Instagram: Turning Simple Moments into The Extraordinary

It’s easy for everyday to become a routine affair. Pick up the coffee, work, commute home and start the process over again the next day. I recently read a blog post from a friend/colleague on the west coast, where she shared an excerpt from a book called Be The Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible by Regina Brett. I was so intrigued by the post that I picked up a copy of the book myself.  A key aspect of the book is focused on turning the everyday moments of your life into something extraordinary.  It’s a philosophy I couldn't agree more with.

The book focuses on celebrating moments as simple as a rain shower in the middle of the day or fresh cookies out of the oven. I spent the past weekend in Michigan, visiting my grandparent’s place that I’ve been going to ever since I can remember.  This is the first time I’ve ever been to Michigan with Instagram and I found myself capturing pictures of everything from the lake to meals.  I quickly realized that the power of Instagram goes well beyond the digital sphere. It’s reshaping how we all look at life.

Instagram turns a simple picture into a memorable image through the power of filters.  Since Instagram does all of the work to make a picture look beautiful, we can focus on taking pictures of the everyday.  Blowing the candles out of a birthday cake, a night in the city or even a fresh flower are all being captured and shared.

There is no doubt that from a digital perspective, Instagram, Pinterest and the like are shifting how we connect and share content.  However, what I find to be the true power of Instagram is that it’s forcing us all to slow down and celebrate the little moments of joy.  To provide a little inspiration here are a few simple moments that I’m celebrating.

• Sunsets at the beach
• Farmers Market Fruit
• Gelato (three days in a row)
•  A run by the beach
• Time with family I love
• Relaxation
• Morning Coffee
• Comfy clothes
• Holiday weeks
• New music

Why I Love Once Upon A Time

I read and watched fairy tales growing up the same way every other little girl did. To be honest, I often loved the dog versions (Lady & The Tramp) more than the princess ones.  Nevertheless, I took in the concept of a fairy tale. As children, it’s acceptable to believe in fairy tales; In fact it’s often encouraged. Yet, somewhere down the road we’re expected to lose sight of fairy tales and focus on reality. However, in my mind this world might be a slightly better place if we all took the time to read a fairy tale once in awhile.

The world is a complex place and we don’t have any form of magic to turn to. On a daily basis we confront good and evil. Whether it’s from a specific individual or just the obstacles life throws at us. Yet, how often has that best friend who answers your call at 3 AM or the mom who is always there for you, feel like a fairy godmother? The term fairy tale is often used too loosely to describe a fairy tale wedding, etc. I would love a fairy tale wedding just as much as any girl and believe they happen every single day.  Does that mean I believe in “ And They Lived Happily Ever After?” The answer would be no.  A fairy tale can’t be focused on one event; it has to be focused on the moments that occur every single day.  No one is guaranteed a happily ever after. Yet, what we are guaranteed is the opportunity to live everyday striving and working for what makes us happy. There are going to be ups and downs and plenty of obstacles to achieve our happiness, but sometimes it only takes the perfect pair of shoes, a special note or the favorite song on the radio to make us realize the power of our happiness.  In my mind happiness is the true magic of a fairytale and that is something you don’t need a magic wand to find.

I try to live every day with an optimistic view. However, an optimist can also be a realist.  Being happy is not just about a state of mind; it’s about our actions.  We have to fight for our happiness because otherwise there are plenty of people or events that will gladly try and take it away from you.

I love watching Once Upon A Time, because although it’s completely fiction, it reminds me of the true meaning of a fairy tale every time I watch it and sometimes, just sometimes, it really is the little moments that make all of the difference.

In my world, sometime it just takes a cookie to transform the power of a day and you will never hear me doubt the power of a stick of butter, chocolate, sugar and a little bit of love to put a guaranteed smile on someone’s face.  So to put a smile on your face I’m sharing my current favorite cookie recipe for Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cookies.  I dare you to tell me you didn’t smile just reading that.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cookies

This cookie recipe takes basic chocolate chip cookie dough and swaps out the chocolate chips with pretzels and peanut butter cups.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups chopped peanut butter cups (I love the dark chocolate Trader Joe’s variety)

2 cups chopped pretzels

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter and sugar and cream until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla to mixture. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and blend until smooth. Add the chopped peanut butter cups and pretzels and blend in by hand.  

By rounded tablespoon size, place on a prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 -13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and serve.

Curly Hair and Pinterest

It would look as though I forgot I actually had a blog. The truth is that it’s always in the back of my mind. While I consistently update all of my other social channels, the blog sits in the background. I can’t just sit down to write a blog post, I need a reason. I started my blog back in 2009 as a place to discuss food from my kitchen table to yours. There is no doubt that food has remained my core passion, but over the years I’ve realized that is not the only story to be told. While food will remain the core of this blog I’m expanding it to discuss the little things in life that shape who we are and the minor aspects of the day that make all the difference. Which is why I’m dedicating this post to curly hair (and of course some Pinterest talk.)

I started life with straight hair. Over time my hair gradually started to get wavy, frizzy and just a plain mess. There is no doubt that I despised it. I would dream of having straight hair. It was predictable, neat and it fit into the crowd. Whenever it was straightened it was a few days of glory, but I knew it was never completely real and it was as if I was a different person. Eventually my hair shifted from wavy and frizzy to more defined curls and I slightly began to accept it. However, it’s not until now, about a month away from turning 25, that I can finally say I’m fortunate to have curly hair.

It’s a statement I thought I would never say and I mean NEVER. While it has taken more money than I wish to consider on hair product and different hair stylists, I finally understand why curly hair is part of what makes me who I am. Granted, I’m fairly predictable; however I don’t always do things the way everyone else does. Case in point: When I was three or four my mom asked me to count by twos. It seems like a simple question; however rather than saying 2,4,6,8, I opted for 1,3,5,7 (an odd child that I was.) Even when I get to the same conclusion as someone else, I often take a different path getting there. My style of organization would likely make no sense to anyone else and I’m fine having a consistent knot in my headphones. It’s the differences within each of us that I feel define who we’re meant to be. When I think about it I believe I was meant to have curly hair. It’s another extension of my personality that disappears when my hair is straight. It’s great to have straight hair for a day or two but it’s not me. I know in life there is no such thing as perfection, we just have to work with the cards we are dealt.

Now you might wonder how I’m about to shift this post from curly hair to Pinterest, while I do have a curly hair board, it’s the point of perfection that I want to focus on. I’m loyal to Pinterest and I remain loyal to the site, but it’s far from perfect. Yet, a major attraction of Pinterest is that we spend hours on the site envisioning our perfect life. The perfect wedding, dream home or amazing meal. As I’ve referenced before this is what I love about Pinterest, that it connects our dreams and our reality. While changes were bound to occur to the site, I feel like the layout changes have taken the site a step backwards. I don’t like that boards now focus on the context of the most recent pin to tell the story of that board. The context of a traditional corkboard is that you look at it and immediately grasp a larger picture. Friends, family, hobbies, etc. While I may not be a huge fan yet, I still love the site as much as I always have. Pinterest has altered how they tell their story and it might not be perfect, but I know there is still a future story to be told and I’m looking forward to it optimistically.