Vanilla*Rocky Road Website!

Gorgeous Readers!
Don't you love this picture?  I fell in love when I saw it.  LOVE. It makes me want to drop everything, get a big scoop of ice cream, go sit in sunny park and let my worries slip away....

I haven't done this in while, but I wanted to do a shout out to my website: www.vanillarockyroad.com
Enjoy!
xo,
RR

Rookie Mag

This is rad. 

RookieMag.com

Eat dessert first...(or quote of the day!)

Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide.


-Marva Collins, American educator who in 1975 started Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Creative Alone Time

I can't remember a time when I didn't require an outstanding amount of creative alone time.  My brilliant mother Meg fostered it and now I not only need it, I crave it.  I believe we are spreading ourselves too thin, saying "yes" way to much, whether it be for an acceptance into a new social world or because we actually think we owe it to everyone around us to give more than what we have to give.  Let me remind you this:  you do not owe anyone but yourself your time, energy, and creativity.  If you do choose to share all your deliciousness with the world, be mindful of what will be left.  Make sure it's enough to refill your spirit.   Declare your need for Creative Alone Time and those around you will respect and admire it.  Take that time and give yourself permission to do whatever it is you want to do.  Creativity comes in all forms out of anything.  Free yourself from yourself.  ...and then make something fantastic*

Word to your mother,

RR

Smart girls have more fun!

Amy Poehler's website, Smart Girls at the Party has a second season and an online community! woohoo!  This is a website for girls of all ages.  It celebrates "changing the world by being yourself".  It's a lesson for all of us.

www.smartgirlsattheparty.com

Enjoy!  My favs are "Ruby the Feminist" and "Cameron the Writer"

Ripley the Fabulous,
RR
www.smartgirlsattheparty.com

Keep on keepin' on

My fancy friend Kate sent me this picture and wrote,
"Early morning riser...

  Re-inventer...

  One foot in front of the other..."

I'm not sure if there are better friends out there.

xoxo,

RR

Eat dessert first...(or quote of the day!)

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in everydirection, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than youever dreamed yourself to be.”
~ Patanjali – the author of Yoga Sutra


Dear readers,  I love this quote.  It's one I return to again and again.  Start something.  Get inspired.  Explore your purpose.  Awaken your spirit.  Woohooo!  This is good stuff, my friends.


xo,
RR

You have to read these!

Rainy Day Flavors

Lovely readers,
LA has given me the gift of rain today.  I'm loving it.  I'm taking the day to continue writing my "Brave Girl's Manifesto", drinking coffee and enjoying the grey.

Escape to paris...

Enjoy,
RR

wow.

This is hard to believe... wow. Thank you Dove for creating this.

Dove Evolution

speechless,
RR

This is brilliant.

Ladies,

This is awesome. I love this.

Fotoshop by Adobe.


*Written and directed by the fantastically talented Jesse Rosten

My Words Exactly!

Ladies,

This little lady has it right. She took the words right out of my mouth!
She is definitely NOT Vanilla...

You go girl!

Riley on Marketing

LOVE her,
RR

A love letter...to life.

Dear readers,
This is a passage by a dear friend and RR contributor, Lauren. Take a few minutes to read it. Then bookmark it so you can have it to refer to when you need reminding. She is an extraordinay soul. I hope you find comfort in her words.
xoxo,
RR
---
“There isnʼt much that I can do, but I can share my thoughts with you and I can share my books with you and sometimes share your burdens too, as on our way we go...”

In just a few days it will be a new year. It will also be the first year in which I honor the anniversary of the passing of someone very very close to my heart. Last year at this time everything was going well, or as well as it does when you are in your early twenties anyway. I was happy living the life that I had created for myself in Los Angeles. Then completely unexpectedly, the rug was ripped out from under me.

It is always hard to lose someone and this was of course a very painful time. It was a tragic start to a new year a year that, really, I didnʼt understand how I was supposed to go on with. I tore myself apart about not making more of the time that had passed, but I got through it day by day. I found ways to cope. I read and I wrote, I surrounded myself with people who I loved and that loved me in return, I drank a lot of wine and managed to laugh some, and sometimes that laughter turned into tears and that was ok too.

It has been hard moving on with day to day life, your friends move on in their lives and become less available. You start to feel even more alone, but you arenʼt. You can talk to your loved one, you can read and write, listen to music and see all kinds of things. You will laugh and sometimes cry.

I have learned so much from this experience, I have learned that our time really is short. Every passing moment is so valuable. Itʼs natural to get caught up on the little things and occasionally have a negative outlook, but we must also be so grateful for the people in our lives, we can learn something from every single one of them. Accept that everything will find itʼs way into place. When we lose someone we also gain all of the lessons they end up teaching us. We will rebuild our lives and take those lessons with us."

Oh. My. Gosh.

Before and after pic. (might take a min to load)

*Thank you, cup of jo for showing me this.

Required reading...

This is something I stumbled upon recently and have again fallen in love. It's the poem, Phenomenal Woman, by the Great Maya Angelou. It's a great one to go back and reread. I've declared it my anthem!

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.

To our power,
RR