what are you doing this holiday weekend? (have a sweet one!)

happy holidays friends -- hanukkah, christmas and whatever else you might celebrate! until next week (and possibly until the new year), i hope you have a warm and cozy weekend that's exactly what you want it to be.  i feel like christmas came early for me (see: last weekend), so anything else is icing on the cake.

here's to a weekend full of peace, love and lots of cookies.

if you're in need of a sweet stocking stuffer, i highly recommend theo chocolate bars -- not only are the paper wrappers pretty and festive, but the flavors look great. (i used the milk chocolate in my peanut butter cookies earlier this week and am smitten.)

baked! the most ridiculous peanut butter cookies ever.

i haven't been feeling too well this week, friends, but that hasn't stopped me from cookie-baking -- it's just slowed down the process a little.

i've been dying to try molly's salted peanut butter cookies since she posted the recipe a few months ago. i'd actually been looking for a good peanut butter cookie recipe for awhile, and in that search had made a batch of peanut butter cookies prior to reading molly's recipe that were sadly subpar -- quick, yes, but lacking the substance i've come to love in my favorite cookies (in other words, lacking the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and chocolate -- oh, chocolate -- that this recipe includes). they were, in a word, disappointing. i almost gave up the search. then i found this recipe and decided i had to try it. i was just waiting for the right time.

turns out, tuesday night was the right time.

in spite of not feeling great, i got to baking after a quick trip to whole foods to purchase some fancy chocolate (i figured hey, why not go all out for this recipe?). i measured, i mixed, i chopped chocolate and i even used my handy-dandy ice cream scoop to make sure the cookies were perfectly round (and, honestly, to make sure they were large-sized). i knew when i tasted the dough and discovered that it tasted like the peanut butter inside a reese's peanut butter cup that these were going to be good cookies.

i was not disappointed.

if you want to try them yourself, the recipe's here. the dough comes together quickly -- not unlike any other cookie recipe -- but the key is to use a natural peanut butter (which will provide a more authentic, stronger peanut flavor) and good-quality chocolate (i normally use ghirardelli for everything and love it, but i really think the theo chocolate i bought added something to these cookies). also, as molly notes, you want to use milk chocolate here instead of semisweet or bittersweet. i use ghirardelli 60 percent bittersweet chips for my chocolate-chip cookies and would be hard-pressed to change that, but again: the milk chocolate takes these particular cookies from awesome to other-worldly. if you try them, please let me know how you like them.

photo by me

a life we loved.

the new york times magazine does an annual feature called "the lives they loved," in which readers are invited to submit photographs of people they loved who died during the previous 12 months. my aunt judy sent me the link this morning and asked me if i wanted to write something about my grandmother.

of course, i said yes.

i'm not sure if our paragraph will make it online or into the issue; i guess we'll see. but i thought i'd share this funny picture of my awkward 12-year-old (i think) self, my seven-year-old brother and my wonderful grandmother, who wore her hair in a french twist every day for 50 years and loved her family more than anything.

winter wonderland.

the past weekend was one of the most perfect i've had in a long time. there was snuggle-worthy sweater weather, amazing live music that drifted from little cafes onto the street, a cozy dinner at a charming restaurant, long walks by the water and hot cocoa in styrofoam cups. but i keep coming back to those lights...

photo by me, taken in st. augustine

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, friends -- we made it to the weekend (and the last weekend before christmas, at that!). have you finished all your shopping and baking and prepping? have you made your new year's plans?

i'm finalizing all of the above -- next week will be the great cookie bake of 2011, and the final slew of holiday parties -- and this weekend i'm going out of town (and doing a little early gift-exchanging while i'm at it). i'm really looking forward to it; it's always nice to get away and i've been feeling a little off-kilter lately, anyway (a bit snappy, less motivated to exercise, etc.) since thanksgiving, so i think it'll do me good.

posting will probably be a bit lighter around here until the new year, but i'll still be around -- and until next time, what are your plans for the weekend?

xoxo

photo from rue magazine

covet.

love everything about this j.crew model's hair and makeup. my hair is at a weird in-between stage and i can't decide whether i want to grow it out or cut it again, and i've been hemming and hawing about getting ombre highlights put in for months now. this hair is totally pushing me toward doing it, though -- it's so subtle and golden-glowy. new year, new look, maybe?

(this post brought to you by the letter "v," for vanity.)

a little sweet.

i had some dreams / they were clouds in my coffee...

just a little something sweet for your wednesday.

photo by nikole

just cute.

i hope this makes you smile as much as it made me.

photo by cooper carras via the city sage

wintersong.

just a little pretty for your wednesday, via the talented anna ådén. looking at images like these is one of the few instances when i feel like i wouldn't mind replacing beach views with something like the above. just for a little while, anyway.

loving: oh leander

so, how sweet are these pieces from oh leander? i love each and every one of them, but that "hello, sunshine" mug, in particular, has stolen my heart.

photos via oh leander; layout by me

the weekend + committing to...

happy monday, friends. it's looking like a busy week ahead -- full of projects and dinners and more pulling-together of christmas gifts for friends and family. things may be a little quiet around here (although i've got a sweet etsy shop to share with you tomorrow, at the very least), but i'll try to check in later in the week. until then, here are five happy things from the weekend:

+ (speaking of presents) baggu totally coming through on holiday gifts this year. i can't recommend them enough.
+ a long walk around my neighborhood, which i don't do nearly as often as i should.
+ the pumpkin and goat cheese risotto i mentioned last week. totally delicious.
+ gingerbread lattes. yum.
+ an impromptu, wine-fueled friday-night dance party with friends to the rap hits of the '90s (think: notorious b.i.g. and tupac.) totally hilarious.

and five commitments for the week:

+ patience. i really need some.
+ ice cream. (yes, you read that right.) i think it's about time i try out my new ice-cream maker, don't you? any flavors you absolutely love that i should try?
+ a new book. not sure what it'll be yet, but i'm open to recommendations. (i just read mindy kaling's new one, is everyone hanging out without me? and other concerns, and loved it. highly recommend.)
+ outside time. the weather has been perfect -- highs in the 70s and low 80s, lows in the 50s and 60s. i love having my air conditioner off.
+ and i'm recycling one from last week: just breathe.also: remember this thought -- last paragraph.

have a great week -- what are your goals for the next few days?

gorgeous photo by karin mathilda

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, friends--we've made it: to the end of the week, to the start of the weekend, to the beginning of a new month, to the last 31 days of the year. crazy, no?

after a not-that-great thanksgiving weekend, i mentioned on monday that i came home and promptly started nesting, which means i'm already pretty well-ensconced in the christmas spirit. i've got my cookie menu almost all planned out (expect a slew of baked! posts soon), my gifts (most of which are homemade, all of which come from local and/or small business) ready to go and my house decked out with a bit of sparkle (like that sweet gold snowflake, above).

what are your plans for the weekend? i'm making a trip to ikea tomorrow, i think, plus i've got after-work plans tonight that include some of my favorite faces, so all of that will be fun.

and i'm trying really hard to focus on the spirit of the season instead of the blatant materialism that i see going on right now. don't get me wrong: i will always enjoy reading gift guides, i love shopping and i'm drawn to pretty, sparkly trinkets just as much as, if not moreso, than the next girl. but i find myself slipping into a crazed "buy! buy! buy!" mindset too easily around this time of year, so i'm making a conscious effort to step back and remember that what's most important is spending time with the people that you love. it's not always easy, but it's worth it.

happy weekend, everyone.

back to december.

happy december, friends.

here's to a month of peace, joy, calm, hope and lots of cookies.

photo via

who's that girl?

i admit it: i am totally charmed by zooey deschanel's new girl. i have a girl-crush on zooey to begin with, but i think even those of you who don't will probably agree that new girl is sweet and funny. also: in my constant and admittedly self-absorbed musings about my personal style, i have decided to take a page from zooey's character's book and begin embracing ruffles, polkadots and bright colors. (it's time to resign myself to the fact that i'm much more girly-anthropologie than streamlined-j.crew. not that that's a bad thing.)

above is a clip from new girl's thanksgiving episode -- i hope you enjoy it. have you been watching, too? do you love it like i do?

p.s. i am also adopting the term "fancy fix" after last night's episode.
p.p.s. i also have an actual crush on the nick character on the show. he's so cute.

local loving: juno & jove.

it makes me happy when i discover local stores with not only beautiful products but an eco-friendly mindset, as well -- and sarasota's juno & jove has both of those things. priding itself on "actively supporting companies the understand business should respect a balance between people, planet and profit," the store carries sustainable, well-made pieces from the likes of linda loudermilk, swedish hasbeens, pendleton, mociun and more. whenever i swing into downtown sarasota's whole foods or starbucks and walk by its windows, i always look back over my shoulder longingly, coveting almost everything that's displayed.

it's good stuff, guys. seriously.

and since i love sharing pretty things, above are a few of my favorite pieces (those earrings and that coat, specifically, just went to the top of my wish list). it's worth spending a few minutes scrolling through juno & jove's website, though -- or, if you're local, stopping in its bricks-and-mortar location. i'm positive you'll find something to love.

p.s. juno & jove is giving away a $500 gift certificate to one lucky shopper -- you can visit the store's facebook page for more details. (you better believe i entered.)

p.p.s: more local -- well, hometown -- love here.)

photos via juno & jove, layout by me

the (holiday) weekend + committing to...

i'll be the first person to admit that i try to put a positive spin on most of my posts (have we talked about the fact that my friend kate accuses me of living in a marshmallow?), but i'm just going to be honest: overall, my thanksgiving wasn't that great, and i was really glad to get back to sarasota on saturday afternoon, where i promptly went into what i'm referring to as "christmas nesting mode." i put up my tiny tree (pictured above), i hung up some gold glitter snowflakes and i started on a couple of diy projects -- one being a huge, custom photo for my bedroom wall. and actually, now that i stare at this photo, i realized that i also actually swapped out that black frame for a much prettier white one, and it looks so much better. being at home is really making me happy right now -- i daresay it's keeping me sane.*

and in the spirit of good mental health, here are five commitments for the week:

+ exercise. for both the endorphins and the fact that i need to burn off the exorbitant amount of pie i consumed over the  long weekend.
+ make this: pumpkin and goat cheese risotto. it sounds so, so, so good.
+ pick up a curtain and curtain rod for my bedroom window. in the spirit of making my home prettier (and my random nesting), i think it's about time, don't you? especially after almost three years here.
+ start making some of my holiday gifts. (more on them after they're given.)
+ just breathe.

*daresay is a word that never fails to transport me to the pages of a jane austen novel. i kind of can't believe i typed it but i'm pretty glad i did.

photo by me

baked! gingersnaps (+ happy thanksgiving).

tonight i'll be heading up to orlando with two pies in my backseat -- one pumpkin, one chocolate cream -- from our local amish restaurant, and i can't wait. (i sound kind of like a pie bandit, don't i?) thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, not just because i love food in general, but because i especially enjoy fall and winter flavors -- pumpkin and spices and the like.

when i saw the recipe for these gingersnap cookies on smitten kitchen, i knew i wanted to whip up a batch and maybe add them to what i'm only half-jokingly referring to as my christmas cookie menu. i had all the ingredients on hand, so on sunday night, i set about making them. not only is the recipe incredibly easy to put together, the cookies are just as delicious as i'd hoped -- gingery and autumnal and perfect with a cup of chai tea. i prefer a softer, cakier ginger cookie, as a rule, so i baked them for about 11 minutes, but deb says you can keep them in the oven for as long as 15 for a, um, snappier gingersnap.

they'd also be perfect as a garnish for pumpkin pie or, if you cook them until they're harder, as the crust for a cheesecake (preferably pumpkin also). deb also recommends them as an accompaniment to her baked pumpkin and sour cream puddings, and i have to say, i think that recipe may be next on my list...

happy thanksgiving, everyone. i'll see you back here on monday. i hope your holiday is everything you want it to be!

photo by me

loving: makr.

it goes without saying that it's always good to see local businesses creating cool stuff. my hometown -- winter park, fl. -- is not only the headquarters of the amazing rifle paper co., but also where super-cool purveyor of accessories and home goods, makr, has set up shop, as well.

makr makes canvas and leather bags, wallets and similar accessories, but sells furniture (see: these stools) and home accessories, too. i love the classic, modern simplicity of each of the pieces, don't you? they're the kind of things you'd have forever and that would only get better with age.

all photos via makr; layout by me

the weekend + committing to...

happy monday, friends -- and happy thanksgiving week! are you gearing up for the holiday? it's a short week for me -- i'm off thursday and friday -- and i'm really looking forward to lots of relaxation time and, of course, good food (my mom is a phenomenal cook).

that's not to get ahead of myself, though -- the weekend was delightful, and since i haven't done a monday post in this format in awhile, here are five lovely things from it:

+ encountering a park bench that had a plaque instructing visitors to "sit long, talk much and laugh often" and doing just that.
+ the best shrimp and grits i've had in recent memory.
+ the warmth of gingersnap cookies. (more on those this week.)
+ sunday afternoon spent outside, laughing and talking.
+ a generous and unexpected (and wearable!) gift from my best friend k.

...and five commitments for the upcoming week:
+ exercise. (i'm aiming for spin class!)
+ patience. (especially important during the holidays, don't you agree?)
+ more gratitude. for everything.
+ wear bright lipstick every day to work. (such a mood lifter.)
+ stay on the early-to-bed-early-to-rise track.

photo by anna inghardt

what are you doing this weekend?

i mentioned on monday that i feel like i've been regaining my sense of equilibrium, and that's true: this week i managed to get back into a lot of my regular routines (like going to the gym and cooking something for dinner more complicated and nutritious than cereal). it's felt good.

something else that feels good is that the weekend is officially upon is, and that next week is -- for me, at least -- a short week. come wednesday night, i'll be picking up our thanksgiving pies at yoder's (i love bringing a bit of sarasota home with me for thanksgiving) and heading up to my parents' for at least thursday and friday, if not the entire weekend. this will be our first thanksgiving without my wonderful grandmother, so i'm sure there will be some sad moments -- but my brother will be home, which is a welcome and unexpected treat and will hopefully balance everything out a bit.

tonight i'm having dinner with (and, hopefully, walking around for awhile with*) someone delightful, and tomorrow i have lunch plans at one of my favorite places that i don't get to visit too frequently, so i'm excited for that. other than that, there's a little work to be done but i plan on hibernating for most of the time. it just feels like it should be one of those weekends.

what are your plans? tell me, and i'll see you back here on monday!

*walking around with people i like is one of my favorite things to do; to me, there's nothing nicer than strolling through a pretty park or neighborhood, talking and taking everything in.

images by emerson merrick. i can't get enough of the moodiness of her photographs.

like crazy.

i can't wait to see this movie. it looks like a tear-jerker and a heart-wrencher.

p.s. that's ingrid michaelson doing a gorgeous cover of "can't help falling in love" in the background.

baked! glazed pumpkin cookies (or: a tale of leavening)

the minute i saw the recipe for these glazed pumpkin cookies on the design mom site, i knew i had to try them. they sounded like the perfect autumnal sweet treat: soft, pumpkin-y, cinnamon-y and topped with a vanilla glaze. yum, right? plus, i had a major pumpkin cake fail over the weekend, so i wanted to redeem myself. (side note: seems like it is my lot in life to have a major baking mishap the weekend of november 14 every year. see: last year's salted caramel banana cream pie debacle. weird, right?)

anyway, you'd think i'd be extra careful making these cookies, wouldn't you? yeah, nope. i totally forgot to add both a teaspoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of baking soda. i don't know how that happened -- i am generally a really good baker (even if my treats turn out a bit rustic-looking sometimes, they always taste good!) and i wasn't drinking wine while mixing or anything (which, yes, i've also done in the past, with similar results). weird.

the cookies still turned out well, at least--they just have a much different consistency than you might expect when you hear the word "cookie." i brought a plate to work today and one of my colleagues described them as "doughnutty"; i think that's apt. they're very cakelike. but you know, the flavor and the texture in combination with the vanilla glaze just works, so i'm ok with it.

if you'd like to make your own version of these cookies (with or without baking powder and soda--no judgment from me!), you can find the recipe here. happy baking!

photo of my cake-y little pumpkin nuggets by yours truly.

loving: icemilk aprons.

how pretty and sweet are these pieces from icemilk aprons? they're almost too lovely to even think about streaking with flour and sugar...and they'd make a perfect holiday gift for the baker in your life.

the weekend + committing to...

it was a good weekend.

it began friday night, after a busy work week, with dinner at downtown sarasota's newly opened eat here (our second time in seven days). my friends had shrimp tacos, i had smoked salmon flatbread with creme fraiche, and it was all delicious. plus, the place was packed and the air was crisp and fall-like, so it was a fun way to kick off the weekend.

then, on saturday, after a day of cooking and baking (my pumpkin cake was, sadly, a failure, but my caramelized onion dip was perfect), i headed over to my friend steph's house for her birthday and our annual game night -- and let me tell you, if you have not experienced the joy of playing catchphrase with a group of your friends after a couple of adult beverages, then you have not lived. i can almost guarantee you'll laugh until you cry, and an impromptu dance party might even take place, courtesy of the musical hits of the 1980s.

i may or may not have consumed enough wine as to make me feel ridiculously lazy on sunday, so that morning was spent lounging in bed and cuddling with my fluffs, and then, later, cleaning out my closet (three bags of clothes went to goodwill, yay), cooking and laundering.

so yes, it was one of those weekends where a lot happened but it all went by quickly -- i kind of can't believe tomorrow's monday again. and it'll be another busy week, but after a few weeks of feeling a little off-kilter and out of my routine, i'm finally starting to regain my equilibrium. that's nice.

and speaking of getting back into my routine, here are my commitments for the next few days (the first list in quite awhile, huh?):

+ try out a new recipe. sometimes i forget how much i love cooking until i'm back in the kitchen chopping and mixing and stirring. anything you've been loving lately? (i'm itching to make these.)
+ hit the gym. i feel very soft and i don't like it. plus, as much as i love going to media tastings and event dinners, they are not the best for the waistline when you're not exercising regularly. spin class, here i come.
+ start thinking about/planning for the holidays. this includes everything from potential vacation days to my christmas-cookie menu.
+ keep my house spic-and-span. it is sparkling right now and i find that there's really something to the whole clean house/peaceful mind thing. (is that even an expression? oh well, you know what i mean.)
+ during a month -- and a season -- that's all about being grateful, remember to actually be so. i have so much to be thankful for. i am so lucky.

photo by max wanger

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, happy 11/11/11, and most importantly, happy veteran's day. (with a newly appointed marine in the family -- my brother -- plus what would have been my army-general grandfather's birthday just two days away, veteran's day has even more meaning than usual for me this year. i may not agree with the war, but i am beyond thankful for those who risk their lives on our behalves. thank you.)

so, yes, there's a lot going on today, but it's been a busy week, too: i've had after-work events every night, and tomorrow we're celebrating my friend steph's birthday with game night at her house. game night is one of my favorite friend traditions because we all inevitably end up laughing so hard we cry; plus, when you add adult beverages to the mix, you're guaranteed some pretty funny -- and quotable -- conversations. i'm really looking forward to it.

i'm also looking forward to cleaning out my closet (my house is sparkling clean, the closet is really the last piece that needs to be dealt with), sleeping in and enjoying what's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous fall weather. i really need to get to the gym or get back to the jogging this weekend, too -- all this cocktail-party food can't be the best for the bod, so that's on the agenda as well. it should be a good, fun, productive weekend.

what are your plans? tell me, and i'll see you back here on monday. have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

photo above of my hair, which got put in this pretty, messy updo at my event last night (a local company was doing mini-makeovers). totally having this done for the next formal event i go to.

loving: blankets (+ ceramics!) from coterie.

jane flanagan is one of my favorite bloggers, not only because she makes beautiful sentences but because she has impeccable taste -- as evidenced by the items she sells in coterie, her online shop. this textured silk and cotton throw, in particular, made my heart beat a little faster when i saw it -- it's the kind of thing that would be perfect in anyone's home.

p.s. i've got my eyes on those porcelain votives in the second photograph, too!

images via coterie

to market, to market.

just a pretty picture of an outfit i plan on shamelessly copying this fall.

dress, cardigan, tights, cute shoes. yes, please.

magic.

hi, guys.

life sure has been busy lately. between halloween, a trip to the sweet, sleepy little town of beaufort, s.c., last week for my brother's marines bootcamp graduation (!), a weekend guest, and the tangle of a crazy worklife plus the upcoming holidays, i haven't had much time to blog, much less sit still.

but this week should be less crazy, and there's lots to share (and get caught up on), so i'll be back soon.

until then, i leave you with this thought, which i really like and which reminds me of this quote.

see you soon. xoxo

suspended.

this dandelion installation may be one of the loveliest things i've seen in a long, long time. it's beautiful, isn't it?

via

a quote for tuesday.

"we are all made of many places." --meklit hadero

photo by chase

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, friends! how were your weeks?

mine was busy. after a fantastic monday off, i jumped right into an events-filled work week that's going to continue straight through tomorrow night. not that i'm complaining; everything i've been to has been fun, and tomorrow night's soiree -- which is cocktails, dinner and an auction -- will, i'm sure, be no exception. (plus, it'll give me a chance to wear my favorite hot-pink shoes. awesome.)

and aside from busy, things are good right now. in fact, i feel so content that i'm holding my breath a little as i type that, afraid that putting the words out there is going to jinx everything. (a silly but real fear, isn't it? say you've felt it before, too.) that's not to say that everything's perfect -- it's not. just that i'm at a point in my life where i feel safe and and balanced and happy with the way a lot of things are going.

and of course, the absolutely gorgeous fall weather we've been having this week contributes to that, too. there've been moments when a breeze has blown in through the open lanai or i've stepped outside my office and the air has felt so amazing that my heart swells and i feel so much i can't even describe it. sarasota is always beautiful, but especially so at this time of year, and that beauty -- coupled with the good feelings already swirling around inside of me -- makes for a very full heart.

so this weekend, before and after my event, i'm going to try to take advantage of the weather in every way i can. i'm also going to try to read a little, spend time with friends, clean the house, plan next week's meals and get organized for a trip out of town the following week. and i'm looking forward to all of it.

how about you? what are your plans? let me know, and i'll see you back here on monday!

the photo above is from the dairy queen pumpkin pie blizzard ice cream date i had with my friend steph last night -- so fun catching up over pumpkiny goodness.

retro soul.

  

i've enjoyed mayer hawthorne's music for quite some time now -- i think i first discovered him via one of itunes' free downloads, but i quickly found out his other songs were worth listening to, as well. and i've been playing his latest album, how do you do, pretty much nonstop since getting my hands on it last weekend. so here's a little musical snack for you on this thursday afternoon: hawthorne performing "the walk," off the new album, on conan this past week.

who have you been listening to lately?

loving: long winter farm's perfume oils.

recently,  after realizing that my dresser had become a graveyard for almost-empty perfume bottles, i ordered a couple of perfume oils from long winter farm. because i'm a sucker for anything peony, i chose that scent immediately; i also decided to order the honeysuckle scent because it's one of favorites and never fails to remind me of the best of florida (just like orange blossoms).

the perfume arrived yesterday, and i am happy to report that both scents more than live up to my expectations. the peony is sweet and heady and very true to the scent of the flower itself; the honeysuckle is a bit milder but equally similar in scent to its flower.  i have a feeling the honeysuckle will quickly become my everyday scent; i'll save the peony for those occasional nights out on the town.

feeling rosy.

i had the best long weekend ever: it included time spent with family and people i care about in some really lovely places. the photo above is the sunset over castillo de san marcos in st. augustine last saturday night; the sky turned this amazing shade of pink that made everything look rosy and beautiful. i keep looking at it and thinking of memories of the weekend and smiling.

more to come soon, friends, including a great etsy purchase and a little giveaway (!), but until then: have wonderful tuesdays. i hope the world looks rosy for you, too.

photo by me

what are you doing this weekend?

happy friday, everyone.

how were your weeks? mine was extremely busy, and while there were a couple of low points, the high points more than made up for them: i'm soon to be the owner of my very first kindle* because i was employee of the month three times (my bosses are seriously awesome women); i attended the opening night party for the ringling international arts festival, met tons of super talented artists and performers and was arm's length away from mikhail baryshnikov(!) for quite a bit of the evening; and someone delightful mailed me some crazy-hard-to-find missoni for target notebooks that he hunted down for me after i told him much i loved my chevron-stripe clipboard.

i'm heading north this weekend -- first to my parents' house in orlando, then to one of my favorite florida cities, st. augustine, then back to my parents' until monday night -- and i know there's probably going to be a mix of emotion; i haven't been there since my grandmother's funeral two weeks ago and i know my mom is still feeling pretty sad. but she and i have plans to go to the farmer's market, see a movie and find our favorite cupcake truck, and it will be just nice to just hang out with her and my dad. i'm looking forward to it.

until next week, tell me: how were your weeks? and what are your plans for the weekend?

*i have said, frequently, that i'll embrace the printed page until it's literally ripped out of my hands, and that's true: i'll always prefer buy a book in print before i download it. but i'm so excited for my kindle because i really think it will be much easier to tote around than a huge stack of books. do you have a kindle/ipad? what is it like reading on it?

photo of fireworks exploding over the statue of david in the ringling museum courtyard on ringling international arts festival opening night by rebecca baxter for sarasota magazine.

pie in the sky.

there are many things i love in life, but included in my top 10 -- and probably my top five -- would be a good dessert served in an adorable space alongside a perfect caffeinated beverage. so when i read this new york times article about melissa and emily elsen, two sisters who started a pie shop in brooklyn (and discovered that the article was beautifully photographed by todd selby), i was immediately intrigued. called four & twenty blackbirds, after the line in the childrens' nursery rhyme, the quaint little shop serves coffee and more than 50(!) pies per day -- and they're all handmade, from scratch.

i've always said that if i wasn't an editor and didn't love my job, i'd want to be a baker and own my own pastry shop (preferably with a side of bookstore). reading stories like the elsens' completely reinforces that idea, and in fact, when i'm at my parents' house this weekend, it's further motivation for me to hit up my favorite bakeries. just, you know, for future inspiration.

photos by todd selby, via the new york times

in repair.

friends, i have to admit: i am still working on trying to get it together. posting may be light this week, as i'm looking at a super-busy work week and then a long weekend out of town, but i'll try to drop in as much as possible, even if it's just to share a favorite photograph -- like this one, by olivia.

hope you all are having lovely tuesdays so far.

what are you doing this weekend?

i posted a comment the other day on anna's blog in response to her post about steve jobs' death, and i feel like this part of it -- the last paragraph -- sums up a lot of my feelings right now (it's also a bit of a reiteration of what i said earlier this week):

"my grandmother passed away last week at the age of 95. we were very close; she was an amazing woman: an educator and an advocate of social justice, but also someone who rode her bicycle well into her 80s and enjoyed bird-watching from her back porch. she lived a full, happy life, and she made others’ lives richer and more beautiful just by being here. when i found out she died, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. 

i felt the same way when i read the news about steve jobs (while browsing the internet on my macbook, appropriately). i never knew him — i was more acquainted with the idea of him, as most of us were — but i use his products all day, every day. and i feel like he gave the world the same experience my grandmother gave me. he made it better, more beautiful. richer. i love that the dedication on apple’s website says that “steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of apple.” it seems so apt. 

it’s hard, personally, to lose two people who were so important to me, albeit in such different ways, in the course of 10 days. i feel like there’s a lot of grieving still to be done. but i feel like both my grandmother and steve jobs would want me — and us all — to move forward, to be better as a result of this experience. so that’s what i’m taking away from it all: move forward, and be better."

yes.

the weekend is going to be a quiet one; i really need to kind of get it together after living rather randomly for the past week and a half. my house is a mess, i need to do laundry and dishes, and i'd like to make some meals that will get me through next week (i'm thinking a big pot of hearty soup sounds really great). i'm also planning on going to the farmer's market and maybe doing some furniture rearranging in my house (my darling felines have clawed apart one of my favorite chairs and it either needs to be moved or replaced). there will be time with friends and time alone, and i'm looking forward to all of it.

how about you? what are your plans or the next few days? whatever they are, i hope they are lovely and autumnal. thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your wonderful comments this week, too -- they mean a lot (they always do).

see you back here on monday.

photo by *cinnamon. its title is "the swerve and the static"; isn't that pretty?

someone like you.

like most of the world, i was smitten with adele's 21 when it came out earlier this year -- i loved every song on the album, but "someone like you" stuck with me, as it did for many, many others. i've heard a lot of covers of songs off 21 and haven't been crazy about any of them, but this one -- by emily luther and charlie puth -- is really, really beautiful and i've been listening to it on repeat all week. i hope you enjoy it, too.

"stay hungry. stay foolish."

my family has always been a family of mac users; we've had apple computers in our house since the mid-80s, back when it wasn't nearly as cool to have them as it is now, which is also probably why i always equate "apple" with "home." my first computer that was truly my own, the one i took with me to college, was my aunt's hand-me-down apple laptop; i then progressed to a cobalt-blue imac, then a snow-white ibook, and finally -- after a brief interlude with a dell -- i'm back to a macbook. we all use other apple products, too, as does almost everyone i know. to say that steve jobs' death yesterday is a loss for us, for our generation, for the world as a whole, is an understatement. he is one of those people who truly changed the world. he was a genius.

my name is megan, and i will always be a mac.

video: from jobs' 2005 commencement speech at stanford university. it's worth watching all the way through, i promise.

outfit perfection.

i just love everything about this outfit, worn by vogue contributing editor lauren santo domingo. so feminine and tailored.