OH. MY. GOSH.

you have to LOOK

a happy friday!!

my big brother is coming to visit me today! hooray! he gets in late - at 11pm - so i am going to have all evening to walk around my house picking up invisible lint & nervously straightening pictures! i am terribly impatient at the best of times....

i want to give out a big shoutout to annie (the friend formerly known as "joey") who spent her morning with me yesterday doing the kind of cleaning i usually avoid... thanks so much! even the corner behind the dining room door is dust-bunny free! i couldn't (wouldn't?) have done it without her! :)

i will see some of you guys tomorrow night .... you know who you are .... come ready to par-tay! nd here, for your amusement, are some examples of "lost in translation"! happy friday!

i swear i am not making this up

these are actual advertisements from 'back in the day' ... look at what we've had to overcome, girls!

odds & sods

much to my great amusement, according to my most recent 'allure' magazine, a couple of "scientists" have noted that shopping may, in fact, increase your lifespan. i haven't read the article yet, but i'm highly anticipating it! :)

i am feeling older today. 32 is an old, old age! it's a responsible, grown up, mature age. eek! i am totally not ready for this. grey hair & eye cream, "...kids these days..." and "...when i was your age..." *sigh* at some point, am i going to have to surrender my sparkly eye shadow & my hoodies? sneakers & cutoff jeans? will i wake up one day and think to myself, "mmmm - prunes sound so good to me right now!" OH NO!

and finally, here is something i really want for christmas that i will never get. :)

go get it, people!

i gifted myself with the reliant k christmas album - let it snow, baby/let it reindeer - and it is one of the most fun, creative and enjoyable christmas albums i've heard in a long time! acutally enjoyable musically, not just for sentimental mushiness. it makes me want to buy one of their "regular" discs...

the most wonderful day of the year

happy birthday to me!

birthday eve

well, it is my birthday eve.

most of the celebrations have passed - my new cell phone, "thanksmas" @ mom's, a gift from my in-laws - but i am content. i made myself a chocolate cake to have for breakfast with my coffee, will have lunch with a friend tomorrow, and this weekend we're having a big party (for someone else, but a party full of people i love, so that's alright with me).

i am 32 years old. i have a rich life - full of family & friends, a home i love in a place i love, freedom & opportunity, God who loves me - gift upon gift upon gift upon gift. things go wrong, and life goes sideways, but the deep truth is, "the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places". it's more than i deserve...and i'm grateful.

thanks, God.