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To Everything There is a Season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

This is by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And is the most I've ever put myself out there, naked and able to be judged. I am opening myself up to strangers so that I can move forward. I know that I have been mia from this blog for the past months but with reasons that were not of my own wish.

I now begin a new season in my life.

In March, out of the air to me, Kevin made the decision that he no longer wanted to be in our relationship/engagement. I was left in complete and utter shock. Feelings of disappointment, shame, embarrassment, loss, fear, anxiety, and complete heartache overwhelmed me. I felt as if my life was a sham. That my happiness not real.

I don't know who I am. I don't know who I will become.

I've never experienced such pain and desperation. For a week I cried and held onto my dog as if he was my life raft. After, I tried to surround myself with friends, and talking to family over the phone (since they are not here). I redecorated my half empty house, and walked my dog daily to twice daily. I began to paint more. Anything to try to occupy myself. But mainly I sat and watched netflix, too tired to move or cry and trying not to think. I felt like I was in a bad dream, yelling to wake up. After a couple weeks, everything fell apart. The realization of the end of 5 years was too much. I did nothing, I couldn't move, I cried every hour... But with support I started to pull myself up again. I can't believe what amazing friends I have. I am so lucky to have people around the city, country and world sending me their love. Even with that it still hurts everyday.

But I am now able to hold up my head even with the pain. There are worse days, but there are also better days. As the day gets longer minute by minute, I am experiencing a minute more of happiness each day. Some are better then the others.

So with the season getting warmer and brighter I walk into another season of my life. I am in the middle of my 20's and hope the next half decade will be all Lauren. I can't look at the first half with anger, but that first half wasn't about me, it was about me and Kevin. And even though I loved it sooo much I have to move forward into the next chapter. I have missed the community and support of this world and would like to jump into it again. But it has been taking a bit of time for me to even feel like dressing up. For so long I looked to Kevin for support on my clothes, art, life... It's hard to dress for myself and do anything without the support of him. But I need to learn to do what I want to do, and what's good for me. And I don't want to give this blog up. I know it seems like this blog is trivial but I have found presenting myself well makes me feel a little bit more put together. I do want to inject this blog with more of me. And even though I don't know who that is yet, I will learn.

So I have to say that I am sorry for missing out on you girl's wonderful lives, and seemingly flaking out on things I had promised. I've missed you all. I've been afraid of writing this, because it is making everything real.

I don't know where I will go from here. But I'd love for you to come along with me into this new season.

Huggles and Love,
Lauren

If you'd like to talk I'm around on gchat or email sparrowandurchin@gmail.com
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Man oh Man } Weekend 3.4-3.6



Well I accidentally deleted my outfit from friday, which was outfit 23... So I don't know if I'll just recreate it and snap a shot... grumble. I'm bad at getting shots of the weekend lately. But this weekend I did go to my flatmate's art show. So yeah I wore my remixed clothes and this is now outfit 23...

Jen is one of the most incredible artists I know. I don't even know how to describe her work. It's angelic but also demonic, natural yet unnatural. I don't know. Here are some pictures, you can decide for yourselves.








This is from Jen's Facebook page (picture not mine)





Check out this newspaper article featuring Jen (and photo by me!) here, and make sure to become a fan of her artwork on facebook!

{ 30x30 Materials Used }

Green Shirt } Don't know where from, (worn day
Corduoroy Blazer } Vintage (worn day
Jeans } UO, on sale (worn day
Booties } UO, on sale (worn day
--added--
Necklace & Pin } Vintage
Blue Necklace } F21

Huggles,
Lauren
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Doggy Daycare




So I'm bit behind on days... Oh well. That's what scheduling posts is for! So this little slice of life has nothing to with this outfit but I'd love your opinion.

When kevin and I are at work our dog stays at home, which I know isn't the best, when we first got him I worked part time and opposite of Kevin, so I had lot's of pup time. And with winter and Tripp being so small and skinny he isn't in the yard as much or going on long walks. So last Sunday Kevin and I had a lot of wedding errands to run (got him a suit from Banana Republic, it's gorg, and did more registry stuff) So we felt bad for leaving the dog at home. So what did we do? Took him to doggy day care at Petsmart near the mall. I know I know, kinda lame. But he was so worn out when we picked him up at the end of the day and the workers said he played with a lot of dogs. They even give you a report card on how well your dog did that day. Tripp was sooo tuckered out that he fell asleep in the car, and we were able to get a lot done around the house the rest of the evening.




Now onto Friday. I knew that Kevin and I were going to go to an art opening in Romeo Friday night so I thought while I was at work I'd drop him back off at Petsmart (which is really near my job). I just didn't like leaving my dog alone all day then also in the evening, not to mention that he would be a total pain when we got home.

So my question is am I ridiculous? I mean the day care thing isn't too expensive for something once in awhile. But I also don't want to be one of those people who replace children with dogs. I'm my dog's owner, caregiver and companion, I'm not his mother, my parents aren't his grandparents. We are companions, friends, and I love and care for him. Kevin feels like we are being responsible pet owners, understanding that it's wrong to leave a social animal alone all day, and also realizing that interaction is necessary in our dog's life and something we strive for. I've always been very conscious about treating animals fairly and as part of the family. My parents kinda chuckled when I told them about his day care experience, and told me I was a little ridic. My mom laughed saying I need to start dressing my dog, of course jokingly, she secretly wants my dog. I grew up with dogs but they never got as much special treatment as my own dog. But then again they were never alone for long hours.

Anyway what do you think? Ridiculous or Responsible?



And for all my new readers, first welcome, and this is my dog... cute! He obviously didn't want to leave his pup tent :D



Now for the outfit... I flubbed on the 30x30... I can't find this cardigan, so I replaced it with another grey cardigan... Please don't hate! :)

{ 30x30 Materials Used }

Grey Sweater } Gift (similar worn day 1)
Green Sweater Vest } very old (worn day 8)
Mint Dress } Vintage (worn day 4, 14)
Grey Booties } UO, on sale (worn day 1, 7,  14, 16)
--added--
Pink Belt } Vintage (will prob sell)
Tights } Kohls (super old and holey)
Necklace } F21

Huggles,
Lauren
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Blogger Brunch!


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This is a bit late but that's ok. Here's a 30x30 outfit I wore on Saturday for the blogger brunch in Grand Rapids.

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So as you can see I wore my skirt twice in a row, and since it was cold I tried out wearing my baggy sweater with it... Didn't really look great but it kept me warm!! So yay!

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Anyway here's some of the pretty outfits the girls wore, and to hear about the whole meetup check out my previous post!

All pictures were taken by the lovely Tieka from Selective Potential who organized the event, thanks girlie!!

Oh and here's our awesome group shot from Friday night that Andrea got!



Thanks girls I had so much fun!

{ 30x30 Materials Used }


Brown Sweater } UO, on sale (worn day 3)
Red Floral Skirt } Made by me (worn day 18)
Brown Boots } Vintage (worn day 2, 3, 11, 17, 18)
--added--
Scarf } Found
Beret } Vintage, was my mom's
Tights } Kohls

Huggles,
Lauren
17 com

Girl Gots the Blues





So sadly the first picture was the last one before my camera battery died... Kevin has a really good ability of sucking batteries dry, I don't get it. I hand him the camera and the battery dies... Odd. Anyway the other two are with my iPhone, sorry about the quality. These pictures actually were from the day before yesterday... Oh no my numbering is getting off! And I still haven't loaded the pictures from Day 19... I'm awful ha!

As you can see I've kinda revamped my layout. I still will be tweeking it but I'd love to hear what you think.

Anywho, we were busy today at work. Sweet tits.

{ 30x30 Materials Used }


Green Blouse } Vintage (worn day 9)
Plum Sweater } Gap, years old (worn day 4, 13, & 17)
Jeans } UO, on sale (worn day 3, 9, 15)
Riding Boots } Frye (worn day 5, 8)
--added--
Blue Jacket } Modcloth, on sale and first purchase!
Necklace } F21
Beret } Target
Korgi dog } Petfinder

Huggles,
Lauren