sisters!

i had a fantastic getaway to d.c. this weekend, where i took this pic with my sis. after a long, sweaty, hustly bustly day, there was nothing better than sitting in this perfect restaurant, drinking a perfect smoothie, and eating perfect sandwiches. i miss it already.

Snow Days

After a night of furious flurrying, the morning sky couldn't have been any more beautiful. At the same time, though, I'm torn between seasons. I keep thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to wear a dress and not freeze to death. But not long after I have that thought, I begin to plan a new knitting project. Right now I'm obsessed with this yarn and color, this lipstick, this book I got from the thrift store, these plants, and Italian food (due to watching this movie).

post-holidaze

post-christmas, pre-new years is hardly enough time to relax, but since christmas was such a fantastic success this year, i'll just keep drinking peppermint tea and taking inventory on my presents this year. i got a bunch more stuff than is pictured, which i intended to document, but after the two i got distracted by sweets and coffee and forgot what i was doing.

penguin pj's to keep me warm when my snuggie just isn't cutting it. *not pictured: matching footies.

lush bath bombs! a whole tin gingerbread house worth! i can't wait to try them and get all wrinkled up and smelling good.

i'm off to cook up some new years desserts and drink down some wine while i do it. mazel tov!

happy halloween to me!

oh lookie what we got here

i haven't been this happy about a purchase since. well. EVER. so so happy.

snap happy

ever since my trusty old polaroid camera became pretty much obsolete, general documentation of fun in the sun has come to a total halt. and after waiting for far too long to find a replacement, i've finally gone in and purchased myself one of these little white instax cameras, just in time for a mini-trip to harrisonburg to visit my sister and get in some quality time with the parents!

i want/ i need?

i've been on a mission for the past few weeks to get crazy healthy skin, since for all my years previously i have greatly abused it (not washing my makeup off! no spf! picking at my face!). this mission has led me through several cleansers, face creams, primers and samples of possible candidates, but all roads lead to here. the clarisonic mia. it's the key. i need it.

oh the claims are so so promising. gotta start saving my nickels and dimes!

r&r

a very excellent day off, if i do say so myself.

good morning desk! a cup of green tea to start the day and flipping through my blogroll.

oh hey there lady poodle. (i finally got a new desk lamp after many months of sitting way too close to my computer screen, so excited).

time to run some errands! what to wear what to wear.

that'll do. first things first though, lunch!

now what else

how about avocado, mahi mahi, cilantro hummus and sunchips? yes please and thanks. now those errands.

time to reorganize! i also picked up some hangers since i'm overhauling my closet, but that's not so exciting.

all my babies in one place! makes my heart so happy.

lippies.

gearing up for the cold weather with some yes to carrots for the bag.

such a cute little tub!

needed a new top coat to keep my nails laquered up for longer. i do not consider this part of breaking my ban.

okay now this is breaking my ban. BUT i did go into several clothing stores and did not purchase a thing, so for day 2 of the ban, i still consider the progress successful. slow and steady wins the race.

time for dinner and some apartment cleanup. microwaveable pad thai (which btw is really good) with the snazzy new chopsticks my beau gave me.

and done.

forecast

i feel like i have so many things i want to post about (in particular some fantastic new makeup things i've stumbled upon, a couple fall purchases, and a new fave choco snack) and never the time of day to do it! but i have a mid-week weekend coming up, so i'll post and post some more until my life feels dull again. but until then, i've been doing a deep cleanse of my inspiration photos file on my computer, and am starting to refill it with some pictures i'll carry into the fall with me. i also need to switch up my photo collage collecting dust above my desk, but that's another day and a whole lot of magazines to rip through. so as discussed, some palate cleansing inspiration fo dat azz.

my fall looks like it's gonna be a whole lotta cozy

things i like

im too lazy to bring the camera out, so i took a couple of gritty mac photos instead. these are some things i especially like this week, all of which are total essentials to get me through this week.

this is one of the sweet ass presents brought home from europe thanks to my big sis and her hubby. after spotting my blog post where i mourn my lack of nutella and go, they so graciously brought one back for me so i no longer have to live in agony. the day i open this will be a very special day. crunchy wafer stick things, a pocket of nutella, and a little sip of orange tea (which i heard isnt so tasty, but ill give it a shot). nom nom nom.

foreign fashion mags hooray! more loot from my sister/bro in law's european adventure. foreign mags without that pesky hiked up american price tag. i may not be able to read the magazines, but the pictures are 110% better than most of the u.s. magazines. my sis also got me some really pretty earrings that are dark purple with gold flecks, but when i tried to take a picture of them they weren't showing up how i wanted, but i wore them today and was loving their glam status.

i'm typically not a huge drugstore lipstick fan, but i was testing some out at target and i picked up 2 that seemed pretty promising. they're both reds, which is kind of ridiculous considering i already have 4,5, maybe 6 reds already, but they're completely different shades! i can't remember the other one i bought since it's over in my bag and i'm totally lazy right now, but this one is very cherry by maybelline and it surprised me but in a good way. it took a couple of swipes to get it totally opaque, but i've worn it all day and it's lasted really well and it's way more moisturizing than my nars lipstick, but not too slippery like my ysl tends to be. overall it gets a thumbs up. as for the shade, it's a nice bright red with just a tinge of a deep pinkish cherry, very pretty!

an attempt to show the color better. i was trying to hold my hair back cause it was doing a crazy spiky thing. red lip tip! pink blush does not look nice with red lips. ICK.

t-shirt loot! i've got myself a brand spanking new dj mike rizzy t-shirt which i'm totally excited about. GET IN THE KNOW, http://deejaymikerizzy.podbean.com/. sweet jams, simply good music.

give richmond the byrd! get it? support the byrd theatre, buy these sassy new shirts we just ordered up, come watch a movie, eat some popcorn, hear the organ, give us money!

as for the weekend, i'll be eating till i'm comatose at a chinese buffet for the bf's birthday, watching sex and the city 2 at the byrd, and doing some reasonable paycheck damage. also, i'll be adding my big sis to the blog so she can update her learning-to-sew adventures! sweet!

Open Your Eyes

A few black and white images I love.

Joseph Szabo's Priscilla

Diane Arbus' Boy with Toy Hand Grenade

Still from Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep