Messay: Movements of the Soul

I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the over-romantic title of this messay. 
          But really, I've been thinking a lot recently about what comes next. Please notice that I didn't say "what I want to do with the rest of my life." College students put too much pressure on themselves by thinking that their first job out of college determines what they are doing for the rest of their life. That's dumb. How many of our parents are still in their first job that they had out of college? Nope, I didn't think so.
          But I've been thinking about what I'm doing after college, and I'm not sure. So here's a list of my thoughts and why they may fit my skill set, arranged as a list of comma splices. Read at your own risk (of boredom):

1. Education Administration: I love education, I'm passionate about education, I'm organized, I'm good at delegation, I would be happy in a school.
2. Writer for Darling: I'm creative, I like talking to creative people, I am good at helping other people make the words say what their brain is trying to say, I love beautiful things.
3. Personal Assistant: I'm good at knowing tons of stuff about other people, I'm encouraging, I love to do little plain tasks for people, I'm organized, I'm willing to be behind the scenes.
4. CEO: My third grade teacher said I should be a CEO, my mom-friend who's a CEO said I could do it, I love powerful women doing powerful things, I am comfortable in positions of authority.
5. Waitress: I love interactions with people that actually have a purpose, I'm good at hard work, I think sharing food is important, I think how you share food is important.
6. Plain Job: Anything where I do something for a certain number of hours and make money, then get to go home and work on my writing on my own time in the evenings.
7. Interviewer: I think people are interesting, I'm good at asking questions, I believe everyone is important, I believe understanding people's motivations fosters empathy.

Stay tuned for . . . hmmm, three years or so? . . . then I'll know. We'll see if it's anything like these.

Recommendations: People

I've been wanting to write a post about my very favorite bloggers/social media people. These are my top three internet inspirations.

1. Peyton Perry
I've mentioned Peyton Perry in earlier posts on my blog and on Instagram. We've interacted a little bit—sometimes I comment on Instagram, once she mentioned me on her blog and I found it months later and freaked out. It's mildly awkward because she's not quite famous enough to have fans, but I would definitely consider myself a fan of her work, aesthetic, and personality. Though I wonder if it's strange, or a little creepy, I've decided to keep speaking about and being inspired by her work. I listened to a podcast once about the importance of "tightening your feedback loop," which basically means making sure you're hearing encouragement and criticism from people about whatever it is you're doing. If my encouragement (read: fangirling) helps Peyton (first name basis) know that her work is inspiring me and making me happy, that's what I want to be doing. And if I'm the only one doing it, maybe that's even better. That's something that's cool about social media and blogs—even if you're not quantifiably famous, you can still reach people.

2. Audrey Conklin
I discovered Audrey on Instagram. I don't remember how . . . I think I was looking for fashion blogs to follow in Boston and she came up from some tag or something. Anyway, I love her Instagram pictures. She always has captions that either don't relate at all, or that relate perfectly. When I get back on Instagram after a while away, I scroll past everything and only stop on her pics. She also has a blog, which I just love. As with Peyton, I dream of being real friends with Auds one day. Knowing the two of us, it will probably be when we're elderly spinsters traveling Europe looking for the best pancakes and softest blankets. I can't wait.

3. Ashlyn Kittrell
This is the final friend (loose term, considering that I've never met any of these people.) I'm going to mention. She had a blog for a while called The Quiet Kind. First, let's just talk about how that is a killer name. Nailed it. And it was an offshoot of her earlier blog Triple Thread, which was when I first started following her. She has an expressive style that is adventurous yet classic, and she has an excelelnt ability to create outfits that walk a fine line perfectly. She just announced, however, that she's going to stop blogging about fashion for a while. I so respect that decisions. Whatever is healthy for her as a real person is great with me, because I only interact with their virtual person. She's going to start writing about mental health, so I'm excited to see where that goes. Here's the link to her Instagram.

So. There's three ladies I love. Check em out!
Maddie

Baking: Cake Towers

This past week, I got to make two more cake towers for Thanksgiving. They were both recipes from Historias Del Ciervo. One was chocolate cake, which I'd made before on the fourth of July. This time I decorated it with peanut brittle, which my uncle hand-makes every holiday season. The other cake I made was a white cake. It used superfine sugar, which I had never used before, and vanilla bean paste, which was also a new purchase for me. The videos of each are super fun and really short. Enjoy!
Here's the vids and pics of each, and the links to recipes below.
lots of love,
charlie

Chocolate Cake
(recipe)

White Cake
(recipe)

Letters: Encouragement to my Engaged Friend

As I mentioned in this post, I wrote some notes to one of my friends who just got engaged. I know the upcoming months are going to be tough, and I wanted her to have some encouragement at her fingertips whenever she needed it. I'm posting one of them—maybe it'll inspire you write a note to someone else. That's always why I post my letters—so it encourages you, or so it encourages you to write.
Here's a pic of where I hung them on her wall above her bedl:

Hey—

Just wanted to write a quick note and send some love your way! You have a lot going on . . . I mean yes you’re a fiance, but you’re also a student, director, friend, sister, and so much more. Please please know that I have full confidence in your ability to plan formal and a wedding, study history and econ, work and play . . . you’re competent, organized, fun, and persevering. But even more than skills, whether things are working out how you want or not, regardless of details, despite slip-ups, you are more than a conquerer in all things. Please don’t fret about anything—“I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears”—because it’s all beautiful. You have an eye for beauty—you create beuaty in so many ways—so choose to look through that lens. Because I know you. And when you look through beauty, it’s big magic. 

All the love,

maddieperkie 

Recommendations: If You're Opening a Coffee Shop

Here's a few bits of advice for coffee entrepreneurs, with love from someone who spends lots of time in lots of coffee shops.

1. Variance in table size. But mostly, big tables.
If I've crammed my whole dorm room into a backpack to move out for the day, I'm going to need a huge table, please.


2. Good dishes. Aka, if your coffee shop doesn't have the minimalist aesthetic, you should not have plain white mugs. Why? Because if your coffee shop is cozy, a plain mug is just a dish, when it could be so much more—an indicator of your aesthetic, a benefit to the vibes, a boon to your insta game.


3. Don't sell homely art.
I was going to say don't sell any art, but Three Bros. Coffee in Nashville sells art and makes it work. But most of the time, selling art means selling the ability to build your own aesthetic. Someone else's canvas paintings of apples or pastures or cheese boards hung with little price tags does not count as your own aesthetic.
Coffee shops are all about vibes. Choose yours carefully; cultivate what you put on your walls as carefully as you cultivate all those fancy places you get your coffee from. I can say almost without reservation: no canvas art. Please.
But this doesn't mean you can't support local artists through your shop. Sell their items by your register, or in one specific area. Or, like Three Bros., make the design of your whole shop a canvas for the artists you feature, and be picky. Make sure the art says what you want your coffee shop to communicate to people who come in.

4. Have something for everyone. Yes, you are a coffee shop, so you'd better have good coffee. But you'd also better have sugar coffee (mochas, caramel lattes, etc.), because that's all I drink (and it's all about me). But honestly, you will have a more well-rounded clientele if you have well-rounded options to choose from. So have some food, snacks, treats, drinks for kids, etc.

5. Yummy cookies.
This is a elaboration on the previous point, and it really is more of a personal note than the other ideas. But please, make sure you have yummy cookies. That's a selling factor. That's what I think about as I'm leaving campus: what cookie do I want?

There's much more to running a successful coffee shop, but those are a few plebeian thoughts on the issue. What would you add to the list?

Charlie

Favorite Quotes: Feminism

I'm doing another quote post (see past ones here and here); the topic for today is feminism. Enjoy these empowering quotations from women who have come before us!

from the Norton Anthology
about Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)
"At a time when no institutions of higher learning were open to women, her richly allusive writings displayed a knowledge of literary traditions, history, religion, and political and legal thought that one would associate with a university-educated scholar or teacher; and at a time when women were expected to remain within the domestic sphere—and never under any circumstances to compete with men—her activist public presence and confident persona troubled and fascinated her male friends. Devoted to Emerson's Transcendentalist philosophy of self-culture, which she insisted pertained as much to women as to men, Fuller educated herself widely, published in a variety of genres, participated in a range of cultural and political movements, and continually challenged herself to move in new directions." (736)

Lupita Nyong'o
"You can't eat beauty. It doesn't sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion, for yourself and those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul."

"I hope my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful on the inside."

There's so many more quotes, but today's a short post. Go find some on your own, if you like!

Madeline