country girl fashion

Lately, my dream of living in the country and being, once again, a country girl has resurfaced with a vengeance. I find myself daydreaming at work about my little ranch/farm house, a paint named Gypsy, a lab named Trouble. Baking bread and cinnamon rolls and mashed potatoes. Milking cows. It's scary, I tell you.

And I find myself scouring the Internet and catalogs for "country girl" clothing. Such as:

This adorable prairie skirt from Sundance Catalog (which, by the way, is chuck-full of wonderful finds for the aspiring/returning country girl).

This peasant dress from North Style. I adore this dress, with the small exception of the bodice. Wouldn't it look adorable with a pair of boots or cute jute wedges?

And really, what would any country girl outfit be without the quintessential denim jacket?

what i want

My blonde hair back.

One of each of the treasures above.

To make (and be able to eat) these Apple-Cardamom Cakes.

This light, colorful kitchen.

something's ticking

I'm not much of a "kid" person. I wasn't around kids growing up. I was the youngest, and then the only, child. I didn't babysit a whole lot (we lived out in the boonies so there really wasn't the opportunity to). Don't get me wrong, I think some babies are cute and I adore all of my friend's kids, but I'm not sure kids are for me, ya know.

However, lately I've been hearing a little ticking in my soul. I'm trying hard to ignore it, but it's growing a bit louder. Take last night for example: a good friend of mine is pregnant with her first child. I dropped off cookies and ended up staying a bit. My friend, her husband, and I, sat around for an hour tossing out baby girl names. Hilarious. And the other day our work website had a picture of some one's nephew up and he was so cute it made my ovaries ache. Add the conversation last night with a (guy) friend on what our kid would be like if we had one together, and I've started thinking.

The thought of having a child and losing my independence scares the snot out of me. Yes, I'm selfish. That's just the way it is. And I'm not sure I want to deal with the middle-of-the night feedings, dirty diapers, puke, spit-up, mess, that kids produce. I'm anally clean and that would just drive me nuts. And I'm not sure I want to bring a child into this world of chaos and no respect and no morals... My mother swears that it's different when it's your own child.

But then I hold a baby or see a cute outfit or spend time with a pregnant friend or a friend's cool kids and think that maybe, just maybe, there is some man out there who will inspire me to incubate his devil spawn in my uterus for 9 1/2 months.

I just haven't found him yet.

(I should also add that one of the main thoughts that has crossed my mind in deciding on the CR-V or the Civic is that the CR-V is going to be easier to get a car seat in and out of. Make of that what you will.)

missing the fun

Lately it seems as if my life is full of the "not so fun" stuff: car repairs (blown timing belt with $7,000 damage to the engine), leaky faucets, injured foots, cooking for this extremely restrictive diet I'm on, schoolwork, housework, work-work. Kinda want a break for something truly fun. Disneyland/Cali already seems a distant memory (was it only two weeks ago???) and the diet/injury keep me from doing anything overtly physical (running, hiking, etc.), so I'm left with the normal stuff.

I know that the fun stuff will start to pick up again, but I miss it. :( I miss my crazy group of friends whom I rarely see because we are all so busy. I miss staying out until 4am in the morning. (Eh, maybe not so much.) I miss camping trips and lake trips and Mexico trips.

Luckily, my BFF from high school (HI NIK), whom I adore is going to (maybe) be in town in June. And in July, I'll take my traditional vacation to Wyoming (hopefully with a visit from Nik). Vegas in August is a real possibility (again with Nik), as is a trip to San Diego. Then, in October, I'll be heading to New Orleans for a wedding. PLUS, as soon as I get my new car, Janna and I are going to take a day trip to Jerome.

So the fun is there, it's just a ways away. And I really need something now to keep me going. My solution? I am trying to organize a mini-golf tournament for this weekend. Because I'm a geek and like stuff like mini-golfing.

And because I dislike posting without a photo, that one above is from Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan. Yes, it's old school but I adore the movie. Drew's character is so real and I found myself identifying with her on occasion. Michael looks like an ex-crush/friend/boyfriend and his character in the movie is fantastic! And the ending with the kiss on the baseball diamond is dreamy. Watch it if you haven't seen it.

it's the little things

That house in Corona del Mar I blogged about last week? Still daydreaming about it. And the wreath on the front door.

losing my mind

Easter weekend was NOT kind to me. Saturday, the Beetle stalled while I was driving. I lost brakes and power steering and almost ran into other cars on the road. My nice neighbor (for whom I need to make cookies) helped me get my car back into my garage, but there she still sits, awaiting a call from my mechanic saying he can work Bella in this week. In the meantime, my wonderful friends have loaned me their extra automobile so I didn't have to rent.

Then, as I'm slaving away on my Easter feast, I noticed water dripped from the cabinet under my sink. Yep. Somehow the faucet had sprung a leak and flooded my cabinet. And warped it. My six-month old cabinet.

To add insult to injury, I was missing my ex-boy"friend" so much that I ended up crying myself to sleep. (If I ever get the opportunity to time travel, I'm going back to that fateful day in 2004 when I first saw him walk into my class and my heart dropped and I began to fall for someone I could never, ever have. And for me to use what will probably be my only chance at time travel to change our meeting is major.)

Seriously? Bad weekend. I know things could be much worse, but I'm still stressed and overwhelmed and more than a little cranky. Such is life. We deal with it the best we can and move forward. I'm just not very good at the "dealing" without the "losing my mind."

Falling in love...all over again

For my 29th birthday, Erin and I went to Newport Beach for the weekend. While there, we stumbled upon a little beach community called Corona del Mar. Imagine my surprise and absolute delight when, after almost missing my flight to Orange County Sunday morning, I found myself once again in this charming village. And I fell in love all over again.

My goodness! The ocean, the beach, and the homes. Oh, the homes! I wanted to spend hours walking up and down the streets of Corona del Mar just taking pictures and imagining myself someday living in one of those quaint seaside cottages. CDM just oozes charm. I could easily picture myself on one of the nautical front porches, curled up in a wicker rocker, wearing a maxi dress and a warm sweater, watching the tide roll in on the beach to the west. Family barbeques on the balcony with grilled chicken kabobs and fruit salad. Snuggling up in a window seat and watching a storm roll across the ocean.

When we returned to the hotel in Anaheim, I did a little digging and my fears were confirmed: I will either need to win the lottery or rob a bank in order to purchase one of those lovely homes. But, heck, a girl can dream.

Oh, and check out the house above here. For a cool $4.2M, the place can be yours.