Lyft: Hometown Diaries

This week I got the opportunity to visit our Lyft HQ in San Francisco with over 20 other ladies and gents from all around our country! We were brought out so that we could get some extra training and be immersed in authentic lyft culture with the idea of bringing it back to our own cities. I'm SO excited about the people I got to meet, and the awesome training I got to be part of. It was truly the best few days I've had in so long. I feel like I grew in every aspect of my life: from social growth to just being totally inspired about the work Tristan and I do and the vision behind it. I'm SO lucky to be part of such a great company.

Before we went we were instructed to make a little video about ourselves, our lyft, and the city we were from. The "hometown diaries" series will be used in a complete video lyft hq is putting together and will be released later along with interviews and moments from our trip, so I'll share that when it comes. In the mean time, I thought I'd share my complete video. Of course my film school hubby couldn't let me get away with a simple point and shoot video, so he kind of blew it out of the water with the editing. I'm kiiiind of super proud of it and his hard work on even the tiniest project. <3 

Home sweet home

Hello hello! Gosh, I've missed you guys. We've spent the past week moving in to our humble little home- and I've been without internet. So I took the opportunity for a little break, and really took advantage of the time we had together to make our house a home.

This is not my usual Monday recap post, as you can see! I just wanted to pop in quickly to share a few photos from the past week while I was away- check in to make sure everything is peachy keen- and leave you with a few things to look forward to, that will be coming up soon on le blog. :) 

Last week's moments: 

1. All of my babies are sprouting babies, and I'm running out of things to plant them in

2. A little hide & seek with Aunt Morgan this weekend had us laughing tears. 

3. Love notes for no reason. (Pretty card by "Gold House Paper" 

4. I won an Instagram giveaway!! This never happens! 

5. Family photo for Father's Day 

6. Tying in my pretty "Gold House Paper" print with our wedding photos & dried bouquet. 

7. My little "cookin boss" (that's what her apron says) 

8. I finally got to make Joy the baker's "browned butter strawberry banana bread". Which is my favorite. Ever. 

9. Soaking up Naptime in a new bed, in a new house. Victory. 

Things to look forward to: 

- a fun giveaway from Gold House Paper

- I've been collecting thoughts for my new skincare series! The first intro video is due to drop next month. 

- tons of new DIY's as we re-vamp Fern's new room, including: rugs, planters, even a fun Montessori friendly "big girl bed!" 

June Meet & Greet

Happy FRIDAY! AAAAH! WE'RE MOVING INTO OUR NEW HOUSE TODAY!

I'm a tad excited. yaya! While I'm working my tush off to make our hew house a home, I want you to get to know the lovely ladies of the sidebar with this month's group Meet & Greet! 

Every month, I like to do a little Meet & Greet with the sweet ladies to the left so that you guys can get to know them a little better. (That's the meet part!) THEN. It's your turn! reply to any of the answers and then follow up with an answer of your own. (That's the greet part) This particular post is very much focused on making new friends and acquaintances, so chat it up! Meet a new friend! Fall in love with some new blogs! 

This month all of the fun summer events are starting in our city, and it got me wondering what other people do in their cities for the summer! Vacations are one thing, but most of us spend the majority of the time right at home with the kids (if you've got 'em).  I ask our ladies: 

Megan | Gold House Paper : "I am from Ocala, FL, a smaller town an hour outside of Orlando. In the summer there is a lot to do here! One of my favorite things is to goto Disney (In the evenings into the night time). A less expensive option is to go to drive in theatres, or make  homemade popsicles!"

Tillie | Hello Tillie : "Originally I am from Wellington, New Zealand. A beautiful little city close to the beach and the mountains full of cafes and artists. But right now, I am living in Melbourne, Australia. It's a huge exciting, creative city and I am having a blast exploring.
This summer past (it's winter over here at the moment!) we went to the outdoor cinema in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was full of warm evening summer air, and community. There were bean bags and wine, and popcorn and it was awesome. A close second would have been getting fro-yo in St. Kilda, hiring a bicycle and cycling along he foreshore, playing in the sand, and dipping our toes in the ocean. Bliss.

Melissa | Fawn Over Baby: "We currently live in Valdosta, Georgia (courtesy of the US Air Force). We are fairly new to town, however, we have found that we love living just a few hours away from beach towns! So far this year, we visited St. George Island and are madly in love with "The Forgotten Island". We also enjoy spending a Saturday at Wild Adventures Water Park - just a 15 minute drive from us. If we're not venturing out of the house, we usually like to kick back in our back yard, throw a few burgers on the grill and watch our little 1.5 year old run around and explore. We lived in Alaska for 4.5 years so I guess you could say anything outdoors, we love! :D"

Samantha | Elah Tree : " I'm from Missouri! I love the Midwest! But I currently reside in Southern California. Summers look completely different in both of those places. One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to travel to Fresno and visit family. We go to Fresno all throughout he year but in the summer we get to go out on the boat which is my favorite thing ever. I just love being on the water! I also love getting ice cream.

Meg | Rivers and Roads : "I was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee and love this city so much. I have several favorie things about Chattanooga in the summertime, but I'll give you just two. :) Every year for the 4th of July, Chattanooga does an event called "Pops on the River". Everyone can come gather in beautiful Coolidge Park by the Tennessee river and listen to the Chattanooga Symphony play for a couple hours before we have a huge fireworks show!! Its one of my favorite things! It was rained out last year, so I'm hoping for good weather this year!

A business in Chattanooga always puts on "movies in the park" for each weekend in July and they play differnt family friendly movies each week. I found out they're playing Frozen on one of the weekends so I will TOTES be there. Watching Frozen outside under the stars?? Yes, please. The sky's awake, so I'm awake! ;) "

Christina | Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe : "I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California (you must say "Cal-EEE-forn-Ya" like our previous governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger did) More specifically, I am from and reside in a city in Los Angeles about 10 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. That being said, come summer time, our little beach town is the perfect place for late night bonfires on the beach, bbqs, walks around our downtown art district, and so on. LOVE a good bonfire with ample s'more gorging. One of my favorite things to do though, is attend our Concert in the Park and Shakespeare in the Park nights, which our town puts on a few weeks every summer. Can't wait for this to begin.


As for me:  (I live in Oklahoma City for those of you who didn't know) Every Sunday night in the summer, we have what's called "twilight concert series". It's an outdoor concert at twilight and everyone brings their lawn chairs and picnic blankets and all of the kids go up to the front to dance. There are hundreds of people who get together for this, but it all just feels so communal. I look forward to this time all year round!


Now it's your turn! - 
We all want to know: What do you do in the summer where YOU live?

happy words

I NEED to post about happy words.

I have to admit to you, that sometimes somebody will send me an inspirational quote, and I'll want to spit on it. That's how bad my attitude is sometimes.
I also have to admit to you, that I have a real bad habit of getting down in the dumps and not making my life what I want it to be. I know we've had these conversations before.

By all rights of the phrase, I AM a "Negative Nancy".
I do not want to be, and I know I didn't use to be, and I also know that I'm the only who can give myself permission to be negative, as well as the only one who can turn my attitude around.

Making a decision EVERY DAY to have a positive attitude and be inspired. It's absolutely a mission. But I am totally up for the job. So, on the subject, I'd like to share with you some really great inspiration I've been finding in the form of prints, that I could just paste all over my walls at home to be constant reminders to me.

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 

7. 8. 9. 

also, sidenote: I want to point something out to you guys. Those ladies on my sidebar to the left. There are 8 of them, all the same size at the bottom. Those ladies are there continuously because those are ladies that constantly (without even knowing) fuel my fire for a positive and beautiful life. Just by doing what they do. I love reading their blogs because they radiate a kindness through any content they post that I sincerely want to possess. They're my inspiration and I really look up to them, not only as fantastic bloggers, but as AMAZING women in general. Thank you Tillie, Christina, Samantha, Beth, Meg, Melissa, and Kenzie



also, some of the credits don't link back to the specific maker of the poster- so if you know who made  it, let me know so I can properly link. :)

Last week: In review

photos via instagram

captured:
* new favorite tinted lip balm from the MKatplay collection! yay summer colors!
* T has been teaching Fern to skateboard. panic attacks commence!
* My friend Allison makes and sells the most BEAUTIFUL succulent wreaths.
* This is the worst picture I could possibly take of the BEST snow cone I've ever had. strawberry snowcone with cream, ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, and a little slice of CHEESECAKE. (totally worth the $4.00 I paid. )

it's the little things:
- finding out MONDAY that I've been selected through Lyft to go on an all expenses paid trip to San Francisco as a leader of our mentor team! SO THRILLED!
- seeing the news on TUESDAY that a sweet friend and amazing lady I've admired for so long is engaged to the man of her dreams.
- I took a roadtrip WEDNESDAY with a sweet friend specifically to get snow cones we'd heard rumors about. They were amazing. it was so worth driving to the middle of nowhere for.
- I shaved my legs THURSDAY. And sometimes that's really just all it takes for the day to be a success. (the title of this section IS "the little things".)
- sister time on FRIDAY was so good. one of my little sisters just graduated High School, and is about to be WAY too busy and cool for me, so we got together Friday for dinner and spent some quality time together. <3
- SATURDAY afternoon porch sitting (with snow-cones of course) with my family. Those are my favorite times with them. You really don't need a lot of money to have something to do.
- GoT SUNDAY, as usual- but this week with a cheesecake mix I bought at the dollar store. (I know, right?- but it actually didn't turn out too bad)

you may have missed:
> Fern's 2nd birthday party
> Oklahoma Originals: Plenty Mercantile
> Meg's favorite things: A giveaway

links lately:
+ my husband is NOT my soulmate: things I want to tell my daughter about love.
+ 39 (totally spot on) things every fair skinned girl can relate to.
+ oh, and this guinea pig interview had me chuckling for a stupid amount of time.
+ which reminds me of Marcel the Shell with shoes on. remember that video? It's totally time to revisit it. <3
+ in celebration of "Orange is the New Black: season 2" this week: Tabby is the new Cat : a parody.
+ a REALLY awesome presentation bringing to light scientific proof of how people (men in particular) react to how modest a woman dresses, with a focus on bikinis. Love it, guys.

pinspiration:

Father's Day is quickly approaching. Although I'm still on the hunt for the perfect Father's Day present for my husband- this is for sure something I'm sticking in my back pocket (aka: Pinterest) for future years when Fern is old enough to write sweet things on it. Love this free printable.

You guys have any good ideas for Father's Day this year?? I'm getting desperate. It's coming up so quickly!

Meg's favorite things : June giveaway

Hi friends! Have you met my friend Meg of Rivers and Roads? Every month this sweet lady has a great giveaway where she collects some of her favorite things to give to one lucky reader! so fun, cause this lady has such great taste!  This month she's giving away a sweet little zip pouch like the one you may have seen in one of my anniversary giveaways from Elah Tree! So if you didn't get it then, you've got another chance at it! AWESOME!

Enter below via the Rafflecopter and a winner will be chosen at random next week! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oklahoma Originals : Plenty Mercantile

Hi brave readers! Last month I posted a little video by Keep It Local, introducing a local coffee roaster and shop. I'm so loving this series Keep it Local has started, titled "Oklahoma Originals", that I decided to pass along the goodness once a month on Little Brave! If you're a local, I hope you find a new place to love, or get to know a place you already love a little better! If you're not a local- then this is just to brag about how awesome our local businesses are, and maybe if you're in town sometime you can visit a few!

Today I'm passing along Plenty Mercantile. Plenty is one of my FAVORITE places to shop for goodies to make my home a little prettier. Think: a rustic, and local anthropologie, in the middle of our historic automobile alley. You've got to visit if you haven't yet. Check out the video to learn more and get a little glimpse of the whimsy inside of Plenty. <3

:: Little Brave is not affiliated with the Keep It Local program or "Oklahoma Originals" series. This post is not a sponsored post. There was no exchange for money or gifts for the promotion of this series. All opinions are my own. ::

Fern's second birthday

This post, is not over the top. It's not something you'll see as inspiration on anyone elses blog. It certainly won't be pinned... This is just a little post about Fern's average birthday party. I didn't spend a lot of money on decorations, to be honest, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off 20 minutes before because I forgot to get plates to eat on. I'm talking.. minimal planning. We didn't even do the watermelon ice cream covers because our printer was out of ink. ha! And actually, we did get a watermelon for eating, and then TOTALLY forgot to cut it up and eat it!

It was the best day. An intimate gathering with our family. Fern opened her presents, and we ate the most delicious angel food cake with fresh strawberries made by my grandma (at my request.. cause it's my favorite).. Then we just hung out for a while. That's it, and I've gotta tell you- it was perfect.  Here are some fun pictures from the day. Thank goodness my best friend, Hillary, was there to take photos. I abandoned the camera pretty early on. ;)

Days like this make you 10x more aware of how awesome your family is. Just the fact that they all took times to come eat cake and give Fern presents and just celebrate her life with us for a couple hours out of the day. Most of them traveled more than 30 minutes just to be with us. Fern's a really lucky little lady to have so many people who care so much, and I know we all missed the couple of family members who weren't able to be with us that day.

Last Week: In Review

Hi brave hearts. Admittedly, I didn't even make an effort with the blog this past week- but I have to tell you that it's because a certain little girl and I were partying hard ALL WEEK celebrating her second birthday! So maybe I neglected the blog, but we have lots to catch up on! (including her birthday party pics from this weekend!) Here are some shots from instagram!

images from instagram

captured:
* First snow cone of the summer!!
* Sweet little thing is such a great helper. She loves watering those flowers.
* Daddy/daughter shot at the summer's first OKC Twilight Concert Series.
* Grandmas angel food cake with fresh strawberries. Until Fern is old enough to decide on her favorite cake, I get to pick mine for her birthdays. (and get it again next month for MY birthday! #momperks)

it's the little things:
- spending time MONDAY with all 6 of my moms foster kids while she was away. <3 Those kids are such a blessing.
- Fern turned 2 TUESDAY! We celebrated with a birthday cupcake at our beloved Cuppies & Joe
- first snow cone of the year on WEDNESDAY! (at the best snow cone joint in OKC)
- a cup of tea on THURSDAY morning. I dont do that often enough. So still and quiet.
- date night with my man FRIDAY. We spent way too much and I got champagne just because. A+
- Obviously Fern's birthday party was a huge highlight- but in addition, SATURDAY night ended with a hilarious facebook thread between friends that had me crying from giggling so much.
- first Twilight Concert Series of the year! SUNDAYs will from here on out be my favorite day of the week.

links lately:
+ 25 worst (best) spelling mistakes on twitter (these are real people, ya'll)
+ have you heard of solar powered roadways?
+ this handy (and cute) printout of which foods might be more important to buy organic than others
+ a campaign titled #yesmencan organized by a group of men standing up for women everywhere in the wake of the terrible CA shooting over memorial weekend.
+ hysterical (and I do mean HYSTERICAL) photobombs by animals.

pinspiration

found via pinterest: backyard

How great are these homemade Floating candles with citronella oil?? I'm seeing backyard bbq's this summer with NO harassment of bugs and even less eye sore citronella candle buckets (you know the ones), no bug spray, and lots of these cuties. I'M EXCITED!