Hello, You

You. Yes, you. I am writing this for you.

I know you are reading this. And I want you to know I am writing this for you. No one else will understand. No one else knows. They think that this is for them. But it’s not. I am writing this for you.

I want you to know, life…it’s hard. Every day can be a challenge. It can be a challenge to get up in the morning. To get yourself out of bed. To put on that smile. But I want you to know, that smile is what keeps me going some days. You need to remember, even through the tough times, you are amazing. You really are.

You should be happy. You are gorgeous.

I know that the weather might not be perfect. You might have to turn your back to the wind or feel the cold nipping at your nose. But you know what, at least you are there to feel it. At least you can enjoy the sun’s warm rays on your face. Or that cold February wind biting at your cheeks. You know what that means?

You are alive.

Everything will be okay.

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A Home for Pretty Things

I know that you've heard of Pinterest by now.

Leah said it perfectly: "If you’re not familiar with it, Pinterest is a site where you can collect images from all over the web and share them with your friends and followers on a series of themed “boards” on any subject you choose: fashion, home decor, books to read, recipes to try, products to buy, projects to tackle, ideas for your kid’s upcoming birthday party, or just cool stuff you want to look at and share."

What shows up on your home page is based on who you're following. But whatever shows up, I promise you will love it. The beauty and inspiration and wisdom and everything will overwhelm you, but in a brilliant way.  You'll find new sites and favorites sites.

Just try to see if you don't love it. 

You have to be invited to start. And you know what? I would love to invite you! Email me at: colieslovenotes {at} gmail {dot} com. Then, you should follow me! 

Running the World

I might be in love with this person:



She might be a bit much for you. And that's okay. But I think she speaks the truth in volumes.

And Beyoncé drives me nuts.

I play favorites

Remember how I have 5 cameras now?

Well, I definitely have a favorite.

Now, to be fair, there are two cameras out of the running. One I can't play with because we can't figure out why it won't turn on. And the other, my Diana, I haven't had 120 film to play with.

But that aside, my favorite camera is the Pentax.

I love it because:

  It is heavy.

    It has 3 lenses.

      It helps me to create amazing pictures.

        I get amazing compliments on it.

          It takes film.

            It makes me think about the pictures I'm taking.

I love this sucker. And tonight, I found this and this.

I can't wait to take this camera with me to Texas (next week!) and show you what I get from it. 

Now, I just need to buy a scanner....

Rain, Crutches, and Nice People

On Saturday, I fell off my bicycle and tore a bunch of important ligaments and other such things in my foot. So, I am now in an air cast and using crutches.

Anyway, today, I was meeting some friends for lunch. It conveniently started pouring rain which I then had to walk in -- slowly walk, by the way. It's more of a waddle shuffle, really.

I was dreading it and tried my best to stay underneath awnings, but then I had to cross the street.

And this amazingly kind guy walked up to me and said, "Are you crossing here?" And I said, "Yes," and chuckled. He moved his umbrella over me and proceeded to cross the next two streets with me, totally out of his way so I could get where I needed to dryly, and safely.

That made my day.

So did this:

Sarah Dessen's signature that a friend picked up for me from her reading in Omaha. On a sticky note so I could put it in my favorite book. ♥

Monday, Monday

Dearest Monday,

Thanks for having the word "mon" in you. That's French for "my," in case you weren't aware, Monday. It makes me think of you more as "my day," and frankly, that sounds like a much more promising start to the week. 

Love,

Nicole

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Hair Part 2

I bet you thought that I was going to chop all of my hair off. 

I have really thick hair.

I now know this for a fact. My hair stylists said so. That's right. Stylists. Because it took two people to make this happen:

Do those capes flatter anyone?

And, 5 hours & 150+ curlers later, I have a perm.

Much like this:

No people! Have a little bit of faith. Jeez.

I actually look like this:

I'm still in the can't wash it phase, but I like it. I know I'll like it more after I get to shampoo it and play with it.

So, why the perm? We have no central AC. Which means that the summers are hot as hell in our apartment. Typically about 10 degrees warmer inside then out. And we have hot wind. So, pointing a hair dryer at my head for 10 minutes and leaving my hair down all summer, again? No thanks. Which leaves me with the option with my long, thick hair in a ponytail all summer. Again. No thanks. Thus the perm.

There were some skeptics. One friend said, "People still get those?" But that's okay. I used to get perms in high school and loved them. And, I don't have to use a blow dryer. Win, win. I also get to cross something off my life list!

So, if you see out and about, say something nice about my hair.

Hair.... Surprise?

The quintessential bathroom mirror shot. My first ever. 

But that's not what this is about. 

It's about the fact that this is the longest my hair has been in... over 5 years. The mister remarked the other day that he had no recollection of my hair this long. And we've known each other for five years.

But, tomorrow, I'm doing something drastic to it. 

And it's probably not what you think it is. 

Happy Thursday night, my dear friends!

Adorable

Sometimes I just need to get a goofy grin smile on my face. The kind where you're doing something and don't even realize that you're smiling until you realize it. That kind of smile.

The mister showed me this tonight, and it did the trick.  It's long. 7 minutes. You could stop watching around 6 minutes, but I think it's worth it.

Enjoy!

Friend Makin' Mondays: Why Are You Awesome?

Hi blog! And friends! I know I've been absent, but that's okay. I'm back and today, I'm going to be a part of Friend Makin' Mondays. And I hope you will be too.

Question: What makes you awesome? List at least five qualities/hobbies/habits make you cool and unique? 

Hmm. What makes me awesome? 

Well, I think that I have a knack for decorating which I totally get from my mom. 

I'm the person who keeps in contact. I call friends weekly, unless life is just slipping from me. I write letters to people, and leave random notes to strangers all around. I have a group of friends from an academic thing back in 2007 who I still chat with on a regular basis. Which, leads me to...

I'm a lover and a carer. I mean that I love people. I love chatting and getting to know others. I love taking care of people. I just love. And if I love you, I love you for life. 

I am in awe of parties. Specifically, I love throwing parties. I adore hosting things. The planning, the decorating, the inviting. I like people making new friends, and I love the smell of food and the sound of laughter filling my home. It's one of my favorite things.

My mister and I keep a pretty constant stream of conversation happening through the day via text and gchat. Some think this is strange. I find it to be awesome... and perhaps a bit odd. 

If you, my friends, want to participate, post links to your answers at Kenz's blog too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts.

Art Night

It's Tuesday night.

In our household, that means Art night. We roll up our carpet and sit on the floor. I pull out a sketch pad, or my Chinese paints, or anything else. The mister pulls out the stuff he's working on, and we just let ourselves be creative. The cat might join us or not. We put records on and pull out wine or beer, or $1 sodas from McDonald's.

The mister and I both want to be creative. 

Both of us never felt like we were creative. Never felt like artists. My parents always, always kept my art projects, but I  never felt like they were good enough. And after, one day, having my stuff laughed at, I stopped being creative (don't we all have a story like this?) The mister has a younger brother who is an incredible artist. He's amazing. And because of his amazing-ness, the mister always felt like he couldn't compare, and so he stopped doodling. 

A couple of weeks ago, we decided screw it and chose Tuesday nights to let our creative juices flow. 

So, on Tuesdays, if you needs us, that's where we'll be. On the floor being creative. And not judging each other on our creativity.

My life in photos, recently

 Not in any particular order:

Ha Ha Tonka

Midlife Crisis Party, after drinks. 

The mister digging. 

Awesome confirmands. 

The mister and his helmet. 

Blowing bubbles on Easter. 

Tulips. 

The grass that popped up has a shadow! And the mister has clean boots. 

Celebrating Alysondra's successful dissertation proposal with wine, carbs, and a gorgeous ring. 

A friend jamming out on the drums. At his show. 

and, finally,

Arts & Crafts time when there were no kids at Sunday School.

What have you been up to?

How to: Capes

Let's talk about Capes.

Remember the one that I made for my friend?

Well, I'm going to tell you how I made it. Ready?

1. Buy shirts or find an old one. I used two, both were on super sale from Target. Make sure it's a solid color!

2. Cut the cape from one of the shirts. This is surprisingly simple. Just draw lines from the hemline of the side seam at the waist to where the neck band and the shoulder seam meet. Follow the lines and then cut around the neck band.

3. Embellish the cape with anything that you want! I chose a star which then looked like this while I tried to figure it all out...

Fun, right? Truly, the only way to mark anything is with sharpies. :)

Once cut out, I used a seam thing to stick it down. And it worked, kind of. This is what it looked like when finished

P.S. Photo not mine. A friend's from facebook. I just added words.

Things I learned:

-I can't draw stars.

-I should have used either applique adhesive or stitched it down. I have now captured the cape back to remedy this. 

Pretty cool right? You guys should make capes now. Go! 

Happy Week

Happiness (this week) is...

Celebrating friends' amazingness, fabulousness, and awesomeness

New records with amazing music

Art night with The Mister

Outside lights brought inside making the apartment grow

 A night of shopping with a dear friend which resulted in new summer clothes

Signing up for Weight Watchers

Shiny boots

This video:

Ghost Whisperer on Netflix

Being done with statistics for the semester

annnnnnd....

The Good Wife back on Television

**********

What's making you happy this week, friends?