my funny valentine

One of my favorite things to do is shop around the internet for the best possible gifts for people. I love haunting Etsy and trolling around online boutiques, adding things to my wishlists for later use. Sometimes the things end up being on my personal wishlist, but I'm equally excited to find superb presents for my favorite people in life.

I recently went down that rabbit hole of window-shopping, as it were, and decided to share a few of my finds with you in honor of Valentine's Day coming up! The less conventional the better, in my opinion. I adore thoughtful, quirky presents that supersede the norm. Flowers and chocolates are always welcome, of course, but if you're looking to really find something unique and special this February to celebrate the month of love, I'd start here:

Matchboxes // Harry Potter Sweatshirt // Embroidered Bouquet Necklace
Lunar Phase Necklace // Heart Clip // Irresistible Card // Swedish Magnets
Cameo Pendant // Molasses Print // Old Book Candle // Floral Dress
Fantastic Mr. Fox Card // Bee Knuckle Ring // Cat Lady Tattoos // Heart Dress

I shop for clothes way too often, but it always takes me pleasantly by surprise when someone buys clothes for me. I love being fashionally thought of, so if someone were to give me a Valentine gift bag that included a colorful Harry Potter sweatshirt, I'd basically be bonded to them for life.

Adorable magnets, sweet prints, funny cards, temporary cat tattoos, heart-related accessories...you just can't go wrong with those things.

Perhaps my favorite things on this entire list are:

1. The "Old Books" scented candle because yes, please. This Etsy shop, Frostbeard, has some of the best candles I've ever seen in my life (including scents like Sherlock's Study, Cliffs of Insanity, The Shire...).   
2. Book Cover Matchboxes. Forget just Valentine's Day, friends, this is the perfect gift for any occasion. Think bridesmaid gifts, book club favors, birthdays...the event opportunities are endless, and Matchmakers has the matches for them all. 
3. The Lunar Phase Necklace. Lorena of the Etsy shop Gemagenta has a gorgeous collection of fine jewelry, but her Lunar Phase collection is (quite literally) out of this world. You tell her a specific date (your date of birth? your wedding anniversary?) and she looks up the lunar phase on that exact date in time and crafts the moon from that day for you to wear. Necklace, ring, bracelet...your choice! They're gorgeous. 

It's hard to believe that January is already coming to a close, but February is tapping on the door and has me thinking of bright bouquets and pretty trinkets. What are your favorite places to find special gifts for the people you love? What are your favorite entries above?

Happy Friday!

Xoxo

lean, mean, 2015

Some early thoughts on the new year:

New years have a bit of magic to them. What is it about January 1st that propels people to do things they've been wanting to do for a long time? To make promises and decisions and resolutions. I'm not quite sure, but there's something to it.

I've written about new year's resolutions before - I don't really put much stock into them. But I do know that this new year's day was special to us. For one, it was our fourth anniversary - and it brought with it a lot of decisions. Decisions about our marriage, about the future, about who we want to be and what we want to do. Decisions about love. It was like we had been butting our heads against a wall for the past six months, and somehow crossing over into 2015 led us straight to the doorway.

I don't quite understand that. I suppose the head-butting is necessary for growth, and the doorway was invisible for so long for a good reason. In any case, it feels great to be here. Of course we still have a lot more to go - we still have monumental decisions that aren't made, promises to fulfill, disappointments to deal with and a lot of waiting, waiting, waiting. In fact, I think anyone else on the outside could look and say, literally nothing has changed, you guys. But something within us has shifted. Our level of contentment, commitment, and resolve has changed. We finally talked things out and said things out loud that had been splintering us. It hurt a lot, but it also healed so much faster afterward.

Last night we sat together and just wrote out some goals. Financial, physical, and personal. Nothing insane or out-of-reach, but very basic goals that we're hoping to conquer this year. It was a time for us to sit and reflect and try to put into the words the things that we want as our priorities. To get our goals on the same page, and high-five, and give ourselves an extra boost of inspiration and teamwork.

I'm proud of us, and I'm really excited for the lean, mean, fighting machine that is 2015.
It's going to be a great year.

long distance blows

It's a crazy part of friendship that for any amount of time, there are people in your life who ARE your life. You count on them for absolutely everything. You wonder how often you can spend time with them before it gets weird. You have actual, sit-down conversations with your spouse (or sometimes even just yourself) about the need to slow down and give them some space. Don't be needy. Don't be too intense. Don't be that guy. 

All I can say is that I'm glad it got weird, even though being apart is now the living worst.

It got weird and that's when things get truly extraordinary. Snowpocalypse sleepovers and Fresh Market picnics, birthday surprises and Mario Party marathons and never-ending group text messages. Weekend trips and late-night stories and new adventures.

It's now officially December which means I'm feeling the feels. The holiday feels. A lot of memories are returning to me of days gone by. Christmas memories from our tiny apartment in Virginia, and of the friends we so dearly miss.

Our friendship with Colinoria (our affectionate nickname for our couple-soulmates Colin and Victoria) was rare. It was fostered under the strangest conditions: living in tiny apartments less than a mile apart while the boys finished up law school. Pre-kids, pre-adulthood, pre-complications. We were in extended college life land. There was work, for sure, and lots of studying. But there was also a lot of play. And through that we were cemented together. Even more so by our uncanny resemblances to one another (me to Colin and Dustin to Victoria). It was straight-up crazy at times, and I think we were all dumbfounded at various points by our great luck at somehow finding each other in this mad world.

Long distance is one of those sucky situations that is often most lamented when it involves romantic couples. But the struggle is real for everyone. Family, friends, loved ones. The world is filled with beautiful people and if you happen to meet kindred spirits on the other side of the country (or world), you're going to have to prepare yourself for the lifelong ache that is long distance. 

Here are my grandiose ideas for surviving a long-distance best friendship:

1. Contact.
This is what group messages are for. Also, these new voice texts have been a life-saver for me because I hate the telephone. But calling is good too. So is FaceTime or Skype. Stay in touch!
(Duh-doy).

2. Gifts.
Maybe you don't have money, but you actually do. You have enough to send something, anything, in the mail. It's important. Maybe more so for a person like me whose love language involves gifts, but it's important nonetheless. Find silly things to send and it maintains those fun little surprises that you were able to create when you lived in the same city. Instead of stopping by with cupcakes, you can send them a letter or a Starbucks card when they're having a rough week. It's a sweet gesture that's inexpensive and incredibly thoughtful, especially when the dominant means of communication today is a never-ending group text (which, as I've already demonstrated, I fully support). Think outside the box.

3. Don't forget the little things.
You lose a lot when you lose the little things. The little things are the tiny threads that begin to pull apart the entire knit sweater of a relationship. They're the ways you used to connect in person because you saw each other almost every day so you shared even the silliest stories with one another. Bring them into your jokes and daily interactions that make you laugh and cry. Tell them about your boss's weird laugh or that super embarrassing doctor visit. Be vulnerable, be real.

4. Reminisce, but not too much.
One of the greatest detriments of long distance is that it naturally prevents growth. Unless you work hard to keep moving forward. Long distance keeps you apart and living in the past, because that's when you were last together. Talking about favorite memories is a wonderful way to connect, but make sure the focus is staying connected to where your lives are going. Walk with them from afar.

5. Have a shared interest.
This summer it was Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. All four of us read it (and the sequel) and talked about it incessantly. It was such a fun way to participate in something as a group. We used to have weekly TV nights for shows like New Girl and Sleepy Hollow, so having something we can still do "together" is really nice.

6. Visit each other. 
This is the hardest part, because now that we're all working and paying off our student loans, money is tight and time off is sparse. But just like anything else, you make it a priority. You save and you make it happen. It has been six months and two weeks since the four of us were together, and we're beginning to plan the first of many visits! It's probably the most crucial part of a long distance relationship, because you put your money where your priorities are. For a while that top priority will be paying off our debt - but we'll keep fitting money between the cracks to keep this friendship alive.

Because it got weird, and it got great, and it's worth everything.

Long distance blows. (But it's worth it).

the whole world

Necklace (shop!): Sheinside
Sweater: LOFT, Skirt: Ruche

Do you remember that rather fabulous teaser trailer for The Boxtrolls that gave an inside peek at the making of stop-motion animation? 

That's the first thing I thought of when I got this globe necklace from Sheinside, (And also, that it's adorable and only $6!). 

I remember seeing that trailer for the first time and being absolutely fascinated and awestruck by the intricacies of such an endeavor. Even after seeing (and loving) the strange, charming, dark, stunning, steampunk, oddball movie in all its glory I couldn't wrap my mind around the hundreds of hands and hours it must have taken to create such a masterpiece. 

I grew up watching claymation Christmas movies and adoring hand-drawn animated movies and videogames. There is something really overwhelming about envisioning the actual artists behind those stories. Especially because of the advancements that have been made in filmmaking and animation, and the overall modern preference for digital artistry. I'm not saying that CGI isn't art, but I am saying I would rather have seen a hand-drawn Frozen. 

I know it's not realistic to demand hand-drawn everything, because the creation of digital animation is rather wondrous. There's no denying it. It saves a lot of times and produces much more detailed results, I'm sure. And it still requires artists. And in reality it would probably take 20 years to develop a hand-drawn movie at the artistic level of these concept images. 

Even so, I think people have come to the erroneous conclusion that people don't like 2D movies anymore simply because they aren't made as often. Princess and The Frog, Disney's last hand-drawn animation, didn't do as well as Tangled, so that must mean people are just done with hand-drawn things. Horrible flawed logic. No, no. 

I think there are a few reasons why Tangled performed better at the box office, and I'm very sure the reasons are things like Zachary Levi. And better music, and a valiant horse named Maximus. 

There are still plenty of artists out there who are loyal to the olden days though, and who long to revive, restore and relive them. People like Tim Schafer who crusade to keep classic adventure games alive.

They create these marvelous stories for us to be a part of, and they quite literally have the whole world in their hands. 

So, there's hope, and that's all I need. 

style crush: le happy

blog post

I've recently become infatuated with the incredibly popular blog, Le Happy. 

She has hundreds of thousands of followers (over a million on her Instagram), but I actually came across her page on Facebook because she was featured on Chicwish. 

The photo above was the featured outfit, and I think it caught my eye for a couple of reasons. I love galaxy prints, first of all. I also love color-tipped hair. I immediately saved the photo for future reference in case I ever wanted to dye my entire head red with blonde tips. I'm not sure what it is entirely about her style, but there's something that really resonates with me. 

A piece of my style world is perfected in her outfits. The bit of grunge, bold galaxy prints, funky layers, metallics, Lennon-style sunglasses, an affinity for cats and macarons, skinny jeans and tights. 

My style can also be very feminine and romantic at times, with lace and florals and vintage dresses. But I think if my style could be described as a schizophrenic's collection of personalities, Le Happy would be one of them. 

blog post / blog post / instagram post

As I wrote on my 26 before 27 list, I hope to dye the tips of my hair purple this year. I'm contemplating achieving that goal over Thanksgiving weekend. I work for the city's elementary school district, and staff technically aren't allowed to dye their hair. Since I work behind a desk and not with students, though, I'm going to try spending Thanksgiving break with some fun hair and see if I can keep it for a week or two. If not, I'll go ahead and cut my hair or dye it back.

I'll leave you with some of my Pinterest hair dreams:

summer mint recipes

Have you ever had something define your summer?
Maybe a certain scent, or a particular playlist, or even a group of people.
I love summers because every single one is totally unique. Sure, you could say that about every season, but there's something about summer that is different. I think probably because summer is the season of play.

Maybe it's because I'm from Arizona, but summer is the most creative, most inspirational, most exuberant season of all. The heat is so intense you have to be innovative to enjoy your days; it forces you to dress differently, plan your days differently, break out new ideas. Some of those ideas include travel and road trips to better weather, which means a lot of beach and mountains and road trip music. Pool parties, sunflowers, iced drinks, bubbles, bikinis, bright colors, new sunnies, outdoor misters, porch lights, movie nights.
Summer also brings with it a host of new recipes and for me, this summer has been all about mint. 

My favorite mint recipes this summer have been the mint watermelon appetizer with goat cheese, the grilled zucchini and walnut salad with mint from M loves M, and of course a few yummy drinks from Starbucks, like the low-calorie cool lime refresher (ask to get it fizzed! yum!) and the blackberry mojito iced tea lemonade. 

You can also get really creative with infused water! I love cucumber/lime/fresh mint water. If you wanna kick your water up a notch, fill up your glass with ice and infused water and add an herbal tea bag to the mix. I added a raspberry tea to my cucumber/lime/mint water this morning, so refreshing!

I'd highly recommend trying out a watermelon and mint combo. I'm going to share with you a really simple and delicious recipe that my dad created after having something similar at an upscale restaurant in Phoenix.

Mint Watermelon Appetizer with Goat Cheese Ingredients: ·         Watermelon, cut into bite-sized cubes ·         Goat Cheese ·         Citrus Ponzu Sauce ·         Fresh Mint ·         Toothpicks for serving! Directions: Easy peasy! Grab a bowl and toss the watermelon, goat cheese crumbles, and fresh mint (lightly shredded/torn) together. Then lightly spritz the concoction with ponzu sauce, and hand out the toothpicks! You could also serve them a bit fancier on a platter, separated into individual portions. Watermelon cube topped with the goat cheese and a leaf of mint, finished off with a dash with ponzu sauce.  Get fancy with it!

I'd love to hear more tried and true mint recipes. If you have any, send them my way!

Also let me know if you try any of these minty delights. They all have my stamp of approval.

Hope you're having a uniquely wonderful summer. It's quickly coming to an end!

soulhome

A friend of mine once mused, If there are soulmates, maybe there are soulhomes, too. 

A soulhome. What a romantic thought. A place where your heart is destined to rest, a special and mysterious location where your soul has intricate ties. 

I personally don't really believe in soulmates. The One. 

I think relationships take work, you choose to love. I do think that my husband and I are great together, and that I prayed for him from the time that I was a little girl. I knew I would marry someone someday, and I wanted to make sure God knew all of my requirements, things like "loves Big Red gum". 

I don't think anyone could ever love and appreciate me the way my husband does. In all my weirdness. I cherish him. Sometimes I like to say we're soulmates, because he's my one, the man I've chosen. We work hard at our relationship, and our commitment to each other has been blessed. 

But as far as real soulmates go? I believe we as humans are irrevocably flawed, and therefore if there even could be such a thing as soulmates, we would have ruined that whole deal a long long time ago. We would have married the wrong people and messed up the soulmate order for everyone. 

I remember thinking about that when I was around 10 or 11. I had a moment of pure panic, thinking of someone accidentally marrying my soulmate before I got to him.

Perhaps the first and only soulmates in the history of the world were Adam and Eve, and we all know how that turned out. 

But let's imagine for a second that soulmates and, more importantly, soulhomes are real.

Each one of us has, imprinted on our heart, a place that belongs to us. 

Born into the world with locks around our soul, a golden key is tossed out into the universe. And the moment we step into that place, the great expanse of desert in Arizona, the rolling green hills of Ireland, the towering sky-rises of New York, we hear that click. 

And we are unlocked. 

It's an absolutely stunning thought.

A lifelong quest to find each other, you and that distant land of destiny. 

I think I've experienced similar feelings of serendipity, which could easily be heaped into that nebulous overwhelming wanderlust. 

I think for most people though, myself included, a soulhome would be the place we've spent most if not all of our lives. There's a definite bond between a person and where they were born. 

Arizona is my place. The desert is where I have always belonged, it's where I feel most enchanted and most at ease. I understand it and appreciate it for all that it is. I feel really lucky in that way.  

But I've also lived other places and traveled to countries that I have fallen in love with. There are those dreamy trips that make us all swoon (Hollywood-driven, most likely), just imagining what the Eiffel Tower must be like in person, or thinking of riding in a Gondola in Venice. Growing up as an O'Neil and loving all things Irish, I would definitely say that Ireland was my dream place to live for a very long time. Irish blessings hung on my walls, green was my favorite color, Gerard Butler in P.S. I Love You is my favorite ever. 

Over the last few years of traveling, I've had my moments of, I could do this. I could live here for keeps. 

One of my favorite terms for my friends is kindred spirits. Unlike the idea of soulmates, I heartily believe and support the idea of kindred spirits. They exist all over the world, and come sneaking into your heart even when you least expect to find them. 

Arizona is my soulhome, but maybe I can allow my heart to find kindred places, too.

And what a long, lovely list of kindreds that will be.