{Quote of the Week.}

 

"Come, let's go, come, let's see.

Throughout a thousand worlds, weightless love awaits."

-Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

P.S. I started a new blog Everything Royal, because what's another blog...? (this makes number five!!!)

{Quote of the Week.}

{via: modern hepburn.}

twenty + three.

{one of my favorite photos from year 22: rome, July 2011}

Yesterday I turned twenty-three! I don't know how this past year managed to fly by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I turned twenty-one... eeps.

But this past year, it was amazing & life changing. Last year I was sipping on champagne in Germany that day I turned twenty-two. Little did I know the adventures that were in store for me. And to think, that the adventures have merely just begun, well that is an incredibly wonderful thing. 

But, as an ode to the last year, I'd love to share twenty-three things I've come to know during this last year...

23. If you want to do something, do it. People will be skeptical, people will tell you a million reasons it won't work. But if you feel you can do it, you probably can. And more than that, you'll regret it if you don't. Au pairing was the greatest adventure of my life. It changed the way I think about life, and the way I live my life.
22. On that note, coming home to finish my degree, thus having to return from my new home, was one of the best decisions I've ever made, though definitely also one of the hardest.
21. I'm going to Dubrovnik on my honeymoon.
20. If you get the urge to get bangs, go for it (just don't use skype for your mirror...).
19. Getting a Kindle, though I am a forever-lover of print, is a brilliant, brilliant decision. Eleven books in one month? Yes.
18. Though far away in terms of distance, you really do keep those you love close in your heart, no matter where you are.
17. Attending a University in a foreign country was, by far, one of the most eye-opening experiences. I learned so much not only in a school sense, but in a cultural sense. And I was able to participate...in another language. One of my childhood dreams came true. Still so surreal.
16. People that are meant to come into your life, do. I can't control that; I can only have faith.
15. It really is about perspective & where you put your joy.
14. Blogging is still, by far, one of the greatest things I have decided to do.
13. I can actually cook. Real food. And some wickedly scrumptious home-made break. Yup.
12. Graduating from college is extremely exciting, but equally terrifying. But it's normal to feel that way. I'm going to be ok.
11. We're all going to run into a lot of nay sayers in life. Let's ignore them-- better yet, let's prove them wrong. 
10. People come into our lives when they're meant to, just as much as they leave our lives when they're meant to. 
9. Copenhagen causes me to burst into tears. I love it that much. I never, ever knew.
8. There are a lot of things I need to quit being afraid of & just try.
7. People you don't see very often, or know particularly well, have the ability to tell you things that stay with you forever. (and things you most need to hear.)
6. Life in your twenties is pretty tricky, & exciting, and really, really scary. It's ok to feel that.
5. I actually loved riding a bike as my main mode of transportation.
4. I need to embrace uncertainty. 
3. I need to be more patient.
2. Being vulnerable is brave.
1. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such wonderful family & friends. I am surrounded by blessings.

Thank you so much for letting me share these special life moments & lessons with you. I am forever thankful for your support! Love, love, love.
xo

fashionably late.

(via: tumblr.)

dear mister-whoever-you-are-wherever-you-are,

(but someday destined to be by my side.)

i’m not sure where you are, 

but if you could hurry up 

that would be just peachy.

because the sooner we find each other,

the sooner we can get this party started.

and while i do prefer to be fashionably late

when it comes to parties,

i also know to never 

—under any circumstances—

be tardy to the party.

and you know what, 

mister-whoever-you-are-wherever-you-are?

because you were made for me,

and me for you,

you’ll understand that reference
(and love me anyway).

love, your smitten Schatzi 

who isn't ashamed to admit a love for reality tv.

{Quote of the Week.}

{Graduation. May 2012.}

“Anything I ever learned comes down to something pretty simple: Don’t anticipate life; meet it. When you try to anticipate, you’re being an idiot, because nobody’s got the brain to outwit nature. I’m talking here about patience, about believing in yourself. I’m talking here about having the courage to wait. You will get what you deserve.”-rob steiger

things we (soon-to-be-college graduates) know.

note: please forgive the errors in this post it's been a long day in the library studying...

"college is not the real world."
we know. we know that college is a unique, safe, bubble-like environment. we know this is a particularly wonderful chapter of our lives where we around people with similar interests, hopes, and ideas. people who stay up with you chatting about absolute nonsense. we know this is not how it will be after we graduate.

"graduating and finding a job isn't easy, especially in this economy."
we know. we know this probably more than one would expect. we watch the news, we walk past headlines printed across the paper that read: "Unemployment rates soar." we know that if you went into a liberal arts field, you're going to struggle when you graduate. we know we won't immediately land our dream job. we know that you want us to know that. and those few instances when our friends did land their dream jobs, well we know that you mark that up as a mere "fluke." we're aware that times are hard and coming out of college with a degree now deemed "practically useless" is going to be rough. if anyone knows this, believe me, it's us.

"you don't understand what it's like..."
we might not understand, you're right. but at one time or another, you didn't quite know what it was like either. and us, being reminded how much we don't understand, well that doesn't make us suddenly "understand" anymore than before--instead it adds an unbelievable amount of stress. it's as though you're saying: "you don't know, and you never will." because know matter "how much we don't understand," we still have to face it. so please, please, help us know that though we don't understand now, we'll be o.k. because as much as you want to keep us from the possible storms ahead, it's where our boats must venture, no matter how "rough" it's going to be.

things we want you to know:
we know you care and that's why you are telling us these things. we know. but when you constantly tell us these things, it doesn't change anything. instead, it leaves us feeling as though nothing can be done at this point. absolutely nothing. we are doomed.
but really, it's not--we're not. far from it. it's going to be harder than anything we might ever experience. we're going to have a lot of our dreams crushed and have to alter a lot of paths along the way. but we're going to be fine. because we are not the first people in the history of the world to face hardships. we are not the first people to embark on unknown territory while so many scoffed and warned. we are not the first people to open a door to find a giant brick wall.

but we're so blessed to have the proper tools to break down those walls--survive these uncertain times. we have advantages those before us didn't. and you were the ones who placed them in our hands, taught us how to use them. and for that, we are beyond grateful.

but you have to let us know that you trust us, you think we can do it.
that you support our battle.
but most of all, that you're rooting for us because you believe we can.

that's all we want you to know.

{Quote of the Week.}

"Some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up and touch everything. If you never let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you." - E.L. Konigsburg

Introducing: linked with love...

[Words I found while stumbling around the interwebs -- I  thought of you when I read them. 

 So here I am, sharing them with you - if you fancy that sort of thing.]

Meg's post on "women in advertising" had me nodding my head along the whole way through. And she has some brilliant points (as usual).

"i'm gonna tell you a secret. i often look at the blogs of other women and think: i wish i could be more like them...   and then, i remember that that's only part of their truth."

Courtney, of the rad blog Vintch, wrote this post in "defense of lipstick" and after I finished reading it and immediately searched for my abandoned, neon-pink lipstick. (I had shied away from it a few months ago after a boy in class just looked at me and goes "hey, lipstick," and made me feel incredibly insecure. but then I read her post and thought : AMEN, SISTER.)

"i don't wear it for anyone but myself. because it makes me feel pretty. like my mama. it reminds me of a time when women wore tights and high-waisted skirts and put up their hair in pin curls. it's the working girl's best friend. a way to wake up a face filled with stress, deadlines and no sleep."

Vanity Fair had this really fascinating piece on the casting of the show Friends & the real friendships built on the show. And, of course, this quote from Matt LeBlanc about the series ending hit me especially hard, seeing as how we are graduating from college next week.

“Yes, I’ll talk to you. Yes, I’ll always know you, but I won’t know you like this. I won’t see you every day, all day. Eat lunch together every day. To have this awesome, awesome experience every week. It’s coming to an end.”

That Kind of Woman wrote this beautiful post about what is considered "sexy" & oh, how I applaud her. I agree with every last word.

"So, I am silly. I am a goof, I break into accents, I quote things, I am loud. I make fun of myself. Why? Because being sexy is…. well honestly it’s too much work. I mean, at least back when I tried to adhere to the societal sexy quota for the 5 seconds I considered it then shook my head in negation. Sexiness, to the best of my knowledge comes in the moments when you have bedhead, wearing bikeshorts and his tee shirt. At least that is when I feel, truly appealling. Yeah, I love going out with my ladies wearing a cute outfit, painting up my face and putting on my pouty red lipstick. But, I can’t be that kind of woman all the time."

Jhumpa Lahiri's article, My Life's Sentences, is wonderful; plain & simply wonderful.

“In college, I used to underline sentences that struck me, that made me look up from the page. They were not necessarily the same sentences the professors pointed out, which would turn up for further explication on an exam. I noted them for their clarity, their rhythm, their beauty and their enchantment. For surely it is a magical thing for a handful of words, artfully arranged, to stop time. To conjure a place, a person, a situation, in all its specificity and dimensions. To affect us and alter us, as profoundly as real people and things do.”

Maria Konnikova's article, The Big Lesson of a Little Prince: Recapture the Creativity of Childhood, is quite an insightful read. 

“Saint-Exupéry’s larger point about creativity and thought is difficult to overstate: as we age, how we see the world changes. It is the rare person who is able to hold on to the sense of wonderment, of presence, of sheer enjoyment of life and its possibilities that is so apparent in our younger selves. As we age, we gain experience. We become better able to exercise self-control. We become more in command of our faculties, our thoughts, our desires. But somehow, we lose sight of the effortless ability to take in the world in full. The very experience that helps us become successful threatens to limit our imagination and our sense of the possible. When did experience ever limit the fantasy of a child?”  

I happened upon this site (via here.) and read this "Skype conversation between me age 17 and me age 30" by Jens Lekman and love this line in particular:

"One day you’re ok and the next you’re not and you long for that time when you will feel whole again. You’re looking for closure and then you realize that there is no such thing. You don’t get over a broken heart, you just learn to carry it as gracefully as you can."

Happy Reading! 
xoxo-

Pangram Love + other random things I love about words.

{by: Fraser Muggeridge studio.}

For some reason, this print featuring the translation of the Dutch pangram (thanks Rikke!)"Sexy qua lijf, doch bang voor’t zwempak" is one of my all-time favorites. Perhaps it's the fact I'm lured toward European, or maybe it's because I'm fascinated by words & all possibilities that go along with them. (My parents giving me a palindromic name ... could have been a sign from above that I was destined to be a lover of words.)


This list of pangrams from a variety of languages is fascinating.


Also, does anyone know of a word or phrase to describe words that look like the words they describe, ie: bed? (Like onomatopoeia describes words that sound like their mearning?) Does such a thing exist? Does it make me a nerd that I am so intrigued by these things? 


Update: this guy seems to know a lot about it, but I wish it were more concrete. I mean, I really wish more words looked like the thing they represent. Clearly procrastinating has gotten the best of me. I suppose studying awaits, friends. Finals week is next week. Woof.