GUANTANAMERA, TEQUILA, AND LOTS OF SUN!

My mom, sister-in-law Julia, and I returned home from 5 days in MEXICO last week and it was pretty wonderful. Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE Mexico, everything single thing about it is pretty FABULOUS.  My love of Mexico stems from growing up visiting this country for as long as I can remember (Hello, Texas and Mexico are literally next door neighbors!). We stayed at the Villa Rolandi and it was absolutely fabulous.  I would highly recommend anyone vacationing in Isla Mujeres to look into staying at Villa Rolandi.  Everything from the rooms to the service was wonderful and we would definitely go back to this quaint little island.   

I have to admit, for the past 20 plus years I have heard the song "Guantanamera" in all of its' many forms, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Somehow until  searching for a link to the song for this blog post, I had NO idea that the song was not called "wonton tomato" or some play on those words, yes I'm very serious! Wow, all these years and I finally figured out the real name of the song... learn something new everyday, right?  You can check out the song "Guantanamera" here.  

SPRING FEVER

Here in New York the warmer weather has got me itching for spring to be here (which as a side note happens to officially begin TOMORROW!).  I love all of the bright colors seen during the spring months and below is one of my very favorite tablescapes for a spring celebration.  I think it would be perfect for everything from a bridal or baby shower to getting the family together for Easter or a graduation party even.  Just love the chevron pattern in the yellow and the pops of pink with the mixed pink and yellow in the flower arrangements.  Think it is all lovely!

TINY BITS OF TRUTH

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INSPIRE OTHERS

This list has been in my apartment for several years now, and I always look at it briefly, but I'm not sure I really have thought about what it is saying until recently and wanted to share this incredible reminder with ya'll.  I know I certainly want and strife to live a life that inspires others, but often times it can be a whole lot easier said than done.  I think making an effort daily to think about how you interact with those around you is something we often don't find the time for in our hectic lives these days.  But when you take five minutes out of your day to think wow, how can I inspire others if I myself am not inspired, then for me at least, it has changed my way of thinking and how I treat others around me.  Hope this is a quick reminder to all of ya'll to inspire people in your own lives.

BLOGGING YOUR WAY WORKSHOP

WOW, it's been a pretty fabulous week and I am so excited to share with ya'll about the AMAZING workshop I attended last Saturday led by the incredible Holly Becker, Founder/Executive Editor at decor8, LLC and Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint.  It was the first time this class was held in person rather than online and I would certainly recommend the workshop to anyone if it is offered in this setting in the future.  

It's a two day class with the first day focusing on the creative business of blogging, and the second Leslie Shewring shared her knowledge of photography, specifically how to place and style items for photo shoots.  I was only able to attend the first day, but would have loved the chance to go both days, and hope they offer this workshop again so I can learn some of Leslie's tips on color, photography, and styling.  

Everything in the class was beautifully presented and articulated. The room was transformed into a beautiful studio with bright neon strips of crepe paper, gorgeous flowers, striped paper straws, fabulous journal from Chronicle Books on each desk with a pink and white striped paper bag containing both Holly and Leslie's business cards (fabulous of course!) and a gorgeous postcard. Every single thing about the room was wonderful and simple at the same time. 

Holly led day one of the class and focused on what she refers to as "using your blog as a catalyst to live your best life."  She reiterated and really drove home the message that your blog should serve as a tool to launch you forward in all areas of your life, and that is something that resonated with me.  In the next few weeks there will be some changes to my blog, both in style and content of posts, so bear with me please while I take the information learned from this class and apply it to my blog:)  One of my favorite suggestions from Holly was to keep a journal, and below you can see pictures of her personal journal.

Overall, one of the things I most enjoyed about the day was the opportunity to hear about and speak to an entire room full of creative, passionate and interesting women.  Holly and Leslie are both very passionate, beautiful and incredibly inspirational women.  I felt extremely honored to have the chance to learn from them in an intimate setting and can not thank them enough for the amazing workshop.  

MEXICO!

TINY BITS OF TRUTH!