xoxo.

it's my favorite month, dolls! and guess who started to decorate? i have a thing for garlands. so thankful for papersource around special holidays.

love me some x's and o's. two of the best letters in the alphabet {when paired together, of course}.

we go together like an x and an o.

a very special shout out to my one and only sissy pie as she turns lucky number twenty three today. oh those early twenties... such a time of growth and learning and figuring out who you are. i couldn't be more proud of the young woman you are becoming. 

hugs and kisses!

be grateful.

i was greeted with such a pleasant surprise on my walk home from work on friday evening. it was one of those perfect san-francisco-popsicle-sky-nights as i approached the peak of that long trek up the union street hill.

a little reminder scribbled on a lamp post for all of the passerby's.

be grateful. yes, indeed.

hoping you little sweets had lovely weekends. the past thirty six hours brought many thankful thoughts for... yoges, friday nights in, oldest of friends catch-up sesh's, candles + sage, sisters, sausalito, and healing truth seekers.

let's carry this grateful energy into this week, shall we? 

what makes loves true.

so tiffany & co. has this what makes love true campaign {i love marketing campaigns that take their consumers to the next level and allow hopeless romantics like me to relate to the brand}.

i first learned about it on stylelist, a great website i work with and have come to know and love.

then a sisterfriend shared this great video featuring one of our faves. remember him here?



he brings his brilliance to life once again, and tiffany's is lucky to have him. in light of my favorite month and holiday coming up, i had to share.

also, something to note. music: chase you by mike stocksdale. new find. a singer/songwriter/guitar player from santa monica. love.

happy weekend, loves {excuse all the love posts this week}. i guess it's that time of year. hugs.

hold.

i remember this very distinct hallmark card from many years ago. after lots of research, i discovered it's part of the fresh ink line. they are the uniquely round or square-shaped cards known for their short sentiments and for taking an offbeat approach to saying something real or unexpected. absolutely some of my favorite cards of all time.

this particular one i'm thinking of had two youngin's on the front in rain gear huddled together under an umbrella.

inside it read...

you hold the umbrella,
and i'll hold you.

you know what? i wish i bought it because i think of that saying all.the.time. since i can't locate it at the moment, i'm giving you the it's all happening version above... the photo that made me think of it in the first place.

during my mad search, i dug through my card collection. looks like i have just a few to send! oh, who will be my first victim?

may you have someone to hold your umbrella, dolls. xo.

mystery.

found this great quote over on my girl, tp's blog. i miss her daily posts, but relish in the sporadic ones that magically appear in my reader. it also has an incredibly similar message as this post. i love when the dots connect.

"it is a mystery why we fall in love. it is a mystery how it happens. it is a mystery when it comes. it is a mystery why some loves grow, and it is a mystery why some loves fail. you can analyze this mystery and look for reasons and causes, but you will never do any more than take the life out of the experience.

love is more than the sum of the interests and attractions and commonalities that two people share. and just as life itself is a gift that comes and goes in its time, the coming of love must be taken as an unfathomable gift that cannot be questioned in its ways.

you need to treat what love brings you with kindness. if you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. there is nothing wrong with you. love just didn’t choose to rest in the other person’s heart.

if you find someone else in love with you toward whom you feel no love, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. do not take advantage; do not cause pain. how you deal with love is how love will deal with you, and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are very different.

if you fall in love with another who falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame. let it go. there is a reason and there is a meaning. you will know it in time, but time itself will choose the moment.

remember this and keep it in your heart. you don’t choose love. love chooses you. all you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away. give it back to the person who brought it to you. give it to others who seem poor in spirit. give it to the world around you in any way you can.

love has its own time, its own season, and its own reasons for coming and going. you cannot bribe it or coerce it or reason it into staying. if it chooses to leave your heart or the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and nothing you should do. be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life. if you keep your heart open, it will surely come again."

-kent nerbern

*honor.

love journalist.

it was a series about couples and 'how they first got together' in the february edition of real simple magazine that truly inspired an epiphany i had this week. it happened mid-flight, somewhere over... i'd say... kansas. yes, that seems about right. i decided i wanted to write about love. and, by that i mean more so than i already do in this little space, but like for reals.

i want to write people's love stories. a love journalist, if you will.

it seems like the natural and obvious fit for me, yes? after all, my favorite question to ask people is so, how did you two meet? everybody has a story. and i want to tell yours. will you let me? oh, pretty please.

{i have the perfect guinea pig couple in mind who just might be celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary this year}. stay tuned!

*always.