Hello, it's us

                     

                        

Come on in, take your seat and make yourselves comfortable. Long ago in a galaxy far, far away - wait, wrong introduction. Welcome to Love Mala, our love letter to you about all the things we enjoy. The heart of this space is about the unusually high amount of shared interests we have and love, hence Love Mala. Mala is nothing terribly clever; as you might have guessed it is our nicknames we have for each other (kind of). Mal and Lo are how we refer to one another frequently and you'll see that here on this blog but holy tangent, back to our blog name. Malo didn't quite have that ring to it and we liked Mala when combined better, so voilà! We basically became best friends instantaneously; in fact all of our friends thought it was some kind of wizardry because we just clicked. We met through Lauren’s husband, Cody, who at the time held the title “boyfriend”. Mallory and Cody had been friends since their first year of college, and he desperately wanted Mallory and her husband, Travis, to meet and “approve” of his new lady. When we met, all of the stars aligned and well, it was good. It didn't take us long to realize just how much we had in common, from wearing/wanting the same clothes, to continuously and accidentally matching our nail polishes and frankly, just about everything else. This happens a ridiculous amount of the time to the point that we have an on-going joke about being the same person. We even bought our husbands the very same humorous socks for Christmas this year and found out while excitingly telling each other about our stocking stuffers. Props to Target for baller socks, man!

So, welcome to the place of our shared interests, we hope you find it interesting, useful, or at the very least, fun. We are hopping on the blog bandwagon folks, have yourself a good time here and enjoy our lifestyle blog. This should be fun!

In the meantime, here's a little more about us individually, in case you’re interested in that sort of business -  

Lauren: I was named after Lauren Bacall, let's just start there. I grew up on a beautiful old farm in North Carolina, country as bunk and in the sticks. Wouldn't trade it for anything! My husband and I hope to get back to our roots when we are done traveling this beautiful continent. It's been pretty spectacular to get to hop from one side of the United States to the other, an experience we wouldn't have if it wasn't for his work in the Navy. The roaming just gets back to my nature, so I think that's why I enjoy it so. You see guys, I believe my spirit animal to be a bison, my husband says I'm a doodlebug. For all of those whose eyes are glazed over and look half as daft as I did, that's another name for a roly poly. And it's not, if you're wondering; my spirit animal is most likely a baby bison. I feel it in my bones. You know, if spirit animals are a thing. I have a good amount of Native American in my family, I even know which two tribes; that feels pretty cool. Navajo and Cherokee, if you're interested. Got a big soft spot for Westerns (film), Jeremiah Johnson or Outlaw Josey Wales, anybody? I sure hope so. I can thank my husband for so many things and Westerns are certainly one of them. Not sure why I'm still talking about Westerns. Anyhow, this sap just hopes you'll get your fancies tickled here and enjoy this adventure with us. I told my husband just the other day, Kacey Musgraves (album pageant material on repeat but that's another story for another day) couldn't have said it any better, "let's love hard, stay young, live fast, and die fun".

                 

                          

Mallory: Born and raised in lovely North Cack (known as North Carolina to all other 49 states), I have gained a great love for travel, discovery, and adventure over my past 26 years of life. Thanks, mom! My husband and I met, and didn’t actually start dating for 2-3 years; we remained friends with literally no romantic interest in one another. One day, he decided to visit me in Wilmington, and the rest is history! We shared the same love for travel, music, adventure, and much more, and ultimately came up with THE coolest idea (actually, it wasn’t OUR idea, but I can’t remember for the life of me where we heard it) – we have a 5-item “Anniversary Bucket List” that we abide by. Every year, on our wedding anniversary, we write down 5 things to accomplish in that year; for example “go somewhere new” or “go to a concert” or “fence in the back yard”, or even “have a baby” (well – we haven’t gotten to that one yet :) ). Ok, now that you have a serious understanding of the tangents both Lo and I go on, back to the meat-and-potatoes. My love for travel and adventure all began in Singapore, when I was, well, created. My whole life, my mom and I traveled together to some of the coolest places, and I have been hungry for culture and adventure since then. I truly believe that not a single penny put towards traveling and gaining life experiences can be wasted. I will take that any day over material items; well, makeup may just be a close second. Or tacos. Any who, I am an avid lover of animals, and am a total sap – yes, another thing Lo and I have in common. I don’t know too much about my family history (unfortunately), but I do know that I am part Cherokee (see, Lo and I = same person). I really hope you guys enjoy all of our adventures, interests, and experiences that we want to share!

Enjoy, pals!