lucky baby...

i love everything about this nursery, EVERYTHING, and it's not just because the walls are my favorite color. it was sent to erin of elements of style by one of her inspired readers....A-M-A-Z-I-N-G...i want to be the baby that lives in this room...

x-base bench, yes please...

i have always wanted a pair of x-based benches to rest at the foot of my bed. i wouldn't mind any of these...










although i'd settle for this demi-lune shaped tufted bench if i had too...

i turn to the funny pages instead...

i don't follow politics, or the economy for that matter, i think it makes for horribly uncomfortable conversation with people..although i know i should, especially given the current stock market nose dive. but i do love a good new yorker cartoon on the subject...

i think i might make a career change...

a friend of mine is an incredible florist (read her blog here), and while i was telling her about what i would like as flowers (in my mother's watering can collection) for my someday wedding, we started a conversation about me starting a rental company for special occasions & photo shoots. my mother and i love to antique and flea market shop, so it would be fun for us to hunt for multiples of cool & unique finds to stock as inventory. i envision it being sort of like martha stewart's prop warehouse, but with funkier finds and larger furniture pieces as well...




i found a few companies that do this sort of thing that i liked...

found: vintage rentals

junkstore

one true love

new england vintage rentals

playing in my head...

I won't let you close enough to hurt me, no
I won't ask you, you to just desert me
I can't give you, what you think you give me
It's time to say goodbye to turning tables
To turning tables

reading extravaganza...

i've not turned on the tv in over a week...not to worry, dvr has recorded all the items for me to watch later. but lately i've been on a reading extravaganza, one book after another. over the weekend i read two fascinating true stories that i highly recommend you read.

the first was the immortal life of henrietta lacks. at first i didn't think i would like this book, much less understand it, since it involves biology, not my best subject. but trust me when i tell you, i was completely engrossed in this true life story of the hela cells. i had no idea the story, the significance of its contribution to science, nor the heart ache is brought to the lacks family...needless to say it made me do a lot of thinking...



the next book i read in less than 3 hours. i'll start by saying it's not for everyone. heaven is for real caught my attention, and being a practicing catholic i myself have struggled with the idea of heaven and hell...and of course i am still skeptical of this story, told by a preacher through the words of his then 4 year old son. maybe if i had witnessed and heard as they did i would be a little less skeptical, maybe not. that being said, it was a wonderful book to read, strengthened my faith just a little bit more and brought me some sort of comfort in knowing/believing that my lost loved ones are on the other side waiting to be reunited. i had chills the entire time i was reading this, especially when the little boy talks to his mom about his 'other sister'...


now i'm reading i never promised you a rose garden, which i am having a hard time following at the current moment. it's a story about mental illness, a 1964 book semi-autobiographical novel of a teenage girl's battle with schizophrenia...i'll let you know how it goes...

mooo...

a friend of mine took these photos a while back and sent them to me, knowing my fascination with all things country/animal. i have always loved these photos and have wanted to have them printed on large scale canvases, as a triptych, to adorn my walls for some time now. I doctored them up a little in photoshop so that they'd be a little more 'artistic' and abstract... now i'm jonesing to get them printed even more...

first kiss...

on the opposite side of that last post...the sweetest reaction to a first kiss ever!...

i'm gonna marry you...no, yes....

this video just proves that sometimes things just don't change, no matter what age you are...

quotable...

from a friend...and so true...

dear santa...

dear santa,

i've tried really hard this year (so far) to be a good girl. do you think you could maybe bring me one of these reversible hermes belts? my friend has one and every time she wears it i turn green with envy...

take me to guernsey...

i am a mega nerd. ever since reading the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society i am hooked on the idea of visiting guernsey, one of the channel islands between france and the uk. i don't know why my sudden fascination, i mean, before reading this book i didn't even know this place existed. i had no idea victor hugo was exiled to this island, did you?...


but it looks beautiful, and charming and exactly what i like, quaint & secluded from the rest of the world. i might have to start planning a trip, maybe for a week (or two) next summer perhaps???


read more about guernsey on their tourism website, here.

a manly baby shower...

so i'm organizing a baby shower for one of my co-worker's and his wife, they are expecting their first child in october. don't forget, i work in the construction industry, so baby showers aren't up these guys alleys by any means...but i'm determined...hence my construction themed invite; nothing says congratulations on your first born like pizza & beers to a bunch of guys...



i want to play games too, but i think the only thing i can get any of these guys to do is guess the delivery date, so yes, we're going to gamble.

while we're talking about babies, i'm loving this gender neutral nursery i saw on the boo and the boy today (via birch and bird)...

a country engagement...

i don't know how i feel about engagement photos. i mean yes, they're great to have as a precursor to your big day, and to get to know your wedding photographer beforehand, but are they really necessary? i definitely would splurge for a good photographer for my wedding day, but i'm still up in the air about whether or not engagement photos are worth the expense?

i do however really like this one i saw on grey likes weddings of a tailgate engagement, maybe that's just the country-wanna-be in me though...

currently reading...

since i finished the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society in less than 3 days (and LOVED it by the way, didn't think i would to be truthful) i decided to start the next book on our book group list, amy chua's battle hymn of a tiger mother. it's an easy read, i'm about 3/4 of the way done with it too...what should i read next???

round 2 of the sowa market...

over the weekend we did round 2 of the sowa markets and i fell in love with these vendors...

everything little miss and her boston note cards from her etsy shop, i think i need/want these...


nicola design braid bags on her etsy shop...perfect gift for someone...


and this delicate handcrafted jewelry by camla had me swooning...

making it custom...

i like to pretend i can sew, but really, the only thing i actually know how to sew well is pillows. yes, there's the occasional bag or simple skirt...but mom is the real seamstress in the family. however, i just may attempt custom window treatments. after reading jenny from little green notebook's post on kirsty, a tutorial on custom pinch pleat panels, i was inspired...i could totally do this, right?...