Summer reminds us every year to keep our hearts young

Okay, so I couldn't find a decent quality live version of this song, but I'm completely smitten with it.

It's so childlike and innocent.

So just listen to it, and then go run through the nearest sprinklers you can find.

dare you to move

Every once in a while, a song comes on the radio,

not a new song,

but one that knows you by heart;

it stops you in your tracks,

and it's all you can do to just remember to breathe.

This is one of those songs.

simplify

It's halfway through the school year and I'm just finally unpacking half the boxes I moved in with.

Figures.

But at least I'm doing it, right?

It feels so great to get rid of all the stuff I don't need.

To take a big box of clothes that don't fit/don't look good/I'm bored with/aren't my style to DI and say goodbye to them.

I always sleep better in a room that isn't full of junk.

I found my old pointe shoes and leotards while I was cleaning out our storage room and I was reminded of the many opportunities I've been blessed with over the years.*

I put the leotards and ballet skirt in the giveaway pile, for some future ballerina to find.

But I kept the pointe shoes.

Because they taught me that hard work means blisters and tired feet and sore muscles.

And doing the same routine over and over and over.

But it also means getting to show off, just a little bit, when the work really pays off.

*And that really made me want to take a jazz or ballet class. It's funny how I came to college all excited to leave jazz behind and move on to ballroom. And don't get me wrong, I really do love ballroom. But sometimes I miss the grand jetes and the pirouettes and the tour jetes that my arms and feet grew up with.

image via deviantart

Frankly Scarlet

Sometimes when you spend all day on campus, walking from class to class with wet feet in wet shoes and glasses covered in water droplets, it means you stay up way too late to paint your nails a ridiculously named shade of red when you should be sleeping.

And then you curl up into your many many blankets and dream of handwritten letters and pin curls and red lipstick.

solitary soul

Things I love doing by myself*:

-watching movies

-shopping...because I can take my time

-getting lost in a used bookstore

-reading one of those used books, while drinking hot cocoa with a shot of hazelnut at a quaint little coffee shop.
-learning about the wonders (and not so pretty aspects) of mass transit

Next week I am going home for my friends' wedding (two friends from high school who are getting married to each other), and I get to explore the wonderful city of Portland.

I'm getting into the city in the morning, but I'm not meeting up with friends until afternoon or evening.

But, you see, I planned this.

I love exploring new places, and don't mind doing that by myself at all.
I fully plan on getting lost in Powell's City of Books for at least two hours.

After which, I will probably meander over to Mio Gelato for a bambino of donatella gelato.

I want to find a great place for lunch. I'm thinking maybe Indian food.

I'll probably spend some time at Oblation Papers & Press and Everyday Music.

But, most of all, I hope to find a new favorite place to visit when I go to Portland. A bakery, or restaurant, or record store.

And I hope to feel a bit more like a city girl, and a little bit more like a more grown up.

image via google

*this is not to say that I don't enjoy doing these things with other people.

pitter pat

{Colby posted this image on Pray Hard. Live Easy today. She always has the most perfect quotes and such beautiful pictures.}

All I have to say is, frankly, I don't mind being barefoot in the kitchen.

image seen at prayhard.liveeasy

footsteps

I dream of living in a place where all I need is within walking distance.

I love getting to know a city on foot.

It's not the same story when you drive everywhere.

Today I walked down to 5th and Center, where the lovely Provo Farmers Market makes its home every Saturday.

I walked around the whole market and smelled the tamale and empanada booths, bought a loaf of Asiago Cheese Bread (and pulled off a hunk to eat, so delicious), got some raspberry lemonade and sat on the grass to enjoy the first day it really felt like summer.

It was so therapeutic. There is just something about a bunch of creative, hard-working people from your community, coming together to share what they love with you.

Everything taste sweeter when you know the hand that made it.

So I challenge you to walk a few steps further, take a left turn where you usually go right, and really see the world from a human's-eye-view.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu

image via deviantart

I am what I am

I am: a dreamer a good listener a better cook than I ever thought I would be an optimist an intuitive decision-maker faithful a yellow a bit of a treehugger right brained a chronic procrastinator a giver worth it

I want to be: a good mother someone who lifts others up a strength to those around me a woman of culture a polyglot a seasoned traveler a lifelong scholar well-versed street smart always thinking and creating in love forever

photo via deviantart

let's get out there and add some beauty to the world

"Love makes us instinctively reach out to God and other people."

-Jeffrey R. Holland

I loved spending the whole weekend listening to some wonderful words and feeling inspired to do good.

Life is good. And peace can be found, even when it seems like it has forgotten about us.

Happy belated Easter to you all!

photo via deviantart

peace

Sometimes I have to remind myself that my best is enough. That I'm enough.

And that as long as I keep trying to make my best better, everything will work out.

I'm trying and I'm growing. And I feel at peace with that.

"peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart."

-unknown (seen on one of my favorite cards)

image via deviantart

MAJOR Love

Remember this post?

And this one?

Well.

I got in.

If you haven't seen this commercial, do watch it. It's fabulous.

And this one, too.

*sigh of relief*

Let's pretend like it's the summer.

The past six days have been pretty heavy.

Two midterms.

One weekend living in the Adlab.

3 days of falling asleep in my classes (what's new?).

This week has been good to me, though. The crappy days are a reminder of what I'm capable of, and I needed that.

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less*, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more and all good things will be yours."

-Swedish Proverb

image via sabino

*I'm working on this one.

A few thoughts of the day:

-about a month ago, I realized my ward (the people I go to church with) rocks.

-i still hate the snow.

-i may or may not be unprepared for finals...however I will do such preparing over the weekend.

-i realized I love mustard on my sandwiches.

-my black sweatshirt from D.I. is my new favorite article of clothing.

-gilmore girls never gets old. ever.

-and on tuesday i am going to attempt to make samosas. wish me luck :)

image via deviantart

I'm dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you*

I'm taking time out of my CRAZY busy day to post about dance. Don't worry, this is a happy post. :-).

Let me tell you a little story...

From 7:43am until 7:43pm Laura Coalwell constantly ran through lists in her head. Lists of class assignments, lists of dance figures, lists of things to do. She ran to class, to work, to dinner group, and then, at 7:43pm, she stepped into the ballroom in the Richards Building and....

ROCKED THE HOUSE.

Okay. Maybe I didn't rock the house. But the important part is: I danced with my heart. And loved.every.minute.of.it.

And when I dance like that, it always feels like I'm rockin' the house.

It turned out to be a pretty good day.**

Image: Marshall and I, faking our way through the Moulin Rouge Tango.

*"Dancing" By Elisa. Beautiful song. Love this.
**Also, I just feel so loved and blessed to have such incredible people in my life. People who truly care.

A passion that won't be bridled

I have two wonderful little blisters on the backs of my heels, right where my standard dance shoes rub.

These soon-to-be callouses are a reminder that today I worked hard. I danced hard. I let myself put my heart into it more than usual, and it felt so good.

I worked up a sweat, the satisfying kind of sweat. And it's been a while since I've done that.

Since the beginning of the semester, I've felt so guarded. I put up the walls and didn't let myself care too much or expect too much from myself.

Not today.

Sometimes I forget that dance is still one of my passions. I forget to enjoy it, and I get caught up in all the stress and competition and comparisons and politics involved.

It's because I start doing it for other people, rather than dancing for myself.

Today I remembered why I love to dance. It's something my heart and body craves. I remembered that I don't do it for awards or praise. I do it because I love it, because it pushes me to be better; because every time I learn something new, or master part of a step or routine, I feel triumphant.

And because it's like floating and lifting weights, at the same time.

image via deviantart

twenty-one

Yesterday was my birthday.
The big two-one.

{Okay so maybe this birthday isn't quite as monumental, considering I'm LDS and don't drink}

But still. We had a pretty rockin' Black and White "Mocktail" Party complete with:

-21 original non-alcoholic concoctions (Upside Slammer with a Twist? NCMO on the Beach? AuPear? and, of course, the "Laura."*)
-a fierce game of Nerts.
-Oreo Truffles. (and homemade Oreos, courtesy of Katya)
-an impromptu dating panel, instigated by Mario, which ended up with both sexes complaining about how confusing the other is.
-michael, frank, and ella, singing me some jazz in the background.
-and plenty of incredible people dressed to the nines in black and white garb.

It's official: I have the greatest friends.

image via vi.sualize.us

*gilmore girls, anyone?

Fabulous

The lovely Micaela, from Dolce Vita, tagged me to do this. And it's a good thing, cuz I haven't had anything particularly interesting to post about the past few days.

The rules: Post five things that make you feel fabulous/sexy/beautiful and then tag five others to do the same.

1. GREAT hair days. Not just good ones.

2. Stiletto heels. Particularly black ones.

3. Victoria Secret fragrances.

4. Sincere compliments that are not related to physical appearance.

5. Being comfortable in my own skin, even/especially in a swimsuit.

I tag YOU!

{pepper} from Pepper Stitches
{jayne} from The Little Passenger
{kellie} from The Paths My Eyes Wander Down
{katie} from From the Mind of Katie
{niki} from Chocolate, Cigarettes and Writer's Block

image credit: stilettos