ON Birthdays & Happiness

The past several birthdays have been kind of strange.

Four years ago, I celebrated my birthday in Dallas, sharing it with two other people after having it all to myself for my whole life.

Three years ago, was celebrated with a tea party in Denver, and cards for St. Judes kids.

Two years ago, my twin and I reunited for a party in New York City on a rooftop bar with the strangest mix of industry, friends, and strangers from a second party that had been accidentally planned for the same time.

Last year, I celebrated by doing my first birthday fundraiser, and meeting the disabled dog that inspired my collection, and missing my birthday dinner due to illness.

This year, I just feel content. I don't know how else to explain it. When twin and I started talking about what we wanted to do, I didn't have any feelings one way or the other. A party would be fun, staying home would be fun, too. Strangely enough, I think this is one of my favorite birthdays yet despite being super low key. I've had a birthday breakfast with my momma and my aunt, my best friend & I hit the outlets to shop, my sister took me to meet Lauren Graham, had Birthday dinner with my dad, my puppies decided to gift me with their decision to get along (!!), I have plans with several of my most favorite people throughout today, and you beautiful strangers (and friends and family!) gave me the best gift by generously donating to my fundraiser for the dog rescues. I feel so happy and blessed.

This style of celebrating comes with a lesson I plan to take with me into my new year of life: when I just roll with whatever, I tend to be really joyful and much more appreciate of whatever comes to be. When I try to control and plan (whether that be a party, or my entire life), I tend to be disappointed, frustrated, and anxious. Sure, schedules have to be made and planning in advance needs to happen sometime, but mostly, for me anyway, going with the flow gets me to where I want to be much faster, with a smile on my face. Perhaps that's the best gift of all this year. Being quiet and still enough to hear a great lesson to inspire my upcoming year. Here's to birthdays and happiness :)

p.s. yes, I am wearing my tiara today. Can't suggest it enough.

Tell me your favorite birthday memory or way to celebrate by leaving a comment below!!

ON Dollars For Doggies LAST DAY TO ENTER!

UPDATE: I am now officially OVER my $1,000 goal!!! Which only proves to me that you all are insane, and insanely generous. My heart is so full, and you've made my birthday amazing.

If you donated already and haven't entered the giveaway, please do so! You've got through the end of today, May 20th. If you don't know how to use rafflecopter, email me or comment and I'll help!

Donations are able to be accepted through midnight tonight and a winner will be announced tomorrow! THANK YOU!! xo

Last year, for my birthday, I asked friends & family to donate to an animal rescue instead of buying me any presents. The result? $600 and my best birthday yet. This year, I'm sweetening the deal with an amazing GIVEAWAY and by reaching out to the incredibly supportive blog community to see if we can beat last year's total for two amazing dog rescues. Without further ado, I present to you...

With these kindhearted bloggers...

Ten Feet Off Beale / Katilda / Head Over Heels 

Let Me See You Sparkle / Of Corgis & Cocktails / Bubby & Bean

Heather Hearts / Walking In Memphis In High Heels

And these generous businesses...

Ziva Mind / Viesso

All to benefit two incredible rescues:

Second Chance Rescue NYC / Dogs Without Borders

Here's what you'll be entered to WIN:

a dog print from Bubby & Bean // gorgeous teal triangle earrings from Katilda

beautiful lavender earrings from Walkin' In Memphis In High Heels // custom hoop art from Ten Feet Off Beale

$25 Sephora gift card from Heather Hearts // $25 Starbucks gift card from KerryingOn (that's me!)

custom blog header and social media icons designed by Of Corgis & Cocktails

$25 Etsy shop credit from Let Me See You Sparkle

$20 Etsy shop credit from Head Over Heels

the stunning Muuto Flow Jug, generously donated by Viesso

and.. a FULL Scholarship to ZivaMind, generously offered by Ziva Meditation!

To Enter, please make sure you complete your donation here.

The minimum donation requirement is $1 but if you can give more,

the dogs and rescue folks would surely appreciate it :)

The giveaway will run through the end of the day (11:59 pm EST) of May 20th, 2013.

THANK YOU so much to the generous bloggers and companies for their support,

and Thank YOU for donating & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ON An Ode To Banana Republic Dresses

I'm obsessing over the latest dresses from Banana Republic. Actually let's be honest, I am basically always obsessing over everything at Banana Republic. Except anything remotely similar to slacks. (Sidenote: there are few words that I dislike but slacks is surely one of them.) I'm particularly in love with the maxi dresses, as that's my summer go-to for comfort and style in one.

I made the mistake of trying on the one in the middle. Fit me like a glove. Perfect length (hello petite section, I love you), perfect everything. Minus that price tag. So fingers crossed for a good sale soon, and until then, I'll share these lovelies here.

ON Dollars For Doggies ENDS MONDAY!

UPDATE: I am somehow magic(k)ally only $99 shy of my goal. When I set the goal I thought I was being ridiculous.. but since I am ridiculous, I did it anyway. And now here we are, just $99 shy of making it! THANK YOU to everyone who already donated. Your generosity is insane and warms my heart. If you can take a second and tweet, FB, share this post, I'll be forever grateful. xoxo

Last year, for my birthday, I asked friends & family to donate to an animal rescue instead of buying me any presents. The result? $600 and my best birthday yet. This year, I'm sweetening the deal with an amazing GIVEAWAY and by reaching out to the incredibly supportive blog community to see if we can beat last year's total for two amazing dog rescues. Without further ado, I present to you...

With these kindhearted bloggers...

Ten Feet Off Beale / Katilda / Head Over Heels 

Let Me See You Sparkle / Of Corgis & Cocktails / Bubby & Bean

Heather Hearts / Walking In Memphis In High Heels

And these generous businesses...

Ziva Mind / Viesso

All to benefit two incredible rescues:

Second Chance Rescue NYC / Dogs Without Borders

Here's what you'll be entered to WIN:

a dog print from Bubby & Bean // gorgeous teal triangle earrings from Katilda

beautiful lavender earrings from Walkin' In Memphis In High Heels // custom hoop art from Ten Feet Off Beale

$25 Sephora gift card from Heather Hearts // $25 Starbucks gift card from KerryingOn (that's me!)

custom blog header and social media icons designed by Of Corgis & Cocktails

$25 Etsy shop credit from Let Me See You Sparkle

$20 Etsy shop credit from Head Over Heels

the stunning Muuto Flow Jug, generously donated by Viesso

and.. a FULL Scholarship to ZivaMind, generously offered by Ziva Meditation!

To Enter, please make sure you complete your donation here.

The minimum donation requirement is $1 but if you can give more,

the dogs and rescue folks would surely appreciate it :)

The giveaway will run through the end of the day (11:59 pm EST) of May 20th, 2013.

THANK YOU so much to the generous bloggers and companies for their support,

and Thank YOU for donating & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ON my film debut in China (sort of) & major link love

Oh, internet. WHY do I post these things? Why? But I must. I cannot keep this from you.

Click :55 seconds into the video and you may perhaps see a familiar face..

FOR THE RECORD.. the reason that I only appear once in this is because I killed it on every other name. Just owned those names! Those Rosetta Stone lessons are no joke and apparently must actually work because I can look at strange words and pronounce them correctly (I can also say 'cat' in multiple languages. Don't be jealous.)

These are the types of things that happen on a day to day basis in my world. One minute you're leaving an audition and realize your phone is dead so you hightail it to the Apple store across town and on your way, some random people ask you to say the names of Fashion brands on camera for a video in China. And if you're me, you're all "OKAY SURE! And yes I will certainly sign that release form!" Might as well live, you know?

In unrelated news, here are some other internet gems I'm (honestly) loving this week:

Katilda wrote about being a single 26 year old Mormon and her words are really universal.

Melissa wrote about why it's so important to surround yourself with people who are in Love.

Bri reminded us why it's sometimes best to avoid the internet when brainstorming/creating.

And I wrote two pieces here: one about Chez Sucre Chez & one on Home Theatre Inspiration.

Lastly, for the love of potatoes, please make sure to enter the amazing giveaway that I have going until Monday. I'm only $99 shy of my goal for these two amazing dog rescues! Every dollar counts and you could win a boatload of awesome prizes for your generosity. Happy Weekend! xo

ON #notestoself vol. 1

I don't know about you but I tend to wait.

I wait until I'm 'perfect', I wait until I'm ready, I wait until tomorrow.

I stall, procrastinate, analyze, worry, overthink.

Or, worst of all, I google. Edit photos. Text people back. Facebook.

I distract myself with anything and everything else but what I need to do.

Especially if it's something important for my career.

If I'm moving forward in the direction that I want to go.

When I see signs of success, I wait even more than normally.

And this is what I always come back to: the time is NOW.

Right now. Do it now. Send the scary email now. Say the words now.

Ask the hard question now. Date that person now. Push your boundaries now.

And every single time, I'm shocked by how much scarier it was in my mind

than it was in real life. And how quickly I get the answer I was hoping for.

The time is right now, friends.

Leave me a note in the comments about something you'll do today that you've been stalling on. xo

Keep up with all of my #notestoself over at @kerryingon

Unedited images by Phillip Spaeth // Bowtie dress via Francesca's Collection // Necklace: Satya

ON Kindness For Your Soul (OR; Cappy The Dog)

One of the amazing dog rescues that I am lucky enough to volunteer with is Badass Brooklyn Foster Dog. They are seriously some kick-ass humans who go down South and rescue dogs from the (super high) high kill shelters. They have a whole team of volunteers/fosters down South who help and a whole other team up North, here in NYC. They've rescued over 800 dogs. 800 dogs!

This picture and story appeared on BuzzFeed last week, now with well over 160,000 views. It's gotten so much attention that there's a longer story featured on HuffPo today.

The stories are great but the best part is getting more attention, fans, and volunteers for Badass, and for animal rescues every where. So if it touches your heart, do share with your social media network.

You can follow the Badass Twitter here (you may, ahem, hear a familiar voice tweeting) or 'like' their Facebook page here. Streams of cute pups all day? Yes please.

P.S. Make sure you enter my Dollars for Doggies giveaway!!