Tuesday, January 31, 2012

I'm A Model, You Know What I Mean?

When I was younger,
I really wanted to be a model.

If you were to look through
the scrapbooks of
• class photos
• art projects
• about me sheets

You would see that I had
completed the sentence:
"When I grow up, I want to be ________"
with

a model

from Kindergarten
to fourth grade

when I got chubby.

What did you want to be
when you were a kid?

Monday, January 30, 2012

You Are A Human Animal

Last week, a friend of mine came over
cooked dinner for the three of us
{my roommate included}

Painted my nails a bright, sparkly gold

And then we watched
Midnight in Paris

I had seen it in the theaters
alone on my day off...
{I love to see movies alone, do you?}

When it came to the party scene,
I mentioned,
"I would love to get married in a place decorated this way:
filled with ridiculous photos and displays of animals."
{photo via Okinawa Assault}

A few months ago, I bookmarked this wedding

I look at these wedding pictures
probably every six weeks
because I just love the feel of
The Natural History Museum.




I know this is not everyone's "cup of tea"
for a wedding venue.

I'm positive more than a few of my relatives would have
something to say about my choice of location.

But my preferred decorative style
could be described as cabin-y,
so this seems like it might fit just perfectly.

{Title from this post comes from a Mickey Mouse Club sing-along.}

Friday, January 27, 2012

It Seamed Like A Good Idea At The Time.

I have a pair of tights
with back seams.

I've owned them for
at least six years
and have never worn them.

I've never even opened them.

I get so intimidated
at the thought of wearing them.

I purchased them
hoping for classic
but they feel
so much sluttier
than I had hoped.

Help me out here...

Back seams:
classy?
or
trashy?

*It should be noted that, while prepping for this post, I took a short detour through an online store and ended up purchasing this dress and these tights.

** It should also be noted that I'm not sorry.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Of Sandwiches and Suits


I always have.

There is something so
simple and clean
about
straight lines
and primary colors.


I love this Mondrian
And I love that it came
from a blog called

What a fun afternoon this must have been.
To create art from bread and condiments.

I would love to make stuff like this.
Just for fun, you know?

Speaking of things that are
well pieced together
{how's that for a segue?}

Check out this suit.
I could be in to a dude in a three-piece suit.
Especially
when one of the three pieces
is a cardigan.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Love. Love. Love.

Here is the latest list
of wonderful things
brought to me
{and now, to you}
by the internet.

{and incredible outfit}
A make-your-own
{that I might alter to be a coat rack}
I may only eat dip for dinner
every night for the next month

So...
Did I miss anything?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Calligraphic Dreams

I would love to learn calligraphy.
I've always loved lettering
{and typography}

Maybe calligraphy is the step to bridge
my love for writing
with
my love for crafting.

I think I might buy this set
when payday comes around.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong...

My friends and I often joke about our "Love Languages"

I think it began when Bre said,
"I don't care about getting gifts,
I just like when people want to talk about me."

I had assumed that my primary love language was gifts,
since I love to receive "saw this and thought of you" presents.

I hadn't given much thought to my secondary love language
until today.

I had one of the most affirming conversations
with a new friend and co-worker.

I left his office and had to stop to write down
some of the things he had said to make sure
that I would really hear and receive his words.

It made me rethink just how much I love
and need
words of affirmation.

So, I decided to take the 5 Love Languages
it was free.
and took about 8 minutes.

It pretty much confirmed what I already knew,
though I do like this explanation:

And never knew that I cared so much about
Acts of Service.

Maybe that's why I was so stoked
on my friends that helped me move?

Take the test...
I'd love to hear what your love languages are!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Baby July

At my last home, we had a third roommate.
An uninvited third roommate.
A baby ghost.
His name was Baby July.
And only one person ever saw him.

{rewind.}

In September of 2010,
Bre and I moved in to our {then} new apartment.

My friend Amanda brought her son,
Scotty {at the time, about two years old}
to see the house.

Scotty is running around playing
and then
freezes.

He jumps in to Amanda's lap
pointing at the front door and repeating,
"baby. scary. scary. baby."

{fast forward six months}

This time, Amanda has all three kids.
We're eating McDonald's,
running around the house.
The kids go on to the balcony
and when Scotty comes back inside
he freezes again.

Jumps in Amanda's lap
points at the front door and repeats
"scary. baby. there. scary."

{fast forward another six months}
now July 2011

Once again, it is just Scotty with us.

He and I are playing for over an hour.
Amanda and I keep making eye contact
as if to say, "well, we've made it this long...
maybe he won't say anything!"

And then, I hit the beach ball
and it lands in the front doorway.

And Scotty freezes.

"You get it." he says.
those six months had brought with them
a larger vocabulary for Scotty.

I reply, "You get it."

"I can't," he says,
"there's a monster over there."

Amanda and I breathe a sigh of relief.

He continues.
"Yeah, a monster.
With a baby."

Amanda's eyes widen.
I don a smirk that is meant to communicate
a mix of shock and fear.

And still he continues.
"It's a baby with that monster.
The baby.
It's my baby brother.
His name is Baby July."

{Scotty is the youngest of three.}

He never bothered us,
Baby July.
He stayed in his little three-by-three entryway.

We'd say hello as we came in.
And I told this story as frequently as possible.
Much to the dismay of my friend, Luke.

It was bittersweet
to say goodbye to Baby July.
I know he didn't move with us.
Scotty was here on Sunday...
and there was no mention of his baby brother.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

There Are Only Two Things I Love In This World: Everybody and Television*

You can imagine my surprise
when we moved in to a new house
and I found out that my new roommate (Dre)

has never seen The O.C.


and what's worse...
she's spent years mocking it
and wasn't sure she wanted to watch it


And then.
We watched the first episode.

How can you resist
Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer
right?!


Really...
Seth Cohen
alone
is reason enough to watch


One week later,
we're almost finished with season one.
Three seasons to go.

And then on to Veronica Mars.


So much good TV in our future.

*do you know who said this?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Oh, It's A Jolly Holiday With Mary

This morning, I finished watching Mary Poppins.
I had to watch in three installments,
to be sure it had my full attention.

As I watched, I kept thinking:
How cute is Bert?
and
Are Mary and Bert supposed to be more-than-friends?


--pause--
Did you know that Michael Banks
{well, the actor who played Michael Banks}
died at the age of 21 due to pancreatitis
they say was caused by eating "bad meat" in India?

Okay, back to Dick Van Dyke.
He's darling.
Even as Rob Petrie, he's just so cute.

He was also in a movie called
Oh man, I'd really like to see that.

Here he is at age 86.
As it turns out,
I'm not the only young woman
who thinks he's darling.
He got engaged last week
to a woman who is 39.
Yep, he was 47 when she was born.

Oh, and one more thing.
How much is "Feed the Birds"
of Mary Poppins?

Seriously.
The fast-forward
or go-to-the-bathroom-now song.

It's the same with
Broadway Rhythm/Melody
from Singin' In The Rain

Saturday, January 14, 2012

How Great Your Affections Are For Me

I love this song.

I love how much the lyrics force me
to consider what I'm singing.

And what it means for our lives
if these words are true.

I love to listen to this song
and not sing along.

I love to sing this song
at the top of my lungs.

I love to hear a crowd of students
singing this song
at the top of their lungs.



I loved watching the man who wrote it
get choked-up talking about
how much God loves him.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Gonna Dress You Up In My Love

I hardly ever wear pants.
This is not to say that I traipse around half-clothed
but that I choose dresses and skirts over trousers or jeans.

This all began almost three years ago.
I was moving home from Kenya
{where I had been living for seven months}
In those seven months, I wore jeans e v e r y d a y
{well, except for Sundays, when skirts are required in church}

I was anxious to get home and feel girly again.
To have the option to wear something other than the three pairs of jeans that had begun a little baggy and only grew to be more so after months of being washed in a bucket and line-dried. {There was never a worry of too tight waistlines in those days and I never had to lay on the bed to button them fresh out of the dryer.}

So, when I moved back to California, I began to
slowly but surely
replace my jeans-and-tshirt wardrobe
with a closet full of dresses

Here we are, three years later...
And I own one pair of jeans
which was worn {I think} seven times last year

In July of last year, I went to visit my dad in Cambria.
I had only packed dresses
for the trip, because why would I wear anything else?

Which was fine until the day he wanted to go hiking.
He and my brother were both pretty concerned over my choice of attire...
but it didn't stop me from
side-stepping across a pole over a stream
and then climbing over a rock to see a waterfall.

I got in the car afterward and told my dad
I would always wear a skirt when hiking.
Man it was comfortable...
and breezy.

A lot of people in my life question the comfort
{and functionality}
of dresses

Can you really move a house in a dress?
Yes.

Today, on The Sartorialist, I found a kindred spirit...
Who has taken this entire thing one-step further.

Her name is Sofia.
And she only wears dresses.
However, Sofia is also a
m a r a t h o n r u n n e r

What?
So fantastic.

I have zero desire to run marathons
but I have a pretty good feeling about
purchasing a tennis dress or two
to wear while working out

Maybe then I would enjoy exercising?

Read Sofia's interview with The Sartorialist here.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Working From Home

I typically work from home on Wednesdays.
A big chunk of my job is writing or editing
I find it much easier to concentrate when I am
not surrounded by a dozen other people
{not because they are distracting, but because I am so easily distracted}

And so, on Wednesdays, I work from home.
I am always amazed at how much I can get done here.

Half of my to-do list was finished before 11:30 today.
As well as all of dishes and a load of laundry.

As a reward, I spent a little time shopping online during lunch.

It's funny how much I am drawn to bright colors...


Polka dots and stripes always catch my eye
And this skirt--which has pockets

I would love a pair of moccasins.
These are saved in my cart until payday.
Hoping to make Dave Ramsey proud.

But not too proud since I did buy these today.
I've been eyeing them since before Christmas,
when I stood in line at Urban for 15 minutes {without moving} before giving up

All that shopping
and I still had time in my lunch break
to watch an episode of The Cosby Show.

Not too shabby.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

DIY-not?

I have a strong desire to craft these days.
To make.
To create.
Really: To be artsy and awesome.

Here are a few of the DIY/make items that have bookmarked
from several sites over the last few months,
but they seem so ambitious that I'm a little afraid to try.

{Okay, I couldn't make this,
but I could go see it...}

In theory, I'll be posting pictures of
my versions of these projects sometime soon.
Here's hoping.

Monday, January 09, 2012

Do You Sporcle?

I've never really been one for video games {online or otherwise}
Until I found Sporcle

At first, it was simply a way for me to try to name all of the countries of the world in under 15 minutes {accomplished, by the way...though not as quickly as Leigh}

Then I began to venture in to other categories:*
Name the U.S. Presidents
Name the Elements of the Periodic Table
Finish the Song Lyric

Then the Harry Potter games:
Name the Top 200 Characters
Name the missing item in each group
Harry Potter Surnames

*There are also several sports games, but they don't interest me much

I purchased the app for my phone
{the free version is not really worth it}
and I lay in bed each night playing at least one or two of the recently loaded games

I know...this makes me sound like an incredible nerd.
{Harry Potter knowledge aside}
But, I would imagine, it would be equally as captivating for you

Check it out.
Let me know if there are any good games that I might be missing!

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Spam-A-Lot

I received this email today.


I've never been an athlete.
{Well, I was Captain of my Period 5 Badminton Team...
in those days, I was an athlete.}

I can't imagine an email "opening" that would describe me less...
except maybe:
Dear Thrill Seeker
or
Dear Jack Johnson Fan

If you had to choose one {or two} incredibly inaccurate "openings" for yourself...what would you choose?

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Home Is Where The Art Is

I have been moving in to a new house.
This is not news, I know.

Since the day we moved in, I have had a one-track mind:
::: hang pictures :::

In my head, it doesn't really feel like home until there are pictures on the walls.

As of today, we are 95% done.
All of the empty boxes were broken down and stored.
The kitchen table is finally cleared of clutter!

So I thought I'd give you a peek at how it's shaping-up around here.
{the following is the result a combination of minimal lighting and even less photography skills}

• living room •

Please note the portrait of the woman by the front door.
We rescued her from the Mariners Resource Center
She is still nameless {we are taking suggestions}
for now, I've been calling her Glory
{and repeatedly asking her not to haunt our house}

board games and blankets in the gifted red chest
topped with a gifted TV
{and one more shot of "Glory"}

kitchen
Inspired by Monica Geller, I have taken the cabinet doors off in all but one of my apartments.
The clock is gifted as well.

These pictures were a gift from my friend Wendy.
Three places I love: Africa, New York and London.
She hand-painted them from pictures she found online.

The black wall is our one-more-coat-required-soon-to-be chalkboard wall

my room
the frame is from my grandparents' storage
the lamp was my great-grandpa's

I hope my craft table will sit on this wall soon...
It has been in storage for three years.

I know this is probably too many pictures for one wall,
but how can I choose which to hang and which to store?
Why not just hang everything I love?
the New Yorker was a graduation gift from my dad...
it has been in every house we've lived in since I was born.
the Up picture was hand-painted by my friend Alanna {I have some talented friends}
the other two are from Urban Outfitters
{Two of my three roommates--in four years--have banished the Whale to my room...fine by me!}

not pictured: roommate's room, laundry room, back patio
I have a few more design ideas, so there are more pictures of this place on the horizon.
{Ideally, I'll figure out the lighting/camera situation before then.}