one size fits all?!?

i am not a skinny girl. but i'm not a fat girl either. i'm somewhat tall, and rather broad. i have a pretty proportional body, and while i'd like to be more toned, i have plenty to love about my body (thanks for the reminder meg).

so, i was incredibly put-off while shopping online last night at nordies. i found this darling top, and when i went to add it to my shopping cart, the only size listed was "one size fits all." strange, i thought, so i clicked the size chart link to learn just what "one size fits all" meant to this designer. the result? one size fits all means all that fall in the sizes 0-6 category. what the f? are you kidding me? not even a quarter of american women are in the 0-6 category. needless to say, i did not buy the top, but it infuriates me that this teensy-tiny construction of the female figure is so prolific. we are NOT all size 0-6. now, if the designer said one size fits all and meant sizes 8-14, then he'd be more on the money, as about 50-60% of women fall in this category. but as it stands, the label is misleading. mistaken. false advertising, really. the label should read "one size fits less than a quarter of american women." hah. i'm sure his line would sell well then.

forget regret, or life is yours to miss

a few quick notes about RENT, which we saw this weekend:

- the music & lyrics of the show are by far better than the script. hands down. i sang my way through the entire show.

- adam pascal and anthony rapp still rock, even if their performances seemed a little tired.

- the set was utilized brilliantly.

- lexi lawson's understudy, caren tacket, rocked the upbeat tunes, but lacked the control demanded by the slower songs.

- nicolette hart, playing maureen, stole the second act. hands down.

- if jesse l. martin ever reprises his role, i will be there in a flash- mmmmm!

yes, yes, i realize that this is all about a dozen years too late, but if you're planning on seeing the touring show, my vote is GO!

image from here.

gimme more

i go through these phases where i become obsessed with one food, and i eat it and eat it and eat it until i can eat it no more. i've blogged at length about my recent saint cupcake indulgences: i had to cease my twice-a-week visits after i upchucked from overdoing it.

so cupcakes are out, but peanut butter stuffed pretzel nuggets are SO in! i picked some up for the girls during the getting-ready period for kate's wedding, and now i have to have them. every day. every single day. so good. am i the only one that does this?

image found here.

on the agenda this weekend

we plan to:

- visit our local farmer's market and stock up on delicious berries and other local goodies.

- see Rent, the broadway tour

- take the quad and motorcycle out and ride, sally, ride

- wash, dry, fold and hang a mountain of laundry

- stay up late AND sleep in

what will you do?

photo via ffffound

i don't exactly have a bikini-worthy body

but i still think i'm going to buy this suit from jcrew. yay or nay?

burn this disco out

there are few words. your work was genius, your life was unfinished. my sympathies go out to those you leave behind. and to you - your life was far from perfect: exploited at an early age for a fame that would destroy you. may you find more peace in the afterlife than you did on earth.

photo from here.

my closet

i love color. i don't believe that a person can have too much color in their wardrobe. this picture accurately represents my closet - every color in the rainbow, arranged in order. now that i'm a brunette, i'm realizing that some of my colors may not work on me anymore, but i'll probably wear them anyway. because i love color. i am color.

photo found via ffffound (but my link is broken).

kate and adam: round 2

from the top: zipping up the dress; walking down the aisle; first dance (his concentration was adorable); cake (including red velvet tier - YUM!!); candy bar; me attempting to take a picture of my hair-do; finally asking someone else to take the picture. more to come.

4th street stairs

i hadn't been back for eight months. and how i missed it. i missed the energy. i missed the sunshine. i missed the santa monica pier. i missed my favorite hole-in-the-wall eateries. most of all, i missed my friends. i've been seriously wondering if moving to portland was a mistake.

but then, we landed. and the smog encircled us. the airport passangers pushed and shoved and stampeded by in way you'd never experience at pdx. the car rental was beyond a hassle, and even at 1 a.m., the traffic was crazy and the drivers were evil. very quickly, i was reminded why L.A. drove me away.

i think i'll always miss having to having any item, service, or event at my disposal. i think i'll always miss jogging the 4th street stairs. i think i'll always miss living somewhere so . . . cool. but what i miss most are the amazing experiences, memories, and friends i made in L.A. crepe runs on 3rd street with kate. going on forensic ride-alongs with the l.a. coroner. arguing over where the lunch gang boys and i were going for lunch. singing in the band. the restaurants where i fell in love.

but we all move on. its part of life. things had already begun to change before i left L.A., and now all those things i miss would be no more, even if i still lived there. L.A. is no longer home. i'm not sure that portland is, either, but i'm finally ready to move on. i know that because somehow, the pangs of longing for all that i missed, have turned into feelings of warmth and nostalgia. and that feels really really good.

here comes the bride . . .

i spent a gorgeous weekend in los angeles at the wedding of these two. as beautiful as they look in this engagement photo, they were a million times more beautiful on their wedding day. i loved being a bridesmaid - kate was a calm, cool, collected bride. very unlike me on my day. :P more pictures to follow!!

photo by next exit photography.

never a bridesmaid

i'm off to L.A. for the weekend. i'm a bridesmaid in k's wedding, and i can't wait. it's my first time being a bridesmaid, and the weekend is full of girly girl activities. yipper!! pictures to come . . .

photo via ffffound.

i'm making these tonight

how phenomenal do these biscuits and flavored butters look? i can't wait! thank you for the recipe sunday suppers!

photo by karen mordechi.

muscians i love: ben folds

i've liked ben folds since i was 16 years old, but it wasn't until i was in college that i truly fell in the with the man who rocks the suburbs. i'm quite sure my deepening affection for mr. folds was largely influenced by a certain former boyfriend, but my love for mr. folds has sustained the test of time that the former bf did not.

ben folds music is truly artistic. original. sarcastic. sad. beautiful. i can't think of a single song written by mr. folds that i do not enjoy listening to. but my all-time-favorite-ben-folds-song has to be the luckiest:

I don't get many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday

And I know

That I am I am I am

The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you

In a house on a street where you lived?

Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike

Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes

I see one pair that I recognize

And I know

That I am I am I am

The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties

And one day passed away in his sleep

And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days

And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that

I know we belong

That I know

That I am I am I am

The luckiest

picture from here.

to the love of my life (you know who you are)...

love, me

photo via ffffound

numb tongue

try saying that three times quickly. :P so, the past several days have not been good for me health-wise. i'm sure i'll post at length about my health drama later, but not today. anyhow, my doctor prescribed some muscle relaxants for me to help me sleep at night. the i took the first dose on monday night and was a complete noodle on tuesday. thus, on tuesday night, i decided to just take half of a pill. i bit the pill in half, swallowed it, and put the other half back in the drawer. not five minutes later, i turned to the hubs to say "i love you, goodnight," and my tongue was completely numb. it came out like "i lub you, goothiiight." apparently, some of the muscle relaxant dissolved on my tongue, numbing it. sometimes, i amaze myself at how smart i am.
photo found here.

as promised

before . . . after. . .

which do you like better?

by the time you read this . . .

i will no longer be blonde. i've been blonde most of my life - for the first half of my life it was natural, and then, not-so-natural. i've been wondering how i would look with my natural brunette hair color, but have been too nervous to try it out. but today, i am taking the plunge-i will post a photo of the results.

thanks, heisschic, for the inspiration.

photo via ffffound.

mr. pink arrived!

and i could not be more excited to get out and play with my new toy. i think its going to be a match made in heaven. because i am in love.

image via ffffound.

new math

have you seen this site? i think it is, in one simple word, rad.

letter to nie

dear stephanie,

thank you for your moving post on monday. my heart wrenched deeply as i read your post - not only because i feel so horrible that you have to endure so much physical and emotional pain, but also because i empathize. i really do.

i have never suffered something as catastrophic as an airplane crash, but i have been in life-altering amounts of physical pain for the past year and a half that i am no longer to be the rikki i used to be. nor am i able to be the rikki i want to be, and that is actually harder for me to deal with than the pain itself. the doctors have inaccurately diagnosed me with about six different autoimmune disorders, put me through a million tests, mris, scans, etc. and they still don't have an answer. they all agree - i have something, but what that something is, they just aren't sure. the latest suspected culprit is mastocytosis. we'll see. can't say i'm optimistic at this point about them ever finding out what is wrong.

but enough about me. back to you. thank you for being an inspiration to us all. your faith, strength, and love shine through every word you write. when you said "i get to change the way i look at life and how i can help someone else in need," just know this: you have already helped at least one person. you've helped me change the way i look at my life.

much love and admiration,
rikki

image via ffffound

i envy you if . . .

i'm always on the hunt for new blogs to follow (if you have any suggestions, please let me have them!!), and recently found this blog. i loved the "i envy you if . . ." post so much that i decided to write my own.


i envy you if . . .

- you are skinny. you skinny bitch, you.

- you never get sick.

- you run marathons.

- you live within walking distance to a fab cucpake joint.

- your dogs don't bark at every moving object in the universe.

- you don't have to wash your hair every day.

- you have naturally beautiful fingernails which you never bite.

- you have no trouble sleeping.

i know, i know. envy is a sin. but i can't help it. so join me and tell me what you envy.

my first crush

i remember the first time i saw him. i was in fifth grade, and was starting a new elementary school. he wasn't in my class, but i saw him in the lunch line and *swooned.* he had the bluest eyes i'd ever seen - years later, my girlfriend and i would refer to him as "obe" for ocean blue eyes.

the crush lasted five years. you read that right. five long years. he was a jock, and a i was a nerd of the nerdliest kind, so there was never a chance that my affections would be returned. it didn't keep this girl from pining, though.

then i met nick, who became my first boyfriend, and it was obe? obe who?? in retrospect, i am pretty embarrassed that i crushed on ocean blue eyes for so long: we had nothing in common. zip. zero. zilch. he was the quarterback, i was the president of national honor society. he was a party boy. i was a good girl. his future was college football. my future was the world.

i don't know what obe is doing with his life. after finding this picture, i know he went on an LDS mission (he's on the left), but i can tell you that if our paths crossed now, i don't know that i'd even look twice (and not just because i'm married). but because i'm not the same person i was in junior high, and although its presumptuous of me to say this - i suspect he is.

what a saint

saint cupcake is simply amazing. i have never had more delicious cream cheese frosting in my entire life. and the coconut cupcake is to die for. i still need to try their red velvet, but i'm sold. deeeeeelish.

btw - have you seen cuter packaging?

an evening on the water

i must preface by saying how bummed i am that our camera battery died before we could take any pictures of our friday night adventure . . . thanks for the photos, david b. at yelp.

the hubs arranged an amazing friday night date. we drove out to sauvie island, hopped on a friend's boat, and cruised down the multnomah channel to mark's on the channel. we parked the boat right at the dining pier, and watched the sun set over the water, while dining on amazing saganaki, pasta, and carrot cake. i can't imagine a better way to spend a friday evening. thanks, hubs!!

slate

i'm pretty sure i NEED this dress. daaaah-ling.