{a particularly} thankful thursday.

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Today I am thankful for…

This day. The opportunity to spend time relaxing, reflecting, and celebrating with my family.

How many incredible and unexpected things have happened since this time last year.

The fact that New York City is my home.

…but that I don’t have to brave it during the parade today 😉

Slowly but surely crossing things off my holiday bucket list.

(Santa and I had a heart-to-heart, clearly)

Movember. Not only does it hit close to home this year, but I’m just a fan of facial hair in general.

Pre-Thanksgiving feasts.

(honey-baked ham, eggs, spinach, avocado, classy paper plate)

Marshall Eriksen.

That feeling that exciting things are about to happen.

Faux fur.

The troubles I don’t have.

Tattoos.

That it’s never too late to start over.

“Selfie” named word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary. I COULDN’T AGREE MORE.

The fact that I have never once shopped on Black Friday.

…and probably never will.

“Ordinary” moments.

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What are you thankful for today?

the thing about striving.

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Confession time. For most of today, I found myself in a constant state of striving too much. I spent hours wracking my brain for how I can make things in my life better – GML, FreelyBe, my apartment, my relationships, dream endeavors, my finances…

…yeah. It was exhausting.

Naturally all of that striving led to comparing myself to others, and before I knew it I had make-believe competitions going on in my head. I know, I’m crazy. I told you this was a confession!

I don’t know about you, but this is something I struggle with way more than I’d like to, and way more than I should. I often just accept over-striving as normal a part of life, and I let it run its course until it goes away. But today, I remembered this image I repinned this very morning:

And then it hit me. Everything I was striving for – the things consuming my mind –was driven by negativity. As much as I thought these were positive things that would improve my life, what I was believing wasn’t even based on the truth. Instead it was based on speculation, fear, and worry. The thing about over-striving is that it rarely gets you what you actually want. And if it does, you’ll probably be too bruised and beaten to actually enjoy it.

I’m not saying that all striving is bad. I think it’s crucial to have goals and dreams and to work for them. In fact, none of the things I was striving for today were necessarily bad in and of themselves. But I think that it’s important to pay attention to our intentions behind those desires, as they can become quite unhealthy without even realizing it.

So what did I do with my weary mind, full of over-striving buildup? I decided to let it go, and instead grasp onto the truth. I let myself rest. I let my mind rest. I’m trusting that all of those “important” things will get figured out in their due time, and all I have to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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Can you relate to this? What is the truth behind what you are striving for?

thankful thursday.

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Today I’m thankful for…

Thanksgiving being one week away.

Loving what I do.

Caring less and less about what people think.

Free coffee every morning.

Grocery shopping. One of life’s simple pleasures.

Discovering KIND Healthy Grain Bars.

Second chances. Giving and getting.

Boots and scarves and sweaters and beanies and gloves and *takes breath* all things cozy.

All of this to look forward to.

Growing friendships.

The motivation that only an early morning workout gives.

Low key weeks followed by not-so-low key weekends.

Life. The straight and the crooked.

What are you thankful for today?

scenes from the weekend.

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Despite growing up just a few hours away, over the weekend I visited Washington DC for the first time.

I got to explore the city for a few hours on Friday and see all the sights. DC is beautiful!

Good thing Jessi has a supurb sense of direction, since I can’t even seem to use Maps correctly. Umm…

I was in DC for the Visionaries Retreat, which I also helped organize. Visionaries is the business community of my church, and it was great to hear from amazing speakers like John Bevere and Steve Dubbeldam (whose wife created one of my favorite magazines, Darling!).

It was an incredible couple of days – I learned so much, and am excited to bring the ideas back into the real world to further my career/passions.

I got home last night, and 12 hours of sleep later I had another great lazy Sunday.

Most of the day was spent with a smoothie by my side…

…and season 3 of HIMYM in process. It’s the simple things, you know?

Have you ever been to Washington DC?
What was the highlight of your weekend?

girl meets: 11.13.13.

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fun.

Oh how I MISSED this girl!

My fellow Pennsylvanian turned New Yorker, longtime roommate, best friend Erica :)

food.

Erica and I met for lunch today at Haru. Gotta love sushi lunch specials.

Also gotta love…cupcakes in bed. Just ‘cause.

fashion.

NYC has officially gone freezing. I can’t say I mind it, though. I’ve got cozy sweaters for days!

(my “baby it’s cold outside” expression, clearly)

With a pop of color…

faith.

Perfect peace.

Every detail.

Has it gone freezing in your neck of the woods? Get any snow?

back to basics.

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With the holidays approaching and 2014 just a few months away, I’ve been looking back at the past year and what a whirlwind it was. I get emotional just thinking about what a roller coaster it has been.

Adventures I’ll never forget.
Moments I’ll never forget.
People I’ll never forget.
Career decisions.
(What felt like) career disasters.
The summer in Montauk.
My best friend getting married.
Discovering what I’m truly passionate about.
Stepping into my identity.
…the list goes on.

If I’m being completely honest, lately a lot of those things (the good and the bad) have been catching up to me. I have that all over the place feeling, even when I’m doing nothing at all. I find myself continually taking on new things – and not closing doors behind me – with the idea that “well as soon as THIS happens” or “as soon as THIS is over” things will go back to normal.

But I’m realizing life doesn’t work that way. Not everything always works itself out…sometimes you need to step in and claim back the life that is rightfully yours.

One of my biggest problems is that I spend so much time and energy on what I think are the “big things” that I fail to cultivate the seemingly “simple things” – the basics - as much as I should. The irony is that as soon as I stop tending to the basics, all of the other things seem even more difficult to manage.

So I’m going back to basics.

One of the first things to go when my mind is all over the place is my daily time spent with God, and that’s the biggest mistake I could make. When I start my day with God, He’s present throughout every thought, decision, and emotion. But when I start my day going right into work (as I have been), I find myself in a blur of messy negative thoughts, and believing things that aren’t even the truth. And that…that has GOT to change.

The other basic thing I need to get back to is just taking better care of myself – my mind, body, and soul. I need to be more cognizant of my limits…and stop pushing myself past them. Living in the most fast-paced city in the world, that’s not exactly an easy thing to do. But I need to remember that the best way to be an effective worker, friend, and leader is to first make sure I’m taking care of myself.

My course of action is pretty simple – I’m going to remember to focus on those two things more, as well as embrace my “be me” plan. I’m excited to get back to basics…whose with me?

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How do you combat feeling “all over the place”?
What does going back to basics look like for you?