Insta-riffic

Happy sunny spring Monday my friends! Fresh off a delightful weekend filled with spring weather, QT with my hubby and delicious food (is there really anything better?) I'm cruising into today with a smile on my face and determination to avoid "the Mondays" (yaaaay Monday?!?) To help keep the mood bright and light, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow. 

Instagram is without question my favorite social media platform and escaping into my feed is a guilty pleasure I indulge in multiple times a day. So who am I following to fill my day with beautiful, delicious and delightful distractions? Check em out (click on the name to link directly to the Insta account and start following!):

* toastmeetsworld / muppetsrevenge

The tongue-baring King Charles Cavaliers of Insta sensation TheFatJewish (you're following him right!?) these two pups are adorable, the captions are hysterical and there is no limit to the ridiculous costumes and locations they will pop up in.

* Pete Souza

Allowing my inner geek flag to fly on this one... Pete Souza is the Chief Official White House Photographer and I love looking at his images of the President in action, places the President is traveling, behind the scenes in the White House and of course pictures of Bo and Sunny, the Obamas adorable dogs!

* Charlottelovely

The Insta account of London based stylist and photographer Charlotte Love (how great is that name!?), these colorful and playful images from her current projects usually make me smile as I pass them in my feed.

* This Wild Idea

I don't remember how I discovered Theron Humphrey's awesome Insta feed, but I'm sure glad that I did. A talented photographer and adventurer with companion Maddie (his adorable and photogenic dog) always by his side, prepare to smile at Maddie's amazing poses and some stunning scenery.

* Travel & Leisure

For my fellow wanderlust'ers, this account was created to keep our travel-hungry souls satisfied.

* The Infatuation

This restaurant review website includes NY, SF, CHI and DEN and the pictures will make your mouth water. I click through and if the location looks tasty and is in my city, I add the restaurant to my "Favorites" map for next time I'm drawing a blank on where to go eat!

* alwayssssleep

This account is only pictures of beds. Beds in gorgeous, fabulous, exotic settings. The captions are witty and the resting places are divine. If you like to sleep, this one's for you!

* IcecreamofInsta

Do you like ice cream? Do you want to salivate over pictures while ingesting zero calories? Thank you Instagram for bringing me all the ice cream my waistline could never handle in photo format (and for providing the exact location of where to procure said ice cream in case I decide I just NEED a scoop of my own:)

Wanderlust Part I. - Kakslauttanen, Finland

This is real life (in the Finnish Laplands).

I don't think there could be a more perfect day for sharing these vacation photos than today, a snow day here in NYC. (For the record, snow days are decidedly less awesome when you work from home..!) Since I am a photography-monster (I took nearly 1,000 pictures!) and our trip included 2 distinct parts, I'm going to break this up into 2 posts and hopefully share some wanderlusty images combined with helpful tips. Here goes!!

So to answer your (likely) first question, Dr. H and I decided to travel to northern Finland, in search of the Northern Lights, because of a picture I saw on Pinterest. I sh*t you not. I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights so when I saw THIS picture and was like "I want to go to there" Dr. H said "looks cool" and off I went to plan a trip of winter adventures and magical sky seeking! We settled on the Finnish Laplands, and Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort because of the great accommodations and activities options. The hotel arranged everything we did for us (which was clutch since we were doing our own planning). Our flights were through Helsinki (southern Finland) to Ivalo and then the hotel transferred us to their arctic wonderland about 30 minutes further north. We were there for 3 full days and nights... Ok enough talking... picture time!

There is never a guarantee that you'll see them, but we did,
on night one right outside the main lodge of our hotel!

We stayed in the Traditional House, an almost century old structure. We built
our own fires each day and everything. It was pretty badass.

I cannot describe to you how magical seeing the Aurora is. It reminds me of that
scene in Sleeping Beauty when the 3 fairies are fighting "pink! blue!" and flashes
of colorful light are filling the sky. They move and "dance" They are magic.

For our day 1 activity we did a Husky Safari. It was INSANELY awesome!
Dr. H and I had our own sled and took turns driving these beautiful beasts.

Daylight lasts only a few hours this far north this time of year. We took a
walk around 2pm and that's when I snapped this picture. 

Another mid-afternoon sunset shot, because OMG gorgeous right!?

Night time snowmobiling anyone!? Notice how bundled we all are...
it was about -25 degrees outside (pre-windchill!!!) 

During the day you can see how the heavy snow transforms the trees into
"snow monsters" which bend in all sorts of funky directions

That time we went for a "1 km walk" which ended up being about 3 km, all uphill

The week after Christmas, we put the reindeer back to work.

Into the woods...

This photo was taken after about 5 minutes of stunning Northern Lights views.
My camera wouldn't cooperate and I gave up on getting a picture and just soaked
in the beauty. And then I decided to try one more time to get a snap...

REALLY glad that I did.

Back on the snowmobiles by day which was really freakin amazing.
(check out the GoPro placement on the front of Dr. H's helmet)

I cannot even handle this. This is REAL!

The reindeer farm was unexpectedly awesome. 

Sup?

It is so cold here that the snowflakes fall to earth in perfect fractal form.

A few important things worth sharing:

- There are lots places in the world where you can go to see the Northern Lights. For a list of top locations, click HERE.

- The best time to try to see the Northern Lights in most regions is between late Sept and late March

- Plan in advance (duh): While we did stay at the resort that inspired our trip, the igloos were sold out by the time we made our inquiry (barely 60 days in advance, so I can't be too upset). Since the Northern Lights have a "season", the hotels with optimal viewing book up early. Plan accordingly!
- Pack right: We did not mess around when packing for this trip. We took the forecasted temperatures to heart and purchased new boots, gloves and plenty of "base layer" clothing (We wore Uniqlo HeatTech, cheaper than the EMS-ish/sports brands and SO SO good.) I left the cute clothes and high heels at home. I was packed perfectly and though it was FREEZING, I rarely felt cold.

- Dare to be adventurous: I was pretty nervous about snowmobiling until I tried it. Dr. H doesn't love dogs, except, as it turns out, when they're huskies pulling him in a sled. A trip like this is wild through and through, so once you get there, be brave. 

- Expect the worst (hope for the best): For weeks leading up to the trip, we reminded ourselves that we might not see the Northern Lights and became determined not to let this ruin our trip. Just like any trip that centers around an activity/weather you can't guarantee, go into it prepared to make do without. That way when the sky lights up green on your very first night, your joy and amazement will be immeasurable. 

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Indeed.

Whoa. Monday. Monday January 5th, two thousands and FIFTEEN!! We're back!! Happy New Year my friends! I hope that you all had joyful, restful and wonderful holidays and that you aren't crashing too hard against today's return to the grind. I don't even know where to start today, as I'm an overwhelming mix of refreshed, energized, wanderlusty and nervously excited to tackle the massive workload that lies ahead. Also, I'm jetlagged, definitely, seriously jetlagged.

But first thing's first, my vacation was crazy amazeballs. Winter adventures in northern Finland combined with urban adventures in Copenhagen made for a trip so perfect I cannot WAIT to share pictures and stories... to hold you over until I can upload, edit and organize, here are some snaps from my (amazing, beloved) iPhone:

Taken about 48 hours ago from atop the Round Tour in Copenhagen. Now I'm blogging in bed in NYC. Whoa.

I feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip and I'm not a person who uses the word "blessed" very often. I think there's a post on that topic in your future. There's also a post on confidence (as much on the inside as outside), exercise (never enough), starting a family (where's the baby crazy?), resolutions (still makin (and breakin) em!) and lighter topics such as sharing a bathroom with your spouse, being super over winter and old ass mattresses. 2015 is gonna be big people. Here's to tackling the light, heavy and everything in between together!

Hump Day Distractions

hehe.

Yesterday's post got to be a tad long-winded (me, have a lot to say on a somewhat feminist issue?! No!) so today we're getting straight to it. Happy humping!!

* Infused water seems to be all the rage these days. For inspiration on how to fancify your H2O with just a few simple ingredients, click HERE.

* Apparently, this is the most adorable thing you'll watch all day.

* Some of these are on my "if I'm ever not a renter" list as well.

* Wedding cake fails some of which really make me question the sanity of brides and grooms.

* Stunna(s).

* The absolute perfect LBD... except for the price. Fingers crossed it goes on sale.

* Uhhh... they forgot www.seektobemerry.com!!

* Perfect for the man in your life (hehe).

* A unique and beautiful art installation commemorating WWI.

* The cutest crawling race ever.

Seeing double.

Click.

As you all know, I love taking pictures, but one thing I don't think I've ever shared is that I am a huge sucker for reflections. If I see a puddle, a shiny building exterior or anything that creates a reflection, I'm completely drawn to it. Something about the duplicative, mirrored image is incredibly beautiful to me and I think it makes for a particularly stunning photo. Which is why my jaw was on the floor when I stumbled upon THIS:

I mean, how gorgeous right!? And while some of these images are seriously technical and involve perfect lighting in a perfect place, others come simply from the photographer's ability to see the reflection and pause to frame it just right. 

For more gorgeous reflections, click HERE. Beauty really is everywhere, you just need to remember to see it!

My new App-session!

I pretty much never pay for Apps for my iPhone, but when I spotted THIS post on Justina Blakeney's blog (loooove Justina's eye for design, her blog and Instagram feed are two personal favorites!) I knew my no-pay principle was about to go out the window! Introducing, Waterlogue, an app which transforms your photos into beautiful water color "paintings" with just a tap of your screen!!

 

Once you open the Waterlogue App you can select from any of the images you have saved to your telephone and then you actually get to watch the app "paint" starting with a sketch, "wetting brushes" and finally filling in colors. There are also about a dozen different types of painting styles to choose from.

Though I'm not going to pretend that this app makes me a master painter (just like Instagram hasn't turned me into a professional photographer!) it is a lot of fun to "paint" your photos and I can definitely see myself printing a few and figuring out a cool way to display them in my home. Plus, it's really cool to watch the app convert your images and interesting to see which photos work well as "paintings". The verdict: $2.99 very well spent! To purchase Waterlogue, click HERE.

For other SeektobeMerry app recommendations (free ones!), click HERE.

Hump Day Distractions

Wooooo Wednesday!

Hey hey hump day, welcome to my week! I woke up feeling like a minimum of 3 more hours sleep was required, but then I got my ass to Soul Cycle and it's like hey! maybe those exercise will make you happy folks are on to something (or maybe it's just the post-spin large iced coffee talking?) Either way I'm up and at em and in a great mood because tonight my fam is getting together for dinner to celebrate my Dad's birthday. My Dad is pretty awesome so celebrating him makes me smiley:) Happy Birthday Dad!!! And for the rest of you, get over the hump with some of this good stuff:

* Cronut inventor Dominique Ansel is at it again, but this time he's using milk and cookies!

* Would you, could you, make out with a stranger (on film!!)?

* Just signed up for THIS cool delivery-turned-healthy(er) site and can't wait to see how it works!

* The view from the top.

* When we look back on his two terms as President, it's possible THIS interview will be Barack Obama's greatest achievement (it's seriously laugh out loud funny, I highly recommend!)

* I'd started to suspect as much, but this deposition proves that Justin Bieber really is a spoiled little sh*t. doh!

* After recently being served roasted garlic instead of butter with my bread at an Italian restaurant and freakin LOVING it, I was excited to stumble upon this recipe.

* Don't worry. I do. 

* What a lovely and easy way to create candle light decor for your dinner!

* These moving pictures are pretty freakin cool!

* Reading THIS will change some of your favorite songs forever.