Sunday, July 31, 2011

summer is grand

july:

1. reading
 2. coffee
3. lots of chinese food
4. lots of breakfast
5. writing
 6. too many movies
7. engagement photo-taking




Saturday, July 30, 2011

chinese treat

coconut milk tea with boba.


after chinese lunch with friends today,
we went over to quickly for boba.
ahhh. i have a special place in my heart 
for taiwanese food, engendered by
coco's on the drag in austin. 
love.



favorite quote of the day:
"it's like a milkshake but not as good" - joe black, jr.

Friday, July 29, 2011

restaurant purveyor

lunch date at west egg.


had a lunch date at west egg over in home park
with a new(ish) friend ... oh my, what's better
than a lunch date on a friday afternoon? 
i keep finding all sorts of new reasons
for us to move down into the middle of town.
like, eating breakfast at west egg every weekend!
by the way, anyone want to guess (no looking it up!)
what that name is referencing? 
no prizes, just the knowledge that you are a 
very smart person indeed. or at least you
paid attention in high school english ;)

check out our delicious food:
(you're salivating aren't you?)






Thursday, July 28, 2011

these

ten things:

1. no alarm clocks 
2. a week and a half without A! 
3. Trader Joe's Colombian Supremo (a gift) 
4. warm soy milk at night (see 2 and 3)  
5. sister in law's engagement 
6. last friday's berry crisp
7. a clean bill from the dentist 
(except for the wisdom teeth that must come out, we won't talk about that)
8. brunch and barbecue plans with friends
9. trail mix during film class:)
10. starring in my crazy creative husband's stop motion movies at midnight.  
 bonus: alliteration in all thing literary, à la lolita.
(blooper) still from stop motion movie

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

a little (scoop) of heaven


one of my classmates has been talking about
rooster cookies all year, and i finally got a chance
to have one. mmm. i broke my no-cookie fast
for that piece of heaven. i know, what? i'm trying
to cut out some of those processed sugars.
and this cookie is like pure sugar. or
pure salt, sugar, butter and chocolate.
but, yes, totally worth it.
i'm just glad i don't really live close to 
where they're sold (at least in person) or there'd be no
hope for my poor cookie-loving tummy!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

let me count the ways...

photo shoot!

i had such a fun time taking engagement pictures 
of some friends today. they were so cute and photogenic.
i could have kept on taking pictures for hours,
as i kept (keep) thinking of more venues/shots!
thanks guys for being wonderful models in this 
terribly muggy summer weather! 
come back in the fall and we'll do it again;)

just a very small sneak peek:


Monday, July 25, 2011

fingers crossed

all laquered up.

 there's just something about red nails
that makes me feel happy.

a sweet friend treated me to a manicure today,
in exchange for taking pictures of her and fiance's engagement
photos tomorrow. now i really have to make 'em good! :)
let's all pray that it won't still be raining in the morning,
as we want to take them outside in the park...
now it's off to eat a veggie burger and then 
get a good night's sleep, so i can get up for our early shoot!


Sunday, July 24, 2011

where to eat in atlanta

brunch at parish.
(and inman park)


we made another wonderful brunch discovery today, 
this time in inman park, which we are in love with.
too bad it's much too far for jazz's daily commute,
or we'd live there in a heartbeat!
impromptu brunch plans are the best (and usually the 
only time they work out:) 
and i love parish.
it'd be the perfect place to impress out-of-town friends and family,
so if you come visit me, i will take you here:)








Saturday, July 23, 2011

another saturday night

homemade kettle corn 
+
movie at home.


our saturday night recipe is pretty simple. and mostly, we like to stay home.
i sometimes wish that we were a little more ... nomadic. but, it just takes so much
work (and planning), you know? so tonight we decided to walk
down to our trusty grocery store for a movie and gelato.

then i blew jazz's mind with homemade kettle corn. yeah.



Friday, July 22, 2011

photo friday (finally!:)

summer delights. 










isn't summer grand?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

this is how we do it

love lately list:

1. discovering A Cappella books (wish it were closer)
2. nature's candy (cherries)
3. eating all the fruits there is
4. the search for the perfect place to drink coffee
5. (might be in) Borders while it pours outside
6. short hair
7. thoughts of swimming
8. the soothing whir of the fan at night
9. my writing chair
10. mid-day love texts



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

the one where the lies were told

remember when i said i only get my hair cut once a year?
well, i lied. 
after a year of trying to deal with the aftermath of my
blonde ambition last summer, and after three years of 
hearing how good my hair looked on our honeymoon, 
i finally embraced short hair (again).
this is the best cut i've had in years.
the woman who cut it is a genius.



p.s. it looks better in real life:)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

tuesday date

a date night to the movies


with my one and only love
in the middle of the week!
a nice treat indeed.
 
 
via 
 

Monday, July 18, 2011

finally, another book you say!

the last picture show.


i just finished larry mcmurtry's sad, moving novel 
of loneliness, small towns, isolation, hardship, friendship, endings, 
nostalgia, missed opportunity, desire, love and the poverty of wealth.
it's pretty good. 
and kind of makes me want to read more.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

weekend

wonderful weekend.

so many reasons to be grateful for this weekend: 

1. making chinese food our new Sunday tradition
2. adding the in-laws for lunch
3. a frozen yogurt date last night
4. playing hide-n-seek with the pup-pup after bath time
(and how he tried to save me by growling 
at another dog who was jumping on me earlier)
5. enjoying the Triune God in the Psalms as the water of life flowing 
out from eternity to quench our thirst (Psa. 72:6, 8, 46:4)
6. and a wonderful ending:


Saturday, July 16, 2011

where did all the time go?

currently reading about contemporary art

aka, that art no one understands or can properly identify.


just a smidge curmudgeonlyish from another blah day
and not being able to find a proper smoothie anywhere
around here. not to worry, tomorrow is another day. 
and, looking forward to being able to wax
cultured and learned about the unknowableness
of conceptual art, instead of simply not knowing.
:)

Friday, July 15, 2011

one for the road

not letting crazy-car syndrome get you down.

i have this problem with my car: whenever i get inside, 
i seem to lose my mind. 

par example: 
this morning was off to a good start. i battled the bed and won, 
took lars for a walk, enjoyed a rare post-rain breeze.
but then, the car started calling my name, and i
wanted to escape our awful no-sunlight cave of a living room.
only i didn't really know where to go.  
so, i drove and drove and drove,
and just kept driving, 
and driving,
and driving, 
unable to decide what to do, or where to go. 
as soon as i made my way to one place,
i wouldn't want to be there, so i'd have to get back
in the car and go somewhere else. does anyone else
do this? :o/  
 
 lesson learned—i should have stayed here: 
 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

le bastille

happy bastille day!


when i lived in Paris, my roommates and i lived in the 11th arrondisement.
if you know it, then you know that is where the bastille is. 
i walked by it everyday on my way to class, marveling
at its grandiosity. its history. its existence.

that one was one of the best years of my life. 
i lived with the best bunch of girls, and i don't even care that we were
all american and so, teaching each other atrocious franglais, except
for Carly, she was already merveilleux:) 

Here we are in our "maison" circa 2003:

All 7 of us, including Nathalie and Heidi.
Me, Anna, Maggie, Lindsey and Carly at x-mas party.
The night before I left :(
Our table.




Carly, Maggie, Anna, Lindsey — I haven't seen any of you in ages, and
only rarely do I write (i'm sorry!), but I love you all SO much. You were 
the bestest friends a girl could ask for, and I will always remember our
times in Paris with the best, best memories. 

You will always be mes filles.

Vous me manquez, plus que vous savez.
 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

running away with the moon

my love affair with middlenight
(and mr. s and friend A)


do you know mr. s? mr. s and i have a long, complicated
history. it's a love/hate thing between us. see, i love s. i really love s. 
i can't function without (something like) 10+ hours of him. 
i don't know if it was all the time apart (and then
too much time together) in college. or the teenage trauma 
we went through in high school, and beyond. or what. 
but at some point, he began to elude me, mr. s did.
now, we don't get along, most of the time. i frequently have trouble
riding the wave, counting the sheep, sailing off into the sunset, whatever. 

and so, since college or thereabouts, i've been cheating. 
cheating on mr. s with his unnatural doppelganger—we'll call him A. 
A, if you've not met him, is, as one friend called him, "a magical little ninja."
he sneaks up on you and before you know it—bam! you're out.
what? no tossing and turning? no sleep masks and calming baths
and drinking gallons of tea with valerian root that doesn't work?
no warm milk and reading before bed and not reading before
bed and consistent exercise and strict no talking rules?
that's right. 
A is here like a superhero to help you out.
and i found myself in love with him, too.

but sometimes, like last night, i try to break up with A. 
i know he is just a fancy phony. a rebound. a fake.
i told him sayonara, i've had enough, it's quitting time. 
i exercised, i didn't drink coffee (just to be safe), i lay
quietly (for a while), i grumbled at someone to turn out the light,
i thought sleepy thoughts ... i resisted the charms of addictive A,
and before i knew it, i met one of my oldest friends—middlenight. 
we go way back, middlenight and i. 
he was always my favorite—so lovely, so still, so companionable, 
so inspiring. i did my best work with him. we had such fun,
until the sun came up. and then i cursed him and told him i never
wanted to see him again. 

but for a while, last night, we were together again. 
middlenight, how i've missed you. 

sigh. i don't know who i like more at this point.
what's a girl to do?


Goob from Meet the Robinsons.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

oh, the inspirations!



this awesome photographer has been taking on the challenge.
my favorite of hers so far, although i really like them
all so much, is this one of something blue: 
: love!

Monday, July 11, 2011

monday, monday

sweat-drops after running


with my pup-pup, as he stands over me, 
treading on my mat, quizzically
scrutinizing, surveying my exercises,
his tongue dancing, dripping. 
 it feels good to exercise. i hate it.

:)



Sunday, July 10, 2011

(not so) spicy thai noodle soup...and other things

leftovers.


it's my firm belief that every meal should produce
leftovers for another meal. it should work double, see.
i don't believe in having to cook every single night. 
*or order out every single night, as the case may be.
no. that time is better used for, as i did this weekend:
- sleeping in, mid-afternoon naps
- browsing through forgotten blogs
- taking pictures of chinese take-out
- escaping the heat
- pencil-nubbing the paper
- car rides to nowhere
- meetings for praising God