lilly love.

memorial day weekend: the kick-off to summer.

and summer attire means i get to bring out the lilly, in all its pink and green glory!  but this post isn't so much about the clothes as it is the lilly pulitzer way of life.  it's something special: simple, joyous, and COLORFUL.  something i aspire to have.

what's the second best thing to living it?  pretending you do through the pages of lilly's 2 books.    

 and then there's the holiday book (BEST)

how awesome is lilly circa the 1960s, btw

lilly prints just make me happy.  

happy memorial day to all!  thank you to those who have, who are, and who will serve our country.  i'm down in our nation's capitol being patriotic with the family.  and probably sweating.  a lot.  it's really hot here, ok? 

xo. di.


*all images taken of my copies of lilly's books 

grateful: week 6.

inspired by my reading of the happiness project by gretchen rubin, i am instituting sunday "gratitude" posts (read here for more detail), where i will list "3 things i'm grateful for" from the previous week.

the 3 things i'm grateful for this week are: 

1) seeing my friend e in 2 different cities in the same week

2) a year ago this week the bar exam prep course started.  this is me being insanely grateful that it's behind me (and my heart is with those readers going through it now...)

3) being with the whole family for the long weekend in dad's new work city (D.C.!)

here's to another grateful week.


xo. di. 

*all images from live creating yourself's etsy shop! 

legends: may.

the book legends by john miller catalogs "women who have changed the world."  given to me as a gift 8 years ago, it inspired me to dedicate the last friday of every month's post to a different legend (in my humble opinion).

this month: grace kelly (she was on the cover of may's vanity fair, so why not this little blog as well?!).  

grace is quite the mystery to me.  her style and grace (no pun intended) have become iconic, but before the world could really figure her out, she abandoned hollywood,  married her prince, and lived "happily ever after."  in her short career as an actress she starred opposite some of my absolute favorites: clark gable, jimmy stewart, frank sinatra, bing crosby, and the incomparable cary grant.  oh, and she won an oscar.  no big deal. 

and this picture?  grace AND audrey backstage at the oscars?  extraordinary:

 
i am in awe of this woman. 

xo. di.

*image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5, image 6, image 7

projects.

i have an eternally long projects to-do list (actually, i have multiple *blush*).  it can be the source of a whole lot of guilt, but also a whole lot of happiness when something gets its check next to it, as in: done.  i have to-do lists that date back to sophomore year in college.  and i keep these in a drawer, as if they're ever going to get accomplished.  good one, di.  

i've read a lot of suggestions about how to actually get projects done, about prioritizing, about limiting daily lists to a few key things so it seems more manageable, etc. etc. etc.  (etc.)  but the lists continue.  at least i make the lists, right?     

here's some of the blogs that have been helpful in my struggles:

• Makeunder My Life
• Penelope Loves Lists
• Marta Writes

feel free to throw out any other suggestions you have on checking things off the old list.

xo. di.

*to-do list from martawrites.com, a great little blog (and store!).      

summer tv preview.

so the sunshine might be one major indication that summer is definitely upon us, but you never know how long that lasts when you live in chicago, so a more accurate indicator might just be all the season (and series! goodbye LOST and 24...) finales going on around us.  our favorite shows are in hiatus: summer has arrived. 

sure, we've got our bachelorette back now...

 ...and like wipe-out or something like that, and whatever easy reality programming the networks have thrown together, but i'm much more excited about the fact that over the past couple of years they're actually trying for scripted shows in the summer months.  i love this trend. 

is anyone else intrigued by abc's new vampire show the gates?

yes, it might be terrible, and we might be on vampire overload right now, but i like that they're at least trying.

this summer also brings us the return of these favorites:

 season 3 was mad men's best yet.  i cannot wait for mid-july and season 4.

this is such a guilty pleasure show.  i love every minute.   

and the always amazing FNL is 4 episodes into its 4th (and so far i think maybe it's best) season on nbc.  

we can no longer complain that there's nothing to watch on tv in the summer.  well, ok, it's not as good as the rest of the year, but it's getting better, and we have to make room for some outdoor time during these fleeting summer months!

got any other summer tv favorites?

xo. di.  

p.s. the video for the gates won't show up in a reader - click over to the blog to watch!

*image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4 

circus, circus.

it's all part of the show

but the picture is only a limited fragment

a frequency chasm, a miniscule bit

of an angle of one point of view

that you learn long ago

~stephen kellogg & the sixers, all part of the show

xo. di.

*all images from lovely etsy shops: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4

the white rabbit.

there's really no other word for this besides adorable. 

i'm still recovering from a metaphorical LOST hangover over here.  what a show.  what an ending.   

xo. di.

*image from baby & wool

grateful: week 5.

inspired by my reading of the the happiness project by gretchen rubin, i am instituting sunday "gratitude" posts (read here for more detail), where i will list "3 things i'm grateful for" from the previous week.

just kidding, here's another week where i only list one thing, and cue the groans because that thing is LOST.  no, it's not lost as in i misplaced it, silly, i mean LOST, you know that completely crazy, completely confusing, completely maddening show on abc that ends tonight?  yes, this week i am grateful for LOST.  

let me explain.  while i'm not grateful that it's ending, really, as i will miss the show and all (well maybe not all) of its absurdity, but good television means a lot to me and i've stuck with this show for 6 long years.  i love that it exists.  and love that i was a part of it.  i'm sad, yes, but i also completely agree with "doc" jensen (one of the premiere LOST experts) over at ew.com when he says:

"i'm ready.  i'm ready for the final chapter, ready to see how it sums up the season and brings the series to a close.  i'm ready to watch meaning (which, to be clear, is different than answers) flood into the LOST saga like a surge of Island Enlightenment."

- jeff jensen

 love this oceanic "ticket" to the series finale

am i also nervous for the series finale?  that i won't get all the answers i want?  very.  but it's been a long, strange ride, and i cannot wait to spend this entire day getting LOST.
  
see you in another life, brotha.  and here's to another grateful week.


xo. di. 

p.s. still holding out hope that boone somehow returns tonight, hehe 

*image 1 via warmingglow, image 2 i can't find the link anywhere - contact me if it's yours!

friday fun.

this one-year-old (yes, one-year-old!) snowboarder girl is infinity cooler than i'll ever be. 

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

oh, this is why you have kids (jokes!).  see you in the olympics in 2030, missy. 

schones wochenende!

xo. di.

calm.

all of a sudden i am seeing this phrase everywhere.  have you, too?  on blogs.  pillows.  mugs.  trays.  journals.  and of course, posters.  well i just love it, so i did some research on its origin, and maybe i've come late to the party on this, but it's a great little history lesson:

here's a picture of an original:

pretty interesting stuff, no?  i love everything about this slogan.  quintessentially british.  easy to remember.  easy to use {and relentlessly applicable!}.  anyone else foresee a framed print of this in my new apartment?! (hehe)


xo. di.  

*image 1, history & image 3 from here  

so.

online magazines are a new mini-obsession of mine.  they're just so simple.  so pretty.   so inspiring.  so fun (and eco-friendly!).  i am loving by fryd.  flip through below, you'll see what i mean.  

Open publication - Free publishing - More design

"happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

- m. ganghi

xo. di.

p.s. if you're reading this in a reader, looks like you have to click over to see the publication pop up - sorry about that!

feeling very olympic

                                                        today?!

the 2010 london olympics mascots were just revealed, and they are . . . odd.  and i'm thinking not in a good way.  you decide:

so they are supposed to be "made" from the last 2 drops of steel used to build the olympic stadium.  o...k... personally i would have preferred the animated tea-pots they were considering (mrs. potts throw-back?).


as a pretty obsessed (fine, very obsessed) olympics-watching-person (HA i almost typed olympian.  that would not have been accurate), it's hard for me to criticize but.... fail.


xo. di.

*image and story via national geographic.

blogger fun.

an unexpected perk of starting my own blog is connecting with other bloggers both online and, even more cool, in person.  i had my first opportunity to do just that this past saturday at a "chicago bloggers soiree" at sunda hosted by jess of MakeUnderMyLife, alaina of LiveCreatingYourself, and crystal of PlushPalate.

we all know i'm new at the blogging thing, so it was SO awesome to be amongst such talented and creative people.  quite inspiring for a newbie like me.

group shot!  definitely check out the other bloggers in attendance, they are well worth it:  

from L to R - brigitte of covet chicago, david of the dailey dish, kelly (david's friend and guest blogger), rachel of the style social, jess of make under my life, crystal of plush palate, bailey of peppermint bliss, alaina of live creating yourself, me, and nicole of making it lovely

 

hope you enjoy the new reading material!

xo. di.  

*images courtesy of alaina, bailey, and crystal - thanks girls!

 

come fly with me.

so i know i'm going to get some flak for this, but i did not like disney pixar's up.  i know, i know.  but it was sad.  so, so sad.  and i just couldn't get over that.  despite my feelings about the movie, i can't not share this adorable engagement photo shoot i stumbled on, inspired by up and shot by wildflowers photography.  

don't you just love creative shots like these?  so unique.  so special.  so whimsical. 

 

xo. di.

*all images via the wedding chicks

personal day.

oh how i wish the weekend was 3 days long.  i really could have used an extra one this week.  no personal days for this girl i'm afraid.  will just have to dream about pretty beds instead...

  

 "i love sleep.  my life tends to fall apart when i'm awake, you know?" 

- via kleine diva in paris 

xo. di.

*all images from jek in the box's "making the bed" project.  doesn't this look like fun?