photographic evidence as to why you may not want me in your wedding:

...I'm a crier.

five seconds.

In tribute to the end of the house on 35th street. Where I fell in love. Aw shucks.

braums.

Nightly ice cream runs have been a Callahan family staple since I can remember.

So when Braum's built a location literally seconds away from our house, it solidified itself as the ultimate choice in ice cream. Well, except for the brief time we were all really into Sonic's rootbeer frosties.

About the same time every night we'd all pile into the Callahan minivan of the moment in whatever haphazard pajama pairings we happened to be wearing; bringing blankets, reading material and stuffed animals with us for the four minute roadtrip.

An unexplainable Christmas morning excitement would always fill the pit of my stomach: the silent Edmond night, familiarity, an endless selection of ice cream before me illustrated with fuzzy 1980s photography, the incomparable warmth and safety of a family snuggled into a van, the way the world stopped.

Since my Dad is the absolute worst at taking orders (it literally overwhelms him to a point of hysteria) we'd all huddle around the open window screaming out our overlapping, individual wants: small cookies and cream milkshake, frozen yogurt twist in a small cake cone, diet coke (my mom's eternally boring order), peanut butter cup, two scoops chocolate chip and one scoop banana pecan!

These once nightly trips are very rare now, but they are sort of what I always look forward to the most around holidays or the summertime window of time when we're all back together. And why Braum's is my favorite, with that extra scoop of nostalgia.

second cousins.

I seriously have the most inspiring family: parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents...

But my second cousins - Sandra and Daniella (not to discount Sean though too!) take the cake.

Growing up at the same ages, but so far away from each other (Bay Area, California: Edmond, Oklahoma) it's serendipitously crazy how much we have in common despite seeing each other so infrequently.

And I'm always hoping our adult lives bring us geographically closer.

But they will always be the distant, romantic cousins to me: stunningly beautiful, Brazilian, singing, bike the Golden Gate Bridge, multilingual, vegetarian, owners of the cool skis, volleyball pros, going to Columbia and UCLA, living in Spain, who love art and music and books.

It's always Meg or I calling each other up with, Did you see Sandra's newest album on facebook?!! That paella!? Swoon.

But they also happen to be the most encouraging, warm people in my life: facebook messages and mail from Sandra, trading trusted book recommendations (Elegance of the Hedgehog, Moveable Feast!), a magical evening spent in their current neighborhood of Venice Beach at GJelina...

I'm just so glad these people are in my life.

And I always talk about what inspires me most on this blog, so I felt like it was high time to celebrate my beloved second cousins by posting some of Sandra's amazing pictures I constantly facebook creep on - trust me, I could have posted forever.

frieda and nellie.

There are so many things I'm dying for right now. Like pain in my heart I want them so bad.

Ankle boots and stretchy dresses and a new bike - but nothing has quite caught my eye like Frieda and Nellie's summer camp favorite friendship bracelets interwoven with grandma's antique jewelry. I'm envious of such ingenious ingenuity.

lines from my favorite poem.

For I have known them all already, known them all:— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot)

channeling.

In moments where I feel weak, indecisive, vain, sorry for myself and far too concerned with status quo I try to channel my inner Karen O and/or Florence Welch: passionate, talented beyond belief, star power, crazy, performance, POWERFUL, front women, edgy, confident, vocal, kickass, creative, limitless, could care less, heart on the line, putting it all out there, brave, uninhibited...

Kind of like those totally weird creative writing girls from high school that I always secretly envied, just to let go of the world around you and live vibrantly in exactly the weird way you please.

Watching the Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform at Austin City Limits, this guy behind me turns to his friend and says, let's leave, I only like watching girl performers I'd want to sleep with.

And instead of boiling with rage, I really only felt incredibly sorry for the guy. Not only was he missing out on an amazing show, but he was missing the entire point of Karen O, and probably the entire point of life.

Kiss with a Fist, Florence + The Machines

Zero, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

What Is It About 20-Somethings.

Walker Robins and Daniel Miley's trip to Cuba. See more of Walker's pictures on Flickr.

a) Read What Is It About 20-Somethings. Freak out a little.

b) I've been reading Cupcakes and Cashmere for awhile now - I'm never that crazy about her style, but there's just something really inspiring about her life to me: to blog consistently, to work hard at a job you love, to come peacefully home and cook, explore and be creative. I would like that kind of balance in my life.

c) Bloom where you're planted. One of my favorite cliched pieces of advice.

So, what is it that I value?

Family. Though sure to prove impossible, I sort of don't want to live with the reality that my family couldn't gather around for homemade dinners on a weekly basis.

Love. Because I've never been happier. Especially getting introduced to the song Lola by The Kinks, the art of 5 second films, perusing Bolivia and Peru travel books while watching No Reservations and eating the world's best buttermilk pie.

My friendships. Which seem to get harder to keep up with over time, as every one travels down their own path. But eeps! I don't want to become like my parents, seemingly only having "adult friends." But I guess the most basic key to this is simply: make the time.

Reading. My bliss since forever.

Writing. I should value this more than I say I do.

Health. So important I often take it for granted. Eating right, sleep, YMCA, my Dad's health care plan that lets me stay on until I'm 26 thank goodness...

Style. I spend hours pouring over fashion magazines, I just love it.

Eating.

Travel.

...all of which sort of necessitate the reality of my earning a good salary.

Not building a life around things or money. But also not building a life around the fear of loans, not being able to pay for things, etc.

Career.

Ambition. I just don't want to forget that feeling of being absolutely 4th-grader convinced that I'd be president of the United States or the Editor of Vogue someday.

Running. Because running is the most basic thing on Earth to me, like coming alive, like a conversation with God.

Optimism.

Olive Oil.

Wine.

Exploring.

Freedom. The opposite of feeling trapped.

To be interesting. Rachel Weisz's character in About A Boy being the perfect example and the only way I can think of to describe this quality, she was just so captivating because she was so invested in life, challenged by her job, constantly learning, etc.

My beliefs. Which to be perfectly honest have always focused more on the progressive politics side of things than a religious conviction. But regardless, to strive to be a better person and to better the world in every single thing I do. And if I'm in an environment where I'm not being challenged/inspired to do this, get out.

Gratitude.

decisions that are agonizingly hard for me to make.

1. picking out a greeting card at the drugstore or Hallmark.

2. deciding what restaurant to eat at when someone else is footing the bill and gives you complete choice control.




Also, I just finished reading The Wild Trees, which is all about the amazing insanity of Redwood trees and the people that explore them. Next decision: become a botanist?
But seriously, this book was like a spiritual experience for me.

your love is better than ice cream.

summer via The Selby.


out on my skateboard the night is just hummin'/and the gum smacks are the pulse i'll follow if my walkman fades
Pavement, Range Life.

Food for thought:
But Will It Make You Happy?
I would take the couple in this article with a strong dose of moderation.

But I think this is a good question to ask myself, probably multiple times a day.

I know what I do not want: a house that even remotely resembles something one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey live in. Barf.

And ultimately, I think I've learned the most about the type of person I want to be and the kind of life I want to live from working as a server in restaurants.

Ice Cream, Sarah Mclachlan

cure-all.

I tend to make mini, non-serious goals per week, especially helpful when I'm feeling blue and am wanting to keep my mind from dwelling on things. Stay busy, the best remedy.


1. Finish Catch-22.
2. Listen to Arcade Fire's Funeral and Neon Bible albums ad nauseaum, before streaming The Suburbs.
3. Run Lake Hefner.
4. No Diet Coke. (Oh, already failed...)
5. Keep car clean. I am the queen of the cup holder as far as letting a collection of cups stack up to the ceiling. But I also tend to think sloppy cars signal an unbalanced life, so it's just something I want to try and stay on top of.
6. Make at least one Ina Garten recipe. (WWBFCD, What Would The Barefoot Contessa Do?)





The Arcade Fire has been the wisest investment so far. Every song is a sweeping masterpiece that takes you so far outside of yourself.

Kori and I celebrated Big Truck Taco's first anniversary with free tacos. As an added bonus, as we were leaving this fairy godmother of a woman filled a huge sack with popsicles for us to take home, the flavors are cookies and cream, mango, pecan, watermelon - basically, bliss.

And I'm just beginning to appreciate the rare opportunity of getting to live with my longtime friends. Especially when Colby and Kori humor me when I inhale to much champagne during the season finale of The Bachelorette. Unconditional love I tell ya.

bananas.

Love Story: the movie that has most inspired me style-wise. You really have to watch the whole movie to get the effect of Ali MacGraw and her effortless look, but the snow scenes are definitely my favorite.

...this post is all in tribute to the premier of the Rachel Zoe Project tonight, the woman has such a bizarre existance it's hard to resist.

The world's best dressed of 2010, according to Vanity Fair.

A blog devoted to Claudia from the Babysitter's Club series, totally an early style icon of mine. In fact, I think there really is an entire Babysitter's Club floral legging era aesthetic.

A look at the iconic girl bedrooms in memorable teen movies.

And speaking of style icons, Betsey Johnson designs the Plaza Hotel's bedroom homage to the ultimate diva, Eloise. A little too pink and pricey for me, but I like the pairing.