Have an amazing holiday weekend!

I'm so sad to see one of my favorite bloggers, Natalie Holbrook, throw in the towel. I went to look at her blog the other night and it had been switched to invite only. Then, I went over to her Instagram and saw a post that said "Isn't this a fine day to end a blog?" Much to many readers' dismay, Natalie said she was done. Basically, she's over it. Done with blogging. She said that she would be on social media here and there, but since then her Instagram has been switched to private as well. The image in the Instagram post was from the same photo shoot as the photo above, but she was looking at the camera, smiling and content, filled with vivacity, and there was a blurry taxi directly behind them. The perfect NYC capture.

I had linked to Natalie's blog, Hey Natalie Jean, in one of my Friday link lists not too long ago because of a post she had written about NYC Natalie and Moscow Natalie. She mused on how difficult the transition from NYC to small town Idaho had been for her. I think she really felt a need to be present and couldn't move forward and begin thriving in her current surroundings while still so attached to her blog, which she described as "a love letter from me and my family to NYC." I've sent her emails and left her comments that we should try to connect. Moscow is just a couple hours' drive from Spokane and I feel like we are dealing with a very similar reality. NYC to Moscow really isn't that different from Zurich to Spokane (we can just disregard the detour up north!), but I never heard back from her. We peculiar humans, who put down roots, wind up linking our identities so naturally to our surroundings, our lifestyle and all of the little, seemingly insignificant rituals and habits that make up our days. When you leave a city you love, and all of that is gone and lost, it's a dreadful limbo that follows. I wish Natalie all the best in adapting to her new life in Idaho. Her decision to quit blogging is a big loss for the Internet. I wish it weren't so, but I wasn't surprised, either. Her posting had become really infrequent. Such a loss!

On that note, I happened to notice that Natalie's blog was gone because J and I were talking about me, and this blog, and how it can continue during this time when we're not in Zurich and don't even know if we'll be going back. It's awkward: Being expats and our tongue in cheek refrain that we were "living the American Dream in Switzerland" were huge parts of our identities. That makes me ask myself, What is this blog without Switzerland? What am I without my life in Zurich? Honestly, I don't really know. But I realized that I just want to go back to doing my blog my way. I learned a lot at Alt Summit, and it's starting to get me some freelance social media and digital strategy work on the side. (I haven't billed anything yet, but I'm getting close! Please reach out if you're interested in social media management or digital strategy consulting:) But as far as my blog and my online space and what I'm doing here, I don't want to get bogged down by a bunch of rules and stringent branding and rigid requirements. If I'm perfectly honest, I find a lot of the wildly successful blogs, which I should be modeling my own blog after, completely boring. That's why I'll miss Hey Natalie Jean. It was personal and compelling and more than just pretty pictures and suggestions of things to buy. There was a lot of that too, of course, but it was mixed in with genuine content that followed a story. The true, unfolding in real time, story of her life.

When I first started blogging, my tagline was "beauty wonder love" and that's what I want to get back to. This is a place to explore beauty in terms of natural beauty, style and fashion, art and design. It's a place to marvel at the wonders of life, from sleeping babies and early morning snuggles, to literature and music, full moons and starry skies. And, of course, love. Love is all you need. It manifests itself in marriage and family, indulgences like Calvin Klein underwear and Prada perfume, and the process of self-discovery through meditation and yoga.

To those of you still reading, I absolutely love you all. The conversations we have here through the thought-provoking comments you leave, they really make my day. Every time! Thank you. More to come. :)

And...here's a bit of what's been catching my eye lately. (If you don't like these Friday link lists, let me know. They're kind of one of "the rules" I adopted from the experts;)

J.Crew is doing 30% off this weekend!

Quite possibly the most beautiful dessert ever. So pink!

Coco's summer sandals for the second year in a row!

It's back -- "essential to campfires, dive bars, and back porches the Northwest over"

Coco and I love this little girl!

Norwegian Air adds more US-European routes.

Can you even get over this headline?!

The difference between expats and immigrants. Do you agree?

So glad I'm not alone in being neurotic about this. One caveat: suitcase is okay, but only on the foot of the bed, and when the bed is made! ;)

And, last but not least, a clever tribute to the all the vets and armed forces on Memorial Day. Can you read it? Thinking of all the vets and soldiers today, especially my dad.

Have a great weekend and see you back here Tuesday! xo