{ Words for your day. }

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{ Todays Daydream: Ms. Carrie Bradshaw }

I love daydreaming.

How amazing would it be to live the life of Ms. Carrie Bradshaw for just a little bit?

 (or ya know...forever :))

Living in Manhattan, running around in Manolo's, 

working from home in a fabulous apartment 

with this closet!

and best of all...

...having the company of these ladies.

P.S. It's almost the weekend!!

-C

Source for these pictures: unknown. I've had them on my computer forever. If you know where they came from please comment so I can credit them!

{ Oh no... }

I don't know how this happened...

One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was making a grocery listed that included all the necessary ingredients to make these little pieces of heaven...

 Ganache-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.

Does anyone out there know how I feel about chocolate chip cookies?

I have a seriously unhealthy (literally) amount of affection for them.

I don't just like them, I adore them.

And don't even get me started on ganache y'all.

When Chelsea and I were living in Chicago, we lived right across the street from the most amazing cupcake bakery I've ever been to in my life. They practically knew my name, and that is because it is there that you will find the almighty Chocolate Ganache Cupcake. 

Pure bliss to the lips, not to the hips.

I'll leave you with that. 

Night y'all.

-C

{ It's mighty chilly... }

About a week ago I ordered Home Rules by Nate Berkus online,

and it came in the mail today!

Nate Berkus' dining room

After a very long and cold day I am so, so terribly excited to sit down with some hot cocoa tonight and 

soak in all of the inspiration and loveliness this book has to offer.

I hope your week is going quicker than mine. 

I've got a blog post coming your way tomorrow about changes that will be 

happening to the blog in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned :)

-C

{ Lovely Things: Franklin Collection at Jess LC Jewelry }

I just came across this collection of necklaces  by Jess LC  and I just had to share!

I love these.
As I'm sure you can see, the front of the necklaces are written in braille.

They have all kinds of other sweet phrases, too, like "be thankful" or "dream bigger."

I could probably use the one that says "be present."

They're really lovely, and are all about $58.00 I believe. 

In other news, I just can't seem to wake up today.

I just want to stay curled up in bed watching sex and the city reruns.

In fact, I think I'll do just that.

Hope this Monday treated you all well!

-C

{ A weekend to do list. }

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While I love weekends for all of the downtime they give you, 

I also love them because they give you time to get things done.

So here's what I'm hoping to check off my list this weekend:

1. Do all of my laundry AND put all of it away. 

(This could take me the whole weekend in itself.)

2. Go over my degree audit to loosely plan my schedule for the rest of the year 

and have ideas about what I need to take in the summer.

(joy.)

3. Clean out my purse!

(It's embarrassing.)

4. Look for contact paper/shelf liner to finally finish my vanity.

(It's a thrifted desk that my mom gave to me when I moved in to my apartment. It's worked out great but it used to be covered in these stickers and though we tried to sand it down with just a little sander thingamajig (sorry for the technical term, i think you follow) and painted it white, the stickers still come through and it drives me crazy, so I'm hoping to cover the top with some cool contact paper. Plus I need to finally get new hardware for the little drawers on it to give it a little life. I'll definitely make some posts about it once I get the project going.)

5. Get a new binder/organizational materials to sort out all of my class schedules and to do lists. 

(It makes all the difference when I go to do my homework if I have all of my papers organized.)

6. Buy a keychain.

(I don't have one = I lose my keys a lot.)

Nothing groundbreaking, but I'll feel better after that's all done, nonetheless.

I bought a few books off of Amazon yesterday that I'm really excited about, 

and one of them already shipped! 

I'll tell you all about them when they come in =).

Happy Weekend!

-C

{ busting at the seams. }

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(this sounds trite, pardon me)

Sometimes I feel like I have so much pent up energy and creativity that I may explode.

I have so many ideas and things that I want to do and study,

and they all feel so far away when I'm sitting in a lecture hall in Cincinnati.

 Why must I take these boring, useless classes that make me feel like a 5 year old 

trying to sit patiently through church on a Sunday morning?

Oy. 

On a lovelier note, it's officially the weekend! 

We've got snow, yes we do, we've got snow, how bout you?

Enjoy your time off!

-C

{ I love snow days. }

Besides granting myself the excuse to have hot cocoa and not going to the gym without an ounce of guilt,

I also don't have to feel guilty for daydreaming during my classes.

Instead, I get to daydream and browse design blogs and websites like Layla Grace as much as I want.

I adore Layla Grace. 

In fact, I adore it so much that if anyone out there wanted to offer me a shopping spree to her website, 

I would not object.

Candice Olson Modern Damask Hand Tufted Wool Rug

Oly Studio Kirin Sofa

Ruffled Laundry Bag in White Devils

Pagoda Hanging Lanterns

It's all very feminine and whimsical, and though I wouldn't want to deck out an entire space with Layla from head to toe, I can't help but long for a touch of it here and there. 

I am a girl, after all.

Hope you're all enjoying your Thursday.

It's almost the weekend!

-C

{ It's the lovely things... }

After a particularly stressful or emotionally exhausting day, 

there is something about photos like these...

all photos via

...that makes the world suddenly feel lovely and put together again.

The other day when I was strolling through Crate and Barrel with Tims (aka Trevor)

 I couldn't help but wonder why it is that beautiful, white bowls
and lovely pillows and fresh flowers
instantly make every problem suddenly seem so far away.

At first, that seemed like a shallow thought, but I don't mean it in a materialistic way.

I love that no matter what's going on outside, 

I can walk into my cozy room that I rearranged and tweaked until it felt just right, and curl up in my white, fluffy bed and instantly feel comforted.

And while, yes, it's definitely the little things in life that matter most, 

and nothing tangible could ever match with the things in life that can't be held in your hand,

sometimes it's also the lovely things that matter, 

the lovely, creature comforts that never neglect to make you feel safe and warm.

-C

{ On this cozy day... }

How wonderful it feels to be off today!

I'm planning on spending my day off drinking plenty of coffee,
reading plenty of design blogs, 

and watching plenty of sex and the city
(and yes, doing plenty of homework somewhere in there.)

all photos via 

Isn't that a beautiful home?
It belongs to Rebecca Robertson, the decorating editor of Martha Stewart Living.
What a job, huh?

Even though I'm usually attracted to neutrals I love the vibrancy of all the colors and patterns.

What is everyone else doing on this three day weekend?

-C

{ happy weekend }

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This morning I'm daydreaming about packing up the car 

(that I don't actually have)

and moving out west. 

Doesn't that sound exciting? I'm ready for some adventure.

Happy weekend everyone!

-C

{ Hold the phone! }

...why don't we ever use that phrase anymore?

Anyway, it's still me y'all!

The blog is going through some changes.

What changes you ask?

ooooo.

wouldn't you like to know?

Stay tuned for more in the next few weeks.

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It's bloody freezing here. What about y'all?

pssst. I changed the about me section. you should read it.

{ Monday...why must you come so fast? }

Tomorrow is Monday. 

I'm not ready for the weekend to be over.

 I'm going to watch some Sex and the City,

eat some good ol' chicken noodle soup,

and relax in my cozy bed.

Can't lie, I'll probably make some time for a little daydreaming too.

Perhaps I'll daydream about this...

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Now, I'm not much of a sailor,

but I can only imagine how freeing it would be to sail away somewhere far and unexpected.

It's pretty unlikely I'll do this, but no one can stop me from dreaming :).

Happy Sunday. Make it count.

-C

Crap.

I miss theatre.

A birds eye view.

I wish that we were capable of removing ourselves from our own problems and situations
so that we could see clearly enough to resolve them.
I think if we could all follow the advice that we could give someone else in our own shoes,
we'd be way better off.

Exhibit A: When I was living in Chicago a couple of years ago, I was a total mess.
I was living in this absolutely amazing city that I would KILL to live in now,
and was surrounded by so much opportunity.
I could have done anything and everything with my time off from school that year,
 and you know what I spent most of it doing?
Crying and texting.
Sometimes sleeping.
It's embarrassing to even admit that to the internet because I'm seriously a little ashamed with myself for not taking advantage of everything that was at my fingertips.
I was heartbroken, my self esteem was below the floor and I spent all of my time living in my cell phone, obsessing over text messages and thriving on my own misery.

I finally started taking acting classes, which helped a bit,
but looking back I wish I had done so much more.

You know what I wish I could tell that girl in that picture?
Throw your phone in the friggin' lake, and go get yourself a LIFE.
I'm not saying that crying and wallowing doesn't have it's place.
It does.
But there comes a point when it starts to run your life, and before you know it,
it hits you that you've wasted so much opportunity. so much LIFE.
I used to sit in coffee shops in the mornings sometimes and watch girls come in that looked so happy and full of energy and confidence and just wished so badly that I felt like that again.
When your self esteem is shot, it's sort of hard to have much else.
 I wanted to know their secret.

But I think the secret is that it doesn't just fall in your lap.
I've come to believe that you design your own life.
And if you find that your life and who you are are not who you want to be,
you make the effort to tweak, or do a total overhaul if necessary, but you have control,
even at the times when it feels like you have none. 


There came a time in Chicago when I stopped talking to people about the issues I was going through,
 or left out big details when I did, because deep down I knew that they wouldn't understand.
The thing I didn't recognize was that they wouldn't understand because it wasn't understandable. 
Since then, that's been the best gage for me to make sure I'm always respecting myself.
If I can't be honest with myself or the people closest with me,
then the problem is probably bigger than I've recognized,
and the solution is probably obvious,
and it's probably time to face it.

If we could all have a birds eye view of our own lives,
maybe we could get the hang of it.

There was no real reason for me to write this except that I've been wanting to since I started this blog,
and I find it nice to think that someone else might learn from my own stupidity.

Stupidity is really the gift that keeps on giving, don't ya think?

'Til next time...

-C