27th + Luxe: February 2014

LINK LOVE

Image via Rebecca Plotnick // Text added by 27th + Luxe

Happy Friday! Can you believe February is over? Like it's March tomorrow people! And Spring is right around the corner!! Even though it hasn't been terribly cold here, I am really over the whole winter thing after New Year's.

// I found this recipe over on The Everygirl and I tried it out today, pretty good!

// I am really looking forward to reading these books!

// These roads look pretty fantastic-although some of them I wouldn't even dare to drive on!

// Did you enjoy the Practice What You Preach post? Subscribe to the newsletter so you can try out the worksheet!

// I watched Scandal last night...and was left feeling unfulfilled after that long wait. Anybody else? This article sums up my thoughts on the episode pretty well.

// We FINALLY chose our honeymoon spot and I cannot wait to get some true relaxation!

What fun things will you be up to this weekend? Me? The usual, grad school and wedding errands...fun times! Hopefully I'll squeeze something adventurous in.

Happy Friday, have a wonderful weekend!

2014 READING LIST

Photograph by Abhee Sharma // Text added by 27th + Luxe

I LOVE reading!! When I was a little girl, my parents would take us to the library so my sister's and I could choose the books we wanted to read. And then we had to write a book report for them. During the summer. AND I LOVED IT!! There's just something about escaping into a book, being swept up by all the words and entranced by the story.

Last week I talked about simplifying and I wanted to share with ya'll just how I'm doing that! After I shared that post, I payed attention to the fact that the goals I set for myself along with wedding planning and grad school were leaving me a little overwhelmed!

If you were here yesterday, you noticed that things looked a little different! I decided to redecorate my space! What do you guys think? I love it! Thanks again to Rekita at Designed Lovely!

I've been doing a lot of random thinking lately-I guess it's not technically random, but you know how some days you just have a lot of thoughts all at once? Well that's what I mean. And not thoughts about anything in particular or anything majorly important. Just thoughts about life and where I'm going and what I do and don't like, my aspirations-you know, stuff like that. And while I was thinking randomly, I stumbled across some things.

image via Party Poms

I've decided that it will be easier for me to be more accountable for my goals and easier for me to not be overwhelmed by them if I break them down into weekly tasks and activities. So, I'm going to start participating in Weekly Wishes with The Nectar Collective. I have been eyeing this linkup for a while, and now it's time for me to join in on the fun!

The awesome part of this linkup (in addition to the accountability) in my opinion, is step #4:

4. THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF ALL! You MUST visit the person’s blog who linked up directly before you and leave them a motivating comment. This is such an important part of this linkup! We are each here to encourage each other and build acommunity of determined women and friends. :) If you do not do this, your post will be deleted from the link-up.

I really like this quote. I think mainly because it encompasses so much more than personal style or handwriting. I've realized as I've gotten older, and especially most recently, that my personal style continues to evolve-what I like in my closet, what I like in my home, my handwriting (yes-I still like to change things up from time to time!), the type of designs I'm drawn to, etc.

What's your personal style and how has it evolved over time? What experiences do you think have had a direct influence on your style?

DREAM A LITTLE BIGGER

image via strikingtruths.com

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Do something creative, get some rest, and enjoy the time away from the hustle and bustle!

CUTE BABY

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take some pictures of my little brother. He's almost 17 months (I always questioned the months thing before-like after 12 months just say "1"...but now I get it I think). And would you believe that I am the oldest and he was born the day after my birthday? A late birthday present that I was so happy to receive! His squishiness and giggles bring me so much joy!

THIS HEALTH + FITNESS THING: AN UPDATE

Remember when I shared my goals for this year with you? Well, one of those goals was about this health + fitness thing. The goal is to be healthier and get fit. It's February 19th people and I am not any better off than I was when I made that list...the shame!!

I also talked about whole30 in this post. That's been a bust folks! I started off good, then I fell off the wagon by the end of the week. I had every intention of hopping back on but then Valentine's day came.

Today I am going to go over 5 things I've learned about blogging. I think that I'm going to make this a regular thing - posting my thoughts on blogging. Please note that I am not claiming to be a know it all, I am however claiming to be very observant. This is most definitely a fact -on and off the internet. I'm an introvert people, and I think my fellow introverts can agree that if we are one thing, it is observant.

I want to share some things that I have seen and learned with other newbie bloggers out there who are scouring the Internet looking for help like I was. I blogged off and on for a personal blog, and more consistently on a blog I managed for grad school. Today I'm going to talk about what I've learned about managing a personal blog.

{image via}

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Show someone some love today! Have a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend!

LOVE OF MY LIFE

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about Aaron, the love of my life. We are literally in countdown mode for the big day and my love for him continues to grow!

I just wanted to share today how much I love this guy! Aaron and I have been in each other's lives since 2005 and I can't believe that we are going to be married on May 4th. Yikes! Valentine's Day, man-made holiday or not, gives me another reason to reflect on our relationship. I'm so happy and so blessed to have found my person.

image via Etsy

Good Morning!! Today I am so happy to introduce the Mr. + Mrs. Blog Series! I thought it would be fun to do these on "Wedding Wednesday" since I'm getting married and I've met a lot of bloggers out there who are engaged or recently married. The series will also include some friends and my sister! They each get to take over the blog for a day and share a little bit about their love story. Exciting right? At the end of the series, you'll learn more about my story (I'll be a newlywed by then YAY) and I'll do a round up of everyone's tips. I hope ya'll enjoy this! :) Today we have Asia visiting from The Cracked Lens.

Now that I've figured out what my passions are, it's time to "simplify". What I mean by this is that it's time to get focused and narrow down or "simplify" the things that I want to focus on for the year. I've found that it's easy to get sidetracked, overwhelmed, and to even add other things to my plate because I am so sure that with dedication and commitment, I can accomplish it all. In this post, I discussed finding your passion and I also talked about finding and managing your inspiration here. Today I'm going to talk a bit about simplifying your process so that you can meet your goals and not become overwhelmed.

VALENTINE'S DAY CARD DIY

Happy Monday!! I decided I wanted to try my hand at making my own valentine's day cards this year. They came out pretty decent I think!

And, be sure to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already! I'll be sharing some other things I created!

THANK YOU

5 QUESTIONS

Hello hello! Emily from Ember Grey nominated me for a Liebster Award. Since I've been nominated before, I thought I'd take a cue from Hey Kelsea Rae and just answer the questions, fun times!

If your (insert your current age here) could go back 10 years and tell your 10 years ago self one thing, what would it be?

**If I could go back 10 years, and I was able to tell myself one thing, I would tell myself that life is too short to be doing anything but what you want to do. I think I've started to realize that as I've gotten older and especially as I approach 30. I just want to live my life the way I want to live it (and according to God's will of course) and not deal with the bs in the world.**

What do you want to be when you grow up? (Don't you dare make this practical)

**I want to be...I don't know how not to make this practical!! If I could be ANYTHING I'd be a world traveler-money would not be an issue and I would just travel and just live my life. But for real for real, I want to be a great steward for the Lord, a great wife, a great mother, a great sister and friend. A rockstar pretty much. I want to work for myself and be able to stay home with my future kids.**

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could watch ONE movie (because, you know, you found a TV on this deserted island), what would it be?

**GASP!! I don't have a "favorite" of anything oh no and I'm so indecisive! Let's see...assuming I don't need to get off of the deserted island, I would pick...a disney movie. I really would. Like I watched the Incredibles on Wednesday night and I was cracking up at its awesomeness. Action, comedy, romance and cuteness all rolled into one.**

What's the best book you ever read?

**Ok-I'm not going to list just one book here because there are several books that I've read that have been good. The Shack, The Hunger Games Trilogy, Songs of the Humpback Whale, The Time Traveler's Wife, blah blah-I could go on and on. And I am making a list of some that I want to try to get through this year once grad school has come to an end.**

Why did you start blogging and how did your blog get its name?

**I answered this in my original Liebster Award post, so this is a cut and paste with some clarifications. I have gone through several blog names over the years. I arrived at 27th + Luxe because I decided to get serious about blogging and about some goals I have at the age of 27. Luxe is from me wanting to live a "luxe" life - not a lavish life, but a life that's filled with happiness, joy, fulfillment and all that good stuff.**

Thank you Emily for the nomination!

PAY IT FORWARD: A GIVEAWAY (THE VERY BEST KIND)

The word that I chose to focus on this year is "relationship". So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered "Pay It Forward" on Emily's blog Ember Grey (check it out by the way, it's awesome).

I've had several blogs over the years. It's very true what they say-that a lot of people start blogs everyday, blogs that don't last. I was one of those people. At first I started a blog (and by started I just mean that I created the blog name, chose a blogger template and maybe posted a handful of times. Then a year later I started again and so forth and so on. It really wasn't until last year that I got serious about blogging.

For valentine's day this year, I thought it would be fun to make some earrings. I think they came out pretty snazzy! This post is really just to showcase them and give a quick + brief rundown of what I did. It was really easy!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy February everyone!! What better way to start the month of than with a giveaway! Her & Nicole is turning one and to celebrate she has teamed up with a group of lovely ladies to giveaway $250 Paypal cash!! Exciting right?! I know!!

Rekita at Her & Nicole and Friends are giving away $250 PayPal cash to celebrate one year of Blogging!!