things that inspire me

Katie Ermilio's Spring 2012 collection

Soko's dreamy music

Kris Nations state pendant necklaces

The Muppets (Just found this adorable video!)

arizona/oregon love

On Valentine's Day, it wasn't only the day of love--it was also the birthday of my two homes.  Yes, Arizona and Oregon share the same birthday on one of my favorite days of the year!  I love that.  Arizona celebrated a monumental one--100 years!  If I were home I would have thrown a killer Valentine's/AZ party.  Shucks.

But that's okay because I came home to a giant sun and cacti on my wall courtesy of Ted!  It goes mighty well (oh god, did I just use that--I've been watching too many westerns) with my glitter-glued AZ postcards and felt desert heart.  Yay!

Ted also impressed me with this card he made all by himself!  Almost makes up for the time spent in Banana Republic waiting for him to sort out a cardigan dilemma.  Almost.   

For dinner we went to Piazza Italia, which was just as delicious as the first time we went for our Christmas date.  We had bruschetta, heart-shaped lobster ravioli, lasagna, hazelnut gelato, and a fancy desert coffee drink.  SO MANY YUMS.  

Yep, it's love.

february threads

I haven't posted an outfit in 29103 months, but that's okay, because this outfit pretty much sums up my Portland wardrobe (as in drastically brighter than the weather--example:  today two people said that my ensemble made them want summer).  Ted took these at the Rose Gardens (which are out of season, but still beautiful) when he, Claire, my visiting grandparents and aunts, and I went over the weekend.

Dress - Urban Outfitters

Jacket - Old Navy

Belt - vintage 

Bow - somewhere embarrassing that may or may not sell toddler clothing

Sequin heart - Ban.do

Arizona necklace (my new favorite accessory) - Valentine's Day gift from grandparents

Tights - Banana Republic

Toms - Christmas present from parents

Me and my sweet Grandma

Me and my sweet Claire hugging a statue

How were your weekends?  I guess it's the weekend already tomorrow (whew, this week went by in a flurry), so a more appropriate question would be, what are you up to this weekend?

Guest Blogger: Making a Valentine's Mess with Faith&Fashion

Currently, I'm living in Colorado attending a Christian University to earn my youth ministry degree. While living on campus, my apartment is right next door to an all guys building. With Valentine's day present, I thought it would be a swell idea to bake treats for all the guys. Thankfully, every store near my home has a great appreciation for the day of love and finding cute cake mix was easy to find. With a goal in mind, I knew I had big baking job in front of me. Thankfully, my tiny kitchen was up for the challenge. Once the cupcakes were done I added two layers of sprinkles and pink frosting to give it the little Valentine's touch. After making over forty cupcakes, I decided to top it off by making Valentines for each room. Using paper doillies as the background made the job quick and simple. It's the small gesture that can make the big impact on Valentine's Day.

For more by Melanie check her out at Faith&Fashion.

Guest Post: 2/14

Howdy! I'm Kate.  How did I get Kaylie's password?  How do I know Kaylie?  How do I know that the owner of this blog's name isn't Word Brian Doodles II?  This is all really unimportant information that you need to stop asking.  It's a guest post.  Come on.  One thing that does matter is that I thought of Kaylie when I get dressed every morning.

Today was my first day nannying, and Ellison and his private school-mates didn't have to wear their uniforms, but instead, were asked to rock an Arizona-themed outfit. If Ellison wore skirts, dresses, and lacy socks, my heart would have sunk a lil, but he doesn't, so he dressed up like a prospector.

On the surface, Valentine's Day is hearts and flowers day.  So, when I go to Buffalo and I buy that long black sundress with the 90's rose print on it, and I go outside, and it's sunny and windy, and Spring is kickin' in, I'm pretty in love.

 

Wear some Rose Salve. He/she will think he's crunchin' on real flowers. Candy! Miranda July is my Valentine. Always be on the lookout for a man with aVCR (courtesy of Kaylie), donut and cupcake scented stickers to seal your cards, embroider something lovely, roses roses roses, jewelzzz, and play him/her a lil tune bout love n stuff on the har-money-cah.

Sometimes, when you get to be my age, you have too many options for Valentines' Day and not enough boyfriends.

Now, let's get sappy in dis club.  I don't wonder what love is too often.  I love my closest friends and my closest family members.  I love my two best friends very much.  And I love someone a lot.  As far as love goes, I think I'm experiencing it more than I ever have, but I'm also my oldest, and now I'm older, and now I'm older.  What I have learned about love is that it is your own personal feeling. Nobody else invents it. It's a word we use, but I think that's one of the only things my love for one person has in common with your love for another person.

First,

 

And it's pretty great.

Second, to me, love is

 

in a nutshell.

But sometimes it hurts.

 

But the burns heal, and you get over it because you have to.

And another love, and even better love creates a completely

different fire, a fire of ~*~passion~*~ Am I right, laydeez?

Okay, this was cheesy, so here's a playlist! Add some Dr. Dog and Mayer Hawthorne, and you're golden for a sunshiney Valentine's Day...even if it's raining!

 

VALENTINE'S DAY WIZARD /////// XOXOXO TONIGHT ;)

valentine's day eve

Spending the night eating the last of the heart macarons Ted gave me the other night (ordered from here), watching Love in the Afternoon (a hearts day tradition), and doing some last minute crafting (because silly school has been getting in the way of my holiday craftiness--an absolute disgrace!!) 

Also, this weekend I received a beautiful Valentine's Day package from my grandparents and oodles of candies/cookies from my other grandparents and aunts visiting.  Life is pretty sweet.

Remember to share the love tomorrow!

chocolatiering

This guy commandeered a Portland chocolate tour for the two of us this Saturday.

We hit Cacao, Teuscher and Leonidas downtown first.  (We would have hit Moonstruck too, but we've  tried plenty of their chocolates already.)   Each place we had them recommend their top two chocolates and split them.  Yum.  (Ted will definitely be blogging about them soon.)

Next we took a streetcar to 23rd to find more sweets.  We went to Two Tarts Bakery and shared a macaron, then headed to Papa Haydn's, which has a beautiful display of every dessert you would ever want to try.

I enjoyed this Valentine's Day love.

We ended up getting this heart-shaped chocolate ganache wonderfulness, raspberry sauce, gold flakes, and all.  We saved it for that night, since we were already on a sugar high and ready for real food (aka two burgers each and some fries at Little Big Burger).

Suffice to say, it was a good day.

valentines box

For Valentine's Day, I decorated an already adorable cardboard box elementary school Valentines shoebox-style.

Each day I am going to add something new until Valentine's Day.

Glitter glue...

Patterned paper and letter stamps...

and of course, heart doilies!!!!!  I was also thrilled to use a couple of my sparkly plastic hearts I had left over from Christmas crafting.

Stay tuned for more crafty cheesiness.  Poor Ted.  XOXO