new hair!

sorry this took me a few days, i didn't take any pictures on my digital that day and haven't styled it until today, haha. yeah i like to wake up late, haha. i'm pretty sure evan got some cool ones on his fisheye though. anyway, here is the before;



and, the after;



i'm totally in love with it! it feels so much healthier. the girl who cuts my hair is amazing and really takes the time to get you what you want, combined with what will work with the shape of your face and the texture of your hair, love her!

i'm getting used to being a brunette, i think it will be fun for the fall, but i think i'll need to go back to my natural reddish in the winter or spring. it feels weird not being a redhead!

monday mix #7

yeah i know it's thursday, but it's been a total whirlwind since saturday, including going to see rilo kiley at the trocadero on tuesday. the trocadero is totally my favorite venue in philly and rilo kiley is def one of my top 10 bands of all time, mostly due to the amazing jenny lewis;



that's her playing keyboards, she also rocked the bass, tambourine and she plays a mean mouth piano thingy! i don't think you can tell from the photo, but she is totally wearing glittery silver high heels and shiny silver hot pants! yeah, only jenny could pull that off in an indie way, haha. so here comes the theme of my mix, the amazingly talented. redheaded former child star;

monday mix #7- my 11 fave tracks featuring jenny lewis (i so couldn't narrow it to 10, 11 was torterous enough!)

01. wires and waves - rilo kiley
02. a better son/daughter - rilo kiley
03. nothing better - the postal service
04. with arms outstretched - rilo kiley
05. the recluse - cursive
06. we will become silhouettes - the postal service
07. a man/me/then jim - rilo kiley
08. handle me with care - jenny lewis & the watson twins
09. portions for foxes - rilo kiley
10. rise up with fists!!! - jenny lewis & the watson twins
11. breakin' up - rilo kiley

right now...

... i'm totally psyched on this!



that's right, i'm a total crazy who hambly'ed her fisheye camera!

i am not psyched on the fact that i may have just ruined my entire first roll of film from this little pretty! it wouldn't be totally awful, i mostly took a lot of test shots to try to get a hang of it, but still! i'll drop the roll off at one hour on my way home and we'll see what it does.

finally on my way!

i've been wanting to start this from the day the blog started but y'know how things go! so, i finally "made" my cover, which was pretty much just sticking some thickers on a photo and slapping it on to the front of this awesome corduroy woodgrain album i got from the clearance bin at old navy a few years a go. this rainy grey days seems perfect for sitting here at work, listening to bright eyes and working on all the pages for it. i can't believe there have been 10 prompts already! there are so many challenge blogs out there right now, but i love that this one will really be a challenge for me since i am not the best at getting around to journaling and that's what this one's all about. plus most people's layouts don't have any pictures on them, which will be fun to experiment with.

i finally did it! i bucked up and dyed my hair dark chocolate brown!!! it feels so crazy. i don't want to post any before and after pics until i get it cut on tuesday so y'all can see the crazy big change. eek! i had to do it last night cause it's getting crazy the next couple of days, which i totally love!

tonight kate and i are going out, that's right out, as in around other people where i might actually have a chance of meeting a new guy, crazy! and then sunday is my short day at work, so it can be a catch up day when i get home, making evan a birthday present, circle journals, burning cd's and doing laundry. monday it's off to long island to help kristina with her scrap space and heroes season premiere fun! then tuesday is my day in philly, coffee with tim, lunch with ashley, getting my hair cut, meeting evan and then we're off to the rilo kiley show with ashley, simon, john and jasmine. can not wait to see jenny perform live, love her like crazy, but always seem to miss her shows!

anyway, i'm off for my rainy day arts and crafts.

okay i just had to share...

... this is what i am working on right now;



squeal!!! i am totally making myself giggle with this one! the always amazing sara berry sent us these awesome 3 x 3 christmas board books, along with a bunch of other goodies, for our little east coast get together and i am totally filling it with our little mini pics from the round robin and little bits from the weekend!

i think my scrap juju might just be back!

p.s. that amazing orange woodgrain fabric i have wrapped around the spine is from miss vee! she is an awesome sharer!

..::EDIT::..
i finished it, and i'm totally smitten! this is the first thing i've scrapped in forever that i'm really into! sure i see some spots i want to add things, but as a while i really like where it's at. you can check it out here at scrap in style!

va/d.c. area i love you!

i had such an indecribable amount of fun with the east coast ladies this past weekend! i mean really! there was lauging, drinking, drooling, scrapping, jumping, girlish squeeling, eating, sleeping, hugging, sharing, shopping, driving, singing, dishing, photographing and lots of bonding! here is some proof of some of the above;

exhibit a. bonding


exhibit b.1 scrapping (in action)


exhibit b.2 scrapping (results thereof)


exhibit c. driving


exhibit d. drinking


exhibit e. shopping


it really was a sick amount of fun. that layout is my layout at the end of our round robin, and those drinks are the end result of a 3 hour lunch after a tiring amount of shopping at anthropologie, paper source and urban outfitters. i was pretty well behaved at paper source, but defenitly really enjoyed it. and i totally caved and bought myself one of those fisheye cameras from urban. so psyched to get some film in it and start shooting!

these girls and i are totally addicted to east coast scrapping trips now! after the car ride home, breanne, kristina and i vote the next one be up here, haha!

p.s. after we got back sunday night kristina crashed at my house and we totally laughed until we drooled while watching rock of love. i mean seriously, at some point you see the top of bret's head and it looks flocked like ken doll hair, and then in the preview for next week it really honestly looks like his weave is sewn right in to his bandana! scary hilarious!

monday mix # 6

yeah so this is a little late, but i was recovering from a lot of time in the car, i'm getting too old for that, and a crazy amount of fun with the ladies down in d.c. it's the absolute perfect temperature for me right now! not too hote and not too cold, with a hint of impending autumn gorgeousness. so, without further ado;

monday mix # 6 - cut offs and hoodies (or perfect songs for the end of summer)

01. i hear the bells - mike doughty
02. egos rule - matt pond pa
03. live in a hiding place - idlewild
04. another traveling song - bright eyes
05. handle me with care - jenny lewis & the watson twins
06. kc accidental - broken social scene
07. hex - neko case
08. starry configurations - jets to brazil
09. passionate - kind of like spitting
10. the first song - band of horses
11. fortress - pinback
12. none of the above - the weakerthans
13. these days - mates of state

seriously, it is so time to go shopping for my yearly pair of fall boots!

i'm off!

well i'm all scrap-packed and have my clothes picked out! now i just have to put them in a bag and it's off for my 5 hours of sleep! haha! catch you when i get back from the bound to be super awesome, fantastic weekend in vienna with some of the raddest girls in scrapbooking, and me. haha!

crazy overwhelming woah-ness!

so let's discuss!

i have a HUGE decision to make. my friend rick and i have talked about getting a place together for a few months now, but haven't actually really looked other than to get an idea of what rent is like around here. so, my boss, brigette, is in need of someone to take her daughter to the bus stop a couple of mornings a week and i jokingly said that if she made the rent on the "cottage" behind her house real cheap i'd move in a do it. and to my surprise, she talked to her husband and they are all about it.

so, now i have to make the big decision about it. it is a small house, free standing, with it's own fenced in backyard and it's all hardwood floors; 2 bedrooms, bath, big living room and big kitchen. the rent would be a crazy deal, but i have to decide if i want to do the bus duty thing and if i can do it financially. ugh! big decision! i'm bringing rick to see it tommorow, and we'll see what he says. in the meantime, how have i been dealing with the stress of making this big decision?

decorating of course! i have folders in my favorites for every room in the house, haha. poor rick! the living room would be totally inspired by these curtains and this table. yeah, i'm thinking red or dark blue couch and light blue blik bird stick ons all over one wall. not to mention the rad owl lamb base i found!

then, my bedroom is all based on this comforter and this chandelier. i also found a really cool silver cuckoo clock and my amazingly talented friend colin is going to make me a stencil of a damask that looks like it's dripping and they are getting painted all over my room!

then the kitchen is all based around this plate along with two of its friends, which would be hung on the wall next to the fridge and then i would put three rods with clips on them above the table for postcards, pictures, notes and whatever else and of course get the space invaders from blik in hot pink and lime for all over!


oh, and this amazingness would go in the hallway! yeah, i have a lot of time on my hands at work!

the only thing i'm really having trouble finding is a really awesome shower curtain that would go with the super ugly peach tile in the bathroom. i am totally and hoplessly in love with this woodsy woods shower curtain from urban, but it soooooo would not go with peach. i'm thinking maybe i'll embrace the old school cheesiness of the peach tile and randomly put these mod silhouettes on the tiles. i'm not in love with the idea yet. we'll see! any tips on rad shower curtains would be much appreciated!

i'm also soooooooooo psyched that the day after tommorow i will be hanging with some of the raddest girls in scrapbooking; breanne, kristina, michelle, vee, elise and natalie! i'm totally nervous though! we are doing an atc swap (which i've never done before) and all these ladies are soooooo crazy sick talented! can't wait though! i made fun little presents for everyone, i'll post pics when i get back so that they don't see them before, and we are all going to have a crazy time! the poor store where we are cropping saturday night is not going to know what hit them! ahhhhh!!!! i soooooo can't wait!

monday mix # 5

i've had no internet at work and i've been doing a TON of organizing for the scrapping garage sale at mlpa when i'm home. not to mention the little projects and such for the trip next weekend. lot's going on, little time to blog it. hopefully tommorow. in the meantime, the monday mix. i've been feeling pretty hopeless as far as dating and such goes, so we'll revisit an ancient incident that i dwell on like nobody's business. this is my mix that takes me there.

monday mix #5 - "like ancient bruises"

01. us - regina spektor
02. transatlanticism - death cab for cutie
03. passenger seat - death cab for cutie
04. left & leaving - the weakerthans
05. hallelujah - jeff buckley
06. two of those too - maria taylor
07. samson - regina spektor
08. lua - bright eyes
09. honey and the moon - joseph arthur
10. eastern glow - the album leaf

monday mix #4

k, i'm still calling this a monday mix, because i soooo can not be blamed for not posting while i was down the shore. so, in honor of a super nice couple of days and a calm enviornment that i totally needed here's the full listing of the best/cheesiest mix ever for driving down the shore with the windows open and innumerable knots in your hair, singing at the top of your lungs the whole way.

monday mix #4 - it's a shore thing

01. baba o'riley - the who
02. livin' on a prayer - bon jovi
03. bad reputation - joan jett
04. jack and diane - john cougar mellencamp
05. paradise city - guns n roses
06. call me - blondie
07. i feel free - cream
08. all day and all of the night - the stranglers
09. pour some sugar on me - def leppard
10. sweet child of min - guns n roses
11. summer of 69 - bryan adams
12. you give love a bad name - bon jovi
13. shadows of the night - pat benatar
14. cherry pie - warrant
15. don't stop believin' - journey
16. fortunate son - creedance clearwater revival
17. every rose has it's thorn - poison
18. i hate myself for loving you - joan jett & the blackhearts
19. what i like about you - the romantics
20. i wanna be sedated - the ramones
21. i want you to want me - cheap trick
22. my generation - the who
23. should i stay or should i go - the clash

it's a shore thing!

that's what my fave mix on my pod is called. it's the best ever for driving down the shore and it has not been used all summer! obviously i'm not a lie on the beach kind of girl (i can just smell myself cooking) but i do love the photo booths, the boats, the skee ball, bumping over other boats wakes in the bay, the lazy craft days (we either paint cheesy pottery or try to bead haha) and of course the dance dance revolution.

so, my best friend and i are headed down the shore tommorow afternoon for a simple little overnight trip for her birthday and because i sooooo can't wait for a change of scenery! be back monday night, hopefully with lots of fun piccies to scrap, if i ever get my juju back that is. :p