five pictures of March, so far

 cafe au laite from kuba kuba

 First dinner at a friend's new house! Complete with grapefruit salad, cous cous and vino.

 going (and looking) fabric crazy with Ms. Bama at Ufab

The  Jefferson

Fancy cocktails

Easter weekend at Padua in pictures

White and purple lilacs, scrabble with the family, my new favorite drink lillet (thanks Aunt Lisa!) Padua smoke house, poplar forest, Charlie Atkinson's abandoned house and orchard, morning hikes.

How was your easter weekend?

hello April!

Hello hello! I'm sure I'm the last to announce - "April is here!"

lilacs on my way to work, a sure sign of spring

I am particularly excited because I have some free time over the next few weeks (calm before the defense) and plan on catching up with friends and family. I also hope to catch up with all your blogs and share a few posts of my own regarding my favorite city and some recipes I've been trying out..also, if I get up the gumption..I might have a little surprise for you all (and this surprise has nothing to do with babies)

What are you pretties up to this weekend? I'm addressing wedding invitations with a friend, shopping for wedding dresses with another and hoping to take an adventure with the husband.

March 1

Hello loves! March is here! Two weeks till I officially leave my mid twenties and head into my late twenties. As this birthday approaches, I'm just not as enthused about celebrating. It might be the large number of impending deadlines, but also 27 was full of challenges...so while I'm relieved to enter 28, I'm also a little hesitant. I feel like big things are coming, but I'm not sure what they are or if they will transpire- so that makes me a little nervous..ya know?

In the past I loved celebrating with friends, but this year I'm not feeling it. I think I'd rather just enter 28 quietly and treat myself to something nice, especially since minus a trip to target, I haven't shopped for clothes or accessories since fall 2010. This is a big deal for me. For serious.

I've had a few things on my wishlist for a while, so I'm choosing one to give myself for my 28th year...

1. Should I go to Anthro?- Be still my heart. Anthro's spring dress collection is blowing my mind. With warmer seasons fast approaching I'm thinking one of the following might be perfect for a happy birthday to me present!

one

two

three

all three might go nicely with a pair of these

2. Should I save a little more and purchase this Nikon? I have wanted a new camera forEVER. Its a little pricey...but it will be worth it in the end, right? Have you purchased this camera or one like it? Do you have any suggestions about purchasing fancy cameras?

3. This might be a nice purchase to help motivate me to get through those pesky deadlines these coming months!

4. Eliza B. Askin makes super adorable sketches of Richmond. With so many I'd have a hard time choosing one print, though the sketch Hill Cafe tugs at my heart strings(one of our favorite restaurants in the city).

5. Emerson Made. I've been eying these clutches for months. Now that you have seen them, you will probably start eying them too :).

What do you think? How do you celebrate your birthday?

pink tulips

The sweet husband brought me flowers on Thursday night just because (well, really I think he was trying to make me forget for a moment some uber stressful deadlines I have coming up). These pink tulips (taken with my camera phone- obvi) brought a little light into my gray winter weekend and have me looking forward to spring more than ever.

Thank you husband, you are the best.

new favorite

Jump. Because

I love happy people doing, happy things!

I hope you all had a lovely, sunny, happy weekend! Mine was a weekend of firsts and sunshine! My first ever car wreck(not my fault!) and my first migraine(good golly it was terrible)! Luckily, the days were so beautiful and my husband and friends are so sweet that neither of these got me down. Good weather can seriously make icky things seem like no big deal.

some things

1. Spring break has been lovely and fun. I've actually had two weekend breaks- a trip to West VA for some skiing and a trip to Ocracoke Island, NC with family.

2. The sunshine in Virginia is lovely this weekend and perfect for long patio lunches, picnics in the park, balcony dinners and six mile training runs (eep!)

3. I turned 27! A perfect square! Huzzah I'm old!

4. You should all maybe check out this movie if you can. I used to hang out here with my bestie who was in love with (and later married and had babies!) with a boy who worked here for a number of years. It reminds me of summers in college.

Happiest of Fridays!

you are all so lovely!

Thank you! Thank you my sweet interweb and interperson friends for your kind words about my February blues! Each comment makes me so happy and brightens my day! I love you all!

March has begun, but I don't think I can start hoping for spring until after this weekend for three reasons

1) Ginormous test on Friday
2) Draft of proposal for thesis due Friday
3) Skiing weekend in West Virginia on Friday, and I feel like it is rather unfair to wish for daffodils, april showers, and green grass when snow is required to enjoy skiing.

But March is exciting because not only will the weather warm up, our little richmond book club starts up again AND it is my birthday month! Yikes! I am turning the ripe old age of twenty-seven and I feel rather neutral about it. I once read in a horoscope of personalities book that twenty-eight would be my big year, so I guess i've always looked forward to that age. I am happy to be leaving twenty-six behind. It was the year of highest highs (marriage/all things associated with weddings) and lowest lows (grad school/all things associated with weddings)!

I hope everyone had a beautiful March 1st!

feeling blue

I think it might be february, and this workload, and this graduate school thing, and this weather that is going on, and some sad news I recently received, but I have been feeling a little alone and abandoned in the world lately.


And maybe I am just oversensitive and I should count my blessings, and feel lucky, and embrace happiness and realize that you just can't stop spring, and that such is life and slap a smile on my face......but I just am just in a funk today. rar.

con: february = blues
pro: march starts Sunday

I am going to think about the following to get me through Thursday, Friday, Saturday..........



Daffodils



Spring, my favorite season (photo by Denny Henry)



and dreaming of adding a corgi to our family of three (though I don't know if Jon and Camilla will appreciate it)
photo by Jacqulyn Maisonneuve