a small taste...

of the decorations i made for the february party:

as always, liza was a lovely hostess, and the treats were AMAZING. and PINK. and HEART-SHAPED. wait till you see pictures.

in the meanwhile, feast on the adorable-ness of this tutu-and-tea combo...

from colette's chicago house tour, featured on elements of style

the goods...

the ideal & real.

i am several cups of coffee and one trip to paper source into my saturday, so you can expect lots of overly-excited valentine's day posts today.

first up... these beautiful valentine-inspired wedding invitations by erin jang...

the indigo bunting via cup of jo

i love that they specify champagne-drinking and polaroid-taking as the pre-ceremony activities. there is no finer pair, in my opinion. just ask the attendees of our new years party.

and for your viewing/listening pleasure, an amazing live performance by dirty projectors. i think i am a little bit in love with every person in this video, dave longstreth especially. he is a dreamboat.

dave longstreth illustration by johnnie cluney via daytrotter

happy twenty-sixth

to liza j.

sigh.

i think i might like this time of year even better than christmas...



from snippet and ink.

before & after.

the kids are alright.

feeling love-y.

custom valentines... what a great idea! i'm loving the pink/red combo and the zigzags.

by dwellstudio for tiny*prints

the pattern reminds me of this great rubie green bedding that i've had a crush on for a while now:


and lastly, a messy-hair kiss, spotted on a cup of jo:

a terrible, awful, no good day...

can be made slightly better with the addition of pink post-its to the fridge, serving as reminders of good things to come.

included here? a smattering of events, people and activities, including tennis, calligraphy and the february party.

what do you hang on your fridge to make yourself smile?

hello again

what better time to jump back in than on a cozy winter night?

i'll admit it, i spend a lot of time looking at wedding blogs. mostly because it's just one more way to occupy my time and daydream and fantasize.

i love the idea of this monogrammed banner. aside from the fact that it's gorgeous, don't you just want to wrap yourself up in it? it'd be nice to frame something like this, post-wedding, and hang it up at home...

winter blues.

room two-nineteen, you know that i love you, but on days like today...
you make-a me CRAZY.

pug love.

a pug pup is number two on my list of most wanted puppies.

this, however, is number one on my list of most wanted valentines.

what's that you ask? why yes, he IS wearing a heart-shaped clock necklace à la flava flav. you're welcome.

the january party.

our welcome to two thousand ten.

thanks to tyler w. for the next three photos, and to all of our lovely guests for the best new year's eve yet.

the red and white ones...

always taste best.

some things last a long time.

after an eight month break, i figure we're due in for a return. hello, internet. how are you? very much has happened since easter time.

the cold has finally arrived in chicago, bringing some snowflakes along with it. while christmas time is my most favorite of times, i am looking forward to the freedom of hazy, dreamy, warm nights. the idea of summer has taken on a whole new meaning now that my first year of teaching is underway.

but for now, it is still december. i'll go to sleep tonight dreaming of a time when life will look exactly like this: