oh wow if you wanted to buy me a gift

ok this is the prettiest thing i have ever seen.

i don't buy jewelery (unless it's from H&M) and i am not one of those people who keeps up with clothing or jewelery or anything... but when i saw this on design*sponge this morning i just about died. all of her other things are lovely as well...but this one ripped me right out of my seat and made my palms sweaty.

in middle school, i had this fascination with the idea of engagement rings. not really engagement, per se, or rings, but engagement rings. i still think they are one of the most romantic things around, and i love that they have been something humans have done for so long. in any case, i have this thing about simplicity... and i hate whopper-of-a-diamond rings, because they lack any kind of sweetness and they would never look quaint when you're old, or when your great great granddaughter is wearing them.

i was so sure i wanted a pearl engagement ring. of course, my mom told me that would be sad, because the whole point of a diamond is that it will hold up, and my imaginary engagement ring would be liable to crack and fall apart and that would not be symbolically prudent. :)

in any case... wouldn't this take your breath away, anyway? pearls are so romantic when they are portrayed naturally (as opposed to the preppy way they are sometimes set). this ring just looks like it was born.

sigh..............

back, and soon to get back in the good habit

...the good habit of posting once a day, that is.

i had some good excuses lately, what with the election tensions and fretting, followed by the happy excuse of my lovely cousin's wedding this last weekend, in omaha. i have decided in the last year that i really like omaha a lot. and it goes without saying that i like my extended family a whole lot...and how great that my cousin's husband (crazy to say that word!) is now part of that group! hooray!


it was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful and very fun wedding. and i returned to a very cold chicago--which was a perfect end, considering the fact that i quite enjoy winter weather.

my brother has been in and out of chicago with me the last few days, which has been a nice little blip of family. we went to the hopleaf last night, since he had no early morning engagements, and that was as good as always--as in very good. and it's always nice to have a brother about.

today i woke up late, and only because my mother called me. i am thankful for that--i think i might have slept until 4 pm without it. now i am endeavoring to organize my life, contemplating unpacking my suitcase, and realizing that time really flies.

in twenty days it will be thanksgiving. i'm trying to focus on what i am thankful for, instead of what blessings-in-disguise are still disguised for me. life really is good, even if i have been coming to the realization that it's very hard to be an adult. a lot of my favorite blogs have been discussing good ways to lead up to a thankful thanksgiving, and i have decided to take on the task by listing one thing i am thankful for--whether deep or seemingly trivial, no matter-- on each day of november leading up to thanksgiving.

today, i will ten, as i have missed out on a few november days previous!

1. toast
2. having multiple coats
3. the chicago card i found in the middle of the crosswalk--with money on it
   
4. my mac
5. maggie
6. michael
7. james
8. katie
9. paul
10. my landline, otherwise known as the direct line to mom

that's all for now. off to bundle up and see my brother off at his hotel!

-papermoon