Hair Love

I just love these. Maybe I wouldn't feel so guilty about putting my hair in a bun or ponytail (aka being too lazy to wash my hair) if I had these adorable accessories.

Boots * Pumps * Slippers * Flats * Wedges

I lay awake in bed at night thinking about how I'll organize our apartment in Palo Alto. The closet doors are sliding (ugh) so I won't have enough doors to put my shoes in over-the-door-hanger-organizer things, so I think this might be a good solution:
I think that all the stacked matching boxes would look nice and tidy. But I could also go this route:
Do I really want my shoes under the bed though? I have a tendency to forget about whatever clothes or shoes I put under the bed. They might get neglected. How do you organize your shoes?

One Track Mind

Brendon looked at the blog this morning and said, "Boooooooooring!" Ha ha. Sorry I'm so boring lately. I haven't been doing anything too exciting because all I can think about is packing and organizing and where we'll fit everything in the new place.

I saw this blog post yesterday that shows you how to use fabric as no-committment wallpaper that will stay as long as you like, but comes off easily. Which is perfect for on-campus housing where you can't paint or wallpaper. I am really NOT ok with all white walls!

I've been browsing for fabric the last few days...here are some I like (some of the more bold fabrics I thought could be for throw pillows rather than wallpaper):

It's hard to find designs that aren't too feminine or fru-fru to make a man happy as well.

Happy Memorial Day

I forgot to take many pictures this weekend...shame on me. But we had a fabulous weekend.

Friday night we drove with the William's to Nate's parent's beachfront condo in Ocean City, Maryland. We spent the weekend being totally, utterly lazy and gluttonous. It was fabulous.

We laid out on the beach...and all four of us turned a toasty red color. We devoured bags of twizzlers and milk duds while playing Risk every night. We all had plenty of play time with baby Scarlett. We people watched at the boardwalk and loaded up on our favorite boardwalk treats. And we read books until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer.

Perfect weekend.

Reading Rainbow

I think I've mentioned this before - but I LOVE to read. I would prefer a book to t.v. any minute of the day (with the exception of a lost episode with my hubby these last four days).

Some fabulous, five star page-turners I've read in the last few weeks are:
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Other Boelyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (which I just finished an hour ago on my lunch break...and I'm still wiping tears away [figuratively speaking]...and craving kabobs...can we go to Kabob Palace tonight honey?)

Many thanks to my favorite book screener/reviewer and personal library, Kayla, for having a never-ending supply of books for me to read.

Last Lost-ers

I think B and I are the last people on earth to get into this show. We kept meaning to, but it's quite daunting to start a show that has seven seasons. That's a big commitment. We finally dove in headfirst on Thursday night, and this weekend was all but a LOST marathon for us. We parked our rears on the couch for episode after episode of island drama, with a few hours of packing interspersed.

Berry Picking

Nate and Mel were going berry picking Saturday night, so we invited ourselves along.

This picture is an interesting representation of the difference between mine and Brendon's personalities. My basket is the one on the right and Brendon's is the one on the left. Mine is heaping full of strawberries, some better than others. Brendon's basket is quite sparse...but every strawberry is the perfect shape and color. Darn perfectionist!

He lectured me that as a farmer's daughter I should have picked only the perfect crop. I informed him that we farmers pick it all, then sort through and grade the crop after.

T Minus Thirty Days

...until we leave Washington DC and move to California. Ahh! Nervous, excited, sad and happy all at the same time!

We already started packing...our apartment is a mess of boxes and junk right now.

I've already starting drawing a million drafts of what our "dorm" (we'll just call it that...we're living in on-campus housing and it's about that size!) will look like...how we'll lay out the furniture...exactly what boxes, baskets, and shelving I'll need to organize the closets.

Coincidentally our two best friends out here, the Bertagnas and the Williams, are both moving the same day. Melanie and Kayla were two of my closest college friends and when I left college I never thought I'd have the chance to live by them again. What a treat that we all ended up out in DC for a random couple of years!

Forever 21 Finds

I think these shoes are adorable and very practical...and super affordable at $19.80.

I think I should get me a pair pronto (because you know F21...they sell out of things daily).

On a side note...we had some credit card fraud with our account yesterday (USAA already took care of it...love them!) and someone bought $400 of shoes at Zappos with our credit card. B about had a coronary this morning because he thought it was me that made the purchase. Ha.

But as a reward for not buying $400 worth of shoes from Zappos...I should probably buy $20 worth of shoes from F21.

Happy Anniversary

Has it really been two years? Well, they've been the best two years of my life.

Happy Anniversary, Bren...I LOVE YOU!

Not Bad For a Tuesday

Two of my favorite things: country music and President Bush!

This morning Brendon got me into the Military Spouse Appreciation event at the White House. There was a wonderful breakfast on picnic tables on the South Lawn, and about a thousand spouses of deployed or soon to be deployed soldiers were in attendance.

Secretary of Defense, Secretary Gates, addressed the crowd and offered his thanks for their sacrifice and courage. Then President Bush recognized six spouses that have given exceptional service to their communities.

Phil Vassar was the entertainment - which is why I wanted so badly to come. Phil Vassar is a huge country music star - famous for "Just Another Day in Paradise", "Carlene", and "That's When I Love You" among many others. He sang the National Anthem...which was incredible. He also dedicated his new single "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" to President and Mrs. Bush in honor of their daughter's upcoming wedding this weekend. Then he sang a song he wrote right before his good friend deployed (covered by JoDee Messina) "I'm Alright". His last song was "American Child".

I was maybe 15-20 feet from Phil Vassar and just beaming happy as can be to be listening to country music on the South Lawn of the White House, standing five feet from adorable President Bush who was bopping his head to the music. After the music set President Bush and Phil Vassar worked the rope lines and I got a picture with Phil. I was one happy girl!

(Me and Phil...BFF)

Wee One

Our friends Melanie and Nate had their little baby girl yesterday. They named her Scarlett (Melanie and I had a plant named Scarlett in college...I'm sure this is where the name came from...ha ha).

She is a little redhead like her beautiful mom.

World of Fashion

Yesterday I happened upon a blog that posted about Burda World of Fashion. What is this magazine? Why have I never heard of it? It turns out it's a sewing magazine with super high-fashion patterns - about 70 patterns in each issue! I came across two patterns that I was dying to get my hands on - and aparently I'm not the only one - because I spent the better part of two days trying to find a back issue from 09/07 and everyone was sold out! I sent about a dozen emails, scoured ebay, google, and sewing websites with no luck. Finally someone emailed me back with good news...and now my issue is on it's way. I can't wait!

I am especially excited to make this tulip skirt: (in white? yellow? stripes??)

And this totally Rouland Mouret inspired dress: (I LOVE Roland Mouret!)
note: these pictures are Roland Mouret dresses...not pictures of the finished dress...but it looks a lot like it.

And other random patterns from them magazine:

Quilt Party

Last night, we quilt exchangers got together and swapped our quilt squares. It was so much fun...and I can't believe how great they all turned out. Great job ladies! I love all the bright colors, and I'm very excited to sew them all together and see how it turns out. This quilt will always remind me of the good times we had and good friends we made in Washington, DC.