First of all, I just want to say a big *Thank You* for the encouraging notes I’ve received since this post!
I am so blessed to have such sweet friends!
That said, there aren’t just life changes happening around here, there are also some secret, creative projects in the works! To that end, I will be taking a bit of a break from writing “Secrets of a Belle” until these ideas have sorted themselves out, and I can come back and share them with you!
Sometimes one just needs to relax and make a collage on your lunch break.
I find it wakes up the brain cells.
In case you’re wondering, the earrings and clutch are both Kate Spade.
Here are just a few *lovely* things that are starting my week off on the right foot. I hope they will inspire yours as well!
:: Listen ::
Going into a creative career is tough. There’s a lot of second-guessing, a lot of screw-ups, and a lot of comparing yourself to others even though you know that comparing is always a bad idea. About a month ago, a friend at work introduced me to this Ira Glass piece that offers some really great advice about storytelling (no matter your medium). You can see the full context of this quote by clicking here, but this is the part you’ll want to bookmark. It’s just what we all need to hear every once in a while.
:: Read ::
This week, pull out a favorite book! I have been making a concerted effort to read more, and I declare it’s doing wonders for my soul! With that in mind, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite books, old and new…
In light of my earlier, heavier post today, I wanted to share this letter. It’s a letter from famed novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald to his 11-year-old daughter who was away at camp, but the advice is really a perfect little road map.
from The New York Times Magazine
AUGUST 8, 1933
LA PAIX RODGERS’ FORGE
TOWSON, MATYLAND
DEAR PIE:
I feel very strongly about you doing duty. Would you give me a little more documentation about your reading in French? I am glad you are happy– but I never believe much in happiness. I never believe in misery either. Those are things you see on the stage or the screen or the printed page, they never really happen to you in life.
All I believe in in life is the rewards for virtue (according to your talents) and the punishments for not fulfilling your duties, which are doubly costly. If there is such a volume in the camp library, will you ask Mrs. Tyson to let you look up a sonnet of Shakespeare’s in which the line occurs Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.…
I think of you, and always pleasantly, but I am going to take the White Cat out and beat his bottom hard, six times for every time you are impertinent. Do you react to that?…
Half-wit, I will conclude. Things to worry about:
Worry about courage
Worry about cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship…
Things not to worry about:
Don’t worry about popular opinion
Don’t worry about dolls
Don’t worry about the past
Don’t worry about the future
Don’t worry about growing up
Don’t worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don’t worry about triumph
Don’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don’t worry about mosquitoes
Don’t worry about flies
Don’t worry about insects in general
Don’t worry about parents
Don’t worry about boys
Don’t worry about disappointments
Don’t worry about pleasures
Don’t worry about satisfactions
Things to think about:
What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:
(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful intrument or am I neglecting it?
I am one of those people that has a purse ‘routine’… if a purse doesn’t have at least 2 small pockets and a zippered pocket in addition to the regular inside area, I can’t buy it. My things have gone in the same place for at least 8 years now, and if there are less than 3 pockets in a handbag, I get very irritated trying to find my lipstick.
I take brand loyalty very seriously. Each brand of cleaning product, toiletry, even paper towel in our house was well thought out. If I buy a new eye shadow or a new dish detergent (granted this hasn’t happened in about 5 years), I spend days stressing over it as I really feel it will change my entire outlook on life.
I have parking spots. I park in the same spot when I go to work, when I go to the store, when I go the mall. It’s not that there is anything special about these spots, but I have been known to skip a trip to certain stores when ‘my spot’ is unavailable. One day at work I tried to change where I parked. I spent 10 minutes wandering around the parking garage trying to find my car while on the phone with Husband… Yes, he thought I was crazy too.
I know have issues.
This time last year, I was doing contract work and was married to the hottest high school band director in the South.
We had blue walls.
Our house was constantly a mess.
We ate out at fancy restaurants on a regular basis.
I gained a LOT of weight.
. . . . .
Fast forward 1 year.
I am married to an MBA student. (Same guy, different job. Still super hot.)
Our house looks like 2 grown-ups live there… well, except on laundry day.
We eat at home.
I am working on losing those 30 extra pounds… 10 down. 20 to go.
. . . . .
I have had issues this past year. Crazy mood swings. Depression. Completely losing it on a regular basis. I don’t like change. (Thank God I’m married to a saint!) And yet, really amazing things come from change. Our lives have changed for the better. It is really easy to say that you trust everything is going to work out for the best and that God is in control when you are not in the middle of Crazyland, but I would argue that it probably doesn’t mean as much. And I will tell you that up until this week, I really wasn’t trusting in anything. I was just trying to survive.
Well, more really big life changes are coming. My parents are moving away, and while it isn’t that far, for an only child that has always lived 5 minutes from their doorstep, it’s a huge deal. We may have to change our church, which I’ve attended since I was 9. The people there are our family. Husband has some really major school-related trips coming up. (A big deal when I never really have to sleep without him beside me.) And we have no earthly idea where we’ll be in a year. There are the constant questions, “What path are we on?” “Am I doing the right thing?” “Where will we be living in a year?” “What will you be doing in a year?” “Is it worth buying curtains for a house you may sell?” “What’s for dinner?”
Anyway, in the whirlwind that is our life right now, I have really begun to find a peace. I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but I know Husband won’t leave my side. I know the world is wide open. I know that we WILL be in a completely different place this time next year, and I will have to find a new normal once again. But I also know that wherever we end up, will be exactly where we are supposed to be.
For this year, change is the new normal.
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Labels: Life
Oh, to own absolutely everything in this collection! Can you imagine? This season Christopher Bailey was British but with just a little bit of whimsy that made each piece seem like it would be perfect for having tea while listening to the Rolling Stones.
And for your Husband/Boyfriend/Beau, check out these beauts! (Note: I especially dig the umbrella handles… so very Mary Poppins!)
Last week, one of my friends on Facebook reminded me of this song which, per the usual, sent me on a bit of a musical tangent. Women really don’t use their wiles enough these days! We should do something about this.
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Hope your weekend has been absolutely lovely! Mine was relaxing & productive and filled with champagne & culinary experiments… in other words: delightful! Here are a few random things to ensure that the beginning of your week will be the same.
:: Listen ::
Last week, Husband played this song for me, and I have to tell you that I’ve been listening to Nina Simone ever since. Her voice is transcendent!
:: Read ::
Recently Stefano Pilati, creative director for YSL, did an interesting interview with Vice.com that was eventually titled, “The End of Elegance.” He makes a lot of statement about the fashion industry that I thought were interesting but the one that got to me, and has seemed to make the rounds on twitter this weekend, was this:
My idea of elegance – and this refers to women as well as men – is that someone is elegant when he or she shows a good knowledge of what fits them, where you can find naturalness and self-esteem. Not showing off. Elegance is the idea of showing an optimistic depiction of oneself, and to lose oneself in the frivolity of style and fashion. Nowadays nobody gives a shit about being elegant, or chic. If you’re doing it, you’re doing it for yourself, because it’s your way of being. When you’re not thinking, “This is fashion,” and you’re not buying clothes to create statements, you’re on the right path.
As a Southern Belle who was raised to value elegance above most this makes me so sad. What do you think? Do people still care about elegance? Do you? And, what is your definition of elegance?
(Obviously this subject has sent my mind on a bit of a tangent. You will hear more about this soon…)
Ruffles! For some reason, I have become pretty obsessed with this bold, feminine detail lately. If only that swimsuit can a little bigger than size 6. ( /frown / )
:: Do ::
If you’re looking forward to the season finale of Downton Abbey–And, of course, by “looking forward to” I mean dreading the end but too caught up in the story to delay watching it–then you may get a kick out of these Downton Abbey trading cards from VanityFair.com. (The titles are the best part!)
Now, get to bed early and dream sweet dreams!
Here’s hoping your week will be *lovely!* xo* ~ Hannah B.
So Belles, have you been watching Fashion Week? I have to admit, I am a teensy bit obsessed. I may be the only gal in East Tennessee that is watching runway shows on her lunch break but, if you don’t mind, I’d love to share a few of my favorite shows.
:: Michael Kors
I am notorious for being a Michael Kors cynic. For at least the past 3 years I’ve been able to pick his clothes out of a line-up with no problem because:
a.) they all looked alike and
b.) he only seemed to make clothes that were black, white, or tan.
Well, not this season! I am absolutely in *love* with the patterns and furs. Doesn’t it just make you want to pack up and spend a weekend in the mountains? (Maybe here or perhaps Amanda Brooks’ home in the Adirondacks?)
:: Anna Sui
You know why I dig this Anna Sui show? Because each piece looks like something you may find in the closet of an eccentric aunt…
She moved to California when she was 18, and now she only comes home for holidays and funerals. She supports poor artists and musicians just like Auntie Mame, drinks martinis with no olives (they take up so much room in that tiny little glass) and she wears large round glasses the next morning (that are somewhere between Audrey and Lennon) to cover up any sign of a hangover from the night before. You dream of going to see her each summer and when you finally get there, she lets you raid her closet. This is what you take…
:: J. Crew
My very *favorite* women’s collection this year? J. Crew–I know. I was surprised too. Why do I love it so much? Well, on a personal level, you must understand that Husband is very bent toward the ‘prep’ side of things while my everyday wardrobe walks a fine line between the 1960′s, Southern staples, and old ugly sweaters. This collection is like the crazy cousin from backwoods Kalamazoo that goes to the North East to stay with her cousins Muffy & Clayton and their Lisa Birnbach-esque family. Note to self: This is how I want to dress every day from now on.
:: Michael Bastian
Finally, my favorite men’s show: Michael Bastian. Do you remember Clayton? (see J. Crew story above) Well, he grows up and goes to an Ivy League School only to major in… Liberal Arts. He has a dog, a Porsche, and a 2.5 GPA. It’s a good thing he’s so fashionable… and that Mummy loves him.
Please Note: All photos are from The New York Times. That’s where I go for my main Fashion Week coverage. These are not the shows in their entirety, only my favorite picks.
