Oh, Spring! I welcome thee with open arms!

It's not often that I find myself neglecting the woodland realm and the general great outdoors, but as of late I have been finding it hard to give myself the time to escape and heal. I feel like I have been over burdening myself with project after project on top of my graduate studies. I certainly have not been taking the best care of myself, and this is one of the most prominent ways to prove that to be true. Noticing this, I have been doing my best to make more of an effort to get outside, have my camera ready and do something creative and fun. As most of my posts on here state, I highly encourage making time for self-care, and my way of healing is being surrounded by nature. 

"One bright, moon kissed night, a woman wandered out into her garden in the dead of winter with only a shawl and her white tulle dress with expectations and visions of spring flowers and morning dew floating about her mind. The garden was lush, with ivy leaves clinging to the filigree white fence and a spectrum of colors covered the ground. There were butterflies and bumble bees hugging and licking the blossoms and the sounds of birds and crickets chirping filled the air. The candle burnt out. It wasn't until her fingers were frozen to her candle holder that she realized it was all just a dream."

Spring is coming, spring is near.

Spring will always come again. 

I know I must sound like I loathe the winter. I actually do not. I do love the winter months as I am not a fan of the summers heat and humidity where I reside. What makes my heart mourn so much of winter is how every winter, it seems like it is a reminder of what terrible shape our lovely planet is in. Where I live, especially growing up, was always a winter wonderland come December. As the year progress, every winter it keeps becoming warmer and warmer. We can deny Global warming all we want, but that denial is only doing a profound disservice to our home. 

But I digress, spring and autumn are my two favorite seasons, certainly. I not only find them to be a time where I am most inspired and happy, but I also find these seasons to be truly romantic. What, with being a hopeless romantic myself, of course I will favor months full of life and colors and that offer transition and change.

That is all for now, until next time.

It was love she wrote

I always have so many mixed feelings about this time of the year. With Valentines Day here, a very romantic day which I tend to associate with spring, and mountains of snow on the ground, it's hard to see this kind of weather as romantic when mixed in the daily grind mentality, at least for me it is. This is why I'm glad that I am able to keep my weekends free and experience the romance of winter. I'm also fortunate to have a fella in my life that makes everything romantic and fun.

I digress, I figured it might be fun to talk about a romantic thing I like to do to beat the winter blues. One of my favorites being writing a love letter. Yes, it does happen indoors, but what a better time to sit and pour your heart into something when you are snowed in? There are many ways to make your letter extra special besides the heartfelt words written in it. Before I write my letters I like to make the paper stand out.

• Burn the edges of your letter with a match or a candle. The small amount of fire will give you more control of how the edges will be shaped. This can be any paper, I found loose leaf paper the best to do this with and less smelly. 
• Tea Stain the paper. Steep black tea (or any tea really, you will get different colors depending on what you use) for only a few minutes to make the leaves wet. I think instant tea works best for this. Take out the tea bags and rip them open. I like to pour the soaked tea leaves on a plate which create something like a palette for me. Then dab a paint brush (a cheap one would work just fine, or even one of those sponge brushes) and dab it all over the paper. After the leaves and paper are dried you can brush of the leaves with your fingers or a dry brush and you are left with lovely parchment looking paper. I haven't tried this one regular printer paper or loose leaf, but if your using thicker paper I find that works lovely. 
• Scent your letter. Do you have a perfume or oil that your wear often? Sadly, I don't but if you do, spray a little bit on your letter or dab your scented oil in the corners of your letter so your partner is always reminded of your physical presence when reading your message.
• Adorn the finished product. Like in the picture above (which was the first love letter I wrote to my partner) I love to decorate everything, especially a letter. Use a lovely ribbon of yours or your partners favorite color. You can tie in a small lock of your hair, some delicate (or bold) faux flowers, or anything really. Charms, candles, chocolates, etc. would work! 

I'm confident there are many other ways to make a love letter a bit more special than what I listed above, but I hope this inspires you to give it a try. Nothing says I love you more than a letter saying "I love you" and smelling like "I love you/let's have sex now". Have a wonderful day full of love, friendship, and happiness!

Happy Valentines Day!