Beautiful Thing of the Day + Wilder Musings: An Orchid, for Spring (and) Birthday Thanks

Despite the recent freak snowstorms, I think spring may be inching towards us. It's Passover, the air is a bit softer, the snow is beginning to crawl away down street grates, and I've been able to wear ankle-baring pants without wanting to die from the cold. So maybe there's hope. I took the day off from work today and I'm sitting at my parents' house, surrounded by tons of kosher for Passover dishes and cakes, lots of wine and fine silver, and, of course, Nana. Who is next to me with her "f***ing MacBook," complaining about all the emails she has to respond to, which leads me to believe she's way more popular than I am. But we already knew that (more after the jump).

So in honor of the changing seasons, I present you with a photograph I took of a white, curly orchid. Because sometimes all it takes to make me pause and marvel is a potted plant in my parents' kitchen. Speaking of pause, I was blown away by the love I received on my birthday yesterday. Whether members of my family, buddies I talk to everyday, or long-lost friends I haven't heard from in years, everyone who reached out to me made me feel blessed and lucky. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This flower is a little bit of beauty to send back to you in exchange for how much you gave me (both yesterday and everyday).

I'll try to post some Passover pictures once the seders are over. At the moment the thought of even looking at pictures of food is making me nauseous given the amount I ate last night, so it'll have to wait until I can stomach it. But in the meantime, enjoy the shifting seasons...here's hoping we'll be able to get a bit of a tan before we all turn see-through.

Wilder Style + Musings: Yoga Goodies (or) My New Obsession

Over the past several months, I've developed an addiction. Fortunately it's not to heroin or anything equally as dramatic and exciting (and if it were, I probably wouldn't be blogging about it and instead trying to find a way to turn it into a book deal). No, I've gotten totally into yoga. As if I weren't already enough of twenty-something living in Cambridge, right? To be honest, I never thought it would happen—my previous forays into the practice (see how bad it is? I'm actually calling it a "practice," now) had always left me feeling great, but never with that transformative lightness that devotees raved about (more after the jump).

Wilder Style, Pictures + Musings: Winter Looks (Shot by Cambria Grace) + On Going For It

When one of my dearest friends said, in December, "I'm starting a style blog," I practically wept with excitement. Cambria is a wedding photographer based in Boston who took the bold step last year to quit her day job and focus full time on her photography business and her blog, Grace by C. I cannot tell you how much I admire her entrepreneurial drive—having done the freelance, full-time blogging schtick last year, I must say that while it's the most rewarding feeling to devote yourself to what you love, the unknowns that go along with it are not easy (more after the jump). 

Wilder Pictures: Home Sweet Home (or) A Few Attic Scenes

I'm rarely home during the day, so when I saw saw the sun streaming through the windows of my dining room and lighting up the little white space this morning I thought I better grab it while I could. I took all of these this morning, except for the awesome photo above of the string of postcards, for which my dear, lovely, talented friend Cambria Hempton of Cambria Grace Photography is responsible. I love her work, but more on that in a very imminent future post (!!).

The apartment my roommate and I live in is on the third floor of a house on a lovely little side street in Cambridge, and we call it The Attic. Because it is one (more after the jump).

Wilder Pictures: Finding Nemo in Davis Square

The blizzard is over, my car is going to take five-thousand hours to dig out, and I just had a killer brunch with friends at Johnny D's in Somerville, which was, as far as I could tell, the only open establishment at 10:30 in the morning within a ten mile radius. 

I've never experienced a snow storm this big in a city; in the past I've been buried in drifts in suburbs or remote college towns. And I have to say, I'm diggin' it (dad joke!!). I took some photos on the way to brunch and back, and was shocked by how many people were out and about, grinning at the huge piles of snow and sporting all kind of ski gear (especially the woman with the green, knitted dinosaur hat). Some people were even cross-country skiing down Mass Ave. I'm contemplating putting my skis on and going for it...but first, some shots (after the jump):

Wilder Beatz: 20 Songs to Get You Through Deep Winter

I hit a point at about this time every January where I feel like a plant that's being kept too far away from the window. I crave light, I crave warmth, I crave water...all I want is to lie on a warm dock with an iced coffee and a stack of magazines beside me. And maybe it's just because we've had a particularly nasty stretch of days this past week; maybe the sun will come out soon (as it did the other day when it lit up the tree in the photo above) and I'll feel restored (songs after the jump).

Wilder Style + Words: Chimala Denim (or) Yves Nailed It

Funny, Yves, because that's pretty similar to how I feel about this Chimala denim. Available at J.Crew and Madewell via their In Good Company and Looks We Love sections respectively, they're some of the best new blues I've seen in a while (more after the jump).

Ten Things I Like: Instagram Edition (Includes J.Crew Pants, Sunsets, and Rosie The Dog in Sunglasses)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Mine was so much fun; it involved photo shoots (more on that in a future post), tons of good friends, and more laughing fits than I've had in a while. There are few better combinations (unless all of these things took place in the Carribean because let me tell you, winter looks a lovely shade of pale right now).

I don't have a theme for this "ten things" other than the fact that they all came from my Instagram feed. I know, I know, it's a lazy way to put together a blog post, but it's what I've got at the moment. And while I usually post these on Fridays, I didn't want to wait. So here, without further ado, 10 Things I Like (after the jump):

Wilder Pictures + Wilder Beatz: My Favorite Barn (and) Bruce

There's a barn in Rockport, Maine along the main road that leads into the village. It stands overlooking the harbor, and the low winter light hits it in the afternoons, highlighting the peeling paint and stretching the shadows of the trees across the wide, toothy pattern of the missing shingles. Someone recently bought the house and the barn, so I'm guessing the dilapidated facade isn't long for this world. When I was there over the holidays I took a few pictures in case it is indeed a little spruced up by the time I get back up there. Or, god forbid, gone (more after the jump).

Wilder Pictures: Down by the Bay

The urge to take photos is never stronger than when I'm in Maine. That will come as no surprise to those of you who know me (or have ever read this blog or follow me on any sort of social media--my posts are basically a shrine to the great Pine Tree State). I don't know whether it's the blessed change of pace, the fact that life, when I'm up here, settles into a steady and lovely routine of walks, reading, cooking, and time with my family, or whether it's the incredible beauty of the place. I'm going to go ahead and say it's probably a combination of all the above that get me itching to photograph, draw, and post. There's just not enough time to do it all (more after the jump).