Your Freddy Bear

I still remember my first trip to the cottage. It was the longest drive of my life, endless traffic on the 401, and we arrived at 11 pm, way after dark. I didn't know it at the time, but evening is the best time to come to the cottage. You can only get to the cottage by boating across the lake. Traveling under the stars, feeling the breeze on your face; for me it felt like I was going to Hogwarts. 

I'm such a fish, so being surrounded by so much water is amazing. In the summer it is heaven to dive right in while the sun is roasting you. The lake is gorgeous and surrounded by beautiful forests and crown land. The best days are when you jump in the boat and motor around the lake, feeling the wind and the spray in your face. 

Whenever we are up at the cottage, it is always puppy central. Our families are big dog people as are all our friends, so whenever Rhys and his family invites big groups up to the cottage, you know that you are going to be overwhelmed by big, hairy, wet, excited puppy dogs. It is always a mess of wet paws, tennis balls, chewed up sticks, and lots of rowdy barking. 

 Being at the cottage is definitely a happy place. It's somewhere you can go, curl up with a great book when the weather is bad, run and splash and play when the sun is high. It is a place where you are surrounded by nature and love. It's a place I hope to always be able to go. It's a place that everyone is sad to say goodbye to.

I don't mean to imply that I am a country girl and conjure this false image of cowboy boots, country music, farm life, and beer because those things aren't me either. What I mean is, that being out in a place where the nearest Walmart or strip mall is thirty minutes away, where is nature is all around you, is where I feel most at home. 

My hometown is a place much like that and I think that's why I have such a love for it and calling to be back there as often as I can. It is also what may have inspired my great love for the small towns I visited when I last went to Europe. Small towns have such an intense, quiet energy. That may seem like an oxymoron but for me it's true. Small towns seem to be alive and in tune with the nature that surrounds them. Big cities, although full of hustle and bustle, noise and energy, lose the intensity. It is as though it is blurred out by all the bright lights and unending movement. Out in the country, it can be so soft and so quiet, you are afraid to breathe and disturb it.

As someone who loves to dream and to write and create, small towns are my bread and butter. In a small town, it is easy to imagine a murder shattering the idyllic setting, or a witch hiding in plain sight. Small towns can create epic romances in their small confines. Looking down from the stars, a narrator can see all that happens, unlike in the city where the people below become as lost as the stars are in all those bright lights. 

This may seem like a pointless blog post and maybe it is. All I wanted out of it was to express my love for quiet places that breathe with you and inspire your dreams. Small towns don't stifle my dreams as they do for some. They encourage, strengthen, and ultimately allow them to take flight, while still providing a place to come home to. 

  

It is definitely more of a calmer shade of red than I've been before. I'd be lying if I said the change doesn't phase me. It's weird to look in the mirror now. I have been changing my hair colour with alarming frequency since I was fourteen but for the past year and a half I've had blonde/ombre blonde hair. That year and a half or the same colour has been the longest break my hair has had in years. So of course I had to end the streak with something drastic!

The coolest part about this red is how much it changes things. I look like a completely different person sometimes. The colour also shifts depending on the light. Outside, it is super red but in the shade or inside it ends up a nice auburn, with more brown undertones. I also have to pick my clothes a little bit differently. There are certain colours I can no longer wear and have them look as nice. It's been a great change and I am excited to see how it wears and fades the longer I have it.  

Also, whoever said you can't wear a red lip with red hair, obviously has never tried it! ;) 

I decided I wanted to "free the girls" for this event, so I picked out this Forever21 jumpsuit that I can wear without any help.

Threw on an easy pair of nude heels and felt good to go! The boy's outfit was all pieces from Winners, but I was just super happy we had matching colours! 

I am in love with the little vintage clutch that my grandma found for me. It's so adorable and its gold chain matched all my gold accessories.