Yesterday.

Said Wednesday.

Wake up next to Jim.
It's a perfect sunny December day. 
Watch Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Tidy up.
Walk to Crossroad's.
Find a white fisherman's sweater for $10. Actually, $9.50.
I have been looking for a good fisherman's sweater.

Buy a bouquet of yellow roses and a bottle of champagne.
Catch up a bit with my Malibu Bad Ass by way of Denver.
Take my hair out of the nasty little bun it was in, spray some dry shampoo in it, blow dry it, and viola, I all of the sudden have the hairstyle I've been wanting - the curls from the day before are still there, but messy and full and perfect. 

Check mail. So many Christmas cards.
Sit on the porch like a fidgety child, waiting for my Best Friend from San Francisco to arrive.
She arrives. 
Sit and talk and laugh and cry and trade clothes and get a lunch of ahi tuna poke, tater tots & spinach dip.
She meets Jim. She approves.
Jim gets me a delicious burrito.
Jim is happy that I am happy.
My Malibu Bad Ass writes a wonderful little post about our friendship.
Bijou finally caves and starts her own blog.
Watch Scrooged while cuddled up on the couch in a knit blanket fort of sorts.
Fall asleep, next to Jim.

Yesterday was the Best Day Ever. 
I kid you not.
I am so in love with everything.

Blanket Fort Musings.

Good morning! 

In the movie of our lives, she would be played by
Miss Williams while I would be played by
Claire Danes. We decided.

My house is a little messy today, but its only 8:35am and I'm already running the dishwasher so thats a step in the right direction, I suppose. I have Bon Iver playing full blast and its chilly and sunny outside. I've sent all my Christmas Cards out like a real grown up, & I didn't even have to ask anyone for their addresses, because for the most part, I already got 'em. Tomorrow I may see my Best Friend from San Francisco, as she has made her yearly pilgrimage to Southern California. I haven't seen her in two years, since our 10 year high school reunion and before that when we bought very expensive tickets to huge concert in LA (much to my Ex's surprise) to see Florence + the Machine and Brandon Flowers.
I just got a call from Jim telling me to not look at anything that UPS might bring today, and the teenage boy with the curly mad mop of hair just walked by, like he does everyday, on his way to school. 

Wrapping is my holiday Zen.

These holidays, however stressful as they are because of work, are going well. They are going well, though I have to say - I maaaay have gone a little crazy with gifts for the Boy, after agreeing upon only three, I somehow collected over twenty.

Shopping last Sunday for servingware & centerpieces for our Holiday Housewarming Party, after hitting up the big spots, like Bev Mo, HomeGoods & Michaels right as we were leaving, & I was walking back to the car, Jim had just finished up loading the trunk. He turned, hopped back on the shopping cart, feet on the bottom bar, and full speed ahead, rode it back to the front of the store. 

Hair blowing, smile on his face, he zipped past me on my left like a boy left to his own devices, flying. 

I love him so, I thought at that moment.
I love him so, I think now.

So we are set for our housewarming, after quite an investment in cake platters and serving trays, and Belgium-brewed beer & Dad's rootbeer in vintage pop bottles. Our centerpieces for the table are finalized, with berry branches in galvanized milk jugs, and a simple menu has been put together. 
We are happy.
I am happy.

Though, truth be told, we did have our first argument a few nights ago.
What about, you ask?
The tenets of time travel.


Yep, we are perfect for each other. 
And no, we don't agree upon how time travel would work if time travel were real.




But who cares, because neither of us would go back in time and change a thing.



I did something. 
I have that oft mentioned lace caftan, right? 
Well, honestly, I'm never going to wear it again though I only wore it a handful of times. 
I've outgrown it.
But I love it so. 
So I made into something that will live on for a while.

Happy Holidays. Yes, these are happy holidays.

I Like This Girl.

Eat The Damn Cake.  (Thats a link. Click it in a sec.)

I just fell into her Love Story.
I've read her work before, and she's articulate & she's deprecating & self aware. Its refreshing, and makes me feel like I have a friend in someone's words. (Imagine that.) I especially recommend following the hyperlinks to her first date with her now-husband.
I like her style.

Morning Rundown.

I haven't been able to sit down and write, but thankfully other people have too, and they're smart and funny and one even has a scanner, or something, and I'm jealous. But here are some links, some thoughts, and that's all she wrote.

Fuck! I'm In My 20s!
(Its better once you get to the second page, when she's not just yaadaaa yaadadaaing about her book tour. Like, yeah, we get it - you're smart and funny and you got a book. No, I kid, but the stuff is better once you actually get to the stuff.)
Update: It's brilliant! If you like me, you'll love her & want to to print out her doodles and fashion them into a coloring book and invest in the 64 color box of crayolas, cancel your brunch plans and just spend your Sunday coloring.

Eat The Damn Cake
Uplifting and inspiring and true.

CB2
Crate and Barrel's Ikea inspired sister site, but its like waaay better than Ikea and still reasonably priced.

OkCupid Inspired Art.
Hilarious & so so so true. Might I add, all I remember from Jim's is how under his 'About Me', he wrote, 'Man, strawberries are a great fruit.'

Also, I do want to mention that I have had one of the best weeks ever, and that my general mentality of 'Work Hard & Be Nice to People' has really paid off.
Because working hard and being nice should always pay off.
I got like a really really big promotion.

And! And! And!
Has everyone else noticed the wave of acrylic 'ghost chairs' out there lately?

Its like the new Letter Blocks of DIY/pinterest-dictated interior design.
Do I need one?
I like the idea...
Bijou always has good thoughts on interiors.

'Autumnal' is One of My Favorite Words.

With happiness comes a certain level of monotony, I suppose.
This past week, I have been a happy girl - going about my day to day business of work & boy & friends without much thought. Well, thats not true, entirely. But when most of my thoughts include the following: 'how to make the most space useful out of our closet', 'what handbag do I get for Fall', 'what do I need for Fall', 'what kind of tile to put in the bathroom' & 'what day does the housekeeper come again?' it doesn't make for any sort of inspired blogposts.
So, in an attempt to do something creative (other than reorganizing my closet), here I am.
Type type typing.

Fall. It may be August, and 82 degrees out, but it is Fall in zee world of fashion.
And I'm ready for it. Elle Fashion Issue beside me, new aesthetic of new job slowly but surely creeping into my fashion psyche via osmosis, and a month of working with the same dozen pieces of a my closet while staying at Jim's, I'm ready for a new season, this one being more Gainsbourg's muse and less Rebel Ballerina than ever before. Its funny; clothing to me, getting dressed in the morning has always been like a costume change in the middle of the off-Broadway production of my life: I dress for the scene.
The Rebel Ballerina was rebelling against the Ex; she was not 'like everyone else' like he wanted - she was angry and happy and romantic and guarded. Now, appropriately, with a newish job guiding my eye, and a boyfriend who celebrates my creatively & intelligence, my dress has begun to reflect that. (That and probably my obsession with Meghan on Mad Men.)
Okay, enough windbagging, here is my Wish List for Fall. (Hel-lo it's called 'Style' and SR, right?!)

1. Pants.
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate jeans. I own three pairs: one white, one high waist denim & one floral pair for kicks and giggles. I am very very very excited about Pants being on this list. I know, it sounds weird, but we're not juuuuuust taking about pants. We're talking about Pants. Capital P. I already have a pair en route from wardrobing at work; high waisted navy silk, with tiny silver polka dots. Nipped in at the ankle, slightly pleated at the waist, I want to pair them with black pumps and a silk shell. Also, I love polka dots right now.

2. According to Elle, I need a leather shift dress. Perfect. I have one I've never worn and love very much.

Done.
Enough of a numerical list, it's too much pressure.
Also, on my list:
A folio clutch.
A lady like croc-embossed Doctor's bag.
The new Cat Eye sunglasses.
Other than that, I'm focusing on finding a tile to redo the bathroom with.
And a good way to maximize space in the closet.

Rough draft of closet interior.
This is what I do now.

Oh, all that ...And sending in my thirty day notice on my Tiny Room with a Kitchen Attached.

My Morning Run(Down).

Sipping on coffee from my cafe, enjoying a lazy morning before I head off to work, I have a little routine of hitting several of my favorite tumblrs and blogs to get a bit of aesthetic inspiration for my day. 
Here is my collection from the last couple days, and a new 'feature' (for lack of a better term) for S&SR. 
Because, ya know, I don't actually go running.