{Happy International Women's Day!}

I am so grateful for all the amazing women in my life, who inspire me everyday. I aim to be a better person because of you all. I am most grateful that I live in an environment where my thoughts, work, opinions, and independence matter, are appreciated, and generally supported. I know others do not have so many opportunities and I count my blessings.
Cheers to all the wonderful women in my life: the pictures say it all...

{5 sisters}

{niece & auntie power}

{sisters!}

{best friends, getting an education!}

{friendship}

{nieces!}

{5 girls, India, early 90s}

{where would I be without this amazing strong woman? my Mum??}

{& my amazing granny who spent most of her life in India, Gladys Clark}

xo,
L

{quotable thursdays}

{via saying images}

Sometimes silence is actually the better choice.

{kindness is also a virtue}

We ought to be kinder to one another. But sometimes people can be kind of mean, or just foolish, and so, silence is also sometimes a better tool. Perhaps it's kind of like the saying 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all' however, the first quote seems a little smarter than that.

Anyway, we have spring break next week, which I'm looking forward to. I feel like this semester has been harder than normal in dealing with students--constant lateness, unpreparedness, excuses, excuses, and just down right laziness. So a little break will do the trick, and only just over two months more in this country! 

eek!

{sometimes I feel like I just want to ride high on an umbrella}

{or just sip (or slurp?) champagne!}

{or hide behind a coat}

Have an awesome, awesome day my friends, 

xo

L

{hello march!}

{bird chirping}

I don't know about you, but I'm R.E.A.D.Y. for SPRING! Enough cold weather, enough snow, enough parkas, enough hats...bring on the pastels, the sun, & the daintiness.

{light pinks}

{show some leg}

{a little bit of skin}

{stripes & brights}

{great spring looks}

{I love polka dots for spring}

{warmer colours & some skin}

{some spring for the home, above & below, from d*s}

{but equip yourself with an umbrella for those spring showers!}

xo, 

L

{quotable thursdays}

I just started reading Verghese's Cutting for Stone and found this great excerpt within the first few pages. The boy is asking what he should choose to do in life and his mentor responds "What is the hardest thing you can possibly do?" & the boy says "Why must I do what is hardest?" & then the mentor gives a good piece of advice:
"Because, Marion, you are an instrument of God. Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?"
I think we often shy away from doing things that are hard. I see it more & more in the generation of kids growing up--parents don't want to see their kids suffer, so they give them everything they think their kids need, when all that the kids actually need is to learn the facts of life and to face a few hard things once in a while. I think it's important to learn how to succeed, but more importantly, how to handle failure or how to struggle. I think back on the times in my life when I've felt the biggest sense of accomplishment, and it's always after making it through the tough times that I have learned the most--about myself, about life--& it's those challenges that inevitably have made me who I am.
I think we rarely live up to our potential--that's not to say that we shouldn't enjoy life, or that we should make life harder than it should be. But I do think we need to change our priorities. Hard doesn't mean doing the 'regular' things that people expect from us--working long hours for the sake of working long hours, or to make loads of money... sometimes hard means not taking the path expected...All I know is that working hard for something you really want can be the most frustrating, maddening, and tiring thing, but it's also the most rewarding. Don't sell yourself short and make sure you're in tune with yourself enough to know how you can work hard to maximise your strengths. Now go out there & be the most amazing you!
Happy Thursday!
xo
L

{make wishes, try hard}

{no matter how small or tall aim high}

{don't be lazy, study hard}

{take risks, maybe move or choose the path less travelled}

{Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?}

{reminds me of me as a kid with our siamese cat practising at the piano}

{me & my nephew, Christmas 2005}