i heart ... the temple

today i went to the temple.

often my mom and i go together on fridays. today my aunt raylene came too.

i love the temple.

it is so

peaceful

beautiful

reverent

joyful

singular

it's the closest place to heaven on earth.

i heart ... the boy with the golden hair

this is clayton.

he has beautiful hair.

wouldn't you just die for these golden locks and especially the little feather on the side? see that feather? no matter what this child is doing - climbing trees, wrestling with whoever will wrestle with him, playing football - the feather is always perfect. and all natural, of course. do you really think his mother would feather his hair?

isn't it pretty?

i heart ... a fine st. patrick's day

the other day natalie and i were reading this book:

and then i remembered, hey, i saw some shamrocks in the backyard just like the shamrocks in this book!

(okay, really it was clover, but "shamrock" sounds more st. patrick's day-ish, don't you think?)

so we picked some and they really were quite cute with leaves in the shape of hearts.

i heart ... the oscars!

i love, love, love the oscars!

mostly i just love to see what everyone is wearing.

here are my favorites:

this is my very favorite dress of the night. so fairy princess.

dior

penelope had seen this dress 8 years ago in a vintage shop. she knew she would love to wear it for a special occasion and was lucky enough to find it again so she could wear it to the oscars. it is a 60-year-old vintage gown.

pierre balmain

this dress is a bit mummy-ish, but beautiful at the same time. strange. roberto cavalli

sparkles! i love sparkles!

armani

this dress just made me say, "wow!" i'm a bit of an expert on pleating because i do watch "project runway", you know. pleating is a difficult thing. just look at all that pleating! this dress was someones labor of love.

versace

now, my favorite thing of the whole oscars was angelina's jewelry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

emeralds are my favorite, and these are emeralds to die for!
seriously. i would die for them.

lorraine schwartz



lorraine schwartz

i heart ... the "slumdog" kids at the oscars

i love this story about the children from "slumdog millionaire" at the oscars.

this is azharuddin ismail on february 20th, two days before the oscars, at his home in the slums of mumbai.

this is azharuddin on february 22nd at the oscars (farthest left on front row).

the little girl standing next to him is rubina ali, his friend and neighbor, who also starred in the movie.

these are azharuddin and rubina's neighbors watching them at the oscars.

i wonder what azharuddin and rubina, and the other children from the movie, are thinking coming straight from the slums of mumbai to hollywood. i bet it's the time of their lives, but i worry about what they'll be feeling when it's time for them to go home.

i heart ... the invention of hugo cabret

this book was my birthday gift to my niece, sierra, a couple of years ago.

i finally got around to reading it myself.

magical.

unlike anything i've ever read before!

4 hearts out of 5.

from barnes and noble:

orphan, clock keeper, and thief, hugo lives in the walls of a busy paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. but when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. a cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

i heart ... brand new skates...

... the nail color, that is.

it's my current favorite.

it's sparkly and you know how i feel about that.

and it's such a cool color, don't ya think?

i heart ... this book

my mom was giving away some of her old books and i spied this one.

it's from 1963.

i love it!

so she gave it to me.

back cover

i especially love the pink cake on the left!

this page is just weird!

i heart ... valentine's day

you should have figured out by now that i love my nieces and nephews, so i threw them a valentine's party!

we ate lots of yummy treats.

that pink blob of a cake on top is in the shape of a heart. it really looked like a heart, i promise!

the chocolate fountain was the yummiest of all the treats!!!













we played fun games.

like, "plant the smooch on thomas".


stacy prepared this awesome picture for us to smooch. don't you just wanna smooch it right now???


















we also played bingo.








and "pin the heart on cupid".

and, "jar of kisses" - to guess how many kisses and win the jarful.

we decorated cupcakes.

paulina's favorite topping was sprinkles - well, mostly she just liked the act of sprinkling.

this was the result:

it was a lovely time.






p.s. - the valentine mood was set just right with some romantic music from a cd called "love chords". i found it on my brother brad's music shelf. the name sounded just right, just what i was looking for - "love chords" - perfect for a valentine's party, right?

later i noticed the subtitle: classical music to enrich the bond with your unborn child.

now, why would my brother have that cd in his collection?

oh well. we played it anyway and it was romantic.

i heart ... vnsa

vnsa! i love vnsa!

what is vnsa you ask? it's only the largest booksale in the southwest which is held once a year during the second weekend in february. all the proceeds go to charity. put it on your calendars for next year.

on saturday i went with brook.

we had to wait in this big long line to get in. and by the way the way, that is not the only line. there is another line equally as long that you can't see to the right of this picture . if you're asking if it is worth it, the answer is yes.

just look at these beautiful books that you can get for, like, 3 bucks!

back in the day we didn't have to wait in that big long line because we would volunteer to help brook's mother (my aunt) set up the books in the "classics" category.

so the week before the sale we would go set the books up and then on the morning of the sale we would walk right in the door to man our category - and as soon as the doors would open we would shop!!! there are people who literally camp out overnight to be first in the door - if they only knew that if they just volunteered they could just walk right in the door without having to step foot in line. those poor schmucks!

i (kinda) heart ... confessions of a shopaholic - the movie ...

... but i totally heart the book. i've read it, like, 5 times (okay 3!).

the movie did not follow the book very well, but it was still a fun movie. i give it 3 1/2 hearts out of 5. lots of cheap laughs, but some real laughs too.

isla fisher was a perfect becky bloomwood, but london was grievously miscast - as new york.

becky bloomwood may be the main character of the book, but london is a close second. reading the book i could feel like i was right there in london - many of the places written about, i've actually been to, before i ever read the book ...

bella pasta

boots

pret a manger

body shop

waterstone's

accessorize

marks and spencer

notting hill gate

high street kensington

hyde park

camden market

harrods...

... you get the picture. these are real places to me and when i read about them i am right there in my mind. so, yeah, i really missed london in the movie.

but still i would say, sure, go see the movie.

i heart ... this heart (cookie)

kaitlyn, the little baker, made this cookie just for me!

i heart ... playing with natalie and paulina

natalie and paulina have a trampoline. you know what that means... hours of fun!

paulina, kendall, natalie and ruben