so i was doing some harmless online looking...and i found some of the cutest things on the pottery barn's teen website. i know what you're thinking-- "that stuff's all for teenagers and pre-teens." and you might be right...BUT you might also be surprised by how cute everything is, and how easy it might be to incorporate some of those things into a grown-up's room!!

so check out these things...and i've included links, so it's easy to shop while you blog-stalk! enjoy!!!

first is this adorable pom-pom pillow. which would be so cute on any cream covered bed!

then there's this really cool idea of a create-your-own-wall-mural...which i think could be great for a number of things...a cool graphic in a baby's room. or a sophisticated image in the living or dining room. the possibilities are limitless!!!!

closely followed by the personalize-it-wall-mural, that allows you to give a warhol-like effect to any image you want! that's pretty cool, right?!

i love this peace sign light-up lamp for the wall...i think it's so cute for a game room!! (and i think you could hide that cord behind the wall too....)

i think these word bookends are so adorable!!! i would put them on ANY desktop or bookshelf.

i love this pillow for its simple message and it's adorable graphic! and you should "love your ocean" pillow! (and i might have to get this as a gift for someone i know who loves oceans!!)

this XOXOXOXO pillow is almost too cute for words. i just love it...and i would really love it on a plain cream sofa.

i think this light cube table would be so chic in an ultramodern living room. next to something with horns on it...hee hee

these laundry bags are so adorable, and they have some closet organization to match. and the pattern is great. i love the teal (pool)!

i love the simplicity of this big apple! i would love it on the kitchen counter, or as a cookie jar, or in the bedroom as a loose ends holder...you get the idea!

TOMS! (even on vacation!)

check out scarlett johansson wearing toms monday in austria!!! so exciting! i love when i see celebrities wearing them!!! if you aren't familiar with toms shoes, an old friend of mine started it, and you should check it out!!! click that toms shoes just above here, and get some cute shoes too!!! 

i'm totally planning on wearing them on my vacations....nyc in a couple of weeks, and europa later in the month!

i got the picture here. just so you know.

Day 10 - A picture that you took at one time that you love

so here it is. a pic that i LOVE and that i took.

my monkey dog loves to get on the couch and go to sleep on TOP of the pillows....you know, like a cat. so i indulge him in that one, and it's fine with him.

so here's my cute little dog. in all his adorable glory. feel free to adore him from a distance. and comment on his cuteness!!!

ps - and jq is coming over tonight to bake for tomorrow!!! so excited for the brunch!!!

Day 9 - Take a picture today that showcases motion

well, i don't exactly have the most time to go and take pics, so i utilized my iphoto to find some fun pics that showcased motion...

ENJOY!!!!!

my niece on her bouncer...she loves jumping!

monkey attacking the sprinkler. it's one of his favs.

girl talk at free press summerfest. SO FUN!

tilt-a-whirl = one of the motiony-ist things ever!!

i love the breeze.

trip to ikea = MUCHO inspiration!!!

i'm giving a brunch this weekend, and i'm a little bit nervous...

...not because i can't cook, or i don't think i can pull off some delicious dish that my friends will think are yummy, cause i've got that covered. i'm making a smitten kitchen (unofficially) sponsored brunch, creating in multiple some of her delicious brunch recipes for my friends (if you haven't seen the blog yet, click it, and you'll thank me later, i promise!!)

i'm nervous because i don't know what i'm going to put all this delicious foon ON. as a young unmarried adult, i haven't received all those vital entertaining pieces for my kitchen that you're just SUPPOSED to have when you offer to host a brunch.

Q: so what do you do when you find yourself without serving pieces in a pinch??
A: you travel across the freeway to your neighborhood IKEA!!!!! and i did!

so what did i get, you may ask?! well i'm gonna show you!
first, i borrowed this lovely oven safe baking dish (it's different cause it has no handles on it, and for me, that makes it a little more oven-to-table ready) for my version of smittenkitchen's boozy french toast.
then, i found something to display the zucchini bread and blueberry boy bait...this lovely SMARTA serving dish. and with a $8 price tag, i couldn't resist (and i got so many compliments on it! go figure!
(i was also considering this pie plate, but i was trying to stay on budget a little bit...)
then i'm making a simple fruit salad and putting that in a stainless steel bowl i already have, and making smitten kitchen's white bean red pepper dip, and putting that in my mom's vintage ceramic veggie tray (i'll post a pic later...i'm OBSESSED), making cold press coffee, and spiked watermelon lemonade, and i'm done!
christy's bringing mimosas and pitchers AND all her wonderful stella and dot jewelry, so it should be a BLAST!!

i did some biodegradable plates from solo and some different napkins from IKEA...for 50 FANTASTISK cocktail napkins in a pack (in medium green) for $1.49 (on special) and 30 VARSE dinner napkins in a pack (in that light summery blue) for $2.49, how could i resist!! (and i didn't have to do too many dishes!!!)

this is my version of a delicious and pretty easy brunch to pull off! i hope you enjoy the sharing, and get out there and do some delicious cooking! (AND hosting!!!)

(and i'll try to post some pics of the event for your viewing pleasure!!!)

Day 8 - Post a picture from your commute

a picture from my commute?!!! really? ok...although it's pretty lame, here's what i found on my phone.

this is how my radio spells ke$ha...haha

sticker reads: "i do all my own money shots"

well hello again.

so i know i haven't blogged in a while, but i have been emersed in the newest dan brown book. and i have to say, i'm a little OBSESSED. i have enjoyed all the other ones that i have read, mostly because of the rich italian history and art references (and despite the references to jesus having procreated with one of his disciples (mary magdelene) and carrying on the lineage of God's holy family - i feel like this is a bit sacrilegious...maybe just me)...but the lost symbol, brown's newest book, is really great! it's about masonry and the scottish rites...something my dad was really involved with while he was alive. and it's been something really cool to be involved with learning about.
so you should check it out. it's been really cool. (and the book is open right now next to my computer, so i'm going to get back to reading now, but i'll check in later. don't worry)

and i'll post date a little bit too, just to fill in on my pics of the day challenge. yeah, i'm falling behind. BIG surprise!

Day 7 - a picture from a recent vacation

from recent vacations, i have many a picture. however, i chose to use pics from the vacation i took with matty!!! we went to north carolina to see our lifelong friend josh get married. but FIRST, we stopped in washington dc. cause we had never seen it, and thought it was time to fix that.

so to washington dc we went. and we had a BLAST! (and since you know me, and my excellent decisive skills are awesome, so i'm including some highlights from the trip. ENJOY!

day 6 - a picture that inspires you...

lots of things inspire me. outside. friends. my brain, i guess? so, to find ONE picture that inspires me....that's really hard for me. so i picked a couple. so enjoy the landscape today, cause that's what inspires me the most.
let me know which one you like best!

ireland. ahhhh...it's like a breath of fresh air, right?!

this makes me want to cook...SO bad!

i love bridges and ny. great pic for that!

lovely pic that a friend took!

i love christmas. and christmas at the waldorf in nyc?! perfection!!!

ps-all these pictures were from websites and things...if you took them, please don't get mad. just let me know, and i'll give you FULL credit! thanks for your awesomeness.

Day 5 - a picture of your morning

so i didn't do anything exciting this morning, so i'm including a pic from my morning a couple of days ago. i went to the galleria, and after going up the escalator, i saw this to my right!!! and i FREAKED OUT!!!! so exciting!!!

turtle racing. yeah, that's what i said.

so last night was interesting. i was going to play bingo with jq and her boyfriend (and some of his friends), and well, things didn't really work out like we would have liked.

jq and i were late in leaving my apartment and got to the bingo hall a little bit late, and they wouldn't let us in!!!! can you believe that?!! the people at the bingo hall were SO rude. it was delightful.
but we went to cedar creek instead, and had a blast before going to meet the boys at little woodrow's in midtown.

we went to meet them for turtle racing. this could officially be my new favorite pastime in houston. we had to park far away, and walk a little, but we made it, and just in time! we met up with ryan and the boys, just as they were getting in line for tickets. here's how it works. you walk through line and get a ticket. this ticket is your pick for which turtle will win two out of three races to the outskirts of the 'field.' after you pick your "winner," (i picked a turtle named 'tweedledum' - obviously! i'll always go for the alice in wonderland reference....see some of my other posts on the subject if you don't know...) you wait for the races to begin. there is an announcer that comes out to get things started, but he sounded like the teacher from the charlie brown cartoons, so it was tough to hear, but they basically pick someone from the audience to be the "bucket babe," meaning that she lifts the lid of this bottomless trash can and sets the turtles free. then they try to race from the center of this platform to the outside of this turf lined circle or 'field.' each one of the turtles has a number on their back so you can tell who to root for.
it was pretty fun to watch, and i wanted to take a picture for the posting, but mine turned out like this:

yeah, i know. awesome. so luckily, someone else got a good pic and posted it on her blog. hers came out better, and i hope it helps to make sense of the wicked awesome fun that is turtle racing!

 oh, and just so you know, my turtle WON!!!!!!!! that's right! free beer for me...cause TWEEDLEDUM IS AWESOME!!!! (i secretly wanted to take him home...)

check it out, cause it's awesome!!!!!

have you tried these yet???

ok, so i don't get to shop at whole foods very often. it gets kind of pricy, and well, there isn't one close to here (yet! they're building a whole foods at waugh and dallas....just fyi!!!!). but sometimes, other grocery stores get a little bit clever, and start carrying yummy HEALTHY foods in the unhealthy aisles. i don't know if you've heard of the brand 'food should taste good,' but they make delicious chips that taste really good!!! AND are made with healthy ingredients to help you make healthy snacking choices (and who couldn't use them in this culture!). not everybody loves carrot sticks, you know.

i have had these before, cause they sell HUGE bags of them at CostCo (thank you for that by the way), but the only ones i've had are the multigrain. and they are super yummy....but have you had the sweet potato ones????? cause they are the BEST! you've got to try them...cause they are not only worth the calories, but they are healthier than those over salted tostitos, and they taste better too!!!! so check them out! (they carry them at most grocery stores, and if not, i've heard they're at starbucks...boo)

these images came from the food should taste good website...check it out! cause it's really cute!

Day 4 - picture of where you went today

so today, i went to work. then i went to my house. neither of those sounded like things i wanted to take pictures of....

....and i went to the galleria to help a friend get ready for her trip to los angeles this weekend...no pics there either (except for a pic of an embarrassing entree that we shared with shredded cheese and queso, beans, and some other REALLY healthy stuff)....until we left the galleria.

we were on our way out of the nordstrom parking garage, and saw a magical thing sitting in the parking lot...i'll give you a hint.

my bologna has a first name. it's o-s-c-a-r...

that's right!!!! it's the WEENIEMOBILE!!!!! so fun! so this is officially where i went today! to see the weeniemobile! official. see you tomorrow!

favs...?

so i know i already posted for today, but i was laughing at some old posts from this year....so check these out, cause they're really funny!!! i loved these two posts.

drugstore!!!

hilarious.

who wants their portrait done?

and i'm always post-dating posts, so be sure to dig through the archives for some older good stuff. (i'm not always good about keeping up, but i always have the pictures ready to go...you should see my desktop...yikes!)

but what are your favorite posts???? on your blog or mine!

Day 3 - picture of your street

my street is ugly. with its car dealerships and industrial-ness...so i decided a pic of where i drive into my apt complex is better. it's technically my street?

oh well. enjoy! i took these earlier this year, when the honeysuckle was blooming. it was a beautiful spring day, and it smelled DELICIOUS!!!!

and i'm craving some jack in the box tacos...so i'll check you guys later.

Day 2 - a beach picture you've taken

in looking for pictures that i've taken at the beach, i realized that i haven't been to a GOOD beach in a while...that makes me so sad.

but here's a pic from the santa monica beach that i took a couple of years ago. enjoy it and i'll see you tomorrow friends!!!

OH...and i found this one too while looking...one of the scariest/funniest things ever.

and just so you know, he thought he was God's gift to women....seriously.
(and he tried to pick us up...all four of us...so clearly galveston.)

not much energy today....

so i've been sick all day today...just feeling crummy and icky, and really sick. so in lieu of writing something fun and witty, i'm going to leave you with one of my favorite things...

my childhood friend misty and i went to school together from kindergarten through high school, and we were friends for that entire period of time. she has three older siblings, two significantly older and one that was 8 years older than us...so she was in high school when we were in elementary.
well, lesley, misty's sister, was an alternate for the show choir (which was a really big deal to be in at our school), and got to perform in the spring concert her senior year. well, it didn't go very well....and was featured on america's funniest home videos in the 90s. it was that funny.

so click the link to see what happens to lesley at the spring concert.

and that giggling you hear in the background is misty laughing after "the incident..."