cherry blossoms.

i never realized how many cherry trees there are where i live. in fact, i didn't realize there are more than one kind. i'm 99.9% sure my neighbors have what is referred to as a yoshino cherry tree. it's sooo beautiful with its cluster of white blossoms. no wonder i like them (note: i'm obsessed with white, in case you didn't know).

well, tomorrow i'm off to the big apple for the business and design conference...and also for the special tour of martha stewart living omnimedia. so much to do, so little time. but i'm so excited! i'll be sure to share my experiences with you all when i return.

porch party.

i love porch parties! to celebrate the warm weather, a few girlfriends of mine came over to my place and we officially opened up the porch. it's such a great place to gather and enjoy each other's company. thanks to my dear neighbor (and good friend), we now have beautiful paper lantern lights hanging from all three sides.

i'm looking forward to spending many more nights out there in the coming months...

vermont.

gorgeous weather, but more importantly a need for some sisterly love, is what brought me to vermont this past weekend.

this is the view of stowe mountain. so serene! i attempted to go on a hike with my sister and one of her friends, but half way up the trail we were faced with 2 1/2 feet of snow! not suitable for two women, one of which was in sandals!! but regardless, it was so refreshing to see such beautiful views.

on saturday night, my sister's friend, lucas, cooked the most amazing bbq. pork, lamb, chicken, corn on the cob, and mango salad. yummy!


vermont = kitties. i got to see izzy and gerty. the two dearest, sweetest cats of all. look at gerty. soaking in the soon to be summer sun. she blends in so well with the dirt. maybe that's why we call her "dirty gerty." ha!


check out the old volkswagon bug. orange (i love that color lately). this vintage car sits in my sister's backyard. it's a decoration of sorts. i love how she and her roommates pile the wood next to the car.

martha.

martha, martha, martha. oh, wait. that's marsha, marsha, marsha. ha! well, regardless, i have martha on the mind. want to know why? because i just received confirmation today that i will be one of fourteen peeps to have a private tour of martha stewart living omnimedia by the chief creative officer, gael towey, at the end of this month. yup! i'm going to see the behind the scenes of martha's empire. how cool!!!! you may be wondering how this opportunity came to be. well, i will tell you. you see, i have a very cool boss who suggested that i attend this business and design conference in new york city in a few weeks. so i registered for it a few months ago. but not knowing that this special tour would be offered to a select group of registrants. it's so exciting! this will be a great networking opportunity for me. i promise to provide an update post-conference. i wonder if i will get to meet her...

oh, i should also mention that my sister's godfather works for the martha stewart show. so i'm planning to meet up with him as well. and just yesterday i received the latest issue of her magazine, which i just adore. life works out in mysterious ways...

wicked.

this is a shout out to my cousin, erica, for being the hottest wicked witch of the west. she is starring in the wizard of oz this coming weekend at her college out in colorado. and i wish i could be there to see her perform. she gets to fly and melt...all on stage. i'm so proud of her.

happy spring.

there's nothing better than the change in seasons. i just absolutely love it. i can always find a reason to embrace winter, spring, summer, and fall.

saturday was a gorgeous spring day here. so sunny and warm. i woke up and headed off to meet a friend for breakfast before we began our morning's worth of tag sale hunting. boy did we score some good finds. below are two necklaces i got for $3 each. they've already been tagged as favorites. :-)

another great find were these vintage aprons. i bought three for $5. what a deal!


(the pink one above is reversible!)



i really want to learn how to make my own, but i need to learn how to sew first. my aunt gave me a sewing machine and taught me how to thread it, but i need to put it to use once and for all.

in addition, to the necklaces and aprons, i also acquired a spinning scrabble board ($5) and a cast iron pan, already seasoned ($1). so all in all, it was a successful day of tag sale hopping.

when i got home, i took one look around my apartment and decided it was time for some change...and major spring cleaning. so i spent most of my sunday afternoon rearranging furniture, scrubbing floors, and doing laundry. tonight, i've tasked myself with putting my winter clothes away. no more turtlenecks. ah....spring really is here...

more dollhouse.

i spent most of last sunday afternoon working on my dollhouse with my aunt. i'm finally done stripping all of the wallpaper that i had glued on haphazardly when i was younger.


here i am cleaning up my mess. next i have to pick out the wallpaper. i need some guidance with this because there are sooooo many options out there. i've been looking through a ton of magazines and to get ideas.


this really is so fun! especially since it allows me to spend time with my aunt/godmother (pictured below). she's been such a guiding force in my life. it's so wonderful to spend this time with her and learn from her.


so stay tuned for more updates...

green.

isn't this green polka dot purse adorable? as soon as i saw it, i immediately thought of my mom. she loves green. so i bought it for her. along with the t-shirt, which says "my white t is green." it's made of 100% organic cotton. earth day is right around the corner (april 22). so i thought this purse and the t-shirt would be a cute way to show my appreciation to my mom for all that she did for me last week. oh, and the purse is reversible. so two for the price of one. who can beat that??

happiness.

i'm a frequent visitor to the Real Simple website. they have a plethora of resources, advice, reviews, tips, etc. to make every life situation "real simple" - ha! i encourage you to browse through the site if you have a minute or two. (side note: i really would LOVE a job as a web editor for this publication. it's so up my alley.)

anyhow, i subscribe to their rss feed for daily thoughts, and similar to my affirmation cards, these thoughts provide me with little bits of inspiration, and often times motivation. today's thought is about happiness (see below).

so after reading this, i had a "ah ha" moment. and i realized that the key to my own happiness doesn't have to do with the actual events that occur in my life. obviously, i don't have a lot of control over those things. but my happiness has to do with how i approach each instance, whether it be good or bad. it's connected more to my emotional outlook life. now that's some food for thought for this rainy friday afternoon...

goddess of illumination.

this morning i picked this affirmation card: goddess of illumination. i am flexible and can adapt to the challenges of our modern age.


the card says:

"use this gift when information overload, constant change, and other aspects of the rapid pace of modern life threaten to overwhelm you. modern 'conveniences' have eliminated the cushion of time necessary to properly absorb and consider information and concepts. to achieve true knowledge and wisdom, you must take time each day for quiet reflection."

boy, my first day back to work was all about rapid pace. it was so busy, i barely had time to take my advil nevermind eat my lunch. i think i should have stay home one more day. my ribs and back have been used to the recline mode. so sitting up right in my office chair was not pleasant by any means.

i think i need to take time tonight for some "quiet reflection." no tv. no computer. no phone.

ouch! and my couch.

here's where i've been camped out for the past four days. i fell down my stairs over the weekend and bruised my ribs. not fun!

advil every 4-6 hours, per the doctor's orders, and lots of TLC from my mom has helped me through it all. i've been forced into pure relaxation, which has been nice, despite the pain. i've literally just been lying on my couch surfing the web, reading my favorite blogs, (one being my cousin's blog, Thistle Downs wool design - p.s. she makes amazing felted handbags that you have to check out! my favorite one is called gammy), and watching lots of daytime television. i forgot how many cool talk shows on are during the day.

tonight, i'm going rest up some more and prepare myself for my first day back at work this week. i have a lot of catching up to do.

96 years.

i just called my granny to wish her a happy birthday. she turned 96 years old today.


every time i visit with her, i am in awe of how amazing she looks for her age. despite a little bit of dementia, she is still pretty with it...and funny as ever (maybe that's why she was born on april fool's day - ha!). take a look at this video i took of her last weekend.



can you believe she was born two weeks before the Titantic sunk? pretty amazing this woman. i wonder if i will live to 96? there's this series on abc tonight, live to 150, can you do it? i'm planning on watching it just out of curiousity. i can't say that i want to live to 150. but i wonder what it would be like...