My facial routine is hands down one of the best things that I do every day/night to take care of my self, and these products are my daily favorites. I used to be awful at taking care of my skin. It's actually pretty embarrassing. For most of my early twenties, I never washed my makeup off before bed. I had no idea about cleansers or moisturizers. I moved through my day oblivious of my pores.
What a week! Are you as excited as I am that May has arrived? I love May. Spring is here. It's a time to renew hope and focus on the sunshine. I can already tell this month is going to be a breath of fresh air.
This week, we have had phenomenal weather in San Francisco. Yesterday, it was literally around 90 degrees, which is completely unheard of here in the Frisco. I met my dear friend Stacy (HelloCupcake) for a lovely dinner picnic in the park. We were eating wine and cheese in the sunshine until well after 7pm, and it got me thinking about how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and to live in such a beautiful city. I like to try to stop every so often to remind myself, we live here.
Here are some of the things that inspired me this week:
+ RS's Liebster Post. I love her beautiful photographs and inspiring answers.
+ I've been carrying this quotation around in my pocket this week. I love it. via Note to Self: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in" -Leonard Cohen
A few weeks ago, my friend Sherry reached out to me to to invite me to participate in Plant a Kiss day. Plant a Kiss day is all about spreading a bit of joy just for Joy's sake. How could I say no to that? I always want to spread a little joy!
As of today, there are officially only six months left until I turn 30 (yesterday was my half-birthday). This milestone has inspired me to create a 30 before 30 list. I was so swept up in my Golden Year project that I never thought about making one before.
The great thing about this list is that it mostly just came to me stream of consciousness.
I have lots of random thoughts--like, er. . . all the time. Mostly, I just tuck them away, but today I want to share them. These are just some things that have been on my mind this week. Around here I like to write about a combination of carefully planned things (goals! food! crafts!) and just my real life moments, experiences, and thoughts. I think this post obviously falls into the latter.
My food theme (Eat) for Golden March is French food, and I am loving it already! To kick off the french food party, I put together my favorite version of french cuisine: the french picnic. I've never been to France, but I imagine that everyone is just eating on the ground on blankets in sunny parks. Is that how you imagine it too? :) There's something about the idea of the impromptu picnic that I just love. Grab some bread, wine, and whatever else is at hand and make yourself a beautiful picnic. Here's how ours turned out:
It was a simple dream. Ever since I had moved back to San Fran many years before I had wanted to start a blog to chronicle my inspirations. Thanks to the campaign, I finally started writing Not Merely Living. In two years time, it has grown and changed and evolved. It has become so much more than just a simple hobby. It has become my passion.
The beauty of the At The Crossroads I Think I Can Campaign is that in addition to raising much needed funds to support homeless youth, it also inspires people to pursue their own tucked away, unattended dreams. As a part of their "I Think I Can" campaign, friends and supporters can choose a personal goal they would like to accomplish and then ask their friends and families to support them by donating to an awesome cause--At The Crossroads! It's like supporting a friend who is trying to run a marathon or bike 150 miles for a good cause, but the participants get to choose their own goals.
At The Crossroad's mission is "to reach out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and work with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives." They are making a significant impact on the lives of homeless young people in San Francisco.
I took a year off from the campaign last year to plan our wedding, but this year I am all in. When I was trying to choose my goal, I tried to think of something that I would really enjoy and something that was on my life list. Sooo I came up with the perfect goal of learning to Country Line Dance. I'm not even joking. This is going to be amazing. I hope you are as excited about this as I am, because you should be.
For every donation of $25 or more that I receive for AtTheCrossroadsthrough my campaign, I will learn one new line dance. I'll video myself doing each of the dances and post them on Not Merely Living. If I reach my goal of raising $1,000, I will take this to a whole new level by choreographing and videoing my own line dance creation.
Even if you can't support me financially, I hope you'll enjoy following along with my dances. If there are any particular line dances you would like me to learn, leave me a message so I can move them to the top of my list!
What interest do you have deep down that you are just waiting for the chance to prioritize? Now it the time! Carpe Diem!
You always seem to shake me to the core. I hope that every month of 2013 is like this. I hope every month I face myself and say, is this what I want?
Carpe Diem Y'all. Let's do this. This has been a beautiful month.
Before I tell you about my month, I need to acknowledge this special day. Today is my mom's birthday, and she is incredible.
Happy Birthday Mom. I'm better every day because of you. I love you.
You are more beautiful inside and out every. single. day. Miss you.
>>This year I'm celebrating my Golden Year in full force. I'm focusing on some key areas that I'm passionate about that I want to explore (e.g. food, craft, music, travel). Here's a review of my January:
This month, I was seeing blue. It's a new year, a new day, and a new blue sky right?
Oh friends, I have been hecka planning. Alt has been a real inspiration this month: see in the beginning, in the middle, and after. Most of my planning this month has been focused on the blog and my dreams for where I want it go. In so many ways, my blog is a reflection of the dreams I have for my life, so it is precious and dear to me. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you guys!
Oh Rock. I mean. . . you were fun. You weren't my favorite I think, but I definitely enjoyed you. My playlists this month were definitely danceable and reminded me of so many moments from my youth. Hope you enjoyed rock from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up.
This book moved me in a deep, deep way. I wrote about this a bit here, but if you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it.
I am not that good of a cook friends (gasp! I know. It's true though). But this month I really put myself out there so that I could learn to cook some key Vietnamese recipes. Even though none of them were easy, I really loved learning how to make these key recipes. In case you missed them (click the photo to view the whole post):
Did you see my favorite valentine craft ever?!?
I love these origami boxes. They work for whatever valentine surprise you've got cookin. You can make them in all colors and sizes (and they're fun. promise).
Salt Lake City, you were lovely. You were all about Alt for me, but so impressive just the same. To me embracing travel is about facing the unknown. It's about challenging yourself and moving outside your comfort zone, and this trip was all about that for me. Thanks, Utah.
Whew. Ok Here we go. You'll need your headphones in for this one. Push the buttons below to hear me attempting to say these phrases in Vietnamese. I'm scared:
1. Hello Mom:
2. Thank You
3. Very Delicious
4. How are you?
5. I'm Sorry
6. I'm Hungry
7. It's good to see you.
My husband said he doesn't know how to say this. HELP. Anyone know how to say this is Vietnamese? :) I need to look this one up.
8. My name is Meredith (to someone familiar-not to an elder)
9. I am Viet's Wife. (this one was a doozie)
10. What's your name? (let's say I'm talking to an older male, because the phrase depends on their relation to me)
There you have it!!! These were scary but super fun for me. I'm looking forward to learning more key phrases over the next few months. Vietnamese speakers, give me some tips!
I loved starting off the year with #fmsphotoaday on Instagram!! You can follow along with all of my photos on Instagram. If you're we're not friends yet, don't be shy! I love following people on Instagram. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the month:
Why Hello There. You know me, just being Mr. Green in the dining room with the red wine. Today I'm trying to find the words to reflect on my experience at Alt last week. Alt is a blogging conference in Utah, and this is my 2nd year in a row to attend. This year there were nearly 700 bloggers all coming together to learn and network.
Alt makes you think about your life y'all. Like where you are, what you want, and what your deep, secret dream is.
I lead a mostly happy life. I have a wonderful husband, awesome friends, and I live in one of the most breathtaking/stimulating cities on earth. But I forget how easily I can slip into a routine life where I'm walking through moments without really feeling them.
Going to Alt was like walking into Oz. It seemed like a vibrant dream. It was a yellow brick road leading down a long path towards the unknown. It was bright and fun and there was singing (and glitter), but at times it also felt pretty darn intimidating too.
Nevertheless, the reason I love Alt is that you get to stand face to face with people who are dreaming your same dreams. And you get to meet them in person. You get to shake their hands, look them in the eyes, and say, "Hi. I'm putting myself out here too. and it's scary. and let's be friends!"
Being there reminded me that there is so much value in living a creative life.
>>When we allow ourselves to face the unknown magical things can happen.<<
These are some of the amazing friends I made at Alt (I wish I could list them all!) and a few friends from Alt class of 2012 that I reunited with. You should be their friends too. They have awesome blogs, and they're genuinely lovely people:
Over the next few weeks I'll share some of the nuggets of wisdom I learned at Alt. In the meantime, since Alt is really all about the relationships, here's some of the fun in progress:
