not born this way

I was, sadly, not born with the naturally curly hair I want, so I cheated. I got a perm. 

Perms have such a bad, 80s related reputation and that makes me sad. Because my perm experiences have always been awesome. 

Right now I'm loving how easy it is to wash my hair, not blow dry it, and let it be itself - not its natural self, of course, but it's chemically induced natural looking self.

It's also become a great excuse to bring back barrettes and even, God forbid, scrunchies.

It is legitimately hard to handle the amount of 80s-ness in my life right now.



Happy Monday!

peace&love,
Jill

operation smile

I think 99% of us take our smile for granted.

We've never not had it.

As style bloggers, and maybe just as human beings, we have the tendency to look for all the things that are wrong with our physical appearances while overlooking all our blessings. Many of us are healthy at all shapes, colors, and sizes, and we have every reason to be thankful for that. And sometimes the best way to show our gratitude is to take the emphasis off of ourselves and put it on someone else who needs our help. Enter Operation Smile.

Here's a quick excerpt from Operation Smile's About page:

As an international charity for children, we measure ourselves by the joy we see on all of the faces we help. At Operation Smile, we're more than a charity. More than an NGO. We're a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate. 

Every three minutes a child is born with a cleft — often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected. And in too many cases, their parents can't afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life. 

That's where we come in as one of the top charities providing much needed surgical services. Since 1982, Operation Smile — through the help of dedicated medical volunteers — has provided more than 3.5 million comprehensive patient evaluations and over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

So how can you get involved? Well you can definitely donate directly to Operation Smile,  but you can also support them with something you might be buying anyway: your textbooks for next semester. I rented from Campus Book Rentals in college and was happy to find out that they support Operation Smile as part of their Making a Difference program. Personally, if I'm buying something anyway I like to do it somewhere that also benefits causes I care about.

Because I think everyone deserves a smile.

peace&love,
Jill

This post was sponsored by Campus Book Rentals, but all the opinons and viewpoints are the mine - just sharing a cause I care about. -js

i'll always chose you

One of the things that makes me most sad about the world today is the prevailingly negative attitude towards marriage, especially the idea that marriage doesn't "work." As a newlywed of only four months I know that I don't have much credence with the general public regarding marriage, but I think I do understand what marriage really is, and I can say with a good amount of certainty that whether or not marriage works isn't really up to marriage, bless her little abused heart. It's up to the people who are married.

 Marriage is a commitment. It's saying, this is the person I want to do the dishes with, the person I want to come home to, the person I want to encourage and dream with, the person I will sacrifice for, but most of all, the person I will commit to, come what may. 

Everyone has heard that love is a feeling, but marriage is a choice. And when you get married you're saying I'll always chose you. 

So, John, my dear, I love you, but more importantly, I'll always chose you. 

And that's how I can know that we'll be just fine.

peace&love,

Jill

two roads

Sometimes all it takes to galvanize us into action is the realization that we have so much living in us that is unexplored. Potential is perpetually untapped. There is always a way to better ourselves, and sometimes all that we must do is seize the opportunity. This weekend I was given an offer to take my life in a whole new direction, and take a path that I had considered but had not seriously pursued. It was my choice a la Robert Frost: my "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," in the truest sense. 

It has always been a pet peeve of mine when "The Road Not Taken" is quoted as if it were an ode to doing the right thing, when it is actually about those choices we make are truly defining moments. It can be between right and wrong, but more often than not it is about those times when we see two futures laid out before us with the power to chose either - to marry this person or not, to go to this college or that, to start one career path or the other. It is an ode to those times that we quietly shut the door on one future and embrace a choice. It is the choice that makes the difference. 

But after much consideration and prayer I decided that this new offer wasn't for me. I closed the door. But in closing one door I realized what I had already in me to take as I walked through the other. The decision forced me to consider what I was willing to sacrifice and what I would put myself through to reach a goal. And now that my goal is clear in my mind, I am ready to begin with new perseverance, new vision, and new ambition. 

The things we don't do are as formative as the things we do. And I know when I think back on this decision, I will know it made all the difference.

peace&love,

Jill

Linking up with:

#YOLO Mondays

Weekend Update Blog Hop

Monday Mingle

Monday Meet Up

Miscellany Monday

revelation

I love writing, but I always find it hard to write for my blog. And lately, as I've been looking at graduate schools for my MFA in Writing, I've started wondering why I feel like writing for my blog should be so different than the other writing I do. And then it hit me:

It doesn't have to be.

So this is your advance notice: My writing is going to become a lot less about the clothes and a lot more about the life, the world, and the beauty. 

And that was my revelation for the day.

peace&love,

Jill

news flash

Now that it's colder, it's like I'm remembering for the first time that the holidays are right around the corner. I realized the other day that Halloween in only weeks away and pumpkins hadn't even started to cross my mind yet. Husband wants to be Thor for Halloween, so we'll see what I end up doing, as being Natalie Portman from Thor doesn't involve near as much dressing up as I would prefer. 

Any ideas?

peace&love,

Jill

fall-ow me...

... over to Life in a Breakdown where I am doing a guest post today about the story behind my blog name and a quick fall outfit! Hope to see you there!

peace&love,
Jill

working girl

Top, belt, and sweater: thrifted, Pants: Old Navy, Shoes: Piperlime

The calendar is filling up these days and it's nice to be busy with craft fairs, teaching, and visits to family. Fall is always my favorite time of year and it makes me feel like I'm back in school when I'm chilly and running around and this outfit is perfect for a day on the move. 

I love that this shirt is too old to be new and too new to be vintage. It is perfectly oversized and cozy and makes me feel like I'm wearing my husband's clothes. Always fun.

peace&love,

Jill

the designer

I always feel a little bit pretentious when I'm selling jewelry and call myself "The Designer." I mean, I do design the jewelry, but somehow that title has come to sound so much more intense and romantic than I think it really is. So for what it's worth, I designed this necklace. But wearing it happened to be even more fun. If you're loving this necklace, be sure to hop over to the Etsy and snag one like it! There's only a few more available so you better hurry!

And on a completely different note, yay for sweaters. Yay for cold weather! So happy it's finally here!

peace&love,

Jill

my own little corner

Just wanted to share some quick pictures of my booth at Indie Emporium... it was like my own little store in there! So much fun. Can't wait to introduce you to some of my new friends I made there and their great products!

peace&love,

Jill