When the moon hits your eye....

Hello my sweet blog-friends :) I was in the writing mood this past weekend, and figured that since it had been an entire month (ummmm please tell me where June and July went), I should probably continue blogging our little (ok-huge) journey over the big blue ocean to Italy. Maybe by the time Brent and I actually get married, I will be done blogging about our engagement trip! I mean...just maybe...

Day 2 was our day in the oh-so-gorgeous Venice. Everything you see in the movies? Yep. It's real-life over there. Gondolas, more gelato (of course), pizza (food theme?), and romance galore. 

We stopped in this super cute alley to grab an authentic lunch. That was probably some of the best advice we received in Venice: "Get lost. Find good food." The good food is always off the main walking paths, and they aren't going to charge you crazy touristy prices for it either...win.  Brent and I wandered and walked (no cars allowed in venice!), and came across this super cute pizza place...I mean, a man played his accordion outside of it...come.on.cuteness.overload.

St. Mark's Square is definitely the heart of Venice.  So much history...so much art...I was soaking in every minute of it.

And then...of course...was the gondola ride.  It was perfectly cliché, perfectly romantic, perfectly Venice. I was surprised by how small the canals were, and how perfectly balanced those gondolas have to be to make it around some pretty tight corners. 

 

Of course, the East Coast Main Squeeze and I stopped in a few lots of bakeries. Sparkly macaroons? Don't mind if I do...(shout out to Brent for posing ever so patiently as I took pictures of every single food we ate on this trip....LOVE YOU).

We ended our day with more history/art/beauty/happiness.

And yes...Brent is too tall for selfies...

If you missed our first day of Italy, you can read that post here!

Italy | Day One

I have been putting pictures together for one massive Italy post, and realized that scrolling through hundreds of pictures might be only fun for me...hence, this 'day one' post! :)

We started our trip with a quick stop in Verona, Italy, the home place of Romeo and Juliet (right?!).  It was classic Italy, with cute little shops, colorful buildings, open squares, and oh yea, gelato (you'll probably see a recurring theme with that one). 

The picture of Brent and I below was after taking an overnight flight from NYC...we look oh-so-glam. I look very un-showered (what else is new?), and Brent looks sleepy ;) BUT IT'S ITALY. 

We stopped by Juliet's tower (which, fun fact, was built after Shakespeare wrote their epic story), and got to write #newjerseyboymeetswisconsingirl on the wall of love (thank God I have a tall main squeeze, because there was little to no room to write for us short folks). 

Some cutesy little boutique that sold chocolates and embroidered goods (random, I know...), would embroider the ladies names for free :) 

Of course, we wasted no time, and found gelato right away.  We walked around the Verona square, held hands, people watched, and ate gelato.  It was heavenly. 

More to come later!

Less Fear, More Focus

Less is More Series | Week 5

What are you fearful of?

Whatever it is, it can be paralyzing...can’t it? 

It’s amazing how much time I spend in my day thinking about what could go wrong, instead of just focusing on the task at hand, and kicking it in the butt! Having less fear, and focusing more? It’s a win win for more productivity, more accomplishment, and overall, more happiness.  

When you focus on what is truly important in this life, (like making a positive difference and your overall happiness), oppose to what’s not super important in this life (like making a ton of money or how many Instagram followers you have), it’s amazing how your fears slowing shrink. 

Focus > Fear. Done. 

Less Expectations, More Experiences

Less is More Series | Week 4

False expectations of yourself? Yep. We all do it.

We put ourselves in a category of comparison, and we start to expect things of ourselves that, quite frankly, don’t make sense.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not confusing this with unrealistic expectations...which, to you, might sound like the same thing.  But to me, that means that something is impossible, and I’m a firm believer that anything is possible.  However, false expectations are the ones that just don’t.make.sense. They don’t fit who you are, but instead, they fit who someone you idolize to be.

Stop beating yourself up over not living up to your false expectations of yourself...start experiencing life as it hands it to you.  Live it. Breathe it. Don’t get upset when things don’t necessarily go the way you wanted...the way you expected.  My bet? God has something way cooler for you down the road, and you are missing an amazing opportunity to experience just want that is, by getting caught up in the jumble of false expectations.

^ps-I’m mostly writing this to myself to remember...but will you join me in it?

Check out week three, two, and one of this series here!

Less Hustle, More Heart

Less is More Series | Week 3

If any of you follow my little INSTAGRAM over here, you may have noticed a bit of a breakdown last week (followed by a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my East Coast Main Squeeze).  Yep, I officially had one of those “I'm-stressed-to-the-max-and-I-will-cry-at-any-second-because-everything-that-could-go-wrong-today-is-and-I-am-way-over-my-head-and-forgetting-to-breathe-because-I-have-no-control-over-this-situation-so-I-might-pass-out” days. The days where you have so much to do (not even necessarily work related), you just want to take a nap and forget about it all for an hour...or five.

It was just this past weekend, reflecting back on it all, where I realized that I’ve started to lose sight of my heart, and instead, was living for the hustle.  You know, the 

“How’s life?” 

“Just crazy busy!” 

conversations that happen day in and day out.

I’m realizing that every time I say yes to something that isn’t from the heart, I’m saying no to something that is.  Every yes that isn’t from the heart, is another moment of added hustle... What if I only said yes to things that gave my heart the giggles? Gave my heart compassion? Gave my heart purpose? Maybe I wouldn’t have as many days of total franticness (although, the flowers were a nice bonus) ;)

Let’s commit to one another: saying more yes’s to things that make our hearts soar, and more no’s to things that just...don’t. You in?

Check out week 1 and week 2 from this Series!

Less perfection, more progress

Less is More Series | Week 2

Dear all perfectionists,

Warning: sometimes, perfect isn’t always the best. *gasp* I know...I know... but here is the deal people: perfectionism can hold us back from making progress in our life. For example, you have no idea how many drafts of blog posts I have pending on my little slice of internet right now. It’s actually embarrassing.  The real reason I don’t post them isn’t because they aren’t ready, it’s because they aren’t perfect. Correction: perfect to my standards...

...and that’s just it.  I wonder how much more progress I would make in my life, if perfection wasn’t always a standard. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want the work sent off to my clients to be perfect, but I also don’t want my life to be debilitated and frozen, just because I couldn’t get past that cloudy monster called ‘perfection.’

Think about it, how much more progress would you make in your day, if perfection wasn’t your standard? Think about how much further you would be with your dreams, goals, and day-to-day living. Sometimes you have to punch perfection in the gut, and make things (big things) happen.

Sincerely,

Miss Progress

Read Week 1 of this series here: Less comparison, More Creativity.

Less Comparison, More Creativity

Less Is More Series | Week 1

‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’  We’ve all heard it, but seriously, isn’t it way too true? And not only does comparison diminish joy, but doesn’t it steal creativity as well?  I can’t tell you how many times I get on a stalking cycle (not in a creepy way, I promise...), of so many experienced designers I adore, and just get way down on myself. While their work serves as inspiration, that’s exactly where it should stop.  So often we are paralyzed to act on our own ideas, moments, and creativity, because ‘it won’t be as good as so-and-so.’ YIKES. Let’s put an end to that. 

How often are you paralyzed by comparison? Really, take a second to think about it. The amount of time is ugly and gross. Are there ideas you’ve wanted to explore, things you’ve wanted to do, dreams you’ve wanted to accomplish? Well then, do it! You have my full permission to stop comparing yourself to others. Creativity is beautiful...explore it. 

Less comparison, more creativity.