in case you were wondering..

i have (temporarily? at least until i figure out how to do something more interesting design-wise) moved my blog over to : www.ruthiegyll.tumblr.com

hope to see you there!!

hope and the new year.

i love celebrating the new year. i love clean slates, fresh starts, and blank canvases. i love that, come january 1st, i feel a renewed sense of hope in all the possibilities that lie ahead. given my tendency to break new year's resolutions, i made a list of goals instead--goals i can work towards with the most incremental of steps.




here's my list:

take photographs like a pro. do something creative every day (borrowed from papersource). write notes on personal stationery. buy my favorite books & read them out loud to my husband. spend more time in prayer. write/blog frequently. make my handwriting look like a font. throw parties for every occasion. make (& eat) red velvet whoopie pies. get the non-profit up and running. celebrate even the smallest victories. read my new york times on the actual day that i receive it. save more & spend less. become an active volunteer. learn to take a deep breath. enjoy cooking meals & baking goodies. love like He loves. make a place for everything. work for God's glory.

happy and blessed new year!!

FreeRice.

This website is absolutely brilliant: http://www.freerice.com/index.php. It is an interactive site where you can answer questions--I like to work on my vocabulary, but there are other subjects, too--and for each question that you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated (via the sponsors whose banners are advertised at the bottom of the screen) through the U.N. World Food Program.

maple.

Beautiful photography is one thing that never fails to make my heart happy. In debating whether to decorate with photographs or paintings, photographs won hands down. I love these prints by aliciabock to offset the deep maple-colored velvet curtains I just ordered from potterybarn. Nostalgic and vintage, these photographs will be the perfect accent for ivory and ebony-finished furniture.

the perfect gift.

This is my next project {this is glamorous and rockett st george}:

wish list-ing.

I just discovered the beauty of creating wish lists. I love making lists (to-do lists, goal lists, grocery lists)... I even have a special list-making note pad... so why not a wish list? The best is that crossing things off this list has tangible results.

A preview of my fall (mini) wish list:

What could be better than stationery in my two favorite colors right now for keeping in touch with close friends?

I would wear this blouse to work or with white linen shorts on the weekend. I love the flexibility of california weather where even fall clothes have a hint of summer.

This necklace is the perfect balance between delicate and statement. I would wear it to dress up a white tee with my joe's and tan suede mocs.

A fall wish list would not be complete without a statement bag.  Made of buttery leather and with a cool, stream-lined shape, I don't think this is a bag I would ever retire.

{anthropology}

apartment love.

Just got these adorable mugs for the apartment (thank you, anthropology).  I put them on our cookbook shelves/buffet to add a hint of color to our neutral-focused room and to show off my new initial.