{this beautiful life} group two

by satakieli

I only have time to put up these tonight...

again, I haven't started judging yet, 

these are just some from the Flickr group and ones that people sent me.

{this beautiful life} group one

I am loving looking through all of your entries!
Be sure and check out the blog posts linked up to the original post,
but here are the ones both from the Flickr album and a few that were emailed to me.
I won't be picking finalists until November 2nd, so I am refraining from commentary at this point.
But let me know which ones you love. :-)
Enjoy!
(and don't forget to enter, if you haven't!)

1

 by hgsturtevant

"Prince of Persia"

I watched this movie with my friend Beka, since we stole her for the weekend. 

And the next day I watched it again. Sound familiar? I did the exact same thing with Robin Hood.

I loved it. Again. :-)

(oh and can we quickly give him kudos for matching my blog so well??)

My brother and sister had seen it without me a couple weeks before and said,

"Um, it was okay, pretty cheesy...but you would love it."

Boy, were they right. About me loving it. ;-)

There are so many reasons that it is just the sort of movie that I love.

First of all--the setting. I love the whole desert, Arabian-ish thing.

And it has ostrich racing! How cool is that?

I have a huge weakness for men who jump on rooftops.

Jason Bourne.

Aladdin.

And now Dastan.

Who could not love a movie with a stoic knife-throwing brute with a leopard skin blankie?

Beka said it was a cloak. But whatever.

Chances are, if you've seen the preview, you thought the girl sounded dumb.

Well, she is a bit of a snot, there's no denying it. But I really liked her by the end.

I like how she's not all macho. She's a woman, and she uses that to get what she wants.

And she's kinda whiny which I identify with. :P

His armor. OH YES.

Basically everyone who has seen it says something like this about Jake Gyllenhaal (the main character):

"Ehh. He has a super long head and weird hair and a crooked smile and a scruffy face. He's ugly."

Well, I disagree.

In a big way.

I have seen pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal clean-shaven with short hair, and let me tell you,

that was not nice at all.

But I think he looks awesome with the longish hair and scruffiness.

Plus, he has this  mysterious scar on his left cheek.

How cool is that?

I just love him as a character, which might be partly why I think he is so good-looking. 

I love how he always gets in fights and wears cool belts and is daring and head-strong and cocky and JUMPS BETWEEN ROOFTOPS.

Did I mention that already?

Don't watch this movie if:

a) you are feeling cynical.

b) don't like really awesome swashbuckley movies with awesome heroes.

c) are in the mood to watch something profound and educational.

The end was so awesome. Beka and I cried. 

But I am so not telling you what happens.

Cuz you have to see it. It's freshly out on DVD, so go spend 100 cents and get it from Redbox.

Just suspend disbelief, and you'll love it. :-)

If you have seen it, did you love it!?!?

Or was it just me.

{this beautiful life} photography contest

EDIT: this contest is now closed! 

you can view the finalists here.

I am super excited to announce my first-ever 

photo contest!

Besides loving to take pictures, I love looking at others' beautiful pictures,

 so this is a good excuse.

And a contest is much better when there are prizes, right? 
Especially polka-dot ones.

Melissa from  Studio MCA Designs is providing 
the first-place prize--a custom-made camera strap cover! 

Sarah McCay at A Lost Feather is providing this lovely "necklace for a photographer", 

which will be awarded to the second-place winner.


Rules:
a) you can enter up to 3 photos.
b) photos can be edited, and I'd love to know what you did to them, 
but you can keep it a secret if you want. ;-)
c) the theme is loose. Just show me the beauty that you have found in this beautiful world.
So that would exclude slugs.
c) if you're planning on participating,
please grab a button on my sidebar to help spread the the word!

If you'd like to participate, you can either

a) post the photo(s) that you want to enter on your blog,

and add the link to the widget at the end of this post.
If you put your photos on your blog, please link back to this post.

b) add your your entry to the {this beautiful life} group on Flickr

c) email me with your photos

Finalists will be chosen on November 3rd.

~ blue ~

Random question tag.

Anna and Ashley both tagged me, but since Anna did first, I did her questions. :-)

The deal is that I answer Anna's eight questions, 

and then write my own eight questions and tag people to answer them.

1. What do you imagine being, other than your plain 'ol everyday self? 

An authoress, an actress, a singer, a fashion designer. But I'm okay with being my plain 'ol everyday self, too.

2. Is there something you've tried before...a dare, a certain food, a hard project, 

anything...that you would never dream of doing again?

I went to a baseball game. Never again.

3. Is there a book that you've read at least five times from beginning to end?

Ella Enchanted. It is one of the best books of all time.

4. Do you have a special little weakness...that you just can't live without, and that gives you much happiness when obtained? [chocolate, shoes, something like that.]

Ha, there are so many. Including chocolate and shoes. But if I had to choose one, it would be sugar in general. I literally could not live without it. 

5. Do you prefer fast food or pizza?

Depends on the fast food, depends on the pizza. If it's Taco Bell, it would trump most pizza.

6. Have you ever gotten "dressed up" in a historical costume? for what occasion?

Oh, yes, so many times. We used to do a lot of Civil War reenacting, worn many medieval costumes, etc, etc.

7. Have you ever stayed up ALL night?

Actually, I'm not sure that I ever have. It is definitely on my list of things to do, though.

8. Do you prefer men singers or women singers? Soprano, mezzos/baritones, tenors? 

For gender, it depends on the genre of music. I love both. 

But sopranos and baritones are who I tend to like best. 

Okay, here are my questions.

1. What character from a fictional book/movie do you most identify with?

2. Do you have any new obsessions? (a movie you can't stop watching, a CD you keep listening to, etc.)

3. What is a clothing accessory that you couldn't live without?

4. What is your favorite color combination (for clothing)?

5. Do you own red shoes? ;-)

6. Do you have a signature scent, or a scent you generally like to wear?

7. What is one thing that you want to do before you die?

8. Is there something that you wish more than anything that you could do 

but know that isn't possible during your life on earth? ;-)

Don't feel bad if you don't want to do this... I understand. But I would love to see your answers!

I tag these lovely gals:

Jemimah

Taylor

Mahina

Raquel

Samarah

Kaley Grace

Lindsay

Beka

...and anybody else who would like to answer the questions. 

Add your link in a comment so that I can see your answers! :-)

Anthropologie Love

 ♥

Vintage Beka Rose

1

I had to do an entire post just for the pictures I got of her on Friday. She looked like she came straight from the 1950's, with her fake eyelashes and bright red lipstick and big blond hair. 

I had fun editing all of these. :-)

2

I like not having to say, "Now tilt your head to the left... little more... NO! Too far!"

Beka is a natural.

Vintage Dance

You know how sometimes I put up a huge post with tons of pictures and then warn you about it?
This is far longer. I apologize. ;-)

On Friday, we had a vintage dance at our church. Having gone vintage store shopping, some of us were garbed in actual vintage clothing, and others were in beautiful retro clothing that they had made. Of course we had to take pictures... so we all gathered at the church early and I was in heaven being bossy and taking pictures of all these beautiful young ladies.

Beka, glamorous and so 50's. A post will be coming up with many more pictures I got of her. 

She pulls off bright red lipstick so beautifully...

Kerrilyn--1950's meets Raggedy Ann. Or Pippy Long Stocking. :-)

I love the look so much.

Favorite Commercial Ever

"Enchanted" Fashion

I love Enchanted. I love that the one guy is so grumpy and the other guy is so dumb.

I love that they kiss in the rain on a roof.

I love the chipmunk.

I love that Patrick Dempsey is so amazing.

I love that they dance to "So Close" because that song is so exquisite and makes me cry.

I love her hair.

But most of all, 

I love her clothes.

Well, elements of her clothes. Unfortunately, most of them aren't very decent.

Although the above dress is definitely very costume-y, I love it.
I love that she makes it out of his curtains.

I love that this picture gives me warm fuzzies.

I love that Edward's sleeves look like watermelons.

I love that he is such a buffoon.

I love that I almost accidentally typed "baboon". It might be applicable.

I love this dress, except for the top. 

I love the gathers, the full skirt, the length, the color, the floral detailing at the neckline...

Her pony-tail! So. Cute. 

I would love for my hair to be this exact shade.

Portland

So a couple weeks ago me and a bunch of my 

girlfriends went downtown and bopped around at vintage stores. :-)

If you have never been to Portland... put it on your bucket list. And when you come to revel in the beauteous green city by the river, stop by my house and say 'hi'. 

OKAY?

The first vintage store we went to. It was clean and nice and not awfully expensive. Unfortunately, we didn't find much that appealed to us/fit/didn't make us look like weirdos.

Be still, my heart.

This was the very first thing I saw when I walked in the door.

"I AM BUYING THESE," says I.

(looks at price-tag)

"Uh, scratch that, guys, actually I'm not."

Have I mentioned that vintage shoes never fit my feet? ;-( 

AHH!

Cute black dress that looked way better on Lindsey than it did on me... 

AND the ah-mazing champagne 50's dress that Beka ended up buying.

We went to another vintage store, Ray's Ragtime, which had lots of 50's yumminess, but the employees.
MY WORD.
You'd think that people who you are giving money to would be gracious, right?
This is generally considered appropriate.
Apparently this place didn't get the memo.

One of the things they were super rude about was telling us that NO PHOTOGRAPHY WAS ALLOWED.
That is like the pet peeve of my life. No photography. GRR.
Anyways, that was too bad, since we tried on a lot of really adorable dresses.
Against our principles, we did buy two dresses from them... they did have good stuff.

Then we went down on the waterfront and I got to use 

my brand-spanking-new camera on my beautiful friends. :-)

Niece Number #3

It's 5:40 AM and we're heading off to the airport to send off my sister, 

who is going to Pennsylvania for a week.

But just wanted to introduce my new niece, 

Virginia Grace..

Born on October 11th, 2010.

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures I got of her yesterday, you can view my Picasa album here.

Meet Lorenzo. The love of my life.

He's a Nikon D3100 camera.

I pre-ordered him in the middle of the August, 

before the model had been released in the United States, and he finally came one week ago.

It was love at first click.

He is beautiful in every way.

If you're wondering why I named him Lorenzo...

1.) After Lorenzo de Medici, a patron of the arts who encouraged Michelangelo.

2.) Because I don't know anyone named Lorenzo, 

and that way no one will get worried when I say I am in love with Lorenzo.

So I've been taking pictures like crazy.