New NptSOM

Very pleased to announce that after years of planning to do so, I’ve finally bought my own domain: www.newportstateofmind.com

The new site is still a bit of a work in progress, but I thought it would be time to make the switch now that the new design is somewhat in line with where I would like it to be. Followers on Bloglovin will be transferred over automatically thanks to their lovely team.

The majority of my content has been transferred to that new address and I will be continuing to blog on that site, going forward. Thank you to all my readers for following along up until now – please check up on the new site for future posts! 

xx CMQ

DIY Custom iPhone Charger

Is there any minor inconvenience worse than not having a charger or losing yours? In a time where it seems like almost everyone I know is using an Apple device of some kind, there’s something to be said about marking your charger to make sure no one mistakes it for their own. Having once lived in a suite with seven other girls in college, I know how difficult it can be to keep track of “your” charger (for phone, computer, etc) when there are several identical other ones in close proximity. You could write your name on it, but  in my experience, even permanent marker wears off with the heat chargers generate. What’s a quick, inexpensive solution to making a custom colored charger?

Reading Without Requirement

As someone who was famous for procrastinating in school, I can say that I did my fair share of reading Sparknotes at the eleventh hour if I didn’t have time to fully get through a reading assignment in middle/high school. In college, I graduated to a process of “tactful skimming” whereby I’d pull some quotes from readings I hadn’t had time to finish if they could support the central thesis of a paper. Whoops!

That being said, there are a fair amount of books on my shelf that boast notes in the margins from class discussion despite the fact that I never actually read them in full. Thankfully, summer reading is a thing of the past for me, but the arrival of warmer weather found me wanting to finally go through and give the books a chance now that there was no pressure to recall and analyze what lay between their pages. I chose to begin with The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, one of many AP English books that I deftly flew through, knowing it wouldn’t be my eventual choice for essay topics on the AP Exam because I has practically committed The Great Gatsby to memory.

It’s amazing how quickly you can read something when there’s no expected deadline hanging over your head. If I clocked the hours I spent on The Bean Trees, they likely would have added up to less than half a day. Kingsolver’s prose was easy to digest because the voice of the novel’s narrator is a spitfire Southern girl who boasts no frills. As I read through, the handwritten notes scribbled within by 18-year-old me seemed to be sort of painfully obvious observations (affirming that, as I suspected, I probably has done more skimming than reading back in 2009), but despite their lack of depth, it was interesting to see what I picked up on and thought at the time. Reading the book at a different place in my life also gave me new perspective on its themes and messages. Overall, the experience made me want to reread another old “required reading” book again soon!

What was your favorite “required” reading book that you’d recommend? Have you ever gone back and finished a book you were supposed to read but didn’t?

 

Early Morning Charleston [Photos]

A little photo recap from a vacation in South Carolina last week – definitely didn’t regret lugging along my big camera for this early morning walk through Charleston. Couldn’t get enough of the architecture, gardens, and morning light.

Had to make a necessary stop before the walk, obviously.

One of the sweetest takes on “Private Property” that I ever did see.

South Carolina is not a state, it is a cult. – Pat Conroy

Charleston is most definitely one of my favorite cities. Have you ever been?

Moore Spring

The (long overdue) arrival of warm weather in New England has meant that I’ve been wishfully thinking “spring” for a few months now without being able to dress the part. Finally, on a sunny day a few weeks ago, when it finally felt like I might not be forcing it, I decided to dig in to my bin of summer clothes that had been packed away all winter. Dressing up in colors I hadn’t worn since last summer season inspired me to break out some locally-sourced accessories I hadn’t worn in a while: my Angela Moore bracelets.

If you encountered me circa spring 2009, you’d find me rocking these pretty pastel beads at least once a week. Before Alex and Ani or Kiel James Patrick came on the RI bracelet scene, my friends and I were all voracious Angela Moore collectors, accruing large collections of painted bracelets with matching necklaces or earrings, in many cases. When birthdays rolled around, a little blue bag emblazoned with AM’s leafy logo was a welcome gift. Since they were such a staple when I was little, I tend to associate them with my lovely little island home – appropriately so, given that the only Angela Moore store outside of Florida is in Newport. It’s been quite a few summers since I actually wore them downtown, but I’m definitely thinking of bringing them back in to my jewelry rotation this year!

For more information about the brand or to buy a bracelet of your own, check out the Angela Moore Collection online.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and I was not compensated  by Angela Moore for my writing – I just sincerely love my bracelets and wanted to share!