what are you doing this (memorial day) weekend?

happy friday, loves--are you so glad it's the weekend? and, if you're in the u.s., are you so glad it's a three-day weekend? for me, memorial day always marks the unofficial start of summer, and i plan on taking advantage of it by sleeping in, spending time with friends, and hitting the beach. 

(oh, and today is also my dad's birthday. happy birthday, dad! here's a picture of the two of us when i was a baby--i have this one framed in my apartment.)

i'll see you back here bright and early on tuesday morning; until then, have a fantastic weekend! what are you up to?

p.s. don't forget to enter the csnstores.com gift card giveaway! all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. please spread the word!

xoxo

{ giveaway! } + happy thursday!

happy thursday, guys! today's post is a little different from the norm--but before i get to why that is, i just need  to tell you that, as i type this, i am sitting on a very, very uncomfortable loveseat. a new sofa has been in the works for me for awhile, but time, money, and general laziness have prevented me from actually getting one. for awhile, i thought ikea might be the answer, but now i'm not so sure.

that's when i discovered csn stores and its glorious selection of sectional sofas on csnsofas.com. holy seating, options, batman: there are so many that i want for my apartment (two of my most favorites pictured above). when i finally get around to buying that sofa, i think i know where i'm headed.

but--and here's the good part--i have good news for those of you who are less lazy and more decisive than i am: the generous team at csnstores.com is giving me a free $60 giftcard--good on any of their 200-plus websites--to give to you! yay! 

here's how to enter:

 leave a comment on this post with your name and email address, telling me what you'd like to use
the giftcard for. (i'm partial to allmodern.com and cookware.com, personally.)

comments will be closed at 9 p.m. on wednesday, june 2, and i'll be using random number generator to select the winner that night. i'll announce him or her first thing in the morning on thursday, june 3! 

good luck, everyone! please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions. i'm so excited about my first giveaway! 

xoxo

yaypants.

full disclosure: i say the word "yay!" with abandon. and when i say abandon, i mean abandon--it happens a lot. to the point where i've started converting all of my co-workers to yay-dom--even the male ones. (one, the other day, told me that he never used to clap his hands and say "yay!" until i started working at the company.) what can i say? it's contagious! and it's an expression of joy.

i definitely embrace the yay.

needless to say, when i saw the photograph of this dresser, with the word "yaypants" scrawled in pretty writing across the third drawer, i was pretty excited. what a happy piece of furniture.

(um, also, just out of curiosity, what do we think "yaypants" are? underwear? exercise pants? shorts? i have no clue!)

walking on sunshine.

my  blog name may be pink o'clock, but i am quite smitten with the color yellow, and especially this painting by sara hicks malone of hicks paper goods. i really want one. that saarinen table wouldn't hurt, either.

{ image via design*sponge }

the weekend + committing to...

happy monday, everyone! did you have good weekends? i did--nothing super eventful happened, but i got to spend time with friends and i laughed a lot, which, actually, was exactly what i wanted to do. (oh, and i baked a batch of cupcakes on sunday night. always a good time.)

and in my tradition of committing to posting a "committing to..." list on monday, here are my little goals for the week:

+ going back to spin class. tonight. i missed about a month and i really, really need to get back to doing it.
+ on a similar note, taking advantage of my gym membership since it's just so hot outside. i think florida kind of skipped spring this year.
+ not eating cereal for dinner four nights a week.
+ being patient with everyone.
+ trying out a new hairstyle!

i'm also hoping that this week is less emotionally intense than last.

what about you? what are your plans for the week? and how much do you love the quote in the photo above, by andre gibre? i keep looking at it and thinking, "so true."

xoxo!

{ photo via haeshu }

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, everyone--what are your plans for the weekend?

i'll be honest, it's been a tough week for me. monday, finding out about lola, was heartbreaking, and though my wonderful-fantastic-amazing friends have done a great job of making me laugh and keeping my mind off of things, when i'm alone i've just been feeling sad. and the worst part is, there's no other emotion mixed in with it: it's just pure sadness. anyone who knows me in the slightest knows how much i loved that dog. the feeling is going to take a little while to pass.

but on the flip side, time really does help everything. so does smiling. and surrounding oneself with those wonderful-fantastic-amazing friends. so i think i'm going to keep doing all of those things for the next few days. see you back here on monday.

p.s. thanks for all of your delightful, supportive, fabulous comments this week. you guys rock my socks. seriously.
p.p.s. did anyone watch grey's anatomy last night? oh my god.

{ image via mary ruffle }

sweetness.

my friend charla posted this adorable video of her two friends announcing their pregnancy on facebook the other day--how cute and happy are they? after yesterday's sad post (i'm still so, so sad, but coping), i thought we could all use a little joy, and what better than a baby?

lola.

i debated posting this entry. i did. but in the end, even though my heart is breaking over this, i felt like it would be cathartic for me to publish it.

my mom called me on monday night to tell me that our family dog, lola, died suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday with my brother, patrick, at the vet. i had just seen lola last weekend; my mom said she was fine on sunday; i have pictures on my phone of her sitting on my lap and in her favorite chair. i can't even wrap my mind around the fact that she's gone. the vet said it was complications from an autoimmune disease and internal bleeding.

i am such an animal person, and i loved lola more than i loved almost anyone. she was a member of our family. i was the one who brought her home; she slept on my bed with me when i visited my parents. when i moved to sarasota, and couldn't bring her with me, my parents--especially my mom--took over caring for her, and i know this is so hard on them, too.

i cried my eyes out on monday night. i'm still crying today. but i'm glad lola didn't suffer.

it's just...i'm going to miss her so much.

{ image of my sweet lola, a few years ago, by me }

hair envy.

jennifer at a merry mishap posted these stunning photos of isabelle kountoure, editor of pop magazine, a few days ago, and while i'm pretty much coveting each article of clothing she's wearing, i'm most smitten with her hair color. i have dark brown hair, about this length, that i haven't colored in years, but if my hairstylist would do exactly this, then i'd happily change my tune. so pretty, no?

the weekend + committing to...

happy monday, friends! did you have good weekends? i had a really great one--it began friday night with after-work beers with new friends; then continued into saturday night with conversation, more fantastic dinner, and movies with an old friend; and finally ended with a completely relaxing sunday--most of which was spent indoors. so in spite of the fact that i completely lost my debit card (oops) and the orlando magic lost the first game of the eastern conference finals to the boston celtics (i am a hardcore magic/nba fan, dating back to, like, age 12), i give the past three days an a-plus. as i said to a friend in email, life is feeling like spring right now. 

speaking of spring, and as a segue into this week's "committing to..." and the photo above, i wanted to share something that i read on the lovely jane flanagan's blog with you. jane mentioned arthur shopenhauer in one of her posts last week, and his theory that "aesthetic experience is the negation of will; a moment when we transcend our own needs in lose ourselves in the object of perception." i just love that, and jane summed it up so well. i am a person who feels things pretty intensely--probably too intensely, if we're being honest. but i wouldn't trade the overwhelming, indescribable feeling i get when i look at something beautiful--like your blogs, like art, like perfectly written text, like a flower, like the sun setting over the gulf of mexico--for anything in the world. those moments of aesthetic experience are priceless, and i cherish them. 

that's why, after reading more about shopenhauer and seeing this photo, i resolved that one of my commitments this week is going to be exactly what that chalkboard sign says: live in the moment and make it beautiful. here are the rest of them:

+ bask in the beauty my friendships, both new and old. adele, one of my favorite singers, said it best: "the people i've met are the wonders of my world."

+ open myself up to possibility. i'm feeling like it's everywhere right now, and after a couple of weird weeks, that's so refreshing.

+ working on being on time for...everything, really. um, you guys? timing is not really my thing. i need to be better at it.

+ as usual, exercise and eating well. 

+ continuing to try to pause in certain areas of my life, as g. put it. i think that will actually help the whole "living in the moment" thing. 

and you? what are your little goals for the week? xoxo

{ image via bee }

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, everyone! what are you up to this weekend? i'm going to be relaxing, spending time with friends new and old, maybe seeing a movie, and cleaning. but before i start doing all of that, i thought i'd tell you a little story.

my aunt is a dance teacher. i've written about her before; she is one of the most talented, complex people i know, and i'm glad that, at this point in my life, i can call her one of my close friends. some of my favorite growing-up stories center around her and spending summers with her and my grandparents in scranton, pennsylvania.

and you know, i feel like, as a dance teacher, part of the job is to cultivate a sense of magic. i mean, as a little girl, is there anything more fantastic than twirling in a pink tutu and pink ballet slippers with a big, floppy bow in your french-braided hair? i always loved doing that. and i loved my aunt would bring out her bucket of "magic dust," which was nothing more than a lavishly decorated pink pail filled with air, but to me felt realer than anything else in the world. i loved grabbing handfuls of magic dust and pretending i could feel it sifting through my fingers.

this weekend, i'm going to try to find a little magic. i hope you find some, too.

apartment therapy.

dear rita konig,

you're going to sublet your apartment to me, yes? because i would love to live in it. (i'd take my chie mihara shoes with me.)

(i'd also happily accept your decorating services. you know, in case the sublet thing doesn't work out.)

love,
megan

{ photos by the selby for new york magazine}

shoeture.

hello, beautiful chie mihara shoes. i would like you to come live in my closet, please.

smitten.

completely in love with with this gorgeous apartment. the colors are making me so, so happy on t his tuesday morning. 

tell me you love it, too. xoxo

mother's day weekend + committing to...

happy monday, friends! did you have happy mother's day weekends? i did--i went up to orlando to visit my mom, and spent the weekend hanging out with her, my dad, my brother, and the pupsters. i also did my laundry (yes, even at almost-27 i still tote laundry to my parents' house!), cleaned my disgusting car, thoroughly enjoyed some steak 'n shake, cooked mother's day breakfast for the fam, and drank coffee with my friend jenn. a good weekend, indeed.

also, have i mentioned that i love my mom? because i do. a lot, a lot, a lot.

speaking of mothers, before i get into this week's "committing to...", i just wanted to share these lyrics, which my brother, patrick, turned me on to. they're from a song called "the gambler" by a band called fun, and i think they're pretty amazing:

"it was the winter of '86, 

and all the fields had frozen over.

so we moved to arizona to save our only son.

now he's turning to a man, 

although he thinks just like his mother;

he believes we're all just lovers, 

he sees hope in everyone.

and even though she moved away, 

we always get calls from our daughter.

she has eyes just like her father's;

they are blue when skies are gray.

and just like him, she never stops--

never takes the day for granted.

works for everything that's handed to her;

never once complains."

beautiful, right? thanks, p., for the tip. 

and now, here's what i'm committing to for the week--but before i type this list, let it be said that i had a totally off-kilter second half of last week, so i probably just need to re-focus on everything i posted last week. sometimes we all need a little refresher, right? either way, here goes:

+ continuing to be healthy. (cold, stay gone! running shoes, you are going to get a workout!)
+ continuing to work on this.
+ making sure to be as productive as possible in everything i do. good choices, here i come. (thank you for the push in the right direction on this one, stephanie. i needed that.)
+ finding writing inspiration so i can be a better blogger (sorry for dropping off the face of the earth after last wednesday--again. ugh). this post gave me goosebumps; after reading it,  i immediately made the commitment to work on my writing.  thank you, jane. (the lyrics i posted above are also feeding this commitment.)
+ being clean in every area of my life: personally (house, car), emotionally, and financially.
+ going to the farmer's market this weekend and buying fresh flowers for my house. i love joy's farmer's market flowers posts, and i really love having flowers in my own apartment, so why not commit to buying some, right? (the orchid in the photo above is my parents'--isn't it pretty?)

what are you focusing on this week? xoxo--thanks for reading this rather random post!

{ photo by me }

moving forward by stepping back?

full disclosure: i have the unfortunate habit of being incredibly nosy. that nosiness has translated into some good qualities--i've become a pretty good listener, i think, due to my never-ending interest in people telling me all the little details of their lives--and some bad ones, the worst of which (aside from plain old annoyingness) is that i tend to become overly invested in whatever i'm being told. on top of my other unfortunate habit of tending to fixate (wow, i am a bundle of joy, huh?), this means that i often hang on to things way longer than i should--or care way too much.

so i'm starting to think i need to draw some boundaries, because lately i find myself getting wound up about things i'm hearing or being told and not being able to concentrate on what's actually important. i'm not sure how this is going to go, because, on the flip side, i pride myself on being a pretty caring, emotionally in-tune person. but i think i'm going to add it to my list of commitments for the next few weeks.

have you ever had to take a step back? did you find it freeing?

{ photo by alicia bock }

this summer...

i am going to take a page from the j.crew catalogue and dress exactly like this: soft fabrics, soft colors, relaxed shorts, natural hair and makeup. lovely.

p.s. um, it's hot here. is it hot where you are, too? where on earth did spring go?

yellow love + committing to...

every spring, these beautiful yellow trees--which i know as golden trumpets--bloom with a joy that's almost contagious. in sarasota, they're everywhere. i see them when i'm driving, walking around my neighborhood, even right outside my office window, and they never fail to make me smile. there's something about the bright yellow petals that just sing spring. (my parents have one in their yard--given as a gift by a friend when i was born, almost 27 years ago--and i think that's where my affection stems.) i wish i could bottle everything about these trees and keep them near me year-round, but i've realized the fact that they only bloom once a year, for such a short period of time, makes them even more special. hooray for nature.

and hooray for a new week--and a new month! i am recovering from yet another cold (seriously, is 2010 going to be the year i get a cold every month?), so i'm looking forward to feeling better, getting back into my exercise routine (i had to walk most of my 5k on saturday, much to my disappointment, thanks to not feeling well), and spending time with friends. and, as usual, here's what i'm committing to:

+ health. early bed. exercise. lots of water, fruits, and veggies.
+ being a better blogger and commenter. i totally sucked it up last week--so sorry!
+ finding my mom a really great mother's day present.
+ focusing super-intensely at work.
+ continuing not to gossip. i know this is the third week that i've posted this, but reminding myself of my little goal at the beginning of every week has been really helpful.
+ making sure my hands and feet are summer-ready--i.e., brightly nail polished--because it is officially hot here, and i will officially be living in flip-flops and sandals for the next six months.

what do your weeks look like? what are you committing to? please, please share! xoxo