Sunday Wandering

Paris is a city where it doesn't matter what the weather is doing, it's just always beautiful. Even without the blue skies and sunshine, the buildings still stand tall, bearing the rain as they have for centuries. The river still glimmers, the Tower still sparkles. Paris is never gloomy, it's merely different. I felt a strange comfort walking around in the misty cold rain today. It was as if the city was saying, "Don't worry, I've seen it all before, and I will protect you."







The clouds and puddles make the architecture stand out in a different way. It's been a long time since I've wandered around a city with my camera in hand, just taking in the surroundings. Even so, it was only a matter of time before I began seeing it all in a different way, as if the lens of my camera was calling to me to snap this angle or capture that moment. It's the sort of thing I used to feel all the time when I was living in Belgium. That shift in perspective was oh so welcome. It's the feeling of raw creativity and the desire to grab hold of the beauty all around you and translate it onto an image. I love that feeling and I love the art that comes from it.







It's crazy to me how comfortable I feel here in Paris. There are parts of this city that I know so well, despite only having been here a few times before, and not for very long. However, today, walking along the Seine, with Notre Dame right across the river, it felt so familiar and welcoming. It hasn't even been two weeks since I arrived, but it already feels like home here. Sure, there are things that are still daunting, like the constant striving to speak better French and the overwhelming desire to make the Parisians believe I'm not a tourist (THAT struggle is real), but I don't feel at all out of place in this city. I feel that this is where I'm meant to be.







Today's quest was really to find a good Sunday marché, which led me to a couple different areas of the city, and lots of wandering. I never ended up finding the one I was looking for, but I did stumble upon a great one towards the end of the afternoon, and I also finally made it to Shakespeare and Co! You guys. If you ever come to Paris, DO NOT skip this one! I've been in lots of bookstores. If you know me at all, you know how much I love books (and how much of a problem that is for my wallet). This was one of the coolest, quirkiest bookstores I've ever been in. I'd heard about it several times from many different people, but I had no idea what to expect. I definitely didn't think it would be as cozy as it is! Although it's actually quite large, it feels very intimate because 1) the sheer volume of books that surrounds you at all times, and 2) each of the rooms that makes up the shop is actually quite small, especially with all the people in there. There are lots of little nooks all over the place with lumpy old couches where you can recline with a book, and upstairs is their collection of old books, not to be purchased, but perused there in their library. Just about all the books they carry are in English, and everyone there was speaking English first. I can tell you now, I just know I'll be spending a good bit of my time in that shop. Just being there today, I almost cried several times out of sheer overwhelming joy and comfort. It's a haven. You aren't allowed to take pictures in there, which is why I don't have any of those for you guys, but trust me. I can't believe it took me so long to get there, but now I can't wait to go back! I did purchase one book: "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Because I just had to.







The rest of my time was spent wandering down little alleys and side streets, photographing huge beautiful old doors, and spending a few more euros here and there on antique books, piled high by the vendors at the outdoor marché at Place St Michel. My day was wrapped up sitting in my tiny little apartment, wrapped in my comforter with a takeout pizza and a glass of rosé, because it's a rainy Sunday and what else do you do on rainy Sunday evenings?

Where do you like to wander? Have you ever seen Paris in the rain?

An Artist's Lament

A little over six months ago, I bared my soul to you all and told you some really personal stuff about my journey up until that point, after which vowing to myself and this endless internet that I was going to get back into blogging. Obviously that hasn't exactly shaped up the way I'd planned! I have been pretty absent from the internet, and even my social media has taken a serious backseat since I finished my 100 Happy Days challenge. I've given this a lot of thought as to why. I definitely *want* to get back into the blogosphere, and I think social media can be a really awesome outlet, especially for artists to get inspired and connect with one another. So why do I find myself having a really hard time opening up this laptop, putting my fingers to the keys and actually recording my thoughts?



I have a long history of blogging, on and off, and other creative outlets. When I lived abroad, I blogged almost every single day for those eleven months. Even on the days where I didn't have much to report, I'd still sit there 10 minutes before bed and write down the couple of thoughts that were ricocheting off the sides of my skull. That habit was really important to me! Not only was I documenting the greatest experience of my life, but it was also therapeutic to catalog my thoughts, get them out, and see them from another perspective. That was probably one of the most creative stints of my life, as I've mentioned before. I created some really beautiful artwork, wrote surprisingly profound poems, and even found myself choreographing more than ever before or since.

The truth is, for the last six months, I've barely touched any of my creative outlets. Blogging, painting, drawing, writing, even dancing have all been very difficult for me. The question remains, though, why? And *that* in and of itself has taken up a lot of my brain space. It's really hard to be an innately creative person, an artist, and actually have no desire to create and put new things out into the world.



The flip side of creating is that, while you're putting new things out there, they're actually little parts of you. Sometimes it's really difficult to put those really internal, sacred parts of you on display. Sure, people may not realize that's what's happening, but you know in your heart that that sentence you wrote, or that flower you painted, or that photo you posted, it represents a deep part of your soul. That's a really vulnerable feeling! When you're not necessarily in the best state of mind, or not entirely proud of where you are in life, it can become crippling. The only thing you know, creation, is somehow now impossible for you.

I realize that may sound unnecessarily deep or dramatic, even, but it's truly a form of exposure to share your creativity. It's letting people into your life in a way that maybe doesn't always feel good, because it's so raw. Art is raw, in all its forms. I do believe that, because true art comes from inside. Even my swirly little letters, I make them with intention and purpose, so they hold a piece of me. If my calligraphy is that personal, imagine how I must feel about my actual thoughts and feelings!



I find myself in a weird place right now, but I think if I can get myself back on the path of creating, I can process this weird place and all the feels that come along with it. This blog has proven to be such an outlet in the past, and I want it to be that again. Even if it's just full of pretty dresses and frilly letters for now! Please know that everything you see here is a reflection of me. I'm reminding you all, and myself, that it is powerful to show yourself to the world. Let's all help each other be brave in that way. Have the courage to be vulnerable, and embrace your power. It is the best thing you have to offer.

How do you share yourself with others? What have you been hesitant to share lately? I'm here to support you as you support me :)

Recommit in February!

How are we already three days into February? I thought 2017 flew by, but it seems like 2018 is going to move just as quickly! As we enter into this second month of the year, I'm sure I'm not the only one reflecting on my New Year's Resolutions, and where I stand in my progress. Obviously, we all know there is nothing magical about January 1st. We don't just enter into the New Year and miraculously have our lives all figured out. For some people, though, the Beginning is a great motivator to make some changes! After that beginning, though, we have to make the conscious decision to stick to our guns and achieve our goals. This February, I encourage you to take another look at the resolutions you set for yourself, and recommit to them!

One of my goals was to get this blog back up and running. While I obviously have done that, I'm going to recommit to my content, and give it some more of my attention. This blog is both an outlet and an inspiration for my creativity! I have found that since I decided to make 2018 my Personal Renaissance, I have done quite a bit more writing, which has brought some clarity to my life. A lot of it is very close personal stuff that maybe one day I will share. For now, though, this is my platform for public writing, inspiring, and connecting. I hope that in the coming weeks, you find something that speaks to you!

Over this weekend, I challenge you to take a good hard look at what you want to accomplish this year. Maybe your intentions or circumstances have changed. Maybe you need something else out of your life right now than you'd anticipated. There's nothing wrong with adjusting your goals as your life changes. Be real with yourself, and push yourself towards those goals! I know I will. If you need an accountability partner, go out and get one! And remember, I'm always here for you, whatever you need. What are your current goals? How was January for you? How are you going to make even bigger strides from here on out? Let's inspire each other!

2018: Personal Renaissance

WOW it has been a while! A little over three years, to be exact. But with this new year, as with any new year, comes some new goals and ambitions, and one of mine was to get this blog up and running again. My most creatively productive and stimulating periods of time have been when I've been consistently blogging and writing. So, here I am, ready to put my thoughts back out into the universe, as well as share some of my creative lifestyle with all you readers!

I've given a lot of thought to this blog in the recent months, as I've geared up to get back at it. I went through some different ideas for new blogs, came up with some names, but ultimately decided that Free Sparrow is still my perfect canvas. It may go through a few changes, maybe look a little bit different, but I'm really excited to be back on this blog, into which I've poured a lot of time and effort.

SO! It's a new year! Is everyone excited? I love the new year. Yes, it's just another day. Yes, we should always be striving to better ourselves, and yes maybe we're fooling ourselves into thinking this time is more appropriate or special than others to makes changes. But the way I see it, you should take any opportunity for inspiration. If the idea of a fresh start inspires you, then follow that! Go for your goals, and use these changing dates to push you in that direction.

I've been especially introspective this New Year. I think it's because 2017 was arguably the toughest year I've faced yet. 2016 was rough, and we all said, "Oh, 2017 has to be better right??" I hope it was for all of you. Unfortunately, I found the opposite to be true. 2017 was a HUGE test in so many aspects. I won't get into that; after all, the new year is about looking forward! All you need to know is it has really pushed me to be reflective and move into 2018 with the proper mindset for success in many areas of my life. There's a lot I want to do in 2018. I took some time and wrote out in my journal all my goals for the coming year. There are quite a few of them! I broke them down into actionable items, as well, which is maybe the most organized thing I've ever done. The very first one I wrote down was exactly this: "get Free Sparrow back up and running". Others included your usual things, like "regain overall health" and "save money" and "travel more". I have some personal practices to implement, like writing and reading more, soaking up art and culture, and generally learning every day. I also have career goals: to audition like crazy, book some work, and turn equity by 2019. I want to register my small business, Cranberry Ink, in 2018 and get Pure Barre certified. And of course, my spiritual goals: to cultivate my relationship with God and give back to my community.

You may be thinking "WOAH girl slow down! Don't bite off more than you can chew!" Well, anyone who knows me knows that I just about always bite off more than I can chew. I'm gonna chalk it up to ambition! All of these things are combined into what I am calling my PERSONAL RENAISSANCE. This is very powerful wording for me. As you probably already know, "renaissance" is french for "rebirth". Think about that for a minute. It's an awesome concept, right?? Historically, it refers mainly to a huge manifestation of art and knowledge between the 14th and 17th centuries. The idea of consciously choosing to reclaim your artistry and cultural awareness is empowering!

That is exactly what I'm doing this year. My priority is my Personal Renaissance, and I'm seriously excited about it! It will involve my training for my craft, my art for my business, and research for my career. But it will also include personal learning on things I love, like fashion and music. I'm focusing on making choices like reading instead of scrolling endlessly through Facebook and seeing theatre over watching TV. I am dedicating myself to this time in my life. It's such an important season for me, having recently moved to New York and having endless opportunities for growth at my fingertips and absolutely nothing tying me down to anything.

The most important part of this entire process, though, is my faith and trust in God. This burning desire in my heart to learn and grow and make art, that comes from somewhere. I feel very blessed to have this scattered, creative, passionate brain. It makes me who I am and gives me so much drive to experience all the beautiful things in this world. God has led me to this place and into this season and I know he has so much to teach me. So, at this stage of life, it's all about my relationship with him and letting him lead me. I am powerful because I have him fighting right by my side. (I love the image of my God in battle, fighting for his people rather than sitting on his throne of clouds. It gives me goosebumps to think about.)

So here's to a year of faith and art and writing and creating and growth and passion! I'm so excited for 2018! There are big things coming in this year; I think we can all feel it! What are your goals and dreams for this year? What are you working towards in 2018?

Few Words

Tonight, I'm finding it difficult to put my thoughts into words. Mostly because my thoughts are not substantial enough at the moment to write anything particularly meaningful. While I could just put off this post until the words come to me, which could be in a day or so, I have found through experience that writing when you least want to can bring out some of the best work. Sometimes you need to just let yourself write in order to find what you were really trying to say. This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've tried to start writing, trying to come up with a topic that I could really expound upon, when in reality, all I needed to do was write about how much trouble I'm having writing. Sometimes, you don't need a lot of words. Sometimes the few words that you do have in your head are worth just as much time as the long, eloquent thoughts that rush out of you when you're feeling at your creative best.





If nothing else, finding this habit of writing every day, no matter what thoughts you may or may not have, keeps your mind active and helps you to later pluck those deeply buried ideas out of the cobweb-crusted corners of your brain. I've mentioned before about my Belgium blog and how, when I was writing on that blog daily, I found that I wrote some of my best poems, took some of best photos, and created some of my best art. It's an important part of the daily routine, even if it's short and sweet.





It took me a while to get them out, but I think these few words were very much needed on my part. Plus, they are accompanied by this cute outfit, which I think really exemplifies the idea of style fluidity that I was talking about yesterday. This business casual-ish look is quite different from the 90s drab that I was rocking yesterday!

P.S. I'm a little bit in love with this necklace. I bought it at a tiny little boutique in Westchester, PA and it's now one of my staples! Simple, lovely, and versatile. Basically, the perfect necklace.

I suppose my few words turned into quite a few words! That is what happens when you just let yourself go and let the writing take over.

Inspiration Overseas

It has been such a long time since I have posted on my blog, and for that, I sincerely apologize. I've often thought about how I should post, how I should take some photos, how I should recored something in this online documentation of my life. But alas, something always got in the way. Whether it was school, homework, rehearsal, or just plain laziness, something was always keeping me from getting back onto this computer and typing a little something or posting a photo from my day.

Then I went back to France.





I spent the last three weeks in France as part of a study abroad program with my school. Since I'm a double major and have a minor, it's pretty difficult for me to get all my classes done in four years. This led me to sign up for the study abroad program in France. I would get some credits, get my final Capstone project out of the way, and hey, its three weeks, IN FRANCE. Can't beat that.



Something that I've noticed about myself is that I'm significantly more creative when I'm writing every day. Whether it's a blog post, a short poem, or just a reflection of what is happening in my life, writing makes my creative brain explode with ideas and possibilities. When I was living in Belgium, I was the most artistically explorative that I have ever been in my life. I wrote half a novel and a handful of beautiful poems, took incredible photos, choreographed numerous dances, created a few drawings, and vastly widened by musical horizons. Besides the fact that I was living thousands of miles away in Europe and needed emotional outlets for my frustrations and revelations, the biggest difference between then and now was the fact that I wrote religiously on my blog. I posted almost every single day without fail.



Being back in Europe this time around, I was amazed by the culture that surrounded me. I'm not sure why it struck me so fiercely this time as compared to last, but it did. Especially once we got to Paris, I was in awe of the art that was quite literally everywhere. Paintings, sculptures, architecture, graffiti, gardens, nature, music, performers, I was enveloped in the folds of French art and I was inspired to a degree I have not felt in a long time. I was inspired to make my own art more of a priority. Of course, my theatrical art has always been a priority. But I miss writing, reading, drawing, painting, taking my time with my photos. These are all things that I want to bring back to the front of my world and my life. I think I need to start with this blog.





My Belgian blog was the jumping off point for much of my creativity when I was living overseas. I'm ready to let this blog be that same type of canvas. Even if it just gets my right brain revved up a little bit more, it will be worth it. I want this creative outlet and I'm excited to get back on board with my art! I am an artist, inspired by myself, by other artists, and by the world around me.

Cupcakes Cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago at the beginning of the semester, we invited all of the new theatre students to join the scholarship students (that's me!) and the faculty and staff of the Cleveland State University Department of Theatre and Dance for a little welcome gathering so that we could all meet and get to know one another. I thought, what's a party without something sweet? So I made cupcakes, and lots of them.



I had seen an idea on Pinterest to use ketchup cups to make mini cupcakes, and since we had those on hand, I thought it would be a great way to test the idea. Plus they are just so cute! They ended up being the perfect size, even if it was a little bit tricky to figure out the best way to open them. Some people were treating them like jello shots until we realized that you could pull the rim apart and it would fall right out. I think that their size also allows them to bake better than regular sized cupcakes, because they were especially fluffy.

Our school color is green, so I used green edible glitter to decorate the cupcakes, as well as both silver and gold shimmer. I also use my Cricut (the most awesome crafting machine ever) to make little signs to stick in the tops of the treats, just to add a little something extra.





I opted to do both yellow and chocolate cupcakes, but I used the same frosting on both. It's my homemade buttercream, and it gets RAVE reviews. I have perfected it over time, but at the core, it's just the basic Wilton buttercream recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Cream the butter and shortening together to start. I have found that this is tremendously easier if the butter is at room temperature. If you don't have an electric mixer (hand mixers work better for this than stand mixers), you can use a hand whisk, but it takes a lot (and I mean A LOT) of work, especially if your butter is still cold. It is possible, however. I've done it.

Once they are well combined, add the vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add your sugar, one cup at a time. Again, electric mixer beats whisk any day. The frosting should be stiff at this point. Don't worry about that, it's normal, and even necessary for your final consistency.

Once all your sugar had been added and mixed well, gradually add milk until you get the consistency that you want. Stiffer is better for piping and detail work, while a little bit of a softer consistency makes frosting a cake super quick and easy. If you add too much milk, it can easily be fixed by adding more sugar.

Voilà!

I don't really use this recipe any more because I have found which measurements work better for me. However, I couldn't tell you what they are because I don't actually measure anything. I have gotten the hang of how much sugar is enough and then how much milk is enough. I go slowly adding my ingredients because the consistencies tell me everything. I come out with great frosting every time! If you're not quite ready to let go of those measuring cups yet, this recipe is absolutely smashing when followed to the t. Also, I have made it with all butter, rather than half butter and half shortening, and it's much richer, but still delicious. You can also substitute different extracts to get different flavors. For example, I have used almond before to get an almond-flavored frosting. I also used almond milk and it was just delightful! This recipe is so simple that you can play with it and tweak it. So fun!





My family liked them so much in fact, that I was asked to make them again for our Labor Day get-together! So I used the rest of our ketchup cups and got to work. This time I decorated them all with orange glitter. It was a little bit less fancy, but still just as festive, and my family went nuts over them.

These cupcakes were an absolute hit! Everyone, from staff members to students to my own family, was saying how they were the best cupcakes they'd every had. I encourage you to go get some ketchup cups and try this!



What's your favorite thing to bake?

Crafty Sunday

Maybe that should be a thing here on Classy Emma... Crafty Sundays. Of course, the one that I'm going to share today didn't necessarily happen on a Sunday, but that's really splitting hairs. Anyways...

My sister and I went to Artist For A Day last week on a whim. We hadn't been there since we were little kids and I was so excited to get creative again and have some fun! Artist For A Day is this really charming little place where you can go to paint pottery pieces and then they fire them for you in their kiln and you go back to pick them up about a week later. Olivia and I decided to use the opportunity to make some dishes for our future apartment!

I think I have mentioned it before, but Olivia and I are planning on getting an apartment together sometime in the near future. We don't really have any plans set in stone yet, but we like to fantasize about the fun decor opportunities. Even though we have some different tastes in style, especially when it comes to the home, we managed to come up with a pretty good idea of where we want to go with the hypothetical apartment.

She tends to like bold colors and more geometric patterns, a much more modern approach, while I'm attracted to more vintage-inspired patterns and softer colors. However, I still like my statement pieces and bright colors sometimes and she can appreciate the feminine prettiness of my style. Together, we do a pretty good job coming up with ideas for our future space.

We decided to go with all mismatched dishes in the new place because it would be a lot of fun to thrift our dish sets by picking up a random piece every now and then. And then to make a few of our pieces ourselves makes it even more special! This time, we each made two small plates that could be salad plates or even just lunch plates. We pulled inspiration from other dishes I had found on Pinterest. I will admit, I absolutely LOVE the things I see at Anthropologie, so I pulled some ideas from there as well. We plan on going back to Artist For A Day one more time to make four dinner plates to add to our set.

The painting process is so much fun! First we wiped our pieces down to get rid of all the dust, then we brainstormed for ideas of what to paint. We started by picking out our paint colors so that even though they would each have different designs, they would be pulled together by having the same color palette. We had already decided a while ago that we wanted to use turquoise and red in the kitchen and dining area, so we started there. Then we added some other colors and went to work creating our masterpieces! We helped each other and ended up with four really pretty, super cute plates!

I can't wait to keep working on our apartment! I love interior decorating and home decor and it's so exciting to actually be planning the decor for a (semi) real space! What would you have painted on your plates?