{recently}

A few people have casually said various versions of this: "You don't blog anymore!" or "You should blog!" or "Wait, do you even still have a blog?"

So, here we go:

Life is really busy. It's tough to write on here when my weeks have been blurs of the same thing. You don't want to read about it, I promise. I am happy and stressed and feeling (generally) really good about it all, but my personal laptop literally sits next to my bed, gathering dust, on 100% battery all the time because I rarely have a second to open it.

The past five weeks, in particular, have been really challenging. Without divulging any info, I'll just say that my job is stretching me in a way that makes me uncomfortable (in a good way!), and even though it's a grind, I'm fortunate to be excited and inspired by it daily. I don't take it for granted, even on the hard days.

But to do that, I'm sacrificing this blog and responding to personal emails/texts and even calling my parents. I had a pb&j for dinner twice this week because I didn't have time to go to the store.  I've been meaning to switch my fall/winter wardrobe to spring/summer for weeks now and still haven't done it. I have not been playing my keyboard or singing, except for this one thing for work where I had to perform a Tina Turner song. (It was as intimidating as it sounds, and me singing Tina Turner? umm it was hilarious.)

On top of all of that, we were thrown back into the Craigslist hunt to find a new roommate, and if anything tests your patience, it's that. (But we found someone!)

It's a balance we're all trying to juggle, right? I know I'm not the only one.

This is what my week looks like:

Monday though Friday I work until 7ish. Wednesday or Thursday nights I do SoulCycle, and it's a blessing because it forces me to pause my racing mind for 45 minutes. Fridays I am usually so beat I stay home and read or catch up on TV. (I just finished Catastrophe, Girls, and Togetherness; all very good.) It sounds as lame and as wonderful as it is.

On Saturday or Sunday I drive to this little town across the GG Bridge with an amazing gluten-free bakery. I get the same thing every weekend from the same girl who works there and have been unsuccessful in trying to get her to know my name (and vice versa). One day I'm hoping to walk in and hear, "Here's your blackberry Earl Grey scone, Olivia!" and until that happens, I'm gonna keep trying.

To keep me centered, I've done three portrait sessions recently and it's truly unreal how much I love to do it. I really like that top picture of me because I look confident and happy, thanks to the camera in my hands. Seriously, if you are reading this and want a new LinkedIn photo or just a candid that makes you feel pretty, please contact me!

I'm off to LA tonight for 24 hours (a shoot) & then again later this week because...my twin sister is moving to California! After living in separate states for almost seven years, we will finally be living in the same one. I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself. I may write more about it soon but—honestly—it'll just be a prose of overwhelmed emotions. :)

So that is life in a nutshell. I miss it here; I miss the writing and the sharing, and I really miss creating things just for this space. I haven't picked up a paint can in over a year and all of the design ideas I had for my room and blog posts have been shoved to the back of my mind. Everything in my life has been compartmentalized in my brain and the only two things winning are work and photography. And I think I'm okay with that, for the time being.

With that, I'll close with some of my favorite recent portraits below, because my friends and family are beautiful.

xx