Captivations is a monthly feature with links, stories, and news that captivated me. Take a look at all the things captivating me lately.

Hello and goodbye, month of love! It was a full month of activity! I promise I’m still trying to slow down.

Why girls go to the restroom together

Galentine’s Parties
I hosted two Galentine’s parties for some of my favorite friends and bloggers this month. One was Sarah and I’s 2nd Annual Galentine’s party that involved snacks and crafts. The other (just so happened to be near Galentine’s) was a wine tasting for blogger friends at Infinite Monkey Theorem. I loved spending quality time with all of these gals!

Valentine’s Day
Boyfriend and I don’t go all out on holidays because we’re good at celebrating with (spending money on) nice meals and fun vacations whenever we want. So, our quiet Valentine’s night involved cooking mussels and veggies and indulging in cherry pie. I also got a sweet card. Simple, just how I like it.

Austin Half-Marathon + Austin Distance Challenge
I ran the final race of the Austin Distance Challenge this month! For the Austin Distance Challenge, I ran five races, once a month from October to February. It included the Run Free Texas 8k, Run for the Water 10 mile, Decker Challenge Half-Marathon, 3M Half-Marathon, and the Austin Half-Marathon. (This brings my number of half-marathons to SEVEN!) The whole event was a tough challenge that I did not train for very well (or at all), but I’m glad I completed it! I’ve always thought races were a good long-term fitness goal (compared to my current “work out three times a week” goal), but I’d love to hear your ideas. How do you track your fitness?

Politics Stress Me Out
This is why we don’t participate. Because it is exhausting to keep up, mentally and emotionally. When we see horrible, senseless things happen and no one in power (elected leaders, influential leaders) seems to be doing enough. I watch and hear the news and think “people can’t seriously be ok with this?!” What happened to values as an American and as a human being? I read this Huffington Post article that echoes my disbelief, and I encourage you to give it a read. How are you feeling? What are you doing to feel ok? (This post might help?)

Microblading
I’ve been curious about microblading and wanted to share what I’ve learned. Microblading is essentially tattooing your eyebrows so that it looks natural and full without makeup. My friend Kate did a great microblading video answering tons of questions and showing the process. Ultimately, I don’t think my eyebrows would be a fit for it, but the results look great!

Austin Food Blogger Alliance 2017 City Guide
Each year, our Austin food blogger organization puts together a city guide about the best eats in the city. I contributed with three guides posted this month, so please check them out! I’ve also updated my personal favorite Austin restaurants list for all of you planning to visit. *hint, hint*

• Best North Austin Restaurants
• Best Pastries in Austin
• Best Cupcakes in Austin

“And if you’re faced with the choice and you have to choose, I hope you choose the one that means the most to you”

Heroes
122 million. That’s the number of children’s lives saved since 1990 according to the UN. I’m thankful for passionate people like Bill and Melinda Gates and generous people like Warren Buffet who are working to make the world a better place by saving and improving lives. This letter has incredible numbers and evidence of the good that is being done. #heroes

Letting Go
I welcomed this article about letting go with open arms! I recently had a very close friendship go wayside and when I finally looked up, I realized it was completely shattered. While I can assume what happened, it’s sad to say I don’t know why it ended. I spent so much time not doing anything when I saw it happening, hoping it would fix itself and hoping she would come to me about why she saw issues with our friendship. It hurt and it still hurts a lot. I’ve finally come to the point (of exhaustion) where I need to let this go to find my sanity and to flourish. No more stress, no more negativity (asking myself what I did wrong or what I could have done differently), no more blame. Lessons learned: COMMUNICATE, and life is too short for negativity.

Until It Happens to You
I was reading this New York Times article about how a town of Trump supporters are rallying around their resident who may be deported. It echoes a thought swirling in my head this month. You stand for something until it happens to you. You want people to obey the rules but you would take the opportunity to break them without harm or punishment. Your thoughts and actions change when something could benefit you or would affect your life. Hypocritical, right? It gives evidence that we are emotional beings and survival of the fittest is innate.

This Is Us.
If you haven’t watched this show, stop reading because the following gives spoilers. I can’t stop thinking about the Memphis episode. In the episode, William says, “I haven’t had a happy life. Bad breaks. Bad choices. A life of almosts and could haves. Some would call it sad, but I don’t, cause the two best things in my life were the person in the very beginning and the person at the very end and that’s a pretty good thing to be able to say, I think.” We, the audience, have only seen a small snippet of William’s life. We’ve seen some wonderful moments and some hard ones, and we’ve grown to love his character. This episode is a great reminder of what truly matters in life. The good will outweigh the bad. Stop worrying about all the little details and how you’ll get there and what you’ll do next. Roll the windows down and crank up the music.

What’s captivating you lately?

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The post Captivations v.32: Month of Love, Half-Marathon, and #ATXBestEats appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

It’s taken enduring rough patches, snapping back to reality and evaluating consequences to get this far. This post has been months in the writing and almost a year and a half in realizing. I present: some of my life lessons learned.

1. Don’t believe everything you think.
Your mind is a powerful thing, and sometimes it’s also deadly. It’ll kill your hopes, self-esteem, and confidence. Remind yourself about the things that are true and put your trust in them. You are worth it. You can do this. Eating a cupcake is ok.

2. Be honest.
I find this especially hard when I need to give news that won’t be happily accepted. But it’s better in the long run for the person. Likewise, it’s ok to be honest and vulnerable with someone you trust. It’s ok to share your feeeeeeeelings. (So, honestly: Backstreet Boys over ‘N SYNC and fanny packs can be cool.)

3. Forgive and move on.
You will make mistakes. Sometimes it’s ok. Sometimes it’s not. And sometimes it’s a really good idea to correct those mistakes. Apologizing is not below you and it does not make you weak. Feel the pain and anger, let it move through your veins and hit your heart, and then tell it to leave. Accept that it happened, forgive who you need to forgive and then move on. Dwelling in the past will keep you from happiness.

4. You are responsible for your actions.
Don’t like the outcome of what happened? How did you influence it? Don’t like what someone said/did to you? Did you provoke what was said/done? Think really hard about your actions and the possible outcomes before you act and/or speak.

5. Don’t assume anything.
ANYTHING. Because there’s a huge chance that you are incorrect. When you assume things, you set yourself and others up for failure. No, of course he didn’t know you felt that way and no, that is not actually what he was thinking. Assuming is dangerous. This is how fights start and mistakes/misunderstandings happen. Just speak up and state the seemingly obvious.

6. Think positive thoughts.
When did we all get so mean and opinionated? We’re critics and quickly pick out everything that’s wrong with people and with situations, especially when we have easy platforms (ex: social media) to make ourselves heard. Not saying to suppress your opinions, but we can stop putting negativity into the world if we think before we diss and state the positive instead of tearing each other down. This goes for what we think about ourselves, too! Watch your thoughts.

7. Life will always be challenging.
I’ve grown up thinking that when I get older, life will be much easier. In high school it was: I just need to get into college and then life will be easier. In college it was: I just need to find a job and then life will be easier. Surprise, it actually doesn’t stop. There is no easier. You just care about different things or care about things differently. There will always be challenges, sadness, stressful situations, and disappointments. The way we survive is alcohol attitude. Accept the happenings, endure the happenings and practice gratitude often.

8. Start now.
There’s no tomorrow. There’s today. Right now. There’s no perfect time to start. I might even say that there’s rarely a time you’re really “ready.” You just have to jump in, go for it and trust that it’s exactly where you need to be. Life will always be challenging, and the things you want take work. You’re not going to lose X number of pounds in your sleep or improve your self-esteem infinitely without work, so just start. “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” -Lemony Snicket

9. Love is kind of, really beautiful.
Love can be frustrating, disappointing and painful, but underneath it all, it is beautiful. It helps you believe in and appreciate your purpose and your happiness. It can overwhelm you, keep you whole and give you hope. It’s exhilarating when you step in and let yourself feel it. I’m a hopeful romantic, so I could go on and on about this, so I’ll just say this ThoughtCatalog post says everything and more that I could say about love.

10. Love yourself.
This is where it starts. If you’re not true to what you want and what you feel, you’re going to find yourself fumbling, looking for every possible wrong way to fix what isn’t aligned inside yourself. And there’s an awful chance you’ll take down people around you, too. Stop and evaluate your happiness. Respect yourself. Invest in the things and people that make you feel alive.

These are ten things I’ve learned yet I still need to remind myself of them often. Geeze, life is really hard and heartbreaking sometimes. But, I think after all the stress, worry and endurance, we’ll be ok. Better than ok even! And we’ll have a million more lessons learned.

What life lesson have you learned so far?

The post 10 Life Lessons appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

2012 was good to me. Here are my top 10 memories.

1. Valentine’s Day Dessert Party

Around Valentine’s Day I threw a party with an awesome dessert spread, which included: Mexican Vanilla Cupcakes, Bourbon Cake Balls, Red Velvet Cheesecake, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Bourbon Ice Cream Sandwiches. Trying new recipes and entertaining friends made this a top memory.

2. Skydiving

Two of my friends came into town and we jumped out of a plane together! It was an awesome experience.

3. New Orleans

My friend and I took a weekend road trip to New Orleans and Baton Rouge in April. I loved seeing the interesting culture, experiencing the famed nightlife, visiting NOLA Brewing Co. and seeing iconic places like Café du Monde and the St. Louis Cathedral.

4. Bloggers in Sin City

You get a lot of fun and crazy memories when you join 59 other bloggers in Vegas to have fun and get to know each other. I blogged about my BiSC experience here.

5. More Love Letters

I love being a part of More Love Letters and in 2012, our team saw fast and enthusiastic growth. Our team grew closer together through emails and conference calls and through watching the love for our organization spread.

6. Peachtree Road Race and Atlanta

Last year I looked up the most popular 10Ks and decided to go to Atlanta and run the Peachtree Road Race, which is the world’s largest 10K. I blogged about it here.

7. Rochelle & Rasy’s Wedding

A magical wedding weekend with some of my great friends and favorite people.

8. Yeasayer Concert

I had only heard a few of Yeasayer’s songs before my friend invited me to the concert a week before, but I became obsessed with them after the concert. They put on a terrific show and their songs are catchy and dance-worthy.

9. Color Me Rad Run

The Color Me Rad run is one of the most unique runs I’ve experienced and it was so much fun. It’s become a popular 5K so I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and heard about it, but it’s a 5K with color stations where volunteers throw colored cornstarch at you.

10. Decker Half-Marathon

I ran a half-marathon! I’ll admit, I could have taken training more seriously, but I took the run easily and finished without major pain. That run was filled with every emotion since I was able to think through everything that happened in 2012. That run gave me affirmation in choosing “strong” as my theme word for 2012.

2012 was a good yet challenging year. I fell in love over and over again but got my heart broken in return. I did some heartbreaking of my own. My thoughts and dreams about love and forever changed a thousand times. I discovered my unhappiness and learned the hard lessons of picking up the pieces to be a happier, stronger me.

2012 is over and the past is past. Life is full of choices and this year I’m going to make my best ones. A great piece of advice I heard recently is that there’s never going to be a perfect time to start. There will always be unexpected events and our lives will always be full of responsibilities and goals. “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.” Here’s to a happy, full and meaningful 2013 filled with love, growth and friendship.

The post Top 10 Memories of 2012 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

This past weekend was absolutely magical. I got to see one of my best friends get married. And I’m still floating on the high.

This was the first wedding of one of my best friends where I really knew the groom, too, so it was extra special. I heard the story about their meeting right after it happened, met him a few months after they started dating (and watched them construct an interesting-looking gingerbread house), got to know him throughout the years and saw their journey together from the start. It’s extra special because I know for sure that their love for each other is deep, sincere and something we all want!

Gingerbread House!

Rochelle and I actually didn’t like each other at first. I didn’t know who she was when we both went into high school, but I sure did know that she was dating my ex-boyfriend. They eventually broke up and we ended up with a lot of classes together one semester. We discovered we were both awesome and better off without that mutual boy and we became really good friends. I was there for her through the relationships that didn’t go right, and it’s interesting to realize that past all that heartache, she’s exactly where she is supposed to end up. She gets to spend the rest of her life with her best friend.

Rochelle and I at our high school prom.

And they are not only best friends but soulmates. They complement each other so well, and honestly, they are two of the best people I know. Rochelle sticks up for the people she loves and she loves them deeply. She has always been the one with the right words to say, especially when life isn’t going right. Rasy always has a smile or friendly smirk on his face. He is always willing to jump in and help. And most of all, he takes care of and cherishes Rochelle like no other.

Throughout the weekend, I kept thinking about the happy moments that made me smile. Here are a few.

Happiness is:

• believing that no matter what things they’ve done wrong in their relationship, they choose to love each other for the many more things that they’ve done right
• hearing the other bridesmaids shout out expressions of excitement and love throughout the day as we got ready
• seeing how Rochelle treated her precious flower girl, which made me sure she is going to be an awesome mom one day
• watching her walk down the aisle to meet her love and both of them have happy tears
• standing next to her as she makes the most important promise of her life thus far
• hearing them recite the prayer they wrote, which was filled with the most sincere and personal hope, ambition and promise to create a beautiful marriage
• eating, dancing and partying for hours with people you love and respect so incredibly much
• knowing that no matter what her future holds, she has someone to endure and adventure with forever

I love you both! Thank you for being great friends to me and even better lovers to each other. Big, happy congrats to your future together! <3

The post Ain’t no lover like the one [they] got appeared first on Fearless Captivations.