around Portland, humoring the idea of my thesis, and crafts (sewing & weaving)

Listening to:  Banks, Lorde, this song, and an embarrassing amount of NPR (okay, I'm secretly very okay with this), rain outside right now (YAY!)

Daydreaming about:  London, the English countryside, my imaginary craft store + cafe, fall, home, cuddling Izzy, Christmas, London, Europe, traveling, Fall Break anniversary trip to Seattle

Eating:  Random thrown-together meals mostly involving pasta which I make myself feel better about by covering half of my plate with salad, a late night Cartopia run with unexpected screening of Pixar shorts, grocery sushi Tuesdays before yoga, delicious enchiladas made by my NE manager, surprise thank you macarons from my SW manager (aka I have the best managers), lots of turkey sandwiches, lovely Saturday morning brunch before work at Petite Provence, yep--this is the longest list

Watching:  The Mindy Project, two...interesting TBA Festival theatre performances for class, What If movie date with Ted, NEW GIRL IS FINALLY BACK

Reading:  Theatre theory essays, people's instagram posts

What I wish I was reading:  My new Thich Nhat Hanh and David Sedaris books, blogs

What I should be doing right now: Homework, bye

let the future unfold

Something weird is happening. 

I'm going into my final year of college tomorrow.

When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a post about "the whole awkward, heartbreaking, completely embarrassing business" of high school.  Now, nearly four years later, I am here to face my final year of school, probably ever (because lord knows my student loans don't need any more friends than they already have). 

And let me just say, it's not just high school that is awkward, heartbreaking, and embarrassing. In fact, the business of life is all of those things, and more. When I moved to Portland three years ago to start this adventure, I didn't know how it would unfold--how it would become a complicated, wrinkled, but ultimately beautiful mess of an experience.  I can say with all my guts that college has been the hardest stage of my young life.  I know that life just gets messier from here on out, but coming to terms with this fact--and my so-called "adulthood"--is tough.  College has brought me to my lowest and highest points.  Yet I'm equally grateful for both, because now I know myself more fully, and the person I wish to become.  Despite the unexpected wrinkles, I know that on this first day of September, I am closer to being that person than I have ever been before.  

I am so incredibly proud of myself for doing everything in my power to come to this point and as I start this last year of school, I want to hold onto this pride of being able to do what's best for me and actively pursue my goals.  College has been a growing experience for me, and I feel lucky everyday that I chose Portland as my damp, fertile ground to do so.  The growing pains hurt, the rain gets muddy, but the lush green always makes it worth it.