Motivation for designer-friends

I really love Elitivia's work. I am constantly checking their blog space and their webpage to see if they've added work. Hey mom, what if I moved to australia to work for them? It's a tad further than California... only 15 hours more by plane. Yikes!

Check this post my designer-friends by Elitivia.

Happy Friday

Start your weekend with this happy little video from OH JOY.

 THANK YOU, Joy!

Are you looking for yourself?

A friend sent me this link the other day; 25 things do to before you turn 25

It's quite inspiring. I love reading things like that and Thought Catalog seems to be filled with them. I began to poke around and I found this piece;

Where you will find yourself by Chelsea Fagan

One day, my friend told me that she was moving to South America because she felt like, whatever she was meant to become, she wasn’t going to become it here. (Here was Washington, DC, and for what it’s worth, I feel like DC seems pretty big and “discovery-ready” for many people. It was for me at the time, anyway.) There’s always a certain air of pretentiousness, of privilege, surrounding blanket statements like that. We were having coffee in a city I had long dreamed of coming to, and she couldn’t wait to shed it off of her like a molting snake. I suddenly felt embarrassed over being so excited about DC, like it was only a stepping stone when she was moving onto The Real Thing.

She came back two years later. She was tanner, and thinner, and had longer hair. From what I could tell, though, she was pretty much the same. She seemed content, and to have found what she was looking for. As long as she got something out of it, that’s what matters.

We are told to look for ourselves, and the things that we are supposed to do as though we are going to find them under a certain rock on a certain street in a certain city. There are people who spend years traveling around, uprooting themselves any time they feel their heels digging into the dirt, looking for a fresh start to appease the sense of itchy restlessness that accompanies a stagnant zip code. Aside from the initial questions about financial logistics that a life of wandering conjures, one wonders what can really be constructed when you are constantly saving up for your next ticket out. “Go find yourself” is an appealing question only when you have the means and the time to be constantly looking.

One can hope to find a safety net, I think. If you find the ability to stretch out in all directions and make mistakes and meet new people, I think you’ve found something exciting. On my first birthday upon arriving in France, I’d only been here for a few weeks. I thought I would be spending it alone, maybe going to dinner with one friend if I was lucky. As it turned out, a half-dozen of the people I had known from my previous visit to the city had gotten together to celebrate with me in some of their favorite bars they wanted to show me. Some of them even brought gifts. I think I cried that night. I’d never felt so lucky, so safe. It became apparent that what was most important to me when I was going across the world to find myself was to find people who cared about me, to find a home, just like the one I already had. If you can find that sense of home in a new place, maybe you can start to find yourself.

But we are everywhere. Even though we left every city we used to be in, we were there, too. And even the places you were the most exhausted with in the moment are transformed into something nostalgic, even magical, when you get enough distance on it. You see the same people, the same bars, the same streets long enough, and all you want to do is get away to “find” yourself somewhere new. But you leave, and then you think about those friends and those bars and they all seem so wonderful — maybe because they belonged to a different version of “you” that you weren’t even aware you had.

It is so important to take those moments every day to stop, breathe slowly, and look around at what you have. Because even if you want to get on the next plane out of the country to find a better future, there is something significant around you right now. You are finding yourself in this restaurant, in that park, in this crappy little apartment. You are finding yourself in the wrong person’s bed after a long night. You are finding yourself waiting for the metro on the same route you’ve taken to work for the past seven months. And even if it takes moments of significant beauty — like those people who got together to make my first birthday here special — to make us notice it, we are always living it. There is always a part of us which is growing, which is learning something new, which is taking something for granted.

I asked my friend what she found in South America. “A lot of stuff,” she said. “But I kind of missed DC sometimes.” I think the city missed her, too. She needed to go and find something, and it’s good that she went, but she’ll never be the precise person she was when we knew each other in DC again. I hope the person that she found in South America was better, and more mature, and ready to learn even more things about life. But I hope that person — the one she became — is able to understand that the person she used to be was just wonderful the way she was, too.

Beautiful, well written, and thought provoking.

 I've never thought of my travels as necessarily finding myself, more so as discovering the world and what it has to offer me. Is that, when put in simpler terms, finding myself? Could it be that "defining my role in this world" (as I said in yesterday's post), unambiguously finding myself. Maybe it is... Does that mean I should just be? We are taught to be go-getters, but should we occasionally just let things happen? For now, I am telling myself to stop stressing about my next move, future job searching, and portfolio revamping. I love Columbus and the friends and family I have here, but there are other places I want to live and other jobs I'd like to try my hand at. As for today, I just need to be grateful for where I am and who I am. I can stress about that other stuff when the time comes. Whether that be next week or next year.

The Great Bday

This past weekend, a co-worker had a Great Gatsby themed birthday party. Have I mentioned that I LOVE themed parties!? Oh yeah; I do. It was so much fun! So well decorated too. Yep, that's Catie in the blonde wig, she visited for the occasion!

Oh, and surprise, surprise! I got a new tattoo on Saturday :) A lotus flower. Symbolizing compassion, beauty, purity, and wisdom. And, I just really love lotus flowers!

Ever wonder where my blog banner came from? My first tattoo! I got it a year after studying abroad in Italy (so 2 years ago now). "Il mio viaggio" is Italian for my journey. It reminds me to be selfish occasionally and do some things for myself, to travel, to take-in the world (as much as I can), and define myself in this crazy life!

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! Columbus has been celebrating all month, as I'm sure some of your cities have been as well! I sadly have not done anything thus far to celebrate, so that needs to change. I found out that Nutur Salon is offering cuts, facials and other treatments for a minimum donation of $20; your donation will benefit the Sierra Club's Central Ohio Clean Water Campaign. Sounds good to me :) I also should get started on my garden before Earth month is over, but... I'm moving! Erin and I are adding a third into the mix, Courtney! We signed on a lovely little house in Grandview. It's not far from where I live now and we move in June! Sooo much more space for gardening; veggies & flowers! Oh, and we have a front porch swing and back deck... I will be very content. Bring on the sunshine and fancy cocktails!

{ disclaimer: no, ohio is not all farm & fields. but this is really beautiful and I wanted to share }

Friday Fun

I stumbled upon Tanamachi Studio, a design studio that specializes in custom typography & lettering! Most of what I looked at was done in chalk. Sooo cool! I would be so bummed to wash that off! Check out the time lapse videos { here }.

 { photos from their site }

Wrapp, the App!

This little App is really fun and convenient! You gift $5 to friends or family... for free! You can also chose to purchase an amount higher than that and send it along via text, email, or facebook. So don't forget anyone's birthday this year :) you can send a $5 credit for their favorite store.

Hey. Now they're offering VS stuff. Even better!

Oh. And, you don't even have to download the app on your phone, you can just join with your facebook! {WRAPP}

Real Beauty

This short video for DOVE will most definitely give you the chills.

{Real Beauty Campaign: DOVE}

It's strange that the way another person describes you can lend to be much more truthful than your own, physical description of yourself. Yes, most of us note the negatives we see; wrinkles and all. But if you had to describe a friend or a loved one, are those the things that come to mind if you were to provide a physical description?

Self-confidence is certainly hard to come by and achieve in ourselves. There are many things about myself I would change with my magic wand (( if I had one that is... )) but I think I need to try on someone else's shoes for a moment and instead of pointing out the inevitable flaws, find the little things that make me special. 

What makes you undeniably you?

Updates

Jackie, why have you been so terrible about blogging lately? 

(( long pause )) I suppose I've just been busy. 

Too busy? Too busy for a 5 minute post now and again?!

 True. At least once a week I've got 5 minutes to spare and work hasn't been busy...

 So post something!

Just a small monologue that went on in my head today when I thought about blogging. 

I think I hit that bridge that I thought "Why blog? My writing is average, at best, and my photos are awesome only half the time. I'm not a fashion blogger, posting about my outfits and inspiring others and creating trends. So, why?" I can only assume most bloggers come across these thoughts at some point, right? Then, I looked at one of my very favorite blogs for some inspiration, Bleubird, and was thinking how beautiful her kids and how I feel like I'm watching the youngest one, Sailor, grow up! What fun to look back on those posts when he is a grown man, maybe showing a girlfriend or fiancé funny and adorable pictures of himself. It dawned on me, that some bloggers just enjoy the documentation of it. Duh, Jackie. Isn't that the reason you started this little blog? I wanted to document my adventures, things that inspire me, and things that get me down. I wanted to share stories, things I love, etc. A little bit of anything and everything that I came across.

So... some things I would like to document...

1 & 2. I visited my lovely friend, Getzy, in STL for Mardi Gras weekend. Along with other fun activities, we saw the penguin parade. It was just about the cutest thing ever. Of course, they got too close and pecked at my leg, so it freaked me out! But overall, a fantastic weekend!

In other news: Getz is head to Costa Rica for 2 years in the Peace Core :) CONGRATS!

I think she'll need me to visit her at some point... YAY!

3 & 4. I spent my St. Patrick's Day in Cleveland with some great friends.

5. I always love visiting my little brothaa. 

Exactly ONE MONTH before my Spain trip to visit him for his Bday!!!!

6. Erin & I went to the Delta Rae & ZZ Ward concert. FANTASTIC!

We got to meet Liz Hopkins of Delta Rae & we hung out with ZZ Ward's band after the show...

Super cool! They're awesome people.

7 & 8. Spent Easter with my family in Cleveland. And yes, I do still hunt for my Easter basket.

I will never be too old for these things. Love you Ma for your love of all Holidays :)

9. Ryan Bingham concert. Country-Alt. Very good music!

He brought his dog out on stage and had him sit for a while. It was adorable.

10. I made an easter basket for this fella because he poked fun at me for still hunting for one.

And guess what... He loved it!

11. That same fella; He took me to an 80's themed Murder Mystery Party. It was super fun!

Meet Derek. I suppose I should mention he's my boyfriend. Yeaaaah. It's the truth. He's pretty rad.

I'm gonna go ahead and repeat one thing... ONE MONTH 'TIL SPAIN!!!!!!!!