The Live Lovely Manifesto

The Live Lovely Manifesto

Live Lovely is my manifesto. I experienced a fair amount of trauma growing up and into my mid twenties and have turned to wellbeing and simple living to heal my life. “Live Lovely” is a motto I use to remind myself to live a life of gratitude and to live compassionately towards myself and others. In 2016 I started a blog to share not just my photography and travels, but to also share articles I write about subjects I am passionate about.

Live Lovely is a lifestyle blog focusing on the New England lifestyle, simple living, wellbeing, and sometimes travel. In my blog you will discover recipes, crafts and tutorials, book reviews, and many posts regarding New England and simple living.

If you came to this site looking for my wedding photography, you can see my collections and my work at my business website LiveLovelyPhotography.com.

A Little Bit About Courtney

I live in New England. Connecticut is a small state, but I truly love living here.
Living simply is important to me. I am no longer a minimalist, but simple living is at my core. I currently rent an upstairs apartment in an antique 1800s house.
I dream to one day have a conversion van and travel across the United States.
Enjoying adventures both local and around the globe is one of my favorite things to do. I love blogging about my travels because photography and writing are two of my favorite things to do.
I am an avid reader. I read up to three books a week!
What do I love to read? Travel memoirs, books about photography, business books, positive psychology, and a lot of contemporary romance novels. (I blame this one of my passion for wedding photography. It may have inspired my reading choices somewhat.) I have also started reading more classics and some mysteries.
I collect and listen to old vinyl records. I do love modern music (I adore rock and roll), but I tend to lean towards the oldies like the 1950s and 1960s bands.
Although I try my best to be minimalist with my home, I have a home library that is currently overflowing with books I love.
I’m in love with vintage fashion, music, and movies. My styling is usually influenced by my love for old films and vintage photography. The books I read also influence my clothing choices. But when winter comes, my uniform is usually a thick pair of pants and an oversized knit sweater.
I married the man I fell in love with fourteen years ago when I was eighteen! Our wedding was on June 16th 2018.
I’m obsessed with sunflowers. If I were a flower I would be a sunflower.
In the summer I cannot keep my shoes on. I have to be barefoot outside in the grass or in a lake.
Kayaking is one of my favorite hobbies.
My cat’s name is Madeleine.

The Adventures

Not all of my travels are far. I believe that there are adventures to be had right outside your own front door, which is why a majority of my travel posts are about my native New England. Every year we do our best to travel often, both locally and as far as we can afford to go.

A few years ago I found a gorgeous book about France with amazing photos and personal stories by the photographer. I loved it, however, while looking at the photos I realized that there are also many beautiful places right here at my home base in Connecticut. There is so much beauty to discover right where you are, which is why I decided to turn a lot of my exploration inward and to places nearby in my beloved New England. People travel from all over the world to visit New England, especially in the summer and autumn. Instead of daydreaming about far off places that I cannot afford to fly to just now, I made a wish list of all the local places that I love or want to visit. I am living for today and appreciating the life that I have right now. I call these posts my “Connecticut Charm” and “New England Living” series. It satisfies my wanderlust and the photojournalist inside me. Truly, it makes my soul happy!

Most of my travel posts are from my home state of Connecticut, and Connecticut sure does have a lot of charm. A beautiful seashore, over 300 lakes and ponds, lovely mountains for hiking (although very small, we do have part of the Appalachian trail that runs through our state), gorgeous small towns, museums, libraries, cafes, places to eat, and fabulous cities. I adore photographing New England.

The Live Lovely Life List

I also have a “live lovely” list. Many people may have a list of their own, often called a “life goal list”. I often document these adventures, both big and small on my blog, like my goal to fly a plane, which I accomplished on my birthday in 2017.

This list is always changing and evolving. I also like to keep completed goals on the list so I can appreciate what I have done instead of just focusing on what I have not. So what is a live lovely goal? This is not a bucket list, but rather a collection of experiences that I hope to have one day. This list grows constantly!

Become fluent in French -in progress!
Go scuba diving -completed summer 2007
See Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan -completed winter 2015
Visit Paris and climb the Eiffel Tower -completed October 2010
Visit my friend Auggie in Chile
Climb Machu Picchu in Peru
Rent a moped on Block Island with Matthew and zip around the island -completed August 2018
Go on a Route 66 road trip and renew my vows with Matthew in a Vegas chapel for fun -on my wish list
Kayak with Matthew in a bioluminescent bay -completed April 2016
Fly a plane -completed July 2017
Spend time in Asia and learning about a culture. -completed September 2019 (a trip to Bali)
Volunteer with elephants in Chang Mai Thailand
Study abroad -completed autumn 2010
Go zip lining in Costa Rica -completed summer 2009
Camp and canoe on Assateaugue island -completed summer 2013
Go sailing -completed September 2017
Climb to the crown of Lady Liberty in NYC -completed August 2017
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge -completed summer 2015
Write a novel (then publish it)
Celebrate Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts -completed October 2017
Learn to do a cartwheel
Go for a gondola ride in Venice, Italy -completed June 2018
See the ancient sites of Rome -completed July 2018
Walk to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece -completed July 2018
Live in France for six months to a year
Follow the steps of the Sound of Music film in Salzburg, Austria
See the Northern Lights
Go snow showing -completed January 2019
Visit the Von Trapp family lodge in Stowe Vermont -completed October 2017
Go for a Connecticut autumn leaf road trip -completed October 2018