Hey, That’s My Jam!

Despite the variety of controversy that seems to follow Lana Del Rey, you’ve got to admit she nailed this one.  It’s beautiful, dark and as mesmerizing as any Fitzgerald love story.

We decided last minute to cancel our canoe trip and instead spent the weekend lazing about, shopping for an upcoming trip and finalizing new kitchen plans. After Saturday’s date night turned into an appliance research project, B treated me to a late lunch and Gatsby on Sunday. If you haven’t seen it yet, get yourself to a theater ASAP. It’s gorgeous. Maybe not as good as the original – is it ever? – but a definite theater must-see. And worth the splurge in 3D. While the overall soundtrack is great, I loved how this pretty number seemed to float in and out throughout the entire film. Baz is a genius.

Dear Mother

Happy Mother’s Day to the all the mamas out there. Especially to mine ’cause Lord knows, I’m a handful. To my own mother, thank you for keeping me afloat, reminding me to always have a backup plan, listening to my worry-filled rambles and helping me navigate the crazy.

I love you.

(image via)

May Flowers

It’s May! And thanks to an abundance of April showers, we’ve got May flowers! Everything seems to be in bloom – from the roses in our yard to every summer fashion must-have list. I think I’ll celebrate by picking up a fresh bunch on my drive home!

It’s gonna be a great May!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

A Detox of Sorts

In yesterday’s post I failed to mention that over the weekend my feelings took on the appearance of pizza, pastries and generous pours of wine. While tasty, I am now craving healthy, wholesome meals to the point I think a detox of sorts is much warranted. After perusing the interwebs for some ideas, I came across this Inner Goddess Detox Salad from Iowa Girl Eats (a personal fave!) as well as a few other tasty dishes that I can’t wait to dig into. I’ve also got some green smoothies lined up for my morning drive and I just signed up for Bikram yoga classes (finally). I have a feeling I’m going to be praying for savasana 5 minutes in. Wish me luck! It’s been a long time since I’ve hit that mat.

How do you detox after a big splurge?

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

A Case of the SADZ

B left early last Thursday for a meeting in Detroit and then had plans to meet up with friends in Virginia for a canoeing/camping trip in an area he simply described as “on a river with a heavy bear population”. I tried not to think too much about the bears and looked forward to a weekend on my own. I woke up to a beautiful Friday and spent most of my day planning and list-making to insure I had a fun and productive break but by mid-afternoon I wasn’t feeling well. After feeding the dogs and playing for a bit in the backyard, I changed into pajamas, grabbed a stack of unread magazines and crawled under the covers. The sun hadn’t even set yet and I was tucked in bed like an elderly. It wasn’t until Saturday morning that it hit me – I had come down with a giant case of the SADZ. I felt hideous and the mere idea of going out in public brought me to tears. I tossed my to-do list in the garbage and went back to bed.

Thankfully, I had kept my plans to meet a friend for dinner Saturday night and by the time I made it home, the emotional exhaustion had faded. For three hours I didn’t have to think about the baby blues, soon becoming another year older or all of the truly tragic things happening in the world. I declared the pity party over and spent the remainder of the weekend doing things that made me happy. I shopped for an upcoming mini-vacation, gave myself a manicure, got caught up on Mad Men and enjoyed a generous serving of my favorite gelato.

While I feel shameful for wasting away in bed dwelling on my imperfections and losing sight of what is good, I believe that sometimes you just have to throw a hissy fit in order to make things right in your heart. Just make sure you do it in the privacy of your own home…

(image via)

The Bling Ring

If you missed Pretty Wild, E!’s short-lived reality show about Bling Ringer Alexis Neiers, I am sorry. That whole family had a certain weirdness that I couldn’t get enough of. For those of you that did see it and are now judging me, stop. You know you couldn’t take your eyes off that train wreck. And you’re probably just as excited as I am that we’re finally getting a full trailer for Sofia Coppola’s tale of fame-obsessed teens (aka Alexis and her gang) who rob celebrities. The film is based on true events so start here.

Shorty Shorts

Ahhh…. it’s finally leg baring weather again and I am in the mood for a great pair of shorts. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of cardio in preparation for shorter hemlines but I still have a ways to go. I try to incorporate strength training into my gym trips at least twice a week but I haven’t seen the results that I want. So I decided to dedicate more workouts to my lower half with this ballet barre sequence I found on Whole Living and a full-body strength circuit that basically consists of the following: dead lift to high pulls, weighted walking lunges and squats, squats and more squats.

 I’m just a few workouts in and I’m already seeing a difference.

Bye-bye, thunder thighs!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Curb Appeal

We took advantage of a beautiful weekend and did a little yard work – mostly clearing out winter leftovers and prepping for new shrubbery. I feel like our landscaping overhaul has drug on forever and I have accepted that maybe it’s meant to be a work in progress… While pulling weeds and planting bulbs for summer blooms, I noticed how boring our front porch feels. It doesn’t exactly scream “Get in here!”. So I’m hoping to glean something from these inviting spaces…

Happy Earth Day!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Gatsby

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Two of my most favorite things are coming soon – summertime and Gatsby. There’s something extraordinary about this story that I frequently find the urge to reread it – or at least skim for my favorite passages. Each occasion I read it is so satisfyingly just as good as it was the first time. I can’t wait to start my summer off with Baz Luhrmann’s remake! And the soundtrack is pretty stellar. You can check it out here.

The good will always outnumber.

“But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out….This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness. 

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago. 

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘ The good outnumber you, and we always will.’ “

via Patton Oswalt