Postal Service.

^pretty postcard from Kary who was enjoying NY's best chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery (i can't wait to have one in a little over a week!)

^loved this postcard from Sarah

and remember that package that had me in smiles after pilates from my best friend? here's what M sent me for my birthday (she always spoils me!) :

this pillow is SO comfortable! a reminder to "live well"

a travel journal i can't wait to take to NY and inside is our promise... we will experience our heaven on earth together, italy.

don't you just love the packaging of these pretty earrings? and a best friends mug for my collection. our chats are my favorite! i love you M, more than you know.

^letter from Nicola

^mixed tapes are my favorite. i was lucky enough to get one from Shell, who also burnt me a copy of The Civil Wars cd after i posted about how much this song touched me. {a few of the artists on her cd were Eisley, Joshua Radin, and The Veronicas. again, i love mixed tapes!}

^i got such a surprise birthday package all the way from Malaysia from one of my first and dear blog friends Farah. She sent me the pretty fabric tape above + fancy paper and a bunch of other goodies! like colored felt, postcards, and stickers to 'encourage your crafting.' that line made it all the more meaningful. Thank-you from across the world!

^i made this collage postcard for sarah {cat heart image : butterfly bat}

^what i sent to Beca (the wallet she gave me is here. awesome right?)

^my reply to nicola

^postcrossing that went to Slovenia

^mixed tape for sweet erin

a day in my life.

i was so honored to take part in my friend sarah's a day in the life of series while she takes on the last days of her Master of Landscape Architecture program (hurray!)

spend a day with me? xo

Sharing Sundays... thank u and good nite.

lovies, i have a serious blog crush on Jo over at

she's beautiful (i wanna look like her!) 

she has a rescue named fernando (what an awesome name right?) who looks like the boy version of our rescue, bubbles.

she's a believer of lists.

and she loves reading and reviews her book picks on her blog {now i want to read this one, after feeling so much from the film}.

she's also an incredibly talented illustrator. Over at her shop Jo Bozarth Illustration you can find prints with that deco / vintage feel. 

i love totes and her design would be a perfect gift for any book lover. 

the wee wee dance would be hilarious framed on your bathroom door.

the last print you can personalize (the ideas running through my head are endless... favorite quote? note to your best friend or lover or a good housewarming gift)

and if i haven't convinced you why she's a girl to blog crush on, from her own words:

I believe that music which moves you is church.

big sunglasses.

They're good for you.

thank u and good nite : blog // etsy

+speaking of girl crushes... you remember my forever one on April.  well today is her 21st!!! 

she sent me a text of her champagne brunch and a few minutes ago-- an empty martini glass. You're only 21 once! be sure to say cheers here & brighten her day (or leave her your cure for a hangover... joking!)

happy things to end the week with.

getting a package from my bestie Marisa always warrants a big Lechuga smile. In fact, i'll even post this terrible photo of me straight from my pilates class because i was so excited when the box welcomed me home. (i'll share the contents soon!) i'm also OVERJOYED because M decided to keep on blogging at her always inspiring corner of the internet ...or so i feel. Please thank her for me? even though i knew our friendship would still be like Grey & Yang, i'm so happy she is still going to blog! i love you M and thank-you for making my day (as you always do!) 

twinkie's latest furry addition! i just want to cuddle him!!! isn't he adorable? he's in the puppy chewing phase. This is him on her lap on the way to our momma's to watch Idol.

if only i wasn't trying desperately to save money, i would get this M cookie jar from Claire's sister Kate's etsy shop Very Fine House {where i've bought beautiful vintage finds before} but! she is having a sale so perhaps it's a sign i do in fact need it. *DETAILS ON THE FABULOUS SALE on Claire's Bicoastally. 

don't you love when you read a great book? especially when it's one given to you by a dear friend who was touched by it. Katyha sent me this book for my birthday and i loved it! never have i been so in love with a fictional character as i was with Michael Hosea (who i totally pictured as the Brawny guy!) i wish they'd make a movie out of this beautiful book that i related to so well. What made the book even better is Katyha had put notes on her favorite parts.  i also got to hear her aussie accent yesterday! <3 love love love.

and please do not laugh at this, but when your favorite childhood hero holds a contest on his facebook page to win a shirt of his by posting a photo of you in one of his shirts... well how can you not oblige? i grabbed my latest Bret the Hitman Hart sweatshirt and vogued. Alas... i didn't win. ha! some half naked girl won. how could my hoodie self compete? 

my husband made me blackbean/jalapeno veggie burgers for dinner and it might have been the best thing i've had all week! maybe me not having to cook had a lot to do with it, but it was bliss! i giggled when i saw the above sign -- i want to get a print and frame it in our kitchen. 

i'm feeling pretty pitiful because after two weeks of waiting for my car to be fixed (it was at the mechanics the whole time) i think there's still something wrong with it. we just picked it up yesterday and i might just cry if it's going to cost us more. *UPDATE: took it back to the mechanic and he's promised to have it fixed by tomorrow morning! fingers crossed.

i didn't want to be a pity party on a friday though, so i hope i at least made you laugh with the not so flattering photos of me! and tonight calls for cheese stuffed crust pizza with extra sauce. yum!


i hope you lovies had a better friday than me xoxo

happiest blog birthday to my twinkie soul!

image  

me on the left, twinkie on my right

if you don't know by now, i'm a twin sister to my twinkie soul Marianne. From our childhood photo above, you can see i'm the older twin by 5 minutes and Marianne has always been more dependent on me-- she's the one reaching for my hand on the left (it's cute and so true! like when we started kindergarten, she followed me to my classroom). Everything i did, she wanted to do even if it was later.

from our childhood love of wrestling (followed by 'real' sports later like football, baseball, and even basketball) to tv shows and happily in the past year-- blogging.  I'm so glad she started up her sweet corner of the internet Royal Mail and today lovies it turns 1 year old! 

a big reason to celebrate!!! I love my twinkie so much and being away from her for the past year has been so hard that i love that she now shares my joy of blogging. Growing up we've always shared friends, and that is still true in the blogging world. A lot of the times she'll call me to chat about so and so's blog post and how good it was or some sweet comment she got from someone that we both call a friend. It's amazing and double the fun when you have a twin to share it with.

so if you don't know my sister yet, you really should! she's sweeter than me, hand to God.

please wish her a happy blog birthday for me! xo

Wanting to Know you Wens : Travel Date!

last week i shared this photo of me on the beaches of my heaven on earth, in italy. 

i asked my darling readers to share a photo of them on holiday and i loved seeing the places you lovies have been to. 

here's our wanderlust virtual date: 

^Jennifer, an Oklahoma girl (now living in Europe) in Budapest 

^April in a cafe in Paris during her study abroad (so carrie bradshaw from the last season of Sex and the City)

^Claire in Beijing, China where she went to visit the boy she loved then, who was teaching English to preschoolers. "It was an incredible two weeks-- so much adventure, love, excitement, passion, intimacy, newness." This photo of them was taken in the Forbidden City. Her photo reminds me so much of mine in Italy; she described it perfectly how my time under the Tuscan sun was. 

^Marianne (my twinkie) "I have dreamt of London my entire life. The moment I saw Big Ben for the first time is one that I will cherish forever. My eyes filled with tears of happiness when I was on the London Eye overlooking my heaven on earth. True happiness for me was lying in my hotel bed in Piccadilly Circus after a wild night out with my widows wide open, just listening to the sounds of the city i love." 

^Claire (who lives in the UK with her husband, Mr. D) in Time Square. "Visiting NYC was on my to do list, and Mr. D took me for our 10th wedding anniversary in 2009. We went with a couple of friends and it was the holiday of a life time." 

^Sarah (the brunette) with her posse (also her future husband jeff way down in the end opposite her)  "It was so hot the day we took this photo in Barcelona... This was an amazing trip on which  both couples got engaged. So fun, the happiest travel memories for me." 

^Carol on her honeymoon in Bora Bora this past August with her husband Nick

^Faiza from her trip to Stonehenge in 2010. "It was my second time there within a year and I felt like it was such a haunting, spiritual and calming place." This photo is of her and her brother being goofy and playing rock, paper, scissors. (love it!)

^Amanda in 2007 while she studied abroad in Jerusalem, Israel during their national Independence Day celebration. 

^E. Charlotte two summers ago in Peru with her sister (on the right) in front of Mount Tocllaraju. "It was our last trekking day acclimatizing before we ascended to base-camp below a different mountain, Mt. Yanapachqa. The Andes are amazing!" 

^Meghan in Rome this past summer. She backpacked through France, Italy, and Germany with a girlfriend. Someday i hope to do the same with my bestie, Marisa.

^Leesh in 2004 on Playa Bavaro in Punta Cana, DR. She said this is her favorite vacation photo ever, and it's plain to see why. beautiful!

^Claudia with her entire family during their trip last year to the beautiful beaches of Baja Mexico. "We don't travel much but when we do... we travel in a group! My family of five, my brother's family and their dog, my sister's two kids, and my father in law." 

^Farah in Paris in front of the Notre Dame while visiting her boyfriend in 2009.

^Priya in front of the Eiffel Tower

^Gracie during her most recent trip to the Philippines (where my momma is also from) in front of an active volcano on the island.

^Sara in Rome taken at the Vatican. This trip was in 2004 during a cruise --a pilgrimage-- as part of her job (nice perk indeed sara!)

^Erin in front of Buckingham Palace in 2001, the summer she spent 10 weeks in London. "I remember it was a gloriously hot day in August and I was enjoying a day in the city by myself, exploring, writing letters, drinking Pimm's & Lemonade, and loving every minute." 

^Maddy in Italy who spent two weeks in Tuscany with her ex and his family when she was 16. 

this just may be my favorite virtual date!!! grazie to everyone who played along and shared your beautiful vacations xo