i can't keep a secret.

i'm usually really awesome at secret-keeping!

this time, i was no good at all.

it was supposed to be mr. wonderful's valentine's day present,

but i got too excited, caved and spilled the beans-

i have an airplane ticket for a

little weekend trip to nashville.

:)

i've been in cahoots with a couple that he's friends with down there . . .

they're also letting me crash at their place during my visit.

we were originally planning on some sort of

sneak attack,

but all of that went to pot as soon as i signed onto ichat the other night to talk to him.

i just couldn't help myself!

turns out that he was happy i didn't keep mum,

so it all worked out;

but i'm hoping this was just a one-time lapse of secret-telling.

i just love a good surprise!

now the reallll dilemma, lovelies, is what to do in nashville??

i already know some of mr. wonderful's plans

{pancake pantry and crosspoint}

but what are YOUR suggestions?

howl- it's friday.

what are your plans this weekend?

i am going to

1. try to sleep in on saturday

2. go to a baby shower

3. clean- booo.

4. working at a cute little father/daughter dance saturday evening

{adore!}

i hope you have something fun planned to do . . .

something that doesn't include

shoveling snow!

happy weekend!

~~~

p.s. how ridiculous is it the liv tyler is so gorgeous in this outrageous hat?

it allllmost makes me angry.

wintertime pretty.

it's snowing again today . . .

and i wish i could say i'm out there styling like these ladies.

in truth,

it's likely to be another uggs and woolly socks day.

{via the sartorialist}

i bet you wish you were in my wednesday night small group.

lemon zest cake

topped with buttercream made with fresh puree of

raspberries, lemon zest and madagascar vanilla

baked last night.

and, of course, little raspberry hats.

after all,

it is cold outside.

these are for church home group this evening.

i'm hoping we won't get snowed out again-

we're supposed to get walloped!

one for every finger.

and maybe some toes too?

after spending the whole day shivering despite my best efforts,

i set myself up for an after-work spa visit yesterday . . .

sooooo good to have my hands massaged and dipped in paraffin!

have you ever done a paraffin dip with your manicure before?

i'm totally hooked- my hands are ridiculously soft!

i'm not really a diamond girl

{shocking, i know}

but these little sparklers might just change my mind . . .

especially the very first at the top!

so pretty, simple and unique in a gold setting and platinum band.

and now i feel like i wouldn't mind drawing attention

to every one of my freshly polished digits.

oh, tiffany,

why do you do these things to me???

i'm a guest poster!

do you know stacey sargent?

she writes the sweetest blog,

love and photographs . . .

let me tell you,

once you check out her blog- especially her decor talents- you will be hooked!

i've been following her journeys for a while,

and today i'm her guest poster

while she and her husband, chris, move from sunny california to chicago.

i'm really excited-

hop over and take a look!

{image stolen from stacey's blog}

don't go outside without your mittens.

it's supposed to be a high of

7 degree today . . . and a low of -14.

it's not as low as some other cities across the country,

but it's certainly cold enough to freeze my socks off.

seriously,

can't it be summer yet???

mr. wonderful and i spent half of sunday afternoon discussing

summer, sun and the sandy beach

over ichat.

i cannot wait to wear dresses and flip-flops

and stopping for late night ice cream at my fave local spot . . .

and eating it outside.

sigh.

oh, month of june, please come to me now!

{image via tumblr}

what are you doing this weekend?

i tell ya',

no matter how much i love my job,

sometimes nothing feels as good as 5 o'clock on a friday night

when i'm driving home to my warm house, a hot cup of vegetable soup and flannel pajamas.

the entire northeast got a generous helping of snow and ice this week-

brrrrr!

all i want is a retreat to somewhere warm and sunny

where i can eat a popsicle without getting the shivers!

i'm happy that my saturday will replace

scraping the car windows in the morning with a cozy sleep-in . . .

i just love a relaxing weekend.

i hope you lovelies have a wonderful one too-

here are a few toasty links to cozy you up during your leisurely browsing!

oooo . . . red velvet hot cocoa & cream cheese whipped cream??!!

super cute how to: quick mittens

cashmere handwarmers . . . oh, how pretty these are.

how about a stay at this resort in turks & caicos? but, gulp, the price tag . . .

i've always wanted to try bikram yoga . . . maybe now is a good time?

happy weekend, all!

you're all gonna hate me for this post.

mr. wonderful stopped by the photography studio

a few days before he took off for nashville for a shoot with my boss.

here's a sneak peek at some of the images that

came out of his session . . .

um, can anyone say, "swoon?"

{and how cool was it to spend part of my work day

assisting my man's shoot?? i dare you to tell me i don't have an awesome job.}

he's been working so hard his new project . . .

i think we spent the majority of his NH visit in his recording studio

and i love being able to listen to his songs and recall when he

recorded specific tracks.

i know,

i'm totally disgusting and gushy and maybe even vomit-inducing.

get used to it.

*wink*

{images by jeff dachowski}

no naked walls here.

is it wrong to lust after wallpaper?

it can't be.

{all via anthro}

cutest polka dot dress.

isn't this the sweetest little dress?

i just love it with the skinny leather belt,

but i definitely would swap the heels for

pretty pointy-toed flats.

and maybe trade the giant flower for a pretty headband.

a bit of snow was dumped on us by mother nature yesterday,

so i'll have to wait a bit to break out the spaghetti straps again . . .

but, oh boy, i can't wait!

{via emersonmade}

back to normal.

if this is what you can call normal.

mr. wonderful is back in nashville and our latest fascination is

using ichat effects.

i only wish i could somehow translate his voices to you.

a-maz-ing.

the u.f.o.

"they found me in the desert of new mexico . . . they put me on a table and asked,

"where you from, son?"

the weird dude who won't leave you alone

"hello? ah, hello? hellllooooo?"

the oger

"uhhhh . . . ummmmm . . . duhhhhh (lip smack)."

i don't know what's more funny . . .

his ridiculous faces or my stoic responses?

{he actually had me laughing so hard i probably woke my neighbors.}

oh, the things we do to entertain each other!

a whimsical vegetable calendar.

a while ago, i discovered a delightful little stationary boutique,

gus & ruby.

this place isn't but a 45 minute drive from my home town,

and i'm very excited for a weekend adventure

to scope it out.

what has me all the more tickled are these cute 2011 calendars i noticed

while on week-long blogging sabbatical . . .

the dishtowel is particularly sweet

{and useful!!!}.

check out more on their blog . . .

you'll fall in love too!

i missed you.

it's funny how much a part of you blogging becomes after a while . . .

this little space has become quite the creative outlet for me over the last year and a half,

and, call it selfish,

but i missed disposing my fancies onto it while i've taken my break

from writing here.

peace and quite is nice and good and healthy.

i highly recommend it to anyone who feels like there is no time in the day to think

{read more about quiet time on mr. wonderful's blog; it's a goodie.}

or do anything except the things you're supposed to do . . .

i didn't really come up with a list of resolutions this year,

but i guess if i had to make one,

it would be to stop doing most things out of mere obligation.

so, as it turns out, this blog is something i want to do . . .

not just something i keep up for commitment's sake.

i'm happy i know that

and i hope you continue with me on my journeys.

:) a

{image by jeff dachowski}

open and closed doors.

i'm closing the door on my little blog for now.

i have a lot of noise in my life

and need to focus with some peace and quiet for a while.

maybe i'll start posting soon and maybe never . . .

i don't really know yet.

so, for now, see you later and thanks for reading.

:)

{via tumblr}

miss.

sorry i've been out of the loop lately,

peeps.

mr. wonderful has only a couple short days left here in the granite state

before he heads back to nashville

*insert audible sigh here*

so i've been spending bunches of time with him

before he leaves town.

i kind of miss him already,

but luckily i have cute little snaps of us together from the last few weeks,

like this one from a recent trip to ikea.

we spent a ridiculous amount of time perusing the lighting section

and he didn't even flinch when i arbitrarily shouted

the swedish furniture titles . . .

what a guy.

anyway,

i promise i'll be a more faithful poster after this weekend . . .

hope you all have had a great week so far!!!

my morning on the slopes.

how can i possibly complain about a job that brings me to places like this?

a magazine cover shoot took us to the top of cannon mountain

bright and early this morning

{we left town to head north before daylight!}.

we took the tram with the patrol crew and photographed

all morning . . .

it was pretty stinkin' chilly, but so gorgeous that it was pretty

easy to forget frozen fingers and toes.

we followed up our shoot with an awesome breakfast

at clement room grill at the woodstock inn

and, oh boy, did we need it after lugging gear through the snowy trails all morning!

caramelized apple pancakes, home fries, coffee and juice

and sticky buns instead of bread . . .

yum yum yum!!!

i also have a new found motivation to pick up a winter snow sport . . .

we'll see how that goes.

wink.

HAPPY 2011!!!

it's a new year!

i can't believe that we're in the year 2011 . . .

my life has changed so much during the last 12 months

that sometimes i get overwhelmed just thinking about it.

every challenge, good and bad, has provided me with the opportunity

to grow closer to God and my loved ones.

i can't wait to see what is in store for this year!

last night proved to be just as quiet as i suspected . . .

mr. wonderful has been under the weather

so i brought chicken soup and dayquil over to his place

and we pretty much hung out in his studio for the entirety of the afternoon.

{you can sample some of his tunes here.}

we ate chinese food, played apples to apples

and counted down to midnight with his family.

perhaps not the most glamorous of new years festivities,

but absolutely perfect in my book.

i hope you enjoyed your eve as well . . .

happy new year . . . again!