Taylorism || No. 1

Official Taylorism

Love,

 

Official Taylorism #9

 

Official Taylorism #8

 

  

Instagram Recap: North American International Auto Show

I hadn't attended the North American International Auto Show since I was in high school, so I figured it was time to experience it again. While I'm a big supporter of the Detroit revitalization, I truly haven't spent enough time in the city. Trying to change that!

Having worked on an advertising program for Nissan and Infiniti of Canada recently, I also went to the show with an entirely different appreciation in regards to automotive branding and presentation. I'd be lying if I said I had much automotive knowledge in the mechanical sense, but I can definitely appreciate great aesthetics and design.

Fiat 500 (Gucci Special-Edition)... oh my gosh, SO cute and tiny.

 

Logo-embossed white leather seats, along with the iconic red & green stripes. The seatbealt and canvas topper are also striped to match the special-edition luggage. Can I just have this car shipped to Italy to tour the countryside? Because that's definitely what I'd envision myself doing if I had this car, haha... and maybe doing a bit of shopping. Okay, a lot of it. ;)

My dream car is a white Bentley convertible... although a green sedan might suffice.

Vintage SL 300 by Mercedes-Benz. So classic and glamorous. Can't you just picture Marilyn Monroe scooting off in the Hollywood Hills in this?

Infiniti backdrop. Always manage to find a Taylorism. ;)

xx

Official Taylorism #7

I've been a little overwhelmed lately, feeling like I've been hit with one blow after another. Before I went to bed the other night, I decided to make a list of simple things that bring me happiness, because it's easy to get wrapped up in negativity and forget about the good stuff. This was meant to just stay in a random file in my laptop, but sometimes remembering the beauty in life gets you through less-than beautiful times. This post is totally random, but maybe it will get you thinking about the things that personally bring happiness to YOU. So many things in life to be grateful for, it's just a matter of recognizing and appreciating them.

A few of my favorite things... 

Sunbathing

The scent of the ocean

Orchids

Skinny jeans that hit the hipbones just right

A classic, practical designer bag
Typography

Heavenly Scent Herb Farm
Walks with Big

Heart-to-hearts with my twinnn
Puppy cuddles with Hunter

Simple gold pendant necklaces
Handwritten cards

Boyfriend watches

Glossy nude-colored lip gloss
Girly movies with Meghann
My SLR camera
 Cableknit anything

Swimming in the ocean

The distinct chime sound of BBM

New magazines in the mailbox

Caldrea's Sea Salt Neroli candle

Bond No. 9 fragrances

Sleeping in on Sunday mornings

Classic, old Hollywood films

Sex and the City
Linen EVERYTHING
The perfect bronzer (NARS Laguna)
Cuddling

Breakfast at Afternoon Delight with Nana

Really dark, pigmented black eyeliner
New photos of my baby niece, Zadie
Baking cupcakes with my little cousin, Maya
Biggby's nonfat chai lattes
Beveled mirrors
The feeling of holding hands for the first time
The glow of the Christmas tree for the first time of the season
Driving with my "Feel Good" iPad playlist
Books
Shopping with Teri
Picking (and eating!) fresh raspberries
Laughing until you cry
Hugs from my grandma
The storybook trees in Central Park

Long fitted sweaters
Going barefoot as much as possible
Tailgating in the fall
Dancing the night away
Laguna Beach, California
The contrast of the blue water and white architecture in Greece
Pastel bikinis
The predictability of "My pleasure" responses at The Ritz-Carlton
Sushi
Restoration of Detroit
White-washed furniture
Being bombarded with hugs when I'd walk into work as a preschool teacher
Photos of loved ones
My tattoos
Pinterest (my latest obsession, follow me!)

xx

Official Taylorism #6

Official Taylorism #5

 Love these lyrics.

xx

Official Taylorism #4

xx

Official Taylorism #3

xx

Official Taylorism #2

 Lemons into lemonade.

xx

Official Taylorism #1

Couldn't have heard this quote at a better time. I don't think I've ever had a more difficult week, but trying to keep my head up regardless. As my twinnnnn would tell me, it's all on God's Chanel J12.

Nowhere but up, dolls.

xx

For what it's worth...

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

What I Know For Certain...

Yesterday would have been my mom's 51st birthday. She passed away 20 years ago last month from a malignant brain tumor. She was just thirty. My mom was a force of nature; a woman that left a legacy because of her genuine fire and beauty. Despite the fact that I was just three when she passed, I feel that her story and energy continues to give me strength, even as a 23-year-old woman. This is what her life (and untimely death) has ultimately taught me, and what I try to live my life based on.

Live with intention.
Life is precious. You get once chance... ONE. Make the most of it. My mom is the greatest example of someone that made every single day count. My mom did what she loved; without regret, without fear, without second thought. The world is a great big place that is to be discovered and cherished.

Live passionately.
Feel what brings you fire, what makes you come alive... and then use that as a compass to follow your dreams. Like my mom, I'm a big believer in "do it big, or go home." For me, there is no middle ground; I'll either put my heart and soul into something/someone, or I won't invest anything at all. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and maybe that's put me at a greater risk for pain; but I'm certain that pain is worth the risk of living truthfully and with passion.


Live with heart.
Love is the only thing that makes life worthwhile. End of story.

Live with honesty. 
With truth, there is freedom. Tell people how you feel about them, even at the risk of rejection. Perhaps what is so amazing about my mom's legacy is how she left her mark on such a vast amount of people. I still have strangers approach me and tell me how my mom made a difference in their lives. In the words of John Mayer, "It's better to say too much, than never say what you need to say again."

Live without fear.
My mom lived without fear. This is something I struggle with; being fearful of failure, of intimidating situations, of feeling like I might never amount to enough. Recently, I started to lose these fears by choosing to face them head-on; there's no better way to lose fear than to look it in the eye. Fear can paralyze you from getting what you want and reaching your full potential... and I care too much about my dreams to let that happen.


Live in beauty.
My mom possessed an external beauty that stood out in a room full of people. My grandma loves to tell me the story of how a man once stopped her in the mall to tell her that my mom was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. Perhaps what is much more valuable is the fact that my mom possessed an internal beauty that surpassed the external. My mom had been a model in her early twenties, modeling in New York and in California. She enjoyed designer clothes and getting dolled up, but it didn't make her who she was. Her beauty came from the lives she touched as a psychologist, from being a loving wife, from being a devoted mother, from being a friend that would drop everything to help. She found the beauty in this life and embraced it. This is something that I carry with me everyday.

There is beauty in everything... if only your eyes are open to it.

xx

Took this photo in the Forever 21 store off of Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Love the message. The butterfly thing is a little random, but maybe my life is a bit like that, too. ;)

xx

I'm not exactly a big astrology follower, but I liked my little horoscope that popped up when I logged into iGoogle this morning:

"It's challenging for you to operate without a plan because you like to know exactly what you're doing. Now, however, it may be to your advantage to fly by the seat of your pants. It can be scary to make it up as you go along, but your flexibility enables you to take advantage of the moment."

That pretty much sums up my life right now. Learning to love it. Well, kind of... but I'm learning. ;)

xx

Oprah's Words of Wisdom

"We all are called. Everybody has a calling and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. Because that is what a calling is. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you are suppose to be doing.

Live from the heart of yourself… you have to know what lights the spark in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.

Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are. No matter how large or small that reach is…wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show. And that is where your power lies. Every day you are showing people who you are. You are letting your life speak for you. And when you do that you will receive in direct proportion to how you give.

You have the power to change someone’s life. Look around and you will see…everybody has a calling. Mine aligned with my profession, my job. But not everyone gets paid for it.  But everyone is called. It may be your skill of listening. Your talent for nurturing and mothering. Do not get it confused. It doesn’t have to be some high affluent something or something that makes you famous. 

Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world."

-Oprah Winfrey, 5-25-11

I'm 23! =)

“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Celebrating my 23rd in Miami Beach. =) 

Be back soon. 

xx

"Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"

A few of my own reflections on graduation/change/growth will be posted later this week (and trust me, I have plenty of them). For now, I leave you with someone else's words of wisdom...

"If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,
Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
Than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now... 

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind;
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
And recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you
And how fabulous you really looked.