Ski Weekend Uniform

Vest: J.Crew | Turtleneck: J.Crew | Hat: J.Crew | Denim: J Brand | Boots: Sorel | Tote: Madewell | Sunglasses: Karen Walker | Earrings: Gorjana via Rocksbox | Watch: Michael Kors

This look is from last weekend in the mountains--this hat, these cozy boots, and my J.Crew tissue turtleneck tees in every color have become my uniform for casual outfits on ski weekends (see a similar look in this post). If you've been following my Snapchat (username: helloframboise), you've probably seen that Colorado has gotten tons of snow in the mountains recently, and I've been out skiing as much as I can, and then relaxing outside enjoying the winter weather while it lasts.

Although I'm a summer girl at heart, skiing's been such a part of my life since I was a little girl (age 2 or 3) that I can't really hate on winter. It's a fun thing to do with my husband and my whole family, including my rockstar little brother Mark Nowakiwsky (so proud of him). If you are ready to see some crazy skiing, watch one of his more recent videos here (see him between 1:15-3:21 or so and get ready to be amazed at the crazy flips and skills--this is what I have to try to keep up with!). You can follow Mark on Instagram: @marknowakiwsky for more awesome ski videos from his travels around the world.

Thanks for reading! Hope you're having a great week!

x, Tam

6 Tips for Managing Stress, Dealing with Anxiety, and Enjoying Your Life

As I promised, I'm going to be doing a few more wellness posts here and there. After a very stressful week segueing into a relaxing weekend away with family and friends, I felt ready to share some of my easy ways to make sure anxiety and stress don't rule my life.



Most of the time, I love my fast-paced, jam-packed life and career. Doing the kind of legal work I do is tremendously rewarding, but it’s also challenging, high-stakes, and sometimes heartbreaking. Squeezing in time for blogging, calligraphy, exercise, family and friends, and all the million little things that need to be done to make life run smoothly can be overwhelming.

I am a fairly high-strung person who has had a very active imagination since childhood. I’ve suffered from bouts of anxiety since I was a teenager, and over time, I’ve developed some relatively simple coping mechanisms that really help me bring my anxiety level down, assess my priorities, get shit done, and enjoy my life.

Admit to yourself that you are overwhelmed

Sometimes I get into a pattern of feeling a growing sense of apprehension without really realizing it. I try to pay attention to those feelings now and let my conscious mind realize that I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to step back and address it. The first step to coping with anxiety is realizing it’s about to bubble to the surface.

Neaten your space

Having a desk strewn with files and papers piled on the floor of my office makes a stressful day and a long to-do list feel impossible. The same goes at home—it’s hard to clear my mind when I have to clear a spot on the table to start a calligraphy project. It’s difficult to drift off to sleep when I have unpacked bags, a cluttered room, and laundry to put away.

Spending a few minutes tidying up my space does wonders for tidying up my mind and helping me to refocus. As I’m removing those files from my desk, I can prioritize them. They stay on my desk in a neat vertical file caddy for immediate action, go into an appropriate “action pile” on my bookshelf, or are placed in my filing cabinet if no action is needed for a couple weeks.

Hello, Again

Hi, again, readers! As I was preparing to write this post, I realized it has been just under three months since I last posted here while I was getting ready for my big adventure in Australia. If you had asked me just before that if I ever considered taking an extended break from my blog, I would have said, "No way." But life happens, and life was telling me I needed a break.

Not long after my last post here, I learned my grandmother, with whom I was very close, had passed away very suddenly. It ripped a hole in my heart that was too big and raw to share with anyone but those closest to me. Although it was difficult, Sean and I headed off to Australia not long after. I kept up the sunny, happy posts on social media, and I took some outfit photos while we were there, but I couldn't bring myself to edit or post them here. I couldn't seem to muster up even an ounce of creative spark, and looking at my blog made me tear up because my grandmother always enjoyed looking at my outfits and photos so much.

While we were in Australia, my family's sweet rescue pup, who was somewhere around 16 or 17, finally got to the point where he was very ill and in pain. My parents made the difficult decision to let him go. Even though I knew this was coming, it hurt my already-broken heart.

Then, to add injury to insult, I suppose, I suffered a serious injury while out diving in the Great Barrier Reef. As I was climbing back into the boat, the ladder I was using moved suddenly and crushed two of my fingers. Ending up in an Australian hospital needing surgery and wondering if I'd ever be able to use those fingers again was definitely not on the itinerary. With lots and lots of help from Sean, I made it through the rest of the trip and back home.

Okay, that was the bad part--good part is coming up next.



Now, two months later, post-rehab, I am back to typing with my bones healed and my fingernails growing back (pretty thrilled about all of those things). My heart is slowly mending, and I have learned quite a bit about taking care of myself.

So where to next? I want to share some of the things I've learned over the last couple months with you, and I plan to open the window into my life a little wider in my future posts. I already love sharing outfits, shopping, and travel with you, but I'm thinking I'll add some posts that talk about my exercise routine, my journey to eating healthier, my strategies for coping with anxiety and difficult times, and the tips and tricks I've found useful.

In the spirit of sharing more, here's the wide-angle view of the first pic in this post--a shot of my little sanctuary, my bedroom. It's my favorite room in my house, and most of this blog has been written sitting right here.

Tee: J.Crew (more on my love for J.Crew petite knits here) | Denim: J.Brand '620' | Necklaces: Theresa Mink, Kendra Scott via Rocksbox (review here) | Watch: Michael Kors | Lips: Stila 'Fiery'

Don't worry--I'd never leave you hanging on outfit details!

x, Tam

P.S. Thanks so much for reading, friends. This was a hard post to write. Tune in later this week for a much more lighthearted topic: how I survived a 16-hour flight and my tips for long-haul plane travel.