slouchy beanies

i'm thinking i need to buy a slouchy beanie/beret. let me tell you why: they'll keep me warm, they're cute, and most importantly, they are fantastic for bad hair days... banana republic

hurley

banana republic

also, i tend to wash my hair every other day, so hats/beanies/berets are great for days when my luscious locks aren't, um, very luscious.

cooking with all things trader joe's

i was at barnes and noble the other day and i saw this book and i really, really wanted it:...but it was too expensive and i can't buy it right now. i can afford to shop at trader joe's (i do 90% of my grocery shopping there) but i can't afford a cookbook to teach me how to use all of their ingredients. kinda pathetic. but anyway, i found this website and now i'm happy :)
i love when the authors of cookbooks keep blogs.

nutella, my love.

as i type this, i am scraping the bottom of my nutella jar with a butter knife. i have/need to eat up every last bit of the chocolate hazelnut goodness. and don't worry, i already have another new jar on reserve in my pantry. i have been eating nutella since i was a toddler. in fact, nutella sandwiches were more common in my childhood than pb&j sandwiches. but now, as a "responsible" adult, i only treat myself to nutella on occasions. and i am very particular about how i have my nutella. i prefer to eat it on UNtoasted whole wheat WHITE bread (yes, this type of bread does exist). also, every centimeter of the piece of bread needs to be covered with nutella. oh, it's heaven. i love this little treat so much (specially when i have it with unsweetened tea) that i never really venture to try it in any other form. i did, however, find some yummy-looking nutella recipes:

orange nutella suprise muffins

nutella mousse

nutella stuffed french toast

...maybe i'll give these recipes a try.

yes, yes i will.

croc cellphone case

silly looking.

image from here

i know some croc lovers that would just love one of these.

no heel marc jacobs

i'm curious...i want to see if i can walk around in them!

but jeez-louis are they ugly.

collapsing bookcase

craziness. who could pull this off?...or actually, what house could possibley pull this off?

image via stylehive

long in the front, short in the back

image via here

image via here

everywhere i go, i see girls trying to pull off the victoria beckham haircut:

the grocery check out lady, the 16-year old serving coffee at starbucks, B-list celebrities, soccer moms, and cougars at the bar scene.

ugh.

what totally put me over the edge was when i saw a "plain jane-ish" girl decked out in sweat paints, a northface jacket, crocs, and....a victoria beckham haircut! it was totally out of place.

i actually really liked the haircut when i first saw pictures of the original fashion diva sporting the look. i thought it was so sleek, so modern, so chic.

but now, i think the victoria haircut is the new jennifer aniston haircut. it's freakin' everywhere!

i'm bored now. something new, please.

silver uggs.

repulsive.

link

grape ice pop silicone mold

summer is coming to an end, but look at what i found.

image via here

filling them up with some grapejuice would be great!

flower tree branch wall decal

pretty.

image via

juno

i finally saw the movie juno. the actors were brilliant. ellen page is going to go far. i expected the movie to be a funny take on unplanned teenage pregnancy. a far too common and unfortunate occurrence in our society. and of course, it was, and i found myself laughing throughout the movie. however, i think the movie also spoke of love.

love is truly a difficult concept to understand. it confuses, scares, yet warms people. we do certain things in our lives in order to obtain love. in order to be happy. there seems to be a mysterious formula for love and happiness and some of us try our darnest to follow it.

this movie illustrated how this formula is proven wrong.

image via

fasting

it is currently ramadan. ramadan is the month in which muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset. that means no eating, drinking, sex, smoking or any use of profane language. it's interesting to note how fasting is observed in almost all world religions, in some form or another. for example:

christianity

• catholicism - abstain from meat on ash wednesday and good fridays. also, no meat is eaten on all fridays during lent.
• eastern orthodox - no meat, dairy products, or eggs are allowed during lent. there are also several other fast periods throughout the year.
• protestant - fasting is at the discretion of individuals and churches
• methodist - some partake in the wesley fast. this includes fasting after thursday's evening meal until midafternoon on fridays. otherwise, fasting is put at discretion
• lutheran - fasting is at the discretion of individuals and churches. not required at all.

judaism

• during yom kippur, eating and drinking are not allowed for 24 hours. there are also six other fast days throughout the year.

buddism

• abstain from solid foods and certain drinks during some full moon days and other holidays.

mormonism

• the first sunday of each month is a fast day. abstain from food and drink for two consecutive meals.

baha'i faith

• fasting during the month of ala. this means no food and drink from sunrise to sunset.
  

well...no matter when or if you fast, i think we can all agree that it is quite a challenging practice.

not your basic white tank top

you would definitely need to wear your hair up.

link

link

jcrew sale

extra 20% off already sale prices!!

link

the soiree jacket is still a bit out of my price range, but i did order a cute cardigan and some casual tops. check out the swim wear, if interested.

major deals.

cindy mccain's $300,000 outfit

vanity fair estimates that cindy's outfit cost about $300,000 and laura's cost about $4,000.

i wonder how well cindy mccain and sarah palin are going to get along. wouldn't it be funny if good ole sarah ends up selling cindy's dress on ebay like she did with the jet?

btw, the luxury jet was listed at 2.5 million on ebay...but it didn't sell. it was eventually sold to a private buyer.

coffee house search tool

what a cool website. it lists seattle coffee shops with free wi-fi!!!
pretty darn helpful.

barack and john

image via

why do people refer to presidential candidate barack obama by his first name?...."barack will do this..." "barack will do that..."

you never hear people refer to senator mccain by his first name.

i feel that if people are comfortable saying barack, well then, they should also be comfortable referring to the other candidate by his first name.

john.

stylish umbrella stand

i know i'm a seattleite and all, and i know it's blasphemous for a true seattleite to carry an umbrella around, but how cool is this: via black.white.yellow

breakups hurt

breakups are difficult. it doesn't really matter who breaks up with who or if it's mutual, both people suffer. every horrible feeling imaginable is felt while suffering through a breakup.

i'm very scared right now. i'm constantly wondering if the decision i made was out of stupidity or sense. i just don't want to be alone. but i also want to be happy. and the reality is, for the past couple of months, i wasn't happy. i was doubting everything like crazy. he wasn't giving me what i hope "the man in life" can/will give me: comfort and support (i'm not talking anything having to do with finances). at times, i felt like i was the more masculine one and for a girly girl like me, that just doesn't work. but i knew he loved me...that is such a wonderful feeling. before him, i never had that much assurance in a man's love for me. yet, i still didn't feel fully comfortable and protected around him. it was eating me alive and i finally had to tell him i couldn't do it any longer. and now i feel horrible. like i've lost. i'm alone and my thoughts and doubts circulate throughout my entire body endlessly.

i hate this.