What are the first words that come out of your mouth each morning as you begin your day? Have you thought about how important that is? What you intentionally say to yourself affects how much you love yourself. And this in turn affects your relationship with Christ and how you pray to Him.
I started intentionally beginning my day with a simple prayer: Mary’s fiat to God’s mission for her on earth (Lk 1:38): [click to continue…]
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While blog-surfing through some of my favorite sites, I stumbled across an ancient tradition of courtship that fascinates me: the Welsh Lovespoon. Dating back to the 17th century, young men would spend countless hours carving intricate spoons as an offering of love to the girl they wanted to marry. Many symbols and designs developed over the centuries, each with significant meanings that expresses their feelings toward the ladies who captured their hearts. The more intricate the spoon, the more it expresses the artist’s love, dedication, and diligence in winning her heart. If the girl returns his affections, she would accept the gift and the couple would embark on a courtship.
I wanted to share this tradition with you not only because I find it utterly romantic (swoon-worthy, even), but I was struck by the stark contrast to our world this day. Can you imagine how much time, effort and perseverance it must have taken, after a long day laboring in the field, to sit by candlelight carving elaborate designs into a spoon? All for the hopes of getting a young woman’s attention! [click to continue…]
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Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I couldn’t let the day go by this year without posting a romantic outfit. I got this dress at H&M a year ago on sale and still love to wear it. The material drapes so nicely and the skirt flows oh so enchantingly as I move about in it.
I hope you’re all having a wonderful day, whether celebrating your friendships, spending time with a special someone, or even just spending a lovely evening in, sipping on hot cocoa and reading a book in your cozy jammies. Remember – even though it’s cliche to celebrate Valentine’s Day, it’s also cliche to hate on it. So maybe it is a “fake” holiday created by corporations exploiting a Catholic martyr’s sacrifice in order to financially benefit from susceptible consumers. But it could also be a good time to remind your loved ones how much you care. As long as you have the right perspective, I say go spread the love whenever you can.
By the way! These photos were taken by my talented friend Mayra Avina. She was kind enough to take some time to take these pictures for the blog. Check out her photos on her very on blog Back to Nature.
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Valentine’s Day is coming up this Thursday! Anyone doing anything fun? Whatever the case, I hope you have tons of fun celebrating the authentic love and friendships in your lives. If you have a special date this year, remember that you are beautiful in your own right and do not need to distract your date in any way with your body. There are plenty of ways to dress up that will show off your entire self without compromising anything. I decided to have some fun with collages and put together a few outfit ideas!
Brunch Date:
I think this is a cute outfit for a picnic or any type of day date – or even brunch with the girls as your celebrate your friendships and sisterhood! I chose a pastel color palette to keep with the feminine touch without going overboard with the pink-ness that is associated with Valentine’s Day. The seafoam dress with lace overlay from Modcloth functions as a cute skirt in this outfit. The crochet sweater allows the pale pink button up to peek through, adding a fun and flirty vibe to the look. I added yellow peep toed pumps for a pop of color.
A Night Out in the City:
Ok so I created this outfit mainly because I just ordered the Damask skinnies from American Eagle Outfitters and cannot wait to style it. The print adds a subtle but fun twist to the regular black pants. So as I was creating this mood board I thought about what I’d wear for a boost of confidence for a night out in L.A. A leather jacket (this one is only $12.40!) adds an element of edge to any outfit, and pants help with my confidence because I don’t always have to be careful how I move about as I would with dresses and skirts. I like the sequinned collar detail of this white blouse (when wearing white, don’t forget a bottom layer if it’s see-through! Strappy heels make this outfit a bit more feminine, and the heart stud earrings pay tribute to the holiday. I realize there’s a lot of black here, so feel free to go with bold red lips for your color element. That’s another way I like to convey confidence. Any woman can pull it off; the trick is to find the right red for your skin tone.
With Your Sweetheart:
This outfit doesn’t need much explanation – it’s the quintessential Valentine’s Day outfit (or even prom outfit I suppose). If you have a big date with your special someone, go with a super feminine dress like this Gilded Grecian Dress from Modcloth and pair it with sweet nude heels. Keep all the accessorizing simple, because the dress really should say it all. Don’t make the mistake of using a super short or low cut dress to distract your date’s attention, though. The perfect dress should flatter your figure but draw attention to your whole person – especially that beautiful smile on your face.
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Well hello, Mod31 readers! If there’s any of you who still checks this page after my prolonged absence. The past couple of months have been an emotional roller coaster for me, and I felt the need to take a step back from an active ministry and recollect myself prayerfully.
One thing that turned my life askew was getting laid off from my job – the main source of income I had. As with anyone else, I like to maintain a certain amount of control on life and had to battle feelings of helplessness and disappointment, as there wasn’t anything I could do at the moment to change my current state. It’s in these moments when I learn over and over again what St. Paul meant when he rejoices in weakness (1Cor 12). In order to have hope, we need to acknowledge that we are weak and ever so dependent on the Lord to take care of us. Because in the end, everything we receive is through God’s grace anyway, and our lives belong to Him. It’s not about how much we can accomplish on this earth, but how much we can glorify Him in what we do. Being able to let go like that takes a lot of humility – a virtue that I struggle with every day. You can imagine the humility boot camp God presented me with over the holidays as I faced family and friends and their questions about the happenings in my life.
So I hashed it out with Jesus. On my end, angry words were said and tears were shed. All the while he continues to pour out His unending love from the Blessed Sacrament. Even before the lay off, my life was in a whirlwind and for a while I hadn’t had a clear vision of what the Lord was asking of me. Once I had peace in my heart, I could better listen to Him about what He wants me to do (and be). My life is truly blessed with wonderful and insightful friends who have helped me along the way to not lose perspective and gain strength in prayer. Sometimes we just need to do nothing in order to hear God in the little whisper of the wind.
Now I’ve been offered a new job and look forward to posting more on here about style and exploring what it means to be an authentic woman.Learning about femininity, modesty, and chastity has played an essential role in my healing process, and I enjoy writing (and processing) things I’ve learned on my journey. When I think of where I was even just a year and a half ago, I barely recognize myself. I’ve also been able to view the world through new eyes, and it breaks my heart when I hear fellow ladies struggle with accepting the bright and beautiful beings that they are. I pray that this will, in some small way, bring Christ’s redeeming love into battles against the darkness that fills so many hearts.
Anywho, thanks to the few of you who still check this page every now and then!
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It’s December! The time for scarves and sweaters are definitely upon us, and I wear them even on sunny California days. Today’s post is a special one because the kind people at Indigenous Clothing, a company committed to providing organic and fair trade clothing, sent me their Tassel Scarf to review as part of their #worthwearing campaign. Each item comes with a QR code on the tag so you can “meet” the artisan who created your piece. I really like my gift and decided to do a how-to-tie-a-scarf post for the occasion. There are plenty of creative ways you can tie these knitted scarves, but here is what I did:
Ever since getting into social justice issues in college, I’ve supported the fair trade movement and any socially conscious companies who seek to positively impact the world through their business models. Indigenous is definitely one such company, and I really admire their supporting of fair trade wages while not compromising the quality of their organic clothing. This scarf, which I got in Pewter but comes in various colors, is very soft and adds a lot of interest to my winter outfits. If you’re looking to do some holiday shopping that also gives back to small communities around the world, go check out Indigenous now!
Do you have any favorite fair trade companies to shop at?
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November 22 was Thanksgiving, but it was also the feast day of Our Lady of La Vang – when the Virgin Mary appeared in Vietnam to a group of Vietnamese Catholics taking refuge in the woods from religious persecution. During most of the 18th century, Vietnam was characterized by struggles for the thrones. Fearing the influence of Catholicism, Emperor Canh Thinh issued an anti-Catholic edict in 1798 and ordered to destroy all Catholic churches and seminaries. This persecution of Vietnamese Catholics and missionaries began and lasted until 1886.
Many people sought refuge in the rain forest of La Vang, where they suffered from starvation, illness, wild beasts, and bitter cold. In the evenings the community would gather to pray a rosary for God’s assistance. One night in 1798, they saw an apparition of a lady wearing the traditional Vietnamese áo dàiand holding a child in her arms, with two angels beside her. They said that Our Lady comforted them and told them to boil leaves from the trees for medicine to cure the ill. After this first apparition, the Blessed Mother continued to appear to the people in this same place many times throughout the period of nearly one hundred years of religious persecution. Also because of this persecution, Vietnam also has a large number of martyrs, and their memorial day was on November 24.
On June 19, 1988, Pope John Paul II in the canonizing ceremony of the 117 Vietnamese martyrs, publicly and repeatedly recognized the importance and significance of the Lady of Lavang.
During my trip to Pennsylvania, I spent a day in DC and visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in the Americas. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! There were numerous little chapels dedicated to an apparition of Our Lady, with other images of her on the walls. I went in hoping to find maybe just a mosaic of Our Lady of La Vang, and it turned out that she has a whole chapel dedicated to her down int he crypt. It made me so happy because this image of Mama Mary was one of the first that I grew up learning about.
There was a plaque on the wall telling the story of Vietnam’s religious persecutions, and another with the names of all the Vietnamese Martyrs. It made me so grateful to be a part of this faith and culture. People fought and gave their lives for what they believe in. Faith is no small thing. I’m so grateful to share in a part of this history, so I wanted to dedicate a post about it for you all. This long weekend has been one reminder after reminder of what a blessing my life is, from Thanksgiving, to the feast of Our Lady, to the memorial of the martyrs, and ending with the Feast of Christ the King! It’s been filled with hope and a reminder that we’re not alone in this world, no matter what struggles we are going through, there is a blessing around every corner. I hope you’ve had a good time with your loved ones as well.
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