Wednesday, March 2, 2011

keep the love that keeps us strong

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song of the day: 'friends are friends forever' by michael w. smith
starting to get back into the swing of things since my vacation. and yesterday was so warm i was almost too hot in my sweater! i love that spring is almost here. it's such a refreshing season. like you can kind of start over with things and have a renewed sense of energy and zest for life. i'm looking forward to a boost in motivation. i've been feeling so closed in, literally and emotionally, and am craving connections. i think that's one thing (of many) that spending time in tahoe taught me. i need to connect more. not on a superficial level, but where i can really develop a relationship. i've been pulling away lately and i don't want to keep doing that. but i want fewer surface friendships so i can focus more on quality friendships. i think i've been really reluctant to do that. i mean, it's hard to invest. but when you finally do it, it's totally worth it. because if nothing else, you want to be able to open up, expose all the insecurities, the ugly, the shameful, the scared, the strong, the beautiful, the delicate things that live inside and be accepted. that's what we want almost more than anything, to be accepted and be loved.
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and did you notice a difference in my hair? i got a new style while in tahoe!! christina (second skin) graciously agreed to cut my hair and i love it! i have it pulled up, it's not actually that short. it's super cute and sassy, and well, matt loves it too :)
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details:
sweater, shoes, bag-thrifted
dress-from ages ago and i chopped it at the bottom (of course :)

14 comments:

archives vintage said...

looooove your hair!!! you rarely wear it up - i like it :)

caitlin said...

your haircut is lovely! i read about the tahoe trip on christina's blog and it sounded like such an amazing experience. there is nothing better than spending quality time with girlfriends and wine just gabbing the night away.

i totally agree with what you said about needing connections and friendships that are meaningful. i have such close friends from my youth and college years, but since graduating i haven't really met anyone who made me want to invest. i feel like people care more about superficial connections and having as many acquaintances as possible than devoting time to a few true friends.

anyway, glad you had a great time!

Second Skin said...

What a beautiful lesson. I understand you exactly here. I feel anything I write here will sound a little redundant, but I did just want to tell you that your unique perspective is very important to share and really effected me. Thank you for opening your heart to us this weekend.

Oh, and your hair is marvelous!! I am SO happy you still love it! I know sometimes we take drastic measures while we are out of our comfort zone only to return to it and freak at our spontaneity while away, so getting that cut home and still loving it is a really good sign!

Nicole said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nicole Martin said...

Amanda, I hear you around making better connections. I'm naturally introverted and it's a struggle for me to open up and connect with people outside of my family and core friends. Blogging and being proactive about commenting, tweeting, etc. showed me that it's not that hard to meet others. (It helps that you are behind a computer screen ;) But beyond that, you never know where a real relationship will form, especially as you take the connection from virtual to meeting in real life.

Glad you had a blast in Tahoe! :)

wardrobetales said...

You look very nice. The dress, the sweater, the boots with socks and, of course, "the new hair", it all looks amazing.

Victoria / Justice Pirate said...

yes I noticed the hairstyle right away! I know what you mean about connections and relationships. It is nice that I have my husband and sons and all but I wish I could spend much more time with my friends. most of the time I'm home all week long in my home other than when I do youth leading. I've never had a "girl's night out" ever. maybe one day.

Robyn said...

LOVE the hair. Getting curly hair cuts can be stressful, so I'm glad it all worked out. I actually got some sort of "smoothing treatment" on Monday. The poor stylist was of the belief that it might temporarily straighten my hair. Ha. My curls laugh in the face of deep conditioning. I didn't have the heart to tell her that my temples recurled in my sleep. Wow this is long now. What was I talking about.....

anne said...

i noticed your hair straight away! so cute! this outfit is adorable as well.

i totally agree about quality friendships. i too have been reluctant to open up to people, but i've realized that you can only get what you've given from relasionships. that extra effort on my part goes very far in building a good relasionship with someone. even though it does require effort, like you said, it's so worth it in the long run!

hope all is well with you :D

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhh the hair is looking amazing {of course} I cant wait to see more pictures of it down to see how you style it.
And yes to quality over quantity for friendships. Which is why I got rid of facebook. Now I actually have real {albeit email} conversations with friends. not just "HI!!"

Unknown said...

Your hair looks super rad! Love it.

I struggle a lot with really opening up to people, too. I'm super outgoing, but I have very few actual close friends. I don't talk about my problems with anyone except my boyfriend and maybe like one or two other people. I don't know how I feel about that. I guess I'll see...

Anyway, I'm glad that your visit to Tahoe was such a wonderful time for you. The photos you posted look positively magical :)

xoxo
Sophi

Terezsia said...

this dress is so pretty!!

C said...

I totally understand, and agree, with how you feel about friendships. It's been something I've been trying to work on for years, but there's a reason that it takes time. It's a very difficult thing to do, but in the end it is so valuable to really invest in friendships and relationships that are lasting.

Also, I love this outfit! The dress is lovely, and it looks absolutely phenomenal with the long pendant necklace. :)

Morgan and Lua said...

Sorry I'm a little late on this one, but I totally agree with you. Real meaningful friendships are so hard to find that when you do you really have to hold onto them. Quality over quantity.

by the way...great new cut!!! It looks so good on you, and hopefully has been helpful in shaking some of that staleness you've been feeling.
And the warmer weather!!