a beautiful day...

today i took two walks - one with my pups, and another by myself. we reached 83 degrees here in the south! the sky was clear and a cool wind blew making it perfection.

every single day i drive the same road home and always admire the cherry blossom trees that line the streets. and everyday i say that tomorrow i will take that walk... so today i did just that -with my camera in tote, and adele blaring in my ears. i walked under tree after tree, stepping on the fallen petals that blanketed the grass, and also looking up and being grateful for something so beautiful. 

with all this warm weather we are having, i am already counting the weeks to our family beach trips. we are also planning a day trip to charleston just to be at the ocean for a day... gonna take the pups along so they can have a day of fun. 

here and some photos from my beautiful day...

the magnificent cherry blossom... this is absolutely my favorite flowering tree... (well, second to a flowering willow tree)

and ending my walk, seeing left behind leaves still present with all the new spring time color.

when i returned home, i felt it was time to make a blueberry yogurt cake recipe that i have been craving for about 2 weeks now. it's a version of ina gartens lemon yogurt cake, but with blueberries added. using greek yogurt makes it SUPER moist, and a bit healthier. and lemon + blueberries... does it get any better that that??? (do i sound like ina???) so with adele still blaring through my home speakers, i got to whipping up this heavenly dish that would fill my home with the sweetest lemon smell you could ever imagine! i will blog the outcome soon! 

while my cake was baking, i stepped in my back yard to see if anything was new... here is what we have so far -

our pink azaleas are almost in full bloom - we also have white but they are just getting started.

roses blooming!

 the beginning of a hydrangea bloom

chives and parsley are already booming and this makes me very happy!

a perfect sunny day, beautiful trees and plants, blueberry lemon cake and great music to accompany such a day... perfection! (sigh)

speaking so much of music and listening to new tunes - there has been some AMAZING albums released this year (and near the end of last... been a little busy...) so if you haven't checked these out - you totally should! in case you didn't know, you can click on the artist and it will take you to their website.

radiohead - the king of limbs

cold war kids - mine is yours {or what my husband refers to as his theme song}

the decemberists - the king is dead (OBSESSED WITH THIS ONE)

iron and wine - kiss each other clean

adele - 21 (OBSESSED WITH THIS ONE, TOO)

the civil wars - barton hollow - i'll never get sick of it.

amos lee - mission bell - he sets my body at ease just listening to his music.

ivan & alyosha - fathers be kind - new record i recently purchased, and TOTALLY not sorry! it's amazing. they're amazing! 

james vincent mcmorrow - early in the morning - a great relaxing record, very bon iver'ish... which is always a fabulous thing! 

and for some reason i have been in a serious reading mood... here are a few of the books i have read so far this year.

the help - highly recommend! would love to pass it to another reading soul, but it was purchased through ibooks.

knit the season - this is a part of the friday night knitting club series... and it was a very fun and easy read!

little bee - everyone should read this book. it will open your eyes, and make you feel very grateful to live in the US.

summer at tiffany - a memoir of two young ladies in the 40's who spent a summer in NYC and scored page jobs at Tiffany's. absolutely ADORED this book - read it in one day. and paid fifty whole cents for it at a used book sell! SCORE.

needles and pearls - another knitting book, and also a delight!

on my list of book to read -

night road by Kristin Hannah - her books are simply amazing!

living the savvy life: the savvy woman's guide to smart spending and rich living by melissa tosetti

to make this day even better... my new cuisinart ice cream machine is on it's way... i can't even tell you how excited i am to make fresh frozen yogurt and ice cream! i have already found tons of recipes like toasted coconut and almond, vanilla blueberry, and lavender infused honey - seriously?!?! 

wishing a very happy spring to you all!

a great week ahead.

three words -
the. civil. wars. 
seriously, everyone MUST buy this album and fall instantly in love.  i absolutely cannot wait to see them live in charlotte on wednesday. the album was released this month, and is already number one on itunes... so if that isn't reason enough to purchase, i'm not sure what is! david's friend is their tour manager (amazing, yes) so we also get to see him this week as well. if you hustle and log into itunes, barton hollow is the single of the week... so hurry and download for free!

another exciting event.. i am seeing joshua radin tomorrow night with my dear friend, corrie. dinner and a great show in downtown greenville sounds like a perfect saturday night to me!

a couple of things that i am currently loving.
needles and pearls by gil mcneil. yes, i admit that i DO judge a book by the cover... always have, always will. so anytime i see anything to do with knitting on a cover, i know i will be in for a treat. that was absolutely the case with this dear book... read it start to finish in absolutely no time and enjoyed every second. i believe i picked this up at a used book sale for one dollar, so it was also worth every penny!

a new television show...
my tv is turned off all day long, except for the few evening hours when my husband and i catch up on our tivo'd shows... a new one has recently been added to the list - perfect couples. oh! my! lord! this has quickly became my favorite show on tv. it is perfect for married couples! absolutely hysterical. typical. familiar. fabulous!

chicago... yes, our trip will be here in no time! i am more than excited and ready to FREEZE. and shop!

happy weekend to everyone and make it a great one!

Are you there, Vodka???

I've not quite been in the reading mood lately it seems... Though during a conversation with my best friend, crystal, I was informed that I HAD to read a book she had just finished. While contemplating in my head on buying yet another book to only start and not finish, I decided to go ahead and make the purchase.
Are you there, Vodka? It's me, Chelsea
The name alone gave me a laugh, so I was intrigued. Yes, I have seen Chelsea Lately, and always crack up the entire show, so I was sure to get a few laughs while reading. A few laughs was putting it mildly. I cracked up - out loud - the ENTIRE book. Seriously, it was flipping hilarious. I bought the book through iBooks, and read start to finish within 24 hours. I just couldn't get enough. It's vulgar and raunchy, yet super smart and soooo so funny! One of my favorite parts is this:
"After I decided to never meet this person in public, I looked down at my gut. My body had really taken a turn for the worse, and the surprise party I was throwing for my thirtieth birthday was three weeks away. I knew I wasn't out-and-out fat, and I don't think anyone would have described me as a heifer, but there was definitely some toning up needed. It had gotten to the point that the only body parts I felt comfortable exposing in public were my forearms.  Everything else seemed to be in some state of disrepair, especially my abdomen, which somehow managed to divide itself into three sections when I was sitting cross-legged. Something had to be done, so I closed MySpace and Googled the word "fatass." While looking at a website for liposuction, I learned that it was a six-to-eight-week recovery period, the clincher being that, during that time, I would under no circumstances be able to use street drugs. Obviously I had to think of a more realistic approach." 
The whole book consisted of quirky little passages like that, and always kept you wanting more! I immediately snatched up the sample of her other book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang... and plan to purchase the book as soon as I finish alllll my laundry and clean my house!
Happy weekend, everyone!

Almost 2011

I cannot believe it is November... this year has seriously flown by. It has definitely been a busy year for us with all the travels. It is nice that work will allow you to escape from home for a weekend every now and again! Just this past weekend, David's work sent him to Sewanee, Tennessee, and of course we made a trip of it! We spent one night on the campus of the University of the South, which is absolutely beautiful, then made the short drive to Atlanta to meet up with some friends.
Some images from the campus...

Now that we are settled back home, it is time to start planning for Christmas... I can't believe it's almost that time of year again! Time to start shopping :) When November rolls around, I always get into a 'holiday' mood, and there are always certain things that I LOVE!!!!
Here is a list of a few favorites...
Teavana Chai Mate, with a spoonful of agave nectar.
The smell of Pumpkin Spice filling my home.
Chobani organic greek yogurt.
Having a Trader Joe's in my neighborhood!!!
Planning our Thanksgiving Party.
Emeril's recipe for Bayou Chicken Pasta - google it, make it, LOVE IT! Seriously, it's so good!

Anthropologie window displays.
MY NEW MACBOOK :-)
The planning in my head of this years handmade Christmas cards.
The movies that I watch every year, starting around this time - White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Little Women, A Christmas Story, and Miracle on 34th Street.
The fact that my hibiscus plant in still blooming like crazy

Another list.... (i'm obsessed with lists). A playlist is always going through my brain. Whether I be driving in the car, cleaning the house, or just sitting on the computer, I have a playlist for the occasion. Here is one of my favorites, a mix of new and old, currently playing while on a cleaning frenzy.
Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love
Jimmy Eat World - Movielike
The Black Keys - The Only One
Andrew Belle - Don't Blame Yourself
Kings of Lean - Radioactive
Ingrid Michaelson - All Love
Mumford and Sons - Awake My Soul
She & Him - Me And You
Wheat - Breathe For Me Now
Radiohead - Reckoner
Katie Herzig - Songbird
The Helio Sequence - Can't Say No (I SO wish you could hear my husband sing this)
Delta Spirit - Strange Vine
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
Band of Horses - Ode to LRC
Arcade Fire - Deep Blue
Sam & Ruby - Ain't Love Somethin'

Hope your November is filled with favorites!

Firefly Lane

From the New York Times bestselling author of On Mystic Lake comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . .

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.

From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. 

Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone’s Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it’s the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It’s about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you’ll never forget . . . one you’ll want to pass on to your best friend.

~

This book came to my life in Holden beach, North Carolina. I sped through the novel I brought for a beach read, and was then left empty handed.  Low and behold, our beach house had a bookshelf - and the pale blue spine, ripped back cover, and sandy ocean soaked edge drew my eye.

There it was.

Firefly Lane.

This book is the epitome of a beach read. A tale of the very best of friends and the lives they lead, together and apart. A tale of how a friendship, when true, can and will withstand any bend in the road.  

It also made me value my best friend more than ever before. I miss her so much, and am so grateful for having her in my life!!!

EAT, PRAY, LOVE

A book I read sometime ago changed me for the better. It made me carefully assess everything I do, say, see... before taking my next step.  It made me believe that on the inside - when healthy - I will thrive. 
Eat. Pray. Love.
Three words to live by - or a book passed down to me by my sweet, novel addicted sister. And may I add, this book changed me. 
A self discovery... To live and let live... To let go... To just be.
I found myself SO engaged in the hours spent reading, and sad when the end was near. 
This was a woman without a plan - just an enormous dream, and a decision to take a chance with the unknown.  A dream to rid her life of every mistake and fill that space with light, beauty, and love.
Please read if you haven't already. It will lighten your heart and lift your spirit.


One of my favorite passages along the way...
"I walked home to my apartment and soft-boiled a pair of fresh brown eggs for my lunch.  I peeled the eggs and arranged them on a plate beside the seven stalks of the asparagus (which were so slim and snappy they didn't need to be cooked at all). I put some olives on the plate, too, and the four knobs of goat cheese I'd picked up yesterday from the formaggeria down the street, and two slices of pink, oily salmon. For dessert - a lovely peach, which the woman at the market had given to me for free and which was still warm from the Roman sunlight.  For the longest time I couldn't even touch this food because it was such a masterpiece of lunch, a true expression of the art of making something out of nothing.  Finally, when I had fully absorbed the prettiness of my meal, I went and sat in a patch of sunbeam on my clean wooden floor and ate every bite of it, with my fingers, while reading my daily newspaper article in Italian.  Happiness inhibited my every molecule."