penny lane.

a few months ago I went on a road trip to visit my siblings at school and this coffee shop was one of the places I visited along the way. I have hundreds of pictures from my week on the road, but the ones I took at penny lane always jump out at me. it may have something to do with how I felt when I was there. immediately after arriving I felt "at home". this place was a source of inspiration for me. I left feeling energized, hopeful, and excited about life. to some people "eclectic, lived in, unfinished" spaces are undesirable or frowned upon. to me, they're perfect.

penny lane is a quintessential local coffee shop and I enjoyed every second of my time there.

wednesday, the fourth.

surprise! said all of the little black seeds when I cut this watermelon open :) I honestly can't remember the last time I ate a watermelon with seeds. they made eating it more of a task which in some weird way was fun for me :) anyway, happy Independence Day! I hope you all have the best day ever.

a colorful city.

chicago is beautiful year round, but in the summer I think it is especially spectacular. one of the things I love to do the most is to walk around any given place with out an agenda. no time constraints, nowhere to be. with comfortable shoes on my feet and a camera in my hands, I could explore the smallest town or biggest city for an entire day and never grow tired. I guess you could say I'm easy that way. I am so fascinated by places and the people that fill them that I just can't seem to get enough. I am a people watcher. an observer. an analyst. I notice things. chicago is a beautiful city and I love to explore it...especially in the summertime.

frapp.

chilled (STRONG) coffee + ice + blender = a homemade coffee Frappuccino! yum! ...it has been extremely hot lately and I've been craving ice cold drinks practically every day (I'm normally a warm water drinker, so this is kind of a big deal ;). since coffee is my drink of choice I decided to try my hand at a homemade frappucino. wow, am I glad I did. so good! I brewed a fresh pot of coffee, put it in the fridge for a bit to let it chill, poured it into my blender, added ice and blended it together! not sure why I never thought to do this before. I didn't add any extra ingredients this time, but I will definitely treat myself in the very near future. caramel syrup is currently on my list of things to buy :)

lucky for me I even had a fancy green straw to drink it out of.

my happy place.

my bedroom is definitely what I would call "my happy place". when I am in it I feel a certain sense of calm. I am at peace. I am comfortable. I am OK.

I am a firm believer in the phrase ' love people, use things '. nonetheless, there are certain things in my life (room to be exact) that I do, very much love. I love my thrifted bookshelf which I purchased earlier this year for $12. I love the fabric (from an old dress) that is framed and hanging on my wall. I love the oversized painting that I created one evening when I was bored at home. I love my collection of books, little thrifted treasures, photographs of special people, my $5 tufted back accent chair, and the fact that this space is truly a reflection of myself. simple yet unique.

yes, it is true. my bedroom is one of my favorite things ;)

faith.

ah. to be a kid again. I remember the carefree days of childhood and because of that I long for them. I find myself longing for the days when I didn't have to make hard decisions. kids don't have to worry about big, life changing, hard to reverse decisions...adults do. I'm at a point in my life where I need to make hard decisions and it's not always fun. somedays I wish I could just jump back into childhood and leave the decisions up to someone else. don't get me wrong, I love being in control, I want to choose my own path, it can just be scary sometimes. the thing that gets me through these times of uncertainties is faith. I have faith in myself and my future. I have faith that everything's gonna be alright.

"faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase" MLK jr.

day four.

on Sunday I started what will be a seven day cleanse. today is day four and I am so proud of myself for making it this far!

it.has.been.TOUGH. with family in town, summer bbqs in full swing and a new froyo obsession (which is hard to control under normal circumstances) my self discipline and control are really being put to the test. three more days! it's going to take all of the willpower I can muster up to not order the biggest pizza I can find and eat it all by myself this coming Sunday ;)

a day downtown.

two of my three siblings are still living in other cities for college and this past week they were both here in Chicago! very exciting. we spent a day downtown last week and had fun exploring the city we love best.