Coffee & Honeycomb: June 2013

look book: the maxi skirt

Monday, June 24, 2013

In other news, The Life of the Party chose me as last week's fashion informant. The Life of the Party is a great fashion blog with weekly link-ups. Head on over to check her out, as well as see yours truly. Thanks again, Sherry, for the feature. (: Cheers!

XO.

a beautiful god

Sunday, June 23, 2013

God didn't have to create a world that was so beautiful.

He didn't have to use so many colors and even different shades of those colors. There's turquoise, sapphire, iris, cobalt, violet, teal — and those are just in the blue family. He didn't have to make the sun so bright and radiant that it warms the entire earth and makes the water sparkle. He didn't have to create a whole new world under that water with sea animals and vegetation; and in order to witness, we must hold our breath and bring ourselves beneath the surface. He didn't have to make birds sing pleasant melodies and penguins wear chic tuxedos and flowers smell the way they do.

But He did.

He made the world so beautiful that it inspires and awes people daily. He made sunsets so captivating it makes people want to fall in love, and he made starry nights so stunning people spent their lives chasing after that exact scene. He didn't have to, but he did.

And I think that says something about our God. Something indeed.

And you know what is even MORE fascinating?

"The same hands that created all of this, they created you and I. What a beautiful God."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mBaEZ_zb30

reading the ot : why grace is so sweet

Saturday, June 15, 2013

[ exodus and leviticus ]

Since last month, I've been going through the OT. Started in Genesis, now I'm almost done with Numbers. (< to be read as "started from the bottom, now we here). Just kidding. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was learning a lot and I decided to share what the Lord is revealing to me as I read each book. Starting with exodus and leviticus. (:

in a nut shell: (exodus) God declares the ten commandments as well as a very extensive code of conduct by which the people must obtain in order to keep the promise land pure and pleasing to Him. (leviticus) God explains the practices and rituals that must occur in order to abstain from and compensate sin. And the harsh consequences if they were to disobey. And boy, there's a lot.

After reading 7+ chapters a day about which part of the animal is pleasing to the Lord, how many times to flicker blood at a curtain, and the specifics of what a robe should look like, I was EXHAUSTED. Exhausted and exhausted — and pretty bored. There are several instances when God strikes down people because they disobey, and each time I read that, I make a face. "No, my God would never do that..." I got this impression that God was petty and difficult, and I didn't see why this was relevant to me. So, I wrestled... and wrestled, and wrestled. I would read, wrestle, read, wrestle. Rinse and repeat. (I could have just said I wrestled a lot, but I didn't think that quite hit the mark of what this wrestling looked like.)

Then I realized I was asking myself the question: is sin really THAT big of a deal? Is it that bad that God would just cold knock out people... because of a, because of a technicality foul? And I think the moment that phrase formed into a complete sentence and left my mouth, I knew my answer. And I knew why I couldn't see the relevance. And I knew I needed to repent.

Reading those chapters was exhausting because God exhausted every code of conduct and ritual... because sin WAS that much of a big deal. It was so much of a big deal that He needed to send his only son to save us all from it. And I didn't see that.

If you're like me, then at the first glance (and maybe the second and third, too) the OT seems outdated and stale. And you're right, your walk and growth is not of the OT, but it is certainly not void of it. In order to appreciate and understand Jesus' crucifixion, and why the grace came out of it is so sweet, you need to know what it looked like before grace. How can you call news good when you don't know what news bad looks like?

And this, this is surely good news.

A friend of mine once painted this illustration about a baby eating really good food. Let's call the food steak because I really like steak. Sure, the baby can enjoy the steak (because it's steak, and who doesn't enjoy steak), but the baby doesn't know just quite how GOOD that steak is, because he hasn't acquired a palette to appreciate and discern yet.

In a similar way, I am like that baby. I live and walk in grace, but do I fully know what that costed? Am I thankful for freedom because I "like" it the way the baby likes steak, or am I thankful because I understand what I am free from? God struck down those people in the OT because He HATED sin. And God is a God who doesn't change, He STILL hates sin. But what did change was that He didn't want us to just compensate and cover our sin with sacrifices and practices, but He sacrificed his son so that he could cleanse our sin. Once and for all. Now God looks at me (and you!) and sees someone pleasing to His eye.

Each day, the gospel is meaning a little something different for me. I pray daily that the cross will be relevant and real, and not just in my faith and growth in an arbitrary way, but specifically and exactly for what THAT day entails. Both the little and big.

More gospel, please.

profound findings on a saturday afternoon

Saturday, June 15, 2013

So every once in awhile i'll glance at my "site stats" which tells me all this information about how much traffic my site is generating, which posts generate more or less, which sites people came from and which sites they leave to. And also what they typed in a search engine to land here.

It just amazes me because every single day, WITH OUT FAIL, there is always at least one person searching for the "pantene hair commercial girl" — or some variation of those key words. And then that search leads them to my blog; well, specifically that one post that one time when i complained about balding.... yeah.

WEIRD, RIGHT?

I don't know what's weirder, that every single day someone in this world is looking for the pantene hair commercial girl, or that they always find it on my blog! So one day I found this to be SO curious that I decided to google search those keywords. You know what, my blog doesn't show up in the top five hits — it's not even on the first page!

i don't get it and i don't know what to say.

but i guess i'll say this: you're welcome. you're welcome, you daily anonymous viewers, in search for that pantene hair commercial model. You're welcome for being that invaluable resource to you. I hope you found what you were looking for.

to read that post, click here. (or i guess you can just google search pantene hair commercial.)

Being a Tourist in Chicago

Friday, June 14, 2013

I brought my camera to work the other day, so during my lunch break I went for a little stroll - tourist style. (: Chicago is so BLUE and beautiful! To be honest, I never liked bringing my camera into the city because I didn't want to give off an impression as a tourist. This is my house and I'm going to put my feet up on the coffee table if I want, kinda thing. But I realize that mindset is pretentious and not to mention, stupid. Because when you're a tourist, you look at the town with a different pair of lenses and you're a lot more open-minded to do things that are out of your comfort zone. Suddenly all those free, crowded events don't sound so lame, and the new restaurants popping in look enticing, and sitting in Millennium park after a food truck makes for the perfect Saturday afternoon.

My motto for this summer:

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What does that mean for me? Run a 5k, attend a summer festival for a different city/state, have a picnic, make a video, go on a road trip, host a board game night, make s'mores, watch a movie at a drive-in, play sports regularly, go fishing, win free tix from a radio show, rent a bicycle for the day, purge my closet, find a hike path, run a 100 miles, frisbee on a beach... just to name a few. Hold me to it?

Being a tourist in Europe was great and so fun. But this, this is the beautiful town I live in and am so proud to call home. (: And I'm ready to unlock its secrets the same way.

What's on your summer bucket list?

XO.

Life of an Ad Intern: Day 2

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Day two was INSANE. Let me tell you about it.
The Insane Story of Day Two:
I boarded the 8:00 am train (per us), found a seat, opened my purse to pull out my train ticket and realized that my wallet wasn't in my there! -Along with all my cash, cards, train and bus tickets... I had a mini-panic attack unsure of how I was going to get through the rest of the day, let alone pay for the train ride I had already boarded. I was like... should i run off, should i stay on, should i lie, should i cry... I felt like I was in Italy again illegally riding those trains to Milan. Anyway, I rummaged through my purse and found a crinkled $10 sitting at the bottom, (lucky instance #1) so I was like nice and I decided I would use that for that train! ...And figure out the rest later.
So, the ticket master stepped in going around to see some everyone's boarding pass. By the time he got to me, I explained to him that I had already purchased a monthly pass but accidentally left it at home so I didn't have it with me that day, but I assured him that I ride that train every morning, yadda yadda wink wink pulls shirt down -- no I'm totally kidding. He asked me if I'd be there tomorrow, and I responded yes, and he let that ride go. (lucky instance #2 -- ticket master pulled through that morning. ps: i saw him again a later day and said "HI" and flashed my monthly pass in the air for a few seconds to show gratitude for the previous day... he didn't remember who i was and sort of cringed for being so enthusiastic. end note). So I was like okay, I can use this $10 for the ride back home then.
AND THEN, the train was delayed. Like I said, I hopped on the 8:00 train which is supposed to arrive at 8:34... BUT we didn't get to union station until 9:40!!! Two trains broke down on the track and one of them had to be tied up to the train in front and dragged into the city. Our train just followed slowly behind that whole ordeal. It was a mess. Do you follow? Picture oregon trail on the train tracks, because that's pretty much what it was.
When I found out the train was going to be delayed for such a long time, I panicked because I didn't want to be late on my second day of work, and decided I would use that $10 to pay for cab fare. I emailed my supervisor letting her know about the metra delay and that I would be in ASAP. She responded by telling me to just take a nice walk cause it was beautiful outside. "no worries" she said. So I was like, okaaaay! So I took that 30 minute walk to save that $10 for the train ride home like I originally planned. (lucky instance #3)
Then I came work, read some blogs, stapled all these packets (i'm becoming an EXCELLENT stapler, btw. I started to play this game to see how quickly i could get through packets... and the time is honestly pretty impressive.) So after I kept winning I got bored and lunch time came around. I had luckily thrown in some granola and decided to just munch on that to save monies. BUT THENNN, one of my supervisors came in and told me that there was a client lunch happening and that we could go out to eat on the company card!!! Just my luck. (: So, we went to Nordstrom Cafe and each enjoyed a $15 dollar meal. I got this amazing chicken pasta and a red velvet cupcake. It was freaking perfect. (lucky instance #4) Way to be clutch, havas.
Then the afternoon is kind of a bluuuuur and the work day ended and , I walked back to union station, and payed $8.75 for the train ride home. What a day. Now all I remember is a blur of mini-panic attacks; but luckily, somehow everything aligned and it was a-okay. (:
Anyway. That's my ridiculous story for the day. Now I will show you my outfit which has nothing to do with said story... HOWEVER, I am linking up with Mix & Match Fashion to daily document how I do biz casual. (:
DAY 2 OUTFIT:

DAILY TAKEAWAY:

PC STILL sucks. My eyeballs hurt so much from staring at this dim screen for 8 hours. And you can't take screenshots. And you can't zoom in/out with your trackpad.
It's hard to type quickly with long nails. I should probably cut them because they keep sliding off these cheap, plastic keys and falling into the cracks in between. ESPECIALLY BETWEEN "k" AND "i" AND "f" AND "t.

xo.

Life of an Ad Intern: Day One

Monday, June 10, 2013

Ello, ello.

Today was my first day of the internship. (: If I hadn't mentioned it before, I am an account management intern @ HAVAS WW, CHICAGO. Never heard of it? It might be because they recently had a brand makeover as of September last year. They used to go by EURO RSCG. Still doesn't ring a bell? You've probably seen their work, though! My office (CHI), specifically has done Sauza Tequila (do you remember that viral Fireman YouTube video?), Reynolds Wrap, The Laughing Cow, Pucker Vodka, etc. And Havas WW in general has done Does Equis (The Most Interesting Man in the World), McDonald's, Evian, IKEA, IBM, Coca-Cola... just to name a few.

Anyway, it was a solid first day. Boarded the 8:00 a.m. train, arrived to Union Station a quarter til 9:00 a.m., hopped on a bus, and got to the office just in time for orientation at 9:30 a.m. Last summer, the office was on Randolph, so it was only a 25-30 minute walk from the station; but this time the office is located a little bit more North. I google mapped it, which told me the walk should take around 30 minutes, but with all the foot traffic, I'm assuming I should factor in an extra 10.

It was pretty chaotic in the office with people running around to and from meetings, trying to maintain the momentum of work from the previous week. I think the arrival of 20 new bodies moving in and trying to set up camp probably didn't help.Yeah, there's nearly 20 of us interns. We're not all together though. The interns have been divided based on department and team. So more than half went to creative, and account/strategy got split into designated accounts. I'm on Bel Brands. You know, the Laughing Cow and those circular cheese wheels that come in little rad wax packing. (I meant red. But it's rad, too.) Those were the hot commodity back in junior high days.

It's fun. I read through all the creative brief and strategy, watch unreleased commercials, sat in on meetings... I resonate with the brand's voice, so I'm excited to be able to touch the campaign in whatever capacity I can. It's a team of about 10 people, including the creatives, strategists, and president. All the interns are given a "mentor," and mine is the Sr. Account Executive on the team. I'll just call her M. But she's super cool and nice and SMART and can't wait to learn from her. Her, along with her friends, and their interns, took us out to lunch today at the Nordstrom Cafe. So we all got to meet each other and have non-biz conversation. Mostly about GOT. (It's always about GOT these days, isn't it?)

Enough words, though. Here's some photos to show you! (:

^ This was on the bus. This weird lady kept trying to guess how much peoples' shoes were. I think she thought she was on "The Price is Right" or something, not public transportation. (Deep apologies if this is your mother and I retract everything I just said. She is probably a lovely woman.)

FIRST DAY TOUR:

^ Sitting right on the kiddie corner of Grand + State... And only ten tempting steps from Nordstrom. DANGEROUS, RIGHT?!

^ welcome inside! :) this is the lobby.

^ My office! (: My desk is the one on the left -- with all those rappers' faces. (It was there before I was, I promise.) On the left, is B's desk. B is also on my team as the Account Coordinator. She was really busy today so we didn't talk too much, but she was super welcoming and helpful.

^ Yes, you are seeing that right. They gave me a PC........................................................ #help. #shouldirun? I have LITERALLY never felt so disabled in my life trying to operate this colossal machine they call a laptop. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to brighten the screen because the keyboard "sunshine icon" does CRAP. The keyboards are so plastic-y and annoying. The mouse is moves choppy and in order to do ANYTHING, it requires 9 other steps, first. Also, they don't even have an em-dash. If I want to use one, I have to do this. (see photo below):

^ In order to make a punctuation mark, you need to shuffle through 8 other things and then copy and paste it. I've literally been googling "how to do __on a PC" as well as g-chatting my hotdog all day. My hot dog is a PC user by choice. (I know, those exist). Sigh, learning curve, right? Lawl. I'm just being dramatic. But I really do hate PC's. Moving on to other corners of the office... hehe (:

^ That cappuccino maker does WONDERS. So far I've tried the FVL and the Chai Latter.

^ Yes. Yes I did take a panorama of the kitchen.

^ The floor plan is kind of complicated... There's a lot of winding hallways and circular rooms. I don't think I expected the office to be so BIG (and beautiful). Havas has their own building to themselves. It's a five-story office, complete with rooftop seating. (: Which is where we had lunch today! Floors are separated by department; lobby, hr, creatives, account, and media, respectively. So I'm on the fourth floor! All these photos I showed you are only of the fourth floor and I still get lost. Floors are organized into Chicago "neighborhoods," and they're written all along floors and walls to help guide your way... you just need to remember where is called what. I'm in bucktown. (: here's wicker park!

FIRST DAY OUTFIT:

^ I wanted to look buttoned-up, but still comfortable enough to easily do whatever the day's tasks were, so I crossed out a skirt or dress -- and double criss cross on the heels. | Blazer: The Limited | Top: Banana Republic | Pants: NY&Company | Belt & Necklace: Forever 21 | Flats: Italy

DAILY TAKE AWAY:

BTS = back to school

you don't need that 4th cup of coffee -- you will get jittery by 3 p.m.

act confident. even if you don't feel it.

bucktown 1 printer sucks. don't use it.

double check, double chek.

status meetings are essential because so many things are happening at once to each person on the team. these meetings help everyone debrief on where they're at and minimize miscommunication

Phew. That was a long one. I just wanted to document my first day. Cheers.

XO..

Look Book : Emerald Green

Sunday, June 9, 2013

{ Top & shorts: Banana Republic | Necklace and blazer: Forever 21 | Purse: Kate Spade | Shoes: Dolce Vita, Nordstrom }

Happy Sunday, guys!

Banana Republic Factory was having a huge sale this past weekend and I wanted to just pop in and eye shop (first mistake), but I ended up walking out with a new pair of beautiful green shorts. After discount, they were 16 bucks — which was a number I could totally justify. And I did. Proof: LE SHORTS! :) Today's weather was high 70's so I wore them to church today, which I was happy about. (Sidebar: how do we feel about the length of these shorts? Church appropriate? Work appropriate? ZG appropriate? I figured they would be fine because the shape/design of the shorts was pretty modest — not too tight, not a flashing color... But then again, idk.)

Anyway, I made one of the girls in youth group take these outfit photos for me. She did a good job. :) To be honest, I'm 100% awkward/shy about every aspect of the outfit photo process (what do bloggers call these things anyway? I'm gonna call them look books). But I'm learning to get over it because I enjoy it more than I'm shy about it. Blogging, photo editing, and documenting my outfits is fun for me and I am going to be bold and proud of my passions and aspirations. :) I hope you like them, too.

Besides, when you step out of your comfort zone, that's where the magic happens.

On another note, tomorrow is my first day of my internship! YAY. I can't believe time has flown by so quickly... People kind of have a hard time really grasping what my MAIP internship is — mostly because I do a half-ass job of explaining it, excuse my french. Maybe I'll try explaining in full detail tomorrow, along with how day one went... if I survive that is! I hear it's a dog eat dog world out there. Pray for me.

Really, pray for me. These are my prayer requests:

To be kind and humble... to my colleagues, my bosses, my barista, the lady on the corner, whomever. I remember at my last internship last summer, I acted like a know-it-all. I thought I was a rockstar. But really, I was only an incoming junior and 19 years old, so... that's kind of embarrassing But really. There's a fine line between confident and cocky, but that line makes a world of a difference. Confidence allows room for growth and welcomes learning; cockiness is intimidated and threatened by new knowledge.

To be confident... with my ideas, my opinions, and my story. (: One that that I should not be shy about is the way God made me. I am who I am by the grace of God and I shouldn't shrink down to be anything else — because when you try to be anything or anyone else, shrinking is actually what you're doing. I want to learn to love the person God made me to be.

To be bold enough to speak up when something is on my mind, and confident enough to remain silent when there is nothing to be said. < My pastor said this last week in his sermon and I fell in love with this saying. Relevant to me in every facet of my life and interaction because I am often aware of the risks of speaking up and the anxiety of being quiet.

I'm reading the OT right now — and I'm learning a lot! However, I'm very behind in my reading plan. How behind? Oh, about 75 chapters behind. So, I'm excited to be commuting again because I have a guaranteed 2 hours (give and take) in my day to read... Or do my makeup, or check twitter, or sleep, or play 7 by 7. SO! Please pray that these train rides to and from work will be more than mundane transportation, but magical and real and life changing intimacy meetings with my Lord.

How can I pray for you? Have a good week! XO.

I'm linking up with:
Style Elixir
The Life of the Party
What Jean Likes

Look Book : Wearing Chambray

Friday, June 7, 2013

The chambray shirt is a classic — and for good reason. It can be dressed up or dressed down, and matches nearly anything. Tuck it under a pencil skirt to go to work, or pair with distressed boyfriend jeans and a statement necklace for a GNO. You can expect to find them sold anywhere from Target to J.Crew, varying in wash, fit, style, and to mention, price.

I've been on the hunt for the perfect chambray shirt for quite a long time now. I wanted one that was light, fitted, and not too stiff. And you'll never guess where I found it. Plato's Closet. Macklemore would be proud. :) **Note: I am actually selling an old AERIE chambray shirt. I've worn it maximum two times and it is still in great condition. You can find it (as well as some other gently worn items) here. Site is updated daily.