South End Blend

Spell it out

Just in case our friends had a hard time finding the beverages this afternoon.

(Another) Happy Birthday

The bad good thing about living steps away from a talented artist is that each visit to her house is like a shopping trip.  Not only does my head spin like a top as I absorb of the fabulousness on the walls, but down in that basement?  Treasures.  I hear there's a well-stocked attic over there, too.

Happy Birthday to our friend and neighbor Margaret!

Birthday colors

Shots of pretty pinks and blues from yesterday's party.

Birthday gifts

The presents for our niece and nephew's birthday party later today are wrapped and ready to go.

Inside that pink polka-dot wrapping?  This lovely intial pillow from the equally lovely Yvestown shop.

Today's to do list

Lines & Shapes

My copy of Lines & Shapes just arrived and it's lovely.  Of course, my favorite page is by Rebecca Thuss - the very reason I bought the book in the first place.

Take me home

Yesterday, I was trapped in a conference room for eight hours straight.  And given just one "official" bathroom break.  And exactly fifteen minutes to grab lunch and bring it back to the room so that we could continue working.

The best part? I spent a total of three hours in the car getting to and from this little slice of heaven.

So even though I really want to visit the big T-E-X-A-S, I love where we live.  Especially today.

The joy is in the giving

I spent an extreme amount of money time earlier today at Target.  And I'm not quite sure if I ended up buying things that will make my three year-old niece and a five year-old nephew happy (for their birthdays this Saturday), or things that appealed to me. 

Will you look at this little lantern?!

And this cheery pinwheel?

I think it's a little bit of both.

Don't mess

Six reasons why I have a stronger-than-ever urge to go to Texas:

This place.

Betsy*, Laura, Heather, Katherine, and Jenny.

[Update 5/13/08: Oh, and Joslyn.  So that makes it seven reasons.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to actually stay with Joslyn.  Have you seen her house?!]

*Betsy doesn't have a blog but makes a career out of commenting on other people's blogs.  She also took this dark-yet-perfectly-representative picture from her recent trip to Houston.  Betsy also made a point to send me a picture of what appears to be a giant armadillo in a questionable position on a rock and (from what I understand) made several failed attempts at capturing shots of men's giant belt buckles.

Keeping the mailman busy

Jen and I did a fun photo swap and I must admit, I certainly got the better end of the deal.  Not only did I get a super-sized print of her fabulous ranunculas shot, but (as usual) Jen slipped some extra little treats into the envelope.

Nothing like having sweet, creative, and talented friends who send you mail.