Posted on May 4, 2015
Creating and Experience
Hello, my lovelies. The weather around here is FINALLY shaping up. It is warm and breezy and spring-y and the trees have BUDS on them (I forgot how exciting it is to realize that for the first time!) and I am so psyched. I LOVE May.
Dude, my Facebook page is suddenly flooded with pictures of sweet little babies born to MOTHERS THAT I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH. I suddenly feel incredibly old. Marriages? Houses? Babies?!?!?! Shouldn’t we be…. watching Rugrats, or playing with our Polly Pockets?? No?
Mmmmmk moving right along… Quick update! There is now an “About Me” section right to the right. ———-> Feel free to click there and find out a little bit about what makes me tick!
For today’s post, I wanted to talk about creativity and life experience.
It never ceases to amaze me the things that come with age. When I lament about my upcoming 25th birthday, those over the age of thirty often roll their eyes and remind me of how “young” I am. Sure, 25 is young, but SO much has changed in the last ten years, I have trouble even wrapping my mind around it.
I have been doing a LOT of thinking lately about how far I have come in recent years. Life can be trying, but if you grow and develop and learn from life, then I truly believe that you are all the better for it.
When I was younger, I had a lot of ideas. I was a deeply emotional girl; I could relate to lyrics of all kinds– poetry, stories, songs, I was compassionate, contemplative and creative, but something about those pieces of “me” just didn’t click together.
And then, right around my last year of college, my life was turned upside-down. It seemed like I couldn’t catch a break and nothing was going my way. I was tired, but I spent my days working my time away so that I didn’t have to worry about the things that hovered close by. My daily goals were simple: make it from point A to point B, get things done, sleep (?), and repeat.
My once perpetually-running creative mind rested as I focused on business.
And then, almost three years later, like a balloon that couldn’t be tethered, the need to create and build and design and concot re-enlivened within me. Suddenly, I was thinking about things differently: I was writing and drawing and designing again and it felt (feels!) so, so great.
The best part of all of it is that the quality and substance has changed so. much.
Sometimes, life gives us scars. Physical scars are visible notations of life events; sometimes good, sometimes bad, but some people show them off like medals. When the scars that we bear are emotional ones, tattooed on our hearts, the best we can do is use the experiences that got us there to learn and grow and develop into the very best versions of ourselves that can possibly be.
I have every intention in the universe of turning my life and experiences into things that can be enjoyed by many, whether that be in artwork, or writing, or by speaking, I have found my voice and my cause(s). It’s almost like the years where my style went dormant were the years when it marinated. I grew and matured and my work is all the better for it.
I hope that over the course of my Fancy posts, I can encourage you to use what you have– your stories, your experiences, your essence, to do a lot of things. It’s scary, but we’ll do it together. And let me tell you, the day that you can use your life experiences to create something beautiful, that, my friends, is an amazing day.
xoxo
Bee
Posted on May 3, 2015
5 Things That Are Making Me Happy
Hi friends!
It’s been much too long. I hope that you have been well! This weekend has been a busy one to be sure. Yesterday, Bryan’s sister, brother-in-law and little niece came over for the afternoon which was a blast. (PS: If you think that there is even a minute chance that you will have children under the age of five visiting your home, run, don’t walk, to go buy play doh. It will save your life. Also be prepared for it to be ground into your carpet, but FEAR YOU NOT, it comes right out and doesn’t stain. Whoever invented that nonsense was seriously brilliant.)
It was a lovely time filled with good people and good stories. And a fondue pot. (<– Best purchase ever. But I say that about a lot of things…)
I don’t know about you, but Sundays have been really bumming me out lately. Big time Sunday Ennui. Mondays come around much too quickly and they are rough, rough, rough. It’s almost like I can’t remove myself from the back-to-work funk for long enough to even relish a Sunday, but I have GOT to stop that! I must say, however, that today was super productive; I washed clothes, hit the gym (and completed the entire first workout on Couch-to-5k), cleaned the apartment, bought some new, went for a walk with my honey (it was over 80 degrees today!!!) and even did some wedding crafting.
I think that maybe the problem is that I always have so many things that I want to, need to, should do, but there’s never quite enough time. I need to find a way to adjust so that BOTH days of the weekend are equally as relaxing and enjoyable.
Anyway, let’s skip along to something a little brighter than my Sunday Blahs.
It is a new month, and I can’t think of a better time than the first days of a new month to roll out a “Things That Are Making Me Happy” list.
I am hoping to start doing this once a month on the blog to give you guys a little preview into the life of the Bee behind Beeing Fancy. A list of things to smile about is just what the doctor ordered for the bluer days.
Here we go!
1. I have a whole bunch of fun (hopefully…) posts for this coming week and lots of things to share with you! I am also working diligently to pull together the look of Beeing Fancy which I am SO excited to roll out.
2. More wedding crafting. The project that I’ve been working on this weekend needs to be kept on the DL for just a tad bit longer, but I’m rullllll excited to share it with you. There are so many random and fun things that I hope to do for our wedding and part of the fun of having a (slightly) “longer” (who makes these rules, anyway?!) engagement was that we’d be able to plan everything with super low stress. Me, being the DIY queen that I fancy myself, can’t wait to get some serious crafting underway.
3. The month of May. Ever since I was a young one, May has been one of my very favorite months. I may be partial because my birthday is in May, but it also seems to be the time when the weather here in NYS finally starts to shape up, when the prettiest, smelliest flowers are in bloom (Lilacs! Hyacinths! Yay!), and when we get our first little tastes of summer. I am big into bar-b-q, outdoors festivals, farmer’s markets, flowers and nice weather and I am so thrilled to FINALLY welcome those things back into my life after the grossest, longest, coldest, snowiest winter ever. Ever.
4. Health kicks. I don’t think I am alone in finding the spring and summer to be SO much more motivating than the winter. Maybe it’s because suddenly, I’m not hiding beneath fourteen layers of clothes (and can see what’s added up!!!!), but I have suddenly been bitten by the workout bug and it is about time!
5. Vacations. Bryan and I are lucky in that we have a couple of “built-in” vacations this year for various family things. I am so excited to take a couple of days away from the working life to just escape with my miser. Truthfully, I couldn’t care less if we were camping in a tent or staying in a nice hotel, just the idea of getting away from it all for a bit is enough to distract me day-in and day-out.
What are some things that are making YOU smile these days? Wishing you the merriest of Mondays.
Until tomorrow,
xoxoxoxo
Bee
Updated on April 27, 2015
Build Me Up
Hello friends.
I hope that your week is off to a good start!
Tonight, I started my Illustrator course! I have a bad habit of getting frustrated very quickly in these types of classes… I don’t want to learn WHERE the paintbrush tool is, I just want to USE it. And I want to use it perfectly on my first try. Is that so much to ask?
Ehem. Anyway, I’m going to try to cool my jets and just take things at a good pace in this class (which lasts for almost two months!) so that I can learn some fun stuff and use it to be a super crafty craftsman lady.
And now, let’s talk about toxins. The walking, breathing, speaking ones.
Have you ever been in the presence of someone who has wiped your energy dry? Like an emotional vacuum, they can suck a room clean of its vitality, personality and energy.
Until recently, I never truly realized the painfully evident changes that happen, even physically, when I am around these people. I start to feel tired, anxious, sluggish, sad, defeated. The list could go on and on. Unfortunately, limiting your exposure to these individuals is about as difficult as limiting your exposure to actual air pollutants; it’s nearly impossible. They are everywhere; these are the people we share the roads with, our co-workers, our bosses, our acquaintances (who come to find out, we have grown apart from in so many ways). Like running water seeping out of a cracked pipe, they seem to find ways to infiltrate our otherwise joyful days.
So what do you do when they start to get the better of you? In thinking about the meat of this post, I realized that when the going gets rough, I find myself returning, time and again, to a few different ideas that I have found to be true.
1. It’s not you, it’s them. No really, it’s them. I think that this one is probably most evident in the workplace. I am NOT one for gossip, especially in the workplace. Of course, I would be lying if I said that I don’t occasionally find myself looking for the latest scoop, but trash talking irks me. It’s painful to the subjects, and toxic to the sharers. That being said, I have noticed something in life; if you have a legitimate issue with someone, particularly someone that you find to be inexplicably negative and toxic, chances are that someone else does too. Find peace and comfort in knowing that you’re not the weird one, you’re not the odd-man-out (even when it feels like it). Find someone you trust, whose confidentiality you can rely on, and talk about the issues. Even if you can’t come to an immediate solution, knowing that you are not alone is worth so much.
2. Never, ever stray from you. Just like you were advised to do when you were a child, always stay true to yourself. If you feel like you’re not fitting in, despite doing “everything right,” there is likely a very good reason. Use your discomfort to make a change, whether you speak up for what is right and fair, or just find a way to remove yourself from the stagnant waters to a place where you can thrive, listen to your feelings and don’t ever change to “fit.” Lately, I have discovered that people, especially 20-something millennials looking to fit-in in an overly-connected, overly-caffeinated world, will twist and turn in any way possible to impress. If owning a $500 leather handbag isn’t you, but anything else would be frowned upon by your co-workers, chances are…you need new co-workers.
3. Find your escape. For me, it’s Bryan and the little apartment home that we have created for ourselves. Knowing that I get to come home to a place of love, acceptance, goofiness and sanctity makes even the toughest days a little more palatable.
4. Speak up. This weekend, an acquaintance cut me off with “cool story, bro.” I called him out on it and how impossibly rude his outburst was. His response? “Yes, I can be very rude.”
I just don’t even know where to begin with that one.
Sadly, I bet he has been called out many times before, but don’t ever let anyone talk to you in a way that is unfair to you as a person. I cannot tell you how many times in recent days that I have heard “I can be rude.” or “Oh, that’s just insert name of asshat here !” or “I’ve never been mistaken for a warm person.” or “I’m just honest.” Those are excuses. Trust me, they are. They are excuses for bad behavior that people feed themselves regularly enough so that, eventually, they begin to believe them and believe that they are good enough covers for rudeness that they can continue on with their disrespectful ways. Always speak up.
5. Don’t let them ruin your spirit. This one is hard. I haven’t figured it out myself just yet, but my sister has a really great way of putting it. Whenever I am upset about someone that is particularly toxic, she tells me, “don’t let them reach out of the mud to drag you in with them.” No one can make you feel any one way unless you give them the power to do so. Don’t give it to them. They haven’t done anything to deserve that special gift of power, so reserve it for the ones that build you up, make you feel whole, and add to your quality of life. Not the ones who are looking for ways to bring you down to their level.
So the moral of the story, I suppose is, you can’t always change the people that are around you. You only have control over you. Sometimes, the answer may be limiting your exposure, but other times… more often, if you ask me, I think the answer is adjusting how you react to the noise. Stay true to yourself, stay positive, and find the things in life that make it easier to be you. Happy, fancy, loving you.
xoxoxo
Bee
Posted on April 26, 2015
Hello my friends! I am so sorry that I have been so quiet for a couple of days!
I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was filled with only semi-successful friend-in-law visits, a little shopping, but best of all, hanging out with my fella.
As you probably know, I am hoping that Beeing Fancy can be about “being fancy” in all aspects of life: home, entertaining, cooking, wedding-planning, friends, and personal betterment! In accomplishing that lofty goal, I will dedicate these early days to covering all sorts of bases. Which, granted, might seem random and chaotic, but let’s go with “unorthodox” and “creative.” It’s all how you spin it. There’s a lil’ something for everyone here at Beeing Fancy.
Today I wanna share with you my recipe for Ratatouille.
Recently, (now more than perhaps ever before!) I have been struggling with work lunches. Despite the fact that I love to organize and plan, meal planning is NOT my forté. It’s not even my mini forté. I just suck at it. Basically, I usually try to double recipes so that I have enough for a few lunches too, but instead, I end up making an awkward amount of food and then eating it all as to not have to put it away at the end of the night. (Fun fact: putting leftovers away is one of my all-time LEAST favorite tasks. I’d rather clean the toilet any day of the week.)
MOOOOOOOVING right along, let’s talk about my Ratatouille with Quinoa recipe.
The good thing about this gem is that it makes a ton. Like a lot. So much that even I, with my ridiculous appetite and lack of will power couldn’t possibly eat all of it in one night.
It’s easy, quick and great for leftovers!
Ready set go. (Also, I promise, one day soon I will be sharing high-quality pictures with you. Not ones that are poorly lit and taken with a smartphone!)
“Ratatouille” with Quinoa
3 small-medium eggplants
1 28 oz. crushed (or diced) tomatoes
3 small yellow squash
1 medium chopped sweet onion
2 cups uncooked quinoa prepared according to package directions
2 tablespoons olive oil
Quinoa for serving (this could also be white or brown rice, or even pasta, but someone *me* is trying to be a LITTLE healthier so quinoa it is.)
- Slice eggplants roughly 1/2 thick and salt for about 30 minutes (this will remove the moisture and make things nice and easy).
- Chop onion and sauté in about 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. (I used garlic-infused oil because I’m fancy.)
- Slice the yellow squash about 1 cm. thick and add to the onions. Allow to cook until squash is nearly transparent.
- After 30 minutes, blot the pooled water off of the eggplant, dice, and add to the sautéing mixture. Allow to cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Add in diced/crushed tomatoes and bring to slow boil. Add in preferred seasonings. (I used Italian Seasoning, Oregano and (weirdly) Rosemary. You really can’t go wrong here.)
- Prepare quinoa according to package directions.
- Plate up your quinoa, and top with a hearty serving of your ratatouille!
Don’t forget your chef juice!!!
I hope you have a great night, I’ll talk to y’all tomorrow!!!
xoxo
Bee
Updated on April 22, 2015
A You-Shaped Place
Good news guys, the inspiration wave that I was riding last night has not subsided. Rather it has grown and even in the short span of 24 hours, I have made strides in making my dreams more of a reality and in allowing myself to dive into the Brittany-iest version of Brittany around.
Just like a puzzle piece fits into the bigger project, or a key fits into a lock, there is a you-shaped place in this world into which you will fit perfectly.
As I have discussed in some recent posts, from the time I was in high school and through the years that followed college, I spent all of my time consumed by conditionals. The things that I “should” be doing preoccupied me and the once clever and crafty version of me stepped aside to let the numbers-driven, mainstream-oriented version of myself come to the forefront.
As I stumbled through courses and life paths that weren’t quite right for me, I felt more and more like a failure with every passing day. I had a skewed perception of reality– based on the amount of time that I had already been working, I felt far older than I truly was. Based on my loneliness, I was so much more helpless and vulnerable than I could ever really be.
The things that I once loved– my art courses, my hobbies of music, writing, reading and crafting became more troublesome than they had ever been because I was spreading myself so painfully thin.
…and then it hit me. Like forcing a polarized plug backwards into an outlet, I was trying desperately to squeeze myself into places that weren’t right for me.
If you’re a twenty-something carving your place in the world, I can nearly guarantee that you have experienced, if you’re not currently experiencing this phenomenon. In the way that you would try on outfits at The Gap, you are trying on different personas and different versions of you in an attempt to determine which one suits you best. We don’t technically know each other yet, but the fact that you are reading this blog leads me to believe that you feel we have something in common, and because of that, I feel confident in sharing my experiences with you. Hopefully in a way that will inspire and encourage you. I take the time tonight to beg of you, never give up on finding the you-shaped place.
Reasonably talented and intelligent people can fit into many different places, and when you’re young enough, anything seems good enough.
And then, you wake up one morning and realize that despite your years (or lack thereof), you still know the twang of feeling unfulfilled. You understand the concept of long-term goals and you know when you’re missing something; even if it’s a something that you have yet to even experience.
Albert Einstein once said (or so we speculate…), “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish based by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
So the moral of that story is simple: only you have complete control over YOU. Don’t set your fin and scale-blessed self up for failure by trying to climb trees. The good news is that the you-shaped place is out there, it just takes some digging to find it; some “trying on.”
The best part about finding your place is that it is uniquely you. Sometimes, we don’t know what it looks like ourselves (take me, for example, who would be equally as excited to style hair and makeup for the stars as I would be designing weddings). Find your bravery and take a leap of faith! I’ll go with you!
xoxo
Bee