so much to do to set my heart right.

a cat nap: what i wish i was doing right now! what a life oscar has.

how are your wednesdays going?

{ image of oscar taken by yours truly.}

just keep me where the light is.

don’t you just love this photograph? the light, the cat, the books—it makes me want to curl up with my tattered copy of anne of avonlea and read the morning away.

{ via for me, for you }

kindred spirits.

i love everything about this photo of these two sweet milanese girls, from their linked arms to their black coats, tights and heels. they remind me of me and my girlfriends, and also of the fact that i am who i am, in great part, because of my beautiful friends.

{ via the sartorialist }

motto/mantra.

some monday-morning inspiration for you via the amazing le love.

let's ride.

i’ve been obsessed with the idea of buying a bike lately, so even though i woke up this morning and it was 30 degrees outside(!), i couldn’t help but think that—if i piled on three coats, some gloves and a scarf—it would be nice to take a bike ride by the bay.

village bikes, a bicycle shop and coffee bar (awesome combo) here in sarasota, is a great source for all things cycling related; they even carry the electra models that i’ve been drooling over lately. for the past couple of months, i’ve really been into appreciating the outdoors—whether through kayaking, spending a lazy sunday on a boat, strolling the farmer’s market on saturday mornings or just walking around my neighborhood—and so purchasing a bike seems like the next logical step.

do you all own bikes? how often do you ride them? when i was little, i had a barbie-pink bike with streamers, then upgraded to a teal blue number that said “cheeks” across the back of the seat in big white letters. slightly embarrassing, but great for pedaling over to my friends’ houses nonetheless.

{ lovely lady above via the sartorialist, of course. i’d love to look that chic on my bike! }

totally in love...

with this gorgeous dining room. i have a thing for chalkboard paint; if i were allowed to paint over the masking-tape colored walls in my apartment, i'd do a whole section of my kitchen exactly like these photos.



{ via design*sponge }

resonate.

today our IT manager set up a big-screen tv in our office so that those who so chose could watch the inauguration of the 44th president of the united states of america, barack obama. i watched the entire thing—from the processional to the musical performances to the oaths of office to obama’s speech—and choked back tears the whole time. what an amazing, historic, important moment in american—and world—history. to say that i have hope is a massive understatement.

here’s my favorite part of obama’s inaugural speech:

“as we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. they have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in arlington whisper through the ages.

“we honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. and yet, at this moment—a moment that will define a generation—it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.”

here’s to looking forward. to the spirit of change. to each other. and most importantly, to hope.

that certain je ne sais quoi...

one of the lovely joanna’s new year’s resolutions was to dress more like a french woman, and i can totally see why. the french are so effortlessly stylish, so impossibly chic...i’d love to be able to describe myself that way. maybe i’ll copy joanna and add that same resolution to my list—“love more, volunteer, strive for balance…dress like a french girl.” ha!

anyway, aiding and abetting this desire (and hurting my wallet in the process) is a new shop in sarasota called paris couture. it’s run by a pixie of a parisian woman, and filled with meticulously curated clothing straight from—you guessed it—the city of light. i already have my eyes on a great pair of shoes, and the dresses and tops are to die for. if you’re in town, be sure to check out the shop—it’s on pineapple avenue near l. boutique, and the owner is a treat. and if you’re in the mood for even more french fashion, stroll on down the street to l’atelier f, another new store.

how would you describe your style?

p.s. i just bought this coat (marked down to $28 from $128), and i’m in love with it. tailored, cinched at the waist and purple. swoon. (and it’s especially appropriate since it’s not even going to hit 60 degrees here for the next few days—i know that’s mild for the majority of you, but i live in southwest florida!)

p.p.s. a tres cool interview with street photographer garance dore by—who else?—joanna.

{ photo: heart that sart }

no other love.

this is a little weird, i know, but p.s. i love you has been playing on hbo for the past couple of weeks and i swear i watch it every time it comes on and i'm home, even though i cry like a baby at the end (masochistic? maybe). other than the fact that i'm a total sap, i think the movie resonates with me because i'm irish--i love irish men, like gerry (gerard butler), and i'm dying to go to ireland, where a good chunk of the movie takes place.

anyway, today i thought i'd share one of my favorite scenes from the movie. i can't explain why i love it so much--maybe it's the combination of gerard butler singing, the scene taking place in an irish pub, the fact that hilary swank is really likeable in this film or the song "galway girl" itself--but i do. and i hope you enjoy it, too. there's something so simple and exuberant about it.

ah, technology.

my best friends know that i’m a little bit of a tech whore. yes, i love clothes and shoes and bags and pretty little things, but i also love gadgets. i’m dying for a macbook air, even though i really, really don’t need one. i also want a new digital camera, one of those really cool little pocket-size video cameras and a flat-screen tv.

(before you write me off as completely shallow and materialistic, please note: none of these things are going to be purchased anytime in the near future, and they very definitely fall under the “things i want” category of my life—not “things i need.”)

anyway, over the holidays i did upgrade my phone. for the past two years, i had a second-generation sidekick, and when i first got it, i thought it was amazing. i couldn’t believe how easy it was to text on the qwerty keypad, and i was so happy to be able to get on the internet and check my e-mail.

but, as we all know, technology changes really fast, and soon my little sidekick became known in my circle of friends as the “chunkster” or the “taser,” thanks to admittedly hilarious comments by my friends a. and t. (the birth of the iphone and the slimming-down of other technology definitely contributed to those monikers.) it was so heavy—at least for a mobile phone—that it actually weighed down my purse. so i decided i needed a new phone—and not solely because of my friends’ comments; also because i’d recently dropped the sidekick down a flight of stairs (good thing the back was made of something rubberlike, because that thing bounced) and caused some internal damage to it.

i initially wanted an iphone, but for multiple reasons, i realized that it wasn’t the right fit for me (even though i still love it and am enamored with the “shazam” application). so, after deciding to stick with t-mobile, with whom i’ve never had any kind of problem, i ended up buying a blackberry curve 8320—it’s sleek, professional, allows me to have a facebook application (i’m addicted), came with an awesome rebate/upgrade price and, for some reason—maybe because of the way i receive e-mail and texts on it—makes me feel much more connected to the people i love, which is never a bad thing. plus, it takes video, has a good camera and sports an alarm clock (which my sidekick did not, much to my chagrin).

i’ve even started putting my appointments into the calendar application—i usually just rely on memory, so this is a big move for me—and i feel much more organized. i hope i can keep it up.

what kind of cell phone do you have? and how do you use yours? (i think i text more than i talk—wonder if that’s the writer in me?) if you have an iphone, do you love it? or is technology totally unimportant to you? in spite of this tech-centered post, my tv has definitely not been used much lately.

{ image above from here }

clarity.

while reading another web site yesterday, i clicked on a link and ended up at c jane enjoy it, a blog i know many of you know and love. in one specific post, jane recounted her 2008 and said something that struck me--and the writer i was reading--as incredibly profound:

"i realized the secret to happiness is to continually fall in love.

to give the soul reasons for butterflies."

how wonderful a sentiment is that? so i started thinking about the things i'm in love with right now and came up with a random, but happy (to me), list:

grande skinny vanilla lattes from starbucks (iced, please). the typewriter in the photo above--my aunt's by way of my grandfather, and now mine--a christmas present. sarasota (it's true). my incredible friends. pea dumplings with lots of garlic, cucumber-yogurt-mint salad and homemade tabouli (my friend m. and i had a cooking day on saturday, and that's what we made). semicolons. watercolory sunsets over the bay. oscar (of course). fancy soap. and this glorious, scary, all-encompassing life i call my very own.

tell me, my dears: what are you in love with right now? xo!

{ photo above taken by me for this blog }

just keep me where the light is.

can you believe it's jan. 6, my loves? i am so happy it's 2009--we all need a new year and a fresh start, i think. so let's talk about new year's resolutions, shall we?

i actually broke out the magic markers and made a list of resolutions this year, which i promptly tacked up on my hall bulletin board. they're very general and very aspirational, but they come with their own set of sub-resolutions (which i'll share another time) and they work for me. so without further ado, this is what i want to do/achieve in 2009:

* love more
* work harder (make a difference)
* get my finances under control
* volunteer (give back to a community that gives so much to me)
* health (take care of mind and body)
* balance

there's this quote that i've really been digging lately: "she gives most who gives with joy." it reminds me of another favorite quote by ani difranco: "i do it for the joy it brings--because i am a joyful girl. because the world owes me nothing, and we owe each other the world."

inspiring, no?

i want to give with joy. i want to be a light. there are so many people that are lights--beacons--in my life; i'd love to be the same for others. and so i pledge to bring you as many joyful, lovely things as i possibly can in 2009.

tell me: what are your resolutions?

{ photo of london hotel above taken my dear friend shun on his travels }

pink and floaty.

i know you’ve probably all seen the lovely joanna’s incredible engagement photos by now, but i couldn’t resist posting these two here—there’s something so whimsical and romantic about the pink balloon, and that sky…oh, that sky.

{ images by max wanger via a cup of jo }