Happy Weekend x Five Things Friday

Hello, lovelies! I know I haven't been posting here much lately. I blame it on life and work demands, but hopefully that will all soon change as I gear towards more balance in life, work, and creative passions. 

Wanted to post this after the previous weekend, but it's now Friday and it looks like this will turn out to be a Five Things Friday post.  But it will be all about the things I have loved and appreciated last weekend. 

Such as discovering the capability of my new smartphone to capture my handwriting and actually write on my photos! Take that iPhone 5 (kidding!)

Recently, it has been a time of clearing out and letting go of what no longer works for me.  Last weekend, it concretely manifested itself in this new stackable clear acryclic organizers, just what I needed to organize my earrings and accessories in heavy rotation,in light of my never-ending organizing project.

And this gifted necklace organizer (arylic too!) was simply what I needed, to declutter my favorite necklaces du jour.

Of course, no de-cluttering and organizing is complete without stacking up the books I'm reading or wanting to read in the near future. This stack is just one of many! And it also completely sums up what I am into at the moment and almost always---travel, love, style, words of wisdom from one of my favorite feminists,  as well as from my favorite sources of inspiration---whether in spiritual wisdom or otherwise (Deepak Chopra, Don Miguel Ruiz, Emily Schuman), and is it really so bad that I still can't bring myself to read the last installment of Fifty Shades of Grey?

And in preparation for a friend's wedding which I will be attending this weekend, I decided to clean out my makeup brushes, using just mild baby shampoo. I am no expert when it comes to brush cleaning, and I'm not sure if using makeup brush cleaners is better than just mild soap, but it did work well for my neglected brushes. Anyway, I'm not too anal about them because my brushes work well enough for me, even if they're not expensive. But I did read somewhere before that you're not supposed to dry them by drying them vertically on a holder (because the moisture will go down the brushes and will not dry them properly), so I just allowed them to dry flat on this highly absorbent towel.

{Fanny Serano blush brush, ELF powder brush, Bare Escentuals/Bare Minerals brush, Elianto foundation brush, Body Shop eyeshadow brush, Fanny Serano eyeshadow brush, Prescriptives small eyeshadow brush, ArtDeco eyebrow brush, Bare Escentuals concealer brush}

Then the brushes all dried out, in a nostalgic Barbie pencil holder:

Finally, I've realized that I started out and ended the weekend with people who mean a lot in my life. On Friday, it was in the laidback al freso ambiance of Metrowalk, just chilling and talking with someone who I'm beginning to come to know as my guru.

Then the weekend ended with Sunday being full of serendipity, as always. And I've realized that, whatever happens, the best of friends (especially the oldest of friends, and even if it's just one Sunday afternoon) will always make life a little bit lovelier, and always more fun. I wish you every luck and happiness when it comes to friends, as I do :)

How did you spend your weekend? However the past weekend was, and however you will spend the coming one, may it be nothing less than beautiful.

Cheers!