amongst the wreckage

These gorgeous, richly hued flowers come from two thriving gardens: the top, from my mama's garden at my childhood home and the bottom, from my temporary home here in Bellingham. Both handfuls were picked on days I desperately needed some encouragement; some pieces of God's promise that the world is an inherently good place if we just look for it. Both handfuls brought glimmers of peace to my soul and slivers of joy to my eyes, my nose, my mind. Today, as I sit with sorrowful news, I am thankful for the bits of colorful life that grow amongst the wreckage. different gardens, same peace. xo, Charity

is right now

Today I did lots of small good things for myself; things that I never seem to have time to do anymore:

I made my space more alive: I deep-cleaned my room, reorganized my lovely little things to be less cluttered and more fresh. I filled a box with clothes and shoes and picture frames that I can do without. I washed all my blankets and fluffed my pillows. 

I picked white lilacs, filling a mason jar with their stems & my room with their scent. 

I opened a new bottle of red wine & sipped it while cooking myself a yummy, healthy dinner. 

I discovered and listened to new music. 

I read a magazine and had afternoon coffee, for one.

I carefully packaged a vintage blazer, sent with love to Norway.  

I found the sweetest new blog. 

I worked out, hard. 

These things seem slight, but put them all together in one day and I feel centered, at peace, and more in tune with myself than I have in weeks. I'm hardly ever alone these days, and I forget how much I need that until I get it. I'm so blessed. Love.

one more day to enter to win gorgeous spring vintage! 

ouch.

So, today was supposed to be my only day off this week and I was excited to relax, go to a coffee shop, and blog about my trip to Idaho. But yesterday on my way to work, this happened:

which then caused this to happen:

Needless to say, things have changed a bit.
My car has been deemed totaled and my right arm (yes, I am right-handed) has two fractures and will be in a cast for 4-6 weeks. It was a terrifying experience and I am very stressed about the financial aspect of this--not being able to work, no car for a while, medical bills, etc--but I am thankful to be alive and not horribly injured. You'll all just have to put up with a big ugly cast in upcoming outfit posts! :)
I would appreciate prayers in the next few weeks as we get insurance figured out and my pain (hopefully) subsides. Right now I am at my parents' house, being babied by my mom: exactly what I needed. Now if only I was allowed to sneak in one of my dad's famous margaritas with my Vicodin...

all in a day's work

I've seen a few other bloggers do posts where they take a picture of their day every hour, so I decided to do it today - unfortunately, my day was pretty lazy which may translate to boring through photos. Also, my timing was off a bit...but I had fun!

9:30 am: coffee time with my pup.

10:45 am: breakfast with my brother.

12:05 pm: lazing around with Ral.

1:00 pm: show & tell with my other brother.

2:00 pm: last minute shopping for travel necessities!

3:00 pm: painting my nails while the boys watch youtube vids.

4:00 pm: made an iced mocha to attempt not to nap in the sun like my cat...it didn't work.

5:00 pm: outside! Spring is seriously coming.

7:oo pm: mix cds for our 5 hour drive from Phoenix airport to the reservation.

8:30 pm: attempting/beginning to pack. I absolutely HATE packing, so I have to pace myself.

9:30 pm: cookies, milk, and conversation with my mom.

10:15 pm: more packing - gathering essentials i.e. COFFEE.

and now I blogblogblog & watch What Not to Wear with my puppy. Big day tomorrow!

thrifting successes!

Under $40 for all of these things! An hour spent alone at Value Village was exactly what I needed last Friday:

Boots, $7

Button up shirt, $4

Purse, $10

Old lady purse, $7