Keep the man

Keep the man who,
when you're standing in the kitchen,
eyes still glossy from sleep,
his old t-shirt that you've slept in still rumpled,
hair still going every which way,
holding your coffee cup like it's a life line,
smiles and tells you,
"You're cute".


Keep that man.

Fill in the blank Friday

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1. My favorite color is green.

2. My home decor color palette includes a lot of tans, blues and pops of other colors...these days my home decor is limited solely to my room, so I can only speak of that, but color is always a factor.

3. Other people always tell me I look good in the color green. My eyes are green and they really pop when I wear bright greens. I get compliments when I wear fuschia and corals, too.

4. The color I detest is bright, lemon yellow.

5. If you were to look in my closet most of the colors you'd see would be neutrals (greys and black), greens, blues and purples.

6. A color that I simply cannot pull off no matter how hard I try is most yellows, hence why I detest the bright ones most. Yellows tend to make me look jaundiced when near my face, so unless it's a nice dark mustard or gold shade I shy away from yellow. Although, I will do it if it's small pops of color or accessories.

7. The color of my favorite dress is fuschia; it's the perfect jewel tone.

An ode to green bean selection

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One of my favorite things to do is to hand-select green beans at the grocery store. Is that weird? Probably...maybe even definitely. I love walking into the store to be greeted by a giant pile of bright green beans. No joke, I get visibly excited and usually make a bee line straight for my favorite veggie. I'm not one of those shoppers who haphazardly grab handfuls of green beans and call it good. Oh no, I'm that obnoxious shopper who hovers over the bin, sifting through each and every bean on the hunt for perfection. These wonderfully crisp veggies must be selected with care: bright green wins over washed-out olive; long is far superior to short and shriveled; and heaven forbid you get stuck with a limp green bean when firm ones are to be had! So you see hand-selecting is necessary. I know when I walk out of the grocery I have a bag full of the best-of-the-best green beans and a smile on my face. Definitely odd...but so very Erin.

A little heart sigh

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"This morning, with her, having coffee"

Johnny Cash on his definition of paradise.

*found via Meg Fee

Date Night: 03.08.12

I didn't take any pictures; sometimes pulling out the camera is an unnecessary disruption, even in the name of documentation. It was just a normal Thursday night, but it was a lovely one: Tony came up after work for a simple date night.

The evening was laid back and entirely perfect. It sounds strange to say this, but Tony and I rarely have just an old-fashioned date night. From date #1 we've been so at ease and comfortable with one another that we've fallen into a natural rhythm. I love this, and I'm certainly not complaining, but these few hours together in the middle of the week were just what we both needed.

He picked me up at my apartment and off we went to Old Town for fish 'n cips. My parking karma came in handy when we snagged a parking spot directly in front of the restaurant, and even though it was just a few quick steps to the door, he still reached for my hand. We ate our pub grub, he sipped on a glass of pinot grigio and I indulged in a citrusy microbrew, and we talked about our days. We both got distracted by the talking around us and laughed at our inability to solely focus on our own conversation. So normal, so nice. After dinner, we stuck around Old Town for a bit longer and then drove back to my place where we sat in the car just talking and kissing before calling it a night.

It seems like such a cliched evening, but it felt like anything but. It's nice to steal a few hours out of the week to just be with each other. And, those of you who know me in real life know that Tony and I spend far more than just a few hours together every week, but it feels different when it's an evening out of the norm. It just feels right.

Kiss Me Slowly

I tend to pass time at work by catching up on my shows on Hulu, but every once in a while the day and/or the task at hand calls for background music over entertaining chatter...today is that kind of day. The Fray's new album Scars & Stories is my current go-to, but I cannot help but throw a little Parachute into the mix:

Fill in the blank Friday

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1. The highlight of my week was being a social butterfly. Monday was a movie with my Mama, Wednesday was Mexican food and margaritas for a coworker's retirement, and last night was a cocktail (a cranberry old fashioned...yum!) and bacon-wrapped dates with Chelsae.

2. If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be feminine eclectic. I tend to like specific pieces, rather than specific styles, but I do have a love for floral and chevron patterns.

3. My first vehicle was a white, '99 Pontiac Grand Am. I loved that car, and was heartbroken when she was totaled in an accident.

4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is coffee or tea, which sounds like what I'm saying is caffeine, but really it's the comfort that comes from enjoying a warm cuppa while working or reading or sitting through a meeting.

5. My favorite way to waste time is by pinning pretty photos, tasty recipes, and clever DIYs (that, let's be honest, I'll probably never do) on Pinterest. I love Pinterest.

6. Right now I could really go for a nonfat cafe au lait and a scone.

7. This weekend I will be finally, finally, finally getting to see Corey (formally known as the Baltimore bestie, but no longer lives in Baltimore) and her handsome little boy, Landon for a shopping adventure. I haven't seen Corey and the little man since December and I need some bestie time in my life.

On my bookshelf: February

In the grand scheme of things these are all fairly easy reads that I would recommend to anyone:

Sweet Jiminy deals with race issues in the South and is written in an easy-to-read style, which makes the subject matter less upsetting (plus the author is Al Gore's daughter, and I kind of think that's cool).

Beautiful Days is the 2nd in a YA series that takes places in the 1920's at the height of Prohibition. It's a world full of wealth, glamour, drama and speakeasies that I would die to have a drink in.

Karen Robards and Carly Phillips are a couple of my go-to authors when I'm in a book-slump. I love the suspense that Robards weaves into each of her stories from the very first sentence, which never fails to hook me, and Phillips' light-hearted romances are always entertaining.

In terms of Crossed, I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment in Condie's series (book #1 was Matched). Crossed left me absolutely itching to pick up the next book to save from any delay in the story line, but alas, I will have to wait until it is published. As with most YA stories, there's a well-formed love triangle, and to be honest, I am not sure which team I'm rooting for most...Ky or Xander?