simon's evergreen

[see larger image on flickr]

simon pearce is an irishman who started a beautiful hand-blown glass and pottery store with workshop & restaurant locations in a few places in the US. one of those places was my hometown. sadly, they just announced that they’re closing this location :(

so i thought i’d do a little tribute to one of my favorite places with this photo of my favorite simon pearce piece, the evergreen…a special gift from my mom :)

i had great memories there:
...special lunches with my mom
...delicious birthday celebrations
...shopping & lunch trips with dear friends
...toasts to friendships, weddings, and babies

i’m going to miss that delicious vermont cheddar cheese soup, the irish brown bread, the warm, fluffy scones…and of course, sipping champagne out of their gorgeous hand-blown flutes…

slainte simon pearce, thanks for the memories…

color-coded

it's the first day of my spring semester and, this morning, i started to get out all of my school things - bag, water bottle, coffee mug, notebook, scarf & mittens.  then i noticed something...everything is color-coded!

now i'm OCD about a lot of things. when i watch TV i like the volume on an even number [please don't judge ;)].  i've been known to do color-coded OCD too...my closet organized by color, my push-pins at work used to be separated by color [in all fairness, they came that way...i just made sure it stayed that way], my bedroom is based on the same gray/blue & white color-scheme.  but this is the first time i did it without realizing it.  the only ones i bought consciously were the water bottle because it matched my new white & teal coffee mug, and the notebook because it matched my new kelly-moore bag [isn't she pretty?].  but the others?  total coincidence!

needless to say, this totally made my day!  so i guess spring-semester is off to a good start...and i haven't even been to class yet :)

hello beautiful

images from http://kellymoorebag.com/

isn't she beautiful?  i just ordered this bag today and i'm so excited!

i've been searching for a new laptop bag and looked at vera bradley and coach totes, but then i read about these new kelly moore bags for photographers.  now if you've ever tried to carry around an SLR with batteries, chargers, connectors, and alternate lenses it's nearly impossible with a regular bag.  everything moves all over the place and you're constantly worried that something is going to get damaged.

enter kelly moore and her stylish, organized, perfect camera-toting bags :) [check out her site for more designs].  the bags have a velcro strip inside with adjustable dividers so you can fit all of your camera gear [brilliant].  but i can also just take them out and use it as a messenger-style laptop bag for classes.

so i can use it for my laptop AND for my camera gear.  two birds.  one stone.  and it's a pretty teal with purple lining stone ;)

getting it right

[see larger image on flickr]

“cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
– oprah winfrey

my running shoes came out of the closet this morning so that i could start the year off right :)  it's that time of year again...a new start, a clean slate, a list of resolutions [which includes a lot of running!].

i actually love new years day because it inspires hope and determination...the heart and mind are open to the possibilities of what could be...and there's an excitement for the unknown.

so happy new year everyone!  ...here's to getting it right in 2011.