Song of the day...

Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews....together?!?!!!!!

I love it!

My new favorite place to shop...

KAT'S HOUSE!!!

Here's why...

1) It's just a 5 minute drive.

2) I always get front row parking.

3) The dressing room and the store are in the same spot; no walking back and fourth.

4) You can't beat the prices.

5) Kat is like my very own Stacy and Clinton!!!

So Kat and Erik are moving to a cute, new place this weekend and as a result, Lindsey and I got to reap the benefits of Kat's closet weeding!! Pretty awesome considering Kat is an awesome dresser!!! 3 new purses, 3 new dresses and about 5 million new shirts are now cramming my closet to the gills! Thanks Kat...for the fashion advice, clothes and most of all, for your friendship!!!

Okay and a side note, here is my song of the day, inspired by a bday CD compiled by Lindsey....

Julia Childs is definitely a part of my circle!

Oh I cannot express how much I adored Julie and Julia! I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time. I could blog until the break of dawn about this movie, but I haven't been home since 7 this morning and am off to dream about cooking and living fearlessly, just like Julia! Go see the movie!

Oh and if you're like me and you just can't get enough of Julia's funny little voice, you can listen to her here in an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross back in the 80s.

Bon Apetite!

So much to share....

So, where do I begin...I have been feeling so overwhelmed with good things lately, that I feel like I have to contain myself or I will overwhelm people with my enthusiasm. Is that weird? Does anyone else out there ever feel like that? Like you are just so excited about things that you just want to pop out of your skin, but you don't want to freak people out, so you try to play it cool :)...ahah.

Anyways, like I said there is nothing, great, grand or wonderful happening, so I am not exactly sure where this sudden joy is coming from -- maybe it's simply temporary, maybe it's that my soul is finally starting to wake up and jump out of survival mode, maybe my forced uber-awareness of life's simple pleasures in the past few months is just kicking into over drive and I am finding little bits of simple pleasure EVERYWHERE I look, or maybe I am jut going crazy in general :).

Whatever is going on, I have to say it feels good---so I won't analyze it too much more, I'll just hang on for the ride and hope that it's sticking around for a while.

I had a lovely little summer weekend and of course can't wait to share it with the blogosphere. Sorry for the lack of pix, my camera died, but don't worry I got a new one and so there will be more pix soon!

1) Outdoor Movies in the street! Isn't this just so summery?! Yup that's right, Kat, Erik, Lindsey, Nate and I made our way down to Los Altos (which is an adorable town!) to watch Back to the Future in the middle of Main Street, complete with a picnic dinner, lawn chairs, and 4 real life Deloreans!

2) My own personal yoga/spin bootcamp :). I think this is on the list EVERY weekend, I love it so much I just can't help adding it every week!

3) A trip to Anthropologie...I can't believe that I can't remember the last time I went into this store, although I can hardly afford anything in there, it's fun to just go and browse and get inspired by all the creativity! I did find a fun shirt for Audie for her bday and I can't wait to mail it to her!

4) A new digital camera! Yup, that's right, the old one went kaput this weekend (so bummed I don't have more pics to share from the weekend!) and so since I just can't imagine my life without a camera to document my every outing, I gave in and got a new one and although it was more than my budget was expecting this week, I am so happy I did it. I am finding that sometimes spending a little more money than you want to is worth it for something that enriches your life.

5) Nike Run Group. So I found out about this running group from a girl at Runner's high (where I just bought a new pair of running shoes that I love and that were on sale!!! And even got a foot massage before the run, I LOVE LOCAL running stores!). They meet on Sunday mornings at the Nike Store at the Stanford Mall, so I decided to give it a try this morning and I absolutely loved the group! There were about 20 runners, we split up according to how long people wanted to run and I met some really nice people--- a girl who blogs about the bee hives at Sunset, and an ultra marathoner. After the run they provided water and fruit and made some announcements about upcoming races. Oh and one more cool thing that I am totally going for...once you run 100 miles with the group you get this cool 100 mile club shirt...love it and can't wait to earn one!

6) Doxon Dog Races. Jen entered Gracie May and Coral in the Doxon Dog Races at Palo Alto High School today and so I went with her and Sierra to cheer the little guys on. Gracie May won her first race, it was hilarious! She came in just shy of first in the semi's, but we were still so proud of her! I couldn't believe how many people were there and how many different types of doxons there are. Jen may be convincing me to be a Doxon owner one day :).

7) Fitness Challenge Winner! That's right, a personal trainer at the stanford gym asked me to join this fitness challenge on Monday and so I did, and I got a phone call yesterday that I won and get to claim a prize of $20! Woo hoo!

8) Organic Heirloom Tomatoes. I made a yummy caprese melt with them and I just love their beautiful colors! I managed to get a picture of these beauties!
9) Summer Dishes :). This is unrelated to this weekend, but isn't this one pretty! I love it! It was a bday present from a co-worker and it's Spode, who knew they made anything but Christmas dishes?

10) A sweet letter and Real Simple Magazine article from Ms. Madsen. It was an article about a group of girlfriends who do yearly trips together, kind of like our high school group. Each year one of the women is the planner and plans an entire trip for the group of women! Whew, that sounds like a lot of work, but I sure loved reading about their annual tradition and hope that we will continue to be able to keep ours up!

Okay, well if you are still reading, I have to say I am amazed, sometimes I think these posts are more for me to have a chance to re-live the good stuff, I have blabbed on and on long enough now and I'm off to set some goals. I have started a habit of setting 8 week goals for myself (inspired by Christina :)) and August 3 was the end of my last 8 weeks. So here's to another goal setting session :).

I hope everyone reading is having a lovely summer weekend!

Another....yes, another song....and a little life side note...

I'm on a music kick apparently...

Side note: My mom sent me a wonderful little email today. The title; "Grounded Traveler" -- an article from Yoga Journal. It was about rethinking the concept of "home."

Moms must have a sixth sense of some sort because although I have been extra anxious lately to have a place of my own, to decorate and create my own sanctuary away from the world, to grow a garden etc etc, I don't know that I have actually had many conversations with her about it.

So anyways, with absolute perfect timing, she sent me this beautiful article today about a woman who lost her job, had her boyfriend break up with her and had her landlord threaten to evict her all within just a couple of short months. The woman explains how yoga became her "'safe haven" in countless different living rooms as she moved around in transition and how "the ground didn't cave in -- not even when she learned her ex was expecting his first child with his new girlfriend."

And she concluded saying that "Change had changed me. For the first time, I realized that real estate wasn't the answer. Without a physical space or the stuff to fill it, each day I returned to me. I was the constant. I was the comfort. I was home."

And it got me to thinking (and of course crying) that it's true, that maybe despite all the change that we constantly face in the world, home is not ever that far away, in fact, maybe if we take a step back and take a closer look we will find that as we go on yearning for this ideal "home" in a physical space, the reality is that home is inside of each of us.

One more song that I am just lovin this morning...

I couldn't embed it, but here is the link...

Josh Turner - Would you go with me?

Love this guy, love his voice, love the lyrics, love the romanticalness :) (yes I can make up my own words on my blog :)) and love the manly cowboyness!

Songs of the day :)