Happy Ash Wednesday...

to those of you who belong to a religion that practices Lent! ...or are like me & take part in the tradition for other
(possibly non-religious) reasons.

unlike most people, i give up numerous things each year. everything i've ever given up in years past, plus one new thing to be exact. the list is long.

the hardest thing i've ever given up for the long 40 days that is Lent, you ask? unnecessary spending.
(with meat being a close second).

& so, in anticipation of 40 days without spending any unnecessary money, i have done quite a bit more spending in the past few days than i ever should have.

exhibit a:

in black & red

exhibit b:

from birdzNbeez

penguin update

I got a lot of questions about where you can find these lovelies when I posted on them back in November...& (although it is incredibly delayed) in case you were still wondering, you can find them here from a Canadian vendor!

PS thanks, Nicole!

handy handlebars

hisss illustrations

via unruly things

my home will have a phone booth.

my kind of black out

newspaper blackout poems

by austin kleon

via double takes

the bright side project

28 days of sweetness on blah, blah, blahg...it's already day 18, but don't worry...
you can catch up here.

via creature comforts

lego guitar

check out this functional guitar made out of legos!

loverly pillow case

from make something new. love it!

via rare bird finds

the eyeball game

how accurate are your visual estimations? find out here...it's fun!

via how about orange

my tomorrow

we will be spending the morning at the missouri botanical gardens followed by lunch at the old spaghetti factory and a quite evening at home.

how will you spend your day?

photo via

font art

i'm sure many of you remember these dead celebrity font designs that were all over the blogs awhile back...lovely, yes?

well imagine my excitement when my design professor announced our next assignment...that's right, font art! can't wait to get started!

congratulations!

this morning i drew melanie's name from you are my fave as the winner of the punctuation tee...ironically enough, she was one of the only posters who didn't include a choice of punctuation. how exciting for me! oh, the mystery.
i'll be getting in touch with you soon, melanie!

& thanks so much for playing, everyone!

PS there were some really fantastic comments that have had me in stitches for days...

Revanche said...
Fun! I like the exclamation point, and the ampersand. But I always think of the ampersand as a monkey, now.
why on earth do you think of it as a monkey?! please enlighten me!

Thursday's Child said...
I would simply LOVE a Colon shirt. The colon is vastly underrated in today's society.

& my personal favorite:
Nichola said...
Semicolons are slowing (but surely) taking over the universe. Heed this warning.

fascinating

check out this lovely installment

via candy hearts

i heart jim

& i just can't help myself.

but john krasinski is pretty cute, too

it's giveaway time!

i'm kicking off my second year of blogging with a giveaway!

it took me a while to decide exactly what i wanted to giveaway...& since i can never seem to get away from my love of punctuation, the winner of this giveaway will be receiving a punctuated t-shirt!

the t-shirt will be grey or white...but beyond that, the choice is yours! pick your favorite punctuation mark (or even a fave letter if you'd rather) in your favorite color & wait in suspense for the shirt to arrive in your mailbox.

all you need do to enter is comment on this post by the end of the day wednesday (ie 12 am thursday, feb. 12). tell me your favorite punctuation mark if you'd like!

PS you can get an extra entry for posting about this giveaway on your blog or twitter.

i can't explain it...

but i want white hair. badly.

photo via

kind of incredible.

so sad there are none for sale.

by mister frothee
found via

blogiversary

today my blog turns one year old. incredible. truly remarkable. blogging is definitely an interesting & peculiar way to keep track of time. one thing is for sure, it's one great big reality check. where did the past year of my life go?

but enough of that. this is a time for celebration! for a long while now i've been wanting to change a few things around here. & what better time to do it?

my header for starters has long since needed an update. & through my new header, i'm proud to introduce you to two of my very favorite people in the entire world, kelsey & kaylen...oh, & i mustn't forget my adored alphabet magnets.
kelsey, the sassy redhead on the left, keeps me from getting too serious. she introduced me to flight of the conchords (looong before there was ever an hbo series) & mad men. frankly, she's awesome...what more do i need to say?
kaylen (of happy notions), the adorable one rockin' the pink shades, is an absolute doll. she is the very reason i am part of the blogging world & she loves punctuation as much as i do. i am counting down the days until i live a stone's throw away from her so that hopefully we can become even better friends.
i love them both to pieces.
oh, & i'm the ridiculous one in the middle in case you were wondering.

also, you may have noticed that i'm attempting to condense & clean up my side bars. all of the link lists will soon be in scrolling boxes. if you notice a link isn't working please let me know. & if you have a link to quirkology on your blog but you don't see your name in the 'laura loves linkers' list please, please let me know so that i can add you!

& on that note i just want to say thank you so much for making my first year of blogging so enjoyable. i love the warm community that you all have built & i hope to be a part of it for some time to come. sorry for the mushies, i just wanted you to know. now let's go eat some cake!

photo via pinkiestyle

scrabblemania returns

has it really been 9 months since i've posted any scrabble-goodness? sheesh.i.want.this. i've already put myself on the waiting list...but i may just have to go ahead & figure out how to make my own. brilliant.

via double takes

oh so sensible

view the rest of john golden's critters in his etsy shop.

via lily speaks

ah-freaking-dorable

via rare bird finds

i've never been to the opera

& i've never been a big fan of fur...

but goodness, do i love this outfit.

kathleen of grosgrain handmade the gloves, caplet, & handband...& get this, she's giving them away! (well, that is what she does.)

i absolutely adore that headband & am pretty certain that i would wear it in my wedding. my fingers are crossed. (speaking of fingers, she says the gloves are a bit snug. perfect! i have tiny, tiny fingers. long, but thin. 4 1/2 thin.)

fantastic giveaway, kathleen!

PS aren't the photos fantastic? her husband shot them.

vhu ilse-a lufes zee svedeesh cheff?

translation: who else loves the swedish chef?
(if you have no idea who the swedish chef is a) i'm sorry b) you may want to read this character description ...actually, everyone should probably read that. it's pretty hilarious.)


If you answered a resounding "me-a! me-a!" to that question, you're going to want to do the following:
1. have firefox or go to mozilla.com to download it.
2. proceed to this page to install the bork, bork, bork! add-on.
3. follow the steps, then open a new firefox window.
4. click on view at the top of the page & then 'bork text' at the bottom of the view menu.
5. let hilarity ensue!

if you don't want all of your text to be in bork or you simply don't have enough time to go through all that trouble...you're in luck!
1. go to the google homepage & click the 'language tools' button right next to the search box.
2. scroll down until you see an extremely long list of languages.
3. click on bork, bork, bork!
4. let hilarity ensue (on a much smaller scale)!

Then watch this video & laugh hysterically.

jamaica

as i promised, here's a little post about the wonderful vacation i took over the first week of january.
as an early graduation gift, jason surprised me with a trip to jamaica with his family. this trip was a lot of firsts for me...first time out of the country (awful, i know) & thus first time using a passport...first time staying at an all-inclusive resort & thus first time being treated to all the food & drinks i could possibly want. seriously, i came home spoiled.


i didn't take a digital camera with me so all of the photos i have are either polas or from disposable cameras. in fact, i don't have quite all of them developed yet...but what i do have you can see here.


jason was hilarious on our last day there. we had a late flight, so we weren't leaving the resort until around 5:30 but jason insisted that he wouldn't feel like changing & would rather wear his "going home clothes" all day. needless to say, he was a little toasty.

all in all, it was a wonderful vacation. jason's family is a blast & i'm looking forward to many trips to come!

this is the week!

The week I finally make my comeback is here.
I've spent a lot of time sans internet over the past month & I am so ready to get back in the swing of things...but it was certainly nice to take a break from the fast-paced & spend some time enjoying the moments (as you can see from the pola).

All that aside, I'm thrilled to be back with all of you! I hope you're January was pleasant & that your February is off to a good start.

PS i've got lots in store for this week...
it's time to play some serious catch-up.