"i got the date rape girl!"

i've been in a radical religious documentary phase lately. my most recent discovery, "Hell House" is about a pentecostal church in texas that puts on a haunted house (with a message). each year auditions are held for the coveted roles for the october debut. let me set the scene for you.

it's visiting hours at the hospital.

meet steve: "he thought his homosexual lifestyle was everything a real man could want... but now he's dying of AIDS." and if that didn't make you repent, the blood soaked girl in the next bed over took 'the abortion pill' so we all know what's going to happen to her. yep, you guessed it... hell. other scenes in the house include cautionary tales of:

a date rape rave

school shooting

human sacrifice in the occult (aka ouija board/magic card game)

bullied suicide

gang/drug violence

drunk driving

hell house was more entertaining than educational. watch it if you have time, but no need to put it on your 'must see' list. HOWEVER... if anyone wants to have a radical discussion about Bill Maher's 'Religulous', i'm all ears. i think it was divine intervention that netflix delivered it to my door step easter weekend...

see it.

ferocious sense of focus

where did the last 3 hours of my life go? oh that's right, buried in The Dusty Bookshelf here in lawrence. i made the mistake of picking up the new elizabeth gilbert book, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. A title that seemed to be written exclusively for me.

so there i sat in the worn out green chair surrounded by worn out books and the resident bookstore cat only meaning to read the forward...

an hour later...

i closed the book on chapter two.

i really want to keep reading... but it's dinner, drinks & SATC 2 time with the girls!

humidifier

i'm defiantly a fall/winter kinda girl.

i THRIVE when it's between 50-70 degrees

however, this kansas weather does have its perks

for most ladies...

humidity = frizz = crabbiness

for me...

humidity = curls = happiness

my hair does some pretty wonderful things all on it's own

i am so thankful for those genes!

and this new hair cut is LOVING the steaminess

so bring it on!

...or until i get sick of the 90 degree weather after day 3. till then... i have 14 more weeks of iron-free curls before my winter tundra Twin Cities debut!

in addition to my pretty, humid curls

i've also acquired some other pretty things the last couple days.

.

featured here is a wrought iron tree sculpture i picked up at an adorable art shop in Lawrence. (need something to remember this place by) the leaves hanging from the tree are in fact, 'polished seashell earrings, ellipse' that were handmade by a college friend of mine who got whisked away to mexico. they look even better in my ears! check out more goodies amorita mexicana has in her etsy shop! who knew i had such talented friends?!

flowers that were 'liberated' for me

lilies are my all time favorite

25 is the new black

Happy Birthday

to one of the most incredible people i know!

.

complete badass

.

complete schmooze

complete package

thank you for being born mr. mark!

for your listening pleasure

I love stumbling onto new music, especially those unknown youtube legends. I came across Kiersten Holine (click her name for the link) three years ago while looking for some Decemberists covers for a midterm study mix. She has a beautiful voice, soulful and effortless. And picks the greatest songs to cover! her version of Sufjan's "Springfield" is arguable one of the best.

Jeff Pianki is another one I ran into a few days ago due to his collaboration with Kiersten Holine on a Fleet Foxes cover (again, click the underlined parts) Who doesn't love boys with guitars?! He has some impressive original tunes, but make sure to check out his Sufjan/Rosie Thomas cover he did with his 5 year old sister! Precious. He also did a cover of a Death Cab for Cutie song and had this to say about it, which made me like him even more!

"I love this song, and I love this band, no matter how many times I hear 12 year old girls singing "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

Enjoy!

(rosie thomas - my inspiration for instant gratification)

p.s. to all my pioneering music friends - my computer recently crashed and took my entire music library down with it. :( I'm in the process of building it back up, but could use some encouragement. Let me know some of your must-have albums... mixed tapes are also appreciated! (I have some great/grape expectations of a certain handful of you!)

5k

food for thought...

Why does it take a mother dying of breast cancer to make you 'race for the cure', or a good friend being deployed to Afghanistan to prompt you to start giving a sh%t of what's happening "over there", or the doctor telling you're going to get diabetes in the next 3 years to motivate you to stop guzzling soda? I urge you all to be PRO-active, not RE-active about what's going on around you. fight for a cause you believe in... now.

Donate. Participate. Update.

you have taken my heart... and my money

i did a bad thing today.

thats all.

a photo anthology from my day at anthropologie...

enjoy.

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but daddy, i want a golden goose NOW

I am a product of my generation.

Conditioned to the idea that instant gratification is the norm...

microwaves

internet

drive thrus

emails

video on demand

instant messaging

wireless everything

etc.

I admit, I'm not the most patient person at times and get really wrapped up in my dreaming and scheming of future plans. But when it comes to things like cooking, reading and craft projects, patience really is a virtue. And only then, am I surprisingly virtuous.

This morning... was NOT one of those virtuous mornings. Getting antsy about pushing my moving-to-Minneapolis date back a couple months (more on that later) was swaying me to make an instant change. And what's more gratifying (to me) than chopping off all your hair?!?!

a very happy emily

did i really let that woman give me 'bangs'

that once piece of hair is seriously gonna bother me

maybe my mom was right,

"i think those swoosh bangs will drive you nuts"

REstyle

There are many reasons why I can't share with you the current project I'm working on, so here is a similar project I worked on last summer. It was a lot more labor than I anticipated.

Stripping off the old varnish.

Sanding, sanding and more sAnDiNg.

Discovering that a little stain goes a long way.

Details, details and more dEtAiLs.

AND... Goo-be-gone is a miracle when you spill staining liquid all over yourself.

It was quite an adventure!

And worth the man hours and elbow grease to see the finished product.

Refinishing and reupholstering everything in sight (desks, chairs, bookshelves, coffee tables, dressers, night stands) has become an unusual hobby of mine. I've never thought of myself as much of a handy-woman, but if I keep up this pace, I might have to start charging people... or open an Etsy shop.

(special thanks to mr. rob robinson for this lovely piece of history!)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those who are foolish enough to have children. ;)

cinco de maybe

i took spanish 3... twice.

so in honor of this holiday here is my favorite (not so mexican) salsa recipe.

Pineapple Mango and Cucumber Salsa

1 cup pineapple

1 cup mango

1 cup cucumber

2 medium tomatoes

6 Tablespoons green onions

6 Tablespoons cilantro

2/3 cup red bell pepper

2 jalapenos

1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Chop everything in 1/2 inch chunks and mix together.

Don't forget to peel the cucumber and save all of the juices.

Enjoy!

it's times like this that make me wish i had a compost pile