Friday Favorites // Volume 1

I used to post Friday Favorites every week on my old blog. Do people still do that? It was such a time sucker but also oddly satisfying, having a place to share all of my favorite things floating around in my head and around the interwebs. It was also fun to look back at what I was loving each week as my moods and interests changed throughout the year. Sometimes I posted nothing but cat photos, but other times I'd actually read the news and post about important stuff. (Not that cat photos aren't important, but you know what I mean.) So because I enjoyed it, I'm going to give it another go. I might not be as consistent with these posts as I used to be, but I'll try. (That photo up there is a painting by my beautiful friend, Suellyn Scoon. Click here to view more of her work!)

My friend Matthew shared this article about the Midwest recently and it is so damn spot on. I know I sometimes diss the weather in Wisconsin and complain about how flat/boring it is, but something I just can't deny is my deep, deep love for that state. Wisconsinites love being Wisconsinites and there's nothing that makes me happier than telling someone I just met that Wisconsin is my home. I catch myself doing it all the time. I may live in Seattle, "but I'm from Wisconsin originally," is something I HAVE to throw into every conversation I have. There's no way around it. I'm so proud to call Wisconsin home that I just can't help myself. When a Wisconsinite meets another Wisconsinite anywhere outside of Wisconsin, it's like running into an old friend. We're ALWAYS happy to see each other. The same can be said for people from other Midwestern states too, I'm sure. The Midwest is just full of kind people, and I definitely think growing up there has really helped shape me into the person I am today. But will I ever move back? I don't know. Now that I've found a place that excites me and is so full of life and culture and mountains, I'm not sure I'd ever be happy living in the flatlands again, but I really, really miss my people. That I do know. So, who knows? Never say never I guess.

Have you heard of Periscope? I became obsessed with it about a month ago. It's an app that allows users to live stream from their phone and anyone in the world can watch the stream in real time. It sounds creepy, but it isn't. As a viewer, you see a map of the world when you open the app and can click anywhere you see a live stream happening and join in on the conversation. Viewers are only allowed to type to the person who is live streaming, so the live streamer responds verbally to the text. I've had conversations with a band from New Zealand, sat on the front porch with a mom of two in Australia while Magpies squawked in the background. I've been on a safari in Africa and watched hippos hanging out in the water, walked the streets of Tokyo, eaten breakfast with a family in India, and hiked Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. I've even spoken to people in Turkey days after the explosions in Ankara as they told me where they were when it happened. It's really cool that way, but I've only been brave enough to do one video of my own so far, and it was of Adam windsurfing in Oregon. I'm not really interested in the live streams from the States. I prefer speaking to people outside of the country. If you haven't tried it, you should check it out! Some people think it's really weird, but I think it's an awesome way to connect with people and "explore" other parts of the world. :)

I went to see "He Named Me Malala" the other night and thought it was wonderful. I've been reading the book on and off for a few months, but I have terrible book ADD, so I haven't finished it yet. Malala is a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure. I love her dad, too. What an amazing guy! They make a great team and you will definitely shed a few tears... "I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up." Go see it, ASAP!

I'm almost finished with #GIRLBOSS, a book by Sophia Amoruso, the founder of Nasty Gal vintage. Back when eBay was huge, I started my own vintage shop mainly because I was a poor college student and saw girls like Sophia running their own shops and thought I could do the same. My friend Kendal (who was also my roommate at the time) and I decided to give it a shot. It was fun, brought in some cash, but was very frustrating at times... I once sold my grandma's vintage puffy down jacket for a couple of hundred bucks and shipped it across the world just to have the buyer demand a refund because they insisted the jacket was ruined. When it came back to me, it was full of pen marks, like the person deliberately ruined it before returning it to me. So, that part of it sucked, but luckily that was only a very small part of it. After I got my own apartment, Kendal and I closed the eBay shop and I flew solo by opening a shop of my own on Etsy instead. When I think back on that time, I often wonder if my life would have played out differently had I not been so obsessed with my store. I was enrolled in school but hardly studied. I stayed up late listing new items instead. (I didn't do so well that semester.) After a while, I decided to take a break from school, not only because I felt lost there, but also because I wanted to focus more on my store and work more hours at my job, mainly to help fund my thrifting addiction and fill my shop with more items. My friends Brian and Eric were my right-hand men when it came to post office runs. They'd help me carry all the packages from the car and stand there patiently as I shipped them off, one by one. I don't know if I ever thanked them for that. I left this world behind when I moved to DC though, and haven't thought much about it since then. Reading this book has brought back many memories, and I sort of feel that little spark reigniting again. Who knows, maybe I'll get back into it someday. Anyway, I met Sophia recently because she came to do a signing at Third Place Books. Signings are always a little weird since you don't really get to say much to the person. In Sophia's case, we couldn't even get close to her without being yelled at. She had this security guard with her who was hovering the entire time. It was weird, but I guess those are the precautions you have to take when you're worth 250 million. I did tell her that her shop inspired me to open my own back in college, and she seemed to really appreciate that. I know a lot of people have criticized her and this book, but I like it and can relate to her in a lot of ways. I also just really like reading success stories about people who started with nothing and worked their way to the top.

Is anyone as tired of the election already as I am? 2016 is going to be one hell of a ride. I will sign off now with this Obama Vine because I miss him already. Hope you have an amazing weekend!