I have always had an affinity for owls. Who doesn't. Pun was not intended. But ever since the barn owl's appearance at our wedding we have been heavy into the owl ephemera. You remember these gifts we made:

I picked these figurines up thrifting:

Then this little guy arrived in the mail from my mom. She picked up a beaded garnet necklace for me at a thrift store, and this, what appears to be a clay button, was attached to the string tying the bag the necklace was in. It belonged to the mother of a good friend of hers.

And the other night while out to dinner I noticed a beer bottle behind the bar with this little cutie on the logo. Turns out it is a japanese beer, which seemed especially serendipitous as my beer brewing dad just moved to Japan. Hmmmm.

I checked with Dad, in case you are wondering about the Japanese beer, he says;
"They make a good pale ale, Hefeweizen and an AWSOME Belgian wit, one of my favorites."

She started a blog, where I spied these pictures from the wedding of her friends Thao and Andrew that she shot the month before ours. [Where you might also spy a *few* more pics from our wedding]I love his suit. Also, poloraids, groom in wayfarers, total coincidence... [or trend, whatev]to think, originally Ben wanted a light colored suit.  That would have been too much.

{Sandy Smith}

Ridiculously inspiring image found by an eastsidebride twitter linking me here.

Isn't she lovely? [Don't let her fool you too much, she is also terrifying.] She got her drivers learner permit last week. Watch the f out. This summer? She turns 16, we take a road trip up the coast. This is her at our wedding. On that note, I will be taking suggestions until then on best activities to do with teenagers anywhere between San Diego and the Hoh Rainforest in Washington. [She is very hard to impress, yet I keep trying, so I need all the help I can get.]

Well, she did anyways. You don't have to read it if you don't want, I would understand.

[10 random facts]

-i will always love the first the most
whatever introduces me to something will remain my favorite always, ie i got hooked on david bowie through ziggy stardust, it will always be my favorite bowie album. rudolph schindler was my first real architect love, and is so today. so on.

-i have a preauricular ear tag [not gross, i swear]

when i was a baby my mom told my older brother that i was growing a second ear *

-when i was twelve my little sister was born at home
[i swear, despite mounting evidence, my mom isn't a hippie, just eccentric, not that i would mind if she were a hippie] i video taped the birth, my mom always referred to this as birth control

-i generally avoid celebrity crushes

but ever since seeing children of men, i think clive owen is a h-u-n-k

-when i was 21 i left seattle with my boyfriend at the time for ireland, where we worked [no, not performed] for the circus briefly

-i rarely do the dishes
though this free ticket might expire once i graduate, unless i become the exclusive house hold chef. but as it stands, i generally come home to dinner made and am not expected to clean up. i know.

-my relationship with buffy the vampire slayer is really unhealthy
i may have mentioned it before so maybe it doesn't count. but when i first started watching it [only a couple of years ago, because a friend of Ben Left's gave us season 1 because he and his wife were buying the box set and i was like, really, buffy the vampire slayer? and ben was like, yeah, it's good, i used to watch it with amy and jaime [his roomates back when] when it was on, and so i watched it with trepidation and was hooked] i was quite embarrassed about it, and it took some time for me to come 'out'. now i feel the need to make sure everyone knows. yes, i am a huge dork, i effing live buffy the vampire slayer. all this talk is making me want to throw in season 5......

-i can drink me some tequila
the story of how i discovered this, 18 and in puerto penasco, is funny and long and you do not get to hear it. whiskey, on the other hand, f*s my sh*t up. it isn't pretty

-i am hyper sensitive about snails
and their well being. please do not step on them *

-i am from las vegas
born and raised. i am told this is weird. also that i don't seem like a person who is from vegas *

I tag Christine, since she politely & formally introduced herself to me today, might as well try to get to know her better? Again, I won't be offended if you opt out.

*without showing him the list i asked ben what he would say if asked about 10 random facts about me. it included these

Husband or Husband's Dad?

My house or the 1970's? 

iPhone. I love you. I'm sorry I doubted you.

It helps that Ben Left never wears anything that might actually date himself.  

Book Lust

Another part of my secret non blog life is an over the top dork love for diagrams. Seriously.

There was a weird pencil drawing thing happening on my friends wall, he brushed it off, and I told him it sparked my interest cause it looked like some sort of diagram. Then I told him that I loved diagrams, and that I spend my days making diagrams [what else are architectural drawings, anyways] and he laughed thinking I was joking. No. Really.

Need this book. Data Flow.

I have some major shoes dilemmas going on, people.

In my later 20's I have developed a simple style, I am comfortable with my kind of repetitive wardrobe of jeans and t shirts, dressed up with accessories. Bags, jewelry, scarves, jackets, and my favorite, vintage heels. I don't care if I have 12 hour days, most of it is sitting, I will rock that shit. The problem is that last year Ben Left and I ditched our second car. We share one, and he often rides his bycicle to work [as I do in the summer when I don't have to go to school, which is at the bottom of a terrifyingly large hill that I don't care to conquer at the end of said 12 hour day with a bag full of laptop, books, empty lunch tupperware, etc], and I ususally ride my motorcycle. You didn't know I ride a motorcycle? Yes, I am fierce. You want to see it? Yes, you do.

Cute, no? It is from 1969. I love it so. But obv.you can't wear heals riding this baby. Which is fine in the winter. I looove me some boots. All day every day. It is the warmer weather that presents problems. I don't have any "shoes". Not teensy and petite flats, not heels, not boots, but shoes. In the past I have just carried a pair to switch into in my bag, and wore a pair of chucks while in transit. But I am really tired of that. There just isn't room in my bag, and it is just too high maintenance.

So, what I want to know is, do you wear "shoes"? What are they? What do they look like? Seriously. I stumbled on these vintage nine west oxfords [Which to Ben, who is old enough to remember the eighties more clearly than I, are a *little* scary] which might fit the bill, so I have been scanning etsy and ebay constantly for months now looking for some in my size, but no luck.

I figured that it was a matter of time before some new oxfords starting popping up, and sure enough here are some Sam Edelman's [images from UO]. But, they are 110 bucks. Which, I think is an ok price to pay for a a pair of shoes, but not when I really need a whole collection of them. You know what I mean?

I did find these little guys at a thrift store last summer. They are great for kicking around the neighborhood on my bicycle and stuff, but a little too junky to wear to work.

Have any good shoes style secrets?

Cleaning out a portable hardrive, I came across these pics from our trip to NYC last year. Longing for a city get away soon....