1950's murder mystery party

my sister kara recently threw the cutest murder mystery party. she found this unopened game (from the 80s) at an estate sale. the game theme was "high school reunion 1954". it came with the invites & each person's character, so that they could come dressed the part. her friends really got into their roles: the three-sport letterman jock, the malt shop waitress, the prom queen, the straight-a valedictorian, the goodie-goodie (hmm... sounds like a season of the real world). kara gave everyone vintage broaches to hold their name cards so they knew who was playing which character. she also served old school appetizers & drinks & had a make your own sundae station. oh, and juke box music playing in the background, of course. don't all her friends look so adorable? I wish I could have been there!
(photos courtesy of kara's friends, lee & matt)

mad men: season five

eeek! I am so giddy that mad men is finally starting again. I've been watching it since the very beginning, but last season was just so good, it made the wait for season five so much harder. in honor of the season premiere, I thought I'd post some very old photos of the mad men christmas party my agency threw back in 2008. this was seriously the most fun I've ever had at a work event (and we had lots of parties at this place). 

{photo credit: amc}

{robert channeling pete campbell}

{a christmas smooch}

 {there were lots of inappropriate things done to the peggy & don cutouts. and I'm pretty sure a few girls actually made out with don. can you blame them?}

{amanda looking hot with her candy cig}

{I wish I remember what song they were signing}

{did they know how to do the soulja boy in the 60s?}

"welcome to the 90s, mr. banks"

big news. I entered the millennium & finally got a smartphone! I'll be honest. I loved my old phone (that I'd had for over five years!). even though I got made fun of for still using it. like the time when robert & I were in beverly hills of all places & my phone battery stopped charging. I walked into a radioshack off rodeo drive to get a new one & the guy working at the store got quite a kick out of the fact that I was still using it. he chuckled with amusement- "we haven't seen anything like this in years! of course we don't carry this battery!" but, I have also been known to impress people in waiting rooms by my amazing ability to text extremely fast with one thumb without even looking at the numbers. what can I say, it's a gift. 

needless to say, I was a little bummed when my in-laws (kindly) kicked us off of our shared family plan. I guess it was time for us to grow up. so robert went out an got me an iphone. I was hesitant at first, but after about five seconds, I adapted. and then fell in love. 

{before + after. funny how much bigger the new phones are. I guess "zoolander" got it wrong}

i realized I can now get one of these cute iphone covers that everyone has. now I just have to deicde which one. there are so many adorable ones out there. which one should I go with? these are my faves so far:

{untitled 07, old school camera phone, like something out of a beach boys song, ian curtis from joy division, brass, tangerine chevron, DG Aztec No.1, heart, kate spade new york rigid}

inspired by: the first day of spring!

happy first day of spring! I don't know about you guys, but I am loving all the neons I've been seeing lately. I put together a board with some of my favorite items. just goes to show you, you can pull off neons without looking like you fell out of the 80s. 

Straw Fedora, $12.99. Colorblock Clutch, $16.99. Blazer, $78. Earrings, $17.99. Platform Shoes, $178. Skirt, $44.99. Watch, $39.

peaches to the beaches

georgia's largest yard sale, "peaches to the beaches", happens once a year along a 200 mile stretch on highway 341. locals from lots of tiny towns in georgia pull out tables, tents & truck beds full of everything from antiques to just plain junk. my sister was in town so my mom organized a little family trip, just the four of us, just like old times (although we missed you, robert!).

there were so many sweet people running the booths who were so stereotypical "country folk" that if you're not from the south, you almost wouldn't have believed it. the accents sounded like something out of sweet home alabama, with people wearing overalls & saying things like, "well yessum, he lives just a stones throw away" (exact quote, by the way). people were selling live roosters (little jerry!) & giant ziplock bags of pork rinds. it was quite an experice. we actually didn't buy more than a few things, but it was such a fun day together, with tons of laughter. I love my family.

{no GPS here}

{umm... I think this was a joke}

{thanks for being our chauffeur, daddy}

st. patty's chocolate stout float

need a quick & easy dessert to serve for st. patty’s day? try this chocolate stout float. it’s super simple.

here's how: place a brownie in the bottom of a mug (a boxed brownie mix works just fine). then add a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and top off with your favorite irish beer. I used murphy’s irish stout, but you could also use guinness. erin go bragh!

art walk

we had a fun evening walking around downtown at our city's monthly art walk. we started the evening with some delicious pork tacos & handmade chips at a new (awesome) hole-in-the-wall restaurant. they only serve a few items & everything on the chalkboard menu is $7 & so delicious. after dinner, we strolled the streets & listened to live music while browsing all the local artist's booths. we ended up at the museum of contemporary art to check out their 60s exhibit, which was really excellent. thought I'd share a few shots from the evening. happy mid-week!

{andy warhol }

{my handsome husband, lookin' all serious}

{such a brilliant idea. artist joe forkan paints scenes from his favorite film}

{goodnight moon}