Life, lately.

I know it's been chirping crickets around here, sorry for that, but the good news is I  finally feel like I've resumed my groove of life so here's a little update on things lately. 

• Back on a regular sleep schedule, yay! (Jet lag is a real meanie.)
• What's up with this winter weather? It's more unpredictable than Beyoncé lip-syncing at the inauguration. (Which, bee tee double you, did you see those emeralds??)
• Speaking of, I got one of my very own over the holidays. Thanks, lovey!
• Hubby and I started a 10 day cleanse, (we're on day four) and so far so starving. Actually, to be honest it's not so bad. After the holidays and world eat-a-thon I was on recently it feels kind of nice. I don't like extreme's so a totally raw/soup diet/water and cayenne pepper situation this is not. And I'm hoping at the end to feel a little less sluggish and gross than when I started. Keep ya posted.
• Loving this little tune.
• Still sorting through pictures...

See ya around!

Phnom Pehn, Cambodia

In early January I visited Cambodia. Even though the trip was short and most of my tourist activities were done through a van window, as cliche as it sounds, my life changed. Besides the obvious cultural differences - cows crossing streets at their leisure, little to no rules of the road - I was my touched by the kindness of the country, to visitors and each other. Poverty abounds, but I watched a factory worker who probably needed every cent he earned buy food from a street vendor and give his change to a bum.

I fell in love with the countryside, the scent of lemongrass and the queen of fruits. I cried the first time I was "attacked" by children begging for money. The temples a midst ruins had me in awe. And at night, after driving through villages of what we would consider shacks, upon returning to my luxurious hotel room, I would ponder the lives chosen for us.

It is said that one's destination is not a place, but a new way of seeing things, and this experience opened my eyes to the many things I should be so appreciative of, that I take for granted daily, and that the world is much, much bigger than my small little city life.

Here of a few photo's of the journey....

Back, but barely.

A peek at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. 

Hey buds! I'm back but operating in quite a fog of jet lag. Just wanted to pop in with a quick update - the trip was amazing, life changing, incredible {insert other fabulous adjectives here}. I ended up with nearly 900 pictures to sort through (snap happy much?) and am slowly working my way through them. So much to share at show and tell! :) Surely I'll feel like a normally functioning human next week... Hope the first month of 2013 has been wonderful for you so far!

Southern Comfort Zone

So this song. Man, yeah.

I've been vibin' on it for months but just realized the video was out now, too. Not only is a great country jam, but the lyrics really have meaning for me.

I know I talk about Tennessee a lot, about how I love going back and how it feels like home, but there really is such a thing as a Southern Comfort Zone.

Oh, Dixie Land, 

I hope you understand

When I miss my Tennessee home 

And I've been away way too long

I can't see this world unless I go

Outside my Southern Comfort Zone

First travel of 2013!

As I mentioned in my New Year's post, I'm leaving town again for a few weeks. I can't think of a better way to start the new year than with a new adventure! Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Thailand are on the list and to say I'm excited is the understatement of 2013. It's a business trip and I'll be taking a breather from posts until I return, unless something strange happens and I decide to sit in front of a computer instead of explore foreign lands in my free time... yeah, right. :) Hope your first few weeks of the new year are amazing! I'll try to Instagram when I can so stay tuned!

P.S. My last trip to Hong Kong: Skyline, Streets, Shopping, and Buddha!

2013 is my year.

{Print by SS Print Shop, whose blog I love}

I always find the first post of the new year a little overwhelming. There's a deep desire to start off on the right foot, with something powerful, with meaning. Something that'll stick to the ribs as we say in the South. But the purpose of goals or resolutions or whatever you want to call them, is to just do something. To start somewhere. Taking small steps each day until you've climbed the proverbial mountain. So while I don't have any big epiphanies for you about the future or any Pinterest quotes that'll change your life I can tell you this...

2012 was amazing. Incredible actually. Come to think of it, are there words with bigger meaning than that? The laughs that were had, the parties, adventures, the travel, the people we met, the all around good times. I will forever cherish this year as one filled with love. Do not be fooled, we faced (and still are) a huge challenge this year. The details would bore you, but from it, I learned to let go - of lists, of expectations, of the need to control every thing I possibly could - and it felt amazing. I gave into outings with friends in lieu of a clean house. Conversely, I ditched plans in favor of a good book and a nap. I did things that made me happy for the right reasons, because I know these moments won't last forever. I guess you could call it some serious soul nourishment. Maybe it was just part of my life journey, or maybe it was in preparation for exciting things to come. Which brings us to 2013...

First of all, I'd like to state how elated I am that we're the year twenty THIRTEEN! (Hello, who's your biggest fan?) (For the record, I was professing my love long before a Miss T. Swift could even count that high.) But I digress, we're here and it's wonderful. And I can't help but think that this year has some magical moments in store. A few things I'm looking forward to: world travel (I'm leaving in 2 days!), a 10 year wedding anniversary, and hopefully lots more amazing memories made with people I love spending time with. So I'm declaring 2013 my year, because it just wouldn't make sense not to. (And there's just no other favorite number I care about. ;-)

Of course, I do have a few goals in mind, but this year they're more centered around internal growth and fulfillment rather than eating less coconut or something crazy, because we both know that for this girl, that's not gonna happen.

• Practice patience. Stop rushing. And stop being irritated at having to wait.
• Put down the smartphone. Seriously. 
• Listen and remember. Stop nodding and saying "uh-huh".
• Make some time for all those magnificent mani's.
• Purge! For every item in, another goes out.

And for recap purposes, I'm pretty pumped about the completion of last year's list. Besides mastering the art of macaron making (I had one good batch) I feel pretty accomplished!

Wishing you magic and awesomeness in 2013!


P.S. Even if no one reads it but my mom, I love posting in the new year because it's so darn fun to reread past goals. Here are 2010's recap and 2011's list if you're curious.