want some of my time?

while perusing my november issue of real simple, I read something a reader submitted about giving the gift of time to her friends at christmas.

it got me thinking. can't everyone use more time? even if it's not their own?

enter, me.

a few of my friends received this certificate this holiday season. as hard as it will be with some of us living states apart, I've already received requests for time usage.

angie: time spent walking and exploring places she's never been when she comes to visit in may 2009.

chandra: seattle sightseeing trip in summer 2009

what can be better than sharing time with your closest friends?!

revealed

remember my christmas project from last year? my goal each year is to come up with an original idea for a fun gift for all the children in my life.

this year's project: dress up cases

I spent months hitting thrift stores all over the city, sorting through my grandma and great grandma's old jewelry, altering, customizing...and simply having a ball!

there is one case still on it's way, embroiled in transportation snafus, but here are the happy recipients so far..









I am so happy to know they loved them!
makes it all worth it.

christmas hint

I've been working on a christmas project for months. here is a sly shot of the finished product.

won't you be excited to see all the details once they have all been delivered?

I can't wait to show you!


the first recipients were THRILLED with theirs.

that warms an aunt's heart for sure!

signs that fall might have arrived in a city near you...

one:
flowers in hues of orange, yellow and red for sale at your neighborhood market...


two:
the ivy that trails your building starts turning a beautiful shade of copper...


three:
halloween candy adorns the shelves at the drugstore, and on sale to boot...


four:
the see-your-breath cool mornings invite you to pull out your new fall coat...



"delicious autumn! my very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- george eliot

wannabe art collector

I found it while strolling through the many art galleries in cannon beach.

this was my favorite by far but so many of them were as lovely. maybe it is the birds, or maybe the leaves or simply the expression on her face. and the title, "rites of passage." lo-ve.

how I wished I could have afforded to take her home with me!


read more about the artist here.

and see more of her work here.

book report

her skirt, her shoes, that basket...I am captivated.
photo of author on inside, back jacket of book

"The door to the palazzo across the way opens, shuts. It's he of the thick, lank hair falling over tightly closed eyes. Carrying his violin.

He looks up at me. 'Buona sera, signora. Arrivo. Good evening, my lady. I'm coming.'

It was him, him of the crusty black beard, with whom I'd spoken. It's he who is the conservatory director. And when I'd told him my address, perhaps before I'd told him my address, he'd decided to choose himself as our violinist.

Fernando opens the door to him.

'Giacomo Serafini, molto lieto.' He introduces himself all around. Wants nothing at all to drink. No, grazie. Steps over to the terrace doors, unpacks his violin, begins to play.

'Did you know that this floor of the palozzo was once a ballroom, signora?' he asks as he tightens his strings, strokes and plucks at them.

'Yes. Yes, I did know that.'

'La signora grabirebbe un valzer? Would the lady be pleased by a waltz?'

Let life shape itself.

Fernando is leaning against the far wall, smoking. He flicks the cigarette into the flames of Neddo's leaping fire, beckons me with his eyes, a quarter nod of his head-an Italian boy summoning his girl-and I go to him. Let myself be held. Hold him tighter than he holds me and take in the Italian boy smell of him all mixed up with the coffee and red wine and wood smoke."

- "the lady in the palazzo"

while at the beach, I read three of marlena de blasi's books and loved them all.

the books tell the story of her late-in-life love with her venetian, fernando, and their adventures in all of italy.

she is a chef and a writer, producing the most divine prose. all at once making me fall in love with romance and hungry for zucchini blossoms. sometimes in the same sentence.

in each book, she incorporates conversational italian as it's spoken, followed by the translation. there is the capacity to pick up a phrase or two while reading, something I truly loved.

I checked my books out at the library and I urge you to do the same. now that I know I love them so, I might have to put them on my christmas list because I am sure I will be reading them again and again.

author:
marlena de blasi
books:
a thousand days in venice
a thousand days in tuscany, a bittersweet adventure
the lady in the palazzo, at home in umbria
that summer in sicily, a love story

pia'cere.
enjoy.




images pulled from barnesandnoble.com

the person I long to be

my friend cindy shared this with me yesterday...

the person I long to be

the day light breaks again
another day has begun

but still no sleep has come
my body is weary

my mind overworked
I lie awake thinking

but what I am unsure
I need to break free from the cycle I endure

everyday is the same and the nights are undistinguished
I feel as though I am being pushed along with the tide

unable to break free from the everyday flow
this is not me I need to change, before time takes over

and I am unable to change
I need to be freed from the grasp of ordinary

and become that person I have always longed for
express myself in every way, and conquer the dreams as I lie awake

then I may fall asleep and put my mind to rest
make changes in my life and help those in need

I would like to touch everyone's life in a positive way
and leave my mark on society before I fade away

- victoria a. mogyorosi

window shopping

a few things I'm loving at anthropologie right now...

these french plates are so sweet

this lamp would look great in my bedroom. especially with the green lampshade.

I didn't take the best photo of this but the skirt is navy and white with a fun picture of the eiffel tower on it. I can see it paired with flip flops, a yellow ruffly tank and a denim jacket. the perfect summer outfit.

this little audrey book corner made me smile. one copy of each please.

right now, I'm in love with pom poms on anything. they add a whimsical flair I think.

jars of plenty

I had the most glorious dinner with my friend amy tonight. we had back to back appointments at our salon to get haircuts (her a color) so we gabbed with our stylist and each other for over two hours. we then walked a spell down the street to a new(ish) restaurant. via tribunali is my new favorite. the food is fresh and delectable. interestingly enough, I can't get enough of their tiramisu. funny coming from a girl who isn't fond of coffee but it just melts in your mouth. we spent another two hours talking about work, our bible study topic, the marriage conference she and her husband just attended, and the new prayer project I've started.

It's been such a a wonderful thing, I thought I'd share my jar project with you all.


inspired by a story from a beth moore conference, these jars house my blessings, prayers for my future husband, and things I need to lay down before god. sitting on the windowsill near where I have my quiet time, I can quickly jot things down, pray over them, and place them in the jar as I think of them. things have even come to mind at work and I write them down on a post-it note to add when I get home.

just imagine how great it will be to read through the jars later and see how prayers were answered and be reminded in the dreary times how blessed we really are. I have decided that all entries into the husband jar will be read only by him and I love that.

I would encourage everyone to do a variation of this. it's incredibly rewarding to have tangible evidence of how the lord is blessing you in the day to day craziness that is life. yours won't look exactly like mine but the clarity will be the same.


note: mine are jars simply because I had these old milk bottles and thought to re purpose them. you could do the same thing using a decorated paper bag, an old tin or gift box, even a drinking glass from the kitchen would work.

easter happenings

my easter weekend started out with friends and flowers. I spent most of the day with my friend chandra and her son ethan (and soon to be hatched son carsten!). we shopped and ate zips french fries with tartar sauce and had a lovely time catching up. she has started a flower arranging/wedding consulting business on the side and was finishing up her easter centerpiece orders. she helped me make something for my sister and our easter table and I think it turned out really nice.

what do you think?


here was our inspiration but we didn't want it to be as big nor could we have afforded that many flowers! the pussy willows on the magazine were my favorite but we didn't have any fresh and the fake stuff looked, so, well, fake. just wouldn't work.

after we finished shopping and headed back to chandra's house, angie and the girls came over and abby was my little helper. making sure all the tulips were placed just so and cutting all the bits of wire for the outside of the "nest".

chandra has the coolest little corner set up in her garage for her flower work. we even got to just throw the trash on the floor like real flower shops. isn't that cool? she taught me how to cut the stems with a knife and not cut myself...and lots more very useful flower data.

thanks for the fun day chan!

furniture arranging 101

or otherwise known as "life after new windows."

our apartment building is in the process of getting new windows. in order to do this, we were required to move ALL our furniture at least 4 to 5 feet away from all windows as well as take everything off the walls surrounding the area. for a small space, there isn't much area left when you draw your imaginary 5 foot line.

lets just say things were stacked, shoved, and pretty much unbearable for almost a week. I'll spare you photos of my "paths" to the couch and bed but I will point you in the direction of the berenstain bear book "bears in the night" to give you an idea. (over and under and through...you get the idea)

despite the annoyance of things being out of sorts for awhile, I decided to completely change things up in the living room and bedroom. figured why not. I'm also in the process of simplifying and getting rid of things so I re-purposed some furniture in order to better utilize it and the space it occupies.

what do you think?

the china cupboard and buffet have switched places. I always felt this side of the room was too heavy with big pieces of furniture which in turn squeezed the entry into the kitchen. now it's much more open.

this was a huge re-purpose for me. the yellow buffet stores a lot of things but wasn't ever utilized to its fullest in this apartment. it became a catchall and I hated that. the tv felt a little high at first but I've gotten used to it now and I really like the extra space on that wall after the dresser the tv used to be on. it is now in my bedroom.

this is my new "entry station" into the apartment. my things always end up on the kitchen table or simply dropped on the floor, but now, they have their designated area (even the shoes!) and I'm really loving the ease of it all.

lamps will be the next new thing for this room. I'm so over the eiffel tower bases although the feathered shades I might have to keep. I'm going for more "vintage thrift store chic" in here and not so much the blatant parisian thing I had before. (here is the coverlet I mentioned here) notice the dresser to the left of the bed, it is the one the tv used to be on. I really like it in this space so much better.

this closet shot is for my sister. she's the one who taught me to organize by color. and now that its been purged and reorganized, I wanted to show her my hard work so she would be proud of me!

ignore the poorly staged items in the reflection (anyone looking for a nice gold etagare with glass shelves? I'm trying to get rid of it.) you'll notice the jewelry frames have not found their home on the wall yet...in time, in time.

the jury is still out on the windows themselves. I'm not sure I love them. I feel they create more obstruction of the view with the screens and thick vinyl frames and although they are better with noise filtration and keeping heat in. I'm sure I just need to get used to them. give it time I suppose.

delightful

in my stocking this year were several bridal magazines for fun browsing. my mom is so sweet to indulge this hobby of mine. I like to find new ideas, themes, companies to add to my file in case a friend or a bride I work with is looking for something unique.

while a lot of the magazines are the same reprinted articles and checklists they recycle over again, there are small tidbits to be extracted and pinned forever to my inspiration board.

I've been taking a break from this for awhile but think it might be time to stick my toes back in...slowly.

these images jumped right off the page at me, they are stunning

the petal hem on that dress, the dark colored heels, the umbrella, the trees, the hop...

that veil is spectacular! the refinement of the tailored coat with bit of flowy dress showing at them hem. plus, the font just makes the whole page that much better in my opinion. I want this veil...

while I'm not in love with the hats, dress, tux and tails or even the gloves, the photo itself makes me happy. I am in love with the eiffel tower and the celebration of a wedding and holding hands...love, love, love.