beauty is in the eye of the beholder...so be nice.

I'm sorry I've waited so long to do my weekend post, but I wanted to put up some pictures of my Friday night adventures.

Around Oscar season every year, my school hosts the Gordon Globes, where students submit movies they've made to compete for awards. Everyone gets dolled up, and we watch them on the massive screen in the chapel and vote for our favorite.

Being the fashionable people we are, my housemates and of course attended. But at the pre-party, Kait and I had some trouble getting a good picture...



(ya'll had no idea I could be so attractive, right?)


And then finally....


Although I couldn't resist one more moment of... well... yeah.

just before bed.

Images from House of Turquoise.

Now stick some cacti next to that bathtub and I'm in heaven (see post below!)

succulents.

As you might have guessed, I think a lot about what I'd like my future home to look like. One thing I've decided is that I want a lot of plants. While I love the variations of the New England seasons, the winters really get me down with the lack of sunlight and outdoor time. Solution: bring outdoors indoors! Not so much help with the vitamin D, but somewhere some study said once that plants improve people's moods. I'll take their word for it.

At the same time, I've never owned a plant, but I strike myself as someone who would not be good with them. Forgetful, easily distracted, busy, etc. Second solution: succulents!





Aren't they GORGEOUS? Plus most of them only have to be watered once a week and don't need tons of sunlight.

I found them all on the Etsy shop Succulents Galore. The prices look reasonable; I might start saving up for some cuttings to either give away as part of little Easter gifts, or to transplant into cheapie pots for my room here.

very potter.

If you haven't seen this yet, you should be ashamed of yourself.
That's right. Go sit in the corner for a little while and think about how much you suck.

Because this..... this, my friends, is what you've been waiting for.

A full-length musical based on the Harry Potter Series.

Do it. Now.

I give you permission to skip reading Obama's budget to watch this instead.
In fact, I give myself permission for that, too.

wrap bread.

I swear I didn't post this because it's from a place called Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

I posted it because it looks like that.

Flaky, doughy, tear-off-chunks-of-it goodness.

I made some really good lentil-three-bean soup the other day that this would be perfect for.

got an hour?

If I did, I'd try to read NPR's summary of Obama's budget.

But since I have to re-read all of Frankenstein by 9:30AM tomorrow, my good citizenship will just have to wait.

my, my!

Bookshelf porn.

bon weekend! or rather: bienvenidos al Perú!

This is a post dedicated to my bes fran Dani. Ain't she gorgeous? I'm not even saying that because I took this fabulous picture.

Dani is studying abroad in Peru. She was there for one semester, and then came home for the Peruvian break, and just arrived back for her second semester today.

Fun facts about Dani:
1. She's an incredible Spanish speaker.

2. She wants to help adult non-native speakers learn English, and has already been paid to do so. So yeah. She's pretty good at it.

3. She comes from a Mennonite background. (Do you mind my sharing that, hon? I just really love that I have a Mennonite friend.)

4. She doesn't like chocolate desserts. Or candy. (I know... I had a hard time accepting that one, too.)

5. She's a serious crochet-er. Seriously. She made these:


6. She thinks hard. One of my very favorite qualities about Dani is that she takes a very balanced view of things and isn't easily swayed by glittery arguments or manipulative statistics. She's compassionate and level-headed.

7. She has a blog, too! It puts mine to shame.

Say a prayer for her :) La amo mucho.

domino and oates.

Two of my favorite reads:


This has been called the Bible of modern decorating. I've read it cover to cover, sometimes studying all the written advice, sometimes just soaking up the glorious photographs.




And on a very different note, this is probably the best book I've ever read.


I know it's an Oprah's book club book. For me, that was a draw, but maybe you hate Oprah.
But seriously, gorgeous writing. One of those books that shines light on your soul.

the civil wars, take two.

It's probably lame to post about them twice in such a short period of time, but I don't care.

Please watch this video.

I'm potentiallllllly going to see them soon in Boston--a friend of a friend might have an extra ticket. But I don't know yet. The suspense is killing me!!!!

clean food.

I love a good recipe book.



I have several now, thanks to family members, but I think maybe I just need one more.




Just one, family. Pretty please? It lists recipes by the season-ableness of the ingredients.



I'm not addicted. I promise!

(images from Barnes and Noble.)

back to the future.

Photographer Irina Werning invited people to re-stage their childhood photos, to slightly bizarre effect:




From her Back to the Future project.

i want to dress french.

But confession: I don't actually know if these photographs accurately represent French style. Even French iconic style.

I just would imagine that they do. So when I say I want to dress French, I basically mean I want to dress like this.




Right now a lot of my style comes from my accessories and odd thrift store finds, and I'd like to start investing in cleaner-looking, thoroughly cleaned, good quality pieces.

All images from Blushing Ambition.
Please check out that blog. Food + clothes = lots of hours wasted online.

morgane of les composantes

All images from Design*Sponge.

and my Valentine is....

My family! Ho-ho, I'm so cool.


No, wait. Don't leave yet. I'm hip! I swear! Someone else thinks so, too!

I just really respect my parents' marriage as an example of real life love that works through thick and thin.


It doesn't get much cooler than that.

(Don't worry, I do realize I'm being uber sappy today. Back to regularly scheduled generally sour attitude tomorrow.)

in honor...

...of today's holiday, check out these be-yoo-tiful wedding pictures!







Today was unseasonably warm and lovely, and I'm choosing to believe it was meant as a Valentine for me :)

mas librarias!

Well, not technically. I think that means books. Although these libraries have lots and lots of books.





They just warmed my heart:)