calling in sick

photo credit

puppy love

It's in the air!

I'm not getting a puppy. I'm still completely smitten with the one I have. But it seems like everyone else I know is thinking about getting one and has asked my opinion. My response? DO IT!

Of course it is a responsibility but one with lots and lots of benefits. Take Harlow for example. She keeps me warm when she snuggles on my lap and looks ridiculously sweet when she sleeps. She is always happy to see me and she gets really excited about silly things like twigs and dryer sheets. I am proud when she eats her dinner and drinks lots of water and learns a new trick like "shake" or "roll over". She is proud of me when I leave a sock on the floor or take her on an extra long walk or give her a tiny bit of cottage cheese with her puppy food.

When it comes to puppies I vote yes.

rockstar diaries

I decided to sponsor one of my very favorite blogs: The Rockstar Diaries. Yay! I even made my own little ad. That part took way longer than it should have but you can take a look at the finished product if you like.

Why do I love The Rockstar Diaries so much? Okay, I'll tell you.

They love Polaroids
They love each other
They like to paint things
They go to the temple
They wear silly hats
She wears red lipstick
They love Utah
They love love happy lists

Honestly, Naomi and Josh's blog makes me very happy. I love reading their little adventures. I dare you not to become addicted.

Photo property of The Rockstar Diaries of course.

Have a wonderful weekend

I haven't had much time for blogging this week... I must still be exhausted from my lipstick search. It really is not for the faint of heart.

One of my co-workers is leaving today for 2 weeks in England in Wales and I am doing my best impression of a not-at-all-jealous person and so I am going to have a very, very good weekend. Too bad Chelsea's not around.

I love this site full of attractive office supplies. (found by Suann)

You Are My Fave is still one of my fave blogs to read.

You have until the 16th to enter Cassie's first giveaway

Joanna has been roaming the country in search of all things all things Parisienne.

Tina of The English Muse led me to Emilie79's Flickr site - full beautiful Polaroids of Paris.

Susannah wrote a beautiful piece called Allowing Dreams that everyone should definitely read.

photo from lolita.se

Picture perfect skyline

Steven Wiltshire was diagnosed as autistic at age 3 and was 5 years old before he started speaking but today at the age of 35 his art sells for thousands of dollars.

Most recently he has drawn a 20-ft panoramic view of the New York skyline after a ride over the city that lasted only minutes. Drawn completely from memory every building and street is correct and drawn completely to scale. The New York panorama follows those done in Tokyo, Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem and London. Stephen Wiltshire was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for services to art. In September 2006 Stephen opened his permanent gallery in the Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London.

You can read more about Stephen and his art here.

The perfect red lipstick

Feeling inpired by a few magazines, a few friends and a few blog friends - I set out on a quest to find a red lipstick. I'm pretty sure the girls in the Nordstrom's cosmetics department are sick of seeing me. To be honest, as nice and helpful as they are, I hope I don't see them for awhile either.

I started searching for the perfect red about two weeks ago. I just wanted a fun red that could be casual and not look scary or trashy. I've seen plenty of examples of great red lipstick. Just look at Naomi's blog - she is often rocking a red lip. Emily totally found the perfect red. And Joanna keeps blogging about red lipstick.

I'll spare you the details but the last two weeks have involved several trips to Nordstrom's, Sephora, and Long's drugs. Here are some of the ones I tried:

Lady Bug, Ruby Woo and Lady Dager (Mac)
Cruella, Rouge d’Enfer, Fire Down Below and Spanish Red (Nars)
Red, Burnt Red, and Slopes (Bobbi Brown)
British Red and True Red (L'Oreal)
Red-y to Wear (Clinique)

They were all certainly red but either too bright, too orange-y,or too purple-y for my skin tone and my liking.

I'm not the most patient person and I was ready to call it quits last night when the super-patient girl at the Nars counter (I love Nars, p.s.) pulled out a color that wasn't with the testers: Forbidden Red. The heavens opens, choirs of angels sang, and I finally went home with my perfect red. Whew! I also picked up a Clinique lipliner in Chili that I love.

Mission accomplished.

I love my new lipstick.



1st image and 2nd image