shall we go to coffee?

of course my favorite saying so far has to involve coffee and is something I'll probably really only be saying to greg on our trip, who, doesn't understand italian. this might give me a good reason to meet people to ask them..."andiamo a prendere un caffe?". these evenings I'm living in the world of flashcards and textbook exercises. am trying to get into this book in the meantime.

inspiration.

so inspired by this lovely set, I decided it would be fun to capture a picture of some of my favorite shoes. someday I'm going to look back at this picture and be reminded of how much I love finding bargains...I don't think I paid full price for any of these. I'll also be reminded of how much I love mid century inspiration, hippie chic, unexpected red lips, skinny jeans, any jeans for that matter, scarves, pointed toes, peep toes, jeweled toes, big sassy sunglasses, vintage handbags, lucite, shimmery eye shadow, big faux jewelry, suede, patent, simplicity, fun, and finding something great with something old through a little creativity and remix. I think this marks the beginning of a new little photo journal project for me.

life is in bloom.

i'm always amazed at what comes to life in our yard each spring. even plants that we neglect, plants that are transplanted, walked all over by the dogs, burnt to a crisp in late summer, frozen to the core in the middle of winter, somehow manage to make their way. this makes me appreciate their beauty all the more.

let's see...what's up with me...i have italy on the brain. i've been studying italian non-stop. i broke down and purchased a little cd to go with my textbook, which, i happily listen to (and speak to) whenever i'm driving in my car. this great little gadget has also been fun. i'm so excited to dive into the culture and the experience with this language and am counting down the days for august to arrive.

sunshine and a birthday wish.

this weather has me trying to convince myself that I could make a lovely living as a gardner of some sort and last night's cupcake baking had me trying to convince myself that I could make a living as a cupcake baker of some sort.

today is my best friend, mandy's, 30th birthday and we're throwing a party (hence the cupcake baking)! she has a lot of great things going on in her life and I'm so excited to see what her 30th year has in store. my fingers are crossed that it includes a little warm weather getaway with lucy! no need for warm weather getaway today...it's going to be sunny and hot...perfect for mandy. so, with that, my birthday wish for mandy is that her first summer in her 30's is filled with fun, belly laughs that make her eyes water, love, all kinds of sunshiny warmness, inspiration, painted toes, sundresses, sweet treats, sunhats, new found hobbies that make her want to rethink her job, new friends, old friends, warm evenings out and about around portland, sunsets, sunrises, and of course, great, great food. xxo!

bittersweet.

life's been bittersweet lately in so many ways and i'm finding that words are hard to come by, but, they'll be back...they just need a little time.