Bokja.

I am loving this line of furniture. I think a piece from the collection would be such an amazing addition to an eclectically styled living room. I'm even dreaming of one of their chaises at the end of my bed. Er, uh. If there was room. (I can't wait to own a home.) The company is Beirut based and owned by Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri. They reupholster furniture with vintage Middle Eastern and Central Asian fabrics. The result is crazy, but stunning. It might not be your piece of cake, but hopefully you can at least appreciate it's uniqueness!

images via

Browse for yourself here. I think my favorite is the tripoli chaise.

❤love.

Black currants and piglets.

Things I'm loving this week...

❤love.

The rhythm of my days.

Last week was really nice. A balance of designing almost every day with a midweek camping trip thrown in. Standing in a field, a fire nearby, the stars out. It's where I'd choose to be at any given moment lately.

Cue soundtrack. It's been in my head for days.

❤love.

And suddenly it's been years.

Last night it was absolutely beautiful outside. The wind was just incredible. The kind that lifts spirits and raises questions and hopes, puts out small fires and spreads the big ones like wildfire. It just felt amazing. It was my sister's birthday, but after cake and presents and even once the birthday girl crashed, a select group stayed out on the back porch. I drank chardonnay as the storm came in and enjoyed good friends.

You know when you still view something as new, or rather just not old, and then you have that moment where you realize it's not anymore? We were having a conversation about the first time we all met each other and I made some reference to a year ago or so and my friend Clay laughed and said, "I've known you for years. Way before that." And I said no but then gradually added year by year to my count until it neared a whole hand and I wondered where the time has gone. Life is so sneaky sometimes.

❤love.

What's today again?

Sometimes I think it's nice to have a day that feels separate from everything else going on in life. Anything bothering you, making you worry or stress, just goes away for a little while. And yesterday was just that. I'm looking at a couple of weeks most likely filled with lack of sleep and group nervous and emotional breakdowns. Finals are insane. So Sunday was just some great timing because I think I needed it before I climb into the roller coaster car.

I rode with my sister, Rachael, out to my dad's house who's out of town right now and we told we'd take care of some things. It's a bit of a drive, so we did some major car dancing on the way out there. It's one of our favorite activities I'd say. She mowed the lawn and I laid on the dock at the pond and thought up new ideas that, although require more time than I currently have, were refreshing to come up with and got me excited about the possibilities.

Tank and Zoe. So pitiful. Don't let them fool you.

It was just one of those days where you have to keep asking, "Wait. What's today, again?" And then you try to remember what you should probably be remembering but then realize that right now, you really just don't care.

❤love.

Key Lime Love.

Ya'll. This weather.

Now, I need the cool wind to stick around. But like. These days in the 60's? SPOT ON. I'm loving it. So beautiful. It's absolutely horrible timing that gas prices are out the freakin window because all it really makes me want to do is roll the windows down and drive for hours and hours on the back roads, blasting music, car dancing, and actin a fool. Example A.

So one of these glorious days, my sister and I decided we should aim ourselves on over to the grocery store and grab some ingredients to bake a pie. Now, I am not a Key Lime Pie fan. If there are other options, I usually go for something else. But SERIOUSLY? This pie was slammin. I had to share. I mean, people who love Key Lime Pie love it. AND people who are usually 'meh' about it were all about some. It's a win all the way across the board. And it's just so refreshing. Bring it to a summer cook out. You will impress all your friends.

Ingredients:

1 9 inch prepared graham cracker crust

3 cups sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup key lime juice

1 tablespoon grated lime zest

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Combine sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest. Mix well and pour into prepared crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for about 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles appear at the surface of the pie. Don't let it brown!
4. Chill pie in the fridge before serving. Decorate with some pretty lime slices and whipped cream if you would like.

I told you it was easy. And fast! Here's mine... lookin all professional and shiz.

Have you discovered any favorite summer time recipes? I love cooking during this season.

❤love.

How to lose your mind. Slowly.

I have a million and one things to do. There are literally 18 days left that I actually have classes on. There are of course more if you count non class days, but seriously. There's no time left. And I can't even think about it for longer than five seconds because I may end up institutionalized before I can even get through the week if I extend that train of thought.

But I have this really awesome/horrible defense mechanism when I'm stressed out. And I literally turn into a crazy person. I begin frantically feeding my soul with things that make my heart happy in spastic, spur of the moment ways that probably just really make everything worse because ultimately... I'm procrastinating.

OH, you want to have a dance party in the car on the back roads?? LET'S GO!

Drive forty-five minutes to sit by a pond and breathe in air that feels less stuffy? YOU BET.

Get hyped up on espresso and brainstorm million dollar ideas that have nothing to do with anything on your to do list?!? RIGHT NOW!

I'm not quite sure if it saves me or lets me caress rock bottom in a happy deluded state. But I think I like it better than alternatives. So. Moving right along.

I just wanted to share something making my heart happy right now. Some friends and I stopped at IKEA last week and it was my first time. It literally made me want to throw out everything I own and start all over again. I was in physical pain. So clean. So organized. So affordable. So FREAKING AWESOME.

Alas. I still have all my belongings. And only indulged in a candle. FROM HEAVEN. For real, people.

When I picked it up and smelled it, I literally yelled, "OH MY GOD THIS SMELLS LIKE... JESUS!" I don't even really know what that means. But there were witnesses. It just popped out. Without consulting my filter. But if you have the opportunity. Buy yourself one.

❤love.

Home sweet home away from home.

I realized today that I've been coming to Park City and Deer Valley for nine years now. It completely blew my mind. I'm not sure why. I guess because we joined in on the group we go with a little late, they had been coming up here for years before, and so it just doesn't seem like we've all been coming together that long. Almost ten years! I mean that's just crazy. Growing up happens so fast. And no wonder everything here is so familiar. I probably know this place second best to home.

Nashville was rainy and gross when we left early morning yesterday.

Flying in to this was quite the change. A wonderful change.

This trip always refreshes me. I'm so excited to be here and soak in the beautiful mountains. And the snow! Oh, the snow. I just love being out in it and then at the end of the night cozying up and enjoying the company of some wonderful people that I only get to see this once a year. It's going to be a good weekend. I'm all smiles over here. I hope you are too, wherever you may be!

❤love.

I'm the one holding on to winter.

It has a hard time leaving every year because, you see, we have this brilliant love affair.

I'm sorry. I know. You hate it. I can't help it. We have separation anxiety. You're ready for spring, and I understand. Don't worry. We had a talk. And winter really is on it's way out the door. So I've decided to go, too. I mean. One last rendezvous can't hurt, right? One last hurrah before next year.

Airport at 5 am. Park City in T-minus 20 hours. Oh, I just can't wait.

❤love.

I know Victoria's secret.

Okay. Not really.

But I had a great find that I am in love with right now.

These shirts are in their 'basic essentials' section where you can choose any two for $24. I just happened to get two of the same because I knew I would live in them, but their v-necks are awesome too. These are longer, tunic shirts that slip off the shoulders just a little. And they are SO comfy. Great for layering but they'll also be perfect for when the weather gets nicer. Currently I'm wearing my green one (not pictured)... it's a great color. Slightly on the neon side, it makes me look tan. Which I am never opposed to since most the time I more closely resemble a vampire. Skin pigment wise, that is.

You can find them here if you want to check them out!

Have you had any great clothes finds lately?

❤love.

Like a train on a track.

Today was a good day! The best of my weekend I think. I found my dance shoes and pushed aside the kitchen table, took advantage of my new hardwood floors and let my muscle memory take over a little. It felt so good, I think it's something I need to do more often. Then I filled up my big coffee mug from Turkey (Oh Istanbul, I miss you.) and got to work on some school projects before being whisked away willingly for some distractions by Katie. We went on a little Victoria's Secret adventure and out for some dinner. I've ended the night with phone conversations and a homework slumber party at Katie and Kayla's apartment which is set to continue until morning! I feel good about a lot of things right now and my heart feels full. Full but nervous... I always feel anxious when things are good.

Happiness, it hurt like a train on a track.

Coming towards her, stuck still, no turning back.

She hid around corners and she hid under beds.

She killed it with kisses and from it she fled.

Addicted to this song! It makes my heart soar. Florence is my homegirl.

❤love.

Baby pies in jars. What!?

Yeah. That's right. I made baby pies. Baked in jars.

I had seen cupcakes baked in jars before, but cupcakes are everywhere. And besides. My true love is pie. I mean, seriously? What's better than pie. You can make them sweet. Savory. Tart. Whatever your heart desires. So I kind of just decided to fly by the seat of my pants here and make some jar pie. Even made up the recipes! Which is my favorite thing to do. It's so much more satisfying. And why not up the risk factor? I mean, let's go all out.

First couple started...

Ready for the oven!

Mmm. Hot out of the oven and smelling so good.

Lucky for me they turned out fantastic! I was so excited and will definitely be doing it again. I'm totally psyched up about creating new recipes too. I made three varieties this go around and the best was definitely Secrets in the Dark Pie. Yeah. I named it that. Psh. Pies are better with awkward names. Everybody knows that. Or I decided that, but either way.

Mmm. I really just want pie now...

And if I did my job... so do you, my friend. So do you.

❤love.

Sometimes all you need...

is to split a bottle of wine and open fortune cookies with someone that shares your brain (and heart), on a chinese restaurant patio sometime before five o'clock. Hash out what's holding you down, dream up big plans, and consider, with enough seriousness to be dangerous, running home to pack bags and leave, drive until you see ocean.

Or sometimes, it's all I need I think.

❤love.

The Romantics

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self!

Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well

As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.

Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades

Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades:

Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?

❤love.

It's a vehicular miracle!

No really. You'll never guess. Are you ready?

I cleaned out my car.

Now, if you're not gasping in astonishment, you're having the wrong reaction. Since I started college, I have literally become Hoarders: The Car Edition. No exaggeration. I think it stems from living between too many places. The easiest thing to do was to have something in my car because, HEY! I'll have it no matter where I am! But here we are, last semester of college and I am so over having a messy car its not even funny. I was pulling out of the parking lot after class and just knew. I'm cleaning out my car. NOW. And I feel wonderful about it. I still need to either take it to get detailed or clean it myself, but that will have to be another day. I'm not even joking when I say, I'm pretty sure my car feels lighter when I drive. Maybe its just my imagination. But seriously. maybe not.

In the cleaning out process I found some things I'm super excited about.

1. Battle Studies
2. my favorite nail polish (OPI You Don't Know Jacques)
3. twenty bucks
4. vintage stamps I got while antiquing
5. some pajama pants I love
6. a set of beautiful mugs I totally forgot about

Life is messy enough and I'm ready for everything else to be organized and cleaned out. No extra clutter. After moving once a year in a hurried, spastic fashion, you just become concerned with the packing and the unpacking and stop paying attention to what you're even toting around. So. I'm reverting back to my OCD roots. It's been decided. And I'm excited.

❤love.

Wishful Thinking.

I have a to-do list miles long. But I feel so unmotivated because it seems like I just keep working to cross things off and nothing has fallen off the list so far. In fact, more just gets added! Can you picture with me for a moment a to-do list totally blacked out? Every. Single. Thing. DONE. Ahhh it just makes me feel wonderful. But then I snap back to reality and want to violently scribble all over mine with a sharpie.

Breathe.

If I didn't have a thing in the world to do... this is how the rest of my day would go.

I would take off my chipped polish and paint my nails OPI's No Room For the Blues because, A. I've been wanting to for some time now, and B. It's an appropriate thing to remind myself at the moment. Then I would go to Starbucks where a new cute barista boy would make me a dirty chai or a triple grande caramel macchiato, I can't quite decide, but either would include a smiley face lovingly sketched on the side. I think that may take me to meander through Borders where I'd pull out all the fashion and music magazines and camp out in a cushy chair because that suits my mood today and feels like it might be fulfilling. By the time I'd get ready to leave, the cold rain would have changed to snow, and walking into the parking lot would be magical and calming and serve as any further therapy I needed to put me back into a good mind set. I'd sing at the top of my lungs all the way home and implement my perfected art of car dancing while dreaming up plans to occupy the rest of the night. Music making? Snuggles? Snow angels? Oh, the possibilities.

But instead I'll be running errands and at the school printing and working on projects. I can feel my brain hurting already as I try to dig creativity out of its crevices. I'm pretty sure it packed up and went on some kind of vacation it forgot it was supposed to take me on. That or snuck out during the night while I slept in ignorance. Come back! I'll appreciate you this time. Things will be different, I swear!

Okay. But really. I have to get myself in a better place mentally. I need productivity. Motivation. I need to be so full of optimism, its spilling out my pores. (That sounds gross. Maybe not that full. But you know what I mean.) Let's get excited about design! Fake it 'til you make it. Cue montage of things to make me feel inspired.

❤love.

New Year... with the flu.

So unfortunately I was diagnosed with the flu on New Year's Eve. I was so bummed I could have cried, because NYE is seriously one of my favorite holidays. I still saw some friends and I LOVED that the new year came in with a thunderstorm, but I am just itching to feel better. Thankfully, I know some really great people who are going to throw me a re-new year's eve party. With the countdown and everythingggg. So I'm excited for that. But in the mean time... this is just miserable.

I'll leave you guys with something currently cheering me up. My friend Ckate got me a chocolate frog for Christmas! Ahhh my Harry Potter dorkdom is showing. I don't care. I find no shame in waving my Harry Potter freak flag. And I am stoked. It even came with a wizard card!

I hope you all had a happy and healthy New Year's! I'm really excited about this year. The last was really fantastic and some really amazing things happen despite some of the lows. 2011 is going to be full of big decisions and life changes and some scary but wonderful things. I'm ready to plan big changes and get myself organized! A cliche starting-a-new-year post is probably soon to follow. But I'm serious this time about my resolutions. No, like for real. They're happening. Even though I say that every year... this is different. (Even though I probably say that every year too? Oops.)

❤love.