body over mind

amen.

although i've been feeling very strong and fulfilled lately, there is always that little voice in the back of my mind. there are days where it tries to break me down with doubt, temptation, and fear. 

after 6 months, i've hit a small plateau in my weight loss. despite staying active and continuing to watch what i eat, i can feel my mind urging my body to stop and give in. i feel great in my skin, but my mind wants me to feel otherwise. i'm going to stick it out and i know that this too shall pass!

do you ever feel your mind bullying your body? i'd love to hear how you keep the bullying at bay.

♥

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art flat

i am so excited! in less than a month, we will be in germany! for the first part of our trip, we have rented a flat in berlin through airbnb.com. it's a super cool website where you can rent rooms or full apartments/ houses for vacations through the private owners. we will be staying in the mitte district of berlin in a flat located near the berlin wall memorial. i love that the flat will give us some privacy and a chance to shop the local markets and cook in for some of our meals. we got a great deal and are paying close to what it would have cost to stay in a hostel with shared bathrooms!

i love the white walls and natural light. i think this will be the perfect place to retreat after long days spent exploring the city!

after we head to jocketa/ saxony (the german countryside) for the wedding, we'll come back to berlin for one night before catching our flight home. the hotel we have booked for the last night in germany is awesome (i'll share more about it later)!

now we just have to finalize all of the stuff we want to see while in berlin! good times!

♥

peace + quiet

after all of the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, i am looking forward to some down time this weekend. outside of a [very] belated birthday celebration with j's grandparents on sunday, i have no plans
(j will be at a sailing lesson on saturday).
i am thrilled to have some time to relax with a book, catching up on the most recent whole living magazine, zumba, long walks with my sweet townes, dinner dates with j, and pilates class.

"there is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it"
-minnie aumonier
♥

happy weekend dears!

love is love, and there will never be too much

today i am feeling incredibly moved by this letter from fiona apple to one of her fan's regarding his participation in his school's gay-straight alliance.

if only the whole world could just refuse to let hate overcome love, what a wonderful world that would be.
♥♥♥

Hello Bill,

I got your letter a few days ago, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down and write (it's my day off)

Of course, I'd love to help — sign me up. As far as a few sentences go, here's what I've got — I hope it's OK:

It's hard to conjure up some new profound way of commenting on this issue — I'm so tired of it being an issue at all, and I suppose I'm lucky, because I see the truth so clearly. All I know is I want my friends to be good people, and when my friends fall in love, I want them to fall in love with other good people. How can you go wrong with two people in love? If a Good boy loves a good girl, good. If a good boy loves another good boy, good. And if a good girl loves the goodness in good boys and good girls, then all you have is more goodness, and goodness has nothing to do with sexual orientation. A person who loves is a righteous person, and if someone has the ability and desire to show love to another — to someone willing to receive it, then for goodness' sake, let them do it. Hate has no place in the equation; there is no function for it to perform. Love is love, and there will never be too much.

Fiona Apple

P.S. Right on for doing this, Bill

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pyramid pattern

last week, my sweet husband bought me some great earrings for my birthday. i have loved wearing them so much that i wanted to share them with you! 

these pyramid studs from betsy + iya are about the size of a quarter and they look great with so many different styles! if you wanted to stick with the pyramid scheme, this outfit would be perfect!

pyramid

do you have any accessories that you can't stop wearing lately?
xo

bangle beauties

truth be told, a girl can never have too many bangle bracelets. i love these bracelets from voz clothing and art on etsy. i love all of the colors and designs on their custom bangle bracelets and they even are inspiring me to try my hand at some DIY bangles. the coral and peach colors are perfect for summer!

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freedom of speech

i am a HUGE bill hicks fan (this may very well be an understatement).
i definitely had this weird phase in college, where i was convinced i was in love with him even!
you can read more about my unrequited love here.

i am also a fan of the letters of note website (check out one of my favorite letters), so when i stumbled upon this letter written by bill hicks to a priest who had been offended by bill hick's "revelations" recorded stand up act, i couldn't have been more excited to share with you all (i have previously read this letter in book, love all the people)!

hope you enjoy this letter and if you don't know who bill hicks is, do yourself a favor and change that!
xo

8 June 1993

Dear Sir,

After reading your letter expressing your concerns regarding my special 'Revelations', I felt duty-bound to respond to you myself in hopes of clarifying my position on the points you brought up, and perhaps enlighten you as to who I really am.

Where I come from — America — there exists this wacky concept called 'freedom of speech', which many people feel is one of the paramount achievements in mankind's mental development. I myself am a strong supporter of the 'Right of freedom of speech', as I'm sure most people would be if they truly understood the concept. 'Freedom of speech' means you support the right of people to say exactly those ideas which you do not agree with. (Otherwise, you don't believe in 'freedom of speech', but rather only those ideas which you believe to be acceptably stated.) Seeing as how there are so many different beliefs in the world, and as it would be virtually impossible for all of us to agree on any onebelief, you may begin to realize just how important an idea like 'freedom of speech' really is. The idea basically states 'while I don't agree or care for what you are saying, I do support your right to say it, for herein lies true freedom'.

You say you found my material 'offensive' and 'blasphemous'. I find it interesting that you feel your beliefs are denigrated or threatened when I'd be willing to bet you've never received a single letter complaining about your beliefs, or asking why they are allowed to be. (If you have received such a letter, it definitely did not come from me.) Furthermore, I imagine a quick perusal of an average week of television programming would reveal many more shows of a religious nature, than one of my shows — which are called 'specials' by virtue of the fact that they are very rarely on.

All I'm doing in 'Revelations' is giving my point of view in my language based on my experiences — much the same way religious broadcasters might organize their programs. While I've found many of the religious shows I've viewed over the years not to be to my liking, or in line with my own beliefs, I've never considered it my place to exert any greater type of censorship than changing the channel, or better yet — turning off the TV completely.

Now, for the part of your letter I found most disturbing.

In support of your position of outrage, you posit the hypothetical scenario regarding the possibly 'angry' reaction of Muslims to material they might find similarly offensive. Here is my question to you: Are you tacitly condoning the violent terrorism of a handful of thugs to whom the idea of 'freedom of speech' and tolerance is perhaps as foreign as Christ's message itself? If you are somehow implying that their intolerance to contrary beliefs is justifiable, admirable, or perhaps even preferable to one of acceptance and forgiveness, then I wonder what your true beliefs really are.

If you had watched my entire show, you would have noticed in my summation of my beliefs the fervent plea to the governments of the world to spend less money on the machinery of war, and more on feeding, clothing, and educating the poor and needy of the world ... A not-so-unchristian sentiment at that!

Ultimately, the message in my material is a call for understanding rather than ignorance, peace rather than war, forgiveness rather than condemnation, and love rather than fear. While this message may have understandably been lost on your ears (due to my presentation), I assure you the thousands of people I played to in my tours of the United Kingdom got it.

I hope I helped answer some of your questions. Also, I hope you consider this an invitation to keep open the lines of communication. Please feel free to contact me personally with comments, thoughts, or questions, if you so choose. If not, I invite you to enjoy my two upcoming specials entitled 'Mohammed the TWIT' and 'Buddha, you fat PIG'. (JOKE)

Sincerely,

Bill Hicks