fair friday!

welcome to the end of the work week =)

tonight, we are going to the FAIR!!! the fair is one of my absolute favorite places to go, and though i may be a little biased, i think n.c. has the best fair this side of heaven.

i like to do a little of this:

and some of this:

but mostly i go for things like these:

did i mention how much i love fall??

happy friday!

two months and counting!

since spring of '08, i have been working to grow my hair out to donate and we are officially 2 months away from the big day!

on our 8 day trek through zion national park, becca and i decided we'd donate our hair to locks of love to honor a friend of ours battling leukemia. [i am happy to note that he's won his battle and is doing well!]
we decided we'd make becca's graduation from nursing school in december of '09 as our goal. and just to make it even more of a celebration, we're cutting it on my 24th (wow, that sounds old.) birthday, which is just 2 months from today!

i measured my hair last night and my longest layer has hit the 10 inch requirement, so the next 2 months will just be icing on the cake! i've been checking out fun short do's, getting excited to have a new style.

for those of you who've known me a while, you know that i love to dye my hair. i go red from march-september and am a brunette the rest of the year. i've been trying to keep from dying it very much just so it's as healthy as possible to donate. once it gets cut off, i'm gonna dye it to my heart's content!

hope you all are having a great week!

monday, monday

i always struggle with monday mornings. i have a hard time coming off of a wonderful weekend of [family&friends.church.football.shopping.] into a new work week. where did the last 60 hours of my life go?

yesterday at church our pastor talked about the importance of taking a sabbath. taking time for prayer. taking time to relax.recoup.rejuvenate. this is something that i normally struggle with, as i have a hard time sitting still and just being. it's true for me on any day of the week or weekend. even if i'm watching tv, i feel like i have to be folding laundry or cleaning and can't handle sitting still. during the week, i'm going.going.going. from one thing to another, and i need to learn to stop for a little while at nights or on the weekends and regroup and remember that it's okay to just "be".

i felt like this sermon was one of those bam! wake up calls that i needed to hear. God was using our pastor to speak to me about this struggle i'm having and giving me encouragement to slow down and open my heart to those daily lessons that i may be missing. the pastor said that you shouldn't start your work week more exhausted than you left the last one. it seems like such an obvious idea but one that we sometimes ignore. our pastor noted that rest and daily time with the Lord will help to make you a more fulfilled person, capable of learning contentment and listening to His plan for your life.

reminds me of a good ferris bueller quote: "life moves pretty fast. if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

it's my goal this week to slow down.listen.open up.and enjoy the fall!

happy monday!!

makes.my.life.

i have a slight obsession with h&m. okay, maybe more than slight. but it's a totally legit obsession. because h&m is a.maz.ing. adorable clothes for not-gonna-break-the-bank prices. so far they've only put them in big cities on the east coast like d.c., atlanta, and nyc, but guess where the next one is coming...

TO A MALL NEAR ME!

ahhhh!!! soo freaking excited! this mall is less than half a mile from my home and i cannot tell you how thrilled i am that it's going to be just.right.there. yesssss.

i'll give you a place to stay if you would like to experience the joy of h&m with me :)

happy friday!

these are a few of my favorite things...

folks, we are now in full swing with fall and i.am.lovin.it.

i've decided to share with you my top 4 "favorite things for fall" list (in no particular order):

*scarves-

i love a scarf. i wear them often and probably own more than i should. but for an average $5 a scarf, who can say no to adding another lovely (and functional!!) item to a wardrobe? a scarf is a perfect item to spice up that normally drab solid tee that you'd intended to wear under that everyday cardigan (don't get me wrong...this is just about all i wear so i'm preachin to myself here). and with the weather fluctuating 25 degrees from morning to afternoon, as it does here in the south, this is the perfect piece to keep you comfortable all day long. i could keep going, but you're already falling asleep at your desk as it is (wake up! it's only tuesday.) yay for scarves!

*soup-

it is finally soup season here in the south. yes, there is such a thing. it runs from about the beginning of october to the beginning of march. there is nothing like a bowl of soup after a long day to warm the soul and relax you. whether it's poppin open a can of campbell's or going home for a batch of homemade chili or broccoli soup, it's one of my favorite fall past times.

*hot beverages-

year-round i am a big morning coffee drinker. lord, help the poor soul who sees me before i have had my morning dose (a.k.a. my roommate. she's a saint.) during the scorching summer, my afternoon caffeine fixes come from diet cokes or frappuccinos since i certainly don't need to heat my inside as well as my outside. but during the fall, i am all for a hot beverage morning, noon and night. give me a pumpkin spice latte, cup o' folgers, hot chocolate or tea with honey and i am a happy girl. and my coworkers are thankful as well.

*rich colors-

throw those pretty pastels in the back of your closet and break out the bold! with the weather getting colder and those chilly mornings making it increasingly difficult to get out of bed, throw on those rich reds, bright blues and yummy squash colored yellows and you'll be ready to go! (well, you may not feel ready and would rather crawl back into bed, but at least you'll look cute and festive.) next time you're out shopping for that must-have sweater or i-need-it-desperately jacket, put down the light pink one and pick up the orange or chocolate brown. get out there and strut your autumn stuff!

carpe autumno!

happy friday! and "discovery of the week"! and catching up from nyc...all rolled into 1

hello, blog buddies!

i hope you've had a fabulous week and are ready to enjoy a wonderful weekend =)

our trip to nyc was wonderful wonderful and i will be sure to do a post soon complete with pictures. i did a whole album of them already on facebook, so stalk away!

my discovery of the week is a magical place called "max brenner's".
i don't even know where to start with the description so i'll just start fumbling my way through while drooling at the thought.

max brenner is creating a chocolate culture and all you really need to do to be a part of it is love chocolate. and i mean love. everything on the menu is made with chocolate and the designs of the restaurants reflect chocolate everywhere.
there are max brenner locations in nyc, philly, israel, the philippines, singapore and australia.

check them out here: http://www.maxbrenner.com/

we went and had the most wonderful breakfast that i think i've had to date. i had a peanut butter-banana-hazelnut-toffee-chocolate syrup crepe. with caramel on the side. and a toffee mocha to drink.
needless to say, i was wired and had an awful sugar crash that was worth every bit of the exhaustion.

we ate our way through that city and brenner's was definitely a highlight! the next time you go to nyc, stop by for the max brenner's experience. and overnight me one of those crepes.

hello, october!

october represents all that is good and right with the world.

...so, okay, i know that's taking it a little far but i'm not exagerating by much.

october is the state fair.football.sweaters.boots.the start of "soup and chili season".and on i could go.

two of my absolute favorite october things (of course) have to do with food. really they are two of my absolute favorite things of the whole year.

this:


and this:

perfection.

i don't let myself have them until october 1st so i can savor the yumminess and have something to look forward to kicking off a wonderful month.

i obviously indulged in both yesterday and had a fabulous start to fall.

here's to goodness.