You See These Lights are Blue

 We've made it one week since this year's Oscars, did any of you happen to tune in?  I only saw two of the movies nominated, well, one and two thirds.  I had to turn off Elvis because it was so bad, and Avatar was my first movie theater experience since before Covid.

Anyway, that's not really why I watched it.  The real reason is of course, the fashion!

I wasn't overly impressed with this year's selections, most being your standard Red Carpet fare, even though they went with a champagne carpet, instead.  You'd think with an update like that our celebrities would have thought a little more outside of the box.  Oh well.

I really liked these three cream to white dresses on Zoe Saldana, Halle Berry, and Tems.  I love a good, lacey slip dress, the flower details on Berry's dress make it much more interesting, and the sculptural quality of Tems' dress is quite refreshing.

These two-tone color dresses stood out as well on Monica Barbaro and Fan Bingbing.  The light and dark pairing for each is exquisite and dramatic, while also bringing some much-needed cheekiness to the affair.

But none of these compare to the detailed beauty Kartiki Gonsalves wore.  It's a map, a story, a pictorial explosion of color and light!  And she looks fabulous in it.

I actually started following the designer, Rahul Mishra, about a year ago on Instagram, and every single piece is this stunning.  The amount of work required for each must be astounding, as they are all handmade.  With collection names like The Enchanted Garden, The Tree of Life, and Cosmos, you really see his reverence towards nature and the beauty that surrounds us.  If you have some time, his Instagram page is worth a perusing.  I mean, these images below are just a hint at what's on the page!

(photos collected from Celebmafia, justjared, Vogue, etonline, celebmafia, reddit, and instagram)

A Floral Oracle

 Good evening and happy first day of March! I don't know about where all of you are located, but around here it's already looking quite spring-like.

I spotted a couple of these delicate pink-bloomed trees on my walk with Ollie this morning.  I looked them up and I think they're called Eastern Redbuds, or Cercis Canadensis.  They have a 'Least Concern' Conservation Status, the flowers can be eaten fresh, fried, or boiled, and they are the state tree of Oklahoma.

And when we got home I noticed that the white and yellow daffodils are also awake!  Also known as Narcissus, they come in many colors but are characterized by their unique trumpet shape.  Don't try to eat these though, as all parts of the plant are poisonous.  

And thus ends my first foray into flowering factoids.  Now go forth and spread these precious petals of wisdom, and may this month of March bring us more flowers and flowering trees to discover!

(photos by e.hunt)

Your Focus Determines Your Reality

 Introducing a brand new series, here it is, straight to your computer screen: Photos From Years Past!  Each month I will be posting a collection of photos from that same month a year ago.  Even though I stopped blogging, I never stopped documenting the weird, wonderful, and interesting things.

Let's start with a lovely, vintage-looking snow scene.

Followed by a peek into a commercial-size espresso machine.

And the obligatory cool-sky shots.

We had recently had a professional show us the proper way to hang artwork so we finished putting up our first gallery wall.  Ethan picked out the Sweden skyline and sepia street-view, while I contributed the Lord of the Rings Wraith piece.

And to finish out the month, a candid of Ethan during a cookie-baking day.  As you can see, every surface in our tiny little kitchen was covered in cookies.  Not a bad thing at all, I say.

(photos by e.hunt, title quote by Qui-Gon Jinn, The Phantom Menace (1999))

The Dusk, the Dawn, the Earth, the Sea

 Let's try this again, shall we?  Today marks eleven years since I was a senior in college and decided to turn this started-as-a-study-abroad blog into an actual blog blog.  A rather fitting day to be picking up the digital pen again, no?

(photo by e.hunt)

One Year

Hello all, and happy Monday, June 1st!  It's been quite a year since my last post, but more on that later.

I'm beyond excited to be back and so ready to be involved in this creative space again.  I've missed the writing exercise and photo direction this blog has always given me, and I'm mentally ready and happy to take it up again.  There will probably be a few more film and book review-type posts, and you can continue to expect a positive stream of consciousness and documentation of my life and what I find inspiring.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions of what you'd like to see here in the future, scroll on down to that comment button.

Welcome back to Kindof Maybe.

(photo by e.hunt)

In This, the Time of Spring

Happy April!  Can you believe we're already one fourth through the year?!  It certainly has been a pretty good fourth though, and we're just starting to get some nice weather.  We'll probably get some rain and another cold snap or two, but the forecast calls for 60s and 70s later this week, and I hope it stays.

I went for a walk while waiting for my laundry to finish drying after dinner at Mom and Dad's last week, which was quite lovely.  It stays light out until 7 or 7:30 now, so it was nice to take advantage of that.

And speaking of weather and the environment, did anyone else participate in Earth Hour on Saturday?  Every year on a Saturday in March since 2007, people around the world have dedicated an hour of lights-off (and hopefully no electronics) in an effort to raise awareness of energy consumption, open discussion about our relationship to nature, and encourage people and groups to take accountability for their ecological footprint.  While not officially an energy reduction exercise, a study of observed changes in electricity demand spanning six years in ten countries suggested an average 4% decrease.

So, at 8:30pm on Saturday I lit a few candles and read my book for an hour.  It was peaceful and quiet, and the darkness was relaxing.  While my few lights don't make much of a difference, it was kindof neat to take part in a global initiative for the environment.  Makes me think we should have one more than once a year!

(photos by e.hunt)

Happy National Tolkien Reading Day

Today, the 25th of March, and every 25th of March since 2003, has been declared National Tolkien Reading Day.  In Tolkien's grand epic, The Lord of the Rings, this date is an auspicious day.  Frodo casts the ring into the fires of Mount Doom, the dark tower of Barad-dûr falls, and the evil Lord Sauron is defeated forever.

In honor of this fairly recently instated holiday, here is one of my favorite songs from The Fellowship of the Ring.

(photo collected from tolkiengateway)

City of the North

A week from yesterday Mom and I will board a plane headed north to Canada!!  In thinking about the future, I've realized that while I am settled here in St. Louis for right now, I don't necessarily want to stay here forever.  I've always had a dream of one day living in Paris, or somewhere abroad, but have never worked towards that for two reasons.  One, it's so far away!  No long weekends back home if it's an expensive eight hour flight each way.  Two, I don't have someone to move there with.  I know myself and I know that it takes me a long time to make friends.  That, combined with the language barrier (I do speak basic French, but am by no means even close to fluent), would make for a lonely lifestyle.

Enter Montreal.  It is the second largest French-speaking city in the world, it has a lot of very old architecture and character, and it's a much more feasible distance from home.  Also, how cool would it be to live in Canada?!

I told Mom of this potential future living location and, travel agent that she is, she hopped online and booked us a couple flights to go check it out over her spring break.  Excited to cross off another country with my favorite travel buddy!

(photos collected from instagram.com/best_montreal_photos via instagram.com/kgtones, instagram.com/best_montreal_photos via instagram.com/karl_gendron, instagram.com/best_montreal_photos via instagram.com/mtlthroughthelens, and by e.hunt)

I Have Spread My Dreams Under Your Feet

Happy 2019, everyone!  Did you have a good New Year's Eve?  I was asleep when the clock struck midnight, trying to rid myself of the nasty stomach flu that had taken over my last two days of the year.  I'm still taking it easy today but I think it's mostly gone.  I hope no one else I ran into over the weekend came down with it!

Did you all make any resolutions or goals for the new year?  I usually stay away from the hard-hitting, my-whole-life-will-be-fixed-overnight variety of resolution, so I thought about something little I could do to make my life more positive, and settled on trying to read more.  Ever since high school when we had to read and analyze novels within an inch of their paperback life, I've struggled to read books just for pleasure.  There have been a few here and there that I read to the final page (Chocolat, the Harry Potters, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Brave New World, and a few others), but that seems a rather small list for how many years have passed.  So, now my goal is out in the world and I must stick with it!  Anyone want to do a book club with me?

(photo by e.hunt)

Quite Ready For Another Adventure

Happy November!  October just flew by, didn't it?  It was a busy month for me, hence the lack of blog posting, but I've been prepping some new weekly features to help me stay motivated and give some direction for content.  Any particular type of post you'd like to see more of?  Or an entirely new area of content you'd like to see?

October did mark the seventh anniversary of Kindof Maybe (seven years?!!), after all.  The past month also held another landmark date: two years in my little apartment!

I've been doing a little rearranging here and there, organizing and going through old stuff that seems to have accumulated out of nowhere, but I still love living alone in my sunshine-filled, cozy, grey and blue-themed apartment.  Here's to the new month and the start of the holiday season!

(photos by r.hunt, and e.hunt)

INFP: The Idealist Mediator and Dreamer

As a lot of you already know, I'm currently in the market for a new job.  I'd like it to be a more career-type, salaried job, but I'm taking my time figuring out exactly what I want that to look like before jumping into anything.  I've made some quick-draw decisions in the past that have not always led to the right thing, and I'm lucky to have my current job that allows me the time to do this soul-searching accurately.  Also, if I work at Starbucks for five years I can potentially go visit a coffee bean farm in South America.

Anyway, Mom and Andrew suggested that I take a personality test to help get some ideas for potential lines of work.  I turned to the most well-known of the personality tests, the Myers-Briggs.  It's the one with the four letter combo titles.

While I think it is a little presumptuous to categorize the complexities of a human and their personality into one of sixteen definitions, it is interesting and does provide some insight on why you are the way you are.  If you are interested in taking the test, I used this website: 16 Personalities.  If you end up taking it, let me know what you get!

My answers led me to be described as INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving).  Here are a few INFP excerpts from the site that I felt were particularly on the nose for me:

While they may be perceived as calm, reserved, or even shy, they have an inner flame and passion that can truly shine.
The strength of their visionary communication style lends itself well to creative works.
A Mediator's affection, creativity, altruism, and idealism rewards them and those they love with perhaps not with logic and utility, but with a world view that inspires compassion, kindness, and beauty.
Mediators are private, reserved, and self-conscious.  This makes them notoriously difficult to really get to know.  

Comprising just 3-4% of the population, the risk of feeling misunderstood is unfortunately high for this personality type.

Mediators often wish that they could just be.  

Fantasy worlds in particular fascinate Mediators, more than any other personality type.

A live and let live attitude comes naturally.  

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.  

Mediator's tendency to protect their sensitive inner cores and values from criticism means that acquaintances will likely get nowhere near them without sustained and tactful effort.  

They will emerge from this time alone having come to a momentous decision that even their closest friends didn't know was weighing on them.  

Some Mediators will prefer a more personal touch, being able to work face-to-face with others, seeing that their personal effort really impacts another's quality of life. 

Whether it is navigating interpersonal conflicts, confronting unpleasant facts, pursuing self-realization, or finding a career path that aligns well with their inner core, Mediators may face numerous challenges that at times can make them question who they really are.  

What do you think?  Does this describe me pretty well?  I also found this link to The Top 25 Favorite INFP Movies.  It includes a lot of my favorites, like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Moulin Rouge, 500 Days of Summer, and some that aren't favorites, but ones I really like, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception, Stardust, Harry Potter, and Romeo + Juliet.

And here are some famous INFPs:

JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, John Lennon, Tim Burton, Vincent Van Gogh, Audrey Hepburn, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Anne of Green Gables, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Luna Lovegood, and Princess Diana.

Some pretty good company to be in, I think.  Anyway, it's interesting to think about.  Taking this test didn't really help me come to any conclusions on the job search front (think I'll need to do an actual career aptitude test for that), but it's always good to reflect on who you are as a person, what your shortcomings are, and how you as a person impact others and the world around you.

(photos collected from thelakesidepark, patheos, 16personalities, and by e.hunt)

Explorez-Vous l'Univers Avec Moi?

A few weeks ago I started following several French fashion bloggers on Instagram, partly for their savvy French style, and partly to listen to their ramblings on Instagram stories.  I thought it would be a good way to brush up on my French.  I can still read it fairly well, and speak in basic, short sentences, but I always had issues understanding a French person speaking at their normal pace.  So far I've only been able to pick out a few words here and there, but I'm getting better at understanding the overall subject of the little videos.

And this last weekend, their normal day-to-day videos stopped because two very important things happened: Saturday was Bastille Day, and on Sunday the French team won the World Cup!  It was like a French national patriotism explosion on social media for two days.  Vive la France!!

(photos collected from instagram.com/marieandmood, instagram.com/junesixtyfive, and instagram.com/frenchwords)

Softly Soaring Through My Atmosphere

Hello and happy Tuesday!  How is everyone's week going?  Mine has been busy, already, but the good kind of busy, so it's okay.  We leave for Florida in less than two weeks so I've been running around, gathering those last minute items for the trip.  Between that, work, any social obligations, and trying to get enough sleep, I've been moving non-stop!  Well, I'm not moving while sleeping, but you get the idea.

I got to draw the A-frame sign at work a few weeks ago.  It's to promote a couple kindof gross summer tea drinks, but it was fun to come up with the idea and execute it.

Way back in May, Taylor gifted me with a membership to the St. Louis Art Museum for my birthday and our welcome packet finally arrived!  We are now official card-carrying members!

And lastly in this brief update, I have to give a shoutout to my new charcoal face cleanser.  It's tingly and refreshing and after having problem skin since I was ten years old (that is not an exaggeration, I started using acne medication in the fourth grade), I feel like it is finally on the up and up!  And now I will cross my fingers and knock on wood hoping that it won't get bad again, but I'm happier and more confident with my complexion than I have been in a long time, a long time, and I think that is worth celebrating.

(photos by e.hunt)

Home is Behind, The World Ahead

Hello there!  It's been a while, hasn't it?  A busy while, that is.  Last weekend's big Nashville wedding was a success, and we're all slowly catching up on sleep and getting back to day-to-day life.

I'm putting together a few catch-up posts about the last few weeks of May, and of course a few about the wedding, but just wanted to pop in and say that I'm still here, and ready to be blogging again.

(photo by r.hunt)

Queen of the Met

Last Monday was one of the year's biggest fashion events, The Met Gala.  This event is a little different than most celebrity red carpet affairs, though, in that rather than everyone just wearing pretty designer gowns, everyone wears pretty designer gowns according to a theme.  This year, the theme was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and I quite enjoyed the interpretations.  After Rihanna owned everyone for not dressing enough to the theme last year, the celebs went all out for this one.  Rather than being mainly about Catholicism as a religion, I think most based their look in reference to the Catholic role in history and art.

While they definitely follow that look, did anyone else get a really strong Queen Amidala from the Star Wars prequels vibe?

(photos collected from nesdesk.si.edu, usmagazine, artoo.tumblr, glamour, starwars, geekmom, thecostumevault, makingstarwars.tumblr, padawansguide, club.doctissimo.fr, and starwars.wikia)

It's Kinda Earthy

Happy late Earth Day!  Did you stop and appreciate our glorious and mysterious natural surroundings yesterday?  I opened at work but stopped to look at the grey tree line behind the store.

Instagram was full of Earthy tributes and lush outdoor scenes.  I think this was my favorite though.

(photo by e.hunt, and collected from instagram.com/wildlifeplanet)

Welcome to the Third Annual No TV Week

No TV Week starts today, so turn off those television sets and look away from your phone!  No Netflix, Youtube, Gaming, Snapchat, Instagram Video, or Any Moving Image.  And most importantly, no cheating!!

(photo collected from google)

Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of a Moment Until It Becomes a Memory

Happy International Women's Day, friends!  As I did last year, I'm wearing red to honor all the awesome ladies out there.  I am lucky to have many inspiring ladies in my life: first off, my Mom, who is one of my best friends.  I feel so fortunate to be able to come to her with anything, not to mention we just have a lot of fun when we're together.

My best friend Kaitlin and I live in different cities now but talk every few weeks or so.  She and I are very opposite in many ways but get along famously.  She is always supportive and we can talk about anything with each other, no judgement and no holds barred.

Together, with my Aunt Debby, who reminds me to not always take things so seriously, we make the perfect travel team.  Here we all are in Greece, enjoying our daily afternoon gelato treat.

Both of my Grandmas, who have wildly different personalities, inspire me in a creative and professional sense.  My Mom's Mom, Nana, always had work selling her paintings, needlepoint samplers, and other craft items.  My Dad's Mom worked in the high-end fashion retail industry for years.  Both traveled extensively with their husbands, and even took their kids and grandkids with them on occasion, much to our delight.  A few years ago Mom and I got to travel with both of them to Santa Fe.

And my many other good friends I've had throughout the last fifteen years or so.  Our friends shape us in a lot of ways and I've been fortunate to have some great influences through high school, college, and family.  Some I've lost touch with over the years and others I still see every once in a while.  They all were significant in my life and I appreciate their friendship.

So I guess the theme of this post is that women need to support and believe other women, and we can be unstoppable.  Appreciate your friendships, past and present, and listen and learn from the women around you, because we are awesome and we deserve it.  Happy International Women's Day!

(photos by e.hunt, k.horner, e.gerhardt, a Greek citizen, a Santa Fe citizen, s.harris, l.walton, j.hunt, and r.hunt)