Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

I enjoy reading Dr. Seuss just as much as my children.  His books are full of both wisdom and silliness.  It's a great reminder not to take life too seriously.  But at the same time, he was great at showing how we are responsible for ourselves and the things we love.  It would be wonderful to sit down and have lunch with him, don't you think?  He seemed like such an interesting person.  What questions would you have for him if you were able to go to lunch?

I would probably start with something like, are you ordering the green eggs and ham?  I'm sure he was never asked that.  :)  Have a great weekend!

Weekend Frost

This weekend, we had some amazing frost on the trees.  Apparently it's called hoar frost.  It was stunning and captivating.  I couldn't stop gazing out the window at it.







I hope your Monday is off to a great start!  I'll be back this week with some fun projects for the kiddos.

|All images taken by my husband, Casey Averett|

Music Monday: Jack and White

Let's get this Monday started off right! Here's a cute band that I'm digging right now-- Jack and White. Cue air guitar!



I met Brooke White at ALT Summit briefly and this video does a great job at capturing how nice, hip and stylish she is (great job Summer Bellessa---director & cute baby's momma). I hope you had a great weekend!

Be a Force of Beauty

 


This video makes me want to do two things:

1.  Learn how to skateboard.

2.  Break out of my comfort zone more often.

Watching these videos reminded me of Karen Walrond's book, The Beauty of Different.  We all have beauty within ourselves.  Seek it out and take time to celebrate it.

I hope you're having a great Monday!

|thanks for sharing the video, Brandi|

Vive le Weekend

It's Friday!  Yay!!

I feel about a million times better today.  Thanks for all your kind words-- I have such sweet, sweet friends and I appreciate the reminder.

I'm ready for the weekend and so glad it's here. What do you have planned?

I spotted this cute photo of this bride, Elizabeth and it captivated me.  Isn't it stunning?  You can see the rest of Elizabeth's wedding here.  It was such a simple, but elegant wedding.  Just the way I like it.

I hope you have a great weekend.  Until Monday!

|Photo by Free Bird Photography|

Geometric Shapes

I'm loving these necklaces.  They reminded me of these photo collages I spotted on Design For Mankind earlier this week.



|Necklaces by Iacoli & McAllister via Fab.com, photo collages by Catherine Soto via Design For Mankind|

P.S.  If you don't subscribe to Fab.com, you totally should.  Cool stuff at discounts and only one email a day.

Happy Dose: Workout

I'm no expert at working out, but I do love it.  It makes me feel good, strong and happy.   A couple of you have asked what we do during our bootcamp workout.  It's a mixture of cardio, toning and conditioning.  Here's a small sample of what we do...

We start our workout with a warm-up of running/jogging 1-2 miles.  Sometimes it's 4-8 times around a track.  Sometimes it's running around a big block that incorporates some goods hills.  Sometimes it's running up and down an 18% grade hill 6-10 times.  It just depends on the day.  Then we do some of the following (each day is different so this is just a sampling):

1. Run bleacher stairs (we usually run 5-20).


2. Dumbbells.  We use these throughout.  We do squats, work our arms with curls, bent rows, raises.


3. We also use the dumbbells to work our abs.  One of my favorites is pictured above.


4. Push-ups.  These are so hard!  I have been practicing them at home (on my knees) and I put my phone on the floor in front of me and have to touch my nose to my phone.  It's a great workout.


5. Balance ball.  We actually don't use this at bootcamp, but it's one of my favorite tools to use during a workout.  The knee tuck is awesome.

For instance, this was our one hour workout this morning:

• Run a 3 block radius 3 times (it had one really good hill)


• 20 lunges (each leg), 20 squats, 30 jumping jacks--- (2 sets of entire sequence)


• 20 curls (with weights), 20 bent rows (with weights), 20 lateral raises (with weights), 1 minute of burpees--- (2 sets of entire sequence)


• 20 push ups, 1 minute mountain climbers (2 sets of entire sequence)


• Situps-- crunches, 1 minute plank, side oblique raises, V Up Rolls, Scissors, etc.


• 1 minute squat raises


• Run 3 hills


• Stretch

What workout routines do you like? What motivates you?

|images: 1 2 3 4 5|

Life in General

Dig Deep.

Push Harder. Stronger. Faster.

B-r-e-a-t-h-e.

 

Love Life.

Give to others.

But give to yourself first.

 

Lead. Explore.

Make the world your own.

Happiness.

 

|Photo of me by me|

The Fashion Calendar

I saw these and just had to share them with you.  Aren't they so cute?

The Fashion Calendar posts a new one look each day so it's like a little sunshine in your RSS feed.  Enjoy! (And happy Friday!)

|Illustrations from The Fashion Calendar|

A Little Hope

I love this picture so much.  It makes me want to dance in the street.

|Thanks Amanda!  Photo by Micheal ONeal|

American Nobodies

My friend Robert Machoian-Graham is working on a very neat project called American Nobodies.  Robert works with a couple other guys filming regular people doing regular things in their life.  Here's last week's episode about a boy who just lost his first tooth.  I think the cinematography is lovely.

 

American Nobodies Season 2 Episode 9 from FOUR THIRTY-THREE PICTURES on Vimeo.

You can view more videos over on their website.  They release a new episode every Monday at 9pm.

Hair Experiment

I wish I were more experimental with my hair.  So I'm thinking of challenging myself to actually do my hair for a week.  Anyone down to do it with me?

Also, anyone have a clue on how to do this?

|via Department of the Interior, source unknown|

Stripes & Watercolor

Strips and watercolor are some of my favorite things these days.  When I spotted this notepad from Linda & Harriett it immediately made me smile.  It's so simple, but so great.

What are you loving these days?

Peonies Make Me Happy

I love peonies so much!  My mother has always had quite a few peony bushes and I remember cutting a few flowers in the spring to take to my teacher at the end of the school year.



Want to see more incredible peony pictures?  Check them out over at Oh Happy Day.

Hope you're having a great Monday-Tuesday!  I'll be back later this week to show you what we did this weekend.  (Hint: It involved painting and shopping!)

|All images above taken by Jordan Ferney|

Pinterest Makes Me Happy

Want to know where I go when I need an instant pick me up?

Pinterest.

It's my obsession lately.

So many pretty things all in one spot.  Here are some pretties I discovered today.







|Mudroom Organization, Fabric Scrap Canvas, Giant Scrabble Letters|

Are you on Pinterest?  I'd love to follow you!

Raindrops

It's sprinkling rain here today, and I'm loving it.  No better sound on the rooftop than rain.  Ah, sooooooooo relaxing.

|image via volume twenty five|

Smiles All Around

Everything child's photography should be- fun, brilliant and laugh worthy.

|all images photographed by Jay P. Morgan|

Living in a Glass Apartment

While out in Minnesota over the weekend we got a lot accomplished.  We put in an offer on a house, it's been accepted and now we're just waiting on inspections to come back.  But enough of that.... I know I've been talking an awful lot about the move these days.  So onto something a little more out of the ordinary.

We had the kids with us this weekend and wanted to take our 3 year old, Caden to see LegoLand up at the Mall of America.  While we were up there, I saw this:

A guy named Scott living in a glass apartment.  But not only that.  This glass apartment is in the middle at the Mall of America and he's agreed to do it for one month.  It's something Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota is putting on call The Human Doing.  They are promoting the 'Do' in all of our lifestyles and I think it's clever.  Everything Scott does for a month is voted on-- to bike or exercise?  To do air guitar or arm circles?, etc.  I also love his apartment.  So well designed and it proves how you can live an any sized space.  His apartment is 20'x30' and completely functional.

Interested in checking out more of what the 'Do' is all about?  Go to here to learn more.

All pictures taken from The Human Doing Facebook page.

Child's Play

What a page turner! Don't you love this imaginative over sized bed created by photographer Yusuke Suzuki?  The book is opened up at night to make room for sleeping kiddos.  During the day, the book is closed to make room for play.

{via ModernKids}

A Touch of Green

I'm feeling a little green today for obvious reasons. {Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!}  I found a couple interiors that have a touch of green that I would share to keep us in an ol' jolly Irish mood.

{Rachel Robby}

{Quest Twenty Eight}

{Don Freeman}

{Christina Murphy}

I hope you have a good evening celebrating the holiday.  Eat a little cornbeef and cabbage for me!

xo