Author: Lydia

Inspired by humans

~ Lydia ~ 1 Comment

Between the bombs in Boston and the explosions in West, Texas, it’s been a rough week for America. But, like all tragedy, comes beauty. Since I’ve been at those marathon finish lines (to run a half marathon, to be clear) and West is so near, both of these events really struck home. This week I’ve been so inspired by the people with such big hearts and are doing big things to honor Boston or help those displaced families in West. I can’t imagine the fear, anxiety and just absolute terror that those present at the Boston marathon underwent. I can’t even begin to fathom having your entire town wiped out. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I’m not sure where I stand on religion. But this week I had so much faith in humans and our country. Between the Google docs listing places for West residents to stay, marathon runners who ran right through the finish lines all the way to the hospital two miles away to donate blood, and the immediate reaction for donations throughout Texas, it’s truly an amazing thing. Although there was a lot of evil and hate circling around, I think it’s comforting to try to also hear the positive stories of people helping and the loving messages that filled our newsfeeds. As soon as tragedy strikes, there’s always going to be love and a need to help our fellow man.

So this week I was inspired by the human race. By the human instinctual tendency to care for those who are suffering, to bring others up when they’re down, and to cry and hope together as one.

 

Make the bold move

~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

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In the past week I’ve been encouraged to make bold moves in both my personal and professional life.

Professionally, I’ve made bold moves in my life before and frankly many of those did not work out. They resulted in disappointing emails, a lack of a returned call, and hours spent refreshing my inbox hoping for good news. Conversely, I’ve made some bold moves that have worked out. And those resulted in a career path change for the better, moving into a position I love and more returned emails and phone calls. I’m a relatively confident person when it comes to knowing my aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses. I’m self aware and openly admit the places where I need to improve, but also work to accentuate those areas in which I excel. Typically, I feel I can accurately assess the outcome of a bold move, therefore making these moves much less scary and more calculated.

In the personal life it is much more difficult to make those bold moves. Although the feeling of rejection from a dream job is heartbreaking, few things compare to true heartbreak. When you get turned down for a job or even just something at work didn’t pan out, it can shake your confidence level a bit. I know for a fact my confidence level was in the pits when I was applying for positions in a field I had no experience in. But when it comes to the heart, the implications stick with you so much longer. The lasting effects shape how you deal with future romantic encounters, even if you don’t know it is happening. Matters of love can’t be calculated, planned or schemed. They just happen. Emotions and feelings can’t always be explained nor predicted.

I missed an opportunity recently to make a bold move in my personal life, and I am disappointed in myself. I allowed past events to hang a dark cloud over my present and I never want this to happen again. On the professional side it is so much easier. Your confidence level might get shaken one day, and the next you’re getting assigned a new project that puts the spring in your step.

So this week I am encouraging myself to make a few bold moves in both my personal and professional life. To not let fear hold me back or shake me. I think we should ask ourselves “why not?” and realize those excuses you start listing off are simply that – excuses. In the words of Nike, Just DO it because this feeling of disappointment in myself for not making a move is not one I want to be very acquainted.

Inspirations from Patti Smith

~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

I’m not really sure how to say this without sounding cocky, so I’m just not going to worry about it. Just know, I do include a little humble pie in my daily diet. But, ya’ll, I am killing it this week. My effort to get back to reading trade articles flourished and I have already sparked something i my brain and have started the seemingly never ending search to find a good news site that I can check into in the mornings to hopefully start wrapping my head around what’s happening in our government and around the world. I’ve kept up my workout routine, my calorie counting and remembered that I can fully function with 5 hours of sleep a night – but no less (learned that one today when I went to bed at 2 AM and when my usual 5:30 AM alarm went off, I wasn’t having it.)  I even have a hair appointment scheduled for this weekend – bye bye roots! Someone should pat me on the back.

What really put the coffee beans in my pot this week was words from Patti Smith. I’ve listened to this video a minimum of 3 times a day this week. And that is not including when I force other people to listen to it and I listen while I watch their faces for a reaction. I just love everything she says. I can’t even add to her points, there’s no more explanation than what she’s already said. I love her laid back approach to life. It’s just like – hey, life is rough. Yeah. But it’s beautiful too. So be a good person, work hard on something you’re passionate about, be clean, healthy and smart and soak up all those beautiful moments.  The concepts of work hard at something you like, keep your name clean, be a good person, take the good with the bad and my all-time favorite just ride with it is what I’m all about. Patti’s here to remind us to roll with the punches. Let’s hop on this roller coaster, ya’ll.

Knock knock.. you there right side?

~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

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It’s been 6 days since my return to the real world and things are just now starting to get back into a normal routine. Since I opted to go relax at a lakehouse this weekend and therefore postponing the necessary post trip “getting my shit together” for another few days, I am only now settling in to real life. My laundry is done, my cold is gone, I no longer feel like a zombie and the song “I can see clearly now” is playing in my head. Perhaps a weekend of hiking, hammock-ing, and tanning by the pool with my boyfriend, my dog and a few friends was just what the doctor ordered. And that brings me to tonight. Tonight is the first night that I can actually relax. On my own. In my pj’s Well, almost.

The only thing still on vacation is the right side of my brain. My left side is totally here making list, putting in maintenance requests, ordering new credit cards and IDs and establishing new budgets. But that damn right side is still over in Paris – or maybe it was stolen with my wallet in Sevilla? I am having the hardest time at work this last week coming up with an original idea. Pre-Europe Lydia loved brainstorming. I loved utilizing things I’ve read and compiling them to form one new amazing concept. Everything is taking me just a little longer since I must set aside time for staring at a blank screen wondering how I used to form sentences. It’s more than writer’s block. It’s a creative block.

Which brings me to my goal for the week. To get inspired. This entails sifting through the 100+ unread newsletters I have from a multitude of amazing idea-inspiring sites like PSFK, Fast Company (Design, Exist and Create.. I’m an addict), Colossal, Big Think and the threads going in one of the many LinkedIn groups I stalk. I am not exactly expecting that I’ll walk into my office by Friday morning with a glowing light behind me and my head full of all-knowing knowledge (but that wouldn’t totally suck), but I am looking for a little spark. Like the lightning that comes down in War of Worlds to send a little driver into the ready and waiting machine that is my mind. That’s all I want. Juuuust a liiiiittle lightning.

Am I also subtly suggesting that you might also be interested in those aforementioned websites? You betchya. They’re awesome. Hop on my let’s-get-inspired bandwagon, flood those inboxes and let’s get those gears moving.

All, I have no idea where that War of Worlds reference came from. Do you see my problem?

The return of the wanderlust

~ Lydia ~ 1 Comment

Well, ya’ll, I am back. Where do I even start?

The trip was so amazing. Each city was so different and lovely that as hard as I try, I can’t even begin to pick a favorite. And trust me, since that is the question that everyone asks, I’ve definitely given it some thought.

Rick Steves. Is a travel God among us simple tourists. He walked us through the Vatican City, all of Rome, and nooks and crannies of Paris. He provided things to look at, to take note of and then let you know why what you were looking at was so amazing. We didn’t always follow him word for word, but it was great to have him in our pockets as a reference. We love him. Like really. We love him.

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Everything in Paris. The two main meals I had in Paris were both so perfect and so French. Going of the beaten path served us so well. One night we had dinner with a friend who lives in Paris and she brought us to a little place where the waitresses don’t speak very much English (i.e. not a tourist spot – a sign we looked for throughout the trip for good food) – it was entirely perfect. The other night we just followed our hearts off main road and found this small little alley way with super small French restaurants. Both meals were so delicious! It’s also important to note that macaroons were just as delicious and classy as I dreamed they would be. I also died over the Pompidou Museum. It’s the Modern Art museum in Paris and it was so sick. The museum itself was artwork. OH and the lover’s locks. I’m a sucker for a lover’s lock. Screen shot 2013-04-05 at 12.45.59 PM Screen shot 2013-04-05 at 12.46.22 PM Screen shot 2013-04-05 at 12.46.38 PM Screen shot 2013-04-05 at 12.46.52 PM

Friends in Sevilla. First off, I got my wallet stollen in Sevilla. That’s literally all I’m going to say about that because I’m trying to pretend it didn’t happen. On a positive note, this is where my best friend lives. We all hung out, ate, drank and danced with her friends. I can’t even express how much I enjoyed this. They were all so nice and friendly..not that Dallas doesn’t have some great people but I noticed in my travels that people who live abroad are so much more open to meeting people and making new friends. We had group dinners and lunches involving a ton of tapas to share.

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That one night in Roma. One night in Rome we camped out on the Spanish Steps and a modpodge of a meal of baguette, brei, jamon, Prosecco, and a few other European sides. We just hung out for a while people watching, reading Rick Steves (our savior) info on the steps and getting a happy Prosecco buzz going. Afterwards we met up with a group of Italian grad student men and we all bonded over a mutual interest in hanging out. So with Italians in tow, we wandered to the almost deserted Trevi Fountain around midnight and mosied the streets of Rome until the wee hours of the morning. There’s nothing like seeing iconic historical sights in the middle of the night with no one around. It was simply magical.

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Fairytale land in Prague. Prague looks like you stepped into Anastasia. No joke. The cobblestone roads, the castle in the background, stunning bridges – oh and shots of liquor that greeted us at our hostel. We really took it easy in Prague. We went on a brief free walking tour, the notorious tourst dance club, and really just kinda existed in Prague for a few days. It was  a great break from the busyness of Rome and the busyness that was to come in Berlin. Many say that Prague is a tourist spot, and I don’t disagree. But I had some amazing food, fun, and delicious hot wine so I’m not complaining.

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Berlin living. By the time we got to Berlin, we were pretty exhausted and pretty jaded. We had trouble mustering the strength to even step foot in one of the hundreds of museums and couldn’t read another word from Rick. Luckily our hostel was another wicked amazing choice and we attended a free guided tour. It ended up taking us to all the major sights and even gave us a great breakdown of Berlin history (including book recommendations – how divine!). It wasn’t till a long run I went on my last day that Berlin really won me over. I’ve come to the conclusion that, among the cities we visited, this is the city I can most see myself living in. I’d love to live amongst the street art, the history, the beauty and most importantly the making of history that is happening right now in the reconstruction of the city. (PS. Is anyone else aware they are tearing down the East Side Gallery? I’m upset. Where do I write my letter of complaint?)

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So that’s just a brief summary of some of the things that I loved on my travels. It was a complete exhausting, eye opening, amazing trip that is totally worth the credit card debt and lack of vacation days. My wonderlust yearning has subsided for now, but that is likely due to the issues getting new credit cards, my slight credit card debt and the mound of laundry I have yet to look at. Plus, it was a dream come true to reunite with my soul sista best friend after all this time!

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Buck up

~ Lydia ~ 2 Comments

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Well, I had a great relaxing weekend with a date on Friday, girls scary movie night on Saturday (that didn’t give me nightmares…high five to me!), dress shopping and bridesmaid dress ordering with my mom on Sunday and then topped it off with a great concert at a favorite venue of mine, the Granada, to see Aesop Rock on Sunday night. I also squeezed in some Berlin and Rome research on Saturday’s perfectly rainy afternoon. Great pre-Europe jam packed weekend!

Do you ever have those friends who complain all the time? And you want to be like “listen here, bro. Suck. It Up.” Well lately, that’s been me. I hear myself doing it too. “Aren’t you leaving for Europe soon?” “Yes! I’m so excited! Ugh but I have to [insert endless vacation to do list] and [insert complaint about how much everything is costing this Spring/Summer because of the many family events happening]” Frankly, I’m surprised I haven’t been slapped yet. Especially because those closest to me likely know that I secretly love to do lists and being slightly stressed (just call me a masochist). Although no one has give me a love face tap yet, I do have a few friends and a mother who simply laugh when I utter an ounce of complaining. As they should!!

Complaining is stealing from your own joy. Even worse, you’re stealing from those around you. If you’re having a great day and I come over and spill red wine all over it, your good mood is stained with my negativity. Who wants to be the friend that is the red stain on someone’s mood or day? Who would want to be friends with that friend?

So this week my goal is to quit complaining. These next few months are really exciting  albeit expensive, and I would hate myself for not lavishing and soaking up the moment. Unfortunately I don’t have friends who will sitcom slap me, but I do have a yoga mat and have instructed friends to tell me to suck it up if I even have the tone of a whine. I want to stop myself from every even considering the Debbie Downer of these great life events and stay a Positive Patricia. She’s way more fun to hang out with.

By the way, one week from this moment I’ll be having dinner in Paris. Can you even believe that? I can’t!

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Wanderlust 2013: Berlin

~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

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Traveling with friends is always a little hairy. First off, you’re together constantly which can get old in and of itself. Second, you likely will have different ideas as to what you’ll do on your trip. For my Europe trip (now referred to as Wonderlust 2013), I did some planning and research on Berlin last night. Berlin is so rich in history so the major tourist attractions are memorials and museums. I’m not a big history buff. I have an appreciation for history, but it doesn’t exactly get me giddy. So when listing out possible activities, I didn’t list too many of the history heavy spots that populated the pages of my tour guide. What I do find fascinating, however, is how the wars and history affected the landscape of the city. Streets and squares were demolished during the war and the falling of the Berlin Wall and are still working to get back to their original glory. East and West Berlin have switched personalities completely. It just reminds you that all this extreme violence wasn’t too long ago.

Here’s the thing though. What if someone I am traveling with is a die hard history nerd and wants to see every museum with a gun or flag in it? Instead of a constant struggle throughout the trip that could end with me going crazy in a museum, a friend feeling they wasted their trip or someone’s feelings getting hurt, I think it’s important to establish these kinds of things before we even step on a plane. That way, we can establish expectations now and even plan on splitting up if need be. So I’ve sent all my research to my two travel buddies to get their feedback and to start that conversation of “what do you want to get out of this trip?” Granted, it’s a tricky question. But I think everyone should stick up for what they really want to see (a life of regrets is no fun) but also be flexible.  You also shouldn’t ruin the trip by having a bad attitude because you didn’t get to see the one statute you came to see. Instead, be up front about what you want to tour that way you can establish early that you might take a solo mission to accomplish your trip goals.

And then sometimes, you’ll see a photo from Tuula Vintage on Instagram in Prague and message your friend and say “OH MY GOD  I HAVE TO SEE THIS BRIDGE OR I’LL DIE” in the overly dramatic way that only she can understand, and then she, in her cool Spain, best friend kind of way, will say “Babes, our hostel is on the bridge. You’re welcome.” Can’t wait to see my best friend in just a short few weeks!

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Nuggets of news

~ Lydia ~ 1 Comment

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First off, I’d like to start with two very exciting nuggets of news. First is, Sarah’s Birthday was yesterday! Sarah, myself, and a dozen of Sarah’s friends headed to Company Cafe. A favorite of ours here at Finding Tiffanys. It provides so many healthy options and is heavy on the vegan, vegetarian and gluten free dishes. It’s a win, win, win and win. Do we even need to add that it’s delicious and obviously adorable? Sarah will also be jetting off to DC tomorrow. I am insanely jealous. Naturally. Let’s hope she brings back some amazing photos! (hint hint.. nudge nudge)

The other piece of news was also in celebration of Sarah’s big day – as a birthday surprise I purchased FindingTiffanys.com! Although a mutually beneficial gift, we are both super excited about it. We’re pretty sure the blog looks so much better without .wordpress in the URL…irrational? Who cares. So excited!!

A few goals for me this week.

Explore new music. I used to consider myself quite the music afficinado. I was on the concert series committee in college that brought some great bands to our campus and was strongly leaning towards a career working for a record label. And yet, somewhere along the road between my computer crashing and losing my iTunes library and moving to Arizona where there was no time for finding new music, my thirst to explore went away. But now I’m parched. I’m hungry to start exploring again and diving into new bands, unexplored genres and going out of my comfort zone. Lucky for me, there are a ton of amazing festivals coming this summer and I’ve literally been going through the lineup and listening to bands on Spotify. Need to start somewhere, right? Plus, I have friends who are experts at finding new music at a level I’ll never compare to and I have no problems mooching off their ideas for a little while. For now, here are a couple tunes I’m obsessing over.



Don’t stress out. The next two weeks are pretty jam packed. I have a ton on my to do list, a ton to do at work and a ton of social activities I’d rather not skimp out on. Not to mention, my room is a mess. Which makes everything seem so much more stressful, don’t you think?

Make a plan to plan. Is this getting redundant yet? I need to plan my Europe trip..

Caffeine.. don’t drink it? It’s no secret that I am a coffee addict. I have no qualms about this either. I love my coffee black and it loves me back. But for whatever reason, I haven’t needed it all week. I had a green tea this morning, and two sips of a coffee yesterday. And yet, I am full of energy? Decaf is starting to sound like a reasonable thing now…death before decaf no more I suppose. Who am I? Yikes.

Have an amazing week!

Silence

~ Lydia ~ Leave a comment

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Well, all, I am so proud of myself *pats self on back*. These last two days I came home from work, took care of my dog, went to yoga, and returned straight back to my room to research the heck out of Europe. I’ve provided myself with the most fantastic outline for my two and half days in Paris. Having a general idea is my favorite way to travel. It allows a little freedom and plenty of opportunities to get lost taking it all in and yet ensures I won’t miss out on anything. Ya’ll. I’m so pumped.

Day 1 consists of a few record stores and the Eiffel Tower area. Day 2 is the Marias Neighborhood and the historic walk consisting of Ile de la Cite, Notre Dame, Latin Quarter and Sainte-Chapelle. Day 3 is the Montmartre area and the Champs-elysees area. Forgive me for any misspellings or miscapitalizations. I gave it a go and Paris will surely be a success!

This weekend a friend and I took a trip to a lake house at Possum Kingdom Lake with another couple. When I first learned where we were going, I assumed Possum Kingdom Lake was likely kinda gross and filled with possums and other creatures I’d rather not interact with. I could not have been further from the truth. I can best describe the area we stayed at as Arizona meets Colorado meets West Texas. The buildings were cottage-y like Colorado, the landscape was rocky and dry like AZ and the friendliness and windmills were all Texas. It was stunning.

We arrived Friday night to a sky filled with twinkling stars. I haven’t seen the sky so lit up in such a long time, too long of a time, really. The rest of the night was spent by the fire, soaking in the silence of the night (okay, and maybe a few drinking games).

Saturday we slept in, cooked up a big brunch and spent the greater part of the afternoon by the pool mixed in with a little four-wheeler riding. The previous night’s drinking and the pool day drinking had us pretty beat and so we hung out by the fire cooking s’mores for a bit and called it an early night. This morning my friend and I both went for beautiful runs. I chose a walking/running path that wove in and out of the lake’s shore line and up on to a field that provided breathe taking views. His took him through neighborhoods, climbing up rocks and animal spotting.  When I got back from my run, my friend was still on his and the other couple had already headed out for the pool. So I grabbed myself a bowl of cereal and my book and sat outside on the porch. Aside from my obnoxious cereal crunching, the silence was deafening. In Dallas I live in a relatively calm part of town and enjoy the gentle flow of people talking and cars driving by. But nothing could beat the beauty of silence. I can definitely now fully understand and embrace the idea of living in the country, it was unbelievably peaceful.

Anyways, a few sunburns later we got back on the road, turned up the music, and enjoyed this 80 degree weather that Texas graced us with. The trip was a perfect anecdote to the hectic week and daily busy life here in Dallas. I am so happily exhausted.

A Plan to Plan

~ Lydia ~ 3 Comments

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So as it turns out, Friday is March 1st. This date implies two things. One, it’s somehow been two months since New Years – I was pretty sure that was just last week. Two, my Europe trip is just a few weeks away. And what have I done to plan and prepare? Nothing. Squat. Nada. Absolutely zilch.

Okay, I am probably exaggerating (a favorite past time of mine). We have all the hostels, trains and planes booked and printed confirmation receipts in a folder for each one..it’s the “what are we doing when we get there” aspect that I haven’t given a second thought. My Rick Steve’s Best of Europe tour book came in last week, and it’s about time I take it out of the bubble wrap. In case you missed it, I’ll be exploring Paris solo.. I’ve never been anywhere outside the continental US of A and I don’t speak a lick of French. Are you praying for me yet?

Now now now, I’ll be meeting up with friends in Seville to continue the Europe adventure, but Paris is me time. I had every intention of spending this past weekend planning more of my day to day trip, but who can turn down hanging out with a new man friend, brunch or seeing Argo? Certainly not this girl. So once again, I didn’t give Europe any more thought than “what should I wear?” Furthermore, this upcoming weekend I’ll be taking an impromptu lake house trip with a few new friends. When I get back it will be March 3rd, just 15 days till I take off on a jet plane. Dun dun duuunnnn.

Part the problem is I am completely  overwhelmed. There’s so much to see in Paris, I’ll have to spend many hours just researching and narrowing down what it is I want to see. And then there’s the transportation, the directions, learning tourist social faux pas, and etc etc. It’s all quite daunting – in the most exciting kind of way of course. So since I’m heading out of town on Friday and am going to a dinner party on Thursday, this leaves me 2 days to nail some plans down.

Now I’d love to come back to you with some life changing trip planning advice or some super brilliant way I am organizing everything, but truthfully I’m the chicken with no head in this game. I really want to find some great way to keep everything organized – 5 cities in 5 countries in 14 days is in desperate need of some organizing tricks. So I am only giving myself one single goal this week. Plan and plan some more.