THIS.....

.....will be the view from my airplane window tomorrow--i can't wait!



but, i must say--the most beautiful costa rican sights that i'm most eager to see are these two:



such sights for sore eyes.



{i will be back february 10th--enjoy your break from me. but not TOO much.}

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

chandler & i saw something today whilst browsing in the toy aisle of target that literally took our breath away:



so, a few things:

1. i had NO idea that the head honchos at barbie were such hipsters--kudos to whichever suit had the divine "inspiration" for d. bag ken. VISIONARY!


2. stocking cap + xs knit designer tank + girl jeans = MAGIC.


3. i MUST get his waxer's number. stat.





4. i wonder if he has a dog named pussy cat, too? (ironic!)

ladies man.

vanessa--you knew this would rock my world. muchas gracias.

meow.

i dedicate this to kenneth. may he enjoy & appreciate it as much as i did.

all you need is love.

the geniuses at eighteen25 who brought you the awesome christmas subway art has done it again with their free valentine subway art-



download the print in reds & pinks HERE



or download the pinks, reds, & browns print HERE





speaking of love & all things beatles, i am totally psyched to see LOVE this weekend with my besties for amy's 40th birthday:

dealio

a friend of ours has launched a pretty rad new business: southern utah deals is rocking some sweet hook-ups on products & services that you would actually want.



today the deal was 4 rounds of golf 18 holes @ sunbrook golf course for $40.00 ($224.00 value):




other recent winners were the 10 dollar coupon at benja thai for $5.00 and the
10 dollar gift card at twenty five main for $5.00--


if you live in southern yewwwwwtaahhhh, look this up~

hysteria

how bad do i wanna be short one appendage right about now?



SO bad.



{courtesy of stereogum}

crazy cat lady.

did you know that the university of missouri conducted a study of pet owners, and concluded that cats make their owners happier than dogs?

the research also found that cats can make their owners healthier--the cats actually appeared to lower blood pressure by reducing stress!



so.....all you feline haters (i.e. my sister, my brother-in-law, amy, etc.) can SUCK IT. because i'm going to live longer.



while hanging out with the twelve cats i'll have by age 80.





{video courtesy of dooce}

barbie house 'o dreams

the photo above is my niece, madeleine, when the blindfold was removed and she saw her new barbie dream house that my sister, megan, created for her.


wouldn't you have the same reaction if you saw this bad boy?:

i was really impressed with megan's thriftiness & ingenuity--she was given the "house", which was actually a bookshelf in it's former life, and she put a bit (or a ton) of elbow grease into making it a palace befit for barbie herself.

what killed me is the fact that she didn't buy one single barbie, piece of furniture, or accessory for the house--she furnished it with items from her own little collection of barbie nostalgia.

my mom had sewn many of the outfits and bedding back in the day--she was a visionary, that woman.....



i loved what was going on (!!!) in one of the bedrooms:

as well as questioned what was going on (!!???) in the nursery:

the party apparently was also in full swing in the other bedroom:

which contained my favorite accessory to the dollhouse:

bridal barbie was chillaxing in the formal living room complete with hipster wicker living room combo:

& the game room looked like it would be an instant hit with the party crowd:

finally, the kitchen was the designated hang-out spot for my favorite doll, rio de janeiro carnival barbie:

& madeleine lived happily ever after:

c. rica

my dad & mom sent these photos last week of beautiful costa rica--i can hardly wait for the end of this month because we will be going down to visit them!

we will be staying with them in san jose and visiting areas in between from guancaste to los suenos.



has anybody been to costa rica? & if so, what cool things do you suggest?




here are my cute parents blown away (literally) by the volcano irazu:

currently obsessed with

shaka laka maui mint lip balm.


i suspect it might have an addictive substance in the ingredients--perhaps crack?

all i know is that i just can't get enough. it's that good.


PLUS, i can buy it at high-class establishments like maverik. WIN/WIN.

palm springs new year

{view from our balcony. LAME.}

our after-christmas-vacay to palm springs was lovely--we spent it with some of our best friends & family.



and how could it have been otherwise, when we walked outside and had to suffer through THIS kind of crap?:

we built some very excellent sandcastles:

& good some good quality sunbathing time--(some without shirts, some dressed for winter storm watch)

we enjoyed the adventure that was palm springs aerial tramway:

we ventured up to true "cold country" when we braved the -8 windchill at the top of the mountain--HARDCORE!!!

we spent new year's eve people watching beneath the ginormous christmas tree at our hotel--

& perfected our flippin' sweet dance moves to the sounds of the band playing all evening long:

BECAUSE of the spectacular dance moves that were going to be on display, there may or may not have been a quick glam-makeover & some "slipping into something a little more NYE-appropriate" from two little women.

allegedly:

we rang in the new year like rockstars: (a time zone or two AHEAD of ours. allegedly.)

and did 2011 right with a kiss at (pseudo) midnight:

we dined the first day of january 2011 at our favorite mexican restaurant
whilst also busting a move to their house band--

and we recommend HIGHLY the tamales & the pomegranate guacamole!

and they lived happily ever after.....


all because THESE suckers funded the whole shebang:

jet skis in CABO.

my kids have only watched this about 100 times--the end is the best part.


{thanks to dannielle for turning me on to these guys.}


happy weekend!

secret thespian.

this is what happens when you declare that the christmas eve festivities shall be a "jammies only" party.



there is a bit of posing.

as well as soft-embracing of o tannenbaum:

along with an example of a hair-DON'T:

but then you get this as well:

who would have guessed we had a family of "theme-dressers"?

hope your holidays were ever so lovely. i'll be playing catch-up a bit this week--there's nothing like listing STOP PROCRASTINATING as my new year's resolution and then immediately breaking it.


AIM LOW.

french fries are the devil

thanks, rachel, for giving me a laugh today--



fyi? i make awesome decisions in bike stores.