shaky-hand.

do your self-snapped photos always come out like this??

mine always do!

and then, of course, the pictures that aren't completely out of focus

are the ones where i have one eye closed or look 400 lbs heavier.

go figure.

the above image was taken at the reception for miss amanda's wedding-

which was, by the way, an absolute blast!

you seriously could have walked into the service or reception

as an uninvited guest and still have known

who it all was for;

it was just so completely mark and amanda.

congrats to the happy couple!

you know you've found a good one when . . .

he drops everything, drives across town and helps you make cookies

at 10 o'clock at night without as much as a hint

from you.

he surprises you with a pink argyle print easter bucket

full o' your fave starbust jellybeans.

he brings you a new cupcake baking tin because he knows you've

been stealing your mother's for far too long.

he cleans and carries heavy things and opens jars

and all of those tricky plastic food bags that never

open the way they're supposed to . . .

all while making you feel beautiful and special,

even if you did almost spill guacamole on your party dress

about 5 separate times.

birthday roundup

being a practical {okay, only a somewhat practical} girl

who misses her man terribly,

this is the one and only thing i want for my birthday.

loved ones, are you taking notes???

a june visit to see my man is in order

for our one year anniversary

and every little bit helps!

;)

so, one month minus a day and i'll be a year older.

{humph! lucky for me, i'm often told i look about 10 years my junior.}

but if seeing a southwest gift card is too boring for you readers,

i've compiled a long list of pastel delights to gaze upon . . .

quite appealing to a lady born in may.

methinks marie antoinette would swoon.

~~~

polish in allegoria for typing fingers.

~~~

a ribbon cuff to make a girl's eyes sparkle.

~~~

a bouquet of favorite blooms.

~~~

a pretty bottle of something special to sniff.

~~~

a frothy bedspread fit for a princess.

~~~

valentino flats both sexy and sweet as sugar.

~~~

a fine box of treats from a delightful parisian shop.

~~~

a silly statement for my bedroom.

~~~

i think most girls go one of two ways-

either they want useful presents or just something pretty and fun.

where between the two do you fall?

dress up and twirl.

sorry this was a week of short posts . . .

too much to think besides blogging these last few days.

i promise next week will be super good!

{monday's post especially . . . you'll l.o.v.e.}

~~~

i have the day off today {woohoo!} and johnny and i

have some major fun "date day" things planned . . .

more on that next week too.

then my man and i are gonna do some laughing and dancing tomorrow night

at miss amanda's wedding reception.

so excited to share her joy with her!

i'm definitely planning on packing extra tissues for teary eyes

during the ceremony . . .

and who can resist a party to celebrate such a happy occasion with

nearly all your closest friends?

besides,

i just love it when mr. wonderful dresses up all super sharp . . .

swoon.

~~~

not to be overshadowed by tomorrow's festivities-

sunday is Easter,

and that is a reason to celebrate above all other things.

{via tumblr}

your help needed!

okay, folks, here is the deal.

i am dyyyyyyyying to do this to my hair.

right now my hair is inches below my shoulders and i must say

that mr. wonderful is sort of against me going almost as short as him . . .

i sported an audrey-hepburn crop years ago

-see old hair cuts here-

and have sort of been pushing towards waist length hair ever since.

but i'm a little tired of cleaning up gobs on hair off the

bathroom floor every day

{gross, right?},

and i love this too-cool take on a pixie.

-see my obsession with short hair here & here-

so here is where you come in:

yes/no?

circle one, please.

{aka: leave a comment, pretty please!}

{image via??}

my super surprise date.

found all these on my phone the other day and

absolutely had to share.

receiving a snap like one of these makes me

so happy on days when i'm missing my mr. wonderful

{which is, like, EVERY day}.

months ago, when my dear friends announced their

wedding date and put us on the same invitation

{holy official couple-ness!},

i never expected him to trek up from nashville

just to go to a wedding with me over a weekend, holiday or not.

he does, after all, have things to do.

lo and behold, he was secretly plotting with my friends and his fam

to be here so i

"wouldn't have to sit at a reception alone."

he really is the sweetest, most thoughtful man i know.

i'm picking him up at the airport tonight

and we'll head over to hang out with his folks for the evening.

so needless to say,

i can't stop smiling and will be totally useless at work for the rest of the week.

{wow- he is SUCH a babe.}

have you ever found yourself on a blog?

hello, i did . . . right here.

i wear this exact outfit.

and that's my exact haircut.

with my exact end-of-the-day messy bun

because i can't stand my hair in my face any longer.

not really my exact bug eyes, but ah, well.

this is an excerpt from verbal vomit's "how to be a hipster, ch. 1"

but for the very official record,

i'm not a hipster.

in the least.

:: mother nature's child ::

watched this film last night with mom . . .

so fascinating!

mother nature's child.

playing in the dirt and climbing trees is essential to us.

haha, my sister had it right all along.

happy birthday, little blog.

wow- 2 years old!!!

and, oh, what a two years it has been.

so much has changed in my life since i started writing this thing

and i've felt so lucky to share it all with you.

here's to more time and more posts . . .

thanks for reading!

{image via ??? it has been on my desktop for ages!}

what do you dream?

i almost never post on the weekend

but i saw this and thought

what the heck?

hope you're having a great weekend!

{via}

i wish i was at coachella.

yup, the festival starts today and i'm not there.

maybe chances are you're not either.

sigh.

i suppose we can long and listen together.

and in case you were wondering . . .

yes, i did find the perfect outfit to wear, in theory.

no shoes required.

although, maybe a good idea, huh?

{via polyvore . . . it's like grown-up paperdolls!}

when i grow up . . .

i dubbed this my "rock and roll blog" to mr. wonderful the other night

and he laughed at me.

just warning you.

~~~

over the weekend, i watched a documentary on courtney love and hole . . .

oh boy, 90's throwback love.

when i was a kid,

i went through a lot of "when i grow up, i want to be . . . " stages.

archeologist, doctor, figure skater- you name it.

{i later realized i hate science, math, blood and can barely stand on my own two feet}.

but the one thing i've always wanted to do since i was a

semi-sullen pre-teen/teenager . . .

and kiiiiinda still wish i could do. . .

is be the front girl for a really killer band.

gwen stefani was the absolute woman, you know?

{okay, so who am i kidding? she kind of still is,

although i do prefer her image circa 'don't speak.'}

and does anyone remember brody dalle or shirley manson?

SO. COOL.

well, barring the suspected drug habits and self-destructive behaviors . . .

but i digress . . .

i can't play guitar or any other instrument worth a darn and am pretty much shy out of my mind when it comes to singing solo in front of people,

but wouldn't that be cool?!

what are some of the things you wanted to be when you were a kiddo?

still figuring out what you want to be when you grow up?

{images via various sources}

you NEED to watch this one.

and one more thing for today . . .

this music video is rocking my socks off these days

{if you're facebook friends with me, you already know this}.

watch for agyness deyn, who is, let's face it . . .

stunning.

thanks to you, invisible children blog.

not only are you a crazy awesome group of rad people doing impeccable work,

but you had ridiculously good taste too.

read it to stay informed and keep up on neato stuff too.

wise words.

notice "grace kelly" on the dressform too?

my oh my.

{via pinterest}

fiddler on the roof: style a la 2011

friday night was spent lounging on the couch with my mom,

relaxing after a busy week,

digesting a tasty mint ice cream dessert from a fun restaurant date with the girls,

and watching fiddler on the roof in our jammies.

{oh, yeah, i'm a wild one . . .}

i just LOVE musicals

and i especially love a musical with a good love story.

thrown into the middle of a historical context

with snarky humor and dancing?

perfection!

all that waist-length hair,

floral prints and head scarves inspired me too . . .

so here is a modern take on some 'fiddler' outfit inspiration!

{ban.do/tumblr/modcloth/piperlime}

okay, i know that

papa tevya would freak out into a round of "tradition"

at the sight of this,

but since i'm not a Jewish girl living in pre-revolutionary russia,

i think i can get away with it.

;)

{fiddler image via unknown}

i found my boyfriend on etsy.

i know this is supposed to be a bearded conan,

but it looks shockingly like someone else i know . . .

is it just me????

feel free to ponder this over the weekend.

make it a happy one!

{via}

watch your language, young lady.

sunday night i checked facebook

and literally more than one of my friends had a fresh

"i said 'yes'!" status update.

all on the same day????????????

i proceeded to tweet this:

turns out,

you should be careful how you use that word!

in hindsight, i probably should have been more clear about WHOSE engagement

i was referring to,

but that's neither here nor there.

a panicked text from one of my man's friends followed not 10 minutes later:

he. "engagement virus? confused."

me. "twas the status update of like 3 of my friends on fb just now. 'i said yes.' haha."

he. "i was like johnny didn't tell me and i'm getting in my car to yell

at him. haha."

me. "hahahaha. i would have been less vague than that."

he. "lol. i figured. but have to admit funny that i was freakin out."

me. "you love him."

he. "more than you! that is all. :p "

lesson learned is to not throw around that word lightly.

could cause damages!

2 weeks & a lil' bernhoft

yup. you probably guessed it!

mr. wonderful makes a new england appearance soon

and i cannot wait until he gets here.

this has felt like such a long stretch since the last time we saw each other

and i missssss him!

until then,

it's our ichat dates that keep me from going bananas . . .

i can't wait for little soup and bread dates,

beating him at foosball on his new ipad,

sharing the same easy chair when we watch tv

{yes, we're one of those couples}

and laughing until our stomachs hurt.

and speaking of my man,

he sent along some bernhoft the other day . . .

never listened to this guy before,

but he's super talented

and i'm totally digging his tunes AND rad nerd glasses.

my favorite blogs.

disclaimer:

i'm stealing my man's idea for this post.

he shared his yesterday.

~~~

i bet a lot of you read my faves too- i'm not cool enough for them to be THAT obscure.

a few of my girlfriends and i joke that we feel a tinge more

emotionally invested in the lives of other bloggers

than is probably healthy . . .

why do we get choked up over their engagement/wedding/other happy life announcements?

i hope we're not the only ones out there like this.

ah, anyway . . . here is the list:

1/ kris atomic

she takes cool pics and illustrates hysterical stuff . . . example above.

perhaps not the most appropriate but we all get over stuff like that for a good laugh.

--------------------

2/ love & photographs

remember this guest post?

it was probably more exciting to me than anyone else because i love stacey's blog!

she just seems like a cool girl to know . . . cool girls are . . . well, cool.

--------------------

3/ johnrwallace.com

yeah, that's my man.

{i couldn't resist using his fat little baby pic that will probably embarrass the

you-know-what out of him. but it's just TOO STINKIN' CUTE.}

i honestly don't know how he churns out daily posts that are so insightful and encouraging.

it bloggles my mind.

besides, he's one fine fellow.

--------------------

4/ bangable dudes in history

this one is so funny,

you'll probably pee your pants.

no joke.

--------------------

5/ rockstar diaries

it actually frightens me a little how long i've been reading this one.

YEARS!

naomi writes all about her adventures with her husband

and now their little snuggle bug.

cutest ever and they always have fab pictures.

--------------------

6/ designlovefest

you probably already know this one

but i can't go one evening without pouring over these colorful and pretty posts

while i eat dinner.

i blame this site for my inability to get myself to the gym these days.

--------------------

7/ an experiment in poverty

this girl is just so honest and real,

you can't help but want to give her a high five and a thank you

after reading her blog.

and she likes cute french macarons like me.

10 points for her.

--------------------

8/ ragamuffin soul

carlos whittaker . . . worship pastor, creative dude, catalyst circuit frequenter

{if you don't know what catalyst is, read here and here and here}

plus, he and his fam just moved to nashville to join

the church where mr. wonderful goes . . .

so now i like the blog and am jealous too.

--------------------

hope you enjoy some of these!

the end.

p.s. to all the bloggers whose images i stole:

thank you. it was done out of love.

pondering this monday.

is it okay to name a little girl surfjan?

{via}

happy april 1st!

hahahahaha.

okay, maybe not much of an april fool's prank, but it's the best i could muster.

and it IS pretty funny . . .

we're inches deep in snow this morning

and that makes me a little cranky

but looking outside my door this morning reminds me of how

beautiful nature really is . . .

all white and narnia-esc.

as long as it melts quickly,

i shall be satisfied.

a happy april 1st to you all and have a wonderful weekend!

{via}