Work Life Balance (Or Thank Goodness It's Friday)

Lovely, lovely photo via Nectar & Light

So I had a rather harried dream last night... I was simultaneously creating a PowerPoint presentation, packing Audrey's lunch and preparing a dinner party for Barack Obama.

Needless to say, I'm ready for the weekend. In the meantime, Jennifer's brilliant photographs always mellow me out.

Happy Friday.

Behind the Scenes

I'm loving the Meet the Designers section on the Madewell 1937 site... I'm also loving the clothes a bit more, especially this hippyish, groovy, geometric maxi-dress.

Thanks Ali.

Friday Morning Paper -- Made by (Awesome) Girl

So initially this week's paper pick was influenced by my current reading material + my obsession with pink ...

But then I discovered that Made by Girl's stylish, clever and yes, lovely cards are 100% recycled. Oh and there's also the matter of her excellent blog and her very cute alphabet posters and, well the list goes on...

p.s. her inspiration board was also featured in the Design for Mankind e-zine.

The Future Of Air Travel

we're here to serve you - the Lynx Air experience - just the way you like it - male fantasy.

Famous Moms and Their Sons

If your thought that your favourite actor/singer looks stunning just because he is unique, by looking at the moms of some of the most famous men on the planet you will see that it’s the genes that matter!

What Inspires You?

A peek at the mess behind my desk...

I've mentioned my obsession with the creative process before. For me, the ultimate in voyeurism is taking a peek at someone else's inspiration board.

Design for Mankind has devoted their monthly e-zine to the topic of inspiration. The most recent issue is chock full of boards and the corresponding lists of what gets the creative juices flowing for several artists, designers, bloggers, etc...

Some favorites... (All images via Design for Mankind.)

MARIA FE -- Graphic Artist, Blogger

SOFIA BARAO -- Artist, Designer

CORI KINDRED -- Artist/Blogger/Shoppe Owner

So, if you're willing to share, I'd love to know...what inspires you?

One More!

Book Blog

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

I almost forgot one! This was our first book club's choice. It was so so sad and a bit depressing. During a snow storm a doctor is forced to deliever his first child, a baby boy. He is shocked to discover twins and that the second child (a girl) has developmental problems. With only his nurse as witness, he tells his wife the child is dead and the nurse takes the very much alive child away. The doctor thinks the child doesn't have long to live but the nurse secrets her out of town and raises the child. This act obviously affects many many lives. It has a lot to do with marriage, secrets, love, trust, and forgiveness (and non-forgiveness). It was a great story and written very well but it was very depressing really. I guess I tend to go for lighter books. That's why our second choice was Twilight...nice and light! So this is just a warning: great book but very sad.

Books Galore!

Book Blog

I've been way way behind in book blogging. I think it has to do with the little break between semesters and I tried to cram in as many books as possible. I've probably forgotten a couple but here's some of them:

My Dream of You - Nuala O'Faolain

This was an interesting book about an Irish transplant travel writer in London. The story flip flops between her present life and her reflection on her past. It also flips way back to a story she's researching about an affair between an Irish groom and an English lady during the potato famine years (think mid-eighteen hundreds). I liked this book because it described a reality in Ireland that we sometime as tourists and travelers don't see about a place. It was also amazing to realize the shear amount of people who suffered, died, and immigrated. The book did tend to ramble and I think she could have cut the story down in half but it did really make you get to know the main character.

Atonement - Ian McEwan

I'm guessing you've heard about this one. I think you definitely read this one if you haven't. The writing is supurb and how he draws the reader in is amazing. And it's a pretty short novel by my standards so that was pretty nice too.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

So after My Dream of You and Atonement I needed a pretty easy and light read. Real Librarian suggested book one of a popular teen series called Twilight and I have to say it was a fun read. The story is that a teen moves from big city Southwest to little town Northwest and among other teen angsts, falls in love with a vampire. Mahem ensues. Oh, and look out for a movie coming out this year. Read it for a fun, light, entertaining read. You'll finish the read in a day or two, I promise :)

A Purpose Driven Life - Rick Warren

This was a wonderful devotion that my sister and I did together. I definitely recommend this devotion and only read one chapter a day. Also, do the devotion with someone because it's great to bounce thoughts off one another. It really makes you sit and re-evaluate your life, your commitments, and your priorities. No...it won't tell you what career path to choose :)

What I Want To Wear

swoon worthy dress via Net-A-Porter

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit there are very few instances when I actually need new clothes... (You know "need" them in the truest, dictionary definition sense of the word, not the heart palpitation accompanied, lust-like illusion of need...)

Sure there have been a few moments, such as post-pregnancy, when new clothes were genuinely warranted. (Trust me, there really is a limit on the number of times you can wash a single pair of yoga pants.) But for the most part, for me, clothes purchasing has been of the "want" variety.

Actually it's bigger than simply desire, it's a bit of an obsession really...this sense that there's a perfect outfit out there for every activity/event, one that would impart a sort of transformative effect on the occasion on which I'm wearing it. Mind you, it doesn't matter if there are several perfectly appropriate options already hanging in my closet (ones that no one at said event has ever seen even), no, the perfect outfit has to be new to qualify.

All that said, I have resisted many a new top, dress, etc... over the past 50 days or so, regardless of the occasion. (I haven't fallen off the wagon yet, despite my recent purchase.) So now for the real test. One of my closest friends is having a wedding party in a few weeks at an idyllic park in Austin. They'll be peacocks roaming and a zydeco band playing, and well, doesn't this seem like just the perfect occasion to need a new dress?

But despite the event falling well outside my spending hiatus, I've decided to continue my march toward frugality and wear one of my existing frocks... In fact, I might even take something I already own to the tailor and have it re-worked a bit (Uncle Beefy, consider this my eco-post for the day) for the illusion of newness.

But if I was going to buy something new (and if money were no object, this is fantasy after all), I would like to wear this Matthew Williamson lovely, as I think it would be right at home with those peacocks...

A Twist on Tagging

Photo via The Richard Avedon Foundation

In a refreshing alternative to the usual rules of getting tagged, my friend Kim asked me to open the book I'm currently reading, flip to page 123, read the first five sentences and then post the next three sentences.

I thought this was especially fun, as I always love to see what other people are reading... Here's mine from Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen:

There's a shuffling, and someone shushing someone.
"What is it?" calls August.
"Did Clive feed the cats?"

Photo via saragruen.com

Now I'm to tag five more bloggers... Of course no pressure at all, but I'd love a peek inside the current reading material of Joanna, Jim, Abbey, Kelly and Uncle Beefy.

Three Years

As of February 27th, 2008, this birding blog has been online for 3 years with 629,795 visits from 93 different countries, including Peru, Uruguay, Namibia, Kenya, Mozambique, Bhutan, Kazakhstan and Nepal. The domain "birddigiscoper.com" receives over half a million individual page hits each month. The blog has the #1 Google rank for "birding blog" and #2 Google rank for "birder blog." As of this writing, it organically Google ranks #2 for "digiscoping" just behind www.digiscoped.com. The search keyword "digiscoping" is the #1 way people find this blog. Over a thousand emailed digiscoping questions have been answered.


Visit growth rate over 3 Years

Love Living Places

I love living in different places. I'm so spoiled because it's so much better than traveling and seeing a place for a week. Although there are many many places I'd only like to see for a week but not live. Ok...rambling on...

Here's just a brief synopsis of places I've "lived":

Colorado (birth-6)
Utah (one year)
Nevada (four years)
Colorado (year and a half)
Tennessee (year and a half)
Alaska (four years)
Colorado (five years)
Wales, UK (four months)
Alaska (one year)
Nevada (two years)
New York (going on one year)

Wow...that actually adds up...

Anyway...it's still nice when places I've lived in turn up in the news. It's no Running of the Bulls, but hey...



Ok...so when WE went to the Fur Rendevous in Anchorage just a few years ago it wasn't ANYTHING like this. Arg.

American Idol/Season 7 - I Love Rock n Roll

American Idol/Season 7 - I Love Rock n Roll compilation.

Halloween Punch

Funny halloween prank gone wrong at Capital High School.

The Seven Sutherland Sisters With World's Longest Hair

The Seven Sutherland Sisters of Lockport, New York, were world-famous for their incredible hair, which reportedly had a collective length of 37 feet.

The Sutherland children were all musically inclined and often performed around New York State as the "Sutherland Concert of Seven Sisters and One Brother." In 1881, they performed at the Atlanta Exposition in Georgia. They traveled with "W.W. Coles Colossal Shows" in 1882 and joined "Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth" by 1884.

Sarah Sutherland (1845 - 1919)

Victoria Sutherland (1849 - 1902)

Isabella Sutherland (1852 - 1914)
Grace Sutherland (1854 - 1946)

Naomi Sutherland (1858 - 1893)




Dora "Kitty" Sutherland (1858 - ?)


Mary Sutherland (? - 1939)