dear future children

when you get here, and you're old enough, we're totally having a french party.

photos from miko design blog

little letters

Dear friends,
Thanks for the solidarity after yesterday's mean commenter.

Dear anonymous,
I'm sorry if you feel you are in some way obligated to read my blog. Feel free to mosey along.

Dear Trader Joe's,
I love you!

Dear coca-cola,
I'm not at all sorry I gave into you this week. I needed you.

Dear sleep,
I need more of you.

Dear taxes,
Do yourself.

Dear cobb salads,
You are my new favorite thing.

Dear American Idol,
I just can't get into you. You just aren't as much fun without Billie & Brian.

Dear self,
Get your rear in gear and start making decisions.

Dear Australia,
See you in November!

Dear Harlow,
Thanks for being my dog.

photo credit

make me shine

I’ve really been learning that I have to choose to believe that it is not my clothes or my hair or my makeup that is going to make me shine.
-Bethany Galeotti

sophie richards photography

photos: sophie richards

do not let your spark go out...

“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”
- Sarah Dessen

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
- Ayn Rand

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
- Shel Silverstein

Each of us are our own greatest inhibitor. And, at the end of the day, if you just get out of your own way and let things come to you, it's amazing what will come to you.
-Laird Hamilton

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.

The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
-Ayn Rand

“Bunkum and tummyrot! You’ll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that. Would Columbus have discovered America if he’d said ‘What if I sink on the way over? What if I meet pirates? What if I never come back?’ He wouldn’t even have started.”
- Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator)

“Life’s too short… to fight, to be miserable, to let the bitter ones change how awesome you are.”

photo credit: 1, and 2.

harlow says hi

and she brought you some marshmallows

happy friday

Did the rest of you freak out about your new astrological sign?

LOVING this striped mini cooper.

And if I were shopping I'd be very tempted by this luggage.

Pretty stationary.

Pretty fabric accesories.

The story about the Southwest Airlines pilot still makes me tear up.

I want everything in this post

I plan on ordering lots of Suann's Valentine goodies.

And one of these days I'm going to make kimchi. YUM.

In the meantime I'm going to make Camilla's hummus recipe.

Okay, have a great weekend. I'm going to try to enjoy some sunshine and finish my taxes. But the sunshine may win.

What are you doing this weekend? xo

photo: emily mcgregor

need to run

photo by Esti

strawberry fields

It's been 75*+ for the last little while in California so you can't really help me for dreaming of spring. Lately what I've been craving are bright, sweet, fresh strawberries... but I guess I've still got awhile to go. So until then these will suffice:


This is basically just a grown up version of my obsession with Strawberry Shortcake from when I was wee. Everything is from Anthropologie because, well, they make it too easy.

don't be scared, you are free

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

thanks uncle beefy for sharing this.

pretty little tea party

LOVE this ad campaign for Lipton by Yoann Lemoine. I see a lot more tea parties in my future.

photo credit

dear future husband

If you ever do this I will laugh a good long while... and love you even more.

leap more

“When you're young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone... or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don't leap at all because there's not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there's no safety net. When did it stop being fun and start being scary?”

- Carrie Bradshaw

In 2011 I plan to leap more. What about you?

photo by slumbering heart

dear creatures

I just discovered this shop today and I'm smitten.

New Year's resolutions don't start till you write them down right? So the no shopping thing doesn't have to start yet... does it?

non-resolutions

It's 2011! I have a good feeling about this year. It's already making me very happy!

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.” Neil Gaiman

While I do like sitting down and making resolutions it can sometimes make me feel like I'm beating myself over the head with "you didn't do this", "you should have done this", "you should have done this", "you should have done more of..." You get the picture. So when Erin, Anne, Crystal and Bri made their lists of "non-goals" I decided to do the same and make a list of things I do well and don't really want to change.

I jumped at new opportunities like assisting Rachel at a wedding and spent 10 days in France to name a few.

I blogged (a lot). That may sound silly but I feel like I've connected and met some of the most amazing people through blogging. I hope for more of the same this year.

I drank a lot more water and cut out a lot of sugar.

I took a lot of pictures.

I wore dresses.

I kept trying with my family.

I read my scriptures every single day.

I wore red lipstick.

I made my bed every single day. (This is a big one guys!)

I started taking salsa classes.

I gave in to the fact that I'm completely obsessed with this sweet thing.

Happy New Year friends! May 2011 bring you sweetness, inspiration and joy. xo



Is it bad this was a tough list to write? Why do I find it so easy to kick my own butt? Maybe I'll make cutting myself some slack a new resolution.