How Good You Are

Image from Le Love

Big Moments

“Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that count. That's when you find out who you are.” - Joss Whedon

Guest Post: Brandon

Brandon is the founder of Notes on Parenting, a blog dedicated to giving parents important information about child development. It is also meant to bring up family life issues that we may not normally think about. Brandon is currently a student at Brigham Young University, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Family Life. He has been accepted for graduate studies in Human Development & Family Studies at the top schools around the nation. He and his wife have a beautiful (and teething) 9 month old daughter, who has done things all on her own time (i.e. she definitely doesn't fit what most of the development textbooks tell you!). Brandon's key interests include the transition to parenthood, the importance of fathers, and effective parenting.


How many times have you heard someone mention the impact of media on children? The most powerful video I've ever seen on the impact of media was created by Dove: Watch it here.

Seriously, after watching this video, all I can do is think, “I am raising my daughter with all of this around? How the heck do I protect her from all of this filth about what it takes to be a ‘real and beautiful’ woman?!”

But we can’t blame only outside influences--how many times do you yourself worry about how you look, or make comments about how you look in front of your children? Usually, what parents value, children begin to value as well; so if you are constantly worrying about those two extra pounds or your normal human body, children will begin to value a standard that may be unrealistic for their own bodies. Our bodies are sacred. Be careful what you do and say about your body around your children.

Additionally, everyday comments that we as parents make can influence our children's way of thinking about their bodies. For instance, which of the following approaches is better?

"Rachel! Stop watching TV all day. You'll get fat!"

-or-

"Rachel! Let's go for a bike ride together. It's a beautiful day!"

Both of these statements have the same intention--to get the child to stop watching TV and do something active--because the parent is worried about the child's exercise habits and health. However, the second example is much more effective on many levels. Instead of making the child worry about her looks and weight, the parent offers a better option for her daughter's time and body, while also spending time with the child. This is teaching by example. Be careful not to miss these small teaching moments! You can teach your children what real beauty is by letting them see your own priorities.

What do you have to say about this issue? How do you teach--or plan to teach--real beauty to your children?

Saturday Snapshot: So Very True

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." - G.K. Chesterton

Compassion

I came across this article over at Kirtsy the other day and wanted to pass it along. It's about the U.S. under-17 girl's soccer team playing in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). They were going to be playing against a team from Haiti shortly after the earthquake had occurred there. They realized they would be playing against girls who were devastated, emotionally and physically. Instead of strategizing and focusing on how to win, they went to work gathering supplies to give to the Haitian team when they met in Costa Rica. When the U.S. won their game against Haiti, they comforted the other team as they dealt with the overwhelming emotion of their situations.

Abby Wambach, who plays on the U.S. women's national team, wrote to the girls saying, "It is rare to have moments like that show up, but even more rare to actually do the right thing when they arise. It takes people who think outside of themselves to do what you all did. I believe it truly shows one's character. And to do it in the way you did was simply one of the most gracious things I've seen in a long time."

So, I admit, this article made me cry, but I am a cryer. Episodes of Little Bill on Nick Jr. make me cry. This story is touching. I know there are countless stories out there of people who were willing to spend their time and effort and money to help people in Haiti, as well as people in other parts of the world who are suffering, but it is refreshing and comforting to hear about teenagers who are working to help. Teenagers get all grouped together as being lazy or self-centered or spoiled or whatever, but there are those who are more concerned with the needs of others and who are stepping forward to show compassion and be an example to everyone. I love hearing about those teenagers. I especially love this story because these teenage girls didn't just decide to do this one day in school, they did it during a sports competition and they did it without the urging of any adult or outside influence.

Think Before You Type (Or: Be Kind Part 2)

So . . . I'm sure you're all aware that some political things happened this week. Political things and other polarizing things happen often, and we're not here to talk about them here. We are going to talk about Facebook.

Yesterday I watched a lot of conversations develop on my Facebook newsfeed. Many of them were not nice. Some of them had elements that were barely human. People were screaming at each other (figuratively, although I suppose it could have been literally as well - who's to know when the conversation is virtual?) about things that had very little to do with who the individuals involved were, and everything to do with their opinion about one political issue. I'd like to say I couldn't believe it, but I've seen it before. It just never fails to make me feel sick to my stomach.

The biggest issue for me is actually this: I hate it when people forget it's okay for someone to have a different opinion than they do. It doesn't make them bad people. It doesn't even necessarily (gasp!) make them wrong. It would be nice if it made them a nice counterpoint for your viewpoint so that you could both understand an issue better from both sides, and when people can remember that not everything has to be about who wins and who loses, sometimes those really great conversations happen and everyone comes out with a better understanding. It's just that so often - too often - it's much too easy to boil everything down to "I'm right, you're wrong, and what's more, you are a bad person for being wrong." And at that point, all conversation and learning stops and it's all just rage and hurt feelings. No one convinces anyone of anything when they are shouting at them - in person or virtually.

But I think the scariest part about the way we function on Facebook or blogs or Twitter is the way people can forget that the name and picture (or even worse, the disembodied text) they are responding to is a person - and not just a random stranger, but a friend. (Unless you're one of those people who actually talks to those random people you add on Facebook after you meet them once. You know who you are. Winky face.) I'm almost sure that about 80% of the really angry things people were saying wouldn't have been said if the conversations were happening face to face. Because the conversations happened online, they said completely hideous things to each other without feeling a twinge.

Bottom line: hate is not lovely. Cowardly hate on the Internet is even less lovely. It's easy to fall into the trap, but standing up for what you believe in and attacking the people who don't believe it are not the same. Be courteous. Be kind. But most of all, be aware of the fact that just because the person isn't in front of you doesn't mean their reaction isn't going to be real.

Guest Post: Happy Moments

Krissie is yet another former roommate of ours. I have known her since she was a frightened 11 year old moving into a new place and have shared so many happy times with her that I can't remember them all. She and her new husband, Barry, live in Woods Cross, Utah where they work and play and do all those wonderfully sappy things newlyweds do. Krissie sent us this post as a reply to our "Happiness is..." posts and I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

I guess the thing that I will post is what has made me the happiest recently. I can't send in the thousand images that make me smile or feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but I can send the one that makes me the happiest right now.

I remember pieces of wedding planning and things I thought were important. I dreamed of a wedding that was elaborate and beautiful. A church filled with family and friends. I remember sitting in my boyfriend's car one night and asking him what kind of wedding he wished for. All he could manage to say was one that made me his wife.

When our wedding day arrived, I sat on the steps at Temple Square in Salt Lake City with my husband and all my family, new and old, and I felt like I could glow with all the happiness that I felt inside (kind of like Yvaine from Stardust. How interesting would it be if people actually did glow when they were in love? A lot more ladies would be a lot less single, that is for sure). Aside from the happiness I felt in that moment, I remembered all the moments that led up to being there, with him, and how, for the first time, I felt just fine to be me. The girl that loved him.

Obviously, there are many things that make me happy. But I am a believer in moments that culminate to one perfectly happy moment. I know that everyone says that getting married was the best day of their lives. And, you know, that is true for most people. Not necessarily
because they married the man of their dreams (although that is a huge factor), but because for one moment they are sure of themselves and of who they are. And for the rest of your life, you go back to that moment in your head when you knew that you were everything you ever wanted to be and that was, finally, more than enough.

So, these things make me happy. A bright warm afternoon with me looking fantastic and feeling even better. A man who is better then anything I could dream of because he is real and I got to pick him for myself. All of my siblings gathered around me looking like little versions of my parents, laughing and joking and smiling. A life that finally made me feel like I had done everything right. And this moment:

Live In The Now

The weather has been great lately and I realize that it's so much easier to get up and out the door. Everything is better when the sun is out and the day is cool and breezy. So, I was driving to work and heard the lyrics, "It's time I forget the past and just learn to love what I have," and that got me thinking. I've been dwelling a lot lately. Not so much moping about how things are or regretting things I have done or wishing for things to be different, but dwelling on how certain things used to be.

My social situation is not ideal. My work situation is not ideal. My living situation is not ideal. None of those things are what I hoped they would be at this point in my life, but that doesn't mean they are bad. I have a friends, old and new, that I can talk to whenever I need them. I (finally) have a job that is paying me well and that I enjoy going to every day. I live with family and I get cuddles from my nephews anytime I want them. There are things in my life, right now, that are wonderful. Dwelling on the past only makes those things seem less wonderful and puts me in a bad mood.

And, here's the truth of it, I don't want to be back where I was. I've been there. I left those places and situations for a reason. Yes, I loved always having someone to go do something with whenever I felt like it. Yes, I loved the freedom of living on my own. Yes, I miss a lot about those times and people and situations. But why should that mean I am less happy with my current times and people and situations? The past should enhance our present and if it doesn't, then there's no point in dwelling on it.

I guess the point of this ramble of a blog post is that we should look around and enjoy what we have right now. Love the place where you live and the people that are around you. You never know when things will change and regret is one of the most unlovely things in this world. You don't want to get so caught up thinking about how things used to be that you forget to see how things are.

Saturday Snapshot: Anybody Else Have a Blogging Partner?

Sometimes I blog with a partner. He may not write so good (or, you know, at all) but he sure is cute.

I Might As Well Be Comfortable.

Have any of you seen this episode of Seinfeld?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Hbu4Z4pGI

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I think of this every single time I wear sweatpants or pajama bottoms outside of my house. Also, I'm confessing to the internets that I am a person who wears sweatpants or pajama bottoms outside of my house. At least now I make sure they match whatever shirt I'm wearing.

The thing is, I have felt like this a lot lately. Maybe it's the cold, rainy days or because I had a cold or whatever, the reason doesn't really matter. I've been wanting to lounge around. I wear yoga pants to work most of the week and I justify it by saying it's okay because I'm a nanny and yoga pants are so much easier, but it really is just a justification. I need to suck it up and wear real clothes.

The good part is that, outside of work, I have been ignoring my desire to lounge and have instead been going and doing things. I've been getting ready and going out and telling myself I look cute (even when I severely doubt my own judgment) and it's been fun. Crazy how that works, huh?

I guess I tend to let myself forget about the message I'm sending out to the world with my appearance. Wearing sweatpants is kind of like telling everyone you've given up on life...either that or you are just too stinking tired to worry about putting on a pair of jeans and a cute shirt. When you do put that time into how you look, though, it helps. People will be able to see how you feel about yourself and will treat you in kind.

Of course, this probably still won't keep me from wearing my yoga pants to work, but I'm okay with that.

Stealing Second

“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first base.” — Frederick Wilcox

More Happiness Is...

I loved Miri's post yesterday. I had also seen the Lays ad on Hulu and thought this was a great idea.

I would like to take it one step further, though, and suggest that if you would like to submit a photo here to the blog, please do! Email us your photos of whatever makes you happy and lovely (beinglovelyblog @ gmail . com). We will compile them into a post and share them with your fellow Lovely Readers. Also, if you follow us on Facebook, feel free to post those happy photos (with captions) on our Fan Page! I, for one, would love to see your beautiful faces!

Make sure to include a caption with the picture. What is happiness to you?


There are many, many things and people that make my life happy, but today it's this girl:

I love my family. During my roughest moments, without even knowing it, my nephews and my niece remind me to be happy and remind me that I am loved, no matter what.

Happiness Is...

Check out The Happiness Exhibit, sponsored by Lays. People send in photos of what happiness is to them, and they're posted on the website. I love the idea of a national happiness exhibit, even if it is sponsored by potato chips! I just saw the ad on Hulu and a Lovely Blog light bulb went off in my head.

To me, happiness is family and friends and seeing yourself become the person you want to be. It's hugs and smiles from babies, seeing children reading a book instead of watching TV, making or accomplishing something that was hard for you, eating a big dinner with all your family talking and laughing over each other, finding out that someone thought something nice about you, knowing that you've made someone's day a little better, feeling loved and supported when you're having a hard time.


We can't post pictures in the comments here, so just give us a verbal submission (or as many as you want!) instead.

What is happiness to you?

Saturday Snapshot: Work It

(brought to you by Unrelated Captions)

International Women's Day

...was this past Monday. Yes, we missed it. But we want to recognize it anyway, because celebrating women is always something we're on board with.

There's a website to tell you all about International Women's Day, including a slideshow of Reuters pictures from that day around the world.

And, 11 Women who are Changing the World, including people like Nujood Ali, who was forced to marry when she was ten years old and managed to get a divorce; Somaly Mam, who was sold into sex slavery as a child and has started a foundation to end human trafficking and slavery; and Marie C. Wilson, who's working to get women more involved in politics.

Women don't have to be international figures to be influential. Do you know any women who are changing the world?

A Post About Disney Princesses: Inevitable

Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors and it's totally because she's all about the girl power. Her books are about strong, smart girls who rescue themselves (and usually the boys as well). I try to pick a favorite book of hers to recommend to people, but I can never pick just one and end up just telling people to read them all.

So, she posted this post on her blog the other day and, coincidentally, I have been thinking a lot about the Disney Princesses lately. Possibly because I spend a good portion of my day coloring and drawing Disney Princesses to the delight of the 6-year-old girl I babysit. I've been staring at these characters and started to really think about who they are and what they represent. They are all different ages and from different places and situations. They all (except for Snow White, she's just trying to not get killed) are rebelling against/asserting their independence from another main character; a step-mother, father, fairy caretaker, etc. They all end up with a handsome prince who comes and saves the day just in the nick of time.

Don't get me wrong, I love all of those movies (Sleeping Beauty especially, and it's one of the worst offenders of feminism). They are like romantic comedies for children. You watch and you dream of ways life could be or adventures that await you in some far off land. I think it's good to do those things. There's often talk about Disney movies instilling unreal expectations for life, but they really just tell some funny, exciting and beautiful stories. Also, Disney is doing a pretty good job, story-wise, in offering new princesses that learn to fend for themselves, save the day, achieve their dreams AND marry a handsome prince, Giselle and Tiana specifically. If you remember, Giselle climbs out onto a steep rooftop in an evening gown in the middle of a rainstorm to fight a dragon and save the life of her true love.

Still, with these small steps in a good direction, there is the notion of catering to an audience and making changes in order to sell more tickets to a wider audience. This isn't something that can be avoided, really, but it can be lessened (as Shannon Hale remarks). It's all about what we are showing our boys and girls. I know plenty of little boys who like princess stuff purely because it's the stuff their friends and sisters are playing with. On the other hand, I know plenty of girls who like dinosaurs and trains and cars because it's the stuff their friends and brothers are playing with. It's all fun and new and exciting. Kids develop their gender issues based on what they are taught by the world around them. And boys are not going to be fooled into going to see the new Rapunzel movie simply because the name was changed to "Tangled." That sounds more like a Harlequin Romance novel, if you ask me.

Make Love Your Motive

A combination of too much Doctor Who this week, several recent church meetings and Facebook chat sessions, some sushi lunches with a friend of mine who calls me his dating advisor, and some pent up ideas from the last three years of my life have culminated in my thinking some really deep thoughts about love. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well those ideas are going to come across for people who haven't experienced this particular combination of events. I'm asking those of you not on a Doctor Who bender to please, bear with me.

Hopefully you won't finish this post and feel like this.

I do this weird thing where I latch on to random moments in my life and build all of my personal philosophies around them. For example, about three years ago I was in this leadership meeting, and someone said, "What if the only question you had to answer when your life was over was "Did you learn to love?'" (This wasn't romantic love we were talking about - just your everyday "love thy neighbor" sort.) This really struck a chord with me. I remember thinking about it a few months later when I was discovering that sometimes loving people that way can be really hard - even painful. It's not like you can just resort to a breakup when it's a friend instead of a boyfriend, especially when that person really needs you to keep loving them.

Then one night when I was talking to a friend about some of my concerns and guilt about not knowing how to keep loving this person, he said, "Maybe that's what real love is - loving someone even when it's hard and you don't think you can. Maybe that's what makes your ability to love grow."

So I had these two thoughts floating around - what if learning to love were all that mattered, and what if the way to learn was to keep loving, especially when it's hard? And I wasn't entirely sure that either of these ideas were really viable, but they helped me to figure out how to respond to my life at the time, and then I just filed them away for a little while and didn't think about them.

Then on Sunday, I was in a church meeting and my friend Kristen was giving a talk. There was a lot of great stuff about Nancy Drew and jazz music, but the part that really got to me was when she said that at some point in her life, she decided to make love her motive for whatever she did. She worked at it for several months, always responding to hard situations involving other people by thinking, "Love is my motive. Love is my motive." Then one day there was an accident and her brother dropped a crash cymbal on her guitar and broke it - and instead of being upset about the guitar, her first thought was for him and the way he'd be feeling, and she responded to him instead of to the damage to her guitar.

I remembered those ideas about love that I'd had, and suddenly (in light of this new information) everything became new and applied to my life now and to all of those love-related ideas I'd been mulling over while watching Doctor Who and eating sushi and chatting on Facebook. Loving is important - maybe the most important thing I can learn to do. Continuing to love when it's hard increases my capacity to love. Loving is a skill I can acquire with practice.


And then I thought, "Isn't it amazing how these ideas still work for me now, even though my concerns about loving people are different now? They're so adaptable! They can apply to all different kinds of love - even the kinds I don't know about yet!"

But of course they are - because love is adaptable. You can apply love to anyone and anything - and with love as your motive, how far off can your actions be? It just takes a little practice.

Just a Friendly Reminder

(Get it here. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=42144422)

Media Moment: Tina Fey

I had a thought recently about how often we talk about the media and how it portrays women or how it tells us this or that about how or what we should be. It seems a little unfair to make such a huge generalization when there are people out there in the media that are showing us how to be strong, smart AND pretty and telling us that, not only is it okay, it's better.

So I thought and thought about how to approach this topic and, while trying to make a list of movies, TV shows, actresses, books, etc. that exemplify what I'm getting at, I found Tina Fey.

I kind of have a little crush on Tina Fey. I don't think I'm alone here...at least I hope I'm not alone here. It's more like I have respect for her and what she does. She's successful and funny and a hard-working mother. She's pretty, but in a normal person kind of way.

Tina Fey recently did a cover and article for Vogue. She talks a lot about fashion (because it's Vogue), but it's refreshingly normal and down-to-earth. She's not one of those supermodels who talk about how awkward and ugly they were when they were young - you don't want to groan and roll your eyes and refuse sympathy. She is incredibly easy to relate to because she is a normal woman. They even talk about her normalcy throughout the article - growing up with hand-me-downs, being curvy, being a mother. Instead of rambling on more (and further embarrassing myself with my newly confessed girl crush), here are a few quotes from the article:

A friend of [the interviewer's] recently said this: "Her existence is such a relief." By which she meant that women of a certain age who are cool, funny, and smart but who are by no means fabulous—who are in fact befuddled by much of what passes for fabulous these days—are relieved to see Fey celebrated as such. When I share this with Fey, she says in the most sincere tone imaginable, "That is such a lovely thing to say." She thinks it over for only a second. "I feel like I represent normalcy in some way. What are your choices today in entertainment? People either represent youth, power, or sexuality. And then there's me, carrying normalcy." Pause. "Me and Rachael Ray."

Tom Broecker (costume designer for SNL and 30 Rock) says, "She has subtly changed what women look like on a weird level: the acceptance of the dark-haired girl, the acceptance of the sexy librarian, the girl with the glasses who's smart but can be pretty."

And, funny enough, she talks about fashion magazines and their skinny campaign:

"People will say, 'Oh, fashion magazines are so bad, they're giving girls a negative message'—but we're also the fattest country in the world, so it's not like we're all looking at fashion magazines and not eating. Maybe it just starts a shame cycle: I'm never going to look like that model, so…Chicken McNuggets it is! And conversely, I don't look at models who are crazy skinny and think I want to look like that, because a lot of them are gigantic, with giant hands and feet. Also, my dad is an artist—a painter by hobby—and I constantly would see realistic nudes. Because we were raised around art and went to museums and the women I grew up around were curvy…there wasn't this value on skinny, skinny, skinny. Curvy was clearly meant to be the winner. I go up and down a few pounds with a relative amount of kindness to myself. And I have a daughter, and I don't want her to waste her time on all of that."


http://www.vogue.com/include/vogue/voguediaries/2010_March_Vogue_Cover_Girl_Tina_Fey/player.html

Saturday Snapshot: Spring has Sprung!

This may be over a year old and there may still be piles of snow melting all over the place, but I'm choosing to ignore those things and think of the happy, sunny days that are just around the corner.

Loveliness on the Red Carpet

Students at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders made this video, which I saw this morning on the news, wishing Sandra Bullock good luck at the 2010 Academy Awards. The school posted the video on YouTube, with this text:

Sandra Bullock was a founding member of the Ann Richards School Advisory Board and an early supporter of the school. Students created this video to wish Sandra good luck at the 2010 Academy Awards, where she is nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Blind Side. Bullock's character in the film is instrumental in giving a young man an educational opportunity, and the Ann Richards School sees Bullock as equally instrumental in helping provide girls with a college preparatory education. The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, Texas, is a public college preparatory school for girls grades 6-12, founded to give young women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds the skills and confidence necessary to pursue college educations and careers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L05eVory8Ys

I will be honest with you: I haven't actually seen The Blind Side. I saw a trailer for it several months ago while seeing a different movie, and--I hate to confess it--the preview made me cry. Enough, in fact, that I have been putting off seeing it all this time. But the Oscars and the movie aside, I want to say how happy it makes me when people who have the means get involved in education. There are few things more important than giving kids all the opportunities they can get, and it is really wonderful to see people care about that.

Be Imperfect

You are not a walking mistake.
You are not a problem to be solved.

--Adyashanti

With all our talk about improving ourselves and becoming lovely, we want to make sure that we don't get carried away with the renovations. The point to remember is that change is the natural way of things--there will always be things about you that you feel you need to improve. That doesn't mean that there's something wrong with you. (You get dirty every day, and then you have to shower, but you don't feel bad about yourself for needing the shower to get clean again.) Before you can really make any changes, you have to accept yourself where you are, and be able to see your imperfections without hating yourself for them.


(Image source: Allison Reynolds)

All it Takes is Faith and Trust...

Maybe I watched Finding Neverland this weekend and maybe I cried in a room full of people, but I don't feel too bad about it. It made me think of this quote Megan has been toying around with from e.e. cummings:

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

One of my favorite parts in Finding Neverland is when J.M. Barrie (the author of Peter Pan) is talking to George, the oldest of the four boys in the movie. George has just realized that his mother is seriously ill and J.M. Barrie says, "Magnificent. The boy is gone. In the last 30 seconds... you became a grown-up." It seems like a sad and random part to like, but I like it all the same.

It really is easy to see such a change in a person if you are really looking. It's sad and wonderful and it's like seeing into the future. You can see a person gathering their courage before taking that final leap. You can see where that leap might take them based on the decision they are making. Most importantly, if you are paying attention, you can be aware of when this change happens to you. I think it can happen several times throughout your life. We aren't limited to one try at becoming a grown-up or at becoming who we really are (thank goodness). We have endless opportunities to take the courage to grow up a little more each day and that is what will help us become the lovely people we are meant to be.

Annilygreen on Etsy

This blog won't typically be a place where you are inundated with posts about buying things, but this is an occasion to help out and encourage a Lovely Reader and I love it when that happens.

I'm in love with the close-up shots of her pillows, too. I would frame that.

Annie and I are constantly talking about the state of our Etsy shops, but Annie has finally really got hers up and running and it is wonderful (check it out at annilygreen on etsy). I'm a sucker for pillows anyway, but she makes beautiful and unique pillows AND she gives them clever names. I'm a double sucker for pillows with clever names. In fact, I've been stalking her pillows since she posted them (one in particular, but I'm not telling which because I don't want someone to get it before I can). She also makes great little baggies.


And now to the real point. Annie was just accepted to be a vendor at The Beehive Bazaar, but the cost of participation is high and the deadline is approaching quickly. We are not asking for donations, just helping with some advertising in the hopes that someone out there will like what they see over at annilygreen* and buy a pillow or some baggies. Maybe you are even in the midst of a search for a great pillow for your couch! I am always in the midst of a search for a pillow to put somewhere...even though I already own far too many pillows. Either way, your search ends here! Check out the pillows and help a sister out! That's what we're here for, right?

This one is made from a jacket from a thrift store! How can you not love that?!

*She does custom orders, people! Don't see anything up there in the colors you love? Just give her a shout and she will hook you up.

Constantly Trying to Figure Things Out

Of the three writers of this blog, I am not usually the one who knows what has been happening on NPR, but there's a first time for everything!

"Can you tell your life story in exactly six words?"

It's a short story about six-word memoirs and the book, It All Changed in an Instant. It isn't easy coming up with just six words that encompass your whole life. Do you go funny or serious? Do you try to focus on one defining moment or event in your life or keep it general? It feels like you shouldn't have to think about it so much. It's just six words, right? Easy.

Or not. It's six words that tell your life story. Maybe I'm just over dramatic. Either way, I'd love if you Lovely Readers tried it out and shared your six-word memoir with us.