happy halloween from smith & emma!

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Happy Halloween from Smith & Emma!!
We hope your day is filled with plenty of treats and just enough tricks ;)

We'll be back with a few great posts this week, but until then--I just wanted to stop in and say that I hope you all had a splendid Halloween weekend! I can't wait to show you some of the exciting things Jena and I were up to... trust me, you'll love.

Until then though.... is it too early to admit I've been listening to Christmas music and lovvvvving it?? Specifically this song... Justin Bieber, rapping, Busta Rhymes, Christmas music--Annye love.
I have no shame. At all.

xoxox

halloween! questionable costumes.

It's Halloween week, and being the big fan I am of the holiday, I thought it was only right that we celebrate here on Smith & Emma. So I've dug up some of my old Halloween pics (and some of Jena's are coming, too!) and wanted to share some gems for my past.

I'm usually in one of two schools of thought on Halloween costumes--I'm either going to go hilarious and weird, or quick and easy. If I go the hilarious and weird route, I've had some sort of epiphany ahead of time and have the time to throw together something more elaborate. Because I love the holiday, I usually start thinking a few months in advance about what I want to be. Also, it's worth noting that the good Lord blessed me with a very talented mother who is seriously a whiz with a sewing machine She's definitely the talent behind my ideas and has been making Halloween amazing for years.

So without further ado, I present to you what I like to call:

Questionable Costumes Through the Ages

2006- Nicole Ritchie. Get it... skeleton and blonde wig??! Yeah, no one else did either. Boo.
2007- The furry chicken. One of my finer moments... Stole it from a Martha Stewart baby costume idea. Hand crafted all by yours truly. (Yes, those are feather boas.) Literally left feathers everywhere I went. And got some pretty wicked stares.
2008- Last minute, Ellen Griswold with my ex, who was Clark Criswold, ala Christmas Vacation. Basically an excuse for me to wear mom jeans and pearls.

2009- An Indian. The headdress (not pictured) is what sold me. My mom made my dress and sent it to me in Chicago. Still love her for that.
2010- My friends and I did the "3 Little Piggies" for a Razorback game.
That night I was "Baberham Lincoln." (Pictured with Jena, the nerd.) I don't think people were sure what to make of it (a lady in a beard with a mini top hat, say what?), but I still find it hilarious. So there.

And just as proof that I haven't always been such an oddball...
my sister and i, circa 1999

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to dressing up this year--I even get to wear a costume to work on Monday! My mom is crafting my costume as I type this. I don't want to say what it is, but I will tell you it's not hilarious or weird. Just simple.

My tips for a last minute Halloween costume? Think about the things you already have in your closet! One year I was a "tennis pro" for one party--tennis skirt, sweater tied around my neck, polo, tennis shoes. Also, the Internet is your friend. A good google search can give you the best ideas.

Since I've showed you mine, I want to hear about yours! Tell me about the worst costume you've ever donned, and the best/cutest/funniest costume you've ever worn. I'd love to hear!

perspective

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“Life change comes when we receive life with thanks and ask for nothing to change.”
--Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

I picked up Ann Voskamp's book after countless mornings of lying awake in bed, wishing I could stay there all day. I couldn’t figure out what was making me that way. It wasn’t my job, it wasn’t my friends, I really couldn’t put my finger on anything that was “wrong” with my life. One Thousand Gifts was just what I needed--A dare to live fully right where you are.

But, this isn’t a book review. This is just to say that sometimes life sucks. And you have to do what you can to make it better. And this is how I made it better for myself.

One of my favorite lines in the book was, “Above the clouds, light never stops shining.” Translation: sometimes all you need is a change in perspective. It’s so easy to focus on the bad and forget about the good. I needed to remind myself that not being happy with my life is my choice. Meaning, I was the root of my own problem. Nothing had happened to make me unhappy and no one was doing this to me. I was doing it to myself. Therefore, I was also going to have to be the one who made me happier again. No one or nothing else could do it for me.

I quickly realized the ability to stop focusing on the negative and start embracing the positive is what makes me a happier person. Being thankful for the little things add up to bigger things. Good traffic on my way into work. A delicious cup of coffee. A day without dealing with rude people. My afternoon diet coke. The leaves changing colors. Each of those things seem inconsequential on the surface, but I know that they make up a grander scheme of my happiness. These silly little things turn my days into enough.

The beauty of it is, nothing had changed except my perspective. I still have the same life I had before, but all I needed was a little thankfulness and gratitude for what I had been given. Bad things still happen every day, but my ability to point out the good, no matter how small they are, allows me to keep perspective. Perspective also means realizing that every bump in the road is part of a grander plan for your life--it's not stopping here. Maybe those days of getting up when I would have rather been lying in bed were preparing me for something down the road...

So what I’m saying is, if you ever find yourself in a funk like I was, perhaps all you need is a change in perspective. Look at your life from a different angle and you may find it is enough.

Change

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It's one of the scariest things in life. We get used to things. Even if they aren't good for us. We like routine. Security. Knowing where we are headed.

But things change. People change. As they say, the only thing consistent in life is change. Sometimes we make changes. Sometimes change just happens to us. Sometimes we're happy for a change. Sometimes we dread it.

Sometimes we try to predict it.

Last Friday, I called my psychic. Yes, my psychic. Her name is Carol, and she lives out East. She converses with those who know us who have crossed over. Angels, she calls them.

Friday was the third time in my life I've called Carol. The first was a few years ago when I was dating my terrible ex. She predicted our break up. Knew his faults. Knew mine. The second time I called was when my ex and I had finally broken up and I was trying to move on. I thought at this point in my life I would be sad forever. I thought it was impossible to move on. Carol predicted my becoming close with the two people who would get me through it and a book that would change my life. This last time Carol predicted things I didn't really want to hear. Changes that scared me a little. Because, well, they are big changes.

Who knows if what Carol said this time will happen in my life. The great thing about life is it's not up to Carol. Or angels. I have a say. It's not just based on fate. And maybe I will make the wrong choices. Maybe I will take the long route or the hard way to get to where I am supposed to be. But thinking I am meant to be somewhere is as comforting as having a choice in the matter.

I had a conversation with my mom recently about all the pressure I feel to make the right choices--with my career, where I live, with who I love. How the decisions I make now are going to impact a huge part of my life. She was quick to reassure me that they will have a big impact. They will not go without consequence. But we've got to make choices anyway. We can't stand there paralyzed by fear.

But, as my mom was even quicker to remind me, if we are one of the lucky ones, no matter which path we take, wrong or right, short or long, we don't have to go through our journey alone.