12.29.2008

hey santa, hey santa...

by erin

Dear Santa,
YOU ARE AWESOME.  Thank you for all of the new geek-tastic toys which will provide me with endless entertainment while I am spending the next three or four months trapped in my house due to the City of St. Paul's incompetence at plowing.  Also, and not sure if you are the right one to thank on this, but I will anyway - I am very appreciative of making it to Fargo alive despite every road in Eastern MN being a skating rink.  Again, you're super.
Love,
Erin




I was completely shocked to get this - a new 22" widescreen monitor.  It will help with my two writing classes this spring (blurg) and also to simultaneously check facebook, gofugyourself, the bloggess, and twitter, to watch gossip girl online, and to send email.  YESSS.




my new setup.  holy technology, batman!




new comfy chair to sit in while wasting time in aforementioned ways.




new ipod dock - completely portable with a rechargeable battery!  (bad pic, I know)





and the kitties, just because they're cute.

12.19.2008

old? check. new? check.

by erin

Being a busy bride-to-be/law student, I try to multi-task in everything I do.  So when my mom asked me what I was going to do for my old/new/borrowed/blue at my wedding, I immediately started thinking of ways I could take care of this 'requirement' with as little work as possible (I'm definitely a lazy bride - I prefer, say, sleeping to stressing about out-of-date traditions).  So when I ran across Bel Canto Designs on Etsy, I was thrilled.  Bel Canto restores vintage jewelry to make beautiful, unique pieces that are primarily for bridal-wear.  I think they're so lovely, however, I plan on wearing the one I eventually purchase as often as possible.
So thank you, Bel Canto, for taking care of my old and new.  Now on to that borrowed and blue...




Bel Canto specializes in combs.  This one is really exquisite.







Some darling little hairpins.







A gorgeous necklace.







and a bracelet I MUST HAVE.




You can find these pieces and many more at Bel Canto's Etsy shop.

I don't have a lot of vivid memories from my childhood, which I guess is kind of sad.  But it's also a little strange, because I have these totally random snapshots that have somehow survived in my overstuffed brain until just shy of 25 1/2.  I'm not kidding, I remember totally weird things.  One of them is from when 90210 first aired, before my dad forbade us from watching it (he walked in during the episode when Brenda gave Dylan her v-card, and that was the end of that, never mind that I had zero idea what any of it meant), and Brenda was lamenting moving from Minnesota to Beverly Hills because that meant she had to stay in shape year-round.  Specifically, she talked about how in MN she could cover up the results of her holiday eating with a big, chunky sweater.  Well, Brenda, I feel you.  It is way too cold in winter to do anything but sit on your couch and eat cookies.  So that is why I am thrilled that big, long, grandpa-esque sweaters have come into style this year.  Not to mention that they are really freakin' cute.



I actually have this one...I love layering, so I wear it over a long-sleeved white tee.



Another example of my affinity for layering



I love the blue color on this one, and it is extra-chunky for hiding the evidence of your boozy-eggnog fueled binge.



This would be great for the coldest day...or, you know, any day.



I have a vest similar to this one and I love it.



this shape is very modern, but still so comfortable.

(all photos courtesy of target.com.)

12.06.2008

an apple a day...

by erin

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE MAC.  I love my macbook, I love my ipod, I would commit a felony for an iphone, I could spend hours in my local Apple store just thinking about where to place the imac that I will one day own.    It will be mine, oh yes...it will be mine.

So when Apple revealed its new macbooks a few months back, I died a little inside.  Don't get me wrong, I adore my little white macbook almost as much as I love, say, lip gloss (which is a LOT), but the thought of a spankin' new, shiny silver, made-of-one-piece, glass-trackpad macbook put me into a Mac-induced stupor right in the middle of whatever class I was not paying attention in at that moment.






Seriously...which are you?  This is an important decision, you know.  I am currently the 13".  I one day aspire to be the 17".  DROOL.





I hate to say this (endless apologies, Papa Jobs) but I am not so much a fan of the black screen background with the silver everything else.  I mean, I get the point, I'm just not sure it works out.  Keep working on it, please...I would like this remedied by the time I am able to afford one of these in 2010, or whenever I can convince my parents/fiance/friends/neighbor/cats that IWILLDIEWITHOUTONEOFTHENEWMACBOOKSOMGOMGOMG.





Check out that trackpad.  NO BUTTON.  You can click anywhere.  GENIUS.






Extreme closeup!!
(all photos courtesy of apple.com)




The new macbooks have a lot of great technical innovations and whatnot, I'm sure.  However, I pretty much love the macbooks just for their looks.  Call me shallow.  I am perfectly okay with that.

p.s.  I simply can't post this unabashed Mac love-fest without giving a shout-out to the Apple store in the Barton Springs mall in Austin, Texas.  Despite me being a week and a half outside the warranty from the new parts I got the last time I effed up my computer, they gave me a new keyboard (along with working 'delete' and '4' keys) for FREE on the day after Thanksgiving.  And they did it SUPER NICELY even though there were 389230174014 in their store and it was about as many degrees in there.  Seriously.

p.p.s. if I have not mentioned this yet, I love Mac.  My Christmas list consists of four Apple products and earmuffs.

p.p.p.s. and for those of you paying attention, yes, I did just use two Wayne's World quotes in the same post.  My first post, nonetheless.  Party on!

p.p.p.p.s. okay, now I'm at three.

10.20.2008

i am just one of many...

by erin

...or am i?

let me explain.

I began this blog after looking around and seeing the tremendous lack of inspiration in my life.  I am a law student, and as such, have little time to indulge myself in the things I love - music, photography, words, color, life.  And at the same time, I am continually inspired by the things I see, hear, touch, feel.  I wanted an outlet, but I needed one that would fit into my schedule and budget.  So beauty:design:life was born.

I know there are hundreds upon thousands of blogs such as this out there.  So in that sense, I am one of many.  But in another sense, I am unique.  While I would love for others to see this blog and to share my inspirations in that way, I began this for selfish purposes, and I am perfectly fine with it being a purely selfish venture.  Also, there is no 'purpose' for this blog.  It is not solely a beauty blog, or a wedding blog, or a music blog.  It is, and will remain, an ever-changing entity.  Whatever inspires me on a given day is what will end up in a blog.  I pretty much guarantee that I will have an Apple product one day and mascara the next.  And I am really okay with that.

So, if you are reading this, I hope you enjoy it.  I hope the things that inspire me do the same for you.  And if you ever have a suggestion, please let me know.  I am always looking for the next best thing.