Easter Is Like Coming Home

Location: St. Peters Catholic Church - Charlotte, NC

I love Christmas don't get me wrong.  All the fun and festivities in the fall and winter will always have a special place in my heart.  Yet, this year I think Easter is finding a special place in my heart.  The weather is warming up, the sun shining, and those Carolina blue skies.

All lent I was reflecting on what I can do to point myself toward God.  I leaned into him and learned to trust a little bit more. Then we entered into holy week and spring break for me. I felt this stirring in my heart as I was at mass on Holy Thursday, I felt like I was home.  It was so fitting for this holy week because this is the time of year when others come into the church and find their home as well. Even though I have been confirmed since high school - I had this sense that I was finally entering into the church as well. Solidarity, sisters.

My whole faith story is a long long tale for a different day.  But long story short, I have been searching and trying to find my own way in the church, my own community, my home.  Not living in my youth group days or parents shadow at the parish I grew up in.

The church I found has been so much for me.  It is a center city Jesuit church which speaks to my service heart in so many ways.  I have joined a bible study and found community with the young adult group there.  It is so different in many ways from the church I grew up in.  And yet, as Catholic is universal, it is the same. Home.

To all those who found new life in the church this weekend, welcome and congratulations. Happy Easter. He is Risen indeed and His mercies are new every morning. 

Creating Intentional Routines for Self Care

Journaling Bible

As humans we like routine, we crave rituals.  They make us feel safe because we know what is coming next.  Routines have a calming effect.  That is why it is so important to set up intentional routines.  A lot of people struggle to have a work / life balance or get anxiety and have a tough time navigating the world.  Life is hard y'all.  It is okay to set up boundaries, put yourself first, and practice good self care.

I love self care. We actually had an about you questionnaire at work for secret Santa gifts and I literally put self care as my hobby.  But hear me out.  Self care should always be 3 fold.  Something for your body, your mind, and your heart.  It can be 3 separate things or one thing that fuels all 3 aspects of your being.

For me, my self care is having routines that include self care practices.  Working out and eating healthy my body.  Reading fuels my mind.  Spending time journaling and reading the Word fill my heart.

I start my day, every single day, with a cup of coffee and reading the bible.  I intentionally wake up a little bit earlier so I can have purposeful time to get this accomplished.  It has become habitual so much so that if I miss a morning my day feels thrown. When I get home the first thing I do before anything else is get my workout in and walk my pup.  It's like I am physically moving and de-stressing from the day.

It was so important to me to create a life around my self care practices so that I feel healthy and happy in all that I do.  It takes time to put simple changes into long term lifestyle routines, but we make time for what we care for.

What is important to you? What fills your cup?  How can you switch some things up to be very intentional to create self care routines for yourself? 

A Music City Weekend

 Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Recently, I was in Nashville for a friends Bachelorette Weekend.  Ya'll, I had never been before and this city is so. much. fun.  I would definitely go back so I could explore even more because there is just so much that we couldn't get to everything!

The weekend centered around the bride to be.  We had some fun activities for the weekend, like a cycle pub the first night we got there and a pole dancing class at a local place. We went out to the bars on Broadway in the evenings.  They are such a good time because every single place has live music playing.  Even inside of one bar it could have multiple floors each with it's own live band and different vibe.  I totally get the reason for the nickname music city.

The food at every place we went to was fantastic.  Even brunch was accompanied by live music! I loved all of the different murals there were around the city.  A good fun mural is everything for the photo lover in me.

I would highly recommend Nashville to anyone and especially bachelorette weekends, we ran into so many other groups for the trip simply because there is so much to do in a concentrated area on that main strip.

Have you ever been to Nashville? What are your must do's there? 

Birthday Brunch

Location: 300 East

Why is it that when a restaurant is featured on a food network show, that restaurant is instantly cooler? Back in February my family and I celebrated my Birthday by going out to brunch.  We decided on a local restaurant close to me called 300 East.  While looking up the menu before hand I found that it was featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives and instantly was more excited to go.  I mean a local restaurant on TV?! How cool is that?!

The brunch was delicious as was the chocolate brownie [pictured above] Even more so than great food, I love getting together with loved ones for special occasions and celebrating.  My love language is definitely brunch and quality time so this was a perfect way to spend my birthday!

What is your favorite birthday tradition?  

Why Hello Again

Location: Nashville, TN

I have missed this.  I have missed taking fun photos of life and it's adventures.  I have missed writing and sharing my heart and ideas.

What I haven't missed, though, is the ridiculous pressure and anxiety I put on myself to be something that I am not.  The blog world is an interesting one to navigate.  For some reason I felt like I was doing it wrong because I wasn't gaining tons of followers and making money with sponsorships at an exponential rate.  So I changed who I was.  I forgot my why.  My intention to connect, to write, to encourage, to be authentic, genuine, and intentional. I tried to keep up and post often which lead to a negative relationship with my creative outlet. 

My full time job is stressful enough, I don't need my fun hobby to bring even more stress to my life.  I took a break for a while to re-focus and re-center myself.  That break turned into a 7 month hiatus from blogging and you know what, that is okay.

I needed a little time off to realize that I can blog and stay true to myself all at the same time.  This blog is a mix of everything: faith, food, travel, style, exploring my city, fitness because that's who I am and what I love. This time though I am going to trust in God's plan for me and this blog.  I have it on my heart to write in this space.  I need to trust that feeling and honor it because there is a reason that desire was placed in me.  My writing may not be on a regular frequent posting schedule, I have no clue about making money but if a collaboration I believe in comes along then I will be open, we will see what comes.  One thing that is no longer though is the desire to be a perfect little blogger and fit into this mold created by social media, it's simply not worth it.

I am excited to continue this journey.  I hope you will follow along as I share and celebrate life in this space.