Love ...

Coming across this amazing lettering by Matthew Tapia couldn't have come at a more apropos time. I'm currently reading The Law of Divine Compensation by the awe inspiring Marianne Williamson and in it she talks about how love should be the bottom line for everything. Family, friends, money, career, strangers, neighbors, everything. I for one, firmly believe that. Yes, it can be quite the practice at times in such a complex world, but let's keep practicing every single day!

Don't forget to move your clocks ahead an hour (Spring forward) this Sunday–can you believe it's already time? Happy weekend lovers! 

Be the light.

Stay Silly ...

Just a reminder from me to stay silly this weekend. This is an homage to what my uncle told us when Eric and I first got married. It resonated then and it still very much resonates now after almost nine years of marriage! Yikes, where does the time go? Hope everyone has an amazing (keep it silly) weekend. Group hug! (that was for you DB:)

Be the first. Be the light.

Konichiwang ...

"My question has never been how to come up with a good idea. Anyone can have a good idea. What I've always wondered is how did a certain person make their cool idea actually happen." 

– Andrew Green, Founder of Konichiwang magazine

And this my friends is how the idea for print mag Konichiwang got started. Founder Andrew Green has conducted several Q&A's with the founders of such businesses as surf and furniture brands, to photographers, non-profit trailblazers and hand-crafted gin makers. Inspiration for anyone and everyone looking to find out how someone got started. 

To support printing and distribution costs for the next issue (and if you believe print is not dead like I do!) Andrew has created a Kickstarter campaign to help get this inspiring project funded. He needs to raise $30k by October 24, 2013 so go on, check it out and tell a friend! How can you not want this lovely piece of artwork on your coffee table?

 P.S. If you're curious about the name "Konichiwang" read here (scroll down to 'our story'). 

Simple Things ...

Finding yourself able to just "be" really does give you a sense of accomplishment. Something as simple as taking a deep breath, or even dropping your shoulders when you realize they're tensed can transport you to "being." I kind of went deeper into this analogy almost a year ago. Wow, time flies.

Photo: Esperanza Moya

True That ...

This, my friends, is just one of the many nuggets of knowledge that I got out of Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I can't even begin to tell you how much of that amazing book resonated with me when I first read it last summer. I had intended to write a book review on it, but the moment never presented itself. So instead I will occasionally share some takeaways like this one here.

Oh, and how do you find the peace within? Just be. It really is as simple and uncomplicated as that. 

True That ...

        

I made a conscious decision the other day to only say "productive" when asked how my day was. To me "busy" means (or it should mean) you were getting things done, right? Well then, you were being productive my friend.

Graphic by: Happenstance

Missed You ...

I know, I know. It's been a while. A looooong while. I suppose you could say I took a hiatus of sorts. I never meant to leave for that long. It just happened. And for that I apologize. Sometimes hitting the ol' reset button takes longer than you think. And that's really just what it was. I took time to hit the reset button and basically smell the roses. 

I always knew I'd be back, I just didn't know when. Until now. "Be you," I thought when considering what to blog about after all this time. Then this thought parlayed into what you see here now. I hope you like. Thanks to all who have stuck with me. I truly appreciate you! How've you been?

Pinteresting Lately ...

Just a few things I've found "Pinteresting" lately that I thought I'd share with you. I love the plethora of inspiration you can find at any given moment on Pinterest, don't you? You can check out all my boards here. Hope everyone's having a great week so far!

Monday With Jenna ...

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? Thought I'd post a little Monday workday inspiration for you courtesy of Jenna Lyons and the office we all know and love. I've seen pictures of her inspirational office before, but these particular angles and shots were new to me. How is that view? And I still love, love, love the watermelon Strut table as her desk. Click here to read Jenna's fun captions for each of these pics. Love that she has a fascination with Bill Cunningham.

Source: Myra Iqbal (via Stylelist)

Tear-Out Happiness ...

One of the things I hated most when taking down our bedroom for the move was removing my inspiration wall from my closet doors. I get a lot of fashion and home subs so when a photo moves me I tear it out and up it goes on my wall o' inspiration. It's kind of fun. Of course it starts with one and then it slowly takes on a shape of its own depending on how big the tear-out is and where there is space on the doors to accommodate.

So when it came time to pack up I didn't know if I should salvage these magazine tear-outs and put them on my new closet doors or just toss them and start fresh. I chose the latter and I have to tell you, I got a little verklempt! I didn't realize how attached I had gotten to seeing these images every single day. It's cuckoo. But honestly, I can't wait to get started on my new one. Waking up to visual inspiration each day is the best.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

P.S. Sorry for the glare-y shot of the tear-outs.

Best Business ...

Handmade bobby pin. Vintage polka dot dress.

Good news for you etsy shop owners! According to Inc. magazine now's the time to either be a seller of handmade or vintage goods online. This particular category of sellers is amongst a list of the best businesses to start right now. Online sales of independent merchants, such as yourselves, have grown at an annual 6.6% in the past five years. Keep on keepin' on people!

Other online selling outlets mentioned were eBay, RubyLane, and Supermarket. The latter two of which I had never heard of before. But Supermarket looks pretty cool.

PUBLIC Love ...

Not only did I love the bike, but the basket on the back too.

You can fill it with your goods ...

And just carry it right on into your house. Love that.

So I was flipping through the new Vanity Fair (you know what I'm talking about;) and I came across this awesome orange bike from a company called PUBLIC. I love it when I run into a company that I end up enjoying well beyond just their product. Although, they don't consider themselves a "company" since they don't care to make bikes faster or fancier, but rather they "design bikes to help make city life a little simpler and a little more fun." Don't you love that? Then it got more interesting as I read that the founder of PUBLIC is also the founder of DWR, Rob Forbes–who knew?! PUBLIC definitely passes the unofficial Happenstance "M.A.V." (Message, Aesthetic, Vibe) test. They even tell you to stop by their offices if you're in the SF area. Who does that anymore?

It's A Sign ...

See? You can turn things into a positive!

Photo: Here

Star Quality ...

You know that feeling you get when you meet with a group of friends and realize that quality time was just had? That happened on Saturday morning. I met Brandi, Taryn, Heather and Shelby for coffee and it ended up being a three hour meet and chat! It was so great to know and meet (I had never met Brandi and Shelby before) girls with great character, a sense of humor and depth. I think we talked about everything from photography, Sarah Silverman, fashion, religion & philosophy, to inspirational books, life experiences, what makes us tick and well, why we blog. We also found that we have so much in common including that three of us had uncles who either were drafted by Major League Baseball or played professionally. What are the odds?!

When I started this blog I did it for a much needed creative outlet. I never considered the people it might put me in contact with and eventually meet along the way. They say technology can separate people, but in this case it's brought us together. Funny how that works.

Photo: Here

100% Recommend ...

Have you heard of the 99% Conference? It's a conference aimed at helping creatives (you, you and you) gather their ideas and actually make them happen. They just had their conference last week but they do have an interesting session coming up on May 11, if you're lucky enough to be in NYC. The session will be led by the author of the book Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky. Scott will be touching on the three crucial components of creative execution ... organization, communal forces, and leadership capability. Ugh, I wish this was more local. Sounds so interesting doesn't it? And the best part? It's free!

The 99% website itself is an excellent tool for all you small, creative business owners. If you click on the "articles" tab there's an endless list of interesting topics. Including this q & a with the Gilt Groupe founders.

Found (via)

Journals I Met And Liked ...

"Artists I Met And Liked" journal.

Great titles ...

Always love a fun, creative, inspiring journal. All of these Archie Grand journals have the best titles. "Secret Agents I Met And Liked" is one of my favorites. But you know what's missing? "Bloggers I Met And Liked." I have to admit though I haven't written in a journal in quite some time. The last time I did was to jot down notes from some finance books I was reading ... nerd alert! (Please don't judge me). I think I need an Archie journal to inspire fun writing pronto!

(Via)

Ahhh-mazing View ...

It's gray and rainy here today so I'm really enjoying looking at this here photo (definitely not child-proof, but still). There would definitely be an extra spring your step waking up here every morning. With a view like this, I think you'd be obligated:) Wouldn't it be great if this were wallpaper? Or even a projected image you can swap out seasonally on your living room wall?

Forgot ... did everyone have a good weekend? We did make it to The Pancake House which was so good! And the kids loved their Easter baskets. P hasn't taken off her Hello Kitty Easter socks yet–seriously she wore them to sleep and wore them to school today. Have I told you how great our neighbors are? One of them left giant bunny footprints on our front porch and another brought over homemade candies including chocolate dipped strawberries. Having great neighbors is the best!

Photo: Here

Good Day ...

Square shaped bars of soap with a positive message. Good way to start the day, don't you think? Know what else is good? God. And perfect strangers. Remember my friend Jodie's paddle to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research? Well, last Thursday (post paddle) donations were at $9k but literally spiked to $93k overnight! And as of this morning donations are at $122,528! She has exceeded her goal of $100k! All with a little help from her whale friend she dubbed "Larry." Apparently his journey with her was highly unusual and the footage is so amazing that every major network has run segments on her paddle with "Larry" giving them global recognition. And perfect strangers are behind the majority of these $5, $10, and $20 donations. I know sometimes we tend to lose faith in our fellow humans, but this is a day to regain that faith. It's a good day!

Photo: Here

Great Weekend ...

This is a lot like what this past weekend looked like. It was absolutely beautiful. Our weekend was really great. Saturday night we actually participated in the Earth Hour, which I would not have known about if it weren't for Taryn's post. We basically shut off all the lights, lit candles for 1 hour and had a glass of wine. We turned conserving global energy into date night. It was really fun. Thanks Taryn! But the best, most inspiring part of the weekend was ...

... watching Jodie successfully paddle into Dana Point from Catalina Island after 9 hours of straight paddling! She did it! She's the first woman to conquer the 40 mile trek solo! Amazing. We are so proud of you Jodes! Did I mention the 30-foot gray whale that stayed with her for about an hour and a half?! It was making bubbles beneath her and it was so close at one point she could've easily touched it with her paddle. You can read more about her emotional and physical adventure here.

What about you? Do anything fun? Relax?

Photos: Here & Here

World's Smallest Postal Service ...

If you're a believer that good things come in small (or even tiny) packages then this is for you ... the World's Smallest Postal Service! The talented Lea Redmond takes her tiny mobile office (and tiny handwriting talent) to various cafe's and shops in San Francisco where people can simply have her write a letter for them and they are really sent off in a small glassine envelope complete with magnifying glass. How cute is that?! And if you're not from the SF area you can order them online too. I love that Lea took a random talent and turned it into a fun, unique, little (tiny) business. Very inspiring!