Category Archives: bit of beauty

On the Jacobite: Riding the Hogwarts Express

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Did you know that the train in Harry Potter is a real functioning steam train? The Hogwarts Express is actually the Jacobite of West Coast Railways. Located in Scotland, where much of the scenery for the movies were taken, the train departs from Fort William and takes a beautiful scenic route up to the seaside town of Mallaig.

Being huge Harry Potter fans, we HAD to take this train. It also happened to be mine and Aidan’s first time on a train, which made it all the more magical. I was surprised Continue reading →

Happy Weekend: 7/20/12

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I’m off to see Dralion with the family this weekend and maybe catching a circus class, too. (Did I mention I started occasionally attending aerial and contortion classes a few months back?) What are you up to? Hope you have an adventurous weekend!

Here are a few links from around the web for you:

Get the best sleep ever!

How cool would it be to wake up to this?

Summer reads from Erin at Apartment 34. Have you read any of these?

Holy smokes, a pink lake?!

And, kiss of the year goes to…

Uncle Beefy speaks the truth. Live it.

Check out this dubstep beatboxer!

Image: Cirque du Soleil

  • Elle UK brings you the latest online fashion tips, trends and news updated daily. Whether it’s high street, celebrity style or designer fashion, find out what you should be wearing and where to buy it.

  • Elle UK showcases the finest in style, from street fashion to workwear. Find style tips and instant outfits based around seasonal must-haves as well as interviews with industry professionals on their personal style.

  • ELLE Beauty brings you the latest in beauty, hair and make-up trends, product reviews, diet and fitness reviews, plus keep up with all the latest beauty news and info at Beauty Notes daily…

  • From Alexa Chung to Emma Watson, Star Style showcases the latest in celebrity fashion, showing you how and where to ‘Get the Look’ of your favourite stars.

  • Straight from the catwalks of London, Paris and Milan, get news on the latest Catwalk collections with profiles of models, fashion designers and show schedules from Elle UK.

Happy Weekend: 7/13/12

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It’s Friday, and I didn’t even know it. I totally woke up thinking today was Saturday. Oops. What are you up to this weekend? I’m planning on spending time catching up with my bestie who is just back from 10 months in Indonesia.

A few links from around the web to peruse over the weekend:

This looks like the best damn oatmeal ever. Yum!

Apartment Therapy on Escaping Aboard the Orient Express

The Traveler’s Guide to Happiness shows us that it really isn’t just about the destination. Much of our happiness is derived from anticipation and reminiscing, a point made by Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project! Read more about the 4 stages of happiness here.

Is Friday the 13th lucky or unlucky? I’d rather think of it as a lucky day!

The best sunscreen for your face

What are you made of?

Is this what summer feels like to you? Sometimes it does to me.

I really love Roséline’s instagram photos, don’t you?

The Most Astounding Fact

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If you ever question your existence — ever need reassurance of your place in the universe — just watch this video.

In it, astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson answers a question he was asked during an interview with TIME magazine: “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?”

His answer is nothing short of exquisite.

“So that when I look up at the night sky, and I know that yes we are part of this universe. We are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us…

There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life. You want to feel connected. You want to feel relevant, wanna feel like you’re a participant… That is precisely what we are,  just by being alive.”

Video by Max Schlickenmeyer

relaunch

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Today is a sort of relaunch for this site. I’ve been planning it for a few months, but I kept procrastinating. I was dying to change things up here, and I missed blogging terribly. Yet, I still couldn’t pull the trigger on making the changes. Then, along came the incredibly powerful Things I’m Afraid to Tell You series. Reading those entries made me want to jump back into blogging, so here I am.

I owe you some more details as to why that series got me back on the keyboard, but I think that would be best served up as part of my own TIATTY post. (Should anyone want to join me, please use the contact form to e-mail me or tweet me.)

Until then, here’s what’s going to happen.

I’m going to start blogging regularly again, introducing new types of content and features as I do. I’m in the process of re-categorizing all my old posts and deleting many that I don’t feel fit with the direction this site is going in. I’m going to be publishing posts on food, fitness, parenting, style, music, travel, and more. I plan to organize this site by actions related to experiences like See, Hear, Taste, Go, and Be. These might be broken up into subcategories; for example, Health might fall under Be. If you have anything you’d really like to see, please let me know. After that, I’ll be working on a responsive redesign so that users on the tablets and mobile devices will have a better experience when visiting the site.

Hello again, friend.