The newest addition!

Today, Magical Simplicity got a logo. I hope you love it as much as I do!!

I obviously was trying to keep with the simple theme. The "S" is meant to look as much like a swirly underline as it is an "s."

I tried out several color schemes- but chose to keep it really simple. I tried several fonts and ultimately (surprisingly) chose four different ones. Each element means something different, so I thought they each deserved their own font. The "M" got a font with serifs, because it is so important. The "S" got sans serif because it has multiple functions. The "magical" is in cursive because, well because that makes it magic! And "simplicity" is in a very simple font.

So, hooray! It is featured currently on Facebook- Cheers to our newest addition!

Make new friends, but keep the old

When I was in daisies, about fifteen years ago, we learned this song:

Make new friends

but keep the old, 

One is silver and the other gold.

A circle is round, 

it never ends, 

And that's how long,

We will be friends. 

In all honesty, this and the girl scout code are the only two things that I remember from Troop 13249 (and, since that is all I remember- you should know that I just made up that troop name). 

Now at age six, all your friends are new- so I thought of course! We will be friends forever! Yes, a circle never does end! But now- at age 21- you might say I have realized the truth. Friends, are the world. My friends come in all ages, all genders, all forms. I still have friends from that ripe old age of six. And I have friends from now, that I met today. And I have friends from every stage in between. 

Today, I happened to run into an old friend. When I was a freshman at Miami- I may have even called him my best friend. We gradually lost touch over time- but like all true friends- he comes back into my life when I need him. He was there to nurse my broken heart to health. He was there to celebrate the beginning of this blog- and he might have even been the first non-familial follower. 

Long story short, friends are friends are friends. Who wouldv'e thought that the song I sang as a lanky, toe-headed six year old would ring true a decade and a half later. So raise a glass! Smile on a memory, here is to happy things. 

ee cummings

"it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are" ee cummings.

i have always held a secret love for ee cummings secret because no one has ever really asked me about him but when i was small i loved him because he doesnt capitalize letters or use punctuation in my young mind that was the coolest thing any published writer could ever do

Now I love him for other reasons. His breadth and depth as a writer is inspiring, his work is flawless, and- come on ladies- he is just so cute!

This quote has been stamped in the back of my mind for a while now. As I round the halfway point through my last year as a student, I am scared. I am afraid of finding a job, I am afraid of living alone, I am afraid of not knowing what the future holds. And I am very afraid of how close that future is. I feel like Peter Pan, and one of the lost boys. I don't want to grow up. Alas, I also know that a great adventure awaits. And who would I be to turn away from adventure? So, for now, I continue to plug away, preparing what I can for an untold future, with growing anticipation every day, remembering that it takes courage to grow up and become who I am meant to be.

And for that, I love ee cummings even more.

little ears.

Lately people have been telling me something. One thing. They love magical simplicity. They tell me over facebook, in emails, in text messages, in person. It is people of all parts of my life. Some that I talk to daily, some that I haven't spoken to in years. They tell me about their magically simple moments. They send me pictures. They make me smile.

And I beg of you, please keep doing it. I cannot express how much those comments mean to me. I keep thinking to myself: "surely, this is what it feels like to be utterly and perfectly happy." And then a new person reaches out. And suddenly my smile lights up the neighborhood.

I can only say thank you. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Lots of love, as always. Always keep the magic.
xx Annie

snow, darling.

I've been making updates all day about the rain. How it is great to dance in, how it makes the rainbow, etc, etc.

And then, I went on a two hour break at shriver, where I typically update my social mediums, catch up on emails, finish homework for my 410 class and daydream. I chanced a look out the window and there it was! The first real snow of the year!

Oxford has transformed in mere moments to a winterwonderland. And i would just like to say, happy snow day, darling.

the short story.

I started a class today titled "the short story." It reignited my love for literature. I am ashamed at how long it has been since i took a class like this.
Overall, it made me realize how much I really, REALLY want to make my fairy tale with Adeline and Benjamin Button and Shadow something real.
So expect another page soon!

a reminder about magic.

I cannot take credit for this photo, I found it during my web browsing on Pinterest. But what a perfect way to start my last semester at college.

I mentioned in my first post ever that magical simplicity is a state of mind. Nothing will be magical if you dont look at it that way.
But everything is prettier with a magic wand, so why would you choose to look at it any other way?Welcome back to school college students. Make it a magical year.

page six: in need of a hero

project storybook: a villain.

"Now, Adeline's shadow was a wretched one indeed. Unlike your shadow, who stays tightly attached to your feet, Adeline's shadow stayed tightly attached to all of her being.

At first, things were fine. Adeline and her shadow shared the day, and her shadow took the night. But soon, Shadow decided she deserved everything- and slowly, Shadow began to take it.

Adeline was drowning in the darkness. She was in dire need of a hero, but I didn't know where to look."

A FAIRY-TALE FORMULA.

snow white > evil witch
repunzel > evil witch
sleeping beauty > evil witch
adeline > shadow witch
peter pan > captain hook
harry potter > voldemort

i realized something today. all the books i read, all the stories i tell, all of the fairy tales i dream about, they follow a basic formula. in the beginning- life is grand. then- life gets hard. next- a bad guy enters the picture. a little magic helps the good guy defeat the bad guy. and in the end- they all live happily ever after.

and, i think, thats how it must be in life. because the bad guys dont come out on top. the good guys do. after a lot of trial, some error, and a little magic. they always do. and that is something magical to have learned.

thank you.

this blog began as an experiment, but it has become much more. and so to each of you i send a thank you. a thank you to all, for making that happen. and a thank you to all for making a magical world.

the greatest magic, is the simplest. and you are my simple magic. and for that i am so grateful.

unexpected places.

i actually listened to the words of my favorite mumford songs this morning. and low and behold, they were quite thought provoking.

"serve god love me and men. this is not the end."

"love will not betray you, dismay or enslave you. it will set you free."

"but you are not alone in this, as brothers we will stand and well hold your hand."

"and you have your choices, and these are what make man great, his ladder to the stars."

"in these bodies we will live, and in these bodies we will die. and where you invest your love, you invest your life."

"awake my soul, for you were made to meet your maker."

oh the lessons from a winters playlist. magical indeed.

just a little love.

he has been featured in my blog before, in an "ode to dragons and press on tattoos." this is the four year old who holds my heart.

fresh out of my first year of college- almost three years ago- i took on the challenge of nannying three of the neighbor boys. i had been their babysitter since i was fourteen, but this was different. all day, five days a week. those kids stole my heart.

the youngest one was 4 at the time, and i cannot even find words to describe him. sweet, loving, fun, humorous, challenging, snuggly, happy, imaginative.. the list goes on. anyway. hes seven now i think, i havent seen him for a year. but that summer lives on in my memory forever. when those little loves took over my heart.

make a wish, necklace.

three hundred and sixty five days ago, i was experiencing my first heartbreak. and on that day i put on this necklace.

as you know, i am all about wishes. i wish on 11:11, i wish on shooting stars, i wish when i catch a falling leaf, and i wished on this. the concept was to make my wish when i put it on, and when the thin thread from the necklace wore off, my wish would come true.
well one year to the day later, my necklace is still on. i have not gone a single moment without it.

life really is a journey, and every time i remember to check if my necklace is still on, i remember that.

dreams of dreamweaver

This has been my life. My electronic portfolio. My final project for visual rhetoric class.  Twenty percent of my overall grade.
I have never used dreamweaver before, and let me say WOAH its hard. The code on the left is literally a foreign language. I spent at least seventeen hours on it. I had to start over a total of six times. I sat at king library for hours, talking to myself and pushing the most random of buttons just TRYING to make a presentable piece.
And then all of a sudden, dreamweaver clicked. I knew what i was doing, and (dare I say) I actually liked it. How amazing that you can create a website out of literally a blank page. That is something magical.
Anyways, I'm almost finished. www.users.muohio.edu/butlera3/home.html aka, my world.

Page five: everyone has a shadow

"Adeline said it was her shadow.

'I don't know my darling. It just came. Everyone has a shadow. You told me that.'

But it wasnt her shadow. It couldn't have been. One day when I went to meet Adeline in her wooden castle amongst the trees, her face was cloudy & her eyes were dull. She said that over the night her shadow hadn't left."

(sketch inspiration courtesy of igorandandre.blogspot.com)

page four: the bow

It is the busiest time of year- for everyone, especially students. As a college senior I am currently in the midst of my FINAL winter finals. But, with a quick study break, here is page four:

"When we met, Adeline was wearing a bow. She wore that bow everyday that I saw her. She was so pretty. Sometimes I would pinch myself to see if she were real. But every pinch left her there, laughing like the church bells.

Everything was perfect.

& then one day its wasn't."

a beautiful angel.

an angel entered heaven last night, a beautiful, young, dancing, christmas angel.

she will forever light up the skies.
http://www.facebook.com/events/229272310474628/

page three: she was from a dream

A return to my story book, and our couple's fateful meeting.
"We met under a rainbow, or perhaps a shooting star. I can't remember much because the moment that I saw Adeline smile is the moment my life really began. Oh I loved her so. Adeline was my dream, and I think she was from a dream. Her feet didn't touch the ground when she walked. Lights always shined brighter in her midst. Everyone loved her, but Adeline had her hand wrapped around my heart."
(sketch inspiration from igorandandre.blogspot.com)

audrey's fairytale

"if im honest, i have to tell you that i still read fairy tales, and i like them best of all." 
audrey hepburn.


i could not agree with anything in the world more than i agree with this. 

and counting.

how odd a feeling, as i drove the rainy route down 27 this evening it dawned on me- i will not be gracing this road much longer. yes, there is the literal "not much longer" since my ride to oxford was drawing a close, but more importantly in my eyes is the metaphorical "not much longer." three weeks until christmas, five months until i graduate? im not quite sure what to feel.
this place has offered me friends for a lifetime, an education to match, and most incredibly- growth. i arrived as a child, but im leaving as a young lady (who likes to color and dreams of being a disney princess, i admit). a little bit of thought for an oh so familiar drive.