Lately | December

This is a snapshot of my life in December 2014. You can see all my Lately posts here.

Lately December >> Life In Limbo

Trying out a trial of Spotify Premium and loving it.

Listening to Tenerife Sea and this remix of Thinking Out Loud. (Basically, Ed Sheeran.) Oh, and Pop Danthology.

Watching House of Cards and The Mindy Project whenever I feel like watching an episode of something.

Eating a lot of homemade pad thai after my mom and I finally found a bottle of the sauce, cheese and crackers, and clementines.

Looking forward to my vacation in Boracay!

Adding some lovely things to my wishlist to save up for.

Keeping a gratitude journal and it’s like my own little book of lovely.

Learning as much Spanish as I can through Memrise and Duolingo.

Playing Serial and Dear Sugar Radio with hearts in my eyes.

Drinking a ton of tea and hot water with lemon.

Wanting to see this movie and this movie ASAP. I also can’t wait for Girls Season 4.

Loving Buffer and Snapchat.

Proud of my year in reading.

Wearing lots of cozy sweaters and my wooden prayer beads that mom bought for me.

Sad to be away from home this Christmas. It’s really hard. But:

Grateful (very) for FaceTime to keep me in touch with my loved ones.

Wishing you a very happy holiday week. Hope there is lots of mulled wine and cozy fireplaces and good books ahead for you.

Inspiration | May 23

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Instant perspective when you’re having a bad day.

My new favourite Instagram account, if only because it’s trying to expose all the fake, perfectly curated lives that we see on social media. I’ve personally been thinking about this a lot lately and it’s been bothering me more and more. “People buy a box of macarons, or doughnuts, or an ice cream. They photograph it in front of some big landmark, like the Eiffel Tower and it’s like, Boom, I’ve got a successful Instagram post!”

A few years ago, one of our favourite restaurants in Montreal, Nantha’s, closed down. Happily, the chef Nantha Kumar is back! My friend Jake wrote a great profile of him and what he’s been up to, and it made me want to be back in Montreal again, pronto. Summers in Montreal are magic on another level and the article gave me big pangs of nostalgia. This will be the first summer in 3 years that I won’t spend in that beautiful place.

Dylan wrote about our beautiful sunset cruise last Sunday and simultaneously coined the term “sunset gratitude” which I couldn’t love more if I tried.

I don’t think I’ll ever need to stop reminding myself of this sentiment. “Let’s all say, “way to go” more often. Let’s be proud of each other, proud of ourselves and most importantly, content with the gift of our lives, right now and in this moment. It’s all too short and too fleeting to spend one more moment thinking you’re anything less than amazing.”

I’m sorry, but Joy the Baker made fancy jello shots. (I’m not sorry.)

Automating your life + batch processing = more time for the things you really care about. Awesome advice for mastering your mornings and your life.

“Don’t be cool. Ask stupid questions. Stay up late.” Yes and yes.

Two Instagram accounts I’ve been loving lately: @lerause is a friend of mine from when I lived in Montreal, and he takes such stunning photos of the city. @bakersroyale_naomi posts photos of food that make me feel like the cookie monster.

Some oldies-but-goodies: heart-shaped nail art (for your wall, not your fingers), today be gentle.

***

This weekend is shaping up to be a quiet one. I’ll be starting it off with some beach yoga (I’m so glad it’s becoming a routine for Saturday mornings), and maybe trying to learn how to surf! You can see what I get up to as always by following me on Instagram @lifeinlimboblog. Have an awesome weekend!

PS. I’m re-starting my monthly newsletter! It’ll go out by email on the last Friday of every month with the highlights from that month on the blog. If you’re not usually a frequent blog reader, this might be a good option for you if you want to see what I’m up to. You can join the newsletter here and when you do I’ll send you a copy of my Happy Life Manifesto! Thanks for reading.

Steph Loves Today

Mosaic 1A little over a month ago, I started a photo project based loosely on 100 Happy Days. From their website:

“We live in times when super-busy schedules have become something to boast about. While the speed of life increases, there is less and less time to enjoy the moment that you are in. The ability to appreciate the moment, the environment and yourself in it, is the base for the bridge towards long term happiness of any human being.”

Amen, right? I loved the idea, especially since it goes hand-in-hand with one of my favourite quotes and guiding life philosophies: “I want to feel my life while I’m in it”.  Staying present and appreciating all the lovely little things each day brings can be so difficult, but it’s also the whole point, in my opinion. It’s hard to remember to do this, but a daily photo project is an excellent cue.

Mosaic 2I called the project “Steph loves today” as a reminder to seek out the beauty and happiness of my life each and every day. It was also an excuse to try and use my camera every day, in order to practice and improve my photography. I’ve done this kind of thing before with my Everyday Beauty posts and Project 365 in 2012. Each time I do, I wind up with a lot less space on my hard drive and a lot more captured – and, it follows, noticed and appreciated – special everyday moments. This time around, I’ve been sharing my photos daily on Instagram.

Right now, it’s just me: no boyfriend, no husband, no kids. That sometimes makes me feel like my everyday moments and routines aren’t as meaningful, because a lot of the time, they’re not being shared with anyone else. But when I come to my senses I realize how silly that is. I’m the only one I’ll spend my whole life with, right? And if anything, I think I’ll cherish the memories of these young years with all their little habits even more fondly as my life continues to change shape.

Mosaic 3The photos in this post are from the past month and a half of doing this project. Some days I posted more than one photo of something beautiful or something that made me happy (my cup runneth over). When I was in Tokyo without internet, I missed a day. But overall I’m thrilled with the results. Life is good. I’ll (probably) only have one Springtime in Korea in my life, and I’m excited that it’ll be captured in some small way. You can see the rest of the photos so far here or by following me on Instagram @lifeinlimboblog.