As if life isn’t busy enough on its own, this week I’ve been dealing with a sick baby and then of course I found myself battling the bug a day later.  On the bright side, I did get to cancel my appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed… silver lining, right?

Do you feel like you’re just battling through life, rather than living it?  There are some days that I just can’t get this notion out of my mind – it’s as if I’m just surviving rather than actually living.  We just have to push through until we recover, surviving until the next paycheck, making it work until we can afford something better – always looking to the future.  But what about the now?

While looking to the future is what gives us hope, and I truly believe that that’s hugely necessary and helps us persevere, however, I do believe that we need to search for some contentment and acceptance of the “now”.

I heard through the grapevine that yesterday was National Happiness Day.  And while I completely wonder who determines these things, I also was inspired by the number of people who celebrated it, they celebrated being happy – now.  I love that idea!

And I have a couple of projects up my sleeves that do just that…. they celebrate us, life, being a woman and preserving through the hardships.

Project #1 I’ve already told you about.  The Romance Shoot is a great way to pamper yourself and find an excuse to feel pretty.  I’ve teamed up with Hetler Photography and Helena Young to design a soft and romantic backdrop for these photo sessions, while their job is to make you feel gorgeous and then capture that magic.  The original idea was to make this solely a boudoir marathon, but then we thought women don’t need to wear lingerie to feel pretty.  Sometimes sexy is in the confidence to just be you.  So we opened these sessions up to anyone, maternity, boudoir or whatever reason you might like to have your beauty captured.  Sometimes women need to be reminded that they are beautiful.

Project #2 is something for me.  Yup, I’m being selfish on this one, because I can.  It involves my love of beautiful blooms and surrounding myself with them.  I’ll share more on this later.

Project #3 is something special for someone I don’t even know yet.  My version of a pay-it-forward.  Details are still in the works, but I might need a little bit of help bringing this crazy idea of mine to life.  That was about as clear as mud, right?  Let’s just say that if you have a heart for hospitality and are in the creative/wedding industry, we might want to chat.

Project #4 is my small role in Bloom | The Workshop.  I love helping other creatives and watching others succeed.  So being a part of this creative workshop is extremely exciting to me as I want to see others blossom and grow.

Last January I put together a small photo shoot showcasing some Valentine’s bouquets (you might remember it from here).  As I was putting the details together, I began thinking about a model for the shoot.  And then ultimately, I decided I could model for it.  I can make myself feel pretty once in a while, right?  So I did, blemishes, flaws, remaining baby weight and self-consciousness aside.  I didn’t want any pictures of myself until I lost those last few pounds – I was living for the future and not fully grasping the “now”.  But I’m glad I had the courage to model, because I think we all need to be reminded of our beauty once in a while.  Capture the moment we’re living in and focus a little on the now.

Happy Friday to my beautiful friends!

Photo by Heather Cisler Photography, oh my goodness was it cold that day!!

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