Loving Lately : Winter 2014

Watched: Spike Jonze's "Her." I saw this movie with Mark, who really enjoyed it and was stirred by the unconventional yet somehow believable love story. My initial post-movie reaction was that I didn't love it quite as much as he did (mainly because I couldn't wrap my head around the suggestion that a computer would ever be advanced enough to understand/possess feelings and emotions), but given that it's been several days since I saw it and I'm still thinking about the story, I'd absolutely say it is worth seeing. It led to a few good conversations about technology, relationships, and loneliness between Mark and myself.

Downloaded: Notegraphy app. This app lets you take any text (think: tweet or FB status) and turn it into a stylish text-based graphic. Though I haven't used it too much yet, I thought it would be useful for creating 3x4" text graphics to use in Project Life spreads.

Discovered: TracyXO's The Single Girl's Scrapbook. I've been a long-time fan of Tracy's Project Life pages through Instagram (her style is bold, girly, and modern), and she's now launched her own blog. Tracy's mission is to show what you can do with Project Life without a husband and/or children, which is sort of an underrepresented segment of Project Lifers. I love her idea and can't wait to see her blog grow. (And can you believe that she creates her awesome spreads without a computer?! You'd have to pry my Macbook out of my cold dead hands, but I'm super impressed by her work nonetheless.)

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Purchased: Isa Does It and Against the Grain cookbooks. Yep, a vegan and a paleo cookbook. They may be quite different in philosophy but they tend to cover the ways I like to eat-- vegetable heavy and clean, high-quality protein. I love Isa's vegan cookbooks because she uses fresh fruits, vegetables, and beans in really unique ways and I'm rarely disappointed in her recipes. As for Against the Grain, I've heard great things about this paleo cookbook and would like a few fresh ideas for protein- and vegetable-centric recipes.

Subscribed to: The Book Riot podcast. Thanks to Analiese for recommending this podcast to me! I'd heard of it in the past but hadn't checked it out yet. I really enjoy the hosts' discussions of bookish topics like publishing news, new releases, and studies pertaining to readers, and the hosts are as intelligent, hip and literate as you could hope for. Since I rarely encounter people in my real life who want to talk about books as incessantly as I do, I love listening to podcasts like this and watching "BookTube" YouTube videos.

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Read: Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton. This is a book by the blogger behind Momastery, which is a site I'm not super familiar with other than the few posts she's had go viral on social media. Glennon writes in a way that hits you right in the heart-- truthful, raw, honest, baring it all. I'm only about halfway through the book, but I really love it so far. I hesitated in picking it up because I honestly thought it'd be heavily biblical/Christian-based, but I'm finding the book to be more spiritual than religious. Glennon's faith informs her experience, but it does not come across as preachy.

Cooked: Sweet Potato Hash and Eggs from Nom Nom Paleo. This has become our go-to "I have no idea what to make for dinner" meal. We typically use this recipe only as a suggestion, adding in different spice mixtures (we've tried Santa Maria steak seasoning, curry, piri piri seasoning, etc.), pepper and onions, or bacon/pancetta-- whatever fits our mood. We also switch up the eggs between fried, poached, and scrambled, but slow-cooked scrambled eggs tend to be our favorite. Then top it all with some hot sauce. It's simple, tasty and healthy.

Listened to: BANKS. To me, BANKS sounds like the love child of Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and The XX. A very sexy, sultry love child. My favorite songs so far are "Waiting Game" and "This is What It Feels Like." Check her out on Spotify or YouTube.

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What are you loving this season?