During our most recently slumber party with our nephews, we snuggled up on the couch to finally watch the movie Tangled. (If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it… no matter how old you are.) Every year on the princesses birthday, the entire kingdom lites wish lanterns to set them free into the sky. During the wish lantern ceremony, my oldest nephew Tyler (10), looked over to me and said, “Aunt Lisa, this movie is really emotional.” I love his honesty and that he was feeling the same things I was as an adult. I told him that I would eventually love to be a part of a wish lantern ceremony, thinking that would probably never happen.

But, then I came across some photos on Pinterest and it hit me. Why can’t we create our own “ceremony”? I bought these lanterns and was thinking we could start a tradition when we go camping as a family. How beautiful would these look floating over the lake?! I am beyond excited for our next trip!

Now that I’ve accepted that it’s June and the thermometer has hit 100 degrees, I decided I should write a list of my summer to-do’s before I realize it’s August. I often make to-do lists in my notebook with boxes next to it so I can check them off gratifyingly, but announcing them on my blog makes them much more official. I’ve been keeping busy doing consulting work from home, and I’m loving every minute of it. I’m writing this list to remind me that it’s okay to turn off my lap top, leave my phone and play a little bit.

• Enjoy a weekend wine tasting in each Cape May, NJ and New Hope, PA
• Go blueberry and strawberry picking (…and finally try some new baking recipes I’ve been collecting!)
• Organize photos for  our wedding album
• Decide which style of album to do (thinking of doing a beautiful coffee table art book)
• Try at least two new campsites and/or bike trails
• Spend a day in NYC as a tourist enjoying the museums (it’s been so long since I’ve gone!)
• Paint at least one new painting or charcoal sketch
• Try this recipe.  (So simple to make, but looks as elegant as rose petals.)
• Picnic in the park with the basket my parents got me last year for Christmas
• Finish the book I’ve been reading for over four months, and read at least two more
• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge with nothing but my husband and camera

What about you, my sweet readers? Do you have to-do’s for the summer?

(photo via audrey hepburn complex.)

I loved today. Let me count the ways…

. Woke up at 7:30a after getting over 8 hours sleep. I happily woke up, drank some coffee and eased into my day.
. While starting the morning doing some space planning for my residential project, I got a phone call with a job offer.
. Later received an email for a possible consulting job.
. Found out a project I worked on at a previous  job might be in vogue. Amazing.
. Purchased a fun white Calvin Klein dress (60% off) for my bachelorette party!
. My new iPhone case makes me feel like I have a new phone. (I used to have a clunky bumper that would get caught in my hair!)
. Ryan surprised me with a great bottle of wine to celebrate. (instead of the budget wine we’ve been drinking to save for the wedding…) :)

I was supposed to start my new work out routine tonight, but I’ve been sucked into a happy pinot noir euphoria. Good night, indeed.

Happy belated new year! I’ve never been one to have new year’s resolutions. I’ve recently started reading The Happiness Project and thought now was a good time to set goals for this year, rather than resolutions.

1. Get a job with a local interior design firm.
2. Save money to buy an old fixer upper with my soon to be husband!
3. Floss more often. (As in, not just when my dentist appointment is coming up!)
4. Learn and master at least 2 more recipes to add to my recipe book.

5. Take more photos and not just for special occasions. I want to remember the every day things.

6. Read more.
7. Schedule more Sunday brunches with friends.
8. Study and apply to take LEED exam to be a certified green designer.

(1978 ball via the new york times)

How funny are these holiday cards? They are much more entertaining than the traditional messages. I think I might buy some for next year!

In my younger years, I’d have pages of toys that I was asking Santa for Christmas. One year I even drew detailed photos of each toy I needed, including Barbie’s Glamour Camper (it was serious.). I’d like to think my wish lists have gotten a bit more sophisticated over the years and this year is no exception. Having a blog is much more convenient than drawing my wish list, don’t you think?

Chic leather and felt laptop cover.

Mahogany and antique brass tray.

The only sophisticated flannel sheets I’ve ever seen.

Cucumber tonic mask for at home spa nights.

Charcoal nude figure drawing.

Storage for my thousands of inspiration images to always have in my purse.

Thad Hayes: the Tailored Interior or any of these books I’m lusting after.

Flat black boots to keep my thick wool socks and feet warm.

I had one of the best weekends, it’s hard to believe it’s over. On Friday night, Ryan and I met my parents at our wedding venue to taste the food for this April’s event. The food was absolutely delicious, and I think I celebrated by drinking enough wine for all four of us. I just can’t believe that I’ll be getting married in 5 months!

On Saturday my girlfriends and I got a suite at a local hotel for the ultimate slumber party.  Sometimes it’s nice to spend a night away even if it’s at a hotel 30 minutes from your home. After our massages and facials, we spent the afternoon in our robes sipping cucumber-lemon water and chatting poolside at the spa. As much as we wanted to stay in our robes on Saturday night, we got dolled up in dresses and heels and headed downstairs for dinner and drinks. I don’t know how we used to party like we used to, because we ended up back in our robes and falling asleep watching Florence and the Machine on SNL.

I left Sunday morning feeling refreshed, content and fortunate to have my friends in my life.

I’m not going to lie, it felt a bit weird to click “new post”. As you may have already noticed, I haven’t been posting as much. I started this blog while I was out of work, although I don’t think I ever officially said that. Being that Ryan and I were both unemployed (living in a studio), I needed something to do that was productive. I never wanted to admit how much the economy was effecting me and those around me. But, it’s the truth. These are some tough times.

As I’ve mentioned before, this blog has taught me to be a more curious person and I’m grateful for that. But, in times where I have deadlines, or my nephews soccer games, I won’t post as much and I’ll take a break from writing. This started out as something fun, and I’m going to keep it like that, rather than it feeling like a job.

While making some eggplant parm (yum), Ryan showed me this video on my fancy new iPhone. Kind of fitting, considering this is the first official music video shot with the iPhone 4. How amazing are those backdrops?

Meet my three year old nephew, Christopher. This probably shouldn’t be the first picture I share with my lovely readers, but I had to. It just makes me laugh so much. Today was his first soccer game, and after waking up at 5:45am, having no nap and it being almost 90 degrees, he was done. That is exactly what he’s saying in this moment. “I. AM. DONE!” I don’t know what it is about this that makes me giggle so much, but it does. I’m grateful to know what this love feels like.

Christopher is my sister’s first born, and is also my Godson. My little buddy.

This weekend is going to be amazing. Seriously. My friends have planned an engagement dinner for Saturday night and I’m excited to put on my heels and toast to love and friendship! This past year has had its ups and downs, and lately I have been feeling so blessed. I have such a strong support system, and I’m fortunate to be surrounded with people who bring such positivity to my life.

If Ryan and I don’t celebrate too much we’ll be going to the Rutgers Botanical Gardens on Sunday. Ryan went to college there and we hear they have amazing grounds. We may take our wedding photos there around this time next year, so we thought it would be a good idea to see what’s currently in bloom, and to see just how beautiful the grounds are. Perhaps we’ll use my fancy new picnic basket my parents got me for Christmas and enjoy the beautiful weather! Cheers!

(design*sponge.)

Now that I’m commuting nearly an hour an half each way to work, I need music and/or a good book to keep me occupied. I’ve recently discovered the album “19″ by Adele two years after the album was actually released. Her voice is deep and mysterious and soothes me into a morning nap every time. These three are my favorites that I keep on repeat and end up singing all throughout the day!

“Round my hometown
Memories are fresh
Round my hometown
Ooh the people I’ve met
Are the wonders of my world”

Speaking of AC, this episode of Sex and the City always made me laugh.

Skip to 2:00 for the good part. (Just for the record, not all people in Jersey look like that.)

Hope you have a lovely day with your family!

(Check out the rest of this Wonderland Shoot here.)

A lot has changed in this last year and tonight I’m going out to celebrate my 26th birthday! My friend Casey also had a birthday this week, so we like to have our friends together to dance and get silly. (I am friends with A LOT of Aries.) I hope you’re enjoying your weekend, and I’ll see you on Monday!

(apartment 34.)

Okay… so how adorable is this bridal shower idea? This is the perfect party for a group of women for any event, really. You can hire a florist for an hour, and have each guest bring a bunch of flowers from the local food store or florist. It’s a great ice breaker for those guests who don’t know each other too well, and a great way to get interactive!

(photos via 100 layer cake.)

I am seriously in love with this idea. Those favors (aprons made of ikea’s dish towels, cutting sheers, and a super cute zig zag notepad.) are so perfect! I can’t take it!

Our life was like a book.
It had introductions, problems, solutions and endings.
We could always have a “once upon a time”,
but not always a “happily ever after”.
It seems fate chose the characters, and everyone fit in.
Some chapters ended as soon as they began,
and others were a hundred pages long.
Even though it wasn’t in a far off place,
and not so long ago
there were gallant knights, an evil queen, and a joker to entertain her.
There was an enchanted forest
with trees that changed in the fall
and frogs that didn’t always turn into princes.
Sometimes we laughed
and sometimes we cried.
Our story was one
where the good didn’t always defeat the bad
and the youth lost their innocence.

Last night, I went through a box of old photos and mementos to organize and put into photo boxes. You know… instead of keeping them in shoeboxes we’ve had them in collecting dust under the bed. I came across this poem, and I wish I could remember where I got it from. I know it was from high school, and it’s written on a piece of notebook paper that is torn and tattered from how many times I’ve read it. I think it spoke to me at that time because I was growing up and starting to feel things more as an adult. I took this as a realistic fairy tale where there aren’t always happy endings to your life’s story, but the beauty is everything that is in between.

(photo flickr via super bomba.)

This weekend, Ryan and I decided to spend a night in the Poconos which is our country home away from home. On our way to our little getaway, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather (70 and sunny) and go for a hike at Mt. Tammany, a mountain seperating New Jersey and Pennsylvania. While we’ve hiked before, this trail made every other trail we’ve hiked look like a nature walk. As we climbed the mountain, we came accross lots of friendly couples who used words such as “rock slide” and “boulder climbing” as to what we should expect going up the mountain. (Embarrassingly enough, these couples made it look so easy and they were easily 40 years older than us. We, on the other hand, were struggling.) After 1.5 miles up the difficult trail, and several stops to catch our breath, we were able to enjoy the view from the top of the mountain. With beautiful blue clear skies, you could see mountains for as far as the eye could see. (Proof that New Jersey has beauty, if I may…) We didn’t have much time to sit and enjoy, because the sun was quickly setting. After another 2.5 miles down the rockiest path I’ve ever seen, we were able to enjoy the hidden waterfall, and refreshing ravine (it took a lot of restraint to not jump in and drink it all). It seemed to take a lot less time to reach the bottom, since I felt like I was running away from the furry creatures hidden in the woods. We reached the car just as the sun set, and just as we felt like our legs would collapse. All in all, it was a perfect day. Maybe next time we’ll start with a beginners trail…

I’ve set a new goal to share more personal things with my readers. I mean, of course we’ll have boundaries, but I’ve found that my favorite bloggers are those who share details of their personal life. Last night, I spent a good amount of time looking through my computer to free up some space. My computer is only a year old and is running out of room for more inspiration files! While looking through old photos, I came across these favorites. They are just little things that have happened in the past few years, and they were taken with my iPhone. (Sorry for the blurriness!)

When Ryan and I first moved into our condo, Ryan’s Mom gave us a bread bag filled with singles. Get it…? She gave us “bread” for our housewarming gift. We used some for takeout while we were still fixing the place up. I’m positive the pizza delivery guy thought I was a stripper with all those singles.

Ryan and I painted this in Ryan’s old closet before he moved out of his previous house. I wonder if the new owners ever found it.

This is clearly a portrait of me drawn by Alex, Ryan’s nephew (age 3 at the time.)

I hope you all are having a lovely day! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

(lisa golightly.)

I’m still looking for places for Ryan and I to honeymoon, and have been having a hard time finding a boutique resort that is modern and budget friendly. These images of Vanessa Paradis at The Dilling House have the perfect vibe that I’m looking for. Paradis indeed.

(elephantine.)

The Office will not be on tonight because of the 2010 Winter Olympics. So until the baby is born on March 4, I’ll watch the reruns I have recorded on my DVR. Is it me or was the show better when Jim and Pam had all that pent-up sexual tension?

(i can read.)

(Thanks to Lovely Happenings for the discovery!)