Sharon.

Today, one of my dearest friends stepped on a plane with a one-way ticket to New York City to chase her dreams. My goodness. Instead of 50 miles, she is almost 700 miles away, and I will miss her very much. Let me tell you a story of friendship and adventure.

I first met Sharon when I was in seventh grade. We were both in an after school art program, and I remember thinking how wonderful, crazy, and inspiring she was. Our friendship didn't actually develop until high school, though. I don't even remember how it happened, it just flowed so naturally. We were in yearbook together, as well as many theatre productions. We became two of four in a tight-knit group of girlfriends, and we bonded over art, music, films, and the meaning of life. Two old souls with a love of antiques, flowers, and a childhood appreciation of The Secret Garden and The Little Princess.

Sharon is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I know. She is so talented and makes wonderful things, like the beautiful quilt that now sits at the foot of my bed. She has been a constant source of encouragement, advice, and inspiration in my life for ten years and I am so honored to have her as a friend and as a kindred spirit.

Together, we've visited New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and have had our share of many small-town adventures. Movie nights. Bonfires. Photo sessions. Evening walks. Pounds of Hacienda chips and liters of coffee. Spiked apple cider in the fall, peppermint sweet tea in the spring. Pirate parties, music-sharing parties, Fourth of July parties, just because parties. Once, slipping down an icy winter road, I even thought I was going to die with Sharon... thankfully that was not the case. She helped plan my wedding and stood with me on my wedding day. Many, many adventures. Many, many memories.

Sharon Rose, I will miss you greatly, even though I know I'll get to see you during your trips home. You are so incredibly brave and I know in my heart that you will thrive in the City. See you in a few months. Love always, Kitty.

Warby Parker Home Try-On

My Warby Parker home-try on kit arrived in the mail this weekend!!! I mentioned Warby Parker briefly in a previous post, but if you haven't heard of the eyeglasses company, they're basically like TOMS for your face. For every pair of glasses purchased, WP will give a pair to a child in need. On top of that, the glasses are reasonably priced, super cute, and from what I've experienced so far, their customer service is outstanding. Totally a company I can get behind.

They also have a great home try-on program: pick up to five frames and WP will ship them to you to try on (all FOR FREE, might I add!) It took me forever to select the styles I wanted to try on, but I finally decided on these five frames:

Other than the Sinclairs (which are so huge they make me feel like a super nerd. Or a super hipster. I can't decide which...but I don't like it), I pretty much liked all the frames. I love the classic shape of the Webb, but they didn't fit comfortably on my face. The Zagg and Japhy are top contenders for my favorite style, but I feel like I might be playing too safe with those... Since I don't wear glasses 24/7, I'd really like to find frames with a little more quirk.

Obviously, dear blog friends, I need your help. Do you like a particular pair above? Should I try a new batch of frames, or perhaps a few other color choices??

P.S. Abby also did the home try-on a few weeks ago (and looked awesome in pretty much all her selections. Geeze.) Like she said, this was a lot fun! If you decide to try a few pairs, too, you should let us know :)

Spring Floral Flats

With all the gorgeous spring flowers that have been popping up outside lately (daffodils! hyacinth! magnolia!), I've been dreaming of flowery flats. It probably has something to do with the fact that I wore boring black flats and boots all winter long. My sad, neglected feet want something festive to welcome spring. I think any of these floral lovelies would do just the trick...

ROW 1: Roses In The Garden Flats in beige  |  Floral Ankle Strap Flats in cream/multi

ROW 2: Floral Flats in cream/multi  |  Roses In The Garden Flats in brown

ROW 3: Ditsy Floral Skimmer in yellow  |  Avoir, Etre, Faire Flat in navy floral

Lets be honest here... I want them all, and I'm not even much a shoe girl. I fell in love with the ones from Ruche when I spotted them in the spring lookbook back in February. They would be perfect with skinny jeans or a flouncy skirt. Sadly, none of these run large enough for my behemoth size 11 feet (the curse of being so tall) so my search continues. Have you seen any cute spring footwear lately?

Blogging Trends: The Green Smoothie

As I mentioned in my blog birthday post, I've been scheming up a few new post ideas for gathered heart. This is the first one in a new round of posts, simply called "Blogging Trends." Inspired by Abby's post on kale chips, I thought it would be fun to try the trends popping up on blogs and Pinterest to see if they are really worth the hype. My first blogging trend test? The green smoothie.

I don't know about you, but I can't count how many times I've seen a post about the almighty green smoothie pop up in my reader lately. Joy has a pear flavored one with kale, Emily concocted one with oatmeal for breakfast, Gina has a skinny version. Green smoothies are taking over the interweb.

It's not hard to see why -- one large smoothie contains two servings of veggies and a serving of fruit. It's packed with fiber, vitamins, calcium, and tons of other good-for-you stuff. Couple that with how "delicious and life changing" everyone says it is... and, well, drinking one is pretty much a no brainer.

Since this was my first attempt at green smoothie making, I decided to keep things simple. One cup of skim milk, two cups of spinach, one ripe banana that had seen better days, a tablespoon of peanut butter, and a handful of ice. I had everything in the kitchen, and this was a perfect way to use up the leftover spinach from last week's dinner menu.

The verdict? Meh. We both thought the smoothie tasted better than expected, but overall it wasn't very impressive. The consistency was surprisingly creamy (although I'm not sure how... the banana? peanut butter? spinach??) but it lacked that special something to keep me wanting more and had a slightly leafy aftertaste. If I ever make it again, I'll probably throw in berries or citrus fruit for a little more zing. This recipe wasn't very sweet, either, since the only sugar in it came from the banana... I would recommend adding a little honey to the mix if you have a sweet tooth like me.

Well, internets... for now I disagree with your green smoothie love. It's really not that tasty and definitely not life changing. And I can taste the spinach, you're not tricking me. Admittedly, it's a great way to knock out half of your fruits and veggies for the day (especially if you make this for breakfast) but I think I'll stick with spinach salads and smoothies of the strawberry-banana variety, thank you. Has anyone else attempted the green smoothie? I'd love to know your thoughts/recipes!

Next up on the blogging trends list: kale chips. I feel like I have to.
Or possibly no-heat curls...

Spring has arrived!

I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I'm not going to question the unseasonable 70-80 degree weather Michigan has been having this week. Flowers are blooming, the grass is bright green, and most of the trees are budding.... all about two months early!

Christopher and I have been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather as much as possible... mini golfing, dining outside, driving with the sunroof open and windows down. Tonight we're even having the first bonfire of the season. Whatever this heat wave is, I hope it decides to stick around. Forever.