Tales of a Thirty-Something

What I Do

For those who don't know, I work for a company called Northridge Publishing where I get to design the Signature Series books. I've worked on other mags for Northridge (Cricut, Cook'n, and Simply Handmade) but what is most fun about designing the Signature Series books is that I get to come up with a brand new design every time to match the artist featured in the book. I love me a good creative challenge.

Enter *new* creative challenge: digital! Northridge has gone digital, folks. Which has turned out to be more fun to design than I originally thought (still trying to figure stuff out but I'm getting there).

This was the first digital book I made:


It really has been exciting and fun seeing all the cool stuff you can do in digital that you just never could with a printed book. The future is now!

And to celebrate NP going digital (ALL the mags are now digital) there are some sweet giveaways that I wanted to share!

To get an All-Access Pass, go here!

To subscribe to any mag, go here!

And right now they are having a Friends & Family sale so to get 50% off of single issue purchases use code "friendsandfamily50" or to get 20% off recurring for subscriptions use code "friendsandfamily20."

So, check 'em out and if you get the Signature Series books, let me know what you think. There are some amazing artists on the horizon for this series so you really don't want to miss out.

My loves.

 

Words

One of my favorite boards on my Pinterest is my "Words" board. I love me a good inspirational quote. In my recent self-discovery phase, I've found a few of these to be meaningful and eye-opening. Here's why:

1 "Life is too short & unpredictable not to live it exactly as you please."

Right?! I'm realizing this more and more. That I need to be the one who is happy with my life because what is here one day might not be the next. I'm the one who has to live with myself so I better like who I'm looking at in the mirror.

2 "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." - E. E. Cummings

First of all, how beautiful is this image? Ah. Love it. I'm not sure who made it or I would give credit to them immediately. 

Secondly, I love this statement. I take it personally. I've gone through a bit over the last few years and feel like I'm more and more ok with the person that I am every day. And it's been scary. And lonely at times. And hard. But I have never felt more genuine in my life and for me, that takes courage.

3 "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

This is something I struggle with. Getting over the past. But I keep reminding myself that there is absolutely nothing I can do about the past but get over it and start new. Easier said than done. But worth the effort.

4 "I am in charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness."

Letting other people dictate how I feel about myself is so junior high, right? Then why the hell is it still an issue for me?! It really does feel great to choose to not let anyone but me dicate my happiness. Super duper empowering. I love choosing how to be.

5 "Never knew how much I didn't know."

Right now I'm reading You Are Not So Smart and it is very, very eye-opening. I definitely recommend it. On a similar note, Mike and I always talk about the ability to be wrong. I love that idea--that in any given situation or choice or belief...you could be wrong. Going into anything with that mentality is a breath of fresh air, let me tell you. Admiting that you could be wrong about anything means that you are disappointed less and are open to learning new things.

6 "Trust your gut." 

I'm working on being more in tune with myself. Again, I'm the person who has to look myself in the mirror at the end of the day so I need to love and trust myself. Trusting yourself can be the hardest thing to do but it can definitely pay off.

30 Things

Over the weekend I've had a lot of time to think. Mike was in Seattle for PAX (which he loooooved, btw) and it was just me and Emma holding down the fort. So lots of time to think and reflect and talk to good friends. It was great. My therapist will be proud.

And I'm feeling really good about things. I feel like I have an opportunity to really make decisions in my life that will add to happiness and not take away from it. And I think that this is what your 30s are about! Owning your happiness! It's pretty empowering, really. And real. I like being real. I've been fake before and I just don't like how that feels. And I don't want to be that anymore.

Yesterday Kelly sent me this list and I subsequently found this list and so I made a quick graphic for it but I strongly suggest reading them because it really was inspiring! To me it was. And I like lists.


I mean...right? How great is this list?! Doesn't it feel good just to read it? :) It's given me some goals to work on. Again, my therapist will be proud.

I am a very lucky girl to have amazing people in my life. Good friends, good people. Most of all my kick-ass husband. He is amazingly authentic and honest and kind and smart and loving and encouraging and supportive. I often think about how I got so lucky. He is a big chunk of my happiness. 

Re-evaluation

Do you ever feel this way?

When things aren't going horrible, but they're not going the way you want them to?

That's where I am right now. I just feel like things need to be re-evaluated. Re-designed. Re-done. Things with work. With my routine. With my daily choices. With my life.

And I'm pretty sure most people feel this the morning of January 1st but for some reason, I'm feeling it here in late August. I'm feeling the need to take more ownership and be more authentic. Which is something I've been feeling for a while but the need to do an overhaul has been creeping up behind that feeling.

I feel like I should be doing something like Yoga. And getting in touch with my inner-self. And stop caring so much about what other people think of me. Mostly because in our world of online-ness and keeping-up-with-the-internet-Joneses (or real-life-Jonses) it's really hard not to care. But I'm tired of caring about things that don't matter. I'm tired of not caring for me enough. And caring for people and myself in a superficial way. I want to care with my whole being.

If any of that makes sense.

Because I have so much good in my life and I want to be able to truly enjoy it. And enjoy people. And enjoy what I do. With authenticity. 

Rant over. Time to re-evaluate. 

Lindsey's Bridal Shower

I was lucky enough to throw a bridal shower for the super sweet Lindsey Hansen (who I have known since she was 14, btw). And then last week, Mike and I got to go up to Bear Lake for her reception--which was GORGEOUS! I hope she posts pics soon cause it was seriously like Pinterest art directed that show. It was so great!

I realized that I hadn't posted these pics from the shower so here we go! Picture overload!

The only picture missing? Me with Lindsey!! I am the worst at remembering to take pictures with the people I am spending time with. But a good time was had by all...I swear.

Freebie Friday (or Saturday) - 4th of July Printables

It's been a while since I've done a Freebie Friday so here's a little something for your 4th of July festivities coming up! Cupcake toppers! These were fun to design and I'm planning on using them next week for my 4th of July breakfast I'm having at my house (but probably not on top of cupcakes...for breakfast). You can download them here--enjoy!

Happy Indepedence Day!

Paris - Versailles

I finally got around to editing more Paris pictures! This set is from our visit to Versailles. I loved Versailles--well, I loved Marie Antoinette's home and the gardens the best. The palace? Meh. More gold everywhere. ;)

LG Forever

My girl crush on Lauren Graham is holding strong, folks. I just finished "Someday, Someday Maybe" and I loved it. I did. I think she did an excellent job writing (it was chalk-full of Lauren-speak) and it was the kind of book where I really did want to keep reading to find out what happens. I hope she writes more books so I can continue to fantasize about us being besties. :)

Sarah Champion Designs

I'm finally getting stuff up on my design website (there is a link up top)! It still has a little ways to go but I'm glad I'm finally forcing myself to do this. Ha. Feel free to check it out!