aah, the Northwest...

Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said
This is my own, my native land!

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand!

If such there breathe, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

Sir Walter Scott

You would think the Vancouver Olympics would just make me think of, well- Canada. But watching the opening ceremony last night was like taking a little trip back to the Northwest...the mountains, rain, trees, even the totem poles!....thanks for the memories, B.C.

Hello, Weekend.

An Ode to Google Reader

Remember the days before Google? Going to the library, looking things up in a phone book, actually having to make a phone call? Well, now I think: "Remember the days before Google Reader?" Having to remember the names of the blogs I read and websites I want to look at? Yup, life was pretty rough.

My friend Sarah introduced me to Google Reader...it is basically a place where you can subscribe to all the blogs/ websites you read and it will tell you when they have been updated. (Is is sad that I feel slightly accomplished when there aren't any updates left to read?)

Word to the wise: Google Reader does slightly change the format of the blog- so you can use it as a link straight to the website. Plus it's fun because you can divide things into folders. If you're the kind of person who thinks folders are fun. Which I am.

I'm a fan because I now don't have to remember the URLs for any of the blogs I read. Ahem, I'm not going to tell you how many that is- but here are a few of my current favorites...

*Gg
In case you haven't heard, my mom is creative, wise and just adorable. Her new blog just jumped straight to the top of my list of favorites...

*academichic
The Trinny and Susannah of academia. They're academic! And they dress really well! I'm way too addicted to this one...

*decor8
I typically skim (read: look at the pictures) on this one because she updates.. a lot... but I always am inspired to try new things in decorating my apartment. Love the colours and creative ideas...
*Jane Brocket
She likes colour and England and domesticity. And I like her.
Thanks, Sarah, for the introduction to Google Reader!

bake(d)

Welcome to Bake. This bakery opened in our neighborhood a few months ago, and I now consider myself single-handedly responsible for keeping them in business. Not hard when you can get this...

and this....
for just a few dollars.
The lady who owns the bakery recognizes me now (I think she can spot my keen-ness from a few blocks away).

They don't have a real sign outside yet, because they can't afford the taxes that Chicago charges for "air space" (thank you, Mayor Daley). But it's okay, cause I tell everyone I know about their coconut macaroons, so I think word's getting out.
It took us awhile to figure out why they put Post-It Notes under their coffee cups...but of course it must be for all those genius ideas you come up with over a cup of coffee...or for Saturday morning Target lists...

Every time I'm here, I get new ideas for decorating my apartment....I'm currently trying to find a tree branch to paint silver and hang from my living room ceiling (really.)
Happy Valentine's Day from Bake.
Yum.

not in the same place at all.

"One of the joys of growing older is that life validates what we already know but have been unable to define. As frequently as we may have backtracked to find our way and felt that we were starting over in the same old place, we were, in truth, not in the same place at all. At each juncture of 'beginning again,' we are a little wiser than before, and that modicum of wisdom, learned from experience, makes all the difference. With each step we grow."

-Luci Swindoll

distraction is an obstruction to the construction.

The times they are a-changin'.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin.'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That its namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin.'

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it's ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slower one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.


Bob Dylan, 1963.


"The true wisdom is to be
always seasonable, and to
change with a good grace in
changing circumstances."

Robert Louis Stevenson