sad + happy + so lucky

all these songs make me feel so thankful to be spending my life with my best friend.



they also all make me cry.





and think about priorities. and my attitude. and my faith.
deep thoughts for the day.

mission accomplished.

we were stealthy. and we succeeded in surprising my dad. it might have helped that his actual birthday is not until thursday. but since bethalina figero was in town, and because my dad has a treatment on wednesday, we jumped the gun and planned a fierce surprise party over the weekend.
even grame was in on the surprise. you should have seen her shoes. i should have taken a picture-- they were purple patent leather moccasins. 93 years old and still a fashion boss.

happy birthday to the coolest dad on the planet.

surprise party preparations

pumpkin birthday cupcakes. ready to be frosted.


new burlap table runner and pumpkin spice/mulled cider candles.

obnoxious birthday candles.

balloon garland.

in-your-face birthday banner.

the overall scene.

now all we need is the birthday boy to show up with a pork tenderloin.

something you need to know

this is the best body lotion scent ever invented. bath and body works aromatherapy orange ginger. it's one of those scents that smells better as the day wears on. don't ask me how, but it does.

friday featured question

so i have all these questions rattling around in my head and i'm going to start asking them to you every friday. please be advised that i have pah-lenty of questions, so many in fact that i could feature as many as 18 per day and never run out. but i'll try and filter my very most pressing question and throw it out there each friday, and see what you decide to throw back.

here's the question for this friday... are you ready?

so i reluctantly joined the leggings bandwagon.

now what?

some points and follow-up questions to thoughtfully consider when drafting your answer:

(1) i have a bootie. much, much more bootie than the model above.

(2) do i wear the leggings outside my house? if so, where?

(3) i have gray and black leggings.

(4) what sort of tops might cover the bootie and work with the leggings?

(5) why didn't i consider the bootie before jumping on the leggings bandwagon? {admittedly, this one's really a question for me more than it is for you, but if you can shed some light...}

(6) what types of footwear compliment the leggings?

(photo source: jcrew. although my leggings are the old navy version.)

who let lady gaga loose in my closet?

now what am i supposed to wear tomorrow for casual friday?

there's good news and there's bad news