love on paper.

I'm smitten for these new cards from Rifle Paper Co. I have to admit-- I'm kind of a sucker for handwritten love notes on Valentine's Day. My grandparnets and my mother always gave me Valentine cards, which is why I think I find them so darn special.

weekend.

Happy weekend, beautiful friends. It's been a long week here work-wise and it's felt weird to blog with all of the sadness happening in Haiti. Talking about beautiful things and stuff that none of us need is one of the issues that I have with my own blog, so I'm feeling especially weird about blogging right now. Do any of you that blog go through that sense of guilt and worry sometimes when you talk about materialistic bizness?

Anyway, I thought the picture above was appropriate because events like this always make me want to hug my all my friends and family and count my endless blessings. You should know that I actually don't enjoy cats that much (I'm terribly allergic so I think that's why) but I found this picture too precious to resist.

I hope everyone has a restful three-day weekend. Johnny and I are going to see this play on Sunday night so we're excited-- our first theater date in Chicago! Other than that, I am planning to clean and watch old classic films because on Tuesday I start teaching a film analysis class to new kiddos. Eeps!

Photo via le love

merry, merry.

Hope you are having a very merry holiday and stuffing yourselves silly. Thank you so much to each of you for being lovely readers and online friends. xo.

photo of Johnny and I taken by my lovely friend Kristen

nina on "one simple joy."

I sing in the car. Every single day.

I commute to work about an hour every day, and even when I'm so tired I can barely get out of bed in the morning, I sing at the top of my lungs to something (really, anything) on the radio. Always.

After such a long time doing this, I barely even notice it (so much so that whenever other people are in the car with me, I have to remind myself to shut up.)

I think singing out loud every day in the car probably sounds silly, but it's truly joyful. Don't get me wrong...I can't sing. I'm a terrible singer. But singing alone, and loudly, in a private space where no one can hear me, well... it's become one of the favorite parts of my day.

Every once in a while I get self conscious when I catch the driver of a nearby car smiling and laughing because it's so obvious I'm having a party in my car. But most of the time, it's a simple, unabashed, truly energizing kind of joy.

And the truth is... in my head, I sound awesome. So, what's not to love? :)

--Nina of naturally nina (who I wish I discovered sooner when I lived in Boston!)

*photo of nina and her fiance taken by andunlimited photography

celia on "one simple joy."

I have one very simple joy that I take pleasure in every single day. Sleeping with my husband. Or I should say, actually sleeping with my husband. I'm sure that this may sound a little odd considering many of us go to bed each night with our significant other, crawl under the covers, switch off the lights and doze off. No big deal, right? Well to me, it's kind of the biggest deal in the world. It's the one thing I can count on every day that I know will make the gross and icky days all better and the happy days even happier.

The last time Joseph and I spent a night apart was over 4 years ago. Usually when I mention this to someone, they'll get this look on their face as if I just told them I'm planning on running for President of the United States. Half disbelief, half "that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."This does not mean, in any way, that we are pathetically codependent. Believe me when I say, I thrive on alone time. Lots and lots if it. We've made the decision to not spend nights apart, unless 100% inevitable, because we feel it's what works best for us. We work opposite schedules and by the time he gets home, it's usually past midnight. Because of this, the hour or so before we fall asleep is our version of "quality time." We share our stories from the day, tell each other jokes, make plans for the upcoming days, and basically just hang out. Every morning when I wake up, that's the time I look forward to the most. I truly can't think of anything more joyous than spending time with the person you love... for me, that time just so happens to be bedtime.

--Celia of Life According to Celia (whose wedding wasn't too long ago, and you absolutely must check it out. Wasn't she such a gorgeous bride?)

*Photo of Celia and her husband, getting ready for bed, the night before their wedding.

sweet little gift #13: the most beautiful tea in the world.

Another for you mother because she always advocates for peace not war, and calms you down when you call her freaking out, and, when you're home, she greets you with a cup of tea in the morning even when you tell her she doesn't need to make any.

$14 plus shipping, Kyoto Tea from Tay Tea

sweet little gift #12: the raddest socks you've ever seen.

For your amazing 10 year old cousin who does hip hop moves in her living room, takes train rides into NYC with her dad so that while he goes to work, she can go to a writing class, and is always finding ways to feed the world with her inner-hippie, veggie-eating queen self.

$28 plus shipping, Wovenplay Socks (grey with framboise ribbons), from Sweet William, Ltd. (note: they only have them available for ages 4 and younger, so these probably wouldn't fit her, but I couldn't help but talk about them anyway)

(found via For me, For You)

There are only two more Sweet Little Gift's left! Thanks so much for reading! xo.

sweet little gift #11: magnetic backgammon travel set.

For your man friend (yes, again) because you're traveling by plane and by train this holiday season, so this will make you feel like you're living in a cool retro film, and even though he beats you in every game you play, you love him anyway.

$12 plus shipping, Magnetic Travel Backgammon, from Restoration Hardware

sweet little gift #3: a package of knots.

For your friend who called you last week to tell you she can't see when she looks at her ring finger because there's some bling there, so now she can celebrate by tying knots (literally).

$10 plus shipping, Knuts for Knots kit, from the Curiosity Shoppe

sweet little gifts.

I'm not going to do too much in the way of Christmas gifting this year due to a tight budget and starting to pay back grad school loans in December, eeps! Besides that, Johnny and I are traveling to NYC for the holidays so we're telling ourselves our real gift is going to be spending time together in one of our favorite places. Furthermore, what I DO bring to gift has to be small, since we'll be living out of a suitcase for 12 + days. . .

With this in mind, I'll be posting tiny little gifts for giant-hearted people throughout the week. Please stay tuned. . .

P.S. The focus is not "on the cheap"; instead, the focus is on gifts that support good businesses, causes, the environment, the handmade movement, and most of all, love. xo.

photo via East Side Bride