{thirty days of thanks} adventures

ad·ven·ture

 [ad-ven-cher] noun, verb, -tured, -tur·ing.

noun

1.

an exciting or very unusual experience.

2.

participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3.

a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

today i am thankful for adventures. i may not be the most adventurous person you'll ever meet, but i've certainly experienced some excitement and i've definitely taken a few risks. regardless of the outcome, i've learned something valuable every single time - and that is a precious gift. 


our most recent adventure was moving to colorado. it was something A and i talked about and dreamed about for years before we actually did it. and it was scary. we left everything we'd ever known for the unknown. it took a lot of work and planning and support from our friends and family, but we did it. and {thankfully} we have never once questioned that it was exactly the right thing for us. i'm so thankful that we took the chance.

"in the end we only regret the chances we didn't take,

the relationships we were scared to have,

and the decisions we waited too long to make."

{thirty days of thanks} lists

i have a thing for lists. to-do lists, top-ten lists, shopping lists, bucket lists, playlists, packing lists, lists of lists - i love them all. they prioritize, catalogue, classify, quantify, qualify. they make me feel all warm and fuzzy and organized inside. {thanks lists!}

{thirty days of thanks} lazy days

yesterday was a perfect lazy day - and i surely needed one after the action-packed week we just spent in washington dc {more on that to come}! i slept in, stayed in my pajamas, and spent most of the day on the couch cuddling with my kitties. 
...don't judge me.

{thirty days of thanks} decking the halls

this is one of my most favoritest days of the year: christmas decorating day! we listen to christmas carols, rediscover all of our treasured ornaments, and try to keep the cats from eating the tree {p.s. i think scoop loves this day more than any of us}.

{thirty days of thanks} books

in this age of kindles and nooks, i stand firmly in support of good old-fashioned books. i love the way they feel in my hands. i love turning the pages and keeping my place with a bookmark {even if it's just a scrap of paper or a post-it note}. i love the smell of them. i don't even know what they smell like but it smells really good and it only gets better with age. books are pretty and smart and inspirational in ways that just somehow don't translate to the world of e-readers.

{thirty days of thanks} the basics

today i am mindful of the fact that i have everything i need.

i am so very thankful that i have never had to worry about how i would feed myself or clothe myself or find shelter.

i have always had enough - more than enough - when there are so many who go without.

...and for that i am humbly grateful.

{jones with the pet food he we collected
at last year's christmas party}

{thirty days of thanks} happy thanksgiving!

{wishing you the happiest of thanksgivings}

{thirty days of thanks} random acts of creativity

few things makes me happier than random acts of creativity i see while just wandering around...from balloon faces to graffiti art to homemade space-bicycles, they inject a little bit of much-appreciated levity into my life.

{from top left: monsters in nyc, cats in barcelona,

white fox in london, space camp bike in crested butte,

heart carving in segovia, balloon face in new orleans,

bossy graffiti in rome}

{thirty days of thanks} contradictions

i love sunrises but i also love bedtime.
i love watching gossip girl but i also love watching football.
i love getting dressed up but i also love staying in pajamas all day long.
i love catching fireflies but i also love catching frogs.
i appreciate eloquence but i have a serious potty-mouth.
i love traveling but i also love staying home.
i won't wear white shoes after labor day but i will burp really loudly at the dinner table.
i am an obsessive planner but i can also be spontaneous {maybe?}.
i love shopping but i also love camping.
i love cheesy tourist spots but i also love discovering secret courtyards and hidden alleys.
i love art museums but i also love dive bars.

{thirty days of thanks} travel

travel is one of the great loves of my life. i could go on for pages about how much i have learned from traveling {actually, i did once: here}. how it has completely changed my perspective on everything. how much i love seeing new places, tasting new foods, experiencing new cultures. how incredibly alive it makes me feel {even when i have mono}. how i wish i had started earlier and how i wish i could make it happen more often {anyone wanna pay me to travel?}. 
i'm so very thankful for the unique set of travel opportunities and experiences i've had. i've shopped in paris, eaten tapas in spain, thrown a coin into trevi fountain, wandered the streets of pompeii, and ridden the london underground. but i've also camped in the appalachian mountains. i've been all over the southwest and the northeast, fallen in love on bourbon street, road-tripped to florida and back. i've had margaritas on the river walk, gambled in vegas, lost myself in colorado ghost towns, and eaten legendary kolaches from a tiny czech gas station on I35. 

...and i'm certainly not done yet.

{magical old door in segovia}

{thirty days of thanks} child's play

i may be an old soul, but i'm a kid at heart. i love coloring books and crayons and aquariums and kids' movies. i love board games and petting zoos and swing sets and fairy tales. i love making snow angels and sand castles and i love baking cupcakes {and licking the bowl afterwards}.

{thirty days of thanks} football

on our first date, A learned that i was a redskins fan. then he asked me to marry him {there was some other stuff in between, but you get the gist}. 
this man loves football the way i love hello kitty and the color pink, and he loves the redskins they way i love a really hot pair of heels {the kind that look soooo good in the store but break your ankle and your heart}.
every year since we started dating we've gone to see our redskins play the cowboys in dallas. sometimes we lose, sometimes we win {well, twice anyway}, sometimes i get sassy and cause a ruckus. this year, we couldn't make it to the game in dallas, so we're going to see our team play at home {hopefully that means we'll win?}! 
we're spending this week in washington dc with my mom and stepdad - we'll all spend sunday with eighty thousand of our closest friends at fed ex field and thanksgiving at my godparents' house. we'll be doing plenty of good old-fashioned sightseeing too {A has never been to dc!} but first things first: are you ready for some football??

{thirty days of thanks} 20 things A loves about O

1.  you tell the cats they like to get petted, and then they do…like a jedi mind trick or something.
2.  you love the mountains almost as much as me, which works out well for us since they kind of surround us now.
3.  you punch me every time you hear the word sauce, no matter the situation. i somehow picked up the nickname in nola but not sure where the punching began, but it’s here to stay unfortch. {more red sauce please!}
4.  we use words like unfortch. if a sitch calls for a secretive convo to happen in public, we can totes talk in code.
5.  your hugs. they are perfect.
6.  when i am eating something awesome and i ask you if you want a bite, if you say no that means yes but in a minute.
7.  you kill a bottle of tabasco every week or so.
8.  our victory handshake. embarrasses others who see it publicly because they realize at that moment that they will never ever be as cool as us.
9.  your insane food phases.
10. you got me to like {or maybe just tolerate} cats… like a jedi mind trick or something.
11. you love sports almost as much as me, which i think is for me.
12. every 2 years or so we try to scare the crap out of each other with a plastic spider. the same one. i don’t know where it goes for 2 years, but it disappears and then comes back with a scary vengeance.
13. you don’t make too much fun of me when we watch jeopardy and i show off my smarts.
14. i also love the way we dance at weddings. i do hate dancing and we do not dance unless it’s at a wedding, but when we do, we rock it. we should invent a wedding themed dance club.
15. i love that you love animals as much as you do. i am fine with being 3rd most popular family member in my own house.
16. i am a homebody and don’t like being out of my element, but my favorite times with you are when we get lost in a crazy adventure in a foreign country. you make me brave.
17. you can name what clothes you were wearing at all past important life events.
18. you have small hands but are amazing at thumb wars.
19. you know all of the words to every disney song ever made {back when they were real cartoons…}.
20. i always dreamed of a girl that was beautiful, funny, smart, witty, and sexy who loved to climb mountains and rooted for the redskins through thick and {mostly} thin. i also dreamed she wouldn’t know how awesome she was, because if she did, she sure wouldn’t want to hang out with me. so, thanks for being my dream girl.

{thirty days of thanks} new friends

meeting new people is not something i'm particularly good at - i'm inherently shy and i'm fairly certain i don't give fabulous first impressions. so i am certainly thankful for new friends who can see past my awkwardness {and appreciate my...trivia skills?}. it's fun getting to know new people, finding out what makes them tick, what we may have in common, what interesting experiences they've had. and the best thing about new friends is that, before you know it, they become old friends.

{thirty days of thanks} old friends

our two recent trips to dallas have served to remind me of exactly how lucky i am to have such good good friends. the fact is that i lived in texas for twenty years and you just don't escape something like that without a few really meaningful relationships. i have friends that i've known for five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty. we've been there for each other through boyfriends, break-ups, bad hair, crazy classes, crappy jobs, not-so-crappy jobs, road trips, weddings, new homes, babies, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. we've laughed together and cried together and given advice and ignored advice and loved each other through it all. we may go months or longer without seeing each other but whenever we do we just seem to pick up right where we left off. there are no words that can express the ease and comfort of an old friendship. it just feels like home.

{party animals} an 11-11-11 wedding

and speaking of weddings...we just got back from another wonderful wedding weekend in texas! the weather was perfect, the bride looked stunning, and there was plenty of laughter {and lots of happy tears!}. there were so many sweet details, from the custom cake topper to the vintage bird houses and guest-requested playlist, plus {my favorite} the photo booth...

{thirty days of thanks} weddings

i am such a sucker for weddings. can there be anything more joyful than being a part of someone's most joyful day? watching two people in love make forever promises to each other in front of their nearest and dearest? father-of-the-bride tears, best man speeches, cake and champagne, crazy dancing and millions of hugs? 
maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me, but i've been to at least fifteen weddings {if i counted correctly}, and it never gets old. {kinda like love...}

{thirty days of thanks} home sweet home

we spent this weekend in dallas for our friends' wedding {more on that to come!}. it was a super-quick whirlwind of a trip and we had such a good time. 
yesterday we drove A's truck {sally mae} home...unfortunately, we didn't head out until after lunch, and it's a 14+ hour drive to our little home on the front range.  by the time we got home at 2:16 am, we were exhausted and delirious. it was really really nice, though, to sleep in my own bed and wake up {at noon} to the sound of my own kitties purring in my face. i am eternally grateful to A's parents for opening their house to us and feeding and caffeinating us, but it sure is good to be home sweet home!

{thirty days of thanks} in anticipation of turkey day

i don't know about you, but i'm starting to get very excited for thanksgiving - family, food, friends, food, football, and oh did i mention food? 
below, in 20 items or less, some lovely things to get you in the spirit of thanksgiving...

1.fall garland, $9; 2.pecan pumpkin butter, $11; 3.mason jar chandelier, $399;

4.ikat folding chair, $198; 5.porcelain dessert plates, $7 each;

6.pumpkin casserole, $150; 7.farmhouse table, $2345; 8.squirrel tealight, $12 for 6

9.mercury glass votive, $20; 10.salt keeper, $60; 11.book, $12;

12.chesterfield, $5998; 13.football, $20; 14.thankful forest card, $4;

15&16.vintage demijohn bottles, $65-$95; 17.napkin rings, $10 for 4

{thirty days of thanks} 20 things i love about you

dear A,
i am beyond words thankful for you. you are sweet and kind and silly and sexy and funny and the best thing that ever happened to me. you challenge me and teach me and know me better than anyone else in this world. i like to think i know you better than anyone else in this world too - and i love every single quirk and imperfection, maybe even more than i love your non-quirks and perfections...


twenty of my favorite things about you, my perfect and wonderful husband:


1.  you give excellent back/foot rubs
2.  you refuse to eat the last bite of a banana
3.  your achilles heel = your belly button
4.  you dance with me at weddings even though i know you really don't want to
5.  you equate all important life events with football games that were being played at the time
6.  you know to hide baked goods from me when they are in the house
7.  you think you are don draper
8.  you learned to love cats for me {and you really really love them, too}
9.  you will not ride fair rides or roller coasters
10. when you eat chocolate it ends up all over the couch
11. when you draw me i look like a cave man
12. you really don't know anything about music
13. or movies
14. if you were on the bachelorette, you would bring your own rose
15. you pick the best pumpkins
16. you keep candy bars in the fridge, fruit snacks in the freezer, and gummy bears under the couch
17. when we go out to eat, you make me the perfect bite of your food
18. you are completely and utterly directionally challenged
19. you make up the most ridiculously awesome songs
20. you love me in spite of my many many flaws

{thirty days of thanks} making wishes

when i was younger my friends and i would always make a wish when the clock read 11:11. we'd make wishes at every chance - if we saw a shooting star or threw a coin into a fountain or found an eyelash on our cheek or noticed that the clasps of our necklaces had twisted around to the front.
i don't recall what i used to wish for back then - probably a hot boyfriend or a hot pink car or an A on my math test. these days my wishes are a little more abstract: health and happiness for myself and my loved ones, creative inspiration, long and loving marriages for my newlywed {and not-so-newlywed} friends. 
perhaps not quite as exciting as a hot pink car, but the dreamer in me still likes the ritual of closing my eyes tight and thinking hopeful thoughts when i spot a shooting star.

{thirty days of thanks} history

 i like old things. things with history. antique shops and thrift stores where i can spend hours handling every object and speculating on what stories it might tell. one-room schoolhouses or haunted hotels in tiny mountain towns. ancient ruins where i can walk in the footsteps of people who lived thousands of years ago.
i'm not sure why, exactly - i think it's because i feel a sense of connection, of sameness to the people that used to use vintage typewriters or study in one-room schoolhouses or live in caves or walk ancient cobbled streets. we all made lives for ourselves, required food and shelter, marveled at stars in the night sky, experienced cold winters and warm summers, celebrated beauty and mourned loss, sought love and comfort and acceptance. we are all just people, regardless of where or when we lived. 
we spend so much time and energy trying to separate ourselves from each other these days. perhaps we should spend just a little bit of time remembering why we're not so different after all.

{thirty days of thanks} five senses

i'm randomly reminded at times what a blessing it is that i have use of all five of my senses - as much as i {unintentionally} take them for granted, i simply can't imagine life without them.

sight

i'm so thankful for the ability to observe my world. take pictures. design for a living. go to the movies. find inspiration in a sunrise.

sound

i'm thankful for the sound of ocean waves crashing to the shore. the voices of my husband, my friends, my family. for music. forest noises. for romance languages and charming accents.

taste

i'm thankful for my morning coffee and my afternoon tea. street food and fresh farmer's market produce. flavors and palettes in other cities and foreign countries. pumpkin-flavored everything. cheese.

smell

i'm thankful for the smell of freshly cut grass. coffee {again}. campfires and christmas cookies. my husband. and the magical way that scent can instantly transport you to another time and place.
touch
i'm thankful for sand in my toes and for cool dewy grass in the early morning. warm purring cats on my lap. chunky handmade scarves and hats. massages. bear hugs.

1.cookie photo, $15; 2.cozy scarf, $30; vintage sheet music, $5;

4.pumpkin cheesecake, $70; 5.vintage camera, $75

{thirty days of thanks} family

family. it means so many different things to so many different people {including myself}. i am blessed with many loving versions of family: my immediate family, my in-laws, my extended family, my friends and my friends' families. i'm thankful for them all. they support me and encourage me and love me unconditionally. they offer kindness and sympathy and advice and help without judgment. they sacrifice and compromise so that i might have opportunities. they provide food and laughter and warmth and hugs. wherever they are is home to me.

{thirty days of thanks} daylight savings

hooray for daylight savings! 
i got to stay up late saturday night with friends, sleep for a full eight hours and not have a minute of my sunday wasted. and it wasn't even painfully dark when i went to work out at 6am this morning {just really really cold}! i know it gets dark a little earlier, but that'll just make it easier for me to justify going to bed at 8pm...

{thirty days of thanks} fall clothes

i do so adore fall clothes...lots and lots of pretty, cozy, snuggly layers...lovely jackets, yummy boots, thick socks, big sweaters, chunky scarves, mittens and gloves...so many ways to indulge all of my multiple fashion personalities....

1.faux-leather pilot jacket, $50; 2.fringe scarf, $22; 

3.fairisle long cardi, $168; 4.fingerless gloves, $10; 5.hiker booties, $179

 6.silk-cashmere wrap, $75; 7.suede clutch, $65; 8.jade epaulet sweater, $20;

9.orange floppy hat, $50; 10.colorblock booties, $165; 11.poppy glittens, $28

12.pompom cap, $58; 13.fox mittens, $29; 14.toggle cardi, $80;

15.leather bracelet, $12; 16.all-weather boots, $130;

17.cable knit pompom scarf, $78; 18.apsley parka, $598

{thirty days of thanks} mountains

i am deeply, madly, ridiculously in love with mountains. 
they fascinate and astound me. they're full of life and magic. stunning at sunrise. beautiful at sunset. amazing in the middle of the day. they're ancient. majestic. they've been here far longer than us and they'll be here long after we're gone. they are enormous. they instantly put me in my place. remind me how small i am. how small my problems are. and how lucky i am to be here on this tiny planet for this tiny moment.

{thirty days of thanks} laundry

i never in a million years thought i'd be writing about how thankful i am to be doing laundry, but our 20-year-old washing machine broke on monday, and the dirty clothes have been piling up ever since. on tuesday we bought a fancy new one, and this morning it was delivered!


so now i am thankful. thankful for clean towels. thankful for not having to wash my clothes at the laundromat in the freezing cold. thankful that we had the means to buy a new {super efficient!} washer without it breaking us. and certainly thankful to the two strong men that carried it upstairs to our second floor apartment and hauled away the dinosaur.

{thirty days of thanks} happy cats

our cats are happy cats. the kind that remind you to appreciate the little things: sunshine, small treats, warm blankets, cuddles. we should all be so lucky.

{thirty days of thanks} snow family

it started snowing again last night - there were several inches on the ground before bed time! this morning we went out to check the mail and play a little bit in the snow!


today i am thankful for fluffy pretty snow that sparkles when the sun comes out and for the fact that we are able to play in it together because we both work from home {oh and for our two little snow kitties!}.