unfriends

You might think by the title of this post that there is nothing fine about this subject. Don't get me wrong - losing friends is a sad occasion, whether it's from lack of communication or a big argument. Unless, of course, the friends you are losing are those people on Facebook that write about the weather, their day at work, political epiphanies, how super stressed they are and ask what they should make for dinner every night. You know who they are.... the over-sharers. Vom.com.

Only a few months ago I realized you can simply unsubscribe from said people, so they're still technically your "friend" but you don't see any of the jargon/games/bazillion pictures of their cat pop up on your feed. No feelings hurt, right? But did you know that now you can see who unfriends you? All you have to do is download the Unfriend Finder, which will tell you if anyone removes you from their friends, or deactivates their Facebook account. Try it out - it's really easy and could be interesting!

2012: the year of the reader?

Hello and Happy Monday! Sorry I've been MIA lately, 2012 has been busy (but good!) so far. What's happened over the last few weeks? I turned 26, booked two international trips (!!!), bought a Kindle and met a friend's newborn daughter!

I held an internal debate whether or not to give in to the hype and get a Kindle for many months. I like to think of myself as an early adapter when it comes to most things, but to me, e-readers threatened to stunt the growth of my book collection (remember this post?). But after Cancun, where I finished a cumbersome 400 page hardback three days in to the trip, I realized there might be a certain convenience worth the $79 price tag of Amazon's gadget. (I was more than halfway through the book when we left for vacay... I'm not that fast of a reader!) Anyway, my mom was nice enough to let me download a book on her Kindle, and since then I've pretty much been hooked. I'll still buy classics and books I want to keep forever in hardback, but for book club and trendy fiction books, it's far easier to download the inexpensive e-book than buy it online, or wait for it to become available at the public library. 

So what's on my list of books to read in 2012? So far I've finished "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", I'm 33% through "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and have "War Horse" and Ellen Degeneres' new book, "Seriously... I'm Kidding" in queue. On top of those I'd like to finish at least three classics, one biography and the last two books in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Not to mention the six book club books we'll pick this year... I'm so ready to be a big book worm in 2012!

Hannes Beer

doting on dots

I'm not quite sure how this got started, but I am currently obsessed with polka dots. Maybe it's thanks to Kate Spade's "Larabee Road" Polka Dot China or maybe from Blair's recent posts over at Atlantic-Pacific. Regardless, this happy print can be found in lots of wonderful colors and styles right now. 

All image sources can be found via my Pinterest

I'm loving these pieces currently available online. I think some polka dots might have to be present in my first purchase of the new year! I can't believe I've held out this long.... :)

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Happy Tuesday, hope you're having a great start to your week!!

grateful

Happy New Year! I'm back after a long hiatus that was filled with a beachy Christmas in Cancun with the fam (and matching shirts to boot), NYE and getting back in to the swing of things at work.

You know the saying "Don't live in the past", and I try to honor that as much as possible, but this morning I couldn't help reminiscing on how wonderful of a year 2011 was. So for my first post of 2012, I just wanted to document a few of the things I'm most grateful for this past year. More on New Year's resolutions after I return from Dallas where I'll be watching the Wildcats dominate in the Cotton Bowl. 

So here are a few of the things I am most grateful for that happened in 2011... other than the standard health, happiness, friends and family:

1. Travel

       Wow did I get to jet set this past year! If I go chronologically, here were some of the more exciting

       destinations:

       Chicago, Breckenridge, Schenectady, Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro, San Antonio,
       Miami, Napa Valley, Cancun. Whew! 

2. 

       Don't think this needs any explanation!!

3. New job

       Better bosses, better PTO, working in the heart of downtown KC, and a healthy work/life balance.

4. Starting finer feelings

       Documenting current obsessions, ideas, desires and escapades. And for you, my lovely readers who       

       take time out of your day to read my stuff. Thank YOU. 

5. FRYE boots

       If you are a regular reader, you're not surprised these guys made the list.

6. Good music

       Foster the People, The Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, and Spotify in the USA!

7. Zac Posen's fall 2011 collection

       I mean it's pretty much perfection. If you forgot, shame on you (just kidding!) but here's a refresher.

8. K-State

       Love. This. University. From our showing in March Madness (miss you Jacob Pullen!) to the ridiculous

       football season we've had so far, and all of the wonderful people, culture and opportunities there, I'm

       grateful every day I picked purple. 

9. Frank's Buffalo sauce

       If I could find a way to incorporate this in to every recipe, I would. Technically this has been around

       long before 2011, but I used it a lot this year, so it makes the cut. 

10. Glitter

       Never since my drill team days have I seen so much glitter than I did in 2011, and I love it. 

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