YOLO

Never one to turn down the opportunity to try a new workout, I've been semi-stalking, mainly just dreaming, about Stand Up Paddleboarding (Sup) ever since my aunt, Mit, emailed me that she'd tried it and it was the best core workout she'd ever experienced.

The ocean? Plus a core workout? She needed not say more. I was hooked.

When we went to the beach last weekend Sup boards were everywhere and I decided I was going to have to try it. Less interested in renting one and more determined to borrow someone else's, Emily and I set our sights on making a Sup boarding buddy. Sunday night, with only a few short hours until sunset to go, we find ourself one kind sir with two YOLO boards.

We spent our last few hours on the beach balancing on the water and I can safely say that if I had the opportunity to do so, I could become pretty obsessed with it. We attempted yoga on them, which was definitely more successful for Emily than it was for me, but I did manage a backbend. Good enough, right!?

I'm currently trying to decide if using one on the Chattahoochee would work. I mean, you can Shoot it, so why not Sup it?

Photos by Emily McNider

beachtime and the living is easy

Summer is the best.season.ever. The heat. The humidity. The constant outsideness. The carefree attitude that comes with it...

I could go on for hours.

But instead, I'll jump to the finale: the fact that you get three happy holidays in a row: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day. Beginning, middle, end: boom, boom, boom - long weekend sandwiches.

How could it not be the happiest season ever!?

And this year, we kick-started our summer with a trip to Santa Rosa, Florida. Nestled between Seaside and Sandestin, the Emerald Coast did not do us wrong. In fact, it did us just right...

images by me& Emily McNider

the whole world belongs to you

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." Lao Tzu

I'm a notorious goal setter. Constantly working on this, or trying that, I am slightly obsessed with moving toward something. I was recently telling someone about how I'm trying to learn to like kale (trying really hard!) because it's so good for you and I really want to like it. After me rambling about how I'm working on it (green smoothies, chips, dehydrated...), he said: Whitney, you don't have to like kale. Spinach is really good too.

And this exchange reminded me of a time in high school when my boyfriend said, similarly, that it was OK to just be still in who I am - that I didn't need to be constantly self-bettering. And then I began wondering: when did this all start? Have I been in a continuous state of self-improvement my entire life?

And my next thought was: I am going to work on not working on things.

Wellp. That didn't last very long.

Fortunately I am not alone in this mentality because most people girls I know are pretty obsessed with improving things - at work, in relationships, their own selves. It's in our nature to fix, improve and obsess.

But even if it is the norm, I decided I'm not necessarily going be so blatant as to work on toning it down, but I am going to try to be more aware of how exhausting it can be - and that sometimes, it's OK to just be content in your imperfections and flaws. They make us who we are and the very best thing we can be is just who we are.

Even if it's someone who doesn't like kale.  Or sweet potatoes. Or garlic. OK. Or cilantro.

image one and two

table 2.0

I don't think it's been lost on any of you that my family is a group of do-ers. There's never a lot of sitting going on and last weekend was no exception.

My mom has excellent taste and can visualize what any room needs (seriously). Within hours of arriving at my house, she'd taken one look at our chairless table and figured out exactly what kind it needed.

From there she took on the coffee table - turning it from greyish-brown to green in no time.

Muff efficiency at its finest: pouring the paint onto the table.

Duke, providing moral support. 

Tada!