Al capone, 75 years of Buick history in one family + me

this morning i woke up at my usual time of 4:45am.  does that mean i’m getting old? i like it anyway because i get so much done.  sometimes i tell myself (quite literally) to chill out and just read or something.  today, i pulled out a box of old photos…

Stuff I Grabbed

Stuff I Grabbed

Damnit. Been up since 2am and could fall back asleep. Are you sleeping well? Anyway, do you have any idea how awesome the photos app is on the iPhone? Well, let me tell you. There is an album called screenshots and (wait for it) it saves all your…

3 Ways to Live Your Life Right

3 Ways to Live Your Life Right

1. Realize You Only Have Today That sounds really depressing but it’s so important to remember.  And so you don’t think I’m preachy or self-righteous- these are all things I (especially) need to remember.  And it’s things I know.  As many of you know, 13 years ago on…

3 Wonderful Classes I’m Taking

3 Wonderful Classes I’m Taking

This morning, I’m on vacation!  I’m sitting outside on the back porch of a house we rented in Long Beach Island, New Jersey.  It’s 6am east coast time and I’m watching the sun rise over the dunes in front of the ocean. I put some pics below. Now…

How to Tie a Summer Scarf

The other day, I cleaned out my scarf drawer that contained literally THOUSANDS OF SCARVES.  I folded them somewhat the same and made the drawer look so nice.  But in going through all those scarves, it made me mad to think I could only wear them in the…

sometimes you gotta just float!

Just some musings on Tuesday evening.  I am obsessed with my morning routine.  It looks like this: Wake up before or at 5 am Rinse face and go downstairs to office Do bible study (via bible app on phone) Read devotional: my utmost for His highest (been reading…

2017 WISH, I MEAN, GIFT LIST

my mom used to say that as a child i could want to buy something in a gas station.  i don’t understand why that is even worth mentioning.  duh. of course i could!  i think the important thing for all my loved ones around me to grasp about that…

al capone, 75 years of Buick history in one family + me

this morning i woke up at my usual time of 4:45am.  does that mean i’m getting old? i like it anyway because i get so much done.  sometimes i tell myself (quite literally) to chill out and just read or something.  today, i pulled out a box of old photos…

making inspiration real.

sometimes i’m overwhelmed by inspiration.  ha.  what a problem to have. i mean it.  of course, i seek it out.  my rss feed, podcasts, flipboard all stream inspiration constantly.  i love it. even the music i listen to during the day is what i call “epic inspiring” –…

back to school

i miss going back to school.  not the school part, but the new clothes part.  my memories of back-to-school shopping are vivid and thinking back to that time makes me feel warm and fuzzy. there are a few places in life where you feel totally yourself.  where it’s…

5 ways to get ready for guests

are you a planner?  if not, hosting out-of-town guests would be daunting.  even though they may be low maintenance, it never changes how special i want the time to be. so i thought i’d write out how i plan since i’ve had several friends ask me for advice….

BE YOUR UNAPOLOGETICALLY WEIRD SELF

i think you could safely say that i’m obsessed with this book: hands down, most actionable book i’ve ever read. i’ll get back to that. when i was a kid, my brother and sister and i used to have to walk our lab, maggie, out “to the dirt” to do her…

INSPIRED: ALICE IN PARIS

oh wow, i can’t even tell you how much i love this.   as you probably remember, i love the movie AMELIE.  it’s in my top 5 (maybe 3) favorite movies of all time. if you haven’t seen it yet and consider yourself a friend, watch it. watch…

the community tree of remembrance

the community tree of remembrance

i’m on the board of an organization called Faith & Grief Ministries, Inc.   it’s a ministry of compassion and connection.  it is non-denominational because grief knows no denomination. it just hurts. during the holidays, it is especially harder than usual to work through the loss of a child,…

hustle and hit it in august

hustle and hit it in august

thanks gary vee for an inspiring message this morning – the 1st of august.  Inspirational Gary Vaynerchuk Quotes “Wake up before everybody else and work into the night. Hustle”  “Skills are cheap. Passion is priceless.”  “No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story.”  “Look…

the 5 best reads in the morning

this sounds ridiculously optimistic, but i can’t wait to wake up in the morning.  not because i can’t wait to run on the treadmill or make my first cup of coffee (nepresso, yum) but it’s because i can’t wait to dive into the 45 minutes i give myself…

3 apps, 3 podcasts + 3 instagrams

three apps remember:  this app automatically populates where you are via GPS.  just enter the person or thing you want to remember and when you return to that place, the “remember” app sends you a notification with what you had entered. use it: when you want to remember…

favorite instagrammers

for me, instagram started out to be just an app to run a filter through my photographs.  i didn’t pay attention to the fact that other people could see them. but that was 6 years ago and now instagram is a tremendous marketing tool.  like they say, a…

5 lovely links (you’ll love!): pumpkin

5 lovely links (you’ll love!): pumpkin

Flashback to posts long ago…pumpkin, it’s more than just a latte!

routines, escalators and long goodbyes

routines, escalators and long goodbyes

so i actually haven’t ever really counted, but i think i have seen this view below at least 762 times in the last four and a half years. you’ve seen it too, haven’t you? do you think it’s odd that i took a picture of it?  well, i…

i’m digging this!

i’m digging this!

here are some things i’m currently digging: already placed order #2.  going to get me in big trouble someday. dance and sing around the house like i do.  blare this! my cousin britt said it’s what everyone in cali makes and i can’t wait to serve it this weekend!…

pajamas please

pajamas please

i hardly watch any television.  or i watch an entire series all at once. it’s one or the other – nothing in between. because i travel a lot and sometimes it’s hard to work on my laptop, i download a series and watch them straight through.  my latest…

loving dallas + our home!

loving dallas + our home!

ROF and i moved back to texas this past september.  you may remember our 1928 craftman-style house we had in texas before we moved to detroit.  now that we’re back, we bought a newer house – 1967, i believe.  it was flipped so completely re-done.  we still have…

hope i get around to this…

hope i get around to this…

impromptu little post tonight coming to you live from Erie, PA. sitting in my picturesque (not) hotel room looking out on a walmart parking lot. just wanted to paint that pretty picture for you. so i really bug myself because i have so many ideas and such little…

happy new year!

happy new year!

i love new starts.   2014 was a long but good year. on the plus (+) side, both ROF and i have lost a considerable amount of weight.  it was a long, hard journey and we’ve got a lot more to go but it gives our 2015 resolutions…

in my feedly

i’m slightly obsessed. but by now, you’ve probably already clued into that.  and my obsession of choice is not TV (hate watching it unless it’s a really good series in which ROF + i tend to watch them all at once like this and this) or exercising (even…

pretty obsessed

welcome to the stuff i’m obsessing over now… touchbase: i’m writing this on a big daddy airplane on my way from detroit to la.  listening to old school massive attack in my headphones.  it’s a gargantuan  miracle that they can get this puppy airborne.  it’s a 2x3x2 across….

anthropologie or target?

have you noticed that there are some items at target that could pass for being sold at anthropologie? yep, there are! i’m ashamed to admit that i’m not a saavy coupon shopper.  never have been.  maybe if i had 3 little cherubs to dress and feed i would…

plaid + flannel

when i think of flannel, i typically think of plaid.  and i think of… don’t you? ah, eddie vedder.  hand’s down, my generation has the best music ever.  but that is not what this post is about.  it’s all about flannel + plaid.  two things that have fall…

women rock.

hands down.  this is coming from someone who works primarily with men – being in the car business.  nothing against boys.  they rock too.  but there is something special about the breadth of responsibility and the depth of compassion that makes me in awe of my gender. meet…

feeling appreciative

if you read my “bio” or whatever you call it in the upper right hand corner, you will see that i’m the appreciator because i wasn’t sure what to focus my blog on.  i started writing this for background info as part of my job – so that…

five fab faves

happy tuesday to you! here are a few of my favorite things that i’m appreciating right now: 1. music//feist:  especially the songs: i feel it now & how come you never go there. this morning was a little rough and popping these in my headphones on the plane…

appreciating: on-line magazines

as we all know by now i’m a fan of magazines. to me, there is nothing like snuggling down with a good mag. but now, all the good ones – most of them – are on-line. here is my link list of some of the ones i like….