ready, set... freak out

My brother and his family are coming to visit for a week. I am really excited to see them but it will definitely make for a stressful week. My family loves the drama. I'm trying not to completely freak out before they even get here. I can't wait to see my niece and nephew though... they are the cutest kids ever.

Right now I'm taking a late night break from cleaning and getting things ready for them. Getting some sleep will probably keep the stress at bay.

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If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

(one of my very favorite poems)


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quirks

Inspired by Emily's post here are a few of mine:


I like to drink milk with pizza and Mexican food.
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I don't like anything that makes your feet look like hands (i.e. toe socks).
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I have very specific soda preferences:
out of a can = Pepsi, from the fountain = Coke.
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When I'm really sleepy I get cold.
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Watching anything with Keanu Reeves causes rage blackouts (okay, not really but close). Even thinking about watching something with him makes me crazy. Sorry Keanu...
.
It drives me crazy when people use "oh" as a number. It's a LETTER... Zero is a number.
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The overuse of quotation marks drives me bonkers.
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No matter how much stationary or how many pens I have I will always buy more.
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I name things - my car, my TV, my toaster...
(note: I don't talk to the things I name I promise.)
.
I can't look at people who put their fingers on their face/ in their mouth (nail biting etc.)
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I love the feel of cold water on my hands.
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If I am drinking something hot I have to have something cold to drink in between sips.
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I can only drink water when it's ice cold.
.
When I'm alone in the car I sing the songs from "Annie" at the top of my lungs... and after being in the show I know them all.
.
After reading Sarah Palin's resignation speech I'm even more uptight about good grammar and punctuation.
.
Sometimes I will still read a children's book
(right now it's The BFG.)

What are some of yours?

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a strawberry house

Okay, so it's a shop not a house but still... these photos of a Sanrio shop in Tokyo on Jollygoo's blog and all my dreams of growing up to be Strawberry Shortcake came rushing back at me. If I ever move to Tokyo I'm living in a stawberry shaped house for sure.

Mark Mawson

Wow. These photos by Mark Mawson blow me away. I just want to keep looking that them.

(spotted at All the Mountains)

prettiest polaroids

Some of my favorite bloggers take the prettiest polaroids. Want to see?

Jen Gotch got me hooked on Polaroids whether she knows it or not. Her photos are beautiful and the composition is lovely. You should check our her Flickr page.





I love Melanie's (of You Are My Fave) polaroids. I love them so much I signed up for her Polaroid subscription. There is nothing happier than getting Polaroids in the mail.





I very recently found Taza and husband's blog. She shares my love of Polaroids, Holgas, Dianas and most recently Holgaroids.





There are more but I'll start with these three lovely ladies.

h o m e

My friend Sonya posted this on her blog and it looks amazing! Did anyone see it?

narwhal?

So, completely random but did you guys know Narwhals were real animals? I feel like such a bone head. Does this mean unicorns are real too? Because that would be cool.

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Here, you take it

You're probably better with money than I am anyway. I promise this isn't Paris related. (well at least not directly) But guys, I have a problem. I like to shop. A lot. A really, really lot. If you know me even a little bit this is not really a surprise. But I have done really good lately. The problem is I do really good for awhile and then reward myself by spending money. What am I? 15?

In my own defense it's not like I'm going out and buying cars or $400 shoes every day but the little things add up too. Oh and also (just in case you are thinking less of me) - I do not believe in credit card debt and I don't spend more than I have. It's just that sometimes I spend more than I should. You know?

So what are your tips and tricks for saving money?

Photo credit: Jen Gotch

a one tracked mind

“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
- Unknown

I hope Pia doesn't mind that I use her photos. They are just so wonderful. I will be taking my own Eiffel Tower photos before long.

how film is made

Wonderful Kodak 1958 documentary (in Dutch w/subtitles) "How film is made"

(found via Holga Jen)

sweetest skirt

So clever! Definitely my kind of skirt.

from Yellow Goat (via Naturally Nina)

giving in to the obsession

If a man moves confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
-Henry David Thoreau

Photo borrowed from the lovely Pia Jane Bijkerk

note: i am not crazy

This is not really a secret but...

I want to move. I want to move far, far away. Specifically I want to Paris.

Seriously. Right now I am looking through pages and pages of Visa and travel requirements. They sure don't make it easy. My sweet friend Sarah has been so helpful in answering questions. She's a super star and has been living in Paris for about 5 years.

A few days ago I posted about a friend asking me if, once all the family obligations are over and done with, I could live anywhere in the world where would I want to be. I thought and thought... for days. I made lists, I racked my brain, I prayed... where is it that I want to be? Paris kept coming to mind and I kept passing it off as just a silly whim. It seemed so impractical and out of reach. And then I read on Facebook that my friend Shaylyn is joining the Peace Corp with her husband. She posted, "Life is too short not to up and do exactly what you've always dreamed." I am not, in any way equating me scooting off to France for fun with what they are going to be doing by joining the Peace Corp... but there is no real reason for me not to do what I've dreamed of.

I know this probably seems insane. It does to me too. What would I do for a job? Where would I live? Would Harlow like France? I don't speak more than a few words in French. You know little things.

But as I got thinking I realized I moved to England the first time after becoming obsessed with the Real World London. And I moved to Utah after visiting for a weekend and falling in love with the mountains. So maybe it's not so crazy...

And just the thought of it makes me happier and more excited about the future than I've felt in awhile. I've already made a list of things I will take with me and working out a budget to save lots of money before I go. I'm giving myself a year to get ready and ready I will be!

So there you have it. My non-secret secret is out.



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cooling down

Right now I'm sitting on the stoop outside my bedroom door looking over at my neighbor Bill's house and the air is so sweet. The weather lately has been brutally hot but right now it's perfect. It's not cold and it's not hot... just cool enough to take the bite out of the hot day we've had. I can also smell the mint growing around my door. It's really perfect. I may close my eyes for just a minute.

two movies i must NEED to see

Paper Heart looks especially adorable. And Adam well... Hugh Dancy is always adorable.

farmers market

I love the LA Farmers Market... and maybe I also love The Grove shopping center next to it.

Okay so maybe I just love Los Angeles.

And maybe I need to learn to hold the camera straight. I'll just pretend I meant to have wonky photos.

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that's my name

Um, hi. This what I saw when I walked into the Anthropologie. I promise I didn't move any of the letters at all.

500 Days of Summer

It was great... really sweet and funny. There were a lot of gay men there too... so it must be good. The guy next to me laughed with his mouth closed which was in itself, pretty entertaining. Go see it!

Next on my list is Paper Heart and Adam. I have a wee crush on Hugh Dancy.

a really good weekend

This weekend my cousin and I saw The Proposal. It was cute and Sandra Bullock's wardrobe was amazing. Does anyone else remember Ryan Reynolds from the Nickelodeon TV show Fifteen? (which apparently was also called Hillside) I was obsessed with it when I was oh twelve-ish. I can still sing the theme song... but I won't. That and Roundhouse... wow.

Okay I'm getting sidetracked. We went to the 11:30 am show... A first for me. I don't think I've ever been in a tinier theatre but we had the whole place to ourselves.

Afterwards we went up to the Lavender Farm that's literally across from my house. I bought some cut lavender and lavender honey. When I got home I cut some of the mint growing outside and made some iced lavender mint water. It was really nice.

When I was on my mission this one family would always make us different "aguas" ... they were sooo good. It's basically just fresh fruit and water thrown in the blender... One of my favorites was cucumber/lemon water. It's been brutally hot here lately so I will be trying lots of different variations. Maybe even plain water. I definitely should drink more of that!

This weekend was really, really busy in the best possible way. More of an update coming.

have a good weekend!

This has been a busy, busy week. My most wonderful cousin, Deana has been visiting with her kids (Max and Paisley). I think cousins are the best kind of relatives. This weekend I'm catching up with my friend Mackenzie before she heads off to Italy for the rest of the summer and going down to the LA Farmers Market - one of my favorite places.


I love this reusable fabric gift wrap.

Free People has some great accessories right now. I especially like this necklace and this one. Oh and this bag is great.

In case anyone was wondering, I still rully, rully want need this camera.

This Esty shop has really great leather sandals in lots of sizes.

Do you love letterpress? I do! And Simple Song makes the prettiest things.

I've been enjoying Jennifer Altman's short stories and photography lately.

Have you seen Anthropologie's newly designed website? It's sooo pretty.

Maybe someday I will have my very own Post-it love story:



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absorb the color of life

One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar.
- Oscar Wilde

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i give to you ... the Holgaroid

I came across this genius little guy over at Polapremium this morning. I've been obsessing over it since. It's exactly what is sounds like - a love affair between the Holga and the Polaroid.

*swoon face*

Seriously though, I want one.

Life with Babs

Have you met Babs? She and her BFF Andie Mills broadcast their wild antics from their West Los Angeles apartment. These girls are a pretty fly. Word.

Check them out here and here.

You can also catch Alyssa (and Jessa) broadcasting live every Monday at 8 PM (PST). They have sparkle POWER. Supercalifornialistic. See you Monday!

summery braids

Summer = braids. There's nothing worse than being hot with your hair stuck in your face- especially if your hair gets as out of control as mine. I've been looking around for cute, new braid ideas so I can switch it up. There's even a Flickr group dedicated totally to braids. Here are some of my faves:


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photo from Glamour Magazine



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jen gotch


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