Smiles All Around

Things that make me smile these days:

-Winning basketball games (and victory shots)

-The way the heater blows toward the front door and warms me up right when I walk in

-The thought of Spring just around the corner

-The Easter candy aisle

-My newly painted (brown) bedroom

-The perfect little yellow perennial I'm somehow keeping alive (those of you who know me know I don't have the greenest thumb)

-Finding five wonderful, blissful minutes a day to blog (seriously, I need this in my life)

-This music video - SO SWEET

What about you? What's making you smile?

Morning Hours

Lately it's been really hard for me to go to work. Not that it's been hard to wake up - well, it's really always hard to do that - but it's been really hard to walk out the front door and leave the warm goodness that is my apartment in the early morning hours.

On weekday mornings, we wake in near darkness when the grass is still wet and the world is quiet, we hear showers start up one by one down the alley, we pour bowls of cereal and put on socks to gaurd against the cold floor. On weekday mornings, we rub our eyes and stretch and are keenly aware that most of the world is doing the exact same thing. On weekday mornings, we cherish the little things like five extra minutes of sleep, a warm shower and bright, early spring sunshine.

And every single morning for the past week, as I've approached my front door, I've wanted to put my bag down, jump back into my pjs and crawl on the couch with a blanket and my favorite pillow to watch morning talk shows, sip coffee and enjoy the toastiness of the blowing heater and the glow of amber lamplight.

Maybe one day - just one - I'll get to stop and soak it all in.

Phat Tuesday

Ah, Fat Tuesday, truly a phat Tuesday, ifyaknowwhatimean.

While I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, the area of Southeast Texas that I grew up in (a mere 45 minutes from the Louisiana border) sure knows how to do it up right, and today I find I'm homesick for some fried catfish and a piece of King Cake.

Growing up, Fat Tuesday was always the day we gorged ourselves on the candy/cookies/icecream we would soon be giving up for Lent, and although I haven't given anything up for Lent in a long, long time, I've been considering it this year. I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide.

For now, I'm going back to dreaming of purple and gold frosting and ooey gooey raspberry filling...

Do-Over

Have you ever just wanted a do-over? Whether it's a moment, a day, a weekend or an entire year, have you ever just looked back at something and wanted to completely wipe the slate clean and do it all over, better this time?

That's how I feel about this past weekend.

Sure, parts of it were good, but parts of it were not so good, and seeing as how I look forward to those two precious, workless, wonderful days SO MUCH each week and always want them to be nothing but perfectly blissful, I'd really like a do-over.

Any idea how I'd go about getting one?

Heckled

If you've never gotten heckled by a 10-year-old kid, be glad. It might just make you think terrible thoughts about how much you'd like to rip his freckly little nose right off his freckly little face. And then you might feel really bad about yourself.

I'm just saying...

(In case you're wondering, WSU lost to USC last night. I was watching from row G. And the kid in row H, well, let's just call him lucky.)

Livin' and Lovin'

I love blogs.

No, really, I do.

And when I say love, I mean LOVE, like warm my heart, tickle my toes, drool with envy, laugh with glee kind of love.

Over the last few months, I've discovered some blogs that are SO INSPIRING I don't really know what other words to use to describe them.

They make me want to take pictures, paint bedrooms, sew pillows (like the one above - photo courtesy of flickr.com - another of my new obsessions), read books, send letters, make friends and plenty of other good stuff.

And today, as I was reading one of them, I realized that it might be a tad bit selfish of me to keep them all to myself, hence a list of blogs SO INSPIRING you'll fall in love, too:

Curious Bird

sweet jessie

Spirographs and Flying Fish

Kleas

My Land

One Pretty Thing

habit

Lots of Love

I’m happy to say my Valentine’s weekend was all that I expected. Sweet little hotel rooms (above). Long lazy naps. Pink satin and pearls. The best carne asada E.V.E.R. Winter showers. New shoes. And lots of love (and chocolate).

Santa Barbara really is fantastic. I think I could live there - in a cozy nook right off the beach and not too far from State Street with all its ice cream shops and movie theatres, perfect for hand holding and late night strolling.

Even the rain couldn't keep us indoors. Umbrellas in hand, we walked to Andersen's for a breakfast straight out of a dream and happened to stumble upon our VERY favorite new salsa: California Pepper Sauce, made right there in Santa Barbara.

I advise you to log on and order some for yourself the first chance you get. Or, if you aren't a fan of peppery things, I advise you to order some for me. Either one will work.

V-Day

Here’s wishing you all a very happy early Valentine’s Day. I hope your days are filled with too much chocolate, plenty of cuddling and lots of ooey, gooey romance.

I’m looking forward to a three day weekend of wine tasting, sushi eating, drink sipping, beach combing and road tripping from LA to Santa Barbara with my valentine – a curly haired, brown eyed boy who makes my knees weak, my heart happy and every day of my life so much fun.

(If you’re reading this, I love you, Valentine.)

Whatcha done?

Over the last week, I’ve heard from some of you who seem a little disappointed with my non-posting lately (and I really do love you all for this!), and so I thought I’d offer up a little something today. No, it’s not much, and maybe, just maybe it could be viewed as a cop out, but I do hope you’ll find it at least a little entertaining – maybe even entertaining enough to do it yourself.

I found it on one of my favorite blogs, sweet jessie.

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog. (Simple enough, right? And you know how I love lists…)

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Ok, honestly, I thought that would be WAY more fun, but really, it sorta just made me realize how much I haven’t done. Some of these may have to find their way onto my next birthday list.

If you do it, let me know so I can check out your list!

Gimme Gimme Chocolate

I’ve been having a craving for chocolate. And not just something small like a chocolate cookie. No, that simply won’t do. I’m craving a gigantic bowl of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, brownies, crushed Butterfingers, and M&Ms. I want a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate milk on the side. I want a big red box of little chocolates stuffed full of things like caramel and raspberry crème. I want strawberries and chocolate fondue or a gigantic milky way.

BUT sadly, my craving may have to wait until the weekend to get it's fill since I'm not about to venture out into the mess that LA becomes when it rains.

I'm thinking Cold Stone on Saturday. Oh yes, I am.

Be The Change

If this doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.

P.S. -- I promise to come back sooner rather than later. I do hope you'll forgive me.