Sunrise, Sunrise

"I like to compare God's love to the sunrise. 

That sun shows up every morning, no matter how bad you've been the night before. 

It shines without judgement. It never withholds. 

It warms the sinners, the saints, the druggies, the cheerleaders - 

the saved and the heathens alike. 

You can hide from the sun, but it won't take that personally. 

It'll never, ever punish you for hiding. 

You can stay in the dark for years or decades, and when you finally step outside, it'll be there. 

It was there the whole time, shining and shining. 

It'll still be there, steady and bright as ever, just waiting for you to notice, to come out, to be warmed. 

All those years, I thought of God and light and the sun as judgmental, but they weren't. 

The sunrise was my daily invitation from God to come back to life."

- Glennon Doyle Melton from Carry on, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed  

Things I Learned...

... This weekend.

1. The smell of freshly cut grass is one of my absolute favorites. After I mowed the lawn, I went upstairs to my room and opened my window as I was getting ready for my day. It was such a sweet little treat to smell the grass. 
2. A Sunday with your best friend is the best way to end your week (or start your week.) Kate and I had the chance to spend the whole day together Sunday. We started our adventure at a flea market, then headed on sonic for happy hour (best decision ever) and ended the day with margaritas on our back patio with some friends to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. A good day indeed.
3. White toe nail polish grows on you. I was on pinterest last week and saw a pedicure with white polish. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. My roommates all told me it looked like I put white out on my toes but after a couple days I really started to like it. Who knows, this might be something I look back on and think how awful it looks (Kind of like white eyeliner and everything I wore in middle school.)
4. I'm officially going to Vegas in June! My friend Cori, who I wrote about here is getting married in August. I have the honor and privilege to stand next to her and her fiance Alex as they said "I do." But before that happens we are going to Vegas for Cori's bachelorette party! I am super excited and super nervous. Here's to a new adventure!
5. Sometimes it's okay to listen a song on repeat. Specifically "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink featuring Nate Ruess from Fun. It's all pop but so good. You should definitely check it out.

Things I Learned...

... This weekend. 

1. I am never underwhelmed by the city of Chicago. Every spring the organization I work for treats us to a weekend downtown filled with delicious food, community, and surprises. It's always wonderful and this year was no exception. I love that I've grown up in the Chicagoland and no matter it always feels new. It's fun when home still feels like an adventure.
2. Babies make everything better. My friend Ben and his wife Abby just had a sweet little baby boy 5 weeks ago. He's just the best. It really is unbelievable how holding a baby can put you in a better mood. Well it does for me at least.  
3. I enjoy coffee in the afternoon just as much as the morning. After I got home from the weekend away I had a couple hours before the next thing on my schedule. I cuddled up in my bed, opened up my window, sipped on some hazelnut coffee and opened my the new book I started Carry On, Warrior (Thoughts on Life Unarmed) by Glennon Doyle Melton. Friends, I call that a perfect Sunday afternoon. 
4. Debit card fraud is really just rude. This happened during my week but I was without my debit card until today. Last week, someone decided to use my debit card to by film equipment from New York. I'm grateful that my bank was gracious about the situation but it definitely was a frustrating. I was also surprised by how violated it made me feel. 
5. Musical theater is awesome. During our weekend downtown one of our surprises was going to see "Big Fish" at the Oriental Theater. I loved the movie when it came out a while back and I was really excited to see the show. It was neat to see the way they made the fantastical story come to life on stage. And let's be honest, I'm always a sucker for a good musical.

Authentic Me

So I'm sure by now you're sick of hearing about me reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. I promise, this is the last post about it (at least for now...)

One of the things she talks about towards the end of the book is the way that dancing, music, and laughter are foundational to living a "wholehearted" life. I could not agree more. One thing she made for herself is a playlist called "authentic me." It is a collection of songs that make her feel like herself. She didn't explain much why she chose songs but left it at that. 

I decided to make my own "authentic me" playlist. 
The list below are either songs I never get sick of listening to, have impacted me in different ways, make me want to get up and dance, or songs I just simply love. 

1. The Seed & the Ground - JJ Alberhasky
2. By the Mark - Gillian Welch
3. Countdown - Beyonce
4. Carry On - Fun.
5. Gathering Stories - Jonsi
6. Lost and Found - Katie Herzig
7. The Trapeze  Swinger - Iron & Wine
8. 23 - Jimmy Eat World
9. Rain - Patty Griffin
10. Shine - David Gray
11. Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley
12. Years and Years - Sidehill Winders
13. Land of the Living - Matthew Perryman Jones
14. How the Day Sounds - Greg Laswell
15. Raconte-Moi Une Histoire - M83
16. After the Storm - Mumford & Sons
17. My Love - Justin Timberlake feat. T.I.
18. Window in the Skies - U2
19. The District Sleeps Alone - The Postal Service
20. Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
21. On Your Porch - The Format
22. Arms - Christina Perri
23. Blood Bank - Bon Iver
24. Blood - The Middle East
25. I Thought - The Kevin Reid Project
26. Need & Thread - Sleeping at Last
27. Kids - MGMT
28. Shake it Out - Florence + The Machine
29. Dog Problems - The Format
30. Land of Hope and Dreams - Bruce Springsteen

I've got this on repeat.

April Showers

Dress: Anthropologie. Jacket: Michael Kors (via Nordstrom Rack.) Aviators: Urban Outfitters.
Shoes: Cole Hann (via TJ Maxx.) Hair Piece: F21. Bracelet: Renegade Art Fair.

My gosh has there been April Showers here in the Chicagoland. Here's to a past weekend full of sunshine and hopefully tons of May Flowers. 

And speaking of showers, this is what I wore to my future sister-in-law's first bridal shower. I will admit at about 2 PM when it was a breezy 43 degrees, I was second guessing not wearing tights. But I refuse to wear tights anymore, tights are for October, not April. 

Here are some more bridal shower pictures. 

My brother Andrew and me.

Perfect flowers for a perfect Bridal Tea.

Bride and her bridesmaids! (Becca is in white.)

Things I Learned...

... This weekend.

1. I've got the best big brother. I know that it's not something I just learned and I'm totally biased but I've got to say it. My brother is getting married this summer to Becca whom I absolutely adore. This weekend we had the first bridal shower for Becca. Andrew made an appearance and brought the beautiful flowers pictured above. It's been such a cool shift for me to see Andrew as not just a big brother and a son in my family but to a husband. It makes my heart full just thinking about how wonderful of a husband he will be. 
2. There are such things as rain days and for that matter multiple ones. This past weekend (well Thursday & Friday) my little city was underwater. The schools shut down, I couldn't get out of my neighborhood, life seemed to just halt. Who knew that "rain days" or "flood days" could shut down whole cities. 
3. Sometimes life feels like a movie. My roommates and I (on said rain day) watched Zero Dark Thirty. I had seen it already but loved it just as much the second time. It felt surreal sitting in front of my computer Friday night watching the FBI, Boston police department, and other law enforcement literally hunt the second suspect from the Boston marathon bombings. I had such mixed emotions Friday evening. I was grateful that the suspect was in custody but it didn't even begin to subside the heartache I felt for the community of Boston and their families. It didn't feel like the end, but just the beginning... hopefully the beginning of lots and lots of healing.
4. It's just okay to be in bed at 9 PM. Who cares if that happens to be on a Friday night... right?
5. You know you really love a book when you look down at any page and all you see is your green sharpie pen covering the page. As I mentioned here. I'm currently reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown and I am fascinated (and underlining a ton.) My favorite thing I read today was, "We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart."  Are you reading any good books? Any recommendations? 

Everything is Underwater

Growing up in the Chicagoland, I've had my fair share of canceled school and work because of snow days... but a RAIN day? WHAT!

Last night it started pouring rain at 4 in the afternoon and continued raining until about 10 this morning. The result? Chicagoland completely underwater. I had really high hopes for being productive today, I had a long list of errands and things to get done. Turns out, the road getting out of my neighborhood is flooded in both directions and my little hatch back can't make it out. 

So instead of productivity, my day has consisted of a little reading, watching an episode of Law & Order: SVU, Zero Dark Thirty with my roommates, going for a quick stroll with my roommate Kate to grab Chinese food and an afternoon nap. 

Maybe this is just the day I actually needed.