life things

Supporting Fellow Creatives Through the Pandemic

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello friends! 

Day 28 of quarantine… and I know this entire thing is a lot. It’s ok to feel like it’s a lot. Because it it. I wanted to come say hi and remind you that, as the great philosopher Troy Bolton once taught us, we’re all in this together! And we are going to get through it. 

A lot of people are using their mandatory indoor time to learn new skills or make pretty things! Skillshare, Lynda, Youtube and even your favorite artists’ instagram stories are all great resources to learn a new art or craft skill during these ‘stay home’ weeks. What are you making? Is it something you love? I hope you are creating what you need to see and what makes you smile! 

On the flipside, I totally understand not having the energy to learn something new when so many other things need our focus right now. (Or you might not even have all this extra time people speak of!) The most important thing is to take care of yourself. Do all the usuals (drink water, go to bed at a reasonable hour, get some fresh air) and keep in mind, it’s good for your brain to be surrounded by things you are obsessed with. If you have the means, invest in some pretty art for your space to keep you company while you hang out there for a while! 

I am always available to chat via instagram or email! If you have any questions about learning painting, lettering or embroidery, hit me up! I want to support you in your creative endeavors and I’ll do my best to help when I can!

BURST COLLECTION: COMING MAY 1!!

Things – March

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I have a bunch of random things I wanted to share with you, so here’s a quick round up!

LISTENING:
Maren Morris’ new album, GIRL! So good. So jammy. So driving with the windows down-y 🙂 Nate and I saw James Bay a few weeks ago, so I’ve been binging his music because the concert was incredible and I want to pretend that I am back there listening in real life.

READING:
I’m Fine and Neither are You by Camille Pagan, a memoir about motherhood, marriage, friendship & tragedy.

MAKING:
I am experimenting beyond embroidery thread and have been using dyed yarn to make my most recent hoop designs. I want to know what it means for embroidery art to not BE anything. For it not to look like something or have a purpose, but just to exist and make the world look more interesting.

EXPANDING:
My tattoo collection!! Last week I was tattooed by Alicia Thomas, an amazing artist in Boston. She gave me a permanent floral bouquet on my arm and I could not be more obsessed with it!

PLANNING:
A vacation! Nate and I are both turning 30 this year and are planning to take a weekend trip (at some point this year) to celebrate. Most likely sans baby, but we’ll see. We’re thinking Napa (a fave) or somewhere new. Where should we look into? Only prerequisites are warm weather and good food.

GOING:
To the woods. It has been FAR too long since I’ve spent significant time in the woods (for a few years, I was running or walking in the woods 3-4 days a week!!) Now that the weather doesn’t suck 24/7, I am GOING for it. Woods woods woods. It’ll all be walking now, with Julien in tow, but I have a feeling I might be running come fall. We hit up one of our faves last weekend, Rocky Narrows.

That’s all for March! I’ll probably be back in April with another THINGS post. – Stephanie

Am I a blogger again?

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Am I blogging again?! Am I starting a new series? What is all this sudden optimism and enthusiasm about internet sharing? Yeah, clearly it’s been a while, but I really do want to start posting more on here. I think it’s because the only person I talk to for 10 hours a day is a tiny human who can’t talk back, so I need somewhere to spew all my crazy thoughts. SO YAY HERE YOU GO. Let’s start with a weekly recap of my THIRD #InstaOffWeek (where I stay off Instagram for a week. Very creative name, huh.)

It was SO nice out early in the week! I took Julien on two springy walks. I loved & soaked up the warmth and sunshine – but it’s February & nice weather doesn’t last long, so my heart was, as Kacey Musgraves sings about, “happy and sad at the same time”. It leaned a little more towards happy, though, because Julien is totally warming up to the idea of being carried in a carrier and actually seems to like it now. Only took him 4 months!

Instead of watching the Superbowl, I ate chocolate cookies dipped in funfetti frosting AND worked on a colorful hoop with our Wifi password on it. It’s hanging in our kitchen and it feels fancy (it’s not) and I’m obsessed. I’m now out of hoops and since it’s #NoSpendFeb, I needed an alternative, so I started tackling my biggest embroidery project yet… my jean jacket 🙂 Welcome back to 1998!!

Like I mentioned, #NoSpendFeb is in full swing. I’ve been tempted just about every day to check in with Mr. Dunkin and see if my favorite coffee order is still great, BUT I’VE RESISTED. Nate and I have cooked more dinners in the last week than we have probably since Julien was born. (Dear Lord, only you truly know how much I miss Thai takeout.) I’m keeping track of everything I do and don’t spend, and will do a #NoSpendFeb recap when it’s over! (FUN FACT: My besties and I have determined that wine is, in fact, an essential grocery and have allowed ourselves to buy UP TO 2 bottles per grocery trip.)

Other things of note:
– I started a new book, Rock Needs River by Vanessa McGrady, which is about her experience with open adoption.
– I sort of came up with a blogging schedule for this blog AND my biz blog and am hoping to stick with it.
– I took my first embroidery commission! That’s kinda crazy to me.
– I rekindled my love affair with orange juice.
Was that too much?
Ok, bye.
Stephanie

Things – November

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I used to blog about anything and everything, and I miss that. So let’s jam.

ONE WEEK until the Gilmore Girl revival airs!!! I don’t think this needs more commenting. Just all the happy emojis 😍. BUT I solemnly swear that I will not blog about this topic again until at least one month after that air date to ensure there are no spoilers on the internet 😉

Pizza Fridays are kind of a thing:
If ordering pizza for dinner semi-frequently is lazy and unhealthy, then let us be lazy and unhealthy. Mostly-every-other-Friday-pizza is our current favorite tradition and neither of us feel bad about it. Pizza is life. Someone get me a t-shirt.

I’ve been to SOME concerts lately:
Switchfoot and Relient K at the House of Blues was a blast from my 14-17 year old past and they both put on a huge, fun, dance-y party. Seeing Matt Wertz perform his new album Gun Shy was so fun and proved that there’s definitely something right about my eleven year obsession with his music 😉 Pentatonix and Us the Duo are all SO talented and their concert was a bright, encouraging, positive light during the mostly bummer of a week last week (more on that later).

Speaking of music. If you need new music to listen to: 
All those mentioned above plus: Savoir Adore, Jon Bellion, Castro, & ARIZONA, you’re welcome. P.S. Currently hand-crafting my Best of 2016 song list and I CAN’T WAIT to share it with you in December.

img_6944

If you need new *Christmas* music to listen to: Got you covered with that, too. Click THIS. (It’s the new Pentatonix Xmas album, obviously.)

Speaking of holidays, they are soon and I can’t even: 
I was never a “holidays are so stressful” person until I became somewhat of a real adult human and realized that you should probably treat holidays as a real adult human and not like a “there’s free food? ok I’ll be there” college kid. Things that sort of stress me out, but I’ll get over it: Contributing legitimate, yummy food options to family parties, actually putting thought into presents and not just giving people your leftover artwork that they probably will throw away anyways, seeing everyone you ‘need’ to see in a timely manner, traveling various distances to see those people, and when you’re married, making sure both families have the same amount of time with you. Ugh. Holidays. Was that too real? But I’m very excited to decorate our apartment and go on a date Christmas-light-sight-seeing around town. 😉

I saw the super moon: 
Didn’t everyone see the super moon? It was kind of hard to miss. I wasn’t planning it, but I happened to be on a large hill, with my camera, when it rose over the Boston skyline, so I hung out and snapped a couple photos. There were some INTENSE lenses up there. It was crowded and I like this photo the best.

supermoon over boston stephanie rita

World Market ruined me: 
My life was ruined to minute I stepped into World Market for the first time. I can’t go back, but I have to go back (let it be known I’ve been back many times). I don’t need more stuff, but I need all their stuff. It’s the worst, but the best. So much conflict is happening within me.

I am not a vegetarian anymore:
My streak of vegetarianism lasted almost 2 full months, but I have decided to give up the fight. It was fun and pretty normal and totally doable while it lasted, but for some reason (I like meat) it wasn’t meant to last.

On a more serious note:
Let’s be honest, last week was hard. I want to say thank you to those who did their part & voted in the 2016 presidential election. Thank you to those of you who voted for respect, experience and acceptance. A lot of us are heartbroken with the results, I know I am. I am doing my best to hold onto this truth: “God has not given us a spirit of fear.. but of love…” Be the love, you guys. This country needs it right now. LOVE YOU BYE.

Things – September

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I want to learn sign language:
There were three things I saw last week (3 days in a row, at really random times, and I am believing it was a God thing) that sparked this desire last week. MovingWorks has a video about a barista who felt God calling her to learn sing language to communicate with the deaf people who came into her coffee shop. Andy Mineo’s older sister is deaf, but he never bothered to learn sign language. He just released a really touching and honest song about it, called Hear My Heart. And Tyler Oakley has a fun & informative video with Nyle, a winner of ANTM who happens to be deaf, and in it they talk a lot about inclusivity of the deaf community. So. I’ve done some video research and already learned a couple signs since last week.

I don’t want to be inside so often:
I work for myself and can do what I want, and I still end up sitting inside at a computer all day. I hate myself a little bit for that. So here’s the plan: go outside for a short walk twice a day and always try to catch the sunset.

img_6524

I think I’ll keep this vegetarian (pescetarian) thing up:
It’s been about 2 months and so far hasn’t been too hard to live a pescetarian lifestyle (though I do miss a good burger). But the production of (red) meat is the number one problem when it comes to the destruction of our environment. And I don’t want to be a part of that. So I am sticking to fish and the verrryyy occasional chicken. And I feel really good about it.

I am so glad we’re back in hot coffee season:
I do like iced coffee on hot summer days, but mannnnn, I love the time of year when I get to break out all my favorite mugs again. Cozy mornings with hot coffee, those are the best.

img_6601

And just another thought:
Genesis 1:10 “God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”  I just think “gathered waters” is such a beautiful image. It would make a good band name. 😉