hot tamale

i take off this morning for a couple of days in

miami

for a church world service conference.

i'm staying at this delightful spot

all by myself.

this means when i'm not listening to all that

other refugee resettlement workers are

doing across the country,

i'll be sitting on the beach.

with my new copy of crazy love,

no less.

annnnd maybe a margarita or two . . .

okay,

really just one.

i've got no posts waiting in the wings for this week,

so you'll just have to wait for me to get home

to hear about my adventure.

{via we heart it}

what is in your wallet?

this collection of portraits

has my attention in a big way.

i probably spent a good half hour just gawking

at the photographs

of people and the contents of their pockets/bags.

makes me wonder what is actually in my own bag

and in those of my friends.

would it be embarrassing to empty out

in front of a stranger????

{via invisible children}

my sister and i had the most amazing tuesday.

before going to see imogen heap

in boston,

we stopped to get some tasty treats.

falafel for me.

soft serve for sister.

we've had some pretty warm weather

in new england

over the past few days

and sitting in front of the fountain in boston common

was just the thing i needed before

watching imogen in all her awesomeness.

sister and i had amazing luck too-

our seats ended up being behind a projector for the show,

so they moved us to the 9th row

and then again to the 8th!

i would have been happy sitting in our original seats

{her music is enough to transport you elsewhere without visuals}

but being so close to the stage

made it a truly wonderful experience.

sister was so excited.

her smile alone made my night.

~~~

also,

new awesome band alert.

geese

was one of the opening acts and played during the main set.

so unique and interesting.

i'm obsessed.

~~~

note:

i need to find another word besides "awesome."

my mother is ridiculously cool.

yeah, that's right.

this is my mom.

she's been doing research for a very special project and was invited

to attend fire academy.

and she actually went!

i don't know many mothers who would do this kind of thing . . .

i think most 50-something women would shy away from such a challenge.

but my mom,

well,

she is a different sort.

i am so in awe of her.

she gave birth to and raised

3 happy, intelligent {if i do say so myself}, socially conscious children

whilst working full time and

balancing the rest of life's craziness.

and now she goes to fire academy.

if you ask me, she looks amazing.

reasons to smile today

woke up to sunshine and birds singing

nh is supposed to get thunderstorms

going to see imogen heap with sister

the work week is halfway over

leave for miami on monday

brother comes home from england next thursday

{via papertissue}

bestbirthdaygifteverinthehistoryofmankind.

president obama signed the

LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act

today.

best

birthday

ever.

i'm doing all kinds of happy dance right now.

{i also got a handheld blender to make soup with . . .

pretty stellar day overall.}

happy birthday to me.

i am so lucky to have such an

amazing

sister and friends.

we celebrated my 27th

a few days early

by dressing up and meeting for

dinner at a super fun spot tonight.

i laughed

{and cried a little- friends say the most flattering and wonderful things}

the whole evening.

and let me tell you,

one cannot find girl friends more incredible than mine.

it's just a fact.

{sister & me . . . yes, i know that we do not look related.}

thanks for a wonderful birthday, girls. you mean the world to me.

a mobile work of art

isn't this absolutely incredible?

it's simply beautiful.

shared by my lovely friend, miss amanda,

{i don't know where she finds these fabulous things!}

and my jaw completely dropped

to the floor when i saw these photographs.

this totally reminds me of gawking at all the little vespas

buzzing around rome and florence

when i travelled there during college.

now the real question is:

if you had one of these,

would you actually dare to drive it around

or would you keep it locked under glass

for all of your friends to see

{and drool over}?

on a somewhat related note-

went for my first scooter ride ever the other night.

yeah, that was juuuuust a little fun.

the absolute best.

oh,

temper trap,

how you move me.

when it is cold out again . . .

{which it should not be for a long time}

please remind me to dress like this.

{via tumblr}

i love peonies.

they're hands-down my favorite flower of all time.

all unraveled, unkempt

and still completely beautiful.

they make me smile.

{via tumblr}

this is my life this week.

you know those weeks when you mix up all the details of your life

and end up confusing other people

because you just don't have things together?

that is me this week.

so when my mother showed me this today,

i laughed realllly hard.

welcome home, elizabeth anne.

my sister is finally home from florida.

i baked a pink lemonade cake for the occasion.

{and a second cake for last night's final pulse evening service . . .

next week: 11:30 am!}

i took the afternoon off

from work to frolic about

with her.

i am smiling on the inside and out.

summer obsession

it's official:

i'm obsessed with

summer.

i especially love photographs that remind me of the glowing sun

and roll of the salty waves.

kassia meador's photography does exactly that-

she transports me to the coast in about 4 seconds flat.

i swear i can hear water crashing on the sand

right now.

come, summer.

we are waiting.

~~~

happy friday, everyone.

kind of crazy weekend planned . . .

including getting ready for sister,

who comes home on monday!!!

hold on tight;

the weekend will be over before we know it.

enjoy!

all that glitters

i've been seeing and hearing

marina and the diamonds

all over the place lately.

the song is pretty cute and catchy

and the video is so . . . well . . . glittery!

i mean, what girl doesn't love at least a little glitter?

~~~

speaking of glitter and music,

empire of the sun is playing two shows in new york soon . . .

and i am dying to go.

if this clip is any indication of what the show will be like,

i shall be terribly depressed for a while for missing it.

sadly,

i'm pretty sure my schedule conflicts with the show dates.

i suppose escapes can only be treats once in a while.

sigh . . . life is so difficult.

{via fyg }

change does come.

beautiful.

C-SPAN Highlights from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

makes me well up.

petals

i smiled this morning when i saw these images.

maybe the trick to a good day

is to always

wear flowers in your hair?

i might start.

i'm pretty sure there's no policy in our employee handbook

about gigantic floral arrangements as head wear.

i can just imagine the looks from my coworkers

and refugee peeps . . .

giggle.

{via miss pandora}

a few girly summer inspirations

i don't have a particular style aesthetic.

i have a tendency to mix really girly pieces with items that are a little tougher.

i pretty much wear whatever i want,

whether it's a leather jacket or a 80's printed dress from a yard sale.

combined with beach-messy hair and bare face?

perfection.

awesome boots & flannel

enviable tousles and a perfect summer glow.

too tan = too gross.

{and too risky!}

i love the mix of neutrals . . . time to dig out my white skinnies

{i know they're around somewhere!}

ah, summer, how i love you. come soon.

{via garance & all the pretty birds}

having a flashback

the fact that something corporate just put out a

"the best of . . ."

sends my memory into

a crazy tailspin.

rainy summer days driving with nowhere to go,

just to listen to konstantine on repeat.

{one of my all-time epic faves.}

jumping around club soda in montreal.

fist-pumping by myself in my dorm room.

i don't think i'll actually pick up the album

but it's fun to be reminded . . .

there are few words- nyc part II

the entire purpose of our little nyc trip

was to see

jónsi

perform at terminal 5

on saturday night.

there really are no words to accurately describe this experience.

having never before seen sigur rós live,

i had high but very undefined expectations for this show . . .

i was completely awe-struck.

tearful at times.

overwhelmed during moments.

there are few things in life that have the ability to render me silent,

but this was most definitely one of them.

{video below from someone at the show who must have been standing practically behind me . . . doesn't do the performance justice in the least,

but provides a reference point for you curious folk.}

~~~

coming back to nh was bittersweet today.

i loved returning to see mom

{happy mother's day!}

but i always feel like i leave a bit of myself behind when i visit the city.

there is just something about it . . .

like all of your senses are alive?

gosh, that sounds so hokey.

maybe someday.

don't take your guns to town- nyc part I

okay,

perhaps a poorly placed title reference????

~~~

friday night-

we just maybe missed our 6-ish train from boston to the city

on friday night

and had to catch the last one of of that evening.

results: very late to bed.

no matter.

our visit to the museum of the american gangster

{and refreshing walk through the streets of new york to east village-

glorious street markets!}

on saturday was nothing short of entertaining.

while it's not entirely operational just yet,

a superbly entertaining guide gives previews a couple times a day.

bestest and i had a tour all to ourselves.

please note,

this is probably the closest i've ever been to anything

remotely related to a gun . . .

well,

except for maybe a super soaker.

{kind of makes me want to go shooting???

my poor mother is probably gasping for air as she reads this.}

i am, obviously,

not the gangster aficionado that is my best friend.

she took this visit quite seriously

as she has a tiny obsession with gangster-esc things.

i hope our visit was everything she dreamed.

dear mom

you are the most amazing.

you should know that.

happy mother's day.

escape artists

bestest and i are taking off tonight

for a trip to nyc

for a little frivolity

and ohdoweneedit.

i haven't seen her in over a week since she's been

hard at work on a major fundraising campaign

{day 5 and already raised over half her goal for the month! yup, she is amazing.}.

okay,

maybe she needs this get-a-way more than me,

but i'm always game for a little weekend adventure.

{pictures from our trip last summer . . . which did not last long enough.}

our potentail and concrete list of things to do:

brooklyn flea market?

jonsi at terminal 5

maybe a meet-up with a cool dude from india

{but he is not actually from india.}

weather is supposed to be rainy . . .

but where in my weekend bag to pack wellies?

~~~

i love the city.

every time i go there,

i want to live there even more.

no offense, manchester.

prayer

today is the national day of prayer.

i intend to ignore the controversy associated with observing a day of

prayer as a nation

and just focus on chatting with God.

it's not that i need a specific, designated day to pray, but i kind of like knowing that people all over the country are making extra efforts to spend time with God today.

{ah, i love my pair of rose-colored glasses!}

~~~

Lord, please guide our leaders, protect those who serve our country, give us the ability to stand up for those who cannot for themselves and continue to break our hearts for the things that break yours.

{via ahc}

sometimes it's nice to be flattered.

i have this amazing friend,

miss amanda.

we trade lots of pictures and links:

tons of shoes

frilly dresses

drool-worthy table settings

yummy recipes

in short- very much 'girl' things.

well,

today i received a link to this site with the words

"this made me think of you."

i couldn't have been more flattered.

thanks, dear!

edit: for the record,

i am a terrible surfer.

{via aubrey road}

self control.

i've been growing my hair out for about 3 years now.

{yes, i did rock a mia farrow cut of sorts for a while.}

i loved it short.

i hated it mid-length. i looked like a soccer mom.

which is not bad . . . if you actually are a soccer mom.

i love it long-ish.

i wish it was long.

it takes dedication and patience to grow out

hair from a cut that short.

now that it has cleared below my shoulders

{finally!}

i'm feeling some funny sense of accomplishment.

and then i see photographs like this that

make me yearn for a trip back to my stylist.

self control. self control. self control.

{mia image found here and garance dore}

weekend. yesssssssssss.

practically took a nap at the field today . . .

lots of friends playing frisbee,

hanging out with the girls and a cute puppy

and a yummy ice cream cone after.

today has been a gloriously beautiful day.

i hope you enjoyed it as much as me.

{today kind of feels as carefree as this song and video.}