Things that are good.

Lilacs are everywhere this past week, and I got a small bunch and split it up among a couple of vases around the apartment. Best smelling flower of them all, hands down. (Hot Anthropologie vase courtesy Kathryn.)


Summery open-faced sandwich: mozzarella, tomatoes, and apple on a slice of toast.

hello, gorgeous

Hello, beautiful new Birkenstocks.

This was an impulse buy requiring much justification by myself to myself . . . but they're so pretty. And part of the justification included the fact that they're Birkenstocks and will therefore comfily mold to my feet and last forever. Plus did I mention how pretty they are? Now if it would only stop raining for twelve consecutive hours, I could actually wear them.

First food

More on my mild obsession with the Obama family!

I was thinking of getting started with my fire escape garden planting this weekend, but it's supposed to be rainy and ick, so I may wait. But wait, here's some more green-things inspiration: the White House's kitchen garden, via thekitchn.com. Look how many things those Obamas are going to have! They must really like spinach. I love to look at garden plans like this too. Here is mine!

Okay, so maybe the White House has an entire acre to work with, and I have something more like 2 square feet, but mine will be cool too.

Also check out more from thekitchn.com on small container gardens for urban spaces.

Okay I really need to share this post from today's Cheat Sheet on The Daily Beast: Mormon Beefcake Calendar about how some Mormon dude was excommunicated for making a "Hot Firefighters"-esque calendar of "sexy, shirtless Mormon missionaries." The greatest part is that it's called (wait for it) "Men on a Mission."

Kathryn is pretty great because she invites us all to her house and throws dinner parties and makes an astounding amount of food (we are talking five kinds of dessert, people. Including one with Heath Bar bits). In all a lovely weekend complete with a mini road trip and pit stop in Fairfield, gorgeous weather, lots of deck-sitting and drink-sipping, delicious Giada food, blueberry pancakes, new sunglasses, and being treated to the beauty that is the downtown Hartford train station.