North Carolina--vote against bigotry.

l.i.f.e.g.o.e.s.o.n

Glenis and I. Photo credit to Micah Mackenzie.

Ya'll, spoken word....its so good.
Today is one of those days where I have stupidly important things to do (like...study for finals...ugh...), and all I really want is to make a cup of tea and listen to some spoken word. Honestly, the only thing that is keeping me buried in the textbook is the promise that this time next weekend?
I will be at LEAF.
Dancing, laughing, singing, sweating, dancing some more, listening to music, swimming, eating, cuddling, dancing, ziplining, smiling.
Its going to be SO GOOD. I can feel it in mah bones.
Alright.
Time to turn up the music and get back to work.

NomNomNom

Dear homemade bread, you are so delicious.
        This year, my main New Year's resolution was to bake a loaf of bread every month, and take a picture of it, to make sure that I did it. Most people make resolutions to lose weight, I make resolutions to make (and eat) more bread. Happy happy joy joy. Anyhow, here's February's loaf. I was cuttin' it a little close to the wire, today being the 26th, and February only have 29 days this year. I know, I live dangerously. Its how I roll.
        This loaf ended up being amazing, although not exactly how I was expecting. And gosh darnit I didn't achieve the window pane (if you're not a baking nerd, check it here). Possibly I kneaded to long before testing? Not sure. I used this recipe, from the Pioneer Woman, and used rosemary. SO GOOD.
        Even my mom who eats like, nuts n' lettuce n' shit all the time ate four pieces. Four my friends. We ain't foolin' around.
I am listening to this, I am hopefully adopting one of these, and I am happy.
Goodnight lovelies, see you soon with hopefully many stories,
Hope your Sunday was the best,
Maren

A Struggle With Perfection

This may be a semi-heavy post.
       For a long time, Ive struggled with the idea of perfection. Yeah yeah, nobody's perfect, kumbaya, whatever. I wanted to be perfect. When I was a tiny, I was the first baby girl, the new addition to the family--in short I was somewhat spoiled rotten. And because of this I just believed that perfect was what I was and perfect was what I was meant to be. At everything. Always.
     This mentality is not so conducive to real life my friends.
     Lately I feel like I have been in a struggle to accept that around me, there are people who are really hardworking as well as really talented, and I haven't reached their level yet. I have been especially conscious of how that affects me when its something that I love deeply as well. Dance, photography, collaging, what have you. It strikes me that sometimes when I see other people's art, I get really defensive, or threatened, and maybe a wee bit jealous. Something to think about for sure.
     I am trying to turn this into inspiration, or admiration, as opposed to all those icky negative feelings hiding inside my ego. Any thoughts? And now, I'm off to check on my bread that I've been baking, which is going to be a topic of an upcoming post! Love you all,
~Maren