Thursday, March 31, 2011

totally in love with "tangled"



 I've seen Tangled three times in the theater, and now that it's out on DVD, I'm desperate to own it and watch it over and over and over again.


 It's my favorite Disney movie of all time, hands down. And it's totally on my top five favorite movies ever. I already posted about it (when I first saw it), but I found some lovely photos on weheartit.com, so I couldn't resist a bit more gushing. ;-)


If you haven't seen it yet... well, get off the computer and go rent it. And don't look at the rest of these pictures. : ) They are basically all of my favorite moments and I don't want to give away anything. 



I am on the lookout for a tiny unicorn. If anyone finds one... send it to me. : )


Every time I talk about this movie with anyone, I totally spaz out. I'm just crazy about it in a big, big way.


(gah. I love this part.)


All those years, watching from the window,
all those years, outside looking in.
All that time,
never even knowing
just how blind I've been.

Now I'm here
blinking in the starlight
now I'm here
suddenly I see
standing here,
it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be.


And at last I see the light,
and it's like the fog has lifted.
And at last I see the light,
and it's like the sky is new.
And it's warm and real and bright,
and the world has somehow shifted.

All at once, every thing looks different,
now that I've seen
you.


All those days
chasing down a daydream
All those years
living in a blur
All that time,
never truly seeing
things the way they were.

Now she's here
shining in the starlight.
Now she's here,
suddenly 
I know
If she's here,
it's crystal clear I'm where
I'm meant to be.

{sweetest song. totally getting sung at my wedding.}





Have I mentioned that I LOVE HIM???


Oh my word. Animated movies shouldn't be allowed to be this beautiful and amazing and emotional.


This part. This is where I cry.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

my favorite thing to sniff.


When the cherry blossoms finally burst, I immediately did what I do every year--acquire a substantial bunch of them and sniff long and hard. Not only is the smell the best in the world, but as I whiff it up, all of a sudden all these feelings come seeping in.


It's that feeling of pure freedom...  having the whole day to run wild, barefoot in soggy grass. Knee-deep, complicated quarrels with my best friend, Sam. Finishing my laundry folding in record time and calling up to their house and asking if he and his sister Juli could come down the hill to play.


Swinging on this swing set. Going as high as it would go, and grabbing bits of the tree with my toes. 


Climbing the one tree that wasn't so inappropriately prone to stabbing me with pokey branches. Eating an apple and reading, reading, reading.


Laying on the ground and getting moist because the ground just isn't dry in springtime.


Hay-bale-twine bow-and-arrows and carved-wood daggers and epic battles and spy drama. Dying heroes. Indians creeping quietly around the back of the house.



Dashing into the barn when it poured, and using the hay bales and pallets as a whaling ship. Listening to the rain pound on the sheet metal roof.


Those sparkley days when the problems are so small. When the conflict is on whether Sam's character can be named Lafayette, or if I will tyrannically bully him into letting me be Lafayette. Gosh, Sam. I'm the one who has a crush on the guy.


Now we're all huge and I jolly well don't fit in that cherry tree anymore. Last time I got on the swings... the yellow seat busted.


And even though the cherry trees aren't blooming as thick as they used to, and we have a million-and-one things to worry about and not enough imagination or time to run around like mad and fight and scream and laugh and pretend that we're everything and everyone but ourselves,

life is awesome. in a different way. and I still get to sniff my trees once a year.



(those of you who took this button early yesterday... please change your codes, because that one was wrong. :P )

Monday, March 28, 2011

(celebrate spring) giveaway

Update: this giveaway is now closed.

Spring is officially alive in my part of the world. This makes me happy in a constant-happy-dance, always-running-over-to-my-vase-of-cherry-blossoms-and-sniffing-with-reckless-abandon, love-everyone-and-give-them-cute-stuff kind of way.

Thanks to some truly spectacular sponsors, I get to do just that. : ) Here are the goodies...be sure and check out the lovely shops!




set of four upcycled frames from the art of chic


8.5" by 11" print in color of your choice by bubby and bean. {website}


custom-made felt flower pillow by kelsi creates


choice of any three flavors of lip balm from mariposa home


set of three earrings from our daily chocolate



earrings by trudy james




handbag by dear prudence





earrings by fancy schmancy me



8" by 10" print by megan rene


necklace by two little doves

there are twelve separate prizes, which means there will be twelve different winners.

mandatory entry:
tell me about one of your very favorite smells, 
and what you associate with it and why you love it. : )

worth one extra entry each:
follow me
put the giveaway button on your sidebar
spread the word about the giveaway in whatever way you wish.



make sure that your entries are in separate comments, otherwise they won't be counted.
the giveaway will end on April 10th.

happy spring.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

* happiness *


Today, I am running on that high that comes from having gone mall-shopping for the first time in months. 

From wearing two ponytails while tripping around the mall because none of my friends or sisters were with me to be embarrassed. (Moms don't suffer humiliation from pig-tailed daughters--they're cool like that.) 

From defying the odds by finishing the huge burrito and the adorable strawberry shortcake cupcake. 

From having just bought the cutest blue-and-white striped dress this side of heaven. The coupon code and unexpected free shipping brought it to only $18. I love everyone.

From having the comforting assurance of a cinnamon-roll-and-Mexican-love-song-filled, breakfast-in-bed-with-a-movie, photo-editing, Gone With the Wind reading kind of Saturday stretched out in front of me. 

From finally being caught up with my crazy life so I can post here again. Because I missed you. {:(

From sitting here in my plush pink pajama pants with margaritas and polka dots and strawberries on them,
and posting sunshiney pictures. : )


On St. Patrick's day, I got to do a long-awaited photo shoot with my seriously lovely friend Rebekah... the one who my brother is courting. : )


Our prayers for a dry couple hours in the middle of our moody spring were answered. On our way to downtown Vancouver, we were literally driving out from under the grouchy black rainclouds, into the sparkley sunshine. There was even a rainbow. I LOVE GOD. 


The fact that the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom made everything even better. : ) Plus I was wearing hot pink fingernail polish. That's a win/win situation right there.



Rebekah is crazily photogenic. She looked amazing in basically every single one of the 500 photos that I took.


Basically, right when I started to love doing photo shoots and portrait photography, thanks to my DSLR, the sun disappeared from our lives here in Oregon. So I hadn't gotten to play with sunshine at all in my photo shoots.


Suffice it to say, I am now in love with the sun in a major way. I mean, we were always close, but now I have experienced the thrilling delight of incorporating it into photography, and now I scream, "please please please sun, never leave me!" even more often.



She could totally be a supermodel.




Right about here I was like, "Rebekah, why in the world don't you have a fashion blog?? I could be your photographer..." : ) 


Her style is gorgeous, plus she's a natural poser.


Polka dot umbrella--yes.


The most rewarding thing about this photo shoot was how happy it made my brother. : ) We looked at the pictures together and he kept smiling and saying, "She's so pretty..." in a sighing, satisfied, dopey kind of way. 



Now I'm off to eat delicious and unhealthy food and watch a movie in bed. Let me know if you have any Netflix-instant suggestions. : )