Book Report : MWF Seeking BFF

I finished up MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend last week. It is my book club's February pick, and I couldn't think of a better book for a group of women in the early stages of friendship.

I've mentioned before that friendships are something that I've long wanted to attract more of in my life, as my college friends are spread across the country. An old friend is precious no matter where they're located, but up until recently I had really been missing the casualness that comes with nearby friends-- grabbing a last minute brunch or chatting over coffee. I have friends through my husband, but as much as I enjoy spending time with them, they aren't really my friends, if you know what I mean. The author was in a similar position; she is originally from New York but ended up in Chicago with her significant other, so her closest friends are mostly back in her home state. She finds herself with a husband and a professional job, but a lack of social connections beyond her group of coworkers.

The book progresses a little bit like the Happiness Project {from what I remember}-- Rachel challenges herself to go on 52 new friend dates throughout the course of a year in hopes of finding a local BFF. She progresses from the standard method of finding new friends {having current acquaintances set her up with new connections} all the way to the unusual {using rent-a-friend type websites}. Throughout the book, she weaves research on friendship, communication and social issues from a variety of sources. It sometimes dragged on a bit as she documented each of the 52 dates and details of excursions with her old friends, but it really did make me think about my own approach to seeking out new friendships.

My takeaways:
- You are not a weirdo or a loser for not having a million friends as a post-college, working adult-- lots of people are in the same position. It's a big adjustment to go from the easy friendships of childhood and college {where many friendships bloomed out of proximity and familiarity} to adulthood {where you have to actively seek out new people and get to know them and their stories}.
- Follow through! If you want to spend time with someone, you really have to be the one to pursue it. I can be terrible with follow-ups or assume that a potential friend just isn't that in to me if I don't hear from them, so Rachel's attitude that she has to be the one to pursue get-togethers was inspiring.
- Most people are receptive to new friends but rarely come out and say something, so don't be afraid to make the first move.
- I have a serious fear of awkward silences {I definitely had second-hand embarrassment while reading about a few of Rachel's dates!} 
- I need to learn how to be better at small talk {... how does one go about that?}
- It might not be about finding one awesome BFF, but rather about filling your life with a number of fun, inspiring and fulfilling people.

PS - Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I'm sort of pretending today doesn't exist since my Valentine is 3,600 miles away. To make up for it, I'm indulging in a day full of Secret Single Behavior-- magazines, crocheting, eating popcorn for dinner, watching a bad TV show or two. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Guest Post // My Husband, the World Traveler!

Note from Caiti // Today I'm excited to have my husband Mark here with his first official guest post! Since he's getting settled in Ireland and I'm still in the States {*sigh*}, he kindly agreed to share a few stories and photos with us, so we can all live vicariously through him! Hearing about his adventures is getting me more and more excited to join him in a few weeks {fingers crossed!}. Take it away Mark!

Greetings to all of Caiti’s readers! She’s asked me to do a guest blog regarding this current grand adventure to Ireland, and I couldn’t possibly say no! Here’s hoping she gets to join me soon, as she is much more skilled at writing and photography than I am. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for me.

I have been to Ireland one time previously, down in Cork, Cobh, and Killarney, in the southern half of the country. I was only able to spend 3 days here, but enjoyed the country immensely from what I saw. So naturally when this RIDICULOUS opportunity presented itself, I didn’t even think twice (and didn’t even ask Caiti!) about volunteering. We share the same interest in travel and experiencing culture, and I knew she would be on board.

That said, I’ve made my way across the pond, and have (finally) beaten the jet lag, and settled into the hotel living arrangement for now. Getting here was interesting, to say the least. I was given an unexpected opportunity on my first (sleep-deprived) day as my car-mate and I got pretty hopelessly lost driving around Dublin trying to find the highway. While it was incredibly frustrating,it gave me some time to adjust to the "backwards" driving, and provided a good lesson: never drive through Dublin on a weekday!

So after the first few (somewhat grueling) days of meetings, work, and time adjusting, I was able to get my first proper taste of Dublin this weekend. Typically, I don’t like to subscribe to the “conventional tourist” plan, so my first day on the town consisted of a lot of wandering, getting lost (likely intentionally), and quiet observation.

These first few pictures show “home base,” so to speak. We’ll be living and working in a tiny town called Leixlip (locals pronounce it LEEKS-lup). My hotel is a very nicely run and beautiful hotel called The Courtyard Hotel, which drops me right onto the main drag running through the city. These pictures show the local scenery, which is mainly suburban Dublin. Having lived in the Chicago suburbs all my life, I noticed a very distinct difference, which is hard to describe. It’s almost like the pace of living is almost slower; a bit less rat-racey. Houses are closely packed in, but there is still an open feeling while walking around.

Eventually I found myself at the city limits, walking along the main in-road. From here I caught the 66 bus into Dublin. I brought no map, and had no guidance, but exited the bus when everyone else did. From that point, my “tour” consisted of blind turns, following (or decisively NOT following) the crowds, and various other bits of randomness. I noticed right away that portions of the US followed me here: McDonalds, Subway, and a Papa John’s (!) were all on the first street I walked down! I noticed large crowds, and quickly found as many road-less-traveled streets as I could find.

Now I was fortunate enough to have my cell phone with me, which did have a GPS. After about 2-3 hours of wandering, I had NO idea where I was. So I cheated, flipped on the GPS, which told me I was somewhere in the NE part of Dublin. Not to say that I meant to get lost, but I certainly didn’t mind. Had I not gone that way, I would not have walked through Dublin’s version of Chinatown!

So after a quick let’s-get-back-on-track moment, I meandered back into central Dublin. I stopped for lunch at Kennedy’s pub, and caught half of the Manchester United football game. Walking further near Merrion Square (which happens to be a good place to catch the 66) I happened to see the Irish Natural History Museum, and took a quick stroll. Ever hear of the Giant Irish Deer? That thing was scary huge. After that I found my way towards St. Stephen’s Green, which is one of the main public parks, where I took most of these pictures.

I didn’t do any tours or anything, but I did make my way into Trinity College. One memory I do want to file away is that right as I entered the campus, there was a band inside one of the buildings playing Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. They were quite good, and the music was filling the air everywhere. Right as I got to the middle of the giant courtyard, the guitarist started playing the iconic solo, which literally gave me the chills all the way up and down my back.

From there, I meandered some more and ran across the Occupy Ireland protesters. Now I know we don’t do politics in creative blog-land, but I did find this picture quite funny.

To finish out my walk (now running at about 6-7 hours), I strolled through the Temple Bar area, and then along the River Liffey for a while. Temple Bar is a very neat little area which has a ton of pubs, galleries, and cute little shops. It’ll likely be a great place to enjoy the nightlife when we decide to go out late.

So far, so good, I really can’t wait to get Caiti over here so we can explore a bit more of the country!

Thanks for reading!

- Mark

Caiti says // Thank you for the guest post, Marcus! You're the best :)

Corners of My Home

The abundance of quiet time the last few days has me noticing how much I enjoy my surroundings. It's taken a lot of work (and way too many gallons of paint), but I've finally achieved the calm, natural, artsy feel that I've long pined for. These are some of my favorite "corners" and vignettes from our living room. Maybe someday I'll do a full and proper house tour...

{Artwork details: Framed vintage Chicago map wrapping paper / collaged monogram / wood portrait / prints by Danna Ray: I'm Sorry But You Were Holding Me Back and A Grand Discovery {pictured next to two Crate & Barrel trivets that we hung with nails}  / Yeehaw Industries' I Love You Like Biscuits and Gravy. Paint color: Behr Ultra in 400E-2 Turtle Dove - it's much more greenish grey than it appears in photos}

Currently... {February Edition}

Missing Mark. I dropped him off at the airport yesterday morning. This will be our longest time apart since doing the long-distance schlep between Illinois and Missouri in college, so I've naturally been a bit gloomy and quiet. But I keep trying to focus on the adventures we have ahead of us and enjoying the solitude.

Cuddling that face up there. And, with Mark gone, having extensive conversations with her. Seriously. She chirps {or yowls, depending on her mood} when I ask her questions. That sounded suspiciously "crazy cat lady," Caiti.

Listening to a few new-to-me podcasts, including WTF with Marc Maron and The Accidental Creative with Todd Henry. Ignoring the strong language in the introduction, I'm really impressed by the interviews on WTF; they feature comedians and entertainers, but the questions are much deeper and more interesting than mainstream media interviews-- touching on motivations, challenges, religion, etc. And A.C. is great for any creative person. Next up on my listening schedule is 99% Invisible, Escape from Illustration Island and Making It with Riki Lindhome.

Reading "MWF Seeking BFF" and seeing a lot of myself in it.

Learning how to use iMovie. I bought an '09 copy of iLife for my ancient Macbook, and I'm trying my hand at editing our Costa Rica videos into one vacation compilation. It's a super easy program to use, so I'm having a lot of fun. After being inspired by Olivia Rae's Europe films, I hope to make a few films of our time in Ireland. Although mine will not be as pretty since my current DSLR does not shoot video, boo.

Loving "Parenthood." After catching up on the past seasons on Netflix, I now want to be a Braverman. I will forever miss Lorelai and Rory, but I do love Sarah and Amber's dynamic on the show.

Playing with my new Diana+ lens for my DSLR.

Packing. I haven't even booked my ticket to Ireland yet {since we're waiting for some real-life business to be taken care of before I can go} but I already have piles and piles of clothes on my dresser. I'm not a clothes horse, but determining what to pack for seven months abroad in potentially differing climates is proving to be a daunting task.

Pondering how my goals and creative ambitions will change over the next several months of travel. 

{This post was inspired by Elise's and Amy's "Currently" posts}

Dreaming & Scheming 2012: Ignite January

I am one month into my goal-setting process for the year. Since I set new action steps for each goal at the beginning of every month, I decided I'll also write a monthly reflection post to track my progress throughout the year. The action steps already keep me accountable, but this post will help me reflect on how I'm feeling and what changes I notice as time goes on. I think it's important to celebrate achievements and take time to see how my One Little Word {Ignite} is affecting my day-to-day life.

What I'm celebrating from January:
- Completed 18/27 of my action steps for January, and I'm fairly pleased with that number {the photo above shows a snippet of my action step checklist}
- Wrote an article for publication in a magazine {I'll share more details when I get my contributor's copy!}
- Sold a handful of manifesto/mantra prints to wonderful readers {I'm still offering custom prints for a little while longer if anyone is interested. Just email me for details!}
- Attended a crochet class at a local yarn shop
- Randomly ran into an old Mizzou classmate at said crochet class-- we share the same first name, same college major, same graduation year, currently live on the same block, have had similar career paths/layoffs/issues... total craziness!
- Had lunch with a new local friend
- Got an iPhone {FINALLY!}
- Visited my side of the family twice and Mark's side once
- Celebrated my birthday
- Tried the local vegetarian/vegan restaurant for the first time
- Went to a Blue Man Group show downtown
- Learned that we're moving to Ireland for six months!


The month ahead:
As I head into February, I'm placing an emphasis the connection and health areas of my goal sheet. I have to bid Mark adieu for a month on Tuesday as he heads to Ireland before me. And, UGH, saying goodbye will be not fun. I know that I will need to make an extra effort to connect with friends and family after Mark leaves, since he is normally my main source of support.

At the same time, I want to value the time I have alone, and remember to treat myself well during this month. I have a horrible habit of eating poorly when I'm left to my own devices-- I'm much more likely to prepare healthy food when it's not just me I'm cooking for. Perhaps this is a great time to try out Kris Carr's 21 Day Adventure Cleanse from Crazy Sexy Diet, or a 3-day DIY Blueprint-style cleanse, and I will definitely be utilizing the gym more regularly.

Lastly, I'm taking a second look at the Big Picture made up of my yearly goals. It's funny-- the one year that I outline crazy detailed plans is the year that a major life change is thrown into the mix that makes it almost impossible to stick to said plans. You think there might be a lesson in there?? I still intend to work towards the things I want, but my priorities will likely be shifting. There's a constant give and take-- there's no way I can continue to build the local friendships or be present for my family when I'll be 3,600 miles away, but I will {gladly} be able to experience an entirely different country and make friends and connections while I'm there. A few of my goals will be put on hold out of necessity until we get home, and in some cases, I'll be creating newer goals that fit better with our travels over the next 6 or 7 months. I'm giving myself the permission to change and adapt the goals I had laid out, and repeating to myself, "The only thing constant is change..."

{Art from the Heart} Page Gallery & Prompt #2

Here is the page I created for the first "Art from the Heart" prompt, featuring one of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt. It's funny-- I have written down several quotes in the first few weeks of this year, and almost all of them contain the words "experience" and "adventure." I had even set my iPhone background to this quote from the To Resolve Project. Then we find out we'll be spending the majority of the year in Ireland and will be able to travel extensively through Europe. I'm not much into the law of attraction concept, but I do think our minds are powerful things and that we tend to seek out situations and opportunities that match whatever our minds are focusing on at the time. Pretty amazing.

Here was my general process for creating the page:
 1. Gesso the page (as described in my Art Journal Kit post, gesso is a primer that helps prepare your page for paint).
2. Drop three different colors of acrylic paint on the page and blend with your fingers. I like to keep different colors in separate areas of the page, and blend just a little bit so that they don't get too muddled.

3. After the paint dries for a minute or two, rub the page lightly with your fingers or a clean rag. This will rub off sporadic areas of paint and create the white splatter effect that you see above.
4. Use gel matte medium to create an image transfer (the section of pattern that is in the upper left in the photo below). I can go into more details about gel transfers later, but I used the same general process as the wood portrait I made a few months ago.

5. Cut out collage imagery from magazines or print an image from online. I wanted to be able to use this flower from Yoga Journal magazine more than once, so I first scanned it into my computer so I will always have a digital copy of it and then printed it on regular computer paper. Once printed, I cut it out with small scissors.
6. I used India ink to paint the quote on the page, and left blanks for certain words that I wanted to stamp onto the page using my alphabet set. After the India ink was dry, I stamped those words in using a black stamp pad.
7. I added a few dollops of paint and used some old caps and a toilet paper tube as stamps to make circles on the page.
8. To be determined: Since I'm rarely 100% done with my pages, I still might add some small writing at the  top of the page, perhaps about our Ireland trip, and perhaps a few more layers of patterns in the top right corner.

Reader Contributions:

Page by Amanda from Got Curls, with lyrics from Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Page by Marcia from Art by Marcia Beckett, with lyrics by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Thank you for your contributions, ladies! I loved seeing your own interpretations of the prompt :)


Now on to Prompt #2... I again invite anyone who is inspired to send me images of your pages that you create in response to the prompt {email: CaitididDesigns [at] gmail [dot] com}, and I'll feature all submissions on Wednesday, February 15th.

Monthly Faves : January

Monthly Faves is a series featuring my favorite links and bits around the interwebs.

• I love a classic, homey bakery as much as the next carb-addict, but these modern designer bakeries are pretty stunning.
• Traditional painted portraits, modernized: Artist Sandro Kopp makes portraits during Skype sessions {photo 1 above}.
• To combat girl-on-girl hate and competitiveness, let's spread this message: The "Support Her" Manifesto.
• This is literally The Cutest Ever: Big Brother's Guide to the World.
• E Tells Tales asked readers to leave their anonymous resolutions. It's like Post Secret meets New Year's resolutions-- heartfelt and heart-wrenching. 
• I would have never thought to take long-exposure photographs of fireflies. Wow.
• Alan Arkin believes that all life is improvisation {which is something I can get behind!}
• The amazing Shannon and Kristin of {r}evolution apparel wrote about why travelers make great entrepreneurs.
• A visual breakdown of Wes Anderson films.


• A fabulous daily video from hey_rabbit that is a unique and beautifully executed interpretation of a 365 project.
• A beautiful film about letterpress by Danny Cooke that makes me want my own press SO BAD.
• Books and stop-motion animation makes my heart pitter-patter. So gorgeous.
• A look at Lumi Inkodye, a paint that develops and intensifies in the sunlight and can be used with photographic negatives to make prints onto fabric.
• A simple but effective video demonstrating why creativity needs time.
• "I want to go to there" place #3891476: Patagonia


• Newest obsession: We're About To Be Friends, the interview podcast from the amazingsuperfantastic Joy the Baker. I want to be friends with HER, desperately (but that's already common knowledge after my repetitive gushing over the "Joy the Baker" podcast from its inception).
• Blogger Kate Miss put together an album of cover songs with her brother. Could she *be* any more multi-talented? {photo 2 above}.
• First, put on the best pair of headphones you have, and then give this 3D-audio tune a listen. Beware: it's a head trip.
• I love getting new podcast recommendations, especially from other creative, humor-loving types.


• Make: a pretty gold-dipped porcelain bowl or hand-dyed napkins.
• Hack: Here's a stupidly simple way of making a custom case for your iPhone-- I bought a clear case from Overstock.com last week to try this out myself!
• Purchase: Amazing textiles by Nancy Straughan {photo 3 above}.
• Learn: How to make animated GIFs.
• Envy: This super adorable wedding (make sure you click "next" to view all the photos).
• Participate: I'm currently obsessed with the concept of food swaps, which has been heralded as a hot food trend for 2012. They involve a group of participants who gather with the purpose of trading batches of their homemade food-- everything from homemade vanilla extract to loaves of foccacia bread to foraged mushrooms. This is definitely something I'd love to take part in someday!

Do you like my Monthly Faves posts? Then make sure you follow me on Twitter! I've found that I end up with more links than I can possibly share each month, so I'm going to be regularly Tweeting some of the extra finds that don't end up in my Monthly Faves posts.

A Big Announcement {a.k.a., Holy #*@&, is this real life?!}

Seriously, y'all. Is this my life??

I'm moving to Dublin, Ireland, for six months. I'm moving to Ireland. Holy. Cannoli.

How did this come about, you ask? Well, I can thank my husband for this one. He works for a company that provides professional services to other companies, and it just so happens that a new project is in Ireland. Long story short, Mark volunteered himself to be a part of the team on this project, and off we go!

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that this is happening {thus the radio silence on the blog for much of last week} but it really is wonderfully exciting. I've had that Disneyland/"I'm too excited to sleep!" feeling for days now. Traveling somewhere for an extended period of time has been on my Life List since its inception, but I had considered "extended time" to be anything more than two weeks-- I certainly wasn't expecting six months! An international trip was also on my goal worksheet for the year in the Adventure category, and-- KABLAM!-- we are getting an adventure for sure. Until now, my international travel experience has been limited to a trip to Costa Rica in 2009 and a 2-week study abroad tour during college through France, Germany, Belgium, and Austria-- and I quickly learned that two weeks for four countries was nowhere near enough time to really satisfy my wanderlust and desire to truly experience a new place.

We'll be set up with an apartment just outside of Dublin, and Mark's company seems to be working very hard to make the transition easy. And by the luck o' the Blarney Stone, the apartment *will* have internet, so get ready for far too many pictures of rolling hills, old buildings and wandering sheep :)

Weekend trips around the emerald isle and to London and Edinburgh are in the schedule. And just putting it out there: It's also on my Life List to see an Olympics game-- c'mon Universe! :) To top that off-- since we'll already be on that side of the pond-- we're planning an extended vacation at the conclusion of Mark's project to at least Spain and Germany {and Scandinavia, if at all possible. Or Italy! Or Amsterdam!}.

There are still a few details to iron out, and I've been spending hours researching extended travel visas, work permits {for Mark} and spousal requirements {for me}. It has all happened so fast-- Mark found out just a week ago and leaves this Saturday, whoa nelly. Hopefully, I'll be able to follow him there within a month. When I first received the news I was a Sad Panda because I thought I'd be at home and husband-less for four months due to 3-month maximum time limits for staying in Ireland, but I believe that will be remedied for me through Mark's Irish work permit. Fingers crossed.

I feel incredibly blessed and grateful that Mark and I get to share this experience. It will be my first time in the country {Mark and both of our parents have been there before}, and I'm excited to see a bit of my heritage. I will have to take a peek at the family tree before I go since I believe we have roots in a town north of Dublin. 

Any tips, advice, or must-sees for Ireland? Anything I should remember to pack for a half-year stay in another country?

{Image Credits: Photo - Ireland by k.babineau // Typography - Yours truly}

PS- I fully intended to post the Art from the Heart journal pages and the new prompt today, but I couldn't keep this news a secret any longer! Check back on Wednesday or Thursday for an AFTH gallery post and the next prompt.