Morning's Light

Glimpses of beauty and simplicity around the world.

recent posts

about

  • short hair? long hair?

    I like the look of long hair. Is it always practical?  turns out…no, it's not.  I've begun taking aqua fitness classes four mornings a week and drying my hair (that's a bit past my shoulders) each time I get ready there has become tedious and time consuming. (at home, I can let my hair air dry and that's that.  I could solve the problem at the gym with a swim cap, I suppose).

    As I've written about before, I have been contemplating a bob that I've seen on two people:  Bahia Hafai of "She's Got the Look" and Holly Burns of the blog "Nothing But Bonfires".

    Bahia - shes got the look - 4

    Bahia

    Bahia - shes got the look - 2 

    Bahia

    Holly - great hair day

    Holly

     

    TODAY

    I was highly caffeinated and thus talkative, and admired a woman's hair at Starbucks.  She had this blonde hair, quite short and textured, and it didn't look like every other haircut out there.  Turns out…she cut her hair last year from a long, long curly cut to a super-short cut and it's beautiful.  She looks quite feminine. (Her husband thinks all women should have long hair. Period.)  And here's the thing.  She cuts her own hair – with no experience.    As we talked about her hair, she suddenly stopped, tilted her head, and announced, "You'd look good with a cut to here.." (gestures just above chin length) "…with the hair curving around your face…and flipping up in the back".

    I was speechless because she pretty much described the Holly/Bahia haircut.  Especially Holly's cut in the photo above.   I explained this to her and she was not surprised.  She echoed Holly's words that the shorter haircut combined with my wave/curls would result in a pretty hairstyle.  She then told me her sister is a senior stylist at an Aveda salon nearby.  What more of a push do I need than this to get a haircut ASAP?!

    Trish, this cuts-her-own-fabulous-hair woman, was so fun and friendly that we made arrangements to swim at the gym because neither of us have friends who like to swim and have time to go with us. 

    So this has been a good day.  I work with youth so much that they become my life.  It's been fun to get to know someone my own age.  (Hey girls from church.  I still love you!!!!)

    totally off track.

    QUESTION:  Should women have long hair? 

    Trish's husband was shocked when she decided on short hair and declared women should have long hair.  Trish then said, "You thought Princess Diana was beautiful, right?"

    "Yes"… 

    "Did SHE have long hair?"  

    (long pause)  "No, she did not."

  • Trader Joes Posh Bag

    .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }


    Super-cool reusable Trader Joe’s Grocery Bags, originally uploaded by pondblue.

    Trader Joes named their bag that..the posh bag. $1.99 for a great shopping tote that I use for my aqua classes sometimes and for library books and a host of other things. I own two and picked up one for a friend (FreakyBlair) last night.

    I had this urge to drive the 30 minutes to the closest Trader Joes to do my weekly shopping. I found some great sauces for pasta, natural peanut butter for HALF the price of my grocery store’s cost for natural peanut butter in a one-pound tub, and some salmon and chicken. OOOHHH and a $4.99 bottle of wine that my sister in law Maya swears is delicious. So I tried it and love it.

    In the photo above, the image on the left is on one side of the bag and the image on the right is on the opposite side. I won’t even tell you how I stood in front of the bags going “Should I get FreakyBlair the blue one? or the green one?” before realizing – it’s one bag.

    (bowing. yes….this shows my brilliance!)

    Get thee to Trader Joes. Don’t stop to ask “what’s the big deal about trader joes?” just go. Scoot. See you there.

  • martha + blogging = what’s not to love?

    Mla103100_0408_umbrella_l

    Almost daily, I write here about pursuing organization at home or liking a bright, airy style at home.  I may read a ton of blogs weekly but my interest started with Martha Stewart's style and has continued from there.

    So when I found out awhile ago about Martha having a blog….it seemed like a full circle.  Martha Stewart + clean, airy style = my interest in organizing/clean style = reading blogs to find more information on that style = reading Martha's blog.

    Her influence continues years after I began reading her magazine for the first time.  I used to like only pale colors and white, but gradually have realized how amazing it is to have bright pops of color.  My favorite colors now include raspberry, orange and lime!  (or are those my favorite snowcone flavors?!  hmm… maybe both)

    Since I'm reminiscing about Martha (not that we've met..but I seem to be on a first name basis with her here on this blog)… the highlight of my temping "career" when I lived in San Francisco was working in the west coast office of MSLO for a week while an assistant was on vacation.  Just stepping foot into the office was like breathing fresh air.  I did not want my time there to end! 

    Speaking of ending…..it is late. I need to head to bed before this post dissolves into nonsense.

    Sleep well and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

    S.

  • {elisabeth + fine little day}

    Fine little day house 3   

    Fine little day house 2

    Fine little day house 1  

    Elisabeth of Fine Little Day posted these photos of her busy weekend.  Her apartment is filled with such light and beautiful things.  It's these photos I will print out and use as inspiration at home as motivation to get rid of things I keep that are so-so…. in order to have a home that is filled with things I love to use and to look at.

    I meant to do that this weekend but ended up resting a lot – perhaps fighting off a cold, not sure.  I caught up on episodes of House and The Closer and played my friend Larissa in round after round of "Word Twist" on facebook. (Larissa lives in Taiwan for another week or so..and her time is 13 hours ahead of my time..so we both play when we're able. We're addicted to the game.)

    So there's a renewed determination this week to move my body more often (adding some brisk walks to supplement the "aqua challenge" classes I'm taking) and to get rid of extra things (** things that have no "home" and end up piling up **) at home.  Extra pounds and extra things…. BE GONE!

    NOTE: Elisabeth didn't have comments open on her blog so I sent her a quick note about liking her apartment, and she responded with a sweet note. How nice of her!

  • {fresher than fresh} all natural snowcones

    snowcones.jpg

    I adore snowcones..just the regular ol' cherry ones that are full of fake stuff. Now that I try to eat mostly fresh foods, snowcones probably don't factor in…..unless they are from Lindsay and her cute trailer. She made snowcones beautiful and good tasting (I imagine they're amazing!)

    Snowcones - syrups

  • men/women/conversations/planes

    After one long conversation that took place from 1 PM to 11 PM on Saturday with Katie (which was really fragments of about 30 conversations all rolled into one), I remembered how a friend years ago described conversations men have and conversations women have.

    MEN: Men like to pilot one plane (conversation topic) at a time. Take the plane up, complete the route, and land the plan. Trip and conversation completed.

    WOMEN: Women like to pilot many planes at one time, circling in the sky, and occasionally bringing one in for a landing.

    For example, this youth pastor, his wife and I were on a long trip to a teen winter camp. From the front seat, Debbie said something related to a conversation we’d had an hour before that, and I replied – and we continued the discussion easily. Her husband, however, was stumped. He just shook his head and declared himself grateful that I was there to follow Debbie’s conversation topics. He then explained the plane/conversation analogy to me and it made perfect sense.

  • white + jars + see through cabinet doors = heaven

    Emma just posted some photos from German photographer Anne Naumann.

    I'm in heaven looking at the first photo…because I love white + jars + cabinets with see through drawers and all are in one photo.   *DROOLING*  *chin in hand, gazing adoringly at the monitor*

    Anne naumann 1 

    and then there's the cozy simplicity of this bedroom. perfect.

    Anne naumann 2

  • a jar.

    .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }


    happy friday, flicks., originally uploaded by abchao.

    I am blogging a LOT this week!
    anyway – found this photo from abchao. adore her photos. want to be her….live her life…. wait. off track.

    She took salad in a jar for lunch and now I want to as well. I have run out of bags to carry leftovers in to work. No matter – I’ll use a jar instead. (no, not cramming my PB&J into a jar… but I often take salad or leftovers that would fit nicely into a jar).

    Thanks, abchao!

  • chocolate fairy visited during lunch today! kisses everywhere!

    keyboard kisses + a glimpse of the outside world makes the afternoon a bit sweeter.. (groan)(I know, I know)

    Keyboard kisses

    Glimpse of the outside world + kisses

     

    photos by sunnygirlwi

  • pink dining room

    I rearranged my dining room last night….spontaneous time of moving things around. it’s now very…pink.

    Two things yet to get for the dining area: a rug and art on the wall. Am mulling over the option to purchase the apartment I live in. Then I could paint and redecorate to my heart’s content!dining room 09-16-08.JPG