7.31.2009

easy like {saturday} mornin...

although i delight in all things spontaneous and adventurous, i must admit i am simultaneously very much a creature of habit.
i love having my morning oatmeal, my mid-morning workout,
and my nightly in-bed reading. but my most recently established
routine is my saturday morning:
i roll out of bed and head to yoga class, making it back home
just in time to watch A&E's "Flip This House"
(with a cup of coffee and my beloved oatmeal, of course).
this is what i'm eagerly anticipating as i head to bed on this friday night.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22592976@N06/

courtney's morning oatmeal
1/2 cup uncooked oats
1 cup water
1 TBS flaxseed meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

put the above ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and nuke for 2 1/2 minutes.
top with 1/2 sliced banana and berries of choice (right now, it's "basketball-sized" blueberries)


i hope you all have a lovely saturday, with your own favorite routines (or lack thereof).

7.27.2009

a few things...

one of several videos by choreographer kate jablonski that i have been enjoying immensely this past week. she choreographs beautiful dances to sigur ros, imogen heap, kate nash, etc. this one is just precious! makes me so happy to be a dancer. enjoy. :)

working at a book review company and editing reviews all day, i have accumulated a huge list of books i want to read, and here are two that i want to get started on as soon as i finish my current book.

i saw the movie made after this book, and thought it was great!

i'm even more excited about reading the book. :)

7.21.2009

"What's goin on? what's goin on"

hello my dears!

it has been too long since my last post - i've been working, applying for other jobs, learning more about chemistry than i would like - but is apparently necessary for a nutritionist - and trying to spend time with friends and family.

the only progress that has been made on the house are the electricity and water bills that have come in the mail. oh well. it'll come together soon enough...right?

the highlight of the past week was my sister's 22nd birthday. she was willing to part from her sweet husband for the day to come up from atlanta and join our family in celebrating her life so far! (i have to admit i liked shopping for her presents almost as much as i liked the celebration...not quite, but almost). after a great deal of wandering around the entire nashville area (and surrounding cities) i decided to get our new tea fanatic some loose leaf tea, and some cedar planks for grilling on (she's always making superb dinners for husband). i had way too much fun wrapping them, adding on some sweet cinnamon sticks i picked up from a garden shop while i was wandering. she's such a blessing in my life and i wish i could see her and celebrate her more often - happy birthday sis!



7.12.2009

"blinded by the light"

If I were to show you a snapshot of me over the past two hours, you would see me sitting in the middle of my floor surrounded by and struggling with wires galore and mason jars. I want to hang mason jar lighting from my ceiling, but after exploring the option of lightbulbs, I decided to go for a more electricity-bill-friendly idea, filling the jars with anything from candles to the beautiful dried bouquet i saved from my best friend's wedding. But that result seems far off at this point - although I have finished wiring my jars, I now have to install the ceiling hooks *cue ominous, dread-inspiring music*. I can't wait to show you guys the final effect, but until then here are some variations of what I'd like to end up with:



an inspiring lighting display found by
apartment therapy at (where else?) anthropologie

a diy project featured on design*sponge
i hope all of you had a relaxing weekend! now bring on that manic monday...

7.11.2009

Here it comes...

Okay...ready, aim, fire. I give you permission to dub me whatever you want: nerdy, childish, obsessive, etc. I will gladly take the flack for my love for Harry Potter any day! I have been a faithful Harry Potter lover since the first book came out, and have just as faithfully followed the movies. The 6th movie - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" - is coming out in just 4 short days and I am oh so excited!
I can't help but be amazed at how lovely and grown-up they all are now! I feel like I grew up right along with them. So scroll right past this entry, if you must, or just give in and enjoy these pics of Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe, all grown up.




*On another note, we signed on the house today! Stay tuned for pictures of our new abode!*

7.09.2009

Surely...

Surely I was not meant to be born an American. These women make me impossibly jealous.

cate blanchett

marion cotillard


juliette binoche

penelope cruz in vicky cristina barcelona

7.08.2009

Damsel in Distress

Check it out!
In preparation for moving into the house, I’ve been on the lookout for nightstands, bookshelfs, chairs, etc. I was planning on leaving behind the nightstand that I use at my parent’s house, but decided instead I would paint and distress it to fit my new room!
I read up on how to distress furniture beforehand and then went to town!
Turns out that banging on furniture with hammers and socks full of nails & screws is therapeutic in its own way!
Here it is before…
Three days later, after some trips to home depot, anthropologie - for the knobs, which I love - (and a side-stop to whole foods for some kombuccha) here is the finished project:




Keep a lookout for pictures of it in its new home!







7.07.2009

Wing Tip the Spick

"She has a gift. It is her eyes. They are so blue,
such a clear light blue, the same as cornflowers
with blue raindrops shining and dancing on silver leaves
after a sun shower in any of the summer months."
-Carl Sandburg, from "How They Bring Back the Village of Cream Puffs When the Wind Blows It Away"

For the first time all summer I am actually enjoying one of my summer courses! For American Lit I'm doing a project on author Carl Sandburg and I stumbled upon his collection of Children's fairytales with an American spin. They are such darling stories! From Wing Tip the Spick who lives in the "Village of Cream Puffs" to a story about "How to Tell Corn Fairies If You See 'Em," I found myself having just as much fun reading them now as I would have fifteen years ago. Look for it next time you're in an old bookstore and hang onto it to read to your kids - or yourself for that matter!

On another note, now that I have had to swallow the payments for setting up both electric and water at our house (yikes...) it seems almost impossible that i will ever be able to comfortably afford these lovelies i've been eyeing:


i adore this one-shoulder dress from americanapparel


Lovemely has a great deal more where this came from!

7.04.2009

Away We Went

I recently returned from a delightful week in California that I absolutely must document…it was a week of relaxing, swimming, laughing, and loving (among other things).

Highlights of the adventure:

>My mom’s entire side of the family (consisting of 30+ people ranging from ages 3-70) crowded into a fabulously dysfunctional little vacation home in the gorgeous Lake Shasta area.
>Early morning coffee and breakfast on the deck
>Reading for hours
>Attempted wakeboarding, tubing and jetskiing,
>Nightly games, from the most raucus game of Bingo you’ve ever experienced to Scrabble tournaments that seriously made me question whether I loved my own mother or not. (Let’s not even talk about the 3-day ping pong tournament that included two separate brackets: winner’s and consolation brackets)
>Enough fresh California fruit to fill me up for the entire week. I couldn’t get enough!

I was sorry to leave, but so grateful that I have such an easily loveable family. Spending this past week with them blessed me so much and I doubt I could be more thankful for each and every one of them.
















7.03.2009

Oh how I would like...

July 10th will mark the day that my adorable roommates and I will be the official tenants of our precious home! I’ve been focusing on finding inexpensive furnishings or recycling old ones, but here are some items I wish I could splurge on:
thank you, urban outfitters if you wish to see the genius that inspired my love for this bed...
(page 20-21)
this stovetop espresso maker would provide such a lovely morning wakeup