Carpe diem – seize the day in Latin.

Seizing the day is something I've been pondering frequently through out the past few weeks. When I'm on my death bed, I don't want to be that person who regrets all they didn't do with their life. When that time comes, I want to look back on my life satisfied and content to leave this earthly world to joyously meet my Creator.

While looking forward to something big is exciting, I find that the days I'm happiest are the ones filled with the simple sweetness of everyday moments. 

Seizing the day doesn't have to mean accomplishing huge tasks every day. It means savoring the feeling of tiny arms wrapped around your waist accompanied by the faint whispered “I love you.” It means throwing away the reluctance of getting dirty and relishing the feeling of cool mud squishing between your toes. It means splashing about in the water, not caring that you'll soon be left with wet clothes. 

It means enjoying the delicious taste of your first cake ball. It means breathless laughing on the trampoline with your siblings and forgetting about how bouncing up and down will mess up your perfectly put together hair. It means standing outside, eyes closed, listening to the wind rustling through the trees and the sweet symphony of birds chirping their melodies.

Carpe diem. After all, we only have one life to live.

-carlotta

Sometimes, I have days where I want to write, but it seems that instead of forming sentences, all I do is hit the backspace key. The repetitive cycle goes on and on. Write a few words, erase three out of four, write some more, and consequently erase some more, until you're left with what you started with – a blank space.

When faced with this frustrating predicament, it seems that the only remedy is to use photographs in place of words. After all, don't they say that a picture is worth a thousand words?

(Taken in January...until I stumbled across them on my hard drive today, I'd quite forgotten about them.)

-carlotta

tanktop: Target // necklace: Barberry and Lace // scarf: Target // belt: thrifted // skirt: thrifted // shoes: Target

Sometimes it just feels like a skirt day. The feel of the soft material gently swooshing around my legs is a welcome change from the winter standard of jeans. I suspect the spring weather has been a large factor in this, but I've been loving skirts lately. And how can you resist a cheery floral pattern? They're super versatile and can be pared with virtually anything. I currently only have a few skirts, but I'm working on slowly building my collection.

How do you feel about skirts?

(I couldn't resist putting together a collage of all the outtakes that resulted from the photo shoot... ;))

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking. Like Arielle mentioned recently, it's so easy to portray a life that is absolutely perfect through blogging. A life that is free of arguments, messes, stress, and sadness.  It's not hard to become jealous of someone else's life, especially via blogging. But I'd venture to say that not a single one of us always has it all together. We all have our low points, myself included. While I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have a positive outlook on life, bloggers often share only part of their life, the more pleasant parts. Where am I going with this? I'm honestly not really sure. But I'm suppose I'm just trying to say not get discouraged. It's okay to have bad days. And blogging isn't exactly the most realistic portrayal of life.

On a lighter note, I want to introduce two new blogs.

The first is called The Dressing Room Door. Written by some of my friends, they take turns sharing their outfits and their thoughts on fashion. There's also a giveaway going on at the moment, so feel free to take a look! :)

The other is Life of Sarge. A blog dedicated to the life of our black Lab, Sarge, it's penned by my brother Jeremiah. While the stories aren't totally true to life, it's always a humorous read ;) Jeremiah would love if you'd come visit!

Happy Thursday!

-carlotta

Some of my favorite things about today...

...the perfectly juicy orange I had for lunch.

...the birth sweet Levi Ryan, the new son of dear friends of ours. He was actually born yesterday, but the thought of it filled me with joy today. I had the pleasure of holding him yesterday while he was only a few hours old. I was giddy with happiness. There's nothing like cradling a tiny newborn in your arms.

(our reflection in a mirror affixed to the ceiling)

...going to a local park to the afternoon. I found a mirror mounted on the ceiling in a teacher garden center and got a bit snap happy ;)

...daylight savings time. The extra hour of daylight in the evening is the best.

...a strawberry smoothie.

...the sun. I always seem to have good days when it's sunny.

(I should do something about that nail polish. And my toes are creepy.)

...relaxing in the sunroom. And okay, I was doing some biology homework, but that's okay ;)

...the afternoon sunlight streaming into my room.

What were some favorite things about your day?

-carlotta