from the sunshine state

I wish I could share some of these tangerines from our tree with all of you. we have tons! happy monday.

canisters

and speaking of cute things at west elm, my parents got us these beautiful canisters for our kitchen. they go perfectly & hold all of my pre-sifted flour & powdered sugar (yes, I went ahead & sifted everything because I hate that step in the baking process), regular sugar & organic cane sugar. I love organization.

awwwww!

I think I'm almost the last person (well, the 4,986,754th person to be exact) to view this video. in case you haven't seen it...

{"someday I'm gonna whistle?"}

birthday party goodies

I mailed my good friend kristin a goodie box of stuff I put together for her 29th italian-themed birthday party in manhattan last week.  the template for these mustache straws came from the paper + craft book I got for christmas. and of course my first sewing project, the bunting (although I have to say I hope she didn't hang it on the door like that! sheesh!).

{photos by ty mecham}

baby blanket

I worked on my second sewing project this weekend, making a baby blanket for my friend holly's baby boy. thanks to this super helpful sewing tutorial on sewing minky (that soft, nubby, baby blanket material), it was actually pretty simple. in the time it took me to watch "garden state" & an episode of "it's always sunny in philadelphia", I made this sweet little blanket. I'm feeling pretty good about this whole sewing thing (knock on wood!).

snow in ATL

well, we don't get snow in florida (thank goodness), so I flew up to atlanta to play in what was left after their 5-inch snow storm a week ago. kara & I had a low-key weekend watching old movies, playing in the slush & eating delicious food. thanks for a great visit, sissy!

mount vernon in photos

as promised, here are some more photos from our trip to mount vernon:

{the colonial market was going on; artisans make & sell all kinds of different crafts  that would have been made in the 18th century}

{we took a boat ride on the potomac river. this is fort washington, which is the oldest surviving fortification from the  american revolutionary war}

{sheep! mount vernon is actually still a working farm}

mount vernon

back in september I flew to nyc to visit my good friend kristin. from there, we took the bus down to washington dc to visit kristin's friend merrillee. merr was a wonderful host & took us to tons of cool places (which I will post about later). but one my favorite place we visited was mount vernon, the plantation home of george washington. learn more about the history of mount vernon here. 

my new friend

I just received the best gift ever... a sewing machine! given to me by a mother who solely glue-gunned our dance costumes for 15-straight years. yup, I am determined to learn how to sew. even after failing my joanns beginner sewing class (maybe I shouldn't mention that they were forced to offer an extra class for the "special people" who couldn't finish their project in the allotted month).

well take this, joanns! I made this bunting all by myself. ok so it's probably the easiest thing ever to sew. but  for me, it was a great start. I love my new machine! thanks, marmie! 

west elm makeover

I like west elm, but have never really loved it. their products seem very similar from year to year, none being all that special. but I have to say- I was blown away when I made a visit to our local west elm recently. the store actully had so much character- there were old wooden pallets turned into wall decor & cardboard chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I complimented the manager & told him it felt very "anthropologie meets urban outfitters." come to find out, their new creative director came from anthropologie. anyway, here are some of my favs from their spring catalog. 

bowling night

advent calendar

I know it's a little late & everyone is probably sick of hearing about christmas, but I had to share this great gift that my mom got my sister. she filled this advent calendar with treasures (& because kara doesn't live here, she got to open every door in one day!). my mom had been collecting all kind of vintage jewelry & pins from various estate sales for months. everything she found is so unique & absolutely beautiful (& knowing my bargin-loving mom, she probably didn't pay more than $5 a pair!). what a lovely gift. 

{advent calendar}

{earrings}

2010

I find that most people like to look back on the year & reflect on what they've done, how they've grown, etc. I, however, don't usually do that, mainly because of my (lack of) memory; I can't remember dates or years for the life of me. It blows my mind when people says things like, "I had that same haircut back in the summer of 2003," or "my favorite tv episode was in the beginning of season four." in my head, time all just blends together. and I know that sounds like a bad thing, but for me, I suppose it's just about living in the present & being in the moment. trying not to focus on mistakes in the past or fret too much about the unknowns in the future. (or, maybe that's just my excuse for having a bad date-memory.)

last year I made a list of some of the highlights of 2009. I thought I'd do the same for 2010 (thank goodness for my calendar or else I'd never remember what year anything happened).

- we watched bobby bowden coach his last football game ever at the gator bowl.
- robert & I started hitchcock movie nights.
- I spent a whirlwind of a weekend in la visiting robert while he was there for work.
- my baby sister turned 25 & we threw her a party.
- robert made me the coolest piece of art ever for my birthday.
- we celebrated our 4th anniversary with a trip to puerto rico. 
- so many sweet babies were born (seen here & here).
- we went to maine to visit some great friends & explored new england with them.
- I started a new job after 6+ years at the same ad agency.
- I visited my good friend kristin in nyc & then we took a bus down to dc for a visit.
- you + me blog was started exactly 1 year & 168 posts ago.

thanks for reading & here's to a healthy 2011.

{photo by tiffany manning}