happy birthday baby madelyn...

meet madelyn irene, she was born this morning at 4:57am, 7lbs 13oz...she's my best friend's second daughter...her first is my goddaughter, reese, who i was lucky enough to babysit while mommy and daddy went to the hospital to deliver this little angel in the middle of the night...


i'm not going to lie...being in your early 30's without children of your own is both a blessing and a curse. yes, i love my freedom (and my sleep), the ability to do whatever, whenever. but boy-oh-boy, holding this little one and having her sister cuddle up close next to me made my heart (and womb) ache...


and then i witnessed a special, intimate moment like this. mommy sharing her big girls first glimpse of her little sister...


...and then letting her hold her baby sister while mommy watched her two girls...


...and i have to admit i cried a little in my car later that day thinking what i just saw. i am so proud of my best friend and love the kind of mother she is. and a bit of envy creeped into my heart, wishing it was my turn to share a private moment like that with my own husband and children...someday...someday.

currently reading...

yup, i caved and started reading girls in white dresses. i promised myself i wouldn't read yet another book about every girls worst nightmare, all their friends getting married, except them... story of my life. but i'm not going to lie, this one is pretty fun, i just started reading it this afternoon and i'm about 75% of the way done with it...

quoteable...

image courtesy the lettered cottage

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or use if for good.

What I do today is important, because

I'm exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes,

this day will be gone forever,

leaving something I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil;

success, not failure; in order that I

shall not regret the price I paid for it.

please say a prayer...

today i learned that someone i love very much has been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, and my heart is heavy with grief. it's moments like this that test my faith but also bring me closer to it. please say a prayer tonight for her...

“So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.” (Exodus 23:25)

"For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds," says the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:17)

there's a new meatball in town...

my friend dave got a new meatball today, a 10 week old bulldog he named captain. obviously i came right over to capture his arrival home...so stinkin' cute...

so wrong...

...yet so funny...

hanging around...

so anthropolgie is selling barnwood hanging beds, how did i not know this?... $3,300, no big deal...



i mean for real, who doesn't want a hanging bed? i think an outdoor one would be ideal, but really, i'd take any one of these...

quotable...

playing in my head...

i think i've played this song about a thousand times over the last week...



Headlights staring at the driveway
The house is dark as it can be
I go inside and all is silent
It seems as empty as the inside of me

how to live before you die...

We have lost one of the most influential men of our life time. An innovator, an inspiration, and a great human being...RIP Steve Jobs. Watch his 2005 stamford commencement speech, it's amazing...

playing dress up...

i love that she lets me do this to her...

playing in my head...

bringing you into a cheery wednesday...

character counts...

don't ask me why i have this book on my bookshelf, i just do. i think i got it in college when i was trying to figure out 'how to be a better person'...and it helped, a little, i guess...


i started to read through it again tonight, to remind myself that having good character is really what it's all about, it's what defines you. i think he even says somewhere in this book, 'if you want to know how to live your life, jut think about what you want people to say about you after you die and live your life backwards from there.'

'the best reason to follow the Golden Rule is not because it assures us that others will treat us right, but because it IS right. how we treat others is not simply about them. it's about us. it defines who we are.'

powerful stuff people. if you want to borrow the book let me know, i'll mail it to you.

degas date night at the mfa...

from october 9th through february 5, 2012 you must get your rear end over to the mfa to see degas and the nudes exhibit...edgar degas, mostly known for his ballerina/dancing paintings, is one of the founders of the impressionist style of painting, his works have an incredible sense of movement...'the nudes' would make for a great date night if you ask me!...

getting ready for work on monday...

i feel like this often...but not with my co-workers, they are the best...

shop your hangover & sadness away...

when hungover & mildly depressed i highly recommend getting your ass out and shopping..always makes me feel better. here are my hungover/depressed purchases from this morning...

jessica simpson oscar shoe in dove, from filene's basement...looks REALLY good with a pair of skinny jeans and tanned feet by the way...


and then i went over to zara and picked up these red and white cable stitch sweaters with adorable button details at the shoulders...


and this great tunic on sale (it's not on their website anymore) that will look awesome with black leggings...


i also got this brocade dress but i might return it. it looks so, so, so hot on...but i'd be all dressed up with nowhere to go so to speak...

quotable...

thanks ali...

playing in my head...and heart...

You've been on my mind
I grow fonder every day,
Lose myself in time
Just thinking of your face
God only knows
Why it's taking me so long
To let my doubts go
You're the only one that I want

I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before
Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all,
You never know if you never try
To forgive your past and simply be mine

I dare you to let me be your, your one and only
Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms
So come on and give me the chance
To prove that I'm the one who can
Walk that mile until the end starts

I've been on your mind
You hang on every word I say, lose yourself in time
At the mention of my name,
Will I ever know how it feels to hold you close?
And have you tell me whichever road I choose you'll go

I don't know why I'm scared 'cause I've been here before
Every feeling every word, I've imagined it all,
You never know if you never tried
To forgive your past and simply be mine

I dare you to let me be your, your one and only
I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms
So come on and give me the chance
To prove that I'm the one who can
Walk that mile until the end starts

I know it ain't easy
Giving up your heart

letting go...

i don't have any words for this, it speaks for itself...



read an incredible testament to one mans love for his dog and the one last day they got to spend with one another here too.

one of the hardest things i ever had to do was let my dog mackenzie go...little pieces of your heart break off when it comes that time. but the love you receive from these creatures is the purest of its kind and you will never regret having them in your life, only that they couldn't stay longer.