i ♥ IG

I have been loving instagram more and more since getting an iPhone 5 just before Christmas (thanks mom & dad!), and being able to play with a bunch of new apps.

some of my faves are AfterLight, VSCO, XnView Fx, and of course the new photo app from the lovely ladies over at A Beautiful Mess.

I also love, love love Chantelle's (aka fatmumslim) photo prompts. they are so inspiring and fun! not only do they encourage me to take photos every day, but they challenge me to interpret the prompt in a number of different ways, and maybe gain some new perspectives. AND to my absolute surprise, Chantelle has featured two of my photos on her instagram account in the past couple weeks. how amazing is that? twice I logged into instagram to find way more notifications than I'm used to (which is anything more than 5, ha!) to find that she had shared my photos. I'm being super nerdy about it, but I was just so excited! what an amazing lady!

if you have instagram, you should totes leave your username in a comment and I will check out your feed. or check mine out! my username is sofia_maria. happy gramming!

penpaling

I have always loved writing letters. I've had penpals since I was very young. have I outgrown it at 25? certainly not. in a world that's going all-digital, handwritten letters and printed books or magazines are on the road to becoming obsolete. I still can't read a novel on a screen, and emailing back and forth just doesn't feel as special as writing a letter, mailing it, and waiting for it to reach its destination, as the recipient waits for its arrival.

my friend kimmie (from australia!) and I have each written each other one letter, and it's already so much fun! I love finding little extras to stuff inside the envelopes as well :) I was also penpaling with my friend laura a while back. I'm not sure why we didn't keep it up, but I'm sure it was my fault. maybe I'll have to surprise her with another note soon! I'm on a letter-writing kick if anyone wants to join!

life lately...

...has been crazy. this new job has been very stressful, and the person who had it before me left me with quite the mess to clean up. but, I have been trying to enjoy the little things. I regret not spending more time on this blog. on the weekends, I try to think of things to write, but I always convince myself that nothing is worth writing about. I think I just need some guidance. I need a plan. if anyone has any suggestions on effective blog planning, I'd love to hear it!

things I love today: instagram faves

{via mikevfmk}

{via skyem}

{via annirezac}

 {via truelane}
ps- did you know that Chelsea was recently featured in Verily magazine? too cool!

{via myhertsgard}

{via cindyloughridge}

{via eickyeicky}

{via johanludvig}