Friday Five

I like weekend mornings because my fave blogs post lists of links from around the web that bring me into a happy oblivion of happy clicking around the beautiful/interesting/amusing things of the internet. Or something like that. I thought I could share that experience with you a little bit...so here are five friday links for you!

• Margaret (my housemate!) and Abigail are traveling around the country, taking pictures (Marg) and writing poetry (Abigail). No, I'm not jealous, obviously. You can check out their adventures here, and join me in being not-jealous...

• I always love a good tumblr. Dear Photograph is a wonderful one. (via A Cup of Jo)

• How to pack like you're traveling the world for 6 months.

• Pottermore. WHAT IS IT?? (Sidenote: I just watched the HP 7 part 2 trailer, and now I kind of want to reread the book in preparation. Even though I also reread it in preparation for part 1...)

• Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day is giving away a trip for 2 to Paris. Well, why not enter?

Enjoy, y'all.

Shimmies & Fist Pumps

Y'all, something amazing happened the week before last: I won a giveaway on one of my favorite blogs, Today's Letters! If you've never checked this blog out before, do so NOW. Tim and Emily Loerke are one of the most inspirational, fun-loving couples I (don't actually) know, and therefore I like to stalk them on the reg. I mean, just look at them:

Precious, right? Em writes daily letters to her husband/everything, which are a) wonderful, b) clever, c) hilarious, or d) all of the above. Added bonus: I don't even feel like that much of a creeper for stalking their lives so much because she used to be my housemate Madeline's Bible study leader!

Anyway. One day, she asked all the college students who read her blog to answer a few questions. So I did, and my name was one of the ones chosen to win a mix CD of her fave jams!! [insert major excitement about winning, new music, and getting something in the mail HERE.]

I tested out the CD this past weekend, while sitting in a coffee shop across from Margaret, drinking bottomless coffee and a eating a pumpkin muffin and reading articles about things like “Pleasure, Pain, and the Power of Being Thin: Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature," and it was the perfect accompaniment. 

Here's a sampling of my faves for you to enjoy too:

(Bonus points for for having some of my already-faves on the CD, such as Timshel by Mumford & Sons, Laundry Room by Avett Brothers, and Poison & Wine by Civil Wars).


Thanks so much, Em, for making me want to shimmy across the floor and throw some fist pumps and leg kicks!

This Will Be Me

Friends, I have a new obsession: this couple and their crazy, wonderful, globe-trotting adventures. And their blog about it.

Yuriy and Julia got married in September, and three days later set off for a six-month trip around the world – stopping in France, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Thailand, Singapore, Australia...et cetera. And like I said, I’m obsessed with this entire concept. It’s wonderful especially because they obviously planned this out and have many practical tips (how to pack a suitcase, their overall plan, etc.) but at the same time, it blows my mind that they actually took the risk and did it, even knowing they’d return home broke. (But some experiences are worth more than money, right?) I’m a little bit upset about only discovering their blog as they are flying back to the States at the end of their adventure…but luckily, they are still catching up on Lviv, Ukraine, so we still have a slew of posts coming our way about all their Southeast Asian adventures since then!

And speaking of Lviv, this couple gets bonus points because after these pictures (can we talk about how these two happen to both be wedding photographers?), this city is now on my list of places I want to go:

(Seeing as Budapest and Prague were already on my list, though, it shouldn’t be too hard to catch a train over, right?)

Also, as both Yuriy and Julia were born in Ukraine but raised in the States, I’m loving reading about their reactions to going back to their home country:

Back home, I felt like I knew Slavics very, very well (I use the word Slavic because it encompasses Ukrainians and Russians). I knew what kind of cars they drove, the food they ate, and where they shopped. I knew they were cheap and had big families. I knew they shopped at garage sales and loved volleyball at the park and only lived in the suburbs--the bigger the house the better. I could spot a Ukrainian at the grocery store or in the car next to me at a stoplight. Yet in this country called Ukraine, I suddenly felt like I didn’t really know them all that well. I couldn’t pick one from the crowd. Suddenly I was the minority and trying to fit in. How strange to think that I’m a Ukrainian trying to be Ukrainian, when I had spent all my life trying to be an American.

Given my own born-in-America-raised-in-Ethiopia story, I appreciate having these sorts of experiences articulated by someone else.

Sorry to rave so much about these two (except, not really)…but I am just in love with this entire concept. And I want all of y’all to be aware that this is happening some time in my life. 


Note to self: be sure to marry someone who will agree to this insanity.