new shoes

I know. Big surprise, right? I bought another pair of shoes. But they are totally justified because they're trainers. And everyone knows the best gym motivator is new workout attire.

I got them from Zappos.com, which offers a VIP service! That means you get free overnight shipping...for life.  Learn more here.  Mark told me about the VIP service about a year ago, but this is the first time I've used it. I have to say, I'm really impressed. I ordered these babies on Saturday and got them Monday.

helmet heads

On Saturday, Mark and I made the most of one of our last days together for a while - and the gorgeous Arizona weather - and went for a long, leisurely bike ride. After a couple of hours, we'd gotten in a good workout {the hills where we live are killer}, had a yummy lunch, soaked up the sun and enjoyed each other's company.

safety first

date day

Sorry for being MIA. It's been a crazy week of travel and spending time with Mark. He's off to the East Coast again and we spent some time together doing some fun stuff around town.

pane bianco, our favorite lunch spot

so many vespas!

the sweetest little candy shop...

...that carries mark's favorite canadian candy

we did a little browsing at phoenix metro retro and modern manor : amazing mid-century modern pieces

lounging in metro retro : this cat had the loudest, deepest meow

a rack of cool vintage clothes

no luck

Shouldn't everyone have a bit of luck today? Being that it's St. Patrick's Day, you'd think so, but not so much for me today. And it all stems from my car.

I just got my car back from the shop yesterday, where it's spent the majority of the last four weeks {it needed a part that was only available from the factory ... in Germany}, so I was pretty excited to drive it to work today.

And about an hour after I got to work...

Luckily I have a wonderful and trustworthy mechanic. And on the plus side, I can't complain about a few more days of driving to and from work with the top down on the convertible!

url goodness

Are you tired of typing in modernlovely.blogspot.com to visit my blog? Well, guess what? I've now made it easier to stop by! Announcing...

modernlovely.com

baking brunettes

My girlfriend, Jenny, and I both love to bake and have been planning a baking day for some time, and this past Sunday was it. We made peanut butter surprise cookies and tested out recipes from Magnolia Bakery. Our significant others - and our rowing teammates - are the happy benefactors of our hard work. And we may have snuck a nibble or two ourselves. {Shh...it's our little secret}

~they may look like an ordinary cookie, but inside...~

~...mmmm~

~reese's peanut butter hanging out inside~

~messy bakers~

korean bbq love

Another thing Stacey and I did this weekend? Korean BBQ. Let me say this: find yourself a place that serves this style of food and go there. Right. Now. Stacey and her boyfriend, E, took me to this fabulous restaurant in Korea town on Saturday night. It was so yummy.

~all you can eat and a grill in the center of your table~

~side dishes and sauce~

~meat!~

~ready to eat~

weekend recap

This weekend spent in L.A. with Stacey was a-mazing. We had so much fun catching up {we haven't seen each other since JULY!}, shopping, hanging out and just being girly.

~and a basket for Louis~

~talent is navigating a bicycle around kids and old people while taking a photo~

~mmmm...sangria~

~shellac mani~

~the best brunch place ever. frenchmen, crepes and French press coffee~

up in the air

This weekend kicks off a jet-setting three weeks for me. First up : I'm off to Los Angeles to spend some quality girl time with one of my besties and MOHs, Stacey. Then, I'll be catching a flight to Houston for work and following that, I'll be heading down to Tucson for another work-related special event I'm coordinating.

~from a work trip to seattle~

Have a wonderful weekend!

sugar fix | chocolate chip cookie

Currently dreaming of the most amazing. cookie. ever.

royalty meets technology

Wedding websites have been a popular way for brides and grooms to get out information on their celebration for some time now, and it looks like the trend is not lost on royalty. Check out The Royal Wedding website for Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

books!

My local Border's bookstore is shutting down, so they've been pushing out their inventory to benefactors like me! One Saturday morning after rowing practice a few weeks ago, I headed over to the store and found some good deals. This weekend, I took Mark. The lines were long and you had to do a little digging, but we came out with some really great finds.

Mark is into design {obviously}, so he was excited to find some good inspiration.

Loving fashion as I do, I picked up a couple of style books {Oh, Joe Zee and Rachel Zoe, you make me happy. Did anyone catch their cameos on Gossip Girl last year?}.

And I picked up some really great coffee table art books - Italy from the sky and Salvador Dali? Yes, please!

polarizing pictures

Usually, Mark's interior design taste and my decor esthetic tend to match, but when I recently purchased a series of art pieces for the kitchen, it was glaringly obvious that in this particular instance, we couldn't have been farther apart. Words like "hate" and "ugly" and "retirement home" {the last of which was particularly funny when we realized that Mark had been sporting these grandpa slippers all day} were tossed around, but in the end, Mark was sweet enough to drag out the ladder and hang the pieces for me.

~i was supposed to be handing him the screws~