Book Review: Violets of March

I had a very relaxing weekend this weekend. I did almost nothing, except read. I read 3, maybe 4 romance novels (yeah I read romance novels, so what?) went shopping for a bridal shower, got stuck in rush hour traffic and read an actual book (I read romance novels, but I recognize they are not really books, this makes me not a sad sack).

The real book I read is called Violets of March by Sarah Jio. I recommend it as a summery fun read. (I read it in a couple hours, but I read very quickly, my mother is convinced that I don't read all the words, she might be right). Its about a New York City woman who has just gotten divorced and goes to an island to find herself. If that makes the book sound trite or like something you've read or seen, its not. She goes to an Island in Seattle to visit her aunt and while she is there she meets men, and discovers a 50 year old mystery about her family.
The book is very well written, and though its not very deep thematically, I wasn't sure how the mystery was going to unravel until the very end. The story kept me engaged, and interested, and not just because of the descriptions of gardens (of which there are many and they play very little part in the story but I enjoyed them).
I'd recommend this book to women, who have a few hours to kill, and want to read a story with romance and heartbreak but something better than one of those "Something Borrowed" books.

Whats in your Wallet/Purse?

Remember that commercial? Whats in your wallet? Well in an effort to carry around less stuff I'm doing one of those whats in your purse things like they do at the back of Marie Claires.
Now keep in mind, I'm nomadic. I split my time between my parents house, Tallman's apartment and the law school building. This means that at both residences I keep deodorant, sunscreen, underwear, contact solution, etc. And at law school I have deodorant and snacks (what? sometimes, in the summer, the deodorant needs to be reapplied).
But because of my nomadic ways I've started carrying a lot of stuff with me, which is annoying, inconvenient, hurts my back, and, with this increasingly warm weather, is sweaty. Also, because of said nomadic ways, I use pouches, so that little things don't get lost and can easily be transferred from a back pack to a purse and back again.
I took pictures of all the things I always carry with me. Then emptied the pouches and showed whats inside (after I cleaned out a significant amount of gum wrappers).
Call me crazy but I feel a little exposed sharing with the world what is in my purse. So don't judge, or judge but keep it to yourself.

This is what I keep with me all the time. Clockwise from top left: Clinique Makeup bag, Assorted Odds and Ends Bag, Wallet, Magic Wallet, Tissues, Keys. (Missing From Picture: iPhone, because I'm using it to take the picture... duh).
If I'm going out for dinner or some such, and going from home to home I'll just take the wallet, magic wallet (has my metro pass in it) and some lip gloss. But honestly I can't remember the last time I went from a home out and then back again. Usually I'm going from home to school to a different home. Or home to school to dinner back home. Or sometimes on weekends, a home to school to Allison to school to dinner to home. And yes, this is a lot of stuff to carry about, but I never know when I'll need the very important things in those bags.
What is in those bags you ask?

 In the makeup bag there is, predictably, makeup. And bandaids, neosporin, hair clips, a mirror tweezers, backup contacts, and break-out goo. (See why I felt like sharing this is kinda exposing?) Its not that I need these things all the time, or even frequently. But the makeup is stuff I don't have doubles of at each house, the first aid stuff is nice to have with you if you have the space, and the rest is nice to have if you are a nomad.

This bag is a little more random, but waaaaaay more necessary. The bag itself I got at an Afro-Caribbean fair last year and I love that its just cotton. In here I have anti bacterial lavender wipes, which are awesome btw, iPhone headphones, my iphone charger, gum, mints, advil, eyedrops, a thumb drive and my daily medicine. If I lost this bag I'd be up a creek with no paddle because of the medicine and the iphone charger. I love having the bag for this stuff because its not getting tangled in the bottom of a purse or in a bunch of tiny pockets in my back pack that I have to rummage through to find when I want to switch to my purse.

Tallman mocks me for carrying so much stuff with me, and I try to downsize or tell him how necessary things are. I suppose I could incorporate the magic wallet into my regular wallet or carry the makeup bag less frequently. Maybe...

Now that you've seen what I carry with me wherever I go, do you have any suggestions for downsizing? Or products you like to carry with you?

Sleepy Kitty of the Week

Gooooood Morning!

 Tallman is gone this week on an Island vacation with his parents. I was invited, but decided I couldn't go because of bar prep. I miss Tallman, but Parsley is pretty darn cute, it almost makes up for it.

 The adorable sleeping cat grin. The paws on the wall. The extremely relaxed position.

Well done Parsley. You've succeeded in being cute.
Happy Monday all!

Barn Yard Pic of the Week!

Call me crazy, but I think this picture is excessively summery, especially now, in the early summer when everything is bright and fresh and ready for frolicking!

From Pinterest

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!

Thank You Cards

I've been in a position lately where I've needed to write thank you cards. And a few of them have been to people I write a lot of thank you cards to (Tallman's Parents, Knowledge), so I decided that my regular thank you cards wouldn't do, and I needed to inject some interest into my thank you card repitore.

Crane Thank Yous

Normally I send out thank yous on these plain Thank You notes. I like the pop of color inside the envelope, but otherwise they're simple. Most importantly they are made from a good quality paper that I can send to people I have informational interviews with or anyone who gives me a gift. But they're also kind of boring.

Kate Spade Thank yous

Some thank you cards that are relatively interesting are also outrageously expensive. Like these Kate Spade Thank you notes that are $30 for 9 cards. NO THANK YOU. Trop cher pour mon sang!

Other thank you notes are too girly, or clearly for baby showers or wedding gifts and thus aren't really appropriate for me to use generally or at all.

Bee Thank You!

Still other websites and stores sell thank you cards individually, and are super cute, but just not cost effective. And while I LOVE the bee card pictured at the left. I do not love colored envelopes. They can be inconvenient to address if they're too dark and they can be too in your face, like pinks. Also, the colored envelope can seem a bit little kid-ish if its the wrong color. (Though I do think the buttery yellow of this card is just fine, easy to write on legibly and not too childish.)

So instead of buying thank you cards I bought some blank cards with a green hydrangea on the front and some dark blue ink and a stamp that says "Merci". I figure this is cute, personal and practical. I'll have the stamp and ink for a while so even when I run out of cards they're useful, and the blank cards can be used for more than just thank you notes if need be (like a bridal shower I'm going to in a few weeks). And the cost of these supplies was less than the $30 Kate Spade thank you notes pictured above.

What are your favorite thank you notes? Do you make them yourself? Do you use plain cards in high quality paper or do you buy individual cards?

I want a pair: Jcrew Shoes

I love Jcrew. Most of my clothes come from there, sad but true. I've also worked at Jcrew twice for various stints in earning pocket money, though full disclosure I'm not working for them now. Though lately their designs been more ostentatious than I'd like. Thus, I've been sticking to their basics, but they're always my first stop if I'm in need of new clothes, shoes, or am bored.
Right now my Jcrew wishlist consists of shoes, shoes and more shoes.

Merkato Mid Heel Wedge

Despite recent foot pain because of wedges I want these super summery shoes.

 

Classic Leather Ballet Flats

I want these ballet flats, because they are basic and seem like they wouldn't dig in to my feet and cause blisters, also the COLORS ARE AWESOME.

Langford Leather High Heeled Oxfords

 In case you hadn't realized, I'm a huge fan of the sexy librarian look. Maybe that's the reason I love these shoes. They're currently on sale, but still way to expensive to justify, especially since I wouldn't be able to wear them until fall.
Those are my shoe crushes at Jcrew right now, go over an check them out, they've got a lot of stylized trendy stuff (that I don't like) but like these ones they've also got many basic shoes that are leather and will hold up and look cute too.

Wallets, revisited!

Why are we revisiting wallets? Because I bought one! Yes yes I know I know, I'm not supposed to be spending money. But this was before I found out about that and I bought it on super sample sale, so its ok... right?

Kate Spade Wallet

Its like this one, only in black, and instead of $195, I paid $93, including tax and shipping. (Sign up to get Kate Spade Sample Sale emails, they're clearly worth it!) I really like how sleek it looks and that I can zip it up. Its taking a little getting use to, where is my credit card? How fast can I open this and put change in? But its sooooo pretty, the gold zipper is sooooo shiny!
I'm a girl. So what?