Author: Sarah

Today I’d Rather Be….

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

getting-back-to-meg beachvespa travelingstanding in the ocean

If you can’t tell by all these pictures of other places I’d like to be, I’ve been feeling a little restless lately.

I realized, after months (and months) of getting settled and exploring, I feel like I can finally say I know Dallas. I know how to get where I’m going…although my apartment is still the first location to auto-populate in my Google Maps search thanks to all too frequent direction searching. I’ve explored a lot of the major neighborhoods, eaten at a different restaurants, gone out to some different bars, even managed to find multiple different coffee shops, which is quite a feat in a world now overrun by Starbucks’ on every corner. Some people might find all this comforting, but I was always the kid shoving furniture around my room every couple months to have “new” surroundings, living vicariously through often multiple book characters a week, and asking to go to a boarding school so I could have some adventures of my own.

Adjusting to life in one place and without the limitless flying privileges I used to be privy to while still a student is definitely, well…an adjustment. So to me this feeling means it’s time to a) go somewhere new and/or b) get creative.

Luckily, I actually do get to go somewhere pretty soon. Like Lydia, I’m also “planning” a trip, albeit much shorter and not quite as exciting as Europe…I will be celebrating my birthday weekend in Washington D.C. next week. The word planning is in quotation marks because (to my boyfriend’s chagrin) my idea of trip planning involves quite a lot of vague, general ideas about activities and destinations. I’m happiest when I’m just wandering around somewhere new, soaking it all in and stopping at places based on a providential mix of happenstance and locals’ recommendations. I’ve found countless great coffee, cupcakes, shops, and even some celebrities this way. All that said, I am quite excited to be somewhere I have to get on a plane to get to, and I would love any recommendations for cool, must-see (aka must eat or drink) local places.

As for the getting creative, I’m sure there’s plenty of new places in Dallas…now I’ll just have to find them.

Meeting the neighbors

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

south dallas - nylo sodanylo terrace dallas skylinenylo terrace foosballnylo dallas barnylo terrace brunchnylo dallas lampnylo dallas lobby 1nylo dallas lobby 2nylo dallas lobbynylo dallas pianonylo dallas

One of my “semi-near future life goals” was to create more, and another related goal involved getting a camera and actually using it. While you’ve probably noticed from recent posts that I’ve indeed gotten the camera and actually started using it, there’s a huge difference between playing around and happening to get some decent shots with actually knowing what the heck is happening in my camera to get said shot. Luckily, I have a friend who was willing to lend some photography knowledge, so I spent my Saturday learning the difference between ISO, aperture and shutter time – just a couple basic slr settings.

I then headed over to my neighbor, NYLO, with my new-found knowledge. NYLO is a hotel and rooftop bar that opened up in South Dallas a couple months back, with an infinity pool that rumor has it, is going to be open to the public in the summer. Before you get all excited by their sign for an old-fashioned soda bar and tell all your friends about it as you picture how much fun you’re going to have sipping on all sorts of root beer float-esque drinks (not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything), I might as well be the one to burst your bubble…it turns out “SODA” actually stands for South Dallas. Not actual soda.

Despite this minor disappointment, however, my earlier explorations also resulted in a delicious prosecco (of course) cocktail with a friend, so I knew this was going to be just the sort of space I felt right at home in. It also helped that their music selection is fantastic. It was like someone had stolen my favorite Pandora station. The kicker was stumbling across their brunch menu this time around. Ah, a good brunch….they found my Achilles heel.

On the bright side, this can only help me further accomplish my other earlier goal to brunch more.

This time of life

~ Sarah ~ 7 Comments

emma stone and andrew garfield jennifer lawrence{Two of my favorite women completely rocking their twenties.}

Tonight a co-worker and I had the opportunity to attend a happy hour…that started at about 8:45 p.m. She turned to me and aptly said, “A basically 9 p.m. happy hour is no longer a happy hour. That is just a party.”

Spoken like a true 20-something. I’ve been noticing a lot of articles lately about “what it means to be a 20-something” or “signs you’re a 20-something.” While most of these provide endless amusement with their eerily accurate observations, they also promote this sense of unity in knowing I’m not alone. You’d think this would be discouraging to learn I’m not as much of a unique individual as I thought I was, but it’s actually strangely comforting. On one of Soul Pancake’s message boards, somebody asked, “What’s so noteworthy about being a 20-something anyways?” Someone else responded, “Nothing more than any other age.” While I completely agree that this could be true as I don’t have a whole lot of times of life to compare now to, I’d have to say there’s a lot about being at the time I am now that’s noteworthy. I’ve caught myself a lot over the past few months just marveling about how it feels to hit these “milestones” compared to how I thought I’d feel. It’s a strange feeling to spend your whole life wanting to be “old” then finally getting there to realize it’s a whole lot different than you thought it’d be. At the same time nearly everything in my life is changing all the time, and I’m knowing the “adults” in my life a whole new way.

Here’s a couple of the realizations I’ve found myself pondering lately:

Parents are actually always right. At that same moment, you realize that they told you they were always right, not because they were your parents (which is what you thought growing up), but probably because they, too, at some point realized their parents were always right.

Getting married isn’t a happy ending or a solution. And even though there’s a lot of happy engaged couple around you, it turns out the whole process is not nearly as romantic or surprising as you thought it’d be because there’s a whole lot of real life logistics that need to happen as far as jobs, locations of jobs, leases, roommates, and probably so much more.

Being “old” doesn’t mean you have everything figured out. In fact, it seems that most people don’t ever really know what they want or where they’re going. It’s a mix of educated guessing, luck and simply taking the next step. I also know people older than me who have changed their career path completely, taken time off to travel or volunteer for a social cause, etc. There’s not some secret “right” path to life it turns out…and that’s okay.

20 somethings quote

Giving myself a break bisquits

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

baking photography mixing bowl baking photography baking biscuits strawberry biscuits - sidestrawberry biscuits

This weekend I was determined to rest.

Like all good intentions, this idea started out so well, with a slow morning spent sleeping in then getting creative in the kitchen…but after celebrating two friends’ engagement, making a couple drives across the Dallas metroplex and one unhappy head/stomach later, it was clear that I had not exactly been the image of peace and stillness I’d envisioned all week leading up to that point.

Since I was not one of those lucky enough to have this President’s Day off and wishing it was still the weekend isn’t making my weekend any magically longer, I’ve been thinking of little ways I can treat myself to some relaxation throughout the week rather than just keep putting all my hopes into the weekend to recharge.

This week I plan to…

Wake up earlier. I know what you’re thinking…didn’t she just say she was needing more time relax not less? The thing is, I’ve found that even though I absolutely love my hibernation, er…sleep, I love my peace of mind more. Waking up with enough time to journal, do some yoga or run, shower and get myself looking how I’d actually prefer people to see me goes so much farther in getting me ready to tackle each day. The holidays completely threw off all the progress I’d been making, but I suppose with the passing of Valentine’s Day I can’t exactly pretend that now still counts as ‘the holidays’ anymore, can I?

Cook real food. Confession. My laziness knows no bounds…I’ve been eating out a LOT this past week or so. Even when I had the good sense to actually be in a grocery store I ended up getting frozen Asian food (never a good idea) and blue box mac and cheese (always a good idea, except when you end up making and eating two boxes in one sitting. But hey, it was Valentine’s Day…). How can I expect my body to feel good (and look good) if I don’t put good things in it? I really enjoyed taking the time to make myself something fun and good this weekend. I think adding time for that into my week is just what I need to force myself to slow down, make the most of my time with food I truly enjoy/can be proud of and oh yeah, take care of myself.

Light candles. This one’s just plain fun. They look pretty, smell pretty and make me feel like life is just a tad more on the luxurious side. Plus I have quite a few that even though I love everything about them, I’ve never actually ever lit. And if there’s one thing Finding Tiffany’s is all about it’s that life is not for hoarding and hoping, it’s for actually experiencing and enjoying. Now this goal, I can accomplish.

Update – Last week’s goals to read more and be nicer to myself have been going so well, I’ve decided to continue them…I will finish that book…one day…

{Vanilla Biscuit Recipe: Gluten-free Bisquick, Vanilla, a tiny bit of sugar, milk, eggs and butter. Plus fresh fruit and whip cream. I wish I could tell you measurements, but I had way less than the recipe called for so I had to eyeball it. Basically my rule of thumb for pretty much everything is to start with the recipe on the back of the box, then add way more vanilla than it calls for. Voila.}

Part Of Your Life

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

bob marley quote

While I will take any excuse to dress up, I admit I have never really gotten as sucked into the romantic hype of Valentine’s Day as I have into the fact that it’s just an excuse to reflect and celebrate. And that, I am all about.

No matter if you spent your Valentine’s by yourself or with friends, family, a love or even the love, I hope you take the time to read this card (courtesy of my roommate). I hope you reflect on what it means to really love the people in your life. And don’t forget the celebrating part!

As for me, I spent my evening avoiding persistent chocolate cravings (as I’m still holding strong to my decision to not eat dessert at all since January through March). I’ll also be hitting up the clearance aisle tomorrow with the hopes of scoring some Justin Biebers or other likewise completely ridiculous but amazing cards to hand out at my work’s official celebration next week. Wish me luck that the school kids haven’t taken all the good ones yet?

Oh and hey, thanks for being a part of our lives by reading Finding Tiffany’s!

Finding…Motivation.

~ Sarah ~ 3 Comments

to do list

Is there anything quite as cozy as clutching a hot cup of coffee to warm up on a cold day?

I realized it’s been an awfully long time since my last “goal” related post. Perhaps not so coincidentally I’ve also been feeling uncharacteristically unmotivated lately. Quite frankly, I’ve also been scared to tell you all that I’m going to do something because, well….then I’d actually have to do it! This reality hit me hard this weekend when I woke up Saturday morning with precious hours to use however my heart desired…and all I could do was lay around in my bed thinking about how bored I was but how I was feeling too lazy to actually do anything to change how bored I was.

Snap out of it, self! It’s time for some tough love, so I’m waking up my brain to make some goals for this week and most importantly, share them with you.

strong-beautiful-and-brave-an-encouragement-note-for-the-weary-traveller

Stop thinking about how tired / sick / unattractive I feel. This week I’m having a plan of attack for those self-conscious thoughts that make me feel unmotivated and self-conscious. Whenever these thoughts come up I will replace them with something good like, “I’m tired” becomes “I am so grateful for friends who want to see me, the financial ability to do fun things and a job that leaves me feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.” As for the appearance thing, reminding myself that no one notices (or cares) about minor details or off-days like I do will help, along with countering those thoughts with something I do well that is far more important than looks like being nice, smiling, helping someone, etc. This pity party is over.

the tipping point book by malcolm gladwell

FINALLY finish this book. I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me every time I open up The Tipping Point and start reading. I just love Malcolm Gladwell’s analytic yet engaging writing style. The problem is, every time I do get motivated enough to open the book (it’s quite daunting when I think about all that’s left to read) it’s usually on the later side and I end up falling asleep within a couple pages. As a result, it has taken me forever to get about 1/5 of the way in. This week I commit to start reading every day with the goal of reading 10 pages. Just 10, then I can decide to stop, keep reading, whatever I want. Take that, self-discipline.

I think that’s a pretty good start for now. I would also love to hear how you keep yourself motivated, re-motivate yourself, etc. Anyone else feel like they needed to recharge this Monday?

Making the Most of a Rainy Day

~ Sarah ~ 1 Comment

weekend outfitcompany cafe gluten free french toast stickscompany cafe greenville dallasproject rebrief

Can we all just agree that today was the shortest Saturday ever? I can’t believe the day’s nearly over. It’s been grey and misty in Dallas today, the kind of day where you just have no choice but to pull up the covers and and sleep in. Of course, one of the side affects of turning into an adult is now “sleeping in” only gets to me to about 9:30 a.m. tops.

I fought off a near-debilitating combination of laziness and boredom to find some comfy clothes and brave the Texas ‘cold’ for a working brunch. Now cozied back up in my apartment, I may be making a trip downstairs soon for some prosecco to keep me company for a night in with Project Re:Brief, a documentary pictured above about how a couple advertising professionals revisited their most iconic ads from the sixties to create engaging digital campaigns for today’s world. I might even go really crazy and throw in some Netflix. Look out, Dallas…

Today also solidified my previous suspicions that Company Cafe is my favorite brunch restaurant in Dallas. At some point I’ll have to branch out and try out the rest of the menu, but so far their pancakes, brisket tacos, breakfast tacos, gravy and as of today, french toast sticks are all amazing. And it’s all natural and gluten-free! Not just gluten-free, but great tasting and gluten-free, which is easier said than done. My post allergy-diagnosed diet is having me live wheat-less for a little while, so this is particularly good news for my carb-starved soul. Don’t worry, I’m no food critic and I know it, so you don’t have to fear some elaborate, overly descriptive story a la Yelp-style is going to ensue. Just know it’s amazing, and you should go. Plus, you’re supporting local farms and food suppliers, many dedicated to great social causes like Impact Foods, a gluten-free granola company that donates food packs to children for every bad of granola sold. Food that tastes good, makes you feel good and does good…how can you say no to that? (Plus, all their servers at both locations have always been nice, helpful and down to earth. Okay, okay…I’ll try to stop raving now.)

P.S. Lucia was amazing. I’ve fully bought into the hard-to-grab reservation process and high price tag after last night’s meal. Go there, too.

Inspiration: Media high + Finding freedom

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

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I have had the kind of work week that makes me incredulous that my job is actually considered a job. I got to go to digital media conference in Dallas for two days, which basically means I got to learn (yes!), hear different perspectives on the industry I love and meet new people. For an introvert, it’s amazing how exhilarating it is to walk up alone to a circle of people I’ve never seen before and not only make unawkward conversation (always a win), but also some new friends.

It’s given me a much needed refresher on work life this week and reminded me that I’m lucky to be where I am right now, even though I don’t always remember that. Maybe I’m an optimist (okay, I know I’m an optimist) but when I think back on the different phases of my life so far, no matter how much I struggled or thrived during them, my rose-colored glasses are definitely on. I don’t usually think, “wow this sucked” or “I regret doing this or doing it this way;” for the most part I think, “I’m so grateful for that time because ___.” It helps shift my perspective to tell myself how I’m going to look back on this time of my life and really appreciate it…so I better be appreciating it now!

Feeling ‘free’ has been a bit of a theme for me this week, as you might pick up on from my pinning spree below. These photographs and quotes have been reminding me to take a deep breath, rest a little then get out there and embrace life. I’ve been in a resting phase for a little while now, trying to avoid too many social plans, etc. Now I’m just ready for all that the very busy month of February has planned for me, starting with this weekend: Valentine’s/couples dinner at the very hard to reserve Lucia in Bishop Arts (!), freelance work and celebrating life with friends at a big post-church brunch. Can it just be Friday afternoon already?

Pinterest

A Nickel For Your Thoughts

~ Sarah ~ Leave a comment

read quote cs lewis

The most magical thing about writing (and reading) is that moment of perfect synchronicity, when the reader goes “YES, me too!” I have this moment of understanding and connectivity with books and other bloggers (unbeknownst to them) often, and it is exactly that which has always motivated me to write as well. I can only hope that somebody stumbles across something I write and is encouraged, excited or if nothing else, left with a little more feeling of belonging than they had before. So it is with this hope that I broach a topic that has been weighing on me a lot lately.

I think I can speak on Lydia’s behalf when I say that healthiness is an important part in Finding Tiffany’s for us. When you feel 100% you’re better equipped to go out in the world and live life to the fullest. Whether through yoga, running, eating less sugar or finally making it to some doctor appointments, we’re always looking for ways to incorporate more of a healthy lifestyle.

health quote

So…what happens when everything you thought was eating healthily turns out to be actually slowly diminishing your immune system?

I found out this week I’m allergic to nickel, among other things. I’m afraid I’ve grown pretty boring since then, since all I’ve done ever since is research what this means and what I can do about it (Did you now 15% of the population have some sort of nickel allergy?? See, full of fun facts). You see, nickel is in basically everything. Keys, jewelry, zippers, buckles, metal buttons, pens, paper clips, cooking utensils and pans, door knobs, hangers…It’s also in food: wheat, ALL vegetables (including my favorites, spinach and mushrooms), nuts, soy, oatmeal, tuna and beans. And of course my favorites: wine (only red, thank God), chocolate and beer.

I can’t tell you how confusing it has been to retrain my brain these past couple of days. Everything I eat (and enjoy) on a daily basis that filled me with pride for taking care of my body (minus the chocolate and alcohol) was actually building up against my immune system the whole time. Huh.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I do firmly believe that having a healthy body is paramount to living a happy, fulfilled life. Because I believe that there ARE answers out there, no matter how many times you have to visit doctors who make you feel like a crazy hypochondriac. Because I want you to know that other people know whatever it is you’re going through, whether it’s people on our blog, another blog or a random message board. And hopefully, knowing that gives you some comfort. Helps you feel understood and accepted. Makes you feel at home, wherever you are, however you are.

heart sky

As my friend told me this week, after I kinda thought I was going to be murdered while using the sketchiest bathroom of my life in an otherwise fun, quirky place (Lee Harvey’s) only to look up and see someone else had already hit my feelings spot on with the words scrawled on the bathroom wall, “This bathroom is f****** creepy as s***”…..

….Life is all about the shared human experience.

Friends for Life

~ Sarah ~ 1 Comment

brunch in McKinneyMcKinney vintage shopMcKinney Vintage Shop BookMcKinney boutiquedowntown McKinney buildingMcKinney Boutique WindowMcKinney Marketdowntown McKinney

A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.  ~ Lois Wyse

I spent a slow-paced Sunday with a friend in downtown McKinney, an adorable area that looks like it belongs in a movie about a charming small town. Couples walked hand in hand, kids rode by on bicycles laughing as the wind blew in their hair. Literally. I thought I should probably take some pictures to prove it, but turning the camera on strangers made me feel a little on the creeper side. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I’ve been down there (or up there, rather, as it’s about 35 minutes north of Dallas) before for the occasional wedding or client meeting, but this was the first time I finally had time to explore. After stuffing ourselves with mimosas, caffeine, eggs benedict and deep conversation, we wandered into one vintage treasure shop after another.

Our afternoon reminded me how much I have to be thankful for…Some people just make your soul richer, and this girl is definitely one of those. We’ve both come a long way personally, romantically and professionally since we first met one year ago. Sometimes seeing that growth in others is easier than seeing it in yourself, and having friends to witness that growth in (and remind you of your own) is a beautiful thing! This week I’m making an effort to hold on to that encouragement and reach out to some friends I’ve been meaning to connect with. I even picked up some cute notecards at one of the shops to help me get started.

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