Natalie - Natalie Wise Blog

2013

Here’s to the beautiful, my dears!

The beautiful unknown.

Who knows what this year will bring. Heartaches, to be sure, will find their way in amidst the cracks. But I’ve been finding that the best way to deal with heartache is to embrace it. Find it, quiet it, bring it before God, and heal. And once you’ve healed, get back to the beautiful just as soon as you can. I’m working on that myself!

Because who knows what marvelous things lie right around the corner from our heartache, within reach!

It is not a sign of weakness to share heartache. No, no, it is our privilege to share heartache. I think you’d be mighty surprised who says, “I am going through something similar!” or “Your sharing really helped me.”

Multiply joys, divide griefs. That’s what doing life together is all about, right?

I know it’s not always easy. In fact, it can be downright tough.

But God loves when His family gathers and shares life.

What beauty lies there.

What privilege.

Happy 2013, my dears!

xo!

Ps. Yes this skirt does fit my fingertip rule!

Christmas Catch-Up

A little bit of Christmas Catch-Up is on the docket for today…a few things I never got around to sharing.

I made the advent wreath this year! SO pretty, I LOVE an advent wreath!

In my room, I had this pretty big bowl of vintage ShinyBrite ornaments, a few mercury glass balls, and my favorite glittery Eiffel Tower ornament. I twirled in some silver ribbon and my one of my Christmas cards from this year (they were totally Taylor Swift Christmas cards and I am not ashamed to admit that!).

Made some Bittersweet Chocolate Pots de Creme with Homemade Whipped Cream & Peppermint. YUM!

We made SEVERAL batches of my Grandma’s famous white-chocolate popcorn (with green & red colored sugar) and caramel corn.

Popcorn-Gift-Bag-Making Station!

I made DIY versions of these (way too expensive) awesome Anthropologie hairbands for some of my friends!

Love them.

Just a few fun things from Christmas I wanted to share before it was totally way lame to do so.

Hey, I’m still well within the 12 Days of Christmas (which come after Christmas, but you knew that, right?).

Matching My Dog

Sometimes apparently I run out of pose ideas so I start to dance like Elaine from Seinfeld. This doesn’t surprise me. Does it surprise you? Didn’t think so.

Or maybe I’m just excited because Lottie got a new collar, leash, and sweater! Lottie is my family dog, the sweetest of sweetie pies. A real darlin’, that girl is. This Christmas she got a new red collar and my grandma knit her this adorable sweater. Lottie has never lived where there are major snowstorms, so she absolutely loves her cozy new outerwear. She also got this fancy new leash.

{which matches my outfit}

This leash is the real deal. Made by PAWW, a sister company of HumanGear, it is high-tech and human-savvy. The workmanship is stellar, and the leash is made out of double rip-stop nylon (often used in mountaineering equipment), which means if you were lost in the wilderness and needed to go all Bear Grills for some reason, you’d want this leash with you. It’s that tough.

Obviously, I’m not recommending you use this leash in any sort of mountaineering, other than taking your dog on a nice long walk in the woods.

Dogs dig that sort of thing.

And with the Paww Pick Pocket Leash, you will too. This intuitive, “civilized” leash keeps your doggie necessities right at hand. There is a built-in bag dispenser for doggy bags, and a zippered pocket for cash, a key, or better yet, a treat for your pup. The top clips around a post if you need to leave your pooch outside for a quick run to the store. There is a handy “utility loop” on the top that can be used to attach a flashlight, a used doggie bag, a toy, or whatever else you need to bring to the dog park or on that walk in the woods.

Lottie loves this leash.

My only complaint with this leash is that we were taught in our dog’s fancy training classes to always hold the leash with two hands, one wrapped around the leash and one farther down (that’s hard to describe in words). The high pocket placement makes it a bit hard to hold the leash in this manner. I think it might be nice to have the pocket closer to the collar, or perhaps adjustable. But we haven’t stopped using this leash on account of that….no way!

It’s clear with one look at this leash that it is the gear of choice for dogs and their owners who appreciate style and practicality. This leash means business.

It also means “extra long walks for Lottie.”

So it’s pretty win-win.

Many thanks to Katrin from Paww/HumanGear for letting me review their great products! This is my honest opinion in my own words.

Vintage Christmas Eve

Vintage hat, vintage rhinestone bow shoulder brooch, and vintage dress.

I bought this dress a few months ago, but it needed a bit of TLC to be wearable. When it comes to vintage, needing a bit of TLC is no problem for me, so I set to work handsewing and cutting off the awkward mid-calf lower tier that was falling apart anyway. I think it turned out very cute shorter! I wish you could see the back better…such a pretty foldover drape with a big satin button on one side.

Sunshine and a bit of snow on the ground for Christmas.

Hello!

My DAD said this was a cute outfit, and that it was very Jackie Kennedy. A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

😉

I wore it with my red wool coat for a festive touch.

So many pictures.

Hope you had a great Christmas!

A Red Christmas Dress

{Such a twirly skirt!}

I love sunny Saturdays where I am happy from the moment I wake up, happily embracing the day before I’ve even had a sip of tea. Does my heart so much good. Sunshine doesn’t hurt one bit either!

Christmas is nearly here. Every year it fills me with wonder that the God of the heavens and earth saw fit to stoop on bended knee, to understand the human plight, to give us Jesus at Christmas time and all the year through. You see God didn’t want to play puppet-master with us, to throw us into despair on this lowly planet for his own entertainment. He created us with intent and love. He had purpose. And He didn’t leave us here alone. He sent His son so we can know that He does understand. He has walked these streets, seen these broken people here and He has touched them with His own hands.

He can touch us, too.

If your heart is a little bit broken this Christmas, be it from divorce or death, be it from stress or illness, let the babe in the manger touch you.

This is a season of being on our own bended knee, with our hearts, thoughts, and lives laid at the manger like gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And Jesus offers back life everlasting. Love eternal.

May you receive those gifts this Christmastime.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16, 17

Last night, on the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year, the real turning point in the seasons, my small family celebrated Christmas. My brother and sister-in-law are heading over to see her family this Christmas, so we celebrated early.

There were presents and eggnog; Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes; there was music and snuggling with the dog and a pretend Rockette performance by yours truly.

My brother, sis-in-law and I presented a “Dramatic Reading” (more like a comedic reading) of our own version of “The Night Before Christmas.” We read the Christmas story, and my brother sang a song about Lutefisk. We are Scandinavian, after all 🙂

I made a Washi tape Christmas tree, because I’m that hipster/poor/live in an apartment.

What do you think of the chambray shirt under the dress? I wanted to wear my gray polka-dot tights and gray heels, but I couldn’t find the tights anywhere! So the black had to suffice.

Happy Christmas Weekend, my friends. Travel safe, take heart, and enjoy!

Back to Smiles

I’m glad to show you smiles today 🙂

Glad to show you my cute new leopard headband from Oh, Sweet Joy and my Radiant Cosmetics lipstick.

Totes in love with both of them.

Which is good, because this week has been hard on me. If I’m honest, the year has been hard on me. A year ago yesterday, a week out from Christmas, a relationship with a man I thought I was going to marry ended. So my heart has been all sorts of heavy lately.

I tried to write about eight hundred blog posts about it, but none of it felt settled enough to share. I don’t feel settled enough to share. I’m still a bit of a hot mess (totally tearing up right now). And that’s embarrassing to admit, a year later. I feel like I should be fine, should be moving on, should be dating and happy. But the year really took a lot of life and love out of me, and I’m still searching for healing. A few months ago a friend asked me if I was dating, and I kid you not the word sounded foreign to me. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I think if I really shared my heart about the subject, I’d never be able to put it back together again, so I guess I’ll keep carrying on with joy in the little things and trying to get back to smiles. Happy Natalie is so much more fun 🙂

Much love, my dears!

Chambray Confession

You know how sometimes, everyone has something, so you resist getting one for no good reason other than principle? And then it goes on crazy-sale at J.Crew and you decide to just test the waters and see why everyone was going so crazy. And the minute you slip on the chambray shirt, you get it?

Totally not talking about myself here.

Ahem.

Well, no matter. I jumped on the chambray shirt bandwagon, my friends, and boy am I sure glad! I have no doubt you’ll be seeing this shirt a lot. And if you might have happened to be like me, uneasy about why everyone was going crazy over a denim shirt, don’t worry. It’s absolutely wonderful, I promise.

And while I’m reppin’ J.Crew just ’cause, this outfit definitely reminds me of something out of their catalogue. Stripes, chambray, glasses, a giant cocktail ring, ankle-zip cords, and bright blue suede pumps?

That has J.Crew-bandwagon written allllllll over it.

Oh, Sisters, Let’s Pray

My heart is heavy with the news of this school shooting in my beloved New England. The violence in our world can feel overwhelming. The sadness and hurt that we encounter in this fallen world can feel impossibly weighty. In light of this, I was thinking of the above words to the old, old song, “Down to the River to Pray“. And while my heart has been in prayer for the families of all involved, these words encouraged me to write to you. Sisters, let’s get on our knees, and be a nation and a generation crying out to God. He has overcome, He will overcome, and we shall see Him again. In the meantime, I pray that the message of Christmas, the meaning of this time of year, might fill the hearts of those so desperately in need this Christmastide. I pray that it might be louder than any message of hate or anger in their hearts, and that they might know that You, Lord, keep all of our tears, and listen to the cries of your people. You are ever-near, even in times of tragedy.

Let’s pray.

Tea Cakes {with Coffee}

These little tea cakes are just so adorable. They are happy, and that makes me happy 🙂 And they taste about 1000 times better than they look.

I know these are technically meant to be eaten with tea in the afternoon. But I say, Why not with coffee in the morning? I’m an adult, I can make that call, right?

Besides, the light was landing on that one in the back, illuminating it and saying, “Pick me! Pick me!”

Eat dessert first! And by first, I mean, for breakfast!

Oh. Yeah.

I also ate an egg for breakfast because, y’know, adults have to make the tough decisions.

These would be brilliant to have in a pretty basket down on the kitchen counter by the coffee maker for early-rising Christmas guests. They’ll feel like royalty in a 100-diamond hotel. Which is way, way, way better than a 5-star hotel. Duh!

This is the marvelous Gesine’s recipe, which I made gluten-free using Bob’s Red Mill GF flour, added some almond extract, and used my mini-mini bundt pan from Nordicware. Show her the love for this amazing recipe!

Enjoy!

Midwest Living

Sunshine after a snowstorm is one of my favorite things. The houses look like they were purposely nestled in the snow by an artist who wanted to paint them just so.

Makes me wish I were a painter, but for now, I’ll just be an appreciate-r.

We all complain about winter, but really, it is just so lovely. So, so lovely. Everything covered with fresh white powder, cheery blushed cheeks and rosy noses, and a blast of crisp air to help us feel alive and young. We have to seek all of that beauty in winter, because if we don’t, our hearts will get buried under the salt and road grime, the coughs and colds, and the cancelled plans from snowfalls. I know plenty about all of those things, too.

I hope that next time you’re buried under 10.5 inches of snow like we are (and will be time and time again, I’m sure!), you’ll make some homemade dumplings, bake some cookies, and wait for the sun to come out again. It always does.

Crossed Hunter boots in the beautiful sunshine.

Blush Pink Dress, Creamy Belt, and Raspberry Sweater.

One of my sweet friends sent me this lovely little package! Isn’t it happy? I adore the Cath Kidston note, and it was fun to see Midwest Living again. This was one of my favorite magazines during my previous Midwestern years, so it will be back in my reading rotation.

She also sent me this fun Estee Lauder lipstick. I love its modern white and gold packaging, which happened to match my white nail polish! Have you noticed that matching makes me happy?!