M.

Marisa {who i refer to as M} is my dearest friend.

She is often the one i turn to when i feel overwhelmed and want to cry, when i want to vent, dealing with a life question, or best of all-- when i'm filled with happiness. She has become to mean the world to me and I just know this is the beginning of a life long friendship. She is my blog crush, my sister from another mother, my kindred soul. She's my M.

and although we've never actually met, we get each other.

when i saw this mug, i KNEW i had to get it for her. She loves coffee and all things Darcy {she can watch this scene over and over.} It was perfect! and something i could give to her to show her a fraction of what her friendship means to me.

M got my parcel Friday and I'm over the moon happy she loved it as much as I hoped she would! please read her post about it here (and btw, aren't her photographs amazing?) Thanks to it, my Monday started out with a big smile!

My beautiful M with her new mug:



"Are we not like two volumes of one book?"

-Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

M wrote me that quote, and it couldn't fit us more.

Genius.

Saw this on Love It A lot, and I do!

It's a genius way to set up shop and i think you will be just as wow-ed. She displays her online market on her london walls in her home. A lovely display where you can easily click on your wants. I found plenty.

catching up with college gfs is my favorite.

one of my mass comm girls Adrian called me friday after work to say she was coming back to our small Texas town for a friend's going away party. She said she tried to book a hotel for her and her friend Bethany, but everywhere was booked. This is not usually the norm, but i joked with her that she hasn't been gone that long to forget that this weekend is Hotter 'N Hell weekend.

It's Wichita Falls' claim to fame: the HHH Bike Ride. Every year before Labor Day is Hotter 'N Hell, the largest sanctioned bicycle ride in the U.S.

It's pretty impressive... about 10,000 riders participate each year from all over the states and even overseas. It's our version of the Tour De France. It was one of my very first news stories, and i'll never forget it because i had put it a long day the night before and was late getting there at 4:30 a.m. -- yes in the A.M. The official start time is sunrise (around 7ish) but people line up in the early dark- it is that big.

our downtown becomes a sea of bikes

she asked if they could crash at Casa di M.
of course!!! Adrian is a twin like me, and a talented writer. She's also a mommy to the most beautiful baby boy Jake. She was the first one of our college group to get married.

we spent her last night as a single woman partying it up in Ft. Worth. There's J, my beautiful friend that some of you know from her blog, Life, adrian, and me circa 2006:

i had sooo much fun having her and her friend Bethany over. Since it was last minute, we didn't have extra clean sheets. Darling Friend went and picked some up over at my parent's after work, so us girls could get a head start at the bar lol He is my sweetheart.

I met Bethany before, and totally forgot this funny event: when drunk, i will playfully bite. Usually it's your shoulder. Bethany says she remembers me as, "the girl who bit my boob."

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."- ann frank

despite our personal tragedy, i feel blessed...

i am blessed with lovely friends, a Max, a sweet nap with maverick, and my family who i love.

darling friend made us a spinach thin crust pizza during his dinner break from work and is picking up coffee from the store on his way home from work for me who has to work early.

this saturday i did nothing but stay in my usual weekend outfit {his undershirts and boxer briefs} except for when he got me out of the house for brunch.

i am incredibly blessed.

my little mooshie is in doggy heaven.

my heart is broken.
but she lived 11 loved years.


Mooshie was mainly my little seester Madeline's dog. This is them last Halloween. I remember when Maddie was little and we first moved to our small Texas town, she didn't have that many friends yet and me and twinkie had each other. After we got Mooshie, I will never forget Maddie saying she wished Mooshie could talk so she could talk to her.


Mooshie was such a lovely dog. A lovely friend. A cherished part of our family.


We will miss you Marushka Blumchen. (her full name) Have fun chasing your favorite duck toy in heaven sweet little girl...


her sister, my puppy Maverick took a nap with me this afternoon (i cried all morning) her little white furry face was next to mine and she let me hold her hand as we napped. No love like a puppy's.

lazy saturday afternoon

finally picking up my self up to meet darling friend for italian.

my favorite.

i love dinner dates, especially when he has to work all day.

*pic here.

look who's feeling better....!!!

my blessing.

this is one of the first few pictures of me and darling friend together.
we were out at a friends house... i was elated with happiness.
i stole his camera and took pictures in the bathroom for him. The 2nd one was one of them. It was my silly way of telling him how happy i was.


when he got the house we are renting now for us, he waited til after all my small belongings and masses of clothes were laying around our empty rooms. I was exhausted and we were both scared. But my sweet max, went to his car and handed me a framed picture of the one below. It was the first thing we hung up on our fireplace mantle. It instantly felt a little more like home... OUR home.


and in the million times i've moved...
this is the home i loved most.
with him, my favorite "room mate."
with our two puppies.

and this is how happy i still am today because of him.

big kiss to you all on this friday

a pretty pic on a pretty friday: i dig a pretty girl in glasses.

i forgot where i stumbled across this beauty?

seriously big big kisses to you lovies! you have been there for me, when i needed it- especially the slow wait on how our family dog is doing. She's a little fighter. We took her to another vet to get x-rays and blood work done. Her spine is good so no surgery needed, but she has a lot of problems with her blood work. She has chronic anemia, her protein is low and her GI (something with her digestive system). She's getting some steroids and meds to try to help stabilize her but they don't know why her legs aren't working. We may have to take her to a specialist in Dallas if the medicine doesn't help.

nothing to do but wait and pray.

thank-you thank-you thank-you with all my heart for your tremendous support and prayers for our beloved dog. i am in love with the blogging community more than ever. more than i could ever tell you.

xoxo

enjoy your weekends beautiful friends!!!

the sweetest lies.

I saw this on Happy Cavalier and was touched. I think I would love to tell these "lies" to my nieces. Especially to the most imaginative {outspoken} one, my Marina below:

Lies I've told my 3 year old recently

Trees talk to each other at night.

All fish are named either Lorna or Jack.

Before your eyeballs fall out from watching too much
TV, they get very loose.

Tiny bears live in drain pipes.

If you are very very quiet you can hear the clouds rub against the sky.

The moon and the sun had a fight a long time ago.

Everyone knows at least one secret language.

When nobody is looking, I can fly.

We are all held together by invisible threads.

Books get lonely too.

Sadness can be eaten.

I will always be there.

-by Raul Gutierrez

ps.

dear husband-to-be,

someday when i have minnie you's, i want to start special traditions between us like Marisa does with her daughter. Aren't they precious? Please don't feel left out if it's just between me and baby, because I'm sure you'll have your secret forts where mommy may not be invited. i can't wait for our little family.

love,

me xo

i'm bringing the Romper back.

i love the shorted one piece look.
my new romper from I heart Ronson. {i do!}


ps. see the boo boo on my knee? it's healing finally, but before it did- it was covered with my pink hello kitty band-aids. A fashion statement in itself, i think.

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself."

I was up til 3:30 last night with our family dog Mooshie. She's an 11 year old chihuahua and she's been having health problems. She is blind in one eye and recently has had trouble walking due to arthritis. The last visit to the vet told us her heart was weak. She seemed to be doing good with her medicine... i remember joking with Mooshie, "when did you get to be so old?" time goes by so fast. I remember the strong Chihuahua that barked and barked and wanted to play fetch with her favorite toy, a yellow duck.

last night was the worse night ever.

she kept getting sick- we had to constantly wash her and hold her up in the tub- she was so weak. The emergency vet wasn't answering and there was nothing we could do but hold her when she cried.

she must have been in so much pain, the poor baby was crying non-stop. My seesters and i felt hopeless.

when she first started crying, i went over to her to pet her and was reminded of all the times growing up, how Mooshie seemed to just know when i was sad. She would lay down with me or sit on my lap. Last night, i felt like i was doing that for her. I am filled with such sadness.

I am about to meet my seesters and take her to the vet.

it's time,

and i'm a mess.

....

update****

the vet thinks she has a buldging disk on her spine that's causing her to be semi-paralyzed. We asked if she was crying so much because she was in pain and he said that it's hard to say, she may be crying because she's scared. He gave her two shots of cortisone and is keeping her there to observe if it works. We are praying it does. He said that situation isn't ideal but the worse case scenario is (because she already has a heart murmur) she could have a clot. Seesters and i just want to make sure she's not in pain, and i think if it was bad, the vet would have suggested the "other option." :(

he's going to call back later this afternoon/early evening. I will let you lovies know. Thank-you for your prayers!!! and katy, i do believe all dogs go to heaven too.

"Dogs are miracles with paws."-Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

when the boy is away on a work trip on the other coast...

i miss him so

i wear his white undershirt to feel closer to him

buy a vintage piece for the bathroom

{when i skip the gym work out}.

and get a pedi so i can wear my new PINK heels

these pink heels and did toe toes will happily welcome you home tomorrow darling friend!!! i can't wait to hug you and kiss you congratulations!!! and tell you i KNEW you were good at what you do. I KNEW you could do it. I have faith in your talent. i have faith in you.

missing you,
xo

ps. our doggie babies miss you too!!!

lunch with my working girl friends.

we had italian.

shared ghost stories.

asked for extra bread.

scared ourselves silly.

i wished lunch lasted more than an hour today.

(pic here)

a heart-felt thanks to my M.

i kind of love Marisa of ...or so i feel or so haven't i told you here and here? :) i have never had such a connection with anyone like the one we share.

the other night i spilt red wine on the carpet in darling friend's office at Casa di M and a little tipsy from the wine, i panicked wondering what to do to get it out. Do i just pour baking soda over it? isn't it baking soda-something??? I wanted to call M cos i figured she'd know. She was my first thought. This beautiful girl i have never met.

because i feel that close to her.

look what she sent me over the weekend!!!
my FAVORITE childhood book.

I mentioned how i needed to get a copy on this post of hers. It was like Christmas when I tore open the beautiful wrapping and saw it. {i mean look at my smile! i'm smiling so big you can see my chewing gum lol} As i told M, it was perfect. absolutely and incredibly perfect. It arrived at a time i desperately needed a slice of happiness.

this is the kind of connection we have- she was there for me, without even knowing it.

Marisa, my heart thanks yours.

i love you!

The Girl On Page 194.

In a rush to get to work this morning, I felt bla. Even though I put my gym bag in the back seat i thought-- i have nooo energy to work out today. Sometimes you just need to skip and take a day for yourself. And then i felt my tummy sort of hang over my victoria secret skivvies while sitting at my desk.

before i had a chance to feel horrified, the Today Show had this gorgeous girl as a guest. Glamour subscribers, i bet you remember her as i did- instantly.

as described from this site: "a 20-year-old model with—get ready—a roll in her stomach. Yes, I really wrote that: she has a roll of fat, as well as some faint stretch marks and sturdy looking thighs."

and guess what? she is GORGEOUS. She makes women like me want to shout from rooftops! So gym be damned, i will feel OK with taking a day off from you and hit the vintage shop around the corner instead.

Perhaps tomorrow, you can take it out on me but today- i win.

my sunday.

pajamas & unwashed hair required.

my friday off of work spent in a book shop i love, with the boy i love.

we went to an even smaller texas town {archer city} to Booked Up. It's 4 separate buildings filled with a sea of books that range from rare first editions to current photography books. Stacks of quiet spines to be touched.

It's all owned by novelist Larry McMurtry who's best known for the film adaptations of his work, like "Hud" starring the forever wonderful Paul Newman and the controversial movie of its time, "The Last Picture Show." Most recently, he co-won an Oscar and Golden Globe for best adapted screenplay for "Brokeback Mountain."

I did a story on Archer City in my news days and fell in love with the town. There's a cute bed and breakfast owned by an old friend of McMurtry's. All the rooms are themed after one of his novels... and the golden globe can be found on top of the living area mantle.


it really is a charming little town. it was a perfect friday off.


purchased: 2 vintage movie prints &
Andy Warhol Nudes.

dear target, you get me every single time.

we went into target for 2 simple red tops i could wear to work this weekend.

we also came out with 3 new dresses for me.

did i ever tell you how amazing my boyfriend is? how spoiled i am?

in my defense, i told him i didn't need the black one because it was a little more priced, but that was the one darling friend loved.

no girl can have too many LBD's right?

and i love the ruffled front that kind of cuts just deep enough to make you feel sexy and still wear to work.

the two same styled ones are my break away from black attempt, a la Belen's Dress Up Challenge {DUC}. Me and Black just have an unstoppable relationship. Both have a slightly cinched waist with a tie to make it fitted.

I seriously need to get schooled in photography, but you'll get the idea hopefully :) and the blue is prettier like how it looks by itself in the last one.

the peacock blue dress is the one i fell in love with on the rack. Darling Friend wasn't so convinced, until he saw me step out of the dressing room. {ps. i love that look}



I love slip dresses {that's what i call them!} that flow & these ones are longer than my usual dress length which gives it more of a vintage feel if you dress it right.


Target lovies. Great price...
and hopefully you have a wonderful boy like me who will spoil you with them anyway.


i love you darling friend! thank-you for watching the Preseason 2 football game with me, and to Target afterward. Off to celebrate my COWBOYS win with you now... *wink.

happy weekend!!!!

my friday started early darlings.

I took the day off of work just to relax. Rejuvenate.

Just sit and possibly read.

(it was nice laying in bed in and out of sleep til about 11 a.m.)

it's tax free shopping here in Texas so i'm actually going to be really busy playing check out girl and help my friends in retail. {or you know, look at the clothes i'm going to buy with the money i get paid working this weekend... lol employee discounts, yes!}

i hope each and every one of you has a lovely weekend.

come sunday when my feet hurt from standing all weekend long and (hopefully not anyway) dealing with too many mean customers... know that it brings me joy that i have your blogs to look forward to.

I love each and every one of them, and thank-you for sharing these pieces of your lives with me and for all your very sweet comments.

let's meet back up here Monday? same time/place?

xo.

(pic via english muse. still can't get over them)

let's live like this, shall we?

If tomorrow morning the sky falls...

have clouds for breakfast.

If night falls...

use stars for streetlights.

If you have butterflies in your stomach...

ask them into your heart.

(clouds via 3 Little Birds' Flickr & other from abundance)

let's watch the City that Never Sleeps.

Remember when I told you that i love edward burns' movies because he uses NY like a character itself?

and then i finally saw this movie and it took my breath away?

New York, it's your turn for us to fall in love with you.
SO EXCITED about this:




bradley cooper, kiss me in a taxi cab just like that?


(thanks to BlueBird Vintage cos it totally made my day when i came across it)

Our Night With Paul

Lovies it was AMAZING!!!!
Sir Paul AND being in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium!!!

Sir Paul rocked out like no other.

36 songs back to back (8 of which were the encore), including a tribute he had written "his friend John," a song he said he wrote after Lennon's death as an imaginary conversation with him. "Sometimes" has always been one of my faves, and that he sang for George Harrison.

When he sat behind the piano and sang "Let It Be" it was surreal. I couldn't believe i was hearing it live. When i was going through my awkward teen years and was sad/angry/confused, i would put this song on and just sit and listen. It comforted me.

"Yesterday" was beautiful too. Just Paul and his guitar really.

Max was so cute because when Paul played "Hey Jude" he invited the audience to sing along. Darling Friend was like, "i can't believe I'm "singing" with Paul McCartney!" It was amazing. Truly amazing. Something I will tell my kids about.

the thing that sucked? look at the ticket- it said no cameras or recorders. I was too chicken to bring my camera in since we had to park so far away and i didn't want them to take it up. They didn't even search my purse! i was so upset especially because i had to get a refurbished blackberry and the camera just stopped working. (my luck!) SUCKED!!! But my boss took one of the new stadium screens:

i was digging Paul's red suspenders.

btw... my boss personally met and dance with Sir Paul on the beaches of Jamaica a few years back. Here's a pic of the photo hanging in her office (she's in the white). Seriously, didn't I tell you my boss was THE COOLEST?!

music speaking my heart.

music is such a connector isn't it?
on Marisa's Music Monday post, i fell in love with her song choice.
I automatically thought of darling friend.

i sent him the link and lyrics.

he emailed me this back:

“sad songs say so much.

-elton john*

i will let it be you. and you let it be me.

i love you, you know.”

*he knows my love for elton john.

Max is simply the sweetest. Speaking of music... guess where he's taking me tonight? we are on our way to the New Dallas Cowboys Stadium to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert!!!!

once-in-a-lifetime. Our seats are fabulous, thanks to my best friend's bf Joel.

i will think of you all when he sings "Let It Be" which is just my.favorite.song.ever.

once read.

23-year-old male character's account. She starts with a question:

"We went to summer camp together. At Glenans, don't you remember?..."

Yeah, I remember Marie, all right. One night, she was telling some of the other kids that she'd surprised a couple of lovers kissing on the beach, and that she'd heard the sound of the girl's panties snapping.

"What did it sound like?" I asked, just to put her on the spot.

She looked me straight in the eye. She pinched her underwear through the cloth of her dress, pulled it back, and let it go.

Snap.

"Like that," she answered, still looking at me.

I was eleven.

Marie.

Damn right, I remember. Snap."

-p 69 & 70

i wish someone were waiting for me somewhere

by anna gavalda

"Galvalda sees through ordinary appearances to people's hidden longings."-VOGUE

Troubadour Vintage

remember Elise, the one with the cute-cute-cute blog pennyweight online that i was telling you about here?


I was sooooo BEYOND EXCITED when i saw that she is opening her own vintage etsy shop in TWO days. I already joined the mailing list for Troubadour Vintage.

noted: i wish it was two days ago already, so i could have purchased the above glasses for a day i felt like today.

Happy Birthday Carla!

CHEERS to lovely Carla of The Girl With The Golden Touch.

It's her BIRTHDAY today!!!

Sounds like you had a lovely one and I am sooo glad for it! we've been emailing back and forth because there's some makeup (NYX) she can't get on her island and i was most happy to help out. In return she asked me what i wanted...


to which i replied, if you can send me ROBBIE WILLIAMS in a bow, i'd be most appreciative. In debt to you actually. She's so cute that she said he was engaged at her house at the moment, so in lieu she attached a pic she took from her recent trip to london- his wax figurine at Madame Tussards.




how cute is the birthday girl???
btw- this picture is now my wallpaper on my blackberry {carla, have you got one yet?}


CHEERS to you honey!!! xo
and for making my week with this picture of my man in his waxy sexiness.


and in case you haven't ever heard the god that IS robbie williams, here's one of my fave songs "Feel." To you, from me with a lot of love and affection. As he sings in this song, "I can not get enough."

recall.

' hummingbird'

suppose i say summer,
write the word 'hummingbird',
put it in an envelope,
take it down the hill
to the box. when you open
my letter you will recall

those days and how much,
just how much i love you

-raymond carver

i saw this lovely polaroid, which took me to this poem. I am so glad i found it. I have a thing for hummingbirds, they were a "sign" to me at this time in my life.

But it's also how I'm feeling today. I want to fly away.

a work day full of meetings calls for some librarian glasses.

i would rather be in my glasses with my two vices somewhere else.
someone take me away please?

off to start my day of meetings...
oh wait, that started at 7 a.m. when i got to work.
i need hugs xo


ps. she's my girl crush #2

i need more sundays like this past one.

i spent nearly 10 hours on Sunday with twinkie and our girlfriends katy, stephanie, maria, and erin. Stephanie brought her 2 boys and i just love spoiling them. "Sex and the City" like talk on lawn chairs, a lazy river, snacking, and a hammock.

katy bird who was in town, steph (can you believe she's had 2 boys?!) & me

{the group photo with erin & twinkie is on steph's camera.

maria showed up later, after work}

my bff Maria. i told her her boobs looked pretty.

ignore my water made hair

stephanie's zach. adorable.

after hours of fun in the sun...
Rangers and Boston game later with michelob ultra on draft for cheap. {always fun when Erin's Boston goes against my team and WE WIN!} part of the conversation had:

Girl one: "i bet your number is higher than mine"

Girl two: "i have serious droughts, i'm talking drier than the Sahara. It's just a very luscious period. Let me tell you, 30 is good." {she just turned the dirty 30 this year}


i love love my girlfriends.

i love lazy sunday afternoons like this...