fantastic friday.

its friday! i have a busy weekend ahead of me, so tonight i will be relaxing with my red wine and catching up on hbo's weeds series (which is such a good show by the way). how are you spending your friday?

the city of luzern, switzerland came up with a clever way to get people to notice trashcans. what a fun idea! we need some of these in houston.

i can't get over how awesome the new sherwin williams commercials are. they make me wonder: who names all the paint colors? when i was little i used to go with my dad to pick out paint & we would make up new names for all the different shades. i think it would be a fun job, don't you?

tired of getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water? problem solved! pin-up magazine & phillips de pury & company invented a new kind of night stand. i love it.

*thank you, swiss-miss.

teaux deaux.

what do you do when you're standing at a crossroad? i feel like i'm at this crazy intersection with several signs all pointing me in different directions. how do i know which sign to follow or which road to go down? i refuse to stay stuck for a long time - its time for me to get my rear in gear! i officially deem this summer as project get your life together. first things first (let's start with baby steps) is make a 'to do' list. here's my list from today:

1. run

2. laundry

3. journal

4. research

5. happy hour :)

6. relaxxx

& of course my way of relaxing is to read all of the lovely blogs out there. thank goodness i found out that i'm not the only weirdo who lives by lists. check out the website listgeeks and the to-do list blog. and i discovered this clever iphone app - teux deux! ahhhh organization. i feel better already...

color your summer.

today i got an email from snapfish notifying me of a fun summer contest: "color your summer." here's how it works: submit a photo according to the color of the week (last week was blue, this week is green) and at the end of the summer, get a free photo book of all the photos you submit! this contest makes me want to walk around all day and capture colorful summer shots - i love it. enter in this 7 week competition and vote for each other... & for me (leahbell48)!

here are some photos i voted for:

my green entry:

...happy summer everyone!

bossa n' famous.

my boyfriend got me hooked on the "bossa n' " albums. these tracks are a bossa nova twist on songs from classic bands like the rolling stones, bob marley, guns & roses, the ramones, the beatles & madonna. they're so good - check them out pronto.

do any of you know about the tumblr awesome people hanging out together? its my new obsession... here are a few of my favorite photos:

penelope cruz & woody allen

charlie chaplin & helen keller

wes anderson & kanye west

henry ford, thomas edison, warren g. harding & harvey firestone

mother teresa & princess diana

madonna, sting & 2pac

...happy hump day my loves!

derby hats.

last weekend i went to the one & only kentucky derby. my mini vacay was full of friends, parties, bets & hats!

may flowers.

may is here! i'm so ready to say goodbye to rainy april and say hello to beautiful may flowers. i love may flowers; they have a way of brightening my day & and making me smile. what do you think of catherine's wedding bouquet? i thought it was lovely. although it looked simple, each flower in her bouquet were quite symbolic. did you know it is a royal tradition to place the bouquet on the grave of the unknown soldier at westminster abbey? how cool is that.

sharing the love via npr.

as i was reading the latest news from egypt, i couldn't help but click on npr's e-day card selections. these are so creative & clever. my favorite is the bob boilen card (probably because all songs considered is the best). so: click, save & send! & have a great weekend!

be optimistic.

i adore these parings of fashion & art. miss x moss is simply fabulous.

...yesterday during my thrift & garage sale excursions, i found this old belle & sebastian cd in a pile of ribbon! its unbelievable how catchy this song is - i've been singing all day (& now you will be too!).

*i just returned from the grocery store & subconsciously bought 5 things that have wasabi flavoring... is that bad?

i love it all.

a tally of two cities.

i miss my sister terribly. i wish i was in france with her: indulging in cheese, wine, lavender, shopping, the sea...hmmm.

as i was longing for the parisian life, i clicked on a fabulous parisian blog: paris vs. new york. the blogger is a graphic artist & ever so creatively couples the clichés of nyc & paris together. the ideas behind the colors & layouts are brilliant! you must visit to website to fully enjoy.

la décoration

la décoration

le chanteur

le temple

le journal

le taxi

le café

thank you, swiss miss*.