True Life: I'm a General Life Blogger!

Do you have types of blogs that you prefer to read?  Is it awful that I mostly like to read blogs that are similar to my own?  I guess that's sorta to be expected: Mommy Bloggers like to hear what other Mommy Bloggers have to say, etc.  And I like to hear about travel, food, funny things, pretty shoes, and hottie celebs!

Which is why I'm linking up with Fabulous but Evil and Mrs. Monologues in their True Life series . . . so I can meet more bloggers to entertain me on the regular. ;)

There really is nothing like discovering a new blog that you love & connect with.  Throughout the past year and a half, I've met (in person) six spectacular blogger ladies, learned lots of new recipes, gotten great book recommendations, participated in some fun swaps, and laughed my ass off at some of the funniest people in the blog world.

So for those of you visiting from the link-up, hello!  Here are things I like to discuss:

*Tim Riggins and Jax Teller (tell me: which is your fave??)

who's it gonna be, ladies???

*Food & Recipes

check out the link to tomato recipes that drollgirl emailed me today!

*Books

what I'm reading now, for instance

*San Francisco (and how awesome it is to live here)

Baker Beach: one of my favorite places on earth

*My hilarious high school students

* . . . And all about ridiculous people & things, for example:

found on Tosh.0 with the caption "Permanently Proud"

Plus how much I love the Saints (come on, football season!) and impressive footwear.  If you're here from the True Life linkup, let me know so that I can come check out your blog, as well!  Happy Friday, and thanks to Fabulous but Evil and Mrs. Monologues for hosting!

p.s. Please go wish my darling friend Leeann a happy birthday!!  I ♥ fellow Leos.  Rawr.

Girlfriends, Good Food, Wine, and Jax Teller

How lucky am I that Micaela, Marianne, and Jessie chose to spend vacation time here with me in San Francisco last week?  And let me just say that our trip was everything we dreamed it would be.

four girls in Napa

Marianne is the sweetest person I've ever met.  And she's incredibly beautiful, loyal, and says the cutest things. ♥

Jessie can party like a rockstar.  She's a hot & hilarious bad ass with some amazing stories.  She and I could get into some pretty serious trouble if we lived near each other.

And Micaela is my girl.  I feel closer to her every day, and am so thankful this trip gave us so much time together.  This woman could fill oceans with the love she has to give.  It's pretty unreal.

at Rubicon Estates (Niebaum-Coppola)

Texas/Oklahoma girls in Golden Gate Park 

Jessie stopping in for a quick tattoo on Haight St., ha!

foggy day at my favorite beach

wine!

Marianne was such a good sport since she doesn't really like wine :)

happy

one of my favorite pictures from our trip

at Vesuvio in North Beach.  BEWARE!

on this trip to City Lights, I discovered a new poet

with whom I'm now a little obsessed: Evie Shockley

the Golden Gate Bridge was actin' up a little with the fog

Other things we did:

*Visited my neighborhood restaurants and wine bar

*Watched (and re-watched) super hot Jax Teller sex scenes at Cari and JJ's house

*Stayed up till 4 am with laughter, a few tears, and lots of stories

*Had a bit of a traumatic experience running into my exbf's good friend, who told me that my exbf is getting married (still coping, y'all)

*Ate authentic Italian food in North Beach

*Spent some time on my back porch

*Saw the Painted Ladies (or as I like to call them, the Full Houses) and busted out the Full House theme song 

*Drank lots of coffee!

Hurry back, girls!  My house is so empty without you.

Blogger Book Swap!

(First of all, I want to wish the happiest 50th birthday ever to my sweet little mama!  I wish I were in Georgia today celebrating 50 years with her!)

And now . . . exciting news:  The lovely Lindsay from Undomestic Chica emailed me with a great idea--a Blogger Book Swap!  We all have books lying around that we've read and don't need anymore, so what better way to spread the love than to swap books with another blogging bibliophile?  

If you are interested in participating, here's the rundown:

1. Email Claire (kieferclaire@gmail.com) or Lindsay (undomesticchica@gmail.com) with your name, address, blog url, and reading interests.  Email us by May 30th!

2. We will email you with your partner's info on May 31st.

3. Once you get your partner's info, send her a book or two that you have around your house that you think she might enjoy.  It could be something you've read and loved, or just something you've heard great things about.  All genres are welcome, just try not to send something suuuuper popular (so that you don't end up sending books your partner already has).  Mail your book(s) out by June 4th!

4.  A week or so after the books have been mailed, Lindsay and I will host a little link party and showcase the books people sent/received.  Fun, right?

Please spread the word and put our button on your blog!  We're so excited about this and can't wait to pair you up.  We hope you join us!!

Wine & Love!

I'm not one for excessive linkups but this one was too hard to pass up.  I spotted it today on my friend Meredith's blog, Thank You Ma'am (do you read her blog?  If not, you should hop on over there and follow her.  We were paired as swap partners and now her blog is one of my favorites.  She's finishing law school and getting married all in the next four months, and she's a southern girl, too!).  So link up with Nora if you want to play along and tell us what has you reachin' for the wine bottle & what you're loving!

from / I really want a set of the glasses on the right--pretty!

What's Got Me Reachin' for the Bottle:

*The punk kid who said "that's hella gay" in my 2nd period class and then when I reprimanded him, replied "you're hella f---ed up."  Level 3 referral before I'm done with coffee = no good.

*Final exams for seniors next week.  I haven't written my finals.  That's all.

*Needing a job and a roommate by July 1st.  Just a lil too much pressure for this girl.  Ohhhhh Saturn Returns, you're killin' me.  

*My apartment looks like it has been ransacked by burglars (incidentally, "burglar" is one of the funniest words in the English language).

*Jillian Michaels and Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred.  And every time she says "Don't phone it in."

*My mama's turning 50 in a couple weeks and she lives all the way across the country.  Would that I had the time (off) and money to go home to Georgia and celebrate with her!

from Philip Hazard

What I'm Loving:

*Balboa's graduation is May 26th.  The freedom of summer is a'callin.

*Summer, my cousin Jennifer, Micaela, Marianne, and Jessie are all coming to visit in the next month and a half!

*I recently got a necklace in the mail from a Love & Victory giveaway that I won on Cup of Jo!  Can you believe I won a Cup of Jo giveaway??  It's basically impossible!  This is the necklace:

(it's the LOVE one.  Thank you Love & Victory and Joanna!)

*Speaking of giveaways, I am loving Bianca of justbedesigns and the giveaway she is sponsoring on my blog!  If you haven't entered yet, please do so here.  The choices are incredible!

*The show Parenthood.  I'm totally hooked.  Have any of you seen it?

Let me know if you link up so I can check out your post.  In any case, I hope your "loving" list is longer than your "reaching for the wine bottle" list!  Happy almost-Friday. :)

The Deets on my Blogger Date!

You might remember the first time I met my dear friend Summer, and you might also remember the magical breakfast I got to have with my sweet girl, Micaela!  Welllllll . . . time to add a third to the list, cause last Friday I had lunch with the darling Leeann from Join the Gossip!

Leeann was in the Bay Area visiting friends, but as fate would have it, San Francisco schools were out the very day she was free!  So last Friday, Leeann and I met in the East Bay and headed to Jupiter for some pizza and beer.

Let me just say that Leeann is one of those lucky souls who is even more adorable in person than she is in pictures.

(I only hang out with bloggers whose hair matches mine)

(Leeann took this--doesn't it look like it should be in a food magazine??)

(Jupiter's Xanthia pizza sans bacon = to die for)

We had such a blast together!  Non-stop chatter for several hours straight--we talked about blogs, boys, beer, jobs, and fantasy travel. :)  Leeann is adorable, funny, independent, and so much fun . . . suffice to say that if we lived in the same city, we'd be scheduling regular girls' nights.  Guess I'll have to book at trip to LA in the meantime!

come to the bay and I'll take you to Jupiter!

Thanks for coming to Berkeley, Leeann--it was so much fun!

A few things to know:

1. I'd been whining about my very amateur blog look for a while, and how I had no idea how to go about changing it, when suddenly . . .

ERIN ELDER TO THE RESCUE!

If you don't know Erin (and her adorable blog, dailee tidbits), you should!  She is an incredibly talented graphic designer/photographer/makeup artist, and damn does she know how to spice up a blog's image!  Seriously, it went down something like this:

Claire: Erin, I want three columns and a sea green glitter background, please.

Erin: I got you covered.

And she did the rest!  I'm amazed that she knows so much about layout, font, design, which-images-work-well-where, etc.  She made my blog look exactly as I'd envisioned and for that, I am forever grateful!  Thank you so much, sweet Erin!  I am pretty smitten with my blog now. :)

♥ ♥ ♥

2. I love my friend Jessie and I love Etsy and if you feel the same way, then you should sign up for her amazing swap!

You have until next Monday (March 7th, aka Micaela and Marianne's birthday!) to enter.  Jessie will pair you with a partner, and you'll exchange some info: what you're into, which Etsy shops are your favorite, etc . . . and then you'll surprise each other with a handmade gift from Etsy.  Sign up and maybe be my partner! :)  I can't wait to see what everyone picked out . . .

♥ ♥ ♥

3. You should really know about this giveaway because it's pretty spectacular.  Visit Sarah at sadie designs and enter for a chance to win this beauty:

Gorgeous, right?  If you win, I will be both happy for you and jealous of you, ha!

Hope you're all having a great Tuesday--I'm about to pour a cup of dark, strong coffee, and then mine will become exponentially better. :)

A bag full of treasures (for you!)

Micaela is one of my favorite people and she is having a giveaway of her favorite things!


Isn't that a sweet idea?  And let me tell you--it's not one to be missed.  A serious Monday pick-me-up (God knows I could use one).  Wanna know what she's offering?

↑  All of those lovely things (UO blank polaroid, rose magnet, bow earrings, Falsies mascara, Milano cookies, collectable coffee mug, mixed tape of Micaela's favorite songs, and The Time Traveler's Wife)

tucked into this adorable tote:

Go enter to win here, and add her sweet little giveaway button to your blog for an extra chance!

But before you do that, tell me this:  If you had a giveaway of your favorite things, what would it include?  I think mine would consist of:


*a 1/2 pound of Blue Bottle coffee
*a Pilot pen
*OPI for Sephora Only Gold for Me topcoat nail polish
*some big, dangly earrings
*a book of poems (maybe Li-Young Lee's The City in Which I Love You)


Tell me about yours!


p.s.--I just discovered another lovely giveaway at Blue Eyed Freckle!  Enter here to win these beauties:

She's always got tons of adorable crafts, tutorials, etc. on her blog, so hurry on over!

Yay Creuset!

So, I don't necessarily win a lot of giveaways, but the ones I do win sure are awesome.  The first one I ever won (way before I had a blog) was an adorable, small, framed print from my "real life" friend Christina at Down & Out Chic (it hangs in my bathroom now!).  Many months later came a beautiful handmade copper necklace that says "I change the world" from the lovely Jeanette at Everton Terrace.  A few months after that, I scored big with a Hana flat iron from Erika at Cafe Fashionista (how excited was I for that?).

And guess what I won just after Christmas?  A 6 qt. Le Creuset stock pot from Aimee at Chic & Cheap Living!  I have been so incredibly obsessed with all things Le Creuset lately that I've been stalking Amazon, Williams Sonoma, etc. for reasonable deals.  So you can only imagine my delight when she emailed me saying I'd won her giveaway and that I got to pick a color for the stock pot.

It just came in the mail and has me grinning from ear to ear:

I chose "Dijon"

and how cute does it look on my stove??

I made my delicious vegetable minestrone last night, and I think it even tastes better thanks to my happy new Le Creuset stock pot!  Thank you so much, Aimee!

And now I'm off to do something grungy like go to a thrift store or drink a cheap beer, cause the past 24 hours have been a little too bougie for me:  I cooked in a Le Creuset pot, went to a Dailey Method workout, and bought 2 pairs of (sale) lululemon pants.  Yikes!

p.s. Dailey Method is HARD!  Serious strength workout.  Try it!

p.p.s. GEAUX SAINTS!  WHO DAT!

Come find me

 . . . at Dolce Vita today, where I am sharing my

from

while Micaela is off finding a home in El Paso!

Productivity

Happy New Year to all of us and Happy One Year to my blog. :)  It was on January 1st of last year that I sat down to write a blog all about PROGRESS-my word for 2010--and now I'm back and thinking about my new word, PRODUCTIVITY!  Here's a look back at my very first blog entry.

Today I headed up to my dear Freitags to cook up the annual black eyed peas and collard greens (and also my mama's cheese biscuits, which I have unfortunately perfected).  Here's to extra helpings of luck and money in 2011!

These are some areas in which I'm hoping to be especially productive this year:

from

Working on my home.  I've been putting off so many projects--hanging curtains & artwork, really cleaning & organizing, making my space amazing!  

from

Writing.  I spent three years in graduate school for Creative Writing and now I don't even write a poem every week!  It's ridiculous.  So, I'm beckoning the God of Productivity to give me some guidance so that I write more in 2011 and actual send poems out to magazines.  

from

Exercise.  It's easy to put this on the back burner when you're busy . . . but I gotta get with the program, because I don't feel good when I'm not exercising.  Yoga, dance, hiking, running, here I come!

from

Being a better teacher, which for me mostly means being more conscientious about lesson plans--really researching the best resources, reading more books about curriculum, etc.  

What's your word for 2011?

And Speaking of Giveaways . . .

This is my sister, Kate:

(from brother-in-law's photo blog)

She just opened an Etsy shop called Very Fine House, where she is selling vintage housewares like this:

vintage bird glass set

and this:

working normende condor transistor radio

and this:

blue grey letter A

and this:

vintage stationery set

So go check out her shop!  Her prices are great and her taste is impeccable.  And guess what?  My dearest Micaela is hosting a giveaway of two coveted items from my sister's shop!  Head over to Micaela's blog to see what Kate is giving away and to  enter! I love this partnership of two ladies I love. ♥

Friday I'm in Love!

summergirl

Mostly I'm in love with the mere fact that it's Friday.  There will be no happy hour for me today, but there will be vodka & house-made tonic at Pizzaiolo before my folks and I head to the David Gray/Ray Lamontagne show!  I swear, their tonic is so dang good.  Full of herbs & all kinds of yumminess that makes it actually not taste much like tonic water at all . . . but it's still DELISH.

Today I'm in love with:

1. The Greek Theater

Berkeley's finest amphitheater.  Is there anywhere better to see a concert than an outdoor amphitheater?  I was lucky enough to see Jackson Browne there at the end of July, and now these two?  I'm musically blessed.  Only not when it comes to talent. ;)

isn't it pretty?

2. Edamame

Can't get enough these days.  I ate an entire bag the other night, for real.  It's so good.

3. These blogs (but don't forget these and these that I mentioned previously!):

Jessie's

Tillie's

Phoenix's

Annie Cristina's
Melissa's


4. The Brazilian Blowout

Seriously, my hair is curly & frizzy.  There's no getting around it.  Once upon a time, I had pretty waves, but that was before years of dyeing & blow drying & flat ironing.  Now it's damaged and frizzy.  I'm taking steps to reverse it, though . . . I haven't dyed it in a year (hello, dishwater blonde, didn't miss you at all!), and the Brazilian Blowout is making it so that I don't have to blow dry or flat iron it EVER.  My hair normally looks something like this:

I haven't been able to just get out of the shower & go since I was a kid.  But now it looks like this:

Voila, frizzless beachy waves!  I know it's kinda hard to tell (I'm terrible at taking pictures of myself!), but it's mostly straight with a little wave, has no frizzies, and is so smooth and silky.  Easiest hair in the world!  I am kissing my blow dryer goodbye . . . for the next 12 to 16 weeks, anyway.

Happy Friday!