Moving On

Dear world,
I am moving on and leaving this world of blog spot
I have created a new blog/website and will soon be deleting this one
I made it all by myself, everything from the design to the graphics, and am feeling quite grownup. Soon I might have to start wearing a wrist watch and keeping "schedule"
if you want to conintue to read what I write you can find me here and subscribe through bloglovin or email www.toastandroses.com
 xoxo
Justice

Foxy Loxy

From the youtube sensation "What Does the Fox Say?" to Dolce and Gabanna's Fall/Winter 2014 collection our lives are fully saturated with foxes. I love foxes. Growing up in the mountainous lands of Colorado I had many little fox friends. They are quite remarkable creatures. There was this one in our neighborhood that had a little red ball he would play with. I kid you not, he would play with his little red ball by himself. He would carry it around in his mouth, throw it in the air, chase after it, and repeat for hours in the snow. Right now there is a baby fox, called a kit, that lives behind my mom's studio and comes quite near to her while she works on the patio.

They are curious creatures, playful, and very smart. They are essentially the perfect mix between a cat and a dog. Maybe that's why our society seems to be so into them right now. After years of strife between the cat people and the dog people, we have finally found the perfect medium–an animal we can all like. No longer do we need to split up happy couples, lose precious friends, or have fights with perfect strangers. Too bad they aren't commonly kept as pets...in fact I'm not even sure it's 100% legal to keep them as pets. So we will just have to settle with buying merchandise plastered with their curious eyes and mischievous ears.
Like so:

This super fancy designer cape that looks like it came out of a children's book illustration

Dolce & Gabbana FW 2014 collection

This mason jar mug from Paper Source, talk about hipster: mason jar, coffee, and foxes!

Mrs. Fox Mason Jar Mug

This adorable sweater from Ann Taylor that sadly is sold out, but I still want it

Ann Taylor Kissing Fox Sweater

These shoes I got my sister for Christmas, because I'm the best, that just prove how foxy you are

Fox heels from Modcloth

There is a lot more. Go to pretty much any popular store and you are sure to find at least one object with a fox on it. Because they are just so foxy.

Stay foxy my friends

xoxo

Justice

Endorphins, not Dolphins

Okay so we are a little over a month and a half into this new year. I want you all to be honest with me, and with yourselves, how many of you have stuck with your new year's resolutions? Because I'll be honest with you, even though I took my own advice and made just baby step goals, i gave up after like one week. Now if you are one of those amazing people who are still going with the vegan diet or the not spending money thing, you go girl! But I have a feeling the rest of us are feeling a little down that we gave up so easily. I could of course be completely wrong and have a distorted view of the world. It is perfectly possible that not everyone has such a hard time with commitments as I do. Something tells me though that I may be right...
Since many of us start each year with the desire to lose all the holiday festivity weight, many of us create resolutions around "getting fit" and exercising. So that is what I am going to talk about. We all have different motivations behind getting exercise and we all go about it differently. Some of us only exercise when we feel fat and realize that spring break and bikini season is a week away. Others of us a religious gym members and have the complete color coordinated Lulu Lemon outfits to prove it. There are also those who think getting off the couch and walking to the fridge constitutes as exercise (it doesn't BTW). I happen to be one of those who exercise daily, usually by going to the gym, simply because I like to be healthy. okay, and because I want to be able to eat whatever I want and am not allergic too without blowing up like a balloon because me and food have this special relationship where I just can't leave it alone and I know it loves me and I love it and we will live happily ever after together. But mostly I exercise because I want to have a healthy life style.
Now there are some people to whom the idea of going to the gym is so incredibly detestable that they would rather cut out their own liver and eat it raw than step foot into one. To is to you, oh gym avoiders, who I would like to dedicate this post.
It can feel very discouraging, if you want to actually see a goal brought to fruition, if the only way you know how to do so is absolutely detestable to you. Acing a test can seem impossible if the only way you know how to study is through reading the text book and yet you are a tactile learner. The only way you will be able to ace the test is if you realize that there are other ways to study--flash cards, study parties, taking colorful notes, acting out the material, etc. The same thing goes with exercise. If you want to lose five pounds and the only kind of exercise you know of is going to the gym and running on the treadmill and yet you hate gyms and running hurts your knees, you are likely to give up on this goal, go home, and eat a pint of ice cream. No. Bad. Don't do that. There are so many options out there, and many of them are so much more fun than going to the gym. Here are just a few:

1. Go for a hike. Get a group of friends together on the weekend, pack a picnic lunch, and go for a hike. It doesn't have to be 20 miles, it doesn't have to be on Mt. Everest, it doesn't have to be intense and terrifying through uncharted lands. It can be as close as through a near by park. Most places have hiking trails nearby that are well marked and relatively easy, and immensly fun. Hiking is the perfect combination of exercise and immersing yourself in nature and can be a fun social outing too, if you're into that kind of thing. If you want to find good trails near you, check out this website: Every Trail

   

   When you hike you can see beautiful sights like this one.
   This is a picture I took while hiking in the Swiss alps this summer. 

2. Yoga. Now I know that yoga is pretty popular right now, and it seems like anyone from soccer moms, old grandpas, five year old children, to those typical dreadlocked hippies are doing it. That doesn't mean though, if you haven't ever tried it, that you should discount it. There are many benefits of yoga, beyond just the physical–see here. Whether you want to be in an incense infused room filled with tattooed 20 somethings chanting "ohm" or a rec-center class of middle aged women in their high waisted tracksuits, you are sure to find a yoga class that you like.
   
   
   

   

   Start yoga now and you might just be like this old lady in
    Melbourne, Australia who is still practicing yoga at 83

   
   
3. Dancing. Dance is my personal favorite kind of exercise. Now I am not talking about the kind of dancing you see at the clubs. Sure that may be exercise, but there is nothing in me that is compelled to spend a night "grinding" in order to release endorphins and sweat. I'm talking about jazz, hiphop, ballet, tap dance, and those other, less well known, kinds: ball room, salsa, tango, swing, and, my all time favorite, contra. Most rec centers, or local dance studios, offer beginning classes for adults in those first 4 kinds as well as ball room, salsa, and tango. And every city has places you can go for swing dancing, and it is incredibly easy to learn, you just have to go and start practicing. As for contra dancing, I have a feeling most of you don't know what that is. Well it is great. To learn more about it click here or here. Before you sluff it off as being hokey and stupid, try it. It is so much fun and really good exercise. In one hour of contra dancing you can burn like 500 calories. Also it is a great place to meet the most interesting people and hear music that you probably wouldn't normally listen to. Now I could go on for pages about contra dancing, and all dancing really as I love it all, but I won't. I just want to encourage you all to try it. Please please please!!!!!!! do yourself a favor. Contra dancing can be found all over the country, just type in "contra dancing in __________" (enter name of city in blank) and you'll find some near you!

This is me dancing. Don't you wish you could look that cool?

Those are just three really simple ideas for getting off of your behind and getting some movement into your limbs. There are so so so so many other ways! Like climbing, spinning, bally fitness, jazzercise, swimming, I can't even list more because there are so many. Suffice it to say that there is some kind of exercise out there for everyone and so there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE to sit on the couch all day and do nothing and essentially give up on life. Even just going on a walk with your dog, or cat. There is no reason that we should have to give up on our goals of leading a healthy life style simply because we are not creative enough to find other options than just going to the boring old gym.

Go out and move today
Leave the computer
It will be okay without you for a little while
But go exercise! Because:

thank you for that insight Elle

and you don't want to shoot anyone today

What's your favorite kind of exercise? Participate in this poll and you'll get a Prize!! (shhh...it's a super secret prize that no one knows about)

What is Your favorite way to release dem endorphins?
	Hello my name is Gym
	Namaste
	Dance! Dance! Dance!
	getting lost in the woods aka hiking
	Run, Forest! Run!
	Nothing. I don't like to move.
	Those activities done with groups, usually involving balls of various shapes and sizes. I think they
pollcode.com free polls

xoxo

Justice

Tell me a story

As I was doing homework tonight, leaving it all to the last minute as is usual, I found myself reading a whole bunch of online articles about different celebrities: Keira Knightly, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, J. Law, etc. As I was reading these articles I realized something, I know more about these peoples' lives, people I have never met nor will probably ever meet, than I do about the people living in the room right next to mine. This makes me a little ashamed. I obviously don't get out much... But also I obviously don't take the time to get to know the people within my community. This makes me even more ashamed. Not only am I not social, but I'm also a little selfish. Wow. That tasted like vinegar coming out of my mouth (well, it would have if I had actually said it, not typed). Now I am pretty sure that I am not the only person for whom this is true. Be honest with me, or with yourself, how often do you stop to talk to someone and genuinely listen? I don't mean just the usual nodding and smiling, "yes that's nice, have a good day!" kind of thing, but actually listening to someone's story. How often to you take the time to get to know a person, even if you will never see that person again?

Every one has a story and everyone wants to share their story, if only we took the time to hear it.

Today I was with my cousin and she told me about a man she met on the Bart (public transportation here in San Fran). She talked for about half an hour with a man who she never met before and will probably never see again. But that doesn't matter. She listened to him and made him feel like someone cared. Like someone was interested in him. He isn't famous. His face isn't on magazine covers. But someone wanted to know his story. The impact this conversation had on my cousin was astounding, so I can only imagine what he felt like when he got off the train–elated and important. But most importantly, happy. Wouldn't it be neat if we could all feel like that? If we could all feel like celebrities? I think that would be cool.

It's hard and scary and incredibly uncomfortable, for most of us, to talk to people we don't know–strangers. But these "strangers" aren't as strange as they may seem. It may not seem like you have much in common with the homeless man on the corner with the toothless grin and oversized jacket, or with the business woman in her immaculate wool suit and pointy heels. Really though, we are all so much more similar than what our outward appearances, our occupations, our personalities would lead us to believe. We are all on this journey called life. Why not get to know our fellow passengers?

From every single person their is a tale to be told and a lesson to be learned. Some we forget and some stick with us forever.

Stories are so much more interesting when there is a plethora of interesting, dynamic characters, so let's get to know the ones in our lives, it might just make our own stories more interesting.

xoxo
Justice

p.s. Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram
P.p.s. You should all check out this magazine/website because it is amazing and I love it. and it is really inpsirational. and I love it. and someday I'm going to work for them. Darling Magazine
P.p.p.s Have a good week everyone!

One Size Fits All?

I have not written recently. It’s not because I’ve been too busy, or had more important things to do, or some family matter that was holding me from doing it. It was simply because I didn’t feel like it. . I feel like writing thank you cards, which I should probably get working on now… I didn’t even feel like journaling—something I usually do every night. The last thing I wanted to do was blog, I just could not think of anything thoughtful, funny, or interesting and nothing was inspiring to me. That is, until yesterday.

I was sitting in my grandparents’ living room crammed onto a small couch with two of my cousins and a small excitable dog watching the super bowl (well, the commercials) and eating chips and salsa. My cousin happened to mention a store that she had gone into with my aunt a couple weeks ago. The store is called Brandy Melville, you may or may not have heard of it before (if you haven’t heard of it, here is their website: http://www.brandymelvilleusa.com/) . When my aunt inquired as to how the sizing worked, the woman said, “oh it’s one size fits all!”

Wait what?

 “how does that work?”

 “well the average size of women is 4, so we work around that”.

Umm…WRONG!

Let’s just let that marinate for a second.

Not only is it “one size fits all”, but also it is “one size fits all” for a world of size 4 models.

So many things about this irked me. First off, that information is simply incorrect. Today, the average American woman is a size 14. Now let’s take a moment and look at that word, “average”. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that every American woman is a size 14? Nope! When something is “average” it is the same as the “mean”, like in math. Remember finding the mean, median, and mode? Well that is exactly what this is. It means that in some kind of survey they asked a whole bunch of women for their sizes, added those numbers up and divided it by the number of women they asked. If you need a visual of what that would look like, here you go:

There would have been an incredibly wide range of sizes, all the way from 00 to 8x and a great number of women within each range. Within these size ranges every woman is a different age, race, body type. They have different jobs, different families, and different hobbies. There is absolutely nothing “average” about it. There is absolutely no such thing as “one size fits all”.

Sitting in my Grandparents’ living room we had three generations of women. Every one of us has different interests—music, dancing, fashion, hiking, Swedish folklore, etc. Even though we are related, we all look very different. Sure my cousins and I all have exactly the same eye color, but that is just about where the similarities end. Whereas I am 5’6”, blonde and hourglass shaped, my cousin is shorter, more athletically built, with stunning nut brown hair and almond shaped eyes. My grandma is, and always has been, tall and slight while all my aunts are ranging in height, hair color, and curves. We all are so different and I have to say, pretty good looking. It is our differences that make us interesting. It is our differences that make us beautiful. What fun would there be if we all looked exactly the same? What fun would there be in a “one size fits all” world?

Why should we want a “one size fits all” when it is diversity that makes life interesting? We like new artists, musicians, and actors because they are new. Every year we have award shows, like the Grammys and the Golden Globes, where artists are awarded for bringing something new to the table and changing something up in the art world. It would be so incredibly boring if the same actors won the same award every year and if the same music was played at each event. It would be even more tiresome if it were the same music as last year and the year before and 10 years ago and 50 years ago. We watch these shows every year because every year there is something new. We go to museums because we like to see different paintings. The impressionists were considered so good and appealing because they were completely different from the ones that came before. We like change.

So why are we trying to be the same as our neighbors? Why does there even exist a store that sells “one size fits all”? Why have we even allowed this to happen?

If you ever find yourself comparing yourself to your friends, family, acquaintances, favorite celebrities, random strangers on the street, or anything of the like, try to think of something that makes you unique. What is special to you that makes you different and beautiful? Whenever I feel down on myself and feel fat or ugly I look at my lips. I have very large, red lips. I got my lips from my dad, who got them from his dad. They are unique to my family and me; they make me distinctive. And I think they are pretty darn good looking. Why on earth should I compare myself to some skinny supermodel that doesn’t have nearly as good of lips? She is beautiful in her way and me in mine. That is perfectly okay! In fact that is great.

Today let’s make a pact. I want you to promise me, or just yourself, that from now on you will celebrate your differences. Promise me that you will never ever ever try to be part of a “one size fits all world” because that would be a boring world indeed.

Goodbye my beautiful ones

xoxo

Justice