The Cutest Valentine

Best Friends

Rosie,

I love it when...

... you come over and poke through my drawers and comment on my stuff and I don't ever have to worry about you not knowing where the bathroom in my house is or indeed the cutlery when we eat cause you've known me since forever and have been coming over for almost as long and know where .





In honor of Valentines Day which is coming up in a little over two weeks I'd like to write about things I like about the people I love.

The Essence of English Style

Simply to be desired is not a high enough aspiration. Outfits that say little more than ‘look at my body’ should be outlawed from one’s wardrobe. English style has always been about expressing one’s intelligence, charm and views through one’s choice of image. Expressing who you are and what you want to be. If what you’re saying is just ‘be my boyfriend’ then you’re not saying much. Looking sexy should always come second to looking interesting - to look interesting is to look beautiful.

Luella’s Guide to English Style

(Source: girlsack)

You are sexy enough.

Let me talk like an old man. Young people, be careful. Beautiful things are disappearing every day. Be careful.…You don’t need to be [shopping at fast-fashion stores], especially young people. They are beautiful naturally, because they are young. So they should even wear simple jeans and a T-shirt. It’s enough. Don’t be too much fashionable.…The brand advertising is making you crazy. You don’t need to be too sexy. You are sexy enough.

Yohji Yamamoto, WWD , September 28, 2012 (via thebengalstripe)


On Socializing. 

Socializing is as exhausting as giving blood. People assume we loners are misanthropes, just ­sitting thinking, ‘Oh, people are such a bunch of assholes,’ but it’s really not like that. We just have a smaller tolerance for what it takes to be with others. It means having to perform. I get so tired of communicating.

Anneli Rufus

(Source: airplanes)

Source: That Kind of Woman 1 and 2

On Being Sexy

Source: thatkindofwoman.tumblr.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Being sexy is not about what’s on show, it’s all about suggestion, or insinuation. I’m interested in the way a garment hangs on a woman’s body and the way it moves when she moves.

Francisco Costa

Source: Source

Curiosity & Life

I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved them, then tell me why they loved you. Tell me about a day in your life you didn’t think you’d live through. Tell me what the word “home” means to you and tell me in a way that I’ll know your mother’s name just by the way you describe your bed room when you were 8. See, I wanna know the first time you felt the weight of hate and if that day still trembles beneath your bones. Do you prefer to play in puddles of rain or bounce in the bellies of snow? And if you were to build a snowman, would you rip two branches from a tree to build your snowman arms? Or would you leave the snowman armless for the sake of being harmless to the tree? And if you would, would you notice how that tree weeps for you because your snowman has no arms to hug you every time you kiss him on the cheek? Do you kiss your friends on the cheek? Do you sleep beside them when they’re sad, even if it makes your lover mad? Do you think that anger is a sincere emotion or just the timid motion of a fragile heart trying to beat away its pain? See, I wanna know what you think of your first name. And if you often lie awake at night and imagine your mother’s joy when she spoke it for the very first time. I want you tell me all the ways you’ve been unkind. Tell me all the ways you’ve been cruel. See, I wanna know more than what you do for a living. I wanna know how much of your life you spend just giving. And if you love yourself enough to also receive sometimes. I wanna know if you bleed sometimes through other people’s wounds.

Andrea Gibson

Source

Cultivate A Kind Heart

When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet. You simply water them and clear away the weeds; you know that the seeds will grow in time. Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart. Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness; the results will come when they’re ready.

 Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron  

Via the cool Kat

Love, Dad.

Note: The text and photo are from Letters of Note. I've place in bold my favorite line at the end.

In June of 1971, just days before his 26-year-old son, Michael, got married, future-U.S. President Ronald Reagan sent him the following letter of advice. It really is quite stunning.

Michael Reagan
Manhattan Beach, California
June 1971

Dear Mike:

Enclosed is the item I mentioned (with which goes a torn up IOU). I could stop here but I won't.

You've heard all the jokes that have been rousted around by all the "unhappy marrieds" and cynics. Now, in case no one has suggested it, there is another viewpoint. You have entered into the most meaningful relationship there is in all human life. It can be whatever you decide to make it.

Some men feel their masculinity can only be proven if they play out in their own life all the locker-room stories, smugly confident that what a wife doesn't know won't hurt her. The truth is, somehow, way down inside, without her ever finding lipstick on the collar or catching a man in the flimsy excuse of where he was till three A.M., a wife does know, and with that knowing, some of the magic of this relationship disappears. There are more men griping about marriage who kicked the whole thing away themselves than there can ever be wives deserving of blame. There is an old law of physics that you can only get out of a thing as much as you put in it. The man who puts into the marriage only half of what he owns will get that out. Sure, there will be moments when you will see someone or think back to an earlier time and you will be challenged to see if you can still make the grade, but let me tell you how really great is the challenge of proving your masculinity and charm with one woman for the rest of your life. Any man can find a twerp here and there who will go along with cheating, and it doesn't take all that much manhood. It does take quite a man to remain attractive and to be loved by a woman who has heard him snore, seen him unshaven, tended him while he was sick and washed his dirty underwear. Do that and keep her still feeling a warm glow and you will know some very beautiful music. If you truly love a girl, you shouldn't ever want her to feel, when she sees you greet a secretary or a girl you both know, that humiliation of wondering if she was someone who caused you to be late coming home, nor should you want any other woman to be able to meet your wife and know she was smiling behind her eyes as she looked at her, the woman you love, remembering this was the woman you rejected even momentarily for her favors. 

Mike, you know better than many what an unhappy home is and what it can do to others. Now you have a chance to make it come out the way it should. There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.

Love,

Dad

P.S. You'll never get in trouble if you say "I love you" at least once a day

For all the times I forget to say it.

Source: thatkindofwoman.tumblr.com via Caddy on Pinterest

I'm putting it out there for all the world to see, so if one day should I go ahead, you'll know I made it concrete somewhere.

 For Daddy too.

Source: tag42.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Rainy Days

Source: hautemamasfaves.tumblr.com via Caddy on Pinterest

I was all dressed up for work when I heard my phone beep and a text saying I didn't have to come in as the whole team wasn't. The Veep canceled today's planning session due to the CRAZY weather.

I'm now in my pjs with a full face of makeup on. But, seriously though this is insane weather. It's rained everyday for the past two weeks or so. Flood warnings are being issued.

Celeste & Jesse Forever

I want to watch this. I'm a sucker for the best friend storyline.

The Last Line

Source: arcadianyc.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Embracing Opportunity

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Caddy on Pinterest

This photo above make me smile. It speaks so much about the possibility of adventure, opportunity, excitement, promise and living out life . It makes me smile and it comforts me at the same time.

On Monday, I begin my first job and this photo speaks of what awaits.

Source: letterarypress.com via Tess on Pinterest

Life Longing

"All I want is good conversation."

I read this quote below and it resonated with me. Earlier this year I realized that one of the things I value in life and which I seek out in other people is great conversation. I want to converse and hear from others that they are thinking.

I’ve always loved intelligent girls, no matter how they look, to be able to hold a conversation with someone is so important. The moment someone acts dumb, I lose interest. I think about the subtext and layers of a person when I design. I design for someone who has interest in the space around her, who is aware of her relationship with the world, someone a little evolved, a little concerned. I think putting more women in power will help solve a lot of problems in the world. It troubles me that the media celebrate women acting like bimbos on TV — it’s not cute, it’s ridiculous. I call it ‘Paris Hilton Syndrome’; there’s a place for that superficiality — but it must neutralized by an equally powerful, intelligent counterforce in culture. I don’t want to perpetuate the wrong ideal.Prabal Gurung


Quote via That Kind of Woman via Editor-in-chic

What I'm Drinking (Eating) This Summer

Banana Shakes at breakfast

Halo-Halo after lunch

                                                    Coconut Juice and Buko Shakes anytime

                                                                      Sangria at night

                                            Tanduay Ice and San Miguel while chilling with friends


Images via Source: tumblr.com via Notso on Pinterest , 366 Great Pinoy Stuff, Lunch, Sangria Source: herblog.com via Evita on Pinterest, Tanduay, Source: angmanlalakbay.files.wordpress.com via B on Pinterest

This Totally Made Me Smile

Source: weheartit.com via Elly on Pinterest

Welcome March

And so it is March, and the weather is slowly shifting. I still hear the wind rustling outside my window and it still sends doors and windows slamming but the daylight is longer and the heat more apparent. Two nights ago we started to discuss beach plans. Slowly, summer is coming.

Source: google.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Source: walkinginmyadventure.tumblr.com via Caddy on Pinterest

DIY Candy Buffets

Source: blogs.babble.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Caddy on Pinterest

Do it yourself candy/dessert buffets sound like a lot of fun to make for a party at home. I really enjoy looking at the one's Amy Atlas creates. This a great video from Yumsugar on how to make your own Candy Buffet at home. I've been wanting to do this for awhile but I need to find an occasion for it it.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Today I baked a dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes (I have made around 13 dozen in the past week, it is after all Valentine's week) and a pineapple upside down cake. I love old fashion desserts. My mother has a boxed set of cookbooks that were hers growing up. They're filled with recipes from country fairs, home economics teachers and military wives. I love leafing through the book labeled "Desserts" and reading about the desserts from 40 years ago. I love the simplicity of the flavors and instructions.

Here's a video for Pineapple Upside Down Cake by Elephantine. The recipe is by Martha Stewart, it's similar to the one from my mom's cookbook.




 pineapple upside-down cake from rachelchew on Vimeo.
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Things I Need To Remember

Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

— Kurt Vonnegut