how to {be} fly.

WHEN I WAS TWO MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME HOW TO FLY. Well, they taught me how to ski, but for some reason, the power that gliding through the snow gave me convinced me I was invincible. It took many years and collision-based accidents to convince me otherwise, and by that time I had already started to learn how to ski in control, a skill which is still near and dear to me.

I spent twelve years of my life ski racing, perfecting every piece of technique, turn and ankle roll and learning that making those swooping turns feels more like flying than bombing down the hill as fast as I could ever did. Those sweeping moments from side to side while the air travels past you, cool, refreshing, humming. Taking the time as you make your way to the bottom, the movements now automatic as you enjoy the moment, or clear your head of any inhibitions in life or otherwise. The bonds I made while on chair lifts, ranging from interactions to friends to getting acquainted with someone new who shared your same passion. The power that I felt as I knocked down a gate that was on my way to the finish line or carved into the ice with all the strength I had during the pitch. The determination I felt for next time after I learned I didn't make it down fast enough.

This weekend, I returned back to slopes again, taking a break from ski racing as I have for the past two years to recreationally ski every terrain on the mountain. I have a new found love of skiing freely, still in control but making my own turns instead of those that the poles on a race course determine for me. It's something that I have recently learned to treasure, an adventure i'm revisiting from my childhood years. But at the end of the day, my mind always wanders back to those years when I lived on the mountain all winter. After all, only racers can truly understand why we would wake up early in the morning in below freezing weather to take two full runs in a spandex suit as fast as we can, and enjoy every minute of it.

blurred lines

CIRCLE IN THE SAND FP TEE

Change. It can be a pretty heavy word. To tell you the truth, I've always thought of change as a challenge- shifts in location, relationships and health- seem to be really hard periods in life. You laugh, you probably cry and then you wake up one day and realize a crazy thing. You feel comfortable. You suddenly realize that this too has passed and on the way you've gotten to know yourself more than ever before. Change can be brought on by terrible, okay and sometimes fantastic things, but they seem to be huge growing periods, in my experience anyways.

This time around, change brought more change for me, at least in a smaller sense. I decided to start parting my hair right down the middle for the first time maybe ever. It probably doesn't seem big to you, but my rooms told me that it was like "you know, sort of like when you don't know you need glasses, and then you put them on for the first time and suddenly things are clear!" Apparently that's what happens when you can see my whole face. So I'm gonna stick with it for a while.

feeling salty.

 HERBIVORE BOTANICALS SEA BATH SALTS

Something about taking baths is just it for me. The root of that can probably be traced back to my hot tub at home, but since I don't have that, my bath tub will have to do. Especially when it's as freezing as it is right now, relaxing in some hot water can really go a long way. I'm a recent fan of Herbivore Botanicals because they're a hundo percent natural, and this particular set of bath salts is meant to relax, calm and detox. all. great. things. They all smell wonderful, and not in an overpowering way where you walk out smelling like a stick of vanilla, but just enough to enjoy while you're in it.

That was a total Garden State reference if you didn't pick up on it.

Go ahead, play some soft tunes, immerse yourself in these salt blends and water and just zen for a while, you deserve it. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...

v.d.a.y.

ITS VALENTINES DAY

I've been feeling a bit skeptical about this day this year because it's my first one alone in a while. But then I remembered, this year I got to experience love fully- out loud, across state lines, and undeniably- and that's more than I can say for any other years past. I also realized that it's about the people in life you care about you, and not only one person. So here's to love everyone. To anyone, everyone and all degrees.

To make one of the decorations all you need is a long wooden dowel placed horizontally and then  just cut and tie flowers upside down with string. Make a long one and use as a backdrop for a photo wall or just create a small one to hang in your room (eventually flowers will dry, and lose their color, but not their charm.)

Kisses,

Ricky & Leigh

retrograde.

MERCURY IN RETROGRADE

Until last year, I didn't pay much attention to the planetary movements, especially in comparison to the moments in my life. When mercury is in retrograde though, things go wonky in the world. What is really happening is that mercury is slowing down its orbit and it appears to be moving backwards. In greek mythology, Mercury is the messenger, so at it's retrograde, messages get lost in translation. It's also said that during this time flaws in our relationships come to light and you reflect more on decisions since it brings question to truth and clear thinking.

The retrogrades last year brought some huge changes in my life- a lot of my relationships went out of whack in big ways both positively and negatively and I made huge progress on my career. During this one I am hopeful for change but also wildly aware of some of the bad energy in my life. It's important to remember though that no matter how the planets are arranged, or what rate they're moving at, shit happens. Mercury just helps make us hyper aware of some major points in our life, and I think of it like spring cleansing for your emotions.

thermal city

FREE PEOPLE YOU MAKE MY DAY HACCI

ADORN BY SARAH LEWIS CRESCENT MOONS RING

VINTAGE RING FROM FLASTAFF/AZ HAND DELIVERED BY MISS REMMY MARKS

I'm a huge enthusiastic of wearing what's comfortable but gorgeous at the same time.
During the winter, I always find myself a friend of thermals and henleys. They're soft and oversized and give you an excuse to wear a kickass pair of leggings with them since as a rule of thumb I usually don't wear leggings unless my shirt will cover up the little booty that I do have, it's just what's appropriate. I usually go for a light palette so I can put them together with some black skinnys and also there's something so magical about wearing pure white during the wintertime, the way that it matches fresh snow.

Freeps always has the best thermals to rock during winter because they're not you're average ones, and i'm totally plugging them here because if you're looking for a variety, they've got you covered.

WTF BENEDICT CANYON HENLEY

photos inspired by lady B. because that's the vinyl thats spinning right now and the mood i'm in.

hanging tight

Working in retail has totally made me think of new ways to make apparel beautiful. Living in a shoebox has forced me to make the very most of the space that I have.

These two things combined inspired this trick to hold up the trickiest shoes to store- THOSE TALL BOOTS. I pulled some knowledge from my visual display past and thought to dress up two simple items and bring them together in a simple but amazing way.

HEAVY-DUTY CLIPS

WALL HOOK

I took the wall hooks and put hot glue on the ends of them and affixed string there, and wrapped it around quickly so that they look a little more rustic and less industrial. To dress up the clips, I suggest using acrylic paint and even putting designs on them so that they look completely unique. 

Very simply screw the hook into the wall where you would like to put your boots and then once in place, clip the boots together at the top. Make sure your clips have holes in them, because that is where you can hook them together and let the boots hang. This way they won't sag or bend when you are not using them and will store better!