dear december

you are my favorite month of the year, there are just so many things about you that make me happy.

... snow, peppermint, hot chocolate, sledding, quilts, candy canes, christmas, stockings, thick socks, mittens, scarves, blizzards, snowy movie days, white, red, green, twinkle lights, candles, snowflakes, penguins, building snowmen, holiday spirit, wrapping presents, snowball fights, bing crosby, the bishop's wife ...

... to name a few...

Happy December!

{image via weheartit}

little notes

dear madison girls,

i'm so glad i got to spend the weekend with you. i miss you all so much.

dear snow,

i'm ready. you can come any time you want.

to my three year old friends,

turkey is not "disgusting," it is delicious. you will learn this someday.

dear trivial pursuit,

i love spending nights with you. you know just how to make them better.

dear library,

thank you for carrying such an expansive array of Christmas cds and dvds. you put me in the holiday spirit.

dear starbucks barista,

yes, when i ask for a mocha i would like espresso in it. please remember next time, thanks.

{image via we heart it}

this weekend

i was lucky enough to spend this weekend with some of my best friends from college. it's so hard to get together now that we're all in different places in our lives: grad school in D.C., med school in Chicago, med school in Memphis, working in Phoenix, Madison and Milwaukee... but this time it happened to work out great!

we sipped wine over a fabulous Italian dinner, watched disney movies and stayed up late talking about everything, ate a delicious breakfast at the green lantern {a restaurant on the lake, not a gay bar in DC :)}, met for coffee and more long conversation with friends {and had the best tomato bisque soup i've ever had} and even did a little shopping.

GREAT weekend with AMAZING friends!

i'm just sad that one friend flew in all the way from South Carolina and i didn't get to see him. it all can't work out so well, i guess.

thanksgiving pleasures

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays {right after Christmas and July 4th}. I love any excuse to get family together, eat good food and just relax.

... family, turkey, stuffing, board games, apple cider, cinnamon, packer football, vacation days, pumpkin pie, macy's thanksgiving day parade, miracle on 34th street ...

... to name a few ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

{image via weheartit}

new moon

I jumped on the Twilight train a little late. So late that I didn't have to wait at all for a book release but instead read through all four in a couple weeks. {I have no patience so this worked out perfectly.}

It was tough waiting for the movies though. I was really excited for the New Moon release... until about a month ago. That's when the hype, anticipation and obsession just became a little too overwhelming. I don't want to choose 'Team Jacob' or 'Team Edward.' I don't want to be bombarded with advertisements, talk-show appearances and mentions every time I turn on the TV or flip open my computer. It's just too much; makes me lose interest.

A month ago I was really excited to see New Moon. Now, I think I may wait until it hits video stores.

{I also find both of the main characters to be slightly annoying.}

happy thoughts

I've been having a pretty rough day so instead of being gloomy, I decided to make a list of things that make me happy.

1. christmas music

2. pumpkin spice lattes

3. white wine

4. supernatural

5. fall colors

6. scarves

7. my cuddly cat

8. trivia

9. miracle on 34th street

10. autobiographies

{photo via flickr}

christmas wish list

It's about that time of the year. Time to figure out your wish list for Santa.

You'd think this would be easy, but it's not at all, at least not for me. It can be a long, tortured process of lists, evaluations, second guesses and eliminations. I know, this sounds way too serious, but I always want something until I write it down. Then, it never seems as necessary.

My list this year? Gilmore Girls and How I Met Your Mother seasons, the original Star Trek movies, Blackhawks tickets, good wine, a pair of fabulous knee-high boots from ALDO and the Decemberists, Arctic Monkeys, Norah Jones and Ramones CDs and lots of clothes, of course. For now.

{photo via}

happy weekend

I can't believe it's Friday already! I'm so ready for the weekend though.

Tonight I'm going to the Comedy Club with a big group of friends. I haven't been there since college when we used to go every few weeks. Then, on Saturday, we're all heading to a Badger bar in Madison {as if there were any other kind around} to watch our boys take on rival Michigan University. {Boy do I hate those Wolverines.}

Also planned: starting my Christmas shopping, brunch with family, watching the Packer-Cowboy game, coffee with a few girlfriends and a little reading {outside I hope}.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

{photo via tumblr}

moody colors

I think it's so interesting how you can change the entire mood of a photograph just by altering the colors. I was playing with a few of mine earlier {I think the second photo looks pretty creepy}:

battle studies

John Mayer is set to release his latest album, Battle Studies, later this month. His seductive, smooth voice combined with those mad guitar skills, it's bound to be great. I think I may pre-order it. His albums just keep getting better {with the exception of a few songs on the Continuum album}. I wish I could watch him just play around with his guitar- I'm positive he's much better than he gets a chance to be on his songs.

{I'm also really excited about the duet with Taylor Swift.}

{via johnmayer.com}