I think most people from time to time dream of selling all their worldly possessions and just taking off for an adventure of a lifetime. To most it’s a passing fancy, a wistful daydream but for photographer Joy it has become a reality. I think I would have been impressed if I just read that a young woman did this on her lonesome, but to read that she convinced her husband (and business partner) to come along and has brought her 4 children (one an infant) seems wildly crazy and fantastic to me. Joy and her family sold their California home and have traded it in for a 1950’s Spartanette trailer to travel the country. They have only recently left so the updates are forthcoming, but the beautiful photos thus far (like the one above) make me believe that this is a story that their children will one day be telling their children–the world is their classroom and life is a grand adventure! I love to find people in the world that are following their dreams no matter how outlandish they may seem to others. I think it is so easy to fall into a rut and forget that we only have this one life (that we know of) and not to squander it. To the Wildflower bunch I am wishing them safe travels and continued delight, you can visit their blog here and catch up on all their adventures and visit their galleries to be inspired by their visual storytelling.

I always like to remind you to get to work on your own dreams, as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu so wisely stated, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” What step can you make today to get closer to the life you dream of? Just take one little step towards it and tomorrow do the same, it doesn’t have to be grand but just do something. I am speaking from experience, I worked in basically a windowless broom closet for 3 long years with a tyrant of a boss, my spirit crushed and my will to do anything about it nearly gone. I made it out the other side, it was terrifying to lose my income and my ‘security’, but what I gained in return is priceless. Your situation may not even be as dire as mine was, so I challenge you to take a step a day towards accomplishing one of your goals; I think you will be surprised at how quickly your tiny steps accumulate and that you have finally arrived at your ‘destination’. Good luck my friends, I believe in you!

photo by wildflowers photo

P.S. I got a bajillion emails today asking about the lettering–it’s a font! You can get a copy here!

For years now I have wanted to add a fashion component to my blog, but I have been weary since I am not one to shop nor go for the latest fads. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE looking, I was a fashion publicists for more years than I prefer to admit and I get very excited to see what creativity comes out of the fashion industry each season but most items that come out won’t pass my criteria for adding to my wardrobe. I seasonally create a ‘capsule’ wardrobe of highly edited pieces that I can mix & match and create multiple outfits with, this is what I affectionately term my ‘uniform’. It makes dressing effortless and everything pretty much goes together, looks polished and feels very me. Contrary to what you may presume, it’s not boring and can be very creative. I think a beautiful tailored white button down shirt is a perfect edition to anyone’s base wardrobe, it’s super versatile and can easily go from office to casual without missing a beat.

Now for the downside of a button down for a girl (like me) that is uhm, a little busty–the dreaded gape. A gape can take an otherwise polished look and make it look unintentionally slovenly. That is where The Shirt by Rochelle Behrens comes in! It has a patent pending hidden button design that controls the gape and allows you to wear your button down without flashing everyone–brilliant!  They have many different bodies and colors, I am especially loving this silk camp shirt. If you are having a hard time imagining how you could incorporate such a basic shirt into your wardrobe, stylista Erin Hiemstra and a handful of her fashion savvy friends have some amazing looks to inspire you here.

Just popping in to mention that the amazing Molly Jacques Erickson has recently launched some sister fonts to her beautiful Kailey introduction. She just launched Kailey the Bold, Kailey the Brave (a distressed version), and Kailey the Beautiful. The are also very affordable (thank you for that Molly!). I love that this font series feels so much like her actual hand. For all the lettering enthusiasts out there I think it would be a great font to have to practice your own lettering, it’s always great to see how letters are linked (at least for me) and what fun it could be to try to create your own version someday, right?

Have a great weekend!

I think we can all agree that financial planning/budgeting isn’t on the top of our lists of fun topics to discuss. I would prefer to talk about shoes, but I do think it’s important and if you are like me it can seem so overwhelming if not broken down to bite size chunks.  I did not grow up in a household where money was ever discussed, no one talked about saving and no one talked about spending, it was kind of a taboo subject. As a young adult it was no wonder that I had no idea about budgeting, even though I worked at a few prestigious stock broker firms I basically lived pay check to pay check. It really wasn’t until recently that I have gotten more adept at figuring my budget out (especially with an income that fluctuates from month-to-month) by implementing a few new strategies.

I have mentioned I used Outright.com for my business, which I think is a great tool and was so helpful when I did my taxes. I recently put my account on hold because I found Mint.com, which is similar (and free!), it is not as in depth or targeted to my business as Outright but it is a good software for keeping track of what you are spending and where. It has some great built-in tools for savings goals (college tuition, houses, vacations, etc.), which allow you to see how much you will need to save each month to get to your end goal and access to depositing in separate savings accounts for each goal. I think being able to look at a savings goal broken down so clearly makes it feel so much more accessible than just dreaming about it for one day.  I am not a frivolous spender (I was) but I can easily see at a glance where my money is going, if it was the me of my early twenties I would have been able to see that I was spending my hard earned paycheck on pretty stupid things and if I had the savings goals in place maybe I could have not bought more than one pair of designer jeans and put the money towards that house on the hill.  Now, that I am older I cringe at the thought but it is never too late to start. One of the things I noticed in my budget graph on Mint.com was how much my husband and I spent on food, just groceries not even going out, it was an outrageous amount!  I started to meal plan based around what is on special at our local grocery store, we don’t eat processed foods so I needed to be on the lookout for what fresh produce would be on sale. This may seem silly if you are already doing this, but I was clueless. Case in point, big beautiful cherries are in season, I would have formerly bought them at the $3.99/lb. without thinking twice, instead I waited and the store offered them for $2.99 for a bag (about 3 pounds worth!) It’s these little victories that have cut our grocery bill in half.  I also love knowing what we will be having for the week, it takes a lot of pressure and undue stress off our shoulders and I get to see the savings goals grow! Let me know if you have any tips for dealing with this “exciting” subject, I would love to hear them.

I have collected some references/resources below that might be useful for you (dare I say even interesting?):

Mint

Outright

Smartypig

The Daily Worth

The Fiscal Flamingo (good for those dealing with debt)

Andrew Mellen, I’m a big believer in less is more, Andrew comes highly recommended as a grade A de-cluttering expert.

Regale Magazine Issue 4, it’s targeted for millennial’s but has a no-nonsense 7 step budget that might be helpful for those (like me) who had no idea where to start.

Money 101 lessons

lucky penny letterpress print by essanel

 If you have spied my Instagram stream lately (hint it’s on the lower right of this here blog) it has been a bit Frenchie heavy. I haven’t been out much and she’s a willing model, but only because she sleeps about 23 hours a day. Karm of Karmomo an incredibly talented illustrator and lettering artist noticed and illustrated this sweet illustration for us (myself and the Frenchie). Karm wrote that she just started her blog, which is always exciting for me, because even if you think there’s a zillion blogs in the world, the world could always use your unique voice and you sharing your unique talent. I know everyone has a talent (or two or more) and if you are willing to share it you can’t imagine what doors that could open for you.  You don’t need to start your own blog either but contact a blog/site you love and see if you can share. Just a thought…

I have been working on the digitizing your calligraphy/lettering screencast tutorial for you and now I need to edit it.  I am not in love with the quality of the screencast, it was recorded using Quicktime and I am hoping to learn how to edit in IMovie (I signed up for a 7 day free trial at Lynda.com).  I did look at Screenr which looked like it would be easy enough and better quality but I can’t get Java to download to my Mac, so frustrating, any suggestions for this or an alternate free screencast program? I would love to start doing more video tutorials for you and I know that the digitizing of your lettering has been so requested, I hope to have it to you by Thursday!

I just discovered Berin Made, I am loving the charming lettering, get ready to pin some pretty lettering inspiration and some sweet diy’s! I haven’t been doing any lettering myself lately because I can’t get the energy up to pull out the ink and nibs (and oh, yes sitting up for more than 15minutes at a time is a little difficult) but Erin Hung of Berin Made has me excited to pull out my sketch pad and pencils and just start playing again.

Craftsy is another on-line video crafty class resource (they have some cooking classes that look great) they are currently offering a deep discount on their classes.  I just noticed that they have a bunch of free mini classes too!  I think this free zipper class would be perfect for the newbie sewer.

On a super bright note I have started to feel so much better. I have started to walk, not very fast mind you (or very far) but that hasn’t stopped me from downloading a free pedometer app.  I am loving being able to keep track of my progress and it makes me feel like I have accomplished something each day.  If you aren’t sick and haven’t been moving your body lately, I highly recommend getting out and walking, it’s low impact but you will be amazed at the results. I have been able to walk over a mile a day and working on adding to that each day.  Of course, I wish I could do more and try something a little more exciting but baby steps.

Wishing you the start to a great week!

P.S. Do you have a unique talent/skill or tip you want to share here, send me an email!