one of my loves. by orange

even though you get bored and find shoes to chew,
you eat thru my laptop cord which later shocked me,
you find dryer sheets to shred into a million pieces under the bed,
and have hissy-fits/mental break downs when there are other dogs nearby that you can't play with...

you are still one my loves.

dear schnood:

please try just a bit harder to not eat/chew mom and dad's shoes, magazines, goggles and backpacks. we like these things. we also want you to have friends, so please try not to bark at every other living thing on walks (we think you scare them even though we know you just want to play).

wish list. by orange

whenever there is a hint of crisp autumn air rolling in my mind automatically thinks: back to school!! - my favorite season. what is there not to love about:

- fresh new start
- new people in new classes
- hearing everyone's summer stories
- having all your friends back in one spot
- football games
- and of course...back to school shopping!

sadly, i have not had a real "back to school" in quite some time, 5 years to be exact. however, i still indulge in a "back to fall fashion" shopping trip or two. as i'm still on the shopping hiatus i can do a lot of looking but no buying quite yet. my eyes wondered to the urban outfitters website today and i found quite a list of things that piqued my interest. check it out:



























so pretty.

weekend hibernation. by orange

ever had one of those weekends where you don't really go out? don't really see much sunlight? well this weekend was one of those. with a massive headache, feeling a bit flu-like and tons of work to do...i found this weekend to be comprised of the following:

sleeping. work. reading




















it's really these three things that kept me alive this weekend:



thank you husband, payton and meika.

perfect ring, perfect nails. by orange

i own some rings that are ridiculously large. no not huge diamond rings, but rings by the likes of betsey johnson - fun, kind of off-beat and large. bordering perhaps on gaudy. well these rings need the right outfit to work with. in addition sometimes you find a nail polish that just goes perfectly with the ring (ring nail matchup). this is what happened this week with my new essie punchy pink nail polish and one of my rings.

check it out. i think the neon pink is a perfect compliment to the very girl/gaudy betsey johnson ring.

plus

equals!

toys for a big kid. by orange

so even though i work in large corporate office (Starbucks) and have a somewhat serious title (Senior Recruiter) i still sometimes feel like a big kid playing in an adult's world. case in point - i need toys and doo-dads to keep me happy at work. i blame this partly on my line of work. as a recruiter my job has me spend a lot of time on the phone doing interviews. i mean, hours on the phone...thus things to occupy my hands during these long conversations can be handy at times.

as it's sunday and i'm here, in cube land, rather than outside enjoying the sunshine my little work things definitely are appreciated. so much so i thought i'd share some of there fun-ness here.

here's what keeps me smiling (in addition to my awesome co-workers):

bouncy ball filled with moving orange glitter

fun paperweight. do i need a paperweight? no...but i thought it was pretty

dwight squeeze ball thing. obviously fun to scrunch up.

happy hour clock! always points to 5pm (thank you violet)

little monster squeeze thing. he has googily eyes - enough said.

fun pink pen. squeeze the top and big yellow bubbles come out.

hmmm...i obviously like to squeeze things at work. does that mean something?

just call me Julia. by violet.

so, I’m doing this new thing lately… it’s called cooking? you heard of it? well, I’m new and suddenly super excited about trying my hand at it. it could be due to the fact that I now have an adorable & supportive accomplice in my experiments (the BF)… but I also like to think it’s in my blood. both my mom and my dad are phenomenal cooks and I believe I might have picked up a few things by osmosis. so in the midst of all the changes in my little world, i have been drawn to the more domestic side of myself- cleaning, nesting and cooking. i think it is grounding me in a sense, so i’m just gonna go with it.

last week, i made an andouille sausage and red pepper pasta which was a huge success! and Wednesday night, i made the BEST meatloaf ever (voted on by the BF). as my roommate can attest, i have been working on this recipe for about 4 years with many failed attempts. but i keep trying, because everyone knows there is nothing better than leftover meatloaf sandwiches! plus, it’s a childhood fave. i think i’m going to stick with this recipe.

since the cooking piece is a new frontier, i’ve been blog-sleuthing for recipes and inspiration. i came across The Catskill Kiwi , an NYC gardener, chef and artist. she has an amazing garden, so she uses a ton of fresh ingredients in her meals. Since we all know I am trying not to kill my little basil plant I am very encouraged by her green thumb! And she has a very unique collection of recipes (I will be trying the double-stuffed potatoes and possibly even the ginger beer next week). check her out!

i’ll keep you posted as i continue my culinary journey… stay tuned.

splurge. by orange

so...as you all know, i'm on a shopping hiatus- i'm 4 weeks deep. and let me tell you - it is a bit rough. now i hate saying that as i feel superficial and like a typical girl, but i do like fashion and love finding new things to try out. unfortunatley to try out that requires money. too bad i'm not still in highschool or college where there was ease in borrowing a friend's shirt or skirt. maybe i should start a borrowing group...hmmm...meet every sunday - do a swap? curious...i digress.

i need new workout shoes and running shoes. now you may ask - why two pairs? well i'm a hardcore runner. kidding! but i do run and like to keep running shoes seperate from the everyday wear. my current running shoes have roughly a year of running on them - perhaps 200+ miles (crazy isn't it!). thus - new ones are needed. as for the "workout" pair, i have an old pair of new balances that i've had for about 3 years that just need an update. so...this weekend i'm off to the running store to get running shoes and to nordstrom rack and DSW to find some good deals on the workout pair of shoes.

i'm excited about the purchase of workout shoes as i'll be able to choose from different styles, see what is out there and shiny new. unfortunately for the running shoes i just get my same pair over and over again as they fit my feet really well. who knew i'd ever buy something for simply fit and good for my feet rather than style :).

in my excitement for this purchase i've done some online browsing. now as i'm headed to nordstrom rack/DSW i probably won't see any of these but it is still fun to look. check out these:










nothing too crazy but i like the colors :)







and these just make me want to be a golfer...

L is for the way you look at me. by violet.

"if a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi's shoulders."

- the unbearable lightness of being.

i suppose you gathered as much, but... i'm in love. fantastically, unexpectedly and overwhelmingly in love. i thought i'd collect a few images of this thing called love as an exercise in paying homage to my rapidly beating heart. enjoy.

photos courtesy of (clockwise, L to R):
Flickr: Queen Street West
Paper Tissue
vis.ualize.us
unknown image
Amo Images
Paper Tissue

roughing it. by orange

s'mores. crackling fire. smokey air. all mixed with the soothing voice of Iron & Wine...perfect camping trip.

i have not had the pleasure of camping in quite some time...maybe 5 years or so. and the last time...let's be honest...don't really remember much due to the keg that was present. this past weekend the husband and i and some of our dear friends packed up the cars and headed to the Washington coast to go camping. oh how i love camping!! oh how i have missed you!!

some of my favorite camping moments:

- you know you are camping in the northwest when you go to the ocean coast beach in july and you are laying out in a lawn chair in pants, gym shoes, long sleeve shirt, hoodie, rain jacket and a beach towel...over you...like a blanket.

- flip cup. i really think my college experience seriously lacked some due to not playing this fun game. it is fabulous.

- s'mores. delicious. enough said. perhaps that is why i consumed 5 in one night...oops!

- picture of everyone trying to kick their heels together like a leprechaun on the beach.

- husband's parent's golf ball toss game. basically you take this goal-like thing (with three sections) and throw a rope with two mini golf balls attached to the end of it to try and get the rope to wrap around one of the sections. each section is a different point value - the person to get to 21 first wins.

- the beach town of ocean shores. there was a store with a shark entrance. literally you walk through the shark into the store. full of shark gear, of course.

- salt water taffy.

- catch phrase. this game is perfect by the campfire.