Session Dos: engagement photos with D.S. Photography. Just because I think we’re cute! Thanks to Duane for the use of his colorful boat and Renee for letting us borrow her paddleboard. Cheers to love! Evan and I will very soon (Sunday) be leaving for a scientific conference in Barbados. Get ready for lots of Instagram pics of this gorgeous new-to-me island, and some blog posts thereafter! Check Facebook and follow the trip virtually!
As the month concludes, I’m sharing another upcycling DIY inspired by Real Simple Magazine‘s challenge to readers to find new unique ways to repurpose common household items. Let’s review the DVD box. We probably trash these, or have thousands of them somewhere completely unorganized. But why not take advantage of that and utilize them for something other than dust collectors and trophies for your ever-changing interests in movie genres. Enter: passport security. Especially if you have a larger family, each with passports you want to keep safe and secure. Everyone picks their favorite movie, tucks the passport inside, and places the DVD back on the shelf, or back into your cultured pile. Hey, if there is a method to your madness then more power to you. Of course, you’ll need to obviously remember which movies you did this with – but at least your passport won’t just be mindlessly left inside a purse, stashed in a drawer or neatly tucked away in the oh-so-obvious passport organizer clutch. The idea is for security, naturally. I mean, …
So you may have read that I recently spent some time in Texas. My little brother got married, and I was thrilled to have had the chance to make it home for this occasion. It was a beautiful little backyard wedding, were the couple was surrounded by friends and family. The night was special, and I captured a few shots to memorialize it. So allow me to be honest. I never thought my little brother would get married before me. I have been in a couple long term relationships, dated here and there, while he didn’t really date at all, except his now wife. In fact, she and I both recall when I told her that I knew he would end up marrying his first girlfriend. I’m thankful it happened. And I don’t care about our order :) But the funny thing is this. He proposed to her on June 22. About 6 months later, Evan proposes to me. They get married on October 11. Six months later, we will get married. Totally didn’t plan …
Upcycling: (v.) the process of turning something old into new again. This month, Real Simple challenged readers to repurpose several common household items. One of those was the trusty shot glass. Did you collect these at one point? Maybe in your wild and crazy college days and now you have a shrine in your cabinet to memories you may want to just leave behind? Okay, I’m not speaking from experience (lies), but I figured these would be a great place to start with that repurposing challenge! Here are your five unique options: 1 | Store Q-tips in them, either out on the counter in the bathroom for guests, or in your cabinet for easy reach 2 | Use them to clean your makeup or paintbrushes 3 | Store your beach finds, like seaglass, in them and then line your window sill of a brightly lit room 4 | Sprout seeds in them in the window, or plant a succulent that doesn’t need much water or space 5 | Fill with water and add a couple …
Rachel Carson was an inspiration to science and an incredibly influential woman, way before her time in writing, biology and protection for our planet. She pledged her life to environmental conservation, which sparked a movement that led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a woman in science – a marine biologist living and working in a man’s career – she inspires me like no other scientist. Rachel Carson was a fisheries biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, but was perhaps most well known for her incredible nature writings. She authored several books including the infamous Silent Spring , which alerted the American public to the dangers of pesticides and fertilizers leeching into our ground waters, poisoning our fields, animals, and ourselves. Her book was met with opposition from chemical manufacturers, and many fought to hush her attempt at public awareness of these environmental issues. Luckily for us, someone was listening, which is why DDT has now been banned, amongst several other chemical pesticides that were once deemed suitable for human …
Have you ever found yourself searching for the right style of comfortable all-day shirt? A soft feel, an attractive look, something to wear at all hours of your casual day? Often times with teaching yoga, I’m always looking for a shirt that’s not too tight, that breaths and that I can basically just throw over a sports bra and head out. So you can imagine my delight when stumbling upon Holdfast Outfitters, because that’s exactly what they make: apparel for the outdoorsy man and woman who may be required to spend some time inside too (that pretty much describes me, and probably most of you readers too!) So I put their shirts to the test – I wear them to my yoga practices, I wear them out paddleboarding, hiking and to work (the occasional indoors). They hold up great in the wash, the colors remain solid and the prints are high quality. This shark tooth top is one of my favorites, naturally. I follow them on Instagram for some outdoor wanderlusting, and I love to …
That’s right, I went up north. Believe it or not, I ventured out to New England yet again. This is now only the second time I’ve ever been past Virginia on the East Coast. And it was beautiful! With Sophie in tote, we flew up to Lake Winnipesaukee for Evan’s cousin’s wedding. It was a gorgeous event, right on the water, with such emotional ties to the location for both the bride and groom – I loved it. We arrived a couple days early, so we spent some time exploring the area, which was just starting to turn into Autumn. The little town of Wolfeboro was quaint and pet friendly; we found a craft beer store (had to bring some brews back, naturally), a little hippie store where I found this, and a couple cute coffee shops where I discovered this new-to-me book. We walked around an antique car and boat show, hiked for a couple hours, and spent time with his family. The couple were blessed with a perfect weather weekend for their wedding, …
I have debated writing this post for a few weeks now. I’ve thought about how to put this into words, how to express what I really feel about this subject.. and it turns out, I’m not entirely sure how I do feel about it. Maybe it’s because I’m still new to the yoga teacher community, or maybe I struggle with balancing my personal practice and personal growth with my passion for teaching and inspiring others to try yoga. I started out strong, sharing photos of myself trying new poses on Instagram right after finishing my teacher training. I was confident, I was self assured and I had learned to love my body no matter its shape, tone or flexibility. I was on a yoga high, just thrilled with my new outlook on life and enthusiastic about sharing it with others. I was constantly scouring Pinterest and my fellow yogi Instagramers for inspiration, never feeling turned off that they were able to do something beautifully that I was still working on. I know this is a …
