i used to have long hair.

and then i let levi chop it all off!

one of my best decisions ever.

my feet!

good morning, world!

my little tootsies are being featured on the gypsy feet this morning, so be sure to check them out!

i'll be back in a little bit.

until then!

xoxo,

jasmine

nothing better than a surprise in the mail!

look what i just received in the mail from adele!

she gave me a string of adorable little horsey lights.

i think i'll string them up across our bookcases but, come christmas, they are definitely going on the tree!

and can you believe this is our first magnet?? haha! we seriously needed one.

and did you notice that picture of me and levi - yeah, she drew that. she's amazing.

i love you, dele!

he's gonna be the best daddy

this is what i found levi doing the other night:

cuddling with the kitty.

i can't wait to see him with babies.

p.s. we obviously haven't completed our unpacking. i'm at a standstill with our stuff. i just don't wanna look at it anymore!

happy sunday!

{this is the first picture we ever took together, just a day or two after we started dating.}

today, i will be doing laundry and chores while levi works all day long.

it's okay though. july is soooo close, and then i will have my levi back.

happy sunday!

love,

levi & jasmine

xo

saturday

it's finally sunny and warm in southern california today! hooray!

our summers don't usually start 'til july here.

it's the payback for having brilliant weather all year round.

i woke up late today and made a trip to the post office to mail cara the puzzle we just finished.

she had the amazing idea to do a puzzle swap! i love mail, so i was completely on board!

i hope you and jonah like the puzzle, cara!

and right now i am enjoying a cupcake and a coca-cola in honor of nie nie's birthday today.

a little cupcake shop in utah is donating their proceeds today from the sales of their vaNIElla squared cupcake. since i don't live in utah, i grabbed a cupcake from my local cupcakery and made a small donation to the stephanie nielson fund. i encourage you all to do the same! and if you haven't read the nie nie dialogues, i encourage you to start now!

happy birthday, nie nie! i hope it's the best birthday you've had in all your 28 years. you truly deserve it.

bad hair days

living with your hair stylist does NOT always guarantee that you have great hair.

case in point:

can you see how awful it is?? it's like 9 different colors...and not in a good way. and it's all floppy and bushy and overgrown. it has been driving me cuckoo!

levi has been so busy lately that my hair has fallen by the wayside.

but he found some time to squeeze me in for color the other day and cut my hair at home late last night! yay!

by the way, levi says that i'm hands down and absolutely his worst client. hahaha! he says i can't sit still, and i complain too much. it's true. i do. i'm sorry, levi! thank you for putting up with my shenanigans and for doing my hair!

eeeek! he is SO cute!

ta-da! new hair! shorter and blonder. perfect for summer!

p.s. levi works at atlantic studio in long beach. if you're in the area and in need of a hair cut, color, highlight, perm, whatever, let me know or call them up!

we have a problem.

we are puzzle obsessed.

stayed up til 2 finishing puzzle.

will be buying a new one today.

going back to sleep now.

a cover girl powder compact

i love makeup.

and i have a lot of it.

i keep it all in an old betsey johnson shoe box.

i do my makeup on the floor in front of a mirror in the closet in our bedroom.

i think i've always loved makeup, but i wasn't always allowed to wear it.

i remember in the 6th grade, i noticed that all the girls were starting to wear makeup.

everyone had a cover girl powder compact with a mirror. all the girls powdered their noses between classes in the bathroom with their compacts.

ohhhhh, how i wanted one too!

so for christmas, when i was 11 years old, my mom gave me a cover girl powder compact.

it was the first makeup i ever owned.

i still remember exactly how that powder smells.

do you remember your first makeup? how old were you when you started wearing makeup on a semi-daily basis?

puzzled.

yesterday was a weird day. i was feeling a little down in the dumps. just kinda lonely and a little moody.

so i went to target! i picked up the new regina spektor album - far. it was on sale for less than $10! i'm pretty sure this is the first physical copy of an album i've bought in yearrrs. so far, my favorite song is folding chair. i love the line that says, "i've got a perfect body 'cause my eyelashes catch my sweat." what's your favorite on the album?

i also bought a jigsaw puzzle. that's right - i'm the nerd who does puzzles by herself when she's bored.

turns out levi is a total nerd too because he would NOT get off my puzzle when he came home. we were up 'til two in the morning working on that thing. and then he was up again this morning working on it! he's trying to steal it from me! anyway, it was really nice spending some time with him working on the puzzle, listening to music, staying up late, and talking. i'm feeling much better now!

p.s. i'm posting this from my phone...hopefully, it doesn't look weird.

i promise this is the end of my birthday posts!!

my final birthday celebration with my family on sunday night was terrific.

i decided at the last minute that i didn't feel like dressing up all fancy after all, so we just wore normal clothes.

the only person missing was my little sister. she's at camp.

my mom made a delicious meal.

complete with delicious mashed potatoes. OH how i love mashed potatoes!

i opened presents! my brother gave me a relay switch for my car and installed it and TOTALLY FIXED a problem i've had with it for more than a year. so cool! my brother is seriously amazing.

and i also got a bouquet made of money!! how cool is that?!? can you tell that it's dollar bills forming the shape of roses?

and as if you need more photos of me and dessert...a cupcake collage!

these cupcakes are heavenly. banana chocolate chip with chocolate marshmallow frosting made by a very talented teenage friend of the family. she also made my money bouquet. i swear that girl needs her own show.

phew. that was the longest birthday (week) ever!

p.s. since some of you asked....i got my skirt from buffalo exchange for $9.

i miss....

i love our new home SO much...

...but i've been really missing a few things since we moved.

i miss having the internet at home and reading all your blogs.

whenever i'm at a coffee shop, i always have about a bajillion things to get done, and the experience has lost that leisurely feeling.

i miss waking up to sunshine in our bedroom.

our new bedroom doesn't get sunshine which means we get better sleep, but still, i miss it.

i miss seeing lily. she's still hiding out in a closet most of the time.

and most of all, i miss levi.

we've only had one day together this month when he didn't have to work or move or study or something - my birthday.

and it was great, but i want more.

i want two whole days in a row where he has no obligations.

june is usually my favorite (it's tied with december), but this june's been hectic and crazy...

....and i kinda can't wait for july.

a lady's education

here's something you don't know about me - i am a jane austen fanatic.

i've read all of her books a minimum of three times each. pride and prejudice i have read too many times to count. i once read it two times in a row. like i finished the last page and flipped right back to the first. it's actually difficult to read now because i almost know it by heart.

anyway, while i am very happy that i was born in the 20th century, i've always been a little bit envious of the education that ladies (of a certain class) received in jane austen's time - singing, dancing, playing an instrument, literature, poetry, french, german, sketching, painting, embroidery, etc. that all sounds like fun to me. i seriously wish i could major in "jane auten era ladyhood."

well, this fall, i am starting a new major - art history. (i've been in school for approximately a hundred years...loooong story) due to a severe shortage of classes, my class schedule is a little strange, but i seriously couldn't be happier. look what i've got lined up:

- ballet

- jazz

- french (!!!!)

- painting

- tennis

doesn't my schedule rock?? i'll be dancing four days a week and playing tennis two days a week! i'll be exhausted, but i can't wait. it looks like i'll be getting a taste of what it would feel like to be educated as a lady after all...a modern lady.

happy sunday!

{we are finishing up my birthday celebrations tonight with a fancy dress birthday dinner with my family! don't you just love birthdays that won't quit?? i don't actually celebrate father's day (not until we have our own kids), but i hope you all enjoy your day with your dads!}

love,

levi and jasmine

xo

allow me to yammer for a moment before getting to the point

i had every intention of posting earlier today, but i had a very slow and late start this morning (really, this afternoon) due to a very late night at work.

our hotel/restaurant hosted an after-party for one of the films at the LA Film Festival. the film sounds pretty interesting, and i absolutely plan on netflixing it (don't you just love making new verbs based on websites - i.e., googling, imdbing, etc.). it's called It Might Get Loud, and it's "a documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three rock legends."

our VIP guests were Jack White and Jimmy Page...with a special appearance by John C. Reilly. i had the pleasure of serving all three gentleman, and they all seemed like very nice fellows. you don't even know how much i was flipping out on the inside about meeting John C. Reilly. i happen to think he is an INCREDIBLE actor, and he is in one of my all time favorite movies, The Anniversary Party. needless to say, it was a pretty cool experience, and the night went very late. i didn't get home til after 3:00, and i wasn't in bed til after 4:00.

alright, with that said, let me move on to the real reason i am posting today!

i am such a lucky girl. i have made so many great friends through my blog - people i legitimately care about and who legitimately seem to care about me! one of these people is dee from our little love nest. i love dee. she is a gorgeous person inside and out. she has a fabulous husband and the cutest family (her youngest, bella, makes me want to have babies this very instant - NOW!). i seriously think she started having babies when she was five because she is sooo beautiful and looks like a 20 year old. every time she talks about her teenagers, i am in shock.

annnnyway, dee has a little etsy shop where she sells her beautiful art. you have to go check it out! i know you'll find something you love, and her prints are very affordable. levi and i saw an original in her shop that we really loved. we thought it would look pretty spiffy in our dining area. so guess what i got in the mail yesterday as a little surprise birthday/house-warming gift?!?

the framed original and a beautiful little note!

we love it, and we are so grateful to dee for being so thoughtful to give it to us.

thank you so much, dee! your gift and your generous spirit made my week!

my birthday pt. V - the grand finale

the treats!

i had wayyyy too many treats on my birthday.

1. the frosted cupcakery gave me a free cupcake for my birthday. complete with birthday candle. i absolutely love birthday candles!

2. we thought that, perhaps, haagen daaz (at fashion island) would like to give me free dessert too. they wouldn't. so we bought some. haagen daaz cookie dough ice cream is probably the most perfect ice cream on the face of this planet. i'm not sure how the ice cream in heaven will be, but they're gonna have to work pretty hard to top this stuff.

3. we had two desserts at lucille's - a birthday sundae and their delicious banana pudding. as much as i love their banana pudding, i honestly couldn't eat any. i was too overloaded on sugar. i never knew this was possible!

levi, thank you for making my birthday so special and so magical! i'm so lucky to have been born and to know you. i love you sooooo much.

and another HUGE thank you to all of you for the incredibly sweet birthday wishes on my birthday. i love you guys so much!

my birthday pt. IV - the dinner

after a long afternoon of shopping (i got a really cute sweater! thanks for the birthday check lauren!!!), we finally went to dinner at 9:00 at night.

sheesh!

we walked to lucille's for some of my favorite - barbeque!!! mmmmm.

caught in the act.

ribs smothered in delicious bbq sauce make me smile.

they make levi feel like a cave man.

he doesn't like melon, but i do!

dinner also included a ridiculous laugh attack that had tears streaming down my face.

levi made a video (unbeknownst to me) of me doing the stupidest, geekiest looking dance everrrr. i wish i had the guts to show you guys. we thought it was pretty hilarious. but i'm not sure i'm brave enough.

my birthday pt. III - channeling huck finn

we found a tiny little stream to cross, and i channeled my inner little boy.

as girly as i am, i've always had a secret desire to be huck finn.

i obviously don't know anything about fishing.

...not that there were any fish to catch.

my birthday pt. II - playing at the arboretum

on a tip from diana, we checked out the fullerton arboretum.

i'll be honest with you, we didn't take advantage of any of the educational opportunities they provided.

we just played.

doctor clark wasn't in.

so it's a good thing these bees didn't sting us!

p.s. i think bees are kind of creepy. :/