Friday: High Fives All Around
When you actually read this post, I will most likely be on my way to Baltimore, MD. I have an AmeriCorps conference there this weekend. For those who may not know, AmeriCorps is a federally-funded program that places people in service positions all over the country. I’m serving this year at Su Casa Hispanic Center in Cincinnati. Most days, I speak a mix of Spanish and English. I get to know people from all over the world. It really is neat. Part of the experience is a big conference with everyone from my particular program. Ummm free flight, hotel and food when you’re making next to nothing? Yes, I will take it!
Anyway, here’s my five things from la semana pasada (last week):
1. Mardi Gras and the Voodoo Carnival
I played third wheel to my friends Amber and Nick Saturday night. I’m very extroverted, so on nights that I’m free and want to be social (which is mostly all the time), I text like 6+ people with “hey! What are you up to?” Amber was one of the 6+ and she invited me to tag along. We went to the Voodoo Carnival, an event put on by the Steampunk people in Cincinnati. I don’t really know if they have like a specific group name here. But Steampunk is this subculture and also writing genre around the idea of “re-imagining the era of steam.” People dress up in stuff from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, mostly. Like Amber here, on the right next to me, is wearing a wonderfully flapper-esque dress. Her boyfriend wore a kilt.
2. Coffeetime with Hillary
The weather was amazing Sunday. What? The crazy thing is that it started snowing like the next day. My friend Hillary and I met up for some photos. You should check her stuff out at hillarycutterphoto.com. I’m going to write a full post about this soon, but here’s a little teaser:
3. My job
I said this a little bit at the top, but I love my job at Su Casa. I get to practice my second language of Spanish on a daily basis while helping people and learning about new cultures. How neat is that?
4. My friend Grace
Wednesday was one of my best friend’s birthdays. We went to a little local bar for a few beers after work with our friend Katie. It was a good time.
Two years ago, Katie, Grace, myself and a few others took a trip down to Red River Gorge. It was kind of a disaster trip that we had fun moments during. I cannot believe this was two years ago:
5. Spending Valentine’s Day in Baltimore
The single life is the good life. I’m so ready for a weekend away with my Amerifriends.
Also, here’s who I’m linking up with this week:
H54F: better late than never
Hello all! So it is a lovely Friday night in for me! I started posting High Five for Friday posts before Christmas and just love it! This morning I was rather rushed and did not have the time to write a post. As I spend a lazy evening in tonight, I figured why not write one now? Better late than never. So here are five reasons why this week rocked!
1. Reiki
On Monday I had my very first reiki session with Tisa of Love Light & Laughter. This woman makes her very own holistic soaps, bath salts and other neat products. I currently have her new shaving soap, detox bath and a soap made with dragonsblood and activated charcoal. I’ve used all three products and they are fantastic.
Anyway, back to the reiki. Reiki is this really neat holistic treatment. I wrote all about he experience in my post here: My First Reiki Experience.
2. Photography and my walk in the park
After my reiki session, I decided to take some time to just be. I found a beautiful park just as it was getting dark. I put my phone in the love compartment so that I would be free of distraction. I also needed to work on my photography in the dark skills, so it was perfect. This photo is my favorite:
3. Surprises
I love helping plan surprises. In April, I’m going to be a bridesmaid in my friend Sara’s wedding. The shower was Saturday in Danville, Kentucky. Since her maid of honor lives in Denver, she assumed she wouldn’t be able to make it. She assumed wrong!
Friday night, I picked Katie up at the airport and she stayed with me. Saturday morning we drove down and surprised Sara at Cracker Barrel. The look on her face was the best. Full post about that is here: Hangers and Surprises. While we’re doing some shout outs, you all should check out Hang it Up Hangers, a business my friend Megan owns. She made me an amazing personalized dress hanger for Sara’s big day.
4. Sleeping in
I slept in on Sunday and Monday. It was amazing.
5. One of my favorite co-workers got a new job
So this one is sad, actually. This is Lindsey. I blogged about her eons ago (Lindsey’s dresses). This photo is from said story and also oddly the dress she wore on her last day at Su Casa today. I’m happy that she has a new job. It also seems like quite a step up, which is great. But I will miss her. There’s something so great about coworkers you just click with. I will miss her and whoever they hire to replace her will not be as cool.
Alright, that’s all folks. Here’s why I’m linking up with today:
H54F: I have made it
Happy Friday everyone. It’s High Five for Friday! First off, this week I’m linking up with Tif from Bright on a Budget, Della from Della Devoted, Caitlin from Coffee with Caitlin and Katie from KT Cup of Tea. I’m also linking up with Oh Hey Friday and Awesome Life Friday.
The photo above says so much about my life right now. My mother passed away three weeks ago. The funeral was on a Tuesday and the weekend right after, two of my college friends came to visit me. These are ladies that have been close friends of mine for 10 years. Above I am pictured with Elizabeth, one of the two friends. We were shopping at Jungle Jims. For those of you unfamiliar with Cincinnati, Jungle Jim’s is this large grocery store with food from all over the world, categorized by country. The experience is meant to be fun and interactive. It was the perfect place to explore on a Monday morning.
They just randomly had some airplane seats in the wine section and we had a camera. We decided to shoot a few photos pretending as though we were on an airplane. I say that this photo says so much because it really portrays my current state. Here I am in my classic “lazy” look. I hadn’t showered this morning, so I threw my hair into a cute bun. I put on some jeans, boots, a sweater and a scarf to complete the look. To outsiders and people unconcerned with fashion, it looks great! I color-coordinated, applied some eyeliner and am even wearing jewelry! I’m dressing as though all is well.
Being on an airplane is quite fitting too. I’ve never lost someone this close to me. It’s a journey with a lot of unexpected bumps. And lastly, me holding Elizabeth’s hand is quite symbolic too. Through all of this, you have SO many people reaching out to you saying “let me know if you need anything.” I really do appreciate it. However in some ways, it feels strange coming from people that I barely know. So in the end when you do need something, you know that close friends will always be there for you. I have their wonderful support. The fact that Liz and Kelly came up portrays this love and support.
This week’s High Five for Friday will be dedicated to Liz and Kelly. These are five things that are more fun when they are around.
Mimosa brunches
On Sunday morning (or should I say afternoon), we headed to the Comet for brunch. It was quite the happening spot. Liz seemed excited about how happening the place was.
Trips to the record store
We were in Northside for brunch, so stopping at Shake it Records was a logical next step. Kelly asked about going to a record store anyway. When anyone ever asks to go to a record store in Cincinnati, Shake it is the obvious only choice.
We spent a majority of our time in the basement. I thought about a few different things, but ultimately decided to save my money this time around. My friends, however, found some awesome stuff. Most of said stuff, however, I cannot remember. Haha.
Taking uber
Sunday night we decided to visit Myrtle’s Punchhouse. Liz had heard about it and was most excited about the establishment her entire visit. We decided to make a night of it. We’d all get fancy and take an uber there. I’m convinced we thoroughly entertained all of our uber drivers.
Here are a few of our outfits for the evening:
Trips to Jungle Jims
Oh my gosh, this place is full of so many photo opps. My favorite is the fake outhouse by the bathrooms. Here are a few from that:
Also no shopping trip would be complete without Liz buying some random things. Fun fact: the guy she’s holding on the left is El Chavo from El Chavo de Ocho, a famous Mexican sitcom popular in the Spanish-speaking world. My boss at Su Casa told me I need to watch it.
Friendship
Friendship is just better when they are around. When they first arrived late night Saturday, we stayed up until 4 a.m. chatting. It was just awesome.
My mom was always a big fan of both of these ladies. I’d like to think that she was looking down and smiling as we had a fun weekend together.
Also today I’m linking up with:
H54F: Friday has arrived
Congrats to everyone reading this post. We have made it to Friday! For me, it has been a feat for sure. However through the tough things it’s still good to find the joys. Thus, I’ve still decided to write a High Five for Friday Post.
For those who do not know, High Five for Friday is a weekly blogger link up with Tif from Bright on a Budget, Della from Della Devoted, Katie from Cup of Tea and Caitlin from Coffee with Caitlin. Anyone with a blog is invited to join. After you finish reading about my five favorite things of the week, make sure you go check their blogs out!
1. Friends who can write and do my hair
Have you had a chance to check out my new contributing writer Ms. Pamela Pitts? First, I suggest you click here to read her first piece. She will be writing for A World of Dresses on Wednesdays. While this blog is mostly my voice, I love sharing the spotlight with other women who share my vision. Pamela is one of those women. We met several months back at the Contemporary Dance Theater’s PTA show. I was there just sitting in the audience to write about the show when I struck up a conversation with Pamela about her business L’BAE. She had put together a piece in the show that included some still models. After chatting for a bit, I learned that she had her own small business and radio show. As some of you may know, I feature female small business owners on Saturdays. It seemed perfect.
So I went on her radio show to talk about A World of Dresses and she was featured on the blog. You can read about it here. One day it just came to me: why not invite her to partner with me? Thus here we are. On Saturday I spent the afternoon at her beautiful home as she did my hair. Kudos to her for getting it to curl. My hair has trouble holding curls.
2. Friends who shoot photos
My friend Hillary just moved back to Cincinnati from a three-year stint in New York City. She’s an amazing photographer and took these Saturday. I’m excited to see where this partnership will take us. Yay partnerships!
3. Retail therapy
Tuesday night I decided to take some me time and shop. I found a pair of boots I’m absolutely in love with at DSW. I also stocked up on a few makeup necessities at Ulta. The shoes are pictured in these photos. Thanks to my brother for taking these shots. It was roughly 9:30 p.m. but I was LOVING my outfit today. I just could not let the day pass without a few photos.
The dress is from Shop Twenty Something, a lovely online boutique based in Lexington, Ky. I found it at the holiday market in downtown Cincinnati in December where they had set up a booth. I definitely suggest you click on their page and take a look around. The scarf is from my trip to Dubai in April.
4. High Style and the Cincinnati Art Museum
Before Hillary and I headed over to Pamela’s house, we made a stop at the Cincinnati Art Museum to view their current exhibit. It revolves around dresses and designers in different time periods. It “traces the evolution of fashion from 1900 through 1980 with garments and accessories by the most influential European and American designers of the 20th century” (quote taken from their website). Here are the photos I took. There were so many amazing dresses, so I decided to make two galleries of photos!
[huge_it_slider id=”4″]
[huge_it_slider id=”5″]
5. Tisa of Love, Light and Laughter: A Healing Studio
As mentioned before, I feature female small business owners on Saturdays. Tomorrow I’m featuring Tisa from Love, Light and Laughter: A Healing Studio. I met her at the Covington Bazaar at the beginning of December. She had her booth set up with all sorts of holistic soaps, scrubs, bath salts, oils and other goodies. On Sunday I went out to her studio for a chat and photo shoot. This woman is amazing. She broke both of her legs a year or two ago. While she was sitting around, she decided to take online courses in holistic healing arts. Things like reiki, Somaveda Thai yoga and hot stone massages. She also started making her own holistic products. As she continued making them, other people wanted them too and thus she decided it would be a profitable business. A year later she can fully walk again and she’s running her business. Here are just a few teasers. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to read about her business.
Thanks for reading guys! What made your week great? I’d love to hear. Feel free to tell me in the comment section below!
First 2016 High Five for Friday
Hello my amigos and amigas. I cannot believe that 2015 has come to a close. For me, 2015 was a year of many ups and downs. On one hand, I had several amazing opportunities to travel and connect with friends. On the other hand, I experienced some really heavy things. Life hit me hard. Out of the heavy in some ways came A World of Dresses. I plan to take this project all sorts of places in 2016. I’m excited to see where it will go.
But first, I’m going to reflect on five great things about the past several weeks. High Five for Friday is a weekly link up hosted by Della from Della Devoted, Tif from Bright on a Budget, Katie from Cup of Tea and Caitlin from Coffee with Caitlin. Be sure to check out their H54F posts too!
1. My girls
Last night was New Years Eve and I spent it at a house party in the middle of nowhere. I’m a member of an improv comedy troupe called Highly Improvable. One of our troupe members hosted a lovely NYE shindig out at her lovely, rustic house. It was just what I wanted for a New Years Eve celebration. Nothing too crazy. Two of my best friends Cindy and Grace came along with me.
We ended up crashing there and stopped at IHop on the way home today. I’m so very thankful for them. We can all just be ourselves around each other.
2. Family
Some of you may have already seen some of these pictures in my Christmas Re-cap post. With Christmas and my cousin’s baby shower, I’ve spent a lot of time with them recently. They have been there through everything my immediate family has gone through this fall. We are so very thankful.
3. My 2016 New Year’s dress
I found this for $9.99 at Love Culture. Can you believe that? I randomly decided to stop in there when I had some time to kill and found this. I got so many compliments on it last night. I cannot wait for an excuse to wear it again!
4. My best friend was in town
Kayleigh is my best friend ever. She lives 9 hours away from me in South Carolina, though. So when she is in town, we’re just together all the time. We had so many fun adventures while she was in town: exploring the local establishments of the suburb we grew up in, eating lots of meat/cheese with our friend Kim in Columbus, going to a bar way too packed with Bengals fans and watching videos/drinking beer as she packed to go back home. The only good photos we took together were on Snapchat. However this one is a gem. She’s a middle school Spanish teacher. She’s totally not being stereotypical here, right?
5. My new logo!
As mentioned above, Cindy is one of my closest friends. She’s also a graphic designer and designed me this sweet logo. I also found a matching layout. When I started this blog, I envisioned dark purple as my theme. It just all seems to go together and it makes me happy! It’s good to start 2016 feeling excited about my blog design.
Thanks for reading along! High Fives!