i am honored and grateful to have been awarded a sunshine award from my best friend mary beth.

you see, a Sunshine Award is for bloggers, by bloggers, and is “a way to recognize people who have charmed, supported, enlightened, and inspired the awarder in recent months.” when one receives said award, the recipient (that’s me! and maybe you, too!) must then answer some questions, tag the next recipients of their choosing, and ask them a handful of questions to answer as well.

with this award, i reintroduce myself to you as an inspired writer, workshopping living in style through one experiment after another.

it’s nice to meet you.

mary beth’s questions:

1. What lights you up?

my amazing husband. my rowdy, full-of-life little one. time with my family. creating. the sunshine. a sweaty, dancing yoga practice. connecting with people. spot-on style. the beach. big cities. open space. writing. exploring new jewelry design. sunday brunch. children. love and light-filled homes. laughing. a new pair of shoes. discovery.

2. What can you not live without?

candy. nutella lattes. my green utility jacket (h&m). rosebud salve. red lips. ‘i lub you mommy.’

3. What are you listening to?

actually, for the first time in a long time, i am rekindling my love affair with music and have really been keen on James Blake, St. Vincent, Gary Clark, Jr., anything on NPR Music App, and Haim.

4. What’s your morning routine?

no day is the same for me, as much as i wish it were. sunday mornings, however, are different. sunday mornings are a bit slower, a little bit lazier, and start off with a big family pile-up in our bed. silas wakes up and all he wants to do is lay with us…so there we are, my mister and i, our little rascal and an 80-lb pit bull who thinks he’s a lap dog in our cozy queen bed.

5. Who do you look up to?

honestly, my mother. i don’t think i’ve ever told her that. her children are sacred and family is her life. she’s strong, beautiful and full of love (even when you don’t really) know it. oh, and she’ll never tell you that, but you’ll sure as hell feel it.

6. What is sacred to you?

one-on-one time with my mister. days off. family time. sunday nights at my parents’ house. best friend laughs. bedtime with silas.

7. Where is your dream place to travel?

san jean-de-luz, france. it’s this magical place in southern france, on the border of france and spain. i have very vivid memories of the short amount of time i walked along the beach there. i declared that my future honeymoon would be there in 2006. we have yet to take our honeymoon (hint hint.)

8. What’s your biggest, juiciest holy shit goal?

working 4 days a week on a creative project called vibrant:workshop.

disclaimer: this draft has been sitting for almost two weeks now. today, my birthday, i decided to dedicate the day to myself (considering it is the day i was born,) which meant setting aside intentional time to do what inspires me, what makes me feel whole, authentic and fully self-expressed…so, in honor of, well, myself, i give myself the gift of creative time. even in the midst of a crazy, and i mean CRAZY, week of moving, honoring myself

you’re up, my sunshiny souls:

nicole cucinotta: for living beyond possibility and being one of the strongest women i know.

emma dilemma: for being fearless and confident in who you are. and for being my accountability buddy always.

thais carolina: for kind and inspiring words always even only after brief interactions.

thank you for living an inspired life and sharing it with us.