life lately

i've been obsessed with the idea of organization lately - everything from organizing my home to my finances. organization and all things domestic have pretty much taken over my thought process.

things like; dreaming of painting a chalkboard wall in my kitchen, baking a blueberry cheesecake and displaying it on a colorful cake stand that i don't yet own, hosting late night cocktail parties (which end up more like late night beer gatherings) with jp, hambone, and p, and hosting dinner parties for two in my slightly spacious kitchen.

i'm enchanted by scouring farmer's markets in search of the perfect peach, plum, or the weekly challenge of finding a "new" vegetable to try. the next challenge is to finally take these fresh veggies home and actually do something with them.

on saturday i spent a couple of hours working on a personal budget - however, i think the only thing i've learned so far is that i can make a pretty nifty excel spreadsheet - the "budgeting" part will just have to come later.

and don't even get me started on how badly i want to fix up the ol' blog site! if only i knew a thing or two about html codes and all those other computer savvy in betweens, i'd have a rockin' little site to sport all my thoughts. if anyone in the blogging world can offer suggestions, or tutorial, or just all around wants to help me redesign my blog - not only would i love you forever, but i would pay you back in hugs and cupcakes.

the new roomie officially moves in tomorrow - so i'm excited to squeeze in a few hours of girl time to get to know each other better. i hope she forgives me for not scrubbing the kitchen floor prior to her arrival (i promise it's on my mile long to-do list!).

now i'm off to browse the internet for more "southern cooking" recipes in hopes of actually making dinner tomorrow night!

xo

hubba hubba

oh...i dunno...just a few of my current fantasy boyfriends.

#teamUSA

excuse me while i swoon

#85 learn to play the ukulele

i promised myself (as well as someone else), that my brand new uke wouldn't be sitting in the corner of my bedroom alongside my guitar collecting dust. so, hambone and i are in desperate need of lessons. anyone that's willing to volunteer their services to the two of us would be greatly appreciated. i mean...we even promise to pay you back in cupcakes. any suggestions for lessons in the la area?

thank you thursday

for a weekend spent with my best friend (celebrating her big 3-0!),

learning how to keep my new plants alive,
finally finding this - with a price tag that won't cost me an arm and a leg,
my brand new ukulele,
and finally creating a budget (yikes!).

*oh! and drives down pch that end with sunsets





"you make me really happy."

sometimes, those are the only words you need to hear.

flirty-thirty!

happy 30th birthday gigi!

i can't believe we've gone from those two little pip-squeaks in the picture to actual grown-ups!

happiest of birthday's my love!

 i can't wait to celebrate the weekend with you.

xo

#85 learn to play the ukulele*

this is so happening.

*it still counts as learning if i wait for heather to learn all the chords, then teach me how to play them too.

i like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.  - dr. seuss

thank you thursday

...for brunch with new friends,

sunday supper at cleo,

fresh cut lavender,

this hilarious blog that hambone left on my facebook wall,

and late night dinner dates at home (that end at 3am).

one of those days

where a song is stuck on repeat in my head

thank you thursday

...for late-night-parking-lot-skate sessions,

trips to the farmer's market,

impromtu late night dinners with old friends,

and more love than a girl could ask for.

night

that night, when we slowed danced by candlelight in the middle of my bathroom floor.

that night...made me very, very happy.

life lately

goodness! you would think that by taking a 12 day stay-cation i would have had ample time to keep up the blog. instead, i've found myself celebrating my birthday for a week straight and spending hours upon hours with friends.

(i even neglected my 'thank you thursday' post this week! yipes!)

i couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration. i found myself surrounded by an entire room (or courtyard) full of my favorite people. i just couldn't stop smiling, hugging, and telling people how much i love them.

i can't thank all of you enough for making my 29th birthday so special! i can't even imagine what 30 is going to be like!

i've got 3 more days left in my vacation and i can't wait to see what else this weekend has in store.

till next time,

lt

.

hey shorty...

it's my birthday!

we're gonna party like it's my birthday...

(and it just wouldn't be me if i wasn't obnoxiously reminding everyone)

twenty nine

tomorrow is my 29th birthday! (eep! weird...because i still feel like i'm 19)

i'll be spending the day with food, friends, cocktails, and hopefully somewhere looking a little bit like this:

not gonna lie...i'm pretty damn excited about tomorrow's festivities.

happy birthday to me!

happy one year anniversary to my best friend and her husband

in celebration of matt and gina's one year wedding anniversary, i thought i would share the maid-of-honor speech that i gave at their wedding.

it's the best way i could put into words how i feel about the both of them

and sometimes the word "congratulations" just isn't enough.

enjoy!

...

as i stand here today - although it's the first - i feel as though i've done this so many times before. that's probably because throughout our friendship, gina and i have had a lot of weddings. when we were four and five, she loved her cheeseburger so much that i made her marry it at the dinner table. a few years later we took turns marrying the members of "boys 2 men". and like most little girls, we had our share of barbie weddings. it was always a double wedding. since gina got first dibs - her doll was always conveniently set to marry the mc hammer doll, and mine was left to marry michael jackson. this actually wouldn't have been so bad...except for the fact that gina lost michael's pants. so there our grooms stood at the end of the isle - mc hammer in his sparkly purple suit - and michael standing next to him, smiling in a red leather jacket - minus his pants.

some would say i've always been a little territorial when it comes to gina. from new friends growing up to boys that came and went - i've always wanted to make sure i was number one in her life. when i first heard about matt, i was at gina's apartment one night and she wanted to show me his pictures on facebook. i watched as she clicked through his profile pictures - with each picture her smile grew bigger.

me: so you and matt are getting serious?

gina: yeah. i really like him.

me: you really like me.

gina: he's really funny.

me: i'm really funny.

gina: he's really cute.

me: i'm really cute.

gina: we've been serious for a few weeks now.

me: we've been serious for 26 years!

gina: i think he's the one.

when i saw the picture of matt in a white tee shirt and a baseball cap - that's when i knew not only had gina found the man of her dreams (her very own k-fed) but i had found my competition.

gina - in the last 27 years we've had our ups, we've had our downs, and there was even the time that we didn't speak for an entire month. then there are those days when i call you just to ask:

"do you think we'll be in each other's lives forever?"

even though i already know the answer is yes - even though i know i can't imagine my life without you in it. you have always been more than just my best friend. you are someone i look up to, you're someone i've always wanted to be more like - you're my sister.

and matt - i don't need to tell you how lucky you are to have found her - because when i see the way you look at her - it's obvious that you already know that. even though i tease you that she and i have been dating longer - i realize now that i'm no longer number one in her life. i'm no longer the best friend - that's your role now. i just hope that one day i'm lucky enough to find a man that looks at me the way you look at gina. that loves me the way you love her - and since she still got first dibs on a husband - i hope when i see him on my wedding day ... he'll be at the end of the isle wearing pants.

happy anniversary to the two of you!

i love you more than i can put into words.