strange beauty

hmmm . . .

i'm perplexed by this plate.

being a vegetarian and all,

i don't even know how to make a decent carnivorous meal.

and after years of abstaining from all things meat

{except the occassional sushi sampling},

i find the scent of cooking meat

to be somewhat revolting,

but these

sweet and smokey spareribs

from smitten kitchen

look absolutely beautiful.

i just adore smitten kitchen

and all the lovely pictures posted along with some fab recipes.

other recipes i want to check out?

raspberry brown sugar gratin.

oh yum.

wedded bliss- weekend edition

now that one of my fave girlies is getting hitched,

it gives me an excuse to get all giggly

over cute wedding things.

for instance . . .

max and margaux's wedding

has been all over my fave blogs

and it's just so happy

that i can't resist posting it too.

Max, Margaux, & The Marvelows from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

doesn't it just make you want to get up and dance?

{and decorate everything with streamers???}

happy saturday, everyone!

wine & dine

i'm not much of a drinker

and

i'm lactose intolerant.

but this little

new hampshire cutting board

convinces me that

a little

dietary cheating never hurt a girl.

{via aheirloom, found via a cup of jo}

asking God for a raincheck?

how often do you spend time with your best friend?

your boyfriend? girlfriend?

mother and father,

brothers and/or sisters?

answering honestly,

it's a lot, for me.

i'm a pro at good, quality time with loved ones,

even though i tend to fight to get in time with certain people

more than others as of late

{i mean, if i'm being reaaaally honest . . .}.

here is where i'm messed up right now:

how does my time with God stack up

against my time with everyone else?

again,

being totally honest,

this is an area where i'm seriously failing.

like,

we're talking

F-.

{is that even a grade???}

i've been thinking about all this time i've been investing in my earthly relationships

{which, just to clear the air, is not bad}

and i have to say i'm embarrassed that i don't spend close to

that much time with God.

i continually telling God, "i promise we'll do this later," to make room

for my "other" social life.

how does that even make sense?

God loves us and wants a personal relationship with us . . .

i always fall back to one of the most

basic verses i memorized as a kid:

"for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

john 3:16

so why don't i desire time with him

in the same way

that i do my most precious friendships?

truthfully, i often find it hard carrying on a relationship with something i can't see.

but the less time i spend with God,

the less i hear and the less i feel Him.

i can tell when we're not "hanging out" as much because

i feel a void when He's not my priority.

it's harder to recognize His guiding during my day to day life

and i end up doing stupid things

{that maybe i would have done anyway, but then again, maybe not . . .}.

so how do i fix this?

well, it comes back to my friends, in a way.

how did i come to know and love them so dearly?

well,

we spent time together.

we got to know each other.

we grew to love one another.

it's the same with God.

the more time i spend with Him,

the more i will get to know Him

and the more i will want to be with Him.

~~~

"it is a joy to Jesus when a person takes time to walk more intimately with Him.

the bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be a visible result of an

intimate relationship with Jesus Christ."

- oswald chambers

{via tumblr}

the surf

i was on the beach yesterday and the day before.

2 days in a row.

epic.

now it is raining and gloomy

{excuse me, mother nature, didn't you know it's

my vacation week???},

so i'm posting my latest fave

summer images . . .

fingers crossed tomorrow

will be back to sun.

{via tumblr}

i lied.

i just had to squeeze in one more note today.

pay no attention to previous post.

~~~

i have a bad habit of wearing

clothing from the kids'

department.

i can't help it!

for ladies out there in the world who are like me

and find themselves

frustrated in dressing room because they can't fill out

certain top sections of the dresses in their

fave stores

{seriously, anthro, there is no reason a zero

should be swimming on me},

clothing from the little girls' section

is sometimes the way to go.

sure you have to be careful of length and cut

{it's not like i want to look like my friends' 10 year old daughter}

but if you can score all those points

why the heck not???

{not to mention, you save $$$ too.}

so,

anyway,

all of that to say,

this is my latest crave . . .

soooo cute.

and i have never spent as little as $70

on a jcrew dress.

ever.

i'm thinking this

"want"

may turn into a

"need."

{should i get a girls' 12 or a 14 . . . ?}

out to lunch

taking some time off.

thought i was going to have time to post some fun little notes

this week,

but as it turns out,

i just don't feel like it.

since i'm on vacation right now,

i plan on spending it

baking at the beach

{with a good spf, thank you}

hanging out with my favorite people

doing some great devotionals

catching up on some reading

and

staying up really late every night.

i'll return eventually,

more relaxed and rested,

for sure.

beautiful things for a summer saturday

completely random,

but they make me smile on this hot, sunny weekend . . .

watermelon mint popsicles!

i will surely be making these soon . . .

{via eating out loud}

~~~

a pretty/rad wedding photograph.

did i mention one of my best girls,

miss amanda,

got engaged the other night???

so happy for her & her man.

{via designlovefest . . . my new fave blog}

~~~

this little film makes me want to be lazy and fabulous.

in huge sunglasses.

~~~~

cool & comfy

frank lloyd wright-inspired summer pajamas.

{via anthro}

~~~

and since i'm on

vacation

this week,

i may actually have time to post now and again.

gasp. imagine that.

ah, how i adore summer.

summer and coffee taste the same.

i've been a little distracted over the last few days

and i'm sorrrrrrrry.

posts have been inconsistent,

haven't they?

this summer seems to be filled with hot, late nights

and crazy-activity filled days.

but i've never consumed so many soy lattes in one summer.

seriously.

come september,

i need to go into some kind of caffeine detox.

not sure how that's going to go . . .

i already had deprivation headaches

before

my internal clock was reset to go to bed at 2 and wake up at 6.

eek.

now? . . . oh, boy.

not that i'm complaining;

i can't remember the last time summer was this much fun.

my wish is that the last few weeks might linger

just.a.bit.longer . . .

{via together we think funny}

how not to get zapped.

before you read any further, i would just like to say that

i do not have answers.

just putting that out there.

~~~

i've been thinking a lot lately about

attitude.

specifically, my own.

i am a really happy person, i think.

if you were to ask most people about my disposition,

they would likely answer that i'm bubbly and that i smile a lot.

so what happens when things don't go as planned?

how do i handle it when my

"vision of the ideal"

is derailed?

i'm ashamed to say that my attitude, when tested as of late,

has really suffered.

i've been grumpy. and sad. and self-centered. and negative.

how do i keep my joy from being zapped?

so here is the part where the answers come in.

and i have none.

i'm normal. ridiculously so. and i struggle.

but here are some things that remind me of why i have joy

and revisiting these things

help keep my head and my heart where it needs to be:

1. God loves me

{it's soooo simple, right? . . . but sometimes, i reallly need to remember this}

"this is how God showed his love among us:

He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

this is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

1 john 4:9-11

2. i've been given the extraordinary gift of family and friends

3. i get to see lives changed every day

4. i've met incredible people who God has used to change my heart

5. i have the opportunity to make every day a dedication to my Creator

{via tumblr}

"sailing the storm"

i found this print artist

through one of my fave blogs,

e tells tales.

i think i need something like this in every room of my apartment.

this one is named

"sailing the storm."

i looooove the whimsical illustration

and lovely pastel colors.

i'm pretty fond of the quote too . . .

{don't buy it before me}

crop

i've done sooooo well at refraining from

chopping my longish red hair.

THIS

is not making my life much easier

in this regard.

ohmygoodnesstotalshorthairperfection.

{via the sartorialist}

i just wanna twirl.

if you were to ask me,

"abby, what clothing makes you most comfy?"

i would probably answer,

"a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops."

but the truth of the matter is that i wear dresses

all the time.

whether the weather

{i've always wanted to type that}

is hot or frigid,

tights or no,

suede booties or gladiator sandals,

i looooove my dresses.

i've recently been perusing

ruche

and am just craaaaaaaving some of their lovely little numbers.

soooo sweet.

i think it's nearly

impossible to feel anything but pretty wearing any of these. better yet,

they're almost all under $50.

really????? too good to be true.

{via ruche}

bosom friends

last night,

i took an evening in

and watched

anne of green gables

on our local nh public tv station.

anne of green gables is one of my fave movies of

all time.

i can't even tell you how many times i

have watched it.

my brother has always joked that the relationship between

anne and diana

perfectly described bestest and me.

it is true that

bestest's ladylike perfection has always been the perfect

counterbalance to my quirky

{somewhat wacky}

way about life.

and now that i've gone all red,

i think the similarities are more than obvious . . .

here is to my bosom friend.

she's a true kindred spirit.

heavy heart today

a precious visitor from invisible children

died in the tragic attack in uganda yesterday.

we were so lucky to know him, if only for a few days,

and to learn

of his passion to create change.

thoughts and prayers for

his friends, family and the ic team.

God is a starving artist

i'm continually astounded that

everything

beautiful on this planet was created by God.

does He look upon his creations with the

pride and love

that a painter or sculptor does his or her pieces as they display in an art gallery?

i like to think so.

the Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

"i have loved you with an everlasting love;

i have drawn you with loving-kindness."

jeremiah 31:3

this always leads me to wonder . . .

how does He feel when we destroy what he has carefully created?

~~~

when i was younger, i had a most inappropriate relationship

with food and exercise.

the things i did to myself in my quest for "perfection"

took a toll on every aspect of my life.

i hated being me.

~~~

i'm so happy that, for the most part, i no longer battle those personal demons.

but, sometimes, i get up in the morning and see the strange,

out of place 17-year old girl staring back at me from the bathroom mirror.

it takes me a minute

to turn away and realize that she is a ghost now. most days,

i can't remember what i saw in myself that was so disgusting.

i think back on my self-criticism and self-deprecation . . .

how did God feel about what

i was doing to myself?

did he see the imperfections and flaws that

revolted me or did it hurt him

to see his child so completely dedicated to destroying

his creation?

~~~

God must be the most under appreciated,

struggling, starving artist.

He's a genius producing work that

no one gets.

our humanity makes us

blind to the physical and internal beauty that

is His work of art.

how do we begin to erase our twisted perception

of beauty

and begin to see our selves through

the lens

of our Heavenly Father?

"be imitators of God, therefore,

as dearly loved children

and live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a

fragrant offering and sacrifice

to God."

ephesians 5:1

a friend-ly repost

my dear friend,

miss amanda

{far right},

posted this fine little picture

on her blog

the other day.

can you believe how cute we were???

this is about 4 years ago . . .

my, how the time has flown.

i can't believe how much

life has changed

since this photograph was taken.

does the passing of time

ever catch you

off guard?

the princess and the pea

once upon a time,

i ran into the ladies' room at a local department store

before meeting some girl friends for a little shopping excursion.

little did i know that when i emerged,

i would fall in looooooooooove . . .

with a green sofa.

it was glorious.

it was (lime or pea, it matters little) green.

it was on sale.

alas,

it was waaaaaaaaaaay too big for my little attic space while

i'm bunking with mom.

and needless to say,

i didn't purchase said amazing couch that day.

but ever since then,

i've had my little heart set on owning such a piece.

sigh . . .

one day.

{via tumblr, 1. crate and barrel & 2. ikea}

happy monday (tuesday)

4 day work weeks after a holiday sometimes feel

longer than traditional

5 day working weeks.

don't ask me why-

it's a trick my head plays on me.

saw this music video this morning and it made me happy . . .

kind of a good pick-me-up before starting

a

monday (tuesday).

happy 4-day working week!

community

it's really interesting and curious . . .

i've had my fair share of lows over the last few weeks,

and yet,

i feel like i've had an unusual amount of joy lately.

i can pin-point a few specifics that have helped me along the way,

and without going into too much detail, it really comes down to the fact that i have a wonderful group of friends.

i have the amazing privilege to share life and happiness with others.

my joys are their joys and theirs are mine.

it's a super cool feeling

to see the people you care about happy and to feel like your life is

better

because of it.

{today a girl friend of mine called me to share a crazy exciting bit of news

and i was so happy that i could squeal over the phone with her . . .

hope that helps you understand where i'm coming from.}

i don't pretend that we have "community" completely figured out . . .

but it's exciting to think that the reason

we experience the beauty of relationships is because God

designed us to work together,

to build each other up

and to "do life together"

{as the cliche goes . . .}.

"they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs

were done by the apostles.

all the believers were together and had everything in common.

selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

acts 2:42-47

i mean, we're not exactly selling all of our belongings

and moving into a commune. . . but you get the idea.

my friends are a gift and i'm so

thankful

for them.

{via tumblr}

independence day.

happy 4th of july!

spent the day with sister:

church

{super awesome}

twilight

{bleh}

perusing the bookstore

{sweet}

and eating tasty salad dinner outside

{yum}

overall just grand.

~~~

these pictures have next to nothing to do with today,

but they remind me of summer,

which has pretty much rocked so far . . .

{as does this super song . . .

first heard it on a friend's killer blog a couple of months ago;

had to practically stalk his site to find it again . . . whoops.}

i reallly should take the time to figure out how to insert

a music player into these posts, no?

~~~

hope everyone had a lovely holiday.

hurray for living in the

land of the free.

{via i can't remember}

my brother the hero.

don't get me wrong.

he drives me out of my mind.

but i love him dearly

and now that he's gone to take a job in sunny florida

{sweltering florida, if you ask me}

i thought i'd share with you

some of the reasons i'm going to miss him.

he's my fashion critic . . . a trusted one, at that

~~~

he challenges me to stretch beyond my comfort zones

~~~

he's ridiculously supportive

~~~

he's beyond chill . . . none of that lame overprotective brother junk

{he saves it for times when it's reaaaally necessary}

~~~

he plays adam lambert songs on his acoustic

just to annoy me . . .

i usually want to hit him and then hug him

because, somehow, these things endear me to him

~~~

he outsmarts everyone and reads people like childrens' books

~~~

he is secretly one of the sweetest and kindest person i know

nothing like an ice cream cone.

mhmmm,

berry berry sorbet from ben & jerry's in a waffle cone.

delish.

i did something today that i

never

do.

i slept in . . . until 11 o'clock!!!!

i guess that's what i get for staying out

way late multiple evenings during the week . . .

{but, seriously, it's suuuummer.}

after i kicked myself into gear,

sister and i took a stroll around downtown

this afternoon.

we weren't exactly beating the heat,

but we had a great time walking and talking together.

and eating my cone.

yum.

{isn't she a beauty??}

this weekend has been preeeetty fab so far . . . and guess what? it's only saturday. two more days of 4th-of-july-weekend bliss.

sweet sweet summer.

{on a more somber-but-also-happy-note, brother left to see family out of state and then heads to his new job in florida. he'll be working where sister goes to school . . . so proud!}

a night in.

i spent last night lounging on my couch,

watching

(500) days of summer

{again}

in my sweatpants with a huge cup of hot cocoa.

i l.o.v.e. that movie's soundtrack

{temper trap's sweet disposition sends me soaring every time}

and the tom hanson dance number

is simply fantastic.

and, this probably doesn't come as a surprise,

but i pretty much realized i want to dress like

zooey deschanel

every single day of the week.

the end.

{via}

we can't take serious photos.

well, most of the time.

it was an interesting wedding, to be sure.

lots of old college acquaintances i hadn't seen since graduation

and TONS of great

laughs with my best-friend-from-school-and-partner-in-crime.

he was hands-down the best best man

{gave a reception speech that rocked the house}

and i'd like to think i was a pretty cool date.

besides,

our outfits practically matched.