halloween treats.

you've seen sprinkles cupcakes before on this blog, and for good reason. they're very yummy. and...they just happen to be my favorite treat for any season/holiday. i {love} fall, but am not such a fan of the treats. mainly because they're full of pumpkin. i know, i know. sacrilege. but i just don't like it. instead, i scoured the web for some fun...not so pumpkin-y sweets for the halloween season. as much as you all don't want to say it, there are some of you that stand with me. right?

tasty popcorn balls

molasses spice cookies

an amazing new take on cinnamon rolls

apple crisp - my favorite!

halloween cupcakes that look too cute to eat

candied apples with a twist

mini pretty pastries

okay, okay. enough with all these tasty things. they make we want to go to the store and buy everything in the baking section. hope you've found something fun and new to try...i know i have. happy halloween, everybody!

iconic movie moments.

i simply can't get enough of this movie.

a couple of years ago on halloween, a sweet friend and i curled up after our late starbucks shift to enjoy a bit of the 80's. i seriously think i am in love with this film, and if you haven't seen it, then you reallyreally should. this is the closing scene from, "the breakfast club" one of the iconic films john hughes brought to life oh so many years ago. {a few of the others include, "sixteen candles," "pretty in pink," and "some kind of wonderful."}

*keep in mind that these should have been "r" rated by today's standards. my mama was right in keeping me from them for awhile, but now i finally get to bawl my eyes out every time i see judd nelson raise his fist in victory because he finally got his girl. um, pass the pint of ice cream. i'm a fan.

what about you? i would just love to hear about a girly/funny/sweet movie that i can curl up with when autumn finally gets to LA.

camera nostalgia.

i'm really not much of a photographer. i'm going to be taking classes soon, which is exciting, but for now i'm just a nerd with a camera. not too crazy, hey?

while up in the bay area, i visited with my aunt when she pulled out these two amazing cameras. hers was just oh so neat, a canon from the 70's that had lots of character. pretty much my camera model from quite a few years ago. as much as i loved it, however, i absolutely fell in love with the second camera that came out of storage, from where it was kept high up on a shelf {you can see it to the left below, with the "argus" branding}

it was old, i'm guesstimating a little bit more than fifty years, and it was my great-grandfathers.

as i passed it back and forth, studying the neat metallic intricacies, my aunt sweetly reminded me, "all those photographs of your grandma, as a little girl? were taken with this camera." saturday marked the twelfth year that my grandma hasn't been able to celebrate her birthday with us, which made it just so much more special. this itty-bitty {kinda heavy} camera from the mid-twentieth century left me reflective and nostalgic for the rest of the day.

i know that it's been years and years, but it's still hard. i know that my mama still misses her mama {and rightfully so}, and sometimes i feel cheated. i only get to hear stories about my grandma, how she loved musicals and talking on the phone and cheesecake. how my mama used to make her laugh, and the neat times around the dinner table. i'm sad that i didn't get to know her any farther than the grandma with the pretty smile and open arms.

i can't say, however, that her life hasn't managed to influence my own. i'm in love with musicals. she helped me learn to read {i recently graduated with an english degree} and write {i'm a creative writing grad student}. it's not much, but it's the tiny inkling that i need. i was a little girl, but there's so much to remember. i'm grateful for my family that is filled to the brim with stories, and my sweet mama. i wouldn't have her without grandma, and i'm glad she raised such a neat lady.

this camera gave me a sneak-peek into the past.

it's simply a piece of my family history, and i love it.
oh, so much.

four on friday.

ah, finally. it's friday. time to shut down the work computer, finish up my homework and curl up with "grey's anatomy."

or not.

sadly, it's now the end of my san francisco week on the blog, and friday officially waves good-bye to the rest of my sanity. the best friend and i will be moving out of our sweet little apartment later this week, which is so sad/hard. it was wonderful to have time with just the two of us, and i am going to miss our pizza nights/movie mornings. ah, well. onto the next thing, i suppose.

are you doing anything fun this weekend? i bet it beats goodwill runs and packing boxes... ;)

 {dusky twilight}

 {sneaky mirror photos at this neat restaurant}

{ghirardelli hot cocoa for the chilly ferry ride home}

let them eat... italian pastries.

north beach is a small district in san francisco that is recognized by it's italian heritage, marked by small flags on every light pole. it runs mainly along columbus avenue, which you can see here. this is where you'll find city lights books from this post, the yummy piazza pellegrini, and about a million tiny pastry shops. after running from the crowds of tourists around pier 39 and fisherman's wharf {overrated}, the best friend and i caught sight of oh so many pretty pastries in the window.

after drooling for a {very} short time, we decided both of us were simply ravenous and only a cannoli and scoop of spumoni gelato would do. i wish i could remember the name of this place, because it really was fantastic! if you visit north beach before i do, be sure to let me know! ;)

i might have a teensy bit of a sweet tooth, so italian delicacies really make me nice and happy. especially spumoni. it reminds me of my grandpa, who made his italian roots very clear with consistent trips to his favorite local italian resaurant {which is now closed :( } both he and my grandma were regulars for many, many years. maybe the love for carbs/spumoni rubbed off a bit on me, too.

east bay baby.

i am actually kind of in love with this picture. it's a neat way to view san francisco from the shores of the east bay {this is in alameda}. i've always been a huge fan of city skylines, but this one just takes the cake. it's san francisco, for heavens sake! until i set eyes on nyc, i think this beautiful city by the bay might just win. LA just isn't as excruciatingly beautiful through all the smog. 

the best friend and got some advice from my sweet aunt and uncle, and decided to forgo the BART train for the alameda ferry. it's a quick little trip across the bay, and absolutely gorgeous. it's cheap, easy, and super fast. so, naturally. since i was in the middle of the bay, i had to take a bunch of pictures of the shoreline/city. i might have taken a bit too many, but hey. they're pretty and fun to take.

this area really is stunning, so i hope you enjoy all the crazy/random photos.
makes me proud to be a bay area baby.

the poetry room.

 

one of my favorite places to go in the city {san francisco} is city lights books. it's an independent bookstore that consists of three stories of eclectic, sometimes downright crazy bits and pieces of the written word. located on columbus avenue in the heart of north beach, you'll be able to grab a yummy cannoli down the street in a hidden italian pastry shop and browse hundreds of books in a creaky, extremely satisfying store.

i first visited when i was eighteen, as my feet will show you.

you can tell by the converse {which i still own/love} that i had just recently graduated high school. this past visit, i thought it was about time to change up the photo. i'm sure you can tell i've changed a bit.

i'll always love this little piece of north beach literary heaven. my eighteen-year-old self, as well as my twenty-year-self, tells you to GO. and take a picture with my favorite poetry room sign. it makes for a neat picture, if i do say so myself ;)

recuperation.

my lovely followers {and amazing guests!},

i know i usually post a little DIY for a little monday inspiration, but i'm absolutely exhausted. the best friend and i just got home from some family time in san francisco, and five hours in the car? really drains you. honestly, if i did try to scrape out a post it would would sound a bit like this: lkdjagliewh'agiha

so. i'll spare you the trouble. make sure to check back tomorrow and later this week to read about a beautiful weekend in the city!!

four on friday.

{quality time with my crafted camera bag from this post}

it's been such a fun week. i don't know about you, but this has definitely has been a good one. monday night was full of laughter and fun with some friends, tuesday? criminology class. honestly, you can't mess that up. wednesday was a lazy/homework/catch up on 'desperate housewives' kind of night...then thursday. the best friend and i got to enjoy lots of pizza and packing. yay. 

but the best part?

i might have maybe...woken up early to watch the first episode of,'american horror story: asylum.' it's pretty freaky/phenomenal. if you like watching psychological thrillers with not too much gore? then you're all set to get hooked on a new tv show. it's definitely a lot eerier than season one. which was amazing too, if you get the chance.

 here are a few pieces of the last couple days that simply made everything just that much better. it wasn't a crazy week, but the weekend is sure to be filled with loving family/my favorite city.

i'll be in san francisco. 

 {the first cup of cocoa}

 {reading this book on my lunch break. amazing.}

{it's fake fall in LA. we're still in shorts.}

the january adventure.

my grad school is positively phenomenal.
i know that bragging isn't okay, and usually i would be a bit annoyed with someone posting something so awful and audacious online.

but honestly.

take a peek at belmont university, and try to tell me you don't want a read a book under the tree and hang out with the cute cowboys. i've been extremely blessed to have the opportunity to view the school with some neat inside connections (thanks, mom!), as well as meet with the director of the english program.

although finances are never fun, the school has an excellent reputation, as well as quite a few distinguished alumni. not only that, but it has the inside scoop with vanderbilt, which makes a doctorate look much more appetizing to my artistic side.

i'll be studying here from january 2013 to the summer of 2014, and will hopefully get to enjoy working on an mfa afterwards. we will have to see what God has in store, because i am always getting ahead of myself. i want this and then that and some other thing...but the truth is? i'm only 20. i've got time.

i'm excited to go back to school in california on monday, (still working on a second BS in psychology) because i think nashville has to have some time get ready for a crazy little LA implant. i love my home state, i really do.

but...

it looks like belmont is going to have a new creative writer on campus.

{the english department = a new home}

'wuthering heights' bites.

in my humble opinion: "wuthering heights" is one of the most beautiful literary classics ever written, and the author emily bronte is an absolute genius. she creates a separate world out of excessive emotion and obsession, and it's just amazing. i may have reread it every single december since i was thirteen...maybe.

that being said.

do not ever, in your whole entire life, watch this version.
it was base, awful, painfully long, and doesn't even manage to tell the true story {as bronte intended it}.  the film focuses on cathy and heathcliff in their childhood, and continues with quite a few disturbing and just downright weird twists. the acting is sub-par  and the movie makes you feel raw and chapped as the wind whistles and rushes by the camera {much too often, at that}.

 a couple of girlfriends from work and i made our way down to the nuart theater this past week, which is one of the best indie theaters in los angeles. we stopped by sweet rose creamery in brentwood, laughed about boys/work/celebrities, and then took big brown bags of popcorn into the theater with high expectations.

it was a sweet night with some pretty amazing ladies, but the movie fell short. if any of you are indie film/wuthering heights fans like me, spare yourself the time and the money. it was as if the director was bashing us over the head with random metaphors and lack of dialogue, trying {in vain} to create something artistic. if you're looking for a good version, you don't have to look any farther than this one from 1992. it's heathcliff and cathy the way they're supposed to be, in a movie that i have never been able to leave behind.

 {loved this place!!}

 {salted caramel ice cream, with coarse sea salt}

{excuse the blurriness, friends!}

visiting seattle grace.

you all are going to laugh at these photographs, and i am sorry. but this was just so exciting! how do you NOT blog about a visit to seattle grace, of "grey's anatomy" fame? even though it is only in LA, not seattle...and closed on the weekends. it's the sepulveda ambulatory center, and it's fairly far north of the city in {wait for it} north hills.

i'm not crazy about going to movie sets or anything, and i don't stalk hollywood boulevard for all those premieres that go on and on and on. since i do have to plan around oscar/emmy traffic, however, i think it's okay to have my fill of the entertainment industry every once in awhile. here are a couple of pictures from this pretty little hospital on the hill, i hope my other "grey's anatomy" fans are with me when i say that this made for an incredible saturday morning.

i think you all know what i will be doing thursday night.

{remember these benches?

 {an alzheimer's clinic? this might have made me very happy because of this}

making it yours {3}

i live in flats. yes, i have a lot of high heels and wedges and converse sneakers {my favorite!}, but flats pull together every look in a more refined, comfortable, and sophisticated way. that's why when my favorite tan flats became noticeably scuffed around the toes, i was a little more than upset.

since i'm a recent college grad, i don't throw much out. i fix it or reuse in a some different way. i have a little collection of acrylic paints in my diy cupboard, so i thought i would try my hand at the new metallic cap-toe trend that's making it's rounds on the red carpet.

the result?

flats that look cleaner, trendier, and have a fresh new chance at life.

i measured out the length of the cap coloring that i wanted, and then stretched a strip of tape across the toe in order to create a straight line. with a couple of coats of gold acrylic paint, there were clean new strips of color that hid my scuffs and brightened up the whole shoe. {here's a step-by-step from the people who know ;) }

i will be the first to say my paint job isn't entirely perfectly, but those marks are covered up nice and neat. and my skinny jeans? are in love with them. this is a diy i will definitely do again and again, with all different pretty colors :)

four on friday.

it has been a crazy, hectic week. one complete with a bout of the flu, lots of orange juice, biology lab and eighties rock music. i was supposed to head up to san francisco this weekend to see my favorite lady {great-grandma cusamano}, but i don't want to bring all my germs up north. i'll be up there next week, thanks to my sweet/flexible aunt. you can be sure there will be lots of san francisco lovin' on the blog soon!

this saturday? is a special day in los angeles. not hollywood, not santa monica, but los angeles. downtown los angeles. {i might have watched this movie recently..} i hope your weekend is just as amazing, full of skyscrapers and crazy people and good food. i can't wait to catch up on all your blogs on monday and see how each and every one turned out :)

 {fried egg gummy candies!}

 {too many pictures}

 {black tea lemonade, courtesy of the best friend}

{baking cookies on sunday afternoon}