TiLT: Summer Lovin’

The Unimitable Christina Hendricks in Los Angeles Times Magazine. Swoon.

Denver– Avoiding New Orleans heat & humidity, Lady Gaga, the Beau, 1 week to detox from work.  I’m SO excited.

Big Love– this show is so intriguing– from a more natural view of polygamy, to Nikki’s $59,000 credit card debt and the frustrations of family life.  It’s charming and funny how they’ll say “Gosh, Darn!” and how important secrecy is in the family.  I’m super glad I could pick it up at the New Orleans Public Library too–no rental fees!

Birthday Love– My birthday wasn’t perfect, but I felt an incredible show of love from friends and family, picked up lovely treats for myself, and received goodies and love from friends.  I had delish Thai food and almond cake on my birthday.

Turning 27–The lead up to turning 27 is so weird! I didn’t anticipate this being an age that I would feel anything noteworthy. Instead, I find myself confused– how am I already 27?! How am I in my late 20s already?

A Budget is a Moral Document– I wish I could articulate how much this article impacted the way I’m viewing my budget and financial flow. As I make great strides in becoming an adult financially, I felt that this in an essential read.

I just think that a good way to think about money is as an expression of what you value. I want my money to express my commitment to a more peaceful, enivronmentally healthy, just, and economically fair world…..but I definitely try to think a little harder about what I buy, where it comes from, and who it affects. I also try to put some thought into how my spending habits actually further my internal values and whether or not I am only paying lip-service to the things I say are important to me in life.

So while having something nice is not inherently morally wrong, I like to think that I try to balance the perfectly legitimate desire to have beautiful things (beauty is something that God highly prizes, in my opinion), or things that I enjoy with the reality that the way those things come to me may not be consistent with the kind of world I want to live in. I want my bank statement to say, “I really care about fair trade, and local business, and feeding people with so much less than me.”

Summer Lovin’

Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars (and sequels Seeing Redd & ArchEnemy–MUST reads if you’re a lover of Alice in Wonderland like I am. These are a highly original take on the playful tale.); finishing the Shakespeare Festival (and looking forward to a “leisurely” school year, haha); my new Hayden Harnett Biblio bag (in black) omg how much I love it! so easy to fit what I need in it and not too much more; Le Petit Écho Malade — too beautiful and hysterical for words; The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal SO GOOD!!! Read it now!!! It’s so beautifully written. Like if Gossip Girl had been in the 1920s;  Webcams– a great way to keep in touch in long-distance love; Reaching mini blogging milestones; planning my perfect bedroom (and knowing the beau is behind the design 100%!); 2% cost of living raises.

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’
-Jack Kerouac

(Yum! Featuring the delightful & delicious Joseph Gordon Levitt. Not that he’s the only reason you should watch it– it’s stunning.)