Behind the Scenes with Julip MADE

This week for my first ever guest installment of BEHIND THE SCENES, I’m pleased to host Julie from the adorable blog Julip Made. Julie’s blog is a fantastic mix of recipes, entertaining ideas (read: cocktails!) and interior design inspiration (if you read Friday Link Love, it should come as no surprise that I adore her Weekday Meal Wednesday column). Besides the glimpse into her life via her blog, Julie and I have corresponded a bit via email and trust me, she’s as sweet as they come. Take it away, Julie!

Hi vmac+cheese readers,

Julie from Julip Made here letting you all get a deeper look at the musings of my brain.  I am honored that Victoria invited me to be a part of this series.  For me, not only was this a guest post, but an exercise to focus some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for a while.  I hope you enjoy and please feel free to visit me anytime!

The furbabe (Odin), the Boy (Kevin), and me at the White House!

Name: Julie E.
Age: 24 (currently working on a 25 before 25 list)
Your Blog: Julip Made
Current City: Washington, D.C. (Tenleytown).  Born and raised Bethesda/ Chevy Chase, Maryland, right on the border with DC.

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Five places I want to visit in my lifetime: Narrowing down a list of 5 places I want to see in the world is kind of like trying to say what my favorite color is… my answer is all to both.  Here is a list of 5 places that are high up on my list:  Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to visit where my father was born; the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia, which is said to be the new Riviera; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; Argentina, including Patagonia and Buenos Aires; and finally Petra in Jordan, Indiana Jones anyone?

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Four books I want to read in the next year: Although I have had more time to reading for pleasure compared to when I was in school and only reading text books, I still wish I had more time for reading and soaking in the tub.  The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank and Bossypants by Tina Fey come highly recommended by… everyone.  I really enjoyed Little Bee, despite being an emotional read, and have been wanting to read Incediary, both by Chris Cleave.  Finally, I love shopping and I love clothes and I have a lot of them, but I need guidance.  This is where Nina Garcia and The One Hundred come in and can hopefully help direct my shopping tendencies.

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Three photos that exemplify what I want my life to look like five years from now:

Creativity.  I am truly happy when I am being creative.  I started my blog as a creative outlet and since then have had a medium to share my creative ventures.  In five years, I hope that this creative energy will continue and even grow.  How it will manifest is yet to be determined and leads me to my next photograph.

Vision.  I hope that in five years, I will have more focused vision of what I want my future to look like or at least what direction I should be heading.  I am enjoying this stage of my life, figuring myself out, what I like, what I don’t like, what my strengths and weaknesses are.  In five years, I want to feel like I have a better sense of my purpose and to hopefully be doing something that I absolutely love.

Joy.  My life now is filled with laughter, friends, family and love.  I hope that these relationships and memories continue to build on one another and can continue for many years into the future regardless of the hardships or successes they may endure.

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Two goals I’m currently working on (and what I’m doing to get there):

Get back to being active.  I’ve played competitive soccer my entire life and into college.  For most of my life, I’ve had a practice (or 2 or 3) a day, a game (or 2 or 5) a week, lifting, conditioning, physical therapy (numerous injuries), or some form of physical activity daily.  By the time senior year rolled around, if not sooner, I was BURNT-OUT.  Since then, it’s not that I’m not active, but my goal is to find the joy in being active again.  So far, I’m playing on a coed weekend soccer team (FOR FUN), I go for runs with Odin, I take long walks through the city with the Boy, I go hiking on the weekends, and I have plans to start kayaking and taking fun work out classes this summer.  Any suggestions for classes?
Own my own abode. As I scroll through google reader, I see fantastic home projects (that can only be done in a non-rental) on a daily basis and I am green with envy.  I have always dreamed of owning my own home (condo, mansion, cardboard box… doesn’t matter, well kind of).  Right now, this goal is a long ways off, but I’ve started working towards it by finishing paying off my student loans, maintaining a high credit score, and budgeting so I can save a certain amount each month.  Fingers crossed it’ll be a reality in the next 3 to 5 years!

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One thing I’ve been dreaming about is: I’ve been dreaming about is exploring my creative side on a more professional level.  Don’t get me wrong… I love my job and my current career path (I’m an Environmental Planner), but sometimes I think I would be even happier in a more creative field.  What that would be exactly I don’t know.  Some of my daydreams include working as an interior designer, event planner, owner of a cupcake/ wine pairing bar, personal stylist, personal chef, and the list goes on…This blog was answer to feed some of those creative dreams, but who knows where I’ll end up in 5 years.

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How did your blog get it’s name?  As a child, I had a tendency to write my lowercase a’s backwards.  When I wrote my name, Julia, it appeared to say Julip.  I should also explain that my mother is an artist, so growing up I was lucky enough to spend hours in her studio making potato prints, beeswax sculptures, Sculpey beads, water coloring, and learning to create monoprints and collographs on her etching press.My artwork from these years is signed Julip and is thus Julip Made.  I chose to title my blog after this early childhood moniker because it represents a time in my life when my creativity was completely uninhibited by the constraints of the real world such as time, cost, and that pesky adult consciousness that keeps us from completely expressing ourselves, often for fear of embarrassment or rejection.    

Who serves as a source of inspiration for you?  For food inspiration I look to my father, a true gourmande, Bon Appetit, food blogs, pinterest, and restaurants I visit.  For interiors, I am amazed at the creative energy and talent in the blog world and from that the birth of the online decor mag as well as any print mag or book I can get my hands on at Barnes and Noble when I go for a coffee/ good sit down inspiration session.  For fashion, once again blog land is full of fantastic inspiration.  I also enjoy seeing what girls wear in other cities when I travel.  I’d have to say for overall creative inspiration I look most to my mom and brother.  I admire them both for sticking to their guns in relatively critical worlds (art and music respectively) and truly following their passions regardless of the outcomes.

What is your proudest achievement to date?  My proudest achievement to date is that since graduation, I have been completely self-sufficient.  Meaning, I am financially independent, I have an apartment, a puppy, a Boy, a JOB, am almost paid off my student loans, and am pretty damn proud of it all.  This is not to say that I do not rely on the emotional and social support of my friends and family.  I know these might all sound like normal daily life achievements, but for a somewhat recent grad, these are BIG accomplishments.

Where is your favorite place to rest and recharge?  During the week, I look forward to coming home to my pups and cuddling on the couch with them.  Whatever mood I am in disappears completely when I see them and quickly turns into a smile and laughter at whatever silly thing they are doing (like at the moment staring at the top of our bookshelf and attempting to figure out how to climb it to reach where I hid his squeaky toy).  On the weekends, when we are not busy, we head out to my parents land out in VA.  It is in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service, but it is wonderful.  There is plenty or room to hike, a big garden full of fresh veggies, a deck to lay out on, a view of the mountains, and a clear sky where you can actually see the stars at night.

When did you first start blogging?  I signed up for blogger back in 2010, but didn’t actually start blogging until February of 2011.  It’s funny because I had wanted to start one for the longest time, but getting the concept down and writing the first post was the hardest part.

And why do you keep doing it?  I started to blog and continue to blog as a creative outlet, a place to share my thoughts, inspirations, and projects.  As I continue to blog, I am amazed at the sense of community and support in the blog world.  I am also in awe of some of you passionate, creative, and fabulous ladies out there who on a consistent basis are able to produce amazing material and inspiration for me and all of blog land.

Thank you again Victoria and vmac+cheese readers for letting me take over one of your favorite blogs for the day!