For pretty ears

I love these earrings by Another Feather, a jewelery designer in the awesome little mountain town of Asheville, NC.  If I owned these, I'm pretty sure I'd wear them everyday (like, every-single-day)

kindle: to start (a fire) burning

As I was looking over another blogger's extensive book list, jotting down titles that seemed worth reading, a thought flitted through my mind-- "If I had a kindle, it would be so much easier to read all of these books."  And then my brain shut down for a second, because it had obviously been taken over for that brief moment by someone else.  Because I love reading books in print.  I am an unapologetic dog-earer, underliner, and read while walking my dog even if there's a fine mist of rain coming down-er.  In a way, I tend to tie my experience of reading a story with the book itself.  However... that fleeting thought I had about a kindle?  It kind of makes sense.  I could read so much more!- and with such ease!  No more lugging books around in my bag, and no more stacks of books crowding my bedside table.  It could be streamlined.  But, I'm kind of nervous about that.  So, here's where I come to you and ask, Do you read your books electronically??  What are your thoughts?? Is there a way to still 'underline' a line or passage that you find, in that magical moment of saturation in a beautiful story, to be particularly poignant??

And, while we're on the subject, has anyone read a great book recently?  You know me, I'm always on the lookout.  I finished Anna Karenina a couple weeks ago (woot, woot!! I felt hugely accomplished after finishing it [a feeling I haven't had about a book since I was in the fourth grade and read Little Women, which was essentially the definition of the word 'tome' for me at the time])  At last, it's time for the movie!

Oh yeah, happy valentine's day.  Smooches to you. 

Back it up

In case you had forgotten, Kings of Leon circa 2005 is awesome.  I'm talking Aha Shake Heartbreak. 
Have a listen.  Take yourself back.  Me?  I was in my senior year of college and was straight listening to this album on repeat.  Before they got too radio-friendly and well, boring, the Kings of Leon had some good shit going on.

On Spotify?  Listen here.

Hope you're enjoying your Friday! 

On the hunt

Michael and I have been house hunting here in Philadelphia for a few months now, and I think we're closing in on something that we really like!  As is typical for us, it's going to require lots of hands-on work, but the benefit is that it will be just the way we want it.  I'm so excited!!  Naturally, all of our free time of late has been centered around this exciting prospect.  From DesignSponge to Lowes, I have been searching for bits of inspiration, and I'm loving the thought of things to come! 
I'll share more details when we have them.  In the meantime, here are some of my favorite images of the online inspiration that I've stumbled upon as of yet! (god, I love pinterest)

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Brand new

Here we are, already four days in to the year 2013.  Can you believe it?!  I'm doing my best not to let this year slip, slip, slip away like last year did.  So, rather than make a New Year's resolution to "get shit done and live in the moment," I've come up with a list of monthly resolutions- something small and new for every month of the year, with the hope that this system will, 1) serve as a gentle reminder of passing time (thus encouraging me to be present in the moment, etc), and 2) be an easy way to potentially pick up some new life-routines that are, in my opinion, valuable.

For January, I have gone with something pretty generic- "Practice yoga at least twice a week."  I almost crossed this one off of my list and replaced it with something cooler, like "send handwritten letters," but yoga is actually pretty imperative to my mental, physical, and spiritual well-being (but it's soooo cold out!- I have a hard time motivating myself to leave the house and get on a bike once 4:30 rolls around and the sun starts setting).  However- if I can just get into the habit of going a mere two times a week... well, my whole year will be better for it!   

Are you a resolutions-maker?  (Are you a resolutions-keeper?)  This year I've noticed a lot of people coming up with words or phrases for the coming year.  More of a mantra than a resolution, which I think is pretty awesome (I especially like Kathleen's.) 
Whatever your method- I hope you're geared up to make the most of this brand new year!

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Photo of Philly, mid-winter from here
Yoga meditation image from here