Postal Service.

^i really love this postcard from lauren. it reminds me of venice / labyrinth / and audrey hepburn.

^from kristina in slovenia : her mom made us this for a wedding gift {so sweet!} and it goes well in our kitchen

^fun letter from caiti

^from my postcrossing turned pen pal Celenia in Italy

^cassie sent me this cute 3-d card and on the envelope she had written, "home is where the heart is." 

^letter from ria in italy // cute card from priya

^fun card from erin {her friend Katie makes these!} erin wrote "El Paso is spicy, no? And most definitely hot!" i have the cutest friends!

 my little sis got me a box of urban outfitters polaroid cards (i love them!). these are going to erin / cassie {because when i think of those two, i think of pretty flowers} / and kristina

 ^another one to lauren

^and thank-you cards going to the church for all the giftcards they surprised us with for our new home!

can you believe january is finally over? i'm glad and yet february snuck up on me. last year i had already finished making hand made valentines for a handmade v-day swap and lately i've had no motivation whatsoever. :( 


i have been running though! and i have been learning my way around the kitchen -- which were both resolutions so go me :) 


but seriously, fun motivation, where are you hiding?!


update: so after reading claire's cute v-day post,  i threw on some clothes and headed to hobby lobby {man oh man i'm SO glad el paso has one!} and got some crafting supplies to make hand made cards again this year! as i was telling claire-- it's the day of love and i'm pretty lucky to have some amazing girlfriends. i can't wait to get started on valentines for them and it'll be a perfect day tomorrow since it's supposed to snow. fun motivation, it's so nice to see you again! x

Sharing Sundays... *lurve you*

*lurve you*

where the blog description is this:

This space is dedicated to love - fleeting love, true love, and everything in between.

{in every antique shop, i always search for old photographs of couples together and wonder about their story}

When George Harrison met Pattie Boyd on the set of 'A Hard Day's Night' one of the first things he asked her was "Will you marry me?" Boyd laughed, so Harrison said, "Well, if you won't marry me, will you have dinner with me tonight?" - ABC News


it's also filled with cute tid-bits like the one above {personally, i really loved reading the one about johnny depp and his "wino forever"} and because it's a blog about lurve-- i even adore the sentiments that aren't lovey-dovey, like this quote:

"A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world." 


- Jack Kerouac

blog: *Lurve You*

Friday I'm in Love!!!

i've decided to play along with summer b's friday lovin series {i also love my girl Claire's weekly lists} because what is life without lots of love?

1.   this painting i saw on we heart it that reminded me of baby me + twinkie, especially the messy pigtails which i still sport today

2.   being surprised by the ladies at my church back home : since i had a "surprise wedding," i didn't have a chance to have the traditional bridal shower... so they had a giftcard/money shower and sent us a big envelope of sweet bridal shower cards! TOUCHED MY HEART. i can't wait to find things for our new house!

3.   getting back to healthy me. this photo was when i was a spin queen. after i post this, i'm off on a run. go healthy me!

4.   using a thrifted frame for my van gogh ... the worn look goes well with sorrow doesn't it?



not pictured: these clear glasses i just got for way cheap thanks to a facebook link a friend posted. i already have and LOVE my warby parkers, but i want to be that girl in glasses so why not also get another pair that will clearly go with anything? (no pun intended!)

it's also a good thing i may have a possible job coming my way in the next week or two... fingers crossed!

tonight we're going out to dinner with our friends next door. Me & Candice had a coffee date sunday afternoon and she joked that it felt like she was in college again, living next door to a girlfriend. i love it!


happy friday lovies!!! let me know what you are loving or if you have weekend plans? if you blogged about it, put a link on my comments cos i'd love to see! xoxo

sweet nothings.

darling husband,

yes, i seriously want this from you. because it looks like a sweet heart pendant necklace until you take a closer look.

and that would just make me giggle.

love,

your cheeky wife xo




*it was a close run with "bless this mess" but i figured that was more of a gift i'd get myself or one from a girlfriend... 


not from my husband who i would hope thinks that about my um... "bee stings" (what i've always called my chest cos i have none!) 


wouldn't that be a funny "wanting to know you wens?" what do you call your boobs? oh, only on my dolce vita... 

Wanting to Know you Wens... + a terrible old school photo of me with short hair.

you lovies are so cute to think i could pull off short hair! my twin sister always wore hers short short {to be like Posh Spice} throughout high school and some in college.

i always kept mine long until my first semester in college when i decided to chop it off.

and with my thick hair, it was like a helmet! my always round cheeks seemed to be even rounder with my short hair. i hated it.

this was the only photo i could dig up of my short hair... and i'm not even looking at the camera! (yup, that's me on the far right)

i sent this to my twinkie this morning and we couldn't even remember my hair ever being that short because i've always worn it so long. in fact, in this photo my hair was already starting to grow out.

if my little sis wasn't getting married this july and i wasn't a bridesmaid, i probably would chop off my hair again and take jessie's hair motto... "it'll grow back!"


what about you? 

how long do you wear your hair?

what's the shortest you've gone?

have you ever dyed it drastically?

"I kind of miss myself the way I used to be."

had a movie date with myself. film - wristcutters: a love story suggested by my friend edward. 

different. darkly magical. fun. and made me fall in love with one of my girl crushes all over again.

she makes me want to chop off my hair. oh if only i could pull it off.

a giveaway to tell you about because i believe in it so.

head over to meg fee's blog and enter this beautiful giveaway {her blog's first}.

Nakate is a project both to be inspired and moved by.

About Nakate:

The women of Eastern Uganda are living in a dead market. Where there are wares, there are seldom customers to buy them. Where there are customers, vendors often struggle with debilitating AIDS and malaria that keeps them from continuing work.

The necklaces we sell are providing a global market for products that would otherwise remain unsold. We began our project in August of 2010, when Shanley returned from Uganda with a sack of necklaces, and a dream to help the women she had met.

one lucky reader will receive the kaunna necklace  :  enter here now.

Postal Service.

^i've really fallen head over heels for my aussie friend rebecca (she found me on postcrossing and i'm so glad for it!) look at the beautiful envie and then the kindness below:

 knowing how hard it was for me to make this epic move, she researched fun tidbits about el paso's history and places to see with fun illustrations! touched my heart. i spy elvis and ali mcgraw... {hanging on my fridge currently}

 and then she shared her story about moving to her town 3 months ago and not knowing anyone. She sent me photographs of her "spots" she discovered wandering around Newcastle. these two were my fave. magical. i can not thank-you enough Rebecca!!! xo

^speaking of postcrossing, this came from finland. Pirkko sent the blank van gogh inside the monroe card.

^a care package from my momma that also included italian coffee cookies (delish!) two sets of rooster mugs with tops for me and husband (what my kitchen decor is) & obviously she thought i needed undies. i love my momma!

^awesome penguin postcards from lauren photographed with the kiss kiss one that made her think of me because of my new year's resolution

^my reply to rebecca 

^traveling journal going back to lauren {long over due, sorry l. nicole!}

^sent my little seester this darling personalized wire hanger to hang her beautiful wedding dress on.

yup, my beautiful baby sis is getting hitched to her long-time boyfriend this summer and we're thrilled!

 two of my fave from their engagement shoot by b. alyse photography

something totally unrelated to happy mail: 

i went for a run today and then baked peanut butter brownies. because that's what you do after a run...

it's after 9 p.m. here and i may have snacked on some just now. 

and then had handfuls of mozzarella cheese from the pizza i made yesterday + a colby jack cheese sandwich with texas pete's hot sauce.

i guess i could count that as dinner? bleh. good thing i don't blog what i eat regularly-- i'd be mortified! actually, in that case maybe i should... i'm kidding but yup, i really eat that kind of crap--- in that order. 

PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!  

because i have serious eater's remorse, similar to buyer's remorse. ha

awesome is.

awesome is finding the perfect earrings to go with this necklace i love.

the earrings were a gift from my co-worker edward (i miss my VA bff!!!)


awesome.

Sharing Sundays... karine leger.

i'm really loving this montreal artist.

she's also a photographer and collagist. 

(i'm thinking either of the last two would go great with this art piece i love from olivia jeffries)

karine leger : shop

dinner + movie date with our lovely neighbors.

we're lucky that we share the duplex with another couple (also newlyweds) who after last night, we just adore! they invited us out to dinner (yummy mexi food!)  and it was like we've hung out with them ten times before-- it was so much fun! 

we were having a blast and somewhere along the way at dinner i started talking movies and how behind i am in watching them since the move. Coincidentally, they love movies  and go all the time-- in fact, they were going to a late showing of "The King's Speech" and asked us if we wanted to go. I was thrilled! because of course i love colin firth, but also the premise of the film. 

Amazing. I loved every bit of it. every bit. i could go on about how much i loved this movie...

suffice it to say, i hope he wins the Oscar for his performance. and if you watched the Golden Globes, did you not swoon at this part in his acceptance speech? :

"But the very best thing of all has been Livia, and all the beautiful things she’s given me and I think I can cope with just about any age as long as I can still see her.”


swoon. He is Mr. Darcy, isn't he?


we had an awesome Friday night & i'm so excited that we have a married couple to hang out with right next door to us!

how was your friday? and if you've seen the movie, didn't you just love it?