99| window shopping, butterflies

it seems only appropriate on an up-and-down kind of day to shower you with beautiful butterflies
{or, as i called them when i was little...flutterbys}.

flutter, $15
silver mobile, $58
cupcake stand {i'm a sucker for these}, $44


it's quite possible that i have a case of the fridays. or maybe butterflies were meant to come in small packages. either way, three seems to be my magic number today. happy friday!

95| allowance, resolution

i have been forever spoiled {up until last october}. and i have ever frittered away my money, left, right, centre, and behind me in some cases.

i looked in my bank account yesterday and gulped. and then i freaked out. and then i realized that i am far from practical with my money, and that i don't fritter away my money on magazines and drinks as much as i used to {good}, but rather on housewares and clothes and other slightly larger purchases {bad}.

i admire rachel for not shopping for eleven whole weeks. i could not do that. but, i am going to be very strict with my money from now on. and very aware of my purchases.

my debit card, ladies and gentlemen, is not leaving the house unless it is for the express purpose of either taking out money, or making a planned purchase. i will take out a certain amount of money, and subsist on that for a week. and if i go broke before, oh well. too effing bad. i can't keep relying on my overdraft. i could. but i refuse to.

new rules to spend by...

• no specialty coffee, no breakfast pastries, no more $2 yogurt
• with the exception of a dress for the summer {i'm too small for my old ones, and i have three weddings and my convocation to attend}, spending on clothing will be limited to $50 per month, not a penny more {right now i'm spending very close to $200 without thinking much about it}
• i will not buy my lunch more than one a week
• i will not go out for drinks more than once per month {this isn't really a big problem for me right now, but once patio season begins}

this will be different {i hope}. {also, i hope that none of you are particularly bored by my discussion of money. i feel like it's a major elephant in the room for me right now, and i needed to get it out there. exhale. and now, on with the otherwise normal life that i lead. ha.}

92| levelling up.

i've done it all {almost}. i've blogged from work. i've blogged from my other job. i've blogged from the library. i've been caught tweeting in class. i also had my cellphone go off in class once, two years ago, and it resulted in the professor answering it and embarrassing andrew {who was on the other line} more than me.

now, i am blogging in class. except that lucky for me, class hasn't quite begun. however, this is precisely the reason why i do not bring my laptop to school, unless absolutely necessary. i imagine this will change when i start graduate school. {bonus mark: all graduate students at carleton drink evian. comment.}

anyway. dresses. i really want something whimsical, funny, flirty, feminine and all around pretty for summer. i have two weddings, convocation and a host of other great reasons to wear such a wonderful dress {reading under a tree, for example}. 

the hunt carries on.

87| girl, why i am.

this morning i faced an outerwear dilemma. like many girls, i covet pretty things. and often times, i choose the pretty over the practical. well, the weather was warm enough for a spring coat, but presently my only spring coat on hand is a yellow gap coat, which--while very lovely--would have been too much bright with my already bright skirt.

i do have another coat, you see. but it is missing about four buttons: three because it was poorly manufactured and i was too lazy to secure the buttons after i bought the coat, and one because i pushed my hands too deep in my pockets and popped a button {which is a tragic event when one is trying to lose weight}.

so, in the end, i opted for the black, oversized blazer that i own for the purpose of interviews only. i felt awkward because it was far too formal for the rest of my outfit, but i sucked it up anyways. also, it's not quite warm enough. whereas, my lovely taupe number without the buttons would have been.

i ran into a girl that i volunteered with this morning and she looked so professional, and so downright put together, especially give that she was working in an internship. it made me feel so very, blah. style envy ensued.

what do i plan about doing about this fair readers? i could buy a new jacket, but that would be well over $150. so, i won't.

i'm thinking i'm going to replace the buttons. perhaps not this weekend, but maybe next week sometime. given that it's a cargo style jacket, that's a lot of buttons. but it will be worth it. i'm also wondering if anyone can make any other suggestions for embellishments. the coat is about thigh length, and has little ruffles around the cuffs. then, i plan on buying an outrageously fabulous nicely patterned, albeit neutral scarf that i can wear with every single jacket in my closet {except maybe my ski jacket}.

{and this, my dears, is what i had writer's block over. yeesh}

84| come & find a lover {underneath the covers}

guess. what. appeared. in. our. mailbox. yesterday?

invitations.

eeeeee.

i must say andrew + i look mighty cute as owls. i claim i'm the red one because it looks smarter. then again, the blue one looks more indecisive and i *did* spend half an hour debating addressing options {to no avail}.

what'dya think?

72| blogs i want to write when i have time...

but for now, i guess i`m trapped by the proverbial pigeon of schoolwork.



• things i want to do when spring arrives
• things i need to do in the next thirty days
• books, what i will read this year.
• heritage minutes
• my photomaking trip with john
• buying wedding dress
• money {and how i finally have some}
• wedding playlist

in the meantime, ì blog about list-making. off to finish writing this paper. it refuses to write itself.

48| new love.

for anyone who doesn't read my blog often, or who missed the first few weeks of blogging, i've had an etsy store for about a month now, and slowly but surely i've been adding items.

while i was doing a lot of jewelry before etsy, i've grown a bit tired of it, and am finding it hard to sell. on the other hand, i have picked up knitting and expanded my mixed-media work, only to receive warm reception, and to find myself enjoying the work much more than with jewelry.

tonight i uploaded two new scarves, one short and one longer. both are lovely and lightweight enough for spring {which hopefully will come rather soon}.

what's your latest etsy find?

27| saturdays are for...

• ... going out for a delicious, but incredibly early breakfast, with your friend + her daughter, in order to beat the early morning valentine's day breakfast rush. which is larger than every other saturday brunching rush.
• ...playing endless rounds of twenty questions, whilst waiting for food, waiting for the bill, and whilst driving {my two favourites of the day: gordon ramsay and woody woodpecker}
• ...reminding yourself why and how the dinosaurs died, and that your death will be much less interesting, and less widely studied.
• ...taking a plethora of photographs explaining why the dinosaurs died and what they looked like beforehand {to be posted upon editing}.
• ... finishing one of these.
• ... making a delightful dinner, served with an even better red wine.
• ...kicking ass and taking names.

all in all, quite possibly the best valentine's day i've ever had. surely it beats the one where i was stuck in an airport, and the one where my boyfriend was in chile. sans doute.

| credit little papoose |

26| get your things and lose your way.

i truly cannot wait for the summer to arrive. more specifically, i cannot wait for this snow to disappear, and to be able to spend ten hours outside a day: gardening, walking, photo-taking, patio talks, late nights by the lake.

and to be able to dress in single digit layers again. it appears as though all my weekend goals revolve around preparing for summer's arrival. just like the arrival of a good friend, i want to make sure i'm well prepared {even if summer doesn't show for another three months here}:

• start planning trip with mikael
• get ahold of lovely plastic planting pots
• plant seeds and dirt into said pots
• order more seeds
• finish up planning of summer projects, via newly constructed planning board {planning is half the fun}
• give self pedicure in order to prepare for the apocolypse of boots and wool socks, and the coming of the age of sandals
• read about fashion trends and summer photography techniques while said pedicure dries.

this summer is apparently all about gardening and consumerism. but hopefully not too much of the latter.

10| joker to the thief

yesterday was possibly the most productive day i've had at work since i started this contract. i went through some forty-odd folders and compiled research, then i took work home! i think i felt guilty for taking two hours at lunch on friday {my work week is wednesday through friday on account of being a student. therefore, wednesdays are my mondays}.

today, i'm slightly less optimistic about being productive. there are too many other things to look at and think about.

for starters, i've become absolutely addicted to three things in the past week and a half.

one, eddyizm being such an amazing photographer, has lead me on a the very addictive path to flickr {imitation is the most sincere form of flattery? when i see someone do something great that i admire, i immediately want to learn that skill}. even though i can't upload photos at work, i can edit them, and i can look at other people's. so. very. distracting.

two, i have taken to mixed-media art lately. i love working with glues, paints, and whatever the heck else i can find. i've been spending lots of time on etsy and craigslist looking for crazy free {or cheap} stuff to make things from. so far, my favourite find has been some old fake roman coins.

three, i'm looking for a change of scenery. nothing permanent. but i realized last night that this is the first time in seven years that i haven't had a planned trip! and i don't have a trip planned. so, for anyone who is interested in creating some sort of awesome excursion into the wilderness, or urbanity, please let me know, because i'd love to be a part of it. {consequently, however, i have been on travel websites all morning. mostly for the united states}

and, so, in between spurts and spats of this post, i have gone through maybe ten folders, about a half what i had done in the same amount of time yesterday. ugh, what utter silliness this work stuff is. all it does me good for is paying the bills and inspiring me to play more. when i should be working.

alas. at least i have amanda's valentine's swappity to look forward to tonight when i come home, and photoshop.

title credit: bob dylan, all along the watchtower
photo: gehoert mir