Travel Lust: Africa

My brain is already on vacation mode (I leave tomorrow!) so is anyone up for a virtual vacation?

etsy.

Welcome to Africa -- 

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Kenya.

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Ethiopia.

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Singita Lodge.

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Sun City.

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Cape Town.

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Cape Town.

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Botswana.

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Kenya.

Do you have a to-do list?

Dreams. Goals. Wishes.

Have you ever sat down and thought about these things -- really thought about them?

Life list. Bucket list. To do list.

Have you written them down in one place? Created a bulletin board of pictures? A scrapbook of magazine tears heets?

I've made a million different lists over the years. Some have been more grounded in reality while others reach for the stars (literally).

For a long, long time I thought somewhere in the back of my mind that anything I wrote down on my list had to be done. This is completely unreasonable, and I knew that but somewhere inside of me I felt like if I wrote it down that meant I had to commit to it and want it 100%. Naturally my list was extremely short.

Today things have changed and I've thrown some seriously crazy things into the mix. There's still a little part of me that says Hey, do you really want to do that? Does that sound like a logical idea to you? That'd be expensive and you probably wouldn't like it and it's impossible anyway. We all have that voice inside of us! The people that do great things are the ones that ignore it.

Anyway, here's a glimpse of what's on my list right now...

Southern Living.

Own a bakery or a cafe that specializes only in pies. Think Pushing Daisies or Waitress. I just really love pie.

nolaPIC

Create something New Orleans related. Possibly a coffee table style non-fiction book on Mardi Gras.

flickr.

Write a novel. The title of this is a little misleading. It doesn't have to be published. I'd just like to finish the two stories I've started telling. We've got two unsolved murder cases on our hands!

the sweetest occasion

Take a hoop dancing class and learn to hula hoop.

piccsy.

Own a bike -- and actually use it. I have the bicycle riding skills of a 6 year old but I'd still love to have a beach cruiser with a little bell and basket.

My list is pages and pages long of jumbled sentences and half finished thoughts but as far as a life list goes I think it's perfect.

There are always things to change or add and that's the beauty of it! I can cross things off when I finish them or I can cross them off when I move on to something even better.

Don't feel constrained to what's on the paper or on your screen -- I think lists like these serve best as inspirational starting points rather than step-by-step directions.

What's on your list?

Sunday, Sunday

Linzie Hunter

I woke up at 6:45 today so I've had lots of time to be productive. I cleaned, ran errands, cooked breakfast, read, and watched a few episodes of Party Down (a truly funny show cancelled before its time!).

A few things I love from this morning...

How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List from Lifehacker.

The Importance of Daily Writing from author Allison Winn Scotch's blog Ask Allison. If you need a spot to keep your writing all in one place, I recommend 750Words!

Pink Ruffle Cake. Sugar Duchess shows you how to create this yourself. PS the Eiffel Tower is 100% icing. Yummm.

Make sure you watch this in HD and full screen! One of my favorite timelapse videos. 

Timelapse - The City Limits from Dominic on Vimeo.

Summer Reads: Flashback - August

Though I only had 5 books scheduled for August I ended up reading 9. This was a great month for books, I hit up the chick lit and continued with cozy mysteries and threw in a couple of mystery/thrillers for good measure. I've never been drawn to literature with a capital L, so I have to apologize for my simple tast in reading. That's been changing though lately!

Again, there are so many books to catch up on that I'm just going to do a mini recap with a few notes.

Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildrith ***** out of 5

Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison **** out of 5

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen ** out of 5

One for the Money - Janet Evanovich ***** out of 5

Bookmarked to Death (A Booktown Mystery #2) *** out of 5

Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard**** out of 5

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline ***** out of 5

I Scream, You Scream (A Mystery ala Mode #1) ***** out of 5

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane ***** out of 5

Obviously I was super generous with my stars this month! I also started books from more than one series which may not have been the best idea. The only one I actively kept reading is the Booktown Mystery series. Her Royal Spyness was my least favorite book of the month and I actually had to stop reading it partway through. I know many people love it, but it just wasn't interesting to me at all. I finished Shutter Island in a matter of hours and I thought it was fantastic. Still haven't seen the movie though! Lisa Scottoline books are great if you like fast pace with lots of cliffhangers.

Question: Do you read one book at a time or do you bounce around? When I was younger I'd get a bunch of books from the library and start them all the same day. Naturally, I wouldn't finish any of them before they had to go back!

Summer Reads: Where we left off - July

When I left you all last summer I was in the middle of my own little reading challenge. Though I wasn't updating here, I was still reading myself into a frenzy!

I picked up the pace in July and ended up reading 7 books (That's 3 more than 'required' for anyone keeping track). Rather than do a review for each one, here's a mini recap. Each book links to GoodReads.

Murder is Binding (A Booktown Mystery #1) by Lorna Barret
 **** out of 5

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
*** out of 5

The Quilter's Apprentice (Elm Creek Quilts #1) by Jennifer Chiaverini
 **** out of 5

One Little Secret byAllison Bottke
*** out of 5

VisonMongers by David duChemin
***** out of 5

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
**** out of 5

Thr3e by Ted Dekker
***** out of 5

I loved VisionMongers and Thr3e. If you have any interest in photography or the creative process at all I recommend you check out any of David duChemin's books. He's a fantastic photographer and an all around great person!

We broke a record in Memphis yesterday for the hottest temps and we're well on the way there again today. Stay cool, y'all!

Summer is HERE.

It's official, we've reached summer! I've officially turned in my very last assignment of my senior year and I leave in less than a week for graduation. I'm not sure I'm ready for the real world!

Here's a peek at today's forecast...

(click to make bigger!)

Oh my goodness, it's HOT! I'm really not used to weather like this anymore and those 70 degree Oregon summer days don't seem so bad in comparison. The humidity hasn't been too bad but I'm sure that will catch up with us soon!

How else can I tell it's summer? I've started waking up around 7:30 every morning. Doesn't matter what time I fall asleep or what time my alarm's set for or if I shut my blinds -- I've woken up at exactly 7:28 every day this week. I'm okay with that though, it's so much easier to be productive when you wake up early!

Fingers crossed for a weekend full of painting furniture, fro-yo, outdoor concerts and cookouts.

Keep an eye out for another book post later today.

Summer Reads: It's that time again!

Last summer I created a challenge for myself and I did lots of reading (28 books, to be exact!) and I talked about a few of the books here on the blog. As school started again at the end of September I slowed down and didn't read quite as many 'fun' books during my fall quarter, but I made sure to check a few off my list.

After totaling up all the books I'd added to my read in 2010 shelf last year on Goodreads, the grand total came in at 50. Crazy, right? I wasn't expecting a number that high!

Now, I'm not really one to make resolutions on January 1st --much less stick with them -- but when I saw that Goodreads was hosting a 2011 Reading Challenge I knew I had to jump on the bandwagon. So I upped the ante to 52 books for this year and I'm almost halfway done!

2011 Reading Challenge

Natalie has


read 22 books toward her goal of 52 books.

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22 of 52 (42%)

view books

Okay, I'm less than halfway but I'm one book ahead of schedule so I count that as a success.

What are you reading right now? Do you like to set goals for yourself or do you just read? I definitely used to read at random, and during the school year that usually meant I never read for fun, but I've really enjoyed having goals to meet each month!

11 months later...

A lot has changed in a year.

3 things you need to know:
I'm just nine days away from graduation. NINE days. Still don't know what I'm going to do with myself.
I'm now a resident of Memphis, Tennessee. Moved cross-country at the end of March to start an internship which I've loved and will be continuing through the summer!
My hair is purple.

Just kidding about that last one.

I lost my grip on the blog last summer for all kinds of reasons, and I've been meaning to come back to it for ages now. I seriously considered starting fresh with something brand new, but I just couldn't let this go for good. Now that I'm finishing up school I'd like to have an outlet where I can write and work on my own style and voice while I share things I'm interested in. I doubt this will end up being a work-out/food/lifestyle/fashion/diy/home/fill in the trendy blank blog, but who knows where life will take me!

I'll be back with more.

Lions, and tigers, and shoes, oh my!

I'm still around! I just haven't been by my computer 24/7 like I usually am. :)

Sounds like everyone's been suffering in the heat this week, yuck! Our temperatures are back down to the 80s now though, which is just about perfect. And not a cloud in sight for once!

So what have I been doing?

I did find these gorgeous shoes on sale. 

And this dress...

with pockets. POCKETS. So excited. 

Aaaand this gorgeous dress that I am in love with even though apparently I don't know how to hang it properly on the hanger.

Aside from shopping and working out and taking pictures, there hasn't been too much going on around here. And that's just the way I like it during the summer! Lots of time for reading (and tv marathons), and hanging out with the fam in general. 

Also:
The best smoothie you will ever have:
3/4 cup of flavored carbonated water
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup frozen cherries
4 ice cubes
Blend & enjoy. Seriously.


There are a few things in the works in my life right now that I wish I could share with everyone here, but I can't...yet! I can promise that they're exciting (and a little scary for me), and maybe even educational, too.

Dots of Summer

Yesterday and today has been seriously SO. HOT. 

As much as I want to complain about it for real, I just can't! I know that by next week we'll be back to wearing sweatshirts and jeans.

So for right now I'm all about the polka-dots.

And, like, jorts. Totally. All about the jorts. 

(Crappy picture thanks to Lily-Mae, my obviously not a 4G iPhone)

Okay, no. But that is my 4th of July outfit and I think jean shorts (and gold cowboy boots AND a gold cowboy boot necklace) are totally acceptable on that one day of the year. Right??!

Anyone else melting? I know the East coast has been getting some hot weather lately, and I know y'all down South are always hot and super humid!

PS: Anybody interested in nail-related youtube videos? Anything you'd like to see a video on? Just something that's rolling around in my (semi-empty?) head these days. :)

Workin' it Out - Monday & Wednesday

Contrary to popular belief, I have been working out this week! On Monday I ventured over to the gym - along with everyone else in our town. The place was packed. Lots of guys with tiny heads and biceps as big as my thigh, and lots of gym bunnies on the ellipticals. The weights section of this gym is tiny but really crowded...the machines and benches are about 18 inches apart and I almost died multiple times. Party because I'm an idiot and partly because of the lack of space. Soooo that was not a fun workout. I didn't know where anything was and the big boys kept sassing me. But I was back again today and kicked some major booty.

Anyway, I won't bore y'all with what exercises I did on Monday or this morning, but I will say that I can't walk. And I'm pretty sure I can't lift my arms over my head. Laughing would be a terrible (painful) idea right now. Mission accomplished.


This gym doesn't have too many classes, but once it cools down again I'm going to give Zumba and Turbo-Kick a try. So much of it depends on the instructor!

Here are the playlists!
Monday's music (weights):

• Your Love is My Drug - Ke$ha - I'm officially sick of this song.
• Touch - Natasha Bedingfield
• Dynamite - Taio Cruz
• I Never Told You - Colbie Caillat
• Savior - Lights
• Rose Colored Glasses - Kelly Rowland
• Kissin' U - Miranda Cosgrove
• So Big - Iyaz
• Something More - Secondhand Serenade
• Raindrop - Carmen Reece

Wednesday's music (weights + 15 mins cardio):

• Spending All My Time - Aaron Fresh
• Misery - Maroon 5
• Dynamite - Taio Cruz
• I Run To You - Lady Antebellum 
• Got Your Back - T.I. ft. Keri Hilson
• Mockingbird - Rob Thomas
• Dancin' Around The Truth - The Stunners ft. New Boyz
• Lay Me Down - The Dirty Heads ft. Rome
• Gettin' Over You - David Guetta & Chris Willis ft. Fergie & LMFAO - I can't stand this song, so why do I keep listening to it? One of life's little mysteries.
• Ghost - Fefe Dobson
• Magic - Emii
• September - Daughtry
• 143 - Bobby Brackins ft. Ray J - This song = my jam. And probably the reason the boys were staring this morning. Sometimes I forget I'm supposed to be doing lunges and I dance instead. 

Does anyone else hate 'cardio' as much as I do? I get bored out of my mind on the elliptical, bike, treadmill, etc etc. How do you stand doing 45 minutes? 

Me, speechless?

Apparently I am this week. I don't know why, but I've lost my blogging mojo. I know it'll come back though, so all I have to do is wait it out. ANYWAY.

Finally it's feeling more like summer here! Tomorrow's supposed to be in the 90s and on Thursday we might be hitting 100. That's more like it! I'm so ready for it to FEEL like SUMMER.

My apron is finished! Here's a few pictures...

The reverse side.

A little hard to see because the pattern lined up so well, but this is one of the pockets. There are 4 in all (2 on each side), and each one has a few rhinestones.

Also, today's nails!

If you're on Twitter, I'd love for you to follow me! I'm always looking for new tweeps.

How was your 4th of July?

2 Things to Love Today (in pictures!)

Pretty fabric & sewing my very own (reversible!!) apron.

4 of (blobby) July nails!  

I couldn't find my dotter tool, so I decided to embrace the blobbiness of my shaky hand dots.

Does anyone else sew? I'm not the best, but I'm learning! My next project will be a quilt! I made one last summer, and it's almost finished and I'd like to try again now that I have a liiiiiittle bit more experience with the sewing machine.

What do you like making?