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.