Wish List: Clouds.

this week's wish list is dreamt from Amelie.

did i ever tell you how good i am at finding shapes/animals in the clouds?

from the top: organic tea towel . rainy day from birdmafia, Mobile...Spring Rain clouds from the butter flying, I Dreamed of a Cloud from lucysenowphotography, cloud necklace from the morose bee.

wish lists always inspired by my friend Danielle of Dinosaur Toes, who I can't wait to meet this weekend! (i know you're jealous, i'm thrilled. That i'm meeting her, not that you're jealous. *smiles)

listening to The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by the Postal Service.

"Be still; sad heart;

and cease repining,

behind the clouds

The sun is shining."

-Lori Ramotar

little rectangles of art.

thank you sooo very much again for your emails/comments on my last few posts. It means a lot. Nothing's ever the end of the world if you've got good health and your familly (my own and the one I'm marrying into) and your friends (this includes you lovies!) so I'm not going to dwell on any bridges we need to cross until we get there. Let's get back to regular posting, yes?

postcards are my favorite things to send. I'm a member of the Postcard Crossing Project ever since Belen first introduced it to me. It's an impressive project and i love the idea of postcards traveling the world.

recently i fell in love with two things shared by bloggers i follow, all centered on postcards.

Check out these save-the-dates using vintage postcards, via inspired to share. I love. Perfect for this bride-to-be.

Adrienne posted about postcard art on Mustard Seed Collective. Again, I love.

and of course, I've always been a fan of Fallon's postcard pillows. They are my go-to gifts for my special someone's.

ps. I got these stamps today at the post office & they are my favorite.

"I'd rather live in his world Than live without him in mine"

lyrics from Midnight Train to Georgia / print She and Him from alice b gardens

thank-you lovies for your prayers & positive vibes! i hated to end a day on such a sad note, so i won't.

today i'm thankful for:

+ american idol. Crystal sang this song tonight and i watched it twice. Her voice is amazing.

+ baked cinnamon rolls & a cup of coffee to brought to me in bed by my husband-to-be. {it's the 3rd best way to wake up in the morning}

+ friends who are my soul mates, esp. my bestie M who's half my heart always.

+ using a gift card you forgot about and found tucked in your wallet. {score!}

+ my orange and cream stripped long-sleeved shirt dress.

+ hot showers when it's cold outside.

+ holding hands.

+ family.

+ you reading this.

+ my unwavering Faith.

wear your faith on your sleeve.

today has been a hard day for the lechuga-maxham's.

without getting into detail, i believe in the power of prayer so i'm asking for yours.

In every hardship i've had, i'm comforted by the fact that i believe God never gives us more than we can handle.

He never gives up on us, though we often fail to reach out.

I'm sure you've seen this skit before, but in case you haven't... it gets me every single time.

Two Things i Love... Around my Home.

my two are similar today: peacock knick knack purchased yesterday at my favorite antique shop downtown and old fashioned calendar my old room mate Katy gave me when we moved out of our loft downtown in Texas. The details of the two are intricately beautiful.


the peacock came in a pair- one slightly bigger. I'm saving it for Rice Babie's Love Vintage Package Exchange. {you can see the button on my sidebar} I'm a sucker for putting together packages for swaps indeed, but the vintage love one is one after my own heart. (My momma always asks me where i got my eclectic taste from.) I'm really excited about all the swaps but this vintage one is pie for me (or a cupcake).


play along and show me two things in your casa via BacWoods Fern. (Kassie, i know all about moving so i wish you patience & good music on this move. Your new house is gorgeous btw!)

who was your childhood hero?

i bet you didn't know that growing up i was in love with what was then, the WWF.

Yup, wrestling. My childhood hero was Bret "The Hitman" Hart. There was a time i would beg my parent's for the latest merchandise and mapped out a road trip from Texas to Calgary Alberta, Canada so I could meet Bret. Though my pappa never drove me thousands and thousands of miles to see him, he did give me countless birthday presents of the Hitman stand-up (life size cardboard cut out of Bret in my childhood room with lipstick marks on his cheeks) and figurines.

It's a part of my childhood-- up until he stopped wrestling some 12 years ago. It was a sad day for young me. The wrestler that ended his career? Shawn Michaels-- who just so happens to be my twin sister's favorite wrestler. A love for wrestling was something we share. Who knew that our favorite "heros" would be make the greatest rivalry?

Yesterday was Wrestlemania 26, a great irony: Bret Hart made his great comeback in the ring and Shawn Michaels says goodbye to the ring. For me and twinkie, it was a delight seeing our wrestlers together.

"Smiling in glorious defeat, a humbled and satisfied Michaels graciously embraces Hart’s gesture. Instantly, it becomes even more apparent that, for Bret, this night and this ring resurgence has been about repairing wounds, no matter how deep."

On The Grandest Stage of Them All, closure is accomplished for a murky, muddled past for The Hit Man. And while Hart is presently enjoying the emotions wrought by a moment so long in the making, there’s contentment in knowing that “The Best There Ever Will Be” still lies ahead."

my husband-to-be laughs at our "crazinesss." Yes, we know it's fake *smiles* but it's a part of our childhood. A part of our bond. A part of us.

^my beautiful twinkie marianne & her Shawn Michaels tumbler.

^me and my Bret Hart biography.

maybe i'll get to meet him after all? it would be a HUGE life list checked off.

Postal Service.

i've decided to do a bit of a mail time monday post like my "little seester" Belen does on her blog. (seriously, i love these posts of hers and i love happy mail).

incoming:

^Carrie & i have a shared love for van gogh, film, elvis, and D.C. She recently went on a trip that included a tour of the White House. This postcard is gorgeous.

^je taime card from erin {perfectly her, flowers & french? oui!} & cutest little notecard from Tiffany who lives in Texas- how did i not know that before?

^sweetest thank-you note from Chelsea for winning my giveaway {how sweet is she to thank me for that?} i loved your bird stationary! and the cute doodle on the inside envelope flap.

^a postcrossing from California. I loved this one! one of my favorites. The front's a picture of her Mom making a flower crown for a little tea party they had to celebrate the vernal equinox.

Outgoing:

^Cole posted this picture of a thank you card i sent to her. Such a sweet girl! you should check her blog out if you haven't because right now she's hosting a FABULOUS giveaway for her followers.

^letter to Tiffany & the record is for a CD swap she's hosting right now. {i love the thrill of finding new music that how perfect would this be?}

^Birthday parcel to Erin, letter to Belen (who's celeb crush is Jason Gordon Levitt), postcrossing, letter flying to Australia for Megan, and the Vincent postcard went to Carrie.

^what i wrote on the back of erin's birthday gift. {giggles} i hope you get it before the 5th of April! x

^i ordered these pretty chained wing earrings from etsy owner & kind friend Christin of CMEdesign because i have the same pair {thanks to her} and love them, and wanted to include these earrings for Cole's favorite things gift exchange. Christin sent them, along with earrings she made specially for me.

(i had to scan them because my camera skills couldn't capture their detail- and even a scan doesn't do them justice)

they're sea horses, keys, and the hearts are red jasper. She peeked in my favorites (cute girl!) & saw that i have a thing for all these things. The sea horses got me... i like them because they're my twin sister's favorite & so they remind me of her. It's so hard to be separated by miles that these earrings mean so much; that when i wear them i'll think of her. Christin didn't even know that-- which makes her gift truly extraordinary! Thank-you my dear friend. xo

Sharing Sundays... by-geisslein.

did i ever tell you about the time i saw Robert Redford speak at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas? He was every bit as lovely and polished as you would expect him to be.

today my Sharing Sunday would be tickled at this experience of mine. Geisslein, my German beauty, adores him as i do.

her little corner of the internet, by-geisslein is filled with amazing photographs like below, filled with witty quotes from iconic people of old hollywood.

"I think that making love is the best form of exercise."

Cary Grant

"I know what sin is."

Brigitte Bardot

she always sends me kisses from Germany and tells me what the weather is like there. Today it's cold and cloudy, just like it is in my Virginia.

(Geiss, I'm sending you kisses from VA and wishing you a sexy weekend)

date night: indian food +

(images via we heart it.)

Friday : Lust for Life. (and shopping)

it's drizzly and grey in Virginia, which is my happy weather. I decided to spend the quiet friday morning browsing the shelves at the Book Shop on the Avenue. I found some beauties!

i especially loved finding the red book on the right: Lust For Life / The novel of Vincent van Gogh by Irving Stone.


Max gave me lunch/gas money and what did i do? bought books and went thrifting (again). Sigh... Husband-to-be is going to be shaking his head at me but since he knows me well, he'll probably expect it. (i love you Maxie!)

I'll show you my thrifting finds next week, promise. For now, how about another round of fill in the blank friday?

1. The best piece of advice I was ever given was recently from my bestie who reminded me that there are no regrets, only experiences .

2. If I had a million dollars to give to one charity I would give it to UNICEF .

3. If I got to choose my "last meal" it would be my Mom's cheese enchiladas and mexican soup and for dessert... fried oreos and expensive wine .

4. My hair is is just now finding it's natural colour. For the past two weeks i've also been without my chi straightener (left it on my birthday trip home) and in the past I would have panicked because my hair is thick and natural wavy, but Max is digging the bed head look .

5. If at first you don't succeed just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

6. I have always been very scatter-brained. It is my worse defect .

7. Oh....and by the way.... can I just tell you how much i LOVED each and every one of your compliments on my Pappa's art work yesterday? I can't wait to brag to him... wait... - bragging to him about him- oh, only my weird wording. *wink xo .

Play along at the little things we do...

a proud daughter boasting about her artistic father.

Besides being the greatest father, my pappa is a talented artist. My Mom often asks him why he doesn't paint happy pictures like flowers or this Tuscan villa roof top he gave me... and the answer to that is because my father believes in this quote:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

- Jorge Santayana

My pappa's work mainly depicts the horrors of war; specifically the Holocaust of World War II.

I think his art is beautiful, even though it's subject is dark.

Please take a look {hit full screen} at the book he put together and please let me know what you think! xo

Never Again by Miguel C. Lechuga

love,

his proud daughter

this was in the preface of a random novel i picked up. i held it to my chest.

"As if through a straw,

you drink my soul.

I know -

it's bitter & intoxicating."

-Anna Akhmatora

(image via Fine Tuning's Photostream)

Postal Service : lovely mail from lovely friends.

as mentioned, i got a cartful of mail when i came home from Texas. Seriously, I felt like a rock star! i have THE best blogger girlfriends! I'm a huge fan of happy mail, that I wanted to share the amazing things sent to me. Unfortunately, I always forget to snap pictures of outgoing, except for postcards. I love postcards! if you send me something, I always promise to send something back- that's half the fun, putting together something for a friend.

first, the lovely birthday cards...

left to right: Chels (thank you for the giftcard to our favorite store Target. It happily went to purchasing my special 3 disc set of NEW MOON!), Shelly, my bestie M, Sandra (j'adore the mickey mouse card!), & L. Nicole. You made 26 feel so special lovies!

My bestie also gave me part two of my birthday surprise (here's part 1). I screamed when I opened it and found this print i have been COVETING of serge. M must have remembered, because my sweet soul mate purchased it and sent it along with the sweetest birthday card. M, you always spoil me! I love you (and Serge!).

Elaine sent me the prettiest birthday gift also. It's a bad picture of me- hers with something i sent is much prettier, but that's just because she's a filipina beauty. I LOVE the pink heel charm on the necklace she sent me cos like Max said when he saw it, "don't you have a pair exactly like these?" Heels are my weakness, it was a PERFECT gift! the thing i loved most is she sent along a photograph magnet of her ADORABLE as a button son Dylan for my fridge. I feel like his auntie already, it was the sweetest sentiment! I can't believe I didn't get a shot of it-- probably because it went on our fridge right away! you are the kindest person i know Elaine! xo

speaking of Filipina prettiness, Aimee sent me some filipino snacks (brought me back to my childhood!), gorgeous pearl earrings, and a filipino pride shirt i can't get enough of! And of course, the nicest letter. (Aimee, Max keeps eating the Barquiron. He loves it)

Cole sent me a thank-you for being a part of her real people in love series. Don't you love the card and her talented embroidery? I told her i was HONORED to have been featured and really i should be thanking her. I love awesome people! (she's hosting an awesome gift exchange btw... i've already signed up!)

don't you love the envelope Megan made?

as well as this handmade from a children's book envelope from my "little seester" Belen?

gorgeous postcard from Shelly (on top of a book my twinkie gave me for my birthday)

sophie from Melbourne emailed asking if she could write me. I love those kind of requests. Here's the beautiful envelope she sent, along with a postcard she found in a cute shop in Tasmania. Sophie, two of my favorite things: art (girl with the pear earring) and postcards.

all mailed out yet? i like postcards so i'll share with you the ones i sent out this week.

I bought decorative tape from Pretty Tape and love it! if you got a thank-you from me in the mail, you'll see i used it the moment i got them.

postcard to Shelly, bought from CoriKindred

to Elaine

in my reply to Sophie, i sent her a photograph postcard i got from my favorite antique store downtown. She has bundles of old postcards and some of my favorite are european with actual photographs (like below) on the front- not just prints.

a postcrossing to someone who said she liked Black & White photographs best. This one is called the Kissing Contest. I thought i'd share what I wrote on back.

just an idea of the kind of random things i wrote to postcrossers.

i love each letter i get and always reply. THANK-YOU so much for showering me with loveliness when i came back from Texas. It was SO nice to be welcomed home. BIG KISSES to you all!!!! it is SO good to be your friend! xoxoxoxo