seeking inspiration · before i die

a few months ago, i came across this beautiful blog:

http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

 

photo: Candy Chang

 

read it. the whole thing. it's uber·inspiring

 

so this week, i was super excited to see a local edition right down the street from my apartment!

 

it's in the early stages - not much filled in yet. and what has been filled in so far is a tad-bit juvenile. (to be expected?)

 

but, nevertheless, we quickly went over to check it out.

and to add our own responses.

 

talk about pressure! it was much harder than i thought to determine one thing i want to do before i die.

(cut to me. orange chalk in hand. staring at wall for five full minutes.)

 

christina was much less troubled and added her response right away.

 

 

 

after 5 minutes, and not narrowing my lofty life goal to one thing, i instead pulled inspiration from another answer on the board.

 



welp. inspiration can come from the most unlikely places.

 

(ok, ok. i know i'll need to go back to add a better answer. i'm still thinking!)

 

be you

did you hear?

there's an active player in the nba who just told all of us that he's gay!

woot! wait...

first of all: jason collins. congratulations. what a beautiful time for you! no need to hide this part of your life. no more worrying about your secret slipping out. i can't imagine the relief you must feel. but i bet it's been a wonderful release.

i wish you all happiness upon happiness.

so this is breaking news, huh? for professional sports, i guess.

wait, scratch that.

this is big news for MEN's professional sports. 

brittney griner, who just finished her incredible college career and starts her first summer in the WNBA this year, just came out a few weeks ago. and we read the news and thought: yeah. so?

so what's the deal? why is it such a big deal in men's basketball and football for a man to be gay? i honestly don't get it.

i played basketball from 2nd grade through college. many of the friends i played with in middle school and high school, later came out in our college years. easily half of my college teammates were lesbians. and so what? 

i didn't feel any different about them because of who they were attracted to. (they didn't judge me for being attracted to guys...especially all those fresh prince lookalikes!)

this morning, i heard a guy on espn say something along the lines of the locker rooms not being ready for openly gay players.

really?

REALLY?

wow.

i wasn't so cocky to think that, because my teammates were attracted to women, they all were checking me out in the locker room. hey, i'm not attracted to every man i see, regardless if he has his shirt off or on. but apparently gay men and women are attracted to every single member of their gender? RIDICULOUS.

way to go, jason. way to be open and give yourself a chance to be comfortable in your own skin. but way to go anyone who can be honest with their friends and family about their life.

be you. be proud. be happy.

and for the rest of you that have odd assumptions about people because of their life choices? go be educated.

oh, and get over yourself. you're probably not as hot as you think you are. 

(unless you look like the fresh prince. then you definitely are.)

friday find · red dress part deux

the sun has come back out and spring has officially sprung in seattle!

which MEANS...

boots are heading to storage for their season of hibernation!

remember this dress?

i rocked it on a recent bike ride with the bro bro and thought i'd share the springtime and active version of this thrifted score.  plus any chance i get to show off my very talented brother is an opportunity i can't miss!

he doesn't just ride bikes. he levitates. 

a few close up details...

 i swear it's coincidence that my nails perfectly matched my dress!

kinda proud that i pulled off a sock bun without said sock! (love my curly hair!)

muse · coffee creations

i love instagram as much as the next girl.

ig: jpotmont (#followme #illfollowyou!)

 

but i'll never get the food pictures.

my instagram buds hashtag the crap outta their photos.

(i mean #foodporn, really?? that's a thing?)

 

and i'll have one of two reactions:

"ugh..now i'm hungry!" <-- this is typical.

or

"ew. why would you eat that?" <-- seriously. EWW to some of you.

 

lucky for me, i don't drink much coffee. because the seattle-area baristas are killing it with their coffee art! and were i to be a coffee drinker, i would likely instagram coffee shots every day. instagram shots...not espresso shots. (courtesy snicker please.)

the only food pics i've posted on instagram are me with a 5 lb. bag of mini-marshmallows (totally forgivable right?!) and a variety of pretty little drinks I snapped before consuming. (maybe less forgivable.)

that is until we met Cupcake Royale's very own SAMI!

and SAMI caught me a unicorn.

 espresso shot is pulled. (that's what they say in the barista biz, right?)

 steamed milk is poured.
 

 poky stick is in hand...

btw, your sleeve is killer, sami!

 ta-da!! 

oh and she does dinosaurs too.

hot damn!!

go see her at the ballard shop - she says she'll take special requests!

seeking inspiration · my GREAT grandma

nearly 103.

that's how many years God gave us to enjoy my great-grandma before he brought her home on March 28th. 

her birthday would be next month.

my wonderful great-grandma THELMA had a quick tongue and an opinion on everything. everything.

this is the grandma who patted my hand approvingly when i was younger as i drank a big glass of ice water. she smiled: 
"you like ice water too? that's my girl." 
yup. me and grandma like water! (lol)

this is the grandma who shook her head at me disapprovingly when she found out i wasn't registering for fine china. shocked: 
"you're not picking a pattern for your formal china?!"
yeah, my hubby and i are 'day-to-day china' people, aka the casual dinnerware!

this is the grandma who, just a few weeks ago, lusted over my cousin's 5-inch wedge boots. without a hint of irony: 
"ooh if I were 20 years younger I would snatch those right off your feet!" 
because all the 82-year-olds are wearing them, right?

this is the grandma who, when asked what she wanted to drink with meals, would never miss a beat:
"I'll have a bit of bourbon."
bourbon and ginger ale or bourbon and sprite - that was her drink!

in the end, grandma told us not to feel sorry for her...she told us to feel happy. so we spent this past weekend, as a family, celebrating her long, beautiful life.
we poured ourselves bourbon and ginger ales...and i took deep breaths after every drink. (hey, i'm a spiced rum and flavored vodka kind of girl. at least grandma and i both loved that water!)

she was blessed.

and we were blessed to be a part of that life. 

love you grandma.

you could see her rocking these, right?

friday find · red and a bit of nostalgia

red is my absolute favorite color. 

anything drenched in this hue immediately catches my eye. 

and usually ends up in my home.

seriously.

each room in my home has a million red accent pieces. (although, it's probably not an accent color if nearly every blanket·throw pillow·vase·frame·candle rocks red, right?) it's disgustingly fab.

now that you know this about me, you may not be surprised that my 'thrifting eye' is repeatedly drawn to the hangers offering red surprises.

say hello! to my latest find.

IT'S RED!

oh hey! recognize my necklace?

and this fun little outfit addition was a stocking stuffer from the hubby this past christmas. so this is HIS friday find.

sweetness.

and yes, it's spring now and this look features me still rocking boots and tights... not to worry! i paired this same dress this past weekend in an outfit perfect for 'playing' outside and it was nearly 70 degrees! watch for a bonus friday find this month to see how...

untitled

can i be honest with you real quick?

i mean brutally, almost shockingly honest?

well here goes...

i am not a fan of fashion.

ok ok, that statement doesn't seem so bad. my first tries included words like 'hate', 'abhor', 'disgusted' but those seemed a bit harsh.

truth is, i had a defining moment the other week. during a group dinner the question was posed: "if you won the lottery, what would you do?" then one-by-one, we went around the table with our answers. one of the women four seats before me stated:

i would buy a house in Paris, Milan and New York and spend my days being a fashion blogger.

and my first reaction: 'ugh. i wouldn't!' (in my head of course)

not the expected response from someone who just spent a solid year building this blog, huh?

so i considered this for the next few days and came to a conclusion:

it's not amazing fashion that i seek out every day.

instead, i keep my eyes peeled for the people rocking bright colors, bold colors, wearing anything unusual and cool, dressing in a way that accentuates their amazingness. yup, amazingness.
really, i'm on the lookout for genuine bits of inspiration. and these can come in the form of personal style or artistic displays, even cityscapes.

so this is my blog. it's not a fashion blog. maybe it's a style blog? maybe.

but it's here to inspire. or at least here for me to chronicle the things that inspire me.

style and inspiration blog? ok sure.

WELCOME.

not always totally sure where i'm going. but i'm part-way there.