oh hello friend!

i just want to extend a big welcome to all the new readers to my blog.  i know it may not look like i have many readers, with 5 followers (its easy to sign up, especially if you have a gmail account - wink wink nudge nudge), but a lot of my friends have told me they're checking it out, and i appreciate it.

so here's a little bit about me & about this blog...

if you haven't noticed (aka you just look at the pretty pictures & don't actually read this, in which case, this entry isn't going to help you much), i'm backpacking Australia for two months, by myself (mostly), starting tomorrow.  i've been wanting to do this for years and i can't believe it's finally happening.

while i'm over there, at least for the first month, i will probably be posting mostly from my phone, so it won't be as colorful or formatted as well as it is now - please bear with me.  i'll post as many pictures as i can (from my phone's camera) and once i get to a private computer in november, i'll be sure to post better pictures from my digital camera.  :)  (ps - that pic on the left is not me, but it totally could be!)

i live in LA and moved out here from South Carolina to pursue an acting career, which is a whole blog in itself.  i found myself miserable, blinders on, chasing after acting "success" so i let myself take a break & it's been wonderful.  and actually quite productive, acting-wise, ironically enough.  if i hadn't had the breakdown that prompted me to take that break, i'd probably never have given myself permission to take this trip.  so yay for breakdowns!

you may be wondering, what's with the bird references, lady?  well, i'll tell ya.  about a year ago, i found myself really drawn to birds.  i was watching them, painting them (i drew the picture on the header of the blog), and if you wanted to sell me something, you could put a bird on it & i'd lust after it.  especially swallows (which i thought were sparrows at the time due to some faulty internet info).  obviously, birds signify freedom, which was something i thought i had but was sill searching for, and i did a little research to find out what sparrows & swallows, specifically, represent.  and when i found out, it made me love them even more...

• creativity
• loyalty
• industriousness
• freedom to find your true love
• crossing the equator (which i'll be doing tomorrow!)
• always finding your way home, no matter how far you go
• freedom & safety
• you're never alone & always protected ("I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free, for His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me")
• you do not have to have the loudest voice to be heard & to be strong
  
• simplicity

i mean really, what more could a girl ask for?

i feel it all... the wings are wide... wild card inside... fly away, fly away to what you want to make...    ~Feist

all images from we heart it 

today i am so happy & grateful for:
~ friends meeting up for a little bon voyage tonight
~ lovely useful things
~  i have a late flight tomorrow

xo! n.