Today I may or may not have googled "pug puppies"

...and then emailed them to my pug-loving boyfriend. May or may not.

P.S. An addition to my list below: 8. Root beer float tonight. Mmmm.

Things I'm excited about...

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte coming my way tomorrow morning.
2. Leaving early to purchase said latte thereby avoiding being smashed on the bus with eighty other people. (No, seriously.)
3. Rain this weekend. How good does getting cozy with some blankets and a book on the couch sound?
4. Tomorrow is Fri-i-day.
5. I'm designing two book covers right now.
6. I'm currently reading this month's The Atlantic and The Last Stand by my favity fave Nathaniel Philbrick. (Which makes me feel intelligent which in turn makes me feel good about myself. Ha.)
7. Hawaii Five-O and Glee premiere next week. Cheehee!

The Zorse

I spotted (striped?) this Zorse (half horse, half zebra) in the NYT today. Whaat?! Are you sure it's not just photoshop?

Sighh...

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that my dear co-worker and friend Amy got a fantastic new job. The bad news is that she's leaving me! Today is her last day and since she is a faithful reader of my blog I decided to give her a shout-out here.

Dear Amy,

Today is your last day here and I am reflecting on what my life will be like post-coworker-amy. After today I am going to have to make my own Jimmy John's account and build my own "favorite order" for gourmet sandwiches. Not to mention brave the strange JJ delivery guy who makes me so uncomfortable I lose my ability to tip correctly. I am going to have to find my own interesting articles, pictures, and stories to distract myself with during the day. I am going to have no idea what's going on in baseball. My lunch hours will be just me and my books. Who will I stop by and visit and catch up on the latest news with?? And who will explain to me how this place works and who all these people are?

Amy, I will miss you terribly! But I'm so excited for your new job. And I'm glad you'll still be in Chicago so we can be real friends. So goodbye (but not really) and GOOD LUCK (definitely)!

Love,
Ashley xoxo

I love this notebook

I love this notebook. Granted, I love pretty much any notebook. (As evidenced by numerous less than half filled journals from my twenty three years of life.) This baby is particularly well designed though. Bikes! Yellow and grey! Letterpressed! Christmas present anyone?!

Scenes from a three day weekend

Oh the joys of three blissful days off. Here's how I commemorated this weekend...

Susie Homemaker. Okay, maybe not quite to the Susie level yet, but I baked delicious cookies (it's not just me! other people said they were delicious, too!), baked an egg in a tomato thingie, and made smoothies for the roomies after a long bike ride.



I ate sushi with Paige and Kate while sitting in these gorgeous chairs. I am in love with the whole decor of this place from the white chairs to the gray and teal walls to the wooden finish. Gorge. Ous.


We had some beautiful weather in Chi-town the last few days. The air was crisp and the sky was clear and the lake was blue. Delightful. (I got a little distracted by how pretty the lake was during my aforementioned bike ride. Everyone survived though. Don't worry.)


Remember Dinkel's Bakery? I was hanging out with my friend Kimmy at her new apartment and she suggested we stop by to grab some of their cookies for our church potluck. Omigosh. I can't wait to go back.


Ashley ran TEN MILES today in preparation for her half marathon and so we celebrated by eating at Ann Sather. Their cinnamon rolls are to die for. We enjoyed them immensely.


I painted my nails teal last night. They make me happy.


And so, those are some of my scenes. This photo tour did not include the movies watched, walls of Dave's bedroom prepped for painting, nor church parties attended. You'll just have to trust me that those were great fun, too.

Las Vegas Weekend!

Last weekend we had a family vacation to Las Vegas to watch my dad play some softball! His team flies out once a year to play in a tournament with teams from all over the country. This year, the whole family joined in as a birthday gift. So Mom and Dad flew out from Hawaii, David and Holly drove over from San Diego, and Dave and I flew in from Chicago. It was pretty epic.


Also very hot. Very, very hot. 100-110 degree hot. I suppose it is the desert. I'd also like to say that I was pretty surprised at the beauty of the scenery. My expectations were... low. It was gorgeous. So nice to see some mountains.



Dad's team got second place! I got a tan. We only lost $8 to the great state of Nevada. Our condo was AWE. SOME. (Read here: waterfall shower, jacuzzi tub, and flat screen TVs in every room awesome.) Dave had his first In-N-Out and BJs dining experiences. Played cards, took naps, watched baseball, walked the strip, ate snacks, played in the pool, had handstand contests, etc. etc.



To sum it all up: had fun. FUN!



I'm already planning the next vacation for California in 5 weeks. Yahoo!