life

New Beginnings

06/17/2014 by Jennifer 3 Comments

Today’s the day I’m moving to Portland! It’s been a long time coming, but it is still hard to leave California. Saying goodbye to my family and friends was really weird. It’s an interesting kind of move because it isn’t for school or to be near anyone in particular – it’s for the community. It really all comes down to the fact that it feels right. And what a great feeling that is.

– I bought the most beautiful peonies this year! Hoping to get more in Portland before the season is over.

– I thought saying goodbye to my sisters would be awful, but they just hugged me and said “It’s okay, we’ll see you soon!” They’re coming to visit my when my dad brings my furniture up. Can’t wait.

– On Saturday I had my last day of work. It was, as my coworker described, “happy-sad”. I’ll be transferring to another Anthro store though and I am so dang excited!

I can’t wait to blog about my Portland adventures all summer long. If you live there, we should get coffee. :)

Find me on Instagram @earlgreyjenn to follow my road trip!

Hey there, June

06/01/2014 by Jennifer 2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s June already! This month means a lot to me this year. In about two weeks (ahhhh!!!), I’m packing my car up with as many essentials I can and driving up to Portland. To stay! I am so anxious and excited and nervous and happy. “Happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time,” some might say. ;)

In unrelated news, I bought the prettiest peonies a while ago and can’t stop staring at these pictures:

I hope you enjoy the first day of the month! I’m looking forward to the seasons changing, literally and figuratively.

ps. Since I am downsizing, I’ll be having a BIG giveaway tomorrow, so check back. :)

Happy Birthday Copper

05/30/2014 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

Today, my puppy Copper is one whole year old! I thought I’d take a quick trip down memory lane.

Just to clarify, Copper is not so much my dog as he is a family dog. My mom saw a picture of a goldendoodle last summer and decided she needed to have one. Coincidentally, a friend of mine had family members who were selling a bunch of goldendoodle pups! I wrote about the whole story here.

Copper is more golden retriever than he is poodle. His father was a golden retriever and his mom was a fluffy black goldendoodle. When we went to pick him up, we were given a “baby book” full of all the cute moments of his first eight weeks. Can you even believe this?! Oh my gosh.

Despite being the smallest puppy in his litter, he grew rapidly every week. We still don’t even know if he’s completely full grown, but he is a giant. Here are some of my favorite Copper moments from the past year:

What a cutie. Follow my instagram @earlgreyjenn to see more!

Today, Copper and I are celebrating by spending time in the sun. It’s a perfect weather kind of day. :)

Portland in Review

05/15/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

This week, I went up to Portland for some exploring and apartment hunting! My friend Katie came along and we stayed in the cutest victorian hostel that was within walking distance to all of the places we needed to go. I love how central everything is there.

Traveling to and from Portland, we encountered so many delays it was almost funny. The good definitely outweighed the bad though.

Some highlights: There were peonies everywhere. We were able to meet up with our friend Brittany for the most to-die-for dinner at Tasty n Alder. After that, we visited Rogue Brewery – yum. And I tried so many ice cream samples at Salt & Straw, it probably amounted to a whole scoop.

The next day, we hit up Heart Roasters. I can’t tell what I love more, their coffee or their branding. Yo Vintage! and Alder & Co. were a few other favorite spots.

Most importantly, I discovered that Portland and I feel the very same way about pizza. So things should work out nicely. I can’t wait to go back soon!

I’m Moving to Portland!

05/05/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

Surprise! Or maybe it isn’t a such a surprise if you’ve seen me in person (it’s kind of all I talk about). I’m so excited to finally start blogging about my big move up there. Remember last week when I shared that I sometimes speak too soon about things I’m hoping will happen? I wrote that blog post with Portland in mind. It is something I’ve been planning all year but have kept on the DL until recently.

So people keep asking me, “What’s in Portland?” and honestly, I just don’t know yet. The biggest motivation factor in moving up there is community. As a 23 year old, half-employed lady, I think this is the most convenient time in my life that I could pack up everything and move to a new place to explore and meet new people. For a long time I haven’t felt very challenged where I am, and I feel that Portland (with all its lush, green glory) could help me thrive in art, in my workplace, and in a new community. I have never moved to a different state, so it feels a little crazy. But at the same time, Portland has always felt like home.

I’m going up to visit in a week for a job meeting and to find a place to live. Then my move-in date will finally be set! I know a lot of you live in Portland or at least love visiting. I’d love to hear your favorite parts of the city. :)

Focus

03/05/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

You know how we all have those special answers to the interview question, “What is your biggest weakness?” We’ll say things like, “I’m too much of a perfectionist” or “I’m too friendly”. It’s so terribly cliche at this point, but it’s kind of funny to think about how we make our weaknesses look like strengths. It’s gotta be subtle. :) My answer is usually something along the lines of not prioritizing as well as I could. I tend to focus on everything at the same time. Sometimes it can be a good thing because I am enthusiastic and excited to start projects, but then as soon as a more exciting project comes along, I end up forgetting about the first one. And on and on it goes. Right now, I have a bunch of business ideas surrounding my new WordPress blog (coming soon…ish), but I just realized that when I started focusing on this project, I ditched a couple of other projects that I was soooo excited about a few weeks ago.

As a discipline, I’m going to make myself sit at my table today and work on one project at a time. Right now, I literally have 21 tabs open on my web browser. I have a problem!!! That will have to change. :)

Sorry for the lack of posts – my mind is all over the place these days.

What helps you focus on just one thing at a time? Please share!