pretty words that you should read // 004

I’m baaaack! I haven’t done one of these posts in over a month, and it feels good to get back into my routine again!

A Blog Manifesto – If you don’t read any of these other posts, go read this! Especially if you’re a blogger. Or even if you’re not a blogger, it’s beautiful. I agree with her times fifty thousand. I’ve had random thoughts about the blogging world and its shortcomings floating around in my head a lot lately, and Meg did a stellar job of expressing exactly what I’ve been thinking of.

An Uphill Battle – Bailey Jean was the blogger who hosted #blogeverydayinFEB, and I’m so glad that I found her blog! This is a wonderful piece from back in February about choosing joy and happiness and goodness, even when so many other choices seem easier.

I’m Grateful for Love – This is also from a while ago, but it’s still well worth sharing. Thoughtful, well-said words about love, and affection, and emotion, and its place in our lives.

Also, if you missed it earlier this week… Fixing What’s Broken, where I dig some meaning out of shattered dishes and talk about putting the pieces of life back together.

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other places to find me (because making friends is fun, right?!):

twitter >>> @tessabrynnk

bloglovin’ >>> life and loveliness

instagram >>> @tessabrynnk

pinterest >>> tessa kohler

romantic things…

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m not gonna lie, I do miss the days of elementary school where you decorated your own Valentine’s box with red and pink construction paper and bought cute, slightly cheesy valentines to give to your classmates. I remember over-thinking it way too much and trying to make sure the boys in my class received valentines that were the most un-romantic possible. I also went through all of the valentines I received from the boys and reading waaay too far into each of the messages printed on the store-bought valentines, trying to figure out which ones had a secret crush on me. Ah the simpler days…

Personally, I love a holiday dedicated to romance (even though it has become increasingly more commercial), even though I don’t necessarily have any significant other to spend the holiday with. It’ll all happen in it’s own due time, ya know? Some people can get a tad cynical about Valentine’s Day, but I figure that good intentions and happy, lovely things are at the root of this holiday, so I’ll take it!

If you haven’t guessed already, I have an obsession with all things romance-related, and I get some strange sense of happiness by searching for romantic pictures on Pinterest. I think city-romance pictures are my favorite. So to celebrate love, and romantic cuteness, here are some of my favorite pictures that I’ve pinned on my “Romantic things…” Pinterest board. Also, to read some beautiful words about love, read this post that I discovered today! Enjoy, and I sincerely hope you have a beautiful day, whether it is spent with someone or not!

source

other places to find me (because making friends is fun, right?!):

twitter >>> @tessabrynnk

bloglovin’ >>> life and loveliness

pinterest >>> tessa kohler

love these days

how do i feel about love these days?

love is illusive. love is wonderful. love is vague. love is ambiguous.

if we’re talking about the home-for-the-holidays, cozy family love, then love is peace and comfort and a breath of relief after a long, long day. family love is constant and i’m grateful for the family in my life that always has my back. this family sort of love is what has continually given me a leg up throughout my life, particularly in the past couple months.

and then there’s that other kind of love.

that sweep-you-off-your-feet, kiss-in-the-moonlight, will-you-be-my-forever-and-always, let’s-make-plans kind of love. that love that gives our world hope and belief in the magical, the impossible and improbable that seems to somehow happen anyway.

how do i feel about that kind of love?

well…i can tell you that i want it. holy cow, do i want it. {ask anyone who knows me and they’ll testify to my position as a hopeless romantic.} i can tell you that i hope hope hope that my future is holding that kind of love in its hands as we speak, outstretched and just waiting for me to get close enough and far enough along in my years to reach out and snatch it – snatch it and never, ever let go of it.

that’s the kind of love that has the power to cross all sorts of barriers and break down all sorts of walls. that is truly the substance of magic.

but i don’t think i’ve quite reached that kind of love as of yet in my life. sometimes i occasionally wonder…but then i shake off the wondering because it doesn’t feel like it’s time for all of that yet. i’m not one to rush into things, and rushing into suppositions just scares me. not that it’s necessarily wrong, it’s just my nature to wait and wait until i’m absolutely, one hundred percent sure that it’s real.

and the funny thing about love, and how i feel about it these days, is that i’m pretty much okay to wait. yeah, i do my fair share griping and wondering about when prince charming is finally going to make his definite entrance, but secretly i’m really okay. i have a strong belief that everything’s under control and it’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen.

the thing about love – that heart-breaking, heart-aching love – is that while a little bit of halfway love is nice and fun and all that, it’s the deep-down stuff that really counts. i think our hearts know that and my heart, at least, is willing to hold out for the good stuff.

so how do i feel about love?

love is magical. true love speaks of sparks and sunshine and constancy through the rough spots.

the concept of love is exciting, and exhilarating, and just so, so lovely. the reality that two people can just happen to meet at the right time, in the right place, in such a way that will intertwine their fates forever – that’s beautiful, right there.

i’m excited for that – that whole love thing.

and when that does happen, when the bells ring and the angels sing praises and the real sparks fly and all that cliche jazz, i’ll probably write another “love these days” post and let y’all know how it all worked out, okie dokie? i have a thousand different scenarios worked out in my head, and i’m sure it’ll end up far different from anything i could have imagined, but however it works out will be absolutely perfect and so, so right.

love these days? currently, it’s hiding backstage, behind a curtain, just waiting for me to whirl it open, maybe with a flourish or maybe slowly and carefully, ready to welcome it into my life.

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this post was inspired by THIS OTHER POST!

mirror mirror…or not?

i spent a good amount of time last summer roughing it in the great outdoors. camping, hiking, boating, et cetera. while i was gallivanting around lakes and through creeks and up mountains, getting terribly dusty and sweaty and considerably disheveled and having a thoroughly fabulous time, i had a thought.

what if we lived in a world without mirrors?

really. think about it.

during my time spent away from proper civilization this summer, no mirrors followed me around. i didn’t have a chance to glance at my hair or makeup or clothes just by stepping into a bathroom.

i got dirty, my hair wasn’t perfectly straight, and my invisible blonde eyelashes were, well, pretty much invisible without a coating of that dark gloppy stuff we call mascara.

and i was totally okay with it. when i didn’t have the chance to look at myself every hour, i actually ended up caring less about how i looked.

the honest truth is that when most of us look in the mirror, we see the flaws. as bad as that is, it is so, so hard not so sometimes.

but what if we had never, ever seen those flaws before? and really, we only consider them flaws based on society’s definition of beauty. so what if we never had the chance to look at ourselves and determine if we had those “flaws” or not?

think of all the depression and the sadness and the self-consciousness that might have never even begun, had people not ever been able to look at themselves.

this summer, i was able to look on people with more love, and with a softer eye because i wasn’t inadvertently comparing my appearance to theirs. after not seeing yourself for even a few hours, i found out that you kind of start to forget the little tiny details of your face in your mind (as weird as that may sound). everything began to soften and blur in my mind until when i thought of my face, i only saw the smile, and the eyes, and the light.

the beauty is what is left behind as everything else fades.

but then you get back in front of a mirror, and the stark reality is staring back at you, and the comparison begins again. suddenly it is so painfully easy to pick out everything that society has told us is far from beautiful, and those nuances seem so painfully obvious.

but what if we didn’t have mirrors?

there’s my hypothesizing for the day – what do you think?

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this post was inspired by the wordpress daily prompt! http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/daily-prompt-mirrored/

liebster award!

soooo yesterday morning, i got a lovely little notification on my blog about a comment on my from vida, nominating me for the liebster award! liebster is german for beloved, loved, or dearest, so the liebster award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers who are up-and-coming in the blogosphere. i was so exited to see that, and i feel so honored! this blog isn’t much, but i’m glad that someone out there enjoys it! :)

lots and lots of thanks to vida for the award…it really means a lot! you should go check out her blog while you’re at it (http://goodgraceiousness.wordpress.com/)! she has a very clear writing voice that is smooth to read and her posts are real, which is very refreshing in a blogging world where not a lot of people are able to be really real in their posts.

so my task now is to answer the questions vida gave me, and then i get to nominate ten other bloggers! stay tuned for the end of the post where i do the nominating and give them their questions!

1. why did you start your blog? i wrote a rather wordy post somewhat about this, about this a week or so ago, which you can check out HERE, but the short explanation is that i wanted a space to express myself. i love writing, especially about random things i love, and i wanted to portray life how it really is in words. i have another blog dedicated to all things healthy living (check it out HERE), but i don’t feel like i have as much creative freedom with that blog. sooo yeah! life and loveliness was born!

2. what is your favorite hobby or activity – one that really makes you feel happy and peaceful? this is a bit tricky. i love filling my life with lots of things that make me happy! as of right now, writing is probably tied for first with playing the piano. i’ve been playing for a long time now, and i also teach piano lessons, so piano is stuck pretty strongly in the middle of my heart. i play mostly classical music, (bach and schubert and chopin and all that lovely goodness), and i’d say that spending time at the piano, playing the music i love, is what makes me feel incredibly happy and peaceful. lately i’ve been bad at getting to the piano with all the other things i have going on, but once i get the opportunity to sit down and play, i love it. i am obsessed with classical songs with beautiful, emotional, glorious melodies that are unquestionably inspired.

3. what is your favorite book? i think pride and prejudice still takes the cake with this one. i read it in fifth grade and have been obsessed ever since. it’s just solid, good, classic romance!

4. tell us something about you not many people know. ummm, i have a blog. (duh.) actually two blogs. ha, not many people in my life actually know that. okay, in seriousness, i speak to myself in french while i run. i’ve taken four years of french, and now whenever i run, i automatically translate the music i’m listening to into basic, broken french in my head. sound fun? yeah it was cool for about two months or so, but now i can’t make my brain stop when i want english-only music, ha. the weird thing is that it doesn’t happen when i’m listening to music in the car, or anywhere else. only when i’m running!

5. what was the most magical day of your life and why? ooh this is tricky too. truly magical days are pretty rare. if i had to choose, i’d say one day a couple years ago when i was in new york city with some pretty awesome people. we were in nyc for a few days, but one particular day stands out. the breakfast conversation that morning was refreshing and new and i’d venture to say it started a few things. we visited the 9/11 memorial, where i had an awesome experience, the gives-you-chills-kind, where i felt some strong, indescribable connection that nyc has with all of its people that stems from 9/11. that was when i knew i wanted to live there someday. we spent the afternoon shopping the black market for purses in chinatown, and then went to see “memphis” on broadway in the evening. most of us dressed up for the play, and i had the privilege of sitting by someone very nice during it. after the play, we went to ellen’s diner, where the inch-away-from-broadway waiters and waitresses sang us songs while they served us. it was just a pretty darn surreal, solid day that rang with magic.

6. do you believe in love at first sight? why or why not? yes, i do. i say this somewhat hesitantly because i haven’t actually experienced it firsthand, but i do believe it’s possible. and the why? i believe in it because i believe that love is something magical and wonderful that can defy expectations and logic and everything that is supposed to happen. if you’re only using your brain, and not your heart, love at first sight seems very illogical and ridiculous, but you’ve gotta remember that this is love you’re dealing with! does love ever really make perfect, logical sense? nope, but it happens anyway. love at first sight is legit in my opinion.

7. what is your favorite childhood memory? my little siblings and i used to perform plays together. i’d write them and then we’d put so much time and effort into getting together costumes and props and going the whole nine yards before performing the plays for our parents. fun stuff, right there!

8. describe yourself in three words. independent, loving, positive.

9. if you could spend a day with one person, living or dead, who would it be and why? mmm kay, i hope this isn’t creepy, and i certainly don’t mean it to be, but i would love to hang out with natalie holbrook. i discovered her blog a couple months ago (www.heynataliejean.com —- you better go check it out!), and i’m pretty much obsessed. she writes absolutely beautifully about real, marvelous, beautiful life, lives in new york city (my future location of residence, for sure), has an adorable little boy, aaaand her bio on twitter says “what would anne shirley do?” i. love. anne. shirley. i read all of those books multiple times, and it’s sad that anne of green gables has kind of faded off into the distance in the world. anyway…i’m not sure what we’d do for that day, but even just a chat would be great! and now that i sound like a stalker, let’s move on to the next question!

10. who is the one person who can always make you smile? so i have this one friend, who’s on a 2-year mission right now to the philippines, and he’s pretty great. i have lots of awesome people in my life who make me smile, but narrowing it down i’d say he can always make the smiling thing happen.

now it’s my turn! if you are nominated by me, here’s what ya gotta do!

1. thank the person who nominated you (me!) and link back to their blog in your post.

2. answer the 10 questions i give you (they’re slightly different than the ones i just answered).

3. nominate 10 of your favorite blogs that have less than 200 followers and let them know about their nomination via a comment or message or something similar.

4. come up with 10 more questions for your nominees to answer.

here are my nominees for the liebster award (should they choose to accept…which i hope they will)! along with the other few things i’ve told you to go check out already, you should also give these links a click and see the great stuff these people are writing!

with all our hearts

human shoes

authenticallyannamarie

my elegantly cluttered chamber

the girl with the red bag

now before i end this insanely long post, here are the questions for my nominees to answer in their posts! and if anybody else wants to answer some of these questions in the comments section of this post, go right ahead! i’d love to hear from anyone!

1. why do you blog?

2. what is your favorite song and why?

3. describe yourself in three words.

4. who is the one person that can always make you smile?

5. describe your idea of a perfect day.

6. if you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

7. where do you find inspiration in life?

8. if you could spend a day with one person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

9. what would you like to be remembered for?

10. have you ever experienced a turning point in your life? if so, what caused it, and what have you learned from it?

i’m excited to read everyone’s posts! :)

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