What the WHAT?!

Snowwwww!

After eight years, it's finally come back to

hang out in the Holy City!

Did a walkabout... snapped this in front of the Children's

Museum. It was really coming down!

I love that truck. Everything in its bed was completely

covered. Also, check the cute romantic stroll going on.

Made this in the parking lot when I first got home

around 9. Had to leave to go charge up my camera, and

when I came back at around 10, all my tracks had

been covered back up! Had to do this, though. Snow

just before good ol' Valentine's!

Wonderful day! Beautiful teal Seychelles heels for $16,

new belts to accessorize with, closing up shop half an hour

early, and walking out to snow, snow, and more snow!

Last shots at the end of the day...

Cory, me, Vandie, Najee and Kristen. Shot by Kate Hohorst.

Map Dream: Spoleto, Italy

I'll fall in love there, I think. If not with a handsome fellow who likes oxford lace-ups and tailored suede coats with elbow patches, who gets around on foot or on bike and enjoys a brioche with his cioccolata calda and thinks my naïveté is both charming and, let's face it, funny, then I'll fall in love with everything else Umbria Hill could possibly offer.

I'm not picky. Not picky at all.

Inspo: Vincent van Gogh

Lately, I've been thinking...

Come a pet-friendly apartment, I will have Vincent, Pablo, Henri, and Pierre. And they will all be splotchy, mutty, just rolled through about three or four spilled puddles from paint cans little ragamuffins.

Closet: Eryn Brinie

It won't be this paycheck, or the next one, or maybe even the next one after that (amenities, Amazon.com book sprees, and my newfound shoe weakness have virtually decreed this) but in some way or another, this freaking adorable sailor romper will be mine.

I did, however, purchase one of her gorgeous turquoise satin belted frocks today. $54 dollars out of $162.80, so I'm feeling really good right about now. Really good, albeit hungry and cooped up in a library where a man's cellular or MP3 device is blaring "Free at Last" from behind me. Should I take this as a sign that at least some aspect of fashion is liberating? To answer that, I spent last night writing an essay on the dichotomy of Christopher Columbus's vintaged golden-boy reputation and his actual fall from grace... it bores me to even have to explain the prompt... but anyway, after forcing myself to make it read somewhat interestingly (I'm sure I still failed there) a little retail therapy was just the thing I needed on this hideously rainy day. So, yes, I would say so.

Writing that paper, however, forces me wonder: Why are we still talking about Christopher Columbus these days? Is he even relevant? He didn't set foot in North America, and the college here doesn't observe the 'holiday,' so. What has he done for me lately?

Closet: The Cody Boot, by 80%20

My second pair of 80%20's came in the mail today. (Talk about fast! Ordered them Friday night, received them much sooner than expected at 4pm today -- shipping was free, too. Thanks, Endless!) They couldn't have come at a better time, seeing as how a) I'm a sucker for smoke and mirrors and b) I may have worn my pair of Molly wedges (pictured below) right into the ground. Ce Ce Chin, I will thank you over an infinite amount of giant basted turkeys and gravy boats for gifting us of the average height with hidden wedges. Genius, really. I'm all about deception. Growth spurt overnight? Why, thank you for noticing. Do my legs look like they go out for, like, a mile? Don't mind if they do. Seriously, good things happen in these shoes.

Now I just need to invest in some inserts for my Mollys so I can start walking on clouds -- in style -- all over again.

Reading: I Like You, I do, a lot, a lot, too much!

Sandol Stoddard's book is the cutest little thing. It might be too big for the every day pocket, but it's just small enough to hold between your two hands. Sort of like an underloved teacup chihuahua, shaking from ear to tail because, unlike the Grinch, it's got a heart three sizes too big. Similarly, I Like You is this wonderfully earnest monologue that reads more like a declaration than a confession; it's set in the context of children, but reading it as a person in her twenties, its meaning is more universal than that. This is the kind of book that instantly became special to me, the kind of book you save for just the right person so you can tell them, too, in the most whimsical and honest way...

I like you and I know why.

I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember

When I think something is important
you think it's important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too
Hah-hah!
I like you because you know where I'm ticklish
And you don't tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too
You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly
I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you
I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never
Too late, it's a quarter past silly
Sometimes we don't say a word
We snurkle under fences
We spy secret places
If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off
You are one too
If I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving me
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump
HOORAY

That's because you really like me
You really like me, don't you
And I really like you back
And you like me back and I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going every day

If you go away, then I go away too
or if I stay home, you send me a postcard
You don't just say Well see you around sometime, bye
I like you a lot because of that
If I go away, I send you a postcard too
And I like you because if we go away together
And if we are in Grand Central Station
And if I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me

And I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don't always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time

I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It's awful when the other person isn't
They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose

I like you because if I think I am going to throw up
then you are really sorry
You don't just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all that
You say, maybe it was something you ate
You say, the same thing happened to me one time
And the same thing did

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me one
If I find four, I give you two
If we only find three, we keep on looking
Sometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don't

If I break my arm, and if you break your arm too
Then it's fun to have a broken arm
I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours
We are both sorry
We write our names and draw pictures
We show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too

I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then

I like you because because because
I forget why I like you but I do
So many reasons
On the 4th of July I like you because it's the 4th of July
On the fifth of July, I like you too
If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses
If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines
We could be a HOLIDAY
We could be a CELEBRATION
We could be a WHOLE PARADE
See what I mean?

Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
Even if it was no place particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again
That's how it would happen every time
I don't know why
I guess I don't know why I really like you
Why do I like you
I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you because I like you.

Inspo: Cy Twombly

Chaotically childlike. My window of spring, right here!