bathing beautiful

Who's ready for summer?

Hahahaha, just kidding.

Only models in warm studios are ready for summer.

Like this girl:

And this girl:

Here's a bathing suit from a brand so expensive, they don't even list prices on their site. They just show their "collection" and then you're supposed to live somewhere fancy people live if you want to buy it. Where's the "online shopping" option? It's like they're saying, "if you were rich enough to afford this, you'd know how to buy it." Well, I don't know. And I'm not buying it. Sorry, fancy French boutique - you just lost my business (I don't think they'll mind):

Oooh but it's so pretty.

Of course, j. crew always has nice suits for classy ladies:

Do I like the suit, or do I just like this photo? Suit, or photo... suit or photo... can't decide. Maybe I don't want this girl's swimsuit at all. Maybe I just want her hair and her camera filter. Who even knows anymore:

I like this one - shimmery things just make me feel like I'm in the sun:

Thirty minutes of looking at bathing suits later... and it's still cold here.

Come quickly, summer!

home is wherever i'm with you...

I know this is kind of ancient in internet years, but I still love it:

Jesus was a carpenter... I decorated my house...

Yeah, I tried to tie this post together in the title, but I'm writing about two totally different things. Face the facts, Lauren: you're writing about Christ's resurrection and the seat cushions you bought at World Market. Stop trying to come up with a witty title.

So, yeah, where to start? Jesus? Seat cushions?

Jesus.

Although the past week of weather has been royally horrible, after last night's Good Friday service, I found some sort of joy in it. As any Chicagolandian (right?) will tell you, the past week of weather was so crappy - cold, rainy, and far too wintery for mid-April. And yet, we can't really complain, because we've chosen to live in this place.

But today is amazingly beautiful - sunny and warm.

And as we're in the midst of Easter weekend, I know we're supposed to really take each part of the season seriously. Leading up to Christ's crucifixion, we're supposed to mourn him - to be humbled and saddened by the seriousness of what happened.

And when He is risen, we're supposed to take seriously the supreme joy and life-giving-ness of this event. To be amazed and totally content and joyful at what has been done so that we may live.

But I guess I normally don't feel that way during Easter season. I know I should, but since I know He defeats death and we are saved because of Him, I sometimes hard it find to truly mourn in the days leading up to Sunday.

But I think this dramatic shift in weather this week has been an interesting metaphor for this season... I don't know, maybe that's a little hippie-ish of me (but hey, I AM going to San Francisco next week), but I've been moved - spiritually - through this week. And I credit the rain for that. And maybe that's not the most spiritually sophisticated way of looking at it, but if we believe that God created everything, I don't think it's a stretch to find these meanings in all of his creation.

I'm also quite happy this week because I'm currently on DAY 2 OF 10 OF MY VACATION! I can hardly even wrap my head around how long of a time that is. I feel like I'm in college again.

So far, vacation has been very productive around the house. I cleaned the study, cleaned most of the kitchen, and made granola.

I was also fairly productive last weekend, cleaning our breakfast nook and finally decorating that area. You'll remember that my dad made Dave and I a table and some benches for our nook area, so that we could have a place to eat dinner that's not the couch. Last weekend, I painted the benches and spruced up the rest of the area.

Here's the result:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The lighting in the nook is... less than ideal (can my landlord read this?), so the pictures aren't that great, but it will give you an idea of what I did.

I used "honey lemon" paint on the benches, and then bought some bright seat cushions from World Market. The candlesticks are from Anthropologie, and then candles are from Yankee Candle. Dave was slightly terrified when I walked in the door with a bag from Anthro, but I was like, "Don't freak out yet. They were 80% off." And I successfully went in and out of this store without so much as trying this on, so I'd say I deserve a pat on the back. I also successfully went to Yankee without caving on the clerk's request that I: make sure I smell the new Pink Sands candle, buy any two candles ("they're buy one, get one half off!"), be added to the mailing list, give them my email address AND my phone number, come look at the cute new candle holders, or buy a car scent. Not kidding. I wanted to tell that woman to "SUMMA DONNA. The more you talk, the more you make me NOT want to take you up on any of your offers." I even went so far as telling her my husband doesn't allow me to pick out scented candles because he has very specific tastes (only half lying...), but she was NOT deterred. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: Anthro and World Market - great customer service. Yankee Candle - you're making me rethink me love of "Mistletoe" and "Sage and Citrus."

So anyway, here we go - the results of my craft-time:

It's 4 a.m., I must be something

Of course I fell asleep last night at 8:30 and then woke up at 3:30 and have been doing "really important things" on the internet for the past hour. And by that, I mean cycling through gmail, reader, gawker, jezebel, facebook, and people for the past hour. I'm not proud of my people.com addiction. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm proud of my addiction to any of the aforementioned websites, but in particular, I'm really not proud of my people.com problem. You think I like opening up the web browser and seeing people.com listed as one of my most frequently visited websites? Dave and I both use this computer, and we all know that he does not visit people.com, so the fact that it's listed in the top 8 is really just completely on me.

Sometimes I just like to find out who wore it best. I don't know. Is that so wrong?

But I will have you know that I also researched our budget deficit extensively, so it's not all looking at papparazzi photos of Scarlett Johnasson to see if she looks pregnant. It's mostly that, but it's not totally that.

Update: not pregnant. She just had a big dinner.

Anyway, this discussion has contributed nothing to your life. I'm sorry. Let me complete redeem your time by suggesting you watch this video. Laura and I went to see The Civil Wars on Monday night and it. was. amazing. I went into the show with moderate expectations, like I hope I don't hate the next two hours of my life, but I also doesn't expect to completely love it. I find this to be a helpful attitude when going to concerts of artists I'm not too familiar with, because I'm almost never disappointed. Maybe that's overly cynical of me, but whatever. But anyway, yes, it was phenomenal. Their voices are beautiful, their chemistry is amazing, and I am officially a big fan now.

feelin' balmy

Last weekend I met up with my amazing BFF in downtown Chicago. We were standing outside talking, and all of the sudden she pulls out this weird egg-looking contraption, unscrews it, and starts glossing her lips with it. I was like, whhhhhhat is that? Sorry we were just having a deep conversation about serious issues in our lives, but ummm what is that thing and why have I never seen it?

It's the eos lip balm sphere, and because new, interesting packaging can literally sell anything (egg shapes are SO in this season, apparently), I was sold.

How cute is that? I love it. And because of its shape, I naturally imagine it has about 5 times as much balm as your typical stick, so it's a great deal, right? I may be overestimating. Actually, the BEST deal is just buying a container of vaseline for $1.99 that provides chapped lip care for 6 years and counting. Not that I would know. But, I mean, it's possible that I still use a container of vaseline that I bought my sophomore year of college. Whatever. It still works. And Yahoo! Answers has confirmed that vaseline doesn't expire. And we all know how reliable Yahoo! Answers is.

Anyway, back to the chap-egg. I bought the honeysuckle honeydew flavor, but they also have summer fruit, lemon drop, medicated tangerine (I'm not clear on why chap stick would ever need to be medicated, but the tangerine flavor sounds nice), and sweet mint. And they all come in different colors. You could totally buy 12 of these and put them in a spray-painted egg carton and give it to someone as an Easter basket. Can't you just imagine Martha Stewart doing that while she's whittling pieces of chocolate into miniature Easter bunnies for all her brunch guests?

I always wonder how Martha Stewart got so rich and famous off her craft ideas. Maybe "always" is too strong a word. I guess I only think about it when I think about her. But seriously, have you ever gone to someone's house for a holiday dinner and seen any of the crazy things she tells people to make? Like, I've never gone to an Easter dinner where there's a hand-woven basket full of crepe-paper carrots as the table centerpiece. It's like how Dancing with the Stars is the most popular show on TV, and yet, I don't know anyone who watches it. Who are those people out there watching Dancing with the Stars and making birds nests out of yarn and glitter? They're making Martha Stewart and Tom Bergeron very rich.

I should start a craft blog that only uses trinkets you can find at the checkout aisle of Walgreen's. It'll be like Martha Stewart for non-crafty, middle-class people.

Live from the Genesee Theater...

Waukegan, Illinois.

Not really a place I ever thought I'd go for a fun night out, but last night, that's exactly where we ventured.

Dave and I went to see David Sedaris at the Genessee Theater, which is a surprisingly beautiful theater in the middle of a... not very nice-looking town. Sorry, Waukegan. But, you know what I mean.

Anyway, I had never really been to an event quite like this, so I didn't know what to expect. I certainly did not expect us to be the youngest people in the theater by 30 years. I mean, young people like him, right? I was a little confused, but I always kind of enjoy when I'm one of the youngest people at an event like that, because it makes me feel like I have mature tastes. And it balances out the more juvenile forms of entertainment I enjoy, like the book I currently have on my nightstand. Am I 8 or 50?

So anyway, I thoroughly enjoy Sedaris; he is probably my favorite, funny, non-blogging writer. My love of funny bloggers opens up a whole new group of people I'm obsessed with, so let's just stick with "non-blogging" for now.

I could write about all of the funny stuff he read last night, but it wouldn't be funny coming from me, so I just suggest you read some of his stuff. That's the best review I can give.

He did share a couple of hilarious jokes, though, that I remember fully. Apparently, he likes when people share new jokes with him at book signings, and likes to pass them on during his speaking engagements. A couple of them were too dirty to re-type (but hilarious), but my favorite that he shared was:

What does a vegan zombie eat?

GRAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS!

orange you glad it's almost summer?

First of all, can we all acknowledge that the title of this post was not only something that came to my mind, but also something I chose to leave in that little box, that I could've easily erased and replaced with something else? I mean, I could erase it, but then you wouldn't truly get a feel for the hilarious jokes that run through my mind.

Anyway, news flash! People of Chicago and surrounding suburbs:

Please note that there is a new, well-priced, stylish store in the area that is not H&M. It's called Zara, and it's on Michigan Avenue right by Crate & Barrel and Ann Taylor and all of those kinds of stores.

I discovered it while in Barcelona, and because things that exist there couldn't possibly exist anywhere else, I assumed the Zara brand was confined to Spain. So I was quite excited (and slightly surprised that I'd underestimated globalized, mass-produced fashion) to find a brand new Zara in downtown Chicago this weekend.

It's probably for the best that it's a 45-minute train ride and 30-minute walk away...

I bought this fun number that just screams SUMMER to me. Hopefully summer will actually come quickly this year so I can wear it, but until then, it will wait in my closet. Don't worry, little Zara dress. I know you're new to Chicago, but I promise, it gets warm at some point.

maps (they don't love you like I love you)

For some reason, I have so much trouble waking up at 6:30 on weekdays, but on Saturdays, I'm totally wide-awake at 6 a.m. Is it because I fall asleep around 9 on Friday nights? I live a wild life, what can I say.

Right after Dave and I got married, I thought he might find it endearing that I wanted to wake up early and drink coffee and enjoy the early morning.

One person's "endearing" is another person's "annoying," apparently, so here I am typing away in our front room while he sleeps, like a normal adult human.

Lent sidenote: I haven't had caffeine since Lent began, and I've even been trying to stay away from decaf drinks, but this morning I really wanted some coffee so I made some decaf. And I must say, after a month-long coffee-making hiatus, I made some darn good joe! Sweet, sweet coffee...

Annnnd I totally sidenoted about my coffee obsession. Is that what addicts do?

So anyway, one of my favorite blogs is http://www.designspongeonline.com/. They are so creative, and always post about really interesting/beautiful things. And they do a lot of design-related before-and-afters, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for before-and-after features. I'm like, wow! there are actually people in this world who go to flea markets and buy ugly furniture for $10 and fix it up into something amazing. Here's one of my favorite examples.

I mean, I bought a $2 ugly lampshade from the sale-bin at IKEA about 3 months ago in hopes of fixing it up, and where is it right now? Still in its cellophane wrap, in the backseat of my car.

But anyway. Design*Sponge. It's this great website that both inspires me with its creativity and beauty, and makes me feel bad about not being as crafty as they are.

Yesterday they posted about a new book called Maps, so of course I immediately loved it.

There's a giveaway in the comments section, and since I love both free things and comment sections of online articles, I was drawn in right away. All I had to do was post a link to one of my favorite maps, and I now have approximately a 1 in 7,000 chance of winning this book. Apparently I am not the only person who likes maps and free things. Fingers crossed!

The map I shared was this beauty. I have no clue how accurate it is, but "accuracy" and "making sense" are two things not at all embodied by LOST, so I'm fine with it.

While perusing the comments section, as I so love to do, I came across a lot of other fun and interesting maps. Maybe I spent an entire hour looking at them this morning. And maybe I did.

Here's a selection of my favorites:

Literary San Francisco. I love this one, and not just because I'm going there later this month (woohoo!). The concept, colors, and quotes are all wonderful.

OK, I'm a sucker for a good human interest story, so this is definitely my favorite. A graphic designer in New York made it for her nephew's subway-themed birthday party; it's a Subway map of all his favorite places in NY, including his relatives' homes, Mets stadium, and the museum. I love everything about this.

Hand-cut London. The most interesting thing to me is that this map is only $60, because apparently each one is hand cut and I just don't understand how you end up making any money off that. Oh well... I'm not here to judge. Except on the basis of beauty, and so, here's a beautiful map.

A map on a baby blanket. I love it. It seems like there are easier ways to introduce a child to his or her city than painstakingly quilting every single street, but hey, some kids are visual learners. I love the idea of this.

California. I don't know why but I LOVE this. The colors, the clean lines, the framing, the placement in the home. It's beautiful.

The United Countries of Baseball. Although, I'm not sure how accurate this is, because I live in the supposed White Sox territory, and I only know like 2 Sox fans. But still, I like this map and, in honor of opening day, I thought it was a fitting addition to the list.