i dare you to NOT love these

take a moment and lust with me over these beautiful and unique bags by kaleel designs . They even have names ('saturday afternoon', 'dark forest', 'running errands', 'saturday eleven-thirty'):

paper-aholic

hello. my name rhymeswithtarget, and i am a paper-aholic. its a genetic disorder kindly handed down to me from my father, legendary in his time for the wrapping. i come by it honestly but, at times, it affects my life (i like to think it does so in a pretty way, but not everyone feels the same about it as i do).

Paper, cards...........eeeeeeeeeeK! BRING IT!

I also greatly enjoy putting things into boxes of uniform size, and so was very excited to find the container store (via smitten kitchen's great blog) for really inexpensive seamless tins for spices (check out this organizational beauty- my sister will FREAK) and some pretty rad paper products too.

Now we all know where to get those little chinese food take-out containers (i know you've been wondering)! I'm expecting innovative things to come in the wrapping department from now on:) ps you have to check out broadway paper.

better than i remembered

went to check out the house on the rock this week, and it sure is prettier in spring! i love the landscape, the old walls and the cracked stone stairs. call me crazy, but i hate lawns (we do have one of those too in the back, but its the front i really like). arbutus trees TOTALLY make up for dilapitated decks, don't you agree?

also went to the states and checked out bellingham, which i thought was really just bellis fair, but actually is a really pretty town. PLUS, it has a DAISO (admittedly in bellis fair- okay we went there too). BUT i think i showed considerable self-restraint when i did not buy any dishes, only some baby chopsticks for sam & claire's easter presents. CUTE.

crying is weird

this is very interesting....but i can't decide if it feels too construed in a trying to be artsy way... but i contributed anyways because i had a bad weekend and thought hell, may as well put these tears to some collective use and entertainment!

that being said, there was some cake and even some dancing recently, and possibly even lobster risotto at 3am...so that oughta lighten the mood! and MAN that stuff is fun, especially cake!

on another note, spring has really been trying to eek its way out, as you can see from the new banner, which was actually taken 2 weeks ago. its been raining like screaming banshees (that's for aren) since that time until yesterday! i was actually honestly starting to have very serious thoughts while driving like 'what if the sun NEVER comes back?!' that would really be awful wouldn't it? i mean, what would you do?

luckily, it always seems to return, just like your mom when she used to drop you off at daycare....she always came back, just like she said. Speaking of which, a daycare would be a GREAT place to get some really gritty crying photos (from what i remember of daycare anyways)!

hunting

this saturday was spent dashing through the downpour from secret place to not-so-secret place, hunting for a special something to hang in a precariously placed window in the house on the rock. this window in question overlooks an abandoned warehouse i'm currently pretending doesn't exist (but it does). but HOLY are stained glass windows ever pricey! sheesh...going to have to hope that magically timed, well-stocked, garage sale at the 100-year old home of an eccentric world traveller, who has recently died an exciting yet tragic death, who's children only want brand new things not old weird crap that i've been waiting for all comes along soon! saw some other interesting things though.

the poorly lit shots on the bottom are of a fabulous table my aunt just had *imported* which is made out of old wine barrels- the numbers you see are from the vineyard. its very thick and heavy and sumptuously dark. yum.

old much?

happy birthday to me! do you like my new vest?

thank you aren leigh

i would like to send a big THANK YOU to my dear old friend aren, who snazzed up my banner from across the continent! Y.E.S.!

check out his talentedness, and that of his lovely reva, here, or here!