Space Jewelery

I was browsing through Kingdom of Style (by the way, I find Queen Michelle and Queen Marie to be so endearing. They seem like some genuinely sweet <and edgy!> ladies) and I saw these necklaces by Drown and I instantly fell in love.  Adorning your body with the visually stunning wonders of the universe - I wish I had thought of it!

 images via here

Even though I'm posting about adorning your exterior, it's always important to take care of the interior.  I stumbled upon this video today about a girl my age with a rare disease that doesn't allow her to gain weight and it really put a lot of things into perspective for me.  She's truly inspiring and a testament as to what can be achieved, even when the odds are against you.  Although all of us don't look like the models above and there are some of us that sometimes feel limited by our looks, we have life and that, in and of itself, is an amazing thing. God knows about my issues with body image and the concept of beauty as I was growing up.  Thankfully, I have grown in wisdom in that area, even though there are still moments when my old insecurities surface. We are all walking souls and one day, our outer shell will no longer exist.  What do you look like underneath?

How to: Deal with Little Sisters

Little sisters go through stages. Well, human beings go through the same stages, but watching someone grow up changes the story.  I didn't realize that the littlest one would grow up and become cognizant of the world around her.  I thought she was gonna be little and cute forever! But alas, she is a petite woman now with opinions of her own. Pre-teen years.  Kids are growing up so fast these days.  My sister's friends have boyfriends and talk about things they shouldn't.  They're 11 for crying out loud! And now kids are getting pregnant at 12.   Make me wanna holler, for real.  The littlest one is going through so many things.  I admit her early childhood was a bust for many reasons.  One of them being that she endured constant teasing from her two older sisters.  Of course, as we are older now too, we see the error of our ways, but we're reaping what we sowed.  The little one is so sad all the time.  She's being bullied at school; she's unhappy with her family life; she feels her opinions don't matter.  It just grieves me that she feels so unhappy, that she feels she doesn't matter.  I'm sure every kid goes through a bout of depression - when they realize the world isn't all roses and rainbows, but a difficult place where injustice runs rampant. My sister, I think, is just going through hers early. She's always been so smart for her age. Well, the only thing I can do is tell her that I love her every day, spend as much time with her as I can,  be as understanding as I can, and encourage her in whatever she chooses to do. And I hope one day she'll realize that she has nothing to be sad about as she can do anything, be anything, that she wants to be and we'll all be there to support her.

Simplicity

I love simple. Simple is good. You own less, you worry less, you slave over unneeded things less, but you enjoy LIFE more.  One of the things I learned at the legal center where I volunteered this summer is the less you own the happier you are, the simpler things are. And the less of a bitch it is to separate property once you wanna get divorced.  I would help people begin or continue their divorce proceedings and let me tell you, the less property they had, the happier I was.  We breezed through the Schedule of Assets and Debts like sailboats on a windy day.  It was only when they had vacation homes in Florida, foreign bank accounts, thousands of dollars of credit card debt that we ran into the iceberg. It honestly felt like the stuff they had owned them and not the other way around.
I feel like we're just drowning in our own consumerism. Greed led to recession - the desire to have more and more even if it meant living beyond our means, taking up loans we couldn't pay off and accepting promises that couldn't be paid back.  Countries and people around the world are exploited because people want more stuff to forget about in the garage.  Everyday commercials constantly try to burrow themselves into our minds and plant seeds of desire for things we don't really need.  I would honestly call it lust. Just like the phrase: sex sells.  I fall prey to it more times than I can count.  I find myself subconsciously yearning for makeup, clothes, and gadgets in the hopes that they will make my life more exciting, easier, and happier. Erm, no. It never works out that way. I end up losing that new lipgloss anyway.
I've been trying to practice simplicity by fitting all my shiz into one box as I move in to my dorm. And it's honestly very freeing. Last year I would transplant practically my entire room from home to its new destination fearing I wouldn't have something when I would need it.  Moving in stressed me the heck out. But this time, it was a whole different experience. It took only one trip up the stairs and 20 minutes of unpacking and arranging to officially move in. I feel my room still looks cozy and I have everything I need. I love it.
Now it's time for me to tap into my hypocritical half of my bipolar self.  I went thrifting today! I bought 2 new dresses and a skirt all together for under $4, baby.  The dresses are bangin' and the skirt is cute and flow-y.  I wish I could post up pictures but alas I have no camera. . . yet.  Just because I wanna keep it simple, don't mean I can't look cute. Pictures coming soon!

image via here