+ A lot of what I do at home and for work is about contracting/simplifying/letting go. One of the reasons I do this is to create room for expansion/potential/inspiration. Here are some of the things that have inspired me, or at least made me smile, this month:

1. It’s the time of year when everyone seems to be traveling or planning a trip. If you like to collect little souvenirs on your adventures, this is a great post on decorating with them. From the sage Anne Sage: “Collect travel mementos that you can use in your home on a regular basis, such as tablewares or textiles. That way, instead of filing your home with knick-knacks, you’ll be augmenting your daily life with functional reminders of your many adventures.”

2. I love capsule wardrobes and seeing versions that are so different from mine. I will probably never be grown up enough to have a capsule like this and appreciate the restraint. (Don’t know about the shoes though ;)

3. #mybangsareback. Kind of. I got to visit one of my favorite people in New York who also happens to cut my hair. Yep, I get my yearly haircut on the other side of the country. <3 Petra!

4. Speaking of bangs, I was full of fist pumps seeing another 90's band reunion. This time: Sleater-Kinney. They looked and sounded amazing!

5. We should discuss meal planning and the lean pantry soon. This post on meal prep is a little overwhelming but I love the concept of prepping all produce and grains right after shopping. She mentions and it reminds me of Tamar Adler’s great book and cute videos about the efficiency of readying your meals at the beginning of the week.

6. Ever since seeing Arianna Huffington speak about redefining success, I’ve had the topic on my mind. A friend shared this link from Andrew W.K. about his inspiring definition of success. “To truly succeed at something is to devote yourself to what you love, and to allow that devotion to bring out the best and most admirable qualities inside of you, so that in the end, you ultimately succeed at the only effort that really matters: becoming a better person than you were.”

7. I’ve started spending a little time in the Marina district of San Francisco. Although I kind of feel like I’m in a different state, I’m enjoying all of the new perspectives.

8. I was really struck by these greeting cards to support people with serious illness. I know I would have appreciated them. “Being sick can be really lonely. One major reason is because most people don't know what to say, so they disappear, or say the wrong thing entirely. And as a friend, it IS hard to know what to say… My goal for this collection is to help people connect with each other through truth, and to help people with illness feel seen and understood.“

9. More love for Sweden… pictures of this beautiful summer home calm me down.

10. And finally, even the stylish need stylists: Garance on her experience at Cannes. That dress! “It’s a black Jill Stuart dress that I never would have imagined I could wear. That’s also part of the work of being a stylist. Questioning what a person thinks about themselves and pushing them toward a new perspective.” Lovely!

Mine has been a revealing, grounding, windy May. Yours?