one of those books

Confession:

I've never read Pride and Prejudice or any of Jane Austen's novels.

Shocking, I know!

I believe I once started it, but never finished it, and that was years ago. Am I missing out? Have you read and adored it, like most other girls?

I realized this yesterday when I found an amazing thing on etsy that I am considering buying as a bridal shower gift for a friend. No, I won't post the link here, in case she reads this. Sorry :)

Random House has a post about the top 100 best books of all time. It includes their picks and then readers picks. I just counted, and from the Board's list, I've read 14 and from the Reader's List, I've read 21. Yes, I know how horrible that sounds! I love reading, I am constantly reading, usually several books at once! I've certainly documented my great love of libraries here!

Should I make it my new challenge to myself to read all 200 of these books? Or at least the ones that I haven't read?

What "classics" haven't you read? What would you suggest that I add to my reading list?

woo for shoes!

These are the shoes I wore yesterday. I love them!



Those of you in DC, check out the store called Woo at Union Station. They have fabulous shoes, and frequent sales. These may or may not have been purchased with a whopping $29.99 plus tax from my tax refund :)

where in the world is Lexi Sandiego?

Happy Wednesday and time again for Miss Classy's Where in the World Wednesday!

This is me at Disney World! It was last October (2008) and it was my first time there, ever, in my life. Note the 1st visit button that I am proudly sporting!

Some friends of ours were married in nearby Fort Meyers, so Steve and I decided to make a little vacation out of it and spend a few days in Orlando first. We spent a day at Disney World and then another at Epcot, and the third day was between Universal and Animal Kingdom. I wish we'd had more time, but we had to drive down for the wedding. While we were there, Epcot was hosting the International Food and Wine Festival, which was really fun to check out.

While we were there, we also had breakfast at Cinderella's Castle with the Princesses! Also, a friend of mine from home had been married the weekend before, and she and her new husband were honeymooning at Disney, so we saw them, which was nice. Her family is obsessed with Disney...I'm not kidding when I tell you that they've been there dozens of times! They go several times a year, and he proposed there too, right on Main Street, USA!

This photo is from one of those little shops...I loved the crazy hats!




If you want to see a few more photos from that trip, look here. Clearly I really like this crazy hat photo, because it is in that post and it has also been my facebook photo at times!

Where are you this Wednesday?

Iwhat?!

So I just got an iPhone this week and set it up today! Apparently I can blog from here!

What aps can I not live without???


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

makin' eyes

What brand of mascara do you use? Is there one that you swear by and would never use anything else? I'm in need of something new. I have very tiny, seemingly non-existent eye lashes, so I like a good mascara! I'm not a huge makeup wearer, but that is probably the one thing I'd never leave my house without wearing!

I've tried lots of brands, but would love your suggestions of new ones to try :)

Valentine crafts

Since I had this past Monday off, I decided to spend a little quality time with my sewing machine and made two cute potholders and a little pin cushion!

I've been experimenting with potholders, making them in different ways and I am liking these!

I should have taken another photo of the heart potholder, as it is reversible, and the colors on the other side are the same designs, but brown instead of pinks, so they coordinate! Very cute.

The pin cushion was simple, though I've seen other really adorable ones, so I need to play around more with them :)

Anyone want a potholder? :)

where is Lexi this week?

Happy Wednesday!

Once again, it's time for Where in the World Wednesday, hosted by Miss Classy in Philly. The point of WitWW is to post a photo of you somewhere in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical, but just somewhere you've travelled to...it could be in your hometown!



After last week's premiere post for WWW, where I was in Poland, I thought I'd post somewhere a little closer to home. This is me, here in DC, but "in" Luxembourg! I'm standing in front of the Embassy of Luxembourg, so technically, I am on foreign ground ;)

I've actually been to the Embassy several times for various events, and it is gorgeous. I've been inside several embassies, and I think that Luxembourg is my favorite. Maybe I am biased, since I studied in Luxembourg for six months, but I am okay with that :) The last time I was there, for a lecture, I was with a friend and we were enjoying a glass of wine before the event began, when a man walked over to us, began chatting with us, and introduced himself as one of the officials from the Embassy! He offered us a tour, which was amazing.

When I studied in Luxembourg, it was spring 2001 (really? that long ago?!), I didn't have a digital camera, so all of my photos are actual prints that I had developed at the store! Remember when we had to do that?! One of these days, I should scan some. While in Luxembourg, I travelled all around the Duchy, to parts of France and Belgium, including Paris and Brussels (Brussels is AMAZING!). We spent time in Germany (have you ever heard of Mosbach? you're my new best friend if you know where it is!) and I went to both England and Poland, beginning my love affair with Krakow.

Ahhhh, those were the days...

Where are you this Wednesday???

rumbles

Hello lovelies! Hope your Valentines Day was happy and chocolate-filled. Steve took me to a restaurant in Georgetown called Sea Catch, which looks out over the C&O Canal, and, according to its website, is one of Georgetown's best-kept secrets. They had a prix fixe menu (did I spell that right?) and I lived up to my true New England roots by ordering the lobstah for each course! First was a lobstah and corn chowdah, second was a lobstah ceviche and the main was a lobstah thermidor! So, so good! For desert, it was a chocolate mousse cake. Amazing.

Other random tidbits-

• We watched Couples Retreat last night. have you seen it? Cute movie, I thought. It had some funny parts. I feel like it didn't get very good reviews when it came out, but it wasn't terrible!
• Jill over at Peeptoe, Pumps and Pearls is having a lovely giveaway that benefits Scarlett Threads, a business that specializes in "unique products designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia." Go have a look at the site- the aprons are so beautiful!
• I am hoping that my Albanian class will finally begin tomorrow. It was supposed to begin two weeks ago, but the snow canceled class both weeks. I even bought a new notebook! I totally love back to school supplies. I'm really excited about this too, I want to learn Majlinda's language!
• I bought a bottle of Firefly sweet tea vodka on my way home Friday night and mixed it with lemonade. Gosh that stuff is good!
• I really love the song "Where the Green Grass Grows" by Tim McGraw
• Last night was the premiere for The Amazing Race. This is one of my favorite shows. Miss South Carolina, a la the Iraq, is a contestant this time. I think my early favorites are the grandmother/granddaughter, the father (baseball coach)/daughter and the lesbian couple. Are you watching?
• I ordered an iphone on Friday! I used most of my tax refund to pay bills, so I treated myself to an iphone! Hurray! I've needed a new phone for a while, as mine is three years old (!!!) and really needed to be replaced. Do you have one? What apps are a must-have?
• I am so depressed because I found out that one of my favorite restaurants in the world closed down over the weekend. It is a family favorite, and I am sad, because I never got a chance to take Steve there! It's in NH, and every time we were home, there just never seemed to be time, though I had mentioned it several times to him.
• I'm thinking about hosting a giveaway soon. I enjoy them. Also, I know I mentioned this before, but I am still thinking of organizing a swap. Still want to play?
• I came across at etsy shop (via twitter) that sells the most lovely dresses for weddings. Isn't this lovely? I think it is ideally a bridesmaid dress, but maybe I can wear it to one (or all!) of the six weddings that I have this year? I think I adore it.

What's new with you?

happy Saturday!

Yesterday on my way home from work, I stopped and bought myself some flowers from the man with the flower stand outside my building. I walk by him every day and always think that I should stop, and finally my co-worker and I decided to stop and treat ourselves!

I love having fresh flowers in my apartment; they smell so pretty and make things much more bright and cheerful, wouldn't you agree?

Here they are, in my little kitchen-


They are sitting on my little kitchen cart, next to the fridge, along with my toaster, a spider plant, some cookbooks and other things. Oh, that huge note pad? My grocery list! What looks like a huge salt shaker? It's a vanilla candle! Two bottles of wine- a sweet desert wine and a chocolate wine from Steve's parents. The blue vase behind the flowers is filled to the brim with wine corks! Lots of photos and postcards and such decorating the side of the fridge too! If you look closely, on the top left, you can see a photo of a little girl in a pink tutu- that is Majlinda, my Albanian baby, standing in front of the kitchen table that I helped their family to buy!


Just a close up view of the flowers...



Maybe I should post more photos of my little kitchen? As small as it is, I really do love it. It may be small and not have much room to work with, it's really adorable.

What does your kitchen look like?

hello little birdie!

As you may have heard, DC was hit with a whopper of a snowstorm this week. We have somewhere in the vicinity of two feet, and supposedly more on the way on Monday. The federal government was closed much of the week, so I had a few unexpected snow days!

I was mostly at Steve's, and was watching a few episodes of Law and Order: SVU and I noticed a gorgeous red cardinal on a branch outside the window. I thought of my parents, as they both like seeing birds outside their windows. I wouldn't call them bird watchers, but they do have a few cute bird houses and can recognize many different kinds of birds. So then I told Steve that I want a bird house for the lawn, and of course, turned to etsy!

I obviously need this one-




and this-





And isn't this cute?

Do you like bird houses? Does anything decorate your yard?

question du jour

You know those organizations that collect old prom/bridesmaid dresses and donate them to local high school students in need? Are you familiar with any in the DC area? I have several dresses that I'd like to donate, since I won't be wearing them again and maybe some of them would be of use to someone!

Oh yeah, and I can send the matching shoes too!

What have you done with your old prom and bridesmaid dresses? Are they still lurking in the back of your closet?

where in the world is Lexi?

So after reading everyone's posts, I've decided to participate in Where in the World Wednesday, hosted by Miss Classy in Philadelphia. I've been thinking about it for a while, but always forgot until it seemed like it was too late, but here I am!

This is me in Zakopane, Poland, which is a resort town on the Polish-Slovak border. When I lived in Krakow, we went there several times, as it was only about two hours away and such a neat place. I really adore it. It lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains and is a ski resort town. They've hosted several ski championships in past years too!

There are two streets that intersect and all along those streets are amazing restaurants and booths selling all sorts of wonderfulness. People sell handmade wooden toys, knit sweaters, blankets made of sheepskin and wool, mittens and hats, slippers and everything else you can think of.

Including puppies!!!


These puppies are called owczarek podhalanski, or Tatra Mountain sheepdogs. They are the most adorable and wonderful dogs you've ever seen, and as you can see, I totally fell in love with this little guy! Also, they are huge. In that photo, the puppy I am holding was about six weeks old! They grow up to be larger than St. Bernards! I want one in the worst way. In a perfect world, I'd have an owczarek and a corgi :)

I remember the first time I saw them- there was a group of teenage boys selling these puppies. They had a few of them in boxes and you could hold them. In my not so great Polish, I asked the cost. I almost died when the boy told me that he was only $75! If I were to find one here, they'd probably be a few thousand dollars, as they are a very rare breed in North America. Of course, if I were Polish, and not a "rich American," I could bargain, but as soon as they hear my accent, it's all over! On another occasion, a Polish friend's sister bargained one of the boys down to around $25! (of course, these puppies are technically too young to leave their mother, and don't have the proper papers to come into the U.S., but that's a whole other story!)

So one of the days, one of these Polish puppies will be mine :) Yes, Steve is aware of my obsession with them!

Did you ever fall in love with anything crazy while abroad?

baby quilt!

I finished my first baby quilt the other night! I love it! I know the quality of the photo isn't ideal, as it was taken from my camera phone, but the colors are so much fun, I really adore them. It's all pinks and greens, for the most part.

The corners need some work...they are far from perfect, but I am pleased with it!



It measures about 26" by 32" and still needs to be quilted, but so far, so good.

I have an idea for its destination, but I need to make a few more before I send it on its way....

fun stuff

Jackie over at Always a Northerner is having a fabulous giveaway featuring Le Creuset! Go check it out and maybe you will win. If you do, make me dinner? Okay thanks.

Also, Mandy, would you please send me your mailing address? I need to send you a few litle goodies that I mentioned last week :)

I like doing giveaways. I think I may do another soon. I'm also still thinking of hosting the baking swap I mentioned a while ago. You're all still interested, right? :)

A lot of people have those "30 before 30" lists. Since I am now 30, maybe I should make a 35 before 35 list? What would you include on your list?

snowy city

I woke up to this outside my window this morning:

Pretty, yes, but I was hoping for a snow day! No such luck, I'm at work :(

I did hear that we may get a foot of snow on Saturday!

I need to invest in some new boots. The ones I have are not that great. Any recommendations?

the dreamy dress is mine!

Remember this post, where I professed my love for the dress of my dreams? I was unsure as to if I should spend the $128 on its Anthropologie tag, but then decided to, thinking how much I loved it and knew I'd wear it to many events.

Imagine my dismay when I discover that it is sold out in stores and online.

BOOOOOO!!!

I was a bit sad, but hey, what can you do...

You can go to ebay of course! So I searched for it on ebay, didn't see it, but added it to my "watch list" so that whenever someone listed something matching the description, I'd get an email letting me know. From time to time, I got such an email, though usually it was the other color (it also came in a cream color) or the wrong size. Then, right before Christmas, I got an email saying that my size and my color was listed!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I watched it and watched it, not bidding until the end. Then I realized that the sale ended when I was in Iowa. When I say that I was in Iowa, I mean that I was literally flying over Iowa! So, I asked one of my best girls if she'd bid for me, which she did, and she WON!!!!

HURRAH!!!!

Oh, and I won for only $81 shipped!!!

She mailed it to me last week and it arrived yesterday and I am IN LOVE.

I have four weddings this year, and I am pretty sure I'll be wearing it to each of them, including bridal showers!

Are you going to any weddings this year? Can I come as your date and wear my pretty dress? :)