Babysitter's Survival Kit

Sorry for no posts yesterday except for an accidental one I never finished, oops! I spent my whole day babysitting my cousin's adorable 1 year old, Elisabeth.

She is a VERY smiley little baby, and was so much fun! Although we had a this big fussy period in the middle.. still totally worth it to see her little face light up when she came back around. Since I've worked as an intern the past two summer I can't even remember the last time I babysat for anyone. Let alone babysit a baby so young for seven hours. So today I wanted to share my babysitter survival kit!

1. Bring backup clothes. Just in case a kid makes a mess on you, or in case the house temperature is extremely hot/extremely cold. Avoiding any of the little issues can make your seven hours a much happier time, and you can actually enjoy being with the cuties you're watching.

2. Have your favorite snack with you. Most of the time you're free to take food from the house or they'll have a meal set up for you, but if you have a particular snack you know you love, there's a chance they may not have exactly what you want! I was very happy to have my Stacy's Pita Chips and Grandma's Hummus during Elisabeth's nap.

3. Bring a book and/or your computer. IF the kids are going to sleep at any point while you're there. There may be nothing on the TV that you want to watch and if you're like me, sometimes every remote seems to be more difficult than the last. Having something to get done while the little ones sleep is a definite for survival.

4. DON'T forget your phone charger. If your phone dies and the parents of the kids you're watching WILL have a heart attack. And not to mention you never know when you'll need to call mom for advice along the way.

I know these are simple tips, but when forgotten they can make seven hours feel like seven thousand. I hope these are helpful for the next time you're watching a little one that isn't your own! love, lindsay

What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up

This is the question everyone starts asking when you reach the ripe age of 21... and sooner really. Isn't it a little nerve-wracking and completely crazy that at such a young age I'm supposed to have decided what I'm going to dedicate my life and time to for the next 40 years? The thought of that used to be a big issue for me. It became one of my worst fears that I was going to pick the wrong thing and ruin my life, stuck doing something I'm horrible at or have a horrible time at. But then I had the big epiphany:

I don't have to do one thing for the rest of my life.

"That's wrong. That's just insane and too hopeful to be true," I told myself. "Don't be delusional." Growing up as the daughter of CPAs, believing that you could do more than one thing in your career life was as absurd as believing in Santa Claus (which I did until I was in 5th grade by the way. Irrelevant? Oh sorry.)

Eventually I started to question what was so crazy about it. Nothing, nothing at all. So I started to list all the things I want to be when I grow up and found that it would be very plausible for me to have multiple careers at different times in my life, especially because
so many of them relate to each other. I thought I'd share that list with you today!

1. Art Director at an Advertising Agency

As many of you know, I'm currently in this line of work as an intern and absolutely in love with my job. This may or may not be what I want to do forever, but I do know it's where I want to start.

2. Freelance Graphic Designer

This is one of those jobs that clearly interlinks with my first dream job. Many people actually are Art Directors and freelancers at the same time.

3. Author

I want to write a book. I've wanted to write my own book since I was in the fourth grade and wanted to be a famous author like J.K. Rowling (my role model at the time and also my role model still today). I consider myself a storyteller and hope that someday I can have a story published.

4. Dress Designer

What girl hasn't wanted to design a clothing line? Okay, so maybe I won't be the next Oscar de la Renta in my lifetime, but Elsie from A Beautiful Mess was able to bring her dress line to life through her small business. So why couldn't I?

5. Photographer

I always love photos, even as a kid. At that point I really just loved being in them to be honest, but just shows I have been very emotionally attached to photos since I was little. I'd love to photograph some weddings or even just senior portraits for a living sometime in my life.

6. Magazine Design

Clearly lots of my dreams involve different design jobs. Very related and very possible to have more than one at different points.

7. Greeting Card Writer

Weird. I know. But I just feel like it would be a fun challenge to try and come up with a multitude of greeting cards every day and get paid for it!

8. Business Owner

I don't know if this means starting something from scratch necessarily or if it will come in the form of buying into a business I believe in. There are a lot of ways to go about making this idea a reality.

9. Blogger

I'd say that this dream is a work in progress! I'd love for my little corner of the internet to someday become a bigger part of my life.

This is just the short list of jobs I think I would love the most. The hopes I just can't shake. I could never pick just one. And luckily I don't have to. What jobs are on your dream list? Do any of you had more than one career already? I'd love to hear about your dreams in the comments! love, lindsay

Since this blog IS titled "The Lovely Things Are" it only seems appropriate to share the things I find lovely each week! I'm really excited to start this first official feature to my blog, so maybe I can call myself a cool blogger for real now?

No, not yet? Yeah, you're probably right, I should get more readers than just Morgan (HI SHMORG) before I start running for blogger of the year.

Without further ado, the lovely things are...

This weekend my parents and I took a little weekend trip to NOLA. It was such a nice mini getaway with lots of great food and even more drink! I really hope I can squeeze in a few more fun trips before summer ends.

Ah, yes the food I was talking about. I'm not personally a big breakfast eater. I don't like a lot of normal breakfast foods and am even picky about the ones I do like. I'm happier in the morning with a soda and a chocolate bar (to each his own, eh?), but this little brunch place in New Orleans was AMAZING! I had fried soft shell crab with hashbrowns and scrambled eggs. The praline bacon was also to DIE for. I would STRONGLY recommend Elizabeth's Restaurant on Gallier St to anyone in that area!

Friday night I had the privilege of sitting in the box at the Ranger's game! We played well, it didn't rain, and I could watch the game live from in the air conditioning. What could be better?

Last but not least, are beignets. Oh beignet, there is nothing quite like you. If you have never had a beignet, shame on you. Cafe du Monde's beignets definitely live up to the reputation.

What things are you loving this week? I'd love to hear from anyone who stumbles across this blog! (and obviously you, shmorgan.) love, lindsay

Father's Day

This lovely Sunday was spent celebrating my daddy and papa. We took a trip out to my mom's parents so we could make lunch for them. They're seriously the most adorable old people ever. My dad grilled steaks and my mom and I made potatoes and brussel sprouts (nom nom nom). We were only there about 5 or 6 hours but it was worth the drive to see how happy it made them!

 Sofia and Baxter LOVED my grandparents yard! It was their first trip to East Texas and they behaved so well all day! They were playful, but not aggressive. Sweet, but not in your face. These pug pups steal more of my heart every day!

 I always love any opportunity I can get to take a photo of my parents together. They are truly two of the most amazing and inspirational people in the world.

 This picture of me and Bax was a happy accident. I just wanted an outfit picture but he couldn't resist coming to love me while I was on his level.

Not only is my daddy the best daddy to me and my brother, he is the greatest Pug Daddy of all time. He loves these little pups like crazy and gives them so much. I truly adore watching him interact with them. Hope you all had a very lovely father's day as well! love, lindsay

In Memory

May the Angels protect you,

Trouble neglect you

And heaven accept you

When it's time to go home

Horrible things should not happen to wonderful people. But they do. All we can do is remember to love those around us.

Lovely Sundays

I love Sundays. Sunday are family days that seem to be a great mix of productivity and laziness. This sunday was a little sad because we said goodbye to my little brother at the airport as he left us for Kenya for 2 weeks. It was also happy because I'm so excited for him, it should be a life-changing experience for him and hopefully life-changing for the children he comes into contact with.  We miss you already baby bro!

After dropping him off we went for lunch at a place I had never been before, but hope to visit again and again and again very soon! Celebration was a sincerely adorable restaurant. All of the shops and places to eat along the section of the street Celebration is on are all run out of the residential houses that used to be lived in there. Naturally this only added to its charm. We all agreed that even though we were only 10 minutes from home we felt like we were on a vacation! Okay, so it's cute. Is that all? Of course not! THE FOOD WAS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. It's specialty is having the freshest product (they host farmer's markets) and southern cooking. Southern cooking=fried chicken=I couldn't say no to the chicken fried chicken. And it blew my mind. You could definitely tell how fresh their steamed squash and broccoli was as well.

Seeing as this meal alone could make for the loveliest of Sundays, I'm fortunate to say my luck only continued through the rest of the day. I got my nails done, replaced the jeans that had a hole torn in them, and invested in an arm band to hold my iPhone for when I go running. Mom and I did hot yoga together in the evening and came home to cook another delicious meal with my Dad.

Copious amounts of time were spent loving on my sweet adorable pug pups, Baxter and Sofia. We spent a lot of the evening cuddled up with the little sweeties on the couch. I look at them everyday and can't ever get over how incredibly cute they are. Even though some days they do drive us mad, I'm completely smitten with them.

All in all, Sundays and wonderful days. Thanks for letting me share my lovely Sunday with you. What kind of things do you like to do with your Sundays? 

love, lindsay

Creative Juices

Lindsay Wright, Professional Intern/Goofball

As you may know I just started a very big internship about 2 weeks ago, which explains my ghostly silence on this new blog. As an art direction intern, my first assignment was to create a "self-promo" to hand out to all the creative group heads. It gives them my extension for my phone so they can give me a call and bring me onto their projects when they need some extra hands on deck. I wanted to create something that showed them I'm not just a designer, but a conceptual thinker. But I also wanted it to be cute, to make them laugh a little. I'm a sucker for cheesy little things, and I thought that maybe if it was silly it could show that I don't take myself too seriously.

Snapple (left) and Odwalla (right)

So after going through a lot of way too cheesy and a lot of horrible ideas I finally came up with "Creative Juices." Everyone knows the saying "get your creative juices flowing," so why not play on this phrase and hand out creative juices. First decision was finding the right juice. I originally pictures something like Naked Juice or Odwalla, but realized that these would have to be kept in a fridge. In the fridge means out of sight and out of sight is out of mind, so that idea was thrown out. I tried Fuze, but it was difficult to design a label that would fit nicely on their strangely shaped bottles. I landed on Snapple. Yes, they mostly make teas, but they are fruit teas and they do have some juices. They also were a great size for labels that gave the design some more space.

Next came the time to think about logistics. I needed these labels to have the right design, right paper, and flawless cut. I should be playful, but not look like a children's craft-time project. So I went above and beyond and bought myself a fancy little paper cutter. It would have been $75 but it happened to be 50% off. Also, Jo-Anns app has an abundance of seriously awesome coupons so I would strongly suggest downloading it! At STAPLES I decided on the glossy paper because it seemed like it would stand out more and deal better with the juice "sweating" on the bottle if they wanted to put it in the fridge and actually drink it later.

I was so proud of how they turned out! They Strawberry-Kiwi (pink) definitely looked the most beautiful with the label I designed. I loved this little project because one of my dreams for the future is actually to be involved in packaging design and this project taught me so much more about it than I had expected. The only disadvantage was lugging these bad boys around the office and up the stairs while trying to navigate through cubicles to find the desks I was looking for. I looked like a total noob. Luckily a fellow intern took pity on me and helped me to navigate his floor by printing a map for me and highlighting all the places I needed to go. As Morgan would say, he was my "guardian angel intern."

love, lindsay

The Puggly Post

Anyone who knows me knows that pugs are my absolute favorite thing in this world. ESPECIALLY my own pugs. My first pug, Gracie, passed away this December. To help cope we got two pug puppies, Sofia and Baxter. In the future I plan to frequently post the best pictures I get of my Sofia and Baxter (since they're the things I take the most photos of by far) and share my favorite pictures from the past of Gracie (because she was adorable). Someday I also plan to do some individual posts about each pug. Clearly I'm a little too obsessed. Without further ado, meet the pugglies!

Gracie

Sofia

Baxter

Memorial Day Weekend

Before Lexx came into town I was lucky enough to spend some time with my boy. We had a great time with the puppies and going to eat at one of our favorite places, Velvet Taco. They also have a fabulous specialty beer that we were able to enjoy.

Most of my weekend was spent my the pool with Lexx (and the pug pups, Sofia and Baxter) drinking Margaritas with frozen berries for ice and enjoying our pretty new swimsuits. Surprisingly lots of berries were consumed this weekend because my mom and her best friend made delicious berry cobbler! I was happy to have a wonderful last full weekend of summer before I start my internship tomorrow and begin living in the "real world." I can't wait to share all my experiences there on the blog! love, lindsay

Goal: Make Old Friendships Last

Where would we all be in life without our friends? Friends are the ones who make our lives worth the while and seem to be able to handle our problems when we can't. One of my personal goals is to constantly seek the kind of friendships that will last. I also make it a goal to keep up with friends from the past that I want to stay in my life. My best friend from high school will be coming to visit me for Memorial weekend. I'm so excited to have girl time by the pool with her and catch up over drinks now that we're both 21! Also, I'm really hoping we make time for some photo adventures! She was my photography partner-in-crime during high school, serving as my model for so many photo-shoots, I'm really excited to maybe get out and use my camera again.

Lexx and I became friends when we were about 15 years old, but the past 3 years of our friendship have been spent going to colleges in different states. So how do you not just maintain a friendship from a  distance, but keep it active and strong? Here are a few things that have helped Lexxi and I over the past few years.

1. Communicate. Communicate. COMMUNICATE. As cheesy and typical as this piece of advice sounds, it is the absolute key to make a friendship survive. With technology like Skype and texting it should be the easiest thing in the world, but sometimes we take for granted that we have the ability to communicate with a friend almost constantly. Use your resources and keep asking them about their life! If they want the friendship to last they'll return the favor and ask you too.

2. Still go to your long distance friends for advice. Sometimes when your friend is far away, they don't completely understand a situation you may be in. Maybe they don't know the people, place, or attitude of the new place you live, so it starts to seem silly to ask them for advice. It's not! An outsider's opinion sometimes can be 100 times better than the opinions of those who are too close to see the situation. So don't ever be afraid to call up your friend and ask them for their two cents!

3. Make solid plans to visit in advance. If you don't sit down with them over Skype and set a solid weekend to visit, chances are it will never happen. You just find yourself saying, "You should come visit soon!" or "I really want to come see you some time!" In these situations, 'sometime' and 'soon' may never come. It just takes 15 minutes to pick an exact date, so do it! Plus, it gives you something to look forward to and something fun to talk about.

4. Send each other mail. Everyone loves getting mail. Whether it's a letter or a package, real mail is just something so personal as compared to the text messages and emails of today's communication world. Maybe you send each other post cards or the doodles you drew in class that made you think of them, but in the end a friend always appreciates the time taken to send them a little piece of you!

5. Be patient. Everyone is busy sometimes, and some of us are just busy all the time! Sometimes when we aren't busy it's hard to remember that our far away friends may be. They're on different schedules than us and have different needs to meet, which can make it hard to keep communication and plans in sync. Just remember not to get frustrated! Your friend probably wants to talk to you too, but if they're too busy they just can't. Be patient with them and they'll be patient with you when you're end of things gets a little crazy.

Lexx and I wish you a very happy Memorial Day Weekend and hope you have fun with some great friends! love, lindsay

The Lovely Things Are

Hello lovelys, welcome to the first post on The Lovely Things Are blog! My name is Lindsay Wright and I'm the author of this brand new blog. My goals for this blog are incredibly broad, but hopefully clear. My blog is about promoting growth and constant self-improvement in my life (and hopefully my future readers' lives) through my heart, my mind, and my body. I want to feel completely lovely from the inside out and to always be proud of who I am and who I am becoming. Growing up is a part of life, and my hope is that this blog can be a tool to make sure growing is done right.

Have a lovely day,

xoxo Lindsay