gettin' my hair did.

actually,

i really hate that phrase.

but i love going to see my hair stylist.

not only does he make my hair

everything i hope and dream,

but he also forgives me for being snarky, mildly opinionated

and a big pain in the behind.

i think he puts up with me because

i like to talk about music and

i let him dye my hair

crazy red hues.

"ab, when are you going to get a man?"

"when a cool one moves to new hampshire."

"or when a cool girl moves out of nh?"

"brian, are you trying to get rid of me?"

it takes almost three hours in the chair to

get the color and cut we both love.

and the longer my hair gets,

the more time it takes.

tonight he asked me how long i want to let it go

and when i told him waist-length,

he looked a little terrified and ridiculously happy

at the same time.

what can i say?

i guess we have a vision. ha.

{pictures via one very crappy camera phone.}

bday wishes

mother has been grilling me

about what i want

for my 27th birthday.

honestly,

i don't really want anything.

but seeing as i have to come up with

something . . .

here is my completely self-indulgent birthday wish list.

please don't take it {too} seriously.

wink.

~~~

simple. pretty. comfortable.

my fave.

{sweetheart strapless dress}

~~~

i don't care how cheesy this show is. i love it.

{glee season 1 dvd set}

~~~

AMAZING.

i'm actually kind of serious about this one.

{polaroid spectra blitz}

~~~ i love the muted color palette and the featured bands.

{small stakes music poster book}

~~~

these little darlings are just cute and would

make baking cupcakes even more fun. {is that possible?} end of story.

{teacupcakes cupcake molds}

~~~

in reality,

i just want happiness.

and i already have that!

ignoring the gloomy weather.

it snowed today.

that's right.

SNOWED.

may i remind you that it is the last week in april?

yes, i know;

we were sad too.

but how can you frown when you have this to look at?

received this delightful picture from

miss amanda a little while ago.

it's now the background on my desktop at work.

makes me smile.

the shirelles had it right.

Mama said there'll be days like this.

"There'll be days like this," my mama said.

(Mama said, mama said.)

Mama said there'll be days like this.

"There'll be days like this," my mama said.

(Mama said, mama said.)

{via abby sharp}

a post for fun

Follow my blog with bloglovin

{via abby sharp}

fantastic mr. fox

happy monday!

~~~

FINALLY

watched the fantastic mr. fox this weekend.

so enjoyable.

i love stop-motion animation

&

the humor . . . well, it's amazing.

i could have watched it 11,000 more times

and laughed just as much as the first.

{i also watched 'whip it' which was not nearly as brilliant-

still a fun, cute girlie movie-

kinda made me want to try

roller derby for 2 seconds . . . until i realized

that i would not

be skating against snarky ellen page.}

a very pretty walk

bestest and i went for a walk around

downtown manchester this morning.

the sun was so gorgeous

and i was completely taken by the flowering trees

{don't ask me what kind; i have no idea}.

i hope you have

a wonderful weekend!

wow. this may be the cutest thing i've ever seen.

in case you need something adorable for your friday.

enjoy!

thanks goodness for friday.

i am really relieved it's practically the weekend.

~~~

skyped last night with brother,

who is finishing up his masters at leeds university

in england.

i miss my siblings when we're apart

and i know that, as adults, it isn't realistic to think we'll always be

5 minutes away from each other.

but i'll be happy when we're at least in the same country.

it's so neat to hear about the amazing

work he is doing,

but i selfishly just want him in the states

so that he is a little closer for visiting.

he has a way of making me laugh harder

than anyone else i know.

he gets my sense of humor.

he is so brilliant that i won't be

surprised if some place fabulous and far away

snatches him up.

i am so lucky to have

such amazing siblings.

{don't forget sister too!}

love you, gabe!

into the groove

since i was out on tuesday night,

i missed possibly the best episode of my favorite show.

i caught up on hulu today though,

and can i just say

that i am more addicted to madonna than i ever was before?

i think every girl who was little

in the 80's

thinks madonna is just amazing . . .

even if they don't want to admit it.

my mother frequently likes to tell people

how i wanted to dress like her at

the tender age of 5,

regardless of the fact that she

was pretty much forbidden in our house.

{burning crosses and "like a virgin"

didn't exactly impress my folks . . .

and were i a parent then, i would ban her too.}

despite my poor protective parents' best efforts,

their little girls still learned all

the lyrics to

"papa don't preach."

sigh.

we turned out okay,

so i suppose it's without consequence.

and

i'm pretty sure that 20-some-odd

years later,

i still kinda want to prance around

in a black tutu and gold sequins.

what can be done?

i'm a lost cause.

baby face

this post should also be named

"when motherly advice backfires."

~~~

"the point to makeup is to look like you don't need any. "

despite the obviously dyed, candy-apple red hair,

i am a huge fan of "bare face."

my morning routine is a low-maintenance

4

faves.

{sorry to all for the girl-centric post.

scroll to the bottom for the fun story.}

not only do i enjoy taking no time to get ready

{and more time for a long, scalding shower}

but i love that my face looks like

me.

the downside?

perhaps looking like a little kid?

i guess it wouldn't be a big deal if i didn't

look super young.

i already grapple with teachers when i visit high schools for

work presentations

{"young lady, shouldn't you be in class?"}.

but last night,

i nearly didn't get into a show

with college buddy james because they didn't believe

i was old enough to be admitted!

the bouncer even asked me for a second form

of i.d. and studied it for about 8-thousand

minutes before he finally let me through.

perhaps this will be

awesome when i'm 40-ish?

{for what it's worth,

last night's show was ridiculous.

and

i need to find out what jared leto is doing to get those legs.

seriously.

i mean it.}

i like to lift couches. most of the time.

furniture moving day at work.

today a coworker and i are hopping

into a uhaul

and lifting donated furniture for

all of our new refugee families.

uhaul days are hard work,

but they're almost always fun . . .

well,

when the weather is nice,

that is.

all day outside in the sunshine

stories from my coworkers about their childhoods

in other countries

an excuse not to go to the gym later . . .

30 seconds to mars in boston with bestest tonight.

crossing my fingers that they're good live.

and that we don't get trampled.

{love this video . . . i could watch it 8-thousand times over.}

year one

i completely forgot . . .

yesterday,

my blog turned

1.

{i'm a little disappointed in myself-

i could have baked something tasty.}

it's interesting . . .

i started this blog because i was reading so many others

{like the beautiful amanda's & mom's}

and was

craaaaaaving

a creative outlet.

one year later,

i feel like this has become a forum for self-expression

and relaxation

after a really long day

{and don't we all love that?}.

happy birthday,

little blog.

{sorry, can't remember my photo source}

girls' weekend

so, bestest was away this weekend.

seriously,

since we spend so much time together,

it's really odd to have her gone for so long a time

{which is really not long at all}.

the girls {minus one bff} and i got together for

some yummy food and to watch

this fabulous flick.

trust me,

bride and prejudice

{a take on austen's beloved . . . my beloved pride and prejudice.

just in case you're a little slow to catch on.}

is EVERY BIT as cheesy as it looks

and SO awesome.

i recommend it for a grumpy, rainy day when

you're in need of a good laugh.

i watched a movie last night.

i finally saw

'an education'

last night.

i know . . . i'm behind, a little.

despite the generally creepiness

of the plot,

it was quite good.

i love it when movies live up to their hype.

the costuming was gorgeous and

the soundtrack . . . to die for.

the whole paris montage made me want

to book my ticket now.

i might as well add,

i was nothing like carey mulligan's character, jenny,

when i was 16.

good grief.

wallpaper & weekend

i just realized i forgot to update on how

Easter weekend went!

i did well,

i think.

or at least that is what everyone keeps telling me.

it's especially difficult for me to talk about

this particular matter,

so thanks for all the prayers.

you can listen here.

just scroll to april 4, 2010: a weekend to remember.

~~~

bestest is paying a special visit to the

southern states this weekend

and i'm hanging out with our girls

to watch 'bride and prejudice.'

~~~

stumbled upon this image the other day . . .

i always wanted to decorate my wall with

pages of magazines and posters.

so there was not a bit of white space left.

my mother never let me

{we didn't own our townhouse and i

consequently grew up in a home

of white walls. meh.}

and i still want a wall like this at

26-nearly-27 years of age.

and a wall of chalkboard paint.

~~~

wow.

weekend already.

hope you have a great one!

{via audrey hepburn complex}

someone is having a birthday . . . okay, not until may.

{quick car update: the stench is fading.

or maybe i'm just getting used to it?

either way,

i see this as progress.

any tips for clean-up?}

i'm turning 27 next month.

gasp.

it's not that i'm afraid of aging,

because i'm not.

but i am continually shocked at

how fast time flies.

i would be silly

{and lying}

if i pretended that i don't sometimes

get nervous my adulthood will go by without

the major milestones.

then i remember that God has His plan

and i am a bad planner anyway.

{okay, that's not true, but i can be an over-planner,

which is pretty much the same thing.}

i'm thankful for the here and now.

27th birthday,

bring it on.

do not be mistaken.

there are a few things that would

make may 24th extra fabulous.

i would like:

waking up to birds singing

a sunny, 75 degree day

someone to send me flowers

eating a very special dessert while

sipping a glass of champagne

celebrating with my favorite people

{via ahc, things nina might like,

ffffound, fleur avenue}

vegetable garden

somehow a bag of produce was forgotten in my trunk

when we delivered food to my refugee peeps before

the long easter weekend.

that's right.

easter weekend.

i've been desperately searching through my backseat to figure out

what the h&*$ smelled so bad.

today i discovered the juicy little baggy

hidden behind my jumper cables in my trunk.

i nearly barfed.

1 box of baking soda

1/2 bottle of glade carpet freshening powder

3 vacuums and 2 dumpster trips later

we're still not smelling beachy and fresh.

actually,

it smells more like a compost pile.

i think i have a date with

a bottle of ammonia

this weekend.

renovatio community

this is my brother's project.

it inspires me to love more,

change more,

encourage more.

i am so proud of him i could burst.

tv date

please do not call me at 9:28 pm tonight,

for i will be watching glee with my mother

and will have to ignore you.

please understand,

i don't actually follow television.

i am classic for liking a particular show and never having the time to actually sit down and watch it.

but with glee . . .

but i will actually hunt it down on hulu if i miss an episode.

i don't know if it is the fact that i was a complete choir geek growing up {i didn't sing in english for about 6 straight years and my italian pronunciation is impeccable. but i also sounded like one of those fat opera women with horns on her head . . . scary} or that they cover my fave 80's songs. or that their songs sound best when sung at the top of my lungs in the shower. whatever the reason, mom and i are addicted.

absolutely sick.

wouldn't you just die to be there?

i miss my brother a whole lot.

last night we had one of our many skype conversations . . .

usually consisting of poking harmless fun at our mother

{she just smiles and shakes her head},

taking jabs at one another

{usually involves gabe imitating my dancing}

and coming up with absurd ways to make one another laugh.

{"hey, abby, let's find inappropriate songs

for a bride to walk down the aisle to."

"okay."

cue 'gold digger,' gabe's pick.

mine: 'easy lover.'}

he understands my need to be slightly {or majorly} ridiculous.

i can't wait 'til he comes home in june-ish.

new look?

under construction.

;-)

i do not look this good in sweats. duh.

but, really, who does?

once again,

another look from garance dore's blog that makes me think,

"wow, i wish i could pull that off."

i swear there are only certain, gifted people in this world able to make sweats look this fab.

~~~

this week at work is brutal in the strangest way.

we're sequestered for casefile review.

{in social services land, that means catching up on everything you've been neglecting for the last year.}

so, while the week is strangely quiet,

my eyeballs are ready to fall out of my head from sitting at my computer.

at the end of this i never want to type the words

"provided a culturally appropriate, hot meal"

EVER AGAIN.

things to look forward to?

sleep over old-school style with some of my fave girlies

and then a saturday on the seacoast with them.

{i got a text on monday with

"the ocean on saturday told me to tell you hello,"

orsomethinglikethat

and now i haven't been able to think of anything else all week . . . c'mon, friday!}

{via garance}

ode to mr. wes.

i don't often post about art i like.

but these posters based on wes anderson films have a sense of humor.

as does wes anderson.

he is kind of the man.

i've been considering doing a "wes anderson movie day," mostly to watch "the fantastic mr. fox."

{which i have not yet seen because i am laaaaaaame.}

{ibraheem youssef}

we are free

therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

the old has passed away;

behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

happy Easter.

{via krisatomic}

welcome, spring.

it smells so beautiful outside.

sun.

warmth.

delight.

sleeping with the windows open is my favorite.

and tomorrow is Easter.

{via ahc}

Good Friday

thank you for loving us so much.

{via ahc}