Lauren's Heart.

hi lovies!!!


while i'm home in Wichita Falls, TX enjoying family time (including celebrating my birthday with my twin), some of my favorite friends are blog-sitting my dolce vita in a guest series called, "showing our hearts."  A new one will be posted every week day until i get back in town on March 10th. I'm really excited! they're all pretty hearts and it's such a fun, simple way to get to know another blogger better. 


dear readers, i hope you enjoy each post starting with the very first one today from the ever lovely lauren nicole. love, micaela xo

A Picture : 

My best friend, Stephen, recently moved to Portland. And it's been tough not having his crazy, silly, lovely energy and personality around. He's been busy trying to find a job and getting settled in, so we haven't had the chance to chat; AKA, I miss him. But anyway, these photos is from his going away party last week and I put them together because I like how they look next to one another, don't you? He's one of my favorite people and our hearts are so similar. Not including him in this post would be just plain odd.

A Poem : 

Can you lie next to her
and give her your heart, your heart?
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
and confess your love, your love?
As well as your folly
And can you kneel before this king
and say "I’m clean", "I’m Clean"?

- Excerpt from 'White Blank Page', by Mumford and Sons.

Even though it's not a poem, Mumford and Sons' lyrics read and sound to me just like poems. If you've ever heard their music, you know just how beautiful and poetry-like it is. Marcus Mumford is a lyrical genius and really puts all his heart into what he writes.

A Song :


Florence And The Machine and Laura Marling are two of my favorite artists/singer-songwriters. along with lovely Mumford and Sons up there. Both of these women have written songs that make my heart swell and my soul grow. I couldn't possibly choose just one of them to represent my heart. Each of these songs are up there in my favorites of Florence and Marling, because I could not possibly have just one favorite from both of them. Why I love both these songs? I can't even put words to why I love both of them, so just listen and you'll see! 


Quote:

"Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." - Kurt Vonnegut
 

"Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been." - Alan Alda
 

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is wasted." - Unknown
 

"I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember." - Elizabethtown

"There is nothing more artistic than to truly love people." - Van Gogh

"the world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. on occasion' some may be correct. but do not do their work for them. seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. don't take it personally when they say "no" - they may not be smart enough to say "yes"." - keith olbermann

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." - Franklin P. Jones
 

{Just like my soul sister Caela, I love quotes, so there's no way I could have picked just one!}

An Item of Clothing:

After I lost 60+ pounds last summer, I was able to wear a lot more of the kinds of clothing I like. Unfortunately, I don't have too many photos of myself in my favorite articles of clothing. I have a favorite yellow dress, two green dresses and several skirts. But telling you doesn't help, now does it? Well, I've fallen in love a lot more with shoes in the past 6ish months or so and these are only a couple pairs that I love. I need to take some photos of the heels I've been buying and wearing lately, they are super cute! Stop by my blog someday, I think a shoe post is in order.

A Place: 

My beau's house feels like home. Or wherever he is for that matter. He's one of my best friends and wherever he is feels like somewhere I should be too.

ready for some family time!

following Bethany's cute idea to become more travel-saavy, i labeled my toiletries with doilies, washi tape, and glitter. i realize i'm going to my parent's house so i don't really need to bring my usual hair stuff, but lately my skin has been out of control. I thought i better bring my sensitive face wash/moisturizer or i fear what my face will look like when i get back.

i can't wait for family time! i'm catching a plane in the morning {prayers for safe travels please!} and will land at DFW around 1 p.m. where my twinkie and her husband will meet me at the arrivals gate (such a happy place!). The last time i was home was in july, so i can't wait to soak up all the time i can get with my family.

Like last time, i've asked my favorite ladies (and friends) to blog-sit. Not only will you get to meet some of my very favorite reads, you'll see why i adore them so.

i decided to give them instructions from the last series of guest posts on my dolce vita: "With as much creativity as you can muster, show your heart in:a picture, a poem, a song (or piece of music), a quote, an item of clothing, and a place." 


starting tomorrow through March 10th, stay tuned each day to see beautiful hearts and please say hello to each fabulous girl visiting. xo

Sharing Sundays... an etsy favorite from itchin stitchin.

i've already blogged about amanda's etsy shop before and about the sweet person amanda is (she's my vintage soul sister-- we met after being paired up for this fun swap) but i couldn't help myself for blogging about her shop again when i fell in love with the above item.

i would put my most precious jewelry {like the bracelet my mother-in-law gave me on my wedding day} inside for safe keeping. Not only do i love deers, but how cute is it's little stance?

i want, i want, i want. my birthday is around the corner...

ps. how great is this gold tassel bow mirror? her shop is filled with such vintage/homemade goodies!

happy things to end the week with.

♥ my birthday isn't until March 7th but already the birthday mail love has made it's way to my doorstep! it feels like Christmas morning every time i get a pretty package. These are from the lovely Lauren Nicole (gift giving goddess) and sweet Alyssa. (i'll blog about the mail love in a different post) THANK YOU dearest friends with all my heart xoxo everything was perfectly me. 

♥ speaking of birthdays, my brother Marco's birthday was on the 22nd. Last year, i asked a big favor from my heart. So many of you wonderful friends sent a birthday card/care package to him while he was serving a year long deployment (his third!) in Iraq. I can't tell you how much it still means to me. 

I am thankful this year we didn't have to do that, and instead i sent him the above bows from love my boutique on etsy. They're for his little girl that him and his girlfriend Christina are expecting in June. The amazing part of the story is if it wasn't for that deployment in Iraq, my brother would never have met the love of his life. 

♥ this is what i wore for my friend Manny's 80s themed birthday party. Remind me why the fanny pack went out of style? it was so convenient! especially when we danced all night.

♥ my friend sarah not only makes beautiful jewelry, she's also an artist. She gave me this pretty canvas with one of my favorite quotes (and truths) : this too shall pass.

♥ my cute new hot pink (with zebra print inside) luggage that i'm using to take home for my birthday trip. I CAN'T WAIT to see my family again!

♥ and because it's been awhile since i've indulged in one (and the weather has been amazing the past two days) i treated myself to a pedicure in OPI's "mermaid's tears" before meeting my girlfriend Candice for a lunch at Corner Bakery (i love their soup bowls!). 

Happy Weekend Lovies! what happy things are you ending the week with? 

(i can add this to the list-- ♥ my husband just asked to take me out on a date tonight) 

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

Wanting to Know you Wens.

This time next week i will be in Wichita Falls, TX. I can't wait to be back at my parent's -- the endless mother-daughter time and of course, getting to be inseparable from my twin sister again. We'll get to celebrate our 28th birthday together thanks to her husband (it was his gift for us).

I'm so close to my family that moving away was one of the hardest things i've done {and one of the bravest}. There's no better feeling than coming home.

poppy and pinecone

where do you call home? and where do you live now? 

Wichita Falls is home // right now me and my husband live in El Paso, TX.

Pretty You And Me.

I mentioned friday about my friend Sarah hosting another jewelry party. Well i happen to believe a girl can never have too many pieces of bling, especially if it's one of a kind. That's what i love so much about Sarah's. They have a bohemian feel with a rockstar edge-- and at the same time are girly and romantic. I snapped a few photos of my purchases on Friday to share with you: 

this set makes me ready for summer! the above is looking down at the three piece bangle set-- don't you just love all the colors? and the purple skull! 

 

six piece bangle set that you can wear stacked, or a few at a time

I'm really proud of Sarah and think each piece is so unique and beautiful. I know we're close friends, but i truly mean it. I dress up my outfits every day with a bangle set or feather earrings from her line. 

i love her stuff so much, i'm thinking about doing a giveaway for one of her pieces... which do you think you lovies would prefer to win-- feather earrings or a bangle set? 

{you can check out more of her items on her facebook page, Pretty You And Me}

Sharing Sundays... an etsy favorite from bear cat.

i want to go on dates in this peter pan collared frock that makes me think annie hall meets rosemary's baby.

(i wish i could pull off her bangs too)

happy things to end the week with.

♥ There is no better way to start the day then when your husband comes home with a big bag of Dunkin' Donuts.

♥ Happy Valentine's Day to me, Love me. An ode to Salinger tote by i miss you already to add to my collection.

♥ Speaking of V-Day, i didn't get a chance to make my usual "say it in film style" valentine's. I was grateful to have signed up for Gracie's hand-made valentine swap and made the above for her (my swap partner)-- one of her favorite romantic movies. 

♥ Tonight is my friend Manny's birthday and we're going to party like it's 1980! dressing up and everything. I can't wait to break out some bright eye shadow, hairspray, and shoulder pads. I think i have my big Donnie Whalberg pin somewhere... and yesterday while thrifting i bought a fanny pack to keep all my stuff when we're dancing. I can't wait-- it's going to be RAD! 

♥ Tomorrow my friend Sarah is hosting another Pretty You and Me jewelry party and i'm already looking forward to making this mine (i love the skull!)

What can be better than a weekend surrounded by friends?


Happy Weekend Lovies! what happy things are you ending the week with?

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

three things thrifted.

i took myself out on a date to our local Savers, and i'm so glad i did! i hit the thrifting jackpot today, lovies. i may have spent more than i normally would buy second hand items, but when you see the last item that went into my arms today, you'll understand why.

below the knee length t-shirt dress in my favorite color (also loved the 80s feel) / i scored a set of pyrex glass beakers : one is holding my pens on my desk and the other holds my make-up brushes as you can see from the photo above. 

now these babies are the reason why i spent a little more than usual! the photo doesn't do them justice. i knew immediately when i saw them, i had to have them no matter the price, especially since they were in my size. They're in perfect condition Giani Bini boots and they were $24.99. This may not seem a lot if you live in a big city, but it's the most I've spent while thrifting. I'm in love with them! 


Since i didn't get a chance to ask a question yesterday for Wanting to Know You Wenesday, i'll ask it here : what's the most you have ever spent thrifting and what was it? 

bits of valentine's around casa di M.

♥ i couldn't stop giggling at how cute the turtle card was when i chose it for my husband

♥ before Max left for work, i handed him "10 things i love about you" to read throughout his work day

♥ heart shaped pasta for dinner with cupcakes for dessert (because i couldn't resist those cute cupcake toppers). also, anyone else a sucker for Target's dollar bins? That's where i picked up my heart shaped wooden spoon & pot holder.

i'm off to start cooking while listening to this on my record player (classic love song). Speaking of cooking! the winner of the Pinny Me Up Apron Giveaway is...

Thank-you to everyone who entered and sweet tillie for hosting. Happy Valentine's Day Lovies! xoxo

Book Club : Franny and Zooey.

After reading Nine Stories together, Courtney, Jo, and I decided to continue our Salinger book club with Franny and Zooey.  

How i wish we could sit around cups of coffee, our copy in our laps (underlined, i'm sure) discussing our reactions and how we felt this time round. 

Until we can, for this book cub pick we all presented a question for each of us to answer.

Jo asked, "In Zooey, our narrator says, "I know the difference between a mystical story and a love story.  I say that my current offering isn't a mystical story, or a religiously mystifying story, at all.  I say it's a compound, or multiple, love story, pure and complicated." Do you feel that "Zooey" is a love story or a mystical story?  Why?

What I love most about Salinger is his way of writing about human connection-- that you read it like a love story even if it's not exactly romantic love. Zooey is a love story more than a mystical one. Yes, religion is the backdrop and a huge part of this story, but deeper than that is a brother trying to help his sister out of her confused, consuming darkness. Even when he seems to have made it worse and walks away (because isn't that how it happens in real life?), he thinks of a different approach, a light hearted one to get to Franny. He gives her a reason for it all (the "fat lady")  and that finally gives his sister much needed peace.

Courtney asked, Which character did you connect with the most? Was it the sarcastic "freak" Zooey, the over thinker and crisis ridden Franny, the hermit Buddy, or the worrying Bessie? Or maybe it was someone completely different like Lane!

I would have to say Franny, and not just because i tend to over think everything but I remember going through a small crisis in high school. Of course I was blind to it all, but thank God my twin sister was my Zooey.

I asked, Of the three we've read, which book would your recommend of Salinger's? Why? 

I enjoyed Franny and Zooey for all the reasons i've come to appreciate Salinger's style of writing-- that it reads more like a play and it's based solely on dialogue between characters rather than any active plot. Yet, I don't think this is the book I would recommend to someone being introduced to J.D. Salinger or as your next must-read. Instead, I'd give you my copy of Nine Stories. It's the only one i loved as a whole the whole way through. I'd tell you that if you never read a sentence of Salinger's, it'd be a shame to miss this one.

And because I'm a lover of quotes, here are key sentences that stuck out to me in Franny and Zooey: 

"She was wearing a navy-blue reefer and a tam that was very nearly the same shade of red as the blanket on the bed in Van Gogh's room at Arles." -pg 151

"It happens to be one of those days when I see everybody in the family, including myself, through the wrong end of a telescope." -pg 58

"Let's just try to have a marvelous time this weekend. I mean not try to analyze everything to death for once, if possible. Especially me. I love you." -pg 6


Once again, I enjoyed reading that much more with these two girls and I can't wait to see what they thought. Read Jo's answers here // Courtney's answers here.

happy things to end the week with.

♥ Happy Anniversary to my twinkie and her husband Philip who celebrate 5 years of marriage bliss today! i couldn't be luckier when it comes to this brother-in-law in particular :) i love you Wilsons! xoxo

♥ i've been trying to walk past these while grocery shopping... but this past Monday, i finally gave in and told myself you only live once. I believe in indulging once in awhile-- especially on  monday night.  

♥ i was blown away by this beautiful post on Claire's blog. We need more people like these two in the world. Please read said post and help this adorable family out if you're able to. It's such an amazing cause! My dad is actually on a church mission trip to Honduras and said the children there think he's Santa Claus when they deliver bags of food. The image of these children with their giant thankful smiles is breathtaking & humbling. 

♥ have you entered your name for the chance to win a Pinny Me Up apron of your choice?! Because you need to! :) my friend Tillie is super talented and who doesn't like free pretty stuff? Enter the giveaway here. 

♥ something i needed to remind myself of this week. 

i've missed you lovies! I didn't even mean to take a blogging break but i haven't felt well these past few days which sucks because i've also been really busy and all i wanna do is lay in bed. Enough of me whining,

Happy Friday Lovies! what happy things are you ending the week with?

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

GIVEAWAY TIME : Win a Pinny Me Up Apron!

What better way to start a new week then a pretty (and useful!) giveaway?! I'm pretty excited about this one! My lovely friend Tillie channeled her inner 1950's housewife and created Pinny Me Up.

Perfect timing too, as I was on the hunt for one. Tillie's are exactly what I was looking for : stylish in cut {i love that hem!} and color-- i swooned over the fabric choices. 

These would make the perfect gift for a housewarming, a coworker, your girlfriend who's just learning her way in the kitchen, your sister who makes the best oreo bon bons, or as a treat for yourself. The hardest part will be choosing just one design from Pinny Me Up's Paper Doll Collection. But you'll have to because... 

Tillie's offering one lucky reader an apron of their choice!!!

These are just a few styles to chose from. Check out the whole collection and then put your name in the tin of chance.  To win you must be a follower of my Dolce Vita and a follower of Tillie's gorgeous blog, The Poppy Creative (counts as two entries).


For extra entries : 

+ Visit Pinny Me Up on Etsy and comment which one you would chose if you win
+ "favorite" her etsy shop
+ tweet about this giveaway (@dolcemicaela / @thepoppycreativ)
+ put giveaway button (on my sidebar) on your blog, linking to this post
+ blog about this giveaway

please leave separate comments for each - 7 ways to win!

{open to international readers}

Winner will be announced on Valentine's Day, which is a week + a day away so spread the word please! xo

happy things to end the week with.

♥ really, nothing will top this one this week. i can't wait to see my Claire again (i'm truly looking forward to all the good eating again that San Francisco has to offer) and meet Faiza with Twinkie as we roadtrip to the Angel's Ballpark in Anaheim. I know i've blogged about this when we first planned it, but today Faiza & Marianne booked their tickets so it makes it real {i will be right behind them!}. Claire's write-up could not be more true, it had me in giggles. 

via

♥ last night after a hard pilates work-out, i had a craving for IHOP pancakes. i was so happy when husband agreed to take me... at nearly 9:30 at night. I ate my whole plate! it's the little things in life, no?

♥ my dearest friend kitty welcomed her beautiful son into the world january 23rd. He is absolutely precious! please send your warm wishes to this first time mama.

♥ and though i don't really care who wins the Superbowl, i will wish all you lovies a Happy Tom Brady Watching! because that's exactly what i'll be doing Sunday ;)  

Happy Friday Lovies! what happy things are you ending the week with?

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo