my fair lady

happy 80th birthday, audrey!

a derby-day award

thanks a million to the lovely bellamartinelli over at classic girl in pearls for this awesome award! okay, here are the rules of the neno's award ... Here are the rules: Post the award, mention the award-giver, tag and distribute to anyone you want and of course, don't forget to tell them! Lastly, answer this: Why do you love blogging?

hmm ... why do i love blogging? it's a great way to share some of the fun parts of my life with equally fun people. i love hearing about the daily lives of such fascinating and interesting women! you're all a huge inspiration to me. :)

so, let's see, i need to tag a couple of ladies. how about the lovely kHM at queenbeeswain and the always awesome beantown prepster!

and now ... back to preparing for my big afternoon of paper-grading and derby-watching. i love derby day! :)

a few more of my favorite things...

tag, i'm it! the lovely chloe over at cardigans and clogs tagged me to fill out this fun little questionnaire:

1. Respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag other un-tagged people.

The Questions:

What is your current obsession? watching bbc film adaptations of classic novels and finding the perfect pair of summer flip-flops.

What do you think your name says about you? i am a child of the 1980s, for sure.
Who was the last person you hugged? one of my best friends, who had a very tough week.

What’s your favorite dinner? a big, messy homemade taco dinner, with fresh fruit on the side.

What was the last thing you bought? the swimsuit i blogged about below! :)

What are you listening to right now? my washing machine chugging along and dhani jones on the travel channel.

What is your favorite weather? slightly overcast, 75 degrees.
What is your least favorite season? winter. ugh.

What's in your bathroom cabinet? along with the usual stuff, lately allergy medicine for sure, and this new smoothing creme stuff i bought for my hair.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you. hi, chloe! that cupcake picture you posted last week made me hungry all day! :)

What is your favorite tea flavor? i'm sort of a pariah in my family, because i don't like tea (for shame!).

What did you want to become as a child? a famous writer...

What do you miss? seeing my family on a weekly basis.

What's your favorite brand of jeans? it's hard to beat a perfectly worn-in pair of old-fashioned levis.

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)? a birkin bag, just so people would bug out when i carried it places.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? either london (sigh) or my hometown.

Who do you want to meet in person? my two celebrity crushes: henry cavill and jim from the office (or maybe not ... i might embarass myself!) ;)

What is your most challenging goal right now? finishing up this pesky PhD! (yeah, the "preppy prof" nom de plume isn't quite official yet...)

Why is today special? because i got to sleep in -- no alarm saturdays are the best!
What is my favorite sport to watch? baseball, but really only in person. i don't have the attention span to watch a whole game on tv.
To play? hm. i'm really more of a spectator. :)
What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own? the birthstone ring my parents gave me.
Dream car? right now, with my tight budget, a hybrid with amazing gas mileage! :)

...and my replacement question: what is the last movie you saw? for me, that would be australia with the delicious and hunky hugh jackman!

i tag two of my new bloggy pals, the cape house and the prep-e girl. have at it, ladies! :)

swimwear success!

old navy comes through again! even though i didn't find this in time to wear it on my recent beach excursion, i'll have it for the summer. so cute! no halter, and the matching bottoms are the same hot pink color, very plain. i think it was meant to be... :)

five reasons to smile today

beantown prepster has inspired me today ... here's a list of the five highlights of my tuesday. :)

1. i had a super productive day at the office -- i got some important reading done, graded every paper i had with me in my bag, and finished a project ahead of the deadline. and i even had time to say hello to some of my awesome colleagues!

2. i managed to buy groceries for the rest of the week for a whopping fifteen bucks. project "save for the summer" is going swimmingly!

3. i wore a pashmina to work that i bought at a market in florence (the same one in the pic!) during my semester abroad in college, and i got to remember that fabulous trip every time i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

4. i made more plans for the beach weekend with the fam over the phone -- so excited! i've decided that i'm going to get my hair chopped off while i'm there so the preppy sis can give me her expert follicular opinions at the salon. :)

5. i'm heading up now to hop into my cute pajamas, have a snack, and curl up in my comfy bed. does it get any better than that? ;)

it's that time of year again...

...time to suck it up and start seriously hunting for some new swimwear!

i'm heading out on a bit of a beach holiday next weekend, and i'm in dire need of some new swimwear. i have one major issue with buying swimsuits: i hate, hate, hate halter-style suits! something about the way they pull on the back of my neck really bugs. and, of course, that's all that seems to be in stores anymore, so i've had to do some major searching to find something that would be comfier.

i fell in love with the above suit (green and navy rugby stripes on a tankini! sign me up!), but of course, it's completely sold out at l.l. bean in my size. c'est la vie ... time to keep looking!

a few of my favorite things...

the lovely beantown prepster has tagged me for the kreativ blogger award! thanks, bp! :)

so, i'm supposed to list seven things that i love and then tag seven more bloggers to do the same. here goes...

1. books! this should shock no one, because i'm an english teacher, but nearly all my splurge purchases end up being books or something book-related (and, well, shoes, but that's another story). i have four completely full bookshelves in my house and more stacks laying around. if my job weren't so centered on books and reading, i might think i have a problem. :)

2. the locator on we tv. i got hooked on this show a couple of weekends ago ... it's a detective show where a private investigator tracks down long-lost family members and tries to reunite them with their families. it's heartbreaking, uplifting, and totally addictive.

3. pizza pringles. they're like the crack of potato chips.

4. my madras purse. i can't wait until it finally gets sunny and warm so that i can bust out my favorite spring/summer bag!

5. freesia lotion from bath & body works. love, love, love -- and have since i was a teenager. i still wear it every day.

6. audrey hepburn movies. she's one of my celebrity idols, even though sometimes i think i'm really more of a katherine than an audrey when it comes to hepburns. i saw sabrina again recently -- what a perfect movie!

7. london. my home away from home ... i can't wait to get back soon! (if i'd just get it together and marry a british boy already, this would be much simpler...!)

i'm sure most of the lovely ladies i tag will already have been tagged, but they're some of my favorite daily reads, so i'll honor them again!
1. kHm @ QueenBeeSwain
2. K.C. @ Peachy Keen
3. Chloe @ Cardigans and Clogs
4. Her Preppiness @ Preppy, 50, and Loving Lilly
5. Emily @ Vineyard Vogue
6. Kristin @ Summer in Newport
7. AEO @ Up North Preppy