It’s a lovefest on Effortless Anthropologie this week! For the next several days we’ll be celebrating that warm fuzzy feeling with guest posts, features and — of course — contests. I’ve asked a ton of people to contribute their own personal things they love tales and I hope the community will share in the comments over the course of the week. Valentine or no, EA wants to help celebrate the loves of your life.
This post, which will run each day, contains personal stories from community members and blogs. I asked each person: what is something you love? Could be serious, superficial or sublime. Here are some of their stories.
Elise
When Roxy put the call out that she needed volunteers to help post this week, I quickly jumped on the chance. I’m an avid reader of hers and always look to her blog as not only a source of inspiration with what I wear but also my little piece of happiness during a hectic work day.
As soon as she mentioned what her idea for this upcoming week’s post was I instantly began thinking of all the amazing and wonderful things in my life that I love. My husband, my job (most days), my home, shopping at Anthropologie, living in the Sunshine State, heck I even love a well made mocha frappuccino from Starbucks! There is one thing though, that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I love more than anything else in this world. One person that can turn a horrible day into an amazing day with just a smile, and that person is my 8 year-old daughter Skyler. She is the most amazing and inspiring little person that I’ve ever met. She is kind and loving, calm and collected but still independent and vivacious. She is all the things I was at her age and she amazes me each and every day. We have such a strong relationship, that special bond between a mother and a daughter that I had hoped for from the moment I found out she was coming.
As she has gotten older, there is one thing that we do together that I enjoy more than anything, that common thread between us, shopping. You see from a very young age she has had an eye for fashion and already at the mere age of eight has a firm grasp of what she likes and what she doesn’t. I absolutely adore that about her! She is my partner in crime, my little voice of reason in the fitting room and the person that will be honest with me even when I don’t want to hear it. But, more importantly than all of those things, she is my best friend.
I can truly say that being her mother has changed my life. No matter what gets thrown my way, in the end I have this incredible being that I have shaped and molded into someone that will leave her footprint on this world. She will, one day, be a mother herself and will feel that overwhelming, all consuming love that I feel for her right now and each and every day that we share together.
Denise
I grew up in a suburb of New York and was lucky enough to have some of the world’s greatest cultural treasures just a short train ride away. As a child, weekends were made for visiting to the Bronx Zoo, strolling through the Guggenheim, and toting out-of-town relatives on sightseeing excursions to the Empire State Building’s observation deck.
As a college and graduate student living in New York, my shelves began to fill with books about my city, including Gotham, The Power Broker, The Bronx is Burning, The World in a City, and Forgotten New York. I became interested in exploring my city beyond the surface and in discovering what is hidden in plain sight – and there’s a ton to find!
New Yorkers: did you know that Pineapple, Cranberry, and Orange Streets (among the prettiest streets in Brooklyn Heights) supposedly got their whimsical names when a disgruntled woman replaced the street signs bearing the names of her aristocratic neighbors with those of her favorite fruits? Did you know that there’s an adorable little red lighthouse at the foot of the George Washington Bridge on the Manhattan side (and a delightful children’s book of the same name)? Did you know that there’s an abandoned train platform under the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that apparently was used exclusively for presidential visits?
Beyond what I’ve read and my visits to my city’s newest popular attractions, my explorations have brought me canoeing down the Bronx River and the Gowanus Canal, on the roof of Central Park’s Arsenal, to the highest interior point of the High Bridge Water Tower, and deep below Atlantic Avenue inside the world’s oldest subway tunnel, among other adventures. I love rediscovering these out-of-the-way spots and sharing my newfound knowledge with my friends and family.
Ashley
ashleygettingdressed.blogspot.com
I LOVE my iPhone. It may seem silly to confess love for a piece of machinery that will be obsolete in a few years, but isn’t all love a little silly? My phone keeps me connected – evening chats with my mom, quick “I love you”s with my boyfriend, gossip sessions with my sorority sisters, and advice from my dad. My phone keeps me organized – my calendar, bank account, and email are all at my fingertips. My phone saves me money – e-mailed coupons are easily accessible, and I can price check anything from anywhere.
My phone keeps me entertained – I don’t even want to think how many hours I’ve spent blasting pigs on Angry Birds or managing to come up with the perfect word on Words with Friends that simultaneously gets triple word points and lands an X on the triple letter box. And, best of all – my phone keeps me from getting lost during my many attempts to find a shortcut from the nearest Starbucks to work. Sure – my phone isn’t perfect – the battery dies and it freezes up every once in a while – but what love IS perfect? And the best part? In a few months, I can upgrade with no hard feelings, tears, or ice cream binges. Sounds like love to me.
Katie
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-Lynne-Vance-T-Shirt-Necklaces/108430335894400?ref=ts
http://www.katielynnevance.com/
Something I love? Well that answer is easy. I definitely love my family. I definitely love my father. But I have a new found love for my father. You see he has recently taken on the role of caretaker for my grandmother who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. At first it was a slow progression but through the decline of my grandfather’s health it has taken a big tole on my grandmother’s health and memory. My dad is the most nurturing I have ever seen him be. He helps my grandmother with lunch and dinner and medicine and calls her multiple times during the day to combat her loneliness. Of course due to the disease she consistently asks the same question and is very difficult to hold a conversation with. But my dad sweetly answers all her questions and spends most of his day with her.
A proudness swells in my heart when I witness how patient and kind he is with her these days. I am proud of the man he is and love that he loves his own mother that dearly. I hope I will never have to deal with such a terrible disease with my own parents but if I do I can only hope I will find the love my father has shown for his mother and her care.
Maya
Love is not a strong enough word for how I feel about books. As my constant companion for as long as I can remember, books have have shaped the way I think about myself, my family, my friends, and the world around me. With each new book I read, whether it’s an Emily Giffin or a Jonathan Franzen, I’m swept up into a whole new universe, far away from my mundane life and its mundane troubles . And my old books are reliable, beloved friends — I turn to their familiar, well-worn pages and discover something delightful or surprising I missed the first time.
Madhavi
One thing I can talk for hours is my love for sewing. I am an engineer by profession and sewing is the one that keeps me sane from the crazy schedule. This love started few years back when I happened to find a community college offering fashion design classes and wanted to try taking a beginner class. That was it; I kept taking one class after the other until I finished the degree in fashion design. I work fulltime so it was hard to get any time but my interest and the wonderful people I met kept me going and wanting to do more. I enjoyed every bit of those long days and nights spent in classes and working on homework assignments. I am amazed to what extent one can go to do what one loves to do and I am sure each of us can relate to this in our lives. Nothing can beat the sense of satisfaction we get in doing what we love to do. Personally for me, colors and textures that nature has to offer is my inspiration for sewing.
I have created my sewing room to be full of energy with vibrant colors that motivates me to do more (see a picture above). Currently I sew for myself and volunteer for a nonprofit organization for their annual Kid’s play. Hope to take my love for sewing to the next level in the near future. I want to take this opportunity to thank my dear husband for all his support! 🙂
“Love is ever where the heart will find it no matter how unlikely seems the place.” — John McLeod
