To send a card to Mr. Butch Bailey, Summer B’s Dad. He’s been going through a very tough time, and his health is fragile. Go HERE to read more about it, and to get the address to send it to. I mailed my card on Monday, and Marco even signed it.

I adore shoes. I’ve lost count of how many I actually own. Thought I’d post a picture of the shoes I’ve purchased in the past few months:

From left to right:
Grey and black heels, Dolce Vita ‘Lance’, purchased at Nordstrom
Black, cream and blue cheetah print flats, purchased at Payless
Turquoise Steve Madden sandals, purchased at Nordstrom
Black Vans ‘Authentic’ sneaker with teal and magenta lace holes, purchased at Nordstrom

I’m so excited to wear the heels at my birthday dinner on Saturday!! I’m a little nervous because they are the tallest heels I’ve ever worn (5″ with a 1″ platform), but they look perfect with my dress.

Thank you to all who entered my giveaway! I ended up with a total of 29 entries to select from! The easiest way to pick is to draw a name from a hat, so I wrote down everyone’s name (if you had 4 entries, I wrote your name down 4 times, etc.) and cut them into little strips. I dropped them into an old fedora I bought at H&M on my birthday 4 years ago, and swished them all around so the names would get nice and mixed up.

Aaaaand the winner is…

Chelsea from Hello Miss Chelsea and Cream & Cotton!  I’ll be sending an email to you as well, so I can get your address!

Congratulations and thanks again, everyone! I can’t wait to do another giveaway.

Drumroll, please…..

My library is (basically) done! Here are some pictures:

Fiction sections

Non-fiction and Children’s

Temporary desk, but it works until i can find the right one. It was just a cheap desk from Target that we bought 4 years ago, but Tim painted it to match my room so I could have something to keep the computer on.

An old Mac that Tim configured for my library, plus a barcode scanner that I can use to keep my books catalogued through LibraryThing.

The chair that I ordered came in two boxes, and one was the black color I ordered, but the second part was in a tan color – and we’ve had to call CSN Stores twice to get the right part sent. But, thank goodness, it will be arriving this week!

Also…my birthday is tomorrow, which means my giveaway ends as of 11:59pm tomorrow night! Go here to enter!

Only 2 more days to enter my giveaway!! I’m so excited to pick a winner!

Also, on Saturday my awesome friend Adrian colored and cut my hair. Now my hair is a little bit lighter – with some fun red mixed in so it looks cool in the sunlight. The cut is pretty similar to what I usually do, but now I have straight bangs.

Took a few quick pics before I headed to work:

Lauren’s weekly FITBF!!

1.   The strangest thing I’ve ever eaten is I tried a piece of sea urchin once, when Tim had it at The French Laundry. Beef jerky-like.

2.  I wouldn’t be caught dead  in Ugg boots or Croc sandal things. They’ve always been ugly, and always will be ugly.

3.  When I am 75 I will….  hopefully, be living in Italy with Tim on our olive plantation. We’ll bottle our own olive oil. we’ll have a small house, but it will have a guest room so Marco can visit whenever he wants. Hopefully, he’ll be with someone he loves and I’ll have a cute little grandkid.

4.  If I had to be named after a place I would want to be named   PHOENIX. That was  the name my mom originally chose, because she always thought it would a cool name. Instead, she chose the 3rd most popular first AND middle name in the United States that year (Michelle Nicole). BORING.

5.  My name is  Michelle, which my mom chose because she liked the Beatles song, and all things French… but dude, it’s so common it’s annoying.

6.  My all time favorite photo is   WOW I can’t pick just one. This is about as far as I can narrow it down:

My favorite photo of myself:

Charlie Couch, an old friend, took this photo in 2005. It makes me feel pretty.

Okay, this is me and my Grandpa Gary, circa 1985-86 ish. I love that we look so happy, and I think I look like a cute kid here.

My favorite photo of Tim:

I took this picture after our friend’s wedding, and I think my hubby looks very beautiful.

My favorite photo of us:

 This is the first picture we took together, in May 2003 I set up my camera on a timer, and we rushed to sit together before it went off.

My favorite photo of Marco:

That’s my little boy, pondering life… he always makes that funny face. It cracks me up everytime!

My favorite photo of the family:

One of the awesome nurses at St Helena Hospital took this for us minutes after I gave birth to Marco. I love how tired yet happy we both look.

7.  If I could afford it I would  pay off our home loan, and then we could use that extra money towards Marco’s college account, our travel fund, and maybe have some extra for a rainy day.

Make sure to check out the giveaway!! Only 5 more days to enter…

Thanks, Samantha! Needed a time-filler.

1. I love… my library!
2. Right now I want… water. I’m thirsty.
3. I feel like… I should brush my teeth.
4. I hate it when… the kids down the street yell up and down the block FOR NO REASON.
5. I fear… too early, for my mind misgives some consequence, yet hanging in the stars… – Yep, I’m a Shakespeare nut.
6. I’m lonely without… books.
7. I need… new shoe laces for my grey Converse.
8. Today I… met a woman in Target with a 20 month old and a 3 week old. She invited me to join the Napa Moms group.
9. Tomorrow I’m… going with Tim and Marco to see Adrienne, Justin and Belle. We need to catch up on ‘Mad Men’!
10. I just… purchased Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses. I can’t wait to try them!
11. I want to meet… Hugh Laurie because I lourrrveee him.
12. I’m hungry for… lovin’. LOL
13. I love it when… Tim, Marco, and I go to breakfast at Gillwood’s on Sunday mornings. 
14. I’m afraid of… spiders, snakes, and sharks. THE AXIS OF EVIL!
15. I’m listening to… ‘The Edge of Love’, on my television.  Keira Knightley is actually good in this, and she has a pretty singing voice. Unfortunately, I don’t think Matthew Rhys is a great Dylan Thomas.
16. I’m wearing… dark skinny jeans and a blue tee shirt.
17. I wish I was in… Italy.
18. I’m craving… strawberries
19. I want to get… more books, and the Balenciaga Paris perfume.
20. I can… hear Marco talking to himself. What a goober.
21. I can’t… wait until my birthday dinner! My special outfit is SO cute!
22. I have… many pairs of shoes.
23. I haven’t… had PinkBerry in far too long.
24. I’m nervous to… change my hair, but I know Adrian will do something fantastic with it on Saturday! 
25. My Mom thinks I’m… independent.
26. I think… I need some coffee.
27. I’m happy when… I find out I have more readers! I am so excited!
28. I’m sad when… anyone mentions the movie ‘An American Tail’. DON’T GET ME STARTED.
29. I like eating… fruit
30. I hate eating…  things that are gross?
31. I love watching… Tim cuddle with Marco. They are just too cute.
32. I love listening to… JIMMY EAT WORLD! I CAN’T WAIT FOR THEIR NEW ALBUM!
33. I like playing… hide and seek with my cat. Stabler can always find me.
34. I hate waking up to… loud, annoying, birds!
35. I can see… the mailman!
36. I’m glad that… my birthday is in 5 days!
37. I’m disappointed that… ‘Psych’ won’t be returning until November! Shawn and Gus are the bomb-diggity.
38. I look like… a mix of my mom and my father. 
39. I wish I looked like…

Cate Blanchett

 OR

Rachael Stirling, when she was in the Poirot flick, ‘Five Little Pigs’. OMG.

This song is so darn catchy! Whenever I hear it I just want to dance around.

PSST…Don’t forget to check out my giveaway!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

A few days ago I decided to do a thorough examination of the traffic to my website. I use GOOGLE ANALYTICS, and Tim has helped me to decipher some of the more complicated information given. Basically, my readership has jumped way up (yay!), and I felt I should reward my lovely readers with a giveaway.

I thought it would be good timing given my looming birthday

Here’s what you’ll win:

1 Illume travel tin candle in ‘Star Jasmine’
1 Napa Soap Company bar in ‘Tea-no Grigio’
1 French Sesame notebook
1 2-pack of O’Bon pencils – made from newspapers!
AND
1 $10 gift card to Starbucks

Lots of ways to win! Here’s how to enter:

 Leave me a comment = 1 entry
Follow me on Twitter = 1 entry
Tweet this giveaway = 2 entries
Mention this on your blog = 2 entries
Sign up for my email notifications = 3 entries
G0 HERE to sign up

Leave a comment for each entry. Winner will be chosen at random on my birthday, September 14th!

Good luck!! xoxoxoxo