Friday Favorites: Wear Love

Today, I am excited to feature the very special company, wearLove®, which is right out of my home base of Easton MA. wearLove® is much more than another clothing company. Rather, it is a lifestyle brand that has devoted itself to spreading the beautiful message to "wear love" everyday. And with today being Valentine's Day, I can't think of a better company to feature .

Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

The company was created as a movement to spread the two special words; "wear love". Founder, Lynne Payne, had been working on a photo shoot with her friend when they decided to print the words "wear love" on t-shirts for the shoot. Soon, people began inquiring about the shirts in the photos and so Lynne began selling the t-shirts out of her home in Easton. Within weeks, she began receiving orders from  people across the world who were eager to adorn the loving message.




As word of mouth spread, incredible stories began to unfold across the web of how people were "wearing the love". One, in particular, involved a father returning from the war who wore his wearLove® t-shirt to greet his wife and children for homecoming.

Homecoming
Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

Love at home
Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

A few weeks later, Lynne received another message from someone who wanted to "wear the love". It was the Today Show alerting Lynne that  Kathie Lee would be featuinrg Wear Love® as her "favorite thing" that morning. (Check out the Today Show clip here. Within minutes of shirts airing on the Today Show, Lynne's website sold out of inventory.

Since then, the company has re-stocked and has created many different designs and styles to choose from. While meeting with Lynne, I had the pleasure to tour her workroom and it was incredible to get a first eye experience of Lynne's creative process. One of my best friend Kelsey always says to me "when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life" and this is immediately what I thought of when watching Lynne discuss her passion for wearLove®. She is so authentic in spreading her message to "wear love" that  it is no surprise to me how quickly the company has become a success.

Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

Another huge reason as to why I am a big fan of wearLove® is due to all of the philanthropic work they do. A few years back, Lynne and her husband traveled to one of the poorest communities in Africa and were humbled by what they saw. An estimated 30,000 boys in Sengal are abandoned by their families at age 5, where they are placed into schools until the age of 15. Somewhere around age 15, after a lost decade of use and abuse by their street masters, the boys are once again abandoned to a future without hope and promise.

wearLove® has helped to build a vocational school for these boys in which they can build life skills that can combat poverty. In my opinion, there is no better way to give back then to encourage others to find their strengths. I firmly believe in the saying; "Give a man a fish and you feed him for the day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". By building a school for the children of Senegal, wearLove® was able to inspire the children to create a sense of self-love and empowerment from within themselves. To this day, wear Love® continues to support the children of Senegal, and other impoverished nations, by donating  $3 of every shirt to Restore International, a worldwide organization committed to restoring justice to children around the world by

In addition to partnering with Restore International, wearLove® has  partnered with numerous other philanthropic organizations including School on Wheels, a nonprofit for children experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts, and the Adam Brown Legacy Fund, a nonprofit that was formed in honor of fallen Navy Seal Chief (SOC) Adam Brown.

Lastly, wearLove® makes t-shirts for everyone and I'm really not just saying that. They seriously have a style that fits anyone I can think of in my life. From making tshirts for Jenna's (Tone it Tuesday contributor) little man Henry to being my mom's "go-to" t-shirt company and the designers of my favorite, lightweight hoodie, wear Love® is certainly worn and loved by all.

Henry sporting his Wear Love T-Shirt
Photo Courtesy of: Jenna Klane Nelson

Lynne's daughter Jordan and her bridal party sporting the Wear Love t-shirts
Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

Fourth of July Cookout, Easton MA
Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

You can't help but feel that you are a part of a much larger, loving community when wearing their apparel. Even just by going to yoga class in my favorite wearLove® pullover, I feel as though I am setting a loving intention for the class and inspiring others to do the same.

And so I encourage you to head over to their website so that you too can "Wear Love. Put it on. Wear it out".

Create a loving Valentine's Day everyone!

And now for your daily dose of inspiration inspired by wearLove®...

"Use your words for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity,
 your mind for truth, and your heart for love"
Photo Courtesy of: wearLove®

*For more information about wearLove®, check out their website, Facebook page, Twitter page, & Pinterest.

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Thrifty Thursdays: DIY Valentines

It's the day before Valentine's Day which means CVS and every other drug-store in the nation is preparing themselves for a "Black Friday" type of atmosphere tomorrow. But I have created the most adorable homemade Valentine's for you to make. And I bet you already have the supplies at your house to make them...

Will you O"fishally" be my valentine?

DIY Swedish Valentine by Colin, age 3

(with a little help from his aunt Kelly)

In my opinion, there is no better way to show your love then with a homemade gift. I also think that Goldfish and Swedish fish make great allergy-safe snacks for classrooms.

Colin was so excited to give the gift to his mom. Despite his fondness for swedish fish, he waited for "Mama" to open the bag. Now that's true love...

Create a Thrifty Thursday, 

And now for your dose of inspiration inspired by love...

Quote by: Karen Kostyla
Photo Courtesy of: Squidoo

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Wordless Wednesdays: All You Need is Love

Photo Courtesy of Photographer: Dan Phakos

February 14, 2012

And now for Wednesday's dose of inspiration...

"Every test in our life makes us better or bitter, 

every problem comes to break us or make us.

The choice is ours whether we 

become VICTIM or VICTOR".

-Author: Anonymous

Photo Courtesy of: Tory Stone

Create a beautiful & WARM Wednesday everyone!

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Thrifty Thursdays:Kristin's DIY Framed Song Lyric Art

It's a DIY themed edition of Thrifty Thursdays with guest blogger Kristin Haus, of the blog Polish & Pepper, sharing how to make beautiful wall decor with song lyrics. 

My guest contributor for the Thrifty Thursdays feature today is Kristin Haus. Kristin is the blogger and creator of polish and pepper, a style blog dedicated to all things fashion and beauty. In my opinion, Kristin serves as a liason between my Pinterest and the real world. So often, I pin certain outfits, makeup ideas, and accessories that are drool-worthy, yet unattainable. Kristin makes such pins a reality by offering tips and tricks to create beautiful looks that are "pin worthy." Not to mention, this chick finds such staple items at a bargain price. If there's a sale anywhere, Kristin will be sure to find it. The DIY love lyric sign she shares with us today, like all other things Kristin creates, cute yet affordable.

Kristin and her hubby, Derek, have been married for over 4 years, and have been together for over 8. They are a super fun couple. Just look at their Halloween picture below... I mean that is obviously a couple who brings the fun wherever they go.

The "Incredible" Couple
Derek and Kristin
Halloween, 2013

Kristin recently decided to preserve the lyrics from her wedding song "Lucky" into a beautiful  framed, statement piece in her home.  In the step-by-step tutorial below, Kristin shows us just how she made her lyric art. 

"You’ll need some white cardstock (for printing the verses of your song) that’s 8.5×11, a solid color for the letters, and a printed cardstock for the background. You’ll also need scissors, scrapbook stickers or glue, and a shadowbox frame (you can also use a regular frame. I did a square 10×10 version from JoAnn Fabrics."

"I googled the lyrics to our wedding song, 'Lucky' by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat, and copied and pasted them into Photoshop in an 8×8 inch document and played around with the font type. I then continued to paste the lyrics over and over until I filled the space. You want the letters to go right to the edges of the white paper."

"After printing, I used my Cricut paper cutter to get clean edges, but you can use scissors, too. Just make sure you trace lines with a ruler first."

"I then traced the shape of the cardboard insert from the frame onto the back of my printed paper and cut it out as well. It should measure 10×10 inches so it will show from beneath the lyrics. I drew and cut out our initials and a heart from the red cardstock and assembled everything using my scrapbook stickers."

"And then put it into the frame. I also bought a little easel so it could sit up on a shelf."

"Not only is this adorable, but I also got to relive our wedding day. Reading the words to our wedding song brought back all those memories of the day I decided to spend my life with someone, and that’s something I’ll never forget!"

Kristin and Derek Haus
Wedding Day: September 9, 2009
Martha's  Orchard, Indianapolis

Thanks Kristin for sharing such a beautiful and easy to follow project! With Valentine's day coming up,  this would make the perfect "love gift" for that special someone. It would also be a great gift for best friends or parents. I would print out the lyrics to a song that reminds me of them & add their initials over it. For instance, if I were to make one for Kristin, I would use the song lyrics from "You Can't Stop the Beat" from the Broadway-show Hairspray. Whenever Kristin and I get together, we put on full out musical performances.

Kristin and I in the car (where we do all our best singing)
Indianapolis, Summer 2013

 Below is your daily dose of inspiration. Create a great Thursday everyone! 

To follow Kristin and her Polish & Pepper Blog: Check out the Polish & Pepper website & Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, & Printerest. 

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Take Out Tuesdays: Pizza Edition

Pinterest

On the second day of takeout, my true love gave to me....Pizza!

Since the time in which the Dominos commercial came on the radio  during your morning commute, pizza has been on your mind. Around lunch time, you hear the Dominos announcer's words re-play in your head..”Try our new hot, pan pizza made with hand-pressed golden crust, sprinkled with not one…but two layers of cheese.” As you stare down at your painstakingly bland lunch, you grow angry at your yogurt…furious that is not pizza.

Pinterest

And so your day revolves around keeping your “eye on the prize”… with your prize being a big ol’ pizza pie after work. The next two hours on the clock tick by painstakingly slow, until finally, its 5pm and you can go home for the day! And so you stroll out the doors with a feeling of sheer glee, much like this.. 

Reddit.com

Your fingers begin dialing instinctively as you reach your car, and you hurriedly recite your take-out order to the teenager on the phone.  Driving home, you instinctively you automatically reach your hand into the piping hot bag of cinnamon breadsticks and pull off bite-sized pieces to snack on during your 5-minute ride home.

When you enter your house, the rest becomes a blur. Your keys and wallet are thrown in some place in which they will be difficult to find tomorrow, while you leave your coat on and lazily sink into the couch cushions. You flip on the TV, place the pizza box in your lap, and for lack of better phrasing, "stuff yo dam face."Suddenly, after watching a 2 hour episode of the Voice, you wake up from your transfixed food coma; looking down at the left over crumbs as a reminder of the work you did.

Reddit.com

And so you make a silent promise to yourself that you will cook a healthy dinner tomorrow and wake up early to workout. But, I’m here to tell you tips for not living in fear of the “takeout monster”. Takeouts gonna happen, and you know what I think it should happen.

I think a huge part of living a healthy life, is the “living life” part. I don’t like to spend time beating myself up for what I “coulda shoulda woulda” done. I just don’t have the time to make a healthy green juice for breakfast, pack the perfect lunch, and steam salmon served alongside perfectly  portioned brown rice and freshly picked vegetables for dinner. What I find is that when I become fixated on meal planning, I become completely fearful of living life. For instance, if my friend calls to go get dinner and we haven’t caught up in awhile, I’m not going to be scared of going out to eat. I’d much rather follow my rules (without announcing them to the world…besides on the blog ofcourse) and enjoy a fun filled night. I sure as heck, am not going to waste the valued time for conversation by spending time complaining “I can’t believe I just ate that.” If I did, I wouldn’t be surprised that I was no longer on their rolodex. In fact, I have taken a few people out of mine for those exact reasons.

Your free time is your free time so it should be spent enjoying a night off from cooking every once in awhile. You guys voted for Pizza and so here are your 5 tips for ordering healthy Pizza takeout, along with my 3 go-to takeout orders.   

Soup pic: Carabas, Salad pic: Olive Branch, Veggie Pizza: Ktuu.pickem.net, Wrap pic: Reluctant Entertainer

*For more take out tips, see last week's Take Out Tuesday: Chinese food edition. 

Below is your daily dose of inspiration inspired by my best friend Kim. She is a “go-to” phone call I make each day. Often we make last minute plans to hangout on a Weekday night we both have free, and very often these nights include take-out pizza. She recently had engagement photos taken with her fiancé EJ, and I love how they came out! 

Courtesy of Brittany Taylor, Borderland State Park 2013