sign the petition: cut BP's billions in federal contracts!

as you know, i steer clear mostly of politics and whatnot on this blog. but this, this is too much. this oil catastrophe in the gulf is beyond irritating and has become just sickening. being from the gulf coast and seeing it ripped apart because of irresponsible executives playing the blame game just rips my heart out. thankfully, i found this great link on mo pie, please for a petition to urge the EPA to cut federal contracts for BP.
from the petition's site:

BP continues to stonewall the American people about the growing Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf, even while the company is reaping millions of dollars in profits a day from its other federal leases.

shocking, don't you think?! while people on the gulf are suffering personally and in their businesses from this disaster, BP execs continue to avoid responsibility and reap benefits of being the big bad oil biz. not even to mention the immense effect this is having on the wildlife! it's tragic and outrageous! this needs to stop. please go here and sign the petition.

(photos from huffington post)

red & pink & flowers all over

just a couple of vibrant photos from yesterday's walk...enjoy :)

truthful tuesday: shoes & the "commute"

this morning i got ready for work, put on my cute lil dress, and threw everything in my new, fabulous, cross-body bag. i put on my slip-on tennies, grabbed my bike and was out the door. it wasn't until i was pedaling into the office parking lot that i realized i'd forgotten to throw extra shoes in my bag. the funniest part? i came upstairs to see i had a pair of black peep-toe flats in my desk drawer. i guess my future self somehow told my past self to leave those shoes here (a la bill & ted) and here i am, with perfectly matched shoes on a day i forgot to wear them to work.

happy tuesday ... or should i say shoesday?!

xo

(photo)

sometimes you just need a birdcage and a cauldron

saw these at a house on our walk yesterday. thought it was pretty funny/neat. i love that birdcage! oh and just for good measure, here's roxy after our walk...she was so worn out that she couldn't even eat her treat yet, she just sat there with her paw on it for about 5 minutes! silly girl.

we're heading to tulsa today for a wedding tomorrow so i hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo

hola

i came home yesterday to roxy sporting this sombrero we got on cinco de mayo. i do believe she has some mexican heritage, no? well either way, she's still darn cute in the hat.

and there were fireworks

we had such an amazing time hanging out at the lake this weekend. lots of relaxing, game playing and some sun when it finally came out on sunday. i even brought my sparklers, because really, what better place to do fireworks than on the water?

and here's danielle giving roxy a little lesson in fishing and fire safety...she was very concerned about all the activity.

what a nice weekend :)

cake time

inspired by gabby's delicious looking post, i decided to try my hand at this vegan chocolate cake.  i must say it was delicious! stephen enjoyed his with come caramel ice cream and i just topped mine with fresh strawberries. i did the same thing as gabby and used regular sugar, which i guess can sometimes not be considered vegan, but close enough for me.

here is my little delicious piece:

yum!! have you ever tried vegan deserts? what did you think? i'm not by any means vegan (um hello, cheese?!) but i would definitely make this over and over because it was so incredibly simple and tasty.

oh weekend!

is it just me or has this been a long week?! i'm so glad to be heading up to the lake with some friends to enjoy a peaceful weekend. it might rain, but all the more fun playing games inside, right? plus roxy gets to come on our little getaway so i know she'll be excited.

so friends, what are you up to this weekend? anything fun? relaxing? hectic? hopefully not to crazy...we deserve a nice weekend :)

xoxo

(beautiful photo from elle mayleckenby's flickr)

pretty

i'm having a less than stellar morning, so i needed something pretty to look at.

ahhhh i feel better now. :)

(photo)

i can see for miles and miles

a while back i read about warby parker on some fellow bloggers' sites and was very intrigued. originally i was interested because they offer great styles of eyeglasses for $95 flat, but then i learned that they're a bit of a TOMS for the glasses world:

Warby Parker partners with renowned non-profits, such as RestoringVision.org, to deliver one pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair that we sell. In doing so, we enable you to share the gift of vision with someone who can’t see today and give them the opportunity to read, to work and to live a fuller life. 

so i decided to take the plunge and purchase a pair online. i went with the "miles" in sandalwood matte. love them. they're such a great style and fit perfectly when i got them. my friend ginger got the "webb" and they are incredibly cute on her.  plus, who can resist their awesome packaging?? so if you're in the market for some new glasses, check out warby parker.  i mean, $95? that's less than what i paid for my last pair with insurance!

mom

happy mother's day to all the amazing moms out there*...especially mine, and my sister! here's my mom many years ago, i'm not quite sure if she's pregnant with me or my sister here but isn't she gorgeous?!

*for some reason when i scheduled this to go out on sunday, blogger disagreed so here it is a couple of days late.

little brother

it's my brother's birthday today...so just because i'm the big sis and can embarrass him (because i love him!) here's a hilarious pic of him, oh i don't know, about 10 years ago.

 a little more recent, james (aka jimi) in front of the james in chicago.

and just for good measure and because i love this pic, here we are with jimi's friend max and kyle gass. this was during lollapalooza 2008.  one thing me and brother will always share is our love for great music and live concerts.

i love you brother! hope you have a great birthday!!

many, many thanks

this morning, joanna posted these super hilarious thank you cards and i had to share with you! they're from leah dieterich's blog thx thx thx.

Leah Dieterich's mother always told her to write thank you notes. So she does. To everything.

how cute is that?! i think mine today would say, "dear margarita, thank you for cheering up my grumpy husband. you were able to take his mind off of school for a few hours and he actually had some fun! much love, stephanie"

what would your note say?

truthful tuesday: meet lucille

say hello to lucille:

we bought lucille in february. you see, stephen and i share a car. by share i mean he drives everyday except saturday and i either ride with him to work or ride my bike when it's nice. so, in preparation of spring and summer we decided it would be fun to buy a scooter for me in order to have a better mode of transportation for cross-town adventures. (note: dallas is the least bike friendly city, with no bike lanes and only one trail) this was the perfect find for me: vintage with lots of character and a unique style.

so why is this on truthful tuesday? well here goes. in the first week that a rode to work, i laid her over right in front of my apartment. it was so embarrassing. i didn't get back on for a few weeks and that was after we took her to the shop and made sure everything was a-ok. (minus a few scratches and bruises) so then i built up my courage and started riding again. one friday i went to meet friends after work and when i was leaving, crashed in front of my friends and many (many!) strangers. as soon as everyone walked away, she ran like a champ.  i am beginning to think lucille does not like me.

now, before you're all "oh it's just a scooter, how easy!" let me just clarify that it's a challenge to drive this particular vespa and learning how to shift with my hands and brake with my foot has been the least of my issues. even stephen notes the difficulty. so there you have it. i'm afraid to get back on. i know it will get easier with practice and time, but after that last incident, i've been especially hesitant.

ok there. i feel better now! so tell me friends, what do you drive or ride? is your city bike friendly? if so, maybe i should move...haha! 

monday love

good morning! how was your weekend? mine was fairly uneventful. a little relaxing, a little time with friends, a little shopping....for mother's day! ok maybe a little for me too.

hope you all have a great start to your week!

xoxo