.. One Year Down

Because today I am feeling very sappy about my one year anniversary I wanted to share some of my favorite portraits of just the two of us from our wedding day. When this goes live we will be on our anniversary vacation in Charleston, SC, hopefully eating a fancy meal and diving into our year old wedding cake before we go. It wasn't always easy (it never is when you meet at 19) but I wouldn't trade, change, or take any shortcuts to get me here. The last 10+ years have been a roller-coaster ride I wouldn't want to be on with anyone else. Cheers.

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..Gemini Party of Two

The deets: J.Crew tee and shorts; Madewell heels (similar under $40); Balenciaga bag (dupe for under $40!); Baublebar earrings; Knox Thomas Designs bracelets; Elizabeth and James sunnies (similar).

Hello friends, my name is Erin and I am a atrologic-holic. I just love anything that is sun sign related so I was super obsessed with these tees when they came out at J.Crew. I walked into my local one and they had EVERY single one in sock but mine so I kept going back until they had it. I do slightly resemble a camp counselor here (is camp counselor chic a thing? Like #athleisure?) but I don't mind. My little party of two toucans are too adorable to be mad at it.

I am a Gemini (air sign strong in communication) with a Leo rising (fire sign - basically a doctorate in empathy). Most everyone knows their sun sign but if you aren't sure about your rising (the way you express your sun sign) you can find out by checking out what time of day you were born and matching it to this chart. I am always fascinated by how to people of the same sun sign can be affected by their different rising signs! My husband is a Libra with Taurus rising which is basically a perfect compliment to mine and we didn't even plan it (wink).

Shop ALL the signs below! I am pretty obsessed with the Pisces, Sagittarius, Taurus, Aquarius are my favorites.

..Four Favorites

See all the "Four Favorites" series here.

1. I got this little "do your best" coaster for my desk at work and it really does put a little positive energy into my brain when I catch a glimpse of it!

2. I have these earrings in the lighter color (last seen here and here) and they just came out in gorgeous deeper hues, thinking they would be such a fun gift! I love mine.

3. My bestie just started a photography company Truly Gil Photography! She is going to be snapping our Christmas photos this year and I know it's early but I have been brainstorming ideas on my Pinerest page (here) for us and there are SO many cute dogs in wreaths I'm thinking I need to do this with Alba!

4. It's my own personal tradition to treat myself to a new pajama set each time I go on a vacation and even though its the end of summer I couldn't resist this cute lemon print set for our upcoming trip to Charleston.

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..On Haters

I have written in length about the battle with self-judgement (here) but for this month’s personal post I am talking about its bigger, scarier, and more destructive cousin – judging others.  I say more destructive because usually engaging in this kind of behavior ends up hurting not just that person but their loved ones and then even yourself when you look inward which means that brawl with self judgement is right around the corner anyway.

We all do it and we all love to do it. I am very guilty of turning on Bachelor in Paradise and going to TOWN on some of these people that are probably just trying to make it in a very competitive LA world (although they are making fun of themselves at the same time – which isn’t an excuse – but does make you feel less bad about it).

Honestly, when I think to myself “I really don’t like this person” or "they are so annoying" in a REAL way it’s usually because of something going on inside myself that's the true root of it. There are a few reality TV personalities, bloggers, and even regular people I know that that evoke this ugly feeling in me and when I stop to consider a common denominator it becomes clear that each one of them have do have something in common that urks me. Nine times out of ten when I feel the distaste start to bubble up, its over someone who is absolutely and unapologeticly confident in themselves and take unapologetic pride in their work. Key word being unapologetic (did I say that enough times yet?). Even if I don’t agree, these folks feel that way and are making it known – and can’t be persuaded otherwise. That “I am putting this work out there and it’s great” or “I am beautiful and I know it” or “I am the best at this so deal with it and get on board and admire it.”

WHY in the world should those qualities bother me? Aren’t they something to strive for? Yes! Everyone should be more confident in themselves and their work. It's something I consistently struggle with (hence the looooong self judgement post) and I think when I recognize it in another my initial reaction is to hate on it because in all realness – I am jealous that it comes so easily to them. Boom. Mind blown. To judge someone else is to judge yourself. I truly believe there is no way to pass a judgement on someone else without revealing something intimate about yourself which means you can’t do one without the other. Let me repeat that. YOU CAN'T DO ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER. 

I recently saw that one of my favorite bloggers was bullied on the blogger hate site we will not mention and it broke her. I don’t know this person at all on a personal level and I have been lucky enough to not experience anything like that (because I am a flea in the blogger world – I am sure they’d have lots to say if that weren’t the case) but seeing anyone be dismantled and crushed by a bunch of anonymous people, scrutinizing their every move and word is heartbreaking. Our flaws make us who we are. Our contrasting life choices make us who we are. Our different preferences make us who we are. We can not all follow the same set of life rules. We must be able to see and respect the beauty in variation. It’s okay to not vibe with every human you meet on a best friend level but we can definitely all be cordial to one another. We can all learn from one another. We can try to embrace the differences in one another. If someone is getting satisfaction or validation from putting someone else down – what does that really say about what is going on in their own heart?

It is so so very hard to take a step back and look at yourself from a different perspective and it takes practice to reach inside and figure out what exactly is eliciting that emotion from you, but it is so eye opening! I know I'm not the poster girl for exemplary behavior (like I said, I do watch trashy television and have many, many thoughts - don't even get me started on the Real Housewives franchise) but I think we can all strive to move closer to the goal post. Like your least favorite vegetable, it tastes bad going down but it's good for you in the end - your own soul multi-vitamin of sorts.

I know this is different form my normal posts, I try to put one out a month but if you want more of the deep stuff, you can find it here (where all my personal posts live).

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..Red Fuzzy Love

The deets: H&M tee; J.Crew shorts & hat (similar); Anthropologie earrings (gift, similar); Alexander Wang bag (similar on sale for under $55); Loeffler Randall wedges (also here); Nixon watch (c/o).

In general I like to let my intuition and over all gut feeling about things guide how I navigate all aspects of my life. It's led me so far to a happy marriage, a solid group of amazing friends, and a job that I don't hate to go to every day which in today's world is something to be proud of. Even though it wouldn't look like much to someone on the outside, I wake up most mornings feeling so thankful for the life I have created for myself - which then by the universe's law of attraction brings me closer to more things to be thankful for. It's a mentality that I strive to stay within as best I can. I know it sounds silly, but when I saw this t-shirt hanging in H&M it just gave me a warm seventies flower child vibe that instantly made me feel like I absolutely needed to have it. When I wore it this day, a night we were hosting some friends for GoT night, my husband looked at me and said "Red Fuzzy Love, huh?" and smiled at me (bless him for enduring my quirky sense of style). It made me think..that must be why I was so drawn to it. Everyone could use a little extra "fuzzy love," however you bring those vibes into your life, be it a loved one, a stranger, or a tee shirt.

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