balloons still make me smile

so i am officially surrendering to 2009. i know it is a bit early, but i feel like i have no choice. i fought the good fight, but i think it is going to win, so instead of continuing to fight i will conserve my strength for 2010. i won't go into the ins and outs of it, but generally things have been kinda sucky and i haven't felt like myself in months. and that's sucky because i usually like myself, but this person-- me no likey AT ALL. i didn't celebrate my birthday. i didn't feel like it. so there. take that 2009. i miss my friends. "hi friends!" i miss you guys. oh, and the thing about me and being down in the dumps is i don't like being down in the dumps. i spent lots of years in them there dumps and i didn't much like it there (the food is crap and the accommodations crap, too!). then i start feeling guilty for being down in the dumps. i beat myself up for feeling sorry for myself and for not being just generally happy, because a bad year for me is still a pretty darn good year for most. so then it becomes this nasty inner dialogue myself vs. myself and as you can see if myself wins then myself loses. i think they call that a lose lose situation. for now, i will carry on. i will try not to be completely erased by this big bowl of yuck, but please, pardon me if i have been a bad blogger, bad friend, bad wife, bad sister, daughter, partner, customer, e-mailer, bill payer, call returner, polaroider . . . you get the point.

on a lighter note, balloons still make me smile.

my birthday is almost here

i'm scared. oh, and the flu is stalking me. go away you pesky flu, go away now!

a little birdie

a little birdie told me that ban.do is doing a new thing:
mondays = fundays tweet coupon. check out our twitter to find out more.
hint: it's a good one!

hope you had a nice weekend. mine was filled with things that are fried and now i can't fit into any of my pants . . . and it's kinda cold out. a tunic and a quick unbuttoning of the jeans should get me through the day.

chloe aftel

the amazing chloe aftel was nice enough to give me a pack of polaroid (i had run out, hence the lack of new posts). of course i feel a lot of pressure now about using it. want to make sure all the shots are beautiful. and now there is even more pressure as she has given jamie and i the distinct pleasure of becoming ban.do's new photographer. we had our first shoot last week and the outcome was amazing. see the proof here. but alas, chloe is a polaroid lover, too. the shot above is one she took on the shoot. and there are more on her site. i'm thinking i might just give her my blog, especially since she's got a sweet stash of the good stuff (i'm talking polaroid folks). stay tuned for more from chloe and me, too.

life gave me lemons . . . again!

the cover i shot for real simple way back when is nominated for some sort of best magazine cover. can you vote for me, please? you would only be helping yourself seeing as your vote enters you into a chance to win a $10,000 amazon gift card. that's a lot of christmas gifts. you have till the end of september. oh, and i'll be your best friend.

vote here!

ps. i forgot to mention it's in the best of house and home section.

the picture of this yellow dress

is featured in this really cool set from chronicle, curated by this lovely and talented lady.

what are you waiting for? go get you some.

long beach swap meet

dear long beach swap meet.

you are my very favorite swap meet. i love you, long beach swap meet, but i beg of you not to tell the others (pcc, rose bowl, santa monica, torrance . . .). it's just that you never disappoint. you are always there for me (at least you are on the third sunday of every month). you feed me with your soft pretzels and semi-flat pepsi and you don't rob me blind. in fact, i always find the most inspiring things at you, long beach, and they usually cost around a buck. somehow this weekend the bucks added up, but that's probably because i have a little project i'm working on. thanks for the inspiration, and the horrible sun burn.

xo
jen