Lately, as I scroll through my Instagram feed, I’ve been taking screenshots of some of the photos that grab my attention. Clearly I’m being drawn to a similarly bright and sunny color palette every time! This week I made the switch to iced coffee. Next week I’ll toss some summer clothes in a bag and hop a flight to see my family in California. Spring has sprung; summer is right around the corner. We’re heading into a warm weekend and time is on our side!

Images:

Coast to Coast

By Lauren

May 28, 2014

Coast to Coast

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F: Is there anything in LA that you would like to do when you are here?

L: Hmm…I’m pretty excited to just chill with you and the rest of our family! I’m down for whatever really.

F: Do you have any big trips planned for the rest of this year?

L: I actually just booked a trip to Cartegena for July. Pretty pumped about that!

F: Do you like doing puzzles?

L: Yeah, I do. I don’t do them often but it’s a totally satisfying activity, in my opinion. I find them somewhat annoying to get started but once you have the boarders in place, I’m into it.

F: Have you pulled an Osho card recently? If not, why don’t ya and share it here.

L: Osho changed its site so now you have to have a user name, etc. to pull a card. Instead I pulled one through this site and I got The Chariot: “This is a card of logic and strength. The young man in the chariot is the type who can conquer arduous logical, and physical, tasks. He is strong willed, and eager to move in any direction that might offer him a challenge, and is willing to travel great distances…”

F: Are you reading anything lately? I know you always say no, but I am always interested. It could even be an article.

L: I thought this post that I recently read, “Side projects are the new resume,” was really interesting.

Flamenco

By Lauren

May 22, 2014

Music

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(photo via here)

Public radio is far and away my primary source for discovering new music. The other night I caught the second half of this episode of New Sounds, “Frontiers of Flamenco,” which focuses on flamenco music’s intersection with the music of India, West Africa and North Africa. I know it’s cliche to say but the music selected for the program really takes you on a journey through so many different cultures. I find it mesmerizing! You can hear the show through the link above.

On a semi-related note, I took flamenco dance for awhile when I was younger. I remember the weight of skirt and the height of the heels. Though I found it nearly impossible to keep a beat with the castanets, something about the confident posture you have to hold and the demeanor you’re meant to maintain made the whole experience feel light and playful.

My Nose Remembers

By Lauren

May 20, 2014

Personal & Interior Style

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(illustration via here)

This morning, as I walked out of the subway, an old familiar scent passed me by: Sunflowers By Elizabeth Arden. Sunflowers was my first perfume. I must have gotten it when I was around 14 years old. It smelled fresh and happy; wearing it made me feel older and more sophisticated than I was.

A decade or so later, I found my second scent: Stella McCartney’s Stella. This is not to say that I wore Sunflowers for a whole decade, rather I wasn’t really one to wear perfume in my late teens and early twenties. But I received a free roll-on bottle of Stella at a fashion PR event my friend was working as one of her first jobs in New York and I adopted the scent as my own. Its smell reminds me of my early days in New York, living in the East Village and going to parties that lasted til sunrise. Now, yet another decade later, I have a new fragrance: APOTHIA’s IF. I love this scent so much and can’t imagine ever moving on from it. But chances are, in another ten years, the smell of IF will remind me of of myself now I can’t yet classify.

Picturesque

By Lauren

May 19, 2014

Pictures

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Greetings! How was your weekend? It was bright and sunny in NYC, just the way I like it. Take a peek.

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Lauren – New York, NY

The Revolution Will Not Be On Your Newsfeed

Retail therapy at one of my favorite neighborhood hideouts

Family dinner

Sunday napping, chatting and snapping

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Farrell – Los Angeles, CA

Our friends that we met in Bali are visiting us!

We had amazing dinners

Threw bonfires

Went to a free concert at The Getty

Coast to Coast

By Lauren

May 15, 2014

Coast to Coast

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F: Have you ever been to Mexico? If yes, what was your experience?

L: When I was a senior in high school I told mom that my friends and I wanted to go to Florida for spring break. Clearly unaware of its reputation for debauchery she responded, “Why not go to Cancun or somewhere like that?!” I could hardly believe my ears and jumped at the suggestion. It was a fun, though pretty disgusting trip.

F: Show us a picture of New York in bloom.

L: Ha! Well I took that picture above before even getting to this question. It’s been pretty pretty flower wise in New York & on Columbia’s campus where I work.

F: What are your summer-ish plans for this weekend?

L: Am hoping on a trip out of dodge. We’ll see…

F: What is one look that you would love to rock, but you are scared to?

L: I really like these patterned, high waisted skirt/cropped top looks I’m seeing lately; but I’d have to be in the right frame of mind, with the right place to go, to wear one.

(photo via here)

F: What is the last thing you watched that entertained you?

L: Got down with some classic Crank Yankers a couple nights ago. Pretty raunchy so I’m not going to link to the one I watched but it was funny.

Be the change you want to see in the world

By Lauren

May 13, 2014

Holistic Living

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Photo found here

Ten ways I can be the change I want to see in the world:

1) Engage the people I come into contact with throughout the day.

2) Put my phone aside while I talk to them.

3) Eat lunch outside/away from my desk.

4) Find more ways to use the things I already have – stop buying and seeking new ones.

5) Talk to & feed myself with the same way I would a child.

6) Accept help from others.

7) Live below my means.

8) Pray/meditate/connect to whatever It is.

9) Identify and engage in my community(-ies).

10) Exercise.

Home Yoga

By Lauren

May 8, 2014

Holistic Living

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(photo via here)

The ability to practice anywhere is one of the best things about yoga. Though I don’t have a lot of space, I’m definitely a fan of the home yoga practice. Don’t get me wrong, there’s is something very powerful about being led by a great teacher and practicing as part of a group but having the option to practice at home can’t be beat. Personally, I still like to listen to a yoga class podcast when I practice at home (my favorite podcasts here); it keeps me from loosing focus and skipping poses I don’t love. I look forward to the day when I have as beautiful a yoga space as the one pictured above but in the meantime my home practice necessities consist only of:

Jade Harmony Yoga Mat (the best yoga mat, in my opinion. no slip, no slide!) | Mexican Yoga Blanket | The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | Bose Mobile Speaker

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Links found in this post connect to our Amazon Associate account which means we may earn a commission on purchases. We only link to items we actually use or want to try.

Aspirational

By Lauren

May 6, 2014

Holistic Living

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Juan Genovés – Conjetura, 2007

Safe to say I find myself lost on the internet pretty much every day. Currently, as I write this post I have 17 tabs open in my browser. I spend a lot of time, on a very regular basis, getting lost in a web of thoughts, searches and entertainment. I find things I want to explore further (or go back to), abandon the page I’m on and tab to the next. Yet when Farrell asked me to name something fun I’d found on the internet last week, I could not think of anything! Actually, it was only in my attempt to think of/find something that I came across the Humans of New York post I ended up using. I’m really realizing how unfocused and unproductive this time is, to say nothing of the fact that just this morning I was reading about how the content we consume each day imprints itself onto our subconscious. So, I am working on approaching the internet with purpose & sharpening my focus. Setting tasks and sticking to them!