Shop Small - My Favorite Companies {and Indie Craft Parade}

It's fun to see all the bloggers' gift guides going up at this time of year. I've discovered a lot of great small companies that way over the past few years, and I always look forward to seeing new ideas (like these and these).

I also loved Amex's Shop Small efforts last Saturday. It was nice to see a giant supporting small business!

Here's a chance to support local artisans this weekend and do some holiday shopping. The Food Truck Rodeo certainly doesn't hurt, especially because Neue Southern's new menu made my eyes pop. Flounder and Greens and Israeli Couscous forever.





Other businesses I love:

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Last night John and I drank Old Fashioneds made with this,

What is Marriage: Holiday Traditions

What would marriage be without two different families to negotiate around the holidays? John and I got lucky; our parents live only three hours apart, so we're able to see them both over Christmas. Typically we spend Christmas Eve in Atlanta with his mom and Christmas Day in Aiken with my family. Although it was exciting to share each other's family holiday traditions after we met, it's been just as lovely to develop our own.

Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays means different things for different people. Hopefully, all of you had a great time, and if you're lucky, you might even be starting this week with one or two more stories for the books. Perhaps you bravely got on your little cousin's trampoline, only to feel closer to 30 than ever before in the grasp of the motion sickness that ensued. Your little brother might have convinced your dad to go to Black Friday at 1 am "to get shampoo" and visit Waffle House. Your dad might have even gotten up to dance Gangnam Style during Saturday dinner.

These things all happened in Aiken this Thanksgiving.

Happy Holiday Weekend

"Thank You" by Trey Speegle at 20x200.com

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Hope yours was, too! Today is for family, yoga, rest, and movies. Here are some photos from our holiday.

And from Tuesday, when Herbie and I collapsed at 9:30 pm after the start of our holiday. It's been a busy fall.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xo,

Lauren

November Gratitude: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday. It's kind of incredible that in a country so preoccupied with consumerism, we have a day devoted to gratitude.

This year, I'm especially grateful that I married John Concklin, truly the best gift I've ever been given. His support, in big and little things, is unwavering. He has shown me what it means to take care of another person. Also, he does the dishes. Our dish washing philosophies are different. I would rather relax for a while after dinner and force myself to clean up later, and he would rather do them immediately. This, as you can imagine, works out very well for me!

How to Live Without Irony

Did you see this great piece in the NY Times about living without irony?

Whether you've ever considered yourself a hipster or made fun of one - or if you've ever thought about what it means to live authentically - this is for you.

Confession. I work too much.

"Color Work Station" by Megan Whitmarsh at 20x200

Confession. I'm imagining myself in a tiny Real World confession room with that loud girl (Melissa?) who had braces from New Orleans, which I watched religiously for that entire season in 2001 and after that, never again.

I work too much. 

I even create fake work so that I can be working.

For Converse: Plan and Invitation to Current Students

Hello, Converse Supporters,

A plan for moving forward, and letter to me from Student Body President below the break:

Update for Converse Women

I continue to be overwhelmed by your heartfelt explanations of why you believe we must hold Converse accountable for the image that Roxie projects.

Messages from Lisa Congdon

Hi, Friends,

Though my creative energy is spent elsewhere this week, I can't help but share these with you.

Handlettered by Lisa Congdon, this reminds me of John. We knew almost immediately after dating that we would marry, and it did feel something like a missile, albeit a good one. I didn't think I was ready, but he patiently showed me the way.

And this - humanness. What a beautiful word. It isn't about perfection or success. It's about doing the best you can at any moment, and finding connections with the people around you. A nice thought.

Apparently today is for inspirational quotes. xo.

November Gratitude: Community and Sisterhood

This November, I'm grateful for so many things.

One of them is community. The graduates of my small women's college have recently united to express discontent in a new, regressive image being projected by the school.

I was already a proponent of single gender education, but the graceful, intelligent way my fellow alumnae have expressed their concern this week has been nothing short of inspiring. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have meaningful dialogue about the importance of avoiding gender stereotype and repression in a place that was built with the intention of empowering women. Stating that as your mission, friends, comes with responsibility.

Sometimes, community surrounds you when you least expect it. I felt the warmth of my Converse sisters at our wedding, when they showed up from all over the country to stand in a circle around me. What a nice reminder, in busy November, that it's always there. It's ready to stand together when it counts.

I wish community and sisterhood for you all.

Eat this: Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

John and I are trying to limit indulgent baked goods, so when I got a seasonal urge to bake with pumpkin, I turned to Eating Well. What I got was this delicious recipe that you should try if 1) you like baked goods that use whole wheat flour, 2) you don't like breads that are overly sweet, or 3) you just love fall.

Enjoy!

An Open Letter to Converse Women

Dear Sisters, both Pink and Red,

Some people may wonder why our reaction to "Roxie the Red Devil" is so strong. They may not understand the common bond we share that is masked in class warfare: Devils vs. Panthers. They may not understand why we love Richard despite his toothy grin, or worse, they may not understand our deep-seated respect for Converse Tradition and, most of all, the college's fundamental mission to empower every type of woman. 

Weekend on Instagram

This was my weekend. I don't know why life has been so exhausting recently, but it's been hard to get me to do anything on Saturday or Sunday beyond what you see in these photos. Dog pillow, bear slippers, rest. 

I did visit Community Tap for the Food Truck Rodeo, though, and my mom and brother surprised us by coming up last night for dinner. 

Happy Monday!

What is Marriage: So Check Us Out

Cheerleading.

John's better at this than I am. Seriously. Sometimes I start talking about how blogging is egocentric and I need to delete this entire thing. John stops me. Sometimes I say that I wasted my college and graduate school years on something I'm no longer doing, and that whatever money in the universe was intended for my education should have been spent studying A and B and maybe even C. John reminds me that music is how we met. Sometimes I unleash a torrent of self-loathing in an effort to pay some sort of retribution to my waistline for too many calories eaten, and John has to listen to every word of it. He still does a little cheer and a little dance, though, and says I look great. Sometimes he even lifts me in the air and uses a foghorn.

That's his job, I guess. Cheerleader. Was that in our vows? We should have employed the actual term, and that would have made us The Spartans. I promise to be your cheerleader and jump up and down screaming when you score a goal. John Young Shik Spartan and Lauren Ashley Maxwell Concklin Spartan.

Being my cheerleader is a hard job. I have a problem with perfectionism, as you know, and the other thing is anxiety. I worry about Herbie being at home alone, and I worry about the next career step, and I worry about having said something wrong. John tells me all those things are going to be fine.

I try to be John's cheerleader, too. I got him to spend more than two minutes inhaling each meal, and sometimes in the final, excruciating moments of a hot yoga class I whisper for him not to grimace. I even got to help a little bit in this whole crazy transcontinental job search.

I like to think we're winning in this, each giving the other what's needed. So check us out.

To do: Neue Southern, Community Tap, Dapper Ink Block Party

This weekend, I want to look for dining room chairs at Shinola, eat Korean Fried Tofu from Neue Southern, and check out Dapper Ink's letterpress. The Pisgah Brewing tasting is icing on the cake.

Greenville, see you there?

November Gratitude: The best thing my dad ever gave me

Sherrod Leonard Maxwell III, my dad, amazes me. He has gifts that are used to help people all over the world. He works for a DOE National Lab and develops methods that have helped prepare the CDC, EPA, and FDA for life-altering things like bombings, natural disasters, and nuclear emergencies.

Before he was saving lives, though, he very intentional about communicating this message to his little girl, who had his own brown eyes, good intentions, and a little too much self-doubt for her own good:

You can do anything you want to do. You're smart and talented, and if you put your mind to it, you're going to do great things.

I remember hearing those exact words over and over and over again. His unwavering support was obvious, from kindergarten to college to graduate school to the job search.

The result of Dad's prediction is yet to be determined, but I know one thing: when I consider a new goal or my biggest aspirations, his voice is always there, in the back of my mind, with his message ringing clearly.

I'll always be grateful.

Knack Studios {Greenville, SC Art}

Yesterday I went to see my friend Barb at Knack Studios, and I have to share her with you. I stumbled upon Barb's work after finding some of her pieces at a local antique store. Her card was there with her studio address and I drove right over, thinking she might have a shop I could browse. She didn't have a shop, and she was actually right in the middle of a shoot for her book (available now for pre-order!), but she was so sweet and gracious and let me come in and look around anyway.

Why Women Should Vote

 Happy Election Day! 

From one of my favorites, Lisa Congdon.

Alanis, Feminism, and '90's Girl Rock

Illustration by Samantha Hahn

This is for all my friends who, like me, sang impassioned renditions of "Head Over Feet" behind closed doors in the '90's, felt appropriately confused and enraged when they found out You was Uncle Joey, and thought "Ironic" was the most poetic thing they'd ever heard in 1996. (It's okay, we were 11.)

Alanis recently wrote this piece about Feminism, and the remnants of middle school Lauren couldn't help but click. The path to her point is convoluted, but eventually she makes a good one: while the Masculine and the Feminine are indeed different, we all harbor elements of both. Allowing them to work alongside each other is essential and allows one to complement the other in a way that could provide society with the unification we've all been wanting. 

Eight years after we all put one hand in our pocket, Alanis provides her commentary on what Jagged Little Pill was - or what it was working towards. Some of us may have beat her there, but it's nice to know she's on board. 

Weekend Highlights on Instagram (and where to eat in Greenville)

I had to work most of the weekend, but here are a few moments captured on my Instagram: North African Vegetable Soup at The Lazy Goat, a martini at 21 East, and poor Herbie staring at the dog he's too scared to befriend.

Another recent highlight was happy hour at High Cotton. We knew immediately that our bartender could be trusted with an Old Fashioned (it was delicious), got the cocktail with the cucumber-infused Gin (never disappoints), and will be going back as soon as possible to visit our new friend (with benefits). 

Last but not least, we went to Cazbah for tapas, wine, and most importantly, the tiniest and most delicious Bread Pudding we've ever had.

Happy Monday.

November Gratitude: Artists and Hurricane Sandy

Gratitude is always on my mind, and what better month to explore it than November? Sometimes cliches are a good thing.

Today, I'm grateful for artists who use their gifts to do good.

At the Governor's School, every student takes Humanities classes that focus on three questions: Who are we as artists? Why do we do what we do? Why do the arts have value for society?

I've been asking myself those things for about 10 years. John and I have also had countless conversations about the value of art as we decided whether or not we could justify pursuing careers in performance. There are many arguments for the value of dedicating your life to that, but after various bad experiences and a couple of corrupt organizations, the two of us had plenty of doubts.

Returning to a little haven for artists (Governor's School) that is largely untouched by career-driven, competitive mania has been refreshing. It's rejuvenating to be around a lot of talented young people who want to use their art to initiate positive change, and it reminds me why I loved music in the first place.

Many artists have been using their powers for good in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. One great example is 20x200, who has raised lots of money this week with sales of two different prints being allocated to relief efforts. My favorite is "We Are So Good Together."  I'm partial, though, because I sent it to John once shortly after we started dating. :)

Living with Plants: Air Plants by Sea & Asters

Hi, friends,

I mentioned last week that I'm going to try, as we get settled, to add plenty of green life in our home. I've been wanting to try Air Plants for a while. Low-maintenance is good for me, and these don't even require soil. When I found Sea & Asters, I had to give it a try. This shop handmakes little custom pods for you that are perfect homes for the Tillandsia she sends along with them. Take a look at what I got in the mail this week.

The pods are so tiny and beautiful. The shop owner also sent a handwritten thank you note, which totally won me over. I chose gold to complement our living room (work in progress), but it was nearly impossible to turn down this sweet little heart.

The best thing is that I'm only going to have to soak these once every week or two for them to thrive.

Happy air planting, and big thanks to Sea & Asters for the lovely order.