Happy Place

Photo by Pure 7

It’s no secret that I love to travel. Exploring a new destination tops the list of my favorite things.  I love discovering local gems like a coffee shop, or a mouthwatering entree comprised of local specialties. My list of places to visit grows longer everyday. I hear fascinating stories about treks through Tibet or the rugged coastlines of Morocco, or the hues of pink terra-cotta bricks that make up Toulouse and the next thing you know, I'm researching and planning and dreaming up another trip to take. 

But even though I'm always wanting to go somewhere new, there's something special about those places we find ourselves always returning to. For me, 30A along Florida's Gulf Coast is one of these places. I had the pleasure of spending last week down there with one of my sweet friends Haley, courtesy of Rosemary Beach and 30A Street Style and it was just what the doctor ordered.  

It doesn't take very long to develop traditions you love down here- like morning walks to Amavida coffee before heading down to the beach to pray and spend time with God. Or watching the sunset over cocktails by the beach at Bud + Alley’s. Or drinking wine + ordering fondue from La Crema and sitting out under the twinkle lights on their patio. 

Every time that I pull up to the stunning Spanish-style Town Hall or walk down Main Street, I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be. When I'm here, I feel more alive, more inspired, more at peace and more joyful than almost anywhere else on earth. It may sound over the top, but if you've been- then you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

This is a place that never fails to remind me that life is beautiful. I'm convinced it's one of God's love letters to me, because it's comprised of all things that make my heart pitter patter.  The Spanish architecture reminds me of my love of travel. The decadent food romances my palate and reminds me of my appreciation for deliciousness. The turquoise waters sparkle and reach as far as I can see, and remind me of God's power and depth and endless nature. The only memories I have here are ones where I’ve grown: where I’ve grown closer to important people in my life, where I’ve grown closer to God, and where I’ve grown as an individual. 

I've felt this way about Rosemary from the start, but this particular trip sent me over the edge. This trip was a special one. For starters, we stayed in the most idyllic carriage house you could ever dream up (click here to book this same unit). 

Not only were we thrilled about calling this place home, but we never could have anticipated what a warm welcome we would receive and what a wonderful host Jami from 30A Street Style was going to be to us. We met her for dinner at La Crema our first night and hit it off instantaneously. We talked about dreaming big and the timing of life and everything in between while drinking chilled wine and indulging in warm, decadent peanut butter fondue under the moonlight. She had arranged countless treats for us throughout the week: massages and blowouts at Vivo Spa, a shopping trip at Willow Boutique, a photo shoot with Pure 7 Studios (I'll be sharing these pictures in my next blog post),  a welcome bag filled with goodies from Rosemary Beach Trading Company, and beach chair + umbrella reservations everyday. But it didn't stop there- she also had made dinner reservations and lunch reservations and coordinated happy hours so we could meet other bloggers. She thought through every last detail to ensure our trip was a memorable one. 

Of course all these things made us feel like giddy little girls. How could you not be ecstatic when you're in one of the most beautiful places in the world and feeling incredibly spoiled and taken care of? But what really made this trip so wonderful is all of the conversations that unfolded and the relationships that were built over the course of the week. We got to talk to Cindy + Celia from Willow and hear how their dreams and visions have come to life through all the stores that they've opened in the area, and we were able to attend the opening party for their amazing new men's store, Mason. We met up with Jami and Jessica (from Lipstick, Heels & a Baby) for drinks at The Pearl, which turned into more drinks at sunset on the beach where we told stories and made toasts and cheers-to new friendships and being dreamers and encouraging one another. 

Not only did we meet so many amazing people that we could open up to, but even my friendship with Haley grew to another level. We sat on the patio of our carriage house and she did the Blonde Atlas goal workshop with me that I've been pouring my heart into. I got to hear more about her past relationships, the loss of her mom, and what God has been teaching her. I got the chance to vent to her about the things that feel like an injustice and talk to her about the dreams on my heart that seem big and scary.  We talked about the boys we were crushing on. We cried to each other (sometimes because we were having soul-baring conversation that was raw and painful, and sometimes because we were laughing so hard from too many margaritas and a series of hilarious Snapchats). We learned about each others quirks- like the fact that she sleeps face down and doesn't move at all during the night (which can feel like you're sharing a bed with a corpse) or the unfortunate fact that I learned I say "YOLO" way too often (which makes me embarrassed and lose major cool points). Regardless, we left knowing each other better and loving each other more. 

I've come to discover that's what this place does to you. It cracks open your soul and awakens the part of you that's been sleepwalking through the monotony of everyday life. It reminds you that this life is a beautiful one- full of possibility and things to be thankful for. It invites you to abandon FOMO and live contently right in the very moment where you are. It reveals to you how a painful experience that didn't make any sense actually lead you to this exact spot where you're sitting right now: watching a tangerine sunset with new friends, talking about Jesus, and blogs, and dreaming big and inspiring each other- wondering how life could really look any more beautiful than it does right now. 

So thank you to Rosemary Beach for being my happy place. Thank you for  being a place where I know I can always come to feel renewed and find the kind of joy that lights a fire in my soul. Thanks for giving me countless memories that I can remember and be encouraged by when I'm back home and feeling stuck about something. Thank you for being the closest place to heaven that I know here on this earth.  I'll be back again real soon. 

A HUGE thanks to Rosemary Beach and 30A Street Style for an incredible week. To learn more about planning a trip here of your own, visit www.bitly.com/rbsequins or contact me at theblondeatlas@gmail.com.

Great things take time

Dreams are tricky creatures, and ones that I know well. I had a dream to start this blog, and now the dream to keep it alive. I dream about hosting goal dinners all over the country and traveling as often as I can. And I have lots of other dreams too. The beautiful thing is that slowly, piece by piece, these dreams are coming to life. But the part that makes them more complex and deceiving is the part that I somehow breezed past in my initial excitement: these dreams require a lot from me than I ever anticipated. 

So now here I am on a Sunday night being taunted by all sorts of things: a calendar that tells me I’m traveling 4 out of the next 5 weeks, a pile of dirty laundry, an empty suitcase that needs to be packed, a blinking cursor on the blank word document that’s supposed to be the blog I’m publishing tomorrow. I was supposed to develop a strategy document for tomorrow morning’s meeting, to finalize the details of the next goal dinner, to gather images for upcoming blog posts (not to mention writing the upcoming blog posts). All of these on top of my normal, human task list of things like cleaning my embarrassingly messy room, or getting my oil changed or buying birthday cards. 

This is what happens in the middle of a dream. At the beginning we’re so high on adrenaline and naive optimism that we believe anything is possible. At the end, we’ve got it all figured out and can bask in glorious success. But the middle? We’re stuck with all these dreadful details and to do lists and nagging action items that make us feel like we’re in a sinking canoe with only a teaspoon to frantically get all the water out. 

It makes me want to hide. It makes me want to pour the biggest glass of wine, walk next door to Bongo Java to buy a snickerdoodle the size of my face, climb under my covers and curl up with the Scandal season finale that I still haven’t had time to watch. But I’m not. Okay, so I did pour a glass of wine- but the important thing here is that I didn’t give into the temptation to run when things got overwhelming. I decided what was important, and what wasn’t. That coming home to a messy room and a full laundry basket is something I’m willing to deal with for the sake of getting closer to my dreams. That what makes me love traveling so much isn’t because of the hours I’ve spent calculating and planning what all needs to be packed. That I’ll be perfectly fine throwing some things in a suitcase and making due with whatever I have. 

When the details of our dreams get overwhelming or frustrating, you can choose to give up, or you can choose to press on. It’s perfectly alright that you feel like giving up. All that matters is that you don’t. 

No, this post doesn’t have all the visual images I’d like it to. It’s being published at the expense of my room staying messy, my suitcase staying empty and a 12:30am bedtime (meaning I won’t be doing 6am yoga like I had hoped). But I finished it. I also finished my strategy preparations for tomorrow’s meeting, and nailed down the details of the next goal dinner (which, excuse the shameless plug, is happening on Tuesday, June 30th in Boulder, CO). And completing even a few, tiny items of what seems like a mountain of tasks ahead of me feels so good. Because they’re ultimately putting me closer to a payoff that’s greater than the temporary satisfaction of a snickerdoodle or a TV show. They leave me full of hope about the road I’m walking down and all that I have to look forward to, instead of left with another void no meal or drink or show or wasted night can fill. 

What are you choosing? Yes a night out with friends is fun, a clean room is comforting and a security blanket can often seduce better than any other seductress. Yes, dealing with all of those difficult things that make you a better person and closer to living the life you dream of is never fun in the moment. But it’s always the better option. 

It’s not my place to tell you whether you should prioritize your friends or your alone time or productivity or workouts or whatever else. But I will say that in order to live the kind of life that you dream of, you’re going to have to prioritize working hard on the details of your dreams. And with that, you’ll have to sacrifice some of the time you spend on all the other things. But with that, comes the hope of slowly becoming one lesson wiser and one step closer to victory. And it’s all only going to get more beautiful with time. So keep going. Stay up later if you have to. Leave the house a mess even if it drives you crazy. It will all be worth it in the end. 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. -Hebrews 12:11

dream big

I woke up smiling this morning. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, but if you would have told me that a few months ago, I may not have believed you. In the midst of what has been a difficult (to say the very least) season, I’ve learned a lot. I don’t claim to know everything, but I do claim to know a hell of a lot more than I did a few short months ago. And one thing I do know for sure is this: life is too short to be mediocre. 

What does a fantastic life look like to you? Not what sounds impressive to other people. Not what path you’re currently walking down or what “finish line” is getting closer. But what would it look like if you lived the very best life you could imagine? If it was filled with the things that make your heart beat faster? The things you get so excited about that you start to talk louder and for longer and your eyes light up? The things you really love and matter most in the grand scheme of life?

What’s your thing? The thing that makes you have to pop a melatonin because you’re laying in bed tossing and turning thinking about it non-stop. That makes you sit up and turn the light on over and over because you have to write this epiphany of an idea down so you don’t forget it. It’s the thing that consumes your mind and is impossible to ever turn off.

If you asked me, without giving any thought I’d blurt out “travel” before you could finish your question. I've known for some time that I was hard wired with a desire to explore as much as I possibly can. But as I've been learning more, I've realized another part of me that I'm equally passionate about- and that's dreaming with people. It’s setting goals about living a fuller, richer, life. The delicious kind you savor every bite of. It’s getting people together to talk about what they would do if anything was possible. It’s abandoning the cant’s or should’s and believing in possibility. And it's doing this with each other rather than by ourselves, because I believe that relationships and connectedness are God's biggest gifts to us on this earth.  

I say a lot of things that I hope on here. I don’t think I’ve ever written a post without saying what I hope you get from it. But this hope may trump them all: I hope that you can find your thing. The thing you were created for. 

Because when you find it? Incredible things happen. Life suddenly feels like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when everything that was once black and white is now in technicolor. You’re so busy smiling and dreaming and ideating that you’re not weighed down by your problems in the same way. Things like hurt and fear start to shrivel up into tiny nothings, because this thing you love is growing so big, so fast, there’s simply not space for anything else to exist. 

Last week I hosted my first goal setting dinner. We ate delicious food. We drank wine. We connected with one another. We sat outside under the stars. And then we started dreaming. We wrote out what our goals are. We evaluated our strengths- what we bring to the table. We named the things we want more of and less of in our life. And we left with an intention to focus on a dream that we could bring to life. 

Photos by Sarah Catherine Design

For me, doing this was a page turner. It was putting pen to paper, pulling the trigger, and taking action to do something that I’ve dreamed about. And it’s just the beginning of a lot more to come. I’ll be hosting more of these dinners. Not just with my friends, but with anyone who wants to dream. Not just in Nashville, but anywhere in the world. I want to sit with people, stop the monotony of day to day life and dream big together. To inspire one another. To have child-like faith that anything can happen if you’re bold enough to declare it. 

Photos by Sarah Catherine Design

You may be thinking “Pump the brakes, homegirl. You hosted one dinner." But that’s the exciting part to me. That’s what’s making me have to ferociously hit backspace as I’m typing this because of all the typos that I'm making. I’m so excited by how much possibility there is. How many ideas have stemmed as a result of all of this. I see how much potential this tiny idea has to grow into something much greater. 

I don’t know how you landed here or why you’re reading this. It’s likely that you’re one of my friends or family (Hi Mom) that follows along to support me. But whoever you are, I’d love to dream with you. Whether it’s here in Nashville, or in Nairobi. So to make this happen, we’re going to be changing a few things. 

Blonde Atlas has served me a lot of ways. It’s been a space for me to have a creative outlet. A platform for me to be bold and speak up about things I haven’t always spoken up about. And it’s given me freedom to grow through arguably the most difficult season of my life. 

With that said, the original intent of Blonde Atlas has always been to inspire people to live the best life they can. And the heartbeat of that intention is going to start to show up more. More specifically:

We’ll be dreaming: Every month, we’ll be hosting these goal setting events (dinners, workshops, retreats- you name it). We’ll be starting in Nashville, Boulder, Chicago, Denver and then wherever else the wind blows. If you’re interested in having us come meet with your team at work, club, organization, school, sorority, whatever-we’d love to dream with you. Give us a shout at theblondeatlas@gmail.com and let’s make it happen. 

We’ll be traveling: Because I'm in a perpetual state of wanderlust. Travel is the thing that no matter what I’m going through brings me joy. We’ll be traveling to dream with people,  traveling to be inspired, traveling to write stories for the blog,  and traveling to have a damn good time. 

We’ll be collaborating: I believe in strength in numbers, and I have so many beautiful dreamers in my life that I’ve been ideating with. We have some seriously beautiful ideas that I'm so thrilled to bring to life. We’re going to be joining forces with these brands and creating events, blog posts, and all sorts of partnerships so that you can experience a wealth of goodness and be inspired.

These examples are just scratching the surface of what’s to come, but I couldn’t be more excited. These big, hairy, audacious dreams I’m dreaming are lighting a fire in my soul and bringing me more joy than I knew was possible. I’m humbled and honored by the support and encouragement that Blonde Atlas has seen, and I can’t wrap my head around all the good that’s still to come. You can’t wipe this stupid smile off my face. 

Photos by Sarah Catherine Design

I couldn't have done any of this without the generous love and servant hearts of Kyle + Wil Shults. Thank you for opening your home, cooking, serving, and being incredible friends. I love you more than you know.