The Flip Side

If you are reading this blog post right now than I think it is safe to assume a couple things.
The first being that you likely have a profile, and or, participate in some form of social media. Regardless of the social media platform you find yourself inclined to use, by now you have likely seen this video, entitled 'My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech.'

I am also going to assume that you cried like a baby throughout and found yourself reflecting back on your life in some way, shape or form.
I certainly did.

After watching this video you probably did not, however, look further into the content of this YouTube channel. Being the internet junkie I am I began to delve deeper into the channel, named Soul Pancake. I quickly discovered {Kid President}, possibly my favorite kid on YouTube, along with a series of videos filed under '{The Flip Side}.'

Watch this first and then we will come back and talk about things, even though it pretty much speaks for itself.

 

well, shoot.

I know, it got me too.

The whole purpose of this series is to make us reflect back upon ourselves, upon our life and trigger us to think more deeply. Although my brain is constantly thinking, it is mostly filled with anxiety and worry over the future. But what The Flip Side does is forces you to freeze. It makes you think about the present, even if you only think about it for the 3 minute video.
That is three minutes out of your day that you were forced out of your head, and into the real world.

Go ahead, watch a couple more.

Are you thinking about the flip side of things in your life yet?

Northwest Preppy: Sweet Southern Spud

Preps are a rare commodity in the Pacific Northwest, and comes as no surprise that when I find another prep amongst all the granola I get a little giddy. I found {Sweet Southern Spud} one day while browsing the internet for seersucker inspiration and fell in love with the brand instantly. They describe themselves as "Western Born. Southern Inspired," which hello, welcome to my life.
The gorgeous Melinda Jean Lewis is the creator of Sweet Southern Spud, and quite possibly my soul sister.
"Born and raised amongst the vast mountains and valleys of Idaho, Melinda has brought the pioneering spirit of the West and combined it with the charming nostalgia of the South. She began sewing at the age of fifteen creating small accessories and handbags designed from scratch. By her junior prom, she had sewn her own dress and continued to create her own formal wear throughout high school and college. At the University of Idaho, she continued to follow her passion and lent her talent to her fellow sorority sisters by creating letter sweaters and other spirit wear.
After graduating with degrees in Communications as well as Clothing, Textiles, and Design, she decided to pursue her masters degree at the University of Georgia. Though a world apart from Idaho, Melinda felt drawn to the culture, values, and fashion of the region as embodied in her life-long favorite film: Steel Magnolias. Now that she has been firmly planted in red southern clay, she hopes to make her bow ties a permanent fixture in the South."
Sweet Southern Spud's primary craft are bow ties, that just happen to be sported by gorgeous southern gentlemen.

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They do not stop with bow ties though. They also have the belles covered with their own headbands called 'bow bands.' Many of these accessories match with the bow ties making for the perfect pairing.
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Isn't she just precious?!?

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The title of this photoshoot was the 'Belles of the Northwest,' which I thought was beyond perfect. Being a prep in the northwest means that you stick out like a needle in a haystack of birkenstocks and often are accused of being overly 'WASP-y' or too girly. Which is impossible in my mind.
But more than anything else I love that the brand is rooted in its PNW traditions with just enough gingham to make a southern statement. It has become my new favorite thing and an inspiration to all of those 'out-of-place' preps. That just makes you a rare jewel, embrace it!

Girls On The Run

 Being around children is one of my favorite things in the world.
In fact, I believe that God's plan for me on this earth is to empower children and learn from them at the same time. When I found {Girls on The Run} I had originally wanted to volunteer at Seattle Children's but just was not sure if I could make such a big time commitment. So, I searched the internet for other ways I could volunteer my time and found GOTR. Girls on the Run is a fabulous organization that empowers girls with a little running thrown in along the way. 

Their mission statement is just as superb and goes like this:

We believe that every girl
can embrace who she is,
can define who she wants to be,
can rise to any challenge,
can change the world.
Can.

Did I mention they are fabulous?
Every week 3rd-5th grade girls meet after school with their coach and assistant coach and play games that foster strong girls. About 3/4 of the way through the program the running buddies come into play. We show up at a designated practice and run a practice 5k with the girls. For us that meant running 12 times around a track, a little mind numbingly repetitive but the focus was more on our girl buddy anyhow.
I showed up at my first practice unsure of what to expect and was greeted by a big group of parent volunteers. I had expected to see a larger number of non-parent running buddies after learning that GOTR is Gamma Phi Beta's philanthropy and therefore a younger crowd is involved in the whole goulash. All the same, I was paired with a tall, eager girl with a pink bow in her hair. I knew we would get along right away. She wasted no time in getting to know me and soon enough we were ticking off lap after lap with a new knowledge of each other at every turn. At the end of our practice go I was glad that I had signed up for the whole thing and anxiously awaiting the actual 5k.
The morning of the 5k I woke up around 6am and headed into the city to get an early start to my day. I had decided that I would get to the location obnoxiously early, find myself a decent parking spot, walk to a nearby bakery and read Blog Inc until check in time at 8:45. The plan went smoothly until I walked back to the park and suddenly realized that I had showed up at the complete wrong place. The actual event was halfway across town and I had 15 minutes to get there... whoops. The buddy coordinator was fabulous when I called her to let her know about my blunder and I was off again.
I was greeted by a sea of pink shirts at the event and, best of all, my sweet running buddy's exuberant hug. We walked slowly to the start line and all of the sudden, we were off! My buddy and I went at a walk, run, jog pace and that was fine with me. We chatted the whole way and I was struck by just how big the whole thing was.

By the time we reached the finish line I was beaming. I was so proud of not only my running buddy, but of all of the other girls. Crossing the finish line in a race is a big thing. Because running is so individual and so self-motivated being able to say that they finished a 5k is huge. It is in a sense a validation of the strength of girls. I was beaming in the dorkiest way and so glad to be a part of such an amazing thing.
I found one picture of myself from the event, and had to cut my running buddy out as a courtesy to her privacy, so the thing is a little distorted. I can assure you it would be just as awkward and unflattering anyway you look at it. But rewarding all the same.

If you would like to find a Girls On The Run program in your area visit {GOTR} and find a chapter near you. You do not have to be a runner to volunteer, in fact they have plenty of girls who prefer to walk the whole thing. More chit-chat time I figure!

How do you get involved?

Watercolor My Life

A little while ago I posted about the {pajamas} I had sewn for one of my best friend's birthday. I was not entirely sure that they would turn out the way I had imagined so I decided that I needed a backup plan. One of my favorite artists is {Inslee Haynes} She does sort of sketched stylized watercolors of different girls. They are all absolutely precious and I knew if I put my mind to it I could take her work as inspiration for an extra birthday gift.

When I began to sketch I basically just put pencil to paper with a picture of the birthday girl open in one window and Inslee's art in another. I began to itemize the things that reminded me of my dear friend. When we were roommates we pretty much always wore our vests and hunter boots for comfort and because our campus was almost constantly covered in some form of snow. Second, she was obsessed with Diet Coke and I had given her the monogramming bug so I added both to the picture. Lastly is the stethoscope, for the future nurse, and her little pink insulin pump. She is a type I and so strong, it would be a disservice to leave it out. 

The way I see it, her pink pump is like her little superhero badge in this world.

 

I then bought a simple white frame to match her precious Tiffany blue room, signed the thing and put it all together. It was overwhelmingly my favorite gift and I think it turned out pretty darn well.

On Finding Love

Hi, I'm Ali and I'm a 20 year old, still in shock of no longer being a teenager, obsessed with finding the perfect man. Am I too young to feel my biological love clock ticking? Perhaps. But I have pretty much always been this way.

I was 5 when I first fell in love. We will call him J. He was Asian and I was smitten. We kissed behind the bush and swore we were in love. Taylor Swift would have been jealous.

Next came N, who I noticed in 4th grade and soon after was quickly immersed in his love. We were married shortly after, with clay rings we made in our art class, and then came babies and puppies and a house. Which resembled the playground forest. But all the same.

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My first real kiss was when I was about 13. Our families had been friends for ages, he had taught me how to go down the stairs backwards when we were still in diapers and we were both at a curious age. So we decided that kissing each other would be a good idea. It was odd and our arms were pretty much plastered at our sides the whole time. Over the next few days of vacation we slowly got more comfortable and continued our little secret kiss sessions. Oh, and our parents still have no idea to this day. If they knew they would be planning the wedding without hesitation.

I had my first boyfriend my freshman year of high school. He was the new kid who had transferred in at semester and sat smack next to me in my English class. He was taller than me, which I loved, and asked me out on valentines day.  My one and only valentine. But then I got into an avoiding phase and broke up with him. Another strike on the prince charming black board.

My last boyfriend was my junior year of high school. Lord, oh Lord, now you understand that I have been without a fairy Godmother granting me frog princes. Yikes. Anyhow, his name was S and he had curly hair, like me, so I figured it must be love. Not so much. I got awkward and avoided him like homework and basically sabotaged the whole thing. We'll never know if we were destined to have little curly haired babies together, but I'm going to guess not.

Short and sweet that is about how my love life has always been.

It now exists only in my head and through occasional tumblr pictures.

And now that I have had to leave my 'real' university I have pretty much only had contact with married men and those with children who are half my age. I'm not trying to be anyone's mommy here. So now I am in this terrible dilemma. Where do I meet my handsome, tall, manly, bow tie wearing, hunting, baby lovin' perfect man? Looks that rival Luke Bryan also might not hurt.

Maybe I need to wear more seersucker and find myself a 'perfect landing party.' Too bad Vineyard Vines is completely foreign to Washingtonians.

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The bars are out of the question since I am not 21 and have no motivation to get myself a fake. Except maybe to find these bow tie sportin' lads.

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Anyone know where I can find these fine snow bunnies in May?

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A little front porch sittin' never hurt anyone. It really didn't hurt this cutie either. I would snuggle up in that rocking chair with him, sweet tea included in the package.

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This one explains itself.

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Can you see my dilemma? First off, I live on the complete wrong side of the country and second, I have no idea where to find me my dream boy. Except on tumblr, pinterest and other social media sites. Where do I meet a MAN?!?

If you're a lucky lady and have a beau of your own, spill! How did you two meet? Or how did you meet past dates?

P.S. Wanna be my wing girl? I'm only half joking here.