thinking about jane.

while flipping through the channels the other day, I stumbled onto the last 15 minutes of the film "The Jane Austen Book Club". From not seeing the whole film, I assume that as the characters in the film read all of Austen's books, it brings each couple closer together and into a better understanding of themselves and life. Looked nice enough to me. Well, that got me thinking about my friend Ashley who is obsessed and totally infatuated with all things Jane Austen. If you're not careful, she'll sneakily find a way to convince you to watch Pride & Prejudice with her- the BBC version, which is 4 hrs long! She has been living in Namibia for the last year, but soon she will fly home! I can't wait to have her back so we can sit at a coffee shop for hours reading, or writing or chatting. She's taught me many things, like how to drive a stick-shift car before we took a long roadtrip to Des Moines. 7 years after we've met, and although life can take you in different directions (AFRICA!!) I'm still so happy to have her in my life and can't wait to welcome her home with open arms!

So, that whole story has led me here, to my next reading book: Jane Austen's Persuasion. A I read it, I will think of you Ashley Jane. Come home soon!

think again. and again, and again, and again...etc

Think. Again. by The Atlantic is a great site where they ask and answer thought- provoking questions such as When is evil cool? Is America still the land of opportunity? Which religion will win? Why does your dog pretend to like you? There are clips, photos and interviews of every day people trying to answer these questions. Go and think!

Chevron says:

"Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it."

My friendly, neighborhood Chevron station always has thoughtful quotes posted on a board outside. I will try to share them with you as often as I can.

Enjoy your weekend!

Rx

I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather. Uh oh. All this fun is finally catching up to me it seems.

***still not feeling super. Looks like tonight I may be curled up on the couch with a book, tea and popping a Tylenol PM or two at 8pm sharp. Rest up friends...I hope whatever's going around doesn't take you down with me.

some things I've learned.

love is not black and white.

it's not simple. or easy.

things can get messy, complicated and confusing.

listen to your heart, not your head.

just keep moving forward.

reading bloody books

Before my recent trip to DC (which i have yet to blog about...I know. I'm sorry!) when I was in desperate need of a new book, my friend, Katie recommended Twilight by Stephenie Meyer to me. The novel is geared toward young adults but adults are just as obsessed with this suspenseful thriller about the lives of vampires growing up in Forks, Washington, which is located on the Olympic Peninsula and was chosen as the place of residence for the vampires because it is the rainiest place on earth, so says Google. I was a little weary to read the book, as vampires and teen romance novels are not my go-to book reads, but Katie told me it was the perfect book for traveling - a page-turner type book that you can really lose yourself in...and well, she was right! After 2, 5 hr long flights and layovers in airports, I finish the book and became OBSESSED! Thank God there are 3 more books in the series. The second, New Moon, I bought last night and expect to finish in a couple days.

The Twilight series has a cult following, much like how Harry Potter started out, which was evident to me as the flight attendant, Starbucks barista, women on the metro and Barnes & Noble employee all excitedly commented on me reading the book. This Friday, the first film based on the book comes out into theaters. I can't wait to see it..with Katie, of course!

Red or White?

The 2nd Annual Wine Party was a great success! It turned into a mustache tattoo extravaganza!! It started off with some select wines from my Dad's cellar....

Best dressed award went to Katie...I love the sweater dress, side pony tail & Sam Edelman ankle-strap ballet flats! Perfect!

Anne was sporting the ribbon & bow headband...so GG of her!

Reggie & Matt had the same thought...Argyle is the way to go!

Lovely ladies...

My beautiful sister...

The inspiration for the mustache tattoo began with Kevin...

Very French...

I'm so glad that Reggie's back! Carley...you're a lucky lady!

Senor Rico & Senorita Rosana

serious 'staches....

Until next year....

once upon a time...

a little french girl tells the cutest story in the whole wide world!!!


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

hot off the press

The Pike's Place Market news stand. This is heaven to me.

xoxo

i am back from the wedding in DC...i need a bit more time to re-coop and piece together the amazing, exciting weekend but for now check this blog out! I swoon over these images.

I don't know why I've been in such a lovey-dovey mood lately, but I like it and I'm holding onto the romantic thoughts and feelings in my head for as long as i can!

via A Cup Of Joe

i am..

an insomniac.

it's 12:53am and I'm awake. Wide awake.

I initially blame it on a past relationship with someone who lived in another country and at the time a normal person should go to sleep was the time when he was waking up...so I would stay up. And that led to many sleepless nights or just a few hours of sleep. Now, it just seems that when I have a lot on my mind I can't sleep. I toss and turn and nothing seems to shut my mind off. I try to turn on some soothing music, but that can sometimes wake me up even more, as I try to concentrate on the song and my mind wanders into memories of how that song makes me feel.

In the middle of the night, I'll go outside and listen to the stillness of the city. There is no sound...and in a big city, that's rare. It's a soothing feeling to think that while everyone is asleep, you're awake and you are enjoying the city at night all by yourself. It's your own.

I want to know...

What's the scariest, creepiest, bloodiest film you've ever seen?

It's Halloween week and to get into the mood I'm ready to watch some scary movies! I'm thinking about having a scary movie marathon...bowls of popcorn, candy, and curl up on the couch watching a different scary film every night until Halloween. Any recommendations?

so far, the list consists of:
- The Shining (I've never seen this.... I know!)
- Silence of The Lambs
- No Country For Old Men

sassy accents

I wouldn't mind having this syndrome...

I'm famous!

Or at least my arms & feet are!

The company I work for, Pinkerton Design, launched our updated website a few weeks ago featuring our new tote bags and I was the "arm model". Since launching we've had a lot of press coverage on great blogs and one of my favorite blogs Automatism featured our tote bags! I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that today!

It was a lot of fun taking the photos...

the background scenery and light was great in some places; you never would know we were outside the cat clinic! Obviously, it was an act of illusion!

so go check out Pinkerton products and our blog! I'll be writing and posting inspirations from the greeting card world weekly!

sooo trashy!

i live across the street from a bakery and every night after they close, like clock work, people pull up on in their car, bicycle, tricycle or whatever, open up the dumpster in the parking lot and hop in! At first sight, seeing normal looking people jump into a dumpster was a little...umm...weird. But one night I wandered over to explore and sure enough, the dumpsters are full of day old bread. Good bread! Like the raisin pecan bread that I buy for $6 a pop! Oh, and don't worry - the dumpsters are clean and the bread is packaged in the bags still. It's amazing and so entertaining to watch. Now I have a freezer full of dinner rolls!

brrr...

current temp in seattle: 54 degrees - that's 14 degrees celcius for my euro readers ; It's getting colder and colder these days. Time to start knitting again and after I saw these scarves on Etsy I knew exactly what I'm going to knit. A neckwarmer!

help! please.

like i said earlier, I'm going to DC in 3 weeks for a wedding. A day time wedding in November in DC. Soo many variables! What do I wear?!!

I have my dear friend Katie who works at Anthropologie putting together outfits for me but none of them seem like The One. Everything I find that's cute is either too fancy for daytime or not warm enough.

What's a girl to do?!

a few nights ago....

Not a bad night when it involves coffee, magazine and thoughts written into the moleskin.


meet my friend Josh. He teaches our youth about history and tries to mold their minds. He also drinks tea at Ladro with me on random nights while grading papers.

this morning...

was beautiful.

take a moment...

and drool over these amazing boots I found at Anthropologie.

I have a similar pair being held hostage in Scotland but I'm sooo very tempted to click "purchase" and move on to these.