I am always deeply inspired by creatives who work together. I thrive on collaboration and desire more time to spend working alongside other creatives. The work and natural high you receive from being in a community of people thinking and moving in a similar direction to accomplish something beautiful may be one of the greatest things. Creating on any level is powerful and spiritual.

My good friend Michael (red hat and stripes) is one of those people you meet and never forget. He is creative, exciting, and genuine. Since the day I met him he has been an inspiration to me. He works so hard to create creative community and to build others up in what they are great at. He is the kind of person who lights up a room and no one can miss. So I naturally knew that before even hearing his band The Soil and The Sun I would unlikely be disappointed.

Sure enough upon attending a concert a few months back in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I was far from disappointed as you can ever be. Instead it ranked as one of my favorite band experiences…almost topping TV on the Radio. The energy in the room while this band played was beyond description and no music video or live performance will come close. This is a group of artists working together to create a beautiful and unique sound that is true to who they are. I admire what they are doing and want to tell you all to buy their record and attend a show if they are in your area. This time they were touring with Jacob Bullard, who is not just an excellent musician but and artist and poet. I love this video (which is all shot in Northern Michigan) he did with my friend John Paul a little while back. So beautiful.

This series of images was shot by Michael (he is also a photographer) during their tour through Tennessee. I love a good adventure and their time in Tennessee brought back good memories of spending Springs hiking along creeks in Kentucky while I was in College. I love Kentucky and Tennessee so very much and the rocks and cliffs are something I dearly miss.

Head over to Michael’s blog to read more about their trip and see more pictures.

Art
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When grabbing brunch with friends it is all about being feminine, professional, and comfortable. This outfit meets all the criteria and if you slip on some casual black flats after to run some errands it should be great for the whole day. Can’t say no to that!

Happy Thursday!

There are many days these words are on repeat in my head. “Be fearless. Be honest. Be you” It is not always easy to be brave enough to take risks and be confident all at the same time. With Blog Brunch prepping for the March Brunch on Personal Projects I thought I would touch on the topic of it a little myself. When it comes to personal projects there can be a lot of fear of success, level of work load, and even how it may alter your current life for the better or worse. You may be comparing how other’s personal projects have gone and seen either their failures or successes and it has made you feel some lack of confidence in what you have been dreaming about.

I feel this is right where I am at with my personal projects. For almost a year (I hate admiting that) I have been working to launch my Print Shop. There have been hiccups along the way and it has been placed on the back burner many times and when it is I hate it. It makes me build up frustration and guilt knowing I am not accomplishing something I want so badly. I get more projects that I cannot say no to because I love being a designer and once again I find myself just trying to keep my head above water with just the studio. I get wrapped up in the blog and working with the Blog Brunch team and before I know it another week has gone by and I have not gotten this personal project off the ground once again. Not that I regret or feel badly about the work I have done because I am just as passionate about the studio, the blog, and Blog Brunch as I am my print shop, but it is the disappointment I didn’t accomplish what I set to do. Some of it is time management, some of it is fear, and some of it is simply not being ready.

I am working to get to a place where I can find a rhythm in life and I am hoping that will help with time management, goal setting, and some how balancing everything at once without feeling overwhelmed or at a stress level that is not healthy. I try hard to balance my time I work verse the time I play, but sometimes I think to get somehting off the ground and moving you have to give it more time and give up something for a period of time. I am trying to figure out what that looks like and how to balance that with the rest of life.

It took a while to get over the fear of all doing a print shop. The thought of disappointing people always holds me back. I always want to give 100% to anything I do and I am realizing that 100% looks different for each thing. I struggled with the thought of receiving a complaint about a product and dealing with it. I wondered if people would receive something and think it wasn’t as cool as they thought and then I realized that all I can do is do the best I can, be nice, and honest and if it doesn’t work that is okay. At least I know I did it the best I could, I was the nicest I could be, and didn’t hide anything in the process. I find in life this is always the best approach more and more.

So I hope this was helpful to any of you. I still have a lot to do and accomplish on this personal project but I cannot wait to finish it show you guys everything! It has been such a dream to me for so long…I need to just stop worrying about doing it perfectly. Kinks will always work themselves out.

I would love to hear your tips and thoughts on this topic. I know I am not the only one thinking about personal projects so it would be great to hear from you all. Also make sure you tune into to Blog Brunch on March 3rd on twitter! We have some great people who are involved and everyone wants to help everyone else. It is so wonderful and encouraging!

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Not sure if it is the winter and these cloudy days or my recent obsession with watching Gossip Girl but I am crazy about blacks and neutrals this week. Sometimes I like a pop of color thrown in the mix but really this week I want to be rocking leather leggings a big sweater and these rad boots with a neutral chunky scarf. Anyone feel similarly?

Shoes and Colin Firth
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Planning a day in the city?

Keep the classics in mind.Think about the 1950′s and the 1960′s when clean lines and well tailored items were king.

So how do you look classy and polished in the city?
Neutral colors, perfect tailoring, bright accessories.

Remember that grey, black, and camel will always have you fitting in.

Cheers!
Grant of The Culture Keeper

If this doesn’t make you excited to flaunt some spring like frocks I am not sure what will. Anthropologie never fails to impress when it comes to their looks and this time is no different with their Spring Lookbook. Bright colors, layering, great shoes, and killer accessories. It just doesn’t get much better. Make sure to check it out.

Since the moment I saw this Fourth of July wedding shot by James Moes I have been crazy in love with the work this man does. Working in the Seattle area and originally from British Columbia, James sees beauty in it’s purest form. His work is some of my favorite and every shoot makes me appreciate his craftsmanship even more.

The rawness of emotion and a moment that he is able to capture can take your breathe away and pull you into that very time and place. It is inspiring and worthy of some serious admiration.

Check his portfolio out you will be as hooked as me. Also he has mad pinterest and svpply as well.

This weekend it was sunny, beautiful, and everything I love about Northern Michigan. You know how I mentioned I missed the wandering through the woods in the snow last weekend? Well I got it done this weekend on top of cleaning and organizing. Not to mention hanging with friends and truly relaxing.

I really really try not to work on the weekends. I like to unplug fully from work because though I love what I do I feel it is extremely important to have a work life balance. During the week I am still working on finding a middle ground with doing laundry, working on projects, writing on the blog, working on launching the print shop (totally on the back burner right now), and being a good friend, wife, and member in the family. It can all be hard to balance but some day I hope to perfect the art of juggling it all.

So though our little adventure this weekend was short and sweet it was fun, relaxing, and right in our back yard. We love to hike and adventure through the woods, thankfully we live in a place that has an endless amount of trails that always feel different every time we go. This winter we have not done the snow shoeing we have wanted, which makes me a little sad. So Sunday we woke up to a bright sunny day with fresh snow on the ground, this screamed for us to take a little trek together. It was 35 degrees, which may sound cold to most but anyone that has been to Northern Michigan on a sunny day in the winter knows that 35 feels more like 50. We wore light gear since we knew we would quickly be sweating. I wore my thicker leggings, thick wool socks, a tight tunic tee layered under a tight tunic cowl neck sweater with a Marmot shell to break the wind, with of course a trusty cap and sporty sunglasses. Maybe not glamorous but honestly this is where I feel the most comfortable. Mike wore a flannel, down coat, and jeans with sunglasses and a cap. Of course we couldn’t trek into the woods without our good ole Sorels! Yeah we kind of live for those boots.

I am not the best at going for long runs or hitting the gym. I honestly find it boring and more discipline like than enjoyable. This means instead Mike and I love to go on these long hikes. The best part is when we found out how many calories you can burn while snow shoeing…get this one…in one hour you can burn up to 800 – 1,000 calories depending on hoe strenous the trek is. For us I would say this was a light walk and was probably more like 600 but still…not only are you super relaxed but you just had a killer workout. Can’t get better than that.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend full of adventures and fun that has prepped you for the week ahead!

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Taking it slow today. Had a long week and ready to just relax a little all over again. Haven’t taken a slow day during the week in a while so I think it is time. What are your plans this weekend? Do you have anything awesome planned? Going to spend some time finishing a book possibly and maybe do a little baking. Always stress relieving to bake right?!

Have a great weekend friends!!

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When I woke up this morning I was thinking about what makes us call a place home?  How do we define where our heart is meant to live? Can we be content anywhere else but that one place?

What brought this all on was walking outside this morning and the fog rising off the snow since the ground was colder than the air. There was this faint smell of Spring in the air and birds chirping. My warm cup of coffee kept me warm.

I wondered why it is that Traverse City feels so deeply like home to me? I moved a lot as a kid but always called the shores of Lake Michigan home even when I lived in the hills of Kentucky. There just has always been something about the season changes, the smell of pines, the faint scent of fish in the summer, the sight of the lake any time of the year, and how simple and slow life can be.

It made me wonder how we all identify that place we call home. I always know I am home when I cuddle into bed next to the one I love and there is this instant overwhelming feeling of comfort.

Everything about the images above made me feel home and I wondered how you all defined home to you. Have you always lived in the same place? Have you been to one place in life and known right away that was where you would always call home? Or do you define it by the people and things that are near you?