HAPPY MONDAY!

 

JUNE GLOOM.

We have had a bit of June Gloom around Salt Lake this week and I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't love it. I'm a lover of the rain, especially in the summer. I don't know how anyone could hate the rain, I mean, it gives you an excuse to lay around in your sweatpants, right?

I found these old Polaroids from a few years ago and had to share. They were taken with some experimental film, hence the crazy shapes that appear as if we took these all in a cave. Most of them are from setting up Greg's photography show that he had here in SLC a few Septembers ago. Pretty neat, I'm very glad that we have them.

I have been on a huge reading kick lately. I've finished four books in just a little over two weeks, which for a girl who probably hasn't finished reading one book in the past five years, is a lot! I started The Happiness Project yesterday and it's already inspiring me to start my own happiness project. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it if you need a little boost of appreciation for your life. As the author explains, even if you are happy and not depressed, there's always something you can work on to make your life even better. Just because life is good, doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement.So let's get our asses up and get a move on it.

WHISKEY LEMONADE.

I'm usually a pretty simple, vodka-tonic type girl but ever since I stocked my new bar cart, I feel as though I need to be a little bit more adventurous with my cocktail choices. I found this recipe (of course, via Pinterest) last week and have fallen completely in love with it on summer nights.

WHISKEY LEMONADE MADE WITH HONEY SIMPLE SYRUP
By Foodie Crush

1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup water
1-2 stems of your favorite herb (I used mint)
1/4 cup lemonade
1 shot whiskey (I made it a double, tee hee)
1/4 cup soda
Fresh lemon for garnish
1/2 to 1 teaspoon honey simple syrup

1 // In a small saucepan, bring water and honey to a boil. Reduce heat, add an herbal sprig and simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced by half. Let cool.

2 // Fill a short glass with ice and add one shot of whiskey. Add lemonade, soda and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of honey simple syrup or to taste. Add reserved herb and lemon garnish and serve.

PRIDE WEEKEND IN SALT LAKE CITY.

Pride weekend in Salt Lake was bigger and better than ever this year. It's so great to see the city come together and support the LGBT community. This year was extra great to celebrate all of the newlyweds who were able to get married here last December. It put a smile on my face and happiness in my heart. Hopefully we can continue to move in the right direction towards marriage equality.

Mason (left of bottom photo) is my longest and best friend. Mason and I met during high school and have been inseparable ever since. During my freshman year of college, Mason announced that he was gay. My response? "Yeah, I know." He was shocked. He was my best friend, I knew him better than I knew anyone, of course I knew! This changed absolutely nothing in our relationship. It actually probably brought us closer, I was there to stand by him as he went through the difficulties of announcing this to his friends and family and beginning the long journey to feeling comfortable with who he is. I will continue to support and encourage Mason to be proud of himself and his sexuality for the rest of our lives.

BOOK REVIEW // AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF THOUGHTS.

After just a few days of reading it, I sadly finished reading #GIRLBOSS last night. I would've been happy if it'd gone on for a while, I was just starting to get the "Hell yeah, I'm a girl and I can do everything that I want to" feeling. If you are a rad girl and haven't already joined the slew of Instagrammers who post a photo of the cover of the book, I highly recommend you read it.

I am not usually one to be all, like "You go girl!" and whatnot. I don't feel like I need to be because, duh, we women can do almost anything. I know we are great listeners, multi-taskers, mothers, and I know that every single one of us can have a success story if we want it bad enough. But I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes need to ask my boyfriend to fix something around the house and I could never count the amount of times I had to ask my dad while I was growing up to get the nail polish bottle open. This doesn't make me any less of a #GIRLBOSS.

I've always done things differently than most. I usually know what I want and what I want normally takes me going the long way around to get there. I knew I wanted to go to art school. So I went to art school, only to realize three-quarters of the way through, although I love design, it wasn't for me. While finishing my degree, I became a manager at a local clothing store because I had always loved fashion and considered making that my future. I hired an amazing group of girls to complete a good sales team, I went on buying trips and got experience, but in the end, I also eliminated fashion from my career choices. These two possible career paths had one thing in common. I loved them and the second that it was something that I had to do all the time, I began to hate them. Yeah, I'm that person. Don't worry, you're not the first person to give me shit about it.

So, to make a long story a little bit shorter, I have decided to go with another career option that I've considered and go to law school. I know, big jump, and no, you're not the first person to give me shit about that either. But #GIRLBOSS explained my situation perfectly when Sophia says that every occupation, even business (yuck), uses creativity. Every single person on this Earth is creative, just in different ways. And guess what? Many of the things that I learned in art school are lessons that I apply to my daily life. Lessons that if I would've never been taught, would put me drastically behind where I am today. For example, can I apply the lessons that I learned while having my design piece up on the wall, being torn apart by my professor and peers, with experiences that I will someday have elsewhere? Absolutely. You have no idea what an overly sensitive baby I was before I had to sit there twice a week without bursting into tears while being attacked for the work that I stayed up half of the night to complete. So yeah, I emerged from college with a piece of paper that I'll probably never use, but also with much thicker skin. I'd consider my parent's money preeeetty well spent (they may beg to differ, good thing that they are extremely supportive anyway).

I am now studying for the LSAT and working at a law office with some of the greatest people that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, let alone spending 9-5 with. I have a supportive family and boyfriend, caring friends, financial stability, and I've learned to be at peace with every curve ball that's thrown at me, even the ones that I seem to throw to myself occasionally. I have a plan for my future that I will work my hardest to achieve. Everything feels right. Life is good. I'm a #GIRLBOSS.

URBAN GARDENING FOR DUMMIES.

 

I have wanted a space to have my own garden for quite some time now. Luckily, the new house has a small area just for that. Greg and I worked on planting this weekend. I would've done it sooner but my mom told me that if it froze any more nights this year that I'd have to baby them and put blankets over them and I'm too lazy for that. So this weekend, it finally happened.

Greg built us some planter boxes to give the little garden more depth and varying heights of the plants. Guess what? We only got in, like, six arguments while trying to plant. Silly Greg, when he gets an idea in his mind, it damn well better happen just like that!

We planted tomatoes, jalapeños, red peppers, cucumbers, and some herbs. I'm excited to have the majority of the produce that I am constantly buying right in my backyard. Let's cross our fingers that I can keep it all alive. Many people in my family have made gardening their lives. I, however, did not get the green-thumb gene. I'm a bit anxious to see how I do. Don't be surprised if I kill them all, really.