oh to be serenaded...

(rocket 88 and kelley norris via my camera phone)

some of my friends took me out for drinks to celebrate my birthday last night... it's actually today... and the band plus kelley sang two great songs ( dolly parton's jolene and lucinda williams' pineola) and then sang happy birthday!

didn't i feel like the most special girl in the world!

part two of the adventure in birthdayland tomorrow....

p.s. many thanks to kelley and her song, and to lauren and msks for their wishes as well!

what to do???

everyone is updating their blog looks these days... i am getting antsy for a new look, and a new name and maybe a header that embraces that! hmmm....

i love the bird and the branch...and the font, and the white background but this has evolved to more than just a place to talk about freelance stories and i would like it to reflect that.

what do you think?

time travel tuesday...(updated)

my friend lauren emailed some our college girlfriends this picture over the weekend...back when she was a blondy, and i had permed emelie's hair and i think the "top" i was wearing was actually a skirt i had fashioned into a top...

it was taken 7 years ago ... it sparked emails filled with funny memories and was a fun trip down memory lane.

a delta dinner.

we headed a little south on saturday night to a restaurant in clarksdale, mississippi called rust... and i have to say, i've traveled a lot, and been to eat at a lot of places, and it had about the best atmosphere of any restaurant i've ever been too.

the lighting was so dim, my photos didn't turn out, but here is a sneak peak. i'll try to get my photos uploaded soon. after dinner we went to ground zero, which is morgan freeman's blues bar. (you may remember it from this really old post!)

(all images from here)

i'm totally ordering this...

see more here.

p.s. it's for spices, if you aren't sure! and if you saw my spice cabinet, you'd know why i need this gadget. right now.

what's not to love about julia...

i loved her hair, and her dress and the way she presented at the golden globes...oh and that she is totally embracing her pale skin ( i can relate!!) i mean, what's not to love?

more light love.

hi there sconce. i'd like a pair of you for each side of my bed.

sale.

(photo from here)

do you ever look around your house and think " what is all this stuff?"

we are having a community wide indoor yard sale this weekend at my work, and i couldn't be more excited. i have loaded all my junk into my trunk and hope someone else feels it is their treasure and will fork over a few dollars for all of it!

if you live hear me, make plans to come! there is going to be lots of great stuff.

if not, i'll post more about it and see what all i found... i mean sold! i read this post earlier at urban nest and i fear i might have a little of this syndrome!

maria, maria!

don't you just love when someone else you know gets a blog? i do!



a friend from high school has just started a new food blog ( yep, that's now two friends blogging about their exploits in the kitchen... remember blue jean gourmet) and this photo couldn't be more awesome!

maria lives in DC and aptly named her blog capital chef. check her out!

fashion trio

(image via the sartorialist)

aren't these fashionable pals cute? i love her plaid pants, they immediately caught my eye. i've always loved plaid, ever since i was a little girl. so i am loving the current plaid trend, and think if i could find these pants they'd be a great addition to my closet.

peek inside.

take a trip to blueprint bliss and see the inside of this house...my taste is usually not this classic, but it wouldn't take much arm twisting to get me to move right into this home.

welcome weekend!

i thought it was friday on wednesday, if that tells you what kind of week it was around here... but i have a long weekend and am looking forward to it- and i am thinking i might make these yummy looking croissants from here.

i may not have been posting much this week, but here is what i have been reading-- you might enjoy to read them too!

lauren got a new blog header and also posted about ways to help haiti.

my friend and former roomie, megan just launched her blog... she is a new mom and blogging about her new adventure.

east side bride is pledging to read more printed words ( not just the blogs and tweets and emails) you can too-- take the pledge and get the badge.

my friend kat's bakery was mentioned in O magazine last month!

courtney's kitchen is almost finished, and i'm loving watching their progress unfold, and her taste is wonderful!

what have you been reading?

hope you have a happy weekend.

heart breaking

(photo via www.todayshow.com)

watching the coverage of the diaster in haiti this morning on the today show was heartbreaking. i was really struck by how one of the main ways people are donating to the red cross is via text message! i think they said over $300,000 has been raised already via text message.

For those interested in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

get more information on the text aid program here

no better combination

photo from here

if i was having a party this weekend, i would want to serve these guys. mini grilled cheese sandwiches with shots of tomato soup.

p.s. yes, i just stole this whole post from cup of jo!

pretty. pretty. pretty.

if you saw the plant in my office you'd say i had a brown thumb. well, take that brown thumb!

cozy toes.

do you wear slippers? i do.. but only as of a week ago! i was in memphis last weekend and my mom couldn't believe that i didn't own slippers, or house shoes if that's your lingo.

so, while we were shopping i picked up some ( disclaimer: not those cozy looking uggs pictured above) and it has been so cold here, i can tell you toes sure are glad.

what was i thinking running around the house barefoot all these years?

p.s. i did wear slippers in the dorm in college, but i guess i had forgotten what a simple pleasure it is!

well...

i had a lot of posts planned for last week...there was the one about our snow day, and then one about my amaryllis that finally bloomed, and of course elvis' birthday (i did grow up in memphis after all)

...but none of them happened. i guess you know that though.

stick with me, i'll be back with more posts this week.

time warp?

is it strange to anyone else that there is already easter candy in my local grocery store? maybe we're skipping valentine's day this year?

p.s this might be my most favorite candy and until now it was only available at easter.