Um, could someone turn the light on, please?

As I sit here in the office, in my cube, I realize the lights overheard are off -- at least in my area. I'm in the dark. So, I start thinking how a cute table lamp would not only give me much-needed illumination, but would also spice up my cube, making it feel more like home. Here are some illuminating devices that caught my eye.

Pier One

I stopped into Pier One the other day just to check out what they had and maybe get some home decor inspiration, and I saw this lovely, modern lamp. My heart skipped a beat as I imagined it in my living room, where I already have a perfectly good table lamp on a bronze table (so this one wouldn't really fit). It would, however, look fantastic on my desk!

Target

I love strange shapes on lamps, and the wood really gives off a warm feel.

Target

Back to modern... I just thought this was so cute, and it doesn't even look like a lamp! I could throw this in a corner of my desk, and it would look like a huge, empty pencil cup until I turn it on... and then it would look like a spotlight shining above my cube. Hmmm... Party's right here, people!

Target

I liked how different this lamp looks. I like the warm wood tone, but again with the spotlight. That's ok... reminds me of a Japanese temple or garden. Peaceful and serene... just like my cube (yeah, right!).

Do you have a lamp on your desk in the office? What does it look like?

Writer's Workshop: Light my fire

This is what gets me going, keeps me alive. Mention any of these topics in conversation, and you'll have me going off on all kinds of tangents.

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Skiing. Love it, committed to it, challenge it, dare to get better. Skiing for me is such an adrenaline rush, such a challenge, such a freedom. I've never experienced anything like it, and I'm so glad I was introduced to this sport. It is my winter mecca.

Morris. My pup. My furry best friend. My cuddly teddy bear. My baby. He makes me laugh, yell, smile, love, care, protect. He truly brings joy into my life.

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Dance. Any kind, anywhere. Styles, gear, shows, performance, technique, shows, movies, music, images, choreography... I'll discuss it all. I'll share my love with you. I'll encourage you and teach you. This was such a huge part of my life for 16 years, and I can't let it go.

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Self-improvement, faith, religion. I'm on a mission to be the best me I can be. I stumble, I trip, I fall, but I pick myself up, and I keep going. I research all kinds of foods, exercise, faith, psychology... all in the name of being better, being happier, being more fulfilled.

Relationships. These are the glue that hold my life together: family, friends, my love. Without the people in my life who love me, I am nothing.

This post was inspired by:

Prompt #4: What lights your fire? Describe five things you are most passionate about.

Thankful Tuesday

Sticking with just my obligatory three things this week, but I'm giving you pictures!

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It has been sunny and in the mid to upper 50's the past four days, and I'm enjoying it! I think I'm ready to put my skis away until next winter now; the thought of pulling on snow pants and ski boots isn't appealing to me anymore. I'm thankful for the arrival of sunshine and warmer temperatures and...

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Dresses! I thought I was going to go crazy for Old Navy's sundown dress sale this week, but alas, most of these dresses make me look like I have a bun in the oven, including this gorgeous gown I was looking forward to wearing for summer dates and cookouts or my next cruise. I returned it and found a jersey-knit one in the same style that looks less preggo; it is navy blue with scattered orange blossoms from the knee down (I couldn't find a pic of it on the Web site). So, I'm thankful for my Old Navy find, along with the... FIVE... light-weight sweaters I got! 

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And I'm thankful for beer pong at Jed's old roommate's apartment Friday night. I haven't seen him or his girlfriend since September, and I have never met his new roomie, so it was great to hang out!

Saturday night, one of Jed's coworkers I haven't seen since his wedding three years ago came over for dinner (I made my first roast pork with this fabulous apple "slaw" and egg noodles!), and Sunday night we went out to dinner with our very preggo friend (that I've known since third grade) and her husband. I'm hoping I can see her one more time before the baby comes in exactly one month! I'm thankful for a weekend of catching up with friends!

Wishful Wednesday: Wedding Gown!

'I wish' .... I could wear David's Bridal style v8377 dress on my wedding day!

Everyone wears strapless dresses these days, so I've been thinking that I might try to find a halter A-line dress for my future wedding since halter tops have always looked good one me. I want an A-line since it would flatter my slim hour-glass figure (I've been doing research, can you tell?) and a more defined waist since those are Stacy and Clinton's rules (ha ha).


I know I don't want really thick straps, and I want something embellished, since the halter tends to "dress down" a gown. The lace and embroidery detail in this dress is perfect, and I heart the lace border on the bottom. The train is just the right length for me (no cathedral train just trailing through the door as I reach my man). The best part? Unlike Say Yes to the Dress, no $10k surprises here, this dress is under $1k!


Now, hopefully this style will still be around for me to try on when my special day arrives!


{Images via}

Friend-Making Monday: Oscar Night!

This week, let's talk about the 82nd Academy Awards. Did you watch?? What are your thoughts? Best dressed? Worst? Any other thoughts?

Ok, I only watched the second half of the Academy Awards, and even then, I was multi-tasking. I missed the Red Carpet, but there were some fashion hits and misses I noticed. First of all, all those poufy bottom dresses: big miss in my book; you looked kinda ridiculous, all of you.

My best-dressed list (I agreed with Amber on a lot of these):

Sandra Bullock 

(can kinda see the resemblance between us)

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Kate Winslet 

(love the corset top, the straight skirt, the silver, so classy)

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I liked the ladies above for their hair and make-up as well, but the hair that I swooned over was...

Jennifer Lopez -- totally rocked the messy bun.

Sadly, her dress makes my worst-dressed list; she looked like she was dressed in shimmery bubble wrap.

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Charlize Theron

(what's up with the roses on the boobs? not a good look, otherwise the color is really pretty)

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My favorite moments:

Avatar winning Best Visual Effects and Cinematography.

So well-deserved. If they didn't win in these categories, I would have thrown something at my brand new TV.

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My "look-alike" Sandra taking home Best Actress in a Leading Role.

I think she was the clear winner here, and I'm so glad she won.

I also loved her speech, so humble and real and grounded. She's incredible.

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Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down? I would like to thank the Academy for allowing me in the last month to have the most incredible ride with rooms full of artists that I see tonight and that I've worked with before and I hope to work with in the future, who inspire me and blaze trails for us. Four of them that I've fallen deeply in love with I share this night with and I share this award with.

Gabby, I love you so much. You are exquisite. You are beyond words to me. Carey, your grace and your elegance and your beauty and your talent makes me sick. Helen, I feel like we are family through family and I don't have the words to express just what I think of you. And Meryl, you know what I think of you and you are such a good kisser.

I have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this lifetime and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I know. To the family that allowed me to play them, the Tuohy family, I know they're in here and you'll probably hear her in a minute. Maybe not. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to... the family that made this film that gave me the opportunity to do something different. John Lee Hancock, Gil Netter, Alcon, Warner Bros., the actors, everyone who's shown me kindness when it wasn't fashionable, I thank you. To everyone who was mean to me when it wasn't... George Clooney threw me in a pool years ago. I'm still holding a grudge. But there's so many people to thank.

Not enough time, so I would like to thank what this film is about for me which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So... if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would've done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love. So, to that trailblazer, who allowed me to have that. And this. And this. I thank you so much for this opportunity that I share with these extraordinary women and my lover Meryl Streep. Thank you.

Welcome to another addition of R&T!

Roses to Happy Feet -- such a cute movie, love Mumbles!

Roses to a weekend full of friends I haven't seen in months or years.

Roses to dinner at the parents' house Thursday night. Roast beef, baked potatoes, asparagus and warm apple pie. Yummmm.

Roses to Jed working from home.

Roses to getting to the gym this week.

Roses to hitting the slopes, not once, but twice this week (Sunday and Wednesday) with my lil sis.

Roses to roses cuz they just make life sweeter!

Thorns to my eyes hurting because I need new glasses and contacts.

Thorns to being tired.

Thorns to craving chocolate even though it is no where near "that time of the month."

Thorns to having to drive up to NH tomorrow to buy a ski helmet because I can't find them anywhere else.

Thorns to unexpected delays.

Thorns to taking ALL WEEK to do laundry.

Thorns to bloggy friends hurting and experiencing major disappointment -- especially this lady and her darling husband.

{Roses and Thorns via K.Law: Inspired}

Writer's Workshop: Blind-sided

weheartit

I remember it clearly: it was a sunny, warm August morning. I was making my lunch to take to work, and I was feeling refreshed since I was going in late that day. My cell phone rang: Mom.

[sobs] "Your father is in surgery. He got a kidney." 

Pause. I was stunned. I stammered that I was on my way. I hung up the phone and dialed my boss to let her know I wasn't coming in. I grabbed my lunch and threw some extras in, figuring Mom and I would have snacks for the long day ahead.

My father had been on the transplant list and dialysis for five years when he finally got a call with a good kidney. Five years of struggling, hope, fear, scares, appreciating health when it might be too late, a changed life.

I wasn't so blind-sided by the fact that my father was getting a transplant; I was blind-sided by the fact that he accepted the transplant. This was not the first call he had received for a kidney, but the other available organs were less than desirable for various reasons.

It was unreal, all day. I don't think it became real for me until he got home from the hospital, and I saw him eating a normal diet, saw the dialysis machine off and shoved in a corner.

Then, it became even more real...

weheartit

It was a cold, gray October afternoon, and I was upset and frustrated because I had just had the cyst removed from my back, and I was tired of having stitches in my back. I sat down on the couch and cried, then I did what any girl would do -- I called my mom.

"Your father is in the hospital. They think he's rejecting the kidney." 

Ok, tears again, and questions about why I wasn't called. I hung up the phone, and I cried. WHAM! Blind-sided, in the true sense. I really thought things were changing for the better; I really thought my father was recovering and doing well. I really thought he, my mom, me and my sister were getting our old life back. I didn't see this coming, at all, even though we all knew the risk was there.

 weheartit

My father stayed in the hospital for a week in October, and then he came home, to continue recovery.

There is always the chance of rejection; it never goes away, but it is better than the alternative. Now, my father is healthier, happier and more energetic. He can eat almost whatever he wants again. He can travel again (he and my mom are going to Disney World this fall). He is even considering going back to work, after not working for over five years. He is free.

Life is all about the blind-sides. They keep it interesting. They keep it real. They keep us thankful.

This post was inspired by:

Prompt #5: Who blind-sided you? Write about a time someone caught you totally off guard.