{Find the joy}

"I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. I have lived the pain, and my life can tell: I only deep the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives. Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. The converse does. The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows." -Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

leaping 

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surprises

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cup of sprinkles

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Breakfast at Tiffany's

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time to yourself

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Staying in bed and taking it easy today. I'm feeling a little under the weather. What a great reminder to take the time to find the joy all around, no matter how desperate your circumstances.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

-C

{Words.}

A friend shared this with me a long time ago. She heard it first during Mass and ever since she shared it with me, I find comfort in repeating it to myself in times when I'm not sure what to do:

"Although I am immediately, and deeply powerless, I will pray with you and for you because your problems are important to me. I find comfort in the idea that our attention to a relationship or person is what counts- not the control over the outcome that we lack. "

I just thought I would share in case it would help any of you today.

-C

{Rainy Day}

Hi friends! I can't believe this is the first day all week that I'm posting, I don't know where the heck this week (or entire summer, for that matter) has gone! I head back to Cincinnati on Sunday and I feel like I just stepped off the plan in Houston. Time certainly flies, and I'm really going to miss my family. 

On a happier note, I am so very excited to move into my new apartment. Well. Actually. I'm not really excited for the moving part. Dreading, is more like it. But I am very excited for what is to come after I move in. 

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I'm loving this bedroom right now. It feels both masculine and feminine, warm and airy. Bravo.

I'm thinking, however, that since this place is going to be mine all mine, I'm going to indulge in the feminine just a wee bit. One day I'm (probably) going to have to live with a man who will veto my blush pink throw pillows and glitzy lamps, so I may as well live it up now.

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This paint color is what is going in my entire apartment. A million years ago my mom painted one of the rooms in our old house this color, and she used it again recently in the house we are currently living in. It's Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware and I'm in love with it because it's really neutral but still really light and airy. I love grey walls, obviously, but in an old, beat up, college apartment like I'll be dealing with that doesn't reflect a ton of light, I was worried it would look too dingy. I think this is a perfect compromise because there is still lots of grey in it.

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I love all of this tone on tone texture biz-nass. It's simple but effective. And also get's pretty pricey when it comes time to buy all of those different fabrics, so we'll see where I get with that.

The good news is, I'll be in this apartment until I graduate, so it's okay if I have to take my time with it and can't get everything together overnight. Remind me of that when I'm thinking of the 500 things I want to buy and am rocking myself in the corner because I have no money, will ya?


It's raining here and I've got a few hours before I have to go into work, so I think I'll make a cup of coffee and some breakfast and pop in a chick flick. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday <3

-C

{Just what I needed}

I had the most wonderful day off.

The first stop I made was at Bunaglow in Montrose. It's this sweet, adorable coffeehouse located in (you guessed it) a bungalow. They also sell clothes and great little gifts, like journals, books, stationary, etc. I walked in and immediately got all googly eyed and gaga. I love a good coffee shop.

I loved this little computer nook. 

lots of mixed patterns.

the front porch was one of my favorite parts.

I enjoyed a "blonde and sweet" coffee with a blueberry scone on the front deck

Scrumptious.

I sat for a bit and admired all of the pretty townhouses on the street, and then decided to move on to my next stop. This one was legendary. And it snuck up on me. See, I read about The Guild Shop online and thought it sounded like a really neat place to visit, but I had no hopes of being able to actually purchase something. It sounded like they had some pretty ritzy clientele, and though I may have just worked for 3 weeks straight, I'm still not exactly rollin' in the dough. But I went anyway, because I love looking at furniture.

When I first walked in, it was a room mostly full of clothes and jewelry. I marveled at the jewelry selection for a while but then I turned the corner into the houseware section of the store. I'm not even kidding, my heart started racing. There was SO much to see.

 I thought these mugs were so neat. I meant to snatch them up but I got sidetracked.

I kept moseying through until I found the room with the furniture pieces. And then I saw it.

 This amazing, perfect condition, bentwood chair. Just like the one I've been picturing in my head, drooling over on blogs, and searching for for months. I nervously checked the price tag.

$33.00.

what?

excuse me?

I found another variation of the bentwood chair at a thrift store a few weeks ago for $50.00 and it was in such poor condition that you couldn't even sit on it. The cheapest I've found them online is around $100 and even that is scarce. But it get's better. I later found out it had been reduced again for $19. NINETEEN DOLLARS. I carried it around the store with me for the next two hours because I didn't want anyone else to think they were buying it. I'm most likely going to use mine as my new desk chair.

lookin' all gorgeous with a saarinen style table

and a bench version paired with a desk

Sigh. I'm so in love.

I also scored an AMAZING coffee table, but it was covered with other furniture in the store so I couldn't snap a picture, and it was too dark by the time I get home to get a good shot.

But I'm antsy so here is a terrible quality photo of it. It's hard to tell what it really looks like, but the top is this really neat wood pattern and the legs are iron. It's completely unique and it caught my eye immediately. So I got it :). 60 buckaroos, y'all. I felt like I had just won the lottery by the time I left.

A few other things that caught my eye...

AMAZING farmhouse table for $120. I wanted to get it terribly but it wouldn't fit in my car and the lady I work for is already giving me a free dining table. But this baby was perfect. And such a STEAL.

library catalog. give this little number some tlc and prop it on some legs, and you'd be in business. (Pardon the yellow-ness of these pictures. I forgot to set the white balance on my camera)

 Here's some inspiration:

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lovely.

I loved this sofa because of how deep it was. Sitting on it made me feel like a little girl. It was super cozy and even though it's not normally the style couch I would go for, it grew on me more and more over the two hours I was there. I even considered buying it because it was priced EXTREMELY well at $198 and in amazing condition, but it wouldn't fit in the doorway of my apartment. Fooey.

All of my pacing around the store made me work up an appetite so after I left I stopped at Cafe Express for lunch

Roasted turkey sandwich and sweet potato fries. delish.

And ended the day with Ladies Happy Hour at Chelsea Wine Bar. You can't beat $1 Sangria.

it was the perfect day off :).

I just got home from work a couple of hours ago, so I'm going to enjoy a chick flick and some pizza and beer. Another wonderful way to spend an evening. I hope you all have a great weekend!

-C

{My day}

I can feel summer start to slip through my fingers as we speak. I was looking through my planner last night trying to figure out my schedules for my last week and a half here and I could feel myself develop several grey hairs. I feel like I just got here, and yet there are so many people I still need to see and things I need to do. And trying to fit that in with my crazy work schedule makes me a ball o' stress. 

BUT.

That does not exist today. It is my day off. My first day off in three weeks and by george, I'm going to enjoy it. 

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For now, I'm going to finish my cup of coffee and get dressed so I can hit the road :). I used to do this thing when I was younger where I would smile at ten strangers every day. That probably sounds creepy, but wouldn't it be nice if we all acknowledged each other's presence a little more? I'll have to incorporate that into my day.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday. Talk to you soon!

-C

Hump day.

Hey everyone! I'm just stopping to pop in real quick and say hi. I'm about to head to work, naturally. Tomorrow is going to be my first day off in about 3 weeks and I can't tell you how excited I am.

Tonight I'm going to make lots of fun plans for my day tomorrow because I don't want to waste a minute! I'll definitely be including some blogging in my day :). I'm also picturing strolling through some antique shops, and stopping in a coffee shop for an espresso!

I hope you all have a wonderful day <3

-C

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{Changes aren't so simple}

Okay, y'all. Time to huddle.

So lately, I've been wanting to redesign the blog. Well, not lately. I've wanted to for a long time but I wasn't really sure what I wanted and I didn't want to pay to have it done until I figured it out. Here's the thing. When I started this blog, I started it because I was reading a lot of personal blogs about family and normal life, and at the time, I was in an acting conservatory feeling really disconnected from those things.   So the blog was born to help keep me connected to normal life, relationships, family, etc. Then, I left the acting conservatory and felt really disconnected from creativity and art and I started exploring design and lifestyle blogs, and suddenly felt the need to go more in that direction because I missed participating in that world of creativity and collaboration.

And now, I feel like there is a happy little marriage between the two. Somehow, they have met in the middle and both are equally important to me in life and therefore, in said blog.

Lord, this feels like I way bigger deal than it is.

I want to change my blog name. There I said it.

I've outgrown it. I want this blog to be about much more than just myself. I want it to be about inspiration for everyone, not just the simple gals of the world. Because sometimes things get complicated y'all. And to be perfectly honest, this is the first thing that made me doubt my blog name:

Seriously. When I watched this episode after I had made my blog, I knew somewhere deep down that this name would never work. If you know me at all, you know that I am for sure, a Katie girl. And yet here I am. Blogging as "A Simple Girl." (Not that I don't love the simple things in life :)) 

 I'm excited about all of the pending external changes. However, the content will be the same, friends. So no big changes there. I'm in the midst gathering inspiration and working on a redesign with one of my all time favorite bloggers/graphic designers, Alaina from Live Creating Yourself. Eee!

I'll let you all in on the new blog name and what not soon. Anyone else changed their blog name out there? I feel like I'm going through a breakup. 

Talk to you all soon :)

-C

{blue}

Feelin' a wee bit blue today.

I am about to go into work and I just don't wanna.

I haven't had a day off in weeks, and yet I'm still all kinds of worried about money for when I go to school. I really wish I had the extra money to take a quick little trip to Chicago before school starts when I get to Cincinnati. But either way, it will be good to get back and get settled again. I don't mean to be a negative nancy, it's just one of those days. 

I think a day off to see a movie, explore Houston, and just unwind would be an excellent cure. I just have to hang in there until Thursday. I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.

But if I could be anywhere in the world, I think I would pick here:

Spain

Maybe I will be soon :).

Happy Sunday, everyone.

-C

{Just a late Saturday night thought}

I found this quote on one of my favorite blogs, Makeunder My Life, and it really resonated with me, as I'm sure it will with a lot of you.

"I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm doing okay and I'm on my way." 

-J. Meyer

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Now to just keep moving forward...

I worked a long day today, so I will now relax with a glass of red wine and 13 going on 30. Do not laugh at me. I love this movie and sometimes I wish I would wake up and be "thirty, flirty, and thriving" too.

Sleep tight, everyone.

-C

{Office vs. Closet}

Is it just me, or are the weeks speeding by even faster than usual? As I prepare to head back to Cincinnati for school in just a few short weeks, I am trying to find a way to do all of those summer fun activities before we officially kiss the season goodbye. Between my constant working, it will be quite a challenge. But I am dying to go a wine tasting, peruse the shops in Montrose, have a girls night with my family, and maybe see a show at one of the theaters downtown. If you knew what my work schedule looked like for the next couple of weeks, you would probably laugh at my summer bucket list, but I am a dreamer.

Speaking of dreaming...

I've been putting together some ideas for my new apartment that I'll be moving into in September. It's a small one bedroom (seriously, the bedroom is pretty darn small) and while it's not luxury, I'm really excited about fixing it up and reviving it over time. I'll be living there until I graduate because nothing short of a roach infested apartment would get me to agree to move again. I do not enjoy packing.

Here is my current dilemma: There are two large closets in the apartment. One is in the entry way area, with double sliding mirrored (blech) doors. The other is obviously in the bedroom and it's more of an open nook area. It could make a really great closet, don't get me wrong, but I've also been toying with the idea of turning it into a little office/blogging nook and using the entry closet for my clothes instead. 

Some of my favorite closet office nooks:

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I like that they all have something that defines the space but still stays really cohesive with the rest of the room. In the first two, I'm loving the graphics on the walls that make it feel more separate and secluded, but in the last one I love the way they continued the same color scheme and just used a subtle sheer curtain to define the office. They all look like cozy, inspiring spaces to get your work on.

But it is hard to give up having a glamourous closet. Although, these open closet storage solutions make me think I could find some alternatives, as long as I keep the rest of the small room simple and clean:

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So what would you do, friends? 

P.S. Is it just me or is finding a title to blog posts the trickiest part of blogging? Stumps me every time.

Hope you're all having a great week. Tomorrow is Friday!

-C

{Lesson learned.}

As summer starts to come to an end and a new school year gets closer, my wheels start spinning.

I always look at summer breaks as periods to recharge, learn a few things and reset your goals for the upcoming year.

 If you know me or have been reading the blog for a while, you know that my freshman year I switched my major  at school from acting to communications. Sort of a big deal, because I had been in art schools since I was in middle school, and the idea of branching out was terrifying. But, I've taken that time and  have been trying to refigure myself out. Something about my acting classes started to feel wrong. They were not a release for me anymore, or even enjoyable. It just didn't fit anymore. And since then, I've been trying to figure out why. 

Right about the time I decided to switch out of acting was right about the time when life started to get pretty crazy, yall. And here's something I've learned about myself: I exhaust my emotional energy in one direction and am left with none to go anywhere else.  Not good. I've been working on it and have improved a lot. So, even though there were other reasons, (and even though I'm still not sure that the place I was studying would have been the right fit for me anyway) in a nutshell, I stopped acting because I was emotionally spent. I had barely enough energy to get through my daily tasks, let alone try to compete with a crazy schedule and the constant analysis of how committed I was to the program or to acting as a career. I was relieved when I left, and probably even a bit happier, but definitely not fulfilled. I was mostly just relieved that I didn't have pressure on my shoulders that I knew I couldn't live up to anymore. I had the space I needed to figure things out.

I've done this in many areas of areas of my life. I've let really important things fall by the wayside or become neglected because I don't have the energy for them anymore. I never realized this until this past year, but I am learning how to stop that from happening. And more than anything, I'm losing patience for it. I'm losing patience for not having the life I want to have because I'm exhausting my energy towards other areas that I can't control. I'm losing patience for having things in my life that are anything but positive and supportive. I don't have patience to be confused anymore. I don't have patience to sit around and figure everything out. I've hit the limit of what I will sit down and deliberate over or analyze because the longer I sit and do that, the more time I'm wasting. And time is precious. 

Life is simple. Really. It is. I just have to remind myself that sometimes.

{Wow-wee.}

They finally came out with the music video.

These two are smokin'.

{The best.}

Every time I start to get antsy, watch too many episodes of Sex and the City that have me dreaming of moving to New York, read a blog about someone who whisked themselves off to Amsterdam for the journey of a lifetime, or get caught up in looking at too many travel pictures on Pinterest, I start to hear voices. One of them says "Don't worry, Caitlin. Your time will come. Slooow down and enjoy what you have right now!" But the other voice says "What are you waiting for?! Life is short! No day but today! Make decisions! Figure it out! Do something!"

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I think to myself that I wish these voices could sit down over a cup o joe, talk to each other and work all of this out. But then I remember that's called schizophrenia. 

In the end, I think the best thing I (or anyone else who feels the same way) can do is to look at my current life (as mundane as it may seems sometimes) as an adventure. For now, there is so much of Houston that I have not yet explored (which I intend to as soon as I get more than half a day off at work) and being away from college and my friends makes me miss and appreciate it so much more. A constant trend I notice in my life is looking back at things and not appreciating every second nearly enough. I wish I could go back and absorb every moment that I was in London my senior year, every night when I was living in Chicago, and every afternoon after school on the steps of Baltimore School for the Arts. I don't want to wish my life away.

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"Make the best of it." That's the voice that is winning the argument, this time. 

See you again soon,

C