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31.10.11

What's in a name?


Ever since I was a kid, I've had a love/hate relationship with the name my parents gave me. Growing up hanging out with my older brother and nearly constantly being outside, I was a bit of a tom-boy. I preferred bike riding and running in fields and playing imaginary games with my neighbor than playing dolls or dress up. Games with Indians and wolves and amazonian jungles. This has been a huge factor in my definition. So when it came to my name: Grace Elizabeth- I always thought it sounded a little sissy. I tried to appreciate the meaning behind it, but the title always sounded a little like someone who belongs in a royal court, not fighting crime in the mean streets, or exploring long lost Egyptian tombs.


When I got older, this feeling only grew. My teen years were not unlike the middle ages- dark and smelly. Haha, okay maybe not smelly but I did wear a lot of dark clothing and always tried to project this tough confidence. I was so awkward around people I didn't know, and so afraid of getting hurt that I always felt like I had to defend myself. It was my thing. In our group of friends there was the pretty one, the smart one, the funny one and I tried my hardest to be the tough one. Not to mention at this time I was a motorcycle/ dirtbike aficionado (and have the scars to prove it :P). And my fancy shmancy name never really fit that image. No matter what I did, "Grace" still conjured images of ballerinas and glittery
floating angels to people, and I hated it. 


It wasn't until I got married and truly feel safe that I've begun let go of this outlook. I've always chose cool over pretty. Which of course is not a bad thing in and of itself, but once me and Calvin got together I've finally been able to relax about what other people think of me. I realized I had been projecting that image out of fear and anger over being hurt in the past. Fake bravery is only leather jacket clad skin deep. I still love tattoos and rad hair (even though mine has become long and boring now heh) but now I finally feel comfortable wearing cutsey vintage dresses and working with a more saturated color scheme. No longer do I have to constantly be on edge, ready to defend myself. I'm part of a team now. And with that, I've also realized that you can have both. You can fight zombies by day and wear ball gowns by night- you can be both tough and feminine. Armed with this knowledge, I hope to carve out a whole new definition for 'brutal'. It doesn't have to be a bunch of hurt kids hurting, but a bunch of people, aware of the beauty in their design and the flaws of their heart and out to make a difference all the same.


In letting go of that self consciousness, I've also really come to appreciate my name.
What a gift I've been given, to be named after something so beautiful. 
What an amazing reminder everyday of why I am alive. I hope and aim to be a reminder to others as well- it isn't always easy though (especially when you get cut off in traffic, flipped off by the driver, and spat on like I did this morning D:) but it is always worth it. Kindness and graciousness may work in mysterious, quiet ways, but like the butterfly effect dictates, it may have huge life changing results to someone else.

So I urge you today, like I urge myself daily- be kind today, live up to your name.
Whether you be a friendly Emily, a loving Amanda, a lively Chloe-
or in the case your name means bald man, or he who smells like butt, 
you can borrow my meaning if you'd like :P

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

30.10.11

Spamow!


You guys guessed it! We were Princess Bubblegum and Finn :D
I think they pretty much perfectly sum us up hehe. 
Calvin is adventurous and kind, and I am pretty crazy about bubblegum. 
Seriously, it's a problem :P Our outfits came together so darn well tho heh, and it was my first ever time to dress up for Halloween. It was so fun!

Have a lovely night guys!

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

28.10.11

Halloooween

Can you guess who I'm going as?
I'll give you a hint: I'm the benevolent ruler of a kingdom made of candy :D

















23.10.11

Mix and enjoy! :D

Not the only way to have a lovely Saturday night of course, but one of our favorites hehe. 
The shoes I was wearing (though you can't really see them in these photos) were these: Kloe Wedge Booties and my new freaking favorites! Oh my gosh, I die :D

Have a good one, readers :)

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

21.10.11

*Sigh*


I sure am missin' the sun on my face today. I drew the above picture using Odosketch, which, like I have raved before, is the best darn online drawing application ever made!
If you want to actually watch this being drawn, click here! It's kinda neat :)

On an un-neat note- I am sick :(
I swear I fall ill with something almost every single Friday, just in time for the weekend.
I feel like my sole purpose in life is to greet and escort the elderly.

Oh well, not a bad purpose to have I suppose.
Have a lovely day,
and weekend, everyone.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

19.10.11

New feature!

I now have a Formspring widget located on this side here
<------------- right under the navigation. You can use it to ask me anything you want, and (provided it is not grody) I will answer to the best of my ability. You can remain anonymous, and even attach a photo! 
:D Try it out!

18.10.11

Coffee Date

Well, actually more of a hot cocoa, fruit and cheese, caramel macchiato and parfait date night, but it's whatev :P After Calvin's kempo class, we went to our same 'ol favorite Starbucks/ Barnes and Noble. Man, I love that place. We went specifically to pick up Chuck Palahniuk's new book, "Damned". Can't wait to read it!


I was reminded it came out today by Ms. Kaylah at The Dainty Squid in this post. It's so funny how exactly similar our taste in books is! :D Especially considering Chuck Palahniuk is a little sick heh. She's such a cool lady. AND we found this crazy freaking adorable mini adopt-a-yeti!! 


:DDD How insane is that!! So cute! I'm bringing this guy with us everywhere, heheh. I am overly sentimental about the feelings of stuffed things by the way :P
While every night is a date night for us, it's still nice to go out and do things, even if it's as simple as books and a coffee shop. 
Love you forever, my heart <3
I hope you had a lovely night, however it was spent readers.
And I hope you have a beautiful tomorrow.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

17.10.11

Chronologic

Working with the elderly, I've found my mind has become a little preoccupied with the notion of time. How little of it we get, and how, in the blink of an eye it will all be over.


The thing about time
though, is you can't stop it. Not in the happiest moments- no strength or will or wish wish wishing on stars or the feet of rabbits or the V-shaped bones of fowl can stop that tick tocking time.

And you can't speed it up. No matter how hard you try to close your eyes and clench your teeth to meet time in the dark and bellow and wail and beat your fists it will tick it's even tempered tock one second after another and it will pay no care to your pain or joy- endurance, jubilance, or rib rocking heart shredding ache. Tick tock tick.


You can break all of the watches you want. You can terrorized timepieces to extinction, but don't get too upset when you still see that sun rolling across the sky, a white hot bully reminder that your life- this time- it's not your own.

No money can buy it off. No power of humans, strength, or reason can even affect it in the slightest- can cause is the lightest of missteps, the tiniest of pauses. Tick tock tick.
So let's enjoy it while we have it, so we can't miss it when we don't.

This is why I choose to live madly; to love madly.
I am keenly aware of how little time we have to do it.
On Earth, at least.

Have a beautiful day, readers.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.




14.10.11

Adventures of Milo and Ilona

The weather yesterday was totally gorgeous here, so we took the opportunity
to let the ferrets get some fresh air!


We got these adorable referee vests and leashes for them, and while the ferrets were not huge fans of the vests or leashes themselves, they did really enjoy getting to run around in the grass and get some sun, and we enjoyed not losing them to the wild ;)


They even got super cuddly for a while! :D It was freaking adorable.


But it didn't last for long :P They sure are rambunctious at times, but so much fun!


Ferrets are like all of the adorable of a gerbil, mixed with the agility of a cat and playfulness of a puppy- so perfect! Thank you Yeti for convincing me I'd love them! :D

Off to adventure! :P

Have a beautiful day, readers.
And go buy a ferret! Heh.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

12.10.11

"Wild

and free, you've got no place to be."
Matt and Kim- Spare Change

While Calvin was away at his Kempo class yesterday, I got a chance to write and draw, sip iced coffee and listen to Matt and Kim on headphones while people-watching up a storm, heh.
It was nice. No laying in Yeti's arms in a comfy bed watching Netflix nice, but nice all the same.
Some time alone can be good. Or so they say, right? Oh codependence, you cruel mistress. :P

But eventually we were together again and
this little furry friend of ours wanted to say hello. :)

And I hope you have a good day,
because the truth is, you are unthinkably beautiful.

All the best,
Grace Elizabeth.

11.10.11

Is anyone else

Having problems posting comments?
A few blogs I read won't let me post, and it got me wondering if you all
might be having the same problem on my blog?
Pretty please shoot me an email if you are!
gracelizabeth09@gmail.com

9.10.11

Cinematic

Well, it happened- our first snow here in Colorado! 
We woke up Saturday morning to a winter white world! I was so excited :D We spent the rest of that day inside- reading books and sipping chai tea and staying cozy warm. Of course, with it being Colorado, the sun came out later that afternoon and melted it all away before I could take outfit pictures in it! 
Today the snow was all gone, but it was definitely still chilly and crisp outside.

As a result of the new layout- these pictures have to be a little small.
Just click it to see the full image! :)
I got a chance to break out my new Modcloth dress and my favorite punky looking high laced boots from Target :D I freaking love these things. I also added a little silver bee pin to my belt as a homage to Summer- see you next year :) 


I was surprised to see these gorgeous flowers still a 'bloomin despite the cold! What a lovely juxtaposition :)
And of course, no movie date day would be complete without some smooching under the tree leaves :P


"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf's a flower."
- Albert Camus

We had such a nice day! I even feel almost prepared for another whole long work week. Almost :( *sigh*


Calvin also wanted me to included these two slightly ridiculous pictures haha:


In the right picture, I was talking to some hipster girl that was laughing at us cause we were taking pictures apparently? And the left I was tryin not to giggle when Yeti sat in a thorny rose bush and was freaking out a little :P Tehe. I hope you too had a weekend full of kishes and warmth and crisp fall/winter air. If not, I hope it's on it's way, cause there's nothing greater <3

All the best,
Grace.

5.10.11

Sleep Deprived Survey

As crappy as lack of sleep feels, in combination with copious amounts of caffeine it leaves me feeling pretty inspired too. So, I wanted to do a little writing rant because I feel my blog has been lacking real meat lately and I thought I'd use some questions I've found around the internet to give me a format. Here goes:
1. What is your motivation for blogging?
I first began blogging because I always knew I could. I've read some of the bigger, well-known blogs (Keiko Lynn, A Beautiful Mess, I go by Katie, Little Chief Honeybee) for years, and while I was reading them I always thought- I could do this. Not to at all say that my blog is anywhere near the caliber of theirs- they've got a few years on me, and are all wickedly beautiful amazing women, but I've just always known blogging was pretty much right up my alley. I've been an amateur writer since middle school, and my social networking profiles have always had WAY too many awkward photos of me posted on them haha. This is a creative way to combine the two interests. Also, I'm terrible at meeting people and making friends in real life. Then I found this beautiful, crafty, creative, inspiring community in the blog world and I thought- I want to be a part of that! And in a lot of ways I have become a part of it which makes me so glad :) The timing of this coincided with me switching jobs and suddenly having a whole lot of time to be on the internets. I seized that opportunity to really get my blogging dream going and it has been super fun so far! :) Plus I love meeting you all, and getting a chance to see a little window into your lives. I hope you feel the same!


2. What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses as a person?
Well, as a friend pointed out recently, I  may sometimes try to make my life out to be too perfect. Especially here on this blog, I try to portray positivity even where it is sometimes lacking in real life, because I just don't feel like spreading that blah around. I also feel a little pressured to do so. My brain understands that we are all normal people with normal day to day issues, but SO many of you on here are like intimidatingly awesome. I'm just trying to get on your level, haha. I hope no one takes that as like, a hoity-toityness. It's not at all meant to feel that way. I obviously have other weaknesses too- such as an addiction to dress buying, starbucks sugary drink consuming, and writing responses to questions that are way too long :P


My strengths I suppose would be compassion, emotional strength, and a pretty expansive knowledge of nerdy things. These include but are not limited to: Harry Potter, LOTR, Star Trek (mostly Voyager and DS9), and all things John and Hank Green of Nerdfighteria.


3. What are your dream accomplishments?
I would 100% crazy love to be published at some point in my life. I don't care if it's a children's book or an autobiography, I would love to see my work in print. I would also be extremely stoked to see this little blog grow up- sponsors, giveaways, a handmade shop, the whole sha-bang heh :D


4. What does your usual breakfast look like?
It is erm, of the invisible variety? If I do eat breakfast it's usually embarrassingly unhealthy but most days we're too rushed so I just grumble and whine until lunch :P


5. One of your most embarrassing stories?
Hmm, I do have a lot of these but the first that comes to mind happened my junior year of High school. We were in a program called AVP where a group of us would go to college classes for the first half of the day then take the 1 hour trip back to our little town and have regular classes for the remainder. Well, one day I thought it would be a good idea to wear high heels with jeans (embarrassing enough) and, while standing at the top of a flight of stone steps at the college, call my friends name who I saw across the foyer. After doing so, my heel caught in the opposite pant leg and I scramblefelltumblescraped down the stairs. So loudly. SO LOUDLY. I'm pretty positive every single person within a 200 ft. radius heard, saw, and subsequently laughed at the whole thing. I'm not going to pretend I didn't wish for death a little lol, or at least an invisibility cloak.
-_-


6. The highlight of your life thus far?
Oh whew, I can stop reliving that last story in my head over and over now, lol. The highlight of my life thus far was, without a shadow of a doubt, the day me and the Yeti got married. Not to imply it's been all downhill from there or anything, lol, that day was just such a monumentally amazing day it would be pretty hard to top for me :) Everything went crazy perfect. You can read about it here for more details!

7. What do you imagine your spirit animal to be?
Oooh, I would like to say an owl because I admire them and I would love to possess their cunning, but more than likely I'd get stuck with a turtle or something to teach me patience and how not to rage while driving. :P

8. What is something you miss?
More than anything else, I miss childhood. I miss running in fields and watching the summer age and considering scabs and bruises badges of honor. I miss eating nothing all day but wild rhubarb and having amazonian adventures in a 3ft swimming pool - and the safety of knowing that (as long as I got home before the streetlights came on) everything would be okay, always.

9. What is one trend you refuse to follow?
I pretty much refuse to get on the "fro-yo" bandwagon. I don't know what it's like where you're from, but around here there's one popping up on every street corner and it's just not for me. I'm not huge on dairy products of any variety actually (except that which is present in an iced macchiato :P)

10. What is your favorite junk T.V. show?
Well, I don't know about junk but I do watch a lot of Star Trek these days (Voyager 'cause it has a lady captain...who may or may not be my role model haha) and maybe a little bit of Desperate Housewives sneaks in there >_> We also looooove the show Adventure Time, but without cable we don't get to catch it very often.

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Well, I hope you somewhat enjoyed this more in-depth post about me, and feel free to use my template here to post your own! I'd love to read it :)

Have a beautiful day.

What a crazy

beautiful place we get to live in! :)



I hope you're all having a lovely morning so far, and
I hope you have a beautiful day-
it is all around us.

All the best,
Grace.

4.10.11

Tiny Sparrows


“It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes
that flash across the room like tiny sparrows.”


It has been a new dress even though it's too cold, hanging with friends until too late, sneaking photos in the bathroom before my camera dies, new favorite starbucks drink sipping, cuddle on my Yeti kind of night :)

All the best,
Grace.

3.10.11

Happiness is Everywhere.

This weekend, I got a chance to go thrifting with my Momma and sister, Emily!
We had a blast, and found tons of awesome things :)
One of them being this gorgeous navy blue skirt which I wore Sunday.
It is just the perfect length for the brisk weather on it's way!
I paired it with some tan wedges, navy and mustard floral shirt, and mustard and gold belt.


I absolutely love the weather this time of year, with it's sunny mornings, crisp afternoons, and chilly cuddle up and watch netflix while listening to the wind nights :)


I also found, among other things, a new little owl topped bell to marry my other one, my very first enamel flower brooch, an adorable teeny silver teapot clock, 
and the freaking sweetest little book I've ever seen.


It's called Happiness is Everywhere, and seriously, sappy sweeter little illustrations have never been made! Ah! I die :D


I hope this day finds you well, readers.
Let me know how you've been! It's been a little quiet around here lately.
As always, have a beautiful day.