in the car, holding hands, laughing

we're having movie night tonight.

we don't do movies much anymore, at least at the theater. i'd like to say it's because they're expensive but honestly i'm kind of a homebody, and also lazy. but movie night is fun, especially since we got the (hand-me-down used flood-rescued) big screen from my brother. i haven't been on the comfy couch in forever now that it got sucked into the man cave. it's kind of his zone, like mine is me knitting something or reading on my kindle, wherever i might be sprawled out.

life is hard. and busy. even though we only (ha) have two dogs and a cat, we're still busy. i still get home some nights so tired my eyes hurt, so cranky i'm yelling at melissa block on "all things considered," even though she has the sweetest, most non-anger-inducing voice. i was talking about relationships with a friend a few weeks ago, and i said something that i think made me pause all my baby fantasies.

"it's not going to get any easier. it's just going to get more stressful."

crap, it is. in fact the past few times we've planned a movie night, i've said let's do something else, even though we both knew that something else was me zoning out on youtube and him playing wow. i needed to zone out. i had had a long day.

it's ok if tonight's movie night doesn't happen. right now i'm thinking it will and planning for our mini date at home. it's funny that the little things cheer me up now: the laughter, the walks with the dogs, the car rides to and from work, hearing about his day, smiling, excited for tomorrow.

i can make this

the best part about being a knitter?
i see something for sale, like this super-cute snood (what is it with the snood lately?) from j. crew - on sale for $49.50 - and think to myself, i can make that.

victory!

book review: "smooth talking stranger," by lisa kleypas

it was her historical romances that drew me into lisa kleypas. she's an amazing author, and her hathaway series remains one of my favorite (i still get shivers thinking of the wonder that is "married by morning." i have yet to finish the series because i can't bear to say good bye to the beloved hathaway family.)

i had seen this book on quite a few favorite lists and had it in my amazon wish list when i finished a few others. historicals will always be my first love, but i'm oh-so-slowly treading water into contemporary romances.

maybe it's that i love history, maybe it's that i like imagining a different time and place, but i've never been drawn to contemporary. then this book happened and doomed me because not only is jill shalvis amazing (seriously, i can totally picture sharing a bottle of wine with her and having a blast), but she gets people. she gets how they talk, how they respond to situations, how messed up they can be. and lisa gets that too.

"smooth talking stranger" centers around ella, a 20-something texan finally getting her life together after what can only be described as a truly fucked-up childhood and years of therapy. then her sister, tara, who has obviously not invested time into therapy, dumps her baby on their mother - then tara checks herself into a heath clinic. ella gets pulled in and goes after the baby's father, jack travis, only one of the most powerful and richest men in houston.

the question in romance novels is NEVER who falls in love with who. it's always how - and maybe why not. the best novels often have incredibly (to borrow a word from SB's Candy) schlocky premises and details - hello, illegitimate baby meets hippie girl meets big town manwhore! - but it's all in the execution. ella is an incredibly believable, smart, caring character who wears glasses and worries about things like how much water a luxury shower is wasting. the schlock is taken for granted in this genre. some write crappy schlock. some write good schlock. and then there's lisa.

the snood

here i am, usual weeknight of ignoring the crap that i need to do (tonight's procrastinated chore was cleaning out the mountain of clothes i need to get rid of while also doing the other mountain of dirty laundry). instead i'm listening to the beautiful cover glee did last night of "one of us" and surfing net-a-porter and what do i come across?

only the cutest accessory for fall EVER.

the snood.i had no idea it was called a snood. i thought this was a cowl scarf (aka, an attached scarf). snood sounds like a snooty name, but it is quite possibly the easiest way to spice up an outfit, and warm to boot. this particular one would look great with boots, jeans and a comfy sweater.

sigh. i want.

snood by burberry, $325