Repurpose.

Don't you love the beautiful designs on the Yogi tea boxes? When I finished a box of tea recently, I couldn't make myself just throw it in the recycling bag, so I carefully tore it apart, turned it inside out, taped it back up, colored the design with colored pencils, and used it to mail out an earring order. I was only slightly disappointed when the mail lady slapped a big mailing sticker on the colored part... :)



Love.

Garden.

Oh how I would love a garden. Full of sweet smells and good tastes and perfect to sit in and read in and take in during the twilight hours of summer. Unfortunately, not having a yard makes that really tough. I found this lovely post, though, that brings that vision at least a little closer for someone living in a second story condo!



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A sweet little vertical garden in a wooden pallet. It's so pretty, and would help turn a balcony into a tiny garden space, with a couple of chairs, lights, tea, and the cookies from the previous post. I'll have to start looking for a pallet and make this a weekend project soon.

For now, I guess I've got this sweet potato that randomly sprouted after sitting in my fruit bowl on my table for the past 5 months :)

Cookies.

My bestie, J, and I baked some delicious cookies last week.



I found the recipe here via foodgawker, which you simply must check out if you haven't before. The only changes we made were using whole grain flour and we didn't have parchment paper, so we used tin foil and had to increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes. They were so tasty for a beginning-of-summer day.

The rest of the weekend was incredibly busy and fun. I got to watch my brother's team win at the state soccer championship for the first time in my old high school's history (By the way, as many who read this probably know, my brother is actually a basketball star and already won the state championship in that this year. He kind of just woke up and decided he wanted to play soccer his senior year and then this happened. Kind of ridiculous really.)



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As is tradition in our little town, the team rode the fire truck down main street and there was a pizza party afterward at the school. Later that evening I FINALLY got to meet the lovely Megan of Easy Dreamer Photography. We're kindred spirits really.

Sunday, the husbeard and I played music for a nearby church, went out with friends for some delicious brick oven pizza and ice cream, took our labs on a gorgeous hike, went to a 50th birthday party, and spent time sorting through old memories and watching a favorite show with my mom.

Basically we didn't stop moving all weekend, but it was so worthwhile the entire time.

Map.

I've been a little obsessed with old maps recently. For my last project in one of my art classes, we had to build a 3D object in the computer and put it into a photograph. I made an old-fashioned globe and stuck it on a table in a sweet little cafe. I've been trying to figure out how to bring my love for maps into my home without going too overboard. Map lampshade? Map print on the wall? Map pillows? A globe?

Hah, that decision is still to be resolved, but just look at these "world stockings!" I kind of want a pair badly.



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se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

I've been learning Spanish for the past year and few months, and how I long to speak it fluently! I want to be able to communicate in more than one language, like so many other people in the world. I would love to speak French and Italian as well.

Loving Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda.

Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,

sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Expecting.

A few of you have been waiting to hear what my nervousness was about. I hope it is as exciting as I made it seem.

Here is what happened. Last week, I got a message from a woman I know saying that she needed my help with a special announcement. I assumed right away that she was pregnant for the first time (she and her husband have been married for over four years now). Not only that, but they are leaving for Bolivia to live and do mission work this weekend! When I returned her call, I found that she hadn't told her husband yet; she hadn't told anyone yet.

So. We hatched an elaborate plan to tell him that she wanted portraits of them together to give to their family before they left. We planned for him to find out about the pregnancy in the middle of the photo shoot, so that I could catch the reaction. I made a banner that said "EXPECTING" which I told them said "WE LOVE YOU" when I was getting it out.

I was so nervous, you see, because I so wanted to act out my part perfectly so that he would find out at the right time, and I really wanted to be able to catch his unique and beautiful reaction in the moment he discovered that he and his wife were having a child.

Here are the results:

























Aren't they the sweetest? I love his teary eyes and the little boy and girl elephants she got at World Market.

Good nervousness for a great surprise.

<3

Nervous.

I'm so very nervous for this morning, and not because I have a final (that would be Thursday morning). Once I woke up, I just couldn't get back to sleep and I've had butterflies in my tummy ever since.

Why am I nervous, you ask? Sorry, I can't tell you! Yet...

I'll let you know in a couple of days, and I think you will LOVE it.

<3