Learning from Oscar Wilde

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest, that quote is “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance”. At first glance most people merely find this quote humorous and rather vain, but in all honesty its rather smart. I know I joke a lot about being single, find that one of my most used hashtags on twitter is #ForeverAlone, and I would very much like to be done with the weeding out the terrible guys and find The One already, but even with these these slight annoyances in my life I’m actually quite happy, don’t get me wrong I still have my moments, but for the most part I am a pretty happy person.  I think the main reason I am happy even though I am all “alone” is that I honestly do love myself. Some people cringe to say things like that, I was one of those people just a couple of years ago, I had scarcely any self-esteem and was so eager to have a relationship. During the time I had zip confidence just so happens to be the same time I attracted some really awful guys, talk about heartbreak, having no confidence and have someone who you thought was wonderful treat you with no concern certainly can damage you further. But I learned from my mistakes and have essentially been uninterested in guys since then, of course there is the random cute cashier, jogger, etc that catches my eye, but no one has captured my interest. I am good deal more discriminating and a heck of a lot more confident. Keep in mind it wasn’t an overnight transformation, but everyone can learn to love themselves better. I didn’t like my body (too fat) and since I could change it I did, nothing like a bit of yoga and healthy eating to change your shape, I also used to hate my nose, thought it was too big, then I thought what could I do about it? I could have surgery to change it as drastic as that may seem, but then I thought even if I could change it to a perfect little nose would it suit me? No it wouldn’t, God knew what he was doing so I should leave well enough alone. Then began the real work, dealing with the internal issues, we all have baggage and we all need to learn to let go of what’s hurting us. Most of my baggage was self inflicted, for the most part people were kind to me, my lack of confidence came from me tearing myself down, I was my own worst “mean girl”. Learning to love myself was not quick but it was definitely worth it. Remember to be kind and to extend grace to yourself, because if you’re not even kind to you can you really expect anyone else to? I know this post is beyond sappy but I felt as though I should write it regardless of me sounding like a preachy life coach. So all of you singles who are reading my blog let’s start our lifelong romance with ourselves, Valentines is coming up so be your own valentine. Do you want flowers? Buy some for yourself? Want a steak dinner? Make it happen! Been wanting a certain gift? What better day than Valentines to buy it? You’re unattached so it’s not as though you need to buy something for boyfriend or girlfriend, so splurge and buy yourself that camera, shoes, tv, or whatever it is you’ve been eyeballing! Honestly this is even good advice for those of you who are in relationships, by loving yourself better you also love those around you better. So let us all be little kinder hmmm? You guys are the best, and I hope you all enjoyed this post. Happy Monday and wish you all a Happy Valentines too.

Impromptu Photoshoot!

I thought I might share some pictures of an impromptu photoshoot I did not so long ago. The impromptu shoot was mostly fueled by the desire to play with some rented lenses…I am now officially saving up to buy myself an EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, because whilst photographing my “not so official” official model for my photography business I couldn’t get over how great this lens is. Of course my model is fantastic and makes my job a lot easier 😉

Can you believe this is a candid shot? She was talking when I took this photo! I never look this good candid, I normally look like I’m about to sneeze or something. She is ridiculously beautiful!

Love those freckles!

Seriously how pretty is she!

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and that you all have a very Happy Monday!!!

“We’ll Always Have Paris”

WARNING! this post contains a lot of pictures! If you have very little patience for people who feel the need to over-document events in their life this post is not for you!

Hello Guys! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while, but I have a good excuse…I was helping plan my 20th! Ya I guess that may not be a great excuse…but it’s my party and I’ll slack off if I want to. So normally I never do anything terribly over the top for my birthdays, but for my 20th I wanted to do something with a bit of umph, a fun, slightly glamorous, but still laid back-ish in style party. So I decided I would throw a French (Parisian) inspired dinner party, with some of my closest friends. I had such a blast planning, cooking, and spending time with my great friends! I am sort of a foodie so this party was the perfect excuse for me to cook all of the fussy dishes I wouldn’t normally prepare, like French Macaroons, those are some work! But lucky me I have a loving family so I didn’t have to do a lot of the work on my own. So enough talking I am sure you would much prefer to see what my party looked like so here ya go.

We strung up lights and set the table in the living room, so we had plenty of space.

This is the gorgeous flower arrangement my mother put together, might I add she said she has “never done arrangements before”. So even without training or practice my mother puts Martha Stewart to shame!

These are the awesome posters that we found for 60% off!

We decided to even decorate the front door area!

Our adorable little sandwich board. PS mommy wrote this! How cute is her handwriting?

Now for my favorite part…the food! These are the French Macaroons.

The gorgeous red fondant raspberry cake my mommy made me. Isn’t she just the best?

The delicious cheese tray.

Tapenade in endive leaves.

Our entire cocktail menu. Bloody Mary’s, tapenade in endive, cheese tray, and prosciutto wrapped around cantaloupe and asparagus. It was all incredibly delicious.

Quite possibly the most delish dish I have ever made…Boeuf Bourgingon and mashed potatoes. It was so good my mother who really detests beef, loved this meal like crazy!

Tea and coffee break. I of course had tea yummy 🙂

Then onto dessert cake and Shirley Temple’s.

Gifts! My sweet mommy got me real pearls for my 20th! Cute thing was when she gave me my gift I was wearing my fake pearls 🙂

This necklace was given to me by my very best friend (we’ve been inseparable for the past 11 years). This necklace is either from the late 50’s or early 60’s. And I am not ashamed to say when she gave me this I got pretty choked up.

I also got some other fabulous gifts too, I made out like a bandit, I received some lovely perfume (which I am wearing right now) and some great cards and cash (you can never go wrong with cash is all I am saying).

My great friends and lovely family honestly made this one of the most special birthday’s ever! I love you guys.

So I hope you guys enjoyed my post! And if any of you want the recipe to anything feel free to ask. Have a super happy Monday and a great Valentines. Love you!

 

What I hate about concerts!

So a couple of nights ago I went to a concert with one of my girlfriends, and we started talking about all the concerts we have gone to. Neither one of us has been to a ton! I have been to maybe 10 or so major-ish concerts (major-ish meaning I am not the only one who knows the songs haha). But all the concerts I have gone to share the same problems!

1. Expensive! Not only am I paying for a ticket, I will have to pay for gas (concerts are never closer than 30 minutes away), parking, and the next few are optional but you get my point, merch, drinks, and dinner! So all in all it is an expensive night out!

2. Cigarettes and the people who use them as a weapon! Seriously I don’t smoke so get away from me! Just because you don’t value your lungs doesn’t mean I don’t care about mine either!

3. The desperate drunk housewives who show up just to get wasted! Seriously do you even know who is playing the gig? Let alone where you actually are?

4. Skanky party girls!!! Seriously put some clothes on! Your lack of clothing does not make you look cool! It makes you look stupid! Seriously your mother said “show some respect for yourself” not show YOURSELF!

5. The screamers! Seriously what kind of world would it be if you acted the same way you do as an audience member in everyday settings? For instance “hi what can I get for you today?”- Coffee barista “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”-Screamer. Of course no one wants to play to a dead audience, but screaming at them through the whole show is just plain obnoxious, and a guarantee you will be the last person they want to talk to!

6. The jerk who thinks its ok to mosh to every song whether it’s metal or not! Look buddy if you have aggression issues take it out on a punching bag not me!

7. Lastly the person who doesn’t believe in using deodorant! It’s bad enough we are all crammed in here like sardines so at least put on some deodorant!!!

And after all that you walk away from the concert broke, exhausted, deaf from the sound guy thinking that turning the music all the way up is the real way to enjoy it, bruised from crazy mosh pit guy, and smelly from the stinky sweaty people around you! Yep concerts sure sound like fun huh? But seriously with all the negatives they can dish out, nothing beats getting to hear your favorite band, having them sound just as amazing live as they do on cd, and getting to shake their hand and realizing they are just as down to earth as you thought they were! Hope you enjoyed this post! Happy Monday everyone!